Where do you read about a "rapture" in the Scriptures, let alone a particular year and season for it to occur? You need to write this out and not just link articles and videos if you want to have a discussion. I can just link books for you to read, but that is not really useful for having an online discussion.
In my post, I made no links to any linked articles or videos. All I provided was a summary of scripture which you then said that you did not agree with.
I did allude to a 2,300-year period of the Gentile heathen trampling the sanctuary in Jerusalem and that it would end at Armageddon. This is verifiable from Scripture.
I also suggested that the wicked fallen heavenly hosts will be judged in heaven and then thrown down to the face of the earth to be immediately locked up for a 1,000-year period before they are released once more. This is verifiable from Scripture.
I also suggested that when Satan is released, Satan will make a seven-year solemn covenant with many and then break that covenant after about 3.5 years. This is verifiable from scripture.
I also suggested that around this time of the 7-year covenant, that there would be a great tribulation on the face of the earth and that this tribulation will be stopped by Christ when he captures the beast the false prophet and Satan towards the very end of the Millennium Age and dispatches them into the Lake of Fire. This is verifiable from Scripture
I then also suggested that after this happens we will see Christ coming on the Clouds with all of the heavenly Hosts, and that both the dead and living in Christ will meet Jesus in the air at this coming. This is verifiable from scripture.
This meeting with Christ in the air at His coming, is what others refer to as the rapture.
From the timespan of the scriptures that I had alluded to, there is a time span of over 3,000 years. From what Paul wrote in Romans 11:25-26, he understood that all of Israel will not be saved until the time of the Heathen Gentiles trampling the Sanctuary was fully completed. That in and of itself, means that Paul had an understanding of Christ’s return was in the relative distant future from his day.
You then provided the following scriptures: -
“This is what I mean, brothers: the appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none,” (1 Corinthians 7:29, ESV)
“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.” (1 Thessalonians 5:1–2, ESV)
“Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.” (Revelation 1:3, ESV)
“Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand;” (Philippians 4:5, ESV)
“You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.” (James 5:8, ESV)
“The end of all things is at hand; therefore, be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.” (1 Peter 4:7, ESV)
None of the above quotes can be used to suggest that the return of Christ was a relatively near future event for when these scriptures were written.
However, our personal meeting with Christ in our near future is highly likely if we are in Christ.
Sure didn't seem like they anticipated a 2000 year wait during a particular season of the year. They wrote (and Jesus spoke) about expecting the coming of the Lord at any moment and that that coming was imminent and could happen at any moment. The idea that it was not imminent is simply not accurate. Nothing suggests they anticipated it to be "distant."
You have expressed your opinion of the “at any moment” theory, that Christ will return in our imminent future, but that imminent future is now approaching the 2,000 year mark from the era when the Apostles lived.
The question that the disciples asked in Matthew 24 was, “What where the signs of your comings and when the end of this present world will be?” Christs response to their question did not indicate an imminent permanent return of Christ nor that the end of the world would be imminent as well.
In fact, the Parable of the Fig Tree Budding, and the fulfilment of the visitation of the iniquities of their fathers on their children and their children’s children in the third and the fourth (age) clearly set out in the Old Testament Scriptures indicates beyond a doubt that they had a distant future understanding of when Christ would return. The sad part is that the Israelite nation could not comprehend such a large time span for the fulfilment of these prophecies.
It seems that we today also cannot comprehend why God would take a long period of time to complete the fulfilment of these same prophecies.
Shalom
