Let's discuss "no one knows the day or the hour"
Rapture Wiggle Room Looking At Hosea 6:2
1. There are reasons why watchmen seem to ignore this despite them being well aware of this verse. First, Revelation 3:3b "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". People (I don't say believers) use the verse no one knows the day or hour as an excuse to not watch. Clearly from this verse it is not to be used as an excuse to not watch. That is the first point, yes, 2,000 years ago "no one knows the day or hour" but it is like the night watchmen at the temple, just because you didn't know in advance when the thief was coming doesn't mean that if you were watching you wouldn't see him coming. The Lord gave us many, many signs to watch for.
2. Yes, this verse tells us ahead of time that no one will know the day or the hour, but that doesn't say no one will know the year and this verse in Hosea is a very powerful prophecy pointing to the year. You simply need to know the year that Jesus ascended.
3. Also, in Colossians Paul tells us the feast days are dress rehearsals, they are prophetic telling us of things to come. Therefore it makes perfect sense to study them for their prophetic meaning. On the one hand you can interpret "no one knows the day or the hour" to mean that the rapture is not on a feast day. However, on the other hand you can take verses in Daniel saying that Satan will try to change times and seasons to indicate that the calendar will be corrupted and that is why no one knows the day or the hour. In fact, the verse in Daniel indicates that Satan is worried about us knowing when these feast days are because they are prophetic and they will tell us what is coming.
4. Another way to interpret this is that there are two feasts where no one knows the day or the hour, Shavuot and Trumpets. Some say Jesus was referencing these feasts by saying this.
5. Another way to interpret this is that every feast refers to resurrection from the dead and can indicate rapture. Jesus rising from the dead on the third day along with many others that were seen in Jerusalem on the day of resurrection is one example. You could argue that the seven day feast of unleavened bread indicates the entire church age, so the end of that week would also be the end of the church age which takes place with the rapture. Shavuot appears to be a very accurate picture of Jesus' ascension, so you could argue that since we are told He will return as you saw Him leave that we'll see Jesus return on ascension day. You could also argue that the Feast of new wine (Pentecost) is the 8th of Av and that the 9th of Av is a picture of God's judgement on the apostate church which coincides with the rapture and that Moses calling up the Levites is a picture of the rapture. Then you can argue that Hanukkah is a very good picture of the mid tribulation rapture and that Purim is also a picture of the rapture that kicks off the tribulation. The point is that there is no one feast that points to the rapture, rather there are many feasts. There is a nice parallel between the last day of the Feast of unleavened bread and the 15th of Av. The 15th of Av is one of the happiest days in the Jewish calendar. It marks the end of the forty years of judgment and death in the wilderness. To me it is like the happiness you would feel when the seven year tribulation is over. It is also a very clear picture of the dead in Christ rising and coming out of the graves. But the same can be said of the last day of the Feast of unleavened bread. If you go through the church age feasting on unleavened bread, you purged all the leaven out of your home and out of the things you consume that would indicate a faithful servant of the Lord during the church age. When the church age comes to an end we know there will be a rapture. On the other hand if you were faithless and left behind in the tribulation but repent and then are saved it is like a mirror of the feast of unleavened bread. The feast of unleavened bread begins with the sacrifice of the lamb, the tribulation also begins with the sacrifice of the lamb.
