This
article has been posted many times on the 5
Doves.
The Author
is unknown.
The
Date to consider now is the 24th
of Kislev [8/9th of December 2012].
For
there's a possibility that we'll be
receiving our glorified bodies on this Day!
Ola.
--------------------------------------------------------
The
Rapture most likely occurs sometime before
the battle of Gog and Magog (perhaps even
causing Gog and Magog to launch their attack
under the assumption that this is the best
time for it).
THE DESIRE OF NATIONS
Turning to Haggai 2:6-7, we find another bit
of our missing puzzle.
6 For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet
once, it is a little while, and I will shake
the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and
the dry land;
7 And I will shake all nations, and the
desire of all nations shall come: and I will
fill this house with glory, saith the LORD
of hosts.
This passage links the "shaking" or great
earthquake to the coming of the "desire of
all nations", a phrase that must mean the
return of the Lord as the Messiah or Prince
of Peace. (This being the desire of all
godly people in the nations, though
obviously not the desire of the wicked on
the earth at the time of His return.) This
conclusion is reinforced with the idea that
His house will be filled with glory, surely
an indication of both a divine reign as well
as an allusion to the House of David from
which the Messiah's royal lineage comes.
PUTTING A DATE ON THE EVENT
Now a key piece to the puzzle that will give
us a fuller picture of these End Time
events. Haggai 2:18- 22 gives an exact
season and day for this event.
18 Consider now from this day and upward,
from the four and twentieth day of the ninth
month, even from the day that the foundation
of the Lord's temple was laid, consider it.
19 Is the seed yet in the barn? yea, as yet
the vine, and the fig tree, and the
pomegranate, and the olive tree, hath not
brought forth: from this day will I bless
you.
20 And again the word of the LORD came unto
Haggai in the four and twentieth day of the
month, saying,
21 Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah,
saying, I will shake the heavens and the
earth;
22 And I will overthrow the throne of
kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of
the kingdoms of the heathen; and I will
overthrow the chariots, and those that ride
in them; and the horses and their riders
shall come down, every one by the sword of
his brother.
This passage contains an obvious allusion to
the Tribulation with earthquakes (shaking
the earth) and may also be linked to
Revelation references to stars falling from
the sky (shaking the heavens). The reference
of brother being slain by the sword of
brother is another link to the parallel
passage in Ezekiel; and the Lord destroys
the kingdoms, suggesting his destruction of
Gog and Magog. Additionally, there is the
picture of brother fighting brother, again
suggesting that infighting or confusion that
will put the nail into the coffin of Gog and
Magog's invasion.
Notice that Haggai gives the exact day of
the month for this event (which, remember,
comes after the Rapture). In both verse 18
and 20 it is noted that the 24th day will be
key -- as if God wants to be sure there's no
mistake about which day in the ninth month
of the Jewish calendar, Kislev (also known
as Chisleu), this will occur.
(The laying of the foundation for the Lord's
Temple suggests the building has commenced.
However this may only refer to the date of
the first Temple. Or it may be that the new
Temple will be built on the foundation
stones of the original.)
A SPECIAL DATE
This date is of interest because it occurs
just one day before a very special Jewish
festival: Hanukkah. Anywhere else, such
timing would seem rather an odd coincidence.
With God, things are different. As most
Biblical scholars know, there's no such
thing as "an odd coincidence" when it comes
to Bible prophecy.
For those unfamiliar with Hanukkah (also
spelled "Chanukah"), it's a Jewish festival
that occurs in December (on the 25th day of
the Hebrew month Kislev). The festival marks
the re-consecration of the Temple of
Jerusalem after its recapture from the
Syrian Greeks (c.165 BC).
The original celebration of Hanukkah took
place on the day after the Jews recaptured
the temple site. So even the event that
Hanukkah commemorates, actually took place
on the 24th day of Kislev.
Another key event in Jewish history also
took place on the day before Hanukkah. In
1917, the Allied Expeditionary Force under
General Allenby to take control of Jerusalem
following the destruction of the Turkish
Ottoman Empire at the end of WWI. The day
that Allenby and his force entered Jerusalem
was Dec. 9, 1917 -- the 24th day of Kislev.
JESUS AND HANUKKAH
One might think that Jesus would have
ignored this festival since it wasn't
ordained in the Old Testament. In fact, he
appears to have taken part in it and had a
very provocative response when questioned
during the event.
