Whenever a Christian starts talking about signs and evidence for the nearness of the rapture you can be sure there is someone just aching to bring up this book as the be-all and end-all of the conversation. “People have always tried to predict when Jesus will come back and every time they were wrong.” They have a good point and it would be foolish not to address it. You would think that if Whisenant found 88 reasons for the rapture to occur in September 1988, and his prediction failed, then for anyone in any subsequent year to attempt to do the same would be utter foolishness. Predictions for Y2K, 2012, and the Shemitah were coupled with far fewer than 88 reasons.
I finally decided to read Whisenant’s book for myself, rather than rush to judgment and what I found was different than I expected. What I would like to see in the Christian community, especially in the watching community, is far less rushing to judgment and more actual Bible study, research, and reliance on one another to learn what God is trying to communicate.
Reason 1 was that Jesus saying “no one knows the day or hour” did not necessarily prevent someone from identifying the year, month, or even week of the rapture or second coming. At least here I think Whisenant makes a good point. People have an emotional reaction against predictions because they feel like they’re bound to fail or they feel like Jesus was trying to say you can never figure it out. What does the text itself actually say? It says “no one knows the day or hour.” Saying that no one knows the week, month, or year
Continuing on through his book…
Reasons 2-6 are the same story – general evidence that the rapture could be near and we might be able to figure it out, but nothing specifically about 1988.
Reason 7 was the first actual evidence Whisenant presents for a rapture in 1988: the final generation will be 40 years long, he says, because of the 40-year desert wandering and the 40 years between Jesus’ supposed crucifixion in 30 AD and the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD. The rebirth of Israel was in 1948, which was the budding of the fig tree and 1948 + 40 = 1988. We’ll call this Actual Reason 1. I think his logic here has very obvious holes in it. For starters, there is near-unanimous scholarly consensus that Jesus died in 31 AD or later. His whole theory falls apart if Jesus died in any year but 30 AD. Also, the only time the length of a generation is explicitly defined is in Psalm 90:10 – 70 to 80 years.
Reason 8 is more of the same. Whisenant quotes a single Jewish rabbi who said that 40 years after Israel’s rebirth would be a significant year because 40 is a common biblical number. We’ll call this Actual Reason 1b
Reasons 9-11
Reasons 12 and 13: there was a worldwide peace movement in 1986 and 1987. Thus 1 Thessalonians 5:3 would have to be fulfilled in 1988. Here we have Actual Reason 2
Reason 14 is a prime example of where Whisenant seems to be most misled. Many of his reasons are similar to this one where they don’t have anything to do with 1988
Reason 15: 1995 was supposedly the end of a sabbatical cycle, as well as a Jubilee cycle. He might have been right about it being the end of a sabbatical cycle if 1967 was also the end of a similar cycle, but that’s not unique to those years. 2002, 2009, and 2016 were also the end of sabbatical cycles. Also, there is no indisputable way to identify the exact date of Creation (at least as of now) in order to make 1995 the 6,000th year since Creation. Using the Masoretic text, Creation occurred anytime between 4004 BC and the 3960s. The Jewish calendar shows Creation occurring several hundred years later. I personally lean towards a Creation date in the 3980s or 3970s BC, but I could be wrong. Actual Reason 3
Reasons 16-18 are just reasons why the second coming could not happen in 1988 and therefore the rapture could. Strangely, we see an example here where Whisenant just bundles reasons together. He labels this section as Reasons 16, 17, and 18, but only one reason is given: 1988 does not line up with the end of a Jubilee cycle. Well the same is true for every 48 out of 49 years.
Reasons 19 and 20 are that the Israelites were promised a curse seven times worse if they disobeyed God. I don’t want to go into the fine details, but too many assumptions to list are made in this reason. In short, if you take 490 years x 7 and add it to when the Israelites supposedly entered the Promised Land (1436 BC), you get 1995 AD. For starters, there is little to no agreement on the exact year of Israel’s entrance into the Promised Land, but the 1400s is generally regarded as the time. Second, I’ve seen many people try to use the promise of a curse seven times worse in some pretty extraordinary ways, suffice to say there is little agreement on how this should be applied. Some calculations put the terminal point at 1948 when Israel was reborn. Actual Reason 4.
