Food for thought....
One of the more interesting Bible discussions in this life is about the timing of the Rapture. Hey, this world will go from normal to experiencing God's wrath in a split second. And there are many reasons to believer we're getting close to the end of this age.
I wrote an article in our Spring Communique' entitled "The Last of the Last Days" and presented 10 unmistakable signs were close, very close, to wrapping up this age. If you missed it, you can read it HERE.
So there are numerous clues hidden in scripture about the last days, especially pertaining to the Rapture. And based on these Biblical clues, I think that the Rapture will probably happen on the Jewish Feast day of Rosh Hashanah, regardless of the year. Here's why!
I wrote an article in our Spring Communique' entitled "The Last of the Last Days" and presented 10 unmistakable signs were close, very close, to wrapping up this age. If you missed it, you can read it HERE.
So there are numerous clues hidden in scripture about the last days, especially pertaining to the Rapture. And based on these Biblical clues, I think that the Rapture will probably happen on the Jewish Feast day of Rosh Hashanah, regardless of the year. Here's why!
According to Leviticus 23, there are seven Jewish Feasts commanded by God to be observed each year.
They are:
Feast Name: Jewish Date: Hebrew:
1) Passover Nisan 14 Pesach
(April or May)
2) Unleavened Nisan 15 Hag-Ha-Matzot
Bread
3) Firstfruits Starts the day after Bikkurim
the Sabbath following
Passover.
4) Feast of Weeks Starts 50 days after Shavuot
Firstfruits.
(May or June)
5) Trumpets Tishri 1 Rosh Hashanah
(Sept. or Oct.)
6) Day of Atonement Tishri 10 Yom Kippur
7) Tabernacles Tishri 15 Succoth
Passover
Passover has been extensively analyzed by numerous Biblical scholars. In a nutshell, Jesus is our Passover Lamb, the Lamb of God.
"...Christ our Passover..." 1Cor. 5:7
Jesus was slain on the cross on Mt. Moriah, the same mountain where Abraham tried to sacrifice his only son Issac. It's also the same mountain where all the animal sacrifices were offered.
The Passover sacrifice had to be a male lamb without blemish to temporarily cover their sins. So it's quite fascinating that at the exact same time the Jews were slaying their Passover lambs on Mt. Moriah, just a few steps away Jesus was being sacrificed as permanent covering for our sins.
There's perfect symbolism in the other six feasts as well.
Unleavened Bread
The second feast, Unleavened Bread, is the day after Passover. Jewish days began at dark, about 6 P.M., so the Feast ofUnleavened Bread began in the evening after Passover.
"...Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" John 1:29
Leaven in the Bible is a symbol of sin. The Jews purged their houses of leaven, in conjunction with what the sacrificial lamb had done--covered sin temporarily.
Unleavened bread is a picture of what Jesus had done on the cross...permanently covering our sin.
"I am the Bread of life." John 6:48
Firstfruits
Sabbath following Passover.
"But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep." 1 Cor. 15:20
The Jews celebrated Firstfruits by offering a sheaf of grain to the Lord for His allowing the first harvest.
Jesus is called the "firstifruits" from the dead (sleep).
Feast of Weeks
Fifty days after Firstfruits, the Jews celebrated the Feast of Weeks. Here the Jews offered two loaves of bread, as a second offering to the Lord, but this time they were baked with leaven, which again symbolizes sin.
The two loaves could represent either the Old and New Testament,
While the Jews were celebrating the Feast of Weeks, the Holy Spirit came roaring to earth, filling the Apostles (Acts 2) at what Christians call "Pentecost."
The symbolism of Jesus and the church in the first four spring Jewish feasts is undeniable.The first four major events of the Church Age - Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection, and the coming of the Holy Spirit - all fell exactly on the days of the Jewish Feasts.
But there's a long summer break between the spring and fall Jewish feasts.
The summer break in the feasts may very well represent the Church Age break in God's plan for the Jews.
God divinely scheduled the first four major events of the Church Age to land exactly on the Jewish Feast days. Therefore it's probable that the next big Church Age event, the Rapture, will occur on the next Jewish Feast in the fall.... whichever year the Rapture takes place.
This is where it gets very interesting!
