Do you think the Rapture is imminent? Part 3

In the last two articles we have been dealing with the question as to the timing of the Natzal, or Rapture of the believers and if it will occur "at any moment" or is there a fixed time in the prophetic scenario when this will happen. It has been established that there is a fixed day in the very near future and the Rapture will occur on the biblical festival called Yom Teruah, or Rosh ha Shana as it is commonly known today. But, there are signs we can look for prior to that day that will tell us when it is near and that is what I want to deal with this week. Prior to the catching away of the believer there are certain things that must be in place. First, Israeli politics will be deteriorating and there will be the establishment of two Jewish states, one religious and one civil. There is a concept in the study of prophecy that says that whatever happened before will happen again. Eccl. 1.9 says "That which has been is that which will be, and that which has been done is that which will be done. So, there is nothing new under the sun." Also, in Eccl. 3.15 it says "That which has been already, and that which will be has already been, for God seeks what has passed by." All history is unfulfilled prophecy and all prophecy is unfulfilled history. So we can understand prophecy by looking at history. There is a picture of the coming Russian invasion of Israel in the Scriptures when one looks at the Assyrian invasion of Israel. There were two Jewish states at the time and that will happen again. There is talk this week about that very subject in the news. So, When the Rapture occurs there will be a concerted movement towards this. A second thing to look for is a Red Heifer will be raised in Israel. Why is this important? We know that there will be a Temple in Jerusalem (Rev 11) and it will be operational during the first 1260 days of the Tribulation (Dan 9.27; Rev 11.1-3). But, to have a Temple you have to have a priesthood that is ritually clean. In order to have a ritually clean priesthood you have to have a Red Heifer. This cleansing ceremony is described in Num 19 and it must be raised and killed, burned and the ashes mixed with living water. Then this water is sprinkled on the priesthood to cleanse them from ritual impurity, along with the regular consecration ceremony described in the Torah. This has to be done for a Temple and a priesthood to be operational. In Ezra 3.6, after their return from Babylon, sacrifices were begun at the altar on Yom Teruah (Rosh ha Shana) although the Temple had not been built yet and it will be done again. On the Rosh ha Shana, year 6001, the Rapture will occur and simultaneously the sacrifices on the Temple Mount will begin, so that means we will see this coming into fruition prior to the Rapture. But, in order for this to happen you must have a Red Heifer and that has to be killed at least 7 days prior , or Elul 24 on the Jewish calendar. That means we will see this happen, and when we do, we can be looking for the Rapture on the next Tishri 1. In other words, Israel will obtain the site of the former Temple (and the altar site) by Tishri 1 the year that the Rapture will occur. Now, there is debate as to where the former Temple was exactly. Some think it is where the Dome of the Rock is and others think it may be north near what is called the Dome of the Spirits (Rabbi Kaufman), or south of the Dome of the Rock near the Gihon Spring (Ernest Martin), but nevertheless, a site will be established and sacrifices will begin on Tishri 1 just like it was before (Ezra 3.6). Another sign to look for is oil being produced in Israel. There has been much written about this so I won't go into it here, but this will induce Russia, along with some other political reasons, to invade Israel. But this invasion will not happen until Rosh ha Shana, beginning the fourth year of the Tribulation. So, Russian policy towards Israel will get increasingly more aggressive as the time gets closer. All these concepts would take many hours to develop in a teaching setting but these things should be looked for prior to the Rapture. One should watch Jerusalem and the Temple Mount to get a good feel for the timing of these coming events, along with the signs the Lord gave in Matt 24, Mk 13 and Luke 24. Now, the Rapture will occur on Yom Teruah, year 6001 from creation. Ten days later it will be Yom Kippur and that is the day the False Messiah will sign a peace covenant for 7 years with Israel, beginning the Tribulation period. That means the Tribulation will end 2520 days later on a Yom Kippur. Next week we will discuss what happens between Rosh ha Shanna (Rapture) and Yom Kippur when the False Messiah will be revealed, including the role, if any, the United States will play in this end time scenario.

