The Olivet Alternative
Few subjects are more controversial than the subject of the rapture of the church, whether it exists and when. Among those are the subject of whether or not the rapture is mentioned or implied in Jesus' private discussion with disciples on the Mount of Olives.
There are strong emotions on both sides of the argument (and boy, I do mean argument). Of the half dozen nuanced variations on how to approach this passage, in the interest of brevity, let's make some assumptions. If the rapture is explicit in the passage it is usually in the wrong location. How's that for stirring things up? There is sometimes preconceptions within a school of thought called Preterism. Post Tribulation can be an ambiguous title these days. There are some variations we might easily get lost within.
A position we examine here is the firm and concrete position that nohow, nowise can there be rapture in the passage because Jesus is speaking to Jews and this is therefore a distinctly Jewish passage and perspective.
I would just begin with the question that, if the weight of other passages teach us there is a church and a church age, how does that fit between the lines of this passage? I mean, we know from Daniel 9 that we are looking at the 70th Week of Daniel. Jesus even said "spoken of by the prophet Daniel." This also is a time that the prophet Jeremiah referred to as “the time of Jacob's [aka Israel's] trouble” (Jeremiah 30:7). In this very passage Jesus referred to these events as end times events.
I will not contest at this point that the audience and passage are Jewish and not directed at the church. In fact, we might say this about almost every passage in all the gospels. There yet will be no church until several days after Christ's resurrection. But this, like many passages, is directed to his believing disciples who eventually become founding members of the church. In fact, if the church were never intended as an audience for the Gospel of Matthew, then why did the Holy Spirit inspire Matthew to include Jesus' announcement that he will build his church, in chapter 16 of Matthew? Be that as it may, let's assume we are looking at a distinctly Jewish audience, and events, as we are talking about the question from his disciples at the head of the chapter when they asked, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
Now from what I can tell, Jesus is answering all the way through verse 14 the nature and escalation of events that lay before the Jews. He likens the intensity and build-up of events to a woman in labor and about to deliver, and in fact culminating in the delivery in a brief, Reader's Digest-type summary up to where he says in verse 14, “and then the end will come.”
So having offered a general and broad sweep of what is ahead and preparing them for trouble, Jesus backs up in verse 15 when he says, “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place...” And then Jesus talks about Antichrist standing in the Holy Place as spoken of in Daniel. This would be in the mid-tribulation after the 3.5 years of false peace in the peace agreement Daniel spoke of that we also read about in Revelation (bearing in mind, these disciples did not yet have the Book of Revelation).
Now, as is often the case with Biblical prophecies, there are often near and far fulfillment. But in this particular case we know Jesus wishes to express an answer directly to his disciples query about signs of the end and his coming. Do you know how we know this? For one, verse 21 says, “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.” If Jesus was only referring to 70 A.D. How do you have a still greater and more troublesome event in the last days, the Great Tribulation? He says those troubles have not been so great “no, and never will be.” So we know he is talking about the second half of Daniel's 70th Week of tribulation. Also, we know we cannot be looking at 70 A.D. because there have been World Wars since that time, far worse. No, the worst is yet to come.
So yes, this is the time of Jacob's Trouble. This is Romans 11 where Israel is once again grafted back in. But as with the prior summary Jesus gave them, he once again ends at his Second Coming in verse 30 with, “Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” Then verse 31 Jesus calls his angels together with trumpet call to gather the survivors of the Great Tribulation.
Having twice now offered summaries culminating in the end, his second coming, Jesus now gives his disciples another indicator; the sign of the fig tree beginning in verse 32, “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near.” From the Lord's use of the fig tree as emblematic of Israel on occasion in the Old Testament, we know Jesus is referring to a prophecy all too familiar to his Jewish disciples, if a bit mysterious, in the book of Ezekiel, chapters 36 and 37. This is the famous Dry Bones prophecy where deserted Israel will again bloom and God will flesh the nation of Israel out once again and make her great.
Why does Jesus provide this example? Because in verse 34 Jesus tells them, “this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.” What generation? Well the generation that sees the fulfillment of Ezekiel's Dry Bones prophecy and the fig tree of Israel again blooming. True, some say “this generation” refers to the disciples at that time. We would ask, when was the land abandoned, re-fleshed and again blooming? After Jerusalem was sacked in 70 A.D. Israel never did recover. In fact, Rome doubled down on her destruction, even changing the name of the land in an attempt to obliterate its existence entirely. Also, if "all these things" are supposed to take place in the generation of the disciples, where is the Second Coming of verse 30? Oops!
