FOUR MONTHS TO THE HARVEST
John 4:35
Say not ye, There are yet
four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your
eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.
In the above statement, our Lord says “that
four months remain until the “harvest”, but that the deciples should get
right to work on the current harvest. We know from elsewhere that “the
harvest is the end of the age”.
Matthew 13:39
The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest
is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.
Mark 4:29
But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately
he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.
And so, this last spring, I was attempting
to fit the rapture to this fields-white-to-the-harvest theme, mostly because,
as usual, I just wanted to find any reason at all to make the day of the
rapture “now”, instead of rightly dividing the Word into what it clearly
defines as spring, and fall. Oh, well. I am sure many of our antics here
are the source of much laughter in heaven for the angels. After this spectacle
of blunders or spring fever which was upon me dissapated,,,,I began to begrudgingly
look past summer to the fall festivals. But Rosh Hashanah didn’t fit this
“four months to the harvest”, either, so I concocted many reasons for this
10-day difference by such as “Rebekah’s family wanting to retain her for
ten days.” Ad nauseam. Well, you already know where this is going:
The above statement by our Lord about the
fields white to harvest was made at Pentecost, and He was referring to the
beginning of the church age, which would require workers to be sent into
the field as laborers. Indeed, on Pentecost 3,000 souls were saved and
added to the Body of Christ, and more thereafter, into the beginning of
the church age.
This year, Pentecost was June 13,,,,and exactly
4 months TO THE DAY, or 122 days later, is YOM KIPPUR. Yeah, that’s
it………
That pretty much accounts for the troublesome
missing ten days of my studies last spring…..
The Day of REDEMPTION is Yom Kippur, as I
discussed yesterday.
http://www.fivedoves.com/letters/oct2005/arlene106-2.htm
A perusal today, through verses which mention
“redemption”, are noteworthy, for they speak of the rapture, and our salvation.
Here are a few of them, to add to yesterday’s scriptures:
Ephesians 1:14
Which is the earnest of our inheritance until
the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the
praise of his glory.
Above, Christ is seen as the redeemer, who
purchased us, and will redeem us on the Day of Redemption (Yom Kippur)
Romans 8:23
And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits
of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for
the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
Above, the “change” which our bodies undergo
at the time of the rapture, takes place at “the redemption” day.
and this one, below, my favorite, where
Jesus all but screams at us, which “day” to look for Him (duh….)
Luke 21:28
And when these things begin to come to pass, then
look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
In the above verse, He had been instructing
us about signs which would be apparent around the time of His coming, and
made a point of saying that the nations would be in distress with perplexity
(puzzlement) at the “SEA AND THE WAVES ROARING”. Well, for a solid year
we have seen horrific hurricanes (the sea roaring) and have seen the apocalyptic
events of the Dec 26 tsunami (waves roaring) and the sea waves consuming
an entire city in the U.S.
So, most definitely, we “begin” to see these things. After this, He says
to look for “our redemption”,,,,,,,hint, hint……Yom Kippur.
Now, on to another trifling tidbit for you,
and this I accidently stumbled upon while reading about the long trumpet
blast which heralds the end of the Yom Kippur service as the “door of heaven”
closes, and as the Shikinah glory of God departs from the Holy of Holies.
I was reading purely Jewish Torah-study web sites, because I wanted to see
the Jewish interpretations of the feasts and the various trumpets used.
The mental thread I was following was to
explain what trumpet Paul may have been referring to when he said:
1 Corinthians 15:51-57
51 Behold, I shew you
a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 In
a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump:
for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible,
and we shall be changed.
Indeed the trumpet at Yom Kippur pretty much
sews up the whole repentance / redemption process of the prior 40 days.
A huge, long-lasting blast is made on the shofar at the very end of the
Yom Kippur service.
The following is a summation of the end of
the service by one Torah-study author (URL’s given), but NOTE HIS LAST
SENTENCE !
http://www.kosher.com/New_ArticlesDetails.cfm?Doc_ID=2225&TopLevel=107&OrigTopLevel=107&LinkName=Yom%20Kippur
The End of Neilah (The Yom Kippur service)
And, at the end of Neilah, with the closing of the Gates of Prayer as Yom Kippur
draws to a close, the Service rises to a crescendo: We declare in unison,
"Hear O Israel, the L-rd is our G-d; the L-rd is One!"
Then three times, "Blessed is the Name of His Glorious Kingdom for all Eternity!"And finally, seven times, "The L-rd
is G-d!"We acknowledge the departure of the "Shekhina,"
the Divine Presence, with a "Tekiah Gedolah!" a Great "Tekiah,"
a long straight blast of the Shofar. At this time, there is no room for
sighing or wailing. We have hopefully been forgiven, and our sins have been
atoned for. We look forward to our Redemption; May it come in the blink
of an eye!
Did you see that? “in the blink of an eye!”….well,
that did it,,,,I had to go to a half-day’s worth of other web sites to see
if this was a Jewish idiom for their “redemption” experience…..
Sure enough, it’s all over the web. In
1st Corinthians 15, above, Paul uses this terminology, good Jew
that he was, as what will happen when we are “changed” and redeemed. Did
Paul know that this “in an instant” “blink of an eye”, was a traditional
saying for Yom Kippur? (Day of Redemption / Attonement)
Below, I copy and paste some of these statements
from JEWISH perspective websites (URL’s given before quotes) ,,,,for your
enjoyment, for they all have to do with Yom Kippur, and redemption / salvation…..”IN
THE TWINKLING OF AN EYE – AN INSTANT – IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE!
Cool…………
enjoy…….. your sister in Christ,,,,,Arlene
http://www.sichosinenglish.org/books/sichos-in-english/46/05.htm
May these also include the most important and greatest miracle,
the coming of Mashiach. May he come speedily, in the blink of an eye so
that we can continue the celebration of the festivals in the ultimate redemption.
http://www.aish.com/passinsight/passinsightdefault/Haggadah_An_Introduction.asp
This story captures the theme of Passover night. On one level, it is a
metaphor for the dramatic turnaround of events the Jews experienced in Egypt.
They went from the bitterness of slavery to the glory of freedom -- all
in one day. So too, when we feel enslaved and in pain, remember that God
can redeem us in the blink of an eye.
http://www.ou.org/torah/frankel/5758/shoftim58.htm
And then "Salvation"
will be delivered to us, though we are surrounded on all sides by fierce
enemies, in accordance with the expression "Yeshuat Hashem K'heref
Ayin," "The Salvation of G-d comes in the blink of an eye."Rabbi
Pinchas Frankel
http://www.moshiach.net/blind/lwm-5762/269.htm
Primarily the most needed blessing is the miracle of the complete and perfect
Redemption through Moshiach (whom we await every day that his coming not
be delayed even as much as the blink of an eye).