Another Rapture Failure

This time, it was a preacher from South Africa who said Jesus told him He’d return on September 23, 2025. He went online, and told people, and it spread, especially on TikTok. Some believed it, some mocked it and when it didn’t happen, there was embarrassment. This preacher then held a livestream that night, trying to explain why no one was being raptured. He said maybe it was happening later, maybe at midnight. But it didn’t happen.

 

The South African preacher who was at the centre of this was a chap named Joshua Mhlakela. He claimed to have received a divine vision in which Jesus told him the rapture would take place during Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, coinciding with the Feast of Trumpets. Mhlakela’s prophecy gained widespread attention online, especially through a viral interview on the Centtwinz TV YouTube channel.

Despite his certainty, he said he was “a billion per cent sure”, the prediction, of course, didn’t come to pass, leading to public reactions ranging from satire to disappointment.

Here is a link to his video.

 

Some of this bloke’s followers took it so seriously they reportedly quit their jobs or sold possessions in anticipation.

You’ve got to give them credit for acting on what they believed. But the problem wasn’t their actions—it was the false hope they were trusting in. That’s why truth matters.

We need to know what God’s doing and where to put our hope.

 

The Bible says clearly: no man knows the day or the hour.

Mark 13:32 says not even the angels or the Son—only the Father. Matthew 24:36 says the same. So when someone sets a date, they’re going against Scripture. Some try to twist it, saying “He said day and hour, not month or year.” That’s silly. Jesus meant no one knows the exact time.

But here’s something vitally  important. Matthew 24 is not talking about the rapture of the church.

It’s about Israel and the second coming of Christ to the earth.

So many people get confused and think Jesus is talking about the rapture there—but He’s not and that’s a big part of the problem.

People don’t understand the rapture teaching, so they mock it, misteach it.

If we’re going to teach it, teach it right and especially in the correct context. Don’t set dates. That’s dangerous. The Bible warns against it. People who do so should be marked and silenced. That may sound harsh, but this isn’t a game. If you stand up and say, “I divide God’s word rightly according to 2 Timothy 2:15,” and then predict the rapture, you’re missing the point, hurting the ministry and confusing people.

 

We believe in Jesus’ return and we hope for it, but He hasn’t told us the day.

If someone claims to know it, they’re either lacking discernment or don’t know the Bible well enough. And that disqualifies them from teaching.

Even if they get other things right, they need to give it up because every time a crazy rapture date prediction fails it opens the Bible up for ridicule.

So let’s teach the truth. Let’s keep our hope in Christ—not in dates.

 

The rapture is real. But it’s not on our calendar. It’s in God’s hands.

We can never set a rapture date. I believe in the rapture or raptures, plural, but the Bible doesn’t give us the day or hour.

I am, and I hope you are, a Bible believer who takes Scripture literally. Just because someone misreads the Bible doesn’t mean the Bible’s wrong. The Bible’s always right. If it truly is God’s Word it’s impossible for it to be in error, it’s people who’re wrong.

The Bible never gives the date of Christ’s return. So when someone claims they know it, they’re either foolish or lacking biblical sense. They should be marked, shamed, and silenced, but they never are. They get second and third chances and people keep listening and that’s the real problem, listeners.

If nobody listened to that stuff and stopped donating to these false teachers they’d fade away.

 

In 1844, William Miller, a Baptist evangelist, predicted that Jesus would return for his second coming. When this didn’t happen on the date, October 22, 1844, it resulted in what was called the “Great Disappointment,” and was a period of confusion and despair for his followers, known as the Millerites. The failed prediction and subsequent events led to the formation of new religious groups, including the Seventh-day Adventist Church

 

End-of-the-world predictions aren’t just Christian. Secular folks do it too—global warming, climate collapse, you name it. But Christians get mocked more, especially dispensational Christians.

