Good morning, Bereans. This question came up last week from Junior: "Can you please show us in the Bible where the rapture is prophesied and why the Christian world is predicting it to be fulfilled on September 23rd 2025?" Well, I did a little research and found that this is a hot topic on YouTube and Tik Tok. There are a bunch of people claiming that there is going to be a rapture this September on the 22nd through the 24th during the Feast of Trumpets. So, that's what we are going to talk about this morning.
Let me start by answering the last part first. Why is the Christian world predicting it to be fulfilled on September 23rd, 2025? Because that is the date of the Feast of Trumpets this year (actually it is the 22-24 of September). I believe that they got the date somewhat right. They're just off by 2,000 years.
For those of you who are not familiar with the Feasts, let me give you a quick overview. The Seven Feasts of Yahweh are divinely appointed festivals given to Israel and described in order in Leviticus 23. These Feasts commemorate God's deliverance of Israel from Egypt and also serve as prophetic symbols pointing to future messianic events—especially the first and second comings of the Messiah. The feasts are divided into spring and fall observances and include Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, Weeks (Pentecost), Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles. All of them have agricultural and spiritual significance.
These feasts are a study in typology. The feasts of the Lord actually convey two forty-year exodus periods. The first one is the type and the second is the antitype. The first exodus period dealt with Israel's deliverance from bondage in Egypt at Passover. The people were placed into the wilderness on a physical journey to a physical promised land. The second exodus, that is, the anti-type, was the more significant exodus—the spiritual exodus. This exodus ran from the Cross to A.D. 70. In this exodus, Israel, after the Spirit, left its bondage to the Law of the sin and the death (Ro. 8:2) and began a forty-year spiritual journey to a spiritual inheritance (i.e., the Kingdom of God or the New Heavens and New Earth).
There were four spring feasts: Passover, Unleavened Bread, First fruits and Pentecost. These four feasts were a prophetic foreshadowing of the first coming of the Lord Yeshua the Christ. They spoke of His death and the deliverance would bring, the resurrection, and the advent of the New Covenant. All of these happened on the exact days of these feasts.
The three fall Feasts were a prophetic foreshadowing of the second coming of Christ. The Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles started about 4 months after the end of the spring feasts. All three of these feasts took place in Tishri, or September. These three feasts speak of the resurrection, the consummation of redemption after the outpouring of God's wrath, and the New Heaven and Earth—which is typified by the Feast of Tabernacles.
The exodus out of Egypt and into the promised land by the children of Israel under Moses is a direct shadow of the exodus of the New Testament generation from the cross to the entrance into the eternal land of rest, the new heaven and earth. Israel went from type to anti-type by means of a second exodus. At the transfiguration Luke wrote:
who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Luke 9:31 ESV
The word for "departure" is the Greek word exodos. There was another exodus that Yeshua was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. This was another forty-year journey— not a physical one, but a spiritual one. This second exodus was spoken of in the prophets.
How long was the first Exodus? Forty years. So, how long do you think the Second Exodus would be? Forty years. When did the Second Exodus start? Passover. When did it end? Tabernacles. The time frame from Passover to Tabernacles, therefore, had to fit within the forty years. In other words, the Second Exodus had to end by A.D. 70.
The first Passover involved the blood of lambs. The other fulfilled the type with the sacrifice of the final Passover Lamb—Yeshua the Christ.
Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 1 Corinthians 5:7 ESV
One brought God's people physical deliverance by crossing through the Red Sea. The other brought God's people spiritual deliverance by the redemption of the cross of Christ.
The first established a temporary contract between God and the people He chose—the Old Covenant. The second established a permanent contract with the people He chose—the New Covenant.
Fifty-five days after the first Passover in Egypt, the Law was given to the nation of Israel at Mount Sinai on Pentecost. It was written upon tablets of stone, and 3,000 people died. Fifty-five days after the final Passover was sacrificed, the Law was given to the "Israel of God" on Pentecost. It was written upon their hearts by the Spirit of God, and 3,000 people were given life. (2 Cor. 3:3; Heb. 8:10).
