COMING OF THE SON OF MAN

In the Matthew account of the Olivet discourse, Jesus is definitely revealing details of his ‘coming’ again (after his death and resurrection) to set up His Millennium Kingdom and the events and signs that precede it. The disciples understood this upcoming event simply as His “coming into His Kingdom,” not as His “second coming” as believers do in this age.

Jesus himself called it the “coming of the Son of Man,” and the term is used five times in Matthew 24. In three of these verses (27, 37, and 39), the Greek word for coming is parousia, which means advent, presence, a being near, or a coming. In the other two verses in Matthew 24 (30, 44), the Greek word for coming is erchomenon, meaning to come, go; to come from one place into another. It is widely used in the Bible in a general sense of people traveling from one place to another.

Primarily, the word parousia refers to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. It can refer to either His Second Coming/Advent to the earth at the end of the 7-year Tribulation or to His coming in the sky to rapture His Church prior to the Tribulation. The Second Coming parousia is a visible event that the whole world will witness. The Rapture is an invisible parousia, which no unbeliever that is left behind will witness.

Some examples of Second Coming parousia are Matthew 24:27, 2 Peter 1:16, 1 Thessalonians 3:13, and 2 Peter 3:4. It’s interesting to note that the word parousia is only used in the Matthew account of the Olivet discourse. In Mark and Luke, the word erchomenon is used instead, although it is clear that the Second Coming is the context of these verses, as Jesus is ‘coming’ from heaven to the earth.

Some examples of rapture parousia are 1 Corinthians 15:23, 1 Thessalonians 2:19 and 5:23, James 5:8, 1 John 2:28, and 1 Thessalonians 4:15.

Now we come to the pivotal verse of Matthew 24:36. “But of that day and (or) hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.” I believe this verse and the following verses (37-51) are the answer to Jesus’ second question (what will be the sign of your coming?). The pre-tribulation Rapture, as represented by the hour, is the supernatural 7th sign that Jesus will come again to set up His Millennial Kingdom. It will occur at least 7 years before the Second coming. The Day of the Lord is when God/Jesus Christ intervenes in the affairs of mankind at the end of the age.

Hosea, the Old Testament prophet, spoke of these end times. “Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he has torn, and he will heal us; he has smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth” (Hosea 6:1-3). I believe this ‘rain’ is a typology of Jesus’ coming to the earth at his first and second advent.

Day 1 is the age of grace. It started with the giving of the Holy Spirit to Jesus’ apostles at Pentecost (start of the Church) and will end with the Rapture of the saints (end of the Church). Day 2 is the Day of the Lord. It will start with the pre-tribulation Rapture and will end with the Second Coming of Jesus to the earth. Day 3 consists of the 1000-year reign of Jesus Christ as King of kings and Lord of lords over all the nations of the earth. For more information, see: But of that Day and Hour – Part 2 | Rapture Forums

The Olivet discourse of Matthew, Mark, and Luke refers to Day 2 of Hosea’s prophecy, with the Coming of the Son of Man at the pre-tribulation Rapture (Matthew 24:37-51) and then the Coming of the Son of Man at the Second Advent (Matthew 24:1-29). The Rapture is the first hour of the Day of the Lord. It is part one of two parts of the “coming of the Son of Man.”

THE RAPTURE IN THE FOURTH GOSPEL OF JOHN?

John the apostle and author of the books of John and Revelation (as well as 1 John, 2 John, and 3 John), quoting Jesus, had this to say about the hour of the resurrection of the dead that occurs at the Rapture. “Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming, in which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life [at the Rapture]; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation” [at the Great White Throne Judgment] (John 5:25-29).

The great resurrection of the dead in Christ will occur at the time of the Rapture. All those who have placed their trust in Jesus Christ during the Church Age (Pentecost to the Rapture) will be resurrected at the Rapture. At this point, chronologically speaking, Jesus didn’t mention the ‘harpazo’ of the Rapture, only the resurrection of the dead. Harpazo is the Greek word for “caught up” as mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 4:17. “The English word ‘rapture‘ comes from a Latin word, ‘rapio‘, which means to seize or snatch in relation to an ecstasy of spirit or the actual removal from one place to another. In other words, it means to be carried away in spirit and or in body. The Rapture of the church means the carrying away of the church from earth to heaven.” {1}

The first time Jesus mentions the harpazo, in my opinion, is in John 11:25-26. Jesus was speaking to Martha in regard to her brother’s (Lazarus) death and his resurrection to come. Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.”

