Can We Study the Bible By Ourselves?

Can we study the Bible on our own? That may sound like a silly question to some, but I have found that it is not a silly question to those who hold positions of power in the church or hold degrees in theology. We need to take a look at history to see from where the idea that we cannot study the Bible on our own comes.

It is a truth that until the last half dozen centuries, the idea that women should be educated was not considered something that was necessary. And even going back that far, it was the rare and socially elevated woman who was educated at all. If a woman was taught the domestic skills to run a home, that was really all that was required of her. It might be that some were taught to read and do a little math to get by, especially if they were widowed, divorced, or single and had to make their own way, but for most of history, women have merely stayed at home and taken care of the house. Even a great many men were illiterate.

During the time of Christ, only men were taught to read the Scriptures or possibly read at all. Women were only to listen. Hence Paul telling women to keep silent in church. They did not have the ability to study the Word the way men could, so they were considered to be students only and not contest what was taught, nor ask questions that might interrupt the service and possibly show ignorance. They were to ask questions at home, or if they disagreed, to express it at home to their husbands, who were the ones who were able to read the Scriptures to find the answers and thereby teach the wives. Obviously today that situation of education has changed, however the rules of holding positions of authority in the church has not.

As the new church came under the control of the state during Constantine, he appointed men to be the bishops and leaders. This continued down through the years as those in power continued to put their chosen ones in power. These church leaders did not come about from the church congregation putting them into positions due to their godly walks with the Lord, nor their wisdom and knowledge of the Scriptures, but they were appointed mainly due to political reasons. Many did not even know the Lord on a personal level. They might be scholars, but as the Bible tells us, “..the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” 1 Corinthians 2:14. Those who do not know Christ and do not have the Holy Spirit cannot discern what the Word of God is truly saying, for the Scriptures are only spiritually discerned. As a result, those leaders taught the people, who were mostly illiterate, what they wanted them to believe the Bible said, rather than what it actually said. They were mainly the only ones who possessed Bibles anyhow, so nobody could question them. Many false beliefs and traditions from the Babylonian Mysteries were incorporated into the Christian faith as a result, changing how people believed they could have a relationship with God and get into heaven. They were taught the doctrines of men and demons, not the doctrines of the Bible.

Over the years that followed, there were those who split from the church and its erroneous doctrines, bringing new interpretations into the mix, as they studied the Word themselves. Often these new doctrines were at odds with each other as well as at odds with what was being taught in the main orthodoxy at the time. This brought about a persecution and purging through martyrdom of those considered heretics. As the years continued to go by the two major divisions of Christianity – Catholicism and Protestantism divided Christians. I use the words Catholicism and Protestantism in the broadest terms here, lumping the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, etc. together and under Protestantism lumping together everything from the Anglican Church, Lutherans, Episcopalians, Methodists, Baptists, Reformed churches, and etc. From these groups we also have what are considered cult-like offshoots – the Mormons, the Seventh Day Adventists, Jehovah Witnesses, etc., where the groups have self-proclaimed prophets who bring “new revelation” and thus create their own religion.

In all of these cases, regardless of the denomination, the adage holds that the leaders are the ones who are revered as understanding the Bible and having the truth, and everyone is to listen to them. This is due to either having attended seminary or having had a “special” word of revelation from God that has elevated them above the others. For the most part it is unusual to find among any of those leaders one who will allow themselves to be questioned as to their teachings. One simply does not question the authority of the teacher/leader. I have been in many churches in my life, and not in one of them did I find that the person in leadership think that they could possibly have misinterpreted the Scriptures. Since I have attended a number of differing Protestant denominations, who are often on opposite sides of a question doctrinally (giving me a wide spectrum of interpretations), I find it rather humorous that they all feel they are infallible in their doctrines. How is that possible, if they don’t agree on what the Scriptures say? Obviously someone is wrong somewhere. I have also found that without exception, they all accept the doctrines of their denomination without ever having questioned them or done research to see whether the opposing viewpoints have any merit. They are right, the others are wrong, end of story. That multi-viewed background made it much easier for me to break with preconceived beliefs when I searched out the truths, for I had many differing viewpoints to study and was not wedded to one more than the other.

As we all have the same Bible, for the most part (different versions will teach different things sometimes), it seems peculiar that they could all study the same Bible and get such opposing opinions. What I discovered is that they do not study the Bible as I would study it, just using the Bible, the Holy Spirit and taking things at face value. They study theology. More specifically, their own denomination’s theology. They do not study the Word of God in its entirety, as much as the reasons for why they believe the doctrines they espouse. They study theology, not actually the Bible. They are taught that they should read every commentary that has been written by theologically acceptable authors for their denomination. Once when talking with a seminary professor, he told me that he advocates that before they finish seminary, a student read a commentary on every book of the Bible. I thought it odd that this was the goal for the student rather than study every book of the Bible directly from the Bible without the bias of some other man’s opinions forming his idea of what it said. Is this not the job of the Holy Spirit?

There exists online a course in theology from an evangelical fundamentalist Christian college. I thought that I should listen to it to try and understand better why these scholars who throw around words like “hermaneutics,” “systematic theology,” “prolegamena,” “soteriology,” “ecclesiology,” “pneumatology,” and countless other terms that most people do not understand, feel that they have an edge in understanding God’s Word over the regular Christian.

One of the first statements that was made was the following: “If you think theology can be done with you, the Holy Spirit and the Bible, then you are wrong, for theology can’t be done that way. God never intended it to be done that way. God intended for it to be done in a community. It is shaped by many different perspectives and many different experiences.”

