Mat 25 .
It is like the Holy Spirit knew some would skip the concept,so that little story was placed there just to clear up any notion of how Jesus would come for his bride,and who his worthy followers were.
That groom never reached the brides home. She went out to meet him.
Then the clincher. THEY WENT IMMEDIATELY TO THE FATHERS HOUSE.
You guys change that to a u turn.
I'm sure you have some pre-trib spin on the parable of the wise and foolish virgins. If the Father's house is so central to the parable, why doesn't the parable mention the father's house?
Why are your pre-trib arguments based on how you interpret parables instead of direct statements of scripture? Why not look at the timing based on Jesus words?
Look at Matthew 24 (NKJV)
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21 [/SUP]For then shall be
great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
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22 [/SUP]And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
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23 [/SUP]
Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
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24 [/SUP]For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
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25 [/SUP]Behold, I have told you before.
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26 [/SUP]Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.
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27 [/SUP]For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west;
so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
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28 [/SUP]For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
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29 [/SUP]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:
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30 [/SUP]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.
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31 [/SUP]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.
How is any of this consistent with pre-trib? Notice, the coming of the Son of Man happens AFTER the great tribulation. Jesus is talking to His disciples and He tells them not to believe if someone claims that 'here is Christ, or there' during that time. So how does that fit at all with the idea of a rapture before Jesus' coming? The elect are gathered AFTER the great tribulation in this passage.
Why not just go with direct statements of scripture, direct statements of Jesus, and direct statements of Paul. You've illustrated that you can interpret parables and allegoricalize statements like 'come up hither' to fit with pre-trib. You can read pre-trib ideas into verses, like the verse about him that restraints. But I've asked again and again and again for you to deal with the direct statements of scripture in II Thessalonians 1. I ask you this stuff. You ignore it. Someone mentions 'gleaning' and you post about how it disproves post-trib, without explaining how you interpret or allegoricalize your 'proof' out of the verse you have in mind.
Let me ask you how you deal with the scriptures that flatly contradicts pre-trib.
How do you deal with the fact that Jesus has the gathering together of the elect AFTER the tribulation? How do you reconcile that with pre-trib?
The Bible shows us that the dead in Christ rise FIRST, and then the rapture of those who are alive and remain. I Corinthians 15 tells us that they that are Christ's will be made alive 'at His coming.'
If scripture tells us that the dead who are Christ's are made alive 'at His coming' why do you believe it occurs 7 years before His coming?
I Thessalonians tells us that when Jesus comes back, He will give the church rest, when he returns executing vengeance on them that believe not, when He returns to be glorified in His saints. So how do you come up with the church being gone 7 years before Jesus gets back. How does He give the church rest at His coming if they already got the rest the passage speaks of 7 years before? Why would He come to be glorified in His saints if they aren't present?
In other words, how do you reconcile your pre-trib views with these specific verses that contain direct and explicit statements from the Lord Jesus Christ and from Paul?