Over
the years this website has been a real benefit to me.
Frequently I find encouragement to keep my heart set on Jesus
and my hope pointed to His return.
I
have found this "watching" to be a refining process. In retrospect,
if I had known how long the wait would be, I am not sure my lack of
“purity of heart” back then would have enabled me to press on.
There is a definite benefit in not knowing the future sometimes.
In this
article I am going to bring some ideas to the Five-Doves table,
so to speak, that I think contain a profound insight from
God. I say, "I think" to you, because it is the Spirit's place
to reveal to each person and so I am not going to presume to be His
voice to you. Also, I could very well be wrong. [Of course,
my wife and two daughters would be “utterly shocked” by that idea, I
assure you].
In
the early years, when I came across an insightful article/website on
prophecy, I misinterpreted the Biblical insight(s) as being an indication
that the particular author had “completely” figured out the
mystery of Christ's return. I
grew up in church and so I was very familiar with the scriptures.
When a particular author started to point to the depths of God’s
wisdom in sections that I had previously become bored with, wrongly
perceiving them as not affording any real value to me, my excitement
was rekindled to study.
As
some of you have experienced, the yo-yo process of watching dates come
and go forced me to refine this misplaced dependence and bring
“just a fuzz more” wisdom to bear.
In
response/reaction to dates that came and went, some other authors then
stepped forward and presented their Biblical theories as having
“the truest and most complete understanding". In my groping/study,
I was impressed, and even amazed, at the level of scholarship in
some of these alternative theories.
They were tackling the “watching for Jesus’ return” with sincere
passion. Again, with misplaced
dependence, I concluded that a new and insightful theory must then "be
it". Of course, dates still came and went.
Over
time, I have come to the conclusion that God does not reveal a complete
picture, or even the majority of details, of ‘what is to come’ to a
single member of the body. Such an idea denies
our interdependence as members, and our ultimate dependence upon the
Spirit of God. Paul stressed that there is one Body. This
is the greater Spirit Reality within which my understanding
of being a single member has its true context.
A person may have a clear piece of the prophetic puzzle, but
it will only be a piece and not the whole, no matter what they may seem
to present. And this applies
to what I offer here. The
above also affords me a sense of obligation to share the following as
best as I can and I hope it also serves as an encouragement to those
who tend to only read sites such as this.
The body of Christ needs you to share what you can, before God.
As
a result of being confronted with the above, over the years I began
to try and keep some of these various theories before me. There
are a number of you that have written insightful things that I believe
included revelations from God.
As the stack of articles grew thicker, my difficulty was keeping
these ideas before me when, at the same time, bits and pieces of
each obviously contradicted portions in the other articles. The
temptation was to throw out whole articles because parts of them did
not seem to be Biblically solid, or they appeared to be too divergent
from the overview I was attempting to put together. However, it
felt like the Spirit would not let me toss them.
My Great Teacher was jealous that my heart stayed dependent upon
Him as I struggled to find resolution to surface, yet significant, paradoxes.
I
think an aspect of my gifting from the Spirit of God includes the ability
to discern that something in what another presents contains some level
of revelation from God, though others may reject it outright.
Their spiritual insight(s) may not necessarily be found in their
word for word presentation as much as it is present in a deeper, more
intuitive, wisdom. I also
know that what is presented is often not the complete picture, that
it has significant holes. The
Spirit of God seems to keep these intuitive “holes” before me over years
and even decades. Slowly,
with pieces of His revelation from His Spirit, and in part through other
members, Five-Dovers and others included, some of the holes slowly get
filled in. I think that
what I have written in this article has followed this process, especially
as it relates to understanding Jesus’ return and comprehending the wisdom
of God in the sequence of His rapture events.
Before
I share what follows, I want to exhort you to take what I am writing
in the spirit of what Elihu told Job and his three friends, that the
weight of what I have to say should not weigh heavily upon anyone.
In a way, I am giving you a feather in sending this article. Take
this feather, go over it several times until you have a good understanding
of what I am trying to convey, and then give the whole thing to God.
He may decide that it simply needs to float away and you are not to
concern yourself with any of it. Or, He may decide that one or
more piece of down on the feather is something you need to keep before
you. He will pluck it off and hand it back to you. That
piece of down will then have the weight of a bowling ball in your spirit. So please, do not presume that I expect
you to embrace this article as a whole.
