This Sabbatical Year, for the first time in 2000 years, Jews all over the entire world are able to observe (fulfill) the mitzvot of Shmitta, the Torah's commandments to allow agricultural land to lie fallow every 7th year. http://www.shviit.com/english/Article.aspx?Item=345
Sometimes something can become so common that we get used to it, and we no longer see it in any other way than what we're used to seeing it as. In other words, sometimes we can't see the forest for the trees. This can be true for Bible verses we have read, especially if we've been reading and hearing those verses for years. I'd like to try to look at a certain section of Scripture from a different angle so that perhaps we might be able to see the forest as well as the trees. :-)
In 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, verses 13-18, brother Paul, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, tells these Believers in Thessalonica about the Rapture. Comfort one another with these wonderful words indeed! What an even greater comfort these words are for those of us who are alive right now, and who are trusting in those Promises!
I'm guessing the Apostle Paul had everyone's undivided attention while they were listening to these glorious truths. "What an awesome Promise the Lord has given us," they might've exclaimed in trembling excitement! But the very next thought on everyone's hearts just had to have been......"WHEN? WHEN will this wonderful Event take place? We wanna know! " :-)
Well, we wanna know too. The Lord Jesus Promised us that it is given unto us (His precious blood-bought Church) to KNOW the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, Matthew 13:11. The Holy Spirit, knowing we'd wanna know, moves Paul to continue sharing with the Thessalonian Believers, and as Paul continues on, he says the following:
1 Thessalonians 5:1 BUT of the TIMES and the SEASONS, brethren, ye have NO NEED that I write unto you.
WHAT???? What does he mean THEY have no need? This is exactly what they, and we, want to know. How could the Holy Spirit say that? What did Paul mean? There has to be an explanation. Let's look closely at this verse above. First of all, the word BUT automatically connects "chapter 5" to the previous chapter to show that this is a continuing sermon/topic regarding the Rapture of the Church.
Secondly, Paul says point blank that THEY have NO NEED for him to tell them the TIMES and the SEASONS. Why would THEY have no need to know this? Thessalonica was the capital of the province of Macedonia in what today is Greece. In Paul's day it had a mixture of Greeks, Romans and Jews. Acts says that the Jews established a synagogue there, and Paul witnessed for his Lord among them in their synagogue more than once.
Now, in our days, Christianity, to a majority of people, seems like and feels like a "gentile" religion, but in Paul's day, Christianity was a fulfillment of the Jews Religion. It was the Jews who were Promised a Messiah, and it was Jewish prophets who foretold of Him. It was the God of the Jews Who was the One True God, and for the most part, the Gentiles served idols if they served anything at all. The "Jewish" Messiah came to the Jews first, and the Jews were the first to proclaim His Resurrection. Therefore, Paul would direct these Thessalonian Believers' understanding to the Jewish teachings showing how they were fulfilled in Yeshua the Messiah. So, reading verse 1 with a Jewish background, let us consider what Paul meant by TIMES & SEASONS.
We know that God gave the Israelites the Promise of a coming Redeemer. To help them keep track of the years that were passing by, bringing the fulfillment closer, the Lord had them to number their years in Sabbatical Cycles, Lev. 25:8. For a Jew in those times, everything revolved around where one was in a current Sabbatical Cycle. After all, if it was a Sabbatical Year, then no one could plant anything, etc. TIMES can be another word for YEARS.
Daniel 2:21 And He changeth the TIMES and the SEASONS: He removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding.
Daniel 7:25 And he shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the Saints of the Most High, and think to change TIMES and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a TIME and TIMES and the dividing of TIME. NIV translation says: Or "for a year, two years, and half a year." (See also Daniel 12:7; Rev. 12:14)
Luke 21:24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and JERUSALEM shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the TIMES (years) of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
Now remember when the Lord showed Himself ALIVE after His Passion, and He was with His own disciples, that they asked Him if He would, AT THIS TIME (year) RESTORE again the Kingdom to Israel? He told them (and remember at this time they were not yet Baptized in the Holy Spirit) that it was not for them to know the TIMES or the SEASONS which the Father had put into HIS own power, but that THEY would receive POWER to be witnesses unto Him, etc, Acts 1:6-8. It wasn't needful for them to know these things yet because they were still powerless, and the time for His Return was not at hand. When the TIMES of Scriptural fulfillment come "due" then He manifests those "signs" to those who Believe and are Watching for them through His grace: Titus 1:3; Hebrews 1:1; 1 Peter 1:20.
Acts 17 26-30 "...and hath determined the TIMES (years) before appointed...And the TIMES (years) of this ignorance God winked at, but now commandeth all men every where to repent."
Romans 11:30 For as ye in TIMES (years) past have not believed God...
So, TIMES used as YEARS is approved/supported by the Scriptures, and SEASONS can mean the 4 seasons as well as a period of time. The thing is, since Paul said they didn't NEED for him to tell them what YEAR or SEASON to look for the Rapture in, then it very easily could've meant that this information was already Obvious, the "forrest and the trees thing."
