As I write this essay, I am reflecting on the events that have taken place in the last six months. I have studied, taught, and published the events of Bible Prophecy for 50 years, as of April 2025. I have never seen the events that took place this year, at any time previous in the last five decades.

My role as a student and teacher of the Bible is to learn what the Bible says, study the events that are taking place around the world, and compare these with the prophecies of the Bible. My Job is not to set a firm date for the return of Jesus, but to inform people of the times and seasons that indicate the return of Jesus is near.

In 2025, I noticed something that I had never seen before. For the first time, people all over the world were paying attention to the Feast of Trumpets. When I first started teaching this principle in 1990, very few were noticing the correlation between Trumpets and the Rapture.

About 35 years ago, I began teaching that the Feast of Trumpets was the time that Jesus would most likely come for His church. I arrived at this conclusion because of what the Bible had recorded; Jesus had meticulously fulfilled the first four Feasts of the Lord. Jesus arrived on earth and fulfilled the Feast of Passover on the day and in the precise way the Old Testament Messianic Prophecies required.

Jesus fulfilled the second Feast of Unleavened Bread by remaining in the tomb and not rising from the dead, on the exact day this feast was observed.

Jesus rose from the dead on the exact day the Feast of First Fruits was observed. Paul wrote later that Jesus’ resurrection was “the firstfruits of all those who will rise from the dead.”

1 Corinthians 15:20 “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”

Jesus instructed His disciples to “wait for the promise of the Father” at Jerusalem, where the Holy Spirit would fill every believer on the Feast of Pentecost.

Jesus said that we should “lift up our eyes and see that the harvest is ready.” Between Pentecost and the Feast of Trumpets, there is a four-month harvest period when all the souls of people will be brought into Jesus’ kingdom.

John 4:35 “Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!”

Peter wrote that when scoffers come in the Last Days, saying, “where is the promise that Jesus made that He will come again,” that we should remember that “God is not willing that anyone would perish, but that all would come to repentance and be saved.”

2 Peter 3:3-4 “Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. They will say, “What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created….2 Peter 3:9-10 The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief.”

The reason that Jesus has been waiting to fulfill His promise to come again and remove His church from Earth before the wrath of the seven-year Tribulation begins is that He is waiting for people to be saved.

Paul wrote that the timing for the seven-year Tribulation to begin depends on the “Fullness of the Gentiles being brought in.” We are living during the Time of the Gentiles. When Jesus arrived on Earth in fulfillment of the 400 Messianic Prophecies of the Old Testament, He came first to the Jews. The prophets wrote that the Jews would reject their Messiah when He arrived. Paul said that God then turned to the Gentiles of the world and offered us salvation.

Romans 11:25-26 “For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved.”

God has appointed a specific time for all Gentiles to hear about Jesus, turn from our sins, and be saved. When this time has expired, Jesus will remove His church from the Earth. Then the seven-year Tribulation will begin when God will turn His attention from saving Gentiles, to offer salvation again to the Jews during the Tribulation.

Jesus’ return does not depend upon our interpretation of the Rapture. He will come for His church until the “appointed times” He has determined are complete.

We do see all of the events that Jesus said would happen before He comes again to remove His church, but we don’t know the day or the hour of His return. It is true that in that statement, “No man knows the day or the hour” of Jesus’ return, there is a hint that the time of His return will be during the Feast of Trumpets. This does not mean that we know which year, when the Trumpets are observed, that Jesus will arrive.

This year, the Feast of Trumpets has been incorrectly cited by thousands of people who don’t really know the Bible, or the subject of Bible Prophecy, for the purpose of acquiring likes and followers, and to attract attention to themselves. This is the negative side of social media, that it has the danger of corrupting the prophecies of the Bible and allowing untrained persons to abuse these prophecies for their own agendas.

What Do We Do Now That Jesus Has Not Come For His Church?

We keep trusting in Jesus, living our lives for Him in holiness, devotion, and fervent love. We keep telling people about the salvation and new life Jesus offers every person. We tell people that Jesus promised to come the first time, and He did. We tell them that just as Jesus arrived as He promised, He will come again when all those who can be saved in the Gentile world are saved.

We tell people not to be deceived when people sensationalize the return of Jesus and make the world believe that on a specific date, Jesus will come again. This year, it was September 23, 2025. The interesting thing about that date, September 23, is that it is only the first day of the Feast of Trumpets. As I write, the sliver of the two horns of the moon that ancient watchers for the beginning of Trumpets were watching for, is just now happening. Between 8 pm and 10 pm, Jerusalem time, is the moment when the two horns of the moon will be seen, signaling the beginning of the Feast of Trumpets.

September 23 was never the prime time when this Feast would bring Jesus to remove His church. People determined this, but the Bible and the phase of the Moon in 2025 did not indicate September 23.

I published this essay because I have watched for Jesus’ return during the Feast of Trumpets for 35 years. I know that people set dates and that many are disappointed when Jesus does not come. Some lose their faith, some stop studying Bible prophecy, some people walk away from Jesus and never come back. This is unfortunate and unnecessary because Jesus warned us to not be deceived by these persons who teach things the Bible does not state.

This is the exact reason that Jesus told all of those who follow Him to always be ready for His return. Since Jesus has not returned this year, this means that the next year may present us with opportunities to reach people we never could have reached before. With the death of Charlie Kirk, millions of young people have turned to Jesus and are now following Him. There is a clear outpouring of the Holy Spirit all over the world right now. This will continue over the next 12 months, until the Feast of Trumpets arrives in 2026.

When this time arrives again next year, we will eagerly watch again for the arrival of our Lord. We watch because we don’t know the day or the hour, and because watching constantly keeps us ready and living properly for Jesus.

Making Clear My Intent Of Prophetic Studies And Events

Categories: Robert Clifton Robinson