Who is "taken" in Matthew 24?
There is a VERY serious error in Pastor Arnold
Murray's (PM's) end-time message as he teaches it from Shepherd's Chapel,
Gravette, Arkansas.
PM claims that Satan will come (as the Anti-Christ) with a "rapture" doctrine
message to
fly all of humanity away. He seems to base this message on who he says is "taken" in
Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 17 and 21.
My perceived mission is not to prove PM correct or incorrect. I am only interested in preserving the meaning of God's Word in the words He wrote and in the context of how He wrote them.
Before you get all wrapped up in this study that I offer, please be assured that I am NOT saying that Christ comes before Satan shows up visibly on the Earth. Satan comes at the 6th Trump and Jesus returns at the the 7th Trump.
My contention is that clearly those who are "taken" in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 17 and 21, are taken at the 7th Trump, not at the 6th Trump as Pastor Arnold Murray teaches.
Here is my discussion of why I see PM's "taken" position as totally wrong on the timing of those "taken" as being during the 6th Trump.
Jim
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Who is “taken” and by whom?
Matt. 24:40-41, "Then shall two be in the field, the one shall be taken, and the
other left."
Check out the word "taken" in both verses.
Let's look at the who, what, when, where, and why of those two verses in the
context of the other verses with them.
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Matthew 24:36-42
36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my
Father only.
37 But as the days of Noe 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.
KJV
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Verse 36 tells us the when: Jesus returns ........ at the 7th Trump.
Verses 37 and 38 tell us that people were not on watch.
Verse 39 repeats that Christ returns at the 7th Trump.
Verses 40 and 41 tell us that only one is "taken", the other is "left".
Verse 42 says to watch for Christ's return.
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I ask you, taking those verses in their context, who is it that comes to claim
those who are "taken"?
A reference to Satan is nowhere in these verses.
The only thing discussed
between verse 36 and verse 42 is Christ's return. The “one taken” is claimed by
Christ at His return at the 7th Trump. There is not one thing here discussing
"being taken" by Satan as the Anti-Christ.
As a matter of fact, the only warning about the Anti-Christ is back in verse 15
and then again in verse 24. There is no way that these who are "taken" first are
taken by the Anti-Christ (Satan). You cannot just stick Satan in there because
that's what you believe. You gotta' take God's words for what He said, not what
you want those words to say.
These "taken" are those who take part in the 1st resurrection (Rev 20:6). They
receive their spiritual body without dying (I Cor 15:52). Those who are "left"
receive God's wrath and must die to receive their spiritual body for that 1,000
year Lord's Day (the millennium) (Rev 16:1-21, 19:21)
I have wrestled with these verses for years on end and trying to understand what Pastor Arnold Murray
teaches them to mean. These verses in Matthew, those in Mark 13, and in Luke 21
as well, cannot be used to justify that these are "taken" by Satan at the 6th
Trump. These verses are clearly talking about the 7th Trump where Christ is the
only one doing the "taking".
The warning here is to watch for Christ's return. It is not a warning about
being "taken" other than being taken by surprise. This verse sums it up.
No, I do not speak of the Rapture here; this talking about the 7th Trump:
Luke 21:36
6 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape
all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
KJV
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I see the problem of interpretation coming from where each of
us stands.
By that
I mean that which is our point-of-view or our “perspective”. It is important so
far as whether you see in this chapter the "taken/left-issue" as a 6th Trump or
a 7th Trump happening.
I say that the "taken/left-issue" happens at the 7th Trump. Every example of
Mark 13, Matthew 24, and Luke 17 and 21 is talking about Christ’s return (as
well as those events leading up to it).
I cannot justify the “taken” as occurring at the 6th Trump due to the context of
where it is used along with the individual word meaning. It will not fit, nor be
accurate, to say that the “taken” are taken in sin and deception, though I do
see how one could come to that conclusion even though it is not an accurate
interpretation.
Christ comes “as a thief in the night”, not Satan (as the Anti-Christ). Here is
my documentation:
Matthew 24:42-44
42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the
thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house
to be broken up.
44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of
man cometh.KJV
This thief is ONLY Christ's return. Here's another point about that perspective:
2 Peter 3:10
10 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.
