Dear friends:

Could the rapture be in May 2002? What an incredible thought!

Of course, it could be today. But recently I have seen 3-4 e-mails or Web posts giving reasons for a possible May 2002 rapture. Let me add the voice of yet another -- that of Dr. Glen Swanson.

In my e-mail/post of April 15, 2002, I mentioned Dr. Swanson, a retired dentist in California, who I said is convinced that the rapture is extremely near, but I did not say when. Several have asked, and I will clarify herein. At that time, however, I did not have access to his latest work and was not able to communicate it to you. He cannot type and is not on line.

Since that date, I have spoken with Dr. Swanson several times and have received from him in the mail about 27 pages of difficult-to-read, small, hand-written notes. After laboriously wading through them and with the help of mutual friend and outstanding Bible teacher Jerry Cooney of Oregon, who also gave input, I now know enough to summarize a few of his findings, and the "when" as he believes. His conclusions are based on his own meticulous Bible studies over many years. I said earlier that from what I have seen of his complex work involving ancient biblical dating and modern-day correlations, he is probably a mathematical genius.

WARNING # 1. While I greatly respect the man, I cannot guarantee the 100 percent accuracy of Dr. Swanson’s conclusions. I can say that he is an extremely bright, totally committed, Spirit-filled Christian whose extensive studies deserve consideration.

WARNING # 2. What I am about to share will go against the grain of some of you who believe that when Jesus said, "But of that day and hour knoweth no man" (Matthew 24:36), He made a mistake by using the present tense and really meant to use the future tense and say, "No man will ever knoweth." But I am reminded that He also said, "but my Father only" knows, which pins the statement to His hearers at the time, when Jesus was still on the earth, because surely there are now no secrets in the Trinity between the Father and the glorified Son, who are truly One. Also, in context, He seems to be speaking of heaven and earth passing away (v. 35), not other end-time events. In addition, Jesus said, "If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee" (Revelation 3:3). He is obviously saying that to the one who watches, He will not come as a thief and that person will know the hour! (Hour -- Greek hora -- Strong’s 5610; various meanings, including, "any definite time, point of time, moment."

(Note: Friends confide in one another. Abraham was called God’s "friend" (Isaiah 41:8; James 2:23). "And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do" (Genesis 18:17). Now, because of Jesus’ atonement, we are called "friends" of God. Jesus said, "I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends" (John 15:15).

WARNING # 3. Ancient dating is always controversial, and Dr. Swanson’s dates may disagree with some of your own cherished convictions. For example, from his years of research he is persuaded beyond all doubt that Jesus was crucified in A.D. 30, not 31 or 33 or any other year. But I suggest you hear him out. He can recite a long litany of historical facts and reasons supporting his positions.

I say all this to prepare you. Please hold your criticism. I just want to report to you what Dr. Swanson believes and what he says he has found. Take this information, pray for discernment, and do with it as the Lord may lead. Disagree if you like, but please do not direct your questions or arguments to me. I cannot answer for him, and I acknowledge there may be reasonable arguments against his views. Because Swanson is not on line, the only way for you to get clarification from him on these things is to call him on the telephone. If anyone would like to do that, he gave me the liberty to give out his telephone number, which I will do upon request.

Remember, there are many Scriptures that indicate sincere seekers will know the date or approximate date of His coming. And I have met no one more diligent, hard-working and persistent in his seeking and study than Dr. Glen Swanson. If he is wrong, I believe the Lord will smile, pat him on the head, say "Atta boy, Doc," and give him an "A+" for effort. Also, if he is wrong, pray for him instead of criticizing.

PRESUPPOSITIONS:

Dr. Swanson strongly believes that God is the Master Mathematician, and that everything God does is 100 percent mathematically perfect, precise, consistent, and not random or by accident.

He believes that we should "number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom" (Psalm 90:12). His main methodology is to number days (from creation onward) where he believes is wisdom, as the Word says. His numbering of days comes from Scripture and diligent research of ancient writings.