With each covenant, a 40-year transition period followed the initial act of deliverance unto the entrance into the land of promise. There is pretty much universal agreement on the first four feasts and the timing of their fulfillment. The problem arises with the fall feasts. Instead of keeping them within the forty-year exodus period so that the antitype follows the type, they get pushed out into our future.
The Feast of Trumpets began the fall feasts. It was Israel's dark day. It occurred at the New Moon when the primary night light of the heavens is darkened. Israel's prophets repeatedly warned of a coming day of judgment for the nation. It was called "the Day of Yahweh." It was to occur at the end of the Jewish age. The Day of Yahweh was a time when Yahweh poured out His wrath upon Israel.
Here is an interesting side note: Ancient Jewish tradition held that the resurrection of the dead would occur on Rosh Hashanah/Trumpets. Reflecting this tradition, Jewish gravestones were often engraved with a SHOFAR. God's last trump and the resurrection of the righteous are intricately connected in the New Testament.
Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, [52] in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 ESV
We see the type of the Feast of Trumpets in Joshua chapter 6 with the destruction of Jericho at the end of the forty-year exodus. SEVEN priests, with the Ark of God in the midst, marched with seven trumpets around the wall of Jericho for six days. ON the SEVENTH DAY, they marched around SEVEN TIMES. At the close of the march, the trumpets were blown, the people shouted, and God caused the walls of Jericho to collapse. The victory was COMPLETE.
The events of Jericho offered a graphic image and actual prophecy of events at the close of the Jewish age, forty years after Pentecost, when there were seven angels with seven trumpets of doom and judgment.
Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. Revelation 8:2 ESV
At that time, the great and powerful city of Babylon (Jerusalem) suddenly fell.
They will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say, "Alas! Alas! You great city, you mighty city, Babylon! For in a single hour your judgment has come." Revelation 18:10 ESV
It was accompanied by a great shouting in heaven.
Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, for God has given judgment for you against her!" Revelation 18:20 ESV
The name "Joshua" is from the Hebrew Yehoshua. The name Joshua sometimes appears in its shortened form as "Yeshua" (Neh. 8:17). As in Joshua, the destruction of the city came at the sound of the trumpets, so at the end of the Jewish age, the destruction of Jerusalem came as Yeshua sounded the trumpet.
Another name for the Feast of Trumpets is 'Yom HaDin', the Day of Judgment. The righteous are separated and will be with God. This is known to Bible believers as the resurrection. The wicked unbelieving Jews faced the wrath of God in Israel's fall, during the tribulation period.
We see the spiritual anti-type of the Feast of Trumpets in the fall of Jerusalem and the return of Christ in A.D. 70. Thus, at the blowing of the trumpet, in Matthew 24, the scene was set, and Christ fulfilled the feast. Guess what month it was when Jerusalem fell? (Tishrei usually occurs in September-October on the Gregorian calendar). "The city was taken on September 8, A.D. 70, after the last siege had lasted about five months" (Josephus, vol. 1, p. 467).
Some are saying that the Rapture cannot happen on the Feast of Trumpets because the Bible says,
"But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. Matthew 24:36 ESV
There is something very important to understanding this verse. It actually points us to the Feast of Trumpets. Yeshua used Feast of Trumpets language when He said "But concerning that day and hour no one knows." His audience would have been familiar with this. This was the first of the fall feasts. The Feast of Trumpets is the only one of the seven feasts which began on the first day of the month, so they didn't know the day or hour that it would start.
Therefore, you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. Matthew 24:44 ESV
This fits with the Feast of Trumpets. After the appearance of the New Moon was confirmed, then the Feast of Trumpets could begin, and the rest of the Fall Feasts could be accurately calculated from that date.
Why this year? The Feast of Trumpets happens every year, so why are they saying the Rapture will happen this year? They are saying that this is a jubilee year. I believe that AD 70 was a jubilee year. They are also saying that 2032 is exactly 2,000 years since Christ's crucifixion. Going back 7 years (the tribulation), brings us to 2025. They say that the Rapture happens seven years before the Second Coming of Christ. Let me ask you this: Where in the Bible does it talk about a 7-year tribulation? I'll wait. Nowhere!
