Continually Sharpening

A theological blog by Dr. Janelle Zeeb

https://jzeeb.com/article/the-case-for-the-rapture-on-september-23-24-2025/

The Case for the Rapture on September 23 or 24, 2025

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This summer, there has been a lot of hype among online end-times watchers regarding the possibility that Jesus may return to take all true Christians to heaven at the Rapture this September.

More specifically, many end-times watchers believe the Rapture could happen during this upcoming Feast of Trumpets, also called Rosh Hashana, which is the feast that starts the Jewish new year. This year, the Feast of Trumpets is on September 23-24, 2025.

In the past, I commented on how it seemed that in 2023, there was also a lot going on around the Feast of Trumpets which made it a very 'high watch' time for the Rapture. Yet since the Rapture did not happen then, clearly, it was not the right time.

However, the fact that the Rapture did not happen then does not mean that the Rapture will never happen. Indeed, every day that goes by makes the Rapture more likely.

The signs of the end times have not disappeared, and Jesus said that we should only expect them to increase in frequency and intensity, like a pregnant woman's contractions do when she is in labor (Matthew 24:8, Mark 13:8, 1 Thessalonians 5:3).

We are also running out of time for the seven-year Tribulation and Jesus' second coming to occur before the two-thousandth anniversary of Jesus' death and resurrection, which occurred at Passover on one of the years between 30 and 33 AD.

Jesus recommends that Christians should be watching for his return (Matthew 24:42-44, Luke 21:34-36, 12:35-40). There is also a special heavenly reward called the 'crown of righteousness' for Christians who long for and love Jesus' return (2 Timothy 4:8).

Therefore, I wanted to provide an update of what I see happening this year in September which makes it a 'high watch' time for the Rapture to potentially occur. I hope that Christians who read this post will be extra-watchful and ready for Jesus' return, and perhaps also be motivated to share the gospel with their currently-unsaved loved ones again, just in case.

I also wanted to do this post so that, in case the Rapture really does happen this September, this post will be evidence that Christians knew ahead of time about the Rapture happening during this time period. This should help prove that the reason millions of people suddenly disappeared was not due to a mass alien abduction, or whatever other excuse the media and governments will invent to try to cover it up.

So if you do not currently believe in Jesus, the next few weeks would be a very good time to consider the gospel message and believe in Jesus, so that in case the Rapture does happen, you will not be left behind to suffer through the seven-year Tribulation.

Jesus said the seven years of the Tribulation would be the worst period of time in the entire history of the world (Matthew 24:21), so it is definitely worthwhile to avoid it by being raptured instead. It costs you nothing but to believe that Jesus died for your sins, so that you can have eternal life.

For those who claim this is 'escapism', Jesus himself specifically said that we should desire to be counted worthy to escape all these terrible things that are going to come upon the Earth in the end times (Luke 21:36, KJV). Just read the Book of Revelation and see the variety of disastrous wars, plagues, and other divine judgments that will make the earth nearly uninhabitable by the end of the Tribulation.

Below, I will provide several reasons why the Feast of Trumpets this year is a very high-watch period for the Rapture.

But No One Knows the Day or Hour

As soon as some Christians start talking about high watch periods for the Rapture, other Christians will immediately bring up Matthew 24:36 or Mark 13:32, which both say,

But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. (ESV)

The implication is that no one can know exactly when Jesus will come back at the Rapture.

We know that this verse is specifically referring to the Rapture, because it will be possible for people during the Tribulation to calculate the time of Jesus' second coming.

Daniel specifies that there will be 1290 days from when the Abomination of Desolation occurs to the end of the Tribulation (Daniel 12:11). The Abomination of Desolation will happen when the Antichrist declares himself to be God in the rebuilt Jewish temple (Matthew 24:15, Mark 13:14, 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4), and he will likely kill the two witnesses in Jerusalem either shortly before or after his declaration (Revelation 11:7).

Daniel's prophecy means that it should be possible for people who are alive during the Tribulation to know the exact day of the end of the Tribulation, which would be at Jesus' second coming when he destroys the Antichrist, False Prophet, and all the armies that will be gathered against Jerusalem (Revelation 19:11-21, 16:12-21, Zechariah 14:1-21).

John also tells us that the first half of the Tribulation, when the two witnesses will be prophesying in Jerusalem will last 1260 days (Revelation 11:3). The world will be ruled directly by the Antichrist will be another period of 42 months, or 1260 days, using the 'prophetic' calendar of 360 days per year, with 30 days per month (Revelation 13:5).

When John's prophecies are taken together, we learn that the Tribulation will last at least 2520 days (1260 plus 1260 days), but Daniel's prophecy extends this to 2550 days (1260 plus 1290 days).

We know these exact numbers of days cannot be incorrect, because they were given from God to John, and from God to Daniel via the angel Gabriel (Daniel 9:20-23). God does not lie (Numbers 23:19, Titus 1:2, Hebrews 6:18), and by extension, God's holy angels do not lie, either.

Thus, when Jesus talks about the days of the Tribulation being shortened, or else no one would survive it (Matthew 24:22), I believe it makes the most sense for Jesus to have been talking not about the number of days, but the length of the days.

This claim may be confirmed by how in Revelation 8:12, the Fourth Trumpet judgment causes the sun to not shine for a third of the day, and the moon and stars to not shine for a third of the night.

Now, some commentators might say that this judgment simply means the sky will be cloudy or dark for this period of time each day for some reason.

However, if the atmosphere were filled with smoke, ash, or dust of some sort, I don't think that it would suddenly clear up for the remaining two-thirds of each day/night. Plus, even if the sky is cloudy or full of smoke, ash, or dust, the sun and moon would technically still be shining, even if people on Earth couldn't see them.

But if the days and nights were somehow divinely shortened to last only two-thirds as long as before (i.e. the sun and moon only shine for 2/3 their usual time), so that we get, say, a 16 hour day, rather than a 24 hour day, then this could explain how both the exact number of days of the Tribulation could be fulfilled, even as the 'days' of the Tribulation are simultaneously shortened so that people can survive it.

God can clearly do such things if he desires to, such as when God extended the day for Joshua and the Israelites to be victorious over their enemies (Joshua 10:12-14), or when God apparently moved the position of the Earth or time itself backward as a sign to King Hezekiah (2 Kings 20:9-11, Isaiah 38:7-8). If God can do these things, then speeding up time during a portion of the Tribulation wouldn't be difficult for God to do.

Anyway, in summary, we know from the Bible that the Tribulation will last exactly 2550 days.

This detail will help not only the people who are left behind during the Tribulation count down to the day of Jesus' second coming, but it might even help Christians today foresee the day of the Rapture, as will be shown in the next section.

Calculating the Possible Years of the Tribulation

Recently, it has been noted among end-times watchers that there are exactly 2550 days between the Feast of Trumpets/Rosh Hashanah 2025, and the Day of Atonement/Yom Kippur in 2032. This is presuming that we use the first day of Rosh Hashanah in 2025 as September 22, when it begins at nightfall in Israel, and the last day of Yom Kippur in 2032, which would be September 15.