Reasons 21-23 were completely arbitrary. The Bible likens the Tribulation to birth pains, so Whisenant takes the length of a gestation period (280 days), multiplies it by 7, converts it to years and adds it to when he thinks Jesus’ ministry started and voila – 1988. This reason simply doesn’t belong in any list, but I’ll give Whisenant credit for specifically talking about 1988. Actual Reason 5
Reasons 24-29 are all basically the same thing: taking the number of days Ezekiel was told to lie on his side (which represented years), subtracting the years Israel was in captivity, multiplying by 7 (for a punishment seven times worse that was promised if Israel didn’t repent), and arbitrarily adding the result to different periods of time at the beginning and end of Israel’s captivity, results in 1988 (according to Whisenant). There is definitely something significant about the year count suggested in Ezekiel 4, but Whisenant does not present a scholarly case and makes a lot of faulty assumptions. This will be Actual Reason 6. If you want to see a bit more scholarly calculation, check out Chuck Missler’s take on this
Reason 30: Whisenant just repeats Actual Reason 5
Reasons 31 and 32 are just a repeat of Actual Reason 6
Reasons 33 and 34: Whisenant arbitrarily adds 490 and 540 sabbatical cycles to when he thinks the Abrahamic covenant and Abraham’s death occurred (respectively) and gets 1988. Actual Reason 7. Problem is, no one knows the exact year for either event and there is not a single Scripture that says adding those particular year counts to those two events will achieve anything.
Reason 35 is basically the same as Actual Reason 6
Reason 36 was difficult for me to decipher. I couldn’t understand the gist of what Whisenant’s point was – it seemed to just be a rehash of a few of the reasons already given about sabbath and Jubilee cycles and most of his dates are built on faulty assumptions.
Reason 37: a rabbi said that the Hebrew year for 1988 (5749) meant “Shemitah”. This was probably a very good case of subjective judgment on the rabbi’s part and no clear reason is given why having the numerological equivalent of “Sabbath year” meant the rapture had to happen in 1988, since Sabbath years happen every seven years, but there we have Actual Reason 7.
Reason 38: the same rabbi said Hebrew year 5756 (1995) meant that “customs would change”, which in Whisenant’s mind meant the second coming would occur. Actual Reason 8
Reason 39: a Christian archaeologist spoke at a conference in early 1988 and said he might have found where the Ark of the Covenant was stored. Yep – that’s the only reason given here. Actual Reason 9.
Reason 40
Reason 41
Reason 42: there was a solar eclipse on the Feast of Trumpets in 1988. Actual Reason 10. The problem is that the Bible says the sun will be darkened and the moon turned to blood before the Day of the LORD. Not on the Day of the LORD, but before
Reason 43: Mars was apparently the closest it had ever been to earth on the Day of Atonement in 1988. Interesting, but the Bible never mentions this particular astronomical event, so there was no real reason to look for it. Actual Reason 11
Reason 44
Reason 45: Whisenant believed Jesus’ ministry started in 28 AD and 40 Jubilees later would be 1988. 40 represents a period of testing. Actual Reason 12. This one actually makes sense and might be close to the truth. The problem is, there is a lot of disagreement regarding what year Jesus’ ministry began. 28 AD is a good guesstimate. I personally think the evidence favors 29 AD
Reason 46
Reason 47 was that 70 Jubilees supposedly transpired between the Abrahamic covenant and 1988, less 430 years of Israelite captivity. This reason runs into the same problems as Reasons 45 and 46: how could Whisenant know the exact year the Abrahamic covenant was given? Was his starting point correct (1872 BC)? How should the Jubilees be counted? More subjectivity.
