Escaping the Trap

[OldCoot]

The Luke 21:35 "those who dwell on the earth" is a key also.  Do a in-depth study of earth dwellers, those who dwell on the earth, etc throughout scripture.  It almost always gives the impression of those who have rejected God and chose the earth.   A specific group, not the broad meaning of everyone who lives on the earth.  

example:  John 8 and the woman caught in adultery.   Many folks ponder what Yeshua was writing in the dirt.  It was a fulfillment of Jeremiah 17.  

The period according to John in the previous chapter was the time of the great day of the feast of Tabernacles, Shemini Atzeret (the 8th day).  That is the same day that the high priest would take water from the pool of Siloam (living water) and offer it on the alter.  The following day is the day that the woman was brought before Yeshua.  

Jeremiah tells us....

Jeremiah 17:13 (NKJV) O Lord, the hope of Israel,
All who forsake You shall be ashamed.
“Those who depart from Me
Shall be written in the earth,
Because they have forsaken the Lord,
The fountain of living waters.”

Yeshua wrote the names of these guys "on the earth"  because they rejected Him, the source of living water, and they departed.  It is one of dozens of examples in scripture that give the impression that those categorized as "dwelling on the earth" are those who reject the Lord.

So, to the point of the thread, it is those that "dwell on the earth" or more aptly, reject the Lord, that will be caught unawares and caught in the trap or snare.

Edited September 16, 2018 by OldCoot
Spelling.... darn spell checker!

[iamlamad]

On 7/18/2018 at 10:52 AM, Daniel 11:36 said:

I believe that the "trap" is the coming "day of the Lord"

He will come when he is ready to bring His destruction against an unbelieving world [Revelation 6:12-17] .... this 70th week will continue from Revelation 8 thru Revelation 19

The church of today will be in heaven with Him just before He brings His wrath and destruction .... [1st Corinthians 15:51-8; 1st Thessalonians 4:13-18] [Revelation 3:10; 4:5; 5:1-10; 7:9-17; 13:6; 17:14; 18:4; 19:14; 20:4 .... those on thrones] 

 

 

Good post!

[iamlamad]

On 9/15/2018 at 1:39 AM, Giller said:

Luk 21:34-36

(34)  And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.

(35)  For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.

(36)  Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

 

What day shall come as a snare upon all them that dwell on the face of the earth?

 

Luk 21:26-27

(26)  Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

(27)  And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

 

The second coming.

 

Luk 21:36

(36)  Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

 

It says that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things?

What things?

All the things mentioned from Luke 21:8-28, and one of them mentions people (believers) being caused to be put to death.

Did the 12 disciples escape being put to death, before A.D. 70? Most of them did not.

Will the tribulation saints escape being killed by the Antichrist? No they will not.

This escaping is not referring to tribulation saints nor the 12 disciples near the time of A.D. 70, but rather it is a complete escaping of the events, in the event called the rapture of the church, which when we escape all those events, we will stand before the Son of man.

And after wards shall the 7 year tribulation start which ends with the second coming of Christ to earth.

 

That is what I think it means also: escaping what Jesus said was coming in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21 - all a part of the same discourse. We will spend the 7 years in heaven. 

[Adstar]

On 7/19/2018 at 12:56 AM, Last Daze said:

• “Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap; for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth.  But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”  Luke 21:34-36

A couple of questions about this passage:

• What day is it that will come suddenly like a trap?
• What does it mean to escape, or flee from, all those things?

I think the day or time being referred to begins with the abomination of desolation which quickly leads to the "worship or die" ultimatum associated with the image.  That trap will force everyone to make a life or death decision quickly, and it affects everyone on the face of the earth.

Having strength to escape, or being considered worthy to escape, is in contrast with how that passage begins.  To paraphrase, "Don't get wrapped up in the ways of the world but pray for strength to flee from the trap."  In other words, don't become spiritually lazy.  Instead, remain vigilant.  Walk in obedience to the truth.  Otherwise, you run the risk of succumbing to the trap.