It is often noted that Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection fulfilled three Old Testament spring feasts to the exact day during his first coming (Passover, Unleavened Bread, and First Fruits).1 The Holy Spirit was also given in a special way to Jesus' followers on the exact day of the Feast of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4).

Because of these precedents, it is often expected that Jesus will also fulfill the three remaining Old Testament autumn feasts to the exact day with events that will be related to his second coming. These feasts are: The Feast of Trumpets/Rosh Hashanah/Yom Teruah, the Day of Atonement/Yom Kippur, and the Feast of Tabernacles/Sukkot.

The next major end-times event is the Rapture and the start of the Tribulation. It turns out that this event fits surprisingly well with the details of the Feast of Trumpets/Rosh Hashanah.

The Feast of Trumpets is the celebration of the Jewish new year. As the name suggests, the ceremony involved blowing several trumpets. Two major descriptions of the Rapture say it will occur along with the sounding of the "trumpet of God" (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18) which may also be called the "last trumpet" (1 Corinthians 15:51-52).

In the Old Testament, trumpets were blown to announce a call for the people to assemble together, a command for the people to move out from their current position, a call to go to war, a notice for people to prepare to hear an announcement, a warning to the people about judgment, or as a call for people to come celebrate and worship God.2

Several of these meanings could correspond well with how the Rapture will be a call for resurrected/glorified Christians to come assemble together with Jesus in the clouds, to move out from this world, and to announce the celebration and worship that will occur in heaven afterward (1 Thessalonians 4:15-18, 1 Corinthians 15:51-56, Revelation 4:1).

To those left behind, it would be a warning of the coming Tribulation judgment, and also God's declaration of war against Satan and his demons (Revelation 12:7-8).

Similarly, the Day of Atonement/Yom Kippur, which occurs ten days later from the Feast of Trumpets, would then correspond with Jesus' second coming.

The Day of Atonement was a time for the people of Israel to confess their sins, feel remorse, and repent by turning away from their sins. This is exactly what the surviving one-third of the Jewish people will do at Jesus' second coming, when they will finally recognize him as their Messiah, despite having rejected him for so long, and will recognize their mistake, mourn, and repent (Zechariah 12:10, 13:8-9, Luke 13:34-35, Romans 11:11-24).3

The final autumn Feast of Tabernacles/Sukkot is then a foreshadowing of Jesus' Millennial Kingdom, during which, all the nations will be expected to celebrate this feast or they will not receive rain for their crops (Zechariah 14:16-19).4

So let's return to the claim that between the first day of Rosh Hashanah 2025 and the last day of Yom Kippur 2032 there will be exactly 2550 days, which lines up with the exact number of days that the Tribulation will last, according to Daniel and John.

The interesting thing is that if this same calculation is done for other years in the near future, there are either 29 days too many, or one day too few or too many:

  • September 22, 2025, to September 15, 2032: 2550 days.
  • September 11, 2026, to October 3, 2033: 2579 days.
  • October 1, 2027, to September 23, 2034: 2549 days.
  • September 20, 2028, to October 13, 2035: 2579 days.
  • September 9, 2029, to October 1, 2036: 2579 days.
  • September 27, 2030, to September 19, 2037: 2549 days.
  • September 17, 2031, to October 9, 2038: 2579 days.
  • September 5, 2032, to September 28, 2039: 2579 days.
  • September 23, 2033, to September 17, 2040: 2551 days.

Now, depending on whether we count the last day of the Day of Atonement as being part of the total number of days or not, we could potentially end up with there also being 2550 days in the spans of years from 2027 to 2034, and 2030 to 2037.5

However, the only span of years where we get 2550 days between these two autumn feasts AND where Jesus' second coming would occur exactly two-thousand years from one of the years in which he may have been crucified (30 to 33 AD) narrows the possibilities down to only one: 2025 to 2032.

That's very interesting.

The Year of Jesus' Second Coming

But why must Jesus' second coming occur exactly two thousand years from his crucifixion?

This is related to the idea that there will be only seven thousand years of human history from the creation of the world to the end of Jesus' Millennial Kingdom.

This claim is based on extrapolating from the seven days that God took to create the world in Genesis chapter 1, and using the principle that to God, a thousand of our years are only like a day, as stated in 2 Peter 3:8 and Psalm 90:4.

Jesus' Millennial Kingdom must last for a thousand years (Revelation 20:1-4), and it will be a time of peace and prosperity for the world. This matches well with the seventh day of creation when God rested and simply enjoyed what he had created, which at that time was still fully good and untainted by sin (Genesis 2:1-3).

That leaves six thousand years from Adam to Jesus' second coming.

In my older post where I discussed the possibility of the Rapture occurring in 2023, I mentioned an interesting documentary called Messiah 2030, which makes a case for the idea that Jesus would return in 2030. The documentary's argument was partly based on this seven-thousand year timeline, which the documentary argues is confirmed by many other instances of biblical typology.6

This documentary also argues that, based on this timeline, Jesus' second coming will be 2000 years from his death and resurrection, which they argued occurred in 30 AD. This claim was based on a number of unusual things that were documented as beginning to happen in the Jewish temple starting in 30 AD, which this documentary suggests showed that God was no longer pleased with the Jewish sacrificial system, perhaps because Jesus was crucified in 30 AD as the last and final sacrifice for all sin (i.e., Hebrews 10:12-14).

30 AD would also fit nicely with there being exactly a 40 year gap between Jesus' crucifixion and when the Jewish temple in Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 AD. In the Bible, God often uses the number 40 as a time of testing, such as when Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness being tested (Matthew 4:2), or when Israel spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness as a judgment on their lack of faith (Numbers 14:34).

However, if we used an exact two-thousand year count from 30 AD for Jesus' second coming, that would bring us to 2030. Subtracting seven years for the Tribulation would have meant that the Tribulation would have had to start in 2023.

Yet there are many good reasons why the Rapture must occur before the Tribulation begins, and yet Christians are still here (at least as of the date of this blog post), so by this fact, we know the Tribulation has not yet begun. Therefore, Jesus' second coming must be at least seven years in the future from now.

And we know that the Millennial Kingdom is a full thousand years, during which time Satan will be locked in the bottomless pit so that he is unable to deceive the nations (Revelation 20:2).

Therefore, Jesus' second coming where he defeats Satan's henchmen the Antichrist and False Prophet, who will have helped Satan deceive the world and convince so many people to take the Mark of the Beast during the Tribulation (Revelation 19:19-21), must happen before the official start of Jesus' Millennial Kingdom.

Basically, I'm just arguing that no part of the Tribulation will take place during the first seven years of Jesus' Millennial Kingdom. It has to be a full thousand years, and Jesus would not share any of that time with Satan or the Antichrist.