 

Here’s just a few failed predictions:

• 1000 AD: Pope Sylvester II said the world would end. Wrong.
• 1033 AD: People thought Christ would return 1000 years after His death. Wrong.
• 1284 AD: Pope Innocent III predicted the end based on Islam’s rise. Wrong.
• 1658 AD: Columbus calculated the creation date and said the world would end. Wrong.
• 1914: Charles Taze Russell (the Jehovah’s Witnesses founder) predicted the end. He was wrong multiple times.
• 1981: Even the greatly respected Chuck Smith said the world would end. Wrong.
• 1982: Pat Robertson predicted October or November. Wrong.
• 1988: Edgar Whisenant a former NASA rocket engineer turned prophecy teacher, wrote “88 Reasons Why…” Wrong.
• 1989: Peter Ruckman. Wrong.
• 1994: Harold Camping. Wrong.
• 2007: Pat Robertson again. Wrong.
• 2011: Harold Camping again. He was a preacher who predicted a two-part rapture event for 2011: a spiritual judgment on May 21, 2011, followed by a physical rapture and the end of the world on October 21, 2011. Wrong.
• 2012: Mayan calendar panic. Wrong.
• 2015: John Hagee and Mark Biltz predicted that a series of four consecutive total lunar eclipses, known as a blood moon tetrad, between 2014 and 2015 would be a sign of end-times events, as described in the Bible. Their prophecy connected these eclipses, which coincided with Jewish holidays, to significant events throughout history and to events prophesied for the future. These predictions did not come to pass, of course. Wrong.
• 2017: Numerous YouTube prophets using Revelation 12. Wrong.
• 2025: Joshua Mhlakela. Another failed rapture prediction for 23rd September 2025. Wrong again.
• Today: The internet and social media is full of misleading, uniformed and often diabolical teachings and unfortunately that’s rubbed off on many churches.

 

Every time, this happens people get hurt and that’s why it matters. It’s not just silly—it’s serious.

The rapture is biblical, but it’s not tied to a calendar date so stop setting dates and stop listening to those who do. The Bible says no man knows the day or hour (Mark 13:32, Matthew 24:36). That’s clear. Let’s teach the truth and not chase predictions. Let’s keep our hope in Christ—not in false teachers or the calendar.

 

Let’s define what scripture means by “rapture”.

The word “rapture” isn’t in our English Bible, but that doesn’t mean it’s not biblical.

Words like “Trinity” and “millennium” aren’t in the Bible either, but the ideas are.

In 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 Paul says,

For 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: 

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. 

 

That’s the rapture. The Latin Bible used the word “rapturo,” which means “caught up.” So when someone says that rapture isn’t in the Bible, it is. It’s in the Latin bible and in the English bible as ‘caught up.’

 

This passage doesn’t tell us when the rapture happens—just that it does happen. So we can’t use this verse alone to prove a pre, mid or post tribulation rapture. It’s not strong enough for that, but it does clearly teach that the church will be caught up to meet the Lord.

 

If we believe the Bible, we believe in miracles. We believe in a worldwide flood, talking donkeys, floating axe heads, and Jesus pulling a coin from a fish’s mouth.

So believing that God can catch up His church into the air isn’t hard. The world mocks it, and even some Christians do, but the Bible says it’s a fact.

We either believe the bible or we don’t. Those who don’t have far more pressing and serious problems than trying to understand the rapture.

 

Now, we need to be aware that there’s more than one “catching up” in the Bible.

1 Thessalonians 4 is a resurrection and a translation. Translation means a sudden change of place or form. Jesus was transfigured—His figure changed. That’s what “trans” means: change. So when believers are caught up, they’re moved and changed. They don’t fly. It’s a sudden and instantaneous physical change of form and location.

 

1 Corinthians 15 is about resurrection.

In 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 we read,

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. 

 

The fact that this was a mystery means that it wasn’t known before. The rapture is a mystery revealed to Paul. It’s a resurrection of the dead in Christ and a translation of the living. That’s what the Bible teaches.

It means not everyone will die. Some will be changed instantly. That’s a big deal. Most people think you die, then face judgment and resurrection. But Paul says, “Here’s a mystery: some won’t die. They’ll be changed.” That’s a translation—a change of form and location and it happens “in the twinkling of an eye.” That’s fast.

