Dave Hunt: Why Has the Rapture Been Delayed So Long?

Why has Jesus not returned yet if He promised to come quickly?
In this Contending for the Faith discussion, Dave Hunt and Tom McMahon answer a common question: Why would Jesus tell His Church to watch expectantly for His return, yet nearly 2,000 years have passed?

You’ll Learn:

• What Jesus promised in John 14:1–3 about returning for His Bride.
• Why believers are told to “watch and be ready” (Luke 12:37–40).
• How the New Testament teaches imminency (Titus 2:13; Philippians 3:20; Hebrews 9:27–28; 1 Thessalonians 1:9–10).
• Why post-tribulation teaching undermines the Blessed Hope.
• How expectancy has a purifying effect (1 John 3:3).
• Why delaying Christ’s coming leads to carelessness (Matthew 24:48–49).

Discover why the hope of Christ’s imminent return is essential to living a holy, watchful life today.

#Rapture #BlessedHope #BibleProphecy #Imminency #BereanCall #DaveHunt

Why Has the Rapture Been Delayed So Long?

Contending for the Faith — Dave & Tom on the Imminency of the Rapture

Narrator:
Now, Contending for the Faith. In this regular feature, Dave and Tom respond to questions from listeners and readers of The Berean Call. Here’s this week’s question:

Listener’s Question:
“Dear Dave and Tom, I know you two did an extensive series on the Rapture of the Church, and I caught most of it. But there’s a question that’s been bugging me about the Rapture, and I guess I missed your answer—if indeed you gave one. Why would Jesus say that He is going to return for His Church, tell us to watch for it with expectancy, and then not return for nearly 2,000 years? I don’t get it.”

Dave Hunt:
Well, first of all, we need to establish that Jesus did say He would return for His Church. Let me quote some Scriptures.

John 14:1–3:
“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”

Secondly, He wanted us to watch for His return with expectancy.

Luke 12:37–38, 40:
“Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants.”

“Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.”

Tom McMahon:
Dave, I think with those verses we have not only the Blessed Hope but also the teaching of imminency.

Dave Hunt:
Exactly. John also wrote of that Blessed Hope—“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing…” (Titus 2:13).

If we are told to look for it, there’s no point in looking unless it could happen at any moment. If it couldn’t happen until after the Great Tribulation or after the Antichrist appeared, then those passages don’t make sense.

Let me add a few more verses.

Philippians 3:20:
“For our conversation [citizenship] is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change our vile body…”

Hebrews 9:27–28:
“…it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.”

And in 1 Thessalonians 1:9–10:
“Ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.”

The early Church was taught to watch, wait, look, and expect Christ. He would come at a time when they didn’t think He would.

If He cannot come until after the Great Tribulation—as post-tribulationists teach—that makes imminency absurd. You can’t be watching and waiting for something that you know cannot happen yet.

Tom:
Okay, then how do we answer the listener’s question: how come He said He would come, and yet He hasn’t come in 2,000 years?

Dave Hunt:
Well, He never said when He would come. In fact, He said, “No man knows the day nor the hour.”

But what is the value of watching and waiting expectantly?

1 John 3:3:
“Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.”

That expectancy has a purifying effect. To realize that Christ could come at any moment keeps us living in readiness. My death might be imminent, but that doesn’t have the same purifying effect—because with death, you might “buy time” through medicine, doctors, or circumstances. But if the Rapture is imminent, there’s no postponement, no chance to “clean up” later.

If it only happens after the Tribulation, then it’s not a Blessed Hope at all. It would only be a hope for those alive at that time—and a dreadful one, not a comforting one.

Tom:
That makes sense. You’ve also said it’s like the bride waiting for her groom.

Dave Hunt:
Yes. Think of it: if the bride knows the groom could come at any moment, she is filled with joy, expectancy, and keeps herself ready.

But if you say, “Oh, He won’t come for seven years, or until after certain conditions are met,” that expectancy disappears. That’s why imminency is so important—it keeps us purified, watchful, and ready.

Tom (illustration):
Here’s a personal example. When my wife Peg travels to visit our grandchild in Southern California, sometimes she’s gone for a week or two. She’s an impeccable housekeeper. If she says, “I’ll be back—I don’t know when—it could be any time,” guess how I keep the house? Very nice!

But if she says, “I’ll be back in exactly two weeks,” when do you think I’ll get serious about cleaning? Probably just before I leave to pick her up at the airport!

That’s the difference imminency makes.

Dave Hunt:
Exactly. Jesus even warned about this in Matthew 24:48–49:
“But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken…”

Talking about a “delay” in His coming can lead to carelessness and sin. But watching for Him at any moment keeps us purified and eager for His appearing.

Tom:
Amen. As the Bride of Christ, what kind of excitement should fill our hearts knowing He could be right at the door?

Narrator:
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