THE 5 PILLARS OF MATTHEW 5.6. Why Is the Rapture a Biblical Concept? (Matt 24:40-41)
ESCHATOLOGY THROUGH COMPARATIVE STUDY Daniel 5 Pillars of Matthew Revelation Visible Kingdom Spiritual Kingdom Full Kingdom Israel Church Millennium [[Rise]] [Fall] Restoration 1.Design 2.Presentation 3.Stages 4.Key 5.Transition: from the Spiritual Kingdom to the Full Kingdom Christ in Glory (1) Church Age (2-3) Rapture (4-5) Tribulation (6-18) 2nd Coming (19) Millennium (20) Eternal State (21-22)
5 PILLARS OF MATTHEW 5 Discourses of Jesus in Matthew No.1 The Sermon on the Mount --The Design of the Spiritual Kingdom No.2 The Sending of the Twelve --The Presentation of the Spiritual Kingdom No.3 The Kingdom Parables --The Stages of the Spiritual Kingdom No.4 The Kingdom Life Discourse --The Key of the Spiritual Kingdom No.5 The Olivet Discourse --The Transition of the Spiritual Kingdom Matt 5-7 Matt 10 Matt 13 Matt 18-20 Matt 24-25
LAYERED Q&A IN THE OLIVET DISCOURSE Chiasm in the Q&A of Matt 24:1-34 Backdrop The Beautiful 2 nd Temple Will Fall. Q1 When will all these things (the fall of temple) be? v.3 Q2a Q2b A2b What will be the sign for the beginning of the End Time? What will be the signs for the end of the world and your coming? vv.1-2 6 signs (= 6 seals in Rev 6) before the 2 nd coming vv.4-31 A2a When the fig tree (state of Israel) revives. vv.32-33 A1 Within one generation (40 years). v.34 Reminder We Are Limited on the Knowledge of the Timing. v.35-36 v.3 v.3
ADDITIONAL ISSUES ON THE END TIME IN THE O.D. Additional Issues about the End Time in Matt 24:35--25:46 1a What Is the Time of Noah Like? 24:37-39 1b Why Is the Rapture a Valid Concept? 24:40-41 2a Why Should People Get Ready? 24:42-51 2b What Is the Essence of Being Ready? 25:1-13 3a 3b What Is the Standard for Judging the Jews at the End of the Tribulation? What Is the Standard for Judging the Gentiles at the End of the Tribulation? 25:14-30 25:31-46
THE RAPTURE IN THE OT 21 Enoch lived sixty-five years, and became the father of Methuselah. 22 Then Enoch walked with God three hundred years after he became the father of Methuselah, and he had other sons and daughters. 23 So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. 24 Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him. (Gen. 5:21-24 NAU)
THE RAPTURE IN THE OT Enoch ( Dedicate ) Was the 7 th Generation from Adam. When He Had a Son, God Told Him to Name the Son Methuselah ( Man of Weapon = After Him Judgment ) Methuselah Was the Longest Living Human on Record (969 Years), It Represented God s Patience. Methuselah Indeed Died in the Year of the Great Flood (2238 B.C.) So After Him Judgment Was Realized. The Prophecy of a Coming Judgment to Enoch (The Study of Eschatology) Pushed Him to Dedicated His Life to Serve God, Perhaps Preaching for Saving Souls. Then God Simply Took Him. He Was Raptured, Acquiring the Glorified Body without Going through Death.
OTHER TRANSLATIONS Elijah Was Taken to Heaven without Going through Death and Resurrection As they were going along and talking, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire which separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven. (2 Ki. 2:11 NAU) This Is a Translation from the Earth to Heaven, but Not the Same as the Rapture (Acquiring Permanent Glorified Body), Elijah Appeared with Moses (Who Died, but the Body Was Kept by God [Jude]) to Jesus on the Mt of Transfiguration. I.e. The Law and the Prophets Supported the Gospel. Elijah and Moses Will Appear as the 2 Great Witnesses during the Tribulation, then Die and Resurrect (Rev 11).
OTHER TRANSLATIONS 12 Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard a great rumbling sound behind me, "Blessed be the glory of the LORD in His place." 13 And I heard the sound of the wings of the living beings touching one another and the sound of the wheels beside them, even a great rumbling sound. 14 So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away; and I went embittered in the rage of my spirit, and the hand of the LORD was strong on me. 15 Then I came to the exiles who lived beside the river Chebar at Tel-abib, and I sat there seven days where they were living, causing consternation among them. (Ezek. 3:12-15 NAU) Ezekiel Was Lifted up in the Spirit, and Saw God s Glory. He Was Translated in Space to the Exiled Jews.
OTHER TRANSLATIONS 36 As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch said, "Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?" 37 And Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." And he answered and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." 38 And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, but went on his way rejoicing. (Acts 8:36-39 NAU) Philip the Evangelist (1 of the 7 Deacons of the Early Church) Was Translated in Space after He Baptized the Eunuch of Ethiopia.
