How I Came to Doubt Pre-Tribulation Rapture
Luke 17:34-37 (NIV84)
34 “I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. 35 Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left. 36 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left.
37 “Where, Lord?” they asked.
He replied, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.”
I was 16 or 17 years old when I read this passage for probably the third time. I believed Jesus was talking about the rapture in verses 34-36, but I’d never understood His reply in verse 37. It appeared as if He abruptly changed the subject, but I knew He wouldn’t do that. Or maybe it was a one sentence parable? Before, I would just skip it without understanding, but I didn’t want to keep doing that. I perceived the disciples were asking Him about the taken. If two people are together and one leaves, we know where the person who is left is—right where they were before the other left. The disciples wanted to know where the taken were taken.
I remembered the words of 1 Corinthians 15:51, how we will not all sleep [die], but we will all be changed, and I wondered, “Why would [Christians’] bodies be left?” And also, “Even if there were bodies left that we wouldn’t need anymore, why would God let the bodies of His people be eaten by birds? That sounds dishonorable!”
I prayed earnestly God would help me understand what Jesus meant when He uttered those words.
Within a week, I believe, I found pretty much the same phrase in Matthew 24. “Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather” (Mt 24:28). I examined its immediate context (Mt 24:23-28), but I still couldn’t understand what Jesus was saying.
I decided to compare Luke 17 and Matthew 24 very carefully, to see if anything would shed light on what Jesus was talking about. I found it in the days of Noah.
Luke 17:26-27 (NKJV)
26 And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: 27 They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.Matthew 24:37-39 (NJKV)
37 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, up until the day Noah entered the ark. In Luke 17, “the Flood came and destroyed them all.” In Matthew 24, “the Flood came and took them all away.” Jesus is clearly talking about the same people in both passages–the wicked people who died in the Flood. In this context, taken = destroyed.
I kept reading. “That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left” (Mt 24:39-41, NIV84).
Is your brain flipping? Mine did. It was hard to pull out of the well-traveled rut and see the taken and left in Jesus’ context. When He said, “one will be taken,” Jesus wasn’t talking about a rapture at all! He was talking about the wicked dying at His return!
In my youth group, Larry Norman’s song “I Wish We’d All Been Ready” was on regular rotation. Its second verse refers to the “one will be taken and the other left” verses, as if the believers disappear. Its message was clear: if you aren’t ready, Christ will come and you will get left behind to face the Tribulation. Growing up in churches, it’s what I’d always been taught. But the song was wrong! Because I so strongly associated Pre-Tribulation Rapture with “one will be taken and the other left”, this revelation caused me to doubt Pre-Tribulation Rapture.
Luke 17:37 now made sense: at Jesus’ coming, the wicked people will die and vultures will eat their bodies.
You may be thinking, “My version says eagles.” NIV84 chose to translate it, “vultures,” and that’s the version I was reading at the time. The word choice helped me understand the birds would actually be eating the corpses of the lawless. “I thought eagles only ate small live animals.” Eagles also eat carrion. In my favorite part of Job, the LORD questions Job concerning the features of His creation. The LORD describes the eagle in Job 39:27-30, finishing, “And where the slain are, there it is.”
After understanding that Jesus’ comments about carcasses and eagles were literal, I saw birds in Revelation 19. This is the scene when Jesus returns on the white horse with the “sharp sword” proceeding from His mouth (Revelation 19:11-15). The angels call the birds to eat the people Christ slays (Rv 19:17-18), and they obey (Rv 19:21). This scene is also in the Old Testament, in Ezekiel 39:4, 17-20.
Jesus warns us repeatedly against the strong deceptions of false christs and false prophets in Matthew 24:23-26. Then, in Matthew 24:27-28, He contrasts the fake returns with His real return. Verse 27 essentially tells us that everyone will see the coming of the Son of Man—it won’t be missed by anyone or limited to a select geographical area. Verse 28, “For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together,” is a vivid picture of what Revelation and Ezekiel describe. If we don’t see the bodies of the Lord’s enemies being eaten by birds, it’s not His coming.
I also found many Old Testament examples to confirm my initial reaction: dead bodies being eaten by birds is a curse (1 Ki 14:7-11, 1 Ki 16:1-4, 1 Ki 21:17-24).
I glorify God for answering my prayer about the carcasses and the vultures!
This answer to prayer spurred a new question and new search. “Pre-Tribulation Rapture isn’t in Luke 17 or Matthew 24. If it exists, where is it?”
If my question is your question, ask Him now to show you and start searching His Word!
The next part of my story is in another post, “The Timing of the Gathering.”
