Prophecy and Current Events

The statement by Jesus that "no man knows the day or hour but only the Father," is often used as a baseball bat to beat anyone who would dare suggest a possible date for the rapture into a deathly silence. It is bantered about as the proof text that you should not even consider suggesting a possible date, but, in fact, such a stance is contrary to the whole counsel of God.

What does the Bible say about looking into the time and circumstances of the Lord's return? The answer may surprise you.

Jesus appeared to the disciples many times after His resurrection from the dead. He spent time with them. ''And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself." (Luke 24:27) His final instructions to the disciples are recorded in ACTS 1:6-11:

''So when they met together, they asked him, `Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?' He said to them: `It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.' After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. `Men of Galilee,' they said, `why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.'''

Please consider that Jesus' statement regarding "the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority" was given to the Disciples - it was not to be the focus of their ministry, but rather spreading the Good News. It may not be proper to take this statement and broadly apply it to every person who ever lived.

But regardless of the scope of this statement, one must consider the whole counsel of God and as Christians, we should be intensely interested in the time and circumstances of the Lord's return so we are not caught unprepared (see Matt 25:1-13) or not surprised: "But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief." (1 Thes 5:4) The "Day" that is referred to in 1 Thes 5:4 will be discussed later in this lesson.

It is a fact of Scripture that the timing and circumstances of the Lord's return has been a subject that has interested several credible groups:

1) The Prophets. In 1st Peter 1:1-10, we find the following text:

``Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow."

2) The Angels. The same passage in 1st Peter concludes:

``It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.''

3) The Disciples. In Matthew 24:1-3, we see that Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. ``Do you see all these things?'' he asked. ``I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.'' As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. ``Tell us,'' they said, ``when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?''

In other words, it is not wrong to look into the time and circumstances of the return of Jesus Christ. Even Angels long to look into these things. It would be wrong to say with 100% certainty you know the exact date and hour, but it is not wrong to study and try to determine the date.

Let's look at this statement by Jesus that "no man knows the day or hour." In order to fully understand what Jesus was saying, we need to understand the Festivals of the Lord and the meaning of certain other idiomatic terms like "the last trump."

The festivals of the Lord are found in Leviticus chapter 23. The Bible tells us that the festivals were to teach us about Messiah (Christ Jesus).

COL 2:16-7 "Therefore let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ." Therefore, Jesus was the fulfillment of the redemptive plan of God; as foreshadowed by these seven festivals.

The festivals are divided into two categories; the spring festivals and the fall festivals.

Spring Festivals

Passover

Unleavened Bread

First Fruits

Pentecost

Fall Festivals

Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Ha'Shanah)

Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur)

Tabernacles (Sukkot)

The Spring Festivals speak of the first coming of Messiah and center around the death, burial and resurrection of Messiah and the empowering of believers by the Holy Spirit. The Fall festivals speak of the second coming and center around the resurrection of the dead, the coronation of the Messiah, the wedding of Messiah and the Millenium reign of Messiah.

Leviticus 23:1-4 tells us:

LEV 23:1-4 "And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'The feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts. 'Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings. 'These are the feasts of the LORD, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times.

The english word "feast" in the above scripture portion is the Hebrew word "Mo'ed"; it means an appointed time, a set time, an exact time.

Thus Leviticus 23:1-4 and Col 2:16 together tell us that the feasts of Israel are God's appointments with humanity, at a pre-ordained time, to fulfill certain conditions of the our redemption as performed by Messiah.

GAL 4:1-5 tells us: "Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all, but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.

"The feasts of the Lord" as found in Leviticus 23:2 are termed "Holy Convocations" in Leviticus 23:4. "Convocation" is the Hebrew word "miqra" which means rehearsal.

So we can also understand that these feasts or festivals were to be yearly "rehearsals" of the future events of redemption. You will note the word "hear" in rehearsal. We can clearly see the fulfillment of the Spring festivals in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus the Messiah.

Passover - Death of Jesus on the cross (tree)

Unleavened bread - Burial of Jesus

First Fruits - Resurrection of Jesus

Pentecost - Pouring out of the Holy Spirit.

I cannot dicuss how Jesus fulfilled all the festivals at this time, but let's take a brief look at how Jesus Fulfilled the Passover^. (^*1)

Recognizing that the Feast of Passover was given by God to be a rehearsal of the first coming of Jesus, the Passover is then a ceremony that was to be observed in remembrance of the past and in preparation for the future. So let's take a look at Jesus and the Passover.

