Who Will Be Left Behind? Rethinking The Meaning Of Matthew 24:40-41 And Luke 17:34-35 -- By: Benjamin L. Merkle

Journal: Westminster Theological Journal
Volume: WTJ 72:1 (Spring 2010)
Article: Who Will Be Left Behind? Rethinking The Meaning Of Matthew 24:40-41 And Luke 17:34-35
Author: Benjamin L. Merkle


Who Will Be Left Behind? Rethinking The Meaning Of Matthew 24:40-41 And Luke 17:34-35

Benjamin L. Merkle

Benjamin L Merkle is Associate Professor of Mew Testament and Greek at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina.

Nobody likes to be left behind. Often children cry “unfair” when their older siblings are allowed to go out but they are left behind. The president of the United States even instituted an education program with the catchphrase, “No Child Left Behind.” The same is true when we think of biblical eschatology Some of us have watched “A Thief in the Night” (and the three other films that followed in that series), and can still sing Larry Norman’s “I Wish We’d All Been Ready” (chorus: “There’s no time to change your mind, the Son has come and you’ve been left behind”). More recently, we have read or heard about the twelve-volume Left Behind series written by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins. Thus, we assume that the language of being left behind in Matt 24 and Luke 17 refers to something negative.

Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. (Matt 24:40-41)1

I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left. (Luke 17:34-35)

Many interpret these texts to mean that those who are taken are raptured to be with the Lord but those who are left behind will remain on earth to receive God’s judgment.2 It is my contention, however, that those who are left behind are the

ones who are blessed whereas those who are taken are the ones who are judged by God. I will demonstrate this thesis in three steps. First, I will establish that the imagery the prophets used to describe the destruction of the northern and southern kingdoms, and especially Jerusalem, is that those taken were judged by God but the remnant that was left behind was shown mercy. Second, I will investigate the concepts of being taken and left behind in Jesus’ teaching, including the contexts of Matt 24 and Luke 17 where Jesus employed judgment and exile imagery that is reminiscent of the OT prophets. This dependency on OT imagery favors interpreting these passages to mean that those left beh...

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