Rapture in Hebrew Matthew

In the Hebrew Shem Tob Matthew (from the 1300s) we read in Matthew 24:

40 Then if there shall be two ploughing in a field, one righteous and the other evil, the one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding at a mill; one will be taken and the other left. This is because the angels at the end of the world will remove the stumbling blocks from the world and will separate the good from the evil.

The bolded portion is the portion omitted in the Greek translation with which we are familiar. What is the consequence?

As can be seen, in Shem Tob Jesus explains who is raptured. One is righteous, the other evil, while the Greek text makes no such clear identification. The Greek text still provides support for the view in the Shem Tob because Jesus is drawing a parallel to the time of Noah when the evil are all swept away, leaving the earth to the righteous Noah and his family. Hence, the Shem Tob variant perfectly matches the Greek text's implication from mention of Noah's time that it is the evil who are taken away from the earth, and not the righteous.

The Shem Tob is certainly clear who is taken away in verse 41. It refers to "stumbling blocks": they are the evil people who will be removed, paralleling 'evil' identified in verse 40. Hence, it is not the good who will be "taken" to heaven when Christ returns, but instead the evil will be taken away, leaving the good to inherit the Earth.

A scholar explains this Shem-Tob variance reverses the common perception based upon Paul's statement in Thessalonians. This scholar is William L. Petersen of Pennsylvania State University, Netherlands Institute for Advanced Studies. He comments about this in the following expert article on the Shem Tob Matthew: Some Observations on a Recent Edition of and Introduction to Shem-Tob's "Hebrew Matthew" (available at http://rosetta.reltech.org/TC/vol03/Petersen1998a.html)

The Shem Tob Hebrew Matthew is also very much in accord with Apostle John's account in John 17:15:

I pray not that thou shouldest take (Gk. ares, lifting) them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.

The Shem Tob Hebrew Matthew is also in accord with the Greek-based version of Matthew 13:41 which states:

The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall take / gather out (Gk. paralambano) of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;

The Shem Tob Hebrew Matthew is also compatible with the Greek in this passage. The word "taken" in Greek is paralambano. Dr. John Walvoord points out this is the word to describe how Jesus was arrested. Thus, it can have bad connotations. It can also have neutral connotations, as when Jesus says he took with himself Peter and John to the transfiguration in Matthew 17:1.

Yet, in Matt. 13:41, it is clear "taken" has a bad connotation. They are taken up and away with a negative connotation, while Jesus says He would not pray his followers are "lifted away" from the world, but rather are strengthened to endure evil.

Conclusion

It appears Jesus' original words teach that  the righteous inherit the earth as the New Jerusalem descends. It is the evil who are removed. There is no rapture. Jesus will gather the elect from the four winds of heaven -- those who previously died but whose spirits, like the thief's, were "this day in Paradise -- and come to earth after reaping the earth, removing via the angels all the evil ones. Paul heard the verse the wrong way, and relayed incorrectly that it was the good who were removed first.