For the last several days the internet and various forms of social media have been flooded with prophecies of an expected rapture of Christians. Many are expecting this tomorrow, Tuesday, the 23rd of September 2025. The purpose of this rapture according to the posts is to keep Christians alive today from suffering through a great tribulation spoken of by Jesus in Matthew 24.
The major problem with this theory is that the tribulation of Matthew 24 took place shortly after the writing of Matthew. Jesus made it clear to the disciples who were with him at that time that the present generation would still be alive when the events took place. There is absolutely no reason to believe that he was speaking of a future date in 2025 or later.
Here are his words from the ESV. “Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.” (Matthew 24:34) There is a common thread in this chapter and that is the audience Jesus is speaking to. It is “you.” He is speaking to his disciples. He repeatedly uses the you pronoun. “They will deliver you up to tribulation…” “When you see the abomination of desolation…” Over and over, Jesus points to his disciples as being in the tribulation. He makes this clear when he says this generation. Modern teachers say he meant today’s generation. Today’s generation would have been described as that generation, not as this generation.
The tribulation and the events of Matthew 24 occurred in AD 70 with the violent destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman army. Jesus is coming back, but he’s coming for all generations, not just this one. A rapture would require two separate returns by Jesus and the Bible tells us nothing of two returns. Hebrews 9:28 states, “…so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.”
The important thing is to be ready for that second coming. There will be no second chance, no third return.
Philip Dampier's Blog 