One more question that each person can answer to themselves, "Are you praying as Jesus instructs in that passage?"  If not, why not?

I see the trap not as anything that will cause is pain and physical death.. But as something that will deceive us and lead us away from the true Way of salvation.. The trap of the great deception the trap of the demonic doctrines of a false Jesus and a false way of salvation...  The trap ends in people ending up in eternal suffering in the second death which is the eternal lake of fire... 

[OldCoot]

What really breaks my heart is all those in such organizations as Jehovah's Witnesses, LDS, etc that deny the true nature of Yeshua.  Those folks, while upstanding and honorable in their daily lives usually, will be the ones most caught unawares.  It is easy to dismiss blatantly evil folks or those really out on the fringe of reality as being doomed.  It is more difficult to accept that those who have "another Jesus" and work and live along side of us will endure a similar fate.   

And I think it may be worse for them since they have had access to the scripture.  I have generally felt that the level of judgement is also dependent on the amount of revelation that one has had.  And groups like JW's, LDS, CS's, etc have the revelation right in their lap. There will be no excuse.  The JW's have a corrupted scripture they use, but it can easily be shown quite quickly that Yeshua is indeed YHVH, the first and the last.   The LDS generally use the KJV, so there is no excuse.  Likewise the Christian Science folks.  They all have the revelation of Yeshua as the Messiah.  The one true God who manifested Himself to us as one of us.  And is the only path of redemption.  

Perhaps some of us should focus on trying to show the true Yeshua to those other groups. It can only be done in love.  None of the beating them over the head with a study Bible.  They need to see the liberty and love of Yeshua in us first.  Earn their respect, trust, and friendship, then they will be open to listening.   The same prinicples that should apply to anyone else we come across.  Even Muslims.

Time is getting so short.

[iamlamad]

2 hours ago, OldCoot said:

What really breaks my heart is all those in such organizations as Jehovah's Witnesses, LDS, etc that deny the true nature of Yeshua.  Those folks, while upstanding and honorable in their daily lives usually, will be the ones most caught unawares.  It is easy to dismiss blatantly evil folks or those really out on the fringe of reality as being doomed.  It is more difficult to accept that those who have "another Jesus" and work and live along side of us will endure a similar fate.   

And I think it may be worse for them since they have had access to the scripture.  I have generally felt that the level of judgement is also dependent on the amount of revelation that one has had.  And groups like JW's, LDS, CS's, etc have the revelation right in their lap. There will be no excuse.  The JW's have a corrupted scripture they use, but it can easily be shown quite quickly that Yeshua is indeed YHVH, the first and the last.   The LDS generally use the KJV, so there is no excuse.  Likewise the Christian Science folks.  They all have the revelation of Yeshua as the Messiah.  The one true God who manifested Himself to us as one of us.  And is the only path of redemption.  

Perhaps some of us should focus on trying to show the true Yeshua to those other groups. It can only be done in love.  None of the beating them over the head with a study Bible.  They need to see the liberty and love of Yeshua in us first.  Earn their respect, trust, and friendship, then they will be open to listening.   The same prinicples that should apply to anyone else we come across.  Even Muslims.

Time is getting so short.

Good point.

[iamlamad]

17 hours ago, Adstar said:

I see the trap not as anything that will cause is pain and physical death.. But as something that will deceive us and lead us away from the true Way of salvation.. The trap of the great deception the trap of the demonic doctrines of a false Jesus and a false way of salvation...  The trap ends in people ending up in eternal suffering in the second death which is the eternal lake of fire... 

In fact, John tells us what this deception will be: the spirit of antichrist will acknowledge the Father but NOT the Son. 

1 John 2:22

Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.

 

I will leave it to the reader to guess who acknowledges the Father but denies the Son.  They also deny that Jesus is God in the flesh. 

[Steve Conley]

Greetings in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,

Let's look at this again.

