“For this we say unto you By The Word of The Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent [precede] them which are asleep [dead in their graves]. ¹⁶ For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: ¹⁷ Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. ¹⁸ Wherefore comfort one another with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18 (KJV)

Here above in 1 Thes. 4:15 there is another issue that points to a Pre-Tribulation Rapture and it comes to us in the form of a clue seen at the beginning of this Rapture passage. Verse 15 opens with the phrase “by the word of the Lord.” There simply is no other place in the New Testament where Jesus speaks of some being resurrected from the dead and some others being raised and transformed to “MEET THE LORD IN THE AIR” (1 Thes. 4:17). Jesus of Nazareth never says anything like that, nor does he even imply such a thing anywhere in the four gospels narratives when He was speaking only to “the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” (Matt. 15:24) about the events of His 2^nd coming.

The above passage is usually interpreted by Christians and their pastor/teachers so as to apply to our Lord’s coming for the members of “His body” at the rapture!

They erroneously say concerning the Rapture of the Church “two will be working in the field, when one will be TAKEN TO HEAVEN and the other LEFT TO GO THROUGH THE DAY OF GOD’S WRATH, and so also with two women who may be grinding side by side at the mill: one will be caught up to be with the Lord and the other LEFT BEHIND TO GO THROUGH THE TRIBULATION”

This view above is EXACTLY WRONG. Actually, this passage cannot have anything to do with the Rapture of “the Body of Christ” to be with Christ in heaven.

The truth of our Lord’s coming for the members of “His Body” at the rapture was A Secret First Revealed By The Glorified Lord Through Paul as “the (one) Apostle to the Gentiles” (Rom 11:13) relating to the “body of Christ,” NOT Israel. Read Paul’s words concerning the “catching away,” commonly called the “Rapture” in his 1Cor. 15:51-58 and 1Thes. 4:15-18. No other Bible writer addresses the Rapture except Paul as “the Apostle” writing to the Gentile “church, which is his body.”

But most people go to Matthew 24 and read from Jesus words spoken to His Jewish disciples. In Matthew 24, taken in context, it is evident that the passage cannot refer to the rapture. You must read the verses noting the context.

First note that Jesus is speaking to Israel (Matt 15:24, 10:5-6) about the coming Millennial kingdom (Matt 24:14), as was long promised to Israel. It had been widely prophesied that Israel will inherit and enjoy the restored Davidic Kingdom on earth. David was the King of Israel as a forerunner to Jesus, the eternal King of Israel.

Now consider the detail of Matthew 24 passage more closely:

True, the passage says: “The one shall be Taken, and the other Left”, but where and how will the one be Taken, and what will be the lot of the one who is Left behind?

But by carefully looking at the verses and context immediately preceding our text in Matthew 24:40-42, it is evident that the coming of Christ to earth to judge and set up His Millennial reign is in view. Jesus likened what will happen to what did happen in “the days of Noah” (cf. Matt 34:37-38). He said when people ate and drank, married and gave away again in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, “and knew not until the flood came and TOOK THEM ALL AWAY.”

These people were NOT “taken away” to glory. NO! They were “taken away” in judgment in death of the flood. Noah’s family, as the survivors of the flood judgment, were then to “replenish the earth.”

Note that Matthew Matt. 24:40-41 are a continuation of this illustration, citing Noah and the flood judgment. It’s evident that the “taken away” in Noah’s day were Taken Away In The Flood Judgment, while the others (Noah and his family) were “left” to live on and replenish the earth.

Thus, Jesus is telling His Jewish disciples those “taken” at the wheel and in the field in the Tribulation WILL DIE in judgment under “the wrath of God” while the believing survivors of tribulation will go on to enter the promised Messianic Millennial Kingdom on earth.

This interpretation alone is consistent with the whole context in which we find this passage. So, like the days of Noah’s family, the believers of Israel who survive the coming Tribulation judgments… will, at Christ’s return, go on to enter and populate the Millennial Kingdom on earth.

Great confusion would be avoided if the truth of the rapture of “the Body” to be with Christ were recognized to be what it is… a divine SECRET first revealed to Paul concerning “the church” of this present “dispensation of the grace of God,” called “the Body of Christ.”