Why is it that the Feast of Trumpets coming this September 22-24 shouldn't matter to us at all? Following the A.D. 70 destruction of the Temple, the observance of this feast come to an end—as did all the feasts. Without a Temple and sacrificial system, these feasts could no longer be observed. It is clear, therefore, that these feasts ALL ended with Jerusalem's destruction and the return of Christ in A.D. 70.
Now that we understand why they are focused on the date, let's consider the Rapture. Where does this Rapture doctrine come from?
For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 ESV
Do you see the rapture in this text? The words "caught up" are from the Greek verb harpazō. This term comes from rapturo in the Latin Vulgate.
Most Christians today view the rapture as describing an escape from the troubles of this world. They believe that one day soon (it is always soon—it was "soon" when Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, and it is still soon today). According to futurists, Yeshua is going to physically appear in the sky, and all the dead are going to come out of their graves and be resurrected and rise to meet Him. Immediately after, the living Christians will be caught up in the clouds with them to be with Christ. In other words, Christians will physically be "raptured" off of this earth. I'm sure you've seen the pictures of the unmanned cars crashing and bodies coming out of the graves with everyone going up into the sky.
Are you aware that this "rapture of the church" idea is not a historical teaching of the church? This theology has only been around for the past couple hundred years and predominantly in America. The biblical scholar, N.T. Wright, refers to it as an "American obsession" and notes that few Christians in the U.K. hold any sort of belief in it.
The origins of rapture theology lie in 1830 Scotland where a fifteen-year-old girl, Margaret MacDonald, claimed to see a vision of a "two-stage return of Yeshua." Then John Nelson Darby, a British evangelist and the founder of the Plymouth Brethren, took MacDonald's vision and created an entire system based off of it in which Yeshua returns not once (as Christians have always believed), but twice!
Darby made various "mission trips" to the U.S. in the late 19th century. The notion of a "rapture" found itself appealing to American Christians who were going through the atrocities of the Civil War, which, by all measures, must have looked like Armageddon (e.g., nation rising up against nation, brother against brother, son against father, etc.). With more than half a million dead at the end of the war, the idea of a let's-get-out-of-here theology was attractive. This mind-set was exacerbated with World War I and the publication of the Scofield Reference Bible, which was handed out to soldiers in the trenches.
Two other events corresponded to the promotion of the "rapture" in America: the conversion of Dwight L. Moody to the eschatological system (he later founded Moody Bible Institute and a major radio program, which would become important in the promotion of rapture theology) and the establishment of Dallas Theological Seminary, a dispensationalist training center. During the twentieth-century, the "physical rapture" of the Church became a dominant eschatological view in America.
The time of the Rapture has been a matter of disagreement among futurist interpreters because they say there is no passage in Scripture that states explicitly when it will occur. Some believe that it will take place before the Tribulation. Those who hold this view are known as pre-tribulationists. Others believe that it will take place after the Tribulation (i.e., post-tribulationists). Others conclude that it will take place in the midst of the Tribulation (mid-tribulationists). Still others contend that the Lord will catch away only some Christians but not all of them (partial-rapturists). How long does the Bible say that the Tribulation will be? Three and a half years (Dan.12:11; Rev. 11:2, 13:5).
Futurists may be confused about the time of the Parousia, but Paul is not. He gave us a window of time for the resurrection and Parousia when he wrote:
For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 1 Thessalonians 4:15 ESV
A critical key to understanding this text is knowing the hermeneutical principle of audience relevance (i.e., What did the original audience understand this to mean?). We know that Paul is writing this letter to the first-century saints in Thessalonica. This text is not written to us. As a matter of fact, none of the Bible was written to us. It was written for us but not to us. I have had some Christians flip out on me for making that statement. They think that the Bible is written to us. How can it be written to us when it was written two thousand years ago?
"We who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord"— Paul is writing to first-century saints in the year AD 50. It sure sounds like he expected to be alive when the Lord returned.
