SEPTEMBER 23, 2012

      As we know, Jesus (Israel's long-rejected Messiah) died on Passover, rose on the Feast of First Fruits (now known as Easter), and the Holy Spirit descended on Pentecost.  Although the Jewish people celebrate Passover as an 8 day event, from Lev. 23 it is actually a two feast event.  Passover is just the first day (and was fulfilled by Jesus' blood sacrifice), and is followed by the 7 day Feast of Unleavened Bread (this was fulfilled by Jesus' body sacrifice).  There are four Jewish feasts in the spring of the year, all of them fulfilled by First Coming events nearly 2000 years ago.  What is perhaps most interesting is that these four Jewish feasts were all fulfilled in very short order within a 53 day period!

        There are two fall Jewish feasts that are classically associated with End Time events.  The Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah) has always been associated with the Rapture of the true believers in Christ, and the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) has always been associated with the Second Coming of Israel's long-rejected Messiah (Christ).  I have taught this for the past 30 plus years.  Many other teachers of end time Bible prophecy also teach this.  This past week I had a major revelation from the Lord, the biggest in my ministry over at least the past 20 plus years.  I will now submit this to those who read this e-mail, and any comments you might have are welcome and appreciated.

        If the the Feast of Trumpets is fulfilled by the Rapture and the Day of Atonement is fulfilled by the Second Coming, then the time distance between them will be a little more than 7 years.  Why a little more than 7 years?  Because after the Rapture there is an indeterminate period of time between the Rapture and the Daniel 9:27 covenant which will begin the 7 year Tribulation Period leading to the Second Coming of Christ.  The point is that unlike the four springtime Jewish feasts that were fulfilled within a 53 day period, these two fall feasts would see fulfillment by end time events over a period of a little more than 7 years.  Is there any chance that these two fall feasts might actually be fulfilled in a much shorter period of time like the spring feasts were?  If the Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah) is tied to the Rapture, then in any given year the Rapture has a very narrow window to occur (around 2 or 3 days tops).  There has always been that troubling scripture of Matt. 24:44 King James.  "Therefore be ye also ready:  for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh."  Is there any possibility that the Rapture is NOT linked to the Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah)?

        Shortly after Rosh Hashanah of this year I received an e-mail video of an end time Bible prophecy teacher by the name of Jimmy DeYoung.  I am familiar with most of the end time Bible prophecy teachers (my very favorite and mentor is Chuck Missler), but I was not familiar with Jimmy DeYoung.  The video I received was his teaching on the 7 Jewish feasts of Lev. 23, which I have just elaborated on above.  He taught the first four springtime Jewish feasts exactly as I always have, but then there was a major surprise.  Very "matter of factly" he taught the Feast of Trumpets much differently.  It seemed to be a no-brainer the way he taught it from his vantage point.  So let me take you through it and see what you think.

        Matt. 24:30 (New American Standard) is about the Second Coming.  "...and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory."  The very next verse (Matt. 24:31) states, "And He will send forth His angels with a GREAT TRUMPET and they (the angels) will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the SKY to the other".  At the time of the Second Coming Jesus sends out his angels to gather up those who are in Heaven (had been raptured to Heaven more than 7 years earlier), because He is about to lead them out of Heaven to return with Him to the earth at the Second Coming.  Very nonchalantly Jimmy DeYoung taught that the Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah) is fulfilled by this "great trumpet".  Then in very short order is the Second Coming itself, which fulfills the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur).  Notice that in this scenario the two fall feasts are fulfilled very close together in time, just as the springtime Jewish feasts were all fulfilled very close together in time.  I must say this indeed makes a lot of sense, and I have never thought of or considered this in my many years of teaching.  In fact, I was rather stunned as I considered this.

        If this be true that the "great trumpet" of Matt. 24:31 gathering the believers together in Heaven in preparation for the return to earth is the fulfillment of the Feast of Trumpets, then that would take the Rapture entirely out of the Jewish Feasts!  The Rapture would be an event completely unto itself with no time constraints in any given year!  We know that throughout scripture (Old and New Testaments), the Rapture occurs in conjunction with a "sudden destruction" event that happens on the earth.  By removing the Rapture's attachment to Rosh Hashanah, the Rapture is free to "float" (no pun intended!) as required with the date of "sudden destruction".  In fact, the "sudden destruction" event on the earth actually ELICITS the Rapture, and Jesus pulls his bride (the true believing church) instantly to safety!