He also believes that it is a biblical pattern and principle that "The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done" (Ecclesiastes 1:9).

CONCLUSIONS:

Here are some of his conclusions. I cannot include them all with all his extensive dating and Bible chronology that goes all the way back to the first day of creation, but I will include some of the major ones.

1. BOTTOM LINE: Dr. Swanson strongly believes that the rapture will be on May 9, 2002, which is the Day of Ascension, the day Jesus was taken up in Acts 1:9.

2. Swanson was recently shocked to discover that ancient dating he had done over a period of many years had one astonishing, common characteristic. He found a pattern that the number of days between many key biblical, historical events typically were multiples of the number 153. You probably know about that amazing number. It is the number of fish in the net that the Holy Spirit curiously recorded in John 21:10, defying human logic, inserting what would otherwise be a trivial number, probably not even counted by the fishermen present. It is widely agreed that 153 represents the elect, the harvest of time, caught in the gospel net. As a thread through the Bible it obviously represents God’s plan for the elect.

3. Swanson says the final 2,000 prophetic (360-day) years (two millennial days) for the church began on the Day of Pentecost in A.D. 30 and ended on July 22, 2001.

4. The "next auspicious day" (he calls it), after July 22, 2001 that is a multiple of 153 is May 9, 2002, Ascension Day. Sushan Purim on February 27, 2002 was also a 153-day multiple, but he did not believe that to be a candidate for the rapture as is Ascension Day, which was the day Jesus was raptured, actually a type of our own, and a day others are taking seriously for other reasons. Interestingly, February 27, 2002 is 70 days from May 9, 2002.

5. May 9 is the 9^th day of the 5^th month on the Gentile calendar, and on the Jewish calendar, the 9^th day of the 5^th month is 9 Av, or "Tisha B'Av," a traditional day of woe from many tragic things happening in past Jewish history, including the death that came from the rebellion in the wilderness, keeping the people from the Promised Land. (See http://www.ohr.org.il/special/9av/timeline.htm.) If May 9 is the rapture date, the reverse will happen, and on the 9^th day of the 5^th month on the Gentile calendar God will this time allow faithful Gentiles (and believing Jews) into the Promised Land, with tragedy and death again soon befalling His still unfaithful Israel, according to prophecy.

6. On the 27^th day of the second month, 27 Iyyar, Noah and his family stepped out of the ark into a whole new world. Amazingly, this year, May 9, 2002 falls on 27 Iyyar on the Jewish calendar -- the 27^th day of the second month -- that same day!

7. May 9, 2002 is the 42^nd day of the counting of the Omer on the Jewish calendar. The number 42 has prophetic symbolism for the Lord’s coming. For example, when Jesus first came, it was after 42 generations from Abraham (Matthew 1:17). Then He will come again in power after the antichrist reigns for 42 months (Revelation 13). Elijah is a type of our rapture, and after his rapture, Elisha was mocked by 42 scoffing youths, who were mauled by a bear after they told Elisha to "go on up, you bald head" (pardon my chuckle) possibly meaning "get yourself raptured like Elijah, you numbskull" (2 Kings 2:11, 23-34). Those 42 mocking youths may represent those who scoff at the rapture today, as if we dare presume to "go on up" like Elijah (Bramlett interpretation!). Also, 42 = 6 X 7, where 6 is the number of man and 7 is the number of completion. The antichrist (6) will be the epitome of man, and will be defeated when God’s plan for history is complete at the 7^th Millennium.

8. Interestingly, the very next day after May 9, 2002 is 28 Iyyar, or May 10, which is Jerusalem Day, celebrating the 35^th anniversary of Israel’s capture of Jerusalem on June 7, 1967. Actually, because of the Jewish day beginning at sundown and the time zone difference, May 9 and 28 Iyyar largely overlap. Swanson believes war may begin on that day, with Israel attacked, and with a possible simultaneous attack on America.

