Compare Yeshua’s Teachings in Matt 24 and Paul’s direction to Thessalonica.
| Paul Referred to Yeshua’ Teaching | Yeshua Matt. 24:29-31Immediately after the tribulation….the day of the Lor | Paul 1 Thess. 4:16-17For the Lord himself will come down from heaven. |
| Coming of Jesus from heaven | Matt 24:30 “… they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” | 1 Thess. 4:16 “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven…” |
| Angel(s) | Matt. 24:31 “…He shall send forth His angels…” | 1 Thess. 4:16 “with the voice of the archangel…” |
| Trumpet blast | Matt. 24:31 “…with the sound of a trumpet…” | 1 Thess. 4:16 “…with the trumpet of Lord” |
| Catching up of the living | Matt. 24:31 “…they shall gather together His elect…” | 1 Thess. 4:17 “…shall be caught up together…” |
| Thief in the night | Matt. 24:43 “…if the goodman …had know in what watch the thief would come…” | 1 Thess. 5:1,2 “…so cometh as a thief in the night.” |
| Warning against “sleeping” | Mark 13:36 “lest coming suddenly He find you sleeping.” | 1 Thess. 5:6 “…let us not sleep as do others” |
| Warning against “drunkenness” | Luke 21:34 “take heed … lest your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness” | 1 Thess. 5:6-8 “be sober…they that are drunken are drunken in the night. …be sober” |
| “Watching” for Yeshua’s coming | Mark 13:35-37 “Watch ye therefore … | Thess. 5:6 “let us watch…” |
Two men were leaving Jerusalem because their concept of prophecy did not include Jesus dying. Their Messiah was to throw out the Romans and establish the Kingdom of God. We find them in Luke 24 leaving Jerusalem in sadness on the Road to Emmaus when Jesus in disguise meets them. Lu 24:18 And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days? He further tells Jesus Lu 24:20 And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him. 21 But we had hoped that it had been He which should have redeemed Israel……Their hopes were tied to an early painless Messianic kingdom. Is your hope tied to a painless Rapture?
Lu 24:25 He said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: 26 Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? He then starts with Torah and the books of Moses and gives them a complete understanding of the whole bible…and corrects their knowledge of Scripture and they run back with hearts burning.
I am concerned the Great Falling away spoken of in Thessalonians will be Christians whose understanding did not include going into the Tribulation as a witness for God.
Are there really two raptures? Or is there just one?
| “Assumed” Pre-Tribulation Rapture Attributes | Biblical Post-Tribulation Rapture Attributes |
| Occurs at a “Secret” Unknown Time.The timing relative to the tribulation is not given by Scripture | Occurs After the Tribulation Mat. 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days… |
| Occurs at Christ’s (Parousia) Coming Mat. 24:37 But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the (Parousia) coming of the Son of man be.Mat. 24:39) And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the (Parousia) coming of the Son of man be.2 Thess 2:1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the (Parousia) coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him1 Thess. 4:15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the (Parousia) coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. | Occurs at Christ’s (Parousia) Coming Mat. 24:3 What shall be the sign of thy (Parousia) coming?Mat. 24:27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the (Parousia) coming of the Son of man be.2 Thess. 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his (Parousia) coming.2 Thess. 2:9 Even him, whose (Parousia) coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders. |
| Occurs at Christ’s (Epiphaneia) Appearing Titus 2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious (Epiphaneia) appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ | Occurs at Christ’s (Epiphaneia) Appearing 2 Thess. 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the (Ephiphaneia) brightness of his (Parousia) coming: |
| Occurs as a Thief in the Night Mat. 24:36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.Mat. 24:43-44 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.Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. | Occurs as a Thief in the Night Rev. 16:15-16 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. |
| Christ Gathers His Own Assumed. Pre-tribulation rapture is for the Church. | Christ Gathers His Own Mat. 24:31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together (autou) his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. |
| Christ Gathers the Church Assumed. Pre-tribulation rapture is for the Church. | Christ Gathers the Church Mat. 24:31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his (eklektos) elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.Rom 8:33-35 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s (eklektos) elect ? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?Also, Rom. 11:5, Eph 1:11, Col. 3:12, 1st Thess. 1:4, James 2:5, 1st Pet. 1:1-2, 2:4, 2:9, 2nd John 1:1, 1:13, and Rev. 17:14 all use ekelektos for the Church. |
| Occurs in the Clouds 1 Thess. 4:17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. | Occurs in the Clouds Mat. 24:30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. |
| Occurs at the Sound of a Trumpet 1 Thess. 4:16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. | Occurs at the Sound of a Trumpet Mat. 24:31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. |
| Angels are Involved 1 Thess. 4:16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. | Angels are Involved Mat. 24:31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. |
| At the Time of the Resurrection 1 Thess. 4:16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. | At the Time of the Resurrection Rev. 20:4-5 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. |
| Preceded by signs in the sky 1 Thess. 5:2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.2 Thess. 2:1-2 Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come.Joel 2:31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come. | Preceded by signs in the sky Mat. 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. |
| Preceded by Elijah Malachi 4:5 “See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. | Preceded by Elijah Malachi 4:5 “See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes |
Revelation 20 v 4 I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. Theyhad not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection.
