Earth's Final Evacuation
Matthew 24: 37-42
37 But as the days of Noah 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.
42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
Reference Text
Luke 17:26-37
Is There a Secret Rapture ?
The Conflict of the ages is described in -
Genesis 3:15
“And I will put enmity between thee and
the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his
heel.”
This conflict continues till the end of time, we will not escape it and the closer we get to Christ’s second coming, the more intense it will be. We must go through it, then to be rewarded at Jesus Christ’s second coming.
Daniel 12:1,2
“And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.”
Supporting Verses ( must read )
- Revelation 7:13,14
- Revelation 22:11,12
- 1 Corinthians 15:50-54
- 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18
These passages of scripture paint a picture that is worth more than a thousand words, the only
way we can get to heaven is when Christ comes to take us to heaven. Not even those who die go
to heaven immediately.
Hebrews 9:27, 28
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
Even the dead must stand in the judgment to receive their reward, whether to eternal life or eternal death. As an example of this we can look to
Acts 2:32-36
This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.
33 Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.
34 For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand,
35 Until I make thy foes thy footstool.
36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made the same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.
Jesus himself shows us the principle of death and resurrection, he did not go to heaven upon death but at the call of God he came forth. So the dead will only go to heaven when God calls them forth.
There is a principle in the bible concerning the world and the separation of the children of God from the children of the devil. Both groups will experience Christ’s second coming and their rewards will be given. In other words when the righteous is caught up to meet Jesus in the air the wicked will not continue to live on the earth as they are accustomed to but they will be struck down by Jesus’s brightness which is part of their reward for keeping sin in their lives. Let’s look at a few passages of scripture,
Joel 3:13
Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.
Mark 4:29
But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.
Matthew 13:24-30
24 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:
25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
27 So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?
28 He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?
29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.
30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.
This parable describes the two types of people that will be alive on the earth. The wheat represents the children of God and the tares represent the children of the devil. The righteous will be taken to heaven while the wicked will receive eternal death.
Consider another example of this principle
Matthew 25:32-34,41
31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
Thus far we have searched for the bibles position on how a person will get to heaven in these last days and so far the only way to get to heaven is when Christ comes to take us there, if Christ doesn’t come for us no one is leaving earth to get there.
Also the righteous must go through a time of trouble and then be delivered by Jesus’s second coming; there is no escape from it except death. The bible doesn’t tell us of any other way. And no one will reach to heaven before the other all those who are bound for glory will go together.
Hebrews 11:37-40
37 They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;
38 (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
39 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:
40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.
Perfect in this sense meaning: to make perfect, complete, to carry through completely, to accomplish, finish, bring to an end, add what is yet wanting in order to render a thing full, to bring to the end (goal) proposed, bring to a close or fulfillment by event.
They won’t experience the end without us and we won’t experience the end without them. I think we have established without a doubt the manner in which we will go to heaven and we also have just not one verse but the bible’s view as well in the form of multiple verses from all over the bible, with both the Old and New Testament. We have employed the principle in Isaiah 28: 9, 10 precepts upon precept, line upon line.
So if the bible is clear on how we are to go to heaven, which will be at Christ’s second coming how could Matthew 24:37-42 or Luke 17:26-37 support the doctrine of the secret rapture. Does the bible contradict itself? NO!!!!!! I believe we need to revisit these passages and examine them closely.
Let’s look at Luke 17:26-29 it says
‘And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.’
First thing to note what we have here is a comparison between the days of Noah and the end of time before Christ comes.
27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.
28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;
29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.
What happened in the days of Noah and Lot
So let’s examine what happened in the days of Noah and the days of Lot. The bible says that when Noah went into the ark, the flood came and destroyed the wicked, the wicked are the ones who were taken away, Noah and his family remained on the earth, so the wicked are taken the righteous are left.
Let’s examine what happen in the case of Lot. The bible says the same day Lot went out of Sodom God rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them. Again the wicked were destroyed and the righteous preserved. In other words the wicked are taken and the righteous are left. Verse 30 says, ‘ Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.’
According to the Google online dictionary a comparison is the consideration between two things with ‘the quality of being similar or equivalent’, so, how do we identify a comparison between two things?. Now if we look at Luke 17:26 it tells us that AS the days of noe, so shall it be in the last days.