The “twinkling of an eye” is often interpreted as an immeasurably brief instant far faster than the 300–400 milliseconds of a blink, possibly as quick as the time it takes light to enter and reflect within the eye, or even the speed of thought.

 

At the last trumpet, the dead will be raised incorruptible—that’s resurrection—and the living will be changed. So both groups get glorified incorruptible bodies, but the living don’t die first. They’re just changed. That’s what we call the rapture.

 

1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 talks about almost instantaneous change of location or being “caught up” to meet the Lord in the air. So between these two passages, we see the rapture is both a resurrection and a translation. The dead rise, the living are changed, and both meet the Lord.

 

Now, there’re other raptures in the Bible, other times God took living people to be with Him.

Look at Genesis 5:24.

And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him. 

No death is mentioned. God just took him. That’s a rapture—a living man taken to be with God.

 

Then there’s Elijah in 2 Kings 2:11,

And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.

 

Elisha, who was the successor to Elijah in the prophetic ministry to Israel, saw it happen. Elijah didn’t die—he was taken. That’s another rapture.

 

Some say Enoch and Elijah are pictures of the church being raptured. Maybe, maybe not. But the point is, God has taken people to heaven before. It’s not new. First Thessalonians 4 is just another example—this time for the church.

 

Even Ezekiel had moments like this.

Ezekiel 3:12 says,

Then the spirit took me up, and I heard behind me a voice of a great rushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of the LORD from his place. 

 

It’s not the same as being taken to heaven, but it’s the same kind of language—being lifted, moved by God. So when we talk about rapture, we’re talking about God taking someone—changing them, moving them, lifting them up.

 

So we shouldn’t get hung up on the word “rapture.” We should instead focus on what Scripture says. The church, the Body of Christ, will be caught up. That’s real and it’s biblical and anyone who takes the Bible seriously understands that.

Many people mock the idea of the rapture but the truth is, the Bible shows God taking people up again and again. You can argue about when the rapture happens, but you can’t deny it’s in Scripture.

 

Acts 8:39 is another example.

And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing. 

 

Philip baptizes the Ethiopian eunuch, and then the Spirit catches Philip away. He disappears and shows up in Azotus. That’s not heaven, but it’s still a sudden move—God did it. That’s also a form of rapture.

Paul talks about another one in 2 Corinthians 12. He says he knew a man caught up to the third heaven. He doesn’t name the man, but the language is clear—“caught up.” Same words as 1 Thessalonians 4. That’s a rapture. It wasn’t the church. It wasn’t all believers, just one man. But it still happened. So there’s more than one rapture in the Bible.

 

Revelation 4:1 shows John hearing a voice like a trumpet saying, “Come up hither.” Immediately, he’s in heaven. That’s a change of location, another rapture, so we shouldn’t get stuck thinking rapture only applies to the church. God raptures people.

 

Revelation 11:12 gives another example. Two witnesses—likely Moses and Elijah—come to Jerusalem, preach, do miracles, and get killed. Their bodies lie in the street. Then God raises them, and they hear a voice saying, “Come up hither.” They go up to heaven in a cloud. That’s a rapture too.

 

In Revelation 12:5 there’s another one. A woman (symbolizing Israel) gives birth to a man child—Jesus—who is caught up to God and His throne. That’s Christ’s ascension, seen in Acts 1:9. The disciples were talking to Jesus, then He went up, and they just stood there looking until angels told them to stop. That’s another rapture.

 

So what is rapture? It’s when God takes someone—alive or dead—and moves them, often to heaven. It’s a resurrection and a translation, not just one event. It’s not just for the church. It’s all through the Bible and therein lies the problem.

Very few people, including the majority of rapture teachers, don’t see the whole bible as the revealed plan of God for mankind. Most rapture teachers use isolated verses to try to prove their point of view, verses like;

 

1 Thessalonians 4:16–17, 1 Corinthians 15:51–52, John 14:1–3, Philippians 3:20–21, Titus 2:13 and, of course, Matthew chapter 24 among others.

