Hello John,

 

Yom Kippur is coming up!  On the tenth day of Tishrei - four days or so before the full moon - Harvest Moon Thursday, September 28, with peak illumination on the 29th.

 

As for the correct counting of days and determining the start of the biblical year and the start of a month and when is the Jubilee year and how do we count the days to the various High Holy Days -so much was lost after the Second Temple was destroyed.  And the people scattered.  We would need some major revelations to get these correctly figured out. 

 

In the meantime - we keep watching and waiting.  And we realize that we could be off a day or two here and there or maybe a month off.  But no matter, we keep looking for that Day of Our Blessed Hope!

 

Yom Kippur/Day of Atonement:

 

The next Feast Day approaching on the Biblical calendar is Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur.  Every year someone says this year is the Jubilee.  A Jubilee is declared on Yom Kippur.  Is this year the Jubilee?  Yom Kippur is the most holy day of the Jewish year - it is the "Sabbath of Sabbaths" in Judaism.

 

Yom means "day" and "kippur" is from the Hebrew word meaning "cover" - "kapporet".  The word "atonement" means "covering" with the idea that sins were covered by obeying God's law and repenting of wrongs."  Day of Atonement is actually 25 hours long - starting at sunset and ending at actual nightfall the next day.
The Closing of the Gates on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement

 

When is Yom Kippur?  On the chabad calendar, Yom Kippur begins at sundown on Sunday September 24 and runs through nightfall on Monday September 25."  It ends the 10 Days of Awe/Repentance.  During this time God judges all and decides who will live and who will die during the coming year.  (Feast of Tabernacles is September 29 to sunset October 5.  Shemini Atzeret is sunset October 6 to sunset October 7.)

 

With the sighting of the new moon for Tishrie, Yom Kippur falls on sundown September 25 to sundown September 26. ( And Feast of Tabernacles is sunset September 30 to sunset October 7.  Shemini Atzeret is sunset October 7 to sunset October 8.)

 

Yom Kippur is the most solemn day of the all the feast days.  On this day alone, once a year the high priest entered into the holiest of all, the Holy of Holies in the Temple.  On this day, the High Priest would come 'face to face' with God at the Mercy Seat. He took with him the blood offering of a goat - as the sin offering.  Here he sprinkled the blood on the mercy seat.  This sin offering brought about the cleansing of all sin for the priesthood, the sanctuary and the nation of Israel. For seven days before the Day of Atonement, the High Priest studied the service so that he knew it perfectly, if he didn't follow it exactly to the letter he would die.  

 

Today, Neilah is the last ceremony on Yom Kippur - the prayers are said as the sun is setting.  Neilah means "closing (or locking) and it is "the Closing of the Gates'.  "The closing of the gates of the Holy Temple and the closing of the gates of prayer as Yom Kippur is ending".
The Special Prayers Recited on Yom Kippur - Jewish Holidays

 

"Some have suggested that that the name refers to the historical fact that this extra service was recited at the end of the Day of Atonement, when the Temple gates were closing."
Neilah Service: Closing of the Gates | My Jewish Learning

 

The shofar is then sounded with one great and might long blast and the service ends with "Next Year may we be in Jerusalem"  The Book of Judgement was closed, along with the gates of Heaven...until the next year.

 

I usually don't consider Yom Kippur a big possibility for the Rapture - but I can see some interesting parallels.   

 

The first trump is blown on Rosh Hashanah and the last trump is blown on Yom Kippur - is that THE 'last trump'? 

 

And the High Priest would enter the Holy of Holies to meet God face to face - on the Rapture all of God's children will enter into Heaven and meet God fact to face. 

 

The High Priest brought the blood of the goat to the Holy of Holies for the cleansing of all sin, in the Rapture the Saints in Heaven have all been covered by the blood of the Lamb for the cleansing of all sin. 

 

The last ceremony of Yom Kippur involves the blowing of the last trump and the Gates are closed. Yom Kippur is over, the Book is closed.  Names are recorded accordingly.  At the Rapture, at the last trump, the saints pass through the pearly gates and once all are accounted for the Gates are closed.  All  whose names are written for the Rapture, all of those Saints will be inside the Gates of Heaven. 

 

The "Closing of the Gates" reminds me of the Rapture - where the gateway to Heaven is open - and we all enter in - before the gate is shut.  "The Neilah service has a sense of urgency...it reflects the more spiritual concept of the closing of the gates of Heaven."
Neilah Service: Closing of the Gates | My Jewish Learning

 

At the end of the Neilah service at sunset - there is a shofar blast marking the end of the 25 hour fast.  Is this the last Trump?

 

Then following Yom Kippur is Feast of Tabernacles or Sukkot - with it's own possible Rapture connections.  And then Shemini Atzeret - the last greatest day.

 

I hope we are soon inside those pearly Gates and seeing our God fact to face.  And as all the Saints enter in, we'll see the Gates of Heaven closing.

 

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!

 

Maranatha!

 

Chance