Ezekiel Kimosop Supporter

Who is being taken in Matthew 24:40-41 depends how we interpret the object of the message of Matthew 24. 

Those who believe that Jesus was speaking about His coming hold that Jesus was addressing the circumstances leading to the rapture or the gathering away of the church in accordance with 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. 

Those who say that Jesus was specifically addressing a Jewish audience and was speaking of what would befall the Jewish people after the rapture of the church will argue that the church was not contemplated in this passage. 

They say that Jesus was speaking about the Jewish people who will face the great tribulation (the wrath of Satan) in which millions of Jews will be persecuted and exterminated by the Antichrist and his agents. This postulation is consistent with the pre-tribulation rapture theory which teaches that the church will not undergo the great tribulation because God cannot possibly subject His elect to that scale of suffering. The tribulation is however the wrath of Satan and not the wrath of God (Rev.12:7-13). 

I believe that Jesus was most certainly referring to the believers, the church of Christ, by reason of the context of the passage of Matthew 24:29-51. This, in my view, is about the taking away of the church, an event that will take millions of earth's dwellers by surprise. 

There are several parallels in the Bible that identify with the rapture with the harvest of grain or wheat or the separation between sheep and goats (cf. Matthew 13:25-30,32-34). The angels, the trumpet, the gathering of the elect and the surprise - that no man knows the day or the hour (Matthew 24:36)- are all indicative of the rapture of the church. 

Jesus reveals that not all will be lucky to be part of those to be caught up in the rapture. The idea of one being taken and the other being left is simply figurative or metaphoric of the distinction between the saints and sinners; the redeemed and the lost, the worldly people and the elect of God in Christ.

These are painful realities. In the days of Noah, they ignored warnings about the coming floods until it was too little too late and all perished save for eight souls. In this day and age, we are witnessing the same complacency with our contemporary society who have turned deaf ears to the things of God. 

The generation that will be living in the days leading to the coming of Christ will exhibit the same characteristics seen in the generations of Noah and Lot. They simply have no time for God and His word. I can bet that we are probably living in the end time days contemplated by Christ in the above passage and that the coming of Christ is sooner than many may care to imagine!

September 24 2018 • 2 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Tim Maas Supporter Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army

In my opinion, the emphasis in these verses is on the separation or differentiation that will occur at the close of the age between the saved and the unsaved, and the necessity on the part of believers to always be spiritually prepared for it. I'm not sure that it's possible to read too much into the verses with regard to the precise chronology of that separation, or the form that it will take (such as the concept of the Rapture, for example). The idea being expressed is just that there will be a final, irreversible distinction drawn between those who will inherit eternal life, and those who will not.

September 24 2018 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

John Appelt Supporter

The identity of those taken in Matthew 24:40-41 is debatable. The context, Matthew 24-25, is the sermon Jesus gave, which is called “The Olivet Discourse.” Jesus began with the incredible prediction of the destruction of the temple, which spurred the disciples to ask about future events, Matthew 24:1-3. 

In “Should Pretribulationists Reconsider the Rapture in Matthew 24:36-44?” John F. Hart showed how Jesus answered the questions in a chiastic pattern:

A1 Question: “When will these things happen?” (3a). 
B1 Question: “What will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?” (3b). 
B2 Answer: The sign of His coming and of the end of the age (4-35). 
A2 Answer: When these things will happen (36-44). 

The second answer, 24:36-44, is usually interpreted as happening after the tribulation period, but here are reasons it describes the pretribulational rapture. 

The phrase “now concerning” (Greek “peri de”) is a transition to a new topic, as Matthew 20:6, 27:46, I Thessalonians 4:9, 5:1. It is like saying, “Oh, about the other question you asked...” Without understanding this, person assumes Matthew 24:36-44 continues the topic. 

Up to this point, “those days” is mentioned. It refers to His coming at the end of the Tribulation. Various signs point to that event so that the timing of it can be figured out. The new phrase, “of that day and hour,” refers to the hour of the Rapture followed by the Day of the Lord or Tribulation. No one knows the timing of this except the Father. 

The illustration of Noah shows that the people had no idea of what was going to happen until the flood wiped them away. So will the Day of the Lord, preceded by the Lord’s coming (Rapture), catch people off guard.

The definition of “taking” and “leaving” of individuals is clarified in the Greek. “Taken” is “paralambo” used as “receive” in John 14:2, so these are believers. “Left” is “aphiemi” translated as “leave as orphans” in John 14:18, which suggests being abandoned as unbelievers will be.

Just as the thief comes without signaling anyone of his intentions, so the Son of Man comes “at an hour you do not expect.” Paul and Peter, both speaking of the Day of the Lord which is right after Jesus comes for the saints, borrow this imagery of the thief, I Thessalonians 5:2-5, II Peter 3:10-12.

