[2Th 2:3 LITV] Do not let anyone deceive you in any way, because that Day will not come unless first comes the falling away, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,
[1Ti 4:1-2 LITV] But the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, cleaving to deceiving spirits and teachings of demons, [2] in lying speakers in hypocrisy, being seared in their own conscience,
[2Ti 3:1-9 LITV] But know this, that in the last days grievous times will be upon us. [2] For men will be lovers of themselves, money-lovers, braggarts, arrogant, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, [3] without natural feeling, unyielding, slanderers, without self-control, savage, haters of good, [4] betrayers, reckless, puffed up, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, [5] having a form of godliness, but denying the power of it; even turn away from these. [6] For of these are those creeping into houses and leading silly women captive, the ones having been heaped with sins, being led away by various lusts, [7] always learning, but never being able to come to a full knowledge of the truth. [8] But in the way Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so also these withstand the truth, men having been corrupted in mind, found worthless concerning the faith. [9] But they will not go further, for their foolishness will be plain to all, as also that of those became.
Does the above passage sound familiar to anyone? All you have to do is turn on your local news station.
[Rev 7:9-15 LITV] After these things I saw, and behold, a great crowd which no one was able to number them, out of every nation, even tribes and peoples and tongues, standing in front of the throne, and before the Lamb, having been clothed with white robes, and in their hands palm branches. [10] And they cry with a great voice, saying, Salvation to our God sitting on the throne, and to the Lamb. [11] And all the angels and of the elders and of the four living creatures stood around the throne. And they fell before the throne on their faces, and worshiped God, [12] saying, Amen. Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength to our God forever and ever. Amen. [13] And one of the elders answered, saying to me, These, the ones having been clothed in the white robes, who are they, and from where did they come? [14] And I said to him, Sir, you know. And he said to me, These are those coming out of the great tribulation; and they washed their robes and whitened them in the blood of the Lamb. [15] Because of this they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His sanctuary. And He sitting on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them.
Before proceeding, note that I believe a pre-tribulation rapture is completely un-Scriptural. However, if I’m wrong, I will be pleasantly surprised! If “pre-tribbers” are wrong they’ve got a terrible shock coming to them and will be ill-prepared for what lies ahead of us. You will have to read through the Scriptures below and take His Word for what it says.
Personally, the argument (against a pre-trib rapture) ends with these verses alone:
[Rev 20:4-7 LITV] And I saw thrones, and they sat on them. And judgment was given to them, and the souls of the ones having been beheaded because of the witness of Jesus, and because of the Word of God, and who had not worshiped the beast nor its image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand. And they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. [5] But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. [6] Blessed and holy is the one having part in the first resurrection. The second death has no authority over these, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with Him a thousand years. [7] And whenever the thousand years are ended, Satan will be set loose out of his prison,
Note that this is the "first resurrection". There will only be two resurrections (not counting the Resurrection of Yeshua).
[Joh 5:28-29 LITV] Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming in which all those in the tombs will hear His voice. [29] And they will come out, [1] the ones having done good into a resurrection of life; and [2] the ones having practiced evil into a resurrection of judgment.
The first resurrection, in which the righteous dead shall rise first, and then those still living (at His return), righteously, will be caught up to meet Jesus in the air. The wicked dead are not resurrected at this time… the second resurrection will be covered later.
[1Co 15:51-52 KJV] Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, [52] In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
Notice the timing of this resurrection and of the catching up… “at the last trump”. I’ll get to this below.
Changed in what manner?
[Php 3:21 LITV] who will transform our body of humiliation, for it to be conformed to His body of glory, according to the working of Him to be able even to subject all things under Himself.
[1Th 4:16-18 LITV] Because the Lord Himself shall come down from Heaven with a commanding shout of an archangel's voice, and with God's trumpet. And the dead in Christ will rise first. [17] Then we who remain alive will be caught up [harpazo] together with them in the clouds to a meeting with the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. [18] So, then, comfort each other with these words.
Who is included in this first resurrection according to Rev 20:4?
... the souls of the ones having been beheaded because of the witness of Jesus, and because of the Word of God, and who had not worshiped the beast nor its image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand.
These are those who went through the Great Tribulation and are said to be a part of the first resurrection [Rev 20:5]. If Christians were raptured out of this world pre-tribulation then this would not be the first resurrection. These martyrs went through the tribulation and were part of the FIRST resurrection. For me, this is case closed on the pre-trib beliefs. I’ll continue anyway below.
The second resurrection, “…the ones having practiced evil…” [Jon 5:29], will occur at the end of the Millennial Reign prior to the Great White Throne Judgment.
[Rev 20:11-15 LITV] And I saw a Great White Throne, and the One sitting on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled; and a place was not found for them. [12] And I saw the dead, the small and the great, standing before God. And books were opened. And another Book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged out of the things written in the books, according to their works. [13] And the sea gave up the dead in it. And death and hell [G86 – hades] gave up the dead in them. And they were each judged according to their works. [14] And death and hell [G86 – hades] were thrown into the Lake of Fire. This is the second death. [15] And if anyone was not found having been written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the Lake of Fire.
There is a resurrection order given to us in Scripture.
Paul spells it out for us:
[1Co 15:22-26 LITV] for as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. [23] But each in his own order: Christ, the firstfruit; afterward those of Christ at His coming. [24] Then is the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God, even the Father, when He makes to cease all rule and all authority and power. [25] For it is right for Him to reign until He puts all the hostile ones under His feet; Psa. 110:1 [26] the last hostile thing made to cease is death.
[1] Christ was first… then [2] those who are His (at His coming – first resurrection), then [3] is the end, the “consummation” (second resurrection) – the resurrection of those who were not His – prior to the Great White Throne Judgment.
All of mankind are a result of Adam – the first man. All are born through Adam, and all die. In Christ, the second, more perfect Adam, all will be made alive. Note that the word used is “all”. It doesn’t say “all Christians”, or “all wicked”. All of mankind, whether Christian or not, are a result of the first Adam. Therefore, in Christ – all will be made alive.
In Christianity, a rapture refers to a future event where all true believers in Christ, both dead and alive, will be instantly transformed and "caught up" to meet Jesus in the air. It should be noted that the word “rapture” does not occur anywhere in Scripture.
See harpazo below.
The Latin translators of the Bible used the Latin word rapere or raperio, the root of the English term rapture. Rapere means “to seize, snatch, or carry away by force”.
The greek word harpazo, or caught up, is equivalent to Rapere.
The debate lies in “when” this will occur. There are four main thoughts concerning the timing of this event.
[1] Pre-Tribulation, [2] Mid-Tribulation, [3] Pre-Wrath, and [4] Post-Tribulation.
All four of these timeframes relate to the tribulation period known as Daniel’s 70th Week or the seven year tribulation period.
When will Jesus return?
The Disciples asked Yeshua the same question…
[Mat 24:3 LITV] And as He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, Tell us, when will these things be? And, What is the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?
Yeshua said:
[Mat 24:36 LITV] But as to that day and that hour, no one knows, neither the angels of Heaven, except My Father only.
While there is no conclusive historical proof, a strong case suggests that "no one knows the day or the hour" in Matthew 24:36 is a Jewish idiom referring to the Feast of Trumpets (Yom Teruah/Rosh Hashanah). There is no doubt that Yeshua precisely fulfilled the first four Jewish feasts to the day. He has not fulfilled the final three fall feasts as of yet. You can find more information on this in the Jewish Feasts section below.
During Yeshua's time, the start of this feast was determined by the sighting of the new moon, which the Sanhedrin would then officially declare, making the precise date unknown to anyone but the Father until the proclamation. This cultural context provides a linguistic layer of meaning to Yeshua's statement, which would have been understood by his Jewish audience.
For reference, see: Rosh Hashanah 25a
Talmud Bavli, Rosh Hashanah 25a: Describes the procedure for the Sanhedrin to receive testimony of the new moon sighting by two witnesses. Illustrates why the Feast of Trumpets was called ‘the day and hour no man knows.’
Mishnah, Rosh Hashanah 2:7: If witnesses failed to report the new moon, the festival would be postponed by a day. Explains the uncertainty in determining the exact start of Yom Teruah.
It’s also significant, that in the context of Jewish weddings of the time period, the Jewish bridegroom would not know the exact day or hour he would return for his bride, because it was the Father who determined the timing. This perfectly parallels Jesus’ statement “but My Father only” — reinforcing the idea that His coming for His bride (the Church) mirrors the Jewish wedding custom of that day. See Historical Jewish Weddings.
[Mat 24:42 LITV] Watch, then, for you do not know in what hour your Lord comes.
We, as Christians, should always be watching while we wait for His return. That is the ultimate goal for all of us… all of creation is crying out for Him to return and restore all things [Rom 8:19-22]!
Yeshua also said:
[Joh 14:1-3 LITV] Do not let your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. [2] In My Father's house are many dwelling places. But if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you! [3] And if I go and prepare a place for you, I am coming again and will receive you to Myself, that where I am you may be also.
The statement in verse 3 also aligns to Jewish weddings of that time period. The betrothal period typically lasted for a year. During this time, the groom returned to his father's house to prepare a new living space for his bride, often by building an addition to his father's house. The bride would also spend this time preparing for her new life and for the wedding.
He told us we would be able to see it approaching:
[Mat 24:32-33 LITV] But learn the parable of the fig tree: When its branch becomes tender and it puts out leaves, you know that the summer is near; [33] so also you, when you see all these things, know that it is near at the doors.
Yeshua rebuked his listeners for not being able to discern:
[Mat 16:2-3 LITV] But answering, He said to them, Evening coming on, you say, Clear sky, for the sky is red. [3] And at morning, Today a storm, for the sky is red, being overcast. Hypocrites! You indeed know how to discern the face of the heaven, but you cannot the signs of the times.
Yeshua said there would be signs of His return and referred to them as birth pains. He was drawing from the Old Testament Prophets. They also spoke of these “birth pains”. Let’s consider the language used in the Old Testament and then return to the words of Yeshua.
Isaiah uses the language of birth pains and labor to describe the distress or tribulation that comes before Yeshua’s return, the resurrection, and the redemption of all the world.
[Isa 26:16-21 LITV] Jehovah, they visited You in distress; they poured out a whisper; Your chastening was to them [17] as a woman with child draws near to bear, she writhes and cries out in her pangs. So are we before You, Jehovah. [18] We conceived; we writhe; as it were, we gave birth to wind. We have not worked salvation for the earth; and those living in the world have not fallen. [19] Your dead ones shall live, my dead body, they shall rise up. Awake and sing, dust dwellers; for the dew of lights is your dew; and the earth shall cast out departed spirits. [20] Come, My people, go in your rooms and shut your doors behind you. Hide for a little moment, until the fury passes. [21] For, behold, Jehovah comes out of His place to visit his iniquity on those dwelling on the earth. The earth shall also reveal her blood, and shall no more cover over her slain ones.
[Isa 66:7-14 LITV] Before she travailed, she brought forth; before pain came to her, she delivered a male child. [8] Who has heard a thing like this? Who has seen things like these? Shall the earth be brought forth in one day? Shall a nation be born in one step? For Zion travailed and also brought forth her sons. [9] Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? says Jehovah. Surely I cause birth, and hold back, says your God. [10] Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all who love her. Rejoice a rejoicing with her, all who mourn for her; [11] that you may suck and be satisfied with her comforting breasts; that you may milk out and delight yourselves with the fullness of her glory. [12] For so says Jehovah: Behold, I stretch out peace to her like a river, and glory of nations like an overflowing torrent. And you shall suck; you shall be carried on the side and be dandled on knees. [13] As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you. And you shall be comforted in Jerusalem. [14] And you will see, and your heart shall rejoice; and your bones shall flourish like the grass. And the hand of Jehovah shall be known toward His servants, and He shall be indignant with His enemies.
Jeremiah uses the same language:
[Jer 30:4-7 LITV] And these are the Words that Jehovah spoke concerning Israel and concerning Judah: [5] For so says Jehovah, We have heard a sound of trembling, of dread, and not of peace. [6] Ask now and see whether a male is giving birth? Why do I see every man with his hands on his loins, like a woman giving birth, and all faces are turned to paleness? [7] Alas! For that day is great, for none is like it. And it is a time of Jacob's trouble, but he will be saved out of it.
Yeshua draws from the OT Prophets and Matthew directs us “the one reading, let him understand”… :
[Mat 24:15-21 LITV] Then when you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (the one reading, let him understand), [Dan 9:27, Dan 11:31; Dan 12:11-12] [16] then let those in Judea flee into the mountains; [17] the one on the housetop, let him not go down to take anything out of his house; [18] and the one in the field, let him not turn back to take his garment. [19] But woe to the ones having a child in womb, and to those suckling in those days! [20] And pray that your flight will not occur in winter nor in a sabbath. [21] For there will be great affliction, such as has not happened from the beginning of the world until now, no, nor ever will be.
This “great affliction” is also commonly referred to as “the great tribulation” as we’ll see shortly. It should be noted here that “the great tribulation” period is known as the second half of “the seven year tribulation” period.
In Daniel 12, the angel Gabriel quotes both Isaiah and Jeremiah and speaks of the resurrection taking place after the Antichrist’s reign of terror.
[Dan 12:1-2 LITV] And at that time, Michael shall stand up, the great ruler who stands for the sons of your people. And there shall be a time of distress, such as has not been from the being of a nation until that time. And at that time, your people shall be delivered, everyone that shall be found written in the Book. [2] And many of those sleeping in the earth's dust shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to reproaches and to everlasting abhorrence.
The “great tribulation” begins at the midpoint of Daniel’s 70th week.
The tribulation period is a period of seven years. The concept is found in both Daniel and Revelation. Daniel informs us that a period of seven years is set apart in the Last Days, with the second half (3.5 years) comprising the great tribulation.
[Dan 9:24-27 LITV] Seventy weeks are decreed as to your people, and as to your holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make atonement for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy. [25] Know, then, and understand that from the going out of a word to restore and to rebuild Jerusalem, to Messiah the Prince, shall be seven weeks and sixty two weeks. The street shall be built again, and the wall, even in times of affliction. [26] And after sixty two weeks, Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself. And the people of a coming ruler shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end shall be with the flood, and ruins are determined, and war shall be until the end. [27] And he [Antichrist] shall confirm a covenant with the many for one week. And in the middle of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease. And on a corner of the altar will be abominations that desolate, even until the end. And that which was decreed shall pour out on the desolator.
Please notice… “he shall confirm a covenant with the many for one week”. There’s nothing in the text concerning a public signing of a seven year peace treaty or anything of that nature. All it says is that a covenant will be confirmed.
[Dan 7:25 LITV] And he shall speak words against the Most High, and he shall wear out the saints of the Most High. And he intends to change times and law. And they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and one half time.
How will Antichrist “wear out the saints” if we’ve already been raptured out of this world?
[Dan 12:5-7 LITV] And I, Daniel, looked. And, behold! Another two stood there, the one on this side, and one on that side of the river's edge. [6] And one said to the man clothed in linen, who was on the waters of the river, Until when is the end of the wonders? [7] And I heard the man clothed in linen, who was on the waters of the river, when he held up his right and his left hand to the heavens and swore by Him who lives forever, that it shall be for a time, times, and a half. And when they have made an end of scattering the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.
“time” [1 year] + “times” [2 years] + “a half” [half year] = 3.5 years or, 42 months, or 1,260 days.
[Dan 12:11-12 LITV] And from the time the regular sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that desolates set up, a thousand, two hundred and ninety days shall occur. [12] Blessed is he who waits and comes to the thousand, three hundred and thirty five days.
Don’t concern yourself with the 1,290/1,335 days yet. We’ll get to that.
[Rev 11:3 LITV] And I will give to My two witnesses, and they will prophesy a thousand, two hundred and sixty days, dressed in sackcloth.
Sidenote: Most believe the two witnesses will either be Elijah and Moses, or Elijah and Enoch. Both Elijah and Enoch were taken out of this world by Yahweh. It’s speculated that they will return as the two witnesses to face death here on earth [Heb 9:27 – all men are appointed to death] and then He will raise them both.
[Rev 11:2 LITV] And cast aside the outside court of the temple, and do not measure it. For it was given to the nations, and they will trample the holy city forty two months.
[Rev 12:14 LITV] And two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, that she might fly into the wilderness, to her place, where she is nourished there a time, and times, and half a time, away from the serpent's face.
