Saturday, February 25, 2023

 


The Rapture and the Second Coming - By Rick Segoine - https://www.raptureready.com/2023/02/21/the-rapture-and-the-second-coming-by-rick-segoine/

 

The things that Jesus said and did on Earth and the impact He has had on the twenty centuries that have since passed are both wonderful and amazing.

 

The reality of Jesus returning to Earth will be far beyond amazing.

 

It is not a myth. Picture the literal and physical return of Jesus Christ to Earth at the Second Coming.

 

In a way, motion picture special effects are conditioning the human mind to behold what God can and will do in actual reality.

 

There are those who do not believe that a literal and physical return of Jesus Christ is going to happen or is even possible. The looks on the faces of those unbelievers who live to see that amazing day will give a whole new meaning to that old 1960s adage called “blowing your mind.”

 

With computerized special effects, it is now quite possible to depict Jesus leading an Army of Angels out of Heaven while riding down through the Sky on a White Horse and touching down on the Mount of Olives. That would be spectacular and thrilling to watch, and yet this prophesied event will have, in actual reality, a zillion times more impact.

 

There are two main schools of thought on the event that I and many others believe precedes by at least seven years the literal, physical Second Coming of Jesus, and it is known as the Rapture of the Church. One is a pre-tribulation rapture, and the other is a post-tribulation rapture.

 

Some [post-tribulation] believe scripture teaches that the Rapture and the Second Coming of Christ are one and the same event. Others [pre-tribulation] believe that the Rapture and the Second Coming of Christ are two separate events.

 

We know that the Second Coming of Christ happens at the end of the seven-year tribulation period because scripture, especially in the book of Revelation, describes so many things during those seven years that will happen prior to Jesus’ return. The book of Revelation was revealed to John by Jesus Himself. Jesus also says that if He were to not return when He plans to at the end of the seven years, no flesh would be saved (Matthew 24:22, Mark 13:20).

 

Pre-tribulation Rapture verses include Rev. 3:10, 1 Thess. 5: 9-10, and 1 Thess. 1:10, which allude to believers being caught up to be spared from the wrath of God. Jesus is not going to subject His bride (The Church) to seven years of wrath upon an evil God-hating world.

 

The Apostle Paul describes the Rapture as something that will occur in the twinkling of an eye (1 Cor. 15:50-54). The Second Coming of Jesus Christ is described in scripture as an event that will take much longer than a mere “twinkling of an eye.” Revelation 1:7 and Revelation 19:14 are two accounts of what the Second Coming will look like.

 

Jesus compares the Rapture to the days of Noah in that no one knows the day it will happen, and many won’t believe it is even going to happen at all. Just as in the days of Noah, people will be going about their business when, suddenly, that day arrives. And like the rains came down and the Ark began to rise, the Church will go up (Matthew 24:37-39).

 

Whoever lives through the seven-year tribulation should know exactly when the Second Coming will happen because the prophet Daniel (Dan: 8) reveals the exact number of days [1,260] between the ‘abomination of desolation” committed by the Antichrist and the literal Second Coming of Christ. Jesus said that nobody knows the day or the hour of our Blessed Hope (The Rapture) and thus compares it with the days of Noah when the Flood caught people unaware. Jesus wanted us to see the parallels between the Flood and the Rapture.

 

It would hardly be like in the days of Noah if we could count down the days to the Rapture.

 

There is no reason to fear the Rapture. It will be the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to every single person who is blessed to be a part of it.

 

The very good news is that all true followers of Jesus Christ alive at the time will be raptured no matter what their position is on the timing of the Rapture.

 

Fear of the unknown, fear of the supernatural, and attachment to life on Earth as we know it can translate into fear of the Rapture. Perfect love [embodied in our Lord and Savior] casts out all fear (1 John 4:18), and so we need to trust 100% in Jesus with all of our hearts, minds, and souls. Fear not; Jesus knows exactly what He is doing and will orchestrate the Rapture in a perfectly wonderful, beautiful way.

