Is Matthew 24:30-31 a Rapture verse or second coming verse?
Matthew 24:30-31 is depicts Rapture and not second coming.
Rev 19:11-21 is without any doubt depicts second coming.
Now study the details of Rev 19:11-21.
Revelation 19:11-21
11 And I saw the heaven opened; and behold, a white horse, and He that sat thereon called Faithful and True; and in righteous He doth judge and make war.
12 And His eyes [are] a flame of fire, and upon His head [are] many diadems; and He hath a name written which no one knoweth but He Himself.
13 And He [is] arrayed in a garment sprinkled with blood: and His name is called The Word of God.
14 And the armies which are in heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white [and] pure.
15 And out of His mouth proceedeth a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations: and He shall rule them with a rod of iron: and He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of God, the Almighty.
16 And He hath on His garment and on His thigh a name written, KINGS OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in mid heaven, Come [and] be gathered together unto the great supper of God;
18 that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses and of them that sit thereon, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, and small and great.
19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him that sat upon the horse, and against His army.
20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought the signs in his sight, wherewith he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast and them that worshipped his image: they two were cast alive into the lake of fire that burneth with brimstone:
21 and the rest were killed with the sword of Him that sat upon the horse, [even the sword] which came forth out of His mouth: and all the birds were filled with their flesh.
1. Lord Jesus Christ rides on white horse.( Rev 19:11).
2. He Judges and makes war. ( Rev 19:11,19)
3.Saints on white horse along with Lord Jesus Christ.( Rev 19:14, 1 Thess 3:13.
4. He strikes nations and treads the winepress of Wrath of God. ( Rev 19:15, Zech 14:3)
5.There is no trumpet and gathering of elect.
Matthew 24:30-31
30 and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31 And He shall send forth His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
The reasons why Matthew 24:30-31 doesn't depicts second coming
1. No white horse - Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 24:30 comes on clouds of heaven and not on white horse.
Below are the Many Bible verses which depicts Lord Jesus Christ coming on the clouds of heaven
Matthew 26:64
Jesus said unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Henceforth ye shall see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.
Mark 13:26
And then shall they see the Son of man coming in clouds with great power and glory.
Mark 14:62
And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.
Luke 21:27
And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
Revelation 1:7
Behold, hye cometh with the clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they that pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth shall mourn over Him. Even so, Amen.
Revelation 14:14
And I saw, and behold, a white cloud; and on the cloud [I saw] one sitting like unto a son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand sharp sickle.
2. No War - Matthew 24:30-31 depicts no war. We all know that Lord Jesus Christ will fight the Armageddon war with nations in His second coming ( Zech 14:3 , Rev 19:19)
3. No saints on white horse along Lord Jesus Christ- Matthew 24 :30-31 doesn't depicts coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints. ( 1 Thess 3:13)
1 Thessalonians 3:13
to the end He may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.
4. No treading of the winepress of the Wrath of God - This verse doesn't depicts the Wrath of God on unbelievers. We know that in second coming, Lord Jesus Christ will punish unbelievers .( 2 Thess1:8-9)
2 Thessalonians 1:8-9
8 rendering vengeance to them that know not God, and to them that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus:
9 who shall suffer punishment, [even] eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of His might,
Why Matthew 24 :30-31 depicts Rapture
1 Sign of Son of Man appears - Lord Jesus Christ on the clouds ( Rev 14:14) will fix His seat in the air( 1 Thess 4:16) at such a distance from the Earth that every eye can see Him and all the tribes of the mourn.
We must know Lord Jesus Christ coming as thief in the night is depicted for Rapture as well as for Second Coming.
Lord Jesus comes as thief in the night for Rapture is depicted in following Bible verses.
1 Thessalonians 5:2
For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
Matthew 24:43-44
43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what watch the thief was coming, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken through.
44 Therefore be ye also ready; for in an hour that ye think not the Son of man cometh.
Lord Jesus Christ comes as thief in the night for Second Coming is depicted in the following Bible verses.
2 Peter 3:10
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
Revelation 16:15-16 (ASV)
15 (Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walked naked, and they see his shame.)
16 And they gathered them together into the place which is called in Hebrew Har-magedon.
Lord Jesus Christ comes as thief in the night doesn't means that there will be invisible Rapture or invisible Second coming.
Lord Jesus Christ comes as thief in the night for Rapture means it will occur unexpectedly and will surprise the sleeping bride and unbelievers (1 Thess 5:4) when every eye see Him on the clouds of heaven.
