Part 4 – Clearing the Confusion of ‘Exactly Wrong Doctrine’

This Article is part of a multi-part Study Series called Will Christians Endure the Tribulation Judgements on Earth?.

Let’s now read consider Paul’s words in 1 Thess. 5 that seem to confuse many Christians today.

“For when THEY shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon THEM, as travail upon a woman with child; and They shall not escape.” (1 Thes. 5:3) (KJV)

Many mistakenly assume that because 1Thess. 5 follows Paul’s description of the Rapture in 1Thess. 4, that chapter 5 continues the same thought of chapter 4, as if “sudden destruction” somehow applies to the Raptured “body of Christ.” The fact is that often one Bible verse or verse sequence, phrase, or chapter may speak of two different time periods (E.g. read Isa. 9:6-7 where vs 6 and 7 speak of 2 different time periods). The idea of applying the “sudden destruction” of 1Thes. 5:3 to the believers of the church, the body of Christ today is ridiculous and certainly would contradict the blessed hope of Titus 2:13. Paul said his words of the Rapture should “COMFORT” all the grace age believers (1Thes. 4:18).

I will further disprove this false 1The 5:3 interpretation where actually Paul writes to his “brethren (the grace believers)” in 1Thess. 5:1;

“But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. 1 Thessalonians 5:1 (KJV)

We today also need to read Paul’s words and remember them!!!

This chapter, 1Thes 5, Concerns the Judgments That Will Come Upon Those Still on The Earth AFTER THE RAPTURE. Half of the Gentiles on earth in the Tribulation will die (Rev 6:8, 9:15). Two-thirds of Israel’s population are to die before the 2nd half “Great Tribulation (Zech. 13:8-9), leaving 1/3 to pass through “the refiner’s fire” (cf. 1Pet. 1:7).

So, Paul is writing to the church, about THEM in 1Thes. 5:3, those upon whom judgment is coming. Paul says, THEY [the non-believers] left on earth shall NOT escape (v3).” Paul does NOT say ‘sudden destruction” … is coming upon ‘YOU,’ the Thessalonian believers to whom he is writing.

Many Christians mistakenly mix Paul’s words with Jesus’ words in the four Gospels (i.e., Matt. 24, Lk. 17, 21), wrongly assuming Jesus and Paul are addressing the same events, as if applying to the body of Christ.” Most forget Jesus was a “minister of the circumcision [Israel]” ONLY (Rom. 15:8, cf. Matt. 15:24). Jesus Never Spoke A Word Concerning Paul’s Mystery of the joint “body of Christ,” of Jew and Gentile equally one in “His body,” nor the Rapture.

Paul’s words in 1Thes 5:1-3 do somewhat agree with the Lord’s prophesies concerning judgments coming upon ‘the world and Israel’… but NOT His Body. In Matt 24:30-31 (below) Jesus spoke of the “sign” that all the tribes [Gentile nations] of the earth mourn, and He then spoke of His coming in the clouds to gather together His elect [Israel],” at the end of the Great Tribulation judgments … This is His 2nd Coming to earth.

“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. 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 [North, South, East, West], from one end of heaven to the other.” (Matt. 24:30-31)

Many misapply Matt 24:30-31 because these phrases, “he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and … gather together his elect,” sounding similar to Paul’s words concerning the Rapture of the church in 1Thes. 4:13-18. Actually, God is very precise; His exact ‘words’ mean something and differences count. Jesus and Paul refer to 2 different comings of Christ. By looking closely at the words of the verses preceding Matt. 24:30-31 to see the context, we see that Jesus is clearly speaking of His 2nd coming… in judgment. Just consider that Matt. 24:13-21 as it precedes Matt. 24:30-31. Note my commentary on Matt. 24:13-21 below in Arial print. You will see that Jesus’ words obviously describe a time toward the end(v14 below) of “the Great Tribulation.” These verses below do NOT apply to “the body of Christ,” which will have already been Raptured to heaven several years earlier.

13But HE THAT SHALL ENDURE unto THE END, the same SHALL BE SAVED. Matt. 24:13 (KJV)

(This Scripture does not apply to the Christian believers under “the dispensation of the grace of God” (Eph 3:2). The Grace believers are assured of their salvation “by grace through faith in Christ (alone).” A grace believer’s subsequent failure to endure faithful unto the Rapture does not negate their salvation, but it would under “the Law.)

14 And this GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM [to come on earth] shall be preached [by the 2 witnesses and the 144,000] in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and THEN SHALL THE END COME.

(Christians are saved only according to Paul’s “The Gospel of the Grace of God” (Act 20:24), not according to “The Gospel of the Kingdom” that Jesus gave the Twelve for Israel, Matt. 10:5-6.)

