What do those verses about being taken away and left behind really teach? The answer may shock many people who have been taught only one viewpoint. I also briefly look at Matthew’s version.
Luke 17:22-37: Taken Away = Rapture?
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Category Archives: End Times, Final Things
What Will Heaven Be Like for You?
It’s going to be wonderful. A list of Scriptures and comments are included here. A bonus list of wonderful things, too.
What Does God Do from Heaven?
What do the Scriptures say? Fifteen major things, just a sample, of what he is doing right now.
Bible Basics about the Final Judgment
God’s judgment scares people, and in a sense they are right. Reverential awe and fear are appropriate. But there is a solution for them to escape a negative judgment. Ten questions and answers.
What Happens between Your Death and Final Resurrection?
This is called the intermediate state. What happens to you during the in-between time, between your death and going to heaven and then your being reunited with your transformed, resurrected body?
Ten Biblical Truths about Your New Body
You want a brand-new body right now? Your wish will be done—but only at the right time! Let’s learn what the Bible says.
Matt 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21 and 17 in Parallel Columns Are Finally Clear
These chapters are on Jesus’s discourse about the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple (AD 70) and then the Second Coming, which has not happened yet, 2000 years later (and counting). Looking at the chapters side by side clarifies what he really taught.
Bible Basics about Hell
These words and verses, both from the Old and New Testaments, reveal the doctrine of hell. It is not as straightforward as many preachers have told us.
Everyone Shall Be Judged by Their Works and Words
Out of his great love for people, God in his mercy is forewarning everyone, whether the redeemed or unredeemed, that this judgment SHALL happen, based on their good or bad deeds and good or bad words. The Scriptures are unambiguous about it. How do we prepare for it? God offers solutions before we all face it.
John 14 Does Not Teach Second Coming or Separate Rapture
Many interpreters believe that John 14:2-3 teaches the Second Coming or rapture before the Second Coming, but 14:23 decisively argues against this interpretation.
Matthew 24:4-35 Predicts Destruction of Jerusalem and Temple
This interpretation breaks open the meaning of this much-disputed passage. Be sure to view the photos at the end. History come alive!
Matthew 24:36 to 25:46–From Second Coming to New Messianic Age
Matt. 24:4-35 is about the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, while 24:36-25:46 is about the Second Coming or parousia, the close-out of the age, final judgment, and finally the New Messianic Age.
Luke 17:22-37 and 21:34-36 Teach the Second Coming
Those verses in Luke are compared with Matt. 26:26-28 and 36-44, which are about the Second Coming. This post also looks at Luke 21:34-36 and Mark 13:32-37, which are also about the Second Coming.
Luke 21:5-33 Predicts Destruction of Jerusalem and Temple
By far, Luke 21:5-33 clearly demonstrate that these verses, which parallel Matt. 24:4-35 and Mark 13:5-31, are an extended prediction of the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, and not the Second Coming. It is best to read those verses in their own context and in light of Old Testament apocalyptic passages. Then we can have clarity. Please view the photos of the Arch of Titus and the Jewish Menorah, at the end.
Mark 13:32-37 Teaches Second Coming
This may be the shortest post in my series on Matt. 24-25, Luke 17 and 21, and Mark 13.
Mark 13:5-31 Predicts Destruction of Jerusalem and Temple
We must look at these verses in their textual and historical contexts. And we must not skip over the most stubborn verse in the synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke); then we can interpret this Scripture more clearly. Please view the photos at the end.
What Does ‘Parousia’ Mean?
It is mostly about the Lord’s Second Coming, but it also has other nuances that clarify the definition. What do two Greek lexicons say about it? A nontechnical article.
Rapture = Second Coming and Happens at Same Time, on Last Day
Have you been taught all your life that the rapture and Second Coming are distinct events, years apart? Is it difficult to change your cherished belief? The teaching about the Second Coming in the earliest apostolic community was unified and without complications. Here’s the plentiful biblical and nonsymbolic and direct evidence. In the Second Addendum, I tell you my recent decision.
What Is Postmillennialism?
This theory says that the reign of Christ is not a literal thousand years, but is expressed in the expanding kingdom of God, using the church to span the globe in the hearts of believers. The Church Age = the millennium.
What Is Amillennialism?
The reign of Christ is not literally for a thousand years. The number is a figure of speech for a long, unknown duration when God’s purposes are accomplished. He is reigning right now.
What Is Posttribulational Premillennialism?
This theory interprets the millennium literally to be a thousand years, but before then a great tribulation takes place. Christ’s second coming happens after that tribulation.
What Is Midtribulational Premillennialism?
This theory interprets the millennium literally to be a thousand years, but before then a seven-year great tribulation takes place. The Church will go through half of it (mid-) and then get “raptured” out.
What Is Pretribulational Premillennialism?
This theory says that the millennium is interpreted literally to be a thousand years, but before then a seven-year great tribulation takes place. The Church will get “raptured” out before that tribulation.
Cosmic Disasters = Apocalyptic Imagery for Judgment and Major Change
“Four blood moons!” said popular books. If we interpret the following passages literally, then the cosmos (earth, sky, heavens, stars, worlds, seas, planets, sun, moon, and so on) would not exist as we observe it today. Instead, let’s use wisdom to interpret the Bible in its context.
Bible Basics about Heaven
Here is what you need to know about God’s dwelling place and key Hebrew and Greek words, all spelled out in clear English. Paradise is also discussed.
Three Options for Interpreting Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21
Things are not so clear-cut as I had thought they were. Please be sure to check out my photos of the Arch of Titus at the end; they show rhe Romans stomped all over the Jerusalem temple.
Are There Degrees of Punishment, Rewards after Final Judgment?
Will a generous and charitable grandmother who never got around to receiving Christ Jesus as Lord end up bobbing up and down in the lake of fire, next to Hitler, Stalin and Mao?
1. Hell and Punishment: Eternal, Conscious Torment
This theory is the standard one. However, one of the most stunning outcomes of my study of this theory is how little support it receives from Scripture, or the Scriptures can be interpreted differently than I first expected. Don’t believe it? Read every word of this post.
2. Hell and Punishment: Terminal Punishment
What will happen to your kind and generous but unredeemed grandmother after she is judged? Will she burn in hell-fires in eternal torment? Terminalists or conditionalists or annihilationists (all three terms mean the same doctrine) say no. There is another and better Scriptural option.
3. Hell and Punishment: Universalism
What will happen to your generous and gracious but unredeemed grandmother after judgment? Eternal, conscious punishment in the lake of fire next to Hitler, Stalin and Mao? Universalists say no. They claim to have a better and Scriptural option.
What Do Words ‘Eternity,’ ‘Eternal’ Fully Mean in the Bible?
This is an old-fashioned look at a Hebrew lexicon and two Greek lexicons, but in an easy-to-read format for nontechnical readers of the Bible. The definitions are wide-ranging and unexpected.
Rich Man and Lazarus: True Events or Just a Parable?
Here is a compendium of various commentators, who tend to reach one conclusion.
What Is a Biblical Mystery?
It is not defined by what the world system or pagan religions say, nor is it what popular Bible teachers seem to preach.
What Happens at Judgment to People Who Never Heard Gospel?
I used to teach world religions for a number of years. I learned that even though many people never got the chance to hear the gospel, they still lived impressively moral lives. What happens to them at judgment?
Works Cited
Here is a list of the principal works referenced or used at this site. More will be added as time goes on, so please check back.