Therefore, since the generally-accepted range of years in which Jesus was crucified are from 30 to 33 AD, that means there is good reason for Christians to expect Jesus' second coming somewhere between 2030 to 2033, and not later.

Since it is already 2025, and the Tribulation is seven years long, we must eliminate 2030 and 2031 as being possible years for Jesus' second coming. That leaves us with two possible years: 2032, and 2033.

I admit that, based on the evidence presented in the Messiah 2030 documentary, and which I summarize in the appendix at the end of my post regarding 2023, it is a little perplexing why Jesus' crucifixion would actually have been in 32 or 33 AD, if prophetically significant signs began occurring in the Jewish Temple in 30 AD and lasted until its destruction in 70 AD. If Jesus' death was in 32 or 33 AD, it would lead to a period of only 38 or 37 years between then and the destruction of the temple, rather than a full 40.

My only speculation is that if those 40 years before the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD were truly supposed to be a divine time of testing for Israel, then perhaps that time period did begin in 30 AD, around the start of Jesus' ministry, or perhaps at the time when the Jewish religious leaders began to reject Jesus' teachings.

However, the Messiah 2030 documentary's overall point that there are many good reasons taken from the Bible to expect a two thousand year period between Jesus' resurrection and his second coming are still valid, even if the year the documentary predicted for Jesus' second coming is wrong.

So now the only question is, did Jesus die in 32 or 33 AD?

32 or 33 AD?

In Daniel chapter 9:24-27, the prophet Daniel received a timeline from the angel Gabriel regarding Israel's future. This timeline was presented as a period of seventy 'weeks' or 'sevens' of years, which if we do the math, adds up to 490 years. This period of time was given to Israel in order for them

To finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy. (Daniel 9:24, NKJV)

This objective will be achieved when Israel finally stops repeating their long history of turning away from God, acknowledges Jesus as their true Messiah/Christ (meaning 'anointed one' in Hebrew and Greek) at his second coming, and submits to Jesus as their rightful king.

However, this 490 years is broken into two distinct periods: Seven plus sixty-two 'weeks', totaling sixty-nine 'weeks' of years from the time that a decree would be given to rebuild and restore Jerusalem, until the Messiah would come and be 'cut off' (i.e., killed), and at some point after this, Jerusalem and the Temple would be destroyed (Daniel 9:25-26).

Then the final seven years would begin when the "prince" who would come from the same group of people that destroyed the Jewish Temple would confirm a seven-year covenant with "many" (Daniel 9:27). This final seven years is typically correlated with the Tribulation period, as will be discussed later in this post.

For our purposes right now, we are interested in the first sixty-nine 'weeks' or 'sevens' of Daniel's prophecy.

If we can calculate sixty nine 'weeks' of years from the time the decree to rebuild and restore Jerusalem was issued to the time when the Messiah was killed, then this should give us the year of Jesus' death and resurrection.

Sixty nine 'weeks' of years would be 483 years. Now we just need to know when the decree to rebuild Jerusalem was issued. The issuing of this decree is documented in Nehemiah chapter 2.

Here, King Artaxerxes granted Nehemiah's request to allow Nehemiah to return to Israel and organize the rebuilding of Jerusalem. The date is given in the Hebrew month of Nisan (March) in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes' reign (Nehemiah 2:1).

Now the challenge is to translate this date into our Gregorian calendar system.

There is some debate regarding whether the twentieth year of Artaxerxes' reign was in 445 BC or 444 BC. The issue seems to be whether Artaxerxes' first year of ruling should be counted as part of his real 'reign', or whether it was only part of the 'accession' year which would not have been counted.

Either way, Daniel's prophecy of 483 'prophetic' years of 360 days per year leads to a total of 173,880 days. If this number of days is added to March of 444 or 445 BC, it leads us to April in either 32 or 33 AD.

There are a number of credible scholars who all agree that April 3, 33 AD is the most likely date for Jesus' crucifixion. This is based on historical facts of when certain figures such as Herod and Pilate were in power, and which years Passover was on a Saturday, so that Jesus could be crucified on a Friday as tradition and Scripture indicate (i.e. Mark 15:42-43, Luke 23:54, John 19:31).7

These scholars also consider the dates of lunar eclipses, if we want there to have been a lunar eclipse/blood moon visible from Jerusalem the night after the crucifixion, to go along with the mysterious darkness that lasted for three hours during Jesus' crucifixion. Both of these events were referred to by Peter during his speech at the day of Pentecost (Matthew 27:45, Mark 15:33, Luke 23:44, Acts 2:19-21).

Additional historical evidence for 33 AD is provided by the Greek historian Phlegon who refers to a mysterious darkness that turned the day to night around noon sometime in 33 AD, at the same time as an earthquake occurred. This earthquake is testified to in Matthew 27:51-54.8 So there are multiple ways of confirming that 33 AD was truly the year when Jesus died.

If we use March 13, 444 BC as the date of Artaxerxes' decree to rebuild Jerusalem, and as the start of Daniel's 483 'prophetic' year countdown, 173,880 days later would land exactly on April 3, 33 AD. If we wanted to move the end date of Daniel's prophecy to occur on Palm Sunday (March 29, 33 AD), when Jesus was proclaimed as the Messiah as he rode into Jerusalem but was rejected by the religious leaders (John 12:12-19), then Artaxerxes' decree would have been given on March 8, 444 BC.9 Either way, Daniel's prophecy fits the historical facts perfectly.

Yet, given that as shown earlier, the most likely range of years for the Tribulation that allows for Jesus' second coming to be on the Day of Atonement/Yom Kippur on or before 2033 is from 2025-2032, I believe that even if Jesus' crucifixion occurred in 33 AD, he could very well return at the Day of Atonement in 2032, which would be only six months short of the two-thousandth anniversary of his death and resurrection.

This way, the two-thousandth anniversary of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection would occur during the first six months of Jesus' Millennial Kingdom, when this anniversary could be given an appropriate level of celebration and honor by everyone in the world.

In contrast, if Jesus returned at the Day of Atonement 2033, this would place the two-thousandth anniversary of his death and resurrection during the final six months of the Tribulation. At this point, the world would be in a truly horrific state, and the few Christians left alive who have escaped being hunted down and beheaded by the Antichrist (Revelation 13:7-8, 20:4) would likely be focused purely on survival.

And as shown earlier, there are too many days between the Feast of Trumpets 2026 and the Day of Atonement 2033 to fit with John's and Daniel's prophecies.

Therefore, I believe that the Rapture occurring at the Feast of Trumpets/Rosh Hashanah 2025, on September 23-24 fits very well with both a number of biblical prophecies and historical details that all point to Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection having occurred in 33 AD, and his second coming occurring only six months short of exactly two thousand years since this monumental theological event, at the Day of Atonement/Yom Kippur on September 15, 2032.

But No One Knows the Day or Hour!

But again, what about Jesus' statement that no one will know the day or hour of his return at the Rapture?

Some commentators think that Jesus was actually alluding to the Feast of Trumpets when he said no one would know the day or hour of his coming.

