A fellow by the name of Arnold Fruchtenbaum wrote a book The Footsteps of the Messiah Ariel Ministries P. O. Box 3723, Tustin CA 92681.
He has written a Luke-type discourse putting the End Times all in chronological order and his comments concerning Matt 24:36-42 makes so much sense to me. Ya know how when you hear an interpretation that "rings true" and you look at it from all angles and there just aren't any warning bells clanging? That's how I feel about this one particular interpretation. He says:
"Concerning the issue of the Rapture, Christ makes three main points: First, as to the question of when, this is known only by one person and that is God the Father (verse 36). It is not known by the angels nor was it known by the Son in His humanity, but only by God the Father. So if the timing of the Rapture has been hidden from both the angels and the humanity of Jesus, how much more so is it hidden from mankind in general! For that reason, the only clue given concerning the timing of the Rapture is that it will occur sometime before the tribulation, and it may not occur just before the tribulation. It might easily occur ten or twenty years before that time. This is not true of the Second Coming which must come seven years after the signing of the seven year covenant or three-and-a-half years after the abomination of desolation.
"Secondly, verses 37-39 clearly reveal there are no signs preceding the Rapture. 'Watch therefore: for ye know not what day your Lord cometh.' Which leads to the third point: there is a supplication to watch for the purpose of escaping the tribulation. Throughout the Olivet Discourse, to watch means to be ready. Watching is the equivalent of readiness and readiness equivalent to salvation. So the means of escaping the tribulation is by means of salvation. Only those who accept Christ before the Rapture of the church can be ready and watching.
Luke 21:36 states it beautifully: 36 watch ye, then, in every season, praying that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that are about to come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.' Young's Literal Translation
What do you think about this interpretation?
6 comments:
His take seems fairly mainstream (of those who believe in the rapture).
He certainly didn’t make any bold predictions.
no bold predictions... and excellent book, though.
Dave - I'll need to check out the AV site, thanks for the plug.
Gina - I'll exercise a different perspective on The Rapture, as I am not of the same belief depicted in the rather sensationalized "Left Behind" movie (a literal reading of isolated Bible texts found mostly in the book of Daniel). I think the real Rapture to emphasize is the biblical view of the Second Coming, which will be far from secret. I've found in my bible studies there is simply no hint of a secret rapture in Scripture. The coming of Christ is consistently described one of the most public, visible and noisiest events, which is also accompanied by the resurrection of the dead. I Thessalonians 4:16 contains one of the most vivid descriptions of the second coming. We are told that "the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first." The same connection of the sound of the trumpet with the resurrection is also made in I Cor. 15:51-52.
Ok, sorry to rant, it's all good. I should probably turn this into one of my blog entries. :)
I enjoyed visiting your blog! Great stuff!
DPT and Marcel... thanks for stopping by!
Marcel, I understand what you are saying about it being really loud. But, you are assuming that John 14 and the second coming of Christ are the same event. What about the thief in the night references?
Hi Gina,
The excerpt, though not original is as you state, right on target. The Bible does not state difinitively in one clear passage of scripture that there will be a rapture, but it is alluded to consistently in several places. The specter of imminency is one of the great motivators for faithful living. Otherwise, our humaness would probably cause most true Christians to be careless and carefree about God's precious gift of Christ's suffering.
Respectfully Submitted
Peter Shaw
Dear Peter, thank you for stopping by and commenting! You make a truly crucial point:
our humaness would probably cause most true Christians to be careless and carefree about God's precious gift of Christ's suffering.
I agree, I can't think of any greater motivation that Jesus will come at any moment and I deeply desire for Him to find me doing what He wills for me to do!
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