These three sentences aptly describe the Rapture. In the first sentence, Jesus calls attention to Himself as the power that resurrects the dead believers. The second sentence could be in reference to the resurrection of the Old Testament saints and Tribulation martyrs that occur at the Second Coming, but I believe it is a reference to the Rapture. “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first” (1 Thessalonians 4:16). The third sentence, “Whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die,” is proof that He is talking about the Rapture. “Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them [resurrected dead] in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:17).

Jesus’ next laconic teaching of the Rapture occurs a few days before the Passover and his crucifixion. It is recorded in John 14:1-3 and is revealed in only three verses. “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”

These three references to the Rapture, found in the fourth gospel of John, set the precedent that the pre-tribulation Rapture was taught (however vague) by Jesus to his disciples in the gospel accounts, including the Olivet discourse. All of the teachings in these verses of the gospels by Jesus to his disciples occurred during the last week of Jesus’ life, called the “passion of Christ.” Jesus didn’t go into great detail regarding this great mystery but merely mentioned it, so later (after his death, resurrection, ascension, and the giving of the Holy Spirit), the disciples would remember it and write down the words Jesus spoke.

RAPTURE IN THE OLIVET DISCOURSE?

Matthew 24:37-39 compares the coming of the Son of Man to the days of Noah. So, which ‘coming’ (parousia) are these verses referring to, the Second Coming or the Rapture? To me, they sound exactly like what will happen in the pre-tribulation Rapture. The activities that are mentioned (eating, drinking, marrying, and given in marriage in the days of Noah; also in Luke 17, they sold, they planted, they built in the days of Lot) are all normal daily activities that seem unlikely in the end days of the Great Tribulation, when people will just be trying to survive. “And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened” (Matthew 24:22).

Matthew 24:39 says that the ungodly people of Noah’s day “did not know” of the impending disaster until the flood (antediluvian’s tribulation) took them away. How can the survivors of the Tribulation not know Jesus is coming again (Second Coming) in judgment and punishment after the cataclysmic seal, trumpet, and bowl judgments? Also, the message of the Kingdom of God will be preached to all the world by the 144,000 Jewish evangelicals and by the angel of Revelation 14, who will preach the everlasting gospel “to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people.”

In contrast, it will be business as usual during the days before the pre-tribulation Rapture. “Knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation” (2 Peter 3:3-4).

The great flood is a typology of the Tribulation. The days of Noah represent the evil days and people before the Tribulation (including the days before the rapture). The ark represents the pre-tribulation Rapture. It represents safety from judgment or an escape from the Tribulation. Luke 21:36 says, “Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.” There is no means of escape from the Tribulation after the Rapture other than death. Noah and his family represent the righteous (in God’s eye) saints that God allows to escape the coming apocalypse.

Of course, the unbelieving doomed citizens of the antediluvian age (whom the flood came and took them all away) represent the ones who will perish during the Tribulation. They have waited too long to get on board the ark (Rapture) to escape the great flood (Tribulation).

Let’s examine the next two verses of Matthew 24. “Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left” (Matthew 24:40-41). Are these verses talking about the pre-tribulation Rapture or the Second Coming? To me, it sounds more likely that they are rapture events, where Jesus takes (catches up, seizes, snatches) the believer and leaves the unbeliever. If, on the other hand, they are talking about the Second Coming, several problems arise. Even if conditions in some parts of the earth are capable of producing crops, after all the judgments from God that destroy most of the land, which one (worker) is taken and which one is left? The Bible doesn’t actually say.

Mister Walvoord believes the unbelievers are taken and the believers are left. “At the second coming of Christ, the saved remain on earth, and the unsaved are taken away in judgment at the beginning of the millennial kingdom. The very word taken away in Matthew 24:40-41 is used of Christ being taken away to the cross, obviously being taken in judgment as used here (as per John 19:16).” {2}

If this is true, it presents a problem in the next chapter (Matthew 25) where all the nations (peoples) that are still alive at the end of the Tribulation will be gathered before Lord Jesus, and He will separate them one from another. This is known as the sheep and goat judgment and is described in Matthew 25: 31-46. The sheep represent the saved (and the ones who help the Jews during the Tribulation). They are placed on Jesus’ right-hand side. The goats represent the unsaved (and the ones who do not help the Jews), and they are placed on Jesus’ left-hand side. The sheep survivors will inherit the kingdom of God, and the goat survivors will be thrown into the Lake of Fire.

