Okay, we're still here! The Rapture did not happen on September 5th, the Feast of Trumpets, but I still will be expecting it to happen every time the Feast of Trumpets rolls around.
So, now we come to the sixth feast, Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement.
"On exactly the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement; it shall be a holy convocation for you, and you shall humble your souls and present an offering by fire to the Lord." Leviticus 23:27
I should explain that the word translated "feast," does not necessarily always indicate chowing down on a bunch of food. The Strong's Concordance tells us that the Hebrew word "chag" means a festival gathering, feast, pilgrim feast, or festival sacrifice. The Day of Atonement is actually a very solemn day of prayer, fasting, confession, affliction of soul, and sacrifice for the sins of the people of Israel, individual as well as national. Before the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem, this was the one day of the year when the High Priest actually went into the Holy of Holies to make atonement for the sins of the people. Today the sacrifices are impossible due to the lack of a temple. They are also no longer necessary as Jesus has already made the ultimate sacrifice for sin, but most Jews do not realize or accept this. That is the reason they must rebuild their temple, but that is another topic for another day.
It was very important that the Israelites follow God's instructions for this feast. There were severe consequences for anyone who did not. "Neither shall you do any work on this same day, for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement on your behalf before the Lord your God. If there is any person who will not humble himself on this same day, he shall be cut off from his people. As for any person who does any work on this same day, that person I will destroy from among his people." Leviticus 23:28-30
The fulfillment of this feast will not have anything to do with the church, since we are looking to Jesus as the atonement for our sins. The fulfillment will come at the end of the Tribulation Period when Christ returns to Earth to save Israel. Zechariah prophesies of this momentous occasion. "And it will come about in that day that I will set about to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him, like the bitter weeping over a first-born. In that day there will be great mourning in Jerusalem..." Zechariah 12:10-11
The affliction of souls on the Day of Atonement is a foreshadowing of the mourning that will occur when Jesus returns to save the Jewish people who have survived the Great Tribulation, and they realize that Jesus truly is their Messiah. I believe this will happen on the actual Day of Atonement, just as the first four feasts have already been fulfilled on the actual days of those feasts.
Friday, September 13, 2013
Sunday, September 1, 2013
Will the Rapture Fulfill the Feast of Trumpets?
We have already seen that Jesus' first coming fulfilled the first four feasts of God exactly on the days when those feasts were being celebrated. What a miracle and certainly a sign from God that we should expect the last three feasts to be fulfilled in a similar fashion.
The next feast that we should expect to be fulfilled is the Feast of Trumpets, which is always celebrated in the fall on the seventh new moon of the Hebrew calendar. "Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, 'In the seventh month on the first of the month, you shall have a rest, a reminder by blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.'" Leviticus 23:24 The period of time between the Feast of Pentecost and the Feast of Trumpets appears to represent the Church Age, the time between the coming of the Holy Spirit and the Rapture of the Church. When God determines that it is time to call the Bride of Christ to her wedding feast with Jesus, her Bridegroom, the trumpet will sound, and the Church will leave this Earth to attend the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Revelation 19:9
Why do I believe that the Feast of Trumpets predicts the Rapture of the Church? There are two New Testament passages of scripture that speak very plainly of the Rapture, and they both refer to the blowing of trumpets!
"Behold, I tell 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 trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed." I Corinthians 15:51-52
"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." I Thessalonians 4:16-17
Many believe that the story of the conquest of Jericho in the Old Testament is also a picture of the Rapture. A key part of that story was the blowing of trumpets.
Whenever the time of year comes around for the Feast of Trumpets, I always wonder if this will be the year of the Rapture. I'm not date setting, and, of course, we should all be ready to meet the Lord at any moment because we never know when our last breath will be, but I do believe that when the Rapture occurs it will be on the Feast of Trumpets. What year it will be, I can't say, but the signs of Jesus' soon return are all around us.
The Feast of Trumpets for 2013 is on September 5th. I just thought you might want to mark your calendar. :)
"Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. I John 3:2-3
"But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near." Luke 21:28
The next feast that we should expect to be fulfilled is the Feast of Trumpets, which is always celebrated in the fall on the seventh new moon of the Hebrew calendar. "Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, 'In the seventh month on the first of the month, you shall have a rest, a reminder by blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.'" Leviticus 23:24 The period of time between the Feast of Pentecost and the Feast of Trumpets appears to represent the Church Age, the time between the coming of the Holy Spirit and the Rapture of the Church. When God determines that it is time to call the Bride of Christ to her wedding feast with Jesus, her Bridegroom, the trumpet will sound, and the Church will leave this Earth to attend the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Revelation 19:9
Why do I believe that the Feast of Trumpets predicts the Rapture of the Church? There are two New Testament passages of scripture that speak very plainly of the Rapture, and they both refer to the blowing of trumpets!
"Behold, I tell 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 trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed." I Corinthians 15:51-52
"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." I Thessalonians 4:16-17
Many believe that the story of the conquest of Jericho in the Old Testament is also a picture of the Rapture. A key part of that story was the blowing of trumpets.
Whenever the time of year comes around for the Feast of Trumpets, I always wonder if this will be the year of the Rapture. I'm not date setting, and, of course, we should all be ready to meet the Lord at any moment because we never know when our last breath will be, but I do believe that when the Rapture occurs it will be on the Feast of Trumpets. What year it will be, I can't say, but the signs of Jesus' soon return are all around us.
The Feast of Trumpets for 2013 is on September 5th. I just thought you might want to mark your calendar. :)
"Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. I John 3:2-3
"But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near." Luke 21:28
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