Comparing the Olivet Discourse with I & II Thessalonians: Part 2

Let’s continue with our comparison of the Olivet Discourse and Paul’s eschatology in his epistles to the Thessalonians.

Here is a chart that shows a comparison of Matthew 24 and SECOND Thessalonians 1 & 2:

EVENT	MATT. 24	II THESS. 1&2
Antichrist revealed first	24:15	2:3
Antichrist in the temple	24:15	2:4
Falling away	24:24-26	2:3
Christ’s coming is visible to all	24:27	1:7, 2:8
Coming with angels	24:31	1:7
Punishment of the Lost	24:30	1:6, 9
Glory and power	24:30	1:9
Gathering AT his coming	24:31	2:1
Don’t be deceived	24:4	2:3

Other Commonalities between Matthew 24 and I & II Thessalonians:

• The Greek terms translated “gathering together” in Matt. 24:31 are the SAME Greek terms as used in II Thess. 2:1.
• In BOTH passages, the Greek terms and English translations are the SAME.
• In BOTH passages, this ‘gathering together’ is AFTER the man of sin is revealed.
• In BOTH passages, this ‘gathering together’ is with clouds.
• In BOTH passages, this ‘gathering together’ is with a “great sound of a trumpet.”
• In BOTH passages a universal area is covered—”from one end of heaven to the other.”
• In BOTH passages a universal reference to the people of God is used—”His elect.”

Another Problem

Another problem for the pre-Tribulation Rapture is also found in this second chapter of II Thessalonians.

“Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,…” (II Thess. 2:1)

Note that the ‘coming’ and ‘gathering’ in verse 1 are not separate and unrelated events. This is indicated by the Greek grammar.

The nouns ‘the coming’ (Gk. tes parousias) and ‘gathering-together’ (Gk. episunagoges) are separated by the word ‘and’ (Gk. kai). The first noun has the definite article ‘the’ and the second noun does not.

In Greek grammar (Sharp's first rule), this normally indicates that both nouns are referring to the same person (with personal nouns) or a unity between impersonal nouns. Therefore, only ONE event is in view here. Our “gathering together unto him” is PART OF “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The grammar Paul uses associates our being gathered together with that coming. If Paul had wanted to indicate two separate comings or events, he would have used the definite article before the second noun also (according to Sharp’s sixth rule).

The verse would then read:

“Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the gathering together of us unto him.” (PTV, PreTrib Version)

Paul did NOT use two definite articles, and was therefore writing about a single, compound event—the Rapture at the Revelation.

This of course agrees perfectly with Matthew 24: 30-31.

“…, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds, with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”

With all the commonalities between these two passages, it is very subjective, without cause, and unnecessary to eliminate the Rapture from Matt. 24:31.

II Thessalonians 2:1-3a

“Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, not by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come…”

What does this mean? The perfect tense of the Greek phrase rendered “is at hand” implies that the Thessalonians thought (due to intense persecutions) that Christ’s coming had just become ‘imminent.’

What is Paul’s response?

‘Don’t be shaken in your mind. Don’t be troubled. Don’t let a spirit trouble you. Don’t let a word, or a letter trouble you as that the day of Christ is imminent. Let no man deceive you by any means! That day shall not come until after a falling away and the Antichrist be revealed.’ (paraphrase)

John Gill, the Baptist Greek and Hebrew scholar, had this to say in his commentary on this passage:

“As that the day of Christ is at hand; or is at this instant just now coming on; as if it would be within that year, in some certain month, and on some certain day in it; which notion the apostle would have them by no means give into."

Comparing the Olivet Discourse with I & II Thessalonians: Part 1

This will be a two-part post on the comparison of Matthew 24 with I Thessalonians, and then a comparison of Matthew 24 with II Thessalonians.

Let's start with a warning from II Thessalonians chapter 2.

“Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus, and by our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;” (2 Thess. 2:1-3)

Paul warns the Thessalonians very strongly that they should not let any man deceive them about “the day of Christ.” The “day of Christ” is the day when Jesus comes for His saints. (I Cor. 1:8, 5:5; 2 Cor. 1:14; Phil. 1:6, 10, 2:16; 2 Thess. 2:2). It is the day of the Rapture.

The Day of Christ

"Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ." (I Corinthians 1:8)

"To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus." (I Corinthians 5:5)

"As also ye have acknowledged us in part, that we are your rejoicing, even as ye also are our's in the day of the Lord Jesus." (II Corinthians 1:14)

"Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:" (Phil. 1:6)

Etc., etc. Just a cursory examination of the "day of the Lord Jesus" shows that it is the day when the saints are finally re-united with their Lord. It is the day of the Rapture.

However...

The doctrine of the pre-Tribulation Rapture will admit that the day of Christ is the Rapture in every passage EXCEPT the passage in II Thessalonians chapter 2. This is arbitrarily inconsistent.

Why would they do this?

To acknowledge the Rapture in this passage would be to admit that the Rapture occurs AFTER the Antichrist is revealed.

Paul states that there are TWO events which must occur BEFORE the day of Christ:

1. A falling away (Gk. apostasia)

2. The revealing of the man of sin

Before the Rapture can occur, the man of sin must be revealed.

The Olivet Discourse

This is exactly what is taught in the Olivet Discourse! It is AFTER the Abomination of Desolation stands in the Temple, and AFTER the Tribulation of those days, that the Lord will come again. Let's look at Mark and Matthew:

“And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth, to the uttermost part of heaven.” (Mk. 13:27)

“And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (Matt. 24:31)

According to Matt. 24 and Mark 13, sometime after the Antichrist is revealed, the angels will gather together God’s elect with a great “sound of a trumpet” (i.e. a trump) from the earth and from heaven.

How can the pre-Tribulationist’s last trump come before this trump? If this is not the Rapture, what is it?

The Olivet Discourse, given just days before the Crucifixion, agrees exactly with the order of events in I and II Thessalonians!

J. Sidlow Baxter said:

“Yet the remarkable feature, which must surely impress all but those who simply will not see, is the singular correspondence between the phraseology here (Matt. 24:30-31), and … I Thessalonians 4:15-18 … Then what kind of Bible interpretation is it which can take EXACTLY the same phrases and symbols in I Thess. 4:15-16 and say that there they teach a secret coming! … Nothing can disguise to an honest eye the parallel between Matthew 24:30-31 and I Thess. 4:15-16.”

Here is a chart of comparison between Matthew 24 (the Lord's Olivet Discourse) and I Thessalonians 4 & 5 (Paul's discussion of future things):

EVENT	MATT. 24	I THES. 4&5
Christ himself returns	24:30	4:16
From heaven	24:30	4:16
With a shout	24:30	4:16
Accompanied by angels	24:31	4:16
With the trump of God	24:31	4:16
Believers gathered	24:31, 40, 41	4:17
In clouds	24:30	4:17
Time unknown	24:36	5:1-2
Come as a thief	24:43	5:2, 4
Lost unaware of impending judgment	24:37-39	5:3
Judgment as travail upon a woman	24:8	5:3
Believers not decided	24:4+	5:4-5
Believers to watch	24:42	5:6
Warning against drunkenness	24:49	5:7

When Paul uses the phrase “as a thief” (I Thess. 5:2, 4), he is borrowing from the Lord’s Olivet Discourse (Matt. 24:36)! He is NOT referring to an at-any-moment imminent Rapture, but to the same event the Lord was referring to — His own post-Tribulation return!

(You might want to read that last paragraph again.)