Messiah (September) 2030
The precise end of this heaven and earth (Revelation 21) is declared from the very beginning (Genesis 1). God is "the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end..."
With the Lord, a Day is like 1,000 Years
Peter, the firsthand student and disciple of Jesus, directly addresses the nature and timing of the Lord's return in the third chapter of his second letter to his Messianic Jewish brethren in modern-day Turkey.
2 Peter 3:2-8
"I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles. Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, 'Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.' But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day."
The Map of Creation
After explaining that scoffers will come, mocking and questioning the certainty and timing of the Lord's return, Peter gives his readers a way to scripturally know and defend the timing of the Lord's return against these same scoffers with the creation account in Genesis. In fact, the apostle gives us a few critical pieces of information that all connect to create a map of God's timeline for this creation:
1. God's word created the earth with the seven days of creation in Genesis 1.
2. God created the waters on day two using those same waters to judge the earth in Noah's day.
3. The same word that created the earth and declared the judgment in Noah's day, God will use to judge the earth by fire.
4. With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.
You might have missed it but there is a lot of continuity between points (2) and (4). Peter aligns God's creation event on day two with a specific fulfillment in Noah's day, which also happens to be the second millennium of creation. Thus, Peter is claiming that each day of God's creation account in Genesis 1 aligns with a thousand years of human days on earth!
This concept is, in fact, coherent outside of 2 Peter and Genesis. For example, in Isaiah 46 God tells us that He makes "known the end from the beginning:"
"Remember this, keep it in mind, take it to heart, you rebels. Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’ From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose. What I have said, that I will bring about; what I have planned, that I will do. Listen to me, you stubborn-hearted, you who are now far from my righteousness. I am bringing my righteousness near, it is not far away; and my salvation will not be delayed."
Day One (0-1,000 Years)
Genesis 1:1-5
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light 'day,' and the darkness he called 'night.' And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day."
Prophetic Significance
During the first day of creation, God separated the light from the darkness. During the first thousand years of creation, Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, which separated man from God, evil from good, and darkness from the light within the hearts, minds, and hands of man as it is written in Genesis 3:
“So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked.”
Further, in Genesis 2:15-17, it is written:
"The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.’”
We know that Adam did not die on the same human day that he ate the fruit because it is written in Genesis 5:5 that he lived 930 years. So, did God break his promise to Adam? Of course not! After all, if a day to the Lord is as a thousand years to humans then he did die on the same day (in terms of Lord days), thus God fulfilled his promise!
Day Two (1,000-2,000 Years)
Genesis 1:6-8
“And God said, ‘Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.’ And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. And God called the expanse heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.”
Prophetic Significance
During the second day of creation, God separated the waters above the sky from the waters below the sky. Whereas, in the second thousand years of creation, as the apostle Peter pointed out in his second letter, God flooded the earth with both the waters above and below the sky in judgment, and reseparated them afterward.
How do we know this to be true (even though Peter, a direct apostle of Jesus, pointed this out)?
Well, as for the timing of the flood, we know it occurred in the second millennium because, in Genesis 5, the genealogy from Adam to Noah indicates that Noah was born in the Biblical year 1056. Further, in Genesis 7:11, the Bible tells us the flood started when Noah was 600 years old on the 17th day of the second month. Thus, the flood started in the Biblical year 1656. Lastly, we are told in Genesis 8:3-4 that the flood recedes 150 days after it started (ending on the 17th day of the seventh month of the Biblical year 1656).
As for God’s un-separation of the waters above and below the expanse (the sky), it is written in Genesis 7:
“In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened… The flood continued 40 days on the earth. The waters increased and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. The waters prevailed and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the face of the waters. And the waters prevailed so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered. The waters prevailed above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits deep.”
Then, in Genesis 8 God re-separates the waters, just as He declared He would on the second day/millennium of creation:
“But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided. The fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained, and the waters receded from the earth continually. At the end of 150 days the waters had abated, and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.”
Day Three (2,000-3,000 Years)
Genesis 1:9-13
“And God said, ‘Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.’ And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
And God said, ‘Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.’ And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.”
