It’s not either or as most Christians debate. It’s both and more, people.
1. Enoch is a type of Firstfruit rapture (Gen. 5:24). On the other hand, Noah is a type of Tribulation saint. Seven days before the flood Noah gathered his household and the animals into the Ark (Gen. 7:1-4). These 7 days correspond to Daniel’s 70th week, the last half of which is the great tribulation. At the end of the 7 days, the great judgment of the flood comes, which is a type of the great day of the Lord, when He releases His wrath (Matt. 24:37-39).
Noah and his family in the Ark, was raised up with the Ark, above the judgment of the flood, thus becoming a type of tribulation harvest that Jesus spoke about in Matt. 24:29-31. The tribulation saints rise up above the judgment day of the Lord.
2. Elijah is also a type of the firstfruit rapture. He was taken up to heaven and Elisha left behind (2 Kings 2:11).
“One shall be taken and another left.” Elisha is a type of tribulation saint. The “three days” in which the sons of the prophets searched for Elijah despite Elisha’s protest, correspond with the three of the tribulation, when men will try to rationalize the events of the rapture. During the tribulation some will mock the saints of God, as did the wicked youths of Bethel, who taunted Elisha with the words, “Go up thou bald head; go up thou bald head” (2 Kings 2:23), a daring mockery of Elijah’s translation. But suddenly two bears came out of the woods and tore up 42 of them (v. 24). The number 42 is associated with the tribulation, which is 42 mont
hs. Elisha, a type of tribulation saint, is not translated, but there is resurrection power in his bones (2 Kings 13:21). Many of the tribulations saints will die, to be gathered in the resurrection harvest.
3. When Jesus used the illustration of Noah and the flood, he followed with the parable, “one shall be taken and the other left”. This speaks of the rapture and the leaving of companions behind (Matt. 24:40-42).
What does the meaning of these seven verses mean (Matt. 24:36-42)? The parable has a two-fold application. At the rapture, the firstfruits saint will be taken, and the tribulation saint left behind. But at the end of the tribulation, when the Lord comes for the harvest rapture, the tribulation saint will be taken and the impenitent left behind. The parable applies equally in either case.
Matthew 24:45-51
In the latter case of the impenitent, he is left behind and marked for judgment. When the disciples asked Jesus, “Where Lord?” He responded by saying, “Wheresoever the body is, there will the eagles be gathered together.” The word “carcass” is used in Matt. 24:28 and Luke 17:37, which speaks of the slain. This is evidently a reference to the “supper of God” when God calls for the fowls of the air to “eat the flesh of kings… and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great” (Rev. 19:17-18). Altogether, there are three classes of people referred to here: 1) The pre-trib rapture saints; 2) The trihulation saints; 3) The impenitent who are left for judgment.
More to come...
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