The Feast of Trumpets would only start once the bright sliver at the edge of a new moon was spotted in Israel by two witnesses who would report it to the religious leaders in Jerusalem. The start of the feast would then be announced by blowing a trumpet. So the exact day and hour that the Feast of Trumpets officially began depended on the weather (since clouds would keep witnesses from seeing the moon).10

This is why the Feast of Trumpets spans a two-day period, because if the sliver of the new moon was not spotted on the first day of the feast, it would likely be spotted on the second day.

There may also be some connection between Jesus' phrase in Matthew 24:36 and a first-century Jewish/Galilean wedding, which would only occur when the groom's father gave the approval to go ahead with the celebration. Therefore, no one besides the groom's father could be 100% sure when it would start.11 We are told in Ephesians 5:22-32 that human marriage is a symbol of Jesus' relationship with the Church (i.e., all true Christians).

If we consider that the Church got engaged to Jesus at the last supper before he was arrested, when he offered his disciples the cup of wine (Matthew 26:27, Mark 14:23, Luke 22:17-20), then the Church will be officially married to Jesus at the Rapture, when he comes back to take Christians to heaven to live in his Father's house (John 14:1-3) for seven days (i.e., the seven years of the Tribulation), and afterward, hold a wedding feast (Revelation 19:6-10).12

Then Jesus and the Church return to Earth together at Jesus' second coming (Revelation 19:11-21), where the Church is depicted as being part of Jesus' heavenly armies on white horses (Revelation 19:14, Jude 1:14-15).

Thus, overall, the symbolism of both the Feast of Trumpets and of a Jewish/Galilean wedding, both of which are tied to the idea that no one but God the Father knows the exact day or hour when they will begin, fits very well with the Rapture.

Even if we take Jesus' words the most literally, because the Feast of Trumpets spans a two-day period, anyone who suggests that Jesus will return sometime during the Feast of Trumpets is not violating Jesus' prophecy.

Indeed, simply because the world is a sphere, the planet is always spanning two different calendar days. So the Rapture will certainly occur on one calendar day for part of the world, and the next calendar day for the rest. The exact hour in which the Rapture occurs will also be different in each time zone. Thus, some people will be awake and working when the Rapture happens, and others will be asleep (Luke 17:34-35).

However, there are hints that if Christians are watching, we will not be completely surprised by the Rapture:

Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. (1 Thessalonians 5:1-5)

In Revelation, Jesus says something similar to the Church of Sardis:

Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you. (Revelation 3:3, NKJV)

This repeats Jesus' warning in Matthew 24:45-51, that if Jesus' servants are not watching for his return, he will arrive at a time when these servants are not expecting him. This is more evidence for the idea that life will remain generally 'normal' for most people right up until the Rapture.

On the flip side, however, these verses also imply that if we are watching, we should know when Jesus will be returning.

So it is certainly possible that Christians who are watching for the signs of the end times will know, within the approximate range of a day or two, when the Rapture will occur, and perhaps even the year when it is likely to occur, based on all that has been discussed above.

Joshua's Prophecy of September 23-24 2025, and Many Confirmations

What is especially interesting this year, is that there actually is someone who is claiming that Jesus directly told him that the Rapture will definitely occur this year during the Feast of Trumpets, on either September 23 or 24, and that Jesus' second coming will happen seven years later on the Day of Atonement, September 15, 2032.

His name is Joshua Mhlakela, a former pastor from South Africa.

He first went public with this information on an online YouTube podcast by CentTwinz TV, back on June 17, 2025.13 A follow-up interview on this same Youtube channel took place July 22, 2025.14

In these interviews, Joshua outlines a series of supernatural events, dreams, and visions he had which convinced him that God had a divine purpose for his life, and which prepared him for his ultimate task of revealing the date of the Rapture to the world.

Joshua repeated this personal testimony on another Christian YouTube podcast on August 29, 2025, where he addressed a few criticisms of his testimony.15

Basically, Joshua said that back in 2018, one morning during his devotional time, Jesus literally appeared to him in person and told him this information with these exact dates.

Jesus also said to him that the 2026 World Cup soccer tournament would not occur because the world will be in such a state of disarray due to the Rapture and onset of the Tribulation.

Joshua was told that from when Israel became a nation in 1948, until 'the exodus', meaning the Rapture, there would be 77 years. That would bring us to 2025.

Regarding the specific days of the Rapture, the exact words Joshua received from Jesus were:

"On the 23rd and 24th of September, 2025, I will come to take my Church. In these two days, no one knows the day or hour when I will come. Then after, there will be a seven year Tribulation on Earth for those left behind. On the 15th of September, 2032, I will return to Earth as King."

Joshua admits that in the past, predictions for the Rapture date have failed. Yet he says,

"I promise you, days have come and gone. Days have been spoken and they came to nothing. But not this one. I give you a billion percent that on the 23rd or 24th of 2025, the Rapture of the Church will take place."

Earlier this year, Joshua felt God telling him it was time to begin sharing this information publicly, to warn the world that Jesus is coming, and to give the "last call" to the world to turn to Jesus before the Tribulation begins.

Joshua does seem to have an ideal personality for such a mission, because he does not seem to mind being criticized or questioned, and appears to remain calm and yet very humble in all of these interviews. He says he does not want the attention for himself, but only wants God to be glorified, and for people to hear the gospel and be saved before the Rapture happens.

Since these interviews went live, there has been a flurry of debate among Youtube end-time watchers. Some are calling Joshua a false prophet, while others argue that nothing Joshua has said is inherently unbiblical, and that we would have to at least wait until the date passes to truly be able to say that he got it wrong.

These interviews with Joshua do seem to have brought out an even larger number of mockers and scoffers who are fulfilling Peter's prophecy that,

scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation". (2 Peter 3:3)

However, many other Christians are creating YouTube videos about how they prayed to God to and asked God confirm whether what Joshua has said is true, and whether the Rapture really will happen this year at the Feast of Trumpets, on the 23rd or 24th of September. And they are receiving positive responses of various sorts, many of which even involve the numbers 9 (for September as the 9th month) and 23 or 24.

Some of these confirmations have even come through comments, dreams, or visions of Christians' children. A few Christians have said that they were given preemptive confirmations regarding the Feast of Trumpets this year back even before they knew about Joshua's prophecy.

I've watched a decent number of these videos, and even though the ways that God is supposedly 'confirming' this date to Christians are rather unusual or highly personal, these people themselves all believe it is true, and they feel a sense of hope, joy, and peace, as well as urgency to share the gospel message.

Some of these people say they even created their first YouTube videos just to share their confirmations, so it is not as if these confirmations are only coming out on established channels that are trying to gain fame by riding on Joshua's coattails.

Among those who support Joshua and believe his message, they often argue that it makes sense that God would tell Christians who are watching for him the date of the Rapture.

