Articles
Jesus' Figures of Speech - 11
“And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other.” (Mt 24:31)
If we isolate key words – angels, trumpet, gather – we have terms associated with the final judgment (cf. Mt 13: 36-43; 1 Th 4:16-17). But the question is: Is the final judgment the context of this passage? Our answer is that this is apocalyptic imagery foretelling judgment upon His enemies and salvation for faithful saints (cf. Mt 24:15-25).
This gathering of the elect represents protection much like the imagery of Ezk 9 where a mark is placed on the righteous. The angels are commanded: “Utterly slay old and young men, maidens and little children and women; but do not come near anyone on whom is the mark” (9:4, 6). God inflicts no “collateral damage.”
This section (Mt 24:29-31) is confined by v. 34: “This generation will by no means pass away till all these things are fulfilled.” Jesus’ visible return was not in AD 70, but His judgment just as surely fell on the rebels of Jerusalem while the righteous were spared.
