Doves,
I'll bet you never knew or realized that there are assorted connecting links of scripture that meld perfectly together which all shed light on an amazing end times story.
Would you believe that parts and pieces of the same end times story line runs through the Books of Joshua, Song of Solomon, Isaiah, Zechariah, John, Thessalonians, Revelation and others?
Seemingly a rather broad spectrum of biblical areas of scripture to relate to the same topic.....but they do.
Last week in one of my posts I conveyed the extreme importance of what happened to Joshua and the Jewish remnant after the exodus when they crossed the Jordan River and entered the new land / promised land / Canaan and how what happened there, at that time, will exactly parallel / shadow the amazing things that will also happen during the 7 year tribulation period.
As stated in the book of Joshua, the remnant exodus Jews with Joshua as their leader crossed the Jordan River into a new land that had been promised to them by God the Father.
Fast forward.....Zechariah 14 states that during the period of The Day of the Lord which is during the coming tribulation period that God the Father comes from heaven to Jerusalem to intervene on Israel's behalf while she is being attacked by “all nations”.
This intervention event by God the Father happens according to Daniel 12 and Matthew 24 right after an idol, a talking image of the beast / antichrist is set up in the “holy place”. This holy place as per Isaiah 25:12 appears to be the temple mount where the Al-aqua mosque now resides on the Dome of the Rock. Isaiah 25 says that..... “the fortress of the high fort of your walls” (the mosque)..... will be brought down, laid low, and turned to dust when God the Father reaches out and renovates the land for hundreds of miles.
In the process of God the Father's intervention (as per Zechariah 14:4) He steps on the Mount of Olives and and it splits in two from east to west making a very large valley.
Isaiah 25:10 says that God the Father then reaches out like a swimmer doing the breast stroke and destroys the land and the people that are within this vast area ranging for hundreds of miles. This renovation, this massive renewal of the existing land also as per Zechariah 14 and Isaiah includes half of the city of Jerusalem.
This complete destruction of the land and the people who resided there is why God warned the people of Judea in Matthew 24 to in all haste flee to the mountains (north) when they witnessed the idol, the abomination of desolation set up in Jerusalem. Because massive desolation there will be. If you reside within this zone when God the Father acts you won't survive.
So, now we have a huge tract of “new land” that God the Father has just re-purposed and modified. Who knows what manor of beauty, splendor or fortifications He may add when he re-purposes this land.
What we do know from Zechariah 14 is that He created a new river that flows through this new valley. Zechariah 14:8 says that this new river has “living waters” and Isaiah 12 speaks to this river as being “wells of salvation”. It doesn't take much imagination to realize that these “living waters” that emanate from Jerusalem contain the blood and Spirit of Jesus who deposited those most precious of substances there 2000 years ago at His crucifixion.
When this renovation of the land is complete, the borders of Israel are greatly expanded all the way to the Euphrates River.
In Isaiah 26 the Jews after this renovation thank their God for.....”expanding all the borders of the land”.....verse 15.
So now we have “new land” created by God the Father right on top of the land where Joshua and the remnant exodus Jews entered into thousands of years in the past. New renovated land on top of the new land, “the promised land” of Joshua's era.
So now we have to determine why God created this new land and who will occupy it.
Zechariah 14 and many statements in Isaiah indicate that this new land is a refuge, a protection zone for remnant Jews and others but only if their names appear in the book. (Daniel 12) There will be Jews who at that time are then escaping “the tribulation of those days” being attacked (by all nations) when they come against Israel.
But these relatively few local Jews who manage to escape the onslaught on Israel and reach this new valley are few in number compared to God's “elect” who will also be brought to this new land / valley.
In Zechariah 14 and Matthew 24 it states that God creates a very special secret day known only to the Father. …....of that day and hour no one knows, not the angels, not Jesus, only the Father......Read Zechariah 14:6-7
The time duration of this special secret day is unknown. It appears to me that God may stop the space time consortium.....stop time long enough for Him to modify the new valley that He created. And long enough for His angels to gather His “elect” to this new valley and do it safely without being interfered with by Satan. Satan who has rule over / is prince of this earth and as per Revelation 12 will be poised and ready to devour / destroy God's elect if given the chance.