One frequently cited verse to this effect is Amos 3:7:

For the Lord God does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets. (ESV)

Another is the same verse Peter quoted at Pentecost, Joel 2:28-29:

And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit. (ESV)

So it is not unreasonable or unbiblical to say that God might give revelation through dreams or visions to Christians, and even reveal things about the future to them.

Personally, I would rather land on the side of those who are hopeful and joyful about the coming Rapture, rather than those who are scoffing and mocking and trying to discredit Joshua or others who are confirming his prophecy.

And as noted earlier in this post, there are Bible verses which hint that Christians who are watching for Jesus' return will have some idea or sense of when it will happen, so that we will not be completely shocked like the rest of the world will be.

Although I'm always a little hesitant about dreams and visions, and am personally more persuaded by the mathematical and typological approach outlined above, I do find all of this very interesting.

Since I've been personally paying attention to news and looking for the end times for at least 15 years now, I can also confirm what other end-times watchers are saying, that although in the past, there were certain days that were hyped by a few people or certain YouTube channels as being the time for the Rapture, there has never been such a large number of Christians of all sorts coming out and saying that God has personally revealed or confirmed to them that the Rapture will happen this year, even in September, and even on the 23rd to 24th of September.

The first time when Jesus came, the people said, “When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?” (John 7:31). So basically, they were saying that if Jesus was not the Messiah, then the true Messiah would have to do even more miracles and signs than Jesus was doing.

I feel the same way about all of these warnings about the Rapture that people are supposedly getting from God. If this upcoming Feast of Trumpets will not be the Rapture, then how many more warnings would God have to give people through dreams, visions, or other means to get our attention to highlight when the Rapture will actually occur?

Furthermore, I do not see the harm in people sharing the gospel message and warning others to put their faith in Jesus. I don't think that Satan would be deceiving people, even children, by giving them warnings or confirmations of a false Rapture date, if these dreams and visions lead these people to share the gospel with others in the hope of others being eternally saved.

However, even if we completely discount Joshua's testimony and all these other Christians' confirmations of it, there are still very interesting things happening this year at the United Nations during the Feast of Trumpets which may confirm that the Tribulation truly could begin at this time.

The Covenant with Many

As noted earlier, the seventy 'weeks' in Daniel's prophecy are split into two: sixty-nine 'weeks' of years, and the final 'week' of seven years. The first sixty nine weeks ended when Jesus was crucified.

The final seven years will begin when the "prince" belonging to the same group of people as those who destroyed the Temple in 70 AD (i.e. the Romans), will come:

And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator. Daniel 9:27

This "prince" is typically identified as the Antichrist. He is also referred to as "the Beast" in the book of Revelation, and as the "little horn" in Daniel 7:23-27.

2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 reassures us that the Rapture, a.k.a, "the departure" (in Greek, the apostasia, which is often unfortunately translated less literally as "the apostasy", "the rebellion", or "the falling away")16 happens before the Antichrist is revealed to the world. There are also many other good reasons why the Rapture must happen before the Tribulation begins. Therefore, these final seven years of Daniel's prophecy must be fulfilled during the Tribulation.

It is generally agreed by most Bible scholars who hold to a premillennial, pretribulational, and futurist perspective of the end-times that the revealing of the Antichrist by confirming/strengthening a seven-year covenant with "many" is the first Seal Judgment at the start of the Tribulation, as per Revelation 6:1-2.

Most often, this seven-year covenant is interpreted as being some sort of a peace treaty that will involve Israel, and it will likely give them permission to rebuild their Temple.

This is because we know the Temple must be functioning by the mid-way point of the Tribulation, when the Antichrist enters it to declare himself to be God, and stops the sacrifices (Daniel 9:27, Matthew 24:15, Mark 13:14, 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4).

Yet currently, if Israel were to rebuild their temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, it would cause a massive outcry by all Muslim countries around the world and potential military retaliation, since Muslims also claim the Temple Mount which currently hosts the Al-Asqa mosque as a holy site for their faith.

For many decades, Jews were not even permitted to openly pray on the Temple Mount, although as of 2021, this standard has either been relaxed, or is no longer being enforced.17 Still, today, when notable Israelis go to pray on the Temple Mount, it makes international headlines due to the outrage expressed by certain groups of Muslims.18

So something must clearly happen to change this situation.

The idea of the Tribulation beginning with a peace covenant is also suggested in 1 Thessalonians 5:2-3:

For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. (NKJV)

In addition, it is possible to argue that this peace deal would give Israel the illusion of being safe, but it would actually be a deal with death and Sheol/Hell for Israel, as is suggested in Isaiah 28:15.

It has been argued that if Israel were to ever agree to a two-state solution with the Palestinians on the basis of the borders that Israel had in 1967, it would basically be signing Israel's death certificate. This is because those borders are believed to make Israel too small to humanly defend if they were attacked.19

The Bible prophesies about how Israel will fight two more major wars that have not yet occurred in Israel's history (Psalm 83 and Ezekiel 38), where Israel will be saved by God's miraculous intervention (Ezekiel 39:1-8). So it seems that the seven-year covenant the Antichrist would confirm with 'many' will likely be a peace deal between Israel and the countries that will be affected by these wars.

For example, if Damascus were destroyed by a nuclear bomb during one of these wars (Isaiah 17:1-14), the surrounding countries and the rest of the world would certainly be crying out for peace.

Thus, Christians who study the end times pay close attention to whether Israel is currently being threatened by any major wars, and if there are any seven-year peace treaties being proposed that might claim to solve the Israel-Palestinian tensions, especially if said treaty might force Israel back to the indefensible 1967 borders.

Progress Toward a Two-State Solution in 2025

In previous years, the Abraham Accords received a great deal of attention from end-times watchers because of how the major stated purpose behind the Abraham Accords is to bring some sort of regional peace to the Middle East by creating an alliance against Iran.20 Saudi Arabia has hinted that they would join the Abraham Accords and normalize ties with Israel if the Israel-Palestinian issue could be solved.21

In only the past few days, Saudi Arabia has threatened that they will not normalize ties with Israel if Israel goes ahead and annexes any part of the West Bank, which they want to be kept for a potential Palestinian state. The United Arab Emirates has also threatened to pull out of the Abraham Accords if Israel annexes the West Bank.22

However, presuming that Israel can achieve and maintain the goodwill of their neighbors, there is a plan by a group called the Coalition for Regional Security to expand and strengthen the Abraham Accords into something called the Abraham Shield.23

The goal of the Abraham Shield plan is "to create a new regional order that ensures Israel’s security".

Part of this Abraham Shield plan would include "an Israeli declaration of a gradual, responsible, secure path of separation from the Palestinians within a decade, as part of a comprehensive regional agreement."

Earlier this year, the idea of a truce between Israel and Hamas that would last between five to seven years had been proposed to end the Gaza war and return the remaining Israeli hostages who were taken on October 7, 2023.24

Given the above news articles, it is very interesting that multiple different attempts to bring peace between Israel and its neighbors are now talking not in terms of permanent peace treaties, but ones that involve timelines ranging from five to ten years. This shows that the outlines of a seven-year peace deal may be taking shape.

