LAST SUPPER RAPTURE
Arlene

 

In looking at the various feast days in which we might expect our Lord to appear for the rapture, we Christians have overlooked one particular feast, which He Himself commanded us to observe:  The Last Supper.  For this reason I have looked very carefully at this evening feast, as a possible time which would be fulfilled in the rapture.I apologize for the length of this article, but have provided many scriptures and references to save the reader the time in looking them up.   There are some intriguing pre-figurings and types involving this evening before our Lord’s betrayal and crucifixion.  The actual “abib” date for Passover in the year 2005 is March 24.   The Jews’ Hillel calendar has set the date for April 23, but this would not be when the barley for the firstfruits offering would be “abib”, or just green.  So, there is confusion at the present time about the actual date of the Passover this spring.  If it were indeed on March 24, then that is only  three weeks away. 

I direct you to URL:

http://www.triumphpro.com/calendar_chaos_and_confusion.htm

for a discussion of this very important matter.   Meanwhile, please indulge my serpentine method of relating what I believe to be important types and messages about the Last Supper -- rapture?I am not in any way dogmatic about which feast our Lord will come…..just interested in studying them all, and in the process, learning more about Him.   The four gospel accounts follow at the very bottom of the article for your convenience in study. 

 

 

1 Corinthians11:23 For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: 24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in F38 remembrance of me. 25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. 26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.  

 

The Last Supper of our Lord with His deciples, occurred on the evening preceeding the Jews’ offering of the lamb, and His own offering upon the cross as our sacrifice.   In the early church this “feast” for the Christians was observed on the anniversary of that event, or Nisan 14, and did so until after Constantine the Great, according to Bellarmino Bagatti.  The early Christians observed this feast in the manner in which Jesus gave us instruction:  with the washing of feet, the celebration of the bread broken and the wine of the new covenant.   The anniversary of this event, as observed by Christians, “proclaims the Lord’s death, UNTIL HE COMES”.   This was a COMMANDED FEAST for Christians to celebrate by Christ Himself “do this in remembrance of me”.   So, just like the feasts of the harvests, for the Jews, we likewise have our own feast.   And, like their harvest feasts, will it be fulfilled to the day, hour, and minute like their harvest feasts have and will be?   The Last Supper, coinciding with the Jewish Passover, yet happening one evening before the Passover meal, (as their Nisan 14 begins the evening before), yet their Passover seder meal was observed after the sacrifice of the lamb.   This paper addresses this Last Supper, and how it may relate to end-time events, in particular, the rapture of the church, and the events immediately following, the time of Jacob’s trouble, the tribulation years, etc. 

 

God’s Time Clock:

 

          Daniel states that the Messiah will be “cut off”, this being accomplished during the Passover feast of our Lord’s last day, Nisan 14. 

Dan 9:26 -

And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.

 

This, then, stopped God’s time clock for the old covenant, as the new covenant was established the prior evening with the LAST SUPPER,

and this prior evening was also Nisan 14, as the Jews begin their days the evening before at sunset.    

 

Matthew 26:27 Drink ye all of it; 28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

 

The question remains, then, when will God start up the time clock again ?   When is the “end” ??  Will He start the clock exactly when He stopped it? 

 

Jesus was asked this very question, and answered it:

 

Mt 28:20 -

Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.   and,

 

Matthew 13:39 the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.

 

Also, Paul speaks of the “end”:

1st Cor 15:23  But every man in his own order:  Christ the firstfruits; afterward those that are Christ’s at His coming.  Then comes the end.  The end is the “harvest”,  the end is the tribulation. 

 

So, the harvest is the end of the world, and yet Jesus will be with us until “the end of the world”; that is, the harvest.  Now, just what part of the harvest are “we” who await the rapture?

There has been much about Pentecost as being the time of the rapture.  But wait, we are called “unleavened” bread: and we are also called “a kind of firstfruits”, the first of the firstfruits being Christ Himself:   

 

1Cor 5:7 -

Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:

8. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

 

Jas 1:18 -

Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

Ex 23:19 -

The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the LORD thy God.   