I have to question the validity of that statement. First of all, let’s take the first sentence that says that theology (the study of God) cannot be done with just you, the Holy Spirit, and the Bible. That’s what a scholar says. What does the Word of God say?

The Word of God says:

John 14:26 “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”

1 John 2:27 “But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.”

1 Corinthians 2:9-11 “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.”

1 Cor. 2:16 “For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.”

John 16:13 “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.”

Now a scholar might tell you that you could not understand the verses above, for you do not understand the syntax and therefore could not analyze the verse. Or you can’t know the particular tense in Greek of a particular verb. Or some other random reason as to why you could not understand what God is saying in these verses above. I have a word that I love that addresses these concerns. It is “BALDERDASH.” Nonsense. The first lie in the Bible is when Satan questions Eve as to whether God really means what He says. That is the lie he has been using ever since. “Yea, hath God said?” The implication is that God does not mean what He literally says, and we cannot possibly understand what He does mean. What a load of rubbish. Yes, there are difficult passages in the Scripture, but what I have discovered not only through my own studies, but through teaching others is that if someone reads and studies God’s Word regularly, knowledge and understanding grow, for the Holy Spirit is the one who is leading us into truth.

What do these verses above tell us? Anybody can understand what they say. They tell us that 1) the Holy Spirit teaches us all things, 2) we do not need any man to teach us, for we receive the anointing from the Holy Spirit who indwells us and it is He who is truth and teaches us everything, 3) man cannot know the things of God, but the Holy Spirit does, 4) one has to have the mind of Christ to instruct others, and we have the mind of Christ through the Holy Spirit, so we can be instructed of ourselves through the Holy Spirit, 5) the Holy Spirit will guide us into the truth. Is that not the objective? Is any man infallible when it comes to the Word of God? I know I am not. I have had many corrections in my understanding of the Word over the years, as I have matured and the Holy Spirit has taught and guided me. I have many times had to let go of man’s teachings that were taught to me when I was young to replace it with God’s truth.

So obviously God does not agree with this scholar that we cannot possibly study and understand the Word of God by ourselves with only the Holy Spirit as our guide. The second statement that is made is that God never intended us to do so – in other words, study the Bible by ourselves. Is that true? What does God say?

2 Timothy 2:15 “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

1 Peter 3:15 “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:”

Now it is true that these verses do not say that you have to study alone, but they also do not say that you cannot. In fact, we are given some indications that we are supposed to study ourselves, for how can we discern what we are being taught by others, if we do not know the truth ourselves. We cannot stand before God and say, “So and so said this guy was okay, so I believed what he said.” God expects each one of us to be responsible ourselves.

Hebrews 5:12-14 “For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”

It is through our own diligent study that we can develop our discernment. Nobody can give it to us. We have to work at it and earn it, so to speak. You cannot make another person mature, they have to work at it themselves. And so it is with the Bible. If it is still not clear that we are expected to test everything we are taught, we only need to look at the Bereans.

Acts 17:11 “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.”

The Bereans did not accept what the apostles themselves were teaching without questioning it. And they were called noble for doing so. They double checked everything the apostles said against the Scriptures. How can one do that, if one is not totally familiar with the Scriptures so that one knows where to go to check what is said? How can a normal Christian dare pit himself against a scholar? It is called discernment through the teachings of the Holy Spirit and every born again Christian can have it if they study.

The next statement was that God intended for the learning of the Word to be done in a community. Certainly He did. He expected that believers would gather together to worship and study, but does that negate personal responsibility and study? Of course not. Proverbs 27:17 says, “Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.” Studying with others and getting knowledge and wisdom from others as to how they view a passage will always help. Especially in understanding difficult passages. It is good to do so, but it is not necessary in order to study. And if I might say, the problem I have come against is not in studying with others, but that in the churches there really is no studying with others per se in my experience, but usually just a teacher who uses a manual, (written by someone of whom you have no idea of their qualifications to teach the Bible) or if they use the Bible and just go through a book, chapter or topic, teaches on it and people are to listen and write down what the person says, and accept it without question. It is again the scholar/layman disparity.

Being a studious person, I never go in and just blindly accept what is said and I must admit to doing what Paul said I shouldn’t (I open my mouth) and create havoc by raising questions which cannot be answered. (Obviously pastors do not care for me for this reason.) To date I have never found in all the churches I have attended that this is looked upon with favor. (I wonder why?) I have been treated as “the dumb little woman,” ignored, told I am wrong, told I do not understand, and the worst, I have been told that “Even though it appears that the Scripture is saying what you have said it says if we take it at face value, that is not how you should interpret it.” Excuse me? So God doesn’t mean what He has said? If it is clear at face value, I shouldn’t have to look for any other interpretation should I? In fact, ironically in some of the churches where that answer has been given, they actually teach that you should take the Bible as literally as possible. That is, until the verses disagree with their theology. Then only a scholar is able to discern the hidden and obtuse meaning behind what appears to be a crystal clear passage.

The last part of the statement that this theologian made was that theology is shaped by many different perspectives and many different experiences. So we should adapt our theology to our world view and personal experiences? I am reminded of the verse in Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” Is not one of the biggest problems we face today in doctrine, that people are adapting it to our culture and as a result much heresy is arising? God will never change. His Word is eternal. We do not adapt it to our culture, our experiences, our world view, the cultural biases or trends. It is truth and truth never changes. How it is applied to our lives may change from person to person as God deals directly with each one of us, but God’s truth does not change and therefore neither can a true theology. But maybe that is the problem. There doesn’t seem to be a true theology taught these days, merely denominational theologies. They pick and choose what they want and what they don’t like, they ignore or interpret to fit their theology.