Prophetic Significance
On the third day, God created land and seed/fruit-bearing plants, and in the third millennium, God made a covenant with Abraham that his innumerable offspring (his seed) would inhabit the promised land of the Canaanites, which is modern-day Israel plus some of the regions surrounding it. It is written in Genesis 12:1-4:
“Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’
So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan.”
Since we know, from Genesis 5, that Noah was born in the Biblical year 1056 and fathered Shem when he was 500 years old, we can use the genealogy in Genesis 11 to determine that Abraham was born in the Biblical year 1946. However, as it is written in Genesis 12:4, it was not until Abraham was 75 years old, or the Biblical year 2021, that God made his promise to Abraham which fulfilled the third day/millennium creation prophecy.
Day Four (3,000-4,000 Years)
Genesis 1:14-19
“And God said, ‘Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.’ And it was so. And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.”
Prophetic Significance
On the fourth day, God created the sun, moon, and stars for signs and seasons, for days and years, to give light on the earth, and to separate the light from the darkness (again?). Then, right on time, at the very end of the fourth millennium, God gave the earth the “light of the world,” Jesus (John 8:12).
If there were to be two events in the entire Biblical narrative that God used to “separate the light from the darkness” like on days one and two of creation, they would undoubtedly be (1) the fall of Adam and Eve when darkness entered man’s heart (occurring in the first day/millennium), and (2) the death and resurrection of Jesus on the cross when light overcame the darkness in any man’s heart who chooses to accept His perfect sacrifice (occurring in the fourth day/millennium).
From a strictly historical perspective, to prove that Jesus was actually born in the fourth millennium relative to the start of Biblical creation takes some serious detective work and likely deserves a dedicated website, which is why I’ll redirect you to read the research for yourself at the following dedicated website. Moreover, Jesus’ estimated time of birth between 4-6 BC combined with the widely accepted beginning of time according to Jewish historians, 3761 BC, corroborates the fact Jesus was born on the fourth day/millennium of creation, as prophecied by God in Genesis 1:14-19.
However, from an intuitive prophetic standpoint, we should be able to determine whether Jesus’ birth was in the fourth millennium. After all, if two millennia have passed since Jesus’ first coming, then we should certainly have seen the fulfillment of the fifth day and, more than likely, the sixth day in the years since His birth.
Day Five (4,000-5,000 Years)
Genesis 1:20-23
“And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.’ And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.”
Prophetic Significance
On the fifth day of creation, God created the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, and in the fifth millennium, the Holy Spirit, the dove according to Matthew 3:16, Mark 1:10, Luke 3:22, and John 1:32, filled and anointed the disciples and apostles, the fishers of men according to Matthew 4:19 and Mark 1:17. Thus, the fifth day of creation was fulfilled fifty days after Jesus’ resurrection on the day of Pentecost as is written in Acts 2:1-4:
“When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.”
Because almost 2,000 years have passed since Pentecost, and the Holy Spirit’s outpouring on the apostles and disciples fulfills the fifth day/millennium within 33-40 years of the fulfillment of the fourth day/millennium (relative to Jesus’ birth), then it stands to reason that we are well into the sixth millennium of Biblical creation, and should very likely have seen the fulfillment of the sixth day of creation over the past 1,000 years.
Day Six (5,000-6,000 Years)
Genesis 1:24-31
“And God said, ‘Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.’ And it was so. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
And God blessed them. And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’ And God said, ‘Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.’ And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.”
Prophetic Significance
On the sixth day of creation, God created the beasts of the earth, then created and commanded man to take dominion over all the earth and to be fruitful and multiply. Since I am making the case that we are at the end of the sixth millennium relative to the first day of creation, have we fulfilled this prophecy over the past 1,000 years?
Over the past 500 years, since the start of the Scientific Revolution, humanity, on a global scale, has experienced a dramatic change in how we understand and interact with ourselves and nature.