John 10:22-28: At that time the Feast of
Hanukkah (Dedication) took place at
Jerusalem; it was winter, and Jesus was
walking in the temple in the portico of
Solomon. The Jews therefore gathered around
Him, and were saying to Him, "How long will
You keep us in suspense? If You are the
Messiah, tell us plainly." Jesus answered
them, "I told you, and you do not believe;
the works that I do in My Father's name,
these bear witness of Me. But you do not
believe, because you are not of My sheep. My
sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and
they follow Me; and I give eternal life to
them, and they shall never perish; and no
one shall snatch them out of My hand."
This statement has an obvious meaning.
However one might speculate that the "hear
my voice" might also refer to the voice that
brings the dead to life at the first
resurrection and brings the living with them
as they are "snatched up" to heaven just
before the Great Tribulation begins.
Interestingly, Christ refers to holding
sheep in his hand and that they can't be
snatched from his hand by anyone else.
Could this be a veiled reference to the
Rapture? In the English translation this
seems like a stretch. But a closer look
makes the possibility seem likely. In
English translations, Jesus' reply to the
Jewish leaders at the Festival of Hanukkah
doesn't seem to hint at the Tribulation
prophecies. But in the original Greek, a
very important link appears, especially when
this verse is compared to what Paul wrote
about the Rapture.
Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 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 rise first; then we
who are alive and remain shall be caught up
together with them in the clouds, to meet
the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be
with the Lord." This is the reference to the
rapture in the New Testament.
The Greek word used for "caught up" in this
passage is harpuzo, which means to catch up,
pluck, snatch, pull, or take by force.
(Translated into Latin, this word becomes
raptiere; anglicized, the word "rapture" is
born.) So the word that means "Rapture" is
harpuzo.
And here's the connection: When Christ said,
"...no one shall snatch them out of My
hand.", his statement employs the same Greek
word: harpuzo. Arguably we should not make
too much of this, yet it seems like another
of the "amazing coincidences" that are
actually part of God's plan. The use of
harpuzo in both instances suggests a link.
If so, was Christ saying that the Rapture
will have taken place and that he will have
already snatched his believers from the
Earth, making it impossible to snatch them
back again? This seems like a viable
conclusion and fits very nicely with the
links between the day before Hanukkah and
the prophecies about it.
MY SHEEP HEAR MY VOICE
There may be another hidden reference to the
Rapture in Christ's statement that his sheep
hear his voice. In Revelation 4:1-2 there's
another piece to the puzzle that shows the
Rapture occurring before the Tribulation.
John writes, "...I looked and behold, a door
was opened in heaven; and the first voice
that I heard was, as it were, a trumpet
talking with me; which said, 'Come up here
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."
It should also be noted that the order "Come
up here" has a familiar ring to it. In John
11:43-44, Jesus gives a similar command
43 And when he thus had spoken, he cried
with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth."
44 And he that was dead came forth, bound
hand and foot with grave clothes: and his
face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus
saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.
Thus the Lords simple command that brought
Lazarus miraculously to life, is echoed in
the Revelation's "trumpet talking" and that
not only John but all the Christians on
earth go into heaven at this time, answering
the command to, "Come up here." That this
order is likened to a trumpet provides
another piece to the puzzle. This links
Christ's spoken command to the sound of the
last trumpet, a point of importance to those
familiar with Jewish traditions (as outlined
below).
This also fits into the puzzle outlined
above in the Old Testament passages since it
places the Rapture of the Church into heaven
ahead of the plagues and destruction that
follow during the Tribulation, as outlined
in the rest of the book of Revelation.
THE LAST TRUMPET
There are links between the Jewish trumpet
in both battle as well as references to the
same trumpet in the Rapture. Paul wrote
another short passage that refers to the
Rapture; First Corinthians 15:51-52 "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, at the
last trump; for the trumpet shall sound and
the dead shall be raised..."
The "last trumpet" to the Hebrews (and to
early Christians also) is a key phrase with
meaning beyond what most of us realize. This
"last trumpet" in this passage isn't the
metallic trumpet of the West; rather it's a
ram's horn known as the shofar. Blown during
the religious festival of Rosh HaShanah
(also known as Yom Teruah or the Feast of
Trumpets), the shofar marked the beginning
of the Jewish New Year.