Many years after the Passover in Egypt, a person named John the Baptist pointed to Jesus and declared that He was the Lamb of God (John 1:29). John, a type of Elijah, prepared the way for the coming of Messiah and proclaimed Jesus as the Lamb of God. Jesus then appeared and ministered for three-and-a-half years. At the end of that time, on the tenth of Nisan, the high priest marched out of the city of Jerusalem to Bethany where a lamb was to be slain. The lamb was led back into the city through streets lined with thousands of pilgrims singing the Hallel (Psalms 113-118). The liturgy for Hoshanah Rabbah says that the Messiah will come to the Mount of Olives and weep over the city. This happened in Luke 19:41. The people also waved palm branches as Jesus rode into the city on a donkey in fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9. Today, Nisan 10 is known as Palm Sunday in the non-Jewish community.

The lamb that was to be slain by the high priest was led into the temple and put in a prominent place of display. Likewise, Jesus the Lamb of God went on public display when He entered the temple and spent four days there among the people, the Sadducees, the Pharisees, and the scribes, as the leaders asked Jesus their hardest questions. Jesus was questioned in front of the people for four days, showing Himself to be without spot or blemish, fulfilling Exodus 12:5.

On the fourteenth of Nisan, at the third hour of the day (9:00 a.m.), the high priest took the lamb and ascended the altar so he could tie the lamb in place on the altar. At the same time on that day, Jesus was tied to the tree on Mount Moriah (Mark 15:25). At the time of the evening sacrifice (3:00 p.m.) for Passover (Exodus 12:6), the high priest ascended the altar, cut the throat of the lamb with a knife, and said the words, "It is finished." These are the exact words said after giving a peace offering to God. At this same time, Jesus died, saying these exact words in John 19:30. Jesus died at exactly 3:00 p.m. (Matthew 27:45-46,50).

In Exodus 12:8-9, we are told the lamb was to be roasted before sundown. According to the tractate Pesahim in the Mishnah, the lamb was roasted on an upright pomegranate stick. This pomegranate stick is representative of the tree upon which Jesus died. The lamb was to be gutted, and its intestines were to be removed and put over its head. Thus, the lamb is referred to as the "crowned sacrifice." This is a picture of Jesus in Psalm 22:13-18.

Deuteronomy 16:16 says that all the congregation of Israel was required to be present at the feasts of Passover (Pesach), Weeks (Shavuot) or Pentecost, and Tabernacles (Sukkot). This explains why all were gathered to witness the death of Jesus on the tree (Matthew 27:1-26).

The night of the fifteenth of Nisan, God commanded the people to eat the lamb with unleavened bread (matzah) and bitter herbs (maror), their sandals on their feet and their bags packed and on their backs (Exodus 12:6,8,11), for on this night they are to leave Egypt. Likewise, we are to be quick to accept Jesus into our hearts and leave Egypt, which represents the sin and idolatry of this evil world."

Jesus absolutely fulfilled each of the Spring Festivals. I will not go into how Jesus fulfilled the other Spring Festivals, because the focus of this article is Rosh Ha'Shanah - the Fall Feast of Rosh Ha'Shanah. I will refer you to one of many excellent books on the feasts. The one which I am mainly using for this article is: "The Seven Festivals of the Messiah". (*2)

The Fall Festivals of Messiah are the Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Ha'Shanah), the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), Tabernacles (Sukkot) These Festivals speak of the second coming and center around the resurrection of the dead in the Rapture, the day of Messiah's return, the coronation of the Messiah, the wedding of Messiah, and the Millenium reign of Messiah.

In early fall, 30 days before Rosh Ha'Shanah, the season of Teshuvah begins; teshuvah means to return or repent (during this period the people are to examine their lives and repent before it is too late). Then, beginning with Rosh Ha'Shanahm the final 10-day period known as the "days of awe" begin. We should note that the sabbath that falls within this 10-day period is known as Shabbat Shuvah -- the Sabbath of Return. We can already see the return of Messiah wrapped up in this Jewish liturgy.

