Standing in Israel with the Temple Mount behind him, Amir Tsarfati addressed one of the most debated and often neglected doctrines in modern Christianity: the rapture of the Church.
Tsarfati said the rapture is frequently treated as controversial or avoided altogether by churches worldwide. He warned that this neglect serves a spiritual purpose aimed at weakening believers by removing their hope. He said, “The most important thing that can be promised to the believers in Jesus is definitely to steal from them their only hope, their blessed hope, the main hope for every believer.”
At the center of Tsarfati’s message was a biblical distinction he said is often misunderstood. He emphasized that Scripture does not describe the rapture as a secret, but as a mystery.
“Mystery is not secret,” Tsarfati said. “Secret is secret and mystery is a mystery.”
He explained that a mystery is not something hidden from view, but something previously seen without full understanding. “Mystery is something that is not hidden but transformed from shadow to substance. Something that at certain point we saw it but we didn’t understand,” he said.
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By contrast, Tsarfati said a secret is entirely concealed. “Secret is something that is hidden and that we cannot see nor feel,” he said. He added that the difference becomes clear when God reveals truth. “When God reveals secrets, it’s something we never heard of. When God reveals a mystery, we are going to say, ‘Aha, now I understand it.’”
Tsarfati pointed to the Bible’s repeated use of the word “mystery,” noting that it appears 33 times in Scripture. He said the term appears once in the Old Testament, in the book of Daniel, connected to King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream.
“That mystery eventually was solved by God, the God of Israel, who revealed the true meaning of that dream to Daniel for him to share with the king,” Tsarfati said. “That mystery was all about things that existed and will come to pass.”
He explained that the dream itself already existed, but its meaning required divine interpretation. “Daniel just interpreted it. He received an understanding of something that existed. Thus, it’s a mystery,” Tsarfati said.
Tsarfati said the New Testament continues this pattern of revealed mysteries. Referring to Romans 11, he said it addresses “the mystery about Israel and God’s plan for Israel,” explaining that Israel’s role existed long before but is clarified in light of Jesus and New Testament revelation.
He also cited Colossians 2, which he described as revealing “the mystery of the true Messiah,” and Ephesians 5:31–32, which he said speaks of “the mystery of the relationship between the church and Christ.”
By defining the rapture as a revealed mystery rather than a hidden secret, Tsarfati shifts the conversation from speculation to preparedness. His message presses churches to confront why a doctrine meant to produce hope and readiness has been sidelined, especially as global instability grows and prophetic attention increasingly turns toward Jerusalem and the unfolding events Scripture says will follow.
James Lasher, a seasoned writer and editor at Charisma Media, combines faith and storytelling with a background in journalism from Otterbein University and ministry experience in Guatemala and the LA Dream Center. A Marine Corps and Air Force veteran, he is the author of The Revelation of Jesus: A Common Man’s Commentary and a contributor to Charisma magazine.