One of the hardest things for a Christian is to set aside all the things they have been taught as doctrine and go with a clean slate to the Bible. We all have biases and the only thing, I repeat, the ONLY thing that can override that is the deepest, heartfelt desire for absolute truth. Only when truth is made the highest priority can one go on their knees to God, ask for the Holy Spirit to lead them into it, and find it. It will be the most painful journey a person can make in their spiritual life, for it requires having everything stripped away and rebuilt. I think of the scene in the Chronicles of Narnia when Eustace is turned from a dragon (which he became out of selfishness) back into a boy. Aslan tells him that he has to rip the dragon skin off of him, and it will be horribly painful. And it is horribly painful, but the learning process through that pain changes Eustace and he comes out a much different boy. So it is with us. Truth hurts. It hurts so badly that it can almost destroy you. When you come out the other side, you are different. Your relationship with God is different. You no longer want the soft soap of the lies that make you comfortable. You desire the painful truth no matter what, for it is true as Christ said, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:32. Truth is painful, but it is also the most freeing thing in the world. And you cannot be sure that anybody can give you the truth, except for the Holy Spirit. We can listen to teachers and preachers, but always, always take what is said to the Scriptures and be a Berean. I have had people say to me that they appreciate my writings, but while they don’t want to offend me, they are going to check everything I say. My reply to them is, “Well done.” I encourage people to check my writings and challenge me, if they want. If my writings cannot withstand scrutiny, then I need to go back and do more study. However, what I do find a lot of times is that people merely spout rhetoric they have learned from their theologies back at me, but they can’t always defend what they say, nor deal with the discrepancies that I point out to them. They go into cognitive dissonance. Usually that is because, as is the unfortunate case with most Christians these days, they don’t really know their Scriptures.

While it is important to study theologically related things to the Bible, such as where we got the canon of the Scriptures, how they were chosen, the history of the church, the history of the world, archaeological finds, Greek and Hebrew if possible, and so many other things, the truth is, if we only have the Bible, it is still enough. The more knowledge you have, the deeper the understanding of some things, but I believe God decides and provides what is needed for each person to take them to the level of understanding that He wants them to have and they are willing to go. Not everybody is a scholar by nature or has the same intelligence level, nor unfortunately the desire to learn. However, everyone can understand at a basic level what God’s Word says, for God wrote it that way deliberately. The way of salvation is clear for everyone at any level. As for the rest and how deep one’s understanding goes, part of the problem is that most people are lazy and don’t study. And if they do, they will not start at the beginning and read (and study) through the Bible as God intended. They pick and choose. Everything that comes before lays the foundation for what comes after. If you skip to the last chapter of the book, you won’t understand the ending for you lack the knowledge of how you got there. And, as earlier mentioned, understanding comes through a spiritual relationship with God, not from a scholarly analysis. The latter without the former will only lead to a total misunderstanding of what the Bible teaches.

One of the second statements that this theologian made in this course study was that he was going to break down everybody’s preconceived ideas, so that they could rebuild them and find the truth. What was again ironic and somewhat humorous was that I listened to his study on a subject that is hotly debated between schools of thought. He made the statement that he had approached it from this tenet he was teaching, to abandon all preconceived notions, and rebuild from scratch and that in so doing, he found that there was not “one single Scripture” that disputed the interpretation he was espousing. I could easily off the top of my head think of a dozen Scriptures that said the exact opposite of what he was teaching. He merely did not want to accept these Scriptures. He either ignored them or reinterpreted them from the face value meaning to something entirely different from what was said, replacing the clear meaning of words with meanings that did not exist. So even when they say they prove their positions on their doctrines, the truth is, they are blind to the things which dispute them. It is called cognitive dissonance, and I have written elsewhere on that problem.

So the answer to the question that was asked at first, “Can we study the Bible on our own?” should be clear. God says we can, and we should. Through the guidance of the Holy Spirit (which only comes when one has a relationship with Him) we can understand God’s Word and possibly understand it far better than the teacher (whom you really don’t know whose guidance they are under) who has many degrees after their name. There are many wolves out there, which is easy to see when one looks at the state of the Christian church as a whole. The apostles warned the very first churches about them. Satan lost no time in infiltrating and leading people astray. Do we really want to leave our salvation and understanding of God’s Word to someone who may be a wolf in sheep’s clothing, or do we want to be responsible for our own understanding?

Now the argument comes in, but what about all those people who have tried to study the Bible on their own and have gone way off into all kinds of heretical teachings. The Holy Spirit didn’t guide them into truth. Yes, there are pastors out there who are online teaching all kinds of heresy. If you look closely you will find that there are many similarities between all these people. Many use so-called visions and dreams that they say have given them new revelations. I am not saying that God won’t give visions and dreams, for His Word says that in the end days He will be giving them. What I am saying is that God is not giving new revelations. He said in the book of Revelation that that was the end of the story. Nothing was to be added to the book, so I wouldn’t put much stock in new revelations, especially through visions and dreams. I have found that nobody ever seems to question the source of these visions and dreams. That is the first rule. Satan will give visions and dreams to people seeking them, whether they are Christians or not. And God lets him do it to test these people. Do they test the source of the dream or vision? Do they check to see if it lines up with Scripture, for that is the number one rule. Do they even know enough of Scripture to be able to check to see if it lines up? Unfortunately the answer to that is… probably not. Now this is assuming that the person truly is a born again Christian with an unhindered relationship with God. Do you know for certain what anyone’s relationship with God is? Do you know for certain that they even have the Holy Spirit to guide them? Many people can walk the walk and talk the talk in public without having an internal change of heart. Remember that Satan is going to use the people with the biggest platform to be the biggest deceiver. A person may start out fine in their doctrine and as they grow in fame and popularity, Satan leads them into error. I have seen it happen over and over again. They get high-minded and pride is their downfall. They quench the Holy Spirit and open the door to Satan leading them down a path of total error.

