One of the ways to recognize the doctrines of men is how they chop up God's Word into 'fragments', taking it apart to create catch phrases to fit their doctrines.
One such example is the "as a thief" phrase. You'll hear some here on the Pre-trib doctrines quoting that "as a thief" phrase quite often. It is taken from Scripture like this...
1Thes 5:2
2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
(KJV)
First off, what is Biblically meant by 'fragments'? In Mark 8, our Lord Jesus defined what the 'fragments' represent in relation to the feeding of the multitude by His miracles of the loaves and fishes.
Matt 16:5-12
5 And when His disciples were come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread.
6 Then Jesus said unto them, "Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees."
7 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread.
Apostle Paul used this analogy of unleavened bread for those in Christ Jesus, per 1 Corinthians 5:7. He said there for us to, "Purge out therefore the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us."
There's two types of bread being compared. Leavened bread has yeast in it to make it rise when baked. Unleavened bread has no yeast, so it does not rise. Christ's disciples didn't yet understand what our Lord meant to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees, for they were thinking with their fleshy minds.
8 Which when Jesus perceived, He said unto them, "O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread?
9 Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?
10 Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?
11 How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?"
12 Then understood they how that He bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
(KJV)
Then Jesus reminded them of the miracles He did with feeding the multitudes with only a small number of loaves and fish. When Jesus sent out five loaves among five thousand, they gathered back up 'twelve' baskets of fragments (Mark 8:19). With His feeding of the four thousand with seven loaves, they took up 'seven' baskets of fragments that were left over (Mark 8:20).
Whole loaves of bread went out to the people, but baskets of fragments came back. What happened to those loaves when coming back with His disciples gathering those baskets of fragments? If twenty people formed a circle, and one whispered something to the person next to them and told to pass it on, what's the chance what that first person said comes back the same?
That's how the leaven doctrines of men operate, using 'fragments' of bread with their 'leaven' added to it. Leaven yeast is what causes bread to have thousands of tiny holes in it when rising while baked.
That's exactly what is often done with the "thief in the night" phrase.
Some will take that "thief in the night" phrase out of Scripture and apply much leaven doctrines of men to it. Looking at all the various ways the pre-trib school uses it for the time of their supposed 'rapture' to Christ is a perfect example. Their leaven doctrine teaches that it means a rapture of the saints to Christ just PRIOR to the beginning of the "great tribulation" of Matthew 24:21. How can we know they have taken that "as a thief in the night" phrase to treat it like a 'fragment' with leaven added to it?
It's simple, because, Apostle Paul gave that "as a thief in the night" idea ALONG WITH ANOTHER EVENT OF NOTE...
1Thes 5:2
2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
(KJV)
Paul is drawing our attention to when the events of "the day of the Lord" will happen, "as a thief in the night." Our Lord Jesus Himself declared that His coming will be "as a thief in the night", per Rev.3:3 and Rev.16:15. Apostle Peter showed us Christ's coming "as a thief" is about "the day of the Lord" events taking place at that moment also...
2 Pet 3:10-12
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
(KJV)
That's the exact same time Apostle Paul was talking about in 1 Thessalonians 5, and 1 Thessalonians 4 with the time of the "caught up" event (Greek harpazo). His coverage in 1 Thess.5 was given to mark the time of what he was covering back in 1 Thess.4:17, one of the major verses the Pre-trib leaven doctrine uses to try and show a rapture to Christ prior to the tribulation.
Another idea the Pre-trib leaven doctrine teaches is that 1 Thess.4:17 means a rapture to the heavenly prior to the tribulation. But if you'll notice what Apostle Peter declared will happen on that day, "the heavens shall pass away", and "wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved".
God's Word tells us much about the events that are to happen on "the day of the Lord". It is a time marker for His judgments upon this earth, ending this present world and all of man's works off this earth. Both Paul and Peter linked the time of Christ's coming to gather His saints with that "day of the Lord" event. Paul marked it again in 2 Thessalonians 2...
II Th 2:1-4
1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him,
2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
(KJV)
Paul's subject is the time of our gathering to Christ at His coming, the only time He gathers His saints. That "day of Christ" is the same "the day of the Lord" event, because in the Greek the name 'Christ' is not there, but the Greek word 'kurios' is instead, which means 'lord'.
So simply by chopping up the 1 Thess.5:2 verse by Paul, the Pre-trib school has created a 'fragment' from God's Word, and added leaven to it, a working our Lord Jesus and His Apostle Paul specifically warned us about.
