"But, as for the Day and that Hour, no one knows when it will come, not even the angels of GOD, nor the Son, but only the FATHER.
At the coming of the Son of Man, it will be just as it was in the time of Noah. In those days before the Flood, people were eating and drinking, and marrying, until that day when Noah went into the ark. Yet, they did not know what would happen, until the flood came and swept them away. So will it be, at the coming of the Son of Man: of two men in the field, one will be taken and the other left; of two women grinding wheat together at the mill, one will be taken and the other left." - Matthew 24:36-41
(The comparison of the two men [or women] working together means that, upon the coming of JESUS, the Judgment will take place, and there might be a separation within the same social or family group: some headed towards the LORD, others to be condemned.
Why is it that the Gospel draws a parallel with the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of time? Simple, because Matthew addresses Christians who have just experienced the first event and are awaiting the second. It is the moment when there emerges the Christian vision of the history of these two great stages.
First, we have the time of the Old Testament. GOD taught the people of Israel and nurtured their development in order that their history and experiences be enlightening for other people. At the end of this period, JESUS came during a national crisis to give them the full knowledge of their mission as a people of GOD. A minority believed, but the nation did not convert and crashed.
The message is then presented to other nations, and thus began the time of the New Testament. The Church teaches all people who must mature as nations and Christians. Scripture implies that New Testament times are leading up to a universal crisis where the Gospel will more than ever be a reality: "Believe or you will die." It is then that both the New Testament and history will end.)
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