But a simple grammatical look at the sentence structure doesn't show the taken were killed.
No? Then look at Matthew:
{37} "For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. {38} "For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, {39} and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be. {40} "Then [at the coming of the Son of Man] there will be two men in the field;
one will be taken and one will be left. {41} "Two women
will be grinding at the mill;
one will be taken and one will be left. Matthew 24:37-41 (NASB)
It's patently clear in this passage (as it was in Luke's) who the "taken" are: those who were killed by the flood. This is NOT a passage about those who were saved from the flood, but those who were destroyed by it.
And Christ compares His second coming to this very same event! It is about Christ's judgment falling on those who killed Him, NOT about taking the church out of tribulation.
This passage clearly states that whether dead or alive, believers will meet the Lord in the air. Then in regards to when this happens believers are told that they already know the DOTL will happen unexpectedly like a thief in the night. There is an obvious connection between the DOTL and the rapture.
The DOTL is a day of God's wrath and anger.
Yes, and what I'm trying to get you to see is that the Day of the Lord came upon Jerusalem when it was destroyed by the Romans. This is the "great tribulation" both Daniel and Christ point to: the end of God's unique covenental relationship with Israel.
Furthermore, if you're going to look at sentence structure, then please tell me who the "we" are in I Thessalonians 4:13-18. (Hint: Paul wasn't writing this to us!)
Who was this resurrection (not rapture) for? It's answered in Daniel:
{1} "Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands
guard over
the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time;
and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued. {2} "Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt. {3} "Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.
Daniel 12:1-3 (NASB)
I don't see a single mention of a single Gentile in this passage. God didn't have any covenants with the heathen nations surrounding Israel.
Finally, (assuming you are pre-trib), what say you of these passages?
{39} "This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing,
but raise it up on the last day. {40} "For this is the will of My Father, that
everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day."
John 6:39-40 (NASB)
{44} "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him;
and I will raise him up on the last day. John 6:44 (NASB)
{54} "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life,
and I will raise him up on the last day.
John 6:54 (NASB)
{24} Martha *said to Him,
"I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day." John 11:24 (NASB)
{48} "He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him;
the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day. John 12:48 (NASB)
His second coming coincides with "the last day" which is a time of resurrection and judgment:
{30} "And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn,
and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory. {31} "And He will send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.
Matthew 24:30-31 (NASB)
{31} "But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him,
then He will sit on His glorious throne. Matthew 25:31 (NASB)
His second coming was not to "rapture" the church. It was to wage war on those who crucified Him, resurrect the holy and wicked alike, and judge them from "His glorious throne."