A second problem is that many teachers are now getting their teachings not from the Bible, but from extra-biblical sources that they have elevated to the same level as the Bible. One online preacher seems to spend all of his time in the books of Freemasonry talking about what they teach rather than what the Bible teaches. I realize that it is important to know what Satan is up to and to expose people to the lies out there, I do it myself to an extent, but this man seems to be obsessed with things that should not have become an obsession. It has led him astray in his understanding of the Bible’s teachings. It is fine, once you have a deep-rooted knowledge of the Bible (which must come first) and a lot of discernment to then see what these Satanic sources such as the New Age movement, Extraterrestrials, the occult, fringe Christian cult groups, alternative health practices and such are teaching, for forearmed is forewarned and you can then catch where the demonic sources might be leading people astray and warn them, but one should not become obsessed to the point where it is all that they read and study. Scripture first, other things second. And the balance should always weigh heavily on the side of Scripture to ground you when you read this other information, for it can easily make you doubt or be led astray, if you are not careful. Christ warned us numerous times about being deceived. If any Christian thinks they are above being deceived, they already are deceived.

So the next time someone tells you that you can’t study the Bible alone (and I have been told that by several churches that I am unqualified to study alone and should not attend a Bible study that is led by someone other than a trained, qualified, and approved by the church teacher - much less teach a study myself), just say, “Balderdash.”

The Post-Trib Rapture Theory, The Eagle and Carcass, and The Wheat and Tare Parable

There exists among those who do not see the rapture as being pre-trib, the theory in which the wicked are taken away in God’s wrath at the very end, and Christians remain or are left behind. It teaches that Christians will endure everything, including God’s wrath, up to Armageddon, at which time after the wicked are gathered to Armageddon, the righteous will be gathered in the sky only to apparently get on horses and return immediately. This having the Church go through most of God’s wrath is negated by Scripture, which says that we (the Church) are not appointed to wrath. Now, the argument is given that God can protect people within His wrath, and He can, and He will where it concerns Israel, but then if it were His intention to leave Christians here through it all, there is no need for a rapture. They could simply be transported over to Jerusalem after Armageddon is completed. They would not need to meet Christ in the air.

Not only would a rapture be irrelevant and unnecessary in the above scenario, Scripture also teaches that after being raptured/resurrected, the rewards at the Bema Seat are given out, (Rev. 11) before the return at Armageddon, so that the Bride has made herself ready for her marriage. (Rev. 19). It is then that she follows her Bridegroom down to earth. It is impossible, given the vast amount of saints that will be resurrected/raptured, for this to occur in this instantaneous up and down scenario, for they do not teach that there is any gap in time between going up and coming down, yet this does not seem to be a problem for the proponents of this teaching. This theory is usually known as the post-trib theory, which if I understand it correctly, still keeps everything in chronological order, calling the seven seals, trumpet judgments and bowl judgments all God’s wrath. Another problem with this scenario is that God’s wrath is poured out before Christ returns. That is not what Scripture seems to teach. It is taught that when Christ returns, then He will exact God’s vengeance. That requires His return before the wrath of God, not after it is over except for the last battle.

There are other versions of this theory which sometimes identify themselves as separate from the standard post-trib theory by identifying themselves with a particular scripture such as “The Parable of the Eagle and Carcass,” in which the seals are not necessarily part of God’s wrath, and the trumpets and bowls are poured out more or less simultaneously and everything ends at the seventh trumpet which also seems to be Armageddon. How these trumpets and bowls are interspersed together seems to depend upon the decision of the individual writer, as there is really nothing in Scripture that would have you intersperse them in this way or indicate how it would be done. It seems to be more of a private interpretation based upon the ideas of the authors. Peter tells us that prophecy is not for private interpretation. (2 Peter 1:10) No matter which scenario is used, in all cases it keeps everyone here to the very end. This is based in part upon, as far as I can tell, an interpretation of a passage in the Olivet Discourse and the parable of the wheat and tares. The first is found in Matthew 24 and in Luke 17. Those who reference it call it the parable of the carcass and the eagle, or some similar name. The passage reads as follows in the two books.

“For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day. But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation. And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back. Remember Lot's wife. Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it. I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.” Luke 17:24-37

“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. For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together…..But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 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, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.” Matthew 24:27-28, 37-41.

The belief seems to be that those who are physically taken away, when there are two together, are the wicked, and those who are left behind are the righteous. This teaching (I am using a composite of information from several sources) first refers to Noah as a defense of this interpretation. The reason being that it is said in Luke that the flood took “them” meaning the evil ones, away. Thus it is surmised that the point of the passage is that it is the evil ones who will be removed, not the righteous. The first problem with this is that this passage is speaking of a physical removal to another location. If that were to be the point of the passage, we need to see who was actually physically removed before God’s wrath commences. Also another problem is that it only says in one instance that it “took them all away.” In the other instance it says that the flood destroyed them all. So who was really taken away - the wicked or the righteous? The phrase in regard to the people of Noah’s day seems to be more metaphorical in regards to their being taken in death, not removed physically. The evil people did not go anywhere except straight to hell. In that sense, yes, they were taken away, but they didn’t leave the area, and it seems that being physically removed to another locale is the objective in being taken away when Christ returns. The wicked in Noah’s day weren’t physically removed by the angels and transported to another location to endure God’s wrath. Spiritually yes, they were removed, but physically, no, they weren’t moved in relation to locale, they were simply taken in death. They died where they stood. Noah and his family on the other hand were physically removed or taken away and shielded from the carnage by being enclosed in the ark by God Himself, which then floated off with the waters. And if Noah is to be used as an example, then should not Lot be also?