J. Hampton Keathley III (Th.M.), a futurist writes that,
Paul first addresses the issue of those who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, but in doing this, he says 'we' and not simply "those." In the Greek text, the "we" is slightly emphatic and seems to be designed to bring out an important point. Clearly, Paul included himself among those who could be alive when the Lord returns. There is a clear implication here. Paul believed the coming of the Lord and the things described here were imminent and could have occurred in his day. Any other viewpoint fails to give the needed recognition to Paul's use of the first-person plural pronoun "we" instead of the third person, "those."
The "we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord" is a TIME STATEMENT. Notice that Paul uses the first-person, plural pronoun "we" instead of the third-person demonstrative pronoun, "those." The "we" MUST be seen as the collective group of Paul and his audience. They (Paul and the Thessalonians) were expecting the return of Christ in their lifetime. This is very clear throughout the book.
Anyone who doesn't think that Paul and all the New Testament writers expected the Lord's return in their lifetime doesn't know their Bible very well.
For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 1 Thessalonians 4:16 ESV
"For the Lord himself"—this is Yeshua. "Will descend from heaven"—the description of a descent from heaven here has been referred to in 4:15 as "the coming of the Lord." The word for coming is Parousia. It ordinarily means either "presence" or "coming." I think "presence" is best in this context. Comparing other descriptions of Christ's coming, it is clear that motion from heaven down to earth may not be the precise way in which Christ manifested his end-time presence.
The word "descend" was commonly used with the priest's descent out of the Temple to announce that atonement had been completed.
Believers, if we are going to rightly interpret the Word of God, we must apply the rules of hermeneutics. The primary rule of hermeneutics is called the Analogy of Faith. This means that Scripture interprets Scripture. No part of Scripture can be interpreted in such a way as to render it in conflict with what is clearly taught elsewhere in Scripture.
As we compare Scripture with Scripture, we see that this is apocalyptic language speaking of judgment. In our text we have "descent from heaven, a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, the sound of the trumpet of God, being caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air." This is clearly apocalyptic language and must be interpreted as such. Are the clouds here just cumulus clouds that believers float into? To not take this text as apocalyptic is to misinterpret it.
A comparison between 1 Thessalonians 4-5 and Matthew 24 is fascinating. As we keep in mind that Yeshua uses apocalyptic language in Matthew 24:29-35, we can't expect the same language to be literal in 1 Thessalonians 4-5. Those who believe the coming in Matthew refers to the spiritual events surrounding Jerusalem's fall would insist that we not literalize the clouds, the angels, or the trumpet blast. If they are not literal in Matthew, why would they be in Thessalonians? Matthew is the source of the language in Thessalonians. Paul says, "For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord."
Let's look at some of the comparisons.
- Christ Himself Returns (Matthew 24:30; 1 Thessalonians 4:16)
- From Heaven (Matthew 24:30; 1 Thessalonians 4:16)
- With a Shout (Matthew 24:30; 1 Thessalonians 4:16)
- Accompanied by Angels (Matthew 24:31; 1 Thessalonians 4:16)
- With Trumpet of God (Matthew 24:31; 1 Thessalonians 4:16)
- Believers Gathered (Matthew 24:31; 1 Thessalonians 4:17)
- In Clouds (Matthew 24:30; 1 Thessalonians 4:17)
- Time Unknown (Matthew 24:36; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-2)
- Will Come as a Thief (Matthew 24:43; 1 Thessalonians 5:2,4)
- Unbelievers Unaware of Impending Judgment (Matthew 24:37-39; 1 Thes. 5:3)
- Judgment Comes as Travail upon Expectant Mother (Matthew 24:8; 1 Thes. 5:3)
- Believers to Watch (Matthew 24:42; 1 Thessalonians 5:4)
- Warning Against Drunkenness (Matthew 24:49; 1 Thessalonians 5:7)
In Matthew 24, Yeshua predicted His coming to gather together the saints in that generation. In 1 Thessalonians 4-5, Paul spoke of the same coming of the Lord to gather the saints. How many comings of the Lord, with His angels, in fire, in power and glory, to gather the saints, are there in the New Testament? Just ONE! The conclusion is inescapable: 1 Thessalonians 4-5 is dealing with exactly the same coming, judgment, and gathering that Matthew 24 is.