With humanity’s new “understanding” of creation through a Darwinian Evolutionary lens, I argue that we have intellectually and spiritually recreated every living thing on the earth (including ourselves) in our own fallen nature’s image. It is an understatement to say we have taken dominion over the earth today with our factory farms, pig clones, and genetically-modified babies. Moreso, once we take the final step of technologically modifying ourselves en masse, we will have certainly taken full dominion over all the earth, physically recreating every man and beast on earth (or at least having the ability to do so very easily) as God created all the living things that walk upon the earth on the sixth day of creation in Genesis 1:24-31.
Further, per God’s command for man to multiply on the sixth day, the global human population has rapidly expanded at a similarly exponential rate to our scientific advancements over the past 500 years:
Thus, humanity has fulfilled (or at a minimum, very nearly fulfilled) the sixth, second-to-last day/millennium of creation, to the letter, over the past 1,000 years.
Day Seven (6,000-7,000 Years)
Genesis 2:1-3
“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.”
Prophetic Significance
Just as God finishes His work on the seventh day of creation and declares it to be blessed and holy, in the seventh millennium Jesus prophecies that He will come back to this very same creation in power and glory to reign with His people for 1,000 years, and that those who share in this reign are declared blessed and holy. As it is written in Revelation 20:4-6:
“Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.”
And just as there are no more than seven days given to this creation in Genesis, after the millennial reign of Jesus this heaven and earth pass away and are replaced with a new heaven and new earth in Revelation 21:1-6:
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.’
And he who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.’ And he said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end…’”
So, just how close are we to the beginning of the seventh day/millennium if all the preceding six days/millennia have been fulfilled? The answer lies in the precise timing of the fulfillment of the fourth, fifth, and seventh days/millennia of creation.
Messiah 2030
The details surrounding the fulfillment of the fourth, fifth, and seventh days/millennia of creation point towards a very near return of Jesus in 2030 AD. If the fourth and fifth days of creation were fulfilled within 33-40 years (Jesus’ estimated lifespan), then we can be certain that Jesus’ birth fulfilled the fourth day at the very end of the fourth millennium and Pentecost fulfilled the fifth day at the very beginning of the fifth millennium. Further, Jesus’ second coming cannot occur more than 2,000 years after the Biblical year 4,000 because, by His words, His millennial reign on earth takes up the entirety of the seventh day/millennium (years 6,000-7,000) and only 7,000 years (or seven days) were declared for this creation. Finally, if Pentecost occurred in 30 AD at Biblical year 4,000 (to give the maximum amount of time before Jesus returns), Jesus’ second coming must occur, at the latest, 2,000 years later in 2030 AD (and the rapture seven years before that… more on this later).
However, Jesus’ second coming in 2030 AD hinges on one key assumption: Jesus was crucified on the Passover in 30 AD.
Based on the Bible's detailed historical evidence surrounding the crucifixion of Jesus, we can be very confident that this event took place on Passover in 30 AD. It is written in John 19:14-16 that crucifixion took place on this Jewish feast:
“Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, ‘Behold your King!’ They cried out, ‘Away with him, away with him, crucify him!’ Pilate said to them, ‘Shall I crucify your King?’ The chief priests answered, ‘We have no king but Caesar.’ So he delivered him over to them to be crucified.”
Then, the Bible, in Matthew 27:45-54, gives several significant pieces of circumstantial evidence which point toward the year of Jesus’ crucifixion in 30 AD:
“Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, ‘This man is calling Elijah.’ And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. But the others said, ‘Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.’ And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.
And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many. When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “‘Truly this was the Son of God!’”
The miraculous three-hour-long eclipse, the great earthquake, the curtain’s tearing, and the dead rising from the grave are all referenced by several first-century extra-biblical historians who all agree these events occurred in 30 AD, on the same day as a quite controversial Roman crucifixion (source).
So, since the timing of Jesus’ crucifixion was certainly on the Passover in 30 AD, His second coming must occur no later than 2,000 later in 2030 AD for the “day is like 1,000 years” prophecy to come to its precise fulfillment in the seventh day, just like the preceding six days/millennia already were.
Rapture September 2023
With the assumption that Jesus’ second coming is in the year 2030 AD, we can deduce that the rapture is likely to occur in September of 2023 AD. The year, 2023, is derived from the fact that a pre-tribulation rapture must occur before the seven-year tribulation period known as Jacob’s trouble. Whereas the month of September is derived from the fact that Jewish feasts established in the old testament point towards Jesus (much like many other events/traditions in the old testament), and four of the seven feasts have been fulfilled, in sequential order, by highly significant, Jesus-centered events after Jesus’ birth.
