Chance (16 May 2021)
"An Interesting Jewish Custom On Shavuot/Pentecost"


 

Hello John and Doives,
 
Each year, before Shavuot/Pentecost, Gary Stearman of Prophecy Watchers has an interesting article on Pentecost in his The Prophecy Watcher magazine.  This year it is titled, "The Pentecost Prophecy".  www.prophecywatchers..com
 
Gary writes that "For 2021, Pentecost falls on May 17th and 18th (the 6th and 7th of Sivan in the Jewish calendar.  He does not use the same calendar Israel uses. The new moon was sighted on May 13, 2021 starting the month of Sivan at sunset, May 13.  So, the 6th of Sivan would be sunset May 18 to sunset May 19.
(3) A Rood Awakening! TV - Posts | Facebook
 
We've had several recent Doves letters about Pentecost 2021 - here is James Brownlow's from 9 May 2021 - 
"Pentecost, May 17-19 or 6 Sivan and 5-26-2021 or 13 Sivan" 
Pentecost , May 17-18 or 6 Sivan and 5-26-2021 or 13 Sivan
 
And Greg Wilson has an interesting letter posted on 12 Apr 2020  "A Scriptural Case For A Pentecost Rapture" 
A SCRIPTURAL CASE FOR A PENTECOST RAPTURE
 
Israel will celebrate Shavuot starting sunset May 16 to sunset May 17 this year.
Shavuot Eve in Israel
 
And this calendar has the Feast of Shavuot on sunset May 16 to sunset May 17, using the sighted moon.
New Moon Sightings in Israel & Feasts Dates 2021
 
Again, we don't know which calendar, of many!, is correct.  Which makes this feast day even more of a mystery...since we are to count a set number of days to get to it!  And we don't know exactly which day is Day 1!  The Pharisees set the date as 6 Sivan on the Hebrew calendar.
 
 
In Gary's 2021 Pentecost article, he wrote, about an interesting custom of this Jewish festival:  "The Jews stay up all night in their synagogue's house of study, pouring over "tikkun."  This consists of little sections from each book of the Torah and the Talmud, representing all of the most important texts of Judaism.  But even this act of staying up all night sets forth the theme of resurrection."  
 
"This practice of staying up all night is in stark contrast to that of the Israelites at Sinai, who according to tradition slept late that morning and had to be awakened by Moses.  In atonement for this, Jews nowadays stay awake all night.  The sense of preparation for Sinai is heightened by a mystical tradition holding that the skies open up during this night for a brief instant.  At that very moment, we are told, God will favorably answer any prayer.  The kabbalists also regard Pentecost as the wedding of God and Israel,  Therefore, we stay up all night to "decorate the bride."
 
"What an incredible picture of the rapture!  The opening of the heavens "for a brief instant" corresponds with the message in * Corinthians 15:51:  "Behold, I show you a mystery:  We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye..."
 
"Here is the perfect picture of Christ coming to catch away His bride!  And where does He take her? - to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb!  This corresponds with Pentecost, when the Jews "stay up all night to decorate the bride."
 
"...Pentecost has many features that are suggestive of the Rapture.  It is associated with harvest, marriage, and the taking of a Gentile bride (refer to the story of Ruth and Boaz in the Book of Ruth).  Its date is variable, picturing the unpredict-ability  of Christ's coming for His own."
 
"Quite significantly, it marks the birth of the Church Age, and before that, the giving of the Law.  Each of these events marks the turning to a different dispensation:  first to Law, and then to Grace."  
www.prophecywatchers.com
 
And once the 'church' is removed, it looks like another 'dispensation' starts:  "This will be the biggest historical event since the Lord's own ascension into the heavens.  And it will certainly be the trigger that sets in motion an increasingly cataclysmic series judgments.  In Paul's second letter to the Thessalonians, the restraining force associated with the presence of the body of Christ is given as the key factor in the timing of latter-day events.  Its removal will provide the environmental changes necessary for evil to advance toward the fulfillment of prophecy.  In other words, as long as we are present and active, the revelation of the wicked one, and wickedness in general, cannot manifest itself in full power.  Pentecost, the festival that has traditionally marked the dispositional change from law to grace, seems ideally suited as the model for this event.  Then, a rapid succession of biblical marvels will bring Messianic rule to the Earth."
 
Paul tells us about the Rapture, that for a split second, the sky will open up and we shall vanish - in the twinkling of an eye. 
 
IF the Rapture occurs on a future Pentecost, this "staying up" all night reminds me of Matthew 24:43: "...if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into."  And I Thessalonian 5:4-6  "But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief.  For you are all children of light, children of the day.  We are not of the night or of the darkness.  So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober."
 
And the 'the sky opening up for a split second on this night' reminds me of what Paul told us - that for a split second, the twinkling of an eye, the sky will open up and we shall vanish.  I Corinthians 15:52  Talk about a 'favorable answer to prayer'!  Wow!
 
Connecting the dots of Shavuot/Pentecost to the disappearance of millions around the world would be a revelation to the Jewish people!
 
And on May 14, 2021, Prophecy Watchers Gary Stearman interviewed Jack Langford:  The Mystery of Pentecost.  Jack Langford is the author of the book:  "The Pentecostal Rapture of the Church of Jesus Christ".
 
This video is 28:30 minutes long.
 
Gary asks, "Will the Church be raptured on a future Pentecost?"

(487) Jack Langford: The Mystery of Pentecost - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tfcnseg4C5A
 
Shavuot/Pentecost 2021 will have started in Israel on Sunday, 5/16 - with this current war going on between Israel and Muslims, how will the secular celebrations of Shavuot be affected?  Hikes, trips, picnics, gatherings, parties, etc. have been planned - Shavuot: Hikes, trips, activities for the holiday - The Jerusalem Post  
 
On May 15, Israeli strikes are going strong in Gaza and Hamas is still shooting rockets into Israel.  No let up seen for Shavuot celebrations.  This will not, however, prevent the Jews from celebrating this High Holy Day.
 
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!
 
Maranatha!
 
Chance