The following is to clarify why I believe that neither the Rapture or the Ezekiel 38 Gog- Magog War can happen in 2024, as some have suggested, but could possibly happen in 2025 and are likely to be part of the same series of events. Hopefully, this will give the reader some things to think about. Essentially, it is often very hard to come up with quick responses to important questions and unless we look at the full picture of things, it is easy to get confused. As such, in the following discussion, I will share a few of the reasons for my convictions about the timing of the Rapture and the Ezekiel 38 war, that I believe give us a lot of hope.
Firstly, in Relation to the Rapture happening this year (2024)
There are numerous reasons as to why I believe that this cannot happen this year but could possibly happen next year in 2025. However, as each reason could take a long time to outine, I will just submit a brief overview of 6 reasons for consideration:
1) Daniel 9:27 - the 70 weeks prophecy - (70 x 7 = 490 years in total, but 483 to when the Messiah is cutoff, leaving 7 years to be completed).
Daniel’s 70 week prophecy is regarded by many Academics as beginning in 445 BC with the declaration of Artaxerxes to Nehemiah to rebuild Jerusalem's Walls. Numerous Scholars have demonstrated that applying the maths (see below) of 483 years at 360 days leads you to the crucifixion of Christ in April 32 AD.
483 x 360 = 173,880 days
173,880 / 365.25 = 476.0575948 years on the Gregorian Calendar
-445 (BC) + 476.0575948 = 31.0575948
Then adjusting for no year 0 (31.0575948 +1 ) = 32 AD with the 0.0575948 equating to another 3 weeks or 21 days that is believed to take the day precisely to April 6 in 32 AD.
On this basis and with scriptures that state that Jesus will return on the 3rd day, which obviously occurs after 2 days or 2,000 years have passed (noting Scripture states that a day is as a thousand years and a thousand years is as a day to the Lord), many agree that this places 2032 (32 +2,000) as being the most likely year for the 2nd coming. As the 2nd Coming will be at the end of the 7-year Tribulation, this means 2025 (or 2032-7) is also a possibility for the Rapture, or the start of the Tribulation.
Obviously, if the Rapture was to occur in 2024 and the 7 year Tribulation ended 7 years later in 2031, then this would not be connected in any way to the known historical prophecy of Daniel.
2) Rapture and Tribulation are Simultaneous - notably, Scripture does not allow the separation of the Rapture from the Tribulation, so this means that one cannot suggest that the Rapture could happen first and then at a later time the 7 year Tribulation could occur. This is seen in the following passage in 2 Thessalonians:
- 6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. 2 Thessalonians 2:6-9
Clearly, it states that Lawlessness is currently restrained and that when the Restrainer (Holy Spirit) is removed or taken out of the way, then the Lawless one, or the Anti-Christ will be revealed. There is arguably no serious scholar anywhere that does not agree that the ‘Removal of the Holy Spirit’ involves the removal of the Spirit filled Church and as such is the Rapture. So here we can see that the Rapture results in the Lawless one, or the Anti-Christ being revealed. As we know that the Anti-Christ only has 7 years to rule and we know that his time starts with the confirmation of a covenant, as Daniel 9:27 shows:
- 27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, Even until the consummation, which is determined, Is poured out on the desolate.” Daniel 9:27
then we know that the removal of the Restrainer that results in the Rapture will also result in the Anti-Christ being revealed, who starts the Tribulation with the confirming of a covenant (most likely the Abraham Accords) - From this perspective the Rapture and Tribulation are essentially simultaneous and cannot be separated and so you cannot have 2024 being the Rapture without the Tribulation also starting in about a month from now, which is clearly not possible for other reasons outlined below.
3) Jubilee Patterns - Given also that God has shown in modern history a Jubilee pattern of 50 years starting in 1867 (Mark Twain); 1917 (Balfour Declaration); 1967 (6 Day War); 2017 (Jerusalem Declaration), which were all events that restored and rebuilt the sovereignty of the nation; and we know that after a Jubilee year the next year becomes the first year of the next Shmita cycle of 7 years, then we know that the following years fit this pattern as follows:
2017-2018 - Jubilee year
2018-2019 - 1st year
2019-2020 - 2nd year
2020-2021 - 3rd year
2021-2022 - 4th year
2022-2023 - 5th year
2023-2024 - 6th year
2024-2025 - 7th Shmita year
So as can be seen, based upon God's appointed Jubilees and Shmita years (that He has revealed in modern history), Sept 2024 is not a special appointed time, it is just the end of the 6th year of a Shmita cycle, where as Sept 2025 is literally the completion of the 7th year in the Shmita Cycle and the blessings / judgements that came as part of the Shmita cycle always occurred around the 29th of Elul in the 7th year, which is around Sept/Oct 2025.