 

And notice that He said, the “angels” will reap the harvest, whereas when He comes for us, “the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout,,,,,,,”   If we are “unleavened bread”, then we must have some part in the week of unleavened bread, for Christ, the head of the body, is unleavened, so if we are to join Him, then it is reasonable to say that we should not be “leavened” bread. 

 

1 Corinthians 10:15-17

15 I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say. 16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? 17 For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.

 

 

Let us assume, then that God will start the time clock for the tribulation, exactly when our Lord was “cut off”, this being the evening before the Passover meal for the Jews, and our Last Supper.   First of all, if we are “unleavened”, as Paul states, then Christ the “first of the firstfruits”, may come for us, a “kind” of firstfruits (unleavened bread), sometime during the week of unleavened bread, or Passover week.  This week starts on Passover and includes seven days of eating unleavened bread, but for we Christians, begins the evening before the betrayal and the next day of crucifixion.    

 

Then let us look at the start of this week.   That would be the Last Supper.   Jesus instructed the deciples to prepare the meal in an “upper room” (in the air)?   For your convenience I have included at the bottom of this study, all four gospel accounts of this Last Supper, to which I refer here…………….. He told His deciples to follow a “man carrying a pitcher of water into a certain house”, and there to inquire about the householder’s upper room, where they would “prepare the feast”.   This water is for-shadowed by the marriage feast at Cana, where He ordered that six vessels be filled with water, which He then turned into wine for the feast.   This water also signifies the Holy Spirit. 

 

This Last Supper was prepared the night before the actual Passover feast of the Jews, because Jesus knew He would be sacrificed as the Lamb of God the next day.   And the sequence of the meal itself was changed into a “betrothal” sharing of the cup of wine, and not following the sequence of the Jewish Passover seder meal, because He made a “new covenant” at this Last Supper.     The marriage custom at the time Christ was on the earth had this sequence:

 

 

 

 

 

Jewish Wedding

Messiah's Wedding


      The Jewish woman indicates acceptance of the man's proposal by drinking a cup of wine

      Jesus passed the cup of wine at the Last Supper and when we drink we accept being His bride


      The Jewish man would pay a price to the parent's of his new bride

      Jesus Christ paid the price for us as His bride with His life


      The Jewish man would then give his betrothed gifts

      Jesus Christ gave us, His betrothed, the Holy Spirit (note: this was the giving of the betrothal gifts, the “earnest” of the Spirit-- this was not a type of the wedding feast itself…..) 


      The Jewish man would then go a build a place for them to live once married

      Jesus Christ said, "I go to prepare a place for you."


      The Jewish man then goes for his bride at
midnight with a host of people, shouting and blowing the shofar for his bride

      The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God:


      The Jewish man and wife then spend 7 days alone to consummate the marriage in their wedding chamber

      The Lord and his bride, the church, shall spend 7 years alone to consummate the marriage, during the 7 years of tribulation

 

This Last Supper included the sharing of the betrothal cup of wine, and hence Paul says we are betrothed to Him.    Now, this meal was given as a remembrance of Christ’s death “until He comes”.

 

1st Cor. 10:16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? 17 For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.

 

1Co 11:24 -

And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.

1Cor 11:23 -

After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.

 

The breaking of the bread was to be in remembrance of the breaking of His body for us.   And there is the story about the two deciples after His resurrection, who met Him on the road, and “recognized” Him, when He broke the bread:

 

 

Luke 24:13-35

13 And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs. 14 And they talked together of all these things which had happened. 15 And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them. 16 But their eyes were holden that they should not know him. 17 And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad? 18 And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days? 19 And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people: 20 And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him. 21 But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done. 22 Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre; 23 And when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive. 24 And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said: but him they saw not. 25 Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: 26 Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? 27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. 28 And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and he made as though he would have gone further. 29 But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them. 30 And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. 31 And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. 32 And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures? 33 And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them, 34 Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon. 35 And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread.

 

Is this how we will “recognize” our Lord at the rapture, after He breaks the bread of the communion feast?  Note that He “vanished” out of their sight, pre-figuring a rapture………..