1 Thessalonians 4 and 1 Corinthians 15 are the strongest verses relating to this event with 1 Thessalonians 4 emphasizing the change of location and 1 Corinthians 15 emphasizing the change of form.

Together, these verses form the foundation of the rapture doctrine and while they certainly don’t specify timing, they affirm the event itself.

Many will use 1 Thessalonians 5:9 to place the timing of the rapture. It reads,

For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, 

 

This verse is used to place the rapture event before the pouring out of God’s wrath on the earth in the tribulation. Some even go so far as to use this verse as proof that the rapture event occurs in the middle of the seven year tribulation  because  the first 3½ years are seen as tribulation, but not God’s wrath.

The seventh trumpet in Revelation 11:15–18 marks a turning point where God’s wrath begins, and the church is removed.

So to those who think this way, the rapture’s not before the tribulation begins, but before the worst part it, or the Great Tribulation, while the pre tribulation believers see the whole tribulation event as God’s wrath.

 

The folk who believe the rapture event happens after the great tribulation invariably use Matthew 24:29–31 which reads

Immediately after the tribulation of those days… they shall see the Son of Man coming… and he shall send his angels… and they shall gather together his elect…

 

These folk believe the rapture event and the second coming of Christ are the same event.

 

Now, there’re many people who defend the rapture badly.

I believe in a pre-tribulation rapture, that is that the church is caught up before the tribulation and the pouring out God’s judgment and wrath upon a God rejecting world  and before the appearing of the figure known as the Antichrist, the white horseman as revealed in Revelation 6:2.

But we’ve got to defend that with Scripture, not cartoons or culture.

 

Too many people get their ideas from TikTok or movies or series like Left Behind, that sold millions of books. But it’s fiction. Even the writers say it’s not Scripture. It’s based on the idea of the rapture, but it doesn’t follow the Bible even though many people believe it does because of course they don’t read the bible themselves.

 

Another bad reason to believe in the rapture is escapism. Some accuse Christians who teach the rapture correctly as teaching that we don’t care about the world because we’re just waiting to leave it. That’s not true. We care about truth, about living right, and about sharing the gospel. But we also believe God will one day take His church out before judgment comes.

 

And don’t believe anyone who tells you the rapture can be dated. Acts 1:7 says it’s not for us to know the times or seasons. God decides when it happens. It’s not based on how good or bad the world is. It’s not triggered by politics or disasters. It’s God’s call, in His time.

Let’s stick with the Bible rather than build our faith on movies, trends, traditions or world circumstances.

 

Some folks think believing in the rapture means just sitting around waiting for God to take us out of this rotten world. That’s not true. If we’re saved 2 Corinthians 5:20 says we’re ambassadors for Christ.

We don’t belong here, but we’re here for a reason—to represent heaven and preach truth. Ambassadors don’t ignore the world—they speak up, they influence, they serve. We’re not here to escape—we’re here to work until He comes.

We’re to do what Paul did in Ephesians 3:9,

And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: 

 

We’re here to carry out 1 Timothy 2:1-3

I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. 

For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; 

 

1 Timothy 5:8  tells us,

But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.

That’s our duty—not just waiting for the rapture.

 

Another bad reason to say that the rapture is near is because we see things getting bad and yes, the world is wicked and we know it’s worse than ever.

But Paul says in 2 Timothy 3:1,

This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 

 

He wrote that 2,000 years ago. He described people as proud, unthankful, unholy, disobedient, and much more and all that fits perfectly today. But it fitted back then too. The world’s been wicked for a long time. We shouldn’t act like it just started.

 

If you feel overwhelmed by evil, maybe turn off the news and stop scrolling endless social media. Headlines and posts aren’t Scripture. We’re responsible for our lives, our family, our church, the body of Christ of which we’re a member. We’re not responsible for the whole world. Let’s focus on what we can do and not get anxious about what we can’t do.

 

Many people use Matthew 24 to try to prove the rapture and that’s a mistake. It comes from an almost complete misunderstanding of scripture an in particular God’s prophetic timeline.

