Will the
Rapture Occur at Pentecost (Shavuot)?
The Bible does not tell us
the day or hour when Jesus will come for His Bride.
However, it does give us clues as to what time of year it
will happen. There are many who think the Rapture will
occur at the time of the Feast of Trumpets in the autumn. This is
usually based on 1
Corinthians 15:52 that tells a trumpet
will sound:
1 Cor
15:52 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.
It is correct, that when the
Rapture occurs a trumpet will sound. However,
trumpets sounded for many reasons and for many events in
ancient Israel, so this does not indicate the time of the
Rapture to be at the time of the Feast of Trumpets.
The Rapture and Shavuot?
There is much more reason to
think that the Rapture will take place at the time of
Shavuot (Pentecost in Greek), which is late May to
mid-June. Before looking at the biblical reasoning, let’s
first gain a better understanding of Shavuot.
The Feasts of the Lord
Shavuot is the second of
three mandatory Jewish feasts that were ordained by God (Exodus
34:22). The first was the early spring Feast of
Pesach, which we call Passover. The
third is the fall Feast of Sukkot, which we call
Tabernacles. And the one in between is Shavuot, which is
also called the Feast of Weeks. During
each of these three festival times, Jews were required to
go up to Jerusalem and make an offering to God.
In the Church, we also have
three celebrations annually. The
early spring celebration of Easter is near the time of
Passover (and sometimes coincides with it). For the Jews,
Passover was a celebration of the barley harvest and a
time of remembering their deliverance from bondage in
Egypt. For
the Church, Easter is when we remember Jesus’ death,
burial, and resurrection and His deliverance of us from
the bondage of sin.
The Jew’s late spring/early
summer Feast
of Shavuot (Pentecost in Greek)
was a celebration of the wheat harvest and a time to
remember the giving of the Law on Mt. Sinai. The
Church’s Pentecost is a celebration of the Day of
Pentecost (Acts 2), when the Church was “born” by the
giving of the Holy Spirit to indwell believers.
The third annual Jewish
feast, the
Feast of Sukkot, was a celebration in
the fall of the fruit harvest and a time of remembering
their journey in the wilderness. The
third celebration for Christians is Christmas. It is a
time of remembering when Jesus came to earth to tabernacle
(dwell) with man. Although the Church celebrates Christmas
on December 25th, it is well known that Jesus was most
likely born at the time of Sukkot in late September (Read: Was Jesus
born in September? and Should we
celebrate Jesus’ birthday in September?)
Fulfillment of the Feasts
The Feasts of the Lord were
given to point the hearts and minds of God’s people to
Himself. Jesus
came to fulfill the Jewish Feast of Passover in every way. He was
the Paschal Lamb whose shed blood will wash away anyone’s
sin who repents and trusts in Jesus. Symbolically,
Jesus’ blood covers the “doors” of our tabernacles so the
death angel will passover, just as the passover lamb’s
blood did in Egypt.
Jesus also fulfilled the
offering of firstfruits during the Passover festival when
He ascended to the Father on Sunday morning, typologically
fulfilling the wave offering to God of first fruits. He
was the first fruit of the resurrection (1 Cor 15:20).
Jesus will come again in
glory at the time of Sukkot (Tabernacles) to dwell with
man (tabernacle means “dwell). Jesus will set up His
kingdom on earth and reign from the throne of David, just
as God told Mary He would. We
commonly call this the second coming and, when He comes,
He will fulfill every aspect of the fall Feast of
Tabernacles.
It is the feast in between
these two that is of interest to us.
The Feast of Shavuot
Let us remember that when
the the Church was born (recorded in Acts 2), the people
were celebrating Shavuot. This was at the time of the
wheat harvest. In
the Church it has come to be known as Pentecost, which
means fiftieth and gets that name from the counting of 50
days from the Feast of Firstfruits of the early spring
barley harvest (Leviticus
23:15-16).
While the first feast
(Passover) was fulfilled in Jesus’ first coming and the
second feast (Tabernacles) will be fulfilled in His second
coming, the Feast of Shavuot differs greatly from both. Passover was a time
of Jesus coming to the lost sheep of Israel to be their
Messiah and Taberancles will be the time when He returns
to be their King. In between we have the Church
Age — a time when Jesus dwells in Heaven and rules on
earth through His body, the Church (by the power of His
indwelling Holy Spirit in true believers).
The feast day of Shavuot,
which we call Pentecost, was partially fulfilled in
Jesus’ first coming, 50 days after Passover, when the
church was born. I
suggest that it will be completely fulfilled when Jesus
comes for His Bride, the Church, in what we call The
Rapture (Read: What is the
Rapture? and Why a
Pre-Trib Rapture?)
