you know Matthew chapter 24 verse 40 and 41 is commonly understood to be referring to the Rapture it says that when the Lord comes one will be taken and one will be left but it's not when most Christians think actually because there's one key detail that a lot of Believers miss when they're reading this passage of scripture so is this actually about the Rapture that we were taught in church let's jump into the text and see what the scripture actually says so here we are in Matthew chapter 24 verse 36 Jesus says but concerning that day and hour no one knows not even the angels of Heaven nor the son but the father only so we should probably figure out what is the day that Jesus is referring to well if you back it up Jesus said in verse 35 he said Heaven and Earth will pass away but my words will not pass away so what makes most sense to be consistent with the passage is that the day he's referring to in verse 36 is the day when Heaven and Earth will pass away which there seems to be a distinction between verse 35's you know event in verse 34's event in human history because verse 34 seems to capture Everything Jesus has said in chapter 24 up to this point meaning chapter 24 verse 1 through 34 seems to be summed up right here truly I say to you this generation will not pass away until all these things take place all these things being everything he's described up to this point in verse 34. then verse 35 seems to address a different moment or a different event in human history where Heaven and Earth will pass away but my words will not pass away so regarding this day he says no one knows that day or hour not even the angels of Heaven nor the son but the father only so I just want to highlight the three different characters that are addressed here whom Jesus is saying yeah the father is the only one that knows the day or the hour When Heaven and Earth will pass away which actually involves Jesus coming back in his second coming the angels and the son don't even know okay now verse 37 for context sake it says as were the days of Noah right so this word as tells us there's a parallel being drawn here there's a comparison that you need to take note of the day that no one knows the hour that no one knows when the son of man comes and Heaven and Earth pass away in terms of Jesus coming back to bring New Creation only the father knows that day but that day is going to be likened to the days of Noah that's why he says as were the days of Noah so we have to ask what's being likened to the days of Noah what makes most sense so far and we'll see if this is true is that the day he has in mind is what's being compared to the days of Noah so what we have to ask is what about the days of Noah here which I'll underline in blue what about the days of Noah are similar with the day that Jesus has in mind in verse 36 this is very important when interpreting this passage it says so will be the coming of the son of man so there's how we see the comparison that's being drawn as were the days of Noah so will the coming of the son of man right which is connected to that day when Heaven and Earth pass away so he says four as in those days in other words here Jesus is about to tell us how the two days are similar how the days of Noah are compared to the day when Jesus comes which is going to involve Heaven and Earth passing away as in those days the days of Noah Before the Flood they were eating and drinking marrying and giving in marriage until the day when Noah entered the Ark in other words the days that Jesus has in mind here he says until a certain day they were doing what well they were eating they were drinking they were marrying they were giving in marriage in other words they were just living every day normal life with no expectation of a flood it was not even on their radar okay at least in terms of them believing it was going to happen they just went on as if life was just going to normally continue until the day when Noah entered the Ark and guess what they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away so let's take note of what parallel has been drawn so far the day that Noah entered the Ark which I'm going to highlight in blue that day he entered the Ark you know what was true of the people they were unaware until the flood so here we have another time marker so I'm just going to take note of this we have one time marker until the day when Noah entered the Ark that's time marker number one and they were unaware until the flood came that's a different time marker because Noah actually goes into the ark Before the Flood actually comes okay and it swept them all away so will be the coming of the son of man in other words we don't have to wonder well what what you know does Jesus's Second Coming have in common with the days of Noah Jesus tells us he says so will the coming of the son of man be well what will the son of man's coming be like it will be like when Noah entered the Ark and the flood came and guess what they were all swept away they were all swept away because they were unaware so I want to highlight these two facts number one they're Swept Away number two they're unaware two key descriptions I'm gonna just draw number one right here in a number two here they're Swept Away these two key characteristics of the people of Noah's day right are going to help us understand what Jesus is helping us to make sense of about his second coming okay so the son of man will come in the same way that it seems like the flood came which involved people unaware living life normally and then just being swept away suddenly because they didn't expect or believe that a flood was really coming now verse 40. this is where we get into the the one key detail that a lot of people miss when reading this passage it says then two men will be in the field so what do we have here well I'm going to highlight in this salmon color we have two men okay one is taken let's highlight the one that's taken in blue because we just highlighted the people who were you know swept away or you know forget that I said that just one will be taken and then one is left we'll highlight the person that's left in yellow what's commonly uh the way most Christians interpret this passage is that this is the rapture the person who's left right or rather let's address the one that's taken the one that's taken is the believer they're taken up with Christ wherever they end up going this is commonly understood not all all people understand it this way but a lot of people understand this person that's taken away to be a believer they're raptured up with Jesus because this is the second coming