QUESTION:

I've read Pre-Wrath and believe it but had a few reservations. Your PDF helped clear that up. I thank God for you! However, I have a couple of questions: (1) Luke 17:36 - the vultures seem to indicate judgment that Jesus said in reply to 'Where, Lord?' of verse 36. That would make the taken be the lost and not believers in the rapture. (2) One ministry says 'taken' in Scripture refers to the wicked and is never good, therefore, the rapture is not what is menat here; it means judgment. (3) Matt 13 parable: the wicked are taken first and burned', which supports the evil 'taken' in judgment; not the rapture. (4) Pro 10:30 says that the righteous will never be taken (raptured) fom the earth; only the wicked in judgment.

STEPHEN'S ANSWER:

Thanks for your visit to our website and your interest in the PreWrath position. Your questions are great! I hope the following can be of some help to you.

1. Luke 17:37 should be understood as a metaphor, where Lord Jesus simply says just like the vultures tend to be gathered to where the body is, the Elect of God will be gathered to where the Lord Jesus is, when He returns in great power and glory from above. This is exactly what the rapture of the Saints will look like.

2. The original Greek word for "taken" in these passages is paralambano, which literally means "to receive near". In the second coming of the Lord Jesus, the surviving believers will be received near, or gathered to Jesus Himself, thus cutting short the Great Tribulation by the Antichrist. To say "taken" can only refer to the wicked, they have to show you Scriptures to support it. There are over 60 uses of the word "taken" in the New Testament. Do they all apply to the wicked? Of course not! As a matter of fact, the Bible records in Genesis 5:24 that "Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him." They can't say Enoch was wicked, can they?

3. If we regard Matthew 13:24-30 as a parable, we shouldn't expect every detail of it has a matching object in its interpretation. We should be looking for the focal point of the parable, as intended by the author. In this parable, Jesus made it clear through His own interpretation (vv 36-42) that His focus is on the wrath of God in the end of this world and the fiery punishment for the wicked, NOT the order of end-time events.

4. I don't think "removed" (as in KJV) here means "raptured". NASB translates this verse as "the righteous will never be shaken, But the wicked will not dwell in the land". The Hebrew text of the original word means "to waver; by implication to slip, shake, fall". In this sense, NASB better reflects the intended meaning of this word.

I hope this can help clear up some of your confusions. If you have further questions, please don't hesitate to email me.

In Christ,

Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible.

Further questions or comments on this answer may be sent to Stephen at here.