Isn't it facinating that there will be a total solar eclipse on August 11, 1999 - the start of the Season of Repentance. Remember, according to Genesis chapter 1, that the heavenly bodies are given for signs. This is not a co-incidence.

The Feast of Rosh Ha'Shanah has many names, themes and idioms in the Bible and Jewish Commentary. These are all important in understanding the prophetic significance of that day. Here is a list as put forth in Chumney's book on pages 96-97 (*2):

1. Teshuvah (repentance)
2. Rosh Ha'Shanah (Head of the year, birthday of the world)
3. Yom Teruah (the day of the awakening blast/Feast of Trumpets)
4. Yom HaDin (the Day of Judgement)
5. HaMelch (the Coronation of Messiah)
6. Yom HaZikkaron (the Day of Remembrance or memorial)
7. The time of Jacob's trouble (the birthpangs of the Messiah)
8. The opening of the gates
9. Kiddushin/Nesu'in (the wedding ceremony)
10. The resurrection of the dead (rapture)
11. The last trump (shofar)
12. Yom Hakeseh (the hidden day)

Rosh Ha'Shanah is known as the "Feast of Trumpets" because on each day during Teshuvah (except for the thirtieth day) the shofar is sounded after every morning service -- the sounding of the shofar is a call to repentance -- repent before Rosh Ha'Shanah (where the last trump is blown and therefore is also known as the Day of the Awakening Blast) or you will find yourselves in the Days of Awe (defined below).

God always warns His people before judgement. So for 30-days (save the last one), the trumpet is sounded as a call to repentance, but then it is Rosh Ha'Shanah -- Yom HaDin, the Day of Judgement and it is too late to avoid the Days of Awe.

According to the Talmud (Rosh Ha'Shanah 6b) on this Day of Judgement (Rosh Ha'Shanah) it was seen that God would sit in court and all men would be judged. Three great books would be opened and each man is weighed in the balance and placed into three categories; that of the wholly righteous, one of the wholly wicked; and one of the intermediates whose fate is not yet sealed.

The Rabbis taught that the righteous are separated and will be with God - known to Christians as the Rapture (Natzal in the Hebrew). The wicked will face the wrath of God during the tribulation period (the days of awe) and will never repent. But the average person, the intermediates, has until Yom Kippur till his fate is sealed forever; in other words they have until the end of the tribulation period to repent and turn to God.

One of the idioms for Rosh Ha'Shanah is "the opening of the gates"

ISA 26:2 - "Open the gates, that the righteous nation which keeps the truth may enter in."

PSA 118:19-20 - "Open to me the gates of righteousness; I will go through them, And I will praise the LORD. This is the gate of the LORD, Through which the righteous shall enter."

To the Jews, the term "the gates are opened" became an idiom for Rosh Ha'Shanah, just as we understand, for example, that in Eph 4:30 where it says "being sealed unto the day of redemption" refers to Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. We see another idiom in 1 Cor 13:12 ("For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known"). "Face to face" is an idiom for Yom Kippur, the day of Atonement, where the High priest was "face to face" with God as he sprinkled the blood of sacrifice on the mercy seat.

The gates of heaven are opened on Rosh Ha'Shanah and forever sealed on Yom Kippur when the gates are shut (Neilah - the closing of the gates).

Earlier I had mentioned that the shofar was not sounded on the day before Rosh Ha'Shanah. A glimpse of the reason for this is found in yet another idiom for Rosh Ha'Shanah. Rosh Ha'Shanah was also known as " Yom Hakeseh" - the hidden day for a couple of reasons.

It is the only feast that occurs on the new moon (invisible or hidden).

It is a day of hiding because its appearance was to be hidden from Satan. Just as Satan did not understand the plan of redemption (the cross - see 1 Cor 2:7-8), symbolically the Day of Judgement was to be concealed from Satan as well. This was the first century belief and believers never said when the day of Rosh Ha'Shanah was; they only said, "of that day and hour no one knows, only the Father."

Jesus' use of this statement in the first century would have been understood as yet another idiom for Rosh Ha'Shanah -- the only day in the whole year that was referred to as a hidden day or the day that no man knew. It is also interesting that since the feast began on the new moon, in ancient times, the rabbinical court had to rule when it actually began, and since it was impossible to let everyone know, even just in Jerusalem, a two-day Rosh Ha'Shanah was put in place which in the rabbinical view is still considered as a "yoma arikta" -- one long day.