The word AS is unmistakably telling us that it is a comparison and since contained in a comparison is the quality of being similar or equivalent then what happened in Noah’s day will in a similar way take place in the end of time.
So what happen in Noah’s day, the wicked were taken and the righteous were left, what happened in Lot’s day the wicked were taken and the righteous were left. Therefore, in our time, since we are living in the end of time, the wicked will be taken away and the righteous will be left.
To re-iterate, when the righteous is preserved the wicked will not continue to carry on life as normal. So if we compare Matthew 24:40, 41 and Luke 17:34-36 to the days of Noah and Lot we must come to the conclusion that those who were taken are the wicked and those who are left are the righteous.
So in these two passages two types of people were being discussed, two in a bed one taken, wicked and the other left righteous. Two in a field, one taken, wicked and the other left righteous. Two grinding at the mill, one taken, wicked and the other left righteous, a simple comparison.
The bible is full of parallels so let’s examine a few. Luke 17:34, two men in a bed, now what does a bed represent; sleep, do you remember the ten virgins Matthew 25:1-13. All ten slept but those who were wise or righteous were ready to meet the bridegroom and they were preserved while the foolish or wicked virgins will be taken away by destruction.
Luke 17:35, two women are grinding, they are working, in prophecy what does a woman represent, a church, Revelation 12 and 17. A pure woman a pure church as in revelation 12 and a harlot represents an apostate church. So applying the parallelism from the days of Noah and Lot the apostate church, the harlot, will be taken away by destruction and the true church the pure woman will be left preserved by God.
Luke 17:36, two men in a field, can we see any significance in this. Matthew 13:30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.
We see here just as two men are in the field together the wheat and the tares will grow in the field together but at the harvest the tares are taken away and burned and the wheat are left and preserved. One man is taken the tare and the other is left the wheat. So we see here that once we apply the comparison we can get the full meaning of these passages.
Its meaning cannot be based on just one text in isolation but must be examined in its proper context in relation to the chapter as a whole.
What these bible verses are telling us, in the day of our Lord there will only be two classes of people, the wicked and the righteous that’s why Matthew 24:42 admonishes us to watch therefore because we don’t know what hour our Lord cometh. To watch is to be alert, awake and aware.
The Grande Finale
Luke 17:37 ends with a rather bizarre statement. The disciples after hearing what is to take place they ask Jesus where all these things will happen and Jesus’ answer seems strange and unrelated to the discussion that went before, but again we need to examine it closely because there is a profound truth here. Luke says where the body is there the eagles will gather.
Now the translation in Luke is not quite clear or so it may seem, so let’s go, line upon line, precept upon precept, Matthew 24:28. It reads wheresoever the carcass is, this gives us some insight. Instead of body it says carcass. Now in both cases the Hebrew word used can be translated as carcass but Luke chose to use body. Now the beauty in this is that Matthew tells us it’s a carcass so we know it’s something dead but what a dog, a cat, a cow.
But Luke amplifies it by saying a body so when we look at both texts together we can now say with confidence that it refers to dead a man. Because it’s a carcass we can also state with confidence that when the bible says eagles it is referring to vultures because eagles don’t eat dead flesh.
So the text is understood to be saying where the dead bodies are the vultures will gather. One thing we know about vultures is they bring finality to whatever is dead, they bring down the final curtains, and that is something to consider.
What is death equated to in the bible,
- Deuteronomy 30:15
‘See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;’ - Romans 8:6
‘For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.’ - 1Corinthinians 15:21, 22
‘For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.' - 1Corinthians 15:56
‘The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.’ - Romans 6:23
‘For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.’
Death is synonymous with sin so a dead body represents sin or the presence of sin. Since we established earlier that vultures bring finality to everything, they represent the judgment of God. Just as the vultures will consume the carcass, it is God at the judgment that will destroy the sinners and sin.
So after the discourse between Christ and his disciples and Christ tells them about the two classes of people and what their rewards will be they ask him where will this take place and his response is, where the sinners are there the judgment will be. That place is earth.
It means therefore that no one leaves earth before the judgment. The judgment takes place right here. It is therefore safe to conclude without a doubt that there will be no secret rapture, no one will be leaving this planet before Christ comes.
In closing I want to leave with you,
2 Peter 3:10, 11
‘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.
11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness’
