I thought the rapture was supposed to happen yesterday!

So today is the 24th of September. The day after a prophet led thousands of believers to believe that the rapture was to take place yesterday. I’m hearing stories of people selling houses and cars, quitting jobs and making life altering decisions because a man told them with absolute confidence that the rapture was taking place yesterday.

My heart genuinely feels for these people, many people waking up today hurt, confused, some broke or unemployed, and to be honest I couldn’t find any statement from the ‘prophet’, no accountability that I can see.

There are a couple of lessons / reminders I want to make after this:

1. Never trust a persons word more than the Word of God. Ever. It doesn’t matter how famous, how many titles the person has. Whether its someone prophesying something that is against the Word of God or Teaching something against the Word. The Word of God is our foundation, it’s the absolute truth.

2. Be a person of the Word yourself. Its so easy in the day and age we live in to rely on what pastors say. So many podcasts, teachings on Youtube, the information age has made it so simple to surround ourselves with people who approve our lifestyle or whose style of preaching moves us emotionally. Paul warns us in 2 Tim 4:3 “For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires.”

Too many Christians who are not spending time in the Word of God themselves. Turn off the podcast, the noise, open your Bible, spend time reading and studying. You would then know that Jesus himself said “36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,[f] but only the Father.” Jesus Himself doesn’t know the second coming and He spends a fair amount of time in Chapter 24 warning against listening to people who falsely tell you He is or has returned.

3. To all the teachers, pastors & prophets out there. May this be a reminder to us all, a sobering reminder that “Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.” James 3:1. I want to remind you that we will face stricter judgment, lets be sober minded, lets be remember 2 Tim 2:15 “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”

My final challenge is this, and I am begging, please can we learn from this. This is not the first time this has happened, and it is not the last. There will be more people telling you the dates He is returning. Don’t listen.

Live lives expectant for His return at any moment, live completely for Him. This is what Jesus commanded us and then when He comes it is going to be a glorious celebration as we meet Him.