Friday, May 31, 2019

The Rapture Mystery


The Mystery of the Church

To be honest, I was struggling the other day trying to understand what it meant that those in Christ were a firstfruits offering and why we were still here! I asked the Lord for revelation and for Him to encourage me. Worshipful song went forth from my mouth to rid myself of the spirit of heaviness, and as I did so I felt He was leading me to study the word “mystery” in the Scriptures. What I saw did encourage me. Then later as I turned on Youtube, a Tim Henderson video popped up on my feed and one of the last things he said was, “We are a MYSTERY!”

Growing up in this Age of Grace we forget the amazing mystery that is the Ecclesia of Christ or True Church (see aggressivechristianity.net’s article The Correct Meaning of "Church" and "Ecclesia" if you are unsure who the True Church is.)

Before Christ’s death, the Church Age of Grace was unknown. Why? Because God wanted it to be a secret: 

But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, [even] the hidden [wisdom], which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known [it], they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. - 1 Corinthians 2:7-8 KJV

Amos 3:7 tells us that God does nothing without revealing His plan to His prophets, BUT HERE IS AN EXCEPTION! For had the mystery of Jew and Gentile becoming one in Christ been revealed (Ephesians 3:6), the Adversary would have known God’s entire plan of redemption for man and would not have killed our precious Jesus.

Each individual who makes Jesus their Lord receives Christ in them! Now the Devil has a bunch of Jesus-types running around on the earth messing with his plans:

[Even] the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what [is] the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: - Colossians 1:26-27 KJV

The reason the Spirit of Christ within us is ‘the hope of glory’ is because it is the earnest or guarantee that He will be coming back to redeem us:

In whom ye also [trusted], after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. - Ephesians 1:13-14 KJV

The Mystery of the Rapture

A mystery is inclusionary. It is used many times in Scripture and it means that its understanding is available to anyone who takes the time to discover it. Whereby, a secret is exclusionary. It is one that is well-kept and remains hidden. God can know it but we cannot. 4windsusa.com

God revealed the mystery of the Rapture to Paul; however, I believe He did not give away the actual date for good reason. Here are two pictures of why the Rapture’s timing may remain a secret until it happens:

º  In a Hebrew wedding only the father knows the hour he will send his son to catch away his bride. I believe this may be the case with the Catching Away of the Bride of Christ as well.

º  In childbirth, which is another analogy of the Rapture of the Man Child (Revelation 12:5), no one knows the exact hour of the birth of a child delivered naturally.

We are not in the dark so when that day comes it will not totally surprise us (1 Thessalonians 5:4). HOWEVER, just as Father God strategically kept the Church a secret from Satan before Christ died, I think God wants the exact time of the Rapture to be a strategic secret.

God’s End Time Strategy

As most of you know, we are in a great spiritual war and strategy is key. In fact, part of the definition of ‘strategic’ is “relating to the gaining of overall or long-term military advantage”.

As I studied, I learned that the Resurrection/Rapture of the Church is a military action by God.



“But every man in his own order”

The word “order” is translated from the Greek word tagma meaning “that which has been arranged in order, a division, rank” and signifies a military division. There are two tagma or “ranks” of the resurrection host; the Captain and the rest of the army now sleeping, to rise at His trumpet’s sound (1 Corinthians 15:521 Thessalonians 4:16).


1 Corinthians Chapter 15’s ‘last trump’ has a dual meaning.

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. - 1 Corinthians 15:52 KJV

It became a tradition for the shofar to be sounded 100 times during The Feast of Trumpets:

A distinguishing feature of the celebration is the last, climactic blast, the Teki'at Shofar. This is not the usual series of short bursts, signalling alarm or bad news. Rather, it is a long blast, signalling victory or good news. It is this last blast that is referred to as the last trump. khouse.org

This is how the idiom "The Last Trump" became associated with Rosh Hashanah. It is a man-made idiom that is NOT based on Scripture. . .  