[Rev 13:5 LITV] And a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies was given to it. And authority to act forty two months was given to it.
1,260 days, 42 months, time, times, and half, all equal 3.5 Biblical 360 day years.
The tribulation period is a period of seven years. The concept is found in both Daniel and Revelation. Daniel informs us that a period of seven years is set apart in the Last Days, with the second half (3.5 years) comprising the great tribulation.
[Dan 9:24-27 LITV] Seventy weeks are decreed as to your people, and as to your holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make atonement for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy. [25] Know, then, and understand that from the going out of a word to restore and to rebuild Jerusalem, to Messiah the Prince, shall be seven weeks and sixty two weeks. The street shall be built again, and the wall, even in times of affliction. [26] And after sixty two weeks, Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself. And the people of a coming ruler shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end shall be with the flood, and ruins are determined, and war shall be until the end. [27] And he [Antichrist] shall confirm a covenant with the many for one week. And in the middle of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease. And on a corner of the altar will be abominations that desolate, even until the end. And that which was decreed shall pour out on the desolator.
Please notice… “he shall confirm a covenant with the many for one week”. There’s nothing in the text concerning a public signing of a seven year peace treaty or anything of that nature. All it says is that a covenant will be confirmed.
[Dan 7:25 LITV] And he shall speak words against the Most High, and he shall wear out the saints of the Most High. And he intends to change times and law. And they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and one half time.
How will Antichrist “wear out the saints” if we’ve already been raptured out of this world?
[Dan 12:5-7 LITV] And I, Daniel, looked. And, behold! Another two stood there, the one on this side, and one on that side of the river's edge. [6] And one said to the man clothed in linen, who was on the waters of the river, Until when is the end of the wonders? [7] And I heard the man clothed in linen, who was on the waters of the river, when he held up his right and his left hand to the heavens and swore by Him who lives forever, that it shall be for a time, times, and a half. And when they have made an end of scattering the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.
“time” [1 year] + “times” [2 years] + “a half” [half year] = 3.5 years or, 42 months, or 1,260 days.
[Dan 12:11-12 LITV] And from the time the regular sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that desolates set up, a thousand, two hundred and ninety days shall occur. [12] Blessed is he who waits and comes to the thousand, three hundred and thirty five days.
Don’t concern yourself with the 1,290/1,335 days yet. We’ll get to that.
[Rev 11:3 LITV] And I will give to My two witnesses, and they will prophesy a thousand, two hundred and sixty days, dressed in sackcloth.
Sidenote: Most believe the two witnesses will either be Elijah and Moses, or Elijah and Enoch. Both Elijah and Enoch were taken out of this world by Yahweh. It’s speculated that they will return as the two witnesses to face death here on earth [Heb 9:27 – all men are appointed to death] and then He will raise them both.
[Rev 11:2 LITV] And cast aside the outside court of the temple, and do not measure it. For it was given to the nations, and they will trample the holy city forty two months.
[Rev 12:14 LITV] And two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, that she might fly into the wilderness, to her place, where she is nourished there a time, and times, and half a time, away from the serpent's face.
[Rev 13:5 LITV] And a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies was given to it. And authority to act forty two months was given to it.
1,260 days, 42 months, time, times, and half, all equal 3.5 Biblical 360 day years.
According to Matthew 24:21 part of this seven year period is known as "Great Tribulation” after the abomination of desolation is setup.
Note, that in Daniel 9:24, “Seventy weeks are decreed as to your people”.
Sixty-nine weeks are used up in Daniel 9:25. After the sixty-two weeks, Messiah shall be “cut off” (crucified) [Dan 9:26].
After the Messiah has been cut off what is referred to as the “Church Age” begins. The intervening period is an era of grace, extending to all people, until "the full number of the Gentiles has come in".
[Rom 11:25 KJV] For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
The 70th week has likely not yet started. I say "likely" because we may, or may not, be privy to information concerning the confirmation of the covenant.
What kicks off, or starts the clock on, this seven year period?
Daniel 9:27 -
[Dan 9:27 LITV] And he [Antichrist] shall confirm a covenant with the many for one week. And in the middle of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease. And on a corner of the altar will be abominations that desolate, even until the end. And that which was decreed shall pour out on the desolator.
“And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week” [NASB]
“And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week” [ESV]
“He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven’.” [NIV]
“And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week” [KJV]
We are to be watching for a treaty/contract/etc. to be confirmed with Israel. This treaty may already be in existence (Abraham Accords for example). Note that there’s nothing in the Abraham Accord that specifically allows for the restoration of the daily sacrifices. It will likely be some sort of peace treaty or one that will allow Israel to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem and begin the daily sacrifices again. This is what we should be watching for… the temple and the daily sacrifices.
The Bible is very clear that sacrifices will be reestablished in the Temple in Jerusalem. This will occur sometime before the midpoint of Daniel's 70th week.
While it may very well be a brick and mortar structure, technically, it could also be something as simple as a tent.
Daniel in particular lays the foundation for this concept mentioning the following concepts four times: [1] “The Abomination that Causes Desolation” and [2] “the ceasing of offerings”.
[Dan 8:9-11 LITV] And out of one of them came a little horn which became very great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the bountiful land. [10] And it became great, even to the host of the heavens. And it caused some of the host and of the stars to fall to the ground, and it trampled them. [11] Yea, he magnified himself even to the leader of the host. And the regular sacrifice was taken away by him, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.
[Dan 8:12-14 LITV] And a host was given with the regular sacrifice because of transgression. And it threw the truth down to the ground, and it worked and prospered. [13] Then I heard a certain holy one speaking, and another holy one said to that one who spoke, Until when is the vision, the regular sacrifice and the desolating transgression, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trampled? [14] And he said to me, For two thousand, three hundred evenings and mornings, then the sanctuary will be put right.
After reading Daniel 8:14 you may be asking “what are the 2,300 days”?
I believe the timeframe starts once the daily sacrifices are resumed. The sacrifices will then cease at the abomination of desolation and will be restored after Yeshua returns. I believe the sum of these events accounts for the 2,300 days.
[Dan 11:31 LITV] And forces will stand away from him, and they will profane the sanctuary, the fortress. And they shall remove the regular sacrifice, and they will place the abomination that desolates.
[Dan 12:11 LITV] And from the time the regular sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that desolates set up, a thousand, two hundred and ninety days shall occur.
In the New Testament, Jesus, Paul, and John all build upon Daniel’s prophecy.
[Mat 24:15-21 LITV] Then when you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (the one reading, let him understand), [Dan. 11:31; 12:11] [16] then let those in Judea flee into the mountains; [17] the one on the housetop, let him not go down to take anything out of his house; [18] and the one in the field, let him not turn back to take his garment. [19] But woe to the ones having a child in womb, and to those suckling in those days! [20] And pray that your flight will not occur in winter nor in a sabbath. [21] For there will be great affliction, such as has not happened from the beginning of the world until now, no, nor ever will be.
An interesting sidenote: Many believe that those who flee will take refuge in the rock city of Petra in the present day nation of Jordan near Moab.
[Dan 11:41 LITV] And he [Antichrist] shall enter into the glorious land, and many will be stumbled. But these shall escape out of his hand: Edom and Moab, and the chief of the sons of Ammon.
[Isa 16:4 LITV] Let My outcasts stay with you, Moab [Jordan-Petra]. Be a hiding place to them from the face of the destroyer. For the exacter has ceased, destruction has failed; the trampler is ended out of the land.
[Rev 12:6 LITV] And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she had a place, it having been prepared from God, that there they might nourish her a thousand two hundred and sixty days.
[Rev 12:13-17 LITV] And when the dragon saw that he was cast out onto the earth, he pursued the woman who bore the male. [14] And two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, that she might fly into the wilderness, to her place, where she is nourished there a time, and times, and half a time, away from the serpent's face. [15] And the serpent threw water out of his mouth like a river after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried off by the river. [16] And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river which the dragon threw out of his mouth. [17] And the dragon was enraged over the woman, and went away to make war with the rest of her seed, those keeping the commandments of God, and having the testimony of Jesus Christ.
End sidenote… moving on:
[2Th 2:3-4 LITV] Do not let anyone deceive you in any way, because that Day will not come unless first comes the falling away, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, [4] the one opposing and exalting himself over everything being called God, or object of worship, so as for him "to sit in the temple of God" as God, setting forth himself, that he is God. [Dan. 11:36]
[Rev 11:1-2 LITV] And a reed like a staff was given to me, and the angel stood, saying, Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar, and those worshiping in it. [2] And cast aside the outside court of the temple, and do not measure it. For it was given to the nations, and they will trample the holy city forty two months.
naós or hierón
Used specifically of the Temple in Jerusalem 104 times.
Used for a heathen temple or shrine 3 times.
Used metaphorically to refer to a spiritual temple; either Christ, individual Christians, or the Church 9 times.
Some have argued that because “temple” is sometimes used metaphorically in the New Testament, that the Antichrist might not actually sit in the literal Temple in Jerusalem. This is nonsense. There is no way that the references to the Temple and the Abomination that Causes desolation in Daniel can be understood as referring to anything other than the literal Temple in Jerusalem. A Temple will most assuredly be rebuilt.
The Old Testament taught two things: [1] Someday God would “come” from heaven to save His people. [2] Someday the righteous dead would be resurrected or raised back to life out of the earth.
The New Testament explains [1] That both of these things occur together at the same time. [2] How those who are alive when God comes will actually experience the resurrection. They will be transformed and “caught up to meet the Lord in the air”.
[Mat 24:29-31 LITV] And immediately after the affliction of those days the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give her light, and the stars will fall from the heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. [30] And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the heavens. And then all the tribes of the land will wail. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and much glory. [Dan. 7:13] [31] And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from the ends of the heavens to their ends.
[1Co 15:20-23 LITV] But now Christ has been raised from the dead; He became the firstfruit of those having fallen asleep. [21] For since death is through man, also through a Man is a resurrection of the dead; [22] for as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. [23] But each in his own order: Christ, the firstfruit; afterward those of Christ at His coming.
[1Co 15:51-52 LITV] Behold, I speak a mystery to you: we shall not all fall asleep, but we shall all be changed. [52] In a moment, in a glance of an eye, at the last trumpet; for a trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall all be changed.
[1Th 4:13-18 LITV] But I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning those who sleep, that you not grieve, as the rest also, not having hope. [14] For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will also bring with Him all those who have fallen asleep through Jesus. [15] For we say this to you in the Word of the Lord, that we the living who remain to the coming of the Lord will not at all go before those who have fallen asleep. [16] Because the Lord Himself shall come down from Heaven with a commanding shout of an archangel's voice, and with God's trumpet. And the dead in Christ will rise first. [17] Then we who remain alive will be caught up [harpazo] together with them in the clouds to a meeting with the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. [18] So, then, comfort each other with these words.
What are the differences between the different rapture positions?
There is [1] the Pre-Tribulational Rapture, [2] Mid-Trib, [3] Pre-Wrath, and [4] Post-Trib. What do these different terms mean?
These terms are all used to describe different beliefs concerning when the rapture will take place in relation to the final seven years.
We often hear that the rapture is imminent—it can happen at any moment, without any preceding signs. Is this true?
“The New Testament is consistent in its anticipation that the return of Christ might occur at any moment” —John MacArthur
“From the very earliest days of the church, the apostles and first-generation Christians nurtured an earnest expectation and fervent hope that Christ might suddenly return at any time to gather His church to heaven.” —John MacArthur
Passages often cited to argue for imminency:
[Jas 5:8 LITV] You also be long-suffering. Set your hearts firmly, because the coming of the Lord has drawn near.
[Tit 2:13 LITV] looking for the blessed hope and appearance of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,
[Mat 24:42 LITV] Watch, then, for you do not know in what hour your Lord comes.
[Mat 25:13 LITV] Therefore, watch, for you do not know the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man comes.
“Imminence” as taught by those who teach the pre-tribulational rapture is entirely unbiblical.
Paul specifically said the rapture cannot happen unless the apostasy and the revealing of the Antichrist comes first. That hasn’t happened yet, so the rapture is not, and cannot be: “imminent”.
[2Th 2:1-4 LITV] And, brothers, we entreat you, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of our gathering together to Him, [2] for you not to be quickly shaken in the mind, nor to be disturbed, neither through a spirit, nor through speech, nor through letter, as through us, as if the Day of Christ has come. [3] Do not let anyone deceive you in any way, because that Day will not come unless first comes the falling away, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, [4] the one opposing and exalting himself over everything being called God, or object of worship, so as for him "to sit in the temple of God" as God, setting forth himself, that he is God. [Dan. 11:36; Eze. 28:2]
This is just a matter of personal opinion, but I believe that a lot of “pre-tribbers” will be discouraged when they find themselves in Daniel’s 70th week and they have not been raptured out of this world. Will they be included in the group mentioned by Peter and be part of the apostasy (“falling away” mention above)?
[2Pe 3:3-4 LITV] first, knowing this, that during the last days scoffers will come walking according to their own lusts, [4] and saying, Where is the promise of His coming? For from which time the fathers fell asleep, all things remain so from the beginning of creation.
The terms “the day of the Lord” or “the coming of our Lord Jesus” are sometimes used broadly to refer to all of the events of the Last-Days. So yes, the New Testament does call us to be prepared for the Lord’s return. But it was well understood that this meant: [1] Being prepared to face the great tests and tribulations that precede His coming. [2] To make sure we are in the faith so as to escape the vengeance and judgment upon unbelievers that occurs when He returns.
[1Th 5:1-4 LITV] But concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need for it to be written. [2] For you yourselves know accurately that the day of the Lord, as a thief in the night, so it comes. [3] For when they say, Peace and safety! Then suddenly destruction comes upon them, like the travail to the one having babe in womb, and not at all shall they escape. [4] But you, brothers, are not in darkness, that the Day should overtake you as a thief.
Note that those who preach the rapture is “imminent” because it comes as a “thief in the night” do not finish reading the passage. “Thief in the night” does not apply to believers: “But you, brothers, are not in darkness, that the Day should overtake you as a thief.”. “Thief in the night” applies to unbelievers.
[1Th 5:6 LITV] So then, we should not sleep, as the rest also do, but we should watch and be sober.
Continuing…
[Mat 3:5-8 LITV] Then Jerusalem and all Judea went out to him, and all the neighborhood of the Jordan, [6] and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. [7] But seeing many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, Offspring of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? [8] Therefore, bring forth fruits worthy of repentance.
Various signs need to be fulfilled before Yeshua can return. For example, in order for the Antichrist to enter into the covenant leading to the restoration of sacrifices in the Temple in Jerusalem, Israel had to be restored and repatriated by the Jewish people. Therefore, it would have been impossible for Jesus to have returned before Israel was reborn last century (1948).
Many churches in the U.S believe that the rapture is the next thing to happen on this prophetic timeline. Millions have read about it in the Left Behind series. We’ve been taught this from famous bible teachers like Jack Hibbs and Greg Laury. We’ve been told that we could be raptured out of here any moment.
There is not a single verse in the entire Bible that teaches a pre-tribulational rapture. Period. Even leading pre-tribulational scholars admit this.
Yeshua places the harpazo (rapture) after the tribulation:
[Mat 24:29-31 LITV] And immediately after the affliction of those days the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give her light, and the stars will fall from the heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. [30] And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the heavens. And then all the tribes of the land will wail. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and much glory. [Dan. 7:13] [31] And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from the ends of the heavens to their ends.
Paul tells us that Christians should expect relief from the trials and tribulations of this age to come specifically when Jesus is visibly revealed in flaming fire with His angels:
[2Th 1:4-8 LITV] so as for us to boast ourselves in you in the assemblies of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions, and the afflictions which you endure, [5] a clear token of the just judgment of God, for you to be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you indeed suffer; [6] since it is a just thing with God to pay back tribulation to the ones troubling you, [7] and to give you, those being afflicted, relief with us at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from Heaven with angels of His power, [8] in flaming fire giving full vengeance to those not knowing God, and to those not obeying the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, [Isa. 66:15; Jer. 10:25]
We get our new bodies when Jesus returns for us, not seven years earlier:
[1Co 15:20-23 LITV] But now Christ has been raised from the dead; He became the firstfruit of those having fallen asleep. [21] For since death is through man, also through a Man is a resurrection of the dead; [22] for as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. [23] But each in his own order: Christ, the firstfruit; afterward those of Christ at His coming.
