“No One Knows the Day or Hour.” What Jesus Really Meant About the Rapture

Posted on by troypzehnder

Every year around September, you’ll hear it: “The rapture is coming this Feast of Trumpets!” Some get excited, others roll their eyes. Then, when the trumpet doesn’t sound, faith gets shaken and skeptics laugh.

Part of the problem is this: most Christians today don’t realize that God laid out His redemptive plan in the seven feasts of Israel, and that Jesus’ words about “no one knowing the day or hour” weren’t random. They were deeply connected to the Feast of Trumpets.

Let’s unpack it.

📜 God’s Calendar in the Seven Feasts

In Leviticus 23, God gave Israel seven appointed feasts. These weren’t just cultural holidays, they were prophetic rehearsals pointing to His plan of salvation:

  1. Passover (Pesach) – Jesus crucified as the Lamb of God (fulfilled).
  2. Unleavened Bread – Jesus buried, sinless and without corruption (fulfilled).
  3. Firstfruits – Jesus resurrected as the firstborn from the dead (fulfilled).
  4. Pentecost (Shavuot) – The Holy Spirit poured out, birthing the Church (fulfilled).
  5. Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah) – A call to gather, symbolizing resurrection/rapture (unfulfilled).
  6. Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) – Israel’s national repentance in the end times (unfulfilled).
  7. Tabernacles (Sukkot) – God dwelling with man; foreshadows the Millennial Kingdom (unfulfilled).

The first four were fulfilled in Jesus’ first coming. The last three point to His second coming. That means the next event on God’s prophetic calendar is Trumpets.

📖 Why “No One Knows the Day or Hour” Points to Trumpets

Here’s what made Trumpets unique: unlike fixed-day feasts (like Passover on the 14th of Nisan), Trumpets depended on the sighting of the new moon.

The new moon could appear over a two-day window, and no one could declare the feast until two credible witnesses confirmed the sliver. That’s why it became known as “the feast no one knows the day or hour of.”

So when Jesus used that phrase, He wasn’t telling His disciples to stop watching. He was giving them a prophetic clue that tied His return to this feast.

✨ Season vs. Exact Moment

Here’s the balance:

  • We don’t know the exact day or hour.
  • But we do know the season.

Paul confirms this in 1 Thessalonians 5:4: “But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.”

The trumpet will sound suddenly, but God didn’t leave us in total darkness. He gave us the feasts as a roadmap.

⚠️ Where People Go Wrong

  1. Date-setters – They predict exact years and cause disillusionment when it doesn’t happen.
  2. Dismissers – They ignore the feasts and prophecy altogether, saying it doesn’t matter.

Both miss the point.

✅ The Right Posture

  • The Feast of Trumpets is a reminder to stay awake, not a date to circle on your calendar.
  • We live ready, because the trumpet could sound at any moment.
  • Whether it happens on a future Feast of Trumpets or before your next heartbeat, the call is the same: stay watchful, stay faithful.

✍️ Final Thought

The feasts show us that God has a plan and He is right on schedule. The Feast of Trumpets tells us that the trumpet blast is coming, but Jesus tells us to be ready now.

We don’t predict the date. We prepare our hearts. That’s the posture of true watchfulness.

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