Jesus made a reference in
Matthew 24:43 that He would come like a thief in the night. Although many people don’t understand what is meant by
“a thief in the night”, Jesus gave a clear explanation as to his meaning in the verses surrounding that statement. Read
Matthew 24:42-44: “Therefore stay alert, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have been alert and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”
Jesus’s explanation is clear:
Believing generations,
do not be like unto a homeowner who was
unprepared because he was
not alert, but have
your life prepared and ready when the Son of Man appears.
The Apostles, Paul, Peter, and John use the same example of
“a thief in the night” to compel the readers to be prepare in
1 Thess. 5:1-5, 2 Peter 3:10, Rev 3:3, Rev. 16:15.
Rev 3:10 notes that Jesus told the Philadelphia Church that He would
keep them from the Hour of Temptation,
not take them out or snatch anyone to Heaven. Jesus makes the same statement in
John 17:15 which clearly notes Christians being
kept in the world and
not taken out of the world, but
protecting them.
The Times Bible Prophecy Conference Proves Post-Trib Rapture Blogsite noted that the Greek translation of
"keep thee from" in
Rev. 3:10, is the same as
"keep thee from" in
John 17:15. The Greek word for
"keep" is
"tereo", and for
"from" is
"ek". The operative word in both of these verses is
"tereo"(keep) And has been translated to:
hold fast, keep, keeper, observe, preserve, reserve, watch, continue, guard, heed, and keeping guard over. "ek" (from) can mean, out of, from, by, or away from.
The appropriate examples of this in scripture are:
• Noah was
warned by God; He
got ready and
was protected from God’s wrath in the flood.
• Lot was
warned, He
was protected in His move out of the city, and God’s wrath destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.
• God
protected Moses and the people of Israel and
carried them through the Red Sea and in the wilderness so long as they obeyed his commandments.
• The three Hebrew Children Shaddrach, Mesach, and Abendego
were protected through the fiery furnace.
• Daniel was
keep safe in the Lions Den.
*Note all examples show how they were
“kept” from their hour of trials and temptations,
not taken out of their trials and temptations by God.
Reference:
1. King James Version, KJV
2.
Times Bible Prophecy Conference Proves Post-Trib Rapture, http://post-triborpre-trib.blogspot.com/
3. Net Translation Bible