The Tribulation
The tribulation, known as the time of Jacob’s trouble (Jeremiah 30:7), was named in Jesus’ Olivet Discourse but formally declared in what is known as the seventy-weeks prophecy in Daniel 9:24-27:
“Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place. Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks. Then for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with squares and moat, but in a troubled time. And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed. And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.”
The weeks in this prophecy are actually weeks of years (i.e., one week is seven years). The first 69 weeks began counting down in the time of Nehemiah when Artaxerxes proclaimed that Jerusalem be restored and rebuilt. Then, after the Jewish city and the temple were rebuilt and the Messiah was crucified 483 years later, the 69 weeks were fulfilled (to the exact year, I might add). However, after the fulfillment of the first 69 weeks, the seventy-weeks prophecy paused, such that the last week, the seventieth set of seven years, has remained yet unfulfilled (source).
Amid the fulfillment of the 69th week, Jesus gives us a hint about the timing and the surefire fulfillment of the prophecied 70th week. In His Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24:15-21, the time of great tribulation just before His second coming is signified by this abomination of desolation first prophecied by Daniel (Daniel 9:27, 11:31, 12:11):
“So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place ( let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.”
Thus, the prophecies of Daniel referenced in the context of Jesus’ Olivet Discourse tell us that this great tribulation period lasts seven years, and is finalized when the eternal, unshakable rock of God’s kingdom breaks the fallen kingdoms of the earth and reigns for eternity (Daniel 2:44-45), which occurs at the beginning of the seventh day/millennium of creation in 2030. So, when you subtract seven years from 2030, you find that the tribulation period starts in 2023 (just in time for the antichrist to make a seven-year covenant with Israel that attempts to accomplish some sort of goal at the nice round number of 2030 as prophecied in Daniel 9:27).
The Rapture
Pre-Tribulation
Shortly after Jesus talks about the abomination of desolation in His Olivet Discourse, in Matthew 24:36-44 He gives an important analogy of what the world will be like when the great judgment and wrath of God comes upon it during the final seven-year tribulation period:
“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
Many are unclear whether this passage signifies the pre-tribulation rapture of the church, the second coming of Jesus in Revelation 19 (just before He establishes His millennial reign), or the judgment of the earth during the tribulation. I seek to clear this up because a pre-tribulation rapture is necessary for the belief that Jesus will come back to rapture His church in September 2023 AD.
Firstly, and most importantly, if Jesus was describing His second coming, comparing the time just before His coming to the days of Noah before the flood is grossly inaccurate. Before the second coming, everyone in the entire world is going to be in the midst of the greatest tribulation the earth has ever known (Matthew 24:21). The intense wrath of God (Revelation 6-18), according to Revelation 6:7-8, kills at least 25 percent of the world’s population by the fourth of 21 judgment events (seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven bowls). Further, in Revelation 18, the world’s greatest city, Babylon, falls and the earth’s merchants weep because no one is buying goods or services anymore! As such, the world will not be eating, drinking, or marrying (i.e., carrying on as normal like the people were before the flood of Noah’s time) just before Jesus’ second coming because all of these horrific tribulation judgments directly precede the second coming of Jesus and the establishment of his millennial kingdom in Revelation 19-20.
Further, if this passage truly was describing Jesus’ second coming, His statement that no one could know the day that our Lord is coming is also completely false. By Jesus’ own words just a few sentences before, the great tribulation is signified by one primary event, the abomination of desolation written about in Daniel. And if one reads and understands Daniel like Jesus commands, then they would realize that those who see the abomination of desolation can literally count down the 1290 days until Jesus’ second coming according to Daniel 12:11. Thus, the wise who are living on earth during the great tribulation will know the exact day their Lord is coming.