We have to use both examples, as Christ did, and as Scripture is consistent, both stories must reflect the same interpretation. We all know that Lot was literally dragged out of Sodom. He was the one who was physically taken away. In fact the angels had to literally drag him out of the city. The people of Sodom went absolutely nowhere except straight to hell. A spiritual removal, and physical in the sense that even their bodies were burned to cinders, but not physical in the sense of moving location. Lot and Noah were both removed physically from experiencing God’s wrath by being removed from the location or in Noah’s case they were locked into a safe receptacle to wait it out. This is what will happen at the time of the rapture. The righteous will be physically and forcibly removed by the angels from the scene and put in a safe “ark” (New Jerusalem) before God’s wrath commences – a combination of what occurred in the previous two times. The wicked were not taken physically to be thrown into God’s wrath. It came upon them where they stood, as it will when it begins during the Day of the Lord in the bowl judgments. Armageddon comes six bowl judgments after God’s wrath begins, so the wicked being physically gathered for that does not occur at first; it occurs at last. The wicked start suffering God’s wrath without being taken anywhere.

We must therefore ask ourselves, if the context is the Second Coming, and Christ is speaking about the angels gathering the elect to meet Him in the air, and the main thought of the comparison of Christ’s coming and these two events is actually about who was taken and who was not, then has He not set the context for that interpretation of the verses above? Who is actually taken or removed when Christ returns? Christ tells us it is the elect who are gathered. And in each of the examples cases, the answer is that the righteous ones were removed physically out of the line of fire, just as the saints will be. Christ tells us as it was then, so shall it be again, although I believe He is speaking more about the evil of the day and how it results in God’s wrath, rather than who is removed before whom. The righteous will be removed from out of the line of fire by being gathered by the angels. He tells us that the angels will gather the elect to meet Him in the air. We know for a fact that we are not appointed to wrath. (1 Thess. 1:10, 5:9) We also know that the world remains to receive it just as they did in Noah’s and Lot’s day, while Noah and Lot were removed from experiencing it just as we will be. So then why would Christ teach that the righteous remain while the evil ones are taken, right after he has told them that the elect are the ones who will be gathered? He wouldn’t. One must be careful not to read something, which is not there, into a text just to try to understand something which one is struggling to understand. When one sees that the evil ones being taken away could not possibly be the case in the case of Lot, then we should interpret it metaphorically or spiritually when looking at the verse about Noah, even though it says that the evil ones were taken away. Especially since it clearly was the righteous who were removed from experiencing God’s wrath, which is what the rapture is all about.

Next it mentions that two are in a bed, two are grinding at a mill, two are in a field, and one is taken and one is left in each case. All of these events are said to occur when Christ returns, or is revealed. Just previously to this in Matthew, Christ says that when He comes, He will send out angels and gather the elect. Again, Christ Himself gives us the context to interpret the verses that follow. He says He is removing the righteous before He pours out His wrath, just as He did before with Noah and Lot. Clearly these verses are speaking to the removal of the righteous. There is no other way to take this given the context. The unrighteous were always left right where they stood to experience God’s wrath.

Now comes the verse that puzzles many. Luke says, “And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.” Matthew says, “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. For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.”

Because of the mention of eagles and the word “carcase” being used in Matthew’s case, it is assumed that this must refer to the carnage of the battle of Armageddon, as the birds and animals will be invited to the supper of God. Revelation 19:17-18 “And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.” Ezekiel 39:17-18 “And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood. Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.”

It is true that the above verses in Revelation and Ezekiel are talking about great carnage that the fowl of the air will feast on at Armageddon, but are they the verses that correspond to this idiomatic expression in Matthew and Luke? The above verses about two together with one taken, or the days of Noah and Lot are referring to the state of events when Christ makes His appearance at the Second Coming, not at Armageddon. Christ returns with the saints at Armageddon, after having rewarded them, so that they are prepared for the marriage. There are six bowl judgments between His Coming and Armageddon. The Second coming occurs at the seventh trumpet, before the bowls of God’s wrath are poured out. After Christ returns and resurrects/raptures the saints, He takes them to New Jerusalem for the Bema Seat Judgment and while that transpires, the bowl or vial judgments of God’s wrath are poured out upon the world. It is at the end of the wrath of God that Armageddon occurs, which is when Christ returns on the white horse with the saints behind Him, and smites the armies that have come against Jerusalem. (Rev. 19) This is a number of days or several weeks later.

There is a thirty day gap between the end of Daniel’s 70^th week when Christ returns, and the end of it all (God’s wrath) according to Daniel 12:8-9,11. “And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.…..And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.” In other words, there is a period of 1290 days from the time of the abomination until all is finished. That includes God’s wrath. This is thirty days longer than the 1260 days that we are told is the length of the second half of Daniel’s 70^th week, which must end in Christ’s coming. We know this to be a fact, because the beast has forty-two months to reign, and he reigns from the time of the abomination. He is destroyed (his kingdom, his powerful abilities, and his control) according to 2 Thess. 2:8 by the brightness of Christ’s coming.This is after 1260 days or forty-two months. How can God’s wrath begin until the beast’s reign ends? It can’t. Scriptures says it can’t. Revelation 11:15-18 tells us that Christ’s reign begins and God’s wrath has come at the seventh trumpet. They happen at the same time - at the end of the 1260 days or forty-two months. It would negate Scripture and make God a liar if God’s wrath has begun long before Christ returns. Satan’s control over earth is allowed to continue until Christ returns and becomes King of Kings and reigns over earth, and only then can God’s wrath be poured out. It is true the beast is not thrown in the lake of fire until Armageddon, but he loses his power and throne when Christ returns and must suffer God’s wrath along with everyone else. Therefore the wrath of God, which falls upon the beast as well, must occur after the 1260 days or forty-two months are past and must be finished by the time of the 1290^th day, thirty days later. Therefore Christ's Second Coming and His coming at Armageddon are separated by thirty days or so.