Verse 36 of Matthew 24 says no one knows the day or hour. Verse 37 compares it to Noah’s day—people eating, drinking, marrying. Then the flood came and took them away.

We need to recognise that’s judgment, not rapture.

Verse 40 says “one taken, one left.” Again, that’s judgment. In Noah’s day, the ones taken were destroyed. Only eight were saved.

Judgement and wrath, the opposite to Grace.

Matthew 24 is not about the rapture of the church, the Body of Christ, being caught up to meet the Lord. It’s about people being judged and removed when Christ returns.

 

Matthew makes it clear that Jesus came to the lost sheep of the house of Israel and in Matthew 10:5-6,

These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 

 

Many are unclear of the importance of seeing and understanding that Jesus’s earthly ministry was to Israel fulfilling prophecy and promise to Israel, God’s chosen nation.

 

The body of Christ was a mystery revealed later to Paul after Jesus’s death burial and resurrection, Ephesians 3:3–6.

It didn’t exist in Jesus’ earthly ministry. So when people say Matthew 24 or Revelation 4:1 is the rapture, they’re misreading it.

Revelation 4 says John was caught up to heaven, but John wasn’t part of the body of Christ—he was one of the twelve apostles, promised to judge Israel’s twelve tribes (Matthew 19:28). That’s not the church, the Body of Christ, being raptured.

This isn’t just a point of view. The bible clearly draws this picture when we look at the whole story and not just single verses. Many never see this whole picture because they don’t read the whole book.

Bible knowledge today is too often received from social media reels or memes or television preachers. That so called knowledge is often gained from others who also don’t read the whole book.

 

Single verse proofs don’t build strong doctrine. If our whole teaching stands on one unclear verse, it’s shaky.

Even verses like 2 Timothy 2:15 or 1 Thessalonians 1:10 help support the idea of the rapture, but they don’t prove it by themselves alone.

1 Thessalonians 1:10 says Jesus “delivered us from the wrath to come.” That’s true—we’re saved from wrath because we’re in Christ and Romans 5:9 reaffirms this. But that verse doesn’t say when or how we’re delivered. It’s about salvation, not timing.

 

Titus 2:13 says we’re “looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.”

That’s a good verse. But again, it doesn’t mention heaven or being caught up. It just says look for His appearing. That could mean His return to earth, which Israel was also told to expect. So while it fits the rapture idea, it doesn’t define it or prove it on its own strength.

 

1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 is the clearest rapture passage: “caught up together… to meet the Lord in the air.” That’s the rapture. But even that doesn’t say when it happens. So using it to prove a pre-tribulation rapture doesn’t work by itself.

 

We believe in the rapture not to escape trouble, but because it’s part of God’s plan.

Paul never taught that we avoid suffering. In fact, in Romans 5:3–4 he said tribulation builds patience and hope.

2 Corinthians 12:9 says that God’s grace is enough for our trials. So we don’t teach that the rapture as a way to dodge hard times. That’s not biblical.

 

2 Thessalonians 2:2–3 warns believers not to be shaken or deceived. Paul says the “day of Christ” won’t come until there’s a falling away and the man of sin (Antichrist) is revealed. That’s future judgment. Some try to twist this to fit their rapture timeline, even changing the Bible to make it work. That’s dangerous.

 

The truth is, many Christians have either lost sight of or have never understood the real foundation for the rapture.

It’s not built on one or two verses. It’s built on a wide understanding of the mystery of the church, the body of Christ, and God’s purpose for it along with the understanding of God’s dealings and His promises to Israel and who and what the “remnant” is.

Failing to understand Israel’s time line and where that nation is at present on that timeline and who the remnant are, will ensure our viewpoint of the rapture and the second coming of our Lord is sketchy at best.

 

So yes, the rapture is real. But let’s teach it right. Let’s not rely on weak or cherry picked verses or cultural ideas. Let’s build our case from the full counsel of God’s Word.

That’s how we help others see the truth and avoid confusion.

