~*~ Matthew 25:5-7 ~*~
“But while the bridegroom was delayed, they
all slumbered and slept. And at midnight a cry
was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming;
go out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins
arose and trimmed their lamps.”
Over the past several years, as all the signs of Christ's Second Coming escalate all around the world, many born again believers have been soberly watching for Christ's return, to no avail. Feast after feast, war after war, sign after sign, and year after year has rolled by without the promised Rapture, and some have grown weary and refuse to look for Christ's return any longer. But as it says in the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins in Matthew Chapter 25, verse 5: “while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept”. This means what it says. The Bridegroom is going to be delayed so long that all of His followers will be sleeping when the final Sign of the Son of Man appears in heaven to announce that His return is imminent.
Over this past Autumn Feast season, which fell between October 2nd, which was when the Feast of Trumpets occurred, and October 23rd, which was the seventh and last day of the Feast of Tabernacles or Sukkot, Rapture Watching was at an all time high. I did not post any ministry blog articles about my own speculations because I wasn't feeling well, although I did post about my hopes on Facebook, which covered all the Autumn Feasts that occurred between October 2nd and October 23rd, 2016 on the traditional Jewish Lunar Calendar. I also just posted about the amazing supernatural heavenly sign that occurred over Jerusalem on October 1st, 2016. Here is a screen captured photo of that sign, along with a link to my article about it:
A HEAVENLY RAPTURE SIGN OVER JERUSALEM!
Although I thought this was an amazingly audible and visible sign with truly prophetic and exciting implications, it seems that most Prophecy teachers and Watchmen did not pay much attention to it. So the Rapture Frenzy of this Autumn 2016 Feast Season was due to the fact that this 2016 Feast of Trumpets marked the end of the Jubilee Year 2016/5776, and the beginning of the Jewish year 5777, which corresponds to 2017 on the Gregorian Calendar. Furthermore, the year 5777 ties in with the year that Lamech the Sethite, the father of Noah died, which was at the age of 777, when Noah was 595 years old. The repetition of the number 7 in 777, which signifies completion and fullness, has obvious ties to God's Judgment.
Now I find it interesting that Noah was 600 years old when the Great Flood occurred, so Lamech died five years before the Flood. This could be a sign that the year 5777 is five years before the end of the Great Tribulation. However, it may mean nothing of the sort, as this is pure speculation. Nonetheless, it is an intriguing thought. Of course, many have now set their sights on the Feast of Trumpets in 2017 as the date when the Rapture may occur because a partial sign of "The Woman Clothed with the Sun" described in Revelation Chapter 12 will occur with the Sun in Virgo and the New Moon at her feet on September 23rd, 2017. I’ve written about this intriguing sign in previous blog posts HERE and HERE, and will do so again if we’re here for much longer.
There are several calendars on the internet claiming to show the correct dates for the biblical yearly Feasts of Israel, and these Feasts all have a prophetic meaning that makes them important to know. But each calendar has the Feasts of Israel falling on different dates, so this causes confusion. The standard Jewish Calendar that I usually use can be found at HebCal.com, Then there is the Sacred Calendar that can be found at TorahCalendar.com, which I find interesting and useful. Then there is the Creator's Calendar, which some people believe is the best, and it can be found at TheCreatorsCalendar.com. But I have some serious misgivings about this last calendar mentioned, as it sees the New Moon as the Full Moon, which is odd - to say the least. Following is a copy of the Seventh Lunar Month found at the the Creator's Calendar site, showing the odd timing for the Feast of Tabernacles at the time of a New Moon, with the last day of the Feast falling at the time of a waxing Half Moon:
The Creator's Calendar shown above is the one that the Bible Code researcher Kurt Juergens on You Tube uses. However, several well-respected Bible Code researchers say his codes are done incorrectly, and are totally unreliable. I also know that he has made claims that the Rapture would definitely occur on a certain day that did not come true, so he is technically a false prophet. So, although I feel his love for God is sincere, I do not recommend following him. But that doesn't necessarily discount the calendar he uses, which was done independently of him.
Nonetheless, I have my misgivings about the accuracy of this calendar, which places the Feast of Trumpets at the time of a Full Moon, and the beginning of the Feast of Tabernacles or Sukkot at the time of a New Moon, on Sunday, October 30th, 2016. This is contrary to what the Jews think, where the first day of every month falls at the time of a waxing New Moon, and the Full Moon on the 15th day of a Lunar Month marks many of their most important feasts, including Passover and Tabernacles. Nonetheless, some think that having the Feast of Tabernacles begin on the night of a completely invisible, darkened Moon is acceptable, so I am entertaining the thought for the sake of acknowledging the phenomenon.
