The "Left Behind" books cite this teaching to support a popular evangelical idea of "the rapture." From a fresh reading of this teaching, what is Jesus telling us?
"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away.
2007-12-02 05:33:04 · 11 answers · asked by Bruce 7 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
"That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come."
2007-12-02 05:33:40 · update #1
I believe it is better to be left because as in the days of Noah so it is today. People are living as though no judgment is coming. They are indifferent just as the people of Noah's day. The fatal words are "they did not know until the flood came". Noah and his family represent those who are prepared for the Lords return. The Lord has been warning people for over 2000 years and people are being taken away every day in judgment swept away by the flood of death unprepared.
2007-12-02 06:17:33 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
Like everything in the bible, this question can easily be left to debate and interpreted any number of ways.
Taken may indeed mean The rapture so many envision and hope for. I believe this to be the popular mojority belief. Then there is the possibility that the ones who are taken are being taken away to be judged. This idea seems to go against every other idea of Christ returning like a thief in the night to claim his bride the church.
In most cases it is shown how the Earth is left ravaged with plagues and war. It is also apparent that in the end times the presence of God and Love on this planet are diminishing because of the multitude of transgressions against The Father, The Son, and the Church (or body of Christ).
It seems that being left behind on a planet of chaos,war, and plagues is more of a hell and punishment enough, designed in a way to bring those un-saved towards repentance.
2007-12-02 05:50:27 · answer #2 · answered by Curlyc+ 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The problem with books and movies they don't go by God's Word but they go by what makes money. Matthew 24: 40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Matthew 24: 41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Matthew 24: 42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. This is talking about the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and it is not talking about the appearing of the Lord in the clouds to take the Church out. The one taken is taken to hell. The one left will get to go into the earthly kingdom on earth. Look at this verse. Matthew 24: 47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. He is going to make the one that is left ruler over his goods. We know that this is not talking about the one that is taken because the one that is taken can not take anything with him. The one that is left gets to take all his goods into the kingdom.
2007-12-02 05:50:35 · answer #3 · answered by Ray W 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
This passage causes a lot of debate, and most people today interpret it as part of the Rapture concept. I think Jesus is simply creating a metaphor for an unexpected event. Being taken away may be due to death or some catastrophe, as in the Noah story. In our own lives, loved ones are killed in car accidents or sudden illnesses. Being left behind may be a good thing. These things happen and we should be prepared. Jesus's point is that we know he will return, and we should be prepared for it, even though we never know when that will be.
2007-12-02 05:43:21 · answer #4 · answered by Snow Globe 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
I think it is better to be prepared....
Jesus was always speaking in parables, methapors and the like. Things can be written and read in a certain way according to an interpreter's view or the reader's view. The tone of voice used with these words can never be realized.
The passage is not centered on who is left behind or who is taken,.. Where they are taken or where they have been left behind,... the passage, the conversation is a WARNING.
We are forewarned to PREPARE. Take heed, we are already at better position than our forefathers during the time of Noah. God spoke to Noah. In our time, He gave us, Jesus, His own son, His very own Word became flesh. Take heed and prepare.
Everything will happen according to KAIROS (in God's own time).
Jesus is coming, thus we prepare and we wait.
Season of Advent starts,... let us once again renew our faith in God, let us again be reborn with Jesus, the Christ.
2007-12-02 07:49:21 · answer #5 · answered by coco_loco 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
No rapture
"Shall pass"... Because they shall be changed at the end of the world into a new heaven and new earth.
Gospel According to Saint Matthew
Chapter 24
36 But of that day and hour no one knoweth, not the angels of heaven, but the Father alone.
2007-12-03 06:55:47 · answer #6 · answered by cashelmara 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Wow! Never looked at it that way. I always assumed it'd be better to be taken away, but looking at Noah's ark, that's probably not what we should desire! By the way, if my memory serves me right, the Left Behind books talk about people going to heaven after receiving the mark of the beast.
2007-12-02 05:44:03 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
Theologians debate about how that passage should be interpreted. Some say that those who get taken are taken away to the white throne judgment of damnation while others say that those who are taken are rescued from this world before God pours out his wrath on the unsaved.
2007-12-02 05:37:29 · answer #8 · answered by Martin S 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I always thought of those passages as describing the rapture of the Lord's church and I would want to be taken, not "left behind"!
2007-12-02 05:39:07 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
According to Matthew 13.40 it is the "tares" which are gathered out of the wheat and destroyed.
It's better to be left. We aren't going to live in "heaven" forever. We are going to be living on this earth. The evil will be removed.
2007-12-02 07:35:40 · answer #10 · answered by NXile 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