Is episunago a rapture term? Get into any discussion about Matt 24:31 with a non-pretribulationist and you’re bound to see the Greek term episunago (gather) used. It (and other Greek terms) occurs in almost every statement of beliefs. You’ll be directed to 2 Thess 2:1 and referred to Paul’s rapture language (gathering-episunagoge).
I first came across this in Robert Van Kampen’s “The Rapture Question Answered” (pp 183-185). He compared Matt 24:30-31 to 2 Thess 2:1 and asserted that since the latter is an “undisputed reference to the rapture” then the original language favors his position. Van Kampen wrote that the breakdown of the word suggested an upward direction to the gathering – a “taking up and bringing together.” He asserted that the term was rapture language.
Another writer has used “rapture language” as the first of four reasons why Matt 24:31 is the rapture of the church. Ironically he admits that episynago isn’t a technical rapture term. It can be used in other contexts. He takes issue with those who contend that Jesus can’t use the term in the same way Paul can. I agree. But it’s possible to mistake context for inference.
What was the context of episunago in Matt 24:31 according to this writer?
He refers to parallels between Paul and the Olivet Discourse. There should be some parallels between Paul and the OD given that both are speaking of end-time events. We all tend to see what we expect. In his case, the failure to address OT re-gathering promises to Israel and the Jewish elements in the OD suggest he’d already decided what the context should be.
Note that Paul’s birth pangs (1 Thess 5:3) are excluded from these Olivet parallels. Years ago it was common to see charts designed to show that all scriptural references to the Second-Advent and the rapture referred to the same event. Yet the prewrath system has several comings and goings (see the article Bifurcating the Parousia. How do these figure in the charts and Thessalonians parallels?
Sometimes we’re told to read 2 Thess 1 through to the end of 2 Thess without stopping (no chapters-verses in the original). The reason for this is the supposed amil-posttrib position in 2 Thess 1 (See Mike Stallard’s article). Yet if one is compelled to read 2 Thess 1 through to 2 Thess 2 for context, then we ought to do the same for Matt 23 & 24.
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather [episunago] your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. Matt 23:37
Christ is speaking of Israel’s gathering back into the land. So why isn’t He speaking of Israel again a little later on – context?
And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather [episunago] together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other. Matt 24:31 (See Deut 30:2-4; Ezek 37:21-22 etc)
I can hear protests regarding Israel being “elect.” I’ve covered this before – see also Jim McClarty’s article HERE.
An example of “context” being confused with inference is a prewrath response I saw to a question regarding the identity of the elect in Matt 24:31. According to this source, the reason the elect cannot be Israel is because Israel isn’t saved until the end of the 70th week.
Yet this rests on an assumption that Matt 24:21-22 means the Great Tribulation is shortened to less than three-and-a-half years, rather than those days being terminated at the prophesied (predetermined) length at the end of the 70th week. This is simply inference building upon inference.
Other verses using similar “rapture language” terms are Mark 1:33 (episunago), Luke 12:1 (episunago) and Luke 17:37 (episunago). The interpretation of that last verse is debated.
So, is episunago a rapture term? Nope.
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