4) Peace and Safety - As the following passage from Thessalonians shows in relation to the Day of the Lord, that starts with the Rapture, it begins with the world saying PEACE AND SAFETY, or as some translations say PEACE AND SECURITY:
The Day of the Lord - Thessalonians 5:1-11
1 But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. 2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. 3 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. 4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. 5 You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. 8 But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. 9 For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. 11 Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing. 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
So importantly, this means that Israel and the middle-east cannot be in the midst of War and Upheaval when the Rapture occurs. So for the Rapture to be this year in 2024, around the Feast of Trumpets, then Israel would not only have to finish its war against Hamas, but would need to begin and complete a full scale war against All of Iran's Proxies, such as Hesbollah in Lebanon; the Houthis in Yemen; and other Islamic Shia Militants in Syria etc; all in just over a month - Clearly this is impossible, even if the Rapture did not occur until the end of this year, there would no time left to not only begin wars against all of Israel's inner circle enemies, but they would have to completely defeat them. This is obviously not going to happen, but it may still be a possibility by Sept-Oct 2025, which is still nearly a year away.
5) The Metonic Cycle - I don’t have the time to go through it here, but due to the 19 year Hebrew Calendar Cycle, known as the Metonic Cycle, that aligns the Sun and the Moon cycles very accurately, the 7 year cycle from 2024-2031 does not end in a Sabbatical year, but 2025-2032 does, as was seen in the Jubilee Pattern above.
6) The Dead Sea Scrolls - There are also numerous prophecies by the Essenes (Dead Sea Scrolls) that all pointed to the year 2025 being the start of the last Jubilee cycle on their calendar and their prophecies are being noted for their accuracy.
There are more reasons, but this is all I have time for at the moment…
Secondly, in relation to Ezekiel 38 war
The reasoning against Ezekiel 38 happening in the middle of the Tribulation, as has been proposed by some authors such as Dwight Pentecost, comes from looking at both the conditions of the Ezekiel 38 war and the events that are described by Scripture (both in Daniel and Revelation) as occurring in the middle of the Tribulation. It is also noteworthy that if you are considering the idea of Ezekiel 38 being a mid-trib event then you will have to acknowledge that Gog is the Anti-Christ, as he is the one that has all the Power in that war and no-one, but the Anti-Christ, will have any power in the middle of the Tribulation - this will be important in the arguments below:
Firstly though, it is extremely important to note that Scripture is absolutely clear that Armageddon and Jesus 2nd coming occur at the end of the Tribulation, so it cannot happen then; and if you are not seeing it as happening at the beginning of the Tribulation then you would have only one option left and that is to consider it as happening precisely in the middle and not just before the middle, or somewhere in the first half, before you get to the middle, because Daniel 9:27 states:
"... Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week, He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering."
As this is exactly in the middle, 42 months; or 3.5 years; or precisely 1260 days after the Tribulation began, this confirms that Israel cannot be attacked by a coalition led by the Anti-Christ at any time during the first half because this attack would break the covenant and as it obviously cannot occur at the end of the Tribulation because that period of time involves Armageddon, which is a different set of nations gathering in Israel for different purposes, as described in Rev 19:19:
19 And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. Revelation 19:19
So this mean that the only possible option would be precisely in the middle, or 1260 days after the Tribulation begins, but Scripture not only makes this suggestion problematic, it also makes it impossible because of the events it describes as happening precisely at that time stand in complete contradiction to this idea – see below for a list of the events:
- Abomination of Desolation – Firstly and absolutely the most important thing to notice from Scripture in Daniel 9:27 is that the Peace Treaty is NOT broken by an Ezekiel 38 war, it is broken by the ‘Abomination of Desolation’.
