Chapter 4:
Jesus' Coming Is Imminent
Like In The Days of Noah & Lot
Jesus says that in the days leading up to the Great Tribulation life will be normal just as life was normal during the days of Noah and Lot just before total destruction came and rained down upon them:
"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.
"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him." (Matt 24:36-44)
"Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.
"It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.
"It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. On that day no one who is on the roof of his house, with his goods inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. Remember Lot's wife! Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left."
"Where, Lord?" they asked.
He replied, "Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather."
(Luke 17:26-37)
In the days of Noah and Lot, daily life was normal, and then suddenly, without notice, “the flood came and destroyed them all... fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.” Suddenly, without notice! "It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed.” Suddenly, and without warning!
The immanency of Jesus coming and the exhortation to watch so as to be ready for His coming only have application at the beginning of the Great Tribulation. Watchfulness will have little meaning at the end of the Tribulation for the Tribulation Saints. As Jesus says, "Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. (Luke 1:34) The DAY will not be a trap if it occurs at the end of the seven year Tribulation since once the Great Tribulation begins the Seven Year countdown begins as well and the end will be anticipated. Also, drunkenness and anxieties of life will not be issues for the few surviving Tribulation saints. According the Book of Revelation, God’s coming wrath will be such that it will be an achievement just to be alive at the end. Matthew 24:22, and a parallel passage in Mark 13:20, both state that “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.”
The Rapture cannot be at the end of the Tribulation since very few believers would still be alive, and those who are alive will not be caught up with drunkenness and the normal anxieties of life as chaos and cataclysmic destruction will reign. Tribulation Saints will NOT be “buying and selling, planting and building.” Cataclysmic upheaval with the death of tens of billions, utter chaos, and deadly persecution over the face of the whole earth will terminate “buying and selling, planting and building, eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage” as a normal way of life for all remaining saints. The new normal will be totally and completely SURVIVAL like never before.
A warning and exhortation to watch for the Rapture at the end of the Tribulation also makes no sense because Tribulation Saints will not be “eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage.” The book of Revelation reveals chaos and destruction, Tribulation and persecution to the death will be the normal daily events as planet earth is experiencing major upheaval. The immanency of Jesus return, the exhortation to be ready, and the Rapture only have application at the beginning of the Great Tribulation.
Jesus informs believers that they can escape God’s coming wrath: “Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man. Luke 21:36 has much more meaning and application at the beginning of the Tribulation because the implication is that watchfulness & prayer will allow a believer to “escape all that is about to happen” and “be able to stand before the Son of Man."
Paul also points out that believers are not appointed to suffer the coming wrath of God, which again, points to a Pre-Tribulation Rapture:
For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thess 4:15-5:4, 9)
They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead-Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath. (1 Thess 1:10)
With the immanency if His coming our exhortation is to watch, to be on guard, and to be ready so that when the DAY comes we’ll be out of here. One day very soon, and suddenly, like a thief in the night, “Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left… I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left.” And for those left behind, “destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.”
Two in the field and two grinding implies morning and afternoon events, and the two in bed implies a night time event. When the Rapture happens it will be an instantaneous global event, without warning or notice. The rapture will be a catastrophic event as well. Drivers and operators of autos, trucks, ships, planes and trains suddenly “will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.” Operators in terminals, air controllers, government officials, policemen, fire fighters, and hospital workers will be caught up as well. The sudden departure will leave behind chaos, destruction, and much death. But this is just the beginning, as far worse is yet to come.
Jesus "rescues us from the coming wrath." He rescues us from and does not preserve us through the coming wrath. Jesus rescues us from the wrath of Satan who is "given power over the saints", who is given power to "kill and destroy those who believe" (Rev 12:17, 13:7, 13:15, 14:13). It is tough now for the church, which during this present Church Age have the promise that the gates of Satan will not prevail over the church. But after the church is raptured and during the Tribulation, believers will have NO protection from Satan and his cohorts, and few believers will survive into the Millennial Kingdom (Matt 24:22)