Luk 21:34  And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.
Luk 21:35  For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.
Luk 21:36  Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

A) Who is Jesus speaking to?

"And take heed to yourselves"

The Lord is initially speaking to 4 of His disciples.

Mar 13:3  And as he sat upon the mount of Olives over against the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately,
Mar 13:4  Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled?
Mar 13:5  And Jesus answering them began to say,

However, the divine narrator, the Holy Spirit, who directed Matthew in the writing of his gospel, lets us know that Christ's words were intended for all who would follow Him, all who hear His voice.

Mat 24:15  When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) 

Jesus is speaking particularly to His followers but is also providing understanding to any who would read what He said.

The gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke being Scripture also fall under the truth that Paul declared to Timothy. "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works." (2Ti 3:16, 17)  Therefore, Christ's words are for every blood bought child of God.

B) What is the warning Christ is giving?

Much like the warning that Paul gave Timothy (1Ti 4:16  Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.) Christ warns His followers that if they take their eyes off of Him, off of the heavenly, spiritual, and eternal, and they become focused upon this life with all its pleasures, entertainment, and excitement, they too, like the lost world, will be caught by surprise by the return of Christ and the events which precede it. He says that if believers sleep the long slumber of those who love the world, when the day comes, they will be unprepared for the persecution and deception preceding Christ's coming and they will be ashamed when they meet Christ.

Jesus says to believers that if their hearts are overcharged (overfilled, in excess, weighed down) with surfeiting, drunkenness, and the cares of this life, this future time will catch them by surprise.

1) So, what is surfeiting?

As with the word overcharged, surfeiting strongly indicates excess, and refers to indulgence to excess in anything. It could refer to food, the seeming insatiable desire of many to have some new dining experience. Or maybe it's the desire to try all the drinks available to mankind. It could also refer to the fixation of many upon fitness, bodybuilding, cross-fit, etc. There is also the multitude of sports that absorb people's lives. And the list goes on and on. Paul said: for me to live is Christ. If you want to know if you are guilty of surfeiting, honestly finish the same statement yourself. For me to live is ______________. What absorbs your time and resources? Jesus said that where your treasure is there your heart will be also.  This excess we should carefully guard against, because it is a distraction from attending to watchful, expectant, activity for Christ's return. Surfeiting leaves you distracted.

2) So, what is drunkenness?

Drunkenness is a state of intoxication that leaves one without the normal use of his or her faculties. It has both a literal and figurative application. It is one of many prohibitions against intoxicating drinks and substances (drugs) in the Holy Scriptures. It can also refer to the mental fog that one is left in by feeding the mind upon the teachings and philosophies of the humanistic world and false religions. Anything that hinders sound judgement has the capacity to leave one in the state of drunkenness. Drunkenness leaves you asleep.

3) What about the cares of this life?

Cares of this life are the concerns that we have for our necessities or our perceived necessities. These concerns span every facet of our existence, from our food, to our health, to those who rule over us (government). Jesus said: "...Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?" (Mat 6:25). Again, He said: "Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." (Mat 6:34). God knows our needs better than we do and His love for us is greater than any other. Trust Him to provide your needs. "Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." (Mat 6:31-33). The cares of this life leave you fearful.

4) If believers are distracted, asleep, and fearful they will be caught by surprise by the events that Jesus has described in this discourse and therefore suffer needlessly for it.

C) The day of the Lord shall come as a snare upon the earth dwellers

"For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth." The day of the Lord will catch the unbelieving world of the Beast worshipers by surprise. These unbelievers are identified over and over as earth-dwellers. Christ's warnings are so that the day doesn't catch us, who are citizens of Heaven, by surprise. In fact, Paul says concerning the watching believer in the context of the day of the Lord (Vs 2): "But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him." (1Th 5:4-10) No believer will experience the wrath of God poured out in the day of the Lord. The church is raptured before the wrath of God is initiated in the day of the Lord.