 

Jesus set an example for our admonition, that we should serve one another; He Himself washed the feet of the deciples at the Last Supper.     In warning the church of Laodecia, He said “I stand at the door”, and:

Re 3:20 -

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

 

Here He refers to “a supper” – did He mean our meeting with Him in the air to celebrate the marriage feast?   rapture ?  

 

 

WHAT ABOUT THE “MIDNIGHT” SHOUT?

There are several references or “types” of midnight occurrences, which may have rapture overtones.

 

Job referred to midnight and “death”:

Job  34:20

In a moment shall they die, and the people shall be troubled at midnight, and pass away: and the mighty shall be taken away without hand.   (rapture?)

 

In Acts, prisoners were set free at midnight: (Acts 16:25)

25 And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. 26 And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed.   rapture ? 

 

Also, there was a “midnight” cry in Egypt on the very night of Passover, when the first-born were slain, but the Israelites were spared………..(raptured?) 

 

Also, Paul in Acts 20:7, “WHEN THE DECIPLES CAME TOGETHER TO BREAK BREAD, preached to them, READY TO DEPART (RAPTURE?) ON THE MORROW, AND CONTINUED HIS SPEECH UNTIL “MIDNIGHT”.   IS THIS A TYPED ALLUSION TO THE FACT THAT THEY KNEW PASSOVER WOULD BE THE TIME OF THE RAPTURE? 

 

 

So, when there is a shout at midnight that “behold the bridegroom cometh”,   could that not very well be on the midnight of Passover??? 

 

 

1st Corinthians 11:23 For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: 24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in F38 remembrance of me. 25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. 26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.

 

IN OTHER WORDS, THIS SUPPER WAS A “FEAST” THAT WE WERE TO OBSERVE (THE ONLY “CHRISTIAN” FEAST THAT WAS COMMANDED BY OUR LORD…..”   AND WE WERE TO KEEP THIS FEAST UNTIL “HE COMES”…..

1CoR 5:8 -

Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

 

 

 

 

We know that the Jewish feasts were fulfilled to the day and hour and minute of God’s “set time” for their rehearsals.  What about our feast?  Will it be “fulfilled”; is it a “set time”?   First of all, did Jesus ever refer to this feast being “fulfilled”?  Yes, He did:  He said He would not drink the cup of His wine until it be FULFILLED in His Father’s Kingdom. 

 

Luke 22:15 And he said unto them, With desire F49 I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: 16 For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. 17 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves: 18 For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come. 19 And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. 20 Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.

 

So, here we have a Christian “feast” that the Lord Himself says will be “fulfilled” in the Kingdom of His Father, and He says that in our keeping of this remembrance feast, He will be absent from us “until it be FULFILLED”.   He is referring to this very feast, this Last Supper, that will be “fulfilled”.    Will He fulfill this commanded feast for us, in the timely way that the Jewish feasts have been kept?   He said to the deciples in Matthew 26:2,

“Ye know that AFTER TWO DAYS (2000 years) is the feast of the Passover……..”  (the rapture?) 

In the book of John, and his account of our Lord’s words to His “betrothed” at this Last Supper, we read about how He is the vine and we are the branches, a beautiful metaphor of how we are to maintain our closeness with Him; that this is bridal talk is clear from the Psalm:

Ps 128:3 -

Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table.

 

Also, by closely studying His prayer in the garden of Gesthemani, we find Him asking His Father: 

 

ohn 17:24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.

 

And that place is where He promised He would go to prepare for us:

 

Joh 14:2 -

In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

Joh 14:3 -

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

 

 

 

ARE THERE “TYPES” THAT APPEAR IN THIS LAST SUPPER STORY, and the betrayal events directly afterwards that night,  WHICH WOULD POINT TO “FULFILLMENT”, “RAPTURE”, THE “COMING OF THE ANTICHRIST”, ETC.,????