Others have said, “this generation” is a broad term simply referring to Israel. Again, if this is the case then Jesus dodged rather than answered their question. The context answers the question and tells us the generation that sees all these things, including Israel again blooming, will not pass away before all these things come to pass. The Jews have been trickling into the land from the beginning of the 20th century. The U.N. officially recognized Israel as a nation in May of 1948. What generation is watching all these things come to pass? The last generation. Good news indeed!
So once again, Jesus gave us another brief summary, actually a sign, that culminates in the coming of the Son of Man. Then Jesus takes another run at end times events again.
If the Rapture of the church is not in Matthew 24 at all, then I have a couple of difficulties. Verse 36 to 44 is a curiosity on several levels:
36 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. 37 For 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. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
1) v. 36 says, “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.” Yet in Revelation 12:6 “and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days.” Therefore, at least by mid trib, the beginning of the Great Tribulation, we know exactly the days. 1,260 of them. Actually that's wrong. In chapter 11 we know even sooner!
The question comes as to whether "The days of Noah" refers to the start of the Tribulation Week, or the end. Keep this in mind when considering. Will Life As Usual be the conditions at the beginning of the Tribulation judgment? Or will Life As Usual be the condition at the end so that folks are taken unawares by judgment while they are unaware of what is going on around them during Armageddon, massive island-sinking quakes, all water turned to blood, hundred pound hail, darkness and more than half the world has been destroyed? v. 3 says, “...the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months. 3 And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” Therefore we know that from the time of the two witnesses to the time they are killed is 1,260 days, and then we see “the woman” the Jewish remnant, fleeing to Petra for the other 1,260 days. Therefore, from the 2 Witnesses prophesying we have 2,520 days for the 2nd Coming. One might argue Jesus was strictly speaking of that specific time he was addressing his disciples, but if that were the case one could not strictly then say that it applies thus to our time. There are signs and markers for the 2nd Coming. Not so with the Rapture. I want to address the issue of the days of Noah but first things first, we need to look at the phrase “But concerning that day and hour no one knows.” This entire verse is a Hebraism for the Jewish Wedding Tradition. No one knowing, not the son, etc. but the father only is a reference to the bride awaiting the arrival of the bridegroom. It is called “The Taking.” (Which is what 'harpadzo' from the Greek means, or "catching away." From the Latin we say, "Rapture.") This is where the betrothal period is complete and the bridegroom comes to meet the bride partway and take her away to the room addition in his father's house. He'd left for an unspecified time to make a place for her. She is making herself ready. Once he thinks he has completed the room addition, he asks his father. His father must approve the addition to his home. In the tradition, the father may suggest changes and additions. This is why only the father knows. Then, when the father approves, he says, “Go get your bride.” The bridegroom then gets his best man (in Jesus' case, it will be John the Baptist) and leads a procession to her house. They are making a ruckus, typically about midnight. As they approach, there is the blowing of a trumpet and the best man shouts, “Behold the groom!” As this typically is about a year after the betrothal, the bride has made herself ready. Her bridesmaids (virgins) have been waiting outside with their lamps waiting and watching. At the announcement and approach of the bridegroom's party, the bridesmaids run and get the bride. They meet part way, which is interesting. The groom does not “Return” all the way to the bride's home. Typically, he comes as far as the gate. She gathers up her family and wedding party and they meet the bridegroom's party and join the procession back to the father's house. This order of events is important because the bride is veiled. No one sees her face. The celebration is under way at the father's house. They have a ceremony under the huppah and the bridegroom and bride are officially wedded. She is hidden (veiled) for Seven Days! Seven days she is getting to know her husband intimately (now we see darkly, but then face to face) we will fully know him as we are fully known. Beautiful! When the week is complete, he steps out with his unveiled wife, “Behold the bride, the wife of the lamb.” The groom introduces his wife to the world unveiled and the Marriage Supper commences, which corresponds to the Marriage Supper right before the Millennial Period and after the Seven Days wherein the bride has been hidden.
