Knowing When Jesus Returns

Believe it or not, the Bible actually spells out the near approximate time of Jesus' return; it shows a clear sequence of events which lead up to it, so that we can KNOW His return is at hand, to within a several month period. There's no mystery here; mankind has made it difficult through private interpretations of prophecy that lend to confusion & uncertainty, which are not of God.

“Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.” -2 Peter 1:20.

“For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.” -1 Corinthians 14:33.

While it's true that we can't know the exact day & hour of Jesus' return (Matthew 24:36), the Bible is clear when it shows us that we will know the “season” of the end; and even though scripture says the Lord will come as a thief in the night, it also indicates that believers will be ready for it;

“So ye in like manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh, even at the door.” -Mark 13:29.

“And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” -Luke 21:28.

“2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night...4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. 5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.” -1 Thessalonians 5:2,4,5.

So today, people have become enamored by the much broadcast pretribulation rapture view, and in following it (though they are following men's ideas) they believe themselves clueless as to the time of rapture (a term not found in scripture; I prefer rescue, but often use “rapture” for familiarity), but frequently say that it could come “any time,” maybe even today. This is Biblically false on both accounts, for yes they can know the time is near, and that it cannot come anytime, but during the Lord's appointed time; which is AFTER the tribulation period, as we see here in Matthew 24:29-31;

“29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: 30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” -Bold type added for emphasis.

It wouldn't be so bad just to use the term rapture in place of the phrase “caught up” we find in

1 Thessalonians 4:17, but those holding the pretrib rapture view make this a separate event from Jesus' actual second coming; claiming that after rapturing the church, there will be a seven year tribulation period before Jesus returns to bring judgment at the Battle of Armageddon. This is why you often hear the term, “secret rapture,” because Jesus will not visibly appear when this happens.

Jesus, however, clearly states that this time will happen like it did with Noah, and with Lot, and He will rescue His own AND bring judgment on the same day;

“26 And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. 27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; 29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. 30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.” -Luke 17:26-30. Bold type was added.

“And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:” -2 Thessalonians 2:8. Bold type added again!

And so, Paul perceived that the Thessalonians were concerned about the coming Day of the Lord, and sought to comfort them; for in Matthew 24:21 Jesus said that at this time there would be,

“great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.”

Then after reassuring them that this feared time wasn't near, Paul shared that before this day would come, there would first be a falling away from the faith; and then that man of sin will be revealed, a false Christ (the Antichrist) who will exalt himself above all gods, and even claiming to be God. Then after explaining these things, Paul spelled it out by concluding in 2 Thessalonians 2:6;

“And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.”

We can see that the falling away spoken of has certainly gone on in earnest for many years, so now we await the revealing of this False Jesus; only then can we begin the countdown until Jesus' return, for it will come after the 3½ year reign of this imposter messiah. Can you now see the clarity of scripture on this matter?

-Remember that Jesus said plainly in Matthew 24:29-31 He would send angels to gather His elect AFTER the tribulation.

-Remember that Jesus clearly stated He would rescue His own AND bring judgment upon the ungodly the same day in Luke 17:26-30, just like with Noah and Lot (Genesis 7:11-13, 19:17-24).

-Scripture affirms the Lord's destruction of the False Jesus at His return in 2 Thessalonians 2:8.

-The time period for the False Christ will last for about 42 months, shown in Revelation 13:5.

When the Lord had shown me His forthright teachings on this subject, I thought it was marvelous! This is such a critical time in history that He didn't want His children struggling with uncertain speculation, or worry. There weren't the hidden meanings of prophecy we so often think of, just plain writing about what will happen. We'll have time to prepare, and that's what Jesus wants. You might also follow this link to another blog, Reconsideringthe Pretrib Rapture for more scripture.

We need to build our hope upon the sure foundation of God's Word, not the wishes of our flesh. After the Antichrist has been revealed to the world, there'll be about 3½ years left until we're home with our Savior! May God comfort you with these precious words of promise.

“2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” -John 14:2,3.

“24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? 25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.” -Romans 8:24,25

I also did some YouTube videos on this subject. They can be found at https://youtu.be/s2qFFFy9QK4 and https://youtube.com/shorts/d478DoOXYgc?feature=share

Fitting the Rapture into Scripture

“...if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” -The words of Jesus from John 14:3; bold type has been added.