 

Some folks teach that the rapture must happen before anything else, like the falling away in 2 Thessalonians 2. But that verse doesn’t say the rapture comes first. Some twist the word “falling away” to mean “going up,” like a rapture. That’s not what the text says. If that’s our only proof, it’s weak.

 

So what’s the strongest proof of a special rapture for the church? It’s the difference between prophecy and mystery.

That’s the key.

It’s in the understanding of Hebrews 1:1-2 which tells us that God has spoken to man in divers manners at sundry times.

God’s character, who He is is unchanging but the ways He’s dealt with and communicated with man have most definitely changed.

Most Christians don’t separate the times when the Lord dealt with man through prophecy and when He dealt with man through the mystery.

Failing to be aware of this change is the cause of confusion and error in the Body of Christ, especially where the doctrine of the rapture and the Kingdom of God is concerned.

 

The times of prophecy is virtually everything in the Old Testament. Then in Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and early Acts, we see the partial fulfillment of prophecy in the coming of the long prophesied Messiah to set up the also long prophesied Kingdom on earth over which the Messiah would rule with the restored nation of Israel.

It’s a partial fulfillment because that Kingdom under the reign of Christ was never fulfilled. It was never fulfilled because the conditions of its fulfillment were never met.

That condition was faith.

Israel had to believe that Jesus Christ was the prophesied Messiah and they had to accept Him.

Not only did they not believe Jesus was the Messiah, they rejected Him continually in spite of all the proof positives and the clear prophecies in scripture.

They murdered Him and in the cruelest of ways, by crucifixion.

 

As a result we see an interlude to the prophecy timeline where salvation is offered freely by grace, through faith, to all men, Jew and Gentile.

The time of mystery is what was injected into this interlude in prophecy. It’s that period that began with the stoning to death of a powerful disciple, Stephen, who, in Acts 7, zealously preached to the Jews about their past and current disobedience to the Word of God.

It was virtually the last straw in Israel’s continued rejection of God and His promises that where, up until now, waiting to be fulfilled as soon as Israel believed.

After the death of Stephen Jesus Christ revealed a great mystery to a zealous persecutor of the early church, Saul, who the Lord miraculously saved and who became Paul the apostle to the church, the Body of Christ. The Word of God tells us about that from Acts chapter 9.

 

This mystery had been kept secret by God since the before the world began and we see this in Romans 11:25, Romans 16:25, 1 Corinthians 2:7, 1 Corinthians 15:51, Ephesians 1:9, Ephesians 3:3-4, Ephesians 3:9, Ephesians 5:32, Ephesians 6:19, Colossians 2:2, Colossians 4:3, 2, 1 Corinthians 9:17, Ephesians 1:10, Ephesians 3:2, Colossians 1:25 and in many other places.

God always knew this dispensation would happen but He never revealed it prior to Paul except in types and shadows. He effectively gave the nation of Israel every possible opportunity to walk into it’s promises of greatness and into the incredible Kingdom on earth, the Kingdom Jesus Himself said was at hand with His coming in Matthew 3:2, 4:17, 10:7, Mark 1:15 and Luke 21:31 and other places.

 

Then we see the prophetic timeline continue again in the so named Jewish epistles or the tribulation epistles of Hebrews to Revelation.

These letters contain doctrine, warnings, and encouragement relevant to those living during the Tribulation, a time of global judgment and persecution, directly opposite to the current time where God’s distributing grace to all men, not judgment and wrath.

God is not dispensing grace through faith alone and judgement and wrath at the same time. How could he?

Judgment and wrath are most definitely coming but the dispensation of God’s free grace to all men, Jew and Gentile will end first.

The new creature that Paul’s epistles reveal, the Body of Christ who are not appointed to wrath will no longer exist on earth and the period of free grace to all men by faith alone will be gone forever.

These Jewish or Tribulation epistles are not written to the Church as we know it today, the Body of Christ, but to Tribulation saints, including Jewish and Gentile believers who come to faith during that period.

 

So, the whole issue of the rapture, the catching away of the Body of Christ is not revealed in one or two verses. It’s a picture that’s built up of an understanding of the whole counsel of God.