To address any remaining confusion about this passage, some Bible-believing Christians argue that the man in the field and the woman in the mill are “taken” by judgment, not by the rapture. However, this argument does not add up if you consider that the judgment Jesus is describing in this passage is directly compared to the flood that deluged the entire world in Noah’s day. Hypothetically, if two men were in a field and a massive wave from a worldwide flood began enveloping their field, both would be taken by the tsunami! Thus, when Jesus uses the word “taken,” He is actually referring to how Noah was taken out of the worldwide judgment in the ark before the flood and how the church will be taken out of the earth before the great tribulation of the last days in the rapture.
Therefore, if this passage is not describing the second coming of Jesus at the end of the tribulation and the language of some being “taken” and some being left is not about some being “taken” by tribulation judgment events, then we must conclude that Jesus is describing a pre-tribulation rapture. So, much like in the days of Noah, before the great tribulation, people will be carrying on life as usual until the church is “taken” into their heavenly ark and God’s wrath is poured out full strength on the earth.
We are Children of the Light
Many others will claim that the timing of the pre-tribulation rapture is unknowable or the pursuit of this knowledge is futile. After all, Jesus says “You do not know on what day your Lord is coming.” However, these same people often fail to read the rest of that same sentence, “Therefore, stay awake…”
Again, similar to the days of Noah, those who are in prayer, in their Bibles, and watching for the Lord’s coming and judgment (like Noah was) will not be surprised when Jesus calls them up to the heavenly ark that He has prepared for us (John 14:1-4). Jesus prefaces His statements about not knowing the “day” of His arrival in Matthew 24:32-33:
“From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates.”
Thus, those faithful bridesmaids who are eagerly awaiting and watching for the bridegroom (Matthew 25:1-13) will know the season (not the day or hour!) of His arrival and will have their lamps lit accordingly.
Finally, the assuredness of the pre-tribulation rapture and the knowability of the season of this event are reaffirmed by Paul when he interprets Jesus’ pre-tribulation rapture teachings in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-5:9:
“According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.
Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, ‘Peace and safety,’ destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
The Season of the Rapture: The Feast of Trumpets
So, if we can know the season of Jesus’ rapture of the church, then when will it happen? Put simply, Jesus will come back for His church during the Feast of Trumpets.
Four of the seven feasts of Israel (Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, Pentecost, Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles), which were given to the Jews in Leviticus, have Messianic fulfillments, in sequential order, on the same days as the feasts.
As Paul describes in his first letter to the Corinthians, Jesus’ death and resurrection fulfilled the first three feasts:
1 Corinthians 5:7
“Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.”
1 Corinthians 15:20
“But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”
The fourth feast, Pentecost, was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2, as discussed before, 50 days after the resurrection/Feast of First Fruits.
Therefore, the next feast to be fulfilled, if God continues to fulfill them in sequential order, is the Feast of Trumpets. Paul recognizes this fact later in his first letter to the Corinthians and his first letter to the Thessalonians:
1 Corinthians 15:51-52
“Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”
1 Thessalonians 4:15-17
“According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.”
Moreover, when John is receiving his Revelation of Jesus Christ on the Isle of Patmos, the disciple that “Jesus loved most,” a the sound of a trumpet is raptured in Spirit before witnessing God’s wrath that is to come upon the earth in the great tribulation of Revelation 6-18:
Revelation 4:1-2
“After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, ‘Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.’ At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne.”
What is most interesting about the Feast of Trumpets, or Rosh Hashanah, is that it is a two-day feast normally occurring in the month of September. So, even if God gives us the wisdom to know the year and feast/month of His coming for the church, we cannot possibly know the day or the hour because the feast is multiple days. Therefore, when Jesus says, “You do not know on what day your Lord is coming,” His words still hold true!
Conclusion
In conclusion, the historical crucifixion of Jesus in 30 AD, the “day is a thousand years” prophecy, the seventy-weeks prophecy, and the sequential, Messianic fulfillments of the Levitical feasts of Israel, along with many other supporting scriptures indicate that Jesus, our Messiah, is to come back to establish His millennial reign on earth in 2030 and rapture His church in September of 2023.
Primary (Extra-Biblical) Sources
Linear Chronology of Man According to the Scriptures
https://abdicate.net/chron.aspx