Daniel 9:27 - "....He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, Even until the consummation, which is determined, Is poured out on the desolate.” Daniel 9:27
So, in the middle of the Tribulation the Anti-Christ is not being defeated in a war, rather he is rising to a new level of power by setting up the Abomination of Desolation and declaring he is god and wanting to be worshipped. Importantly, this power lasts all the way from the middle of the Tribulation until his end 3.5 years later.
This time is also spoken about by Jesus in Matthew 24:15-22:
15 “Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), 16 “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. 18 And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. 19 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened. Matthew 24:15-22
So here we see the Anti-Christ established in Jerusalem in the Temple in the middle of the Tribulation and God is not defeating him as Gog etc, rather He is telling his own people to flee from him. Importantly there is no gap indicated here for a War. Essentially there is a Treaty in Place until the Anti-Christ sets up the Abomination of Desolation. At that time Jewish Believers are fleeing to the Mountains, which they would not be able to do in the middle of a war that also involves a massive earthquake, that he says will cause the Mountains to fall down.
9 For in My jealousy and in the fire of My wrath I have spoken: Surely in that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel, 20 so that the fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts of the field, all creeping things that creep on the earth, and all men who are on the face of the earth shall shake at My presence. The mountains shall be thrown down, the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.’ Ezekiel 38:19-20
- The Two Witnesses -– Secondly, in the middle of the Tribulation the Anti-Christ is being empowered, not defeated in a war; and he kills the Two Witnesses, who have been prophesying for 1260 days, and the world is celebrating sending each other gifts.
Revelation 11:7 “7 When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them.”
Revelation 11:9-10 “9 Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies three-and-a-half days, and not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves. 10 And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.”
Importantly, there is no gap between when they finish their testimony after 1260 days and when the Anti-Christ comes against them and kills them. As such, he is again not fighting a war to get Israel’s wealth because at that time he is already in control of Jerusalem and as will be seen in further scriptures he is increasing in power.
Additionally, the world is celebrating along with him after him and so this is all contrasted to Ezekiel 38 that has God defeating Gog (Anti-Christ) and his army and as Ezekiel 38:20 says “….and all men who are on the face of the earth shall shake at My presence.” Clearly you cannot be afraid and shaking at God’s presence at the same time as you are rejoicing and making merry and sending gifts to everyone. It just does not make sense.
The possiblity of the Rapture and Ezekiel 38 being the same war
Also, in conjunction with the earthquake of Ezekiel 38, where it states that it causes All Men to be shaking at God's presence, it is worth noting that the only parallel event that one can see in Revelation occurs in relation to the opening of the 6th Seal that is clearly the Rapture event where Rev 6: 15 states:
5 And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, 16 and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” Revelation 6:15-17
We can know that this is the Rapture event because immediately following it we see a description of all the people that will be saved, as part of the Rapture, being described as standing before the Throne:
After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” Revelation 7:9-10
It is important to understand that this is not a description of an unprecedented genocide of every nation at the start of the Tribulation because the Bible is clear that this does not happen until the Anti-Christ is empowered in the middle of the Tribulation and the Mark of the Beast System is implemented after which God gives him authority over everyone on earth, as Revelation 13 says:
And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months. 6 Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. 7 It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. 8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. 9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear. 10 He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. Revelation 13:5-10
Rather the great multitude that no one could number are the ones that Jesus promised to rescue in Rev 3:10:
10 Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. 11 Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown. Revelation 3:10-11
Anyone wanting to still argue that this is a genocide and not the Rapture area also missing the point that because the scripture says that the great multitude comes from all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues then this would mean there would also be mass exterminations in Israel, which alone would be enough to break the Peace Treaty, which does not occur until the ‘Abomination of Desolation ‘ and we also know that God is still in control through the 144,000 Jews, who are sealed by God, and by the Two Witnesses who do not die until the Third Woe, which is part of the 7th Trumpet that is sounded when the 7th Seal is opened. Essentially, as the great Multitude are seen as part of the events unleashed when the 6th Seal is opened, we know it occurs near the beginning of the Tribulation, which we know is relatively peaceful because the Anti-Christ has not been give Satan’s Power, or God’s authority over mankind yet.
So, all of this strongly suggests that the events of Ezekiel 38 align with Revelation 6th Seal and the Rapture at the start of the Tribulation, not in the middle.