Paul tells the Ephesian elders this in Acts 20:27,

For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. 

 

The whole counsel of God, the Bible as we have it today, includes the knowledge of both the history of and God’s promises to Israel. Without this knowledge you and I are hopelessly unable to accurately define God’s plan for the future.

 

The Bible teaches multiple resurrections and rapture is a form of resurrection.

In John 5:28-29 Jesus says,

Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. 

 

1 Corinthians 15 the great resurrection chapter says Christ rose first, then those who are His at His coming, then the end.

Revelation 20:5 talks of “the first resurrection.” So there’s more than one resurrection.

The issue is timing. If there are different resurrections, we need to know which one is ours.

That’s where rightly dividing the word and understanding the whole counsel of God comes in.

 

Paul says in Galatians 3:28 that the church is a new creature, not Jew or Gentile. Let’s read,

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

 

However, Peter preached prophecy spoken since the world began as we see in Acts 3:21

Whom (Jesus) the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. 

 

But Paul preached mystery kept secret since the world began in Romans 16:25.

Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, 

 

That’s how we know the church is not Israel.

 

Israel has a calendar. The church doesn’t. That’s why using Jewish feast days like the Feast of Trumpets to predict the rapture is wrong.

These people say that Passover was fulfilled by Christ’s death, Unleavened Bread by His burial, Firstfruits by His resurrection, and Pentecost in Acts 2. So the Feast of Trumpets, the rapture, must be next. Wrong.

Those feasts were given to Israel. The church isn’t Israel. The Feast of Trumpets was a call to repentance before the Day of Atonement. It wasn’t about going to heaven. It was about Israel remembering their covenant and preparing to deal with sin. That’s not the church’s calling.

 

Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:1–5 that we don’t need to know the times and seasons. Why? Because we’re not in darkness. We’re not part of the night—the time of wrath and judgment.

We’re in the day. That’s dispensational truth. The church isn’t appointed to wrath (1 Thessalonians 5:9). We’re not waiting for judgment—we’re waiting to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:17).

 

Paul warns in Galatians 4:10 and Colossians 2:16 not to get caught up in holy days, months, and seasons. That’s Israel’s program, not ours. If a ministry is focused on calculating dates and times, Paul says it’s off track. Our calling is to preach Christ, not guess calendars.

 

So yes, the rapture is real. But it’s not based on feast days or weak verses. It’s based on rightly dividing prophecy and mystery. The church has a heavenly hope, not an earthly calendar. That’s the foundation of the pre-tribulation rapture.

The Great Tribulation in Matthew 24 is called “Jacob’s trouble”—it’s for Israel. The church doesn’t fulfill prophecy. We’re a new creature in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17), not Israel.

 

That’s why the rapture of the church is before the tribulation. Not just because of verses like 1 Thessalonians 1:10 (“where it says we’re delivered from the wrath to come”), but because wrath is part of prophecy, but today we live in a time of grace.

God doesn’t pour out wrath and grace at the same time. Today, He’s giving grace to the whole world. In the tribulation, He gives wrath. That’s a different time, a different people, a different purpose.

 

Paul says we’re ambassadors of peace (2 Corinthians 5:20). We preach the gospel of grace. But when God starts working through Israel again to bring His kingdom by force, He stops working through His ambassadors. That means the church is removed. If the church stayed through the tribulation, it would have to stop doing its mission. That doesn’t fit.

 

There are many resurrections and raptures in the Bible. The church’s rapture is different from Israel’s resurrection. The Second Coming is different from our catching away. Why? Because the people are different. The times are different. The purpose is different. That’s why rightly dividing prophecy and mystery really matters. It’s comparing Romans 16:25 to Acts 3:21.

 

If we don’t separate Israel and the church, grace and wrath, prophecy and mystery, all we’ll get is a mixture of the two which’ll only bring confusion and error.

When we learn Paul, the apostle of grace’s message, and rightly divide him from Peter, James, and John, who preach to Israel, we see clearly that the church has a special rapture before the tribulation.