Jane,
You had mentioned two things regarding Matthew 24:31.
One was
regarding the use of “from one end of heaven to the
other”, rather than “from one end of the earth to the
other”.
Matthew 24:31
And he shall send his
angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall
gather together his elect from the four winds, from one
end of heaven to the other.
If the words
“from one end of heaven to the other” is understood as
referring to the angels that the LORD sends,
as coming from
one end of heaven to the other, then it is easier to see
why it is worded that way.
However, if the
words “from one end of heaven to the other”, is understood
as referring to the elect as coming from one end of heaven
to the other,
that is more
difficult to see.
As to who are
the elect referred to in line 31, the elect are mentioned
a few other times in the same passage:
Matthew 24:22
And except those days
should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but
for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
24
For there shall arise
false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great
signs and wonders; insomuch that, if
it were possible, they shall deceive the very
elect.
They are people
on earth, for whose sake the LORD shortens those days.
They are also
the ones that the false Christs and false prophets are
trying to deceive, i.e. the lost are already deceived.
By elect, they
are chosen of the LORD.
This group of
elect are not the Christians of the 1st
century, or a thousand years ago, or last century.
This group of
elect are chosen to be alive on earth during the
tribulation for whom the days are shortened,
they are chosen to face the deceivings, signs, and wonders
of the false Christs and false prophets of the
tribulation,
and they are chosen to be the ones gathered by the angels
after the tribulation.
Clearly it is
not referring to all believers, because all believers are
not chosen for those three things.
Most believers
have already passed, and are no longer on the earth, so it
is not referring to the entire church or the entire body
of Christ.
It cannot be
referring to the believers who are caught up in the
blessed hope of I Thessalonians 4:13-18; John 14:1-3;
& I Corinthians 15:51-55,
as many of those believers mentioned there had already
passed and never enter, let alone survive, the
tribulation,
and they go back to a place prepared for them, not like
the elect of Matthew 24, who go up at the end of the
Tribulation and come right back down with Jesus.
The word elect
doesn’t have one and only one designation in scriptures,
as there are even elect angels (I Timothy 5:21).
So, because the
believers who have already lived & passed on, or those
of us alive right know, are referred to as God’s elect,
that doesn’t mean that we are the same elect referred to
in Matthew 24 - same word, but different group of
believers, chosen for different things.
Thank you,
Gino