 

It is not unnatural for a younger believer to hope for a delay in the Rapture, just as it is not unnatural for a believer who is older in years to hope the Rapture happens “the sooner, the better.” The young feel like their life on Earth has just begun, and the old are sick and tired of witnessing countless acts of wickedness and evil. Yet we are aware that if there seems to be a delay in our Savior calling us home, it is for the sake of precious souls that still can and will be saved.

 

Why is there going to be a Rapture? Because the Church (believers) is not appointed to the wrath that will be poured out in the tribulation upon a wicked Christ-rejecting and God-hating world (Rev. 3:10, 1 Thess. 5:9-10, 1Thess.1:10).

 

The Rapture will have a major effect on everyone who is left behind, and many false reasons will be given for the disappearance.

 

Two thousand years of anticipating the return of Jesus has lulled the masses to sleep. That is one of the main reasons that the Rapture will come upon us with sudden swiftness, just like the rains in the Days of Noah and the fire and brimstone in the days of Lot.

 

The Ark took about 100 years to build, and Noah continually warned those who were mocking him right up until the day arrived that God supernaturally sealed the door of the Ark and unleashed the waters of the firmament to flood the earth. It was at that moment that it became too late for the mockers, and all of the mocking stopped.

 

During the last two thousand years, Jesus has prepared a place for His true followers and, figuratively speaking, has built a different kind of Ark – one that is supernatural in nature. Only this time, it is not going to rise slowly upon the water. Rather, a rapid transformation in the twinkling of an eye will take place as Jesus receives all who love and trust Him as well as all who have died over the centuries loving and trusting Him.

 

Just like in the days of Noah, many will mock and scoff and refuse to believe such an amazing thing could actually happen.

 

People had 100 years to get on board with Noah and 2,000 years to get on board with Jesus, bound for that heavenly place He has prepared for us (John 14:3). And in that split-second when the trumpet blows and the Lord calls, we will be given new eternal, incorruptible bodies.

 

Anyone left behind after the Rapture takes place who still denies that Bible prophecy is being fulfilled will be giving a much deeper meaning to the act of denial.

 

For others left behind, The Rapture will provide proof that the Holy God of the Holy Bible really is, in fact, God and that He alone is trustworthy and in control of His creation. Witnessing His supernatural power will give many the courage to believe in Him even though their physical lives will be in peril for doing so. (Rev. 13:7).

 

Those who like to point out that the English word rapture is not in the Bible have a problem. The event known as the “Rapture” is most definitely described multiple times in the Bible, and the Hebrew wedding protocols are an amazing picture of the Rapture, including the fact that only the Father knows the day or hour that the Son will go to bring his bride to her new home.

 

Paul explains exactly what the Rapture is in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 and 1 Corinthians 15:50-55. These words define a disappearance, a great catching away, a radical departure, to deliver, a transferring from earth to heaven. In Hebrew are the words natzal and metzal, and in Greek, those Hebrew words translate to harpazo. Harpazo in Latin becomes raptero or rapio, which translates to rapture in English. They all describe what Paul explained in the above scriptures. The words to describe it are just that. It is the event itself that matters.

 

Some long for the Rapture with all of their hearts, and some kind of welcome it with reservations. Either way, it is going to happen according to the will and the timing of our Holy God, our Heavenly Father.

 

No one can possibly imagine the wonderous life that God, through his amazing grace and mercy, has planned for those who have accepted the free gift of salvation (1 Cor. 2:9).

 

Some of those left behind will write off the Rapture as a fluke along the lines of the so-called “big bang,” or as some kind of massive alien abduction, or any number of wild theories. The evil globalist cabal will continue their work to bring the Antichrist into full power, at which time that man of sin will step up the persecution and martyrdom of those who have turned to Christ, as well as to prepare for his very vain attempt to actually fight against Jesus and His Heavenly Host upon Jesus’ return.

 

Attempting to fight against the supernatural powers of Almighty God and His Son Jesus will likely go down as the dumbest idea in the history of the world.