[Rev 1:5 LITV] even from Jesus Christ the Faithful Witness, the First-born out of the dead, and the Ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him loving us and washing us from our sins by His blood,
Paul specifically tells us that the resurrection / rapture will happen after the apostasy and the Antichrist:
[2Th 2:1-4 LITV] And, brothers, we entreat you, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of our gathering together to Him, [2] for you not to be quickly shaken in the mind, nor to be disturbed, neither through a spirit, nor through speech, nor through letter, as through us, as if the Day of Christ has come. [3] Do not let anyone deceive you in any way, because that Day will not come unless first comes the falling away, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, [4] the one opposing and exalting himself over everything being called God, or object of worship, so as for him "to sit in the temple of God" as God, setting forth himself, that he is God. [Dan. 11:36; Eze. 28:2]
The Bible says Jesus will remain in heaven until He returns to do two things: [1] Restore all things. [2] Crush His enemies.
[Act 3:21 LITV] whom Heaven truly needs to receive until the times of restoration of all things, of which God spoke through the mouth of all His holy prophets from the age past.
[Heb 10:12-13 LITV] But He, offering but one sacrifice for sins, "sat down" in perpetuity "at the right hand" of God, [13] from then on expecting "until His enemies are placed as a footstool" of His feet. [Psa. 110:1]
The pre-trib rapture group says Jesus leaves heaven to rapture the Church seven years before these things. This violates the Word of God.
The pre-tribulational rapture also specifically violates the high priestly prayer of Jesus, who prayed for all believers NOT to be removed from the world, but instead to be kept from the evil one.
[Joh 17:14-20 LITV] I have given them Your Word, and the world hated them because they are not of the world, as I am not of the world. [15] I do not pray that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil. [16] They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. [17] Sanctify them in Your Truth; Your Word is Truth. [18] As You have sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world, [19] and I sanctify Myself for them, that they also may be sanctified in Truth. [20] And I do not pray concerning these only, but also concerning those who will believe in Me through their word;
We will be used by Him, during this time, as a testimony to others!
[Luk 21:10-19 LITV] Then He said to them, Nation will be lifted up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. [11] Also there will be great earthquakes from place to place, and famines, and plagues. And also there will be terrors and great signs from Heaven. [12] But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you, and will persecute you, delivering you into the synagogues and prisons, being led away before kings and governors on account of My name. [13] But it will return to you for a testimony. [14] Then put into your hearts not to premeditate to make a defense. [15] For I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all those opposing you will not be able to withstand or contradict. [16] But you will be betrayed also by parents, and brothers, and relatives, and friends. And they will put some of you to death. [17] And you will be hated by all because of My name. [18] And a hair of your head shall in no way perish. [19] By your patience you will gain your souls.
The pre-tribulational rapture teaches that the first resurrection happens seven years before when the Bible says it takes place:
[Rev 20:4-5 LITV] And I saw thrones, and they sat on them. And judgment was given to them, and the souls of the ones having been beheaded because of the witness of Jesus, and because of the Word of God, and who had not worshiped the beast nor its image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand. And they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. [5] But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection.
[Heb 9:27-28 LITV] And as it is reserved to men once to die, and after this, Judgment; [28] so Christ having been once offered "to bear the sins of many," Christ shall appear a second time without sin to those expecting Him for salvation. [Isa. 53:12]
This idea of a pre-tribulation rapture is a fairly new concept. How did this get into the churches and become the most prevalent view in the United States?
First, the early Church expected the church to face the tribulation and Antichrist. A few early examples:
The Didache (c.50–c.120) “[T]hen shall appear the deceiver of the world [The Antichrist] … and he shall commit iniquities which have never been since the world began. Then shall the creation of mankind come to the fiery trial and many shall be offended and be lost, but they who endure in their faith shall be saved … Then shall the world see the Lord coming on the clouds of Heaven.” (Didache 16:4–8)
Epistle of Barnabas (c.80–c.100) The final stumbling-block approaches … We take earnest heed in these last days; for the whole time of your faith will profit you nothing, unless now in this wicked time we also withstand coming sources of danger, as becometh the sons of God. That the Black One [Antichrist] may find no means of entrance, let us flee from every vanity, let us utterly hate the works of the way of wickedness. Do not, by retiring apart, live a solitary life, as if you were already justified … Take heed, lest resting at our ease, as those who are the called [of God], we should fall asleep in our sins, and the wicked prince, acquiring power over us, should thrust us away from the kingdom of the Lord. (Epistle of Barnabas, 4)
The Shepherd of Hermas (c.95–c.150) “[Blessed are] you who endure the great tribulation that is coming on, and they who shall not deny their own life.” “Those, therefore, who continue steadfast, and are put through the fire, will be purified by means of it.” (Vision 2:2; 4:3)
Justin Martyr (c.110–c.165) He [Jesus Christ] shall come from heaven with glory, when the man of apostasy [Antichrist], who speaks strange things against the Most High, shall venture to do unlawful deeds on the earth against us the Christians. (Dialogue with Trypho, CX)
Irenaeus (c.120–c.202) And they [the ten kings who serve the Antichrist] shall lay Babylon waste, and burn her with fire, and shall give their kingdom to the beast, and put the Church to flight. (Against Heresies, V, 26, 1) And therefore, when in the end the Church shall be suddenly caught up from this, it is said, “There shall be tribulation such as has not been since the beginning, neither shall be.” For this is the last contest of the righteous, in which, when they overcome they are crowned with incorruption. (Against Heresies, V, 29, 1)
Irenaeus (c.120–c.202) “For all these and other words were unquestionably spoken in reference to the resurrection of the just, which takes place after the coming of Antichrist … who have suffered tribulation, as well as escaped the hands of the Wicked one.” (Against Heresies, V, 35, 1)
Hippolytus (c.185–c.235) “For when the times advance, he too, [The Antichrist] of whom these thing are said, will be manifested … Now, concerning the tribulation of the persecution which is to fall upon the Church from the adversary … That refers to the one thousand two hundred and threescore days during which the tyrant is to reign and persecute the Church. (Hippolytus, Treatise on Christ and Antichrist, 50, 60, 61, cf. 60–67)
Hippolytus (c.185–c.235) When the times are fulfilled, and the ten horns spring from the beast in the last (times), then Antichrist will appear among them. When he makes war against the saints, and persecutes them, then may we expect the manifestation of the Lord from heaven. (On Daniel, II, 7)
Do you think this (pre-trib) is a dangerous doctrine to teach people because people will not be prepared?
If Pre-Wrathers or Post-Tribbers are wrong, we will be pleasantly surprised.
If Pre-Tribbers are wrong, many will be greatly disappointed, confused, disillusioned, and potentially even find themselves in apostasy as Paul and Peter foretold.
The Pre-Tribulational view conflicts with the message of bearing our crosses and appeals to shallow, western, self-centered Christianity.
Before the dawn of the internet, what most Christians believed about the rapture was largely determined by the pre-tribulational domination of most seminaries and the major publishing houses. If one was not pre-trib, they had a very hard time teaching in seminary or being published. Today, with the information revolution, the internet, and decentralization of all things, many are studying on their own and leaving the pre-tribulational doctrine behind.
Let’s work through some key verses often used to support a pre-trib rapture. Remember, when we study the Bible, we can’t just take a single verse out of context, but must consider the full counsel of Scripture.
[Rev 3:10 LITV] Because you kept the Word of My patience, I also will keep you out of the hour of trial which is going to come on all the habitable world in order to try those dwelling on the earth.
Context: This verse was a promise specifically given to one particular Church in the 1st century —not to all Christians. This does not mean that they would be actually kept from calamity of all kinds, but that they would be kept from the temptation of apostasy in calamity.
From Vincent’s Word Studies:
From the hour (ἐκ)
The preposition implies, not a keeping from temptation, but a keeping in temptation, as the result of which they shall be delivered out of its power. Compare Jhn 17:15.
[Rev 3:7-11 LITV] And to the angel of the assembly in Philadelphia, write: These things says the Holy One, the True One, the One having "the key of David," "the One opening, and no one shuts; and shuts, and no one opens:" [Isa. 22:22] [8] I know your works. Behold, I have given a door being opened before you, and no one is able to shut it, for you have a little power and have kept My Word, and have not denied My name. [9] Behold, I give out of the synagogue of Satan those saying themselves to be Jews, and they are not, but they lie. Behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they shall know that I loved you. [10] Because you kept the Word of My patience, I also will keep you out of the hour of trial which is going to come on all the habitable world in order to try those dwelling on the earth. [11] Behold, I am coming quickly. Hold what you have that no one take your crown.
No one in the church of Philadelphia was raptured to heaven in the 1st century. Because the verse does not promise to rapture anyone. Rather it promises the preservation (keeping) from the destructive effects of tribulations.
The Goshen Pattern:
[Exo 8:22 LITV] And in that day I will separate the land of Goshen with My people resting on it, that there be no swarms of flies, so that you may know that I am Jehovah in the midst of the earth.
Canned foods "keep" or are "preserved" through the Winter, but still pass through it. They’re not “raptured” into heaven to escape the Winter. “keep" tēréō: “to watch over, to guard”
Does 1 Corinthians 15 speak of a pretribulational rapture?
[1Co 15:51-53 LITV] Behold, I speak a mystery to you: we shall not all fall asleep, but we shall all be changed. [52] In a moment, in a glance of an eye, at the last trumpet; for a trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall all be changed. [53] For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
People will say that after Revelation 4:1, the Church is never seen again (in the Revelation), so Rev. 4:1 proves that we are raptured out before the rest of the Book of Revelation. Does this verse have anything to do with the rapture?
[Rev 4:1 LITV] After these things I saw. And behold, a door being opened in Heaven! And I heard the first voice as a trumpet speaking with me, saying, Come up here, and I will show you what needs to happen after these things.
This is a strange and very weak argument. Revelation 4:1 simply describes John being taken into heaven to be shown what will take place in the Last-Days. It says nothing about the rapture of the Church whatsoever. John is also told to “come here” in Rev 17:1 and Rev 21:9
Secondly, although the word “Church” is almost never used throughout the rest of the Book of Revelation (except in 22:16), numerous other terms such as “saints,” “God’s people,” “our brethren,” or “God’s servants” are used multiple times throughout Revelation to describe the Church present on the earth throughout the tribulation.
[Rev 12:10-11 LITV] And I heard a great voice saying in Heaven, Now has come the salvation and power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ, because the accuser of our brothers is thrown down, the one accusing them before our God day and night. [11] And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the Word of their testimony. And they did not love their soul even until death.
“Now” has come salvation… When? Why? Because the accuser is thrown down… Satan is not “thrown down” until Christ returns.
Let’s talk about the “thief in the night verse.” I often hear Christians say that Jesus could come back and get us any moment because the Bible says He will come as a thief in the night.
This is a very common misconception among pre-tribbers. The Scriptures say that Jesus only comes as a thief for unbelievers:
[1Th 5:1-5 LITV] But concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need for it to be written. [2] For you yourselves know accurately that the day of the Lord, as a thief in the night, so it comes. [3] For when they say, Peace and safety! Then suddenly destruction comes upon them, like the travail to the one having babe in womb, and not at all shall they escape. [4] But you, brothers, are not in darkness, that the Day should overtake you as a thief. [5] You are all sons of light and sons of day; we are not of night, nor of darkness.
Who is the Restrainer?
[2Th 2:5-10 LITV] Do you not remember that I told you these things, I yet being with you? [6] And now you know the thing holding back, for him to be revealed in his time. [7] For the mystery of lawlessness already is working, only he is holding back now, until it comes out of the midst. [8] And then "the Lawless One" will be revealed, "whom" "the Lord" "will consume" "by the spirit of His mouth," and will bring to nought by the brightness of His presence. [Isa. 11:4] [9] His coming is according to the working of Satan in all power and miraculous signs and lying wonders, [10] and in all deceit of unrighteousness in those being lost, because they did not receive the love of the truth in order for them to be saved.
There are various theories as to who or what the restrainer is. Pre-tribbers claim this is the Holy Spirit, who will be removed from the world when the Church leaves. This is very a bizarre claim. Not only is the Holy Spirit omnipresent, but as we’ve seen, there will indeed be believers on the earth during this time.
Others say the restrainer is Michael the archangel (which I believe to be true).
Another theory holds that this is actually referring to Satan, the accuser being cast out of heaven down to the earth.
[Rev 12:12-13 LITV] Because of this, be glad, the heavens and those tabernacling in them. Woe to the ones dwelling on the earth, and in the sea, because the devil came down to you having great anger, knowing that he has a little time! [13] And when the dragon saw that he was cast out onto the earth, he pursued the woman who bore the male.
Let’s talk about this verse—because I hear this a lot. We will be raptured out of here because 1 Thessalonians 5:9 says: “For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ".
[1Th 5:9 LITV] because God has not appointed us to wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
This passage has nothing to do with the rapture whatsoever. Let’s look at the context:
[1Th 5:8-10 LITV] But we being of day should be sober, "having put on the breastplate" of faith and love, and the hope of "salvation as a helmet;" [Isa. 59:17] [9] because God has not appointed us to wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, [10] He dying on our behalf, so that whether we watch or we sleep, we may live together with Him.
Yeshua died for us so that we are delivered from His Judgment at the Great White Throne Judgment and will instead inherit salvation. Yeshua didn’t die for us to deliver us from the tribulation. Pre-tribbers admit there will be many saints on the earth during the Great Tribulation. (They call them “tribulation saints”). If Jesus died for them to save them from the wrath of the tribulation, then why are they on the earth?
Repentance saves us from "eternal" wrath [orgē], but not God’s judgments that are poured out on the earth.
[Joh 3:36 LITV] The one believing into the Son has everlasting life; but the one disobeying the Son will not see life, but the wrath [orgē] of God remains on him.
[Mat 3:5-8 LITV] Then Jerusalem and all Judea went out to him, and all the neighborhood of the Jordan, [6] and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. [7] But seeing many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, Offspring of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath [orgē] to come? [8] Therefore, bring forth fruits worthy of repentance
On one hand, Yeshua gives us a timeline for end time events, but He also says:
[Mat 24:36 LITV] But as to that day and that hour, no one knows, neither the angels of Heaven, except My Father only.
Pre-tribbers argue that since we have a timeframe, and since we cannot know “the day or the hour” only pre-tribulationism can be true. They argue that if Yeshua returns at the end of the seven years, we could simply count 2,520 days from the signing of the peace treaty between the Antichrist and Israel to know the exact day.
There are a few significant reasons why we can know the general season, but not the precise day or hour.
A year is 365 days, not 360. 7 years are 2,555 days (not 2,520). This is why Hebrews add an “intercalary month” every now and then. Daniel uses 360 day years. Do we use actual 365 days or 360 day years? These things are endlessly debated with no clear answers. This certainly complicates the claim that we can know the precise day.
Further complicating this matter is the following passage:
[Dan 12:11-12 LITV] And from the time the regular sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that desolates set up, a thousand, two hundred and ninety days shall occur. [12] Blessed is he who waits and comes to the thousand, three hundred and thirty five days.
So do we count 1,260, 1,290, or 1,335 days?
Yom Teruah—The Blasting of Trumpets Many believe Yeshua will return at the conclusion of Yom Teruah or the Day of the Blasting of Trumpets. This is also known as “the unknown day,” as the exact day is not known until the sighting of the moon from Jerusalem. It varies from year to year.
"Big Picture" overview...
[Mat 24:3-4 LITV] And as He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, Tell us, when will these things be? And, What is the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age? [4] And answering, Jesus said to them, See that not any leads you astray.
Yeshua draws from two key portions of Scripture: Isaiah 26 and 66 (which we previously looked at) using the birth pains analogy for the end of the age. Daniel who gives us the seven year framework with the abomination that causes desolation as the mid-point.
The Beginning of Birth Pains:
[Mat 24:4-8 LITV] And answering, Jesus said to them, See that not any leads you astray. [5] For many will come in My name, saying, I am the Christ. And they will cause many to be led astray. [6] But you are going to hear of wars and rumors of wars. See, do not be terrified. For all things must take place, but the end is not yet. [7] For nation will be raised against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there will be famines and plagues and earthquakes against many places. [8] But all these are a beginning of throes.