-------------------------------------------------
As
I studied and contemplated the feasts of Israel,
I observed on particular feasts that God did a similar thing more than
once. This is not a new
idea for Five-Dovers. My
focus however, at the time and for a number of reasons, was on Pentecost.
I observed a pattern in past Pentecosts that I think can be projected
forward into our near future.
At
the first Pentecost on Mount Sinai God called a subgroup,
in this case the tribe of Israel,
from out of a larger group,
the nations. God provided
for Israel
to relate to Him with a greater revelation of Himself and also provided
for a much closer walk, wherein the Creator was going to dwell among
them in a tabernacle, give them His law, and relate to them as the covenant
God, Yahweh. At that encounter, there was fire on the mountain
revealing the manifest presence of the Holy One in the created dimension.
In
the book of Acts God does a similar thing on another Pentecost.
His manifest presence is revealed again in what looks like fire, but
with the fire separating and resting upon each disciple. Again,
a subgroup of people, the
120 upper room disciples [the embryonic church-body] were being called
out of a larger group (the
prior subgroup by the way - the nation of Israel/Judah), and
given an even greater revelation of God and also an ever closer
walk. The covenant God,
who had dwelt amongst the nation of Israel
in a tabernacle/temple, would now, in the person of the Spirit of Jesus,
dwell within each person. However,
the manifestation of the Spirit of Jesus within was only a down payment
wherewith we still must walk by faith in the spirit realities as revealed
by God.
I
began to consider; was it possible that each of the feast days, God's
appointed times, not only had a single and also a double fulfillment,
but perhaps additional fulfillments beyond these, even into our immediate
future? With respect to
Pentecost, could this feast have yet additional fulfillments ECHOING
THE SAME DYNAMIC ABOVE, namely, that a subgroup
will be provided greater revelation/relationship with God from out of
a larger group which had
been the prior subgroup?
The
shadow cast by each feast points to God performing a unique,
revealing work, in times past and into our future.
Just because one of us can identify a single past fulfillment
does not mean that the feast has fulfilled its only “appointment”.
God may continue to do a particular type of revelatory work many
times on each of the feasts. Ultimately
I realize that these many revelations of God in each feast culminate
in our being able to grow in our intimate knowledge of Jesus.
Jesus is the substance of the shadows.
To Him are all things.
He is the Omega. In
presenting this I am not suggesting a keeping of the feasts.
I am looking for insights that will result in my going to the
heights with Jesus in our relationship.
I think many of today’s “watchers” have a similar heart for this.
My
thinking is that the third subgroup
will be the matured sons and daughters of God, or the bride, with the
larger group being the church-body,
which also had been a subgroup
in the first century. On a future Pentecost, I believe that this
bride group will realize a fullness of the Spirit beyond the church-body’s
current “down payment”. (Please
observe that this point I am not yet focusing on a rapture
event).
The
bride group will go from having a down-payment level of the manifestation
of the Spirit of God within them to a full manifestation.
They will likely finally be able to clearly hear from God like
Jesus was able, including what the Father wanted in each situation.
The spirit dimension realities will dominate their awareness finally,
instead of the sensory world around them.
The mortal will be swallowed up by immortality so the bride group
might also be given a glorified body at this time as the power of the
Spirit of God within, which resurrected the body of Jesus, erupts forth
whereby the immortality of God within consumes/swallows up the mortal-ness
of their body. They might then be able to appear to others and then leave
in a moment, going back and forth from the invisible spirit dimension
to the visible created dimension as the Lord leads.
I
am speculating in part in the above but I am trying to make a point
that to the same degree that what God did for the disciples in the upper
room exceeded what He did for the individual Israelites at Sinai, so
to what God will do for the bride at a future Pentecost will also exceed
the current church-body’s revelation to an equal extreme. And all this
will before a rapture event.
The interpretive assumption often is that this fullness of the
manifestation of God for the bride group, and a bride group rapture
event are to happen at the same time.
It is my opinion that it is not likely that these happen at the
same time.
Now,
God revealed Himself to the tribe of Israel
at the first Pentecost without initially providing the
same to the other nations. However,
individuals within the surrounding nations then had a future opportunity
to become part of the nation of Israel
much like Ruth did. Similarly,
God entered the 120 disciples/followers in the upper room without
initially providing the same to the entire nation of Israel/Judah.
However, individuals of Israel then had
a future opportunity to become part of the new church-body as the 120
began to testify by the Spirit much like the 3000 did.