9. Joshua (a type of Jesus, with the same name, Yeshua) took over and led God’s people into the Promised Land after 14,363 days of rebellion and unbelief. Swanson says that Jesus will return and do the same for the Jews on Yom Kippur, October 2, 2006, exactly 14,363 days from the capture of Jerusalem on June 7, 1967, a day we know of as having great prophetic significance. (Note: 14,363 days, or 39.9 prophetic years, may also be a biblical generation.)

10. Swanson says that there are 144 days between the rapture, May 9, 2002, and September 29, 2002, when the two witnesses begin their testimony, and 144 = 8 X 18. He says that Bullinger’s book on Bible numbers has 29 pages on the numbers and multiple numbers of 8 and 13, the former referring to the friends of God and the latter referring to the enemies of God.

11. He also says that there are 347 days from the rapture until April 20, 2003, the date of the resurrection of the antichrist, and 347 is a strange, prime number that can only be divided by itself.

12. He says there were 1,182 days between the date Satan was allowed in the Garden and the date of original sin, and there were also 1,182 days between the beginning of Christ’s ministry and His crucifixion, when sin was paid for.

13. In Psalm 106, corresponding to the year 2006 (per J.R. Church), Israel cries out in verse 47: "Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from among the heathen." (Interestingly, the "numbers section" of the Psalms ends with 106.)

14. In Psalm 107, corresponding to the year 2007, after Messiah comes and rescues them from the heathen, they now cry out: "O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy…" (vs. 1-2).

SUMMARY. Here is a summary of some of key dates above and a few others from Swanson’s notes:

May 9, 2002: rapture.

May 10, 2002: war may begin.

June 27, 2002: beginning of sacrifices.

September 29, 2002: two witnesses begin testimony.

April 20, 2003: antichrist’s mortal wound heals.

April 23, 2003: abomination of desolation.

June 5, 2003: 1^st seal.

October 2, 2006: Second Coming of Christ.

December 15, 2006: creation of Millennial temple.

December 16, 2006: dedication of temple.

He has other dates on his charts and says that if one tries to slide the dates, the whole thing will fall apart.

(As do some, Swanson believes that the first half of Daniel’s 70^th week was fulfilled by Christ’s earthly ministry when, "in the middle of the seven," He "put an end to sacrifice and offering" (Daniel 9:27); and the second half will be the 3 ½-year tribulation described in the book of Revelation. But he believes that the seven good years, such as with Joseph, began in 1993 with the Oslo Accords, and the seven, final lean years began with the Intifada in September, 2000.)

RARE PLANETARY ALIGNMENT.

Dr. Swanson does not even mention the rare planetary alignment during the small window of time in which May 9-10 falls. According to the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, "The world hasn't seen anything like the planetary traffic jam that's going to occur the last week of April and the first two weeks in May! … Even more amazing, two very special events will occur during this planetary line-up. On May 10, the planets Mars and Venus will appear to pass so close to one another that, to the naked eye, the Roman God of War and the Roman Goddess of Love will become one…. Oddly enough, more than 2,000 years ago, this same grouping of planets may have caught the attention of the Biblical Magi."

See http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/press/alignment_rel.html and
http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/grandtour/may18.html

Lampholder Publications comments, "We believe this planetary alignment to have special significance near the end of the Church Age. It is prophetically placed right in the midst of this 7-week period between Passover and Shavuot (Pentecost). The path of the alignment also marks the ancient time-period in the calendar given thousands of years ago to Abraham revealing the Exodus to the Age of Ephraim (the end of the Church Age)." Lampholder also says, "Prophetically (even without any planetary configuration) mid-April to the end of May 2002, is volatile!"

MY PERSONAL TAKE ON ALL THIS.

I have had no visions or other dramatic revelations to confirm this, but I cannot arbitrarily dismiss Dr. Swanson’s dedicated, relentless research of many years and his impassioned, totally confident convictions, and other signs. I am taking it all seriously because of the times in which we live, current events in the Middle East, and many other signs. We shall soon see. Again, if he is wrong, pray for him. If he is right, I’ll see ya in the air!