One Shall Be Taken

[For all those who have foolishly bought into Satan’s great delusion of a “pre-trib rapture,” the passage contained in Matthew 24:40-42 is the premier “proof-text” in support of the utterly false deception that “We’ll be taken out by a secret rapture before anything bad happens.” As is nearly always the case in such devilish conspiracies to corrupt scripture, a false conclusion is created from a passage slickly removed from context while perfectly ignoring all scripture which would prove the foolishness of the conclusion otherwise (see: the bible study, “Pre-Tribulation Rapture”). Once the idea is planted, regardless of its absurdity, it becomes nearly impossible to remove the false association from the mind of the person who is desperate to keep the false doctrine it supports.]

The Proof-Text: (in its entirety)

Matthew 24:40-42 “Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.”

[We are going to look at all of Matthew 24 and the first part of 25, and also Mark 13 and Luke 17, but first we will examine the immediate context of this “secret pre-trib proof-text,” the one verse immediately before, and the one verse immediately after it, in Matthew 24.]

Λ v. 39 “And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”

This verse, for obvious reasons, is usually not included when the “proof text” is quoted, because:

(a) When the flood “took them” it had nothing to do with a rapture;

(b) and when the “flood came” it was a BAD thing, NOT A GOOD THING!

Λ v. 43 “But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.”

This verse is likewise typically not included as part of the “proof” (for obvious reasons), but if someone brings it up, it is, of course, automatically assumed here by the “pre-trib” folks:

(1) that “the goodman of the house” is the person who is going to get “raptured”

(a) (which is a GOOD thing)

(b) (and which, of course, the goodman wants to have happen);

(2) that “the thief” is the Lord (who is going to “rapture” him);

(3) and that the proper conclusion to be assumed is that by “watching for it,” wanting it, and “expecting it” (the “pre-tribulation rapture”) one can be assured that it will happen for him because:

(4) “Believing will make it so.”

Λ HOWEVER, (here’s the problem)

(1) “the goodman of the house” is a hypothetical person WHO IS ABOUT TO GET ROBBED

(a) (which is a BAD thing)

(b) (and which the “goodman” wants to PREVENT)

(2) the Lord is never identified as “a thief,” and he is not “the thief” in Matthew 24:43;

John 10:10 “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”

v. 1 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.”

(a) It can only properly be said that the Lord will come “as a thief”;

(b) and (even then) the Lord will only do so for those who are NOT WATCHING!

Λ Revelation 3:3 “If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.”

1st Thessalonians 5:2 “For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.”

v. 4 “But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.”

(d) and lastly, when the day does come, it will NOT be for a secret pre-tribulation rapture!

2nd Peter 3:10 “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.”

(3) By doing what he is told to do, WATCHING, “the goodman of the house” will be able to PREVENT the thing being discussed, which is the DESTRUCTION OF HIS HOUSE and the suffering of great LOSS!

(4) there will not be a “pre-trib rapture,” regardless of whether you believe in it or not, and wishing for it will NOT make it so! (It will only make you out to be a liar. – Romans 3:4)

Matthew 24:1-51

(A) This entire chapter 24 in Matthew is a description and warning of a GREAT EVIL to come in the last days.

(B) This chapter provides the most basic of plans in how to survive the coming evil.

(a) (“To be forewarned is to be forearmed.”)

Matthew 24:13 “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”

Mark 13:13 “And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”

v. 2 “And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”

[Many false religions teach that this only refers back to what Titus did when he sacked Jerusalem.]

(See: Matthew 24:15)

v. 3 “And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, [1] when shall these things be? and [2] what shall be the sign of thy coming, and [3] of the end of the world?”

[This is three different questions and a request for three different answers, which the Lord provides. “Pre-tribbers just pretend that there is only one question and answer: “the sign of thy coming”!]

v. 4 “And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.”

[Almost everyone is now thoroughly deceived.]

v. 5 “For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.”

[This is not warning you about those who claim THEY are Christ (you’d spot them as phonies instantly), but about those who like wolves in sheep’s clothing within the flock, posing as Christians, admit that Jesus is Christ but are poised behind the pulpit to deceive in matters such as this very issue! They set a trap and you step into it.]

v. 10 “And then [1] shall many be offended, and [2] shall betray one another, and [3] shall hate one another.”

QUESTION: Who shall be “offended” at whom? Who “shall betray” whom? Who “shall hate” whom?

ANSWER: False Christians shall turn against real ones.

Matthew 10:34-36 “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.”

v. 12 “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.”

QUESTION: Against whom shall “the love of many shall wax cold”?

ANSWER: Against the Lord.

v. 16 “Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains. . . .”

Matthew 2:13 “And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.”

NOTICE: They didn’t get “raptured:” they ran for it!

Matthew 10:23 “But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.”

Mark 13:14 [Same thing as Matthew 24:16 and Luke 21:21.]

v. 18 “Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.”

QUESTION: Are you being told this because you won’t need your clothes for the coming “rapture?”

ANSWER: No! Think, for once in your life! This entire chapter is a WARNING of great evil to come, revealing a time of great falling away into horrifying apostasy, where families are torn apart and betray each other to death. You’re being told the only sensible way to respond to the forces of antichrist coming to pick you up: RUN! or do nothing and be “taken” by those who were sent to get you. (Your name is on a list, exactly as it was when Christian dissidents were rounded up in the Soviet Union, in Nazi Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Rome – as it always has been, and as it always will be as long as Satan remains “the god of this world” and there are any left on earth who will not serve him!)

Luke 21:16-19 “And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake. . . .In your patience possess ye your souls.” [You’re going to have to last longer than YOU thought, not less than I thought.]

Psalm 79:2 “The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meat unto the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth.”

Micah 3:1-3 “Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them; and they break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron.”

Daniel 7:21 “I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them. . . .”

Revelation 13:5-7 “. . . and power was given unto him . . . to make war with the saints, and to overcome them. . . .”

v. 40 “Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.”

NOTICE: This does not say that anyone will be raptured here!

(1) just because a person is “taken” does not mean he got “raptured;” and

(2) just because a person is “taken” does not mean he wanted to go!

John 21:18-19 “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God.”

Mark 13:11-37 (16) “And let him that is in the field not turn back again for to take up his garment.”

Luke 17:26-37 “In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back.”

[The point of Matthew 24 “verses 42 & 43 is that you should learn to watch concerning the signs of the times so that you will be prepared for this time when it comes and will not suffer loss. (Those who are deceived by the “pre-trib rapture” hoax think being prepared means “doing their rapture exercises!”)]

(Matthew 16:1-3 “O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?”)

Matthew 25:1-13 “They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them. . . . Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.”

[You don’t know it, but the problem for you is NOT that the Lord’s coming to rescue us will come sooner than I think, but that it will come LATER than YOU think.]

1st Peter 4:12-13 “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you. . . .”

1st Thessalonians 3:1-5 “. . . no man should be moved by these afflictions: for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto. For verily, when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation. . . .”