So also I think that God may reveal Himself even more fully to
the bride group without initially providing the same to the rest
of the church-body at large. However,
individual members of the body of Christ will have opportunity to enter
into the same bridal revelation/Spirit fullness based upon the witness
of the Spirit and of the bride group.
I
think of what Paul said in I Cor 11: 19 where he expressed how it was
necessary that a kind of separation take place within the church-body
of today so that it may be revealed as to “which of you has the Lord’s
approval.” (NIV). I cannot
help but wonder if such a separation is already beginning to take place
as the bride is being separated from the larger church-body group, at
least on the heart level. As
some of you are fully aware, some members of the body of Christ have
their hearts set upon knowing and seeing and loving (or basking in the
Love of) Jesus alone, and some have their hearts on other things, even
good things, and some of which even have a lot of “God and Jesus and
church words” attached.
Before
I can go to ideas about how the various rapture times actually fit together
and also tie into the above, I need to paint a brief overview of some
history.
God
initially moved to bring about His Kingdom within the created/visible
dimension starting with Adam. Over time, the population of the
world (not nations at this pre-Noah time) fully rejected God and His
Kingdom, as presented by Adam and others of the Godly line.
This rebellion became fully manifested in their rejection of
Noah’s message. Ultimately,
they joined together, or were intermeshed with, fallen angels.
This group then experienced God’s judgment by water.
This water judgment was afforded a complete decimation/ending.
However, God’s future fire judgments are both for refining and
destroying.
After
the flood judgment, God again initiated that mankind bring about His
Kingdom, starting with Noah, and without the demonic contamination this
time. In other words, mankind
as a whole got a second opportunity.
However, by the time of the tower
of Babel, mankind
again rejected God’s Kingdom rule.
They wanted power in a world government centered upon themselves
and not upon a Kingdom centered upon the Creator God and His ways as
presented by the priestly order of Melchizedek.
This
first age of mankind, which included the pre- and post-flood periods,
proceeded to the time of the scattering of mankind at Babel,
and perhaps even up until Abram. However,
this first age was "paused" at
the scattering, or at the time of Abram.
I suggest that three-and-a-half-years
are still pending from this first age.
The last, and yet still future, three-and-a-half-years from this
mankind/nations age will include God’s judgment directed at the peoples/nations
of the world. The appropriate judgment did not
take place after the scattering from the Babel
project but was put on hold. These
three and a half years will take place in the final three-and-a-half-years
of what is commonly referred to as the seven year tribulation, which
include God’s refining wrath judgments.
God
then initiated bringing His Kingdom to earth through a subgroup
from out of the larger group
of mankind, or the nations, and at the Sinai Pentecost set aside
the tribe of Israel
to Himself. However, this little nation eventually also rejected
bringing about God’s Kingdom.
This was fully manifested
when the leadership rejected King Messiah riding into Jerusalem
upon a young donkey. They wanted power in a government centered
upon themselves and not a Kingdom centered upon the Servant-Lordship
and Salvation of God’s chosen One.
The length of this ‘Israel/Judah age’ is also not completed.
At the time of Jesus’ crucifixion it was paused
as well, with the appropriate refining judgment being put on hold as
well.
I
present that the crucifixion of Jesus took place in the middle of the
70th week of Daniel and I believe this idea may be interwoven
into and partially revealed in the prophecy of Daniel 9 and specifically
verse 27. In this verse
the ‘golden thread’ prophecy pointing to Jesus is “interwoven” with
the ‘dark thread’ prophecy, so to speak, of Satan’s false christ.
The gold thread is: In the midst of the week Jesus is
crucified putting an end to sacrifice by His own sacrifice and
thus confirming the covenant to Abraham wherein all the peoples
of the world would ultimately be blessed.
The dark thread is: Satan attempts to have his man fulfill this
same scripture but by confirming a (false) covenant, for seven
years before the world, and then in the midst of that week
violating it by setting up an abomination that causes desolation.
Those of you who have been
seasoned in the study of prophecies in the Old Testament can appreciate
that some passages can be complex like this (if in doubt about this,
try studying Isaiah). That
is not to say that I expect you to accept my interpretation on that
basis however.
The
last three and a half years of Daniel’s 70th week were
also put on hold for the Israel/Judah nation, and will take place in
the first three-and-a-half-years of the tribulation.
The judgments sanctioned
by God during this future time for Israel/Judah are DIFFERENT than what
will take place in the final three and a half years directed against
the nations.
