37 As were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. 42 Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.
As I've mentioned before (and as you can see in the side-bar) I've been reading Ben
Witherington III's book The Living Word of God. In his chapter, "Truth Telling as an Art-Form" BW3 uses the above passage as an example of how certain texts are often abused.
Often it is only verses 40-42 that are quoted from this passage and what is left out is the context of the analogy that Jesus is using: Noah.
For years these 6 verses have been used to describe "the Rapture." As I read BW3's interpretation of this passage I felt like I was slapped across the face! What is described here is so NOT rapturous! In fact, it is very much the opposite of what we picture when we think of the rapture. After thinking through this I was very much frustrated that I had never really read this passage properly before.
Often it is only verses 40-42 that are quoted from this passage and what is left out is the context of the analogy that Jesus is using: Noah."As were the days of Noah...they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man."
What is described in the following verses where two people are side-by-side and one person is "taken" has nothing to do with 1 Thess 4 or any other passage that supposedly describes the Rapture. What Jesus describes here is the opposite.
Two people will be side-by-side and the people who will be "taken" will be those who (as in the days of Noah) are"swept away" in the flood of judgement.
After all, that's exactly what happened with Noah. The righteous (Noah and his family) were left behind to restart God's creation while the unrighteous were destroyed.
And so, it is not the righteous who will be taken away... it is the righteous who will be left behind! It is the unrighteous who will be swept away.
So, if you want to keep your ideas of the Rapture you'll have to use different scriptures than this one!
I don't know why I had never thought of this passage this way before. Now it seems so obvious, and it makes way more sense in the full context of Jesus' teachings on end times... too much dispensationalism in my Sunday School I guess!! :)
So, what do you think:
What do you think about this interpretation of Mt. 24?
Have you ever had something like this happen where you've thought of a certain passage a certain way most of your life only to have it flipped around on you?
What other passages do you think are often misinterpreted?
6 comments:
Interesting! Then what does the "coming of the Son of Man" refer to in v.37,42? Coming to judge?
As you likely know, Jesus' favourite moniker, "the Son of Man", has it's roots in Daniel 7.
In Daniel 7 "one like a Son of Man" approaches the throne of God and receives dominion over all of creation.
This is what Jesus is talking about. Jesus, as the Son of Man, has received "all authority in heaven and on earth" (Mt 28:18) and when He returns all of the unrighteous will be swept away before Him so that He can rule His good creation.
Oh, and Yes, judging by how this passage ends (vs. 48-51) I would say that a rather unpleasant judgement awaits those who were unprepared (and thus were swept away) for the return of The Son of Man.
I can see how we would be on some shaky ground to try to "prove" a rapture from this text, but I'm not sure your present interpretation of this passage is on rock solid ground either.
In the whole context of the passage- the chapter and the following chapter as well- the main point seems to be that Jesus is telling his disciples (and in turn us-) how to recognize the end times and that we should be ready for those times to come- espescially as we see them approaching (this generation will not pass away once we see these things- espescially the abomination in the temple)- THEREFORE- be ready because-- no one knows the time or the hour...
the world will be just like in Noah's time-- eating drinking, marrying etc and Jesus will come like a thief in the night.
True it does say one will be snatched away-- but It does not seem to me to be the point of comparing it to noah's day- that it is the wicked that will be snatched away- we really don't know WHO will be snatched away...it seems to be saying to me that the point is that noone knows the hour or day- just like in Noah's time. It's supported by the following chapter where the 10 virgins are waiting- some wisely others not so much. There it's the wise ones that get taken away. In the following parable about the talents- again the point seems to be- Get Ready- Be Ready- Be waiting- Watch for the signs- don't get caught unaware and unwaiting.
Even with the sheep and the goats- the point reiterates again- live the Christ-life out- don't be deceived, Be the elect and live like the elect- regardless of if and or when the elect are moved from their present location in a twinkling of an eye...
Now I don't think one can build a solid pre-trib-pre-mill rapture theology based on this passage either-- but I also don't think it is solid enough to build an anti-rapture of the righteous theology on...
The WJH gold game is starting now--- I gotta go...
...sigh... I guess we'll have to settle for silver :(
Anyway, thanks for your insights, Mike. I agree with you that the emphasis in these chapters is not so much on the HOW of end-times so much as the MAKE SURE THAT YOU'RE READY 'CAUSE WE DON'T KNOW WHEN IT'S COMING aspect.
All I'm really trying to say is that people have often pointed to this passage as a description of the rapture but that there is an alternate interpretation of this passage that (I would argue) is more true to the text.
Also, I'm going to disagree with you about the parable of the 10 virgins. I don't think the wise ones get taken away. Rather it is the unwise ones who LEAVE THEIR POST AND GET SHUT OUT OF THE PARTY. Because they weren't ready they wandered from their purpose and they are left on the outside. It is the wise who REMAIN on the watch who welcome the Bridegroom and enter the party. And I don't think that entering the party constitutes any sort of theology of rapture. Rather (I would say) it is the faithful entering into God's New Creation.
And in the parable of the Talents it is the wicked servant who is cast "into the outer darkness" by God. It is not the Faithful who are taken away but the wicked who are cast outside in judgement.
And again, in the Goats & Sheep parable God says to the faithless "Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire..." So we see God returning, the faithful remaining with Him and the faithless being cast aside.
Thus my own humble interpretation of these passages (acknowledging that basing your eschatology on parables is shaky at best... and that the emphasis of these passages is NOT HOW, but on being prepared) cannot support the rapture.
But I may be missing something!
So keep the comments coming!!
Ahh man! Now I can't use this verse to justify my sing Larry Norman's "I wish we'd all been ready." : )
- Nate McC
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