If the ones who were taken in verses 40 and 41 are the goats, that means the ones who were left are the sheep. This begs the question, why weren’t they both taken by the angels to face Jesus at the sheep and goat judgment? If the ones who were left weren’t taken by the angels to the sheep and goat judgments, how do they get to Jerusalem (where Jesus will have His throne) from all over the world?

The last three verses of Matthew 24 all talk about not knowing what hour Jesus is coming, so the people need to watch and be ready. In verse 42, He is called Lord. In verse 43, He is compared to a thief who comes unexpectedly. And in verse 44, He is called the Son of Man. I believe this hour is none other than the Rapture as taught by Paul in 1 Thessalonians and 1 Corinthians 15:51-53. Paul was the man that Jesus chose to reveal the details of the Rapture and thus to teach the other apostles and the entire world about this great mystery.

It is my opinion that in both the Second Parousia and the Harpazo Parousia no one will know the day or the hour Jesus will return. The Rapture is a signless and imminent event, so no one will know in advance the day or hour it occurs. Even though there are many signs for the Second Advent (including the pre-tribulation Rapture), the conditions of the earth after all of God’s judgments and the effects of war (probably some nuclear) will render the exact day and hour of the Second coming unknowable.

But come He will, and every eye will behold Him!

“Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written:

KING OF KINGS AND
LORD OF LORDS.”

Randy Nettles

nettlesr@suddenlink.net

Endnotes:

{1} Bible.org – Where did the term ‘rapture’ come from?

{2} Every Prophecy of the Bible by John F. Walvoord, published by David C. Cook; pg. 383

Hello Courtleigh; Thank you for writing and for listening to our ministry. We are honored and thank you for your very good question.

If it sounded like I was saying that the unsaved, unregenerate, not born-again person does not have a spirit, that is not what we understand from Scripture. The person who is lost, before God gives him Eternal Life, is a soul, living within a body of flesh, having a spirit which is dead… not nonexistent, but rather, dead. As regards Man: the Bible teaches us that we were all born into this world spiritually dead.

In the beginning, when God created Adam and Eve, they were created in His Image; God is Tripartite, meaning He is Three in One: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit… Three Persons, One God, the Trinity. We don’t fully understand that reality, but we do believe it because His Word clearly teaches it. He chose to create Adam and Eve in His Image, also, tripartite: they were souls, living within a body of flesh, living within a body of spirit.

God told Adam, regarding his potential rebellion to sin, not to eat of that tree. “But from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die” (Gen 2:17).

God does not lie; something, some important part of Adam and Eve, died that very day. Since we know from Scripture that Adam continued to live many centuries longer, whatever part of Adam that died was not his physical body or his soul: “So all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years; and he died” (Gen 5:5).

Paul tells us that before we were ‘born again,’ we were spiritually dead: “Even when we were dead in trespasses, [He] made us alive together with Christ” (Eph 2:5).

After his sin, Adam’s spirit died; ever afterward, he was a soul living within flesh, but his spirit was dead. After Adam, until the time of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection, every person who died went to ‘Sheol,’ the place of the dead. Those who had trusted in God went to Paradise while all the rest went to Hades. Even though the Old Testament Saints were ‘saved,’ they could not enter Heaven until Jesus Christ paid the full penalty for their sin with His life, death, and resurrection.

When we, who have been born again, die, we go immediately into the presence of God because He has already made us spiritually alive so that we can continue our unbroken fellowship with Him forever. For us, physical death is just closing our eyes and opening them to see Jesus Christ. For the lost who die, their souls still go to Hades to await the Final Judgment after Jesus Christ’s 1000-year Kingdom on Earth.

We’ve all seen or known those who’ve suffered a major stroke; we’ve seen them walking – dragging one leg and foot behind them as well as the arm and hand on the same side, and maybe also that side of their face. Those parts of his body are now ‘dead’ to his brain. He is incapable of using them, no matter how hard his brain concentrates on moving them. He is unable to interact with anything of the physical realm using those ‘dead’ parts of his body. That is an example of part of his flesh being dead while he still lives. That is how every person’s spirit is from birth; they are a soul living within flesh with their spirit being dead, dragging it along. When we are born again, that dead spirit suddenly experiences new life; it has become a new creation.

