The Rapture – Date and Time Investigation – Final Conclusion, which is “Respectable” and Somewhat Surprising (KJV)

Sept 6, 2026 | www.GospelofJesusChrist.blog | River Wilde

I’d like to begin today’s writing with the scripture that started it all four years ago, as I began my full-time study of the prophecies of the end times:

Matthew 24:36 KJV:

“But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.”

It has indeed been quite a journey for me, and remarkably, this scripture is so relevant in answering the question of the timing of the rapture, for it has given many clues. It also matches perfectly for my final conclusion regarding the timing of the rapture.

If you have followed my writings, you know that I am expecting the Rapture to occur on the Feast of Trumpets, 2026. As always, I can not ever let things go, and feel compelled to study and pray until I know every possible thing relating to what I learn about a topic.

This too has been the case for trying to establish the exact date and time of the rapture. Let me share some of my new findings with you today.

According to the KJV, the Feast of Trumpets was established by God as one biblical day, not two.

Leviticus 23:24 states, “In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation,” while

Numbers 29:1 confirms, “on the first day of the month… it is a day of blowing the trumpets unto you.”

Notice that Scripture repeatedly identifies the first day, and even calls it “a day” of blowing trumpets; nowhere does the KJV command Israel to observe the Feast of Trumpets for two days.

The two-day observance associated today with Rosh Hashanah developed later within Jewish tradition, in part because of historical uncertainty surrounding the beginning of the new lunar month and the communication of that determination to Jewish communities.

Over time, the two days became an established Jewish observance, sometimes regarded within rabbinic tradition as one extended sacred period. However, this later practice does not alter God’s original instruction in Scripture: the biblical Feast of Trumpets is the first day of the seventh month—one day.

Therefore, when studying the possible prophetic significance of the Feast of Trumpets from a strictly KJV perspective, particularly alongside the “last trump” of 1 Corinthians 15:51–52 and the “trump of God” of 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17, the biblical one-day appointment is the appropriate starting point.

Here’s where it gets very interesting. ONE DAY, 24 Hours.

Feast of Trumpets 2026:
Begins – Sunset Friday, September 11 → Concludes – Sunset Saturday, September 12, Israel time.

This has narrowed the biblical window of time to just 24 hours rather than 48 hours as celebrated in the modern day “holiday.”

My study centered on four possibilities, relating to the TIME the Rapture would occur, using biblical patterns. Here are the FOUR most likely times that I would research:

1. The starting Time of the Feast of Trumpets
2. Midnight
3. The ending Time of the Feast of Trumpets
4. An unspecified hour During the feast

Let’s investigate each one independently:

1. The starting time of the Feast of Trumpets

There is an interesting case using the beginning of the feast. Leviticus 23:24 establishes Trumpets on “the first day of the month” as “a memorial of blowing of trumpets.” Numbers 29:1 similarly calls it “a day of blowing the trumpets.”

If the rapture were the prophetic fulfillment of Trumpets, one could reasonably wonder whether the fulfillment would occur as the appointed day itself begins—much as biblical prophetic events sometimes correspond closely with the starting of the feast they fulfill.

However, there is no KJV verse saying the rapture happens at the beginning of the Feast of Trumpets. Therefore, I would call this possible and symbolically appropriate, but not strongly established.

2. Midnight

This is considerably more intriguing because Jesus actually identifies midnight in a passage concerning the arrival of the Bridegroom.

Matthew 25:5–6 (KJV):

“While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.

And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.”

That wording deserves attention.

Compare it with 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17: there is a shout, Christ comes, and believers go “to meet the Lord in the air.”

Matthew 25 has a cry, the Bridegroom comes, and the virgins “go…out to meet him.”

Furthermore, those who are ready enter with the Bridegroom, after which “the door was shut” (Matthew 25:10). Jesus concludes the parable by commanding His hearers to watch because they do not know the day or hour. Interesting placement here.

Midnight also appears elsewhere as a dramatic hour of divine intervention. At midnight judgment fell upon Egypt in Exodus 12:29, while Paul and Silas experienced supernatural deliverance beginning “at midnight” in Acts 16:25–26.

None of this proves that the rapture occurs at 12:00 midnight. But among specific hours mentioned in Scripture, midnight has unusually strong imagery associated with sudden divine intervention and, most importantly, the coming of the Bridegroom.

I believe midnight has the strongest KJV argument.

3. The ending time of the Feast of Trumpets

This possibility is interesting, but its KJV support is weaker.

One possible argument comes from Paul’s expression “the last trump”:

1 Corinthians 15:52 (KJV):

“In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound…”

Someone could reason that if Paul’s “last trump” were connected with the Feast of Trumpets, perhaps it suggests a trumpet toward the conclusion of the appointed period rather than its beginning.

