THE RAPTURE
We all know that God does what He does, no matter what we mere mortals may think of what He does.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,’ says the LORD. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9).
He can even shroud what should be obvious to us within a mystery and hide it in plain sight. God clearly says in His Word that after He created the earth He rested on the SEVENTH day (Genesis 2:2)… and one day with the Lord is as a thousand years (2 Peter 3:8).
“For a thousand years in Your sight are like yesterday when it is past, and like a watch in the night” (Psalm 90:4).
“But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (2 Peter 3:8).
God calls the millennial kingdom of Jesus Christ His rest:
“For we which have believed do enter into rest, as He said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into My rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. For He spoke in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all His works. And in this place again, If they shall enter into My rest. Seeing therefore it remains that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief” (Hebrews 4:3-6).
For reasons known only to God, He pre-determined 7,000 years of earthly human history – the first 6,000 years being current human history as we know it, and the last 1,000 years being the blessed kingdom of our God and Savior Jesus Christ, during which He will physically rule here on earth with a rod of iron from Jerusalem:
“Judah is a lion’s whelp; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He bows down, he lies down as a lion; and as a lion, who shall rouse him? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and to Him shall be the obedience of the people. Binding his donkey to the vine, and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine, He washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes. His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk” (Genesis 49:9-12).
God held the world’s population in check from the time of Christ until approximately the 19th century. However, from the 1800s until today, God has allowed world population to soar exponentially, as shown by the following statistics:
- .2 billion in A.D. 40
- .3 billion in 1000, (960 years later)
- .5 billion in 1500, (500 years later)
- 1 billion in 1804, (304 years later)
- 2 billion in 1927, (123 years later)
- 3 billion in 1960, (33 years later)
- 4 billion in 1974, (14 years later)
- 5 billion in 1987, (13 years later)
- 6 billion in 1999, (12 years later)
- 7 billion in 2011, (12 years later)
- Likely closer to 8 billion in 2019
Today, the world’s population is approximately 35 times greater than it was at the time of Christ. It was not until the technological means were firmly in place to propagate the gospel around the globe that God allowed world population to rocket skyward.
Well, I’m sure you smart people have come to the logical conclusion by now: There will be 6 days of work (6 thousand years) before the final day (one thousand years) of rest takes place during the millennial kingdom.
Here’s an excerpt from “In what year did Jesus die?” – from Got Questions.org
Much has happened on the world stage since the time of Christ, but nothing has ever eclipsed the magnitude and meaning of what happened in AD 30—the death and resurrection of the Savior of the world. – source
As concluded in the excellent article from Got Questions, the Lord Jesus was crucified in approximately AD 30. As such, the approximate year of 2030 will mark 2,000 years from the time of Christ’s death and resurrection (until the year 2030).
Based upon God’s Word, that means that His rest (millennial kingdom) will begin sometime around 2030. Since the Tribulation is 7 years long (Daniel 9:27; Revelation 11:2-3; Daniel 12:11-12) and… 2030 minus 7 is 2023… that means that the Rapture will very likely take place by 2023.
If the Lord chooses to add the seven years remaining years onto the end of the 2,000 years (Age of Grace), then the Rapture would likely happen no later than 2030. Either way, it’s likely no more than 4-11 years until we meet the Lord in the air.
Side note: Evidence exists that shows that approximately 200 years are missing from the Hebrew calendar currently in use.
Another interesting point is that it may well be that God chose 2,000 years to elapse from the time of Christ’s death until His glorious return and rule in order to represent the fact that Jesus rose from the grave on the third day!
God clearly says that no one knows the day or the hour of His return (Matthew 24:36). However, He did tell us that we could know the season, and a season clearly takes place once a year:
The Parable of the Fig Tree (Luke 21:29-32)
“Then He spoke to them a parable: ‘Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. When they are already budding, you see and know for yourselves that summer is now near. So you also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near. Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all things take place.’”
Likewise, we should be able to discern the approximate year (all complete by 2030) of the Lord’s return and His judgment upon the earth:
Discern the Time (Luke 12:54-56)
“Then He also said to the multitudes, ‘Whenever you see a cloud rising out of the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming’; and so it is. And when you see the south wind blow, you say, ‘There will be hot weather’; and there is. Hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern this time?’”
It won’t be long until we who believe are finally at rest from this weary earth!
“For we who have believed do enter that rest. There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His” (Hebrews 4:3a, 9-10)