2) The days of Noah:
37 “For 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.“
Notice this is not a reference to Noah's deliverance so much as this is about the judgment upon the world. I'm not sure that it is really pertinent here, but some contest that the church is represented by Enoch, who was raptured. Not long after that, Noah, representing Israel, is delivered miraculously in the flood. Notice the condition of the world at the time that “they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage” which does not seem to fit the 2nd Coming scenario. By the time Jesus returns, the world will be mostly dead. The planet will be decimated. More than half the population is gone. Demonic attack and possession will be rampant. Persecution, particularly of Israel, will be as Jesus said, like never before! All the mountains will have been leveled, the islands have sunk (goodbye Hawaii) and all the water has turned to blood. Do we really imagine folks will be going about life as usual by this time? Especially as by the 2nd Coming, we are now in the war to end all wars! Eating and drinking? Having wedding ceremonies? Probably more like in hiding or fleeing in terror. Surely this scenario better fits the world, and Israel, at the beginning of Daniel's 70th Week, but as with the world in Noah's day, completely caught off guard with The Day of the Lord. Judgment upon the earth. From the perspective of the world in judgment, as verse 39 says, “and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.“ All the prophetic passages of the Old Testament that talk about the day of judgment, the day of the Lord, we read about the Messiah arriving to judge the unbelieving world. The grapes of wrath. At his coming is the consummation of the day of the Lord as he reclaims the earth.
Let's chart the parallels Jesus offered regarding Noah:
FLOOD (WRATH)
“THOSE DAYS” (WRATH)
before the flood... eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage
Before God's wrath (judgment)
The day when Noah entered the ark
The day Jacob's Trouble begins
the flood came and swept them all away
The Seals open judgment on the world
Ark comes to rest
the coming of the Son of Man.
So for those who want to say this passage about the days of Noah is a Second Coming passage with no rapture, that's fine! By virtue of what we know about the 70th Week of Daniel we know Noah went through the flood, but saved through it, just as Israel is saved through the tribulation week. But we see in the passage when judgment upon the world began and it was the day Noah entered the ark.
Judgment or That Day or The Day of the Lord refers to this week of Tribulation and culminates with Christ coming in glory and in his wrath.
If we say that particular day at the end of the Great Tribulation is as in the days of Noah, then he is not delivered but drowning with the rest of the world. Put another way, the people in Noah's day were not marrying and giving in marriage, eating and drinking as flood waters rose to their necks.
The text says “before.” Then we have Noah and family entering the ark, and then the floods came. Verse 39, as with the other examples and signs, end with “the coming of the son of man.”
3) We aren't done yet. Let's continue with another example Jesus has given his disciples.
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.
This is another fine example of “Business As Usual” in the world. We would expect that, as in the days of Noah, the world is in their usual routine BEFORE judgment. We can easily understand a couple men working in a field when one is taken and the other left. A couple of women grinding at a mill when one is taken and the other left. Hard to imagine (hard for me to, anyway) folks engaged in these activities by the time Jesus returns (Second Coming).
Will there even be any fields remaining to work!? We have had man-sized hail hitting the earth, volcanoes, fire from the sky, earthquakes that sank all the islands and leveled all the mountains... Oh! And all the water remaining has by now turned to blood! Yet folks are all La-di-da plowing in a patch of field somewhere? Working at a mill? The mind boggles at this unlikely scenario. However, again, this does make sense if one is take and one left to endure the Day of the Lord, the time of Jacob's Trouble, the Tribulation Week.
In verse 40 “Then” means simply “at that time.” Not “next” as we may use the word in English. We find this note about the original Greek according to Bengel's Gnomen:
Matthew 24:40,[1065] 41. Παραλαμβάνεται, is taken[1066]) sc. into safety, under protection; see Matthew 24:31.—ἀφίεται, is left) sc. in the midst of the dangers, whatever may occur.[1067] The present tense is used with reference to the time of the ΤΌΤΕ, then; and the matter was already present to the Saviour’s eyes. [1065] τότε, then) at the actual time of the Advent, Matthew 24:39. Comp. ch. Matthew 25:1.—V. g. [1066] In the original, assumitur.—(I. B.) [1067] As was the case with the men at the time of the Deluge.—V. g.
So again, Jesus offers another distinct example within this one and just as with the world in Noah's day caught off guard with the flood.
4) Still not quite done as the narrative continues with the Thief.