D) Keeping awake and praying all the time will result in you being able to flee from the destruction of Jerusalem (70 AD) and the epicenter of the great tribulation (Jerusalem and Judea), and to be unashamed before Christ at the judgement.

"Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man." (Luk 21:36)

There are two events that Jesus warns about in the Olivet Discourse that can bring needless suffering to the child of God. The first is long past, it involved the siege upon Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD. History records that the watching Christians left the city upon seeing the sign of the Roman armies surrounding Jerusalem and were spared the horrible death and suffering that came upon the Christ rejecting Jews that remained there. The second is the unprecedented persecution of the elect (and Israel) that Jesus called great tribulation. Even though the church will go through this period of violent persecution, Christ's warning has left us some direction concerning how we might mitigate some of the suffering.

The word translated "escape" refers to fleeing. This is the very thing Jesus told believers in Judea to do when they see the abomination of desolation taking place. Identifying the beginning of the Beast's persecution of the saints will help us to flee from those who would do us harm. The instruction concerning the mark of the Beast that was provided to us by John in the book of Revelation lets us prepare for a time when we will not be able to buy or sell.  This means that for a period of time (less than 3 years) we will need to be self-sufficient (that is God dependent) without our present involvement in our local communities and economies. Christ's many warnings about deception also forearm us against apostasy and even false reports about Christ's arrival. Christ makes it very clear that His arrival will be no secret. In fact, He says it will be unmistakable. All the world shall see Him, in all His glory, with the mighty angels when He appears in the clouds of the atmospheric heaven.

The last phrase found in verse 36 speaks of the believer standing in Christ's presence. There are a handful of verses which shed light upon this phrase.

Rom 14:4  Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.

Psa 1:5  Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

Psa 130:3  If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?

Rev 6:17  For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

The only way to stand before the Son of man is to be clothed in the righteousness of Christ.

There is also the truth that the apostle John spoke of, that we must be careful to continue in Christ so that we can have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His parousia.

1Jn 2:28  And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.

If any of us take our focus off of Christ and get sucked into the world and the cares of this life it won't be fun when we meet Him. In order to not be ashamed when meeting Christ we must maintain close fellowship now.

1Jn 1:7  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

In conclusion, the snare is for the Christ rejecting world, not for the saints. Only the believers which are distracted, asleep, and fearful will be caught by surprise and be unprepared when these things begin to take place. By staying awake and praying all the time believers will be prepared and know how to mitigate much of the danger.

Please know that it is not our purpose to escape persecution, it is our purpose to be faithful unto Christ, even unto death. It is an honor and a privilege to suffer for Christ.

Rev 12:11  And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

All praise, honour, and glory be unto the Lord Jesus Christ

[iamlamad]

On 9/21/2018 at 7:11 PM, Steve Conley said:

Greetings in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,

Let's look at this again.

Luk 21:34  And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.
Luk 21:35  For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.
Luk 21:36  Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

A) Who is Jesus speaking to?

"And take heed to yourselves"

The Lord is initially speaking to 4 of His disciples.

Mar 13:3  And as he sat upon the mount of Olives over against the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately,
Mar 13:4  Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled?
Mar 13:5  And Jesus answering them began to say,

However, the divine narrator, the Holy Spirit, who directed Matthew in the writing of his gospel, lets us know that Christ's words were intended for all who would follow Him, all who hear His voice.

Mat 24:15  When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) 

Jesus is speaking particularly to His followers but is also providing understanding to any who would read what He said.

The gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke being Scripture also fall under the truth that Paul declared to Timothy. "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works." (2Ti 3:16, 17)  Therefore, Christ's words are for every blood bought child of God.

B) What is the warning Christ is giving?