The Actual Birth Pains:
[Mat 24:9-14 LITV] Then they will deliver you up to affliction, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. [10] And then many will be offended, and they will deliver up one another and will hate one another. [11] And many false prophets will be raised and will cause many to err. [12] And because lawlessness shall have been multiplied, the love of the many will grow cold. [13] But the one who endures to the end, that one will be kept safe. [14] And this gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the earth for a testimony to all the nations, and then will come the end.
The Birth:
[Mat 24:29-31 LITV] And immediately after the affliction of those days the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give her light, and the stars will fall from the heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. [30] And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the heavens. And then all the tribes of the land will wail. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and much glory. [Dan. 7:13] [31] And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from the ends of the heavens to their ends.
How does Jesus’ Olivet Discourse align with the Book of Revelation?
Is the Antichrist the one who will make a treaty with Israel that will start this whole seven years in motion?
The individual who confirms or strengthens the covenant is the Antichrist. Some have sought to interpret the passage to understand this individual to be Yeshua. This view requires a deeply inconsistent approach to the prophecies of Daniel.
[Dan 9:24-27 LITV] Seventy weeks are decreed as to your people, and as to your holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make atonement for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy. [25] Know, then, and understand that from the going out of a word to restore and to rebuild Jerusalem, to Messiah the Prince, shall be seven weeks and sixty two weeks. The street shall be built again, and the wall, even in times of affliction. [26] And after sixty two weeks, Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself. And the people of a coming ruler shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end shall be with the flood, and ruins are determined, and war shall be until the end. [27] And he shall confirm a covenant with the many for one week. And in the middle of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease. And on a corner of the altar will be abominations that desolate, even until the end. And that which was decreed shall pour out on the desolator.
Will he be a friend of Israel to begin with?
Isaiah says that Israel will come to rely or trust him for their security.
[Isa 10:20 LITV] And it shall be in that day, the remnant of Israel, and the escaped ones from the house of Jacob, shall not any more lean on him who struck him. But they will truly lean on Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel.
[Isa 28:14-15 LITV] So hear the Word of Jehovah, scornful men, rulers of this people in Jerusalem. [15] Because you have said, We have cut a covenant with death; and, We have made a vision with Sheol, when the overwhelming rod passes through it will not come to us for we have made the lie our refuge, and we have hidden in falsehood.
[Isa 28:16-19 LITV] So, the Lord Jehovah says this: Behold, I place in Zion a Stone for a foundation, a tried Stone, a precious Cornerstone, a sure Foundation; he who believes shall not hasten. [17] And I will lay justice for a line, and righteousness for a plummet; and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of the lie; and the waters shall overflow the hiding place. [18] And your covenant with death shall be covered; and your vision with Sheol shall not rise up. When the overwhelming whip passes through, then you shall be for a trampling to it. [19] As often as it passes, it shall take you; for morning by morning it shall pass; and by day and by night, it shall only be a terror to understand the message.
The case for a Muslim Antichrist is simple: The Bible, and particularly the End-Times narrative is thoroughly Israel centric. Every single verse throughout the Bible that names or identifies the nations that will comprise the Antichrist’s empire are all Middle Eastern or North African nations. There is not a single verse in the Bible that names a non-Muslim majority nation as being part of the Antichrist coalition.
I will go into a much more detailed Scriptural view of the Antichrist later.
We hear a lot about the Antichrist will rule the world but I don’t think the Bible says that so talk about that.
[Rev 13:7-8 LITV] And it was given to it "to war with the saints, and to overcome them." And authority was given to it over every tribe and tongue and nation. [Dan. 7:21] [8] And all those dwelling in the earth will worship it, those of whom the names had not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb having been slain from the foundation of the world.
The Bible actually commonly uses this kind of hyperbole.
[Dan 2:36-28 LITV] This is the dream, and we will tell the meaning of it before the king. [37] You O king are the king of kings. For the God of Heaven has given you the kingdom, the power, and the strength, and the honor. [38] And wherever the sons of men, the animals of the field, and the birds of the sky dwell, He has given them into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all. You are the head of gold.
[Ezr 1:2 LITV] So says Cyrus king of Persia, Jehovah God of Heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
[Luk 2:1 LITV] And it happened in those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus for all the habitable world to be registered.
While it is clear the Antichrist will have global influence, he will not rule every nation throughout the entire planet. First, the Bible consistently speaks of ten kings who will form a ten nation coalition under the leadership of the Antichrist.
[Dan 7:7 LITV] And after this I was looking in the night visions. And, behold, the fourth beast was frightening and terrifying, and very strong! And to it were great iron teeth. It devoured, and crushed, and stamped what was left with its feet. And it was different from all the beasts before it; and it had ten horns.
[Dan 7:20 LITV] also of the ten horns that were on its head, and the other which came up, and before whom three fell, even that horn that had eyes, and a mouth speaking great things, and its appearance was greater than his fellows.
[Dan 7:24 LITV] And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings; they shall rise, and another shall rise after them. And he shall be different from the first, and he shall humble three kings.
[Rev 12:3 LITV] And another sign was seen in the heavens. And, behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns! And on his heads were seven diadems,
[Rev 13:1 LITV] And I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten diadems, and on its heads names of blasphemy.
[Rev 17:3 LITV] And he carried me away into a desert, by the Spirit. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, filled with names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
[Rev 17:7 LITV] And the angel said to me, Why did you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast supporting her, the one having the seven heads and the ten horns.
[Rev 17:12 LITV] And the ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but will receive authority as kings one hour with the beast.
[Rev 17:16 LITV] And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot, and will make her desolated and naked. And they will eat her flesh, and will burn her down with fire.
The Antichrist will “invade many countries.” Egypt will fall to his forces. He will invade the land of Israel, called, “the glorious land.” But Jordan will escape “his hand”:
[Dan 11:40-42 LITV] And at the end time, the king of the south will engage in butting with him. And the king of the north shall come against him like a tempest, with chariots and with horsemen and with many ships. And he shall go into the lands and shall overflow and pass over. [41] And he shall enter into the glorious land, and many will be stumbled. But these shall escape out of his hand: Edom and Moab, and the chief of the sons of Ammon. [42] And his hand will stretch out against the lands, and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
Just a few verses later, it says the Antichrist will hear “news from the east and the north,” which will trouble him and throw him into a frantic state of rage and annihilation.
[Dan 11:44 LITV] But news shall trouble him from the east and from the north. And he will go out with great fury to destroy and to devote many to destruction.
“even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.” [Dan 9:26]
The fact that there will be wars until the end proves that there will be resistor militaries, and thus resistor nations.
At what point in the seven year period will the Mark of the Beast be established?
The Mark of the Beast is instituted specifically at the mid-point when the Abomination that Causes Desolation is set up.
[Rev 13:11-15 LITV] And I saw another beast coming up out of the earth. And it had two horns like a lamb, but spoke like a dragon. [12] And it executes all the authority of the first beast before it. And it causes that the earth and those dwelling in it should worship the first beast, of which was healed its deadly wound. [13] And it does great signs, that it even causes fire to come down out of the heaven onto the earth before men. [14] And it deceives those dwelling on the earth, because of the signs which were given to it to do before the beast, saying to those dwelling on the earth to make an image to the beast who has the wound of the sword, and lived. [15] And was given to it to give a spirit to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak, and might cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.
[Rev 13:16-17 LITV] And the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the freemen and the slaves, it causes that they give to them all a mark on their right hand, or on their foreheads, [17] even that not any could buy or sell, except the one having the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of its name.
Will this start a chain reaction in Israel and the worldwide persecution of Christians?
[Mat 24:15-20 LITV] Then when you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (the one reading, let him understand), [Dan. 11:31; 12:11] [16] then let those in Judea flee into the mountains; [17] the one on the housetop, let him not go down to take anything out of his house; [18] and the one in the field, let him not turn back to take his garment. [19] But woe to the ones having a child in womb, and to those suckling in those days! [20] And pray that your flight will not occur in winter nor in a sabbath.
While there is indeed an Israel centered emphasis to the persecution of the Last Days, Jesus also said that the great persecution will largely revolve around those who bear His name.
[Mat 24:9-12 LITV] Then they will deliver you up to affliction, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. [10] And then many will be offended, and they will deliver up one another and will hate one another. [11] And many false prophets will be raised and will cause many to err. [12] And because lawlessness shall have been multiplied, the love of the many will grow cold.
[Mat 24:13-14 LITV] But the one who endures to the end, that one will be kept safe. [14] And this gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the earth for a testimony to all the nations, and then will come the end.
[Rev 11:3-6 LITV] And I will give to My two witnesses, and they will prophesy a thousand, two hundred and sixty days, dressed in sackcloth. [4] These are the two olive trees, and the two lampstands, standing before the God of the earth. [5] And if anyone desires to harm them, fire comes out of their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone desires to harm them, so it is right for him to be killed. [6] These have the authority to shut up the heaven, that no rain may rain in the days of their prophecy. And they have authority over the waters, to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire.
[Rev 14:6-7 LITV] And I saw another angel flying in mid-heaven, having an everlasting gospel to proclaim to those dwelling on the earth, even to every nation and tribe and tongue and people, [7] saying in a great voice, Fear God, and give glory to Him, because the hour of His judgment has come; also, Worship "Him who has made the heaven, and the earth, and the sea," and the springs of waters. [Ex. 20:11]
Christians will go through the tribulation. People need to be spiritually prepared.
[Mat 24:21-22 LITV] For there will be great affliction, such as has not happened from the beginning of the world until now, no, nor ever will be. [22] And except those days were shortened, not any flesh would be saved. But on account of the elect, those days will be shortened.
This next passage troubles me, especially with the state of the Christian churches today. People go to church and put Yeshua in a box and most people claiming to be Christians aren’t reading their Bibles. They don’t know this is coming and when it does —it seems that many will fall away.
[Mat 24:9-13 LITV] Then they will deliver you up to affliction, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. [10] And then many will be offended, and they will deliver up one another and will hate one another. [11] And many false prophets will be raised and will cause many to err. [12] And because lawlessness shall have been multiplied, the love of the many will grow cold. [13] But the one who endures to the end, that one will be kept safe.
Let’s talk about the Return of Yeshua because this next verse makes it clear that it will be a big thing—will it be observable worldwide?
[Rev 1:7 LITV] "Behold, He comes with the clouds," and "every eye will see Him, and the ones who pierced" Him, and all the tribes of the earth "will wail on account of Him." Yes, Amen. Dan. 7:13; Zech. 12:10
[Mat 24:23-26 LITV] Then if anyone says to you, Behold, here is the Christ! Or, Here! Do not believe. [24] For false christs and false prophets will rise up. And they will give great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. [25] Behold, I tell you beforehand. [26] Then if they say to you, Behold, He is in the wilderness; do not go out. Behold, He is in the inner rooms; do not believe.
[Mat 24:27-28 LITV] For as the lightning comes forth from the east and shines as far as the west, so also will be the coming of the Son of Man. [28] For wherever the dead body may be, there the eagles will be gathered.
Yeshua’s point here with the lightning (more correctly, shining forth of the morning rays of the sun) and the vultures saying is that it will be obvious, unmistakable, and impossible to miss.
[Deu 33:2 LITV] And he said: Jehovah came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir for them; He shone forth from Mount Paran, and He came from the myriads of holy ones. At his right hand a law of fire went forth to them.
[Hab 3:3-4 LITV] God comes from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah. His majesty covers the heavens, and His praise fills the earth. [4] And His brightness is as the light; rays from His hand are His, and there was a covering of His strength.
[Isa 60:1-2 LITV] Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of Jehovah has risen on you! [2] For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the peoples. But Jehovah shall rise on you, and His glory shall be seen on you.
[Mal 4:1-2 LITV] For, behold, the day is coming, burning like a fire pot; and all the proud and every doer of wickedness shall be chaff. And the coming day will set them ablaze, says Jehovah of Hosts, which will not leave root or branches to them.[2] But to you who fear My name, the Sun of Righteousness shall rise up, and healing will be on His wings. And you shall go out and frisk like calves of the stall.
When Yeshua breaks the 6th Seal in Revelation 6, it seems to coincide exactly with what is happening in Matthew 24:29-30.
Once the sixth seal is broken, the seventh follows almost immediately after which is the beginning of God’s Wrath.
[Rev 6:12-14 LITV] And I saw when He opened the sixth seal. And behold, a great earthquake occurred. And the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair; and the moon became as blood; [13] and the stars of the heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree being shaken by a great wind casts its unripe figs. [14] And the heaven departed like a scroll being rolled up. And every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
[Mat 24:29-31 LITV] And immediately after the affliction of those days the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give her light, and the stars will fall from the heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. [30] And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the heavens. And then all the tribes of the land will wail. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and much glory. [Dan. 7:13] [31] And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from the ends of the heavens to their ends.
The cosmic signs mentioned in the sixth seal point to the rapture, but also the return of Jesus. I make the argument that it is not His return, but His appearing for us.
Following the opening of the sixth seal, there are all these people in heaven, so this looks like all these people have been raptured right after the sixth seal— pre-wrath (bowl judgments).
[Rev 7:9-14 LITV] After these things I saw, and behold, a great crowd which no one was able to number them, out of every nation, even tribes and peoples and tongues, standing in front of the throne, and before the Lamb, having been clothed with white robes, and in their hands palm branches. [10] And they cry with a great voice, saying, Salvation to our God sitting on the throne, and to the Lamb. [11] And all the angels and of the elders and of the four living creatures stood around the throne. And they fell before the throne on their faces, and worshiped God, [12] saying, Amen. Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength to our God forever and ever. Amen. [13] And one of the elders answered, saying to me, These, the ones having been clothed in the white robes, who are they, and from where did they come? [14] And I said to him, Sir, you know. And he said to me, These are those coming out of the great tribulation; and they washed their robes and whitened them in the blood of the Lamb.
Those who hold to the Pre-Wrath view see this as those who were raptured. Those who hold to the Post-Trib see these as those who were martyred. Notice what was said just before this:
[Rev 6:9-11 LITV] And when He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those having been slain for the Word of God, and for the witness which they had. [10] And they cried with a great voice, saying, Until when, holy and true Master, do You not judge and take vengeance for our blood, from those dwelling on the earth? [11] And there was given to each one a white robe. And it was said to them that they should rest yet a little time, until might be fulfilled also the number of their fellow-slaves and their brothers, those being about to be killed, even as they.
If Yeshua is seen at this point—does He then go back to heaven and then back to earth again on the white horse with the saints and angels for Him to rule and reign? And this… is where I struggle.
One of the arguments is that Scripture states that Jesus only returns once and does not return to heaven again.
[Heb 9:27-28 LITV] And as it is reserved to men once to die, and after this, Judgment; [28] so Christ having been once offered "to bear the sins of many," Christ shall appear a second time without sin to those expecting Him for salvation. [Isa. 53:12]
This verse says that Jesus shall “appear” a second time. It doesn’t say He will only appear once. There’s another example of Yeshua, post-resurrection, appearing to Mary before appearing to the Disciples later. He told her not to touch Him because He had not yet went to the Father. The Disciples were allowed to touch Him as you know.
[Act 1:9-11 LITV] And saying these things, as they looked on, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him from their sight. [10] And as they were intently looking into the heaven, He having gone, even behold, two men in white clothing stood by them, [11] who also said, Men, Galileans, why do you stand looking up to the heaven? This Jesus, the One being taken from you into the heaven, will come in the way you saw Him going into the heaven.
Yeshua will come in the same way He left.
[1Th 4:13-17 LITV] But I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning those who sleep, that you not grieve, as the rest also, not having hope. [14] For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will also bring with Him all those who have fallen asleep through Jesus. [15] For we say this to you in the Word of the Lord, that we the living who remain to the coming of the Lord will not at all go before those who have fallen asleep. [16] Because the Lord Himself shall come down from Heaven with a commanding shout of an archangel's voice, and with God's trumpet. And the dead in Christ will rise first. [17] Then we who remain alive will be caught up together with them in the clouds to a meeting with the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord.
We see above that we are called to a “meeting in the air”. There’s no mention of Yeshua setting foot on earth in this passage. In fact, this is distinguishable from His return with the words “to a meeting in the air”.