HOWEVER, "the last trump" also can refer to a military signal:

For one thing, it’s interesting that Paul refers to the last trump in1 Corinthians 15 and in the immediately preceding chapter,1 Corinthians 14, he refers to the blowing of a trumpet and there he’s referring to a military trumpet. In light of that, it would appear that he has military trumpets in mind when he’s writing 1 Corinthians 15. So it could very well be that when he refers to the last trump which will be blown at the Rapture, he has a military trumpet in mind. What’s the significance of that?

When you study the Roman army and some of the Greek armies and even the Jewish army back in Bible times, when they went into war, they had a “last trump” that would be blown that would tell the fighting men, “Your time of fighting is over. It is time for you to go home and rest.” A “last trump” ended their time in the warfare.

By analogy, the Scriptures teach that Christians today are involved in a spiritual war while they live out their lives in this present age in this present world. When the Rapture takes place and the trumpet is blown at that time, that will be a signal to them that their part in the warfare is over; their fighting in this present age is done in this spiritual war. It is time for them to go home to be with the Lord and rest together with Him in Heaven. jashow.org

 Does the Rapture Fulfill a Feast?

Because we have passed the 71st Anniversary of Israel’s replanting and entered the time of its inspection, I too have been looking at all the connections the Feast of Pentecost has with the Rapture; but have you noticed that EVERY feast that requires assembling before the Lord has prophetic foreshadowing of the Rapture connected with it?

There are three times that God required His people to assemble before Him:

Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year.

Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:)

And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, [which is] in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field. - Exodus 23:14-16 KJV

Each of these three feasts also coincides with a harvest season that requires a firstfruits offering.

If I am understanding it correctly, the Expositor's Greek Testament explains that Christ’s resurrection was only the first of a two-part process; therefore, He was the first of the firstfruits of the BARLEY HARVEST and those who are “in Christ” are the second part.

Firstfruits of Barley or Wheat Harvest?

As I mentioned above, Christ was the first of the firstfruits of the BARLEY HARVEST and those who are “in Christ” are the second part. If the Rapture of the Church is to fulfill a feast, it seems it would be to complete the barley harvest which gives us a picture of the Rapture because in order to separate the grain from the chaff, the soft barley is winnowed, or tossed into the air.

Contrast that to the wheat crop which is trampled upon with a tribulum to separate the hard wheat grain from its chaff (tribulum = tribulation). 


tribulum was a Roman tool used for threshing wheat and was probably pulled by oxen. It resembles a sled with the bottom studded with teeth of stone or iron. They are still in use in some remote rural areas of the world today.

Are we prophetically the second part of the Barley Firstfruits or are we the firstfruits of the final Pentecost Wheat Harvest?

The Rapture - A Mystery Revealed Through Paul PDF by crbible.com gives an excellent overview of Matthew 24 especially explaining verses 37-41 and how the Church cannot be the wheat that is gathered.

Five Doves was another source that summarized the firstfruits:

. . . There are firstfruits from each harvest; one firstfruits from the Church Age and one firstfruits from after the Church Age. (or after the Rapture)
The Barley firstfruits  is the bride-church.  The Wheat Firstfruits are 144,000 Jewish Male Virgins from the tribes, the remain after the Church is caught up. Both bride of Christ and 144,000 are firstfruits, but firstfruits from different harvests! Many Christians think they are part of the 144,000, but they cannot be, because they are a CHRISTIAN, they are part of the first of all firstfruits, they are part of the Barley Harvest! Jesus the head- the church the body!

. . . Again, there are 2 firstfruits, the bride is the barley firstfruits, the 144,000 are the wheat, and they will come on the scene at Pentecost!

There is so much teaching on this it is too lengthy to go into today, best to just view video series. . .

Lora Jeffries Shipley
www.loafofbarley.com 

What About Feast of Trumpets?

