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Who is taken first?
Some people
wrongly believe that a pre-tribulation rapture can’t happen because Matthew
In the
parable of the tares Jesus said, “Allow both (wheat and tares) to grow together
until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers,
"First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn
them up; but gather the wheat into my barn.” (Matt. 13:30). He then explained that the “tares” are “sons
of the evil one” (Matt.
This
parable doesn’t mean the rapture and Second Coming are the same event. Although Jesus specifically forbade the
removal of the wicked, He did not forbid the removal of the righteous.
(Matt. 13:29)
The harvest
is the Second Coming of Christ to earth.
Jesus said unbelievers will be gathered FIRST at His Second Coming. However, the apostle Paul under the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit said the dead in Christ will rise first. “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven
with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and
the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be
caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so
we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thess.
If the
Rapture and Second Coming are the same event, we have a contradiction in the
Bible. However, the mystery is cleared
up when we understand that the Rapture of the Church precedes the Second
Coming.
The Rapture
will occur first, when Christ returns in the clouds to remove His church from
earth and take us to heaven. Jesus said,
"If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you
to Myself, that where I am (heaven), there you may
be also. (John 14:3). Jesus will not touch
the earth at the Rapture but will stay in the heavens. At this time, the dead in Christ will be
resurrected, which is immediately followed by living Christians being caught up
into heaven.
At the
Second Coming, Jesus will return to earth and His feet will land on the
Rapture (1 Thess.
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Second Coming (Matt.
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People
are resurrected |
People
are gathered |
The dead
in Christ will rise first |
Tares (wicked)
are gathered first |
THEN,
those alive in Christ are resurrected (v.17) |
THEN
wheat (righteous) are gathered, but not resurrected. |
Christians
are taken to heaven (John 14:3) |
People
who were saved after the rapture will enter the millennial kingdom (Zech |