Reason 48: Whisenant repeats Reason 46
Reason 49
Reason 50 has no reason. Whisenant just says that the Tribulation martyrs will be resurrected and raptured in 1995.
Reason 51: if 35 AD was a Jubilee then 1995 would be 40 Jubilees later. Dozens of Whisenant’s reasons rely on the assumption that 28 AD was a Jubilee, so it’s strange he suddenly switches here. It’s also strange he uses a year of no specific significance as his starting point, but here is Actual Reason 13
Reason 52
Reason 53 is a rehash of Reason 52
Reasons 54 and 55 are more subjective date counts using a subjective source, the Chronological Bible
Reason 56: a psychic said a leader was born in the Middle East in 1962. Yes, you read that correctly, a psychic. Actual Reason 14
Reason 57: no reason for 1988 is given, but Whisenant changes on us and now says Jesus’ ministry began in 26 AD. Hmm.
Reason 58: Whisenant repeats Reason 56. The psychic said
Reason 59: the New Age Movement thinks their hero will appear in 1992 or thereabouts. No source is given. 1992 would be kind of, roughly, maybe, possibly around the Abomination of Desolation, give or take six months. Actual Reason 15
Reasons 60 and 61 are that communism was born in 1917 and 70 years later brings you to 1987/88. Interesting that Whisenant strangely applies Psalm 90:10 to this situation. Why would a biblical generation have anything to do with the birth of communism? Jesus said the fig tree generation would not pass away (Israeli Jews), not the Mother Russia generation. Actual Reason 16
Reason 62: an unidentified source in Washington says the Soviets are going to nuke the U.S. sometime between 1987 and 1993. Actual Reason 17
Reason 63 is basically some subjective gematria leading Whisenant to believe Psalms 88, 91, and 94 correspond to 1988, 1991, and 1994. The smoking gun? In Hebrew, the number 88 means “pit”. Or so says Whisenant.
Reason 64
Reason 65
Reason 66: Israel is important in prophecy. Indeed, it is.
Reason 67
Reason 68 is a repeat of Actual Reason 1
Reason 69 is a repeat of Reason 67
Reason 70: from when the British conquered Jerusalem in 1917 to 1987 is 70 years. Add in a 280 day gestation period and you get 1988. Voila. Actual Reason 18.
Reason 71: Whisenant repeats Reasons 9-11
Reason 72 is an exact repeat of Actual Reason 18
Reason 73: if the Babylonian captivity ended in 532 BC and you add 2520 years you get 1987/88, but no reason is given why you would do that or why Whisenant’s various assumptions were used. And should we use 365.25 or 360 day years?
Reason 74 is a repeat of Actual Reason 12
Reason 75: Psalms 81-87 are joyful, but Psalms 88-94 are gloomy. Actual Reason 19.
Reason 76 is a partial repeat of Actual Reason 3
Reason 77
Reason 78
Reason 79
Reason 80
Reason 81
Reason 82: Benny Hinn said several hundred million people had AIDS.
Reason 83
Reason 84
Reason 85
Reasons 86-88: the Bible teaches a pre-trib rapture. Whisenant and I agree!
88 Reasons Why The Rapture Will Be in 1988 – or more precisely 19 Reasons Why Someone Thought The Rapture Would Happen In 1988
In summary, the infamous Edgar Whisenant book and pamphlet that pegged the date of the rapture to September 1988, actually contained only 19 unique reasons for a 1988 rapture:
1. A biblical generation is 40 years in length because the Israelites wandered in the desert for 40 years and 40 years transpired between Jesus’ death in 30 AD and the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD. See any problems with this? Here’s three: first, the assumption that the length of Israel’s wandering defines a generation; second, the assumption that Jesus died in 30 AD; and third, the disregard of the only explicit definition of a generation given in the Bible: Psalm 90:10
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6. Arbitrarily adding some solar year calculations from Ezekiel 4 to assumed dates for the beginning and end of Israel’s captivity, results in 1988 – sort of
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16. If you add the Psalm 90:10
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18. If you add Psalm 90:10
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Not Really 88 Reasons in 1988, the supposed computer glitch apocalypse on Y2K, Mayan Calendar mania in 2012, and Shemitah shenanigans in 2015, and those things somehow compare with what we’re watching transpire in 2017?