Rosh Hashanah
The next feast in the Biblical order order falls in September or October each year
Called Rosh HaShanah, it's a day of gathering and celebration and the Jews are specifically charged to "blow trumpets." The blowing of a Ram's horn from the southwestern corner of the Temple Mount was the signal that it was time to gather in Jerusalem.
For this feast, the Jews would blow the shofar for 29 days. Then on the last day there was one more blowing--three distinct series of 30 blasts each. This was followed by ten final blasts leading up to "The Great Blowing." This was one last, long blast of the trumpet, proclaiming the beginning of the feast.
"Now in the seventh month, on the first day of the
month, you shall also have a holy convocation;
you shall do no laborious work. It will be to you a
day for blowing trumpets" Num. 29:1
Rapture and Rosh Hashanah
As all who have studied the Rapture know, it's a day of gathering in the air and certainly should be quite the celebration!
The two most famous spine-tingling Rapture verses read:
The two most famous spine-tingling Rapture verses read:
"Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed." 1 Cor 15:51-52
"For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 1Thes. 4:16
There's a trumpet blown at the feast of Rosh Hashanah and a trumpet blown for the next Christian event, the Rapture.
Coincidence? Hardly! The Jewish Feasts continue to mirror the major Christian events!
Therefore, following God's pattern of having the first four major events of the Church Age land on the first four Jewish feasts, I believe undoubtedly that the next big event of the Church Age is likely to occur on Rosh Hashanah, regardless of the year!
Now, for those purists who will argue that you can't know the day and the hour based on this verse:
First, when Jesus made that statement, He was speaking pre-cross and had not yet received all knowledge as described in Revelation 5.
Like many other statements He made to the Jews under the Law, it was true when He made it before the cross, but not true today to you and me living in the Church Age. Today, Jesus can't make that statement!
Like many other statements He made to the Jews under the Law, it was true when He made it before the cross, but not true today to you and me living in the Church Age. Today, Jesus can't make that statement!
Second, we still don't know the year, much less the day and hour as Israel is one day, eight to ten time zones ahead of us.
But for what it's worth, just for fun, if the Rapture just happens to be this year, Rosh Hashanah begins on the evening of October 2. Just saying...
But for what it's worth, just for fun, if the Rapture just happens to be this year, Rosh Hashanah begins on the evening of October 2. Just saying...
It's no coincidence that Christians, who have a love for Christ, long for heaven. When I read Spurgeon and other Puritan writers I constantly come across the themes of heaven and desire to be with the Lord. Spurgeon once told his congregation:
My beloved friends, I can assure you, it is always one of the sweetest thoughts I ever know, that I shall meet with you in heaven.
As he was pondering the nearness of his own death, Andrew Bonar wrote:
Yesterday and today I have had some glimpses within the veil, as if to prepare me for what may soon come. It is very solemn to find myself near the threshold of Eternity, my ministry nearly done, and my long life coming to its close. Never was Christ to me more precious than He is now. ~ Diary and Life
This same sentiment was shared by his friend Robert Murray M'Cheyne and all the great preachers of the gospel. Courage and joy were derived from being heavenly minded and their desire for Christ. We should look to their examples.
Christians have been begotten as heirs and children into a heavenly household - sons and daughters of God. We have an incorruptible inheritance reserved in heaven, not earned by our own deeds, but through our faith in Jesus Christ and His resurrection. This is what gives us joy and strength to endure all tribulations. Not our own strength, but God's faithfulness to His glorious promises (Psalm 16:5-6; Rom 8:16-18; Eph 2:19; 1 Pet 1:3-9).
Think about this: whenever we read accounts of visions of the glory of God (or angels) in the Bible, they are met with a sense of unworthiness, fear and trembling on the part of those who experience them. See for example Isaiah 6:5; Ezekiel 1:28; Dan 10:7-8 and Rev 1:17.
In contrast to this we're told by the Apostle John that when Christ appears, we will be like Him because we shall see Him as He is (1 John 3:2). What an awesome thought!
Through all their trials and tribulations, my mother and the ladies I mentioned earlier kept their hopes in heaven. Now they've all gone on to be with their Lord, and I look forward to seeing them again one day.
As for now, the world has never been Christian-friendly - yet it seems that as time progresses we're rapidly heading into uncharted territory. Now, more than ever, we all need to constantly remind ourselves of our heavenly heritage.
Do you have a heavenly mind?
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