Going
back to my little history overview, in the first century God then initiated,
again on a Pentecost, to bring His Kingdom to earth through a subgroup
of Israel/Judah, the church-body. This time, He who dwelt
amongst the nation of Israel/Judah would now indwell His set apart ones,
yet provide only a down-payment-level of His manifest presence.
However, the church-body has also failed to bring about the kingdom.
They wanted power in a movement that centered around themselves and
their visible structures, programs and hierarchies/memberships and not
a Kingdom centered upon, in
this church-body age, the Life and Love of the Spirit of
Jesus within them.
This
third age, the church-body age, is not completed as of yet and will
also have a final three and a half year block of time.
This three-and-a-half-year
period will take place completely before the above referenced
seven year tribulation which contains the last three-and-a-half-years
of the Israel/Judah age and the last three-and-a-half-years of the mankind/nations
age.
The
above three sets of three-and-a-half-year times gives you a ten
year timeframe (does anyone’s ears perk up hearing the number ten?)
of three different judgment seasons relative to the progressive closing
of each of the three ages. Each
of these ages will be closed prior to Christ setting foot upon earth.
In each of these judgment seasons, folks within the various larger
groups, and who have ears to hear, will have opportunity to finally
be able to hear once their heart-level dependence upon idols is finally
broken.
It
is my opinion that the idolatry and rebellion of the church-body group
is different than the idolatry and rebellion of the Israel/Judah group,
and both of which are also different than the idolatry and rebellion
of the nations group. So,
each end of the three ages will require a different type of refining/destroying
fire-judgment.
Succinctly,
I think that each age has a final Sabbath of years, yet for some reason
God has set things up in such a way that this last week of years gets
split in half for each age, with the latter halves all falling in a
row in the last days. This
“week of time” structure is something God established from the creation
week. It is one of His
ways from which we can know some of the timing of what God will do within
the created dimension. At
the end of each age, after the final “week of time” for that age, will
be a “new-creation eighth day” where God will “show up” with a revelation
of Himself that is beyond anything that we can wrap our minds around,
including an age-specific rapture event.
It
is almost as if God and Satan, at the end of each age’s last three-and-a-half-years,
both get to do something that has been agreed to from long ago, perhaps
from the flood. The Son
of God will invade the created dimension, and in particular Satan’s
kingdom, and take those who have embraced God’s age-specific revelation
of Himself. This removal
includes both the dead and living in the rapture event for that particular
age. And Satan then gets
to “mark/claim” those who have fully embraced his rebellion and become
his sons by amalgamating their souls with the demonic.
I think this applies to those who, because of many, many choices
each day and over a long period of time have so allowed their personalities
to be twisted that they actually enjoy/thrive on rape, abuse, torture,
terror, murder, etc.
However,
there are still a “leftover” group of people, after an age-specific
rapture event, and likely a majority, who remain and who have not fully
given themselves over neither to the revelation of God nor to the rebellion
of Satan. These neutral-ones,
or lukewarm-ones, having been left behind at the prior rapture, will
then have to go into the next age’s last three-and-a-half- weeks of
years. By God sanctioning
this, these folks will be giving another opportunity to embrace God’s
message. However, because
of their prior hardness, their hearts can only now be able to comprehend
and potentially embrace a lesser/simpler revelation of Him.
Yet it is a revelation of God nonetheless and affords them opportunity
to enter into some level of intimacy/relationship with God.
This is God’s mercy to them.
In
other words, if a person will not embrace Jesus
as Life
and Love, then perhaps they may at least embrace Him
as Lord.
However, if they do not embrace Jesus
as Lord, then perhaps they may at least embrace Him
as Salvation. However,
if they do not embrace Jesus
as Salvation, then perhaps they may at least humble themselves
before the Creator
God and treat others with kindness according to the law of
God written on their conscience.
However, if they do not humble themselves before the Creator
God, then they simply manifest the fact that they have given
themselves over fully to Satan and his rebellion and are sons of his.
Instead of becoming one in spirit with Jesus as was available
because of the redemption accomplished only in Christ, they have actually
become one in spirit with the demonic and their only destiny is to go
to where the demonic will ultimately be sent. There
is nothing in them to move towards God any more than what is in the
demonic. However, this
may not be the end of the story for them.
There may be insight in the Jubilee in that those who rejected
the redemption of a kinsman redeemer still were released from their
debts in the year of Jubilee.
