This Week’s feature Article by Jack
Kelley
Judging by the questions I’ve received, a
youTube video and an online article have
apparently convinced a lot of people that the
fulfillment of Rev. 12 and the
rapture of the Church will both occur on Sept 29th
of this year, which is the annual celebration of
Rosh Hashanah, also known as the Feast of
Trumpets. Can this be true?
While Sept. 28-29 are the scheduled dates
for Rosh Hashanah this year, and while the rapture
could happen on any given day, Rev. 12
definitely can not be fulfilled on Sept. 29, nor
on any other day this year or the next or the one
after and here’s why.
Rev. 12 speaks primarily
of three things. The first is an overview, given
in signs, beginning with the time of the Lord’s
birth. John used symbolism from Joseph’s 2nd dream
(Genesis 37:9-11) to identify the
pregnant woman in Rev. 12:1-2 as
Israel (represented by Mary) about to give birth
to the Messiah. An enormous dragon, identified as
Satan in Rev. 12:9, was there
waiting to devour the child the moment He was
born. This means that from the beginning the
Messiah was born to die, and when He did He was
taken up to God’s throne. We know this as His
crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. (Rev.
12:1-6)
Next, Rev. 12:7-9 tells
of a coming war in Heaven where Satan and his
angels will be defeated and driven to Earth. Rev.
12:10-12 announce the commencement of
the Lord’s reign over Earth, although from Heaven.
Third, in Rev. 12:13-16
we see that Satan and his angels will immediately
go after the believing Jewish remnant who will
flee into the desert east of Israel.
The reason for Satan’s attack is that
according to Hosea 5:15 the Lord
is waiting for the Jews to petition His return, so
if Satan can wipe them out before they can do so
he will have won. But the Lord will protect His
people and prevent their demise. Enraged, Satan
will then go after the Lord’s other followers, the
gentile Tribulation believers.
All these things take place in Rev.
12. So how has the idea that this will
all be fulfilled on Sept. 29 gained traction?
Here’s Where It Gets A Little Spooky
Most of us know about a comet called
Elenin that has entered the solar system and will
pass by planet Earth at about 22 million miles in
mid October. Proponents of the Sept. 29 – Rev.
12 view are combining the appearance of
Elenin with the astrological signs of the Zodiac
to proclaim the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy.
To see how they do this, let’s take a quick look
at Joseph’s dream.
Then he had another dream, and he
told it to his brothers. “Listen,” he said, “I
had another dream, and this time the sun and
moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”
When he told his father as well as
his brothers, his father rebuked him and said,
“What is this dream you had? Will your mother
and I and your brothers actually come and bow
down to the ground before you?” His brothers
were jealous of him, but his father kept the
matter in mind. (Genesis
37:9-11)
Now let’s compare Rev. 12:1-2:
A great and wondrous sign appeared in
heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the
moon under her feet and a crown of twelve
stars on her head. She was pregnant and cried
out in pain as she was about to give birth.
Finally, here’s their interpretation.
During the second half of September, Elenin will
be in the constellation of Virgo, the
virgin. The sun will also be in Virgo, so
the woman (Virgo) will be clothed with the
sun. At the same time, the moon will be at
the feet of Virgo. During the latter part of
September, Elenin will move up the face of Virgo
to a place where it would almost appear to be
tears coming from Virgo’s eye as if she’s crying
out in the pain of child birth. Then Elenin
will move further up Virgo’s face to rest on the
top of her head, like a crown. All of this
will fall into place on September 29, 2011.
Proponents of this view say this is what
John was pointing to in describing the woman of Rev.
12 the way he did, and say it will be
the fulfillment of John’s prophecy.
It is true that Luke 21:25
says the End Times will be accompanied by signs in
the Sun, the Moon, and the stars. But it’s also
true that by and large Revelation is a
chronological book. Otherwise, tribulation
believers would not be able to tell what would be
coming and when. Since the Book was primarily
written to explain end times events to people on
Earth at the time, if it isn’t chronological it
couldn’t fulfill its purpose and would have no
value to them.
But the Revelation is chronological, so
before Rev. 12 can take place,
the first 11 chapters have to be fulfilled. Three
of them are the introduction and the seven letters
to seven Churches, so what are the events
mentioned in Rev. 4-11 that have
to precede Rev. 12?
Preconditions For Rev. 12
The first one is the rapture of the
Church, covered in Rev. 4-5.
