Look, I disagree with your understanding of Matthew 24:14. I base this on, well starting at vs13 first. "But the one who endures to the "END," he shall be saved/delivered. In other words, only those who maintain a faithful spirit and a positive witness in the midst of the corruption of this age will be saved in the end.
Verse 14 is pointing out that the gospel of the kindgdom must be preached to all the inhabited world as an effective witness. It is the same gospel that Jesus, Peter, and Paul preached. (See Galatians 1:6-9.) This is the sign that believers must give their attention. And also notice that there will be believers on earth alive and waiting on the glorius day of the Lord's return, not some made up stage of a rapture.
Notice Matthew 24:15. Therefore WHEN YOU SEE THE ABOMNATION OF DESOLATION ETC. In other words, they/the believers are still on earth because Jesus says to look out for the antichrist. Jesus further tells us what to do, i.e flee to the mountains, hope it's not winter etc. He does not say your going to be raptured. The key is to act when you see the antichrist, vs15. And this is exactly what the Apostle John said at 1 John 2:18 to look out for the antichrist which is backing up what Jesus said.
IN GOD THE SON,
bluto
Hello Bluto,
Those "believers on the earth mentioned in Matt.24:15 will not be the church, but is referring to the remnant of Israel and the great tribulation saints (Gentiles) revealed in Rev.7:9-17.
If you will notice, throughout Revelation chapters 1 thru 3, the word "ekklesia" translated as "church" is used 19 times. Within those chapters you will not find the word "hagios" translated as "Saints." Then from chapter 4 onward, you never see the word ekklesia/church, but only the hagios/Saints. That is not a coincidence, but is just one of the breadcrumbs that God left us in his word for those who do in-depth studies on these subjects.
Rev.1:19 is the key to understanding the chronological order of Revelation in relation to the last days. Regarding this John was told to write:
What you have seen = Everything written from Rev.1:1 to Rev.1:19
What is now = Represented by the letters to the seven churches, which also represents the entire church period
What will take place later = Everything which takes place after the "what is now," i.e. what takes place after the church period
Then in Rev.4:1 you have John saying that he heard the same voice that sounded like a trumpet that he heard in Rev.1:10 who is identified as the Lord Jesus, saying "come up here and I will show you what must take place after this," which is synonymous with the "what will take place later."
This is what I call a prophetic allusion to where the church is gathered. I also believe that the voice that sounds like a trumpet is synonymous with the "trumpet of God" found in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 where Paul is describing the dead and living in Christ being called up.
But getting back to the abomination, this is specifically directed to Israel, which is supported by the fact that the abomination is said to be set up in the Jewish temple. We also have the fact that when that abomination is set up, those in
Judea are told to flee out into the wilderness, which again pointing to Israel. The other supportive scripture pointing to Israel, is that when they are fleeing Jesus says "pray that your flight not be on the Sabbath," which would be indicative of Israel who is under the law.
Matthew 24, the Olivet Discourse, is not about the church, but about Israel and those who will be present on the earth during the tribulation period. The problem is that you are applying to the church what is meant for Israel. The gathering of the church will have taken place prior to that time period.
The biggest problem in putting the church as those being told to flee, is that the wrath of God will be going on during that entire time which believer's are not appointed to suffer. The underlying principle is that Jesus took upon himself the wrath of God on behalf of ever believer. Therefore, the wrath of God no longer rests upon those in Christ, ergo, the church cannot and will not be on the earth during the time of God's wrath.
Also, John never said for believers to watch for the antichrist, but said "you have heard that the antichrist is coming." That doesn't mean that believers are going to be here when he revealed. On the contrary, the church will be removed from the earth and we will never see him.