I do not want to go into this any further in this article; it
would be too big of a tangent.
Thinking
in terms of an individual/creature as they stand in bare feet before
the Creator, there seems to be an order of revelations that a person
progresses through before God and this order of revelations is parallel
to the revelatory progression of the God’s three ages for the human
race.
The
first is embracing and relating to Him as Creator God, and attempting
to live according to the image of God etched within them (including
a lifestyle of divine love) though initially, because of the fall, they
do not have God’s “likeness”, or God as a source of Life within. They
will not be able fulfill the law of love written on their consciences,
a lifestyle of divine love they only vaguely sense they are meant to
live by, because their spirits are void of God.
At some point, as a person walks by faith in the revelation of
God to them in their spirits, God will enter them and make them new
creations in Christ. At
what point that happens for each ‘faith walker’ is a mystery within
the Godhead that is ultimately none of my business.
The
second flows from the above. One
becomes hungry for and moves into and begins embracing and relating
to God as the Just and Holy One, and experiences a longing for forgiveness
for the sins that has been revealed to that person up to that point,
and thus ultimately they cling to Him as Salvation-Redeemer as God’s
revelation to them continues.
The
third flows from the former two.
One becomes hungry for and moves into and begins to relate to
God as King, as Lord, the One who is worthy to be served and to be represented
before others in holiness.
The
fourth flows from the former three.
One becomes hungry for and moves into relating to God as All
in All, or Lover, who is worthy of being centered upon with one’s entire
being. Christ, not themselves,
is their heart’s longing.
Each
of these revelations is not hierarchical (steps on a staircase where
each tread one ascends requires moving away from the prior steps) but
holiarchical. Picture a
mirror-like pond into which a stone is tossed.
The progressions of circular waves that emanate from the center
continue to expand, as the earlier, outermost rings still contain the
later, innermost rings. I
am still expanding in my comprehension of God as Creator, clinging to
Jesus as my propitiation and the solidness of His covenant, resting
in King Yahweh who reigns, and enjoying my Lover God.
Going
back to the end of the ‘three ages’ discussion, those members of the
church-body group will have opportunity to be raptured as part of the
bride subgroup if they will
just listen to and receive the wooing of the Spirit within them to center
their hearts upon Jesus
as their Life and only Lover. This “love God with all of
your being” message will also be expressed in bits and pieces by the
bride group. But not everyone
of the church-body group will be open to this, and definitely if they
have still not embraced from the heart Jesus as Lord. Some will have ears to hear and
will truly hear, and others will not.
It is their choice as to what degree they want to embrace the
available revelation of God.
But
after the bride group rapture,
those of the church-body group who did not to receive the revelation
of Jesus
as Lover (All in All) will be left behind to be refined for
the last three and a half years of the church-age.
During this pre-tribulation judgment season directed at
the church-body, the church’s heart idols will be destroyed by God.
Perhaps this will be when
Satan will stage a pseudo-apocalypse wherein, speculatively, the world
economy might collapse amidst other forms of global suffering/chaos,
and thus paving the wave for Satan’s prophet and his ruler.
After
this church-body judgment time, which brings us to the end of the last
three-and- -half-year church age, the members of this church body group
will have been refined to relate to Jesus, not so much to Lover,
as was the case with the bride group, but simply to Jesus
as Lord (repenting of the sin
of the church-body today who are determine to serve another master).
This is because of the choices they had made during their lifetimes
in which they only embraced the revelation of the Spirit up to a point.
At
the end of the last three and a half years of the church-body age, this
remaining church-body will be raptured and caught up together
to be with the bride group, and thus not enter any part of Daniel’s
70th week for Israel/Judah.
As
an aside, I cannot help but wonder if the bride group, who have now
been married to Jesus at that point, yet who will not have begun the
seven ‘day’ marriage celebration, are actually the “dead in Christ”
ones referred to in I Thess. 4:17, in the same way Paul referred to
himself in Galatians 6:14 as not only being dead to the world but that
the world was also dead to him.
When Jesus is in your heart to be your “All in All”, you are
laboring to rest in your co-crucifixion (and co-burial, co-resurrection,
co-ascension, and co-enthronement) with Jesus.
This spiritual-reality interpretation of the bride group being
the “dead in Christ” who rise first DOES
NOT NEGATE the parallel created-dimension interpretation that each
of the three raptures will also have physically dead ones being
resurrected to join those still alive.