 

There are those who attempt to fight against God intellectually or through the medium of theology and those who will actually attempt to fight Him physically. The last battle, called Armageddon, will prove the futility of trying to fight against God at all.

 

God has complete supernatural control over all of the forces of nature, as He demonstrated many times throughout the Bible by doing amazing miraculous things that completely defy reality as we know it.

 

Those demonstrations were but tiny glimpses of His total power.

 

Most of us have seen videos on YouTube of big-wave surfers riding waves 100 feet high at a place called Nazare in Portugal, and it highlights how small humans are by comparison. These giant waves are but ripples in the bathtub to God Almighty. His supernatural power is unfathomable; it is off the charts. We have no charts to measure such power.

 

Jesus will return as a Conquering King to put an end to the reign of Antichrist and his False Prophet and their evil ways. He will put an end to those seven years that will be more horrible than ever was or will be on planet Earth. No flesh would be saved at all if He were not to return and, with supernatural power, put an end to the evil as well as the time of wrath (Matthew 24:22 and Mark 13:20).

 

The idea of human armies, marshaled by that master terrorist, Satan, for one last-ditch stand in an attempt to battle against the supernatural powers belonging to Him who spoke the universe into existence, is going to go down as the ultimate glorification of stupidity and arrogance.

 

The Second Coming of Jesus Christ will bring a welcome end to the seven-year tribulation period, also known as the 70th Week of Daniel.

 

Trust in Jesus or trust in the pseudo-intellectual ramblings and theoretical rumblings of fallen man. It will be the most important choice anyone will ever make.

 

The Rapture, the Seven-Year Tribulation Period, the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, followed by 1,000 years of peace on Earth with Jesus ruling from Jerusalem, the final banishment of Satan at the very end of the millennial kingdom, and then the creation of a new Heaven and new Earth that will last forever without a trace of evil or wickedness. Some long for it, some mock and scoff at the thought of it, some deny it could possibly happen, and some will foolishly attempt to fight and fail against Almighty God in an attempt to prevent it.

 

From Genesis to the creation of a new Heaven and Earth. This is God’s “Week of Creation,” for we know that 1,000 years is as a day to the Lord (2 Peter 3:8).

 

We are somewhere in the midst of the “birth pains” Jesus spoke of (Matthew 24:8) and nearing the very end of the first “Six Days” with only the Rapture and the Seven-year Tribulation standing between life on Earth as we know it and the last Millennium (the last day of God’s Week) when Jesus will reign from Jerusalem for 1,000 years with the redeemed lending Him a helping hand.

 

All of us who long for God’s will to be done and love, believe, and trust in Jesus need to keep looking up, for our redemption (our Blessed Hope) is drawing nigh.

 

Dear Ones… The Signs are Everywhere… Our Blessed Hope is so Very Near.

 

Any precious soul who has read these words and does not know Jesus, please call on Him today. He longs to save you, give you the gift of eternal life, and be your best friend now and through all eternity.

 

Your friend in Him,

 

Rick Segoine

The U.S. And Europe vs. Russia And China – The “Alliances Of The Apocalypse” Have Formed - by Michael Snyder - http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/the-u-s-and-europe-vs-russia-and-china-the-alliances-of-the-apocalypse-have-formed/

 

It is kind of like watching a really bad Hollywood disaster movie slowly play out, except in this case billions of people could end up dead. Thanks to the endless bumbling of the Biden administration, Russia and China have been pushed into each other’s arms, and now they seem determined to confront the western powers together. For those of you that have not been paying attention, the apocalyptic alliances that we have been anticipating for years have now formed. It is going to be the U.S. and Europe on one side, and Russia and China will be on the other. All of the marbles are at stake, and both sides have plenty of nuclear weapons.

 

On Tuesday, China’s top diplomat Wang Yi publicly declared that his nation is “ready to join forces with the Russian side”…

 

The People’s Republic of China is ready to join forces with Russia to decisively stand up for national interests and promote mutually beneficial cooperation in all areas, Wang Yi, director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China’s Central Committee, said on Tuesday as he met with Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev.