The shofar is also linked by Jewish
tradition to the raising of the dead to life
and for sounding the alarm when battle is
imminent.
The important thing to note here is that the
shofar is linked by Jewish tradition to the
resurrection of the dead (which, according
to Paul, takes place for those who have died
in Christ at the time of the Rapture) and
that the shofar is also linked by Bible as
an instrument used to worn of battle and
conflict.
THE TRUMPET
When one realizes that the shofar is linked
both to battle as well as resurrection,
another passage adds important chunks to our
puzzle. This passage links the "Day of the
Lord" (or Great Tribulation), the invasion
of Israel by a great army from the North,
and the delivery of Israel by God (the "fear
not" in the last verse of this passage).
Joel 2:1-32
1 Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an
alarm in my holy mountain: let all the
inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day
of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand;
2 A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day
of clouds and of thick darkness, as the
morning spread upon the mountains: a great
people and a strong; there hath not been
ever the like, neither shall be any more
after it, even to the years of many
generations.
3 A fire devoureth before them; and behind
them a flame burneth: the land is as the
garden of Eden before them, and behind them
a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing
shall escape them.
4 The appearance of them is as the
appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so
shall they run
5 Like the noise of chariots on the tops of
mountains shall they leap, like the noise of
a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble,
as a strong people set in battle array.
6 Before their face the people shall be much
pained: all faces shall gather blackness.
7 They shall run like mighty men; they shall
climb the wall like men of war; and they
shall march every one on his ways, and they
shall not break their ranks:
8 Neither shall one thrust another; they
shall walk every one in his path: and when
they fall upon the sword, they shall not be
wounded.
9 They shall run to and fro in the city;
they shall run upon the wall, they shall
climb up upon the houses; they shall enter
in at the windows like a thief.
10 The earth shall quake before them; the
heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon
shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw
their shining:
11 And the LORD shall utter his voice before
his army: for his camp is very great: for he
is strong that executeth his word: for the
day of the LORD is great and very terrible;
and who can abide it?
12 Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn
ye even to me with all your heart, and with
fasting, and with weeping, and with
mourning:
13 And rend your heart, and not your
garments, and turn unto the LORD your God:
for he is gracious and merciful, slow to
anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth
him of the evil.
14 Who knoweth if he will return and repent,
and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat
offering and a drink offering unto the LORD
your God?
15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a
fast, call a solemn assembly:
16 Gather the people, sanctify the
congregation, assemble the elders, gather
the children, and those that suck the
breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his
chamber, and the bride out of her closet.
17 Let the priests, the ministers of the
LORD, weep between the porch and the altar,
and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD,
and give not thine heritage to reproach,
that the heathen should rule over them:
wherefore should they say among the people,
Where is their God?
18 Then will the LORD be jealous for his
land, and pity his people.
19 Yea, the LORD will answer and say unto
his people, Behold, I will send you corn,
and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied
therewith: and I will no more make you a
reproach among the heathen:
20 But I will remove far off from you the
northern army, and will drive him into a
land barren and desolate, with his face
toward the east sea, and his hinder part
toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall
come up, and his ill savour shall come up,
because he hath done great things.
21 Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice:
for the LORD will do great things.
The above passage links the blowing of the
trumpet of God (and -- through our other
links -- the rapture) with the beginning of
the Day of the Lord (AKA the Great
Tribulation). It also ties into Gog and
Magog in verse 20 as the "northern army".
THE REVELATION TIE-IN
We now have enough puzzle pieces to flesh
out another Biblical passage.
Revelation 6:12-17
12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth
seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake;
and the sun became black as sackcloth of
hair, and the moon became as blood;
13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the
earth, even as a fig tree casteth her
untimely figs, when she is shaken of a
mighty wind.
14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when
it is rolled together; and every mountain
and island were moved out of their places.
15 And the kings of the earth, and the great
men, and the rich men, and the chief
captains, and the mighty men, and every
bondman, and every free man, hid themselves
in the dens and in the rocks of the
mountains;
16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall
on us, and hide us from the face of him that
sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of
the Lamb:
17 For the great day of his wrath is come;
and who shall be able to stand?