So continuing with the expression about the eagles, the first problem in making these eagle/carcase/body verses be about Armageddon, is that Armageddon occurs well after the rapture. If this expression is about Armageddon, it cannot be about the rapture. If it is about the rapture, which the context would imply it is, it is not about Armageddon nor the feast for the birds. Further, in these verses in Ezekiel and Revelation, eagles are never mentioned. That is not to say eagles would not be there, but God is pretty consistent when He wants to connect verses by using terminology that is the same. The reference to eagles that Christ made was an idiomatic expression or metaphor, and should be treated as such. It was given in answer to a specific question. The question was “Where?”. In other words, where would Christ be returning, and where would the elect be gathered? Even in Matthew, he specifies that Christ said, “wheresoever,” meaning that His response was in answer to the question “Where?”. We first need to look at how Scripture uses the word “eagle,” to see how to take our cue from it, so as to properly interpret the hidden meaning of the idiomatic expression when used in answer to the question.

The following compose all the references to eagles in the Scriptures. How they use the word, is how we should understand it to be used in interpretation. First, there are the references to eagles as a source of food. Israel was forbidden to eat eagles, but in several cases, the eagle is specified as a gier eagle, which is a kind of vulture. As a gier eagle is not really the bald eagle we consider, but a type of vulture, we will eliminate the first two verses below.

Leviticus 11:18 “And the swan, and the pelican, and the gier eagle.”

Deuteronomy 14:17 “And the pelican, and the gier eagle, and the cormorant.”

The next three verses are the only verses that speak to the eagle being unclean and not to be eaten or sacrificed, or in the latter verse they are associated with carrion or death.

Leviticus 11:13 “And these are they which ye shall have in abomination among the fowls; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray.”

Deuteronomy 14:12 “But these are they of which ye shall not eat: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray.”

Proverbs 30:17 “The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it.” 

The rest of the verses in the Bible that mention the eagle do not reference it as an unclean bird, but refer to it in several other ways. I believe that because Scripture does treat eagles with a certain respect, that we need to look further to see its real application in the expression, for I believe that it is a misapplication to associate it with Armageddon in the Olivet Discourse for several reasons, the first one being that Armageddon is not referenced in the Olivet Discourse. The Second Coming and gathering of the elect in the rapture is. Again, that is the context of the verse.

Next, while eagles can be carrion eaters like vultures, and we cannot totally dismiss these three verses, the Scriptures use the word “eagle” in the vast majority of time in a different way, many times in a metaphorical way. In the New Testament, which is where the verse under question is found, the word translated as “eagle” is “aetos.” Aetos comes from the same root as “aer” which means air, breathe, blow, or respiration. The eagle is named for its wind-like flight. We see Scripture uses this word in ways that refer to its majesty of flight, and is associated with God in some cases.

First, God talks about bearing people on eagles’ wings. This is God’s means of providing protection, preservation, and provision.

Exodus 19:4 “Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself.”

Deuteronomy 32:9-12 “For the LORD's portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings: So the LORD alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him.”

Revelation 12:14 “And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.”

Next the eagle is used as the symbol of swiftness due to its remarkable ability in flight.

Deuteronomy 28:49 “The LORD shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand;”

2 Samuel 1:23 “Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in their death they were not divided: they were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions.”

Job 9:26 “They are passed away as the swift ships: as the eagle that hasteth to the prey.”

Jeremiah 4:13 “Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! for we are spoiled.”

Lamentations 4:19 “Our persecutors are swifter than the eagles of the heaven: they pursued us upon the mountains, they laid wait for us in the wilderness.”

Hosea 8:1 “Set the trumpet to thy mouth. He shall come as an eagle against the house of the LORD, because they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law.”

Habakkuk 1:8 “Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat.”

Jeremiah 48:40 “For thus saith the LORD; Behold, he shall fly as an eagle, and shall spread his wings over Moab.”

Jeremiah 49:22 “Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle, and spread his wings over Bozrah: and at that day shall the heart of the mighty men of Edom be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.”

Then the eagle’s ability to fly to great heights and the beauty of it in flight is mentioned.

Job 39:27 “Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest on high?”

Proverbs 23:5 “Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.”

Jeremiah 49:16 “Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, and the pride of thine heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that holdest the height of the hill: though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith the LORD.”

Proverbs 30:18-19 “There be three things which are too wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not: The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a maid.”

Obadiah 1:4 “Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the LORD.”

The blessings of the Lord are compared to one’s youth being renewed like the eagle’s. This is a very positive comparison and it is for the righteous.

Psalm 103:5 “Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's.”

Then there are angels that have the likeness of eagles.

Ezekiel 1:10 “As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle.”

Ezekiel 10:14 “And every one had four faces: the first face was the face of a cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.”

Revelation 4:7 “And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.”

The eagle is used as a descriptive simile.

Daniel 4:33 “The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws.”

Micah 1:16 “Make thee bald, and poll thee for thy delicate children; enlarge thy baldness as the eagle; for they are gone into captivity from thee.”