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Do you think the Rapture is imminent? Part 2

This week we are going to continue with the question "Is the return of Yeshua imminent?" We gave a basic definition of imminent and showed that His return is certain but it will be according to a fixed date according to the eschatological plan of God. Now, the definition of eschatology is the study of the Messiah and the redemption. We are dealing especially with the coming of the Lord in what is known as the Rapture, or the Natzal in Hebrew. The point I am trying to establish is that this event cannot happen "at any moment" because it will occur on a particular day called Yom Teruah on the Hebrew calendar and at the beginning of the 6001st year from creation. Let me explain. We saw that there are actually 8 festivals found in Leviticus 23 if you count the Sabbath day. The 7th day Sabbath day is a picture of the last 1000 years called the Millennium. It is also known as the Lord's Day or the Day of the Lord. Each biblical, civil year begins on Tishri 1on the Hebrew calendar and that day is called Yom Teruah or as it is known today "Rosh ha Shana" meaning "head of the year." Now, the seven days of the week correspond to the 7000 year plan of God. We work six days and rest on the seventh. Accordingly, man has 6000 years "to work" but the last 1000 years belongs to the Lord. That 1000 years begins on Tishri 1 on the Jewish calendar and that day is called Yom Teruah (Num 29.1-2). Teruah means "awakening blast" with a shofar and it can also be translated "shout." It is a particular note played on the shofar and it is blown when the people are to be gathered. There are several idioms relating to this festival. It is called the "day no man knows" because it starts the civil year on a new moon and nobody knows for sure when that is until the new moon is sighted. This festival was also the first day of creation, when time began, and no man was there . Once the moon is seen, that starts the month and Yom Teruah is the only biblical festival that is on a new moon. So, to the Hebrews when you said " I'll see you on the day no man knows" they knew you meant Yom Teruah. Another idiom for this festival is "the last trump" and here's why. In Gen 22 Abraham is commanded by God to sacrifice his son Isaac on a mountain in the land of Moriah (meaning teacher). A ram is substituted for Isaac and it is caught in a thicket (man's sins) by its horns. In Jewish thought, the horns symbolized the two stages of a Jewish wedding, betrothal and full marriage and they were pictures of the redemption of the people. These two stages are also symbolized by two festivals found in Lev 23, Shavuot (Pentecost) and Yom Teruah. God said in Jer 2.2 that He betrothed Himself to Israel in the wilderness. We know they gathered around Sinai on Shavuot to receive the Torah, which was seen as a betrothal document called the Shitre Erusin, so Shavuot was called "the first trump." Remember the ram caught in the thicket? It had two horns and the "first horn(trumpet)" symbolized the betrothal at Sinai. The other horn, or last "trumpet" symbolized the full marriage at Yom Teruah, or Rosh ha Shana. At Sinai a trumpet blew and the people gathered at the mountain and got "engaged." At Yom Teruah, or the last trump, the trump will sound and the people will be gathered to the Lord for the full marriage. When the Apostle Paul was discussing eschatology with the Thessalonians he says the Lord will "descend from heaven with a shout (teruah), with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God" and gather the people to the Lord in what is called the Natzal (to pluck) or rapture. He describes the same event to the Corinthians where he says that in a " moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump (Yom Teruah), for the trumpet will sound and the dead will raised." Now, Paul uses "the last trump" , a Hebrew idiom for Yom Teruah, to discuss the catching away of the believer. That day happens only one time a year and that day is Tishri 1 on the Hebrew calendar. So the coming of the Lord in the Natzal, or rapture, can only happen on Yom Teruah, Tishri1, year 6001 from creation. Since we do not know for sure what year from creation we are we cannot know the "day or hour" exactly but we can know the signs of the times.In Matt 24.36 Yeshua is referring to unbelievers who will not know the day or hour and Paul wrote the same thing to the Thessalonians when he wrote that "as to the times (moedim=appointments, a term used for the festivals in Lev 23) and the epochs (seasons, as in festival seasons), brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you (because he taught them the eschatology of the biblical festivals- 1 Cor 11.1-2;Col 2.16-17). For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord (Yom Teruah is the first day of the last 1000 years called the day of the Lord) will come like a thief in the night. While they (unbeliever) are saying "peace and safety!" then destruction will come upon them suddenly like birth- pains (Hebrew idiom for the 7 year tribulation) upon a woman with child and they shall not escape. But you (the believer),brethren, are not in darkness (misunderstanding), that the day (Yom Teruah, Natzal, Rapture) should overtake you (the believer) like a thief." So, as you can see, the believer will not be taken by surprise when one knows the "times (festivals) and seasons" (that relate to the festivals). In Lev 23.2 the word "convocation" is used when describing these appointed times. Convocation means "rehearsals" in Hebrew so these festivals are rehearsals for the real thing that will come along in the life of the Messiah and how he accomplishes the redemption of the people. He was crucified on Passover, buried on Unleavened Bread, rose from the dead on First Fruits, sent the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. Then came a long growing season where the wheat and the tares grew together. The next eschatogical festival is Yom Teruah and that will be on Tishri 1, year 6001 from creation and that is why the coming of the Lord cannot happen "at any moment" and it is on fixed date set by the Lord on His eschatological calendar found in the Scriptures. Next week I will pick up here with what I believe must happen first before the Natzal, or rapture, can occur. Now, all this relates to the timing of the Lord but we will discuss political, geological and religious aspects of what will happen before the Day of the Lord begins.