Now, WHAT YEAR would be an Obvious YEAR to look for the Messiah's Return in? A SABBATICAL YEAR! A sacred year of Rest, a sanctified year, a holy year. And WHAT SEASON would be an Obvious SEASON to look for His Return in? SPRING because IT was (both in Egypt AND at the Lord's Passion) the HOLY TIME OF REDEMPTION, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile. Even Pentecost happens in the Spring. Even NATURE experiences Resurrection in the Spring.
Okay, so some certain Sabbatical Year during some certain Spring of that Sabbatical Year the Lord will Return for His Church, and 7 years later (again in a certain Sabbatical Year, and the Spring of that Sabbatical Year) He will Return to Reign at His 2nd Coming. Well, those are two pretty good clues. The thing is, there have been quite a few Sabbatical Years go by. Is there at least one more clue to help us out here? Yes. But first, Paul continues on in 1 Thess. 5 with verse 2 and mentions the Day of the Lord, showing that the Rapture will occur near the Day of the Lord, and not, for instance, 100 years before it, etc.
But here is the next CLUE given to us for our times!!
1 Thessalonians 5:3 For WHEN they shall SAY, Peace & Safety, then Sudden Destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
Okay, "for WHEN they say" so they ARE going to be saying it for a fact. What will they be saying? Peace & Safety. Well, folks have been saying that for ages haven't they? What kind of clue is this, Paul? Ah, but this is the 3rd clue, not the first clue. Let's put them all together:
1. He Raptures us in a Sabbatical Year AND:
2. He Raptures us in the Spring of that Sabbatical Year AND:
3. "THEY" will be SAYING "Peace & Safety" during that Sabbatical Year in the Spring.
Well, the OSLO Accords were signed in 1993, and 1993/94 was a Sabbatical Year so all avid Watchers should've been watching that following Spring. Nothing much happened so we just kept on watching. Nevertheless, that was the START of a PEACE PROCESS that will not go away!! Therefore, we pay extra close attention to this Peace & Safety Process.
Fall of 2000 saw Clinton, Arafat & Barak trying to Strengthen the Oslo Peace & Safety Accords, but even though it was another Sabbatical Year, 2000/01, and Believers were avidly watching, the only thing to manifest was the Oslo War. Of interest to the Watchers though, was the fact that the following Spring (during that Sabbatical Year) leading Rabbis in Israel Declared that the Time of Jacob's Trouble had begun on Nisan 1. While this was indeed bogus, it DID put an exclamation point on this entire Peace & Safety Process that refuses to go way.
The Aqaba Summit in 2003 introduced the Road Map which was just another extension of the Olso Peace & Safety Accords, but 2003 wasn't a Sabbatical Year so we moved on.
Then Last year, 2007/08 began the THIRD SABBATICAL YEAR since the Introduction of the Oslo Peace & Safety Accords were signed. They entire world was on hand at Annapolis to see this Process PUSHED (trying to birth a baby called Sudden Destruction/Tribulation here) FORWARD once again.
So, WE ARE NOW IN A SABBATICAL YEAR, AND THAT SABBATICAL YEAR'S SPRING SEASON with NISAN (THE MONTH OF REDEMPTION FOR THE ENTIRE WORLD) is at hand. We also, unlike any other TIMES (years) in the past, have a coming to fruition of famines, plagues, crime, ecological disasters, etc, not to mention a false religious system taking over Europe and the entire world if God doesn't intervene.
Also, this coming June (sometime during the anniversary of the 6 Day War) it will be 41 years since God's 40 years of testing regarding Israel and Jerusalem began back in June 1967. There should be a HUGE CHANGE for Israel BEFORE the 41st year comes to pass. Beginning the Time of Jacob's Trouble would be a huge change for sure. This Oslo Peace & Safety Process is now at the point of dividing Jerusalem, and for Jerusalem's sake God Promised He would not be silent.
Israel became a nation once again in 1948. There have been NINE Sabbatical Years (including 2007/08) since she became a nation. IF THIS SABBATICAL YEAR is the TIME and the SEASON of our Rapture and the start of the Time of Jacob's Trouble, then when our Lord Returns in 2014/15 it will be the TENTH Sabbatical Year since they became a end times nation.
The 3 simple clues of 1 Thess. 5. When these 3 things come at one time (Sabbatical Year, Spring Season of Redemption, Them saying Peace & Safety) THEN SUDDEN DESTRUCTION will come upon this entire world, and "they" shall NOT escape. We see this daily in the "signs of the times" news articles. We have "Peace & Safety" articles about the ongoing Peace Process along with "war preparation" articles pointing to the coming Sudden Destruction. A frightening future awaits those who are in the dark without the Lord. Let us therefore close with the Promise of our future as Believers in Christ Jesus:
1 Thessalonians 5: 4 But YE BRETHREN, are not in darkness, that THAT DAY should overtake you as a thief. 5 Ye are all the children of Light, and the children of the Day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do OTHERS [remaining ones-Greek] but let us watch and be sober. 9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should LIVE together WITH HIM. 11 Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.
God bless you Doves and all Lurkers.
Maranatha Indeed!
YSIC,
Renee