43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
Again, we have numerous signs of the 2nd Coming. As indicated formerly, we have the exact number of days we can calendar for his arrival once Daniel's 70th Week begins and the Two Witnesses begin prophesying. What kind of thief makes an appointment!? It is the Rapture and The Day of the Lord that catches an unsuspecting world off guard, as in the days of Noah. We, the bride, are that which is precious and valuable in the world that the thief, the Bridegroom, takes away. THEIR house is broken into. WE are taken. The rapture is at an unexpected hour. Judgment begins at an unexpected hour, as in the days of Noah. Not the Second Coming.
As we are looking at Israel during the time of Jacob's Trouble, this narrative addresses their perspective, but I maintain that the Church, the Bride of Christ is in the margins, and the Rapture as well. This must be one of the signs Jesus gives the Jews of how they will know the sign of his coming and of the end of the age? Millions disappearing must be a sign to for them. How can Jesus not mention such a huge event?
5) Still not done. In keeping with Synthesis, let's take a look at the parallel passage in Luke 21. Luke records not everything that Matthew recorded, but Luke has a couple things Matthew does not.
34 Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and THAT DAY WILL CLOSE ON YOU SUDDENLY like a trap. 35 For it will come on ALL those who live on the face of the WHOLE EARTH. 36 Be always on the watch, and PRAY THAT YOU MAY BE ABLE TO ESCAPE all that is about to happen..."
How in the world is it possible to pray that you may be able to escape something that is about to fall on ALL those that live on the face of the WHOLE earth? And by Christ's return, it is too late for praying for escape. This echoes Revelation 3:10, " Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the HOUR OF TRIAL that is coming on the WHOLE WORLD, to try those who dwell on the earth." The final faithful church is kept from the hour of trial (tribulation) and Jesus had said on Olivet to pray that you may be able to escape. Well, unless you have your own space shuttle or a TARDIS, this would have to be the Rapture.
So do we have a plausible scenario here? Have we made well our case? Not that it is critical, but it would push back the Rapture and Tribulation scenario as provided by Jesus still earlier than even the Gospel of John. Folks can disagree.
The diaspora has now moved into the regathering (vs. 32, 33). The rapture is an event that will catch a world in judgment by surprise, as it did during Noah's day. Before Noah (representing Israel) was saved through the judgment, Enoch (representing the church) was Raptured. Again, the thief (Christ) as the Bridegroom steals his Bride, the Church. This is unpredictable and, as with Noah, completely off guard. The 2nd Coming, however, will one day be predictable and un-thief-like right down to the Day! Several places in the Bible mark how many days and also offer how many months. Thieves do not work according to calendar. Matthew is describing Rapture events rather than 2nd Coming events because the thief analogy of surprise and taking only fits Rapture. The examples offered in Matthew and Luke are two working in a field, a couple people on the job in a mill, people getting married... Business As Usual, just like in Noah's day, then WHAM! Flood. Or in this case, Tribulation. Why not 2nd Coming? Why not one taken in judgment and one left not judged as I was taught in Bible College? Two reasons: 1. The word "taken" in the Greek means to take to one's self (see note above). It is used as with a cherishing. Like a Groom takes his Bride. Different word for one taken Away in judgment, as I was taught. 2. The world will be so utterly and completely decimated by the time of the 2nd Coming that Jesus' examples make little sense. He should more likely be saying "Two men are hiding in a cave, one is taken, the other left. Two women are cuddling their children in a chamber, weeping. One is taken, the other left." Not "a couple guys are working a field that is scorched and burned and cannot be watered because the water has turned to blood and two women were working at the mill because Armageddon was the only thing on the television and they were bored. Two people were getting married because that's what people do when nuclear bombs are going off, Hawaii has been sunk and all the buildings are now powder." I am using hyperbole, absurdity, to make a point, obviously. What Jesus is describing is shock and awe. Utter surprise in the midst of routine, just like Noah's day, when judgment Hits. WHAM!. That is the onset of the Tribulation period, not the end.