God's elect that are to be “gathered” (Matthew 24:31) and brought to this valley by the angels of heaven are composed of God the Father's Jewish covenant family meaning the alive Jews from around the world whose names appear in the book, the whole house of Jacob, meaning all the dead descendants of Jacob that have ever lived (all explained in Ezekiel 37) and the last group brought to this new valley you could say are Jesus's family, the Christian Church........ but it appears from scripture that they will only be there in this valley for 6 days.
Back to Joshua....In Joshua 4:14 it says that on that day when Joshua and the remnant exodus Jews were to cross into the new land God the Father exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel. Exalted him to such a degree that the people feared him. He projected great power and majesty. And remember Joshua has always appeared in scripture as a type set / shadow of Jesus.
Now fast forward to what will happen in the future when the angels gather the elect on a secret day to take them to the new valley.
This is portrayed in Matthew 24:30-31 where Jesus is greatly exalted. He is described there in the clouds of heaven as the angels gather the elect from heaven and earth to this new valley as.... exalted..... emanating great power and glory......just as Joshua did when he brought the elect at that time into a new land. This being the exact same land just renovated by God the Father........but about 3400 years later.
In Joshua's time when they crossed into the new land a sign was left there in the Jordan river. Twelve stones were placed there on the ground by twelve representatives of the twelve tribes as a remembrance. The bible doesn't say what the alignment of these stones were but I believe that they were in the shape of a cross.
Fast forward to when the angels of God are dispatched to gather the elect I Matthew 24. There we see the sign ( the remembrance) of the Son of Man displayed in the sky above for all to see. Certainly that sign will also be a cross and I believe a shadow of what happened in the past with Joshua.
Ok, now we have a new valley and brought there to this valley are God's elect.
Part of that elect are “the whole house of Jacob”, hundreds of millions of dead descendants of Jacob that had lived over all the centuries since Abraham made the covenant with God the Father. Ezekiel 37 says that these hundreds of millions of dead Jews will be resurrected and restored there. Their bones will be covered with sinews, flesh and skin but the breath of life / consciousness will be withheld from them for a period of time. As per The Book of Ester this is approximately nine months. These hundreds of millions of resurrected Jews without consciousness will as per Revelation 9 be staged at the extreme eastern end of this new valley at the Euphrates River waiting for the four winds to blow life back into them and then to at God's command mount their fire breathing horses and kill one third of the remaining population of earth.
The second group of the elect that will be gathered and taken to this valley are the alive “remnant” Jews from around the world and only those whose names appear in the book.
These Jews will be forced to re-establish the old Jewish covenant with God the Father because they rejected and killed Jesus 2000 years ago. God the Father will be present in this valley (Isaiah 12:6) for the remainder of the 7 year period or approximately 3.5 years and will once again reside in the Ark of the Covenant which will be returned to Him by the Ethiopians (Isaiah 18:7, Zephaniah 3:10) The blood sacrifice of animals as atonement for sin and the “law” will be re-established as well.
The third group brought to this valley by God's angels on this secret day is the Christian Church. The dead in Christ were brought from heaven by God the Father as per 1Thessalonians 4:14 and are still dead but present in the valley......hundreds of millions of them. The alive Christians will also be gathered and brought into this valley by His angels as well. Matthew 24:31
Ok, now is when this epic story from scripture gets extremely interesting.
First some stats....
When did Joshua and the remnant exodus Jews enter into the new land / promised land? Nisan 10 Joshua 4:19
When did Joshua and the remnant exodus Jews celebrate Passover? Four days later on Nisan14 Joshua 5:10
When did Joshua and the remnant exodus Jews have their first meal in the new land.....a meal of unleavened bread and parched grain after many years of manna? The day after Passover or Nisan 15 Joshua 5:11
Ok....when does it appear that the remnant Jews, the whole house of Jacob and the Christian church will be gathered by the angels to this new land that God the Father created for their safety?I will bet the farm it's Nisan 10 of a particular year, which always happens in the springtime.
When does the Song of Solomon indicate the “rising up” happening? Springtime
And notice in the Song of Solomon that the phrase “rise up and come away” is portrayed twice in chapter 2 as if there are to be two events where people rise.
That's because there are two rise events. We rise when we are gathered up by angels and are taken to this new valley created by the Father. And then we rise again a second time from this valley after we have been “born again”in the “living waters”......we rise to meet Jesus in the air at the rapture of the church.
One more stat...
Where as per the geography of Israel is this “new land” located?
