November 18, 2006

Contradiction (Part 2):
Imminency and Matthew 24:36?

But as for that day and hour no one knows it—not even the angels in heaven–except the Father alone. Matthew 24:36

This verse is one of the most frequently cited Biblical texts that pretribulationists use to proof-text an "any moment" rapture. A proof-text is generally a verse that is lifted out of its context to support a doctrine or belief. So it is imperative to see verse 36 in its context.

According to pretribulationists, since Jesus says that no one knows the day or hour of his Coming, it is suggested that "no prophesied events or signs must occur before Christ's Coming"; otherwise, it is argued, "how can his return be imminent?"

A few responses are in order:

A Logical Response

It does not logically follow that since we do not know the day or hour, there cannot be any prophesied events or signs that precede his Coming.

That would be like saying since we do not know the day or hour of a baby being born, it can happen at any moment. Rather, certain conditions and stages of pregnancy must develop before a baby is born--not to mention the nurturing of the mother and other factors. Interestingly, Jesus uses the pregnancy metaphor in Matthew 24 to refer to what must precede his Coming, "All these things are the beginning of birth pains."

Most importantly, all the events that Jesus prophesied in Matthew 24 precede verse 36! This brings us to our next point.

A Contexual Response

In Matthew 24 Jesus lists about a half dozen important events that must precede his Coming, and he tells us to make sure we understand its sequence and significance. Then in verse 36, he basically says, "don't misunderstand me, you are not going to know the exact day or hour, but you will know the season of my Coming from the parable of the fig tree.”

So Jesus actually negates that his Coming is at "any moment" because in verse 33 he says, "So also you, when you see all these things, know that he is near, right at the door.

See what things? All of those events that he just described preceding verse 33 that must happen before he gathers the elect at his Coming.

Jesus teaches expectancy not imminency.

A Theological Response

Many times when I ask a pretribulationist what Bible passage reference they are quoting when they invoke, "no one knows the day or hour," they cannot tell me. This is an important point because in pretribulational literature their teachers argue that the Coming in Matthew 24 is speaking of "Armageddon" and not the rapture! (And even these pretrib teachers are frequently inconsistent on this point.)

To protect their "any moment rapture" belief, they cannot have the rapture in Matthew 24 because it follows the Great Tribulation of believers. And in their system, the church is exempted from this persecution.

The causalities of explaining away Jesus' Coming in this text as "Armageddon," and explaining away the persecution of believers as, not the church, but "tribulation saints" is indicative of a theological system that is governed by protecting a tradition.

And so, rather than dealing with what Jesus' teaches in Matthew 24 regarding the persecution of believers during the Great Tribulation, they will just write off the whole chapter by asserting that it all deals with "Israel and not the church, and therefore the rapture occurs before all the events in Matthew 24.”

(Sadly, since this pretrib objection is all-too common, I will be writing an article in the near future responding to their notion that Matthew 24 does not apply to the church.)

A Little Test worth trying on your Pretrib Friends

In conclusion, if you come across a pretribulationist who tells you that Matthew 24 does not apply to the church, or that the Coming and the gathering of the elect does not refer to the rapture but Armageddon, employ Robert Van Kampen’s little test from his book, The Rapture Question Answered: Plain and Simple. He suggests the following line of reasoning,

When the right opportunity presents itself (and I can assure you, it always does), ask your friend if the pretribulation Rapture position permits setting dates as to when the Rapture will occur. He will be adamant that we cannot know "the day or the hour." Perfect! Then ask him how he came to this conclusion. He will invariable quote the verse: "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone" (Matt. 24:36). Try it sometime. That's the answer pretribulationist almost always give!

But that answer, although true, presents those holding to the pretribulation view with a serious problem. Why? Because that quotation is taken directly from the Olivet Discourse in Matthew [24:36], a passage that those holding to this position make applicable to the battle of Armageddon, not the rapture of God's saints--which they claim happened at least seven years earlier! You can't have it both ways! p. 107