Another thought: We know that, as I indicated earlier, of course Jesus was speaking with Jews. That is nearly all he spoke to in the gospels. We must excise that exclusivity from our reading or nearly none of the New Testament would be for we gentiles at all. Therefore, we use primarily context of overall message to determine among other things; audience. That means we must work a little harder. With respect to Rapture, we too must reset our thinking that Rapture only refers to gentiles. It bespeaks in terms of the saints. Believers, whether Jew or Gentile, Bond or Free. The church, the Body of Christ is made up of these. Israel has always had her remnant. And as Jesus is telling signs that will indicate the end, directly applicable to the Jewish people or not, the Rapture is a supernatural event as a result of direct intervention by God! It is well indicated that Isaiah 26:1-2 foretells Rapture. Who is Isaiah's audience? Israel! Yes! However, not all Israel got the message. Only a remnant. But is this not true of the Gospel message... so far? Even though Gabriel offered Daniel the prophesy concerning THE DAY Messiah would walk into Jerusalem, they missed it. All but a Remnant. So yes, Jesus was speaking with Jews, but they were believers! The disciples are among that remnant! And it was only enough information likely to take years for them to comprehend and meditate on. The Holy Spirit would not clarify through Paul the nature of the Resurrections until much later. 1 Corinthians and 1 Thessalonians were yet many years off. No, I don't think they were fully grasping the message at this time. Remember MUCH of Christ's message, with the knowledge his disciples would be his chroniclers, would be for all Future Saints. It is not much of a contested argument that Jesus speaks to us through his written word, regardless of whether those standing around could comprehend or not. Just as folk are today confounded by his Word. Yes, Rapture events would be signs before the 2nd Coming, obviously, right? So at least a mention would be expected. On the other hand, is it not extraordinary, especially for a Jew, to not mention a mass disappearance on the world prior to his Return!? We are still in Matthew 24 and I know I am belaboring the point but, How do you skip that!? How does Jesus talk about the nature of the world, politically and geologically, the heavenly signs, the Diaspora and return of Israel into the land and, even for unbelieving observers of our day, NOT MENTION "OH YES, BY THE WAY, YOU ARE GOING TO SEE A BUNCH OF PEOPLE DISAPPEAR!" That, for me, would almost be a larger question. How could Jesus forget such a massive, unusual and cataclysmic event and sign as that!? But, as we know, prophesy is always progressive. That he would at least offer a bit of it, though not all the theological details and implications, seems very reasonable to me. And as a first mention as a sign, "two men will be in a field..." or "Two women will be working at a mill..." How does he NOT mention it, whether one is going, or left behind? It should be the Mother Of All Signs! "And then" arguably ends at through verse 31. "He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." Verse 32 begins more layout of detail and a New Subject, the regathering of Israel as emblematic in the Parable of the Fig Tree. Is that after the 2nd Coming? Clearly it is not. Therefore, as Jesus steps back and lays out the chronology another way, he offers this:
v. 32 - Israel is regathered into The Land, therefore Summer Is Near.
v. 33 - The 2nd Coming is at the doors, (not yet through it).
v. 34 - this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.
v. 35 - Heaven and earth will pass away but my words won't.
v. 36 - No one knows the Day or Hour.
v. 37, 38 - as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage.
v. 39 - Flood comes by surprise.
v. 40 - Now this is critical. Why? The word "Then." Let's look at the verse:
40 Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left.
By way of review but this time from Strong's. So what is the word, "Then" from the Greek according to Strong's?
τότε tote tot'-eh From (the neuter of) G3588 and G3753; the when, that is, at the time that (of the past or future, also in consecution): - that time, then.
Thus we may rightly translate 'tote' as "At that time" or "during that time" to the extent that several translations even leave the word out. So, v. 40, 41 "At the time, two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left." v. 42 - Watch therefore because you don't know when. v. 43 - But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Now this is interesting. Because, sure, as of this moment we do not know when the thief is coming. A) thieves steal precious things. What does that have to do with the 2nd Coming? If of two men and two women taken means the two people stolen by the thief are Unbelievers taken in judgment, why would a thief want that? What is of value there? What is of greater value to our Bridegroom Christ than his Bride? Why would a master of a house be concerned about someone coming in and stealing the trash? Does it not make better sense that the Thief, Christ, is taking his Bride? That is of value to him, not the discards. B) is the Element of Surprise! The 2nd Coming WILL BE NO SURPRISE! By the time of Judgment spoken of here, we will be able to mark on the calendar THE DAY of the 2nd Coming! We are offered this in terms of months and days in Revelation. And even if one has not figured out by the beginning, we can figure it out by the middle of the Week by counting 1260 days from when the 2 Witnesses showed up, and then the end 1260 days after Antichrist stands in the Holy Place and desecrates the Temple. What thief broadcasts his arrival? But "the Taking" in the Jewish Wedding Tradition that "no man knows but the father" is idiom for the Jewish audience of when the Bride is Taken by meeting part-way and taken to the Wedding! The one coming as a thief is coming to take his Bride.