Daniel 7:4 “The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it.”

Next the eagle is used as a metaphor for a king or leader of a country in a parable.

Ezekiel 17:3 “And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; A great eagle with great wings, longwinged, full of feathers, which had divers colours, came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar.”

Ezekiel 17:7 “There was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers: and, behold, this vine did bend her roots toward him, and shot forth her branches toward him, that he might water it by the furrows of her plantation.”

In all of these verses, the eagle is presented in a positive light - protective, swift, majestic, kingly, and even angelic. Finally, and this verse seems to be the one that really has a connection to the idiom of the eagle and body/carcase in the Olivet Discourse, is the following:

Isaiah 40:31 “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

This verse clearly refers to our resurrected state. We, God’s children who wait upon Him, are said to run and not be weary, walk and not faint, and most specifically mount up to the sky as eagles. We are compared to eagles. When we are raptured, we will mount up to the sky just as eagles do, to meet the Lord in the air. We will then no more be weary or faint.

Now that we have seen that the vast majority of references to eagles is not associated with something like Armageddon, but more likely to be compared to Isaiah 40:31 and that in fact Christ was spiritually or metaphorically referring to us. We are the eagles in question that are gathered around the body/carcase. That becomes more clear when we look at the two other words in that phrase – body and carcase to see to what or more accurately to whom this refers.

In the Greek, the word “body” is the word “soma.” It means a sound body. A living, healthy body. How could this possibly be a reference to the carnage of Armageddon? It isn’t. The word “carcase” on the other hand is “ptoma” and means a lifeless corpse. How could these two verses, which are assumed to say the same thing in English, have such very different meanings in the Greek? How can a body be both dead and very much alive at the same time? Well, Christ died, and yet lives. He was a lifeless corpse, but now He is alive and has a sound body that will never be sick, grow old, or die again. I do not think God made a mistake when having Matthew and Luke use these two opposing terms. I believe He was trying to clue us in to the real meaning. The body being spoken of in this metaphor is Christ. The eagles being spoken of are the saints. The important thing that is overlooked in this idiomatic expression was the question it answered. The idiom was used to answer the question that the disciples asked after Christ told them of His return and that the elect would be gathered. They wanted to know where they would be gathered to be with Him. They wanted to be in the right place at the right time.

“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. For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.”

“For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day…….. Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.”

The disciples were asking, and Christ was telling them where He would be returning and gathering them. Where Christ (the body/carcase) is or will return, is where the saints (the eagles) will be gathered. In this case it will be over Jerusalem and most likely over the mount of Olives. In Acts when Christ ascended from there, the angels told the disciples that as they saw Him ascend, so would He return. In Jeremiah 51:6 & 50 it tells Israel to flee out of Babylon and look to Jerusalem when they are in exile during the tribulation. They are to return to Jerusalem, so that they will see Him when He returns and thus be saved. He returns above there at the rapture, and He will return there again at Armageddon to destroy the nations. In Zechariah 14:4 we are told that his feet will touch the mount of Olives when He returns during the Day of the Lord. In both cases, Christ returns to the place of His throne on earth – Jerusalem. In not understanding that this idiomatic expression or metaphor (not a parable) was in reply to the question of “where,” it leaves room for misinterpretation and a misunderstanding of the order of events by thinking it is referring to Armageddon.

If there is still doubt as to the order, in Revelation 14:14- 20 we find Christ again has laid out the order for us. “And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped. And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe. And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.”

When Christ returns, the elect are gathered and then the wicked are gathered and thrown into the winepress of God’s wrath. This is clearly delineated for us in the most precise terms. It is not hinted at through a parable or an idiomatic expression. The order of the rapture is laid out quite clearly. And it agrees with the way the above verses in the Olivet Discourse have been interpreted by this author.

So then how do we deal with the parable of the wheat and tares? As this seems now to be the only thorn that prevents understanding that the righteous are gathered first and the wicked thrown into God’s wrath, we need to look and see if it really says the opposite and creates a dilemma, or if there is another way of interpreting it that allows it to agree with the previous verses.

Matthew 13:24- 30 “Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.”

Lest it be forgotten that the Kingdom of God is not simply the Gentile Church and O.T. saints, we must remember that when the blindness is lifted from the eyes of the remnant of Israel at the Second Coming, then all Israel will be saved, when the fullness of the Gentiles (the end of the Church) comes in.

Romans 11:25-26 “For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:”

Luke 21:23-24 “But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, (great tribulation) and wrath upon this people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”

Revelation 11:2 “But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.”

Revelation 1:7 “Behold, he cometh with clouds; (Second Coming) and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.”

Zechariah 12:10-11 “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.”

These verses when taken together show us that Jerusalem is trodden down by the Gentiles for forty-two months after the abomination until the time of the Gentiles is fulfilled. Then when the time of the Gentiles is fulfilled (the Church complete and raptured) all Israel will be saved, when they see Him (at His Second Coming) whom they have pierced and mourn for Him.

This now leaves newly believing Israelites (I use that term instead of Jews, as the remnant of all twelve tribes, including the ten that are dispersed in the Gentile nations will believe.) left behind to go through the Day of the Lord or God’s wrath. They are now the new wheat which is among the tares that still must be gathered and burned. As the bowls commence, the tares will over the course of these bowls, be brought together at Armageddon. This is when the bulk of the world comes against Jerusalem, for this is when the world truly comes to the end, when they are literally thrown into the fires of hell. During this time, or after the gathering of the wicked begins, Israel (the wheat) will be gathered under Christ’s wing for protection. Zechariah 12:8-9 “In that day shall the LORD defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the LORD before them. And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.” Israel is the one who was promised the Kingdom of God in a covenant.