        Now the question we need to ask is this.  Is there any "sudden destruction" event looming on the world's horizon?  As Curly from The Three Stooges would say, "Soitenly!"  Late in these End Times most people are simply going about their business, engaged in their jobs, their kid's soccer games, their TV entertainment (the vast majority of which is simply garbage!), their endless sports (NFL football, etc), and, of course, at least some of them attending a church service on Sunday mornings consisting of little more than "fluff" from the pulpit.  But there is indeed a very major problem looming in the world!  Iran has repeatedly stated that Israel is a "cancer" that needs to be wiped off the face of the earth.  No one seems to be listening to the fact that they mean exactly what they say.  Iranian "theology" calls for them to bring about chaos in the world and destroy Israel in order for their Mahdi (their messiah) to return.  Make no mistake about it, Israel knows about this and they are listening!  The Israelis do take the Iranians at their word!  Israel is under the very real threat of national annihilation, and they very definitely get the message!  The Israelis (unlike the Americans) know that a nuclear Iran is a much more dangerous critter than a non-nuclear Iran.  What most Americans do not realize is that if Iran develops just one operational nuke, all they have to do is place the nuke in a freighter, sail that ship around the Arabian peninsula, up through the Suez Canal, into the Mediterranean Sea, and park the freighter 13 miles off the coast of Tel Aviv.  And then-----BOOM-----half of Israel lies in ashes, and Israel must retaliate from ruins!  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is well aware of this, as are the Israeli Defense Forces.  

        The window now to take out the Iranian nuclear facilities is growing very small.  This is no small war that is approaching quickly!  In fact, this is a huge war that is looming on the very near horizon!  Meanwhile, American housewives are busy getting their kids to soccer practice and getting that latest special at Wal-Mart.  And let's throw in a church service that would not dare mention Israel or the fact that we are living late in these End Times!  Perhaps a couple of benign scriptures from the pulpit and then a lot of chit-chat for the next half hour.  And then it's off to watch that NFL game of the day!  Now back to that looming war in the Middle East.  Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is flying to the opening session of the U.N. right after Yom Kippur is over.  President Obama has refused to speak with him while he is in New York.  In fact, under Obama's leadership, America has refused to help Israel in the event of war.  Israel is alone?  Nope!  The coming war will have Israel with one very powerful ally, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Who just happens to be the one true God of the entire universe!  Not a bad ally at all!  Much better than America!  I must say that America's turning against Israel bodes very ill for America!

        The remainder of this e-mail is my personal opinion.  Did you catch that?  I said my personal opinion.  After teaching end time Bible prophecy now for over 32 years and 3 months, I am going to give you my personal opinion on what is going to happen.  This may or may not be accurate, but after much prayer, here is what I think is going to happen.  Let's begin with a question.  If America had to go to war and it was around Christmas time, do you think an American President would launch that war on Christmas?  Very unlikely!  He would wait until Christmas is over, and then begin the war.  So too it is very unlikely that Netanyahu is going to launch the strike on the Iranian nuclear sites during the Jewish fall holy days.  He will wait until they are over and then launch the strike.  I personally believe that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu will launch the attack sometime AFTER the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) is over.  That would mean the week of October 8th or later, but I think the attack will be THIS fall!  It would be to Israel's advantage to move before the U.S. election in early November because Obama desperately needs Jewish votes in Florida (a major "swing state"), and going against Israel in any way would risk those votes!  That would not be the case after the election if Obama was to win.  Then he would not have to be concerned with American Jewish opinion.  From the standpoint of sheer military operations, Israel would not want to make its move during the winter, and by spring of 2013 it would very likely be too late to stop Iran in its nuclear ambitions.

        Now, here is how I think the war will play out.  Israel will launch a small nuclear weapon (yes, I said nuclear!) high above northern Iran (200 to maybe 300 miles above the ground), and then detonate it.  The "electro-magnetic pulse" (EMP) will fry everything electrical, and computers and communications will go totally down.  This will immobilize Iran, clearing the way for Israeli bombers and cruise missiles to hit their targets.  Dr. David Owuor (evangelist from Kenya) had a recent vision of this nuclear blast above Iran, and he saw the Israeli planes attacking the nuclear sites, and then he saw ALL of the Israeli planes returning to Israel safely!  Though immobilized, Iran will be enraged, and will release her proxies (Syria, Hezbollah, Hamas, and quite likely the new radicalized Egypt, as well as the Palestinians).  Iran has threatened many times if it is attacked, it will get at U.S. interests, including the American homeland.  It is a possibility that small suitcase nuclear weapons may be employed on American cities.  It is also imperative to understand that both Russia and China are friends of Iran, as well as North Korea.  This war could have MANY ramifications around the globe!  

        Now, here is the "kicker".  As this "sudden destruction" event begins, THE LORD SOUNDS THE TRUMPET TO PULL HIS TRUE BELIEVING CHURCH FROM THE EARTH AND THE RAPTURE HAPPENS!  Over the past 32 plus years that I have been teaching end time Bible prophecy, many people have come to me relating dreams and visions of explosions happening down on the ground in America as the Rapture is happening almost simultaneously.  Some of these dreams and visions have related the famous "mushroom" clouds.  One of the most interesting dreams was related to me just a couple of years ago.  As the Rapture was in progress, we (the believers leaving) literally on the way up passed incoming missiles from the Atlantic ocean!  