May the LORD bless you.
Luke 17:34-37 (NIV84)
34 “I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. 35 Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left. 36 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left.
37 “Where, Lord?” they asked.
He replied, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.”
I was 16 or 17 years old when I read this passage for probably the third time. I believed Jesus was talking about the rapture in verses 34-36, but I’d never understood His reply in verse 37. It appeared as if He abruptly changed the subject, but I knew He wouldn’t do that. Or maybe it was a one sentence parable? Before, I would just skip it without understanding, but I didn’t want to keep doing that. I perceived the disciples were asking Him about the taken. If two people are together and one leaves, we know where the person who is left is—right where they were before the other left. The disciples wanted to know where the taken were taken.
I remembered the words of 1 Corinthians 15:51, how we will not all sleep [die], but we will all be changed, and I wondered, “Why would [Christians’] bodies be left?” And also, “Even if there were bodies left that we wouldn’t need anymore, why would God let the bodies of His people be eaten by birds? That sounds dishonorable!”
I prayed earnestly God would help me understand what Jesus meant when He uttered those words.
Within a week, I believe, I found pretty much the same phrase in Matthew 24. “Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather” (Mt 24:28). I examined its immediate context (Mt 24:23-28), but I still couldn’t understand what Jesus was saying.
I decided to compare Luke 17 and Matthew 24 very carefully, to see if anything would shed light on what Jesus was talking about. I found it in the days of Noah.
Luke 17:26-27 (NKJV)
26 And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: 27 They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.Matthew 24:37-39 (NJKV)
37 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, up until the day Noah entered the ark. In Luke 17, “the Flood came and destroyed them all.” In Matthew 24, “the Flood came and took them all away.” Jesus is clearly talking about the same people in both passages–the wicked people who died in the Flood. In this context, taken = destroyed.
I kept reading. “That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left” (Mt 24:39-41, NIV84).
Is your brain flipping? Mine did. It was hard to pull out of the well-traveled rut and see the taken and left in Jesus’ context. When He said, “one will be taken,” Jesus wasn’t talking about a rapture at all! He was talking about the wicked dying at His return!
In my youth group, Larry Norman’s “I Wish We’d All Been Ready” was on regular rotation. Its second verse refers to the “one will be taken and the other left” verses as if believers disappear. Its message was clear: if you aren’t ready, Christ will come and you will get left behind to face the Tribulation. Growing up in churches, it’s what I’d always been taught. But the song was wrong! Because I so strongly associated Pre-Tribulation Rapture with “one will be taken and the other left”, this revelation caused me to doubt Pre-Tribulation Rapture.
Luke 17:37 now made sense: at Jesus’ coming, the wicked people will die and vultures will eat their bodies.
You may be thinking, “My version says eagles.” NIV84 chose to translate it, “vultures,” and that’s the version I was reading at the time. The word choice helped me understand the birds would actually be eating the corpses of the lawless. “I thought eagles only ate small live animals.” Eagles also eat carrion. In my favorite part of Job, the LORD questions Job concerning the features of His creation. The LORD describes the eagle in Job 39:27-30, finishing, “And where the slain are, there it is.”
After understanding that Jesus’ comments about carcasses and eagles were literal, I saw birds in Revelation 19. This is the scene when Jesus returns on the white horse with the “sharp sword” proceeding from His mouth (Rv 19:11-15). The angels call the birds to eat the people Christ slays (Rv 19:17-18), and they obey (Rv 19:21). This scene is also in the Old Testament, in Ezekiel 39:4, 17-20.
Jesus warns us repeatedly against the strong deceptions of false christs and false prophets in Matthew 24:23-26. Then, in Matthew 24:27-28, He contrasts the fake returns with His real return. Verse 27 essentially tells us everyone will see the coming of the Son of Man—it won’t be missed by anyone or limited to a select geographical area. Verse 28, “For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together,” is a vivid picture of what Revelation and Ezekiel describe. If we don’t see the bodies of the Lord’s enemies being eaten by birds, it’s not His coming.
I also found many Old Testament examples to confirm my initial reaction: dead bodies being eaten by birds is a curse (1 Ki 14:7-11, 1 Ki 16:1-4, 1 Ki 21:17-24).
I glorify God for answering my prayer about the carcasses and the vultures!
This answer to prayer spurred a new question and new search. “Pre-Tribulation Rapture isn’t in Luke 17 or Matthew 24. If it exists, where is it?”
If my question is your question, ask Him now to show you and start searching His Word!
The next part of my story is in another post, “The Timing of the Gathering.”
May the LORD bless you.