Think of it this way: At the moment of our conception, within our mothers, we become a living soul while God formed, for us, a special suit made of flesh. As we wear our special suit of flesh, we are able to interact with the physical world; we can see, hear, touch, taste, and smell. If we were to step out of our special suit made of flesh, we would no longer be able to interact with the physical world at all. That is what happens when a person dies; they lay aside their suit of flesh and immediately go to one of two places: Heaven with God, now that Jesus Christ has redeemed us, or Hades, the place of the dead, to await the Final Judgment.

When we are born again, God enlivens our suit of spirit. As we now wear our special suit of spirit, we are actually able to interact with God in the spiritual realm, albeit in a limited manner. Before their sin, Adam and Eve’s suits of spirit enabled them to interact with the spiritual realm fully and completely; Adam was able to actually walk and talk with God.

For those who are lost, they are only able to interact with the physical world, as they can only wear their suit of flesh. We’ve seen pictures of different kinds of animals who shed their outer suit of flesh as they continue to grow ever larger; they constantly shed their previous, now dead, suit of flesh. The lost can, however, interact with the spiritual realm to a degree through the use of drugs, mediation, and other sorceries.

Those who are lost live within their suit of flesh, but their suit of spirit is dead and being dragged behind them or, rather, hanging dead upon them. Because their suit of spirit is dead, they are completely incapable of hearing God’s voice or understanding His Word; in fact, God and His Word are foolishness to them.

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing” (1 Cor 1:18).

“But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor 2:14).

“For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive” (1 Cor 15:21-22).

“So also it is written, ‘The first man, Adam, became a living soul.’ The last Adam became a life-giving spirit” (1 Cor 15:45).

“And if Christ is in you . . . the spirit is alive because of righteousness” (Rom 8:10).

“And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins… who were… by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:1-7).

God describes us to have been people who were dead (our spirits) while some other part of ourselves could still walk around in our flesh. When God reveals Himself to a person and calls that person to Himself, giving them the gift of faith to believe, that person then becomes fully alive; their spirit is ‘born again;’ something of that person is new. Even the Biblical term, born again, indicates something new has been born…. God has created within that person a newly alive spirit within which he can now interact with God.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Cor 5:17).

Now, we are a living soul in a physical body within a fully alive spiritual body. At the moment of the Rapture, our physical bodies will be changed into bodies just like that of Jesus Christ:

“But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thes 4:13-18).

“Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2).

Now we are living souls within flesh, within spirit. Now that our spirits are alive, unto God, so that we can actually live, walk and remain in close fellowship with God, through His Holy Spirit, we are told to think of ourselves as spiritually alive unto God and to also think and live as if our flesh is dead to sin, dead to the World:

“Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 6:11).

At the moment of the Rapture, our fleshly bodies will become glorified eternal bodies, and we will then reflect the Lord Jesus Christ in a full and complete way; we will be a fully integrated trinity of Soul/Spirit/Flesh, and we will be able to fully interact with God, with all His other children and with all of His Creation, the spiritual realm, the physical realm and all other realms of His Creation of which we now have no concept. Now there is a separation between the physical realm and the spiritual realm. God has put a filter over our eyes, ears, etc., so that we are incapable of interacting with most of the spiritual realm. Then… we will enjoy all of God’s Creation; nothing will be withheld from us as it is now.

God’s eternal plan has always been to Glorify His Name; He alone is worthy of glory, honor, and praise. He has also, from eternity past, planned His creation of each one of us, destined to be His children, and He has planned to further glorify Himself through His blessing, honor, and glory, which He has planned to shower upon us throughout all eternity. He will be glorified through us, His trophies of Love; He was able to take lost, dirty, broken little people like us and eventually form us into a kingdom of kings, queens, and priests unto Himself; we will be the ultimate example of His Grace, Mercy, Love, Power, Dominion, and Glory forever.

Finally, another mistake made by many is that our soul and spirit are the same thing, that the terms are interchangeable. They are, indeed, complete unique parts of ourselves. In finishing his first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul wrote:

“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thes 5:23).

He will come for us soon…. He might even come for us today, so let us always “walk in a manner worthy of our calling, setting our hearts, always, on things above, not on things of the Earth” (Eph 4:1, Col 3:2).

God bless you, Courtleigh,

Tom and Debbie

Heartsoflove.org