Life will and I will go a step further John, I WANT to be left behind.
Seriously!
Look at the verses in question, I will use the Luke account instead:
Luke 17:34 I tell you, in that night there will be two men in one bed: the one will be taken and the other will be left.
Luke 17:35 Two women will be grinding together: the one will be taken and the other left.
Luke 17:36 Two men will be in the field: the one will be taken and the other left."
Now listen to the answer to the following question....
Luke 17:37 And they answered and said to Him,
"Where, Lord?" So He said to them,
"Wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together."
In other words, "Where are they being taken to?" And the answer is, and I paraphrase, "See where the scavenger birds are eating those dead corpses? Over there!"
We have had this backwards... sadly, like many things. The time in question is likened to Noach's time right? And I ask you, when the wrath was poured out and all was said and done... and Noach and his family opened the ark doors to a renewed earth... who was taken and who was left behind? No other humans were around, ALL of their lives were taken and only Noach and his family, along with the animals, were "left behind." There is even another witness for this...
Matthrew 13:24 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; (25) but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. (26) But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. (27) So the servants of the owner came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?' (28) He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.' The servants said to him, 'Do you want us then to go and gather them up?' (29) But he said, 'No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. (30)
Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn." ' "
Now, this is one of the few times he explains, in plain King James English (joking, but plain speaking) what this parable meant....
Matthew 13:36 Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying,
"Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field." (37) He answered and said to them: "
He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. (38)
The field is the world,
the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. (39)
The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. (40)
Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. (41)
The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, (42)
and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. (43)
Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!
The tares, the children of the wicked one are taken FIRST and the children of the kingdom are gathered second. We want to be left behind... we want to inherit the earth the meek inherit the earth!
And in the Millennial Kingdom, the nations will come to Jerusalem to keep the feast of Tabernacles. So clearly there are people after the fact....
Zech 14:16 And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.
Zec 14:17 And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, on them there will be no rain.
Zec 14:18 If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they shall have no rain; they shall receive the plague with which the Lord strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.
Zec 14:19 This shall be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.
Zec 14:20 In that day "HOLINESS TO THE LORD" shall be engraved on the bells of the horses. The pots in the Lord's house shall be like the bowls before the altar.
Even more... if satan is let loose at the end of the thousand years to deceive the nations and WE have already been perfected at his coming (1 Cor. 15:52) then those who can be deceived are not perfected. Who are they? Why are they alive? There is a lot of studying to do here brother. Blessings!