- War in Heaven - Rev 12:1-13:2 – Also at this time, as mentioned above, there is a War in Heaven where Satan is being cast out of Heaven and he comes to the Earth and gives the Anti-Christ all of his Power.
And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, 8 but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. 9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. Revelation 12:7-9
Again, the Anti-Christ is not in the midst of any Ezekiel 38 war, in which he is defeated by God, quite the opposite is true, as he is actually being empowered by Satan who has just been cast to earth from heaven, as it states in Revelation 13:2
2 Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. Revelation 13:2
Further to this, in Revelation 13:5, we also see God giving the Anti-Christ total authority to for 42 months (or 1260 days or 3.5 years) over every tribe, tongue and nation.
5 And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months. Revelation 13:5
7 It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. 8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. 9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear. 10 He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. Revelation 13:7-10
So very importantly, doing the maths, because we know that the Tribulation is exactly 7 @ 360 days or 2,520 days long, we can again know with absolute certainty that there is no Ezekiel 38 War occurring at this time. This is because the Peace Treaty is not broken with Israel until the Abomination of Desolation occurs, which Daniel says is exactly in the middle of the week, and so this occurs at the 1260 day mark, which is exactly when the Two Witnesses finish prophesying and are killed by the Anti-Christ, who is obviously in total control of Jerusalem and Israel at that time. And then you add the 1260 days, during which he has total authority (that is given to him by God over every human on earth) and this equals the total time of the Tribulation that ends in Armageddon – 1260 + 1260 = 2560. Clearly, there is no gap for a war.
- God’s Judgement - Finally, Ezekiel 38 declares that God will defeat the nations and that from that they will then know He is Lord:
Every man’s sword will be against his brother. 22 And I will bring him to judgment with pestilence and bloodshed; I will rain down on him, on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, flooding rain, great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. 23 Thus I will magnify Myself and sanctify Myself, and I will be known in the eyes of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the LORD.” ’ Ezekiel 38:21-23
However, this contradicts the events in the middle of the Tribulation, where the Anti-Christ’s authority and power are total, being given to him by both God and Satan; and at this time, he sets up the "Abomination of Desolation" and demands to be worshipped. This is all clearly opposite to Ezekiel 38's claim that God will bring a massive judgement upon him and his Troops.
Brief Summary
Importantly, it is worth noting that none of these problems exist if Ezekiel 38 is both the event that starts the Tribulation and triggers the Rapture. Significantly, it states that Israel is living in Peace and Safety
11 You will say, ‘I will go up against a land of unwalled villages; I will go to a peaceful people, who dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates’— Ezekiel 38:11
So, it meets the requirement of Thessalonians (which is talking about the Rapture) when it stated that when the World is saying Peace and Safety, sudden destruction will come upon them; and significantly both Ezekiel 38 and Rev 6th Seal describe this destruction.
Essentially, God’s victory for Israel recorded in Ezekiel 38 brings a fear into their heart, noting that it says that men at that time will be ‘shaking in God’s Presence’ and as a result the Anti-Christ, who is also revealed at this time, will confirm the covenant with Israel to protect the world from Israel, not the other way around. And as stated before the events of Ezekiel 38 then match Rev 6th Seal that describes an event that causes all mankind to hide in caves, mountains etc from God. At no other time during the Tribulation is man described as being afraid of God, rather they become defiant and unrepentant, which all ultimately leads up to the final showdown at Armageddon.
Significantly, the Rapture starts a period of relative peace (albeit controlled by left-wing woke fanatics that will not be bothered by Christians anymore) that then matches Revelation’s 7th Seal, which starts with silence in heaven for about half an hour
When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. Revelation 8:1
Given Jesus used the metaphor for the Tribulation as being “the hour of wrath” then the expression of ‘about half an hour’ is a perfect description of the peace that occurs during much of the first half of the Tribulation, until the Angels begin to blow the 7 Trumpets, just before the middle of the Tribulation. Importantly, the 7 Trumpets are all Judgements of God that end at the middle of the Tribulation and then what follows is essentially the Wrath of God with Satan and the Anti-Christ unleashed by being given authority over all men.
There is so much that can be written and said about this, but hopefully this will give some people something to think about in relation to the timing of the Rapture and the Ezekiel 38 war that I believe make it impossible for them to be occurring this year, but definitely possible anytime from next year in 2025 and for them to both be part of the same event.
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