Jesus sought to comfort His disciples with the words you read above, PROMISING that He will come again, and take them home to His Father's house to be with Him eternally.

Yet while there are numerous references to Jesus' return in the Bible, it's important to realize that the term “rapture” itself isn't found in the Bible, but has been verbally used to replace the “caught up” phrase from 1 Thessalonians 4:17 which says,

“Then 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.”

And because rapture isn't actually found in God's Word, this concept becomes an addition to it, which is strictly forbidden (Proverbs 30:5,6). You may also hear this view called a secret rapture, with many disappearing for no visible reason; yet the Bible declares that everyone will see Jesus at His return; saying, “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him...” -from Revelation 1:7.

The view of an additional “rapture” event is held by millions of people, and is popular because it's said to happen before the time of great tribulation Jesus spoke of in Matthew 24:21 when He said;

“For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.”

A rapture occurring prior to this tribulation period is simply known as, “the pretrib rapture.”

Obviously, it would be nice for anyone to avoid a time like this, although Romans 5:3-5 says,

“3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; 4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope: 5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”

And so the pretrib view states that Christians will be caught up into Heaven BEFORE a seven year tribulation period, with Jesus' actual return taking place after those seven years; yet the teachings of Jesus himself do not agree with this!

Our Lord makes it clear that His coming will be such as it was with Noah (Genesis 7:11-13), and with Lot in Genesis 19:17-25; that the rescue of His people and judgment of the ungodly will both come on the same day. It is well to read all of Luke 17:26-30, but these are verses 28-30 which say,

“28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; 29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. 30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.” Bold type was added for the “same day” emphasis.

2 Thessalonians 1:7-10 also has the same day focus, and Matthew 24:29-31 says our rescue comes AFTER the period of tribulation. This is an obvious problem for pretrib rapture proponents that declare a seven year separation between rescue & judgment!

Yet another difficulty arises in assuming there'll be a seven year tribulation period, but I think this comes from some mishandling of the 70 weeks prophecy in Daniel 9:24-27. This prophecy is well known, and it's long been well accepted that each “week” in this prophecy represents a seven year period, with the first 69 weeks (483 years) leading up to the time of Jesus, the Messiah. Therefore the first 69 weeks are past, and we await the fulfilling of the 70^th week, which many believe to be a seven year tribulation period.

But this view seems to miss details of the prophecy which reveals that Messsiah will be cut off, and in the MIDST of that 70th week He'll cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease; which Jesus did by becoming the sacrifice for our sins through His death on the cross; therefore by this we perceive that the 70th week of prophecy actually splits into 2 parts; the first half being the years of Jesus' ministry on earth, with the second half yet to come; when the imposter messiah will rule the world for that same period of time. In other words, we're really just waiting for the last 3½ years, not 7.

Many have long been told of a seven year tribulation, and may disagree with the 3½ year view; but in the more specific prophecies of the end times I've found nine references to an approximate 3½ year period, but NO references to a seven year period, like what you might expect to find for confirming the symbolic 7 years from the prophecy in Daniel.

These approximate 3½ year references are expressed in different ways, as follows;

Daniel 7:25: a time and times and the dividing of time. Daniel 12:7: a time, times, and a half.

Daniel 12:11: a thousand two hundred and ninety days.

Daniel 12:12: thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.

Revelation 11:2: forty and two months. Revelation 11:3: a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

Revelation 12:6: a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

Revelation 12:14: a time, and times, and half a time. Revelation 13:5: forty and two months.

God wanted us to be prepared for the troubling times that lie ahead, and His Word tells us plainly about what to expect related to His Son's return; in the end, the pretribulation rapture teaching is a result of one man's private interpretation of prophecy (2 Peter 1:20) through which our enemy means to hurt us, and we need to lay it aside. The Lord will give wisdom to all who ask Him for it (James 1:5); and I pray that God bless you in finding the truth from His Word.

Please check out our blog, Reconsidering the Pre-trib Rapture for more on Jesus' return.

“2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night...4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.” -1 Thessalonians 5:2,4.

“Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.” -Revelation 1:7. Bold type was added.