In commemoration of Whisenant’s 19 reasons, here are my [drum roll please]…
1. There’s a huge, undeniable sign in the sky right on, or one day after the Feast of Trumpets (see here, here, and here). This sign is complicated and has lots of moving parts, yet fits together perfectly to fulfill a literal word-for-word reading of Revelation 12:1-2
3. This sign appears to be directly connected to the rapture event (Revelation 12:5
4. The Bible says the sun will be darkened and the moon turned to blood before the Day of the LORD. There was a total solar eclipse during a supermoon
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6. Then in 2024, seven years later (i.e. the length of the Tribulation), there is another
7. The only explicit biblical definition of a generic “generation” is Psalm 90:10, which defines it as 70 or 80 years. When Jesus delivered The Parable of the Fig Tree and discussed the various signs of the end of the age He very clearly said this generation would not pass away until all of it would be fulfilled. That would seemingly include His physical return – not only the rapture. There is a general consensus among futurists and dispensationalists that the rebirth of Israel in 1948 constituted the budding of the fig tree (the fig tree being the symbol of the nation of Israel). If that is indeed the case, then everything Jesus prophesied would need to be completed by 2028 at the very latest. With Israel now in its 70th solar year since rebirth and having completed exactly 70 biblical/prophetic years on May 12, 2017, a Tribulation running from 2017 to 2024 would constitute 70 to 77 years since the fig tree budded – perfectly within the range and satisfying the generational requirement. In 2012 Charisma News reported on the same thing: the President of the World Bible Society believes 2028 is the upper limit with a rapture no later than 2021
8. Jesus likened His return to the days of Noah. In Genesis 6:3
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13. In 1987 The Temple Institute was founded in Jerusalem with the express purpose of rebuilding the Temple and restoring the Temple service. They have since identified actual Levitical priests, rebuilt every necessary artifact, cut the Temple’s cornerstone, built the main altar, and even built a priestly school in Jerusalem for training the priests. All they need is the go ahead and the Temple will get built. Exactly 30 years later lands on 2017. Priests had to be at least 30 years of age to serve in the Temple according to Numbers 4 and Jesus was about 30 years old when He began His own priestly service (Luke 3:23
14. The number 7 is the biblical number for completion and perfection and is used all throughout the final book. 7 stars, 7 angels, 7 lampstands, 7 seals, 7 trumpets, 7 vials, 7 hills, 7 kings, and a 7-headed dragon. Like 1897, 1917, 1947, 1967, 1977, and 1987, 2017 also ends in a 7. It also just happens to be Hebrew year 5777. And that’s just where the craziness begins. The Daily Crow and others have uncovered literally hundreds of extremely improbable alignments of the number 7 with 2017 – so much so that coincidence simply can’t account for it anymore. You can read about some of those here and here
15. The prophetic setting described in the Bible that will occur at the end of the age is in place this year – seemingly every detail
16. The prophecies all leading up to the rapture of the Church and the beginning of the Tribulation seem to have all been fulfilled
17. An oracle in stone mentioned in Isaiah 19:19 points to the possible appearing of Christ in 2017
18. Popular culture is unwittingly screaming God’s sovereignty and pointing to major prophetic fulfillment in 2017 (see here, here, here, here, here, and here
19. The general expectation of the Church is supposed to be imminency, which means that as far as I’m concerned on this principle alone we need to expect and prepare ourselves for going home in 2017. If it doesn’t pan out, well ok
Note:
MARANATHA!