 

“During a virtual meeting at the end of last year our leaders (Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin – TASS) came up with a plan for further development of bilateral relations. We are ready to join forces with the Russian side, in accordance with the high-level agreements, to decisively stand up for national interests and virtues, and promote mutually beneficial cooperation in all areas,” he said.

 

And the Wall Street Journal is reporting that plans are being made for Chinese leader Xi Jinping to travel to Moscow for a high level summit with Vladimir Putin…

 

Chinese leader Xi Jinping is preparing to visit Moscow for a summit with Russia’s president in the coming months, according to people familiar with the plan, as Vladimir Putin wages war in Ukraine and portrays himself as a standard-bearer against a U.S.-led global order.

 

Meanwhile, the Chinese are using increasingly harsh words to describe U.S. involvement in the war in Ukraine…

 

And the Chinese are now calling for the UN to investigate the destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines…

 

China has called on the United Nations to investigate the explosions on the Nord Stream gas pipelines, describing the blasts as a “deliberate act” by state actors.

 

At a UN Security Council briefing on Tuesday, Chinese ambassador Zhang Jun said China shared the position of many countries in calling for an investigation “to uncover the truth and identify those responsible”.

 

So why would China request such an investigation?

 

Because they know that we did it.

 

And we know that they know that we did it.

 

And they know that we know that they know that we did it.

 

Thanks to Seymour Hersh, the whole world now knows that the Biden administration was behind one of the greatest terror attacks in modern history.

 

Biden administration officials can lie until they are blue in the face, but the gig is up.

 

Everyone knows what really happened, and the credibility of the Biden administration has completely evaporated.

 

U.S. relations with China have been steadily deteriorating for quite some time, but the Biden administration seems absolutely determined to make them even worse.

 

Just look at how the whole “Chinese spy balloon” incident was handled.

 

The Chinese are not going to forgive, and they are definitely not going to forget.

 

So now Russia and China have decided to become best buddies, and the guy that we keep sending billions of dollars to over in Ukraine is warning that this could result in a “world war”…

 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned China in a newspaper interview on Monday against supporting Russia in its war on Ukraine and said doing so would bring on a world war.

 

Zelenskiy’s comments came as China said that the United States was in no position to make demands, after the top U.S. diplomat warned his Chinese counterpart at the weekend against China providing weapons to Russia in its war in Ukraine.

 

Sadly, he is quite right about this.

 

There will be a war, and the alliances for that war have already formed.

 

Needless to say, many of our leaders are absolutely horrified that Russia and China are getting close. For example, just check out what Senator Lindsey Graham said just a few days ago…

 

Sen. Lindsey Graham on Sunday said China would be making a colossal blunder if it decides to provide lethal aid to Russia for its war with Ukraine.

 

“If you jump on the Putin train, you’re dumber than dirt,” the South Carolina Republican said of China in an interview with Martha Raddatz on ABC’s “This Week.”

 

“It would be like buying a ticket on the Titanic after you saw the movie.”

 

If our leaders were smart, they would be looking for a peaceful way out of this mess while it is still possible.

 

But instead, Joe Biden just continues to spew incoherent drivel about how it is important for us to back the war in Ukraine for as long as necessary…

 

Meanwhile, President Trump is publicly warning that “World War III has never been closer than it is right now”…

 

Trump was right on target with that statement.

 

In my entire lifetime, the United States has never been closer to an apocalyptic war than it is right now.

 

It appears that we could end up fighting Russia and China at the same time, and that sort of a nightmare scenario will not be good for any of us.

GOD'S PLAN FOR ALL MANKIND

 



By Pastor Mike Taylor


Does God have a plan for mankind? Has He revealed it to His people through the words of  your bible?
16  “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
17  Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ”. (Colossians 2:16-17)



God laid down a plan, a chronological plan for the whole of mankind that is sprinkled within the pages of your bible. In Ancient Israel, during the Exodus led by Moses, God instituted festivals, or feasts given to the people of God led out of Egypt by His chosen messenger, Moses. These festivals were given to the nation of Israel and most of the religions of today discount these as “Jewish”, but fail to understand that these were given by God to humanity as a benchmark, or guide to His plan for all of mankind's redemption. I will look at them in this message as “timelines of prophecy” or what God has done for man, and what He intends to do in the near future.