The created dimension always reflects/follows the spirit dimension.
The two go hand in hand throughout the scriptures.
All
of the nation of Israel/Judah around the world after the bride rapture
will have opportunity to be raptured as part of the church/body group,
if they will but listen to and embrace from their hearts the revelation
of the Spirit of Jesus
as Lord. This
message of resting in and living from Jesus as Lord will be proclaimed
in bits and pieces by the church-body (made up of both Jews and Gentiles)
as it is being refined itself.
Not everyone in the nation of Israel/Judah will want this, especially
if they have not yet embraced Jesus
as Salvation.
Some of the nation of Israel
will have ears to hear and will truly hear, and others will not. It
is their choice as to what degree they want to embrace the available
revelation of God.
After
the church group rapture, some/many
of the nation of Israel/Judah will be left behind to be refined for
the last half of Daniel’s 70th week, or the first
three and a half years of the tribulation.
During this judgment season Israel’s
heart idols will also be destroyed.
However, the two prophets and the increasing number of witnesses
from each tribe will be present to help them to receive their Messiah,
Jesus
as Salvation (repenting of the
same sin of the nation of Israel
during the former leaderships’ rebellion).
After this time, at the final three and a half years of Daniel’s
70th week, some will be taken at the Israel
rapture along with the two witnesses and the 144,000.
Perhaps this Israel
group will only be of the 144,000, I do not know.
This rapture will take place at the midpoint of the tribulation.
The
rest of mankind, within the nations, will have had opportunity to be
raptured as part of the nation of Israel
group if they would have just but listened to and received the messages
of the prophets and 144,000 witnesses so as to humble themselves before
the Jesus
as Salvation. This
message of resting in and living from Jesus
as Salvation will be proclaimed in bits and pieces by God’s
two prophets and the 12 tribe witnesses as the nation of Israel/Judah
is being refined themselves. Not everyone in the nations of the world
will want this, especially if they have not yet embraced the reality
of the Creator
God.
Some of the world nations will have ears to hear and will
truly hear, and others will not.
It is their choice as to what degree they want to embrace the
available revelation of God.
After
the Israel group rapture, some/many
of the rest of mankind/nations will be left behind to be refined for
the last three and a half years of the nations-age, the last three and
a half years of the tribulation.
During this judgment season, the nations’ heart idols will be
destroyed. After this final
wrath judgment from God, some of those of the nations will have humbled
themselves before the Creator
God (repenting of the same sin
of the nations during the tower
of Babel rebellion) and this time manifesting this
by serving those remaining of Israel/Judah, some of whom have been hidden
at Petra.
This servant group will be esteemed by Jesus as those of the
sheep group. Those that
have continued to harden their hearts through all of the revelations
of God and the subsequent rapture opportunities will in the end be judged
to be of the goats by Jesus.
In
a nutshell, I think there are three rapture-like events, all of which
are prior to Jesus’ returning to earth at the end of what is commonly
understood to be the tribulation.
This can only be accepted if one comprehends the place of God’s
three ages and how he closes each by placing the three-and-a-half-year
ends in a row.
I
also think that each of the raptures, along with the final coming of
Jesus, are reflected in the harvests of Israel
and are an aid to know when each rapture event will happen.
I also believe each rapture event, along with the final coming
of Jesus, is reflected in the four night watches.
The
bride group I think will be raptured at the same time Jesus was resurrected,
as reflected in the initial barley First Fruits group that was raised
with Jesus at His resurrection.
I do not think that this initial group at the time of Christ’s
resurrection is the final fulfillment of this First Fruits Feast’s appointment.
The reason for this is what Paul expressed in Romans 6: 5 where
he taught that we will be united with Him in His resurrection. I
think this applies to the bride group.
The
presentation of the first fruits barley harvest is a picture of this
bride group. The barley
is able to be separated from its chaff only by use of the wind, a picture
of the bride’s sensitivity to the leading and revelation of the Spirit
in their lives, so as to experience His refining now.
Per I Cor 11:31, if we judge ourselves we will not be judged.
I think the timing of this rapture will be at the end of the
first watch, or 9:00 pm Jerusalem
time.
CAPS
makes a good point about the possibility that because we have had contact
with a dead body, our own mortal body per Paul, then we will have to
wait until the second month, per Number 9, to celebrate/experience the
Passover appointment. I
think the bride’s First Fruits rapture is part of this one month delay
as well. At this time I
am still not sure when the second month of this current year began per
the new moon sightings that take place in Jerusalem.