right well let's think about this so far who has who was the person Swept Away in Noah's day the people who were swept away or taken by the flood were the wicked who were unaware and went about their normal life not believing the word of God that was coming through Noah so it makes the most sense so far to say the person who is taken away in Noah's day is going to be similar to the person who is taken at the second coming of Jesus and who was left in Noah's day well Noah and his family because they entered the Ark so who would we say is the person that's going to be left if we're just making a parallel between Noah's day and the second coming well if Noah was left with his family in the ark and we've entered into Jesus for Safety and Security and salvation it makes sense that the person who's left is actually the believer now I'm going to verify this make it very clear since two women will be grinding at the Mill so here we have just two women going about their normal everyday life just like two men were in the field normal everyday life right they're grinding at the Mill one is taken again we'll highlight that person in blue and one is left okay therefore Jesus says and this word is very important therefore in light of this truth that one is taken and one is left because the person that's taken seems to be the unaware that's caught up in the flood and we'll see that the floods of judgment in Matthew's gospel make the most sense but therefore stay awake you don't know on what day so let's just think about this them not knowing seems to be something that Jesus has already hinted at up here no one knows the day or the hour when what well when the son of man is coming so we might not know the exact hour or the exact day right but let's see what Jesus says he says you can still stay awake even though you don't know specifically what day or what hour it's coming just like Noah didn't exactly know what day or hour the flood was coming but he was prepared he was ready he believed the word of the Lord and just like the Lord is coming the flood Came Upon the Earth and Noah was ready because he took refuge and the Ark and believed the word of God right so we don't know when the Lord is coming in in detail what hour what day Jesus just says stay awake and be ready but this word but is going to tell you even though that's true you don't know when he's coming but know this in other words what do we know well we know what he's about to tell us though we don't know the details of a second coming regarding what time and what hour so we can look at the clock we know something that if the Master of the House had known in what part of the night the thief was coming he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into now sometimes you can take these small you know uh examples or illustrations Jesus uses some people take them too far and they try to find a parallel in every detail and every detail is metaphorical I think the point of this is hey your lord is coming he just said stay awake so now he's going to talk about if someone had known when a thief was coming into their house they wouldn't have let their house be broken into right he would have stayed awake this is the idea is that we are called to what stay awake therefore you also must be ready which again is to say stay awake why well he says four the son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect so here's what we can say when Jesus comes at his second coming we know for a fact that we can be ready we know for a fact we can be awake we know for a fact that we can be prepared like Noah was for the flood so that at the second God says you know here he is we're ready just like Noah was told get in the ark but we don't necessarily expect the very hour that Jesus is coming it's unexpected not because we're not ready but apparently because there's some degree of this is not exactly what we pictured verse 45 who then is the faithful and wise servant whom his master has said over his household to give them their food at the proper time so watch this now we have a faithful and a wise servant right and the master which will highlight in this color has set that wise faithful servant over his household to do what well to give them their food at the proper time so in other words this Mass this this servant's job is to be over the household not domineering not oppressive right but serving giving them their food at the proper what at the proper time time has been referenced a lot in this passage hasn't it the hour the day the time be ready right but hear the faithful servant knows his job is to in a timely way feed the household and serve the people that the master has put him over to serve and Steward okay so in other words this is the job of the faithful and wise servant to give the food to those in the household right this is similar to being ready or having stayed awake do you see it blessed is that servant so we'll we'll highlight in blue how they're described well they're blessed whom his master will find so doing when he comes so so now the master comes and guess what he finds the faithful servant doing well he finds the faithful servant doing what the master told him to do truly I say to you he will set him over all his possessions but now we have an ominous but sorry but if well now there's a wicked servant so I don't know what color to use here um let's take a purple pen we have a wicked servant boo Wicked servant if you the wicked servant says to himself my master is delayed oh sounds a lot like what the people of Noah's today were probably saying about the flood and begins to beat his fellow servants so guess what this servant is doing not giving food not serving not not stewarding and helping but this servant is beating his fellow servants he's eating and drinking with drunkards well guess who's coming the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect and at an hour he does not know and will cut him in pieces and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth in other words if you want to be the wicked servant and say well my Master's delayed he's not coming let me live Wicked and Godless well you're going to be very disappointed and unaware when the master does come back and an hour you don't expect not just an hour but on a day you don't expect he's going to find you and you as the wick whoever the wicked servant is not you you The Listener hopefully but the wicked servant here will be cut in pieces and guess where he's put let's highlight this the master puts this fella with the hypocrites and guess what in that place you know what it's marked by it's