When our great and awesome God gave them to Israel, the people did not understand them in their spiritual application, but followed them as rituals for what God expected of them. They were physical representations to them that were carried out without understanding of their final outcome and what they represented. Each of these days pointed to one event, the coming of the Messiah and His redemption of all the earth and His greatest creation, man.

THESE FOLLOW IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER

In the spring, begins the first of the Feasts, called Passover. In the Exodus, the Israelites were spared the death angel killing their first borne by striking the door post and the lintels with the blood of a lamb. You can read about this in Exodus chapter 12. Sadly, Israel has never gotten beyond this act of sacrificing a lamb on Passover and were observing it during the lifetime of Jesus Christ. But the life and death of Jesus Christ changed this observance for all time.

Jesus during the evening preceding His death, called His disciples to gather together for the last supper meal where our Lord and Savior changed the emblems of this Holy Day from a lamb slain to a memorial of bread and wine. Matthew chapter 26:
26  “And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;28  For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” (Matthew 26:26-28)


Jesus proclaimed a new symbol of the Passover, the wine and the bread, a symbol of His broken body and His shed blood. Jesus did this a day before the day the Jews would be observing the Passover with the sacrifice of thousands of lambs in the temple, because He knew that He would be the Passover offering for the sins of all mankind. At the time of our Lord’s death on the cross in the afternoon before sundown, thousands of lambs were being ritually slaughtered in the temple, but the supreme sacrifice that would take away the sins of the world, was being laid down in blood spilled upon a cruel cross at the exact moment of the events going on in the temple. Coincidence? No, God does everything right on time.  When Jesus was laid in the tomb of a rich man, fulfilling scripture to the exact detail, He arose three days exactly from that time of His death. Exactly as scripture proclaimed and He proclaimed to the temple priest when driving out the money changers, He arose three days later. (John 2:19-21)


Upon  the first day of the week, when the women came to the tomb to prepare the body for burial, they found the tomb empty and went and told the disciples who ran to find out if this event was true. Afterwards, Mary Magdalene was crying in the garden area of the tomb, when Jesus appeared to her.
14  “And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus.15  Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.16  Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master.17  Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.” (John 14:14-17)

Why was this significant, and why did Jesus not want Mary to handle Him? In the temple on that morning was another event that Jesus was preparing to fulfill.

That very morning is known as the “Wavesheaf Offering of First Fruits.” The primary history of this event is found in 
Leviticus 23:9-14:

And the Lord spoke to Moses saying, "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the 
first fruits of your harvest to the priest. He shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. And you shall offer on that day, when you wave the sheaf, a male lamb of the first year, without blemish, as a burnt offering to the Lord. Its grain offering shall be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to the Lord, for a sweet aroma; and its drink offering shall be of wine, one-fourth of a hin. You shall eat neither bread nor parched grain nor fresh grain until the same day that you have brought an offering to your God; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.”

As this action provided the first fruits of the harvest, Jesus was to ascend to the Father to be the first fruit raised from the dead. The Bible nowhere indicates that the priests understood the ritual they were performing on Saturday evening when Jesus Christ, the archetypical Wavesheaf, was "harvested" from the material world by being resurrected from the dead. On Sunday morning, as the firstborn of many brethren, He was lifted into and through the heavens to God's throne to be accepted by Him as the sacrifice for our sins and as our High Priest.

The Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost

Seven weeks from the time of the Wave Sheaf Offering is the Feast of Pentecost.  It is the last Holy Day observed in the spring. When Jesus was on this earth after His resurrection until the time of His ascension to rejoin His Father at His right hand, He commanded His disciples to tarry till He send them the “Comforter”. 