For some reason the two sites I rely upon to know when each Hebrew
calendar month begins, Michael Rood’s and the Karaites’, have not posted
their new moon sightings this month.
The
church-body group I think will be raptured possibly at Pentecost.
This is where the appointments of Pentecost overlap with one
of the three raptures. The
presentation of the first fruits wheat harvest is a picture of this
group with the waving of the two loaves signifying the church which
contains both Israelites (Jews) and Gentiles.
The leaven, a picture of sin, has been killed in the baking process.
I understand that wheat is separated from its chaff by harsh
threshing. The grain has
life within, designed and placed there by God, yet is not easily separated
from its chaff. It takes
harsh circumstances to accomplish this and I think will take place in
the three-and-a-half-years prior to the tribulation. However, the wheat
grain is much harder than the barley grain and so is also designed by
God to withstand the threshing pressure.
As
an aside, perhaps the bride group can be very loosely compared to the
sensitive and weeping personality of the prophet Jeremiah, and the church-body
group can be loosely compared to the strong headed personality of the
prophet Ezekiel. God definitely
related to these two men differently.
I
think the timing of this church-body rapture will be at the end of the
second watch, or midnight (See Matthew 25:1.
Note in these verses that the Groom at this rapture-like event
has already wedded the bride yet is just about to start the marriage
celebration feast and will permit the wise virgins to enter (those individuals
of the nation of Israel/Judah who embrace the Jew and Gentile church-body’s
message about Jesus as Salvation).
The five unwise virgins (of the nation of Israel/Judah who do
not embrace the Jew and Gentile church-body’s message) will have to
enter the final half of Daniel’s 70th week.
The
nation of Israel/Judah group I think will be raptured possibly at a
feast during the olive harvest time of year in the fall. (This
is opinion/speculation) I
think of how the olive is harvested.
From what I understand, the tree is violently shaken.
The ripe olives fall to the ground while others are left for
others to pick as they need. I
think this may point to how God will allow, during the last half of
Daniel’s 70th week, to have the world violently shake Israel.
Those “ripe unto God” will let go of their idea of “the nation”
and give themselves over to God along with the two prophets and the
144,000. They may even
be part of the 144,000 themselves.
I speculate that this third rapture will take place at the end
of the third watch, or 3 am.
The
nations group, who did not join themselves to Israel
and experience the last/final rapture, will have to endure the refining
of the final wrath judgments of God during the rest of the tribulation
and before the coming of Jesus to the earth.
Some will repent during that final three-and-a-half-year time
and serve the “left behind Israelites”, demonstrating themselves to
be members of the sheep group.
Those who reject assisting this remaining/hidden portion of Israel
will only have the wrath of God to face, since they have revealed themselves
as being part of the goat group and have rejected all of the revelations
of God to date during the all three age ends.
I wonder if Jesus will finally reveal Himself at the end of the
final night watch, or 6 am, just as morning begins to dawn and the curse
upon the earth is soon to be lifted.
At
the end of the ages, God will finally be able to bring about His Kingdom
through His bride. The
bride, after the wedding and marriage supper, will drink directly from
Jesus and in turn will feed the purified Jew and Gentile church-body.
The church-body will then in turn feed the purified nation of
Israel/Judah, who will then in turn feed the sheep group entering the
millennial earthly kingdom
of God.
I
also think that the bride may fulfill her role from the New Jerusalem,
and meet regularly to teach and minister to and advise the Jew and Gentile
church-body like they are designed to do, while never having to leave
per the promise expressed by Jesus in Revelation 3:12.
I
think the Jew and Gentile church-body may fulfill their role by going
back and forth from the New Jerusalem to the city of Jerusalem
on earth. Recall Jacob’s
ladder where the fleshly Jacob, not-yet-named Israel,
was asleep and saw a vision of angels ascending and descending (going
from the heavenly spirit dimension to the earthly created dimension?).
I wonder if some of the ascending/descending angels in that dream/vision
were missing because of the prior angelic rebellion.
I then speculate if the church-body group will fill the open
slots, so to speak, and minister to the sleeping nation of Israel/Judah,
like they were originally called to, on earth during the millennial
reign.
I
believe that the Israel/Judah group’s destiny is to live on the earth,
and bring about/expand the kingdom amongst the nations, like they were
originally called to do, with the kingdom government centered in Jerusalem.