THE CHURCH AND THE TRIBULATION The Church Period (Nearly 2000 Years Now from A.D.33) Is the Gap between the 69 th Week and the 70 th Week of Daniel, When Jesus Christ Is the Beloved Son of God, Son of David, Prince of Peace, Recognized by the Church but Not by Israel. This Is a Pause in the 490-year Plan for the Restoration of Israel. The 7-year Tribulation Is Designed for Israel, to Suffer Enough from the Antichrist Whom They Created and Preferred, so that They Will Repent and Mourn for the One Whom They Pierced (Jesus Christ) [cf. The Trinity Verse in OT ]: 10 "I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn. (Zech. 12:10 NAU)
THE CHURCH AND THE TRIBULATION The Church Is the Family of God, It Is: Already Internally Transformed (Regeneration of the Spirit) Continuing the Internal Transformation (Sanctification of the Soul), Waiting to Be Externally Transformed (Bodily Resurrection). The Church Is Not Appointed to Wrath, but Deliverance: Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. (Rom. 5:9 NAU) Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. (Rev. 3:10 NAU)
THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE TRIBULATION The Holy Spirit Permanently Resides in the Church: 13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation--having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory. (Eph. 1:13-14 NAU) The Holy Spirit Is the Restrainer of Evil: 6 And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. 8 Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming;(2 Thess. 2:6-8 NAU)
THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE TRIBULATION The Holy Spirit Restrains Evil through the Church s Prayer. When the Church Is on the Earth, the Holy Spirit Propels the Church to Pray for Mercy, and God Obliged Himself to Answer Positively, therefore the Wrath Cannot Come Down. When the Church Is Raptured, The Restrainer Is Gone, the Lawless One (Antichrist) Will Be Able to Take Control of the World, to Do as He Wills (the Motto of Satanism, according to Aleister Crowley s The Book of the Law ). After Leaving the Earth Briefly, the Holy Spirit Comes Back to Anoint the 144,000 Jews to Evangelize the World during the 7-year Tribulation (Rev 7).
THE RAPTURE DESCRIBED When the Thessalonians Were Mourning about their Beloved Ones Who Died in Christ due to Persecution, Paul Comforted them by Relaying that the Dead in Christ Will Be Resurrected a Short Moment before the Living in Christ Being Raptured (Lt: Rapere=Caught up). 15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words. (1 Thess. 4:15-18 NAU)
JESUS MENTIONED THE RAPTURE 40 Then if there shall be two ploughing in a field, one righteous and the other evil, the one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding at a mill; one will be taken and the other left. This is because the angels at the end of the world will remove the stumbling blocks from the world and will separate the good from the evil.(hebrew Matthew 24:40-41) 40 "Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. 41 "Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left. (Greek Matt. 24:40-41 NAU)
RAPTURE OR SECOND COMING? There Have Been Doubts on Whether Jesus Was Talking about the Rapture or the Second Coming: In the Rapture: Those Who Are Taken Are to Be with the Lord, Receiving the Reward at the Judgment Seat of Christ (1 Cor 3:10-15), Adorned as the Bride Christ to Attend the Wedding of the Lamb (Rev 19:9). Those Who Are Left Will Go through Tribulation. In the 2 nd Coming: Those Who Are Taken Are Killed by the Sword (Word) from the Mouth of Christ (Rev 19:21). Those Who Are Left Will Live into the Millennial Kingdom of God, a 1000 Years of Peace on Earth.
RAPTURE OR SECOND COMING? Many Believe that Jesus Was Talking about the Second Coming in Matt 24:40-41, because The Bulk of the 1 st Half of Olivet Discourse Talks about the Signs before the Second Coming (Matt 24:4-31). The Judgments for the Servants (24:42-51; 25:14-30) and the Served (25:31-46) Mention Throwing the Disobedient to the Darkness or Eternal Fire, Where They Will Gnash their Teeth (24:51; 25:30, 41). This Seems to Be Salvation Based on Works, Inconsistent to the Church Age Principle of Salvation by Faith Alone. So They Must Be Related to the Tribulation, Which Is the Last Old Testament Period Realized in the End Time (the 70 th Week of Daniel).
RAPTURE OR SECOND COMING? However, the Hebrew Matthew Makes It Definite that Jesus Was Talking about the Rapture, Not the Second Coming, because the Taken Are Righteous, and the Left Behind Are Not: 40 Then if there shall be two ploughing in a field, one righteous and the other evil, the one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding at a mill; one will be taken and the other left. This is because the angels at the end of the world will remove the stumbling blocks from the world and will separate the good from the evil. The Underlined Sentences Are Left Out of the Greek Matthew. They Indicate that the Taken Are Righteous and Good. They Are the Stumbling Blocks (Restrainers) to Judging the World.
THE STRUCTURE OF THE 2 ND HALF OF THE OLIVET DISCOURSE The First Half of the Olivet Discourse Has as Clear Structure in Chiasm: Backdrop (24:1-2); Q1, Q2a, Q2b (24:3); A2b (24:24:4-31), A2a (24:32-33), A1 (24:34) Reminder (24:35-36). The Second Half of the Olivet Discourse Also Has a Clear Structure: The End of the Church Age Is Like Noah s Days (24:37-39) The Rapture Is Removing the Restrainer to Wrath (24:40-41) Preparation for the Rapture (Jew& Gentile): The Need of Being Prepared to the Rapture (24:42-51) The Key for the Preparation for the Rapture (25:1-13) Preparation for the Second Coming (Jew and Gentile): The Standard of Judging the Servants (25:14-30) The Standard of Judging the Served (25:31-46)