And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.” (Luke 24:49)

Pentecost is unique among the holy days because it is the only annual feast determined by counting. All the other festivals God commands  to observe on certain dates on the Hebrew calendar, but we must count for Pentecost. Whether we count fifty days or seven weeks or seven Sabbaths from the day of the wavesheaf offering, we must still go through the exercise of measuring the time to keep the feast properly. Why? God does nothing without a purpose, and His purposes always include giving His people additional instruction for their ultimately eternal benefit. Counting to Pentecost is no exception.  God gives us many numbers in His Word to give us a season to expect His return and unfolding events.


No where in this message, can anyone proclaim that God will do this or that on a specific date. To set dates in stone is to go against what God told us that “no man knoweth the day or the hour, but my Father only" but it can give us a direction to know that events are lining up with what His Word proclaimed.

So let’s recap the symbolic meaning of God’s plan for man that is replayed during the springtime of each year of man’s existence here on earth. Remember, these were symbolic in the days of Israel, but have been made real, as Jesus Christ has been crucified and shed His blood for the remission of sins for all who believe. Passover symbolizes our redemption from this world and the forgiveness of our sins. Unleavened Bread is a week long observance that follows Passover day and  typifies our lifelong task of coming out of sin and putting on the new man in sincerity and truth. We begin to count on wavesheaf day, which occurs during this period, and the fifty days extend to Pentecost, a festival that symbolizes the harvest of God's firstfruits, as the church was born on this day.


These feasts days are God’s Spring time of prophetic time markers for the redemption of His creation. Those plans have been completed. Jesus has died and rose again. We who have believed have had His blood applied to our lives and we proclaim a memorial of His death and resurrection with the Lord’s supper of the bread and the wine until He returns to gather His church unto Himself. We seek by the power of the Holy Spirit to remove sin from our lives, as portrayed by the Feast of Unleavened bread. Symbolically, we press on to become conformed to the image of the only example we have for being accepted by the Father into His presence, His Son Jesus  Christ. We have before the Father, our high priest and the first fruits borne of the dead through resurrection, our Lord and Savior, and we have been given the power of the Holy Spirit to be our guide, our counselor, and the power within us to complete that transformation.

THE AGE OF GRACE.

Between the spring and the and the fall, is the coming summer  months that the harvest grows. It is the time that we are now experiencing and fast drawing to a close. We are in the age of grace, the age of the church upon this earth. During this time, many trials come upon any believer, and amongst us grow the weeds amongst the harvest…called tares in your bible.
24  “Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:
25  But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
26  But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
27  So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?
28  He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?
29  But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.
30  Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.” (Matthew 13:24-30)

We that have discernment and are following the ways of our God and  Savior, know that evil abounds all around us. The tares or weeds, are right among us in the church. During this summer months of the Age of Grace, God allows the wheat and the weeds to grow together, but will separate the true from the false.  When will that be?

As the spring time markings of the salvation of our God, brought about by our Savior Jesus Christ has been completed, and we are in the midst of the growing harvest, we await the completion of God’s plan for man, as symbolized by the Feasts given by God and observed in the fall. Symbolically, we are on the cusp of the end of days that I believe, are experiencing right now.  Let us now look at the spiritual meaning and application of these prophetic time markers that are called God’s Holy Days beginning in the fall.

IN THE FALL: THE FEAST OF TRUMPETS


The first time marker is the Feast of Trumpets. If you study your bible, you will notice that the trumpet was used for many points of communication to the people. Each trump was blown in succession in the wilderness, and during the time of the Temple of God in Jerusalem. In the wilderness, the first trump or the left horn was blown to alert the people, saying “Heads up” Attention, If you will. . The right horn, or the second blast was designed to get the people ready to move. The last trump was used to signal, “Move out”…they were also used in battle as signals.


