Then two shall be in the field, one is taken and one is left;
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
two [women] grinding at the mill, one is taken and one is left.
Two women are at the same mill, doing the same work, and in a moment they are separated for ever. Everything in the verse turns on one question: taken for what?
The mill here is not a factory. It is a household tool, worked by hand, usually by a woman.
In the East these are usually small, with every family having its own mill. A woman, or sometimes two, sit at the mill turning the upper stone, casting in the grain now and then through a hole in it.
The two women are as close as two people can be. Closeness saves neither of them.
And so our Lord adds here a word that touched not only the Jewish system, but the condition and doom of the whole world. He lets us know that in that night two would be in one bed; one taken, and the other left. So two women at the mill; for here we are not dealing with human judgments. God will then judge the living. So it makes no difference what the relationship, the job, or the sex is, or whether people are indoors or outdoors. There can be no shelter and no exception.
To modern ears "taken" sounds like rescue. The example the Lord gives just before points the other way.
First, take Noah and the flood. We can freely admit the application to the coming of the Lord that He Himself makes (Matt. 24:37-41). "One will be taken and one left." But we must handle such things carefully: "taken" how, and for what? Those whom resurrection takes out from among the dead are saints and taken for glory. At the rapture of the living saints, it is the same. In Noah's time, "the flood came and took them all away;" those taken are the judged and not the saved.
Noah's case shows which of the two women is better off.
We have the illustration of Noah and the flood. The world before the flood was TAKEN for judgment. Noah was LEFT for blessing. Those before the flood were not "taken home or received," but drowned. Noah was not left "alone, left unprotected," but found in a renewed earth.
Many read the verse as a picture of believers being caught up. Commentators here read it the other way round.
At a first glance some have thought that this was like the rapture of the church, but it is exactly the reverse. At the rapture the saints are caught away, and the world is left to go on its course. But when the Lord comes to judge the living on the earth, the taking away is in judgment. The righteous are left to pass into blessing on the earth at the millennium.
Does that mean the Lord never takes the saved one? Commentators answer with a careful distinction.
It will be true, of course, that two people may be together when the Lord comes for His own, one saved and one unsaved. He will then take the saved and leave the other. But everywhere in Scripture where the phrase is used, it is one taken by judgment, and the other left for millennial blessing.
Wars and disasters take whoever happens to be standing there. This will not.
But this judgment, sudden and unexpected as it may be, will be sure and discriminating. The eye of God will discern those that are His. They may be in exactly the same circumstances as those who are not. Two men may be in the same field, two women at the same mill; judgment will leave the one unharmed, and take the other. To the heart that was really watching and waiting for Him He would come as a deliverer from all the power of evil. The disciples were to watch; they did not know at what hour their Lord would come.
The choice of illustration tells you which group of God's people the Lord has in view.
If heavenly saints had been in question, Enoch would be the fitting Old Testament picture. But the Lord meant saints who are not caught up, saints carried through the waters of judgment. So He rightly chose Noah as the pattern for the remnant who will be on the earth.
- Taken. In Noah's day the flood took people away in judgment. So here too the one taken is the one judged, not the one rescued.
- Left. The one left behind is left for blessing on the earth, as Noah was left in a renewed world.
- Sorted. This is not a blind disaster. God's eye picks out His own from people in the very same place.
- Unsheltered. No tie, no job, no place and no closeness to another person can shelter you. Two women at one mill; two different ends.
- Watching. For the heart that is watching for Him, that same coming is deliverance. So His disciples are told to keep watch.
Watch therefore, for ye know not in what hour your Lord comes.
The Lord has been describing His return and the judgment that comes with it. Now He turns from what will happen to what His hearers must do, and His reason is their ignorance of the day.
The Olivet discourse divides into sections, and this verse sits near a hinge. One reading keeps it with the part addressed to Jewish disciples:
The Lord's prophecy in Matthew 24 and 25 has three main divisions: first, the Jewish part in Matthew 24:4-44; second, the Christian part in Matthew 24:45 to 25:30; and third, the Gentile part in Matthew 25:31-46.
Commentators differ on exactly where the line falls. Another writer draws it at this very verse:
Matthew 24:15-41 gives the judgment of Israel; Matthew 24:42 to 25:30, the judgment of Christendom; Matthew 25:31-46, the judgment of the Gentiles.
The command and its reason hold together. Take away the uncertainty and the command falls apart. (Older translations read "Watch therefore" — the word the writers below use.)
We are told in Mark 13:35 to watch, because the hour of His coming is unknown. How could anyone watch for the Lord to come, if it were known that He would not come until a certain time? The command to watch implies on the face of it uncertainty as to the time.
