That's what the "
POST-tribbers" do ^ ... which some posts in this thread have pointed out... A few, for example:
--there is NO mention of "
harpagēsometha / harpazo / snatch / caught-away / rapture [G726]" (TO the meeting of the Lord IN THE AIR) in Matthew 24 (or its numerous parallel passages, that is, in the ENTIRETY of His Olivet Discourse, INCLUDING the parallels with that found in Lk12:36-37,38,40,42-44 "when he will RETURN FROM the wedding"...
THEN "the meal [G347]" [see also Matt8:11 and parallel] and Lk19:12,15,17,19 "RETURN"... and in Lk17:26-37... nor in the context of Matt13:24,30,39,40,49-50 which passage the disciples' Q of Jesus in Matt24:3 was BASED ON [that is, based on what He had ALREADY SPOKEN to them about in that Matt13 context] etc etc)... but POST-tribbers seem to have no problem asserting that IT'S THERE in this passage (and its numerous parallel passages);
This reminds me of an Islamic apologist's debating tactic-- "Tell me where the Bible says, quote, "Jesus is God'" and if you cannot find the exact quote, he claims victory.
Can you show me one other verse that uses '
harpagēsometha' anywhere else besides that one verse in I Thessalonians 4 in the whole Bible? You would agree that the 'gathering' of II Thessalonians 2:1 occurs at the same event as the rapture, wouldn't you? The related verb form is used in Matthew 24. Matthew 24 and I Thessalonians 4 also speak of the 'parousia', translated 'coming'. In Matthew 24, we read about the parousia of the Son of man. II Thessalonians 2 refers to the parousia of the Lord.
--it has already been admitted (correctly) in this thread that the "one TAKEN" is "taken away" IN JUDGMENT (just as in Noah's day) and that the "other LEFT" is left (i.e. not taken away in judgment)... but somehow POST-tribbers think they see a "rapture" in such passages (in the context of His Second Coming to the earth), despite Scripture showing the exact OPPOSITE (the ones who are "LEFT" in THESE contexts are the saved [as they acknowledge, at least in this thread], but for some reason they envision "left" to mean "Raptured [G726]...TO the meeting of the Lord IN THE AIR" which is NOT what the text itself declares at all, here (or in any of its parallel passages);
Name one post tribber who has made such an argument. What post-tribber has every artgued that 'left' means raptured to the meeting of the lord in the air? You are so stuck in your pre-trib ideas that you eisegete it, not only into scripture, but also into other's comments.
I would be curious to know the poster who made the argument. Or if you could refer me to a poster or commentator, let me know that also.
Let us look at the passage:
37 But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until
the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the
one shall be taken, and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill;
the one shall be taken, and the other left.
42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
The wording I see more associated with the rapture has to do with the __gathering__.
We would both agree that 'gather' here has to do with the rapture, right?
II Thessalonians 1
2 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our
gathering together unto him,
Now compare 'coming of our Lord Jesus Christ' to the coming of the Son of man in the passage below, and 'gathering to to 'gather' below.
Matthew 24
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
30 And 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, from one end of heaven to the other.
My post-trib approach is different from the pre-trib approach. What I do is look at the different passages, look at what they teach, and compare similarities.
What pre-tribbers do is compare scripture with a set of pre-trib concepts that exist outside of scripture that have no support from scripture. Pre-tribbers think Jesus comes back an extra time before the tribulation or that the 'coming' is some not-exactly-literal coming of a seven year time period. They think.... without any scripture to back it up.... that the rapture is pre-trib. Therefore, they take these two passages and assign them to different points of time.
Paul refers to the 'parousia' of Christ. He does not say it is multiple events. In I Thessalonians 4, at the 'parousia of Christ' the dead in Christ and they which are alive and remain are raptured. In I Thessalonians 3:13 he writes of Christ coming with all His holy saints. In II Thessalonians 2, the lawless one is destroyed at the brightness of His coming, but this man has to be revealed before the day of the Lord, and cannot be destroyed before things get started.
It makes perfect sense to interpret the parousia as happening at one event. Pretribbers have no scripture to prove otherwise. They just categorize verses to fit into their system.... this verse refers to the parousia goes to their made-up extra return of Christ not mentioned in scripture, and this one at the actual return of Christ at the end of the tribulation.
If you have any scripture that shows that Jesus is going to come back and rapture the church before the tribulation, show it.
Assuming the 'parousia' of I Thessalonians 4 is a different event from other references to the parousia is not evidence. Pointing out that John was told to 'come up hither' early on in his vision is not evidence, not weighty enough of an argument to add a return of Christ to the message of scripture. Arguing or hinting at the identity of the 24 elders does not add a return of Christ to the Bible either. Neither does assuming the saints alive during the tribulation must be under God's wrath, as if He were angry at them.