When Will We Learn?

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the [sound of the] last trumpet call. For a trumpet will sound, and the dead [in Christ] will be raised imperishable (free and immune from decay), and we shall be changed (transformed). (1 Cor 15:52, AMPC)

Awaiting and looking for the [fulfillment, the realization of our] blessed hope, even the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed One)…(Titus 2:13, AMPC)

Even in my early days as a believer I was taught about the Rapture of the Church. While my views on it have changed, my convictions on it happening are as strong as they have ever been. So if you think the Rapture is foolishness, you even think it is from the devil, or you see it as totally unbiblical, well I would just advise you to stop now and listen to a podcast that you agree with doctrinally. However, if you are looking forward to the Blessed Hope like so many of us are then buckle up because we have yet another season of date setting going on. At the center of this is a believer, Joshua Mhlakela, who is from South Africa and he gave his testimony on a podcast on June 17, 2025. In and of itself it is quite a strong and genuine account of a believer who God touched from his birth. As I listened to the video I didn’t sense any guile in him at all. Sincerity isn’t an issue with this. Doctrinally I have no problem with him, at least not at this point. He knows the Bible, too as he quotes verses throughout. He tells about visions he’s had in his life so the revelation that the Rapture will happen on September 24th or 25th of this year is not a new thing for him. Again, nothing is out of the ordinary up until now. Having dreams and visions is not out of the ordinary for Christians. I’ve had them as well, my sister has them and so I have no qualms about this aspect of his life. But only one point is of concern now and that is the issue of giving a specific time for the soon return of Jesus to snatch His Bride to be with Him. He’s not the first one to do this, not by a long stretch, and I really wish we would learn to stop doing it.

The Rapture Will Happen

As I alluded to earlier, I believe the Rapture is in the Bible and is a future event. That’s not up for dispute for me and many, many others. Again, I am not going to debate with anyone over that. My issue is telling people that it will happen on a specific date, something that this man clearly tells us back in June of this year:

…this one that is coming is actually the main one. So I was sleeping one morning. Early

morning I wake up. I'm awake now. I'm not dreaming. I switch on the lights and I'm reading my Bible. I read my Bible and Jesus appears as you know you guys are sitting opposite me. He appears in front of me in a white robe. this time. I'm looking at him and he says these words.

From the time Israel became a nation in 1948, there will be 77 years to the Exodus. Now, he used the word Exodus, but he was talking about the rapture. Okay. He's soon coming. Exactly. Yeah. Okay. Remember, I'm not dreaming. I'm looking at him telling you as he's talking without his mouth opened. Remember, he's speaking through his mind. Spirits. Yeah. He says to me, "On the 23rd the date and the 24th of September 2025, I will come to take my church."

A Little History

Have you heard the one about a bunch of people selling all their possessions, dressing up in ecclesial robes and climbing a mountain to wait for Jesus to return? If you haven't, now is your introduction to the quicky and embarrassing story of the Millerites, a group of devote followers of one William Miller who convinced up to a million people that Jesus was going to return in 1843. When 1843 came and passed he revised his prediction to a new date of October 22, 1844. I turn to an article from gotquestions.org to get us up to speed on these last days followers:

When the predicted end did not take place in 1844, the Millerites disbanded in dismay, and the event became known as the “Great Disappointment.” Miller himself quietly withdrew from the public eye. While he still held that the Lord would return soon, he admitted that the chronology was uncertain. He died a few years later. The Millerites, leaderless now, splintered and formed other groups. The Advent Christian Church and the Seventh-day Adventists developed in the aftermath of Miller’s failed prophecies. There is even some evidence to suggest that Charles Taze Russell, the founder of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, was also influenced by Miller.

The article rightly advised us that date setting for the Second Coming is not wise:

It is sad that people look for hidden messages and secret clues in the Bible instead of heeding the plain meaning of Scripture. The words of Jesus are clear: “No one knows the day or the hour” (Matthew 24:36). The words of Jesus notwithstanding, some Bible teachers who should know better continue to set dates for the return of Christ and lead followers astray; many, like the Millerites, make life-changing decisions based on the “prophetic” teaching. The gullible are inevitably disappointed as the “prophetic” date passes. The biblical attitude is to be ready for Christ to return at any moment, but to make plans for the future as if He will not return in our lifetime. Disengaging from the world to wait for Christ to return is a misapplication of the doctrine of Christ’s second coming.