For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 1 Thessalonians 4:16 ESV
When the Lord comes from heaven, there is "a cry of command"—this is from the Greek word keleuma. It is a military noun which occurs only here in the New Testament. Thayer's definition is "an order, command, spec. a stimulating cry, that by which a signal is given to men, e.g., to rowers by the master of a ship, to soldiers by a commander (with a loud summons, a trumpet call)."
"The voice of an archangel"—according to Jewish thought, the archangels are the rulers of the angels or the principal messengers among the multitude of angels. In Yeshua's eschatological discourse, the angels play an important role in the moment when the chosen of God are gathered together (Matt. 24:31)
"With the sound of the trumpet of God"—the sounding of trumpets was a cultural way of announcing the approach of royalty in the East (cf. Hebrews 12:18-19). It also functioned as a sign of Divine judgment (Revelation 8:2; 11:15-19, Resurrection, 1 Corinthians 15:52) and Gathering of the elect by angels (Matthew 24:31). We see in Leviticus 23:24 and Numbers 10:2 that trumpets sounded an assembly of God's people. Here the trumpet of God gathers together God's people.
It is possible that all three sounds (cry of command, voice, trumpet) refer to the sounds of the angel because in Revelation 4:1 the angel's voice is called a trumpet. But the Psalms associate the voice or shout of God with a trumpet.
God has gone up with a shout, the LORD with the sound of a trumpet. Psalms 47:5 ESV
The cry of command, voice, and trumpet could refer to the Lord's voice mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15.
"Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. John 5:25 ESV
Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice. John 5:28 ESV
in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 1 Corinthians 15:52 ESV
This is what Paul says at the end of 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 16: "And the dead in Christ will rise first." In all these passages, we have the resurrection of dead believers associated with a trumpet. The Good News Translation has, "Those who have died believing in Christ will rise to life first."
The traditional view holds that the spirits of departed saints are with the Lord now. He will bring them with Him when He returns, join their spirits to their resurrected bodies, and then they will receive their glorified bodies as they meet Christ in the air.
Well, clearly "the dead in Christ" cannot refer to those in heaven. To dwell with Yahweh is to have life. So, they cannot be in heaven and be dead at the same time. And prior to the Parousia, people didn't go to heaven. Until redemption was complete, people waited for the resurrection in Sheol. Then "Those who sleep" in Sheol were raised by Yeshua and taken to heaven. This is the resurrection of the dead. Let me ask you a question. How do we know that this was a spiritual resurrection of bringing the saints into God's presence and not a physical resurrection from the grave? Time defines Nature. We know that the resurrection happened in the first century, in AD 70. Thus, we know that it wasn't physical. Bodies didn't come out of graves in AD 70.
Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 1 Thessalonians 4:17 ESV
This is the verse from which the physical rapture theory comes. Is this to be taken literally? If so, then if it is a clear cloudless day, the rapture cannot happen because we are going into the clouds. This is clearly not about physical clouds; it is apocalyptic language. To deny that is to ignore what Paul said earlier.
For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 1 Thessalonians 4:15 ESV
When talking about the Parousia, the authors all use apocalyptic language. Let's look at a few passages that talk about the Parousia.
and said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Yeshua, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven." Acts 1:11 ESV
This means that he left on a cloud, and He would come on a cloud. Notice what Matthew says about His coming:
For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Matthew 24:27 ESV
This is obviously different than what Acts 1:11 describes. So which way is it? Is it visibly in a literal cloud or is it like literal lightning? Paul describes Christ's coming this way:
and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Yeshua is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Yeshua. 2 Thessalonians 1:7-8 ESV
Here we have angels and flaming fire dealing out retribution. Notice what John says in Revelation 19.
Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. Revelation 19:11 ESV
John has Yeshua coming on a horse, not a cloud or with lightning. So how can anyone say that language dealing with the Parousia is literal? When you compare Scripture with Scripture, it just doesn't add up.
Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 1 Thessalonians 4:17 ESV
Looking at this passage in the Greek can quickly dispel many false notions. Let's start with the first word in the verse—the word "then." This is the Greek word epeita. Normally, when a sequence of events is described, the simple word eita (then) is used. Eita is best translated as "at that time" or "next." Eita is used to indicate an immediate sequence. But in our text, the Greek word is not eita. It is epeita. This is essentially the same Greek word with an "epi" prefix. This has the effect of affixing the word "after" to the word "then," so the best translation becomes "after then," "after that," or "after that time." Thereby, it doesn't necessarily mean "right after," but it could.
