I want to be LEFT BEHIND

By John D. Bain

Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins, authors of the book, Left Behind, have based their Christian fiction upon poor biblical interpretation that has produced faulty Theology. A strong case can be made for interpreting the Bible verses related to the words left and taken in verses dealing with the coming of Christ as teaching that the taken are taken for judgment and those left are spared.

“Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
Two women shall be grinding at the mill;
the one shall be taken, and the other left.
Matthew 24:40-41

LaHaye and Jenkins interpret this passage from Jesus’ Olivet Discourse as referring to a future Rapture, when all believers in Jesus will be taken up into heaven. The authors pose an interpretation of the Matthew 24:40-41 passage that describes two instances or examples of two people working side by side, a Christian and a non-Christian, one of which is raptured by the Lord up into heaven and the other is left behind to endure a seven year period of judgment from God called the Tribulation.

According to the LaHaye/Jenkins interpretation of these verses, being taken is good and being left (or as they imprecisely phrase it left behind) is bad.

Their principle of biblical examination is flawed and is based upon a broader misinterpretation of scripture.

• Language: English
• Publisher: John D. Bain
• Release date: Oct 14, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310298738

John D. Bain

Dr. John D. Bain is a resident of Hartselle, Alabama. The son of John W. and Elizabeth Bain and the husband of Terri Evans Bain. He has two children and two grandchildren.He was ordained into the pastoral ministry in 1977 and has served as a Southern Baptist Pastor for thirty-seven years in seven SBC churches.He was graduated (National Honor Society) from the Morgan County High School in Hartselle, Alabama in 1974 (now Hartselle High School), from Belmont College in Nashville, Tennessee in 1979 (now Belmont University – Bachelor’s Degree ), from Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary in Memphis, Tennessee in 1982 (Master’s of Divinity), and from the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in New Orleans, Louisiana in 2012 (Doctor of Ministry).In 2006 he left the full time pastorate to serve in associational missions and as a bivocational pastor in smaller SBC churches.In 1990 he was introduced to the world of the Personal Computer – he incorporated the PC into his ministry and pastoral work and eventually gained expertise in their use, maintenance, and repair. Thus electronic books!

Book preview

I want to be

LEFT BEHIND

by John D. Bain

Copyright © 2014 by Other Little Ships

Smashwords Edition

"Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

Two women shall be grinding at the mill;

the one shall be taken, and the other left.

Watch therefore;

for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

Jesus, Matthew 24:40-42

The cover photo is entitled Earth Soft

and is the property of Melony Candea

The photo is used with her gracious permission!

Chapter 1

Taken for Judgment

Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins, authors of the book, Left Behind, have based their Christian fiction upon poor biblical interpretation that has produced faulty Theology. A strong case can be made for interpreting the Bible verses related to the words left and taken in verses dealing with the coming of Christ as teaching that the taken are taken for judgment and those left are spared.

"Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

Two women shall be grinding at the mill;

the one shall be taken, and the other left.

Matthew 24:40-41

LaHaye and Jenkins interpret this passage from Jesus’ Olivet Discourse as referring to a future Rapture, when all believers in Jesus will be taken up into heaven. The authors pose an interpretation of the Matthew 24:40-41 passage that describes two instances or examples of two people working side by side, a Christian and a non-Christian, one of which is raptured by the Lord up into heaven and the other is left behind to endure a seven year period of judgment from God called the Tribulation.

According to the LaHaye/Jenkins interpretation of these verses, being taken is good and being left (or as they imprecisely phrase it left behind) is bad.

Their principle of biblical examination is flawed and is based upon a broader misinterpretation of scripture.

Bible writers used the idea of taken in a variety of different ways, with positive interpretations and negative. The Old Testament Hebrew word laqach is translated taken in Deuteronomy 24:1, speaking of a man taking a wife. This is certainly a good and desirable thing (though the passage is ultimately about divorce). The Greek word that Jesus is recorded as having chosen in Matthew 24:40, translated taken, is paralambano, and can be found to be used in a positive sense in other scripture verses or passages.

In Matthew 28:12 people are referred to as having taken (lambano) counsel (again, negative circumstances, but a positive use of the word). Jesus is described by the witnesses to His ascension back into Heaven after the resurrection as having been taken (epairo) up into heaven (Acts 1:9). Certainly this use lends itself toward a connection with rapturous taken references in scripture (though not the same Greek word).

However, the dominant thought that is expressed in the Bible when words are used that can be translated by our English word taken, the driving idea and thought in context is negative..

In Genesis 4:15 the Bible speaks of vengeance being taken (naqam) upon anyone who attempts to harm Cain in retribution for his murder of his brother, Abel.

In Genesis 12:15 the story is told of how Pharaoh had taken (laqach, kidnapped, stolen) Abram’s wife Sarai to add her to his harem.

In Genesis 14:14 Abram heard that his nephew, Lot, had been taken captive (shabah) in the War of the Four Kings.

In Genesis 21:25 the writer speaks of a well