15 When YE [Israel] THEREFORE SHALL SEE THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION, SPOKEN OF BY DANIEL THE PROPHET, stand [an image, statue of Antichrist that speaks] in the holy place [temple], (whoso readeth, let him understand :) 16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains [of Edom, Petra]:

(Clearly, according to Dan 9:27 and 12:11, THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION occurs near the middle of the Tribulation, 3-1/2 years after the Rapture and 1,290 days before the end of the Tribulation)

17Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: 18Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. 19And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! 20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: 21For THEN shall be GREAT TRIBULATION, such as was Not Since The Beginning of The World to This Time, No, Nor Ever Shall Be. (Mat. 24:13-21)

(The “Great Tribulation” will be such as man has never seen. It has not yet occurred. except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake (the elect of Israel) those days shall be shortened. (Mat. 24:22))

As you will now see, if you’ve read the Tim LeHaye book series or seen the “Left Behind” films you will be surprised to find they are exactly wrong and contrary to Scripture as to ‘who and why’ some are “taken” and the others are “left behind.

In Matt 24:27 we read Jesus’ words of thecarcasses” of the dead that will be eaten by “the eagles.”

27For as the lightning [suddenly] cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so, shall also THE COMING OF THE SON OF MAN BE. 28 For WHERESOEVER the CARCASE IS, there will the EAGLES BE GATHERED TOGETHER.               

(This is a prophecy, not a parable. These gathered “eagles” will eat the carcasses of the dead of the Great Tribulation. These eagles are the “fowls of Rev. 19:18. Consider many other Bible references to fowls, eagles, and ravens eating the dead after judgments. Jesus also said these events will occur just before He comes again to earth.

Luke writes of the same event, referring to these “eagles gathered” to eat the flesh of men.

36Two men shall be in the field; the ONE SHALL BE ‘TAKEN,’ and the other LEFT. 37And they [Jesus’ disciples)] answered and said unto him, [Taken] WHERE, LORD? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body [the flesh body of the carcass] is, thither will the EAGLES be gathered together.” (Read Luke 17:33-37.)

Note the word “taken” in verse 36. These “taken” ones are not being Raptured. NO! they are taken to death of judgment, after which the eagles (fowls)” will eat their flesh. In Rev. 19:18 John writes similarly, confirming the fact that “fowls” will “eat the flesh” of the dead.

“And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all THE FOWLS that fly in the midst of heaven [the atmosphere], Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; 18That ye may EAT THE FLESH of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.” (Rev. 19:18)

So, Jesus in Matthew 24 is not at all referring to the Rapture of Christians or in Lk. 17 or 21.

The religious idea that the “one takenis Raptured, while those ‘left behind’ will suffer the Tribulation is Exactly Wrong and does Not agree with the words of the Scriptures we are reading.

  1. First, these judgments on earth will occur over the several years after the Rapture of “the body of Christ,” in Tribulation period, thus having nothing to do with “the body of Christ.”
  2. Those “taken” are taken in these judgments to die; their carcasses are to be eaten by the fowls.
  3. By contrast, those NOT “taken are the faithful Messianic remnant of Kingdom believers who are left alive on earth. They were faithful to not take “the mark of the beast.” They will survive the Tribulation judgments to go on to live in Christ’s Millennial Kingdom on the earth, then the eternal Kingdom.
  4. We can conclude that it is a good thing for Kingdom believers to be Left Alive, NOT “taken” to death.

Now note how that Jesus continued in Matt. 24 by saying; as the days of Noah were, so shall it be in the days of the coming of the Son of man(Matt 24:37).  In Noah’s day the flood took them ALL away,” except Noah and his family of eight souls, who were Left Behind “to replenish the earth.” And, so shall it be “of the coming of the Son of Man” when the lost souls are to be “taken” in death, while the surviving kingdom believers of Israel are to be Left on Earth to Enter the Millennial Kingdom alive. Jesus continued here in Matt. 24:29:

29 Immediately after THE TRIBULATION of those days [of ‘signs and wonders,’ cf. vs 23-24] shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven [Heb. aster, asteroids], and THE [the evil angelic] “POWERSOF THE HEAVENS SHALL BE SHAKEN [Heb. saleuo, toppled].”

(Antichrist, False Prophet, the fallen angels will be toppled just prior to the 2nd coming of Christ in “power and glory” (v 30).

So, Paul’s words of the coming of “sudden” and devastating judgments during theGreat Tribulation” were NOT to be a problem that troubles the Thessalonian grace age believers. All grace believers should know they are eternally “sealed” (Eph. 1:13) having the “blessed hope” of the Rapture before these judgments occur. The Thessalonian grace age believers were NOT to be concerned with Antichrist or the Tribulation judgments.

So, what then was the concern of the Thessalonians that Paul was addressing? As we’ve previously discussed, their concern was whether their deceased loved ones, who “sleep (are dead in Christ), had missed the Rapture. (see 1Thes 4:13-18)

Paul answered this directly saying the dead in Christ shall rise first and then we who are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord” will “meet the Lord in the air.” Hence, concerning the Rapture, Paul says grace believers may “… COMFORT ONE ANOTHER with these words” (1Thes. 4:13-18). There would be no “comfort” in “sudden destruction. Paul’s words in 1Thes. 4:13-18 and 1Thes. 5 are to contrast the comfort” of the Rapture for grace believers, versus the “Day