According to Jewish tradition, the first trump is blown with the left horn of the ram Abraham sacrificed instead of Isaac (Gen 22:13). This is blown at the end of the spring time, or Pentecost that we just described above. The last trump is blown with the right horn of the ram. This is blown in this first feast of the end of the age of Grace, or the rapture of the church. The ram represented Jesus. He will sound both the first trump and the last trump. In the book of Revelation, John hears the sound of a loud trumpet.
10  “I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,
12  And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks;
13  And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.” (Revelation 1:10-13)

John hears a loud trumpet and turns to see the  Lord of Glory, our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Paul describes this sound that I believe John heard:
50 “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.(1st Corinthians 15:50-54)

And again in 1st Thessalonians;
14 “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” (1st Thessalonians 4:14-18)

A trumpet was also used to announce the coming of the KING. This trumpet that each of the apostles heard was our God, Jesus Christ sounding His coming with a shout that sounds much like a loud trumpet blast and is what John and Paul both heard.

NO MAN KNOWETH THE DAY OR THE HOUR

Another interesting fact that has been proclaimed by numerous writers, is that the Feast of Trumpets is the beginning of the secular New Year and is called Rosh HaShanah.

"The problem of Rosh HaShanah is heightened by the fact that it falls on Rosh Chodesh, the new moon itself. Therefore, even in Jerusalem it would have been difficult to let everyone know in time that the New Year had begun. To solve this problem, a two-day Rosh HaShanah was practiced even in Israel. Creating a two-day Rosh HaShanah was also intended to strengthen observance of each day; in the rabbinic view, the two days are regarded as a yoma arikhta, ONE LONG DAY. It has been called “when no one knoweth the day or the hour”

Recall what Jesus told His disciples?Matthew 24
36 “ But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.” (Matthew 24:36)

This was a well know feast day that any Jewish man would have recognized immediately, as it was part of their culture, and their very lives.

Could our Lord be giving us a clue to His coming? What day, what year, we don’t know. We cannot say with certainty, but there has nothing to happen before the Lord breaks through the clouds and proclaims with a loud trumpet call, “
COME UP HERE.” It is two days in Jewish culture..will Jesus come on a future "FEAST OF TRUMPETS? He did not this year, but will He come soon? Answer: no one knows...but we keep watch, as one of these coming years, which could be today, or next year or the year after that, then Jesus will come, and He told us plainly, that we are indeed, in the very last days of the LAST DAYS. “ So when all these things begin to happen, lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh”....Jesus will come, and to many, He will come as a thief when they least expected Him.

CONCLUSION

Let me make one bold statement right here. If God has been fulfilling His plan for man in the past, on the very day of these Ancient God given time markers, called God’s Feasts, is it not plausible or even wise to conclude that God will continue to do the same for the fall feast on THE very day? If God  has done this in the past, is it reasonable to expect Him to do the same in the fall observances?  I know one thing, God does not change, and He gives discernment and reveals truths to His people in preparation for His movement. Our God is a God of order and He gives His people plenty of knowledge found in His Word should they read and understand with their spirits, not with their heads, but with their hearts.


DAY OF ATONEMENT, CHRIST'S SECOND COMING?

Following on the heels of this aforementioned Feast of Trumpets, are the 10 days of Awe in Jewish culture, or having your name written in the God's book of life...it could very well correspond to the coming Tribulation, when Israel will be tried as silver is refined in the furnace, and many Gentiles will believe along with them, but many will die for that faith.

Following on to the end of the Tribulation, is the next observances of the Plan for Man that God has given us in His Word, next is the “Day of Atonement.”.( at-one-ment with God). 
Atonement  is used in the sense of "a covering," and therefore as a means of forgiving sin. By contrast, in the burnt offering, sin is nowhere seen because it is not part of what the burnt offering teaches. In it, God is satisfied because the offerer has met His requirement through Jesus blood in his life, and by the righteous way he lives his life by following the example of His Lord Jesus. Thus, the offering shows the offerer accepted.