[Mat 25:1-6 LITV] Then the kingdom of Heaven shall be compared to ten virgins who taking their lamps, went out to a meeting of the bridegroom. [2] And five of them were wise, and five foolish. [3] Those being foolish, taking their lamps, did not take oil with them. [4] But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. [5] But the bridegroom delaying, all nodded and slept. [6] And at midnight, a cry occurred: Behold, the bridegroom comes! Go out to meet him.
Here, we are called to “Go out to meet Him”.
[Act 3:21 LITV] whom Heaven truly needs to receive until the times of restoration of all things, of which God spoke through the mouth of all His holy prophets from the age past.
[Heb 10:12-13 LITV] But He, offering but one sacrifice for sins, "sat down" in perpetuity "at the right hand" of God, [13] from then on expecting "until His enemies are placed as a footstool" of His feet. [Psa. 110:1]
Neither of these verses above dictate that Christ only comes/appears twice. I believe that Yeshua only comes to earth twice. However, He may appear before He returns to rapture out the Church.
At this point in my studies, I believe Yeshua appears in the sky, and we are raptured out at the sixth seal (pre-wrath). Yeshua will then physically return to earth, with us following, to crush His enemies and setup His Millennial Kingdom.
What does this next verse mean with "generation"?
[Mat 24:34-35 LITV] Truly I say to you, In no way will this generation pass away until all these things have occurred. [35] The heaven and the earth will pass away, but My Words will not pass away, never!
Some understand generation to mean the group of people born during that particular period who see these things will not pass away until everything is accomplished.
I think a better view requires understanding how this term is used throughout the Bible. Generation (γενεὰ) here means spiritual offspring or children. It refers to those who reflect the character of their father. So for example, Satan has “children” and the Lord has “children.” Neither is literal. If one is wicked, they are of the wicked “generation.” If they are holy, they are children of God, a “holy “generation.”
This concept begins back in Genesis:
[Gen 3:15 LITV] And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He will bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.
[Deu 32:5-6 LITV] They have corrupted themselves; they are not His sons; it is their blemish; they are a crooked and perverse generation. [6] Do you thus give back to Jehovah, O foolish and unwise people? Is He not your Father who bought you? Has not He made you and established you?
[Deu 32:18-20 LITV] You forgot the Rock that brought you into being and ceased to care for God who formed you. [19] And Jehovah looked and despised them because of the provocation of His sons and of His daughters. [20] And He said, I will hide My face from them; I will see what their end will be; for they are a perverse generation, sons in whom is no faithfulness.
[Joh 8:39 LITV] They answered and said to Him, Abraham is our father. Jesus said to them, If you were children of Abraham, you would do the works of Abraham.
[1Pe 2:9 LITV] But you are "an elect race," "a royal priesthood," "a holy nation," "a people for possession," so that "you may openly speak of the virtues" of the One who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; [LXX-Ex. 23:22; MT-Ex. 19:5, 6]
What does this mean that even Yeshua doesn’t know the day or hour?
[Mat 24:36 LITV] But as to that day and that hour, no one knows, neither the angels of Heaven, except My Father only.
This is a very difficult verse that if not interpreted rightly would seem to suggest that the Son of God is not omniscient and less than God. I would contend that the answer is best resolved by understanding Yom Teruah, the Day of the Blasting of Trumpets, and Jewish weddings of the time, which we previously discussed.
Yom Teruah—The Blasting of Trumpets
A good case can be made that Yeshua will return at the conclusion of Yom Teruah or the Day of the Blasting of Trumpets. This is also known as “the unknown day,” as the exact day is contingent each year on the sighting of the moon from Jerusalem. It varies from year to year. I’m going to dive into the Fall Feasts in the next chapter.
What does "Day of the Lord" mean?
The “great and terrible” Day of the Lord is synonymous with the return of Jesus, or more appropriately, the Coming of God. It is the day of salvation, rewards for the righteous, and judgment, punishment, vengeance for the wicked.
Talk about the 1000 year reign. When does this occur? What Scriptures support a 1000 year reign of Jesus on the earth after He returns?
The only passage that specifically refers to Jesus reigning on the earth for “One thousand years” is Revelation 20, which describes the earth after Yeshua returns.
[Rev 20:1-3 LITV] And I saw an angel coming down out of Heaven, having the key of the abyss, and a great chain on his hand. [2] And he laid hold of the dragon, the old serpent who is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, [3] and threw him into the abyss, and shut him up, and sealed over him, that he should not still lead astray the nations, until the thousand years are fulfilled. And after these things, he must be set loose a little time.
[Rev 20:4-7 LITV] And I saw thrones, and they sat on them. And judgment was given to them, and the souls of the ones having been beheaded because of the witness of Jesus, and because of the Word of God, and who had not worshiped the beast nor its image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand. And they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. [5] But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. [6] Blessed and holy is the one having part in the first resurrection. The second death has no authority over these, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with Him a thousand years. [7] And whenever the thousand years are ended, Satan will be set loose out of his prison,
Numerous other passages speak of this period. While they don’t specify its length as lasting 1000 years, they refer to a time when Christ rules the earth that is different and better than now, but not yet perfect.
[Isa 2:2-4 LITV] And it shall be in the last days, the mountain of the house of Jehovah shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow into it. [3] And many people shall go and say, Come and let us go up to the mount of Jehovah, to the house of the God of Jacob. And He will teach from His ways, and we will walk in His paths. For out of Zion the Law will go forth, and the Word of Jehovah from Jerusalem. [4] And He shall judge among the nations and shall rebuke many people. And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, nor shall they learn war any more.
[Isa 65:19-25 LITV] And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in My people. And the voice of weeping and the voice of crying shall no longer be heard in her. [20] There shall not still be an infant of days, or an old man that has not filled his days. For the youth shall die the son of a hundred years, but the sinner the son of a hundred years shall be accursed. [21] And they shall build houses and live in them; and they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. [22] They shall not build, and another live in them; they shall not plant, and another eat. For like the days of the tree are the days of My people; and My elect shall grow old to the work of their hands. [23] They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth for terror. For they are the seed of the beloved ones of Jehovah, and their offspring with them. [24] And it will be, before they call, I will answer. While they are speaking, then I will hear. [25] The wolf and the lamb shall feed as one; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And dust is the food of the snake. They shall not do evil nor destroy in all My holy mountain, says Jehovah.
[Zec 8:3-5 LITV] So says Jehovah: I have returned to Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. And Jerusalem shall be called a City of Truth, and the mountain of Jehovah of Hosts, the Holy Mountain. [4] So says Jehovah of Hosts: There shall yet be old men and old women sitting in the streets of Jerusalem; and each man with his staff in his hand because of their many days. [5] And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets.
[Zec 14:16-21 LITV] And it shall be, everyone who is left from all the nations which came up against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, Jehovah of Hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. [17] And it shall be, whoever will not go up from the families of the earth to Jerusalem to worship the King, Jehovah of Hosts, there shall even be no rain on them. [18] And if the family of Egypt does not go up, nor come in, then the rain shall not be on them, but the plague with which Jehovah shall strike the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. [19] This shall be Egypt's offense, and the offense of all nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. [20] In that day there shall be on the bells of the horses, HOLY TO JEHOVAH. And the pots in the house of Jehovah shall be like the bowls before the altar. [21] And every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holy to Jehovah of Hosts. And all those who sacrifice shall come and take of them, and boil in them. And in that day there shall not be a trader in the house of Jehovah of Hosts any more.
Do we come back and reign with Yeshua?
[2Ti 2:11-13 LITV] Faithful is the Word: for if we died with Him, we also shall live with Him; [12] if we endure, we shall also reign with Him; if we deny Him, that One will deny us; [13] if we are unfaithful, that One remains faithful; He is not able to deny Himself.
[Mat 19:27-29 LITV] Then answering, Peter said to Him, Behold, we left all things and followed You. What then shall be to us? [28] And Jesus said to them, Truly I say to you, You who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you also will sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. [29] And everyone who left houses, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for the sake of My name, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.
[Mat 25:31-34 LITV] But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. [32] And before Him shall be gathered all the nations; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. [33] And indeed He will set the sheep off His right, but the goats off the left hand. [34] Then the King will say to those on His right, Come, the blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
[Rev 5:9-10 LITV] And they sing a new song, saying, Worthy are You to receive the scroll, and to open its seals, because You were slain, and by Your blood purchased us to God out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, [10] and made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign over the earth.
Consummation of All Things
Once the Millennial Age ends the consummation of all things occurs and the New Heaven / New Earth are ushered in.
[Isa 65:17 LITV] For, behold, I create new heavens and new earth. And the former things shall not be recalled, and they shall not go up on the heart.
[2Pe 3:13 LITV] But according to His promise, we look for "new heavens and a new earth," in which righteousness dwells. Isa. 65:17
[Rev 21:1-4 LITV] And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and the sea no longer is. [2] And I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of Heaven from God, having been prepared as a bride, having been adorned for her Husband. [3] And I heard a great voice out of Heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God with men! And He will tabernacle with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. [4] And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. And death shall be no longer, nor mourning, nor outcry, nor will there be pain any more; for the first things passed away.
There is a lot to unpack in the following verses from Paul:
[1Co 15:24-28 LITV] Then is the end [G5056 – telos], when He delivers the kingdom to God, even the Father, when He makes to cease all rule and all authority and power. [25] For it is right for Him to reign until He puts all the hostile ones under His feet; Psa. 110:1 [26] the last hostile thing made to cease is death. [27] For "He subjected all things under His feet;" but when He says that all things have been subjected, it is plain that it excepts Him who has subjected all things to Him. Psa. 8:6 [28] But when all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who has subjected all things to Him, that God may be all things in all.
Before we get to the passage above, let’s examine the events at the end of the Millennial Reign of Yeshua.
If you’ll recall, Satan is bound, when Yeshua returns, for 1,000 years.
[Rev 20:1-3 LITV] And I saw an angel coming down out of Heaven, having the key of the abyss, and a great chain on his hand. [2] And he laid hold of the dragon, the old serpent who is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, [3] and threw him into the abyss, and shut him up, and sealed over him, that he should not still lead astray the nations, until the thousand years are fulfilled. And after these things, he must be set loose a little time.
Also note:
[Rev 20:5 LITV] But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were ended…
This is the second resurrection. These are those who do not belong to Yeshua. The rapture, the first resurrection, includes all of those who belong to Yeshua including the martyrs of Revelation 20:4.
It says “the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were ended”. My guess is that they’re resurrected, now present on earth, and are a part of the army below [?]… this is the second resurrection of the dead.
[Rev 20:7-10 LITV] And whenever the thousand years are ended, Satan will be set loose out of his prison, [8] and he will go to mislead the nations in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to assemble them in war, whose number is as the sand of the sea. [9] And they went up over the breadth of the land and encircled the camp of the saints, and the beloved city. And fire from God came down out of Heaven and burned them down. [10] And the Devil leading them astray was thrown into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet were. And they were tormented day and night to the ages of the ages.
Where does this army, “whose number is as the sand of the sea” come from? At the beginning of the 1,000 years Yeshua destroys massive amounts of people at the battle of Armageddon. We know that some on earth survive the Great Tribulation period. They’re mentioned in the separation of the sheep and goats, in Zec 14:16-21, Isa 2:2-4, etc. (see above).
Some claim that this army comes from those who are born during the Millennial Reign. I have a hard time believing exclusively this. If Satan is bound, while Christ is reigning, why would any of these people be subject to deception? Satan is bound and unable to lead astray the nations during the 1,000 years:
[Rev 20:3] … and threw him into the abyss, and shut him up, and sealed over him, that he should not still lead astray the nations, until the thousand years are fulfilled.
We are told, that some will not accept Yeshua during the 1,000 year reign (see above). Granted, once released, he (Satan) will lead some astray. Repopulation is occurring during the 1,000 year reign so perhaps there are enough to lead astray to account for “whose number is as the sand of the sea”.
However, the second resurrection may account for part of this army. The dead “live again” and we’re not told that they are immediately resurrected to the Great White Throne Judgment… only that they “live again”.
I won’t be dogmatic about this, but I believe those resurrected at the end of the 1,000 year reign are brought back to life, on the earth, only to face the fire of God at Satan’s final battle. At this time we’re told:
[Rev 20:9-10 LITV] And they went up over the breadth of the land and encircled the camp of the saints, and the beloved city. And fire from God came down out of Heaven and burned them down. [10] And the Devil leading them astray was thrown into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet were. And they were tormented day and night to the ages of the ages.
After this… the Great White Throne Judgment:
[Rev 20:11-15 LITV] And I saw a Great White Throne, and the One sitting on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled; and a place was not found for them. [12] And I saw the dead, the small and the great, standing before God. And books were opened. And another Book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged out of the things written in the books, according to their works. [13] And the sea gave up the dead in it. And death and hell gave up the dead in them. And they were each judged according to their works. [14] And death and hell were thrown into the Lake of Fire. This is the second death. [15] And if anyone was not found having been written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the Lake of Fire.
[Rev 20:6 LITV] Blessed and holy is the one having part in the first resurrection. The second death has no authority over these, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with Him a thousand years.
There’s more to the story of “the consummation of all things” but I think I’ll save that for a different writing.
Before moving on to the Jewish Feasts let’s pause here.
We’ve just absorbed a lot of information concerning end-time events. What does this all mean for us?
The Great Tribulation is going to be a time of global chaos. We, as Christians, will be targeted. We will be persecuted, beaten, raped, tortured, beheaded, killed in other manners, imprisoned, etc. Friends and even family will turn on us.
The mark of the beast will be incorporated on a global level. Think of everything that you’ll need money for. You won’t be able to buy or sell without the mark. You won’t be able to pay your mortgage, buy gas for your vehicles, purchase food, pay your utilities (water, heat, electricity, etc.), you won’t even be allowed to have a job without the mark! Employers will be forced to comply with the mark and the global economy. Those who do not take the mark will suffer incredibly and we need to help those, and ourselves, in any way that we can.
You cannot, under any circumstances, accept this mark! Even if it means starving to death. Death for us is not the end! It is the beginning!
[Rev 13:15-18 LITV] And was given to it to give a spirit to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak, and might cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. [16] And the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the freemen and the slaves, it causes that they give to them all a mark on their right hand, or on their foreheads, [17] even that not any could buy or sell, except the one having the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of its name. [18] Here is wisdom: Let the one having reason count the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man and its number is six hundred and sixty six.
[Rev 14:9-11 LITV] And a third angel followed them, saying in a great voice, If anyone worships the beast and its image, and receives a mark on his forehead, or in his hand, [10] he also shall drink of the wine of the anger of God having been mixed undiluted in the cup of His wrath. And he will be tormented by fire and brimstone before the holy angels and before the Lamb. [11] And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever. And those worshiping the beast and its image have no rest night and day, even if anyone receives the mark of its name.
[Rev 14:12 LITV] Here is the patience of the saints; here are the ones keeping the commands of God, and the faith of Jesus.
If we are confronted we are to submit and carry our crosses just as Yeshua did… the Lamb to the slaughter! My sinful nature immediately conjures up images of loading my guns to the hilt and killing every man that strolls up my driveway. We cannot do this… Yeshua specifically commanded us not to do that! He will use our capture, and possibly death, to be a testimony to Himself! He will give us the words to speak and the actions to take if we allow Him, and obey Him, to do so!
We learned this earlier from the mouth of our Savior Himself:
[Luk 21:12-15 LITV] But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you, and will persecute you, delivering you into the synagogues and prisons, being led away before kings and governors on account of My name. [13] But it will return to you for a testimony. [14] Then put into your hearts not to premeditate to make a defense. [15] For I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all those opposing you will not be able to withstand or contradict.
We must remain strong until the end… even death at the hands of our enemies! You really need to set your hearts now and begin praying for courage and strength now! You need to focus on finishing the race according to the words, and the example of our King! We will be rewarded and He will take vengeance for us!
Our King is returning for us. He will literally walk the earth again, He will literally setup His Kingdom, and we will literally rule and reign, here on earth, with Him.
[Rev 11:15-18 LITV] And the seventh angel trumpeted. And there were great voices in Heaven, saying, The kingdoms of the world became our Lord's, even of His Christ; and He shall reign to the ages of the ages. [16] And the twenty four elders sitting before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God, [17] saying, We thank You, Lord God Almighty, the One who is, and who was, and who is coming, because You took Your great power and reigned. [18] And the nations were full of wrath; and Your wrath came, and the time of the judging of the dead, and to give the reward to Your slaves, to the prophets, and to the saints, and to the ones fearing Your name, to the small and to the great, and to destroy those destroying the earth.