This cuts against every attempt to work out a date. One writer answers the person who claims to know at least the year:
The fixing of dates as to the coming of the Lord is a harmful thing, and those who do it are presumptuous people... Yes, says someone, but we know the year. Indeed? Then why did the Lord add, "Watch and pray: for you do not know when the time is"?... Think of the apostles, who gave us the Word of God by the Holy Spirit's inspiration. To them the Lord said, "It is not for you to know the times and the seasons, which the Father has put in His own power" (Acts 1). In His wisdom the Father kept this knowledge from them. So where does the Word show that He would make it known to us?
Some turn this command into a warning about death: be ready, since you do not know when you will die. One writer answers that the Lord fixed watching on something else:
The sheep hear His voice. He said, "Watch, therefore" — not because you do not know what hour you will die, but because you do not know "what hour your Lord comes." And so it is throughout — never once on the ground of death. We are set to watch for the coming of the Master, with our lamps burning and our belts fastened for service. Death is in no way the Master. Through the grace of our Lord Jesus, death is now one of our servants.
Watching and waiting are close, but not identical. A servant can be ready without his heart being in it:
Both have their place, but watching means expectancy, the heart is engaged. A servant might be quite ready for his master's return, just obeying a command. But if he is watching, it shows that his master's return is filling his thoughts. For the Christian the two must go together. If the heart is not right towards the Lord, the belt loosens and the light grows dim.
One writer illustrates the difference with three men who hear that a friend's ship is due at a port. The first is interested and changes nothing. The second travels to the port and stays there, though he passes the days pleasing himself.
But the third man does more than travel to the seaport and wait for his friend to arrive. He looks out over the sea many times a day. He asks every question he can about the expected ship, and he looks closely at the passengers to see if his friend is among them. This one is watching. Our Lord wants the hope of His coming to be so real in us that it stirs our hearts to go out and meet Him. He wants us watching as well as waiting — not on special occasions only, but as the settled posture of our souls. Nothing could be more practical, or do more to make us holy: "everyone who thus hopes in Him purifies himself as He is pure" (1 John 3:3).
Watching can begin at a low level and still be genuine. The Lord meets a troubled conscience where it is, then lifts it higher:
Suppose we watch in dread, afraid His coming will catch us by surprise. Even that is good. We will not go into any place where we would dread His finding us. We will not take up any pursuit that we would dread being found in when He comes... But our Lord does not leave souls watching out of a fearful conscience. He trains them to watch with affection and joy of heart.
- Unknown — The day is hidden, and that is the reason for the command. If we could fix a date, watching would mean nothing.
- Unwise — Fixing dates is presumption. The Father kept the times and seasons even from the apostles.
- Yours — We watch for "your Lord," a Person returning, not for death. Death is not the Master; grace has made it one of our servants.
- Engaged — Waiting can leave the heart untouched. Watching means the heart is taken up with His return, as a settled posture, not an occasional mood.
- Trained — Watching may start as fear of being caught somewhere shameful. That fear is a real safeguard. But the Lord teaches His own to watch with affection and joy.
But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what watch the thief was coming, he would have watched and not have suffered his house to be dug through [into].
Jesus has just said that no one knows the day or the hour of His coming. Now He paints a small scene: a house, a night watch, and a break-in the owner could have stopped. Two questions follow. Why is the hour hidden, and who gets caught out?
The whole sentence turns on a condition that never comes true. One writer ties the picture to a servant who had begun to act as though the house were his own:
The Lord has a word on the other side, where the servant has somehow become "the master of the house," and the coming of the Son of man is like the unwelcome visit of a thief. Such a person needs to remember that the thief does not come at an expected hour, or perhaps the house would not have been broken into. "If he had known" only presses the fact that he does not know.
The figure is not flattering, and it is not aimed at everyone. One writer sets the thief beside another image, one kept for those who stay awake:
This is how He will come upon the world — as a thief. We belong to the region of light; our proper hope is the Morning Star, which is only seen by those who are watching during the night. The reason Sardis is warned, instead of cheered by the hope of His coming, is that it has sunk down to the world's level: low, lifeless, sapless Christianity; and it will overtake them as a thief.
Another writer finds the same line in the apostle's words. The pronouns do the work:
The words "they" and "you" make it still clearer that the day of the Lord is for the world. He does not say "When you shall say, Peace and safety" but when "they shall say." The apostle excludes the believer completely from that day when sudden destruction falls, for he says, "But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief."
The house stood open because its owner was at ease. One writer says what such ease does to us:
Present ease and unwatchfulness in such a world as this always make the return of the Lord to be more or less unwelcome. The only right attitude for love or conscience is the attitude of watching for Him.
The verse sits between a call to watch and a call to be ready, and the two are not identical. One writer separates them by what each reveals about the heart:
Both have their place, but watching means expectancy — the heart is engaged. A servant might be quite ready for his master's return, simply obeying a command, but if he is watching, it shows that his master's return is absorbing his thoughts. But with the Christian the two must go together; if the heart is not right towards the Lord, the loins will become ungirded and the light will grow dim.
