Any serious student of end time Bible prophecy would pick the Rapture happening in any given year around Rosh Hashanah (based on a study of the 7 Jewish feasts of Lev. 23).  So, when Rosh Hashanah this fall came and went, most of us here at Five Doves were quite disappointed--I sure was!  I was running Rapture drills the whole month of September with my umbrella and boots!  (Umbrella softens the blow going through ceilings and roofs, and boots make touchdown in heaven a little smoother!)
 
Well, it is not quite over yet for 2005 and here is why.  Matt. 24:44 King James says, "....for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh".  Since I have always thought Rosh Hashanah, perhaps a different time?  Matt 24:37 tells us, "But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be."  Hmmm.  In Noah's day there were not yet any Jewish people, and the Jewish feasts had not yet been given.  So perhaps the Rapture could occur at a time not around Rosh Hashanah?  Our own Jim Bramlett here at Five Doves has done some research and thinks that Noah entered the ark around the 19th of November (on the reckoning of our calendar).
 
Now let us consider some more scripture.  Matt. 24:21 tells us of the "Great Tribulation" (from mid-Daniel's 70th week till the Second Coming, or 3 and one half years), and in Matt. 24:22 we are told, "And except those days should be SHORTENED, there should no flesh be saved....."  In other words, the Lord is going to shorten the days of the Great Tribulation, otherwise by the time He returned at the Second Coming everyone on the earth would have perished.  Guess what?  This "shortening of the days of the Great Tribulation" is quite literal.  Check out Rev. 8:12, the fourth trumpet judgment, and the exact middle of the 21 seals, trumpets, and bowls.  I will not quote it here, but go read it.  Each day is going to literally be shortened by one third!  So instead of 24 hour days as we have now, there will be 16 hour days during the Great Tribulation.  The length of our days is determined by the speed of rotation of the earth on its axis.  If the earth rotates faster, the days are shortened.  You say this is not possible?  Consider that in the days of Joshua the sun actually stood still in the sky so Israel would have more daylight to gain victory over her enemies in battle.  How did that happen?  The Lord made the earth stand still (not rotate) for a period of time.  How did He do it?  I don't know--ask Him!  In the days of king Hezekiah the shadow on the staircase actually went backwards as a sign given to the king that he would get well.  How did that happen?  The earth actually rotated backwards for a short period of time!
 
The days of the Great Tribulation (3 1/2 years) will be shortened by one third.  There will still be 3 1/2 years, "time, times, and half a time", 1260 days, 42 months, etc, it is just that the individual days will be shortened by one third.  Therefore, the entire Great Tribulation will be shortened (by our time standard of 24 hour days) by one year and TWO MONTHS (one third of 3 1/2 years).  It is the "two months" that I find fascinating.  You see, if the Rapture in any given year was to occur two months later than expected, then with the "shortening of days" coming up later during the Great Tribulation all would come out "even" so to speak by the Second Coming.  In the year 2012 (7 years from now) Rosh Hashanah is on Sept. 17th.  So this year if the Rapture occurred around November 17th, all would come out "even" by 2012.  Jim Bramlett likes the time around November 19th this year as the time Noah entered the ark.  I will not "quibble" as I think that the final "Rapture Red Alert" for this year is happening over the next few days, with chances diminishing greatly in the coming week or two.  I know that some think that Chanukah (Dec. 25th) might offer a chance for the Rapture.  Personally I do not think so.  Maybe Groundhog Day?  Ask Bill Murray what he thinks about this possibility!  Rodents rising in the air and humans left behind?  Sure hope not!
 
Well, that wraps it up and is why I think we are going through a "Rapture Red Alert" right now!  So get excited again for the Lord's coming, maybe, just maybe in the coming few days!  And if not, then get back to work again and be about His business of witnessing of Jesus as the only way to the Father to gain eternal life!  And remember, we are still living in the End Times, and the time is still short.  Perhaps 2006, 7, 8, 9....    Oh, Lord, please get back here before 2009!-----Hillary Clinton in the White House?!----the groundhogs are definitely going up in the air if that happens!