The Lord commands believers to be watchful, alert, and ready, 24:44. In I Thessalonians 5:6-10, Paul, says the same. Then Jesus defines believers who are ready for His coming, Matthew 24:45-51. The parables of the virgins and talents of Matthew 25:1-30 further illustrate how believers are to be ready.

Outline of the Olivet Discourse:
24:4-14 – Tribulation period
24:15-28 – The abomination of desolation and 3½ years great tribulation
24:29-35 – The coming of the Lord
24:36-44 – Digression on the rapture
24:45-25:30 – Description and parables of faithful believers
25:31-48 – Judgment of nations after the Tribulation

In Matthew 24:40-41, believers are taken up by Jesus, I Thessalonians 4:13-18.

June 02 2022 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Jack Gutknecht Supporter ABC/DTS graduate, guitar music ministry Baptist church

When I first heard Jesus' words, I was fascinated:

Mt. 24:40: “one will be taken” This phrase might describe the gathering of God’s people to Himself (Matt 24:31: "And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."); if that is the case, there is no indication here of what happens to the remaining people. The point of this parable is that believers need to be vigilant for Jesus’ return, because it will be sudden and unexpected. FSB

I realize that there is this one view. But there is also another which I follow: The word, "taken," more likely means taken in judgment, at AD 70 or at the end of history. This is, too, the view of the NLT PARALLEL STUDY BIBLE. Jesus said then that "the other" would be "left", and I understand Him to mean "staying on earth to enter the Millennium." (my opinion).

You don't want this to be happening to you -- to be taken in judgment. Please accept Jesus as you personal Savior. I did, and I won't be taken!

I won't be taken in judgment. I hope you will not be, either.

June 05 2022 • 1 response • Vote Up • Share • Report

artan qirko Supporter

Matthew 24:36 speaks of an unknown and surprising day and hour if we connect this verse with Matthew 24:42. If we talk about the second coming of Jesus Christ, these two verses do not correspond to this moment, because the second coming of Jesus will already be expected by humanity due to the successive pouring out of the cups of God's wrath (Revelation, chapters 16- 18).

Matthew 24:37 speaks of the Greek term parusia which has the meaning of the invisible presence or the coming but not yet appearing of the person who is being expected. So it's an atmosphere of presence and waiting until the important person shows up and becomes visible.

Matthew 24:38-39 talks about the ordinary life before the Flood with marriages and eating and drinking. The people of that time did not pay attention to Noah's warning until Noah entered the ark (compare Luke 21:34-35). So when Noah entered the ark a division was created between the approved group and the unapproved people. But the Flood did not come immediately as soon as Noah entered the ark. According to Genesis 7:4, another 7 days were to pass. This 7-day period served as a judgment and an irreversible separation between Noah's family and the rebels. Only after 7 days did the Flood begin which served as the means of execution.

Now let's come to Matthew 24:40-41. According to these verses, from two men and two women one man and one woman will be taken, and one man and one woman will be left. Here a question arises: What will this man and this woman deal with; for salvation or for punishment? If we see these verses in the context of the time before the Flood, then the man and woman who will be taken are saved just as Noah and his family were taken. Those who were left after Noah entered the ark were the condemned. The parallelism between the 7-day period from the moment Noah entered the ark and the 7-year Tribulation period is interesting. Just as Noah and his family were set apart and protected from the coming catastrophe, so saved Christians will be out of the Great Tribulation to appear worthy before the Son of Man (Luke 21:36).

So the scriptural context of Matthew 24:40-41 supports the rapture and rapture of approved Christians and leaving the rest caught by surprise facing the world empire of the Beast (Antichrist) and left for severe judgment.

September 01 2024 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Aurel Gheorghe Supporter

In Matthew 24 Jesus make it abundantly clear who is being "taken." Although the text has been used by some to suggest a secret rapture where people will suddenly disappear and be taken to heaven, taken in its context, Matthew 24 does not support such secret rapture at all. 

Before the flood, people were enjoying life as usual right up to the time Noah entered his boat. They didn’t realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes - “Two men will be working together in the field; one will be taken, the other left. Two women will be grinding flour at the mill; one will be taken, the other left (Matt 24:37-41). 

In Noah's days, the people who were swept away, or “taken,” were the wicked, not the righteous. Jesus tells us it will be the same when He comes. So, the ones taken in the field and at the mill are not the righteous, they are the wicked! They are taken away from the presence of the righteous and destroyed, just like in the days of Noah. So, Jesus is telling us that two men will be in the field; one will be taken and destroyed, just like the tares that are bundled up and destroyed in Matthew 13:30 while the wheat remains in the barn. By saying the other man is left, Jesus means that man is left alive and not destroyed - just like Noah and his family were left, while the wicked were taken away to destruction. 

In Matthew 13:38 Jesus says the field is the world. That tells us that the one who is taken is destroyed while the one who is left inherits the new earth. (Matt 5:5; Rev 21:1-5).

September 24 2018 • 2 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report