Page 66 - Prophetic Word Newsletters Archive 2006 by Pastor Randy Shupe

67

~SEPTEMBER 2006~

OF

“FOR THE LORD HIMSELF WILL DESCEND FROM HEAVEN WITH A SHOUT…WITH THE TRUMPET OF GOD. AND
THE DEAD WILL RISE FIRST. THEN WE WHO ARE ALIVE AND REMAIN SHALL BE CAUGHT UP TOGETHER WITH
THEM IN THE CLOUDS TO MEET THE LORD IN THE AIR. AND THUS SHALL WE ALWAYS BE WITH THE LORD.

THEREFORE COMFORT ONE ANOTHER WITH THESE WORDS. BUT CONCERNING THE TIMES AND THE
SEASONS, BRETHREN, YOU HAVE NO NEED THAT I SHOULD WRITE TO YOU. FOR YOU YOURSELVES KNOW

PERFECTLY THAT THE DAY OF THE LORD SO COMES AS A THIEF IN THE NIGHT…
BUT YOU, BRETHREN, ARE NOT IN DARKNESS, SO THAT THIS DAY SHOULD OVERTAKE YOU AS A THIEF…”

1 Thess. 4:16-18, 5:1-4

Jesus did utter the words, “But of that day and hour, no one knows, no, not even the angels of heaven, but
My Father only” (Mat. 24:36). However, there is absolutely no doctrinal basis for applying those words to the
event known as “the rapture.” Not only, as we shall see, is this not the context surrounding this text, but
such an application is in conflict with the clear words Paul told the church at Thessalonica (above).

Today’s church does not “know perfectly” as did the church in Paul’s day, simply because Christendom is
being taught something different about the rapture than the stated “words of comfort” Paul originally spoke.
The rapture has been placed under a nebulous mystical banner of “no man knows the day nor the hour.” It is
true that the rapture is a “mystery” (hidden truth). Paul states that in his other famous reference to this event
(1 Cor. 15:51). However, the mystery, or hidden truth of which Paul speaks, is not the fact that “no man knows
the day nor the hour”, but rather that this event will happen simultaneously with the resurrection of the dead.
This is the main clue to the exact timing of this great event, the rapture (1Thess 4:17, 1Cor. 15:52).

The intent of this newsletter is not an attempt to set an exact date for the rapture, but rather to debunk the
exaggerated emphasis being placed on not knowing when this event is to take place. The early church knew
the “times and the seasons” as Paul clearly states above. We do have enough evidence in Scripture as to
the day and the hour it will take place. We do not know from scripture what specific year it will happen!