Luke 17:26-36 “And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: (27) They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. (28) Likewise, as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; (29) but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. (30) Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. … (34) I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed: the one will be taken and the other will be left. (35) Two will be grinding together: the one will be taken and the other left. (36) Two will be in the field: the one will be taken and the other left.”
As we have already seen, at the end of the Antichrist’s forty-two month reign the church will be caught away from the earth. When the saints leave this planet to be with the Lord Jesus it will take the world completely by surprise. In fact, the Holy Spirit through the apostle Paul tells us that many unbelievers living on the earth at that time will feel that they have finally reached a stage of peace and safety under the reign of the Antichrist, but little do they realize that sudden destruction is about to come upon them (1 Thessalonians 5:3). In the above quoted passage of scripture, our Lord’s account of that event shows people going about their normal daily lives and in an instant, those who are His leaving this planet, while those who are not His being left behind. In this account our Lord speaks about a married couple sleeping together in bed, and the saved spouse being taken while the unsaved spouse is left behind. He speaks about people who are working together in factories, and His saints being taken while the unsaved are left behind. The Lord also speaks about people working together in the fields, and again His saints being taken while the unsaved are left behind. The fact that at that time some of God’s people will be going about their normal daily lives, confirms to us that not all will be experiencing the great persecution that many will experience under the reign of the Antichrist, for as we have already discussed, his reign will not have extended into all the earth before the Lord’s return. Nevertheless, it is when the church is removed from the earth that the wrath of God will begin to be poured out on the inhabitants of the earth.
Michael E.B. Maher
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