Some say that epeita means that the living would be caught up to meet the Lord at a later time, maybe referring to their death. Epeita is used of an interval of 3 years and 13 years in Scripture. In other words, when you die you go to be with the Lord in the air. It could be used this way, but epeita does not always mean "after that time." Epeita is used 16 times in the New Testament and 12 of them have the idea of "after that time," indicating sometime later. But 4 of the New Testament uses of epeita do indicate right after. James wrote, for example:
But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. James 3:17 ESV
Here, however, epeita doesn't mean "after that time."
He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. Hebrews 7:27 ESV
Here epeita doesn't mean "after that time." If it did, it would alter the fact that the high priest offered sacrifices for the sins of the people shortly after he offered them for himself. So, epeita does not always mean "after that time."
And if we look at the parallel texts, they don't seem to indicate a delay for the living. We don't see a delay in Matthew 24 between His coming in the clouds and the gathering of the elect. And we don't see a delay in the following:
Behold! I tell 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 trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 ESV
Here the dead are raised and the living are changed, not caught up.
For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 1 Corinthians 15:53 ESV
The living put on immortality, which is to be in the presence of the Lord.
The question is, "Why does Paul use the word epeita instead of the normal word eita?" The answer is, I don't have a clue. But since the writer of Hebrews and James used it also to refer to a sequence, I guess it can be used that way.
Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 1 Thessalonians 4:17 ESV
So, the dead in Christ are raised and then, "We who are alive, who are left"—Paul includes himself among those who could be alive when the Lord returned. He used the first-person pronoun "we" instead of the third-person "those." There is a clear implication here. Paul believed the coming of the Lord and the things described here in 1 Thessalonians 4 were imminent and could have occurred in his day.
"Will be caught up"—"caught up" is from the Greek verb harpazō which implies a forceful "snatching away. "The word in the Latin Vulgate translated "caught up" is rapturo, from which the term Rapture comes. Does being "caught up" mean a levitation of the physical body from earth up into the atmosphere of the sky? The raising of the dead in Christ is not a physical raising of dead bodies. The graves weren't emptied in AD 70. So, why would being caught up be physical?
Harpazo could refer to the body being "caught up," but it could also refer to the Christian being "caught up" without the body. It is used such a way in 2 Corinthians 12.
I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up [harpazo] to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. And I know that this man was caught up [harpazo] into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. 2 Corinthians 12:2-4 ESV
Paul doesn't know whether the body was involved in this man's "snatching away." The body isn't necessary, then, in the harpazo event, or Paul wouldn't have expressed this uncertainty. I'm pretty sure that Paul didn't mean that living Christians would be caught up in their living, physical bodies at the Second Coming of Christ because this never happened. Christians were still around on the earth after the Second Coming, as history plainly tells us.
In his book, Before Jerusalem Fell: Dating the Book of Revelation—An Exegetical and Historical Argument for a Pre-A.D. 70, Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr., Th.D., evidence is given that John was seen by Polycarp in the 90s. So, some twenty years after the Parousia, John was still around.
The Spirit and the Bride say, "Come." And let the one who hears say, "Come." And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price. Revelation 22:17 ESV
Who is the Bride? It's the first-century church. This is in the New Heaven and Earth after the Parousia and the Church is calling people to drink of the water of life. How would the Church do this if it was raptured off the earth? If Yahweh took the Church away in AD 70, who was to preach the Gospel?
How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? Romans 10:14 ESV
Someone needs to be preaching the Gospel. Why did Paul have Timothy and Titus set up churches and ordain elders in AD 64–65 if the church was going to be taken off the earth in a few years? So many questions.
"Will be caught up together with them in the clouds"— are the clouds here just cumulus clouds? In biblical language, "clouds" are symbolic of God's wrath and judgment against the enemies of His people. David said that the Lord delivered him from his enemies while descending on clouds (Psalm 18:3-15). The Lord said that He would ride into Egypt on a cloud and punish them.
