Expert: Cooper P. Abrams III - 11/17/2006

Question
I hope you can help me with this one.  I have a friend who is an Amillinialist.  He brought up this parable and asked me where do I see the rapture in it. To be honest, I can't. I see this time frame just as it is written, at the end of the age.  He says that there is a rature but it will all be at the end of the millinium.  It will be one event not a two stage event like pre-trib believers think.  This is a discussion I need all the help I can get.  I have been a pre trib and a two event rapture believer but he has some compelling arguments using scripture to back him up. Can you give me anything that will help me to understand Amillinialism and the rapture?
Thanks

Answer
Hi David,
  The reason you cannot see the rapture in Matthew 13:24-30 is because it is not there.   In fact the parable is not addressing Christians in the dispensation, but the parable is directed towards the nation of Israel.
   Note that verse 24 says "the Kingdom of heaven is liken to a man....."   The context is addressing the coming millennial kingdom that God promised to Israel.   Christians will be a part of the Kingdom of Heaven, but the term specifically is addressing God's promises to the Nation of Israel that He would fulfill His promises and one day give them a Kingdom on Earth.  
     The Amillennialism makes the mistake of thinking that God has set aside His promises to Israel and has given them to the "church" or to Christians.  That is absolutely not true.   However, your friend is not really an Amillennialist, because the term describes someone who believers there will be "a" or no millennium.
     The error he is  making is in mixing God's promises to Israel with those He has made to believers in this the Church Age.   They are different, much different.  We are not promised a kingdom, but salvation, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and positionally believers are the bride and body of Christ on earth.   Christians are not a nation and are not under the law.  
   The Pre-Tribulation, Pre-Millennial position is what the Bible teaches.   Amillennialism is a false interpretation of God's word.   One thing that ought to cause them to think is...that God plainly states in Jeremiah 31:35-37 "Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name: If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD." (Jeremiah 31:35-37)

    Further, a parable is an illustration of a single point that Jesus was making.   We do not base doctrine or eschatology (study of end times) on a parable that is an illustration.  All true Bible students and scholars know this important rule of interpretation.  Only the cults or false teachers use parables as your friend is doing.  A parable is simply an illustration of a point.  
     I have an article at http://bible-truth.org/Principles.htm which teaches the principle of interpreting the Bible.   It would be helpful for your friend to apply these principles to his interpretation of God's word.
     The problem with all false teaching is that those who do so do not really understand the Bible and often confuse others who also do not fully understand.  They mix verse together, take passages out of their context and build a false interpretation.  That is why it is so important to study the Bible ourselves and also to attend a church that teaches the whole counsel of God's word.
    So the bottom line is the parable of Matthew 13:35f is addressing the work of Satan in planting tares or false teachers and those that falsely claim to believe in God in Israel.  He was talking specifically about the Scribes and Pharisees who were zealous and religious, but lost.  Read Verse 17 of the passage.   These religous false teachers in Israel were sown among the faithful who believed God.   Jesus was warning them not to follow them.  Jesus was saying that in time the tares would be gathered together and separated from true believers in Israel and judged.
   Hope this helps.  If you have further questions or comments please write.    If you are interested in reading some good material on the subject read the several books that Harold Lindsey.
Cooper Abrams
http://bible-truth.org