This world, as we know it, is not our home! We are visitors, placed here to learn how to be Holy as He is Holy! That is the purpose of this brief life… to grow, and learn, as children of the Almighty Creator! We will inherit our permanent home very soon! I cannot wait to depart from this crappy world and move on to Glory!
[2Pe 3:9-13 LITV] The Lord of the promise is not slow, as some deem slowness, but is long-suffering toward us, not having purposed any to perish, but all to come to repentance. [10] But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with rushing sound, and having burned the elements will be dissolved, and earth and the works in it will be burned up. [11] Then all these being about to be dissolved, of what sort ought you to be in holy behavior and godliness, [12] looking for and hastening the coming of the Day of God, through which the heavens having been set afire will be dissolved; and burning, the elements will melt? [13] But according to His promise, we look for "new heavens and a new earth," in which righteousness dwells. Isa. 65:17
[Luk 21:28 NAS95] "But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."
Jewish Feats – 70th Week Timeline
The following pages come from several different sources. I’ve been taking notes for literally decades. Besides Leviticus 23, a very good book for you to pick up and read, on these Jewish Feasts, would be:
The Last Shofar! By Joseph Lenard
Given all the clues from the Revelation, the Olivet Discourse, Apostles, and the Prophets you should be starting to see our future unfold. You should be able to see not only the events themselves, but also the timing of those events. Scripture gives us everything we need to sort this out.
The seven Feasts are divided into two groups—the Spring Feasts and the Fall Feasts. God refers to these Feasts as His appointed times, or His rehearsals for future events.
Yeshua perfectly fulfilled the first four feasts!
“Collectively, the Feasts foreshadow God’s completed redemptive purpose for Israel as well as His blessings to the Gentiles. These Feasts accurately depict the First Coming of Messiah as the Suffering Servant (Isaiah 53:10–11), as seen in the Spring Feasts. With the same precision, the Fall Feasts accurately depict the Second Coming of Messiah as Lord of lords and King of kings (Revelation 17:14). Within this context, we see the amazing consistency and detail of God’s plan of redemption from Genesis to Revelation.”
Lenard, Joseph; Zoller, Donald. The Last Shofar! (p. 104). Xulon Press. Kindle Edition.
I love this visual (below) of the Jewish feasts. You can easily see the “gap” between the first four spring feasts, that Yeshua perfectly fulfilled, before the beginning of the fall feasts – that Yeshua will perfectly fulfill!
Looking back in Daniel, this chart is a visual of the “gap” between the 69th and 70th week… or, the Church age.
Before moving on, let’s take a brief look at the spring feasts and how Yeshua fulfilled them. Again, read The Last Shofar! for a detailed description, but Jesus perfectly fulfilled these feasts – down to the exact day as was prophesied!
The Spring Feasts
[1] The feast of Passover - Pesach
The Feast’s focus is the historic Passover Lamb, whose innocent blood every Hebrew family in Egypt was required to apply to their lintel and doorposts to assure their deliverance from the tenth plague—death of the first-born.
[Joh 1:29 LITV] On the morrow, John sees Jesus coming toward him and said, Behold! The Lamb of God, taking away the sin of the world!
[1Pe 1:18-19 LITV] knowing that not with corruptible things, silver or gold, were you redeemed from your worthless way of life handed down from your fathers, [19] but with precious blood of Christ, as a lamb without blemish and without spot,
[2] The feast of Unleavened Bread- Hag HaMatzah
In this Feast, Israel remembers their immediate departure from Egypt when they ate their bread in haste without leaven—deliverance was now!
Leaven is symbolic of sin throughout Scripture. Israelites were required to remove all leaven from their house prior to this feast.
[Mat 21:12-13 LITV] And Jesus entered into the temple of God and threw out all those selling and buying in the temple. And He overthrew the tables of the money changers and the seats of those selling the doves. [13] And He said to them, It has been written, "My house shall be called a house of prayer," but you have "made it a den of plunderers." Isa. 56:7; Jer. 7:11
[3] The Feast of Firstfruits—HaBikkurim
The Feast of Firstfruits is celebrated on the day following the Sabbath, during the week-long celebration of Unleavened Bread.
[1Co 15:23 LITV] But each in his own order: Christ, the firstfruit; afterward those of Christ at His coming.
Christ rose from the dead, having been lifted up, cut free from the earth at the same time the barley sheaf of the Firstfruits ceremony was lifted up in the field, at the very beginning of Firstfruits on Saturday evening, at the start of the first day of the week, Sunday. This was the fulfillment that Jesus is the firstfruit of the resurrection. The resurrection of Jesus Christ confirms that, “In Christ shall all be made alive”—God’s irrevocable blessing upon all who believe. As pictured in the Feast, a rich and abundant life is experienced in the resurrected Christ—our Firstfruits.
[4] The Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) – Hag HaShavuot or Shavuot
The Feast signifies the conclusion of the spring season, commonly referred to as the Passover Season, and the beginning of the summer wheat harvest. It is marked by joyful anticipation of an abundant harvest from the summer wheat that comes to fruition in the fall.
Prophetically, this Feast anticipates the passing of the Old Covenant and the fulfillment of God’s promise to His people of a New Covenant, as stated in Jeremiah:
[Jer 31:31-34 LITV] Behold, the days come, says Jehovah, that I will cut a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, [32] not according to the covenant that I cut with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt (which covenant of Mine they broke, although I was a husband to them, says Jehovah). [33] But this shall be the covenant that I will cut with the house of Israel: After those days, declares Jehovah, I will put My Law in their inward parts, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. [34] And they shall no longer each man teach his neighbor, and each man his brother, saying, Know Jehovah. For they shall all know Me, from the least of them even to the greatest of them, declares Jehovah. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sins no more.
Peter understood this concept:
[Act 2:38 LITV] And Peter said to them, Repent and be baptized, each of you on the name of Jesus Christ to remission of sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
The Fall Feasts
[1] The Feast of Trumpets – Yom Teruah; Rosh Hashanah
Although the Feast is to be celebrated on the first day of Tishri, it is an uncertain day because its timing is based on a visual observation of a new moon, being the first day of the lunar month when the moon is starting again the monthly cycle of waxing (increasing) and waning (decreasing).
Therefore, the precise day and hour to begin this Feast was not obvious since it was based on the first sighting of the new moon.
In view of the uncertainty of the day and hour, the Feast is also called the Hidden Day. The Talmudic name of Yom haKeseh, which means The Day of Concealment, also portrays this aspect.
[Mat 24:36 LITV] But as to that day and that hour, no one knows, neither the angels of Heaven, except My Father only.
The Days of Awe—occurred between the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement. Based on Jewish tradition, these 10 days are viewed as God’s Judgment Day, sometimes referred to as Israel’s Dark Days, immediately following the last trumpet of the Feast of Trumpets:
[Joe 2:1-2 LITV] Blow a ram's horn [shofar] in Zion, and shout an alarm in My holy mountain. Let all those living in the land tremble. For the day of Jehovah approaches; it is near, [2] a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, as the dawn spread out on the mountains, a great and a strong people. There has never been the like, nor shall there ever be again to the years of many generations;
[Amo 5:18-20 LITV] Woe to those desiring the day of Jehovah! What is this for you? The day of Jehovah is darkness, and not light. [19] It is as if a man fled before a lion, and the bear met him. Or he goes into the house and leans his hand against the wall, and a snake bites him. [20] Shall not the day of Jehovah be darkness, and not light; even very dark, and not any brightness in it?
Old Testament prophets understood these Days of Awe to be a time of God’s wrath poured out not only upon the nations that will come against Jerusalem in the last days, but also a time when His wrath brings Israel back to Himself.
[2] The Day of Atonement – Yom Kippur
the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) is often referred to simply as The Day.
Prophetically, the Day of Atonement looks toward a day at the end of the 70th Week of Daniel, when the forces of evil face the wrath of God. Messiah will come on behalf of His people, the Jews, to deliver them, forgive them and restore them nationally under the New Covenant:
[Dan 9:24 LITV] Seventy weeks are decreed as to your people, and as to your holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make atonement for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy.
[3] The Feast of Tabernacles (Booths) – Sukkot
Celebrated on the 15th of Tishri (only five days after the Day of Atonement), the Feast of Tabernacles continues for seven days, plus an extra day, the Great Day or Shemini Atzeret. Literally, assembly of the eighth day, Shemini Atzeret, is a sacred assembly held on the eighth day of Sukkot (Leviticus 23:36). During this joyful seven-day Feast, observant Jews live in temporary huts or booths (sukkahs) as a reminder of their forefathers’ wilderness journey and God’s faithful provisions during the Exodus.
The Feast of Tabernacles was recognized as God’s great ingathering, a final harvest of Jews and Gentiles. It might be that the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9) on earth following Christ’s physical return, on the Mount of Olives, occurs on this Feast of Tabernacles during the Interim Period, before the start of the Millennium.
The Feast anticipates a time when the Messiah will tabernacle, or dwell, among men—a new beginning without the curse of sin for those with resurrection bodies. This will also be a time when the survivors of the Day of the Lord will rejoice in God and be obedient to His kingdom rule by yearly participating in the Feast of Booths.
[Zec 14:16-21 LITV] And it shall be, everyone who is left from all the nations which came up against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, Jehovah of Hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. [17] And it shall be, whoever will not go up from the families of the earth to Jerusalem to worship the King, Jehovah of Hosts, there shall even be no rain on them. [18] And if the family of Egypt does not go up, nor come in, then the rain shall not be on them, but the plague with which Jehovah shall strike the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. [19] This shall be Egypt's offense, and the offense of all nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. [20] In that day there shall be on the bells of the horses, HOLY TO JEHOVAH. And the pots in the house of Jehovah shall be like the bowls before the altar. [21] And every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holy to Jehovah of Hosts. And all those who sacrifice shall come and take of them, and boil in them. And in that day there shall not be a trader in the house of Jehovah of Hosts any more.
These are the seven Feasts of the Lord, as described in Leviticus 23. However, there are two additional biblical feasts that became part of the Jewish religious calendar, long after the days of Moses. These are Hanukkah and Purim, which Jesus also celebrated.
The Feast of Dedication – Hanukkah
After the Jewish victory in 165 BC over Antiochus Epiphanes, king of the Seleucid Empire, the defiled Temple needed to be purified and rededicated.
[Joh 10:22-24 LITV] And the Feast of Dedication took place in Jerusalem, and it was winter. [23] And Jesus was walking in the temple, in Solomon's Porch. [24] Then the Jews encircled Him, and said to Him, Until when do You lift up our soul? If You are the Christ, tell us publicly.
[Joh 10:30 LITV] I and the Father are One!
At the midpoint of the 70th Week of Daniel, the Man of Sin (the Antichrist) will defile the rebuilt Temple, asserting himself to be God while occupying the Holy of Holies on the Temple Mount (Daniel 9:27; Matthew 24:15). Although the Man of Sin is destroyed at the Second Coming of Christ, the Temple will remain defiled until the process of purification and rededication has occurred, at Hanukkah when the new Millennial Temple is dedicated (Ezekiel 40–47).
Prophetically, the fulfillment of Hanukkah is at the beginning of the Messianic Kingdom, at the start of the Millennium, exactly 75 days after the Yom Kippur at the end of the 70th Week of Daniel. This coincides precisely with the 75-day period following the seven-year period of the 70th Week of Daniel, as noted in the Book of Daniel [1,260 days + (30+45 days) = 1,335 days] (Daniel 12:7, 11–12). “Time, times, and half a time” in Daniel 12:7 is equivalent to three-and-a-half years (1,260 days, with a prophetic year being 360 days); the additional 75-day period is beyond the end of the 70th Week of Daniel.
The Feast of Lots – Purim
The historical events of Purim are contained in the book of Esther. The name Purim (Lots) came from the method Haman, the enemy of the Jews, used to determine which day the Jews throughout the Persian kingdom would be destroyed (Esther 3:7). The lots determined that the Jews were to be destroyed on the 13th day of the month of Adar. However, before this terrible event took place, in a miraculous turn of events, the wicked Haman was hanged and the Jews were saved. Thus, Purim celebrates the preservation of the Jews in Persia, on the 14th day of Adar—the day after their aborted destruction—with great joy, feasts and giving gifts to the poor (Esther 9:18–32).
Let’s Put is All Together
[Mat 24:36] But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.
[Mat 25:13] Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.
I’ve discussed how the statement above is a Hebraic idiom for Yom Teruah - The Feast of Trumpets which falls on Tishri 1.
It is the seventh month of the Jewish calendar referred to as the Sabbath of months.
Yom Teruah in Hebrew means "the day of the awakening blast".
It is Rosh HaShanah - the head of the year.
It is referred to as the Hidden Day.
In the Talmud it is called Yom haKeseh - the day of concealment.
It is the first of the three fall feasts (appointed times) and I believe Jesus was giving us a very clear clue as to when the rapture (harpazo) would occur.
It is a unique feast. All the other feasts are determined by calculating a stipulated number of days between feasts. Yom Teruah depends on the sighting of the new moon. Because of the timing and uncertainty of the new moon we can't know the exact day and hour... which is why this feast is celebrated over a period of two days - to allow for that uncertainty of when the sliver of a new moon would be witnessed and announced.
Even more impactful is that this sighting and announcement of the new moon determines the exact timing for the High Holy Days that follow. The Sanhedrin took this very seriously which is why they referred to it as the Feast of the Hidden Day (Yom Hakesh). You can rest assured that Yeshua knew of this in His statement as seen in Mat 24:36, etc.. When He spoke His disciples, they would’ve understood that He was referring to the Feast of Trumpets.
[1Co 15:51-52 LITV] Behold, I speak a mystery to you: we shall not all fall asleep, but we shall all be changed. [52] In a moment, in a glance of an eye, at the last trumpet; for a trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall all be changed.
The great trump (shofar HaGadol) is associated with and is blown on Yom Kippur [Day of Atonement]. Yeshua said that He would return at His second coming at the sound of the great trump:
[Mat 24:29-31] And immediately after the affliction of those days the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give her light, and the stars will fall from the heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. [30] And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the heavens. And then all the tribes of the land will wail. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and much glory. Dan. 7:13 [31] And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from the ends of the heavens to their ends.
Come back to this… not seeing the distinction between last trump and great trump unless the “elect” applies to Israel only. I don’t think this is the “great trump”. I believe it is a loud trumpet as seen in this translation:
[Mat 24:31 CLV] And He shall be dispatching His messengers with a loud sounding trumpet, and they shall be assembling His chosen from the four winds, from the extremities of the heavens to their extremities."
The Last Trump also anticipated the immediacy of the Days of Awe. As mentioned previously, the Days of Awe fell between Yom Teruah and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) and signaled God’s Judgment.
The dominant message of Yom Teruah was to “wake up from your sleep, your Messiah is coming, the resurrection is near at hand”.
[Isa 26:19 LITV] Your dead ones shall live, my dead body, they shall rise up. Awake and sing, dust dwellers; for the dew of lights is your dew; and the earth shall cast out departed spirits.
[Isa 60:1 LITV] Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of Jehovah has risen on you!
[Eze 37:12 LITV] So prophesy and say to them, So says the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, O My people, and I will bring you to the land of Israel.
[Rom 13:11 LITV] Also this, knowing the time, that it is now the hour for you to be aroused from sleep, for now our salvation is nearer than when we believed.
[Eph 5:14 LITV] Because of this, He says, Arise, sleeping ones and stand up out of the dead ones, and Christ will shine on you.
Many confuse the “last trump” with the last of the Seven Trumpet Judgments as seen by John in the Revelation:
[Rev 11:15-19 LITV] And the seventh angel trumpeted. And there were great voices in Heaven, saying, The kingdoms of the world became our Lord's, even of His Christ; and He shall reign to the ages of the ages. [16] And the twenty four elders sitting before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God, [17] saying, We thank You, Lord God Almighty, the One who is, and who was, and who is coming, because You took Your great power and reigned. [18] And the nations were full of wrath; and Your wrath came, and the time of the judging of the dead, and to give the reward to Your slaves, to the prophets, and to the saints, and to the ones fearing Your name, to the small and to the great, and to destroy those destroying the earth. [19] And the temple of God in Heaven was opened, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple, and lightnings, and voices, and thunders, and an earthquake, and a great hail occurred.