KJV
AND ALSO HERE:
Luke 12:35-40
35 Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning;
36 And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return
from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him
immediately.
37 Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching:
verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to
meat, and will come forth and serve them.
38 And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and
find them so, blessed are those servants.
39 And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief
would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken
through.
40 Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye
think not.
KJV
YET AGAIN AT:
Revelation 16:15
15 Behold, I come as a thief . Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his
garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
KJV
Pastor Murray sees the "taken/left-issue" as a 6th Trump event ONLY. He
seems to base
his entire opinion of what Satan will do during his time as the Anti-Christ on
this point. That’s his opinion and I COMPLETELY disagree with him from my
perspective.
God knows the truth of it. I’m not after PM’s job. Even PM says not to teach a
thing if you disagree with it. I am just disagreeing and following my
convictions.
I have supplied 4 separate sources that say the watch is for the return of
Christ and all the events that point to His return. The watch is not just about
the 6th Trump.
Mark 13, Matthew 24, Luke 17 and 21 give us the events that tell us the season
(events leading up to) Christ's return.
Jesus warns us to watch and "endure to the end" because:
Mark 13:20 And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be
saved: but for the elect's sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the
days.
No one would know the signs and the season if they did not watch so that they
wouldn't be caught unawares (not on watch).
This completes the sum total of everything I have to say on the topic. If I were
to say more would appear argumentative, and I would just be repeating myself.
Perhaps there are those who already feel I've said too much. I just dislike
loose ends, and now I have tied them up.
It's not about who is right or wrong. It is all about "rightly dividing the Word
of God". As a servant of the Lord, I must follow my convictions in sharing what
I see, even if I stand alone on that conviction. Jesus warned about not being
hot or cold. I am most definitely on fire for Christ Jesus.
This does not mean that there is a rift between PM and me ...... only
disagreement.
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Added comment from another person saying why PM is not wrong:
“So I don't want to be taken by the flood.”
Well, maybe I wasn't clear enough on what explained in the above discussion.
The whole discussion centers around everyone's point of view on the timing of
the "taken" issue.
If you insist that the "when" of those who are "taken", happens during the 6th
trump, then those "taken" are obviously not "taken" by Christ.
The Bible does not say that there is a "rapture". Pastor Arnold Murray has
always taught that the author of the Companion Bible, EW Bullinger, believed in
a "rapture". Therefore, PM concluded that Bullinger was expressing that
"rapture-belief" where Bullinger said: "those are taken for a blessing" (in the
side-notes of the Companion Bible for those "taken"). We can't ask Bullinger
because he died in 1913, and other people completed the Companion Bible for him.
My contention is that the timing of when those who are "taken", as written in
the Bible, happens only at the 7th Trump by Christ when He gathers the elect
from all over the Earth.
Everyone, it seems, is getting hung up on the comparison to "as in the Flood of
Noah" and "Satan's flood of lies".
It boils down to perspective. I say the "taken" are those that climbed into the
Ark and were saved (the blessing) .....and these were "taken away" (just as the
Strong's Concordance defines the word "taken").
Those, that were "left", were drowned by the Flood (received God's wrath).
It all depends how you "see" this happening in Matthew 24: 37 thru 41. I "see"
it as only happening at the 7th Trump, and my earlier explanations were my
attempt at documenting that from the Bible.
The reference in Matthew 24: 37, 38, and 39 is telling us that those who died in
Noah’s flood were surprised. They did not believe that there was a need to be in
the Ark. Christ is our Ark today.
People are confusing those “taken by the flood of Noah” with those “taken by
Satan’s flood of lies” during the 6th Trump (Rev 12:15, 16). God was not talking
about Satan’s flood in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 17 and 21. You gotta’ stick
with the context of what is said in these respective chapters.
Here are the verses pertaining to Satan’s flood, below. The idea of Satan’s
flood is never even hinted in the context of Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 17 and
21; these references to “flood” are ONLY addressing the timing of Christ’s
return with the warning about being caught unawares (not on watch).
Revelation 12:13-17
13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the
woman which brought forth the man child.
14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly
into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and
times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.
15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that
he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.
16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed
up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.
17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the
remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony
of Jesus Christ.KJV
asd@holyscriptures.com