When we realize that the great earthquake in
this passage most likely occurs in a close
time frame to the defeat of Gog and Magog by
God's hand, then we see that this is the
start of the Great Tribulation and,
therefore, the Rapture must have preceded
this event. The key elements that can be
recognized in this passage are the great
earthquake and the raining down of plagues
upon the inhabitants of the earth.
Placing the Rapture before this even also
supports the idea that the voice (sounding
like a trumpet) that calls John up to heaven
in Chapter 4 of Revelation must indeed be
the event signaling the Rapture of the
church. Furthermore, this explains why the
Church is missing from the account of what's
happening on earth during much of the rest
of Revelation's narrative from Chapter 4 on.
The Church isn't mentioned after that point,
because it is in Heaven with Christ.
THE ANTICHRIST
Revelation Chapter 6 records the first
appearance of the Antichrist as the man on
the white horse. The white horse suggests a
charismatic leader who portrays himself as a
good man. In fact he is being accompanied by
the other horsemen who kill and destroy.
Riding with this first figure on a white
horse is a similar man on a pale horse; this
fourth horseman is Death.
This is an interesting parallel to Isaiah
where we learn of the "Covenant with Death
and Hell" (perhaps alluding to the idea that
"Hell" is the figure of the Antichrist and
"Death" is the fourth rider traveling with
him).
Isahiah 28:15: Because ye have said, We have
made a covenant with death, and with hell
are we at agreement; when the overflowing
scourge shall pass through, it shall not
come unto us: for we have made lies our
refuge, and under falsehood have we hid
ourselves:
The timeline of these prophecies also rules
out the possibility that the destruction of
Gog and Magog is part of the Battle of
Armageddon since Christ returns much later
in Revelation (Chapter 19).
CONCLUSION
There's an important picture that can be
assembled from all of the puzzle pieces in
these passages. First, the beginning of the
Great Tribulation may begin on the 24th day
of the ninth month of the Hebrew calendar.
The catch is in knowing which year this will
occur in -- hence the "no man knows the day
or hour" still applies.
However that year may be very, very near, as
shown by the events mentioned which have
either already occurred or which might
easily happen with little or no major
changes on the world scene. For example in
Ezekiel, God lays out the events that lead
up to the invasion by Gog and Magog. This
passage tells of the end of Jewish exile and
the creation of a Jewish state:
Ezekiel 36:24: For I will take you from
among the heathen, and gather you out of all
countries, and will bring you into your own
land.
This idea is repeated in Chapter 37:21-22
21 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord
GOD; Behold, I will take the children of
Israel from among the heathen, whither they
be gone, and will gather them on every side,
and bring them into their own land.
22 And I will make them one nation upon the
mountains of Israel; and one king shall be
king to them all: and they shall be no more
two nations, neither shall they be divided
into two kingdoms any more at all.
These passages were written when Israel was
a divided nation. Now, after over 2,000
years later, Israel is a single entity once
again. These conditions have now been met
with the creation of Israel in 1948 and the
return of the Jews to this homeland. This
event has occurred and the next chapter of
Ezekiel is the invasion by Gog and Magog.
On our assembled puzzle timeline then, the
next event is the Rapture. The stage is set
for this to occur.
How far ahead of the invasion the Rapture
occurs is unknown; but it would seem logical
that it will come a very short time before
the invasion, given the fact that such a
momentous event as the sudden vanishing of a
large chunk of the world's population will
create the type of confusion that Gog and
Magog might try to use to their advantage in
attacking Israel. Or it may be that the two
events will very nearly coincide so that the
Rapture is missed during the noise and
confusion of the fighting, earthquakes, and
plagues.
Some have argued that the Jewish Temple must
be built before the Rapture occurs. However
this goes against the time-line of Ezekiel.
Not until we reach Chapters 40 - 47:12 are
the details of the rebuilding of Israel's
Temple in Jerusalem given. The Rapture and
the invasion must surely happen before the
Temple is built, perhaps after the
Antichrist has established his power.
Given the fact that plans are currently
being made for the building of the new
Temple in Israel, with some of the
instruments and furnishings of the Temple
being purchased and constructed, this also
suggests that the time of these events may
be very close.
The assembled puzzle shows that the picture
is almost to take place. This is undoubtedly
the most important point for both the
believer and unbeliever alike. Time is short
and must be used carefully, in prayer and
witnessing so the world can know about the
saving grace of God's Son, the Jewish
Messiah and the Savior of all who would make
Him their Lord.