Being ready, in practice, means having nothing outstanding. One writer tested the idea over dinner:
I was dining one day with a lady in London, and I said to her at the table, "Would you like the Lord Jesus to return today?" "No," she said, "I would not... I have many things to settle up first, there are many things I would not like Him to see." Well, the Lord says, "Be ready" — that is, everything settled up, and we as real pilgrims and strangers passing through this world with nothing to detain us.
Commentators differ on who these words are for. Dennett, above, applies them to believers now. Another writer marks this point as the close of one part of the discourse:
With these words of warning and exhortation to watch, our Lord closes the predictions relating to the end of the Jewish age. This warning will be understood and heeded by the Jewish remnant, to which it is addressed. They are to watch for the Son of Man; the church is to wait for her Lord.
- Unknown hour. "If he had known" — but he never does. No one gets the hour, so no one can put off watching.
- Unwelcome hour. The thief pictures how that hour comes on a sleeping world, and on a Christianity sunk to the world's level. It is not how He comes to those who watch.
- Undefended hour. Ease, not weakness, opens the house. Comfort in this world makes His return feel unwelcome.
- Watched-for hour. Being ready obeys a command; watching means the coming absorbs the heart. The two belong together, or the light dims.
- Settled hour. Readiness is practical. Nothing left to settle, nothing holding you here. You live as a stranger passing through.
Wherefore *ye* also, be ye ready, for in that hour that ye think not the Son of man comes.
This verse turns a long stretch of prophecy into one command: be ready. It raises two questions. Whose coming does it describe? And how can anyone be ready for an hour no one can work out?
Commentators place this verse at a seam. It ends the section dealing with Israel and the last days, before the Lord turns to servants, virgins and talents.
With these words of warning and call to watch, our Lord closes the predictions about the end of the Jewish age. The Jewish remnant will understand this warning and take it to heart, for it is addressed to them. They are to watch for the Son of Man; the church is to wait for her Lord.
Behind the command is a picture of a house broken into. Notice what the word "if" is doing in it.
The Lord has a word on the other side. There the servant has somehow become "the master of the house," and the coming of the Son of Man is like the unwelcome visit of a thief. Such a person needs to remember that the thief does not come at an expected hour. If he had remembered, perhaps his house would not have been broken into. "If he had known" only presses the fact that he does not know.
Which coming is this, and when does it happen?
As the dreadful time of tribulation judgment draws to its close, the Lord will come, but at an hour no one has known beforehand. That is why men are told to watch. At that time He will come as a thief, unexpected and unwelcome, so at least let men be ready. At the rapture (which is earlier) He will not come as a thief (1 Thess. 5:4), but for expectant believers. Verse 44 ends the Lord's consideration of Israel in this prophetic discourse, pressing the fact of His coming then as Son of Man.
The hour is hidden on purpose, and that purpose can be turned upside down.
That uncertainty was ordered to keep men always expecting, though the time was not far off. It is remarkable that men have turned it into a reason for not expecting at all.
Pushing the coming far into the future empties the command of meaning:
We are taught to watch for that coming, because we do not know when the time is. This answers two mistakes at once. Some set times, near or far, for His coming. Others put it off to the end of the millennium. You do not know when the time is; therefore the Lord says, Watch. You cannot watch for what you know will not come for a hundred years; how much less, a thousand.
Commentators differ on how far the verse reaches believers today. Some read it as a word to a future remnant. Others press it as a daily test: would you welcome Him tonight?
Now you will say, "How can we be ready?" It is not the state of the soul only. That is the main thing, but there are many things to be settled. I was dining one day with a lady in London, and I said to her at the table, "Would you like the Lord Jesus to return today?" "No," she said, "I would not." "And why not?" "Well," she said, "I have many things to settle up first. There are many things I would not like Him to see. I would rather He did not come today." So the Lord says, "Be ready" — that is, everything settled up, and we as real pilgrims and strangers passing through this world with nothing to hold us here.
Readiness has two sides:
First, we must be "ready" in title. Second, we must be "ready" in our moral state — ready in conscience, and ready in heart. The one is founded on the work of Christ for us; the other is connected with the work of the Spirit in us. If we are resting by faith on the finished work of Christ, leaning only on what He has done and what He is, then we are truly ready in title, and we may be sure of being with Him when He comes.
A comfortable life quietly makes His return feel like an intrusion — which is exactly the householder's problem.
Present ease and unwatchfulness in such a world as this always make the return of the Lord more or less unwelcome. The only right attitude, for love or for conscience, is the attitude of watching for Him.
- Unknown — "If he had known" presses one fact: he does not know. That ignorance is the whole reason for the command.
- Ordered — the uncertainty keeps people always expecting; turning it into a reason to stop expecting flips its purpose.
- Thief — to a sleeping world His coming breaks in unwelcome; to those expecting Him, He is not a thief but their Lord.
- Ready — first ready in title, resting on the finished work of Christ; then ready in state, in conscience and heart, with everything settled up.
- Now — ease makes His return unwelcome; watching for Him is the only right attitude, for love and for conscience.