The Ones Left Behind
I for a couple of weeks now have owed my community a blog post from Luke 17. So Here We Go…
Luke 17v26-37
26 “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 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.
28 “It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29 But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.
30 “It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day no one who is on the housetop, with possessions inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. 32 Remember Lot’s wife! 33 Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it. 34 I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. 35 Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.” [36] e]” style=”font-size: 0.75em; line-height: 0.5em;”>[e]
37 “Where, Lord?” they asked.
He replied, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.”
The standard line of thought on this verse (mostly based on a strong pre-tribulation / pre-millenial / Left Behind bent) is that the one who is taken is “raptured” away and the on who is left now lives in the tribulation. Thus the believers are taken away and don’t have to deal with a period of turmoil on the earth (the tribulation). Because of their faith they are lifted out and and pardoned this wrathful time.
Like a great deal of “Left Behind” theology, I would argue that this takes Jesus’ words out of context, fits them to current pop thought, and gets the believer out of the tribulation – a very comfortable reading but it is a reading that I believe is wrong and detrimental to the Kingdom.
I believe what Jesus is saying here is that the ones taken are the ones who are being judged and the ones left behind represent the remnant – a faithful people to represent our God when things need to be restarted so to speak. (a common occurrence in our story)
Today my reasons for believing this. Tomorrow, I’ll give my reasons for believing it is detrimental.
1) In previous prophetic warnings to the people, this was the pattern.
The ones left were the remnant of God’s hope.
Isaiah 39 – Again the prophet writes that the wicked are taken
(Is 39 & Jer 6 both show wrath coming from foreign kindoms. In Jeremiah the just should flee for safety as the wicked who are unprepared are left their to be slaughtered. As history went, the small remnant was left in the land. The unjust were hauled off to Babylon)
In Zeph 3:11 the Lord says he will “remove” from their midst those who are proud and arrogant.
And…the prophet Zechariah speaks the words of the Lord to the rebellious people: “In the whole land, declares the LORD, two thirds shall be cut off and perish, and one third shall be left alive.” (Zech 13:8).
2) Jesus’ on teachings.
Most people interpret this and the Matthew parallel along the lines of 1 Thessalonians 4v17. While this is easy to see we do have to be careful to not run straight way and interpret Jesus stories through Paul. Are there places where Jesus himself gives interpretive insights? Are the types of literature (here: Matthew & 1 Thessalonians) the same? Do they have the same purpose? And, are the contexts the same or different? All of this plays in to reading the passage.
In this case, I think Jesus gives us enough to see what we need. He leans into judgment/exile teaching to give a prophetic warning.
In Matthew 13v41-43 the unrighteous/sinful are taken away and the righteous shine.
In the Luke 17 version we are reminded of Lot’s wife who looked back. Her heart was there in the sinful place. She is taken. The righteous survive.
In Luke 17 and in Matthew 24 (the two tellings of this teaching) we are set up with the idea that it will be just like the days of Noah. People ate, drank and it looks like partied right up until the moment that reality splashed over them. In the Noah story, who is left behind? Noah and his family are. Yes we assume that they visibly move in the boat but all of the wicked who wouldn’t listen are taken. The righteous family is left.
I think it is important for us to know that God has a tendency of using a remnant. It is not uncommon for the religious, the ones who think they have it all together to actually be swept away catastrophically or abruptly and a small chosen faithful few are left to do the work. Which group are we in?
That’s a tough question as is the idea that we would have to not be raptured and be left to live in a time of suffering. And if this is then the model are all the unrighteous judged and taken? Do some fall away during a period of God’s testing? There are big questions that follow this interpretation.
The take aways for me are…
1) Be watchful; be mindful; be ready – to do this we need to be focused on our King and set our hearts and minds on what is good pure and noble. We must not be distracted by earthly things.
2) God’s people have never and may not until New Heavens and New Earth escaped suffering and hard times. These are defining moments for us and the times when the Gospel shines brightest.
3) Once again…please read the Bible in context. We Americans struggle with this. There is a bigger deeper more thick beautiful story if we will only dive into it.
4) Be watchful; be mindful; be ready – there is not only love…there is judgment as well. And the possibility of eternal punishment.
Peace ~
William