If the New Moon does mark the beginning of the Feast of Sukkot or Tabernacles, the night of October 30th, 2016 will mark the start of the first day of the Feast, and it will end at dusk on Halloween Day. For this reason, some are now saying that the Rapture could occur on Halloween during the day, which would make it a truly terrifying day for those who are left behind. Because, when the Rapture does happen, the Sudden Destruction spoken of in Scripture will come upon the whole world as God's Wrath is poured out at the opening of the Sixth Seal. When it is opened, there will be a worldwide earthquake, a heavy meteor bombardment, and a drastic pole shift that will make the Earth reel crazily about in space, just as described in Revelation Chapter 6 and Isaiah Chapter 24.
If the evening of October 30th is the true start of the week-long Feast of Tabernacles, of which I have my doubts, the seventh day of the Feast will fall on Sunday, November 6th, 2016. If so, this is the day when the last trumpets of the Autumn feasts will be sounded. So, since the seventh day of Tabernacles marks a type of "Last Trumpet" because it is the last day of the last feast of the Sacred Calendar year on which trumpets or ram's horn "shofars" are blown, some people are saying November 6th is a high Rapture Watch day.
If the day of the Rapture is indeed sometime on November 6th, it would mean that the Church would be taken in the Rapture two days before the US Presidential Election on Tuesday, November 8th, so Donald Trump and all true believers in Yahshua won't be here to participate! Furthermore, it would mean that the Sudden Destruction that is to come upon the world will start before the election - meaning the election may never take place! I don't know why, but I found that thought highly amusing. Even though it is unlikely, it made me laugh several times as I thought about it!
Although there are many teachings to the contrary, I do not feel that Yahshua or Jesus is going to come for His Bride on any particular day, although many people are convinced He will come on the Feast of Trumpets, as I once thought as well. Hebrew idioms tied to phrases like "no one knows the day or hour" and "the last trumpet" seem to place it on the Feast of Trumpets, but all the Feasts of Israel have a connection to the Rapture. For instance, Resurrection Sunday during Passover Week was the day of the Firstfruits Wave-sheaf Offering in the Jerusalem Temple in ancient times, and since Yahshua rose from the dead on that day, it is symbolic of the First Resurrection at the time of the Rapture.
In addition, Pentecost or Shavuot was when the Holy Spirit became available to all believers, and Yahshua ascended to Heaven ten days beforehand. When He ascended, His disciples were told that He will return "in like manner", so this ties Ascension Day and Pentecost to the Rapture. But the Rapture is particularly tied to all of the Autumn Feasts - especially the Feast of Trumpets and the seventh day of the Feast of Tabernacles, when many trumpets are blown all day long to mark the feasts. Curiously, since the week-long Feast of Chanukah is seen as a second Feast of Tabernacles by the Jews, its seventh day also has ties to the Rapture. But remember that Christ Himself tells us that no one knows the day or hour of His coming to retrieve His Bride (Matthew 24:36).
For those who say that the Bride of Christ will know exactly when her Bridegroom is coming, I believe that they are all wrong. The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins makes it clear that when the virgins or believers in various churches hear the watchman's cry that the Bridegroom is coming, they will all be sleeping (See Matthew 25:5-7). So though they will have an idea of when the Bridegroom is near due to all the signs of His coming that we are seeing today, they will not know the exact day or hour of His arrival.
Nonetheless, since the Feasts of Israel are so prophetically interesting with their Christ-centered themes, many believers like to focus on them as possible Rapture Watch periods. There is nothing wrong with this practice, and it does help to encourage us to watch for the Lord's return, just as He asked us to do. But again, these are only speculations, and no one should be proclaiming they know exactly when Yahshua is coming.
Although there are many earthly and heavenly signs proclaiming the nearness of Christ's return, we need to remember that the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins and the fifth chapter of the First Epistle to the Thessalonians tell us that the time of Yahshua's return for His Bride is unknown, and we need to stay sober, stay awake (or aware of the times), keep our eyes on Christ, and be watching and ready for His coming at all times, whether it is at our death, or in the Rapture.
Love, Blessings, and MARANATHA!
Your Sister In Yahshua,
Helena Lehman of the
Pillar of Enoch Ministry
http://pillar-of-enoch.com
No comments:
Post a Comment
Shalom! Feel free to comment, but please be respectful. God bless!