Paul’s writings pre-dated that of John’s Revelation by ~40 years. Paul would not have have anticipated what John would later see. Yes, the Holy Spirit could have revealed that to Paul but is unlikely.
The Seven Trumpet Judgments are blown by angels.
[Rev 8:6 LITV] And the seven angels having the seven trumpets prepared themselves, that they might trumpet.
Paul tells us that Yeshua, Himself, comes down with the Last Trump.
[1Th 4:16 LITV] Because the Lord Himself shall come down from Heaven with a commanding shout of an archangel's voice, and with God's trumpet. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
If the last of the Seven Trumpet Judgments were the same as the Last Trump then that would mean that the Church would have to endure the previous Six Trumpet Judgments of God’s Wrath prior to the rapture.
[1Th 5:9 LITV] because God has not appointed us to wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
[Rom 5:9 LITV] Much more then, being justified now by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath through Him.
[Isa 26:19-20 LITV] Your dead ones shall live, my dead body, they shall rise up. Awake and sing, dust dwellers; for the dew of lights is your dew; and the earth shall cast out departed spirits. [20] Come, My people, go in your rooms and shut your doors behind you. Hide for a little moment, until the fury passes.
[Psa 27:5 LITV] For in the day of evil He shall hide me in His shelter; in the secrecy of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me up on a rock.
At this point we’ve learned that the Last Trump signals the rapture and the beginning of God’s Wrath. Yeshuah will return to the earth at the end of the 70th week on Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement).
Between the rapture (Yom Teruah) and the His return to earth (Yom Kippur) are only ten days (Days of Awe). This is not enough time for God to carry out His Judgment upon the earth. Specifically seen in the Fifth Trumpet which requires five months [Rev 9:1-11].
[Rev 9:10 LITV] And they have tails like scorpions, and their stings were in their tails; and their authority is to harm men five months.
How is this reconciled? By adding one year!
By placing the rapture at the Yom Teruah of the previous year we come to one year and ten days until Yeshua physically returns to earth at the end of the 70th week.
Is there a Scriptural precedent that would allow this? Yes… there is! Directly from Yeshua Himself!
[Mat 24:37-39 LITV] But as the days of Noah, so also will be the coming of the Son of Man. [38] For as they were in the days before the flood: eating, and drinking, marrying, and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah went into the ark. [39] And they did not know until the flood came and took all away. So also will be the coming of the Son of Man.
Noah and his family were protected from God’s Judgment upon the earth in the ark. Guess how long they were in that ark… one year and ten days [Gen 7:11-13; Gen 8:13-16]!
From these verses, we see that Noah entered the ark on the 17th day of the second month [Gen 7:11], and left the ark and touched his feet on earth on the 27th day of the second month [Gen 8:13–14] of the following year. This represented one year and ten days of God’s judgment on the earth while Noah and his family were protected in the ark. In like manner, the church is protected in heaven with Christ during the Day of the Lord, God’s judgment on the earth.
It is not a coincident that God’s Judgment, upon the earth, was one year and ten days in Noah’s time. His Judgment upon the earth at the end of the 70th week will also be one year and ten days… “as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man”.
We will be in Heaven with Yeshua for one year and ten days prior to Him returning for the Battle of Armageddon.
Guess what? A second witness from Scripture:
[Deu 24:5 LITV] When a man has taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war, and he shall not be given any thing to do. He shall be free at his own house for one year, and shall gladden his wife whom he has taken.
Man! If you’re not getting goose-bumps at this point… check your pulse! Yeshua! Genesis to Revelation! The consistency and beauty of His Word! It gets better… hold on!
To review, the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) concludes the ten Days of Awe and Daniel’s 70th week when Yeshua returns to earth. Israel’s sins will be fully atoned! One year and ten days prior to this, His Bride will be brought home (Yom Teruah) to enjoy His presence during God’s time of Judgment upon the earth.
[Rev 19:14-16 LITV] And the armies in Heaven followed Him on white horses, being dressed in fine linen, white and pure. [15] And out of His mouth goes forth a sharp sword, that with it He might smite the nations. And He will shepherd them with an iron rod. And He treads the winepress of the wine of the anger and of the wrath of God Almighty. [16] And He has on His garment and on His thigh a name having been written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
There are 75 days between Yom Kippur and the beginning of the Millennium, the thousand-year reign of Christ, which can be calculated according to the account of Daniel [30 + 45 days = 75 days] [Daniel 12:7,11–12].
75 days later the Millennium Kingdom will be inaugurated.
Why 75 days?
Hannukah is celebrated 75 days after the Day of Atonement.
This was the length of time allotted to purify the Temple after Antiochus Epiphanes (foreshadow of Antichrist) had desecrated it (you can read about this in the apocryphal books of Maccabees).
The Temple was re-dedicated after this 75 days which brings us exactly to Hannukah, and...
... the 1,335 days of:
Dan 12:12 How blessed is he who keeps waiting and attains to the 1,335 days!
Daniel's 70th week = 7 years.
First half, "beginning of birth pangs" = 3.5 years (1,260 days).
Second half, "great tribulation" = 1,260 days and ends.
1,260 days + 75 days = 1,335 days.
The 75 days are the days of preparation and purification culminating in the dedication of the Millennial Kingdom.
These 75 days include two additional feast days (mentioned above): Tabernacles (Sukkot) and the Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah).
God’s Judgment upon the wicked of this earth will begin the same day that we are raptured out.
[Gen 7:12-13 LITV] And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights. [13] In this same day Noah and Shem and Ham and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, went into the ark;
[Luk 17:28-30 LITV] And likewise, as it was in the days of Lot, they were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building; [29] but on the day Lot went out from Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from the heaven and destroyed all. [30] According to those things, it will be in the day the Son of Man is revealed.
The Sixth Seal marks the rapture…
[Rev 7:9-10] After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the Throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation to our God Who sits on the Throne, and to the Lamb.
If we know when the harpazo occurs, we also know when the seventh seal is opened, and God's wrath begins.
The sixth seal marks the harpazo and the seventh seal marks the beginning of the Day of The Lord. The seventh seal will occur on the same day as the harpazo. When it is opened, there will be approximately 30 minutes of silence:
[Rev 8:1] When the Lamb broke the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
[Zep 1:7] Be silent before the Lord GOD! For the day of the LORD is near, for the LORD has prepared a sacrifice, He has consecrated His guests.
The angels will be given the trumpets and God's wrath of the seven trumpet judgments will shortly begin:
[Rev 8:2] And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.
I could go into the trumpet and bowl judgments but for now it seems kind of moot. I may go into those in another series.
For now, this is my conclusion.
Daniel’s 70th week will begin on Yom Kippur and end on Yom Kippur. As the Antichrist only confirms a covenant it may not be easily recognized. Then again, it may be an event broadly recognized. My guess is that it will have something to do with the Temple Mount allowing Israel to begin construction of the third temple.
Halfway through this seven year period the Antichrist will put an end to the daily sacrifices and desolate the temple. This will be the midpoint, 3.5 years, of Daniel’s 70th week and trigger the “Great Tribulation”. There will be no missing this event. When this occurs, we’ll know for sure where we’re at on the timeline.
Roughly 2.5 years later, we will be caught up on Yom Teruah. The dead will rise first and those still alive at this point will join them in the air to meet our Saviour. We will be with Yeshua in Heaven for one year and ten days. We will then return with Yeshua at His Second Coming and the Battle of Armageddon. Satan will be bound and sealed for 1,000 years. Seventy-five days later, the Millennial Temple will be dedicated at Hanukkah and we will rule and reign with Christ on earth.
After the 1,000 years Satan will be loosed on earth briefly, the second resurrection of the dead will occur, and God’s fire will destroy them all. The Great White Throne Judgment will occur and then the New Heavens and New Earth will be ushered in.
Maranatha!!!
We must remain strong until the end… even death at the hands of our enemies! You really need to set your hearts now and begin praying for courage and strength now! You need to focus on finishing the race according to the words, and the example of our King! We will be rewarded and He will take vengeance for us!
Our King is returning for us. He will literally walk the earth again, He will literally setup His Kingdom, and we will literally rule and reign, here on earth, with Him.
[Rev 11:15-18 LITV] And the seventh angel trumpeted. And there were great voices in Heaven, saying, The kingdoms of the world became our Lord's, even of His Christ; and He shall reign to the ages of the ages. [16] And the twenty four elders sitting before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God, [17] saying, We thank You, Lord God Almighty, the One who is, and who was, and who is coming, because You took Your great power and reigned. [18] And the nations were full of wrath; and Your wrath came, and the time of the judging of the dead, and to give the reward to Your slaves, to the prophets, and to the saints, and to the ones fearing Your name, to the small and to the great, and to destroy those destroying the earth.
This world, as we know it, is not our home! We are visitors, placed here to learn how to be Holy as He is Holy! That is the purpose of this brief life… to grow, and learn, as children of the Almighty Creator! We will inherit our permanent home very soon! I cannot wait to depart from this crappy world and move on to Glory!
[2Pe 3:9-13 LITV] The Lord of the promise is not slow, as some deem slowness, but is long-suffering toward us, not having purposed any to perish, but all to come to repentance. [10] But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with rushing sound, and having burned the elements will be dissolved, and earth and the works in it will be burned up. [11] Then all these being about to be dissolved, of what sort ought you to be in holy behavior and godliness, [12] looking for and hastening the coming of the Day of God, through which the heavens having been set afire will be dissolved; and burning, the elements will melt? [13] But according to His promise, we look for "new heavens and a new earth," in which righteousness dwells. Isa. 65:17
[Luk 21:28 NAS95] "But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."
Jewish Feats – 70th Week Timeline
The following pages come from several different sources. I’ve been taking notes for literally decades. Besides Leviticus 23, a very good book for you to pick up and read, on these Jewish Feasts, would be:
The Last Shofar! By Joseph Lenard
Given all the clues from the Revelation, the Olivet Discourse, Apostles, and the Prophets you should be starting to see our future unfold. You should be able to see not only the events themselves, but also the timing of those events. Scripture gives us everything we need to sort this out.
The seven Feasts are divided into two groups—the Spring Feasts and the Fall Feasts. God refers to these Feasts as His appointed times, or His rehearsals for future events.
Yeshua perfectly fulfilled the first four feasts!
“Collectively, the Feasts foreshadow God’s completed redemptive purpose for Israel as well as His blessings to the Gentiles. These Feasts accurately depict the First Coming of Messiah as the Suffering Servant (Isaiah 53:10–11), as seen in the Spring Feasts. With the same precision, the Fall Feasts accurately depict the Second Coming of Messiah as Lord of lords and King of kings (Revelation 17:14). Within this context, we see the amazing consistency and detail of God’s plan of redemption from Genesis to Revelation.”
Lenard, Joseph; Zoller, Donald. The Last Shofar! (p. 104). Xulon Press. Kindle Edition.
I love this visual (below) of the Jewish feasts. You can easily see the “gap” between the first four spring feasts, that Yeshua perfectly fulfilled, before the beginning of the fall feasts – that Yeshua will perfectly fulfill!
Looking back in Daniel, this chart is a visual of the “gap” between the 69th and 70th week… or, the Church age.
Before moving on, let’s take a brief look at the spring feasts and how Yeshua fulfilled them. Again, read The Last Shofar! for a detailed description, but Jesus perfectly fulfilled these feasts – down to the exact day as was prophesied!
The Spring Feasts
[1] The feast of Passover - Pesach
The Feast’s focus is the historic Passover Lamb, whose innocent blood every Hebrew family in Egypt was required to apply to their lintel and doorposts to assure their deliverance from the tenth plague—death of the first-born.
[Joh 1:29 LITV] On the morrow, John sees Jesus coming toward him and said, Behold! The Lamb of God, taking away the sin of the world!
[1Pe 1:18-19 LITV] knowing that not with corruptible things, silver or gold, were you redeemed from your worthless way of life handed down from your fathers, [19] but with precious blood of Christ, as a lamb without blemish and without spot,
[2] The feast of Unleavened Bread- Hag HaMatzah
In this Feast, Israel remembers their immediate departure from Egypt when they ate their bread in haste without leaven—deliverance was now!
Leaven is symbolic of sin throughout Scripture. Israelites were required to remove all leaven from their house prior to this feast.
[Mat 21:12-13 LITV] And Jesus entered into the temple of God and threw out all those selling and buying in the temple. And He overthrew the tables of the money changers and the seats of those selling the doves. [13] And He said to them, It has been written, "My house shall be called a house of prayer," but you have "made it a den of plunderers." Isa. 56:7; Jer. 7:11
[3] The Feast of Firstfruits—HaBikkurim
The Feast of Firstfruits is celebrated on the day following the Sabbath, during the week-long celebration of Unleavened Bread.
[1Co 15:23 LITV] But each in his own order: Christ, the firstfruit; afterward those of Christ at His coming.
Christ rose from the dead, having been lifted up, cut free from the earth at the same time the barley sheaf of the Firstfruits ceremony was lifted up in the field, at the very beginning of Firstfruits on Saturday evening, at the start of the first day of the week, Sunday. This was the fulfillment that Jesus is the firstfruit of the resurrection. The resurrection of Jesus Christ confirms that, “In Christ shall all be made alive”—God’s irrevocable blessing upon all who believe. As pictured in the Feast, a rich and abundant life is experienced in the resurrected Christ—our Firstfruits.
[4] The Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) – Hag HaShavuot or Shavuot
The Feast signifies the conclusion of the spring season, commonly referred to as the Passover Season, and the beginning of the summer wheat harvest. It is marked by joyful anticipation of an abundant harvest from the summer wheat that comes to fruition in the fall.
Prophetically, this Feast anticipates the passing of the Old Covenant and the fulfillment of God’s promise to His people of a New Covenant, as stated in Jeremiah:
[Jer 31:31-34 LITV] Behold, the days come, says Jehovah, that I will cut a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, [32] not according to the covenant that I cut with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt (which covenant of Mine they broke, although I was a husband to them, says Jehovah). [33] But this shall be the covenant that I will cut with the house of Israel: After those days, declares Jehovah, I will put My Law in their inward parts, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. [34] And they shall no longer each man teach his neighbor, and each man his brother, saying, Know Jehovah. For they shall all know Me, from the least of them even to the greatest of them, declares Jehovah. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sins no more.
Peter understood this concept:
[Act 2:38 LITV] And Peter said to them, Repent and be baptized, each of you on the name of Jesus Christ to remission of sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
The Fall Feasts
[1] The Feast of Trumpets – Yom Teruah; Rosh Hashanah
Although the Feast is to be celebrated on the first day of Tishri, it is an uncertain day because its timing is based on a visual observation of a new moon, being the first day of the lunar month when the moon is starting again the monthly cycle of waxing (increasing) and waning (decreasing).
Therefore, the precise day and hour to begin this Feast was not obvious since it was based on the first sighting of the new moon.
In view of the uncertainty of the day and hour, the Feast is also called the Hidden Day. The Talmudic name of Yom haKeseh, which means The Day of Concealment, also portrays this aspect.
[Mat 24:36 LITV] But as to that day and that hour, no one knows, neither the angels of Heaven, except My Father only.
The Days of Awe—occurred between the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement. Based on Jewish tradition, these 10 days are viewed as God’s Judgment Day, sometimes referred to as Israel’s Dark Days, immediately following the last trumpet of the Feast of Trumpets:
[Joe 2:1-2 LITV] Blow a ram's horn [shofar] in Zion, and shout an alarm in My holy mountain. Let all those living in the land tremble. For the day of Jehovah approaches; it is near, [2] a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, as the dawn spread out on the mountains, a great and a strong people. There has never been the like, nor shall there ever be again to the years of many generations;
[Amo 5:18-20 LITV] Woe to those desiring the day of Jehovah! What is this for you? The day of Jehovah is darkness, and not light. [19] It is as if a man fled before a lion, and the bear met him. Or he goes into the house and leans his hand against the wall, and a snake bites him. [20] Shall not the day of Jehovah be darkness, and not light; even very dark, and not any brightness in it?
Old Testament prophets understood these Days of Awe to be a time of God’s wrath poured out not only upon the nations that will come against Jerusalem in the last days, but also a time when His wrath brings Israel back to Himself.
[2] The Day of Atonement – Yom Kippur
the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) is often referred to simply as The Day.