This then reconciles the parable of the wheat and tares at the end of the age. The Kingdom of God actually began with the Old Testament saints, then the Church became a part of it, but it is also reborn Israel. These latter ones are the people whom Christ protects through the wrath, for they are the ones who will populate the earth. They cannot be raptured, for they were not saved at the time of Christ’s coming. It is their destiny to inhabit the kingdom on earth. And the Church does not remain during the wrath, for we are not appointed to have to endure it, nor are we to inhabit the earth. The Great Tribulation is for the purging of the Church, not for Israel. Israel (the woman/144,000) has been under God’s protection during the tribulation in the wilderness, and Satan has not been able to touch her. (Rev. 12). Now they must go through, under God’s protection, the time of Jacob’s trouble, which is not the great tribulation, but actually the Day of the Lord. Jeremiah 30:7 “Alas! for that day (the Day of the Lord) is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.”

The kingdom has been growing ever since the first seed was sown, as the parable says. However not all the wheat (believers) will be harvested at the time of Christ’s return, for Israel does not believe until after Christ returns. And the complete end of the world, or more accurately end of the age, does not come until Armageddon. That is when the wheat and tares are gathered and separated according to the parable. The tares are harvested and thrown into God’s wrath which ends with Armageddon when the world gathers to storm Jerusalem. That is the final end when they are gathered and burned, and the wheat is brought into God’s barn (gathered at Jerusalem yet again). We know from Revelation 14 that the rapture occurs before the wicked are gathered for God’s wrath. That cannot change in order, for that is the order given and it is not in parable form, it is directly told to us in the clearest possible way. However the parable is not that direct. It is hidden in meaning, as parables are, so we must look for the meaning that fits with the Scriptures that are clearly delineated for us. In this case, the only way the parable does not go against Scripture is to see it as presented above. When one does this, all of the Scriptures agree with each other, which is what one must look for when one is seeking to understand God’s Word.

If we look for Christ’s explanation of the parable below, we see that He says that the bad seed will be gathered at the end and then the righteous (which are left on earth) shall shine forth in the kingdom. So what kingdom is He speaking about? The Church is not going to be left behind on earth to live in the kingdom. We are going to New Jerusalem. We are not staying here for the kingdom on earth, although our work may bring us to earth at times, as it does the angels. We are leaving to live elsewhere. We know the remnant that survives the great tribulation will be raptured out. So who is left behind? Israel, the one who received the covenant promise of the kingdom is left behind. It is the millennial kingdom that the disciples were interested in knowing about, for they knew of no other kingdom. The context of to whom Christ was speaking must be considered. How they understood it, should be how we approach it. The only kingdom they were expecting was the millennial one under their Messiah’s rule, which had been promised to them by a covenant with God, so I believe Christ was telling them Israel’s fate in this parable, not the Church’s, for they would not understand it any differently. They knew nothing about the Church yet. Thus with Israel being the wheat, we can now see that this works very well with the rest of Scripture and does not go against the other very clear verses about the Church’s fate.

Matthew 13:36-43 “Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; (The disciples would have only understood this to be Israel for the covenant promise was made to them, and they knew nothing about the Church age) but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; (the end of the world comes at Armageddon) and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; (at Armageddon) so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; (We know from Rev. 14 that this occurs after Christ raptures the elect.) And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. (The wicked are gathered). Then shall the righteous (Israel) shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. (Those who have been left behind.) Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.” Zech 12:9, 14:12 “And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem…...And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.”

So the order is the following: gather the elect at the rapture, gather the wicked and throw them into God’s wrath, leave behind the righteous who accept the Lord after the rapture. This order agrees with all of the Scriptures, if one takes them in the apparent chronological order as laid out in Scripture – seals, trumpets, then bowls. There is no need to convolute the book of Revelation by mixing or overlaying these three types of judgments. It is not indicated in any way in Scripture to do so, and it is unnecessary when one truly looks closely at verses that may seem difficult at first.

As a side note, the reason for making the order of Revelation convoluted, as I understand it, is that I have been told that one must approach Revelation from a Jewish manner of interpretation. I do not understand exactly what is meant by this, other than God tells us some information, then goes back to give us details. That is true of Revelation in a manner which I feel is obvious. He pauses to give some background for Israel, the beast, and Babylon in Revelation 12-14, and 17-18, but other than that, I believe most of Revelation can be taken in chronological order. One reason against this argument that one must approach it from a Jewish interpretive manner is that Revelation was not written for Jews. It was written for Gentiles, who would comprise the Church, for whom the book was specifically written. The Gentiles over the ages would have no inkling of how to interpret Scripture by some Jewish theological device. They would interpret it as I have interpreted it. Take it at face value, and take it chronologically except where it is obvious that there is a pause in the narrative to fill in background information. God is not a God of chaos. He is a God of order, and I think to preserve the idea that prophecy is not for private interpretation, one must adhere to as face value an interpretation as possible. This includes chronology. Even the symbolic visions are explained by God, if not in Revelation, then the symbolism can be found somewhere else in Scripture. God usually explains all of the symbolism He uses, so we must use Scripture to interpret Scripture in those cases.God expected anybody that studied this book to read and heed it. How could one do that if one does not understand how to interpret it? It is much easier than people think when one simply takes it at face value. The key to understanding, though, lies in knowing all of the books that come before it. You can't solve a mystery if you haven't read the entire book to get all the clues. There is a reason God calls all of this a "mystery."

Hopefully this brings some clarity to the difficult verses and the dilemma of verses that seem to be in conflict with each other.