Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming—in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning— lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. – Mark 13:35 & 36
You might not have been one of the ones goofing off when
this warning was called out in school, but I know that every one of you has
heard it. Even adults, in the workplace, have heard the warning, “The boss is
coming!” Jesus used this example in His parables of the Kingdom of
Heaven and of His own return in Matthew 24 and 25 as well as Luke 12 and 19 and
also Mark 13. There is really no way for anyone who has read the Word of God to
miss the point of this illustration. So, with that in mind, pay attention: He
Is Coming!
WHEN?
I DON’T KNOW!
Sort of anticlimactic, huh? Please excuse my moment of
dramatics. Jesus is coming, no one knows the exact day or hour, but we do know
it is soon. There is a massive movement of people who are focused on the Fall
feasts of the Jews wrapping up the Year of Jubilee. Their arguments have merit.
Biblical scholars can point to a ton of very solid pieces of prophetic
evidence to support their position. They make total sense, they really do. I
would be convinced right along with them except for something that I’m about to
share with you.
In my opinion, the Fall feasts in connection to the sign of
Revelation 12 in the heavens, approach almost disqualifies it because EVERYBODY
knows about it. Everybody is looking at those days. Everybody is preparing to
either be caught up in the rapture or to mock those who set the date. I posted
a blog last week about Expecting the Unexpected when it comes to Jesus. We know
that He will come when He is not expected. I’m going to offer two suggestions
concerning the Fall dates that should point you toward caution in placing too
high of expectation in those dates.
1) Since EVERYONE knows that many are focused on the Fall
dates, it makes it very easy for a powerful WORLD entity (I’m not going to
speculate on who, but they are there) to pull off an enormous deception.
2) Thanks to modern technology, haven’t we already, in
essence, seen the heavenly sign of Revelation 12? Don’t get overly technical on
this. We know what the sign looks like and when it is coming. The first thought
that comes to my mind about this being so obvious is STUMBLING BLOCK.
C) I had to do it (this is a serious matter, but it is also
a time of rejoicing). We don’t know if there will be a pre-trib, mid-trib or
post-trib rapture when it comes right down to it. We don’t even know the exact
starting point of the tribulation. If you get right down to it, we can’t really
be certain of the entire seven year tribulation idea, because in reality, it
was put together as a counter-reformation teaching by the Jesuits. That one
probably hit you a little harder than you expected.
What we can say is that the SEASON is here and we should be
watching. I’m going to lay out several prophetic connections that can suggest a
different time for a pre-trib rapture below. THESE ARE NOT DATES THAT I AM
SETTING, but each of them has equal merit to the dates set during the Fall
feasts of the Jews. To start with, I want to point out something to draw your
attention away from being too caught up in the Jewish Feast dates. Ready?
CHRISTIANS ARE NOT JEWS!
Does that come as a shock to you? It shouldn’t. We are not
and never have been under the covenant of the Jewish law. Are we called to obey
God’s commandments? Yes, and even to love the law of the Lord, but we are not
Jews. We are under a new covenant. Christians have only two feast days, though
we aren’t even compelled to celebrate those. They happen to match up with two
Jewish feast days. Passover (Resurrection) and Shavout or Weeks (Pentecost) are
our two high days, so to speak. I point those out only because if you are going
to connect Christian observances with Jewish feasts, those two make a great
deal more sense.
Here are alternated dates that hold equal status in terms of
God following a scheduled rapture:
1.
Nissan 10 (10th day of the 1st
month) There are more connections to Jesus, His purpose, His work and His
return to this date than to any other date in the bible. Here is the short
list:
a.
The Passover Lamb was brought into the home on
this date and kept there until the day it was to be prepared for sacrifice.
b.
Joshua and the Israelites crossed over the
Jordan and into the Promised Land on this date.
c.
The Triumphal Entry of Jesus, who came into
Jerusalem (the home) and was kept there until it was time for Him to be
prepared for sacrifice.
2.
Passover 14th through 21st
of Nissan (Death and Resurrection). There are pretty powerful connections to
this date as well.
a.
The lamb was sacrificed and its blood was placed
on the doorposts of the houses, covering those inside from the judgment of God’s
Angel of Death. Following the passing over by the angel, the Israelites were
set free from bondage, fled into the dessert and were delivered across the Red
Sea out of reach of Pharaoh, who was very swiftly judged and destroyed.
b.
Jesus was slaughtered and taken down from the
cross, the Bible says, “on the day of preparation.” He was resurrected on the 3rd
day as the first fruits of the New covenant (this day happens to also be a
First Fruits feast of the Jews).
3.
50th Day, Shavout, Feast of Weeks
(Pentecost). Fifty days were counted from the first day of the Passover. On the
50th day (sort of matches the Jubilee, don’t you think), was a
celebration of the first fruits of the wheat harvest.
a.
The 50th day out of Egypt was the day
God’s Ten Commandments were issued to the Israelites, declaring His new
covenant with His people.
b.
Pentecost was the day that Jesus delivered on
His promise of the Holy Spirit dwelling upon those in the New Covenant of
Christ… that’s us. When you couple this with Jesus talking about the harvest of
wheat… well… It has to make you wonder, right?
Just to mess up all of those who are bound to set dates for
a pre-trib rapture, there is always the illustration of the Bride and
Bridegroom. The Bridegroom goes to prepare a place for His bride and will come
back at a non-specified date. Why isn’t it specified? Because when the
Bridegroom prepares a place for His bride in His Father’s house, He cannot go
and get her until the Father inspects the addition, which was added onto His
house, and declares that the house is ready for the bride to come. That could
be ANY day and one of the reasons that Jesus said, “of the day and hour, no one
knows except the Father.”
I AM NEITHER A NAYSAYER NOR A MOCKER
Please understand that I am not scoffing nor mocking the
return of Jesus. I am mocking the modern day Pharisees who believe that they
can fit Jesus’ return into a box. The SEASON is upon us. We know that our time
draws near because we can see that God is about to have His last seven years of
dealing with the Nation of Israel, which is what the dates and time frames in
Daniel and Revelation are specifically addressing. As Christians, we can be
warned that the time is upon us as we see God’s prophesies concerning Israel
playing out along with the signs that are being revealed throughout the world.
It makes sense that Christians will be dealt with separately
from the Nation of Israel and everyone else, because of this, we will either be
caught up and taken out of the world before that happens or we will be
surrounded and protected while the tribulation is played out. If Jesus is to
call us out, It would behoove us to have our eyes fixed on the next ten days
for that to take place. If it does not happen in that time frame, keep your
eyes open for the wedding feast to be called at whatever time throughout the spring,
look with great anticipation again at the time of Pentecost.
It is my opinion and it is worth as much as you paid for
it. If Christians are not taken up between now and September, then we’re
probably not going to see a pre-trib rapture and we’ll see the events of the
tribulation unfold very clearly and literally before our eyes. If that is the
case, we can hope in a mid-trib or post-trib rapture and be secure in the knowledge
that Our Lord will surround us and protect us.
HERE IS ALL CERTAINTY
We are in the season. End Times events will begin to unfold
at a breakneck pace from this point forward. You should DEFINITELY have or be
putting your spiritual house in order and trusting in Jesus ONLY for your
salvation. You should not be distracted by anything but that which EXALTS the
name of Jesus and gives all glory to Him. ABIDE in Him daily, watch and pray,
for your redemption draws near.
NOTE: If you need help getting your spiritual house in order, refer to the following link or contact me directly. There is no more time to waste.
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