marked by weeping and gnashing of teeth take note of this he's put there it might you might say he's taken he's placed there kind of like how the people in Noah's day were caught up by the floods Swept Away taken right because I know a lot of people have that have a hang up here they go I don't think the person who's taken is is is the wicked well let me let's be as consistent as we can with Matthew's gospel I want to show you a few examples and explain why so Jesus ends this portion by saying there is a wicked uh right here Wicked servant whom you know was supposed to do something he didn't the master comes when this wicked servant is unaware kind of like the people in the days of Noah and this wicked servant is put in a place where there's weeping gnashing of teeth and the Hypocrites go sounds like separation from God you don't want to go there okay so to be consistent with this idea what we should ask is in The Parables that surround this chapter The Parables that surround this chapter you're going to see that there's someone who is taken away Swept Away just like we saw in in this verse right here so let's look at a few of those passages for instance in Matthew chapter 22 verse 13 we have Jesus ending this parable about the the wedding Feast there's someone who doesn't belong in the wedding because he's not dressed accordingly he rejected the Garment that the king provided this King says to the attendants bind him this person who doesn't have a place at the wedding Feast bind him hand and foot cast him into the outer darkness in other words take him away put him in that place in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth many are called but few are chosen so who's the person that's cast out or taken and placed into outer Darkness well the Wicked the wicked is the one okay fast forward to Matthew chapter 24 back where we were and the next Parable we see because that was the first Parable that comes before this chapter or the last Parable that comes before this chapter is the parable of the wedding Feast the second Parable is right here the wicked servant versus the faithful servant this wicked servant is what put in that place where there's weeping and gnashing of teeth the next Parable that comes right after this is the parable of the ten virgins we have wise versions five wise versions and we have five foolish version virgins okay fast forward to verse 10 here's what happens to the foolish virgins who were not ready or were unaware caught off guard by the coming of the bridegroom while they were going to buy because they didn't have enough oil they had to leave right they had to be taken away the bridegroom came and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage Feast because guess what the people who were ready knew that the bridegroom was taking them somewhere the bridegroom didn't come from the feast to grab these people the bridegroom was on his way to the feast to grab those who were ready and then he takes them into the marriage feast and the door is shut okay and guess who's cast out or left outside well the people the foolish virgins who were not ready the next Parable we have is actually here regarding the parable of the talents we have one two three servants who were given up talent and in verse 30 this is how the third servant is addressed he was faithless he's called wicked okay and this is what the master says about this wicked servant he says cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness in other words what take him away in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth so once again we see the wicked taken away cast out placed in another location the last Parable that comes after or at least soon after Matthew chapter 24 is actually in 25 46 it's the parable of the Lambs and the goats the Lambs are on the right hand of Jesus at the Judgment the goats are on the left and referring to the goats these goats are the wicked who didn't do the will of the Father and Jesus on Judgment Day says these will go away Swept Away taken away into Eternal punishment but the righteous into eternal life all throughout Matthew's gospel you'll see that the righteous inherit life they inherit the earth they stay and remain in the midst of you know God coming back and establishing New Creation The Righteous remain and the wicked are taken away into Eternal punishment so to be consistent with all the Parables that surround Matthew chapter 24 it is most appropriate most contextually logical and most uh consistent with the surrounding context to say that the people who are taken away when it says two men will be in the field one is taken one is left or two women one is taken one is left I know some of you in church were taught that this is referring to the Rapture in terms of Jesus is taking away those who are righteous and just teleporting them up to the head to heaven and uh if you're left it stinks actually the people who are left are the Righteous to inherit the earth and the New Creation With Jesus and they are caught up with him but not to leave rather to stay and to actually be a part of New Creation whereas the people who are taken seem to be the wicked that is the most consistent and so is this passage about the Rapture in some sense it can refer to the people of God being where Jesus is and caught up to where he is but the people who are taken into judgment Eternal punishment separation outer Darkness the people who are taken aren't the Christians at some Rapture the people who are taken are the unrighteous and the wicked away from God's Good Earth and what's left in the new creation are those that belong the ones left are the Righteous the children of God I hope this was helpful to you if you struggle reading the Bible and you're confused frustrated bored overwhelmed whatever it is we have a completely free 40-day Bible study program you should check out Linked In the description below if that's too much we have a 27 day and an 11 Day program check that out or go to above reproachministry.com and uh thanks for watching hey thanks for watching this video if you haven't already subscribed go ahead and do that and hit the Bell so you can be notified of any future videos that come out and check out above reproachministry.com we have completely free Bible study courses a 40-day program a 27 day and 11 Day program all kinds of free resources you can get a copy of my book you can join our online church you can get some merch we have a bunch of stuff at above reproachministry.com and it's also linked in the description below go check that 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