270 Where did they go? Why didn’t at least one of them reappear on the stage after AD 70 to proclaim their Triumph? Nothing short of a rapture can explain the utter silence and complete absence of those dear pre-70 saints after AD 70. Jesus had promised them that the Bride would be taken from her father’s house on earth, and taken in procession to heaven where she would be married to the Son in His Father’s House in heaven. Was the Bride ever taken to the Father’s house in heaven? Was their marriage ever consummated? There was no marriage feast on earth, so the consummation of the marriage and the wedding feast must have occurred in the unseen realm of heaven. That means that the living saints must have been taken to heaven in order to participate in the marriage of the Bride and the wedding feast afterwards. There is no historical testimony after AD 70 from any of those living and remaining saints claiming that they saw, heard, and experienced those things that Jesus and the Apostles had promised. Why was their triumphal procession and victory celebration and wedding feast not experienced on earth in the visible realm? It was because it occurred in the unseen realm of heaven above. Those living and remaining saints were promised to be a part of that victory celebration and wedding feast. How did they get to participate in it without dying? Apostle Paul said their bodies would be changed from mortal to immortal (visible to invisible) without having to experience physical death, and then they would be caught up with the resurrected saints to be in the presence of Christ forever afterwards (1 Cor 15:51-52; Phil 3:21). If that is not what happened, then we would have to surmise that those saints who remained alive at the time of the Parousia never participated in the triumphal procession, the marriage consummation, or the wedding feast in the unseen realm of heaven. That means that the living saints were left out of that glorious celebration which the resurrected saints experienced in the unseen realm of heaven. Can you accept that? I surely can not! In view of all the expectations that Jesus and the Apostles gave to those living saints, it is impossible to believe that they were left behind on earth without participating in that glorious celebration in the unseen realm of heaven, and left totally ignorant and confused about it, not even knowing that those things had occurred! Are you comfortable with that scenario? I certainly am not! They were not expecting to be left behind not even knowing it happened
There were numerous promises made by Jesus and the Apostles about what the living and remaining saints could expect to see, hear, and experience at the Parousia. They were NOT expecting to be left behind on earth afterwards not even aware that the Parousia had occurred. The following six questions with their biblical answers will show what their real expectations were. We know that the dead saints were raised out of Hades and given their new immortal bodies at the Parousia, but what about the saints who were still alive at Christ’s return? What does Scripture say they would see, hear, and experience at the Second Coming? Read each question and search the following Scriptures and their contexts to find the answers (all Scriptures NASB95, except where otherwise noted): 1. What did Jesus say the living saints would see, hear, and experience at His return? Matt 16:28 . . . some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming . . . . Matt 24:30-31 . . . they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect . . . . Luke 21:36 . . . that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man. John 14:3 . . . I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.