But when the day arrived it was also known as Yom Teruah -- the Day of the Awakening Blast. Teruah means "an awakening blast" and it is the theme associated with Rosh Ha'Shanah -- to awake. By the way, Teruah can also be translated shout. The first coming of Messiah is associated with a shout in Zech 9:9 and the final shout (the last trump) will occur at the rapture. Whether it is the blast of the shofar or the force of a supernatural shout God will awaken us.

1TH 4:16-17 - "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds."

Whenever the rabbis saw the phrase, "awake, o Israel," they would identify those verses with the something concerning Rosh Ha'Shanah.

It should also be pointed out that in first century Judaism, there were three trumpets (shofarim) that have a name. They are: the First Trump, the last trump, and the great trump. Each one of these trumps indicated a specific day of the year.

The first trump is blown on Pentecost (Shavuot) and proclaimed that God had betrothed Himself to Israel.

The great trump is blown on Yom Kippur which will herald the return of Messiah back to earth.

The last trump is synonymous with Rosh Ha'Shanah when the Gates of Heaven will open and the righteous will enter in (rapture).

1TH 4:16-17 - "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds."

So our first century understanding is that the term "no man knows the day or hour" is an idiom of that day that refers to Rosh Ha'Shanah. Rosh Ha'Shanah is itself synonymous with the "last trump" and on that day the rapture may occur as the gates of heaven are opened. It is a two-day holiday that occurs on the new moon which, since it is invisible, was known as the hidden day.

Based on this understanding, I would not be surprised that on some future Rosh Ha'Shanah, we will hear the last trump and shout of the Arch Angel, and the dead in Christ will rise first and then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds.

The Next Rosh Ha'Shanah is around September 18, but since it is over two days, no man knows the exact day or hour, but we certainly know the season and it could be right at the door. (See Rev 4:1 below) Are you ready to go in before the door to heaven is shut?

Now that you have this understanding, when you look at Revelation 4:1, it will probably hold a lot more meaning for you then you ever had before.

REV 4:1 "After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, "Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this."

If it is not this Rosh Ha'Shanah, it will only be grace and calendar miscalculations that have given us more time to bring in the harvest before the gates close forever (Neilah).

"Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." (2 Tim 2:15)

Quit arguing over which of the pre-trib, mid-trib, post-trib, or pre-wrath theories of the rapture is correct and get about your Father's business of gathering in souls before it is too late. The only real relevance of this Rosh Ha'Shanah being the rapture is that it might be!!! And that fact should have a purifying effect on each of us as we cast off anything that hinders and spiritually prepare to meet our God. If you have not yet acknowledged that Jesus is the Messiah of God that died in your stead to make atonement for your sins, then you need to do this today as the time is truly short. Click on "Knowing Jesus" below.

When God said "small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it", He meant it. Have you found (or are you still on) that narrow path that leads to eternal life or have you been swept aside by the vain philosophies of this age? If you are a believer in Jesus, are you still living in hidden sin? God will deliver you if you will only humble yourself and call out to Jesus our Deliverer.

Remember, "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it." (Matthew 7:13)

Maranatha!!

In Christ,

Vince

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Knowing Jesus

Prophetic Links:

Is Rosh Ha'Shanah the Rapture? - Part 1

References:

(*1) "The Seven Festivals of the Messiah", Edward Chumney, Treasure House, ISBN 1-56043-767-7, phone 1-800-722-6774, (Pages 44-46 - adapted and some Hebrew words omitted for ease of reading -- otherwise pretty much quoted)

(*2) Ibid. Pages 95 - 131. In this book there almost 40 pages on Rosh Ha'Shanah alone -- I would encourage you to pick it up and study it.

(3) Roshashanna and the Messianic Kingdom to Come, Joseph Good, Hatikva Ministries, P.O. Box 3125, Port Arthur, Texas 7643- 3125

(4) The Feasts of Israel, Victor Buksbazen, Christian Literature Crusade, Fort Washington, Pennsylvania 19034

(5) God's appointed Times, Barney Kasdan, Lederer Messianic Publications, Baltimore, Maryland

"Watch and pray, therefore, that you would be counted worthy to escape the judgment that is coming upon the earth and be able to stand before the Son of Man" (Luke 21:36).

Maranatha!

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