Much like the warning that Paul gave Timothy (1Ti 4:16  Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.) Christ warns His followers that if they take their eyes off of Him, off of the heavenly, spiritual, and eternal, and they become focused upon this life with all its pleasures, entertainment, and excitement, they too, like the lost world, will be caught by surprise by the return of Christ and the events which precede it. He says that if believers sleep the long slumber of those who love the world, when the day comes, they will be unprepared for the persecution and deception preceding Christ's coming and they will be ashamed when they meet Christ.

Jesus says to believers that if their hearts are overcharged (overfilled, in excess, weighed down) with surfeiting, drunkenness, and the cares of this life, this future time will catch them by surprise.

1) So, what is surfeiting?

As with the word overcharged, surfeiting strongly indicates excess, and refers to indulgence to excess in anything. It could refer to food, the seeming insatiable desire of many to have some new dining experience. Or maybe it's the desire to try all the drinks available to mankind. It could also refer to the fixation of many upon fitness, bodybuilding, cross-fit, etc. There is also the multitude of sports that absorb people's lives. And the list goes on and on. Paul said: for me to live is Christ. If you want to know if you are guilty of surfeiting, honestly finish the same statement yourself. For me to live is ______________. What absorbs your time and resources? Jesus said that where your treasure is there your heart will be also.  This excess we should carefully guard against, because it is a distraction from attending to watchful, expectant, activity for Christ's return. Surfeiting leaves you distracted.

2) So, what is drunkenness?

Drunkenness is a state of intoxication that leaves one without the normal use of his or her faculties. It has both a literal and figurative application. It is one of many prohibitions against intoxicating drinks and substances (drugs) in the Holy Scriptures. It can also refer to the mental fog that one is left in by feeding the mind upon the teachings and philosophies of the humanistic world and false religions. Anything that hinders sound judgement has the capacity to leave one in the state of drunkenness. Drunkenness leaves you asleep.

3) What about the cares of this life?

Cares of this life are the concerns that we have for our necessities or our perceived necessities. These concerns span every facet of our existence, from our food, to our health, to those who rule over us (government). Jesus said: "...Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?" (Mat 6:25). Again, He said: "Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." (Mat 6:34). God knows our needs better than we do and His love for us is greater than any other. Trust Him to provide your needs. "Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." (Mat 6:31-33). The cares of this life leave you fearful.

4) If believers are distracted, asleep, and fearful they will be caught by surprise by the events that Jesus has described in this discourse and therefore suffer needlessly for it.

C) The day of the Lord shall come as a snare upon the earth dwellers

"For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth." The day of the Lord will catch the unbelieving world of the Beast worshipers by surprise. These unbelievers are identified over and over as earth-dwellers. Christ's warnings are so that the day doesn't catch us, who are citizens of Heaven, by surprise. In fact, Paul says concerning the watching believer in the context of the day of the Lord (Vs 2): "But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him." (1Th 5:4-10) No believer will experience the wrath of God poured out in the day of the Lord. The church is raptured before the wrath of God is initiated in the day of the Lord.

D) Keeping awake and praying all the time will result in you being able to flee from the destruction of Jerusalem (70 AD) and the epicenter of the great tribulation (Jerusalem and Judea), and to be unashamed before Christ at the judgement.

"Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man." (Luk 21:36)

There are two events that Jesus warns about in the Olivet Discourse that can bring needless suffering to the child of God. The first is long past, it involved the siege upon Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD. History records that the watching Christians left the city upon seeing the sign of the Roman armies surrounding Jerusalem and were spared the horrible death and suffering that came upon the Christ rejecting Jews that remained there. The second is the unprecedented persecution of the elect (and Israel) that Jesus called great tribulation. Even though the church will go through this period of violent persecution, Christ's warning has left us some direction concerning how we might mitigate some of the suffering.