As we will discover, this Last Supper feast is filled with types and symbolism and HUGE HINTS by our Lord about the end times.   Leonardo DaVinci in his painting of the Last Supper cannot come anywhere close to that tapestry/painting which our Lord Himself gave to us in His words and descriptions of that evening meal.   But first, let’s look at another wedding feast described in the New Testament, as a type of this feast of our Lord. 

 

The first “type” of a wedding feast is that mentioned as the first of His miracles (which manifested His GLORY). 

John 2:1-11

1 And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: 2 And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. 3 And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. 4 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come. 5 His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.

 

 

We first notice that this marriage feast takes place on “the third day”; that is, after 2000 years.   And Jesus and His deciples were “called”

Re 17:14 -

for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.

 

Next, Jesus refers to His mother as “woman” Why didn’t He call her “mother”……a woman in the Bible refers to a church whether apostate or faithful.   So, in effect, He is saying, by using His mother as a “type”……..“church, what have I to do with thee (now), for MY HOUR is not come yet.”

 

Which leads us directly to this issue of “my hour”……what hour? Did Jesus speak of “His hour”, that evening?????  YES HE DID !!

Mt 26:40 -

And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?

Mt 26:45 -

Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

Mt 26:55 -

he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.

Mr 14:37 -

And he cometh, and findeth them sleeping, and saith unto Peter, Simon, sleepest thou? couldest not thou watch one hour?

Lu 22:14 -

And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him.

Joh 7:30 -

Then they sought to take him: but no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come.

Mr 14:41 -

And he cometh the third time, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: it is enough, the hour is come; behold, the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

Joh 12:23 -

And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified.

Joh 12:27 -

Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.

Joh 13:1 -

Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.

Joh 16:32 -

Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.

Joh 17:1 -

These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:

 

wow !!!    Is this “the hour” that He told “the woman” at the Cana wedding would come?  And that “that hour” would be the hour for the wine?   (Last Supper).   Another small detail about the wedding at Cana, is that this first miracle demonstrated His “glory”.  

Joh 2:11 -

This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.

 

Above, in John 17:1, Jesus asks His Father to “glorify your Son”, so the marriage in Cana is certainly a type of this Last Supper.   And His hour had come this very evening, after the betrothal feast with His deciples, and again His glory would be manifested thereafter, only this time around He will show all  His saints that same glory, of our bridegroom, when He comes, and fulfilling our joy in Him:  and will show us the riches of His glory:  

Ro 9:23 -

And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,

 

1Thess 2:12 -

That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto His kingdom and glory.

1Pet 4:13 -

But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

Jude 1:24 -

Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,

 

 

 

 

 

 

WHAT ELSE IS THERE ABOUT A PARTICULAR HOUR?????

Are we not often told about an “hour” which SHOULD be known by His Christian church???   YES WE ARE…..

Mt 24:42 -

Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

Mt 24:44 -

Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.

Mt 24:50 -

The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of

Lu 12:39 -

And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through.

Lu 12:40 -

Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.

Lu 12:46 -

The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.

 

 

 

Notice that no man could lay hands on Him until “His hour” had come:

Joh 7:30 -

Then they sought to take him: but no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come.

Joh 8:20 -

These words spake Jesus in the treasury, as he taught in the temple: and no man laid hands on him; for his hour was not yet come.

 

 

Now, this particular “hour” is mentioned to two of the churches which He addresses in the book of Revelation:  these churches are to focus upon a particular “hour”, and that hour would be the hour that He comes, and the hour just preceeding the hour of temptation (tribulation).  

Re 3:3 -

Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.

Re 3:10 -

Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.

 

 

 

So, this “hour” must be a very important hour or there wouldn’t have been such a big deal made about it in the Scriptures, so we should well take careful heed of this “hour”.   WHAT  HAPPENED IN THIS HOUR?   TYPES, TYPES, TYPES !!

 

Starting with His deciples,  as you can see from the above verses, He admonishes to “WATCH” with Him.   FOR ONE HOUR!  This was “His hour”, and He wanted them to be awake for it, but they kept falling ASLEEP.   Now, how many times in the Scriptures are we told to “wait, and WATCH”, and be AWAKE……….