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Q. Do you think the Rapture is imminent? Part 1

A. That is a controversial and complicated question that I don't think I can settle in this forum, but I will try and give what insight I can. First, let's look at the what imminent means. Imminent means "likely to occur or threatening to occur." In other words, could the rapture occur at "any moment" and that there are no prophesied events that have to happen? No, I don't believe that is true so I do not believe that the rapture is imminent. It seems the teaching of the imminent return goes back to a man named John Darby in the 1800's so this teaching has not been around that long. There are many good people who believe it and many who do not. If you do not believe in a pre-tribulation rapture than you don't believe in the imminent return either. Here is why I don't believe that the coming of the Lord in the Rapture is imminent. In the Bible, the redemption is playing out according to a very intricate plan and that means that there are certain times and seasons that the Lord carries out certain aspects of it. We see the blue print of His 7000 year plan in Genesis 1 and the creation week.Yes, that means that the heavens and the earth are less than 6000 years old right now, but that is another story. Later, in Leviticus 23 we have seven festivals given that are very prophetic in the life of the coming Messiah. These festivals of God have fulfillments in the history of Israel but there are deeper meanings. I have covered these in previous articles but I will list them again. Passover has to do with deliverance from Egypt through the blood of the lamb. The next day started Unleavened Bread and that lasted 7 days. During that week First Fruits was celebrated and that dealt with the plucking up of the first ripe barley sheaves and bringing them to the Lord. Fifty days later Shavuot was celebrated. After the summer growing period and on the first day of the seventh month another festival was celebrated called Yom Teruah, or Rosh ha Shanah as it is called today. This started the civil year and it had themes related to weddings, coronation of the king, resurrection and judgment. Ten days later was Yom Kipper and that is where the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies with the blood of a bull and goat and atoned for the sin of the nation. Five days after that Sukkot was celebrated and this was done to commemorate the years in the wilderness so people made "sukkahs" or booths to live in for a week. This overview is very basic and there are many books one can get that will take you into much more detail but it will suffice for now. Anyway, these festivals had to happen on certain days and they played out in the life of Yeshua as well. The first coming of Yeshua was not imminent and neither will the Rapture or the Second Coming to this earth to reign after the tribulation. All this will play out according to God's timing and plan. Yeshua came along the first time "in the fullness of time" and there was great expectation. He was crucified on Passover, buried on Unleavened Bread, was resurrected on First Fruits and sent the Holy Spirit on Shavuot. We are at the end of the summer growing period now and if the Lord fulfilled the first four festivals on the very day according to the biblical calendar, then it would be reasonable to believe that the last three will be fulfilled on the very day as well. Next week I will pick up here with a quick overview of the themes and idioms of Yom Teruah, Yom KIppur and Sukkot and try to explain that the coming of the Lord will happen according to a very orchestrated biblical blueprint and that the teaching if "immanency" could not be true. Yeshua's coming is fixed in time and there is no "tarrying" on His part, there is nothing we can do to speed it up or slow it down but that it will occur just like events in His first coming. Everything had to be in place for Him to come including the politics, certain people had to be born, the land, the Temple and so many other factors. Next week we will continue with this theme and show why His coming is not imminent, show how certain events in politics, certain people, the land and the Temple Altar have to be in place and a few other things so hopefully all this will clarify a few things for you.

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