The word translated "escape" refers to fleeing. This is the very thing Jesus told believers in Judea to do when they see the abomination of desolation taking place. Identifying the beginning of the Beast's persecution of the saints will help us to flee from those who would do us harm. The instruction concerning the mark of the Beast that was provided to us by John in the book of Revelation lets us prepare for a time when we will not be able to buy or sell.  This means that for a period of time (less than 3 years) we will need to be self-sufficient (that is God dependent) without our present involvement in our local communities and economies. Christ's many warnings about deception also forearm us against apostasy and even false reports about Christ's arrival. Christ makes it very clear that His arrival will be no secret. In fact, He says it will be unmistakable. All the world shall see Him, in all His glory, with the mighty angels when He appears in the clouds of the atmospheric heaven.

The last phrase found in verse 36 speaks of the believer standing in Christ's presence. There are a handful of verses which shed light upon this phrase.

Rom 14:4  Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.

Psa 1:5  Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

Psa 130:3  If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?

Rev 6:17  For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

The only way to stand before the Son of man is to be clothed in the righteousness of Christ.

There is also the truth that the apostle John spoke of, that we must be careful to continue in Christ so that we can have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His parousia.

1Jn 2:28  And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.

If any of us take our focus off of Christ and get sucked into the world and the cares of this life it won't be fun when we meet Him. In order to not be ashamed when meeting Christ we must maintain close fellowship now.

1Jn 1:7  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

In conclusion, the snare is for the Christ rejecting world, not for the saints. Only the believers which are distracted, asleep, and fearful will be caught by surprise and be unprepared when these things begin to take place. By staying awake and praying all the time believers will be prepared and know how to mitigate much of the danger.

Please know that it is not our purpose to escape persecution, it is our purpose to be faithful unto Christ, even unto death. It is an honor and a privilege to suffer for Christ.

Rev 12:11  And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

All praise, honour, and glory be unto the Lord Jesus Christ

The word translated "escape" refers to fleeing.  

It can refer to fleeing but it also can also refer to escaping. 

The same word (maybe a different tense?) is also used as "escape" here:

1 Thessalonians 5:3

For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

 

In Paul's argument, those who are living in the light of the Gospel, "in Christ" DO escape by way of the rapture. Those living in darkness shall not escape because they will be left behind. 

 

Certainly for those living in Judea, when they see the abomination, they will flee. But 3.5 years before that, Jesus will come FOR His saints and for those that are "in Christ" and expecting Him - they will escape "all these things" and wait out the 70th week in heaven.

[Steve Conley]

1 hour ago, iamlamad said:

The word translated "escape" refers to fleeing.  

It can refer to fleeing but it also can also refer to escaping. 

The same word (maybe a different tense?) is also used as "escape" here:

1 Thessalonians 5:3

For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

 

In Paul's argument, those who are living in the light of the Gospel, "in Christ" DO escape by way of the rapture. Those living in darkness shall not escape because they will be left behind. 

 

Certainly for those living in Judea, when they see the abomination, they will flee. But 3.5 years before that, Jesus will come FOR His saints and for those that are "in Christ" and expecting Him - they will escape "all these things" and wait out the 70th week in heaven.

Greetings to all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,

Mr. mad, you are basing your deductions upon a fallacious eschatological model instead of upon the certain foundation of the inspired Word of God.

It is given that all who are in Christ will be raptured (delivered, saved, escape) before God's wrath is poured out upon the unbelieving world (1Thes 5:9). However, the passage in question was written to believers, so, if it is certain that the believer will escape God's wrath on the day of the Lord, to what then does the warning pertain. It pertains to being caught by surprise. Those who are distracted, asleep, and fearful will be surprised, just like the lost world, by the events that are associated with the day of Christ (all these things). The unprecedented persecution of the great tribulation, which comes prior to Christ gathering His elect to Himself, will be upon them (those believers who are distracted, asleep, fearful, and not praying always) before they know what hit them.

The beginning of the week does not start after the sixth seal, it starts roughly 3.5 years before the unprecedented persecution of the saints, that John witnesses the result of when the 4th and 5th seals are opened. The rapture happens when Christ cuts short the great tribulation (Matt 24:22) in the second half of the week.

Glory to Jesus Christ.