Until now, none of these proposals have been linked to a specific date, such as the Feast of Trumpets.

However, this year, Saudi Arabia and France will be co-chairing an international conference on September 22, 2025 in New York, during the same time as the United Nations' 80th General Assembly.

French President Emmanuel Macron says purpose of this conference is "to gather the broadest international support for a two-state solution, the only way to secure the aspirations of both the Israeli and Palestinian peoples."25

As a precursor to this conference, another UN conference was held back at the end of July, which issued something called the "New York Declaration." This declaration includes statements saying they want to create a specific timeline of "concrete, time-bound, and irreversible steps" for the resolution of the Israel-Palestine issue through a two-state solution.26

Perhaps not so coincidentally, then, France and Saudi Arabia's plan appears that it will effectively force a two-state solution on Israel, whether Israel likes it or not. If Israel does not go along with their plan, international sanctions would be imposed on them.27

France has also said that it plans to recognize the State of Palestine at the UN General Assembly this year, and so have Canada, Australia, and the UK. 147 out of 193 countries in the UN already recognize Palestine as a state.28

The UN's International Day of Peace is also being held this year on September 21.29

So although there has been much talk about a two-state solution in past years, it sounds like this time, if France and Saudi Arabia can get enough countries on board (which seems likely), they could potentially create or endorse a plan very much like the Abraham Shield plan to set a timeline of somewhere between five to ten years of steps that Israel must follow in order to create a Palestinian state, under the promise of bringing "peace and safety/security" to the region, and with threats of sanctions if Israel does not cooperate.

This sounds very much like the outline of a seven-year covenant that could be strengthened or confirmed by the Antichrist, who would come on the world scene during the chaos that would occur after the Rapture happens.

God warned that eventually, the nations of the world will cause a two-state solution to happen, which will divide the land of Israel. This will displease God, and is one of the reasons why God will judge the world during the Tribulation and at the final battle of Armageddon (Joel 3:2). Therefore, Christians should not support a two-state solution.

However, we do know that Bible prophecy will be fulfilled, and so somehow, a seven-year peace deal/covenant to create a two-state solution and divide Israel's land will be created. The only question is exactly how it will come about.

There were rumors earlier in the summer that Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's current Prime Minister, is on board with a two-state solution.30

And American President Trump is proposing a "Nobel-worthy mega-deal" that would resolve the Israel-Gaza war by expelling Hamas from Gaza, and the USA would oversee the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.31 So even the USA, which has traditionally been Israel's closest ally, is wanting to see a deal get done to resolve this war and lead to peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

So it seems there is a lot of international attention this year on resolving the Israel-Gaza war, creating a two-state solution, and recognizing the State of Palestine.

The fact that the next conference on this issue at the UN chaired by France and Saudi Arabia will be on September 22, just before the Feast of Trumpets on September 23-24, could very well result in them making some sort of statement or declaration about their plan for "peace and safety/security" between Israel and the Palestinians.

If so, this could possibly fulfill the warning in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3 that when they are saying these things, sudden destruction will come upon the world.

Sudden Destruction When They Say 'Peace and Safety'

The Rapture would certainly qualify as "sudden destruction", because of the many dangerous situations that would likely occur in Western countries that still have decent numbers of Christians if these Christians all suddenly disappeared while performing tasks such as driving cars, operating heavy machinery, flying airplanes, or doing surgery.

Around the world, panic and chaos would also occur if all children under the 'age of accountability' were also taken to heaven during the Rapture.32

Although children being raptured is not specifically mentioned in the Bible, it is a reasonable deduction from the obvious fact that at least the young dependent children of Christian parents/caretakers would need to go with their parents/caretakers in the Rapture. By extension, it would seem fair for God to also rescue all the rest of the world's children, to save them from going through the Tribulation.

We do know that Jesus has a special love for children (i.e. Luke 18:15-17, 8:49-56). God would also presumably not want raptured Christian parents to worry about their young children being left behind.

Furthermore, it would not be fair for children to be forced into taking the Mark of the Beast by their non-Christian parents or caretakers, and for these children to suffer the eternal consequences of that, without these children having made a personal free choice to reject Jesus and worship the Antichrist instead (Revelation 13:16, 14:9-11). So it may be that all children will be taken to heaven at the rapture to spare them from that outcome.33

As I argue in my post regarding whether an alien abduction will be the false explanation for the Rapture, if all the world's children were taken to heaven in the Rapture, this might provide the Antichrist with a powerful way to scare the world into going along with his plans.

The panic and chaos that would likely occur among people who are left behind at the Rapture could lead some to take advantage of it and loot stores and perhaps commit other forms of violence. This would be especially likely if police forces and the military lose a number of Christian members who otherwise could help maintain law and order.

If the resurrection of deceased Christians occurs with a major earthquake, like the smaller earthquake that occurred when some deceased saints came back to life when Jesus died (Matthew 27:51-54), such an earthquake could add to this "sudden destruction".

Some Christians have claimed they have had visions or dreams of a massive West-coast earthquake occurring around San Francisco and/or perhaps the Yellowstone caldera either immediately before, during, or just after the Rapture.

Another source of potential "sudden destruction" could come from how, if the USA and other Western countries who tend to support Israel are thrown into chaos by the Rapture, it could be an ideal time for Israel's enemies to coordinate their efforts and attempt to wipe Israel off the map (Psalm 83:1-18).

God's supernatural defense of Israel that results in the destruction of Israel's neighboring enemies, including perhaps the city of Damascus (Isaiah 17:1-14), could be the event that allows Israel to rebuild their Temple without international opposition, if the rebuilding of their Temple were not included already in a potential seven-year peace deal.

Therefore, the Psalm 83 war and God's supernatural defense of Israel could also qualify as the "sudden destruction", which could take place in the immediate aftermath of the Rapture, while Israel's western allies are in a state of chaos and confusion, and unable to organize to help defend Israel due to the numerous holes in their military and governmental command structures that would result from Christians in these positions having been raptured.

The Psalm 83 war taking place just after the Rapture would also set up the situation in Ezekiel 38-39 to occur later during the Tribulation, when the 'outer ring' of countries who are hostile to Israel will attempt to destroy Israel during a time when Israel is living at peace. The fact that none of the 'inner ring' of countries who are listed in Psalm 83 are listed in Ezekiel chapters 38-39 suggests that something has happened to disable or neutralize these countries' ability to join in this future attempted destruction of Israel.34

After the Rapture and the Psalm 83 war, the Antichrist might even throw in permission for Israel to rebuild their Temple into his strengthened peace deal/seven year covenant, if this detail could get Israel's right-wing religious political parties on board. Some commentators have suggested that sharing the Temple Mount might even be a bold symbol of peace.35

In his vision, John saw that the Temple, when it is rebuilt, would not include the outer court because this area would be given over to the nations (Revelation 11:1-2). So perhaps the Temple Mount will be shared between a rebuilt Temple and the current Al-Asqa Mosque during the Tribulation period.

