Haggai 2
In the 7th month, in
the 21st day of the
month, came the word of the LORD by the prophet
Haggai, saying,… According to
the word that I covenanted with you
when ye came out of Egypt, so my spirit remains
among you:
fear ye not.
For thus
saith the LORD of hosts;
Yet once (one day),
it is a little while
(in a moment?), and
I will shake the heavens, and
the earth, and the sea, and the dry land;
And I will
shake all nations, and
the desirable (loved people) of
all nations shall come (gather): and I
will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD
of hosts.
The phrase “Yet Once” stood out at me because it could be
understood to say “yet
one day, it is a little while, …” and 1
day from the 21st day would be the 22nd. Now consider that
the night of the 21st day blends with the morning of the
the Atzeret or Solemn Assembly depending upon where in the
world you are located.
With that in mind this verse could be pointing to the 22nd
day of the 7th month as the day of both the great shaking
and when he fills his house with the desirable people from
all nations… the great gathering. Which is consistent with
what Joel says happens next:
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. — Joel 2:16
The phrase “in a moment” is a symbol for sudden
destruction and it appears that “it is a little while” may
be another means of conveying the same concept especially
considering all the shaking that will be going on.
Notice also that shaking is also how wheat is separated
from chafe.
Meaning of Atzeret
As a verb it means “to restrain” and as a noun it means
“gathering”. I thought that was an interesting combination
of meanings when you consider the following well known
verse:
Now
concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and
our being gathered together to him….
not to be quickly (in a
little while) shaken in mind or
alarmed (fear ye not)… Let no man
deceive you by any means: for that day shall
not come, except there come a
departure first, and that man of
sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
And now ye
know what restrains (the
departure restrains)
that
he might be revealed in his time.
For the
mystery of lawlessness is already at work
only this
(lawlessness) is currently
restrained until
taking out of the way (rapture) comes to pass.
— 2 Thes 2
I have looked deeply into the greek and provided an
alternative and likely clarifying understanding of the
text that doesn’t introduce new implied actors and
subjects to the text. Namely, that lawlessness is
restrained until the rapture comes to pass instead of
“only he who now letteth will let, until he be
taken out of the way.”
Given the context of the verse being us being gathered
together, or taken out of the way, and departing before
the man of sin is revealed I think this makes sense.
All of that said, I have previously been corrected by a
native Greek speaker about how “meta” can be understood as
“after” based upon surrounding words and would welcome
some feedback on whether I am missing something in how I
translated 2 These 2:7.
Bottom line is that 2 Thes 2 has many parallels to Haggai
2 and the meaning of Atzeret. It makes reference to both
gathering and restraining while also referencing “quickly”
and “shaken” and “fear ye not/ not alarmed”.
I do not consider this book to be Scripture, in large part
because it teaches a different calendar than how I
understand the rest of the Bible teaches. This combined
with its claim to divine revelation and other issues makes
it untrustworthy for doctrine. That said, I do not believe
it is entirely untrustworthy for historical accounts,
especially accounts that are consistent with the rest of
scripture.
First let us read from Genesis which provides the
baseline.
So Jacob said
to his household and to all who were with him, “Put
away the foreign gods that are among you and
purify yourselves and change
your garments. Then let us arise and go up to Bethel,
so that I may make there an altar to the God who
answers (saves) me in the day of
my distress (tribulation)
and
has been with me wherever I have gone.” … And
as they journeyed,
a terror from God fell upon the
cities that were around them,
so that they did not pursue the
sons of Jacob. …And Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died,
and she was buried under an oak below Bethel.
9God appeared to
Jacob again,… and blessed him. 10And God said to
him, “Your name is Jacob; no
longer shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel
shall be your name.” So he
called his name Israel. — Genesis 35
Now lets review what the book of Jubilees says about this
time with greater detail on dates.
And Jacob and
all his sons and his men were eating (this) with joy
there during seven days (tabernacles) and blessing
and
thanking the Lord, who had
delivered him out of all his tribulation and had
given him his vow. — Jubilees 32:7
And on the
following night, on
the 22nd day of this (7th) month, …
And the Lord
appeared to him by night and blessed him and said
unto him: ‘Thy name shall not be
called Jacob, but Israel shall they name thy name.’
—
Jub 32:16
And in the
night, on the twenty-third of this month, Deborah
Rebecca’s nurse died and they buried her beneath the
city under the oak of the river, and he called the
name of this place, ‘The river of Deborah,’ and the
oak, ‘The oak of the mourning of Deborah.’
So Jubilees is consistent on the main points and the only
thing it adds is that this occurred on Tabernacles and
that Jacob became Israel on the 22nd day of the 7th month!
It also tells us the day Deborah died which is also
mentioned in Genesis.
Now I think it is fascinating that Jacob is fleeing as God
reigns down terror on the cities around them and then
Jacob is given the name Israel.
Now let us compare this to the book of Revelation.
Whoever has
ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the
churches. To the one who
is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna.
I will also give that person a
white stone with a new name written on it, known only to
the one who receives it. — Revelation 2:17
The Atzeret: October 9th,
2024
This adds to the confirmation of a Nuclear War Rapture on
the 22nd day of the 7th month which happens to be October
9th, 2024 in Jerusalem.
I believe the Atzeret
starts upon the dawning of the 9th of October at 6:40 AM
in Jerusalem when a great wonder appears in the heavens.
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