They will be a light to the nations and glorify the Messiah from
the land
of Israel.
The
sheep group may fulfill their role by living out a joyous life of celebration
throughout the earth, with each people group exploring their unique
cultural-ness, so as to be able to live before God and praise Him in
true uniqueness.
In
the kingdom to come set up I think one purpose of why the various groups
are arranged as they are is that each of the purified groups functions
as veils to the previous
group. They limit the other
groups’ exposure to the various Revelations of God before each of them
are truly ready. I think
this idea/concept is illustrated well by one scene in a Stephen Donaldson
science-fiction trilogy I read many years ago.
In the story, towards the end of one of the books, one of the
main characters, a bit greedy for glory if I remember correctly, took
to themselves an object of magic to wield its power. However, because their heart was not right
within them, they failed to use the object with humble wisdom and thus
were actually destroyed in the process.
In
a similar vein, for a time, the purified sheep group will not be able
to handle the degree of revelation enjoyed by the Israel/Judah nation.
However, one by one, folks in the sheep group may enter into
the millennial Israel/Judah nation, starting as strangers.
And for a time, the purified Israel/Judah nation will not be
able to handle the degree of revelation enjoyed by the purified Jew
and Gentile church-body. However,
one by one, folks in the Israel/Judah nation may enter into the millennial
church-body, starting as babes in Christ.
And for a time, the church-body group will not be able to handle
the degree of revelation enjoyed by the purified bride.
However, one by one, folks in the church-body may enter into
the millennial bride group’s intimate and direct relationship to Jesus,
starting as virgins. And
for a time, the bride will not be able to handle the degree of revelation
enjoyed by the Spirit . . . and then the degree of revelation enjoyed
by the Son . . . and then the degree of . . . well, you get my point.
Everyone throughout the ages to come will progress up into these
revelations of the Lamb.
I
think one reason Jesus told Thomas that those folks who have believed
without seeing are blessed is because you get to go through the above
progression much faster when you receive the Spirit’s revelation by
faith now, than when it becomes by sight in the millennial kingdom.
We will definitely reap what we sow during this earth lifetime.
I
do not think people comprehend the consequences if one rejects and hardens
themselves to certain revelations of God because they buy into the deceitfulness
of sin. The deceitfulness
of sin is the presumption that what it offers, either as the lusts of
the flesh, the lusts of the eyes, or the boastful pride of life, is
supposedly something much more “real” than what God has made available
to us now spiritually in the person of His Son, and what will also be
given to us in the visible manifestation of the kingdom to come.
I
know the above is a lot to digest.
I am sure some of you recognize prior contributions.
I think of Miriam Howard, MJ Agee, Tim McHyde, CAPS, Bob Schlenker,
Daniel Matson, David Lowe, JR Church, as being just a few of those from
whom I have gleaned over the years.
There are many others. The
wisdom of the interdependence of the members of God’s body is profound.
Please
forward the above onto others. I think it does address the common
confusion amongst watchers as we try to figure out how the sections
of scripture compare when it comes to discerning details around rapture
events. Rightly dividing the word is crucial, especially being
able to think in terms of these ages I have mentioned.
If Jesus tarries, I am sure by this time next year I will have
to rewrite much of it.
MJ
Agree helped me years ago to step back and be open to the idea that
instead of a single rapture event, that there were possibly two.
In my opinion, to help another sincerely reevaluate premises is the
most valuable gift a teacher can give.
It is a very difficult thing to do on your own, and I think impossible
without the Spirit’s gentle wisdom, grace and mercy.
I
hope in presenting the above, folks will step back yet again and at
least consider, especially in light of the closing of the three ages,
how there may actually be three rapture events prior to Jesus
actual arrival.
At
this time I am wondering if this Pentecost will be when the bride group
receives the fullness of the Spirit’s manifestation, while next year’s
barley first fruits will be when they are raptured, yet in the second
Passover month as CAPS mentions.
Lastly,
it is one thing for me to have many ideas about a bride group; it is
another simply to live now before God with a waiting bride’s heart.
My prayer is that God, in grace and mercy, may sanction that
we be accounted worthy to escape with the groom and to stand before
Jesus, looking without shame into His eyes.
If
any of the above is a benefit to you, I would like to hear from you
at nwahenneys@msn.com.
Sincerely,
Douglas Henney.