"...one shall be taken, and the other left."
Matthew 24:37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, 39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. 41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
Luke 17:34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. 35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left. 36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
What did Jesus mean by that?
He often used physical statements like this to teach us a spiritual truth that he wanted us to understand.
Do you understand?
Christ makes several references to one person being taken and another left behind.
The people who promote "The Rapture Theory" use these verses out of context to tell us Christ is going to come and take us Christians up to heaven prior to the tribulation described in Revelations.
They either haven't read the Bible themselves or they're just selling books to Christians who also haven't bothered read the little Black Book!
Jesus is teaching us a spiritual
lesson about what is going to happen prior to his return?
Revelation 12:7 And there
was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and
the dragon fought and his angels,
8 And prevailed not; neither
was their place found any more in heaven. 9 And the great
dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which
deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his
angels were cast out with him.
Satan and his angel are to be cast down to earth five months before Christ returns. See Rev. 9:1-12 & 1 Thessalonians 2:1-4 below.
Revelation 9:1 And the fifth
angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to
him was given the key of the bottomless pit.
2 And he opened the bottomless
pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace;
and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.
3 And there came out of the
smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions
of the earth have power.
4 And it was commanded them
that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing,
neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in
their foreheads.
5 And to them it was given
that they should not kill them, but that they
should be tormented five months: and
their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.
6 And in those days shall
men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death
shall flee from them.
7 And the shapes of the locusts
were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as
it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.
8 And they had hair as the
hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.
9 And they had breastplates,
as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the
sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.
10 And they had tails like
unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and
their power was to hurt men five months.
11 And
they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose
name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his
name Apollyon.
12 One woe is past; and,
behold, there come two woes more hereafter.
Note: These things described in Revelation are to happen spiritually, not physically. See Revelations
Let's check with Paul. He can help us understand.
Satan will be here claiming to be Christ before Christ returns.
2 Thessalonians 2:1 Now we
beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
2 That ye be not soon shaken
in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter
as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. 3 Let
no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there
come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of
perdition; 4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that
is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the
temple of God, shewing himself that
he is God.
Paul said Christ will not come before Satan.
You
just read it in the Word of God, believe it!
Matthew 24:37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, 39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. 41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
"...as the days of Noe were, ..."
1
Corinthians 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them {all
our fathers-see verse 1}for
ensamples, and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends
of the world are come.
Christ is telling us that some people are going to be taken and others left.
The question seems to be which are to be taken and which are to be left?
The answer is "...as the days of Noe were, ..."
In Noah's flood all the descendants of eighth day man who had been marrying angels, who had left their first estate, were the people who were swept away by the flood waters.
Jude 1:6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
Genesis 6:1 And it came to
pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters
were born unto them,
2 That the
sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took
them wives of all which they chose.
3 And the LORD said, My spirit
shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days
shall be an hundred and twenty years. 4 There were giants in the
earth in those days; and also after that, when
the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children
to them, the same became mighty men which
were of old, men of renown.
Luke 17:26 And
as it was in the days of Noe, so shall
it be also in the days of the Son of man. 27 They
did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until
the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the
flood came, and destroyed them all.
What Christ is saying is that the people who believe Satan's flood of lies (especially the one where he claims he is Christ) when he is cast down to earth are going to be taken and the people who endure to the end, waiting for Jesus to really return will be left to receive eternal reward i.e.. the first resurrection to eternal life!
Revelation 12:7 And there
was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and
the dragon fought and his angels,
8 And prevailed not; neither
was their place found any more in heaven. 9 And the great dragon
was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which
deceiveth
the whole world (read
flood of lies):he
was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with
him.
Mark 13:12 Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death. Those who believe Satan's lies, rapture theories etc. will convince many of their brethren that Satan is Christ, as he claims, costing them their immortal souls, i.e. put to death.
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. 14 But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,)
"...one
(the one who believes the flood of lies) shall
be taken,
and the other
(the one who endures unto Christ's actual return) left."
I know, that's not what that best selling novel says.
But it is what the Bible says!!!!!!
Believe it!!!!
Revelation 12:12 Therefore
rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of
the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great
wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.
13 And when the dragon saw
that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted
the woman (Christian
church/bride of Christ)
which brought forth the man child.
14 And to the woman were
given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness,
into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half
a time, from the face of the serpent.
15 And the
serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he
might cause her to be carried away of the
flood.
i.e., Taken first, not to endure til the end!
16 And the earth helped the
woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which
the dragon cast out of his mouth.
17 And the dragon was wroth
with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which
keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
We repeat "...one
(the one who believes the flood of lies) shall
be taken,
and the other
(the one who endures unto Christ's actual return) left."
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