More Recent Examples

So this was well over a hundred years ago, 181 to be exact. Has this happened since? Think 1988 when former US astronaut Ed Whisenant infamously predicted that the Rapture would happen in October of that year when he published a booklet titled 88 Reasons Why The Rapture Will Be In 1988. When it didn’t happen in 1988 he took another swing at it by saying it would happen in 1989. As we all can see, the Rapture didn’t happen in either year and the whole debacle became the 90th reason why the Rapture won’t happen when we can know the time or the hour as Jesus warned us repeatedly. As with Brother Joshua, Whisenant appears to be a sincere and well-read Christian. I don’t question either their character or desire to want people to be saved before Jesus returns again. I really don’t. Both put these warnings out with the express hope that it would wake up the Church to their mission and to unbelievers that today is the day of salvation (see 2 Corinthians 6:2). It did draw needed attention just as the Millerites did back in 1844. It also was a source of criticism and derision by those who saw it as just another fad by ignorant Christians trying to scare people into following Jesus. Unfortunately, for all the good intentions this current trend of pointing to September 24th or 25th of 2025 will most likely do the same thing. It should be noted that we went through this back in 2023 and 2024 as well. I even found some people are pointing to 2026 as the year for the Rapture and this person brags about discrediting all the previous predictions. He, too had a dreams:

If 2030 is the year Jesus returns, then the 70th week spans 2024-2030, ending in the fall 6 months before the Sabbath year completes in spring, 2031 because "he cuts short the time" (Mt 24:22). But that does not mean the bad stuff or "beginning of sorrows" starts in 2024. It actually would begin in 2026. 2026 is not too far off which is why I'm sad to report that the closer we get to it, the more confirmation keeps falling into my lap about it, despite my not wanting it to be true. For example, I already have had several dreams and developments in my own life that led me to share publicly why I am convinced the end begins in 2026.

No Man Knows

I guess I have to ask, when will people stop doing this? It’s not like Jesus warned us to not do it:

However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows. 33 And since you don’t know when that time will come, be on guard! Stay alert! (Mark 13:32-33, NLT)

The doctrine of imminency is at the heart of all these predictions of the Rapture of the church and just in the Gospel of Mark it seems pretty clear Jesus wants to know that as an article from gotquestion.org explains:

“Day” and “hour” are often used in Scripture as references to time in general (see Matthew 7:22; 10:19; 24:42, 44, 50; 25:13; 26:45). But in Mark 13, Jesus focuses on a specific event in the future. Because no one knows the day or the hour of His return, Jesus stresses the need to pay attention, stay awake, and be ready at a moment’s notice. Multiple times in Mark 13, Jesus calls for vigilant watchfulness: “Be on guard! Stay alert!” (verse 33, NLT), “Watch for his return” (verses 34, NLT), “You, too, must keep watch!” (verse 35, NLT), “Don’t let him find you sleeping when he arrives without warning” (verse 36, NLT), and “Watch for him!” (verse 37, NLT).

So when it comes to Brother Joshua telling us that Jesus will return between September 23rd and the 24th I pause. He actually said this:

I give you a billion% that on the 23rd or 24th the rapture of the church will take place.

And it’s statements like that that really saddens me. Like Miller and Whisenant before him, Brother Joshua is putting himself in line for the same disparagement they both received. All of them know their Bible. They all love the Lord. Unfortunately they seem to have missed the simple words of Jesus. No one will know the day or the hour when the Rapture takes place. Just before He ascended back to Heaven, the disciples made one last attempt to get the time and Jesus told them this:

He replied, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know. (Acts 1:7, NLT)

I will say that in the spirit of imminency Jesus could actually come to take the Church with Him in the air on September 23rd or 24th and I would not complain one iota. But the practice of setting dates must stop, although I doubt it will. And that is too bad. I pray we return to being ready at any moment and hopefully act like it.