Dear John,

The Day of Christ will not be, unless the departure comes first!

2Thes 2:1-3 "Now, brothers, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to him, we ask you not to be quickly shaken in your mind, nor yet be troubled, either by spirit, or by word, nor by letter as from us, saying that the day of Christ be at hand. Let no one deceive you in any way. For it will not be, unless the departure comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition."

The few chosen will be glorified with the Resurrection of Life and the Rapture, on the Last Day, which is the Day of Christ, as soon as the first Tribulation comes to an end. The many called, who are also family of God themselves, will be left behind, and all of these ones shall enter judgement. This resurrection of judgement follows immediately, or will be simultaneous to the resurrection of the elect, precedes the rapture, and coincides with, or follows, the darkening of sun and moon. These people (the saints not sanctified), both those living and those previously dead, will be seeing the Lord coming with the cloud, but they will be frightened. Then the Day of the Lord gets started (the Millennium), which, at this initial time, is "a day of darkness, not of light", being time of wrath and great tribulation.

To the Day of Christ couldn't possibly be set a date about this 2006 Passover, as it will not come, unless the Departure comes first. The Departure could be this year, or any year in the future, and sounds reasonable to consider the First Fruits of Resurrection (Bikkurim) a reference date. The departure is an antecipation of rapture, a privilege of few out of few from the chosen ones, and will take place before both tribulation periods.

All of us in Christ.

FMacedo