Judea.....you'll see the connection below
Now after Joshua crossed into the new land all the males had to be circumcised to re-establish their covenant relationship with God the Father. They then had to heal and were “incapacitated” for four days.
Fast forward to the future and the story of Lazarus in John 11. Jesus and his disciples were away when they heard of Lazarus's illness. Instead of returning Jesus waited two extra days (2000 years) before He returned. Then Jesus said in that passage in Matthew......”Let us go to Judea again” . Where is this new valley located?......Judea
When will Jesus prophetically return to Judea again? After 2 days meaning after 2000 years.
By the time Jesus got back to Judea Lazarus had been dead for four days and he was in a tomb, an enclosure with a solid cover. Jesus had the cover removed and then with the witness of many Jews, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, Lazarus come forth!!! And Lazarus who had died arose and walked out in his grave clothes.
Fast forward again to what appears will happen in this new valley. The “dead in Christ” will be taken there with the rest of the elect on Nisan 10. After being there still dead (like Lazarus) for four days from Nisan 10 to Nisan 14 (or Passover) something amazing will happen as is described in 1 Thessalonians 4:16
…...For the Lord Himself (Jesus) will descend from heaven with a shout.........
…...and the dead in Christ will rise first..........
This verse in 1 Thessalonians is saying that the dead in Christ have to be brought back to life “first” (rise first).... before other things can happen. Not rise to heaven but rise to consciousness.
Then “some time after that” the alive in Christ will be gathered with those Jesus just brought back to life and this total group will then be caught up to me Jesus in the air. The “some time after that” appears to be two days later and I will explain the reason for that below.
When Jesus shouts and raises the dead in Christ to consciousness in this new valley this process will again be witnessed by many Jews who are present in this valley. This will be a type set / shadow of what happened at Lazarus's restoration when many Jews were present to witness what happened there.
One more relative thing.....when Jesus approached Lazarus in Judea, Lazarus was inside a secure enclosure (tomb) with a cover over it that had to be rolled back to access the dead Lazarus.
I believe this scenario with Lazarus is paralleled or type set in Isaiah 25:6-8 where there Isaiah appears to be addressing this new fortified valley in Judea that God the Father created.
In those verses, Isaiah says....in this mountain (in this fortified enclosure) that the Lord of Hosts will make for all people (the Jews and Gentiles that are there)......at some point He will roll back the covering that is over this mountain (new valley complex) and swallow up death forever. Please read those verses for yourself.
That certainly appears to me to be what Jesus will do when He descends from the sky above after rolling away a covering that protects this new fortified valley and then restores life to the dead in Christ waiting below. A perfect shadow of the Lazarus story.
Ok...back to Joshua, after Joshua and the remnant exodus Jews observed Passover on Nisan 14 they on the next day celebrated their first meal from food gathered in the new land . A meal of unleavened bread and parched grain.
Will there also be a meal in this new valley on that day, the day after Passover on Nisan15 which in present times is the feast of unleavened bread? It certainly appears from scripture there is and I may shock many when I give you the title for that coming meal.....The Marriage Supper of the Lamb.
Scripture only references this meal once (by name) and that is in Revelation 19. Nowhere that I can find does it say this meal happens in heaven but there is very strong evidence that it will be held in this new valley on the day after Passover just as it is foreshadowed in Joshua.
Proof text of this in Isaiah 25......
In Isaiah 25:6 we see a meal “in this mountain” (in this security zone / new valley). A meal that The Lord of Hosts (God the Father) will make for all people. Meaning to me Jew and Gentile who just happen to be co-habituating this valley together on that day. On the menu....verse 6
A feast of choice pieces
A feast of wines on the lees
Of fat things full of marrow
Of well-refined wines on the lees.
It appears to me that God the Father will be throwing a huge party, a celebration to “the bride to be” for His son, that being the Christian Church. These Christian people will have been in this new valley for 5 days. The alive in Christ will have had 4 days to be washed in the “living waters”of the new river there to receive their full measure of Jesus's blood and His Spirit which are contained in the new river. They will then be “born again” as Jesus mandated in John 3 and will then be able to see and enter the kingdom of God when the time comes.
It appears that the dead in Christ after being brought back to life by Jesus on Passover after being four days in the mountain / reinforced enclosure / new valley will have Passover and part of the next day to also receive those most precious of substances from the new river and will then also be eligible to see and enter the kingdom of God.... as per John 3.