        Now, I am going to be even bolder.  I personally believe that the Rapture will happen THIS year, likely in October.  Immediately after the Rapture the antichrist will be released onto the world stage, and he will pull together the "sudden destruction" mess, and demand WORLD PEACE.  The very frightened people of the earth will do pretty much whatever he says!  He will make the Daniel 9:27 covenant, and that will begin the 7 year Tribulation Period, which will end with the Second Coming of Christ.  If you have looked into "Obamacare", you have found (as I and others have) that it calls for the "chipping" of people to begin by March of 2013.  The reason now being given is for "health care", but after the Rapture the "chipping" will become the "mark of the beast" of Revelation chapter 13.

        Now, here is where it gets really interesting (as though the preceding was not interesting enough?!).  The Great Tribulation (last 3 1/2 years of the 7 year Tribulation) is literally shortened in length by one third (see Matt. 24:21 & 22 and Rev. 8:12).  One third of 3 1/2 years is one year and two months.  So, IF the Rapture and Daniel 9:27 covenant are this year, then 2012 plus 7 years is 2019.  But with the shortening of the Great Tribulation by one year and two months, by our current time standard 2019 would actually be 2018!  Why is that important?  Because Israel became a nation in 1948, and 70 years later is 2018!  WOW!  And to make it even more interesting, from the time Jesus was born 2000 years ago until all First Coming prophecies were fulfilled (the destruction of Jerusalem, the taking down of the Second Temple stone by stone, and the scattering of the Jewish people to all the nations) was 70 years!  The parable of the fig tree in the Bible in very certain terms connects First Coming events with End Time events.  Now there is even more!  The Second Coming will fulfill the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), which means the Second Coming will be at Yom Kippur of that year.  So 7 years earlier means the Daniel 9:27 covenant also needs to be at Yom Kippur.  But hold the horses!  If Israel attacks Iran in October of this year and the Rapture happens, the antichrist would likely not pull everything together for the Daniel 9:27 covenant until sometime in November (that is a reasonable guess).  Seven years into the future would not be Yom Kippur which usually falls in September!  Did you notice that I said the Great Tribulation is shortened by one year and TWO MONTHS?  That's right, one third of 3 1/2 years is one year and TWO MONTHS!  So, if the Daniel 9:27 covenant was made in November of any given year, then with the shortening of the Great Tribulation by one year and TWO MONTHS, the Second Coming would fall in September, the classic time for Yom Kippur!  By the way, November in Israel's recent history has been a very big month!  November of 1917 was the Balfour Declaration (the British allowed Jewish immigration into Palestine at the end of WWI), November of 1947 was the U.N. Mandate to establish the nation of Israel (which became a state in May of 1948), in November of 1977 Anwar Sadat of Egypt flew to Jerusalem to begin the "peace process", and in November of 1987 the Palestinian Intifadah (uprising) began.  And November of this year is looming very big again!

        Is it any "accident" that this year, 2012, is the precise time that a big war is looming between Israel and Iran, a war that has huge global ramifications (and I did not even mention the Strait of Hormuz and the global oil that flows through it!)?  THIS YEAR, THIS FALL, would place the Second Coming of Christ precisely 70 years after Israel's return in 1948, and at Yom Kippur at that!  Do you really think the timing of all of this is just some "accident"?  The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is very precise in all that He does.  Let me refer you in closing to an event during the upcoming Tribulation Period that is described in Rev. 9:14 & 15,  "...one saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, 'Release the four angels, who are bound at the great river Euphrates.'  And the four angels, who had been prepared for the HOUR and DAY and MONTH and YEAR, were released, so that they might kill a third of mankind."  God is VERY precise!

        The greatest honor in my life being Jewish is to have come to know the long-rejected JEWISH Messiah, Who is none other than Christ!  There are over 300 fulfilled prophecies about Him in the OLD Testament!  Jewish unbelief is prophesied throughout the Old and New Testaments, but those Jewish people who are to find Him will!  In Romans 1:16 Paul (Jewish!) states, "For I am NOT ASHAMED of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the JEW FIRST and also to the Greek (gentile)."


        Yours in the Most High,
        Neil Lipken

        P.S.  Matt. 24:37 states, "For the coming of the Son of Man will be JUST LIKE the days of Noah".  Genesis 7:4 states, "FOR AFTER SEVEN MORE DAYS, I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights.......".  Noah spent a lot of time building the ark, but near the very end he knew quite specifically when the flood was to begin!  The coming of the Son of Man is again JUST LIKE the days of Noah!

      I Thess. 4:16 & 17

      FOR THE LORD HIMSELF WILL DESCEND FROM HEAVEN WITH A SHOUT, WITH THE VOICE OF THE ARCHANGEL, AND WITH THE TRUMPET 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 THUS WE SHALL ALWAYS BE WITH THE LORD.  

         

      Psalm 12:1

      Help, Lord, for the godly man ceases to be, for THE FAITHFUL DISAPPEAR FROM AMONG THE SONS OF MEN.