When is the Rapture?

Rapture is a keyword with certain special meanings ascribed to it in various end-times theories. If it means the departure from planet earth of the human race, then we can find the date: 4000 years from the birth of the Patriarchs, 2000 years from Jesus’ own ascension and 7000 years from Noah’s flood. Instead of dating the event relative to the tribulation, we date it relative to the general resurrection, a much more fruitful approach.

This question is fairly frequent. When, I’m often asked, is the Rapture?

There are various passages that provide the sequence for this event. The key one here:

¹⁶For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: ¹⁷Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. ¹⁸Wherefore comfort one another with these words. F. Thessalonians 4:16-19 KJV

¹⁶For 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. ¹⁷After 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. ¹⁸Therefore encourage each other with these words. F. Thessalonians 4:16-19 NIV

This series of verses sequences most of the high level events in this part of the age. They key one being the resurrection of the dead. That event can be known and is dated and confirmed through several stories. Once we have the resurrection dated, seeing the dates of the departure from the human race is not hard to do. So, we start with the dates for the Resurrection:

Ezekiel’s time to the Resurrection of the Dead

Ezekiel is given a vision about how the living water that flows from the throne of God brings life. In that vision a measurement indicates the time to this period:

¹The man brought me back to the entrance of the temple, and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar. ²He then brought me out through the north gate and led me around the outside to the outer gate facing east, and the water was flowing from the south side.

³As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and then led me through water that was ankle-deep. ⁴He measured off another thousand cubits and led me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another thousand and led me through water that was up to the waist. ⁵He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in -- a river that no one could cross. ⁶He asked me, "Son of man, do you see this?"

Then he led me back to the bank of the river. ⁷When I arrived there, I saw a great number of trees on each side of the river. ⁸He said to me, "This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, where it enters the Sea. When it empties into the Sea, the water there becomes fresh. ⁹Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live. Ezekiel 47:1-9 NIV

¹Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward: for the forefront of the house stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under from the right side of the house, at the south side of the altar. ²Then brought he me out of the way of the gate northward, and led me about the way without unto the utter gate by the way that looketh eastward; and, behold, there ran out waters on the right side. ³And when the man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward, he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the waters were to the ankles.the waters were…: Heb. waters of the ankles ⁴Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through the waters; the waters were to the knees. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through; the waters were to the loins. ⁵Afterward he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not pass over: for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over.waters to…: Heb. waters of swimming

⁶¶And he said unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen this? Then he brought me, and caused me to return to the brink of the river. ⁷Now when I had returned, behold, at the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other.bank: Heb. lip ⁸Then said he unto me, These waters issue out toward the east country, and go down into the desert, and go into the sea: which being brought forth into the sea, the waters shall be healed.desert: or, plain ⁹And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live: and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and every thing shall live whither the river cometh.rivers: Heb. two rivers Ezekiel 47:1-9 KJV

The measurement being being the total of 4000 cubits in this parable. This is the number of years, one cubit per year, from the very first temple reference to the point where this starts to happen.

Of course that reference was Jacob’s dream of a stairway to heaven at the Jubilee who’s 4000th anniversary hit in the spring of 2010. This date is not the resurrection directly, but the approximate date of the first event in the sequence given in Thessalonians. Jacob’s story from which this period is measured began a 20 year long adventure in Padan Aram. The last 12 of those 20 years is when his sons were born. This is an example of skew and it will replay again here. Just as Jacob went down to Padan Aram to work for his family, so too, will Jesus.

Years to raise the dead

Jacob’s 12 sons being born across 12 years are seen in further prophetic stories of this future era. The best is found here:

¹Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb ²down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. ³No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. ⁴They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. ⁵There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever. Revelation 22:1-5 NIV

¹And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. ²In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. ³And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: ⁴And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. ⁵And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever. Revelation 22:1-5 KJV

Here we see 12 crops, where each crop is usually something that happens once a year, with fruit from that crop yielded each month in each of those years. 144 total months of fruit. This contains the reference to the river of life from Ezekiel’s vision but it confirms the skew and that when we’ve placed the start of the 4000 years right we’ll have also found a story that takes 12 years for life.

Jacob’s story does that with the 12 years at the end of 20 as the time when his sons were born.

Auditable Date Report

These two clues support the math behind the following report. Jacob’s dream at Bethel was in the year 9001 from Adam. For our purposes here, as we always do, we’ll use the Passover date as our near-start-of-year date and base all calculations from that:

Of course Jacob’s sons were born in the last 12 of the following 20 years, or 9009 AA - 9020 AA. The 4000th anniversaries of those years are indicated in the following report. Note there is a leap month at 13014 that makes the following report uncertain by about 1 month. What is reported in the following report are simply the common Passover dates at the start of each Biblical year.

The following report runs out the anniversaries from the likely conception years as this fits the other stories better. Further tuning of these dates, likely +/- 1 year is possible given more study.

Jesus’ confirmation

Jesus references this same story and dates it himself when he raises Lazarus from the dead. The story takes an entire chapter but has its punch lines at the end:

²⁴Martha answered, "I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day."

²⁵Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; ²⁶and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"

²⁷"Yes, Lord," she told him, "I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world." John 11:24-27 NIV

²⁴Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. ²⁵Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: ²⁶And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? ²⁷She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world. John 11:24-27 KJV

To take part in this resurrection requires that we follow Jesus now in order to be raised from the dead then. Further references in the story provide the time clue. Lazarus has been dead 4 days.

¹⁷On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. John 11:17 NIV

¹⁷Then when Jesus came, he found that he had lain in the grave four days already. John 11:17 KJV

This follows the standard pattern of 1 day being as 1000 years. Of course the first to die as a believer was Abraham, his 4000th year anniversary from being placed in the tomb was the 1967 war in Jerusalem. We’re in the season at that point, but have not seen faith of the Jews, nor the resurrection of the dead. We’re headed for it soon. On to more...

Anniversary of Jesus’ Ascension

Anniversary dates of Jesus’ own ascension land in this period. His resurrection, a pattern for all, was the 25th of March, 31 AD on the Old Style calendar. Converting that to the Bible calendar and running forward 2000 years indicates the anniversary were we are in the season for another resurrection, and ascension which is what we are looking for:

Of course the ascension was 40 days later and is the primary indicated date for an ascension in this period as suggested by Thessalonians. The following is the date report for that 40th day:

Contrast this late fall 2028 date with the year that makes up the birth of the last of the twelve, given above. This ascension date is while Benjamin is being raised from the dead. This makes sense since Benjamin was born while the rest of the family was returning home from Aram. The last group to be raised is apparently happening while the rest have already started departing.

Noah’s flood Confirmation

The entire story of Noah’s ark contains a reference to this same period. It was God himself who gave Noah and his family the 7 day warning. Of course his speech follows the same rules, 1000 years for each day, so 7000 years from that event is also a flood like event. The math for the anticipated future date is simply 7000 years after the flood. The flood itself, when Noah was sealed inside, was on a precise known date: 6020/2/17 AA. Running 7000 days forward is given in the following report:

The Ark is a pattern object for the New Jerusalem. This 7000th anniversary date is not for Noah’s Ark, but God’s Ark or the New Jerusalem itself.

Conclusion

So, when is the Rapture?

After the resurrection of the dead, somewhere in or near the years 2028 or 2029. It appears to be spread out, with some already departing as the last of the dead are being raised to life. Jesus appears to have headed out in front of the rest of the race and is in the New Jerusalem as the rest arrive.