And the Temple Institute in Israel, which is deeply involved in preparing everything that will be necessary to rebuild the Temple and re-start Jewish worship, on the 9th of Av this past summer put out a post on their social media saying that it's time to rebuild the Temple36

There was already a ceremony earlier this summer where the Temple Institute sacrificed and burnt a red heifer. There are still some questions about whether this was only a 'practice' ceremony, but some people who were intimately involved claim that they did use a perfectly-qualified red heifer, a qualified priest, and followed all the requirements for the sacrifice as outlined in the Torah. If this is true, it would make the ashes of this heifer qualified to be used to purify priests who would serve in a rebuilt Temple.37

As far as I'm aware, these ashes are one of the last physical things that the Temple Institute needs to start rebuilding the temple, since they have supposedly already created all the other artifacts and are training priests to perform their duties in the Temple whenever it is built. All they would need now is the political permission to begin construction.

So there is already interest in rebuilding the Temple. After the Psalm 83 war, this interest might increase even more, and the international situation and internal political situation within Israel might change enough that the Antichrist can capitalize on this interest in rebuilding the Temple as a way to seal the deal on his strengthened/confirmed seven-year peace plan.

This is just some of my speculation regarding how things could play out to fulfill a number of end-times prophecies.

However, what does seem to be fairly certain is that these recent news articles demonstrate that a call for "peace and safety/security" between Israel and the Palestinians, and perhaps between other Abraham Accords countries too, on September 22, 2025, could be followed by the Rapture on the Feast of Trumpets, sometime during September 23-24, 2025.

Various sources of "sudden destruction" could then quickly follow the Rapture, providing an excellent situation for the Antichrist to rise to world prominence if he can provide answers and bring some sort of order that the world will be craving.

Astronomical Signs May Confirm the Rapture on September 23, 2025

Finally, there is one last detail which may add to all that has been argued previously about September 23-24 this year being a high-watch time for the Rapture.

In addition to all the above reasons for why September 23-24 is a high-watch period for the Rapture, some Christians are also looking at astronomical alignments and other celestial signs that they feel also confirm this year could be the Rapture.

God said that he created the sun, moon, and stars partly to act as signs to humanity (Genesis 1:14-15). Jesus also said that there would be signs in the sun, moon, and stars regarding his coming (Luke 21:25). Some end-times watchers also pay attention to certain solar eclipses and lunar eclipses, based on Joel 2:31.

(It should be noted that paying attention to signs in the sun, moon, and stars is not the same as astrology, which is the unbiblical idea that our lives are controlled by the stars and planets.)

Although I'm not always fully convinced by some these end-times watchers' interpretations of astronomical signs, there is at least one astronomical sign which has received enough attention over the years in relation to the Rapture that it is worth mentioning.

This year, the Feast of Trumpets on September 23-24 will be the exact eight-year anniversary of the 2017 'Revelation 12' sign.

This sign involved Jupiter and the Sun being in the constellation of Virgo, with nine stars and three other planets nearby Virgo's 'head', making a total of 12 'stars', and the Moon being near Virgo's 'feet'. Jupiter had spent nine months inside the 'womb' of Virgo before it was 'born' on September 23 of that year.38

This seemed to perfectly match the description of the "great sign that appeared in heaven" in Revelation 12:1-6:

A woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. (Revelation 12:1-2)

In this astronomical sign, the woman clothed with the sun, with the moon at her feet, and crowned with twelve 'stars' would be seen as representing the people of Israel, who metaphorically gave birth to the Messiah, Jesus.

This interpretation is based on Jacob's son Joseph's ancient dream of the sun, moon, and eleven stars bowing down to him, which represented his father, mother, and eleven brothers (Genesis 37:9-10). Together, Joseph and his brothers became the patriarchs of the twelve tribes of Israel, and Jesus is the Messiah who came from Israel who will rule the world with a rod of iron (Revelation 12:5, 19:15, Psalm 2:8-9).

In this sign, the planet Jupiter would represent Christ, since Jupiter is called the 'king planet', and it has stripes and the large red spot. These details could be seen as echoing Jesus' scourging before his crucifixion which would have left stripe-like gashes on his back, and the soldier's spear which pierced Jesus' side after his death on the cross (Matthew 27:26, John 19:34).

The male child in Revelation 12:5-6 who is caught up to heaven may also refer not just to Jesus' personal ascension to heaven (Acts 1:6-11), but also to the rest of Jesus' body, the Church (1 Corinthians 12:12, 12:27). The Church will help Jesus rule during the Millennium with rods of iron (Revelation 2:27), but will be snatched up to heaven in the Rapture before the Tribulation, while unbelieving Israel is left behind to go through it.

However, Israel will be protected by God during this time, and some of them will escape into the wilderness at the Abomination of Desolation (Revelation 12:6, 12:13-16, Matthew 24:15-28, Mark 13:14-23) when the Antichrist declares himself to be God in the rebuilt temple (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4). After this, the Antichrist will turn his attention to persecuting the Tribulation saints, i.e., all the new Christians who believed in Jesus after the Rapture (Revelation 12:17, 13:7).

Therefore, it does seem that the Revelation 12 sign could be an indicator for the world of the coming Rapture. Back in 2017, many Christians expected the Rapture to happen on September 23 of that year, when Jupiter was 'born' out of Virgo.

Last year, many end-times watchers were also looking forward to the seven-year anniversary of the 2017 Revelation 12 sign, given that in the Bible, the number seven tends to represent completion. It can also represent divine intervention, or spiritual perfection.39

It was noted that a seven-year warning to the world during relatively 'good' years from 2017 to 2024 before the seven 'bad' years of the Tribulation would fit well with the typology of the ancient Egyptian Pharaoh's dream of there being seven 'good' years before the seven 'bad' years of famine (Genesis 41:25-32).

Joseph's solution to this famine which involved the people selling everything they had, and even enslaving themselves to the Egyptian government for food (Genesis 47:13-26) may echo how people during the Tribulation will be required to take the Mark of the Beast if they want to have access to their money to buy food (Revelation 13:16-18).

This year, it is being noted that the number eight in the Bible is the number of new beginnings.40 Jesus came back to life on the first day of the week, which could also be seen as the 'eighth' day. It was also the eighth day after birth when the ancient Israelites circumcised their male children (Leviticus 12:3).

If the child that the woman in Revelation 12 representing Israel gives birth to was Jesus, as well as his body, the Church, then the idea of all true Christians being 'circumcised' at the Rapture as our earthly, fleshly bodies are transformed into eternal, immortal bodies (1 Corinthians 15:50-54), exactly eight years after this Revelation 12 sign could be a symbolic match.

