"As the Days of Noah Were"

by David Vaughn Elliott

They tell us planes will fall out of the sky and automobiles will careen and crash. They tell us husbands will frantically search for their missing wives. They tell us all believers will instantly vanish but that life on earth as we know it will continue for years. They call it the rapture. They tell us Jesus predicted it when He said, "Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left" (Matthew 24:40). 

Did Jesus have the modern rapture idea in mind when He spoke those words? Let the context decide. Starting just 5 verses earlier, Jesus said, "Heaven and earth shall pass away . . . but as the days of Noah were, . . . the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left."  

Did you notice?  Jesus' second coming will be like it was in Noah's time. The flood completely destroyed that old world. Either you were safe in the ark or you perished under the wrath of God. That's how it will be when Jesus returns.  

Did you notice in this context who was taken away? It cannot be the modern rapture idea of the saints being taken. Why? Because the context is speaking of the wicked ones when it says "the flood came, and took them all away."  

No, Jesus did not have the modern rapture doctrine in mind. Rather, He proclaimed that when He returns, heaven and earth shall pass away. No second chances.