An oracle concerning Egypt. Behold, the LORD is riding on a swift cloud and comes to Egypt; and the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence, and the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them. Isaiah 19:1 ESV
The Lord did not literally ride on a cloud, but Egypt did receive this judgment at the hands of the Assyrians (Isaiah 20:1-6). The idea of Yeshua physically coming on the clouds would have been contrary to the nature of their understanding of the Old Covenant prophets. Clouds symbolize the presence of Yahweh.
"To meet the Lord in the air"—does this mean that believers were physically sucked up into the sky? Sure, if you take it literally. What does the word "air" mean? Is it in our atmosphere or the air we breathe? I think that Ephesians, chapter 2, gives us an idea of what air means here.
in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—Ephesians 2:2 ESV
The word "air" is another word for "heavenly or spiritual realm." Satan was an opponent of the scheme of redemption, as we can see throughout the Bible. He was the prince of the power of the air. In Romans 16:20, Paul says that Satan would be crushed "shortly" under their feet (remember original relevance). Yeshua now has taken over that sphere and rules in the "air" with the saints since the destruction of Jerusalem. If that is the same "air" where the saints were to meet, then there is no necessity for us to believe that the harpazo was to be in the physical realm.
Paul says that believers are to "meet the Lord in the air." The word "meet" (apanteas) is only used three times in the Bible, each time signifying the sending of an advance party to meet a dignitary, and then escort him back to where they came from. In the case of Acts 28:15, the Christians in Rome went out to "meet" Paul at the Appii forum, and then they escorted him back to their homes. The other usage of this word is found in the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25. In the parable of the ten virgins, the kingdom of heaven "is likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom." The word used to "meet" the bridegroom is apanteas, which means "to meet, to escort back," as is evidenced by the fact that they met the bridegroom, and then went into the house from which they came.
And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. Matthew 25:10 ESV
Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour. Matthew 25:13 ESV
In verse 13, Christ clarifies that this is what will occur in that generation when He comes. The significance of this is that when Christ came in the clouds, He literally, yet spiritually, gathered those that were alive to be caught up in the kingdom with Yeshua, and Yeshua spiritually returned with the believers to the earth to ever be with them. This was a spiritual event that was visibly manifest in the destruction of Jerusalem.
The idea of "being caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air" is a picture of God's elect being brought into His presence in the Holy of Holies.
Is Paul talking about a literal rapture here? I don't think so! Paul believed that the Lord would return in his lifetime. He preached strongly about the Second Coming, the resurrection, and the judgment, but he never spoke of a physical "rapture" for living Christians.
It is not the physical body that is raptured. It is the Christian himself who is raptured as he is brought into the presence of the Lord. The dead believers were resurrected when Christ returned, [this was not a physical resurrection, and the rapture was not physical either] and all other Christians were caught up at that time.
The process of being "snatched" or "caught away from" death and Hades and being "gathered in" to the presence of the Lord happened in AD 70. The "rapture" deals with being brought into the presence of the Lord and putting on immortality.
"And so, we will always be with the Lord"—there is nothing that can ever separate the believer from his Lord.
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Yeshua our Lord. Romans 8:37-39 ESV
All believers are secure in their union with Christ. Nothing can separate us.
Therefore encourage one another with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4:18 ESV
Paul doesn't say, fight over these words. He doesn't say, divide up into different doctrinal camps over these words. He says, "encourage one another with these words." He is asserting that there is practical benefit in knowing biblical truth. Paul wrote this passage on eschatology to encourage the Thessalonians.
Are these words still an encouragement to us? Yes, they should be. We are encouraged in the fact that as believers, we are now in the presence of the Lord. We are not waiting for anything. We are now in His presence, and when we die, we will leave the physical realm and move into the heavenly/spiritual realm with our new spiritual body.
The coming non-biblical feast of Trumpets means nothing to Christians. The Feasts were all fulfilled in AD 70. It was at the Fall Feasts in AD 70 that Christ returned in judgment on Jerusalem. So, I assure you nothing biblical will happen on September 25.