The Marriage Supper of the Lamb being held here on earth before the Christian Church receives their immortal bodies makes perfect sense to me. I don't believe eating will be the same once we are changed from mortal to immortal.
And if one reads the story about the wedding and the dinner feast that the King prepared for his son in Matthew 22.......it all shadows what is to happen in the new valley scenario including …..The Marriage Supper of the Lamb.
Can you imagine how excited the dead in Christ will be to have a fancy meal after years or decades or centuries of not having one. I realize that the bible says in many spots that these people were “asleep” for that period. But still, a feast after awaking would I believe, seem wonderful to them.
Just like the remnant Jews of Joshua's day who ate manna for decades before they had food from the land on that same day.....the day after Passover or Nisan 15.
The manna stopped completely on the following day after they had eaten from the land or on Nisan 16.
What is the significance of the manna stopping in Joshua's time 2 days after Passover or the day after they had their first meal from the land? Is this stoppage then “shadowed” forward to what happens in the new valley? Could it be that the Christian church will no longer require divine support from above at that point (two days after Passover) because the Church will be gone? I believe so
So, to follow this theme and story line to it's conclusion there is nothing in either 1 Thessalonians 4 or 1 Corinthians 15 (the rapture verses) that discounts a time interval between the dead in Christ being restored and when they actually join the alive in Christ to be caught up or raptured. If fact that's what I believe the scriptures indicate especially 1 Thessalonians.
That said, it appears to me that on the next day following the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Nisan 16) which will be the Feast of First Fruits or the actual day that Jesus Himself resurrected from the dead........ that this day would be the correct, logical or appropriate day that the body of Christ (the Christian Church) would also be changed from mortal to immortal and rise to meet Jesus in the air. The church would then be resurrected on the exact same day that Jesus did. Jesus as the head and the church as the body resurrecting on the same day.
From my lengthy research into the wording of Psalms 119 it appears that these generic Nisan dates are to be plugged into the year 2022. If so, I believe (if I looked the dates up correctly) that the rapture scenario is this......
Monday April 11= Nisan 10 The day that all of the “elect” arrive in the valley
Friday April 15= Nisan 14 Passover and the day the dead in Christ are restored
Saturday April 16= Nissan15 Marriage Supper of the Lamb
Sunday April 17= Nissan 16 The Day of the Rapture of the Church
When this point is reached (Nisan 16) the Christian church will have been removed from the valley. This for one, would leave in this valley, the alive Jewish remnant that were gathered from around the world or those who walked in directly when Israel was attacked. These Jews will at that point be again under the original Abrahamic covenant with God the Father....... who will Himself reside in this valley (Isaiah 12) until the 7 years are over. Then, at the end of the 7 years, Jesus comes back as King of Kings and Lord of Lords to rule and reign from Jerusalem for a thousand years.
And the other group who remains in this valley (on the extreme eastern end) are the whole resurrected house of Jacob. Hundreds of millions of them who have their bodies restored but not their consciousness. They as per Ezekiel 37 will comprise God the Father's end time exceedingly great army. Consciousness is finally blown into them by the four winds after months of being in “the pause mode”. The Spirit of God the Father (Ezekiel 37:14) will also be blown into them making them an extremely formidable fighting force as is portrayed in Joel 2 and many other areas of scripture. They are being guarded there by four angels at the Euphrates River and will be released to dispense God's wrath on the earth and kill one third of the population when the time is right....... which as per The Book of Ester is approximately 9 months later. I will link the explanation of this below.....
http://www.fivedoves.com/letters/feb2019/johnb210-2.htm
Isaiah 18 also portrays the delay of God's end time army. There we see destruction happening months apart. The birds of prey feed on bodies in the summer and the beasts of the earth feed on bodies months later in the winter.
This is explained by the fact that when God the Father comes initially to intervene for Israel it will be springtime and He will Himself kill a great number which will be fed on by the birds of prey in the summer.
Then, as per the Book of Ester, God's end time Jewish army doesn't start it's ride until months later in January. They kill a third of the earth's remaining population at that point. Hence....the beasts of the earth will winter on them.....feed on the corpses at that time.
I believe as I indicated when I started this post that this particular biblical story line of....... this new created valley with all of it's complex workings........ will go down as one of the best or the best human interest stories ever penned in the pages of Holy Writ.
Blessing Doves.........John B