Many believe that this is the time of the marriage supper of the Lamb, where the saints in heaven are wed to the groom, our Savior being joined to His church and the feast is completed here on earth during the Millennium .  (Revelation 19:)
7  “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
8  And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
9  And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.” (Revelation 19:7-9)


At the conclusion of the time of feasting and being joined to our bridegroom, the Lord sets up His Kingdom here on earth, as Atonement is following closely by the Feast of Tabernacles. After destroying all rebellion with the sword of His mouth, our God, Jesus Christ will complete a prophecy marker, know as the Feast of Tabernacles, or God with us. Revelation chapter 19:
11  “And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
12  His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
13  And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
14  And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
15  And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
16  And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.” (Revelation 19:11-16)


God will literally tabernacle with us for 1000 years and rule the nations with a rod of iron. All will be set aright and return the earth to the time of pristine condition that was in the time of Adam and Eve. Rebellion will be put down, sinners will be eliminated, and Satan will be bound for 1000 years in a bottomless pit.

During this time, God will command that all keep the Feast of Tabernacles as read in the book of Zechariah chapter 14:
16  “And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.
17  And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.
18  And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.
19  This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.” (Zechariah 14:16-19)

Why does our Lord command us to keep this time of the Feast of Tabernacles? Because our God is finally with us, and commands us to worship Him in spirit and in truth. All who are mortal during this time, will be introduced, as we were to the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ and to believe on/ or not to believe on what He did. That will be the job of the redeemed Church, as Kings and Priest to guide all who are born during this 1000 year reign of our Lord Jesus, to the foot of the cross...Temple worship will be resumed, as Jesus cannot die again, but the symbolism will point to what He did thousands of years prior. All other markers in prophecy mentioned before and written in God’s Word have been totally completed, but God, our Lord and Savior will continue to redeem mortals in the 1000 year reign of Jesus Christ. Men will still be of a sin nature, but not to the extent with Satan removed from tempting them. When Satan is unleashed from his pit, then somehow he will deceive a vast number of people that the bible speaks of in Revelation chapter 20:
7  “And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
8  And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog, and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
9  And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.” (Revelation 20:7-9)


At the end of this glorious time when Jesus will reign with righteousness and justice, that Satan will be allowed to be loosened for a short season to tempt all who have been born during the Millennium. It’s almost unfathomable that men and women who have been in a first person relationship with God Almighty will follow this “prince of lies”. The bible says it will be so. Hard for me to imagine, but I can’t imagine Israel in the wilderness going against the miracles of a God amongst them and following their sin nature either, but so it was. Those deceived will come against the Holy City which is the Throne of God our Savior, and fire will come down out of heaven and destroy them all.


At the end of this period, when all sin is exterminated, it will prove that man cannot be trusted in his mortal state. God will remove all aliens that are not washed in the blood of Jesus Christ and the remainder will be spirit beings, as God the Father is, and as Jesus  Christ is…. as the Church Saints are, so shall all men and women be.


But before that is finished, there is one last feast proclaimed by God. In the Bible, it is called the “Last Great Day.”…Great because it will be the final judgment of all unsaved men and women from all of human history standing before a “Great  White Throne.”.


Revelation chapter 20:
11  “And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
12  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
13  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
14  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
15  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”(Revelation 20:11-15)

So ends the time of mankind, and the beginning of eternity...we will be with God the Father and the Lamb in the New Jerusalem and God will dwell with us forever, and ever.

DECISION TIME: ARE YOU READY?


How do you become written in the book of life? What is the one work that you must do that will qualify you to be counted amongst the children of God?
9 “ That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
11  For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.” (Romans 10:9-11)



And the mini sermon that is the essence of what the bible was written for and spoke to me as a boy:
16  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18  He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:16-18)

God’s plan for man embodied in these time markers of prophecy and fulfillment point to only one Man, the Son of Man….the Son of the Living God, Jesus the Christ.

If you have not found this truth in Jesus Christ and His atonement for your sins, and spelled out in these biblical revival messages, I call upon you to let me introduce you to the only name that will lead to eternal life and escape eternal judgment, Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

This is Pastor Mike Taylor, wishing God’s love in your life. If there is anything I can help you with, counsel you, or just listen to your prayer request,then give me an email to pastormiketaylor@yahoo.com
, or visit me online at wwww.realteam1999@sbcglobal,net
,   God bless you,

till we meet at Jesus Feet.