Lord Jesus Christ comes as thief in the night for Second coming means it will occur unexpectedly to nations and will surprise the nations who have gathered to capture Jerusalem ( Zech 14:2) when they saw Him on the white horse.
2. Clouds- 'Clouds' are depicted in Matthew 24:30. Clouds is also depicted in Rapture in 1 Thess 4:17.
1 Thessalonians 4:17
then we that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
3.Trumpet - Great sound of Trumpet is depicted in Matthew 24:31 .In 1 Thess 4:16, ' Trumpet' is translated from Greek word ' salpingi' which means ' sound of Trumpet'.
Thus Matthew 24:30-31 is Rapture verse.
Who will blow the Trumpet?
Many Christians says that Lord Jesus Himself will blow the trumpet and not angel.
They give Zech 9:14 as a proof.
We must study Zech 9:14 to know whether it is related to Rapture or not.
Zechariah 9:14
And Jehovah shall be seen over them; and His arrow shall go forth as the lightning; and the Lord Jehovah will blow the trumpet, and will go with whirlwinds of the south.
When I studied this Scripture , I got know that this verse used for Rapture is out of context.
Zech 9:13 depicts raising of sons of Zion for war against sons of Greece.
In Zech 9:14,
Jehovah shall be seen over them means that Lord will appear as cloud over Israel to encourage them for war ( Exodus 14:24)
And His arrow will go forth as the lightening depicts that Lord will fought war for Israel and strike enemy with arrows( Psalm 18:14)
Lord Jehovah will blow the trumpet depicts that Lord is captain of their army (2 Chronicles 13:12).
And will go with whirlwinds from the south
are most destructive as depicted in Isa 21:1 and Job 21:1. This whirlwind will cause great destruction to the enemies.
Zech 9:15 depicts Israel's celebration over victory on his enemies.
Let us now study 1 Thess 4:16
1 Thessalonians 4:16
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first;
It doesn't says Lord Jesus Christ Himself blows the Trumpet.
The Trumpet for Rapture will be blown by Seventh angel.
4. Gather together- ' Gather together' in Matthew 24:31 depicts Rapture.
As in ' gathering together' is used to depict Rapture in 2 Thess 2:1.
2 Thessalonians 2:1
Now we beseech you, brethren, touching the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together unto Him;
5. Elect - Gathering together of elect by angels in Matthew 24: 31 depicts Rapture ( 2 Thess 2:1).
Who are Elect?
Christians are Elect as depicted in the following Bible verses
1 Peter 1:2
elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied.
2 Timothy 2:10
Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sake, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
2 John 1:1
The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth; and not I only, but also all they that know the truth;
Elect and Israel are differentiated in Romans 11:7
Romans 11:7
What then? that which Israel seeketh for, that he obtained not; but the elect obtained it, and the rest were hardened:
6. From one end of heaven to the other - Lord Jesus Christ called Christians to be witnesses to Him to the end of the Earth.( Acts 1:8)
Acts 1:8
But ye shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea and Samaria, and unto the end of the earth.
Christians are called to preach gospel of the Kingdom in all the world.( Matthew 24:14).
Today Christians are present all over the world from one end of heaven to the other.
They will be gathered together to Him in Rapture. (2 Thess 2:1)
Matthew 25:30- 46 depicts Second coming.
Matthew 25:31-32
31 But when the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then shall He sit on the throne of His glory:
32 and before Him shall be gathered all the nations: and He shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd separateth the sheep from the goats;
Lord Jesus Christ is seated on His throne for Judgement in Matthew 25:30.
In Matthew 25: 31 , nations ( believers and unbelievers) are gathered whereas in Matthew 24:31 , elect ( believers) are gathered.
This is clear enough to show you that Matthew 24 : 30- 31 depicts Rapture and Matthew 25:30-46 depicts Second coming and Jugdement.
Summary of Matthew 24-25
1 Matthew 24:1-2 depicts destruction of the Jerusalem Temple.
2 Matthew 24:3-7 depicts birth pangs
3 Matthew 24:8-14 depicts Tribulation period ( 3.5 years)
4 Matthew 24:15 depicts Middle of the 7 years Tribulation period.
5 Matthew 24:16-29 depicts Great Tribulation period.
6 Matthew 24:30-31 depicts Rapture at the seventh Trumpet during Great Tribulation period.
7 Matthew 24: 32- 51 and Matthew 25 : 1- 30 depicts parables of Rapture and Jugdement.
8 Matthew 25:31 depicts Second coming
9 Matthew 25: 32- 46 depicts Judgement separating goats and sheep
