Date: December 2004 Title: “I Want to be Left Behind” (II)

     After (hopefully) tweaking your interest last month by asserting that, when Christ returns, I want to be "left behind" because of what I see in Jesus' parable of the Dragnet (Matthew 13:47-50), let me follow-up on that.  Don't get me wrong - when Jesus does return for His people (1Thessalonians 4:13-18; Hebrews 9:28), I definitely want to be in that crowd.  However, I swallowed the popular dispensational "rapture" notion totally, on the basis of what Hal Lindsey wrote, but the more I collected and analyzed the various passages of Scripture concerning Christ's return, the less I could buy that scenario.  The parable of the Dragnet is evidence #1 in support of my contention that living Christians will not be (and do not want to be) the first folks "taken out" when Jesus returns.

    What is "the Rapture"? - Dispensationalism actually divides Jesus' return into two phases, seven years apart (with that much time between "phases," it should be the 2^nd and 3^rd Coming!).  The first alleged "phase" is usually called "the Rapture" (specifically, the "pre-tribulation rapture") - Jesus allegedly returns invisibly (as in Jehovah's Witness and Preterism teaching) and suddenly snatches all living Christians out of the world (usual proof-texts cited are Matthew 24:40-41; 1Thessalonians 4:13-18) to spare them from what is claimed to come next.  This sudden disappearance of millions of living Christians from the world is, supposedly, followed by seven years of "tribulation," culminating in the "Battle of Armegeddon" and this is brought to an end by the second "phase" - Christ's visible return in glory.  So what's wrong with this picture?  Plenty.

    Why the "Pre-trib Rapture" is false teaching – For evidence #2, read Matthew 24:40-41 and (without importing any prior beliefs into what you read) answer this question: does the passage identify "who" is taken and who is left?  Actually it doesn't - it would help some if we were told "where" the taken are headed for, but no help is given in the text on this either.  However, if we do the right thing and look at these verses in their larger literary context, we do get some help.  Go back and read Matthew 24:35-41 and the fog will begin to clear.  In this passage, Jesus clearly associated the end of heaven and earth with "the coming of the Son of Man" (more on that later) and compared it, in certain ways, with the days of Noah.  The similarity He emphasized is that, prior to the event, the unrighteous were going about the normal affairs of everyday life and "they" did not understand until the flood came and "took them all away."  On the other hand, Noah and his family were very aware of what was coming and had been involved in the necessary preparations long before the flood began.  Here is the question and Jesus' lesson - who was "taken away" in the flood?  Simple, those who "did not understand" prior to the event - the unrighteous.  "Who" remained when the flood was over?  Simple, Noah and his family remained to repopulate the cleansed earth.

    Are you ready for this?  "So shall the coming of the Son of Man be" - two folks will be in the field or grinding and they will be suddenly separated.  However, as with the parable of the dragnet (Matthew 13:47-50) that we looked at in the previous article, the same lesson seems clear.  At Jesus' return, the unrighteous will be "taken out" and this appears to happen first.  Why am I so certain of this?  Again, just listen to Jesus.

    Evidence #3 - Next, read the parable of the Tares and Wheat (Matthew 13:24-30) and Jesus' explanation of it (Matthew 13:36-43).  He tells a parable built upon agricultural information well-understood in those days.  There was a kind of weed that looked very much like wheat prior to the bursting forth of the heads of grain, however, by the time you could distinguish the wheat/weeds by the grain the roots were so intertwined that you could not pull the weeds without uprooting the grain also.  Thus, Jesus said, let both of them grow together until harvest time.  Everything will be pulled up at harvest time, then the separation occurs and Jesus specifically noted (v. 30) how the whole process would begin - "first gather up the tares" (NAS) or "collect the weeds" (NIV).

    The Apostles were a little foggy on this one also, so they came around later for an explanation and Jesus laid it out for them.  After identifying each element, Jesus noted clearly that, at the end of the age, He will send out his angels to first "gather out" the trouble-makers, after which the righteous will shine forth.  Again, forget trying to "read into the passage" things you already believe and just listen to what Jesus said.  In three separate teachings, Jesus specifically said that at the end of the age/heaven and earth/etc. the ones who will be "taken out, taken away, gathered out first" are the unrighteous!

    Now, are you beginning to understand why I am a bit uncomfortable with the popular doctrine of the "rapture," which asserts that Christians alive at the time of Jesus return are going to be the first ones "taken out"?  That may be a very popular notion and always good for selling lots of books, but that is not what Jesus taught.  And, that is not what Paul taught either.  The other passage commonly cited by "secret Rapture" advocates is First Thessalonians 4:13-18.  Next month, we will take a look at this one also and ponder further what the New Testament really teaches about the return of Jesus.