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:

46 First Thessalonians 4:16-19
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 that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up 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.

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:

12 Ezekiel 47:1-9
¹And he brought me back 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 was toward the east;) and the waters came down from under, from the right side of the house, on the south of the altar.
²Then he brought me out by the way of the gate northward, and led me round by the way without unto the outer gate, by the way of the gate that looketh toward the east; and, behold, there ran out waters on the right side.

³When the man went forth eastward with the line in his hand, he measured a thousand cubits, and he caused me to pass through the waters, waters that were to the ankles.
⁴Again he measured a thousand, and caused me to pass through the waters, waters that were to the knees. Again he measured a thousand, and caused me to pass through the waters, waters that were to the loins.
⁵Afterward he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not pass through; for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed through.

⁶And he said unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen this? Then he brought me, and caused me to return to the bank of the river.
⁷Now when I had returned, behold, upon the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other.
⁸Then said he unto me, These waters issue forth toward the eastern region, and shall go down into the Arabah; and they shall go toward the sea; into the sea shall the waters go which were made to issue forth; and the waters shall be healed.
⁹And it shall come to pass, that every living creature which swarmeth, in every place whither the rivers come, shall live; and there shall be a very great multitude of fish; for these waters are come thither, and the waters of the sea shall be healed, and everything shall live whithersoever the river cometh.

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 hits 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:

66 Revelation 22:1-5
¹And he showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb,
²in the midst of the street thereof. And on this side of the river and on that was the tree of life, bearing twelve manner of fruits, yielding its fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
³And there shall be no curse any more: and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be therein: and his servants shall serve him;
⁴and they shall see his face; and his name shall be on their foreheads.
⁵And there shall be night no more; and they need no light of lamp, neither light of sun; for the Lord God shall give them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.

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:

Report on the Resurrection of the Dead
Day	Bible Date	Modern Date	Roman Date	Number
Jacob’s Dream Date
Sun	9001/1/14 AA	4 Jan -1985 NS	20 Apr 1512 BAUC	AAN: 3283214
Sun	-499/1/14 FE	21 Jan -1986 OS	20 Apr 2265 BC	JDN: 996057
4000 years from there
Mon	13001/1/14 AA	1 Mar 2010 NS	16 Feb 2763 AUC	AAN: 4742414
Mon	3501/1/14 FE	16 Feb 2009 OS	16 Feb 2010 AD	JDN: 2455257

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.

12 years of the Resurrection of the Dead
Day	Bible Date	Modern Date	Roman Date	Number
Crop Number 1
Wed	13008/1/14 AA	22 Feb 2017 NS	9 Feb 2770 AUC	AAN: 4744964
Wed	3508/1/14 FE	9 Feb 2016 OS	9 Feb 2017 AD	JDN: 2457807
Crop Number 2
Sat	13009/1/14 AA	17 Feb 2018 NS	4 Feb 2771 AUC	AAN: 4745324
Sat	3509/1/14 FE	4 Feb 2017 OS	4 Feb 2018 AD	JDN: 2458167
Crop Number 3
Tue	13010/1/14 AA	12 Feb 2019 NS	30 Jan 2772 AUC	AAN: 4745684
Tue	3510/1/14 FE	30 Jan 2018 OS	30 Jan 2019 AD	JDN: 2458527
Crop Number 4
Fri	13011/1/14 AA	7 Feb 2020 NS	25 Jan 2773 AUC	AAN: 4746044
Fri	3511/1/14 FE	25 Jan 2019 OS	25 Jan 2020 AD	JDN: 2458887
Crop Number 5
Mon	13012/1/14 AA	1 Feb 2021 NS	19 Jan 2774 AUC	AAN: 4746404
Mon	3512/1/14 FE	19 Jan 2020 OS	19 Jan 2021 AD	JDN: 2459247
Crop Number 6
Thu	13013/1/14 AA	27 Jan 2022 NS	14 Jan 2775 AUC	AAN: 4746764
Thu	3513/1/14 FE	14 Jan 2021 OS	14 Jan 2022 AD	JDN: 2459607
Crop Number 7
Sun	13014/1/14 AA	22 Jan 2023 NS	9 Jan 2776 AUC	AAN: 4747124
Sun	3514/1/14 FE	9 Jan 2022 OS	9 Jan 2023 AD	JDN: 2459967
Crop Number 8
Wed	13014/13/14 AA	17 Jan 2024 NS	4 Jan 2777 AUC	AAN: 4747484
Wed	3514/13/14 FE	4 Jan 2023 OS	4 Jan 2024 AD	JDN: 2460327
Crop Number 9
Sat	13015/12/14 AA	11 Jan 2025 NS	29 Dec 2777 AUC	AAN: 4747844
Sat	3515/12/14 FE	29 Dec 2024 OS	29 Dec 2024 AD	JDN: 2460687
Crop Number 10
Tue	13016/12/14 AA	6 Jan 2026 NS	24 Dec 2778 AUC	AAN: 4748204
Tue	3516/12/14 FE	24 Dec 2025 OS	24 Dec 2025 AD	JDN: 2461047
Crop Number 11
Fri	13017/12/14 AA	1 Jan 2027 NS	19 Dec 2779 AUC	AAN: 4748564
Fri	3517/12/14 FE	19 Dec 2026 OS	19 Dec 2026 AD	JDN: 2461407
Crop Number 12
Mon	13018/12/14 AA	27 Dec 2027 NS	14 Dec 2780 AUC	AAN: 4748924
Mon	3518/12/14 FE	14 Dec 2027 OS	14 Dec 2027 AD	JDN: 2461767

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:

40 John 11:24-27
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 on me, though he die, yet shall he live;
²⁶and whosoever liveth and believeth on me shall never die. Believest thou this?
²⁷She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I have believed that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, even he that cometh into the world.

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.

40 John 11:17
¹⁷So when Jesus came, he found that he had been in the tomb four days already.

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:

Jesus’ Passion + 2000 years
Day	Bible Date	Modern Date	Roman Date	Number
Jesus’ resurrection
Sun	11019/10/11 AA	23 Mar 31 NS	25 Mar 784 AUC	AAN: 4019621
Sun	1519/10/11 FE	25 Mar 31 OS	25 Mar 31 AD	JDN: 1732464
2000 years later
Thu	13019/10/11 AA	19 Oct 2028 NS	6 Oct 2781 AUC	AAN: 4749221
Thu	3519/10/11 FE	6 Oct 2028 OS	6 Oct 2028 AD	JDN: 2462064

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:

Jesus’ Ascension + 2000 years
Day	Bible Date	Modern Date	Roman Date	Number
Mon	13019/11/20 AA	27 Nov 2028 NS	14 Nov 2781 AUC	AAN: 4749260
Mon	3519/11/20 FE	14 Nov 2028 OS	14 Nov 2028 AD	JDN: 2462103

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 the Lord 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:

7000th anniversary of Noah’s Flood
Day	Bible Date	Modern Date	Roman Date	Number
Thu	13020/2/17 AA	22 Feb 2029 NS	9 Feb 2782 AUC	AAN: 4749347
Thu	3520/2/17 FE	9 Feb 2028 OS	9 Feb 2029 AD	JDN: 2462190

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

Phil Stone
Revised: 2000-09-18
Updated: 2008-10-17