What is interesting to add to the mix is that there is NO FIRSTFRUITS offering associated with ROSH HA SHANAH/FEAST OF TRUMPETS!

My understanding leans toward The Feast of Trumpets being fulfilled in Israel where all previous festivals were completed and that it might be the day that the KING of Kings and LORD of Lords comes with His Great Army to the earth (Revelation 19:11; Zechariah 14:4).

Does this mean we will have to wait until the Spring Passover Season of 2020 before we are Raptured? Mmmmm….I don’t think so. Read on.


Indications We ARE Close

No matter which firstfruits offering the Church belongs to, no matter whether the Rapture does or does not fulfill any Feast of the Lord, there is much indicating we are so very close to the Catching Away of the Bride of Christ!

Ty Green has been following “The Ultimate Deal” Peace Plan posting two videos yesterday related to it. In the first 10 minutes of his Think They're Not Going to Divide Jerusalem, Think Again video, he presents Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s predicament of having to face another election.

On the same day Ty posted a 2-1/2 minute video that says it all: Not Going To Stop Us—sharing the recent meeting of Jared Kushner with Netanyahu. The following excerpt explains:

In a move that stunned Israelis, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a government by a Wednesday night deadline, and instead of giving a rival the chance to do so, his party advanced a bill to dissolve the Knesset, Israel’s parliament. The move means Israel will hold new elections on Sept. 17, less than six months after its April 9 vote. 
Netanyahu addressed the political turmoil as he met with Kushner in Jerusalem. 

“And, you know, we had a little event last night,” the prime minister said. “That’s not going to stop us. We are going to continue working together.”

The White House is running short of time to release its plan for how to solve the decades-long conflict between Israel and the Palestinians before the 2020 U.S. election campaign kicks into full swing. Analysts say Netanyahu is unlikely to want to address thorny political issues or the prospect of any concessions with the Palestinians during an Israeli campaign.

. . . “I think the Trump peace plan is on ice indefinitely now,” said Dan Shapiro, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel under the Barack Obama administration. “They already understood that they couldn’t roll out a peace plan during an Israeli election or government formation, so now the same logic is going to apply. Anything in the plan that has the slightest hint of a concession or a hard ask to Israel will be political dynamite during a campaign.” 

That could push back the release of the political component of the plan until at least November, Shapiro said, when the makeup of the Israeli government should become clear. But Trump will then be deep into his own reelection effort. 

The White House is beginning the rollout of the plan by holding an economic workshop in Bahrain in late June, with the political component expected to follow.

“We are not anticipating any changes,” State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said of the economic summit. “We anticipate it’s still going on.” The Washington Post

Here are a couple of speculative scenarios. . . Maybe God will allow pride to rise up and President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu will push this Peace Plan through this year despite elections coming up.

OR

Perhaps the Ezekiel 38 war will commence before either the Israeli or United States elections are held leaving the Peace Plan unsigned and becoming the Daniel 9:27 covenant the Antichrist confirms:

And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make [it] desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. - Daniel 9:27 KJV

In my opinion either scenario would equal RAPTURE TIME for the Overcoming Church!


More Heavenly Signs--Jupiter

Our Brother in Christ Paul Dawson (REVELATIONCHAPTER12dotCOM) pointed out that the planet Jupiter has been of special interest of late due to its disappearing Great Red Spot (GSR). As I thought on how Jupiter represents Christ with its many stripes and gaping ‘wound’ (now apparently ‘healing’), it came into my spirit that Jesus took that wound for His Bride. Just as the first Adam had his side opened for God to create Eve (Adam’s bride), Jesus’ side was also opened for His Bride. But any day now, He will be receiving His Bride. She will join Him and complete Him; therefore, the wound (and the door of the Ark) is closing!



Monday, May 20, 2019

WE ARE THE LAST SIGN!



“Since Israel seeks a sign, and the Church does not require a sign WE ARE THE LAST SIGN - the