Paul does not say “the final trumpet of the Feast of Trumpets.” He simply says “the last trump.” The KJV provides no verse identifying Paul’s last trump with a particular ceremonial trumpet blast at the conclusion of Yom Teruah.

There is nevertheless an interesting broader biblical pattern of God acting when a period reaches its appointed completion. But applying that principle specifically to sunset at the end of Trumpets goes beyond what Scripture tells us.

So, I would rank the ending of the feast as the weakest of these four possibilities from the KJV alone.

4. An unspecified hour during the Feast

Ironically, this may have the strongest overall KJV support, because Jesus repeatedly emphasizes that the precise hour and day will not be known.

Matthew 24:42 (KJV):

“Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.”

Then Jesus makes the statement even stronger:

Matthew 24:44:

“Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.”

And immediately after giving the midnight Bridegroom imagery, Jesus says:

Matthew 25:13:

“Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.”

That is extremely important. Matthew 25 simultaneously gives us the fascinating midnight picture and warns us against turning that picture into a prediction of the precise hour.

My Summation of Findings:

Strongest overall: An unspecified hour. Jesus repeatedly says His followers will not know the hour.

Strongest specific-hour possibility: Midnight. Matthew 25:6 explicitly places the cry announcing the Bridegroom at midnight.

Possible but circumstantial: Beginning of Trumpets. The feast begins with the appointed “day of blowing the trumpets,” which makes an opening fulfillment conceivable.

Weakest: End of Trumpets. “The last trump” is intriguing, but Scripture never identifies it as the final trumpet sounded at the conclusion of the feast.

There is one more detail in Matthew 25 that I think is especially relevant to the study. Verse 5 says:

“While the bridegroom tarried…”

Then comes midnight.

Then comes the cry.

Then comes the Bridegroom.

Then the prepared go with him.

Then “the door was shut.”

Considering my earlier study about the apparent delay/tarrying of the Bridegroom, that sequence is worth examining very carefully.

It establishes a KJV prophetic pattern, the combination of tarrying → midnight cry → Bridegroom → meeting Him → entrance → shut door is much stronger scriptural material than trying to calculate the rapture from the precise beginning or ending minute of the feast. Top of Form

In conclusion, you can see that the Rapture could take place on Sept 11 or Sept 12, as this is the time window of 24 hours. NO man Knows the DAY.

Since the HOUR is NOT CLEARLY established, even though Midnight has a strong biblical pattern as a possibility, we can state with great certainty that it most likely could be at ANY HOUR during this 24-hour period. This feels right to me.

When you add in this scripture:

Matthew 24:44:

“Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.”

Again, to me, this scripture is almost answering this debate…Thinking that it might be MIDNIGHT, but that it will NOT be the HOUR that we think.

I also feel that realizing that the rapture could come at any hour during this time period:

Begins: September 11 at 7:43 PM Jerusalem time
Ends: September 12 at 7:42 PM Jerusalem time

…gives the respect of honoring what God has told us through scripture regarding the timing, back to Him. We do not KNOW the day, nor the hour, and we should respectfully leave it at that. HOWEVER….

Through our investigations, we do know that the RAPTURE will likely happen during this period of time:

September 11 at 7:43 PM through September 12 at 7:42 PM Jerusalem time.

I live in the United States, and fall under the “Mountain Time Zone.”

I will anxiously be watching for the rapture:

September 11 – 10:43 AM through September 12 – 10:42 AM Mountain Standard Time.

I invite you to approach God in prayer, and ask Him what you need to know concerning the rapture. ABOVE everything else, it is MOST CRITICAL that you know that you will be rescued in the rapture, REGARDLESS of when it happens.

1 Thessalonians 4:16–18

“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”

Are you “in Christ” as it states as the qualification to be included in the rapture? If you do not know for certain, go to the New Testament and study what Jesus taught about becoming Born Again. (This is not baptism and conformation as some churches teach.)

Those who have had this spiritual rebirth are “In Christ,” and can KNOW that they will be included in the rapture, as well as going to “heaven” when they leave this world. As you can see from this scripture, “…So shall we ever be with the Lord.” From that moment on, we will always be with the Lord, wherever He goes, we will be with Him.

Time is RUNNING OUT. Will you be included in the rapture that will take place in a matter of Days, or will you be left behind to face the 7-year Tribulation Period? It is up to you, and DEFINITELY NOT up to your church!!

Being “Born Again” happens IMMEDIATELY once a person does as Jesus taught. I would suggest that you get right to this important task, for it will save you from “having to learn the hard way.”

I will see many of you very soon!