One such example is the "as a thief" phrase. You'll hear some here on the Pre-trib doctrines quoting that "as a thief" phrase quite often. It is taken from Scripture like this...
1Thes 5:2
2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
(KJV)
First off, what is Biblically meant by 'fragments'? In Mark 8, our Lord Jesus defined what the 'fragments' represent in relation to the feeding of the multitude by His miracles of the loaves and fishes.
Matt 16:5-12
5 And when His disciples were come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread.
6 Then Jesus said unto them, "Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees."
7 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread.
Apostle Paul used this analogy of unleavened bread for those in Christ Jesus, per 1 Corinthians 5:7. He said there for us to, "Purge out therefore the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us."
There's two types of bread being compared. Leavened bread has yeast in it to make it rise when baked. Unleavened bread has no yeast, so it does not rise. Christ's disciples didn't yet understand what our Lord meant to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees, for they were thinking with their fleshy minds.
8 Which when Jesus perceived, He said unto them, "O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread?
9 Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?
10 Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?
11 How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?"
12 Then understood they how that He bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
(KJV)
Then Jesus reminded them of the miracles He did with feeding the multitudes with only a small number of loaves and fish. When Jesus sent out five loaves among five thousand, they gathered back up 'twelve' baskets of fragments (Mark 8:19). With His feeding of the four thousand with seven loaves, they took up 'seven' baskets of fragments that were left over (Mark 8:20).
Whole loaves of bread went out to the people, but baskets of fragments came back. What happened to those loaves when coming back with His disciples gathering those baskets of fragments? If twenty people formed a circle, and one whispered something to the person next to them and told to pass it on, what's the chance what that first person said comes back the same?
That's how the leaven doctrines of men operate, using 'fragments' of bread with their 'leaven' added to it. Leaven yeast is what causes bread to have thousands of tiny holes in it when rising while baked.
That's exactly what is often done with the "thief in the night" phrase.
Some will take that "thief in the night" phrase out of Scripture and apply much leaven doctrines of men to it. Looking at all the various ways the pre-trib school uses it for the time of their supposed 'rapture' to Christ is a perfect example. Their leaven doctrine teaches that it means a rapture of the saints to Christ just PRIOR to the beginning of the "great tribulation" of Matthew 24:21. How can we know they have taken that "as a thief in the night" phrase to treat it like a 'fragment' with leaven added to it?
It's simple, because, Apostle Paul gave that "as a thief in the night" idea ALONG WITH ANOTHER EVENT OF NOTE...
1Thes 5:2
2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
(KJV)
Paul is drawing our attention to when the events of "the day of the Lord" will happen, "as a thief in the night." Our Lord Jesus Himself declared that His coming will be "as a thief in the night", per Rev.3:3 and Rev.16:15. Apostle Peter showed us Christ's coming "as a thief" is about "the day of the Lord" events taking place at that moment also...
2 Pet 3:10-12
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
(KJV)
That's the exact same time Apostle Paul was talking about in 1 Thessalonians 5, and 1 Thessalonians 4 with the time of the "caught up" event (Greek harpazo). His coverage in 1 Thess.5 was given to mark the time of what he was covering back in 1 Thess.4:17, one of the major verses the Pre-trib leaven doctrine uses to try and show a rapture to Christ prior to the tribulation.
Another idea the Pre-trib leaven doctrine teaches is that 1 Thess.4:17 means a rapture to the heavenly prior to the tribulation. But if you'll notice what Apostle Peter declared will happen on that day, "the heavens shall pass away", and "wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved".
God's Word tells us much about the events that are to happen on "the day of the Lord". It is a time marker for His judgments upon this earth, ending this present world and all of man's works off this earth. Both Paul and Peter linked the time of Christ's coming to gather His saints with that "day of the Lord" event. Paul marked it again in 2 Thessalonians 2...
II Th 2:1-4
1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him,
2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
(KJV)
Paul's subject is the time of our gathering to Christ at His coming, the only time He gathers His saints. That "day of Christ" is the same "the day of the Lord" event, because in the Greek the name 'Christ' is not there, but the Greek word 'kurios' is instead, which means 'lord'.
So simply by chopping up the 1 Thess.5:2 verse by Paul, the Pre-trib school has created a 'fragment' from God's Word, and added leaven to it, a working our Lord Jesus and His Apostle Paul specifically warned us about.