Prophetically, the Day of Atonement looks toward a day at the end of the 70th Week of Daniel, when the forces of evil face the wrath of God. Messiah will come on behalf of His people, the Jews, to deliver them, forgive them and restore them nationally under the New Covenant:
[Dan 9:24 LITV] Seventy weeks are decreed as to your people, and as to your holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make atonement for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy.
[3] The Feast of Tabernacles (Booths) – Sukkot
Celebrated on the 15th of Tishri (only five days after the Day of Atonement), the Feast of Tabernacles continues for seven days, plus an extra day, the Great Day or Shemini Atzeret. Literally, assembly of the eighth day, Shemini Atzeret, is a sacred assembly held on the eighth day of Sukkot (Leviticus 23:36). During this joyful seven-day Feast, observant Jews live in temporary huts or booths (sukkahs) as a reminder of their forefathers’ wilderness journey and God’s faithful provisions during the Exodus.
The Feast of Tabernacles was recognized as God’s great ingathering, a final harvest of Jews and Gentiles. It might be that the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9) on earth following Christ’s physical return, on the Mount of Olives, occurs on this Feast of Tabernacles during the Interim Period, before the start of the Millennium.
The Feast anticipates a time when the Messiah will tabernacle, or dwell, among men—a new beginning without the curse of sin for those with resurrection bodies. This will also be a time when the survivors of the Day of the Lord will rejoice in God and be obedient to His kingdom rule by yearly participating in the Feast of Booths.
[Zec 14:16-21 LITV] And it shall be, everyone who is left from all the nations which came up against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, Jehovah of Hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. [17] And it shall be, whoever will not go up from the families of the earth to Jerusalem to worship the King, Jehovah of Hosts, there shall even be no rain on them. [18] And if the family of Egypt does not go up, nor come in, then the rain shall not be on them, but the plague with which Jehovah shall strike the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. [19] This shall be Egypt's offense, and the offense of all nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. [20] In that day there shall be on the bells of the horses, HOLY TO JEHOVAH. And the pots in the house of Jehovah shall be like the bowls before the altar. [21] And every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holy to Jehovah of Hosts. And all those who sacrifice shall come and take of them, and boil in them. And in that day there shall not be a trader in the house of Jehovah of Hosts any more.
These are the seven Feasts of the Lord, as described in Leviticus 23. However, there are two additional biblical feasts that became part of the Jewish religious calendar, long after the days of Moses. These are Hanukkah and Purim, which Jesus also celebrated.
The Feast of Dedication – Hanukkah
After the Jewish victory in 165 BC over Antiochus Epiphanes, king of the Seleucid Empire, the defiled Temple needed to be purified and rededicated.
[Joh 10:22-24 LITV] And the Feast of Dedication took place in Jerusalem, and it was winter. [23] And Jesus was walking in the temple, in Solomon's Porch. [24] Then the Jews encircled Him, and said to Him, Until when do You lift up our soul? If You are the Christ, tell us publicly.
[Joh 10:30 LITV] I and the Father are One!
At the midpoint of the 70th Week of Daniel, the Man of Sin (the Antichrist) will defile the rebuilt Temple, asserting himself to be God while occupying the Holy of Holies on the Temple Mount (Daniel 9:27; Matthew 24:15). Although the Man of Sin is destroyed at the Second Coming of Christ, the Temple will remain defiled until the process of purification and rededication has occurred, at Hanukkah when the new Millennial Temple is dedicated (Ezekiel 40–47).
Prophetically, the fulfillment of Hanukkah is at the beginning of the Messianic Kingdom, at the start of the Millennium, exactly 75 days after the Yom Kippur at the end of the 70th Week of Daniel. This coincides precisely with the 75-day period following the seven-year period of the 70th Week of Daniel, as noted in the Book of Daniel [1,260 days + (30+45 days) = 1,335 days] (Daniel 12:7, 11–12). “Time, times, and half a time” in Daniel 12:7 is equivalent to three-and-a-half years (1,260 days, with a prophetic year being 360 days); the additional 75-day period is beyond the end of the 70th Week of Daniel.
The Feast of Lots – Purim
The historical events of Purim are contained in the book of Esther. The name Purim (Lots) came from the method Haman, the enemy of the Jews, used to determine which day the Jews throughout the Persian kingdom would be destroyed (Esther 3:7). The lots determined that the Jews were to be destroyed on the 13th day of the month of Adar. However, before this terrible event took place, in a miraculous turn of events, the wicked Haman was hanged and the Jews were saved. Thus, Purim celebrates the preservation of the Jews in Persia, on the 14th day of Adar—the day after their aborted destruction—with great joy, feasts and giving gifts to the poor (Esther 9:18–32).
Let’s Put is All Together
[Mat 24:36] But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.
[Mat 25:13] Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.
I’ve discussed how the statement above is a Hebraic idiom for Yom Teruah - The Feast of Trumpets which falls on Tishri 1.
It is the seventh month of the Jewish calendar referred to as the Sabbath of months.
Yom Teruah in Hebrew means "the day of the awakening blast".
It is Rosh HaShanah - the head of the year.
It is referred to as the Hidden Day.
In the Talmud it is called Yom haKeseh - the day of concealment.
It is the first of the three fall feasts (appointed times) and I believe Jesus was giving us a very clear clue as to when the rapture (harpazo) would occur.
It is a unique feast. All the other feasts are determined by calculating a stipulated number of days between feasts. Yom Teruah depends on the sighting of the new moon. Because of the timing and uncertainty of the new moon we can't know the exact day and hour... which is why this feast is celebrated over a period of two days - to allow for that uncertainty of when the sliver of a new moon would be witnessed and announced.
Even more impactful is that this sighting and announcement of the new moon determines the exact timing for the High Holy Days that follow. The Sanhedrin took this very seriously which is why they referred to it as the Feast of the Hidden Day (Yom Hakesh). You can rest assured that Yeshua knew of this in His statement as seen in Mat 24:36, etc.. When He spoke His disciples, they would’ve understood that He was referring to the Feast of Trumpets.
[1Co 15:51-52 LITV] Behold, I speak a mystery to you: we shall not all fall asleep, but we shall all be changed. [52] In a moment, in a glance of an eye, at the last trumpet; for a trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall all be changed.
The great trump (shofar HaGadol) is associated with and is blown on Yom Kippur [Day of Atonement]. Yeshua said that He would return at His second coming at the sound of the great trump:
[Mat 24:29-31] And immediately after the affliction of those days the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give her light, and the stars will fall from the heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. [30] And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the heavens. And then all the tribes of the land will wail. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and much glory. Dan. 7:13 [31] And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from the ends of the heavens to their ends.
Come back to this… not seeing the distinction between last trump and great trump unless the “elect” applies to Israel only. I don’t think this is the “great trump”. I believe it is a loud trumpet as seen in this translation:
[Mat 24:31 CLV] And He shall be dispatching His messengers with a loud sounding trumpet, and they shall be assembling His chosen from the four winds, from the extremities of the heavens to their extremities."
The Last Trump also anticipated the immediacy of the Days of Awe. As mentioned previously, the Days of Awe fell between Yom Teruah and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) and signaled God’s Judgment.
The dominant message of Yom Teruah was to “wake up from your sleep, your Messiah is coming, the resurrection is near at hand”.
[Isa 26:19 LITV] Your dead ones shall live, my dead body, they shall rise up. Awake and sing, dust dwellers; for the dew of lights is your dew; and the earth shall cast out departed spirits.
[Isa 60:1 LITV] Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of Jehovah has risen on you!
[Eze 37:12 LITV] So prophesy and say to them, So says the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, O My people, and I will bring you to the land of Israel.
[Rom 13:11 LITV] Also this, knowing the time, that it is now the hour for you to be aroused from sleep, for now our salvation is nearer than when we believed.
[Eph 5:14 LITV] Because of this, He says, Arise, sleeping ones and stand up out of the dead ones, and Christ will shine on you.
Many confuse the “last trump” with the last of the Seven Trumpet Judgments as seen by John in the Revelation:
[Rev 11:15-19 LITV] And the seventh angel trumpeted. And there were great voices in Heaven, saying, The kingdoms of the world became our Lord's, even of His Christ; and He shall reign to the ages of the ages. [16] And the twenty four elders sitting before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God, [17] saying, We thank You, Lord God Almighty, the One who is, and who was, and who is coming, because You took Your great power and reigned. [18] And the nations were full of wrath; and Your wrath came, and the time of the judging of the dead, and to give the reward to Your slaves, to the prophets, and to the saints, and to the ones fearing Your name, to the small and to the great, and to destroy those destroying the earth. [19] And the temple of God in Heaven was opened, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple, and lightnings, and voices, and thunders, and an earthquake, and a great hail occurred.
Paul’s writings pre-dated that of John’s Revelation by ~40 years. Paul would not have have anticipated what John would later see. Yes, the Holy Spirit could have revealed that to Paul but is unlikely.
The Seven Trumpet Judgments are blown by angels.
[Rev 8:6 LITV] And the seven angels having the seven trumpets prepared themselves, that they might trumpet.
Paul tells us that Yeshua, Himself, comes down with the Last Trump.
[1Th 4:16 LITV] Because the Lord Himself shall come down from Heaven with a commanding shout of an archangel's voice, and with God's trumpet. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
If the last of the Seven Trumpet Judgments were the same as the Last Trump then that would mean that the Church would have to endure the previous Six Trumpet Judgments of God’s Wrath prior to the rapture.
[1Th 5:9 LITV] because God has not appointed us to wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
[Rom 5:9 LITV] Much more then, being justified now by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath through Him.
[Isa 26:19-20 LITV] Your dead ones shall live, my dead body, they shall rise up. Awake and sing, dust dwellers; for the dew of lights is your dew; and the earth shall cast out departed spirits. [20] Come, My people, go in your rooms and shut your doors behind you. Hide for a little moment, until the fury passes.
[Psa 27:5 LITV] For in the day of evil He shall hide me in His shelter; in the secrecy of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me up on a rock.
At this point we’ve learned that the Last Trump signals the rapture and the beginning of God’s Wrath. Yeshuah will return to the earth at the end of the 70th week on Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement).
Between the rapture (Yom Teruah) and the His return to earth (Yom Kippur) are only ten days (Days of Awe). This is not enough time for God to carry out His Judgment upon the earth. Specifically seen in the Fifth Trumpet which requires five months [Rev 9:1-11].
[Rev 9:10 LITV] And they have tails like scorpions, and their stings were in their tails; and their authority is to harm men five months.
How is this reconciled? By adding one year!
By placing the rapture at the Yom Teruah of the previous year we come to one year and ten days until Yeshua physically returns to earth at the end of the 70th week.
Is there a Scriptural precedent that would allow this? Yes… there is! Directly from Yeshua Himself!
[Mat 24:37-39 LITV] But as the days of Noah, so also will be the coming of the Son of Man. [38] For as they were in the days before the flood: eating, and drinking, marrying, and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah went into the ark. [39] And they did not know until the flood came and took all away. So also will be the coming of the Son of Man.
Noah and his family were protected from God’s Judgment upon the earth in the ark. Guess how long they were in that ark… one year and ten days [Gen 7:11-13; Gen 8:13-16]!
From these verses, we see that Noah entered the ark on the 17th day of the second month [Gen 7:11], and left the ark and touched his feet on earth on the 27th day of the second month [Gen 8:13–14] of the following year. This represented one year and ten days of God’s judgment on the earth while Noah and his family were protected in the ark. In like manner, the church is protected in heaven with Christ during the Day of the Lord, God’s judgment on the earth.
It is not a coincident that God’s Judgment, upon the earth, was one year and ten days in Noah’s time. His Judgment upon the earth at the end of the 70th week will also be one year and ten days… “as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man”.
We will be in Heaven with Yeshua for one year and ten days prior to Him returning for the Battle of Armageddon.
Guess what? A second witness from Scripture:
[Deu 24:5 LITV] When a man has taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war, and he shall not be given any thing to do. He shall be free at his own house for one year, and shall gladden his wife whom he has taken.
Man! If you’re not getting goose-bumps at this point… check your pulse! Yeshua! Genesis to Revelation! The consistency and beauty of His Word! It gets better… hold on!
To review, the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) concludes the ten Days of Awe and Daniel’s 70th week when Yeshua returns to earth. Israel’s sins will be fully atoned! One year and ten days prior to this, His Bride will be brought home (Yom Teruah) to enjoy His presence during God’s time of Judgment upon the earth.
[Rev 19:14-16 LITV] And the armies in Heaven followed Him on white horses, being dressed in fine linen, white and pure. [15] And out of His mouth goes forth a sharp sword, that with it He might smite the nations. And He will shepherd them with an iron rod. And He treads the winepress of the wine of the anger and of the wrath of God Almighty. [16] And He has on His garment and on His thigh a name having been written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
There are 75 days between Yom Kippur and the beginning of the Millennium, the thousand-year reign of Christ, which can be calculated according to the account of Daniel [30 + 45 days = 75 days] [Daniel 12:7,11–12].
75 days later the Millennium Kingdom will be inaugurated.
Why 75 days?
Hannukah is celebrated 75 days after the Day of Atonement.
This was the length of time allotted to purify the Temple after Antiochus Epiphanes (foreshadow of Antichrist) had desecrated it (you can read about this in the apocryphal books of Maccabees).
The Temple was re-dedicated after this 75 days which brings us exactly to Hannukah, and...
... the 1,335 days of:
Dan 12:12 How blessed is he who keeps waiting and attains to the 1,335 days!
Daniel's 70th week = 7 years.
First half, "beginning of birth pangs" = 3.5 years (1,260 days).
Second half, "great tribulation" = 1,260 days and ends.
1,260 days + 75 days = 1,335 days.
The 75 days are the days of preparation and purification culminating in the dedication of the Millennial Kingdom.
These 75 days include two additional feast days (mentioned above): Tabernacles (Sukkot) and the Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah).
God’s Judgment upon the wicked of this earth will begin the same day that we are raptured out.
[Gen 7:12-13 LITV] And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights. [13] In this same day Noah and Shem and Ham and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, went into the ark;
[Luk 17:28-30 LITV] And likewise, as it was in the days of Lot, they were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building; [29] but on the day Lot went out from Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from the heaven and destroyed all. [30] According to those things, it will be in the day the Son of Man is revealed.
The Sixth Seal marks the rapture…
[Rev 7:9-10] After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the Throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation to our God Who sits on the Throne, and to the Lamb.
If we know when the harpazo occurs, we also know when the seventh seal is opened, and God's wrath begins.
The sixth seal marks the harpazo and the seventh seal marks the beginning of the Day of The Lord. The seventh seal will occur on the same day as the harpazo. When it is opened, there will be approximately 30 minutes of silence:
[Rev 8:1] When the Lamb broke the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
[Zep 1:7] Be silent before the Lord GOD! For the day of the LORD is near, for the LORD has prepared a sacrifice, He has consecrated His guests.
The angels will be given the trumpets and God's wrath of the seven trumpet judgments will shortly begin:
[Rev 8:2] And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.
I could go into the trumpet and bowl judgments but for now it seems kind of moot. I may go into those in another series.
For now, this is my conclusion.
Daniel’s 70th week will begin on Yom Kippur and end on Yom Kippur. As the Antichrist only confirms a covenant it may not be easily recognized. Then again, it may be an event broadly recognized. My guess is that it will have something to do with the Temple Mount allowing Israel to begin construction of the third temple.
Halfway through this seven year period the Antichrist will put an end to the daily sacrifices and desolate the temple. This will be the midpoint, 3.5 years, of Daniel’s 70th week and trigger the “Great Tribulation”. There will be no missing this event. When this occurs, we’ll know for sure where we’re at on the timeline.
Roughly 2.5 years later, we will be caught up on Yom Teruah. The dead will rise first and those still alive at this point will join them in the air to meet our Saviour. We will be with Yeshua in Heaven for one year and ten days. We will then return with Yeshua at His Second Coming and the Battle of Armageddon. Satan will be bound and sealed for 1,000 years. Seventy-five days later, the Millennial Temple will be dedicated at Hanukkah and we will rule and reign with Christ on earth.
After the 1,000 years Satan will be loosed on earth briefly, the second resurrection of the dead will occur, and God’s fire will destroy them all. The Great White Throne Judgment will occur and then the New Heavens and New Earth will be ushered in.
Maranatha!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment