It shall be the time of judgment declared by God, of
not only man, but all the rebel angels of the universe.
In the vast
cosmos with all its billions of stars and untold myriads of worlds, earth
will be the stage for the meting out of God's judgment. Why the earth?...
because it is the very world he ransomed on a cross in Jerusalem circa.
30 A.D. The signing of the treaty for the beginning of sacrifice in Jerusalem
will set into motion the last efforts of Satan to "be like the
most high". Eschatologists have been misguided in the past when they did not understand this important
end time starting point.
It was not valid to anticipate the 7 year tribulation
that would precede Jesus' return at the end of the last millennium . The
State of Israel did not exist. Jews cannot sacrifice according to Mosaic
law in any place on earth except the temple mount in Jerusalem.In Israel,
preparations have already been made for the prophetic rebuilding of a Jewish
temple, which has not existed for 1,926 years.
of years--seven times seven years--
so that the seven Sabbaths of years amount to
a period of forty-nine years.
9 Then have the trumpet sounded everywhere
on the tenth day of the seventh month on the Day of Atonement
sound the trumpet throughout your land.
10 Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim
liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants.
It shall be a jubilee for you;
each one of you is to return to his family property ...
Israel and the United Nations are planning a celebration in 1998 to commemorate Israel's 50th anniversary, (Israel's declaration as a nation was May, 14th 1948). This anniversary should serve as a reminder of the religious celebration that was to take place in ancient Israel every 50 years, called the Jubilee. Scripturally, the Jubilee year was to begin on the 50th year, 49 years of 360 days after entering into the land God gave Israel.
Although the fiftieth year (of 360 days) would begin in the Jewish month of Nisan (around April), 1997, an actual declaration of a Jubilee would have to be declared 6 months later, according to Mosaic law, at the feast of Atonement, Tishri 10, (around October), in the year 1997. The U.N. / Israel anniversary celebration would not be in accordance with the Law of Moses, but many secular Jews may attach Biblical significance to the momentous event never the less.
Mosaic law of the Jubilee commands cancelation of all
debts, freedom for all slaves and return of property loaned or sold, to
its original owner in Israel. The most coveted and contested property in
all Israel is the temple mount. In 1967 at the victorious culmination of
the 6 day war, Israel captured the temple mount. For the first time in
over 2,300 years, Israel again had control of the holiest site in Judaism.
In light of Israel's incredible victory of the 6 day war and their miraculous
recovery of the land where the first and second temple once stood, the
Israel government turned over authority of the temple mount to the Moslems,
who control it to this day. Will they always control it? The prophet Daniel
is specific about the future of the temple mount in Jerusalem.
with many for one week (7 yrs) and
in the midst of the week he shall
cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease:
and on a corner of the alter desolating
abominations even until the end.
According to Daniel, the treaty will be signed to return the ancient tradition of sacrifice on the temple mount. With the Jubilee provision of returning land sold or lent to its original owners, the government of Israel could again lay claim to the temple mount. It may be that the Moslems will agree to return the temple mount to Israel, according to the law of returning property on the Sabbatical year, the seventh year after a Jubilee. This law declares that after a parcel of land is returned to it's original owners on the Jubilee, seven years later the original owners may return it to those they had sold or loaned the land to before that Jubilee. If this sabbatical provision is agreed upon before hand at the 50 year Jubilee, the land will remain the property of the new owners forever when it is returned seven years later.
In effect the Jews will say to the Moslems: "Look, our Holy writings, which you yourself hold sacred, declare that the messiah will come seven years after we begin sacrifice on the temple mount. Why not loan us the land for seven years to build a temple there. If our messiah does not come after that time, we are bound by religious law to honor our agreement and return the land, along with the temple!, but if the messiah does come,. . the temple and the land it is on will remain ours forever." What a deal!
Some religious Jews believe that the messiah himself will miraculously come and build a new temple in Jerusalem, but the Bible points out that men will build it, and messiah will come soon after. Adherents to the former view are vulnerable to the lies of a false Christ. When the Antichrist makes possible the miraculous restoration of sacrifice on the temple mount, many in Israel and the world will view this as evidence enough that he was the long awaited messiah. Without faith in Jesus, many will be blinded to the facts and timing of prophecy.
The anniversary of Israel becoming a nation is not an actual Jubilee. Judaism counts the cycle of 50 years continually from the crossing of the Jordan river into Canaan by Joshua in 1451 B.C. (Joshua 4:19) to the present day. The next Jubilee will not officially occur until the year 2000. But.. . . Israel had remained mostly desolate from 70 AD, to 1948. If one remembers God's command," When you come into the land that I give you, then shall the land keep a Sabbath unto the Lord,"a treaty instituting restoration of the temple sacrifice in the year of a celebration of restoration of Israel as a nation, in 1997, is highly significant.
Israel's 50th anniversary will occur exactly 3 and 1/2
years before the true 70th Jubilee in the year 2000. According to the Bible,
the tribulation will last 7 years. At it's mid-point, exactly 3 and 1/2
years from it's beginning, the Antichrist will break the treaty he signed
with the Jews and move into the temple in Jerusalem. After this event,
the great tribulation begins, referred by Joel the prophet as the time
of Jacob's trouble. Whether or not 1997 proves to be the significant
year Daniel's treaty is signed, the events of the end times will happen
in precise order to God's set times. These set times were taught to the
Israelites as they sojourned in the Sinai desert during the Biblical exodus.
They are the feast days of Israel.
The feast days of Israel were set by God to portend literal future events. They symbolize God's design for salvation and were placed in sequence to correspond with their literal fulfillment in the future. If one studies the past events that have already occurred on the feast days of Israel, there are many clues that point to the feast days as dates for future prophetic fulfillment.
The Feast of Passover took place in Egypt when the angel of God passed over the sons of Israel and smote the first born of the Egyptians. Three days later at the Red Sea, on the Feast of First fruits, the Jews passed through the waters parted by God and arrived safely on the other side, no longer slaves to Pharaoh. On Passover, circa 32 AD, judgment passed overr the elect and instead smote the only begotten son of God. Three days later, on the Feast of First fruits, Jesus rose from the dead and the elect passed through the penalty of death into eternal life.
Typology indicates that the feast of Passover falls on the day of Armageddon. The sign of the son of man will pass over the earth on the 15th of Nisan/April. Israel will realize Jesus as their true messiah and mourn for him, remembering that on Passover, thousands of years earlier, he was crucified. Three days later, Jesus will stand on the mount of Olives, parting it in the middle. The Jews will pass through the valley between the mountain to safety at the gates of Jerusalem and the forces of the Antichrist will then be destroyed (Zachariah 14).
Since the sign of the coming of Jesus falls on Passover
just prior to His return, so the covenant between Israel and Antichrist,
the start of Daniel's 70th Week ( Dan. 9:27), falls on Passover 7 years
earlier. If the signing of the 2520 day treaty is on Passover, the midpoint,
the 1260th day falls on the eve of the Feast of Tabernacles.
According to the timeline of Daniel's 70th week, the mid-point of the tribulation will fall between the 14th and the 15th of Tishri. Since the Jewish day begins at sunset, the evening of the 14th day is the beginning of the 15th day, on which the Feast of Tabernacles begins. One has only to look at the Bible account of the Transfiguration to see the typological allusion to the Feast of Tabernacles.
Jesus and three of his apostles went up to the transfiguration
mount. The apostles slept, . Upon waking, Peter saw Jesus changed
and glorified, talking with Moses and Elijah. These two men are the
witnesses who will prophecy in the tribulation for 3 and 1/2 years. Upon
seeing Jesus changed, Peter excitedly suggested that they make three
"tabernacles", temporary dwellings, for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah.
As Peter was speaking,
and voice from out of the cloud said,
this is my son, the beloved, in whom I delight; hear him.
When the disciples heard this they fell on their faces
and were greatly terrified. And coming near,
Jesus touched them and said rise up and do not be terrified.
And lifting up their eyes, they did not see anyone except Jesus alone,(Matt17:4)
The account of the Transfiguration can be seen as a foreshadowing
of the resurrection of the witnesses of Revelation 11. The two men speaking
with Jesus are Moses and Elijah. Moses and Elijah are assumed to be the
two witnesses who will prophecy for the first half of Daniel's 70th week,
the first 3 and 1/2 years of the tribulation. The description of the transfiguration
and the resurrection of the two prophets killed in Jerusalem during the
tribulation mid-point are tellingly similar. Compare the coinciding
elements of Matthew 17, and Rev. 11: 11,
At the Transfiguration Peter beheld Jesus changed,
at the resurrection of the Revelation prophets, they also will be changed:
,...all who become Christ's will have the same kind of body as His, perfect and glorified... an earthly body of flesh and blood would not live forever in the kingdom of God (I Cor. 15:48).
The two witnesses receive their immortal bodies and rise up into the clouds, a description that is astoundingly similar to the resurrection of all the dead in Christ (I Thessalonians). These passages are two descriptions of the same event.
with the command shout of the archangel's voice,
and with God's trumpet. And the dead in Christ
will rise again first,
then we who remain alive
will be caught up together with them
in the clouds to a meeting with the Lord in the air.
This description of the Rapture in 1Thessalonians is far
too similar to Revelation 11:11 to be ignored. The two prophets of Revelation
proclaim God's word, they are among the "dead in Christ" that
Paul explains will be the first to rise in the resurrection.
The resurrection of the two witnesses and the resurrection of all the dead in Christ is clearly simultaneous!
We know that the witnesses have power for 1260 days during
the Tribulation. Because everyone is able to "have a worldwide
holiday, and give gifts to each other" when the prophets are killed,
(Rev 11), the 1260 days of witness will be the relatively uncatastrophic
first half of the Tribulation. According to the description of Rev11, the
two witnesses will lie in the streets of Jerusalem for 3 and 1/2 days after
they are killed at the tribulation mid-point. All of the saints, including
the Revelation witnesses, will rise 3 and 1/2 days after the midpoint of
Daniel's 70th Week.
At the midpoint of Daniel's 70th Week, the prophets who
witness for 1260 days are killed, and the Antichrist breaks the treaty
with Israel and stops the regular sacrifice. 2 Thessalonians 2: 3 says
that the resurrection of the saints cannot happen until two events occur.
The first event is called the apostasy or "falling away". This
term describes how many Christians suddenly will turn from their faith
in Jesus, and be caught in Satan's end time lie. The second event is the
"revealing of The Man of Sin". Paul describes how the
man of sin is revealed in the very next sentence, "He will go
in to the Temple of God, and display himself as God". This
is the abomination of desolation, which occurs at the mid-point of the
tribulation during the Feast of Tabernacles:
spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place
--let him who reads understand--then let those who are in Judea
flee to the mountains; and let him who is on the housetop
not go down to take anything from his house...Matthew 24:15
This warning seems strange to those unfamiliar with the
Jewish feast days, why would people be on their rooftops? During the Feast
of Tabernacles Jewish men were required by Mosaic law to gather to Jerusalem
from every part of Israel. During this time they were required to set up
temporary dwellings, tabernacles, to live in for the entirety of
the feast. Because of the incredible number of people in the city, streets,
court yards and even the roof tops of houses were utilized to accommodate
everyone. It is during this feast that Jesus warns the desolation will
occur, at the midpoint of the treaty of Daniel's 70th Week.
Jesus' secret entry to the Feast of Tabernacles
AN ALLUSION TO JESUS' SECRET RETURN FOR THE FAITHFUL
The prophecies concerning the end of Daniel's 70th week,
and the defeat of the Antichrist, refer to a "sign of the coming
of Jesus in the heavens". All eyes will see the sign before Jesus
physically returns to the Mount of Olives. This physical coming
of Jesus will not be a secret, or a surprise. The prophecies connected
with the coming of Jesus as a "thief in the night" refer
to the secret coming of Christ for his Church. The Bible account
of Jesus' secret arrival at the Feast of Tabernacles alludes to the secret
coming of Christ to gather His faithful.
Analysis of the typology of the Feast of Tabernacles suggests that the resurrection of the faithful will take place during it's observance in the Fall, on the Jewish month Tishri. The disciple John writes an account of what Jesus did on the Feast of Tabernacles during His life in Israel. Considering the mounting evidence that the resurrection of the saints fulfills the typology of Tabernacles, John's description is astounding.
When the Feast of Tabernacles drew close, Jesus' brothers
"after the flesh" suggested that He do miracles in Judea (John
7: 2-5) :
one of the annual Jewish holidays...
"Go where more people can see your miracles" they scoffed..
If you're so great, prove it to the world!"
For even his brothers didn't believe him.
The description of Jesus's brothers as being "after the flesh" is important. They are symbolically like the Jews of modern time who do not believe that Jesus is the messiah. Jesus told his brothers that His time had not yet come, and He told them to go up to the feast by themselves. Jesus then waited to go up to the Feast of Tabernacles in Galilee, which means a "circuit or circle". In the midst of the feast, 3 and 1/2 days from its beginning, Jesus then went up to Jerusalem "not openly, but as it were in secret"(John 7:9). Jesus will again come to the Feast of Tabernacles secretly, "as a thief in the night". The midst of the Feast of Tabernacles is the 18th day of the seventh month.
The number "18" symbolizes the combination of the perfection of order,"10", plus "8" the number of resurrection. It is remarkable that the Bible contains 8 accounts of individual resurrections, (besides the Lord or the saints), 3 in the Old Testament, 3 in the New Testament and 2 in the book of Acts. There are 8 songs in the Old Testament, (besides the Psalms), the eighth song, last in order to the first seven, is Isaiah 26, which declares, ". . .My dead body shall rise, Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust.." Jesus, sometimes referred to in the Bible as "the first fruit of the resurrection", rose from the dead on the 18th of Nisan, by necessity the 8th day or first day of the new week.
The resurrection of Jesus was, significantly, on the Feast of First-fruit, (not currently observed in modern Judaism) . The resurrection of the dead in Christ will occur during the "harvest of the final fruit", the "Feast of Ingathering" (Exodus 23:16) all names for the Feast of Tabernacles. The apostle John saw this harvest in Rev14:13-16, calling it "the harvest of the righteous".
The description of the events that shall occur after the abomination of desolation, further the assertion that the catching up of the faithful in Christ or the "rapture" as it is referred to in modern times, will take place at the "harvest of final fruits" : "Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the millstone; one will be taken, and one will be left."
The harvest of the wine and oil, takes place in the Feast of Tabernacles. Wine is always symbolic in scripture for joy of the spirit of God, while oil typically signifies God's anointing or grace. Tabernacles foreshadows the "ingathering" of the saints, for there could be no more appropriate time for absolute joy among God's people, saved by grace, than the resurrection.
The Feast of Tabernacles reminds the believer in Christ
that his earthly physical body is only a temporary tabernacle.
this tabernacle is taken down,
we have a building from God,
a house not made with hands,
eternal in heaven. For indeed in this we groan,
greatly desiring to be clothed with our dwelling place out of heaven. ( 2 Corinthians 5:1)
The book of Job, the oldest book in
the Bible also describes the change over to immortality, as Job himself
declares a physical resurrection:
and He shall rise on the earth at last
and even after they shall corrupt my skin, yet this:
In my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself,
and my eyes shall behold, and not a stranger's:
though my reins be exhausted in my bosom.
As Jesus was changed at the Transfiguration,
so we all will one day change-over to immortality, (I Thess. 4:15-18).
This feast day of the seventh month will be fulfilled at the rapture and
the glorification of the saints of all the ages.
The events leading up to Armageddon were revealed to
Daniel as taking place in a prophetic time frame referred to by Christians
as the Tribulation, or Daniel's 70th Week. The book of Daniel contains
a prophetic timeline that is to be taken literally (8:26). The accuracy
of the timeline derived from Daniel's prophecies is proven by it's complete
correspondance with God's prophetic feast days.
CONTRARY TO POPULAR BELIEF,
MATTHEW 24 DOES NOT SAY NO ONE CAN KNOW THE
TIME OF THE TRIBULATION, THE RAPTURE,
OR THE RETURN OF JESUS.
Do you see all these things? (the temple of Jerusalem)
Amen I say to you,
there will not be left
here one stone upon another that will not
be
thrown down... the disciples came to him privately, saying,
Tell us, when are these things to happen,
and what will be the sign of thy coming,
and of the end of the world? Matthew 24
The disciples asked three questions. The first was "when will the temple be destroyed?" The temple in question was the second temple of the Jew's, which had been renovated by Herod the Great, and considered one of the greatest architectural achievements in the world. Jesus described in detail how the temple which the disciples were admiring would be destroyed. Roman Emperor Titus Flavius sacked Jerusalem, within the generation of Christ, 70 AD. Titus oversaw the eventual breaching of the wall of the temple itself, and though he had commanded his forces to spare the temple, it was set ablaze and destroyed. After the siege, Titus set up a garrison to pull the temple to the ground and pry up the stones from it's floor in order to recover gold which had flowed into the cracks during the fire. Jesus prophecy had come to pass in every detail.
The second question, "What will be the sign of thy coming?", referred to the signs before Jesus second advent. Jesus described the signs and portents that would precede His coming, including the tribulation period, or Daniel's 70th Week .
Jesus explained that the answer to the last question,
"when is the time of the end of the world," was not known
by any except God the father, but that it would come to pass sometime after
the Millennium. Theologians debate the order of end time events, and even
whether the earth will actually be destroyed, but the Bible explains these
events with clarity.
from whose face the heaven and earth fled away;
and there was found no place for them. Revelation 20:11
Matthew 24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away...
36 But of that day and hour no one knows,
not even the angels of heaven, but the Father only.
According to Matthew 24, "no one knows" when
heaven and earth shall pass away, but this event will occur some undisclosed
time after the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and the Millennium.. It should
not be misunderstood that the "end of the world" detailed in
these passages means that the world will end forever. These prophecies
explain that the heavens and earth will be destroyed, but then made new
again, and the Lord will live with his people forever.
We are exhorted to "watch". Knowledge of these
signs preceding Jesus' return have existed in the Bible since its rendering,
but with the events of the end time unfolding around the earth, God's word
shall be revealed in fullness. When Daniel was given the prophecy of the
"70th week", a time table of historical and future events in
the Bible, he did not understand, "And I heard, but I understood
not..." (Daniel 12:8). The angel speaking to Daniel gave him the
reason: ...for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end....
for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end...
None of the wicked will understand, but those who are wise will understand.
