First posted in 2010

 

Tu B’Av… The Hidden Day  (August 6-7)

Tu B'Av has so many traditions associated with it that are parallels for the rapture. One of the most compelling is that the Jews while wandering in the desert were according to the Midrash commanded by Moses to sleep in their graves as punishment for not believing the spies who were sent to scout out the promised land. The Jews who slept in their graves each year would arise from their graves and discover that 15,000 of the older generation had died in the night. This continued to happen until all of the older generation had died off. Tu B'Av was celebrated because they knew that at long last they were freed from the curse of the grave (literally came up from their graves) and free to enter the promised land under the leadership of Joshua.

We all know that the name of Jesus is derived from Joshua. I suspect we all are aware that there is a parallel between the promised land and Heaven. The land flowing with milk and honey.

Tu B'Av commemorates when all the chosen people rose from their graves alive!  The Jews celebrated by allowing the virgins to dress in white and dance in the vineyards to attract husbands.

Someone else on the Doves website pointed out that the tribe of Benjamin was allowed to snatch brides on Tu B'Av and that the word snatched in the Septuagint is harpazo! The same word!

The celebration of Tu B'Av became closely associated with courtship, marriage and the triumph of life over death.

Friends, there is no closer parallel to the rapture than the celebration of Tu B'Av. There is no better picture we could use to illustrate the pre-trib rapture! It all fits. Every detail!

There was a time when I thought Rosh Hashanah might be a rapture date. I was told by various writers that Rosh Hashanah was the next holiday on the Jewish calendar for Jesus to fulfill, as He had already fulfilled all of the Spring dates. But those writers skipped over the summer celebration of Tu B'Av like it wasn't even on the calendar! Tu B'Av was listed as the happiest, most important celebration by a number of Jewish sources. It fell into obscurity after the destruction of the temple. Today, Tu B'Av is regarded as something like Valentine’s day on several Jewish websites. But it wasn't always something so minor.

I have read everything I can get my hands on regarding Tu B'Av. I have written rabbis to confirm various points that I had questions about. I am not an expert, nor do I consider myself an authority. I am just a seeker after the truth and I have done my best to research this date. Why, I had to ask myself, why did so many published writers, TV evangelists and preachers miss Tu B'Av? Was it because it was to remain a hidden day until it was time? IS THIS THE TIME?

YBIC

Bruce Baber