Next comes the initial appearance of the
anti-Christ which will kick off Daniel’s 70th
Week, a seven year period that immediately
precedes the 2nd coming (Daniel 9:24-27).
It will also mark the beginning of God’s time of
wrath. War will break out over 1/4th of the world.
Runaway inflation will make food the most valuable
commodity on Earth, and millions will become sick
or die for lack of it. The systematic execution of
post-rapture believers will begin and a giant
earthquake will shake the whole world. These
events are detailed in the Seal Judgments of Rev.
6.
Although not specifically mentioned thus
far in the book of Revelation, we know from Daniel
9:27 that early in the 70th Week a
temple will be built in Israel as a result of
their return to their Old Covenant relationship
with God. Jesus (Matt. 24:15)
Paul (2 Thes. 2:4) and John (Rev.
11:1-2) all confirm this.
After the 6th Seal, the Lord will
commission 144,000 Jews to spread the gospel. Many
more believers will be martyred as a result of
their evangelistic efforts and will start showing
up in Heaven (Rev. 7)
Soon afterward a second round of
judgments, called the Trumpet Judgments, will
begin. These judgments will be even more
catastrophic and before they’re over 1/3rd of the
world will be aflame, 1/3rd of the oceanic waters
will be contaminated, and the light of the sun,
moon, and stars will be reduced by 1/3rd.
A plague of demonic locusts will afflict
the people and put many in agony so great they’ll
long for death, and in the Far East territorial
wars will kill 1/3rd of the Earth’s remaining
inhabitants (Rev. 8-9).
These events will unfold during the first
half of Daniel’s 70th week. When those who survive
the Seal and Trumpet judgments refuse to repent of
their rebellion against God (Rev. 9:20-21),
the stage will be set for the 3rd and final round
of judgments.
This round is called the Bowl judgments.
They will take place during the Great Tribulation,
a 3 ½ year period of catastrophic judgment
more devastating than anything the world has ever
seen. It’s the last half of Daniel’s 70th week.
Just before the Great Tribulation begins, the
events of Rev. 12 will take
place.
So to summarize, prior to Rev.
12 the Church has to be raptured, the
anti-Christ has to be revealed and be nearly
finished consolidating his control over Planet
Earth, a Temple has to be built and become
operational in Israel, 1/3rd of the world’s
population has to have died, and a thick pall of
smoke has to have settled over Earth reducing the
light reaching it by 1/3rd. Now you can see why I
say Rev. 12 can not happen on
Sept 29th of this year. In fact it’s fulfillment
is at least 3 ½ years away.
How Could This Happen?
So how could an idea like this one become
so easily accepted by so many? It’s because as a
Church we are a people of zeal without knowledge.
For several generations now our leaders have
consistently misinformed and misled us and we’ve
been too lazy to search the Scriptures on our own
to see if the things they’re teaching us about the
End Times are true. As a result some who should
know better can be fooled into believing that
applying astrology to the interpretation of
Scripture is a legitimate approach, even though
its practice was a sin in Old Testament times (Lev.
19:26 KJV).
Some of us want the rapture to come so
badly that we’ll believe anything we’re told that
points to an early fulfillment even though it’s
certain to result in disappointment. Sure the
Bible says there’ll be signs in the sun, moon, and
stars, but there have always been such things, and
history has shown that seeing them is no excuse
for ignoring sound doctrine. These signs are meant
to support what the Bible says, not replace what
it says.
This is an application of Paul’s warning
that in the last days people would not put up with
sound doctrine but would gather around themselves
teachers to say what their itching ears want to
hear. They will turn their ears away from the
truth and turn aside to myths. (2 Tim.
4:3-4)
So when someone comes out with a new idea
based on eclipses, or comets, or even Scripture,
don’t assume he’s done his homework. And that
includes articles you find on this site. Do what
Paul told you to do and search the scriptures
daily to prove whether these things be true (Acts
17:11).
As the time grows shorter there will be
all kinds of false information bombarding us. Some
will be out of ignorance and some will be out of
malevolence. Either way you could easily become
confused or discouraged. Do your homework. Make
sure you understand why no part of Daniel’s 70th
Week, which begins in Rev.6, can
take place until the Church is gone. And above
all, don’t let the current fixation on the Feast
of Trumpets distract you from the fact that the
rapture of the Church could happen on any given
day, including all the days before and after Sept.
29. You can almost hear the footsteps of the
Messiah. 09-10-11