As of now, nothing else has really happened with this Revelation 12 sign, and next year would be its ninth anniversary. It is again claimed that the number nine in the Bible can represent divine completeness or finality,41 however, I don't really see nearly as many or as strong of connections between the number nine and Bible prophecy in Scripture as there are for the numbers seven or eight.

So this year will probably be the last year that this astronomical Revelation 12 sign could be credibly seen as having any symbolic meaning in relation to the timing of the Rapture.

Additionally, next year, the Feast of Trumpets will not be on September 23, so it would not be a perfect nine years from the Revelation 12 sign. However, this year it will be eight years to the exact same day that the Revelation 12 sign was completed. That fact makes me consider that this Revelation 12 sign may be more likely to be pointing to the Rapture occurring this year than previous or future years.

On its own, this argument from the Revelation 12 sign may appear to be questionable or weak. However, when combined with all the rest of the evidence and Christian testimonies regarding the Rapture potentially happening this September 23-24, it was worth mentioning.

Conclusion

In summary, there are a number of strong reasons to believe that this September 23 or 24, 2025, is a very high watch day for the Rapture to potentially occur:

  • There are exactly 2550 days from the first day of the Feast of Trumpets, September 22, 2025, to the Day of Atonement on September 15, 2032, matching the prophesied length of the seven-year Tribulation in the books of Daniel and Revelation. This does not happen every year, and 2025-2032 is the only span of years remaining in which this number of days occurs where the end date for Jesus' second coming takes place before the two-thousandth anniversary of Jesus' death and resurrection in 2033 AD.
  • It is biblically plausible to suggest that Jesus will return at his second coming at the Day of Atonement/Yom Kippur in the year 2032, only six months short of the two thousandth anniversary of his death and resurrection.
  • The Rapture would correspond well with the details of the symbolism of the Feast of Trumpets, if God wants to fulfill the Feast of Trumpets to the exact day, as he did in the past with the Jewish spring feasts of Passover, Unleavened Bread, and First Fruits, as well as Pentecost.
  • The Feast of Trumpets was known as being the feast on which no one knew the day or hour on which it would begin. Thus, Jesus' saying that no one would know the day or hour of his return (Matthew 24:36, Mark 13:32) could have been a hint that the Rapture would occur some year at the Feast of Trumpets, which has an uncertain start time over a two-day period.
  • This phrase that no one knows the day or hour of Jesus' return would also match with how the Bible says that the relationship between Jesus and the Church can be represented as that of between a husband and his bride, with the Rapture being the time of the wedding. In Jewish/Galilean wedding typology, no one but the Groom's father knew the exact time the wedding would begin.
  • A former pastor named Joshua from South Africa has made dramatic claims of Jesus having appeared to him to specifically warn him that the Rapture will definitely occur this year on the Feast of Trumpets, September 23-24, 2025, and that as a result, the world in 2026 will be in chaos.
  • Many Christians are receiving personal answers to prayer which they claim confirm truth of Joshua's prophecy. These confirmations come in a variety of ways, including in Christians' dreams or visions, the dreams and visions of their children, or through Christians seeing the numbers 9, 23, or 24 in unexpected situations.
  • This year, on September 22, there is a high-level international conference chaired by France and Saudi Arabia that seems to seek to muster international agreement regarding taking concrete and irreversible steps toward a two-state solution. This could be the saying of "peace and safety" that is followed by the "sudden destruction" of the Rapture (1 Thessalonians 5:1-3) and perhaps the Psalm 83 war, which would precede the appearance of the Antichrist who will confirm or strengthen a seven-year peace deal that will lead to a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians, and the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple.
  • This year, September 23, 2025, is exactly the eighth-year anniversary of the 'Revelation 12' astronomical sign which many Christians who are watching for the end times have seen symbolic significance in as perhaps foreshadowing and forewarning the world of the coming Rapture and Tribulation.

Although perhaps one or two of the above points could seem questionable, taken together, I believe this is a very significant convergence of signs which make a strong case that the Rapture may indeed occur sometime during September 23 or 24th, 2025.

So what should Christians do?

Of course, I am not recommending that Christians quit our jobs, rack up huge credit card bills, or cancel medical appointments. That's not responsible, just in case the Rapture does not happen now, for whatever reason end-times watchers may have overlooked or misinterpreted.

What I would recommend is that if Christians have not done so already, it would be wise to write a letter which explains what the Rapture is, warn about the coming Tribulation, and explain the gospel message. Then put copies of this letter in places in our homes where someone who enters our home to look for us after the Rapture may see it.

As an example, you can see my letter here. I give permission to everyone to copy it, in part or in whole, or to simply print it out in full using the 'Print This Post' button at the top of this page, if you do not have the time or ability to write your own letter. The same goes for any of the other posts on this blog which you want to print out or copy parts of that you feel may be useful for those who are left behind.

In this way, hopefully our left-behind loved ones, or even strangers who may enter our homes to search for us or for necessary supplies after the Rapture happens, might at least hear about the Rapture. Hopefully, this will help them not be deceived by whatever false explanation the governments and media will likely attempt to give, and they will also hear the gospel message and be eternally saved.

However, it may be better for Christians today to speak to our unsaved loved ones and warn them about the possibility of the Rapture ahead of time, and share the gospel with them again before September 22, 2025, just in case.

Even if this topic may seem scary, what is scarier is the possibility of our unsaved loved ones being left behind during the Tribulation and potentially taking the Mark of the Beast, which would lead to them face guaranteed eternal punishment (Revelation 14:9-11). Therefore, I do not believe that holding back on this topic is a loving thing to do, even if we may worry that this discussion may frighten our unsaved loved ones.

Yet all true Christians should not be afraid of the Rapture. If you have trusted in Jesus alone for the forgiveness of your sins and eternal salvation, your eternal destiny is 100% secure (Ephesians 1:13-14), and so you will definitely be included in the Rapture, and so will your dependent children. Even if Christians do not believe in the Rapture or disagree about its timing, or are not watching for the signs of the end times, they will still be raptured at the same time as all other true Christians, before the Tribulation begins.

Of course, if the Rapture does not happen this September, there is a chance that our loved ones may then scoff at us and mock us. But this risk is worth taking, because it is a minor price to pay when considering the much-greater risk of our loved ones potentially having to suffer in the Tribulation.

Christians will be rewarded in heaven for bearing the brunt of our loved ones' mocking, scoffing, or other potential insults we might receive when we warn them about the coming Rapture and Tribulation (Matthew 5:11-12). Alternatively, if we truly believe that the Rapture is coming but we do nothing to warn our loved ones, God may not be pleased with us (Ezekiel 33:1-6).

Therefore, I hope that anyone who reads this post will feel sufficiently warned about the possibility that the Rapture may occur this year on September 23-24, 2025. If I am wrong, then I'll be disappointed and perhaps a little embarrassed, but this outcome is better than if I had said nothing and the Rapture does actually happen.

Footnotes:

Older: Why Revelation Should Be Interpreted (Mostly) Literally
Newer: Read This When Millions of People Suddenly Disappear

Other Posts