The Rapture at the Time of
Shavuot
Unlike the Feasts of
Passover and Sukkot, which are both seven day festivals,
Shavuot was declared by the Lord to be a one-day
feast/festival (Lev 23:15ff). It is
also an undated feast, meaning the day is not set by the
calendar. It
is set by counting 50 days from Passover’s Feast of First
Fruits. Let’s
consider reasons why Shavuot will likely be the time of
the Rapture.
* Shavuot celebrated the
wheat harvest.
Typologically, the wheat
growing in the fields between the spring feast and fall
feast represents the Church growing in the world between
Jesus’ first coming and second coming. The wheat will be
gathered unto Jesus (John 4:35)
at the harvest (the Rapture).
* At Shavuot, the Jews
were instructed to bake two loaves of leavened bread and
offer them to the Lord (Leviticus 23:17).
Leaven represents sin in the
Bible,. During Passover they were instructed to remove all
leaven from their homes (symbolic of removing sin from
their lives). So why would they offer two loaves of
bread, baked with leaven? The two
loaves typologically represent the two people groups: Jews
and Gentiles. In the Church (in Christ) Jews and Gentiles
become one symbolized by the two loaves of bread that look
the same. The
two loaves with leaven in them (sin still dwells in
believers) are acceptable unto the Lord because the leaven
(sin) is covered by the finished (baked) bread (symbolic
of the Bread of Heaven). As forgiven sinners, we have sin
(leaven) in us. But we are covered in the
Rightousness of Christ. When God sees us, He accepts
us as righteous, just as He accepted the wave offering of
bread at Shavuot.
* Jewish tradition tells
that Enoch was born at the time of Shavuot.
Enoch was taken by God (Gen 5:24).
The Hebrew word for taken implies the same meaning as the
Latin word for rapture and the Greek word for “caught up”
or “plucked.” Typologically, Enoch is considered a
“picture” or “whisper” of the primarily Gentile Church.
(Enoch was a Gentile, predating Abraham). Enoch walked
with God and was taken (raptured). The Church walks with
God and will be raptured (taken, caught up).
This is where it gets
interesting. Jewish tradition claims that Enoch was born
at the time of Shavuot and his being taken by God was at
the same time of year as his birth. Since we
know that the Church was “born” at the time of Shavuot (we
call it Pentecost), could it be that the Church will be
raptured at the same time of year that it was “born?” It
seems very plausible, but do remember, this is biblical
reasoning, not scriptural fact.
* Pattern Completed in the
Three Feasts
-
-
.Passover:
With the first coming of Christ culminating in His
death, burial, and resurrection, Passover was
fulfilled.
-
Shavuot: With the birth
of the Church at Shavuot (Pentecost), Jesus gave the
Holy Spirit to indwell believers and He partially
fulfilled His coming to His own.
Jesus will come again. It will
be to gather those who belong to Him — those whose bodies
lie in graves and those who are HIs and still alive on
this earth. However, when Jesus comes for His own, He will
not set foot on the earth. Jesus will call us up to
meet Him in the clouds:
1 Th
4:16-17 For the Lord himself shall
descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the
archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in
Christ shall [bodily] rise first: Then we which are
alive and remain shall be caught up together
[rapture] with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in
the air…
1 Cor
15:21, 23
But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the
firstfruits of them that slept. [at the time of
Passover] For as in Adam all die, even so in
Christ shall all be made alive [bodily
resurrected]. But every man in his own order:
Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are
Christ’s at his coming.
Jesus promised this coming
for His own: John 14:3
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will
come again, and receive you unto myself; that
where I am, there ye may be also.
Jesus’ coming for His Bride
is not a third advent. He will not come to earth to
dwell with man. He will call us up, in much the
same way he called up John in Revelation 4.
Rev 4:1-3 After this I looked, and,
behold, a door was opened in
heaven: and the first voice which
I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me;
which said, Come up hither, and I will show thee
things which must be hereafter. And immediately I was in
the spirit; and, behold, a throne
was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he that sat was to
look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there
was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto
an emerald.
3. Finally, in Jesus’ second
coming He will fulfill the fall Feast of Taberancles. In His’
first coming, He came to tabernacle (dwell) with man
(Emmanuel, God with us). In His
second coming, He will again come to tabernacle with man.
In His coming for His Bride, He will take her to Heaven to
be with Him.
Conclusion
Considering that Jesus’
first coming completely fulfilled the spring Feast of
Passover, and His second coming will completely fulfill
the fall Feast of Tabernacles, it seems very reasonable
that the late spring/early summer Feast of Shavuot has
been only partially fulfilled with the birth of the Church
and will be completely fulfilled with the Rapture of the
Church.
Typologically, the two
loaves of bread for the offering at Shavuot have been made
and baked. They
are finished and are now being waved unto the Lord. When
Jesus returns for His bride, and raptures the Church to
Heaven, typologically, the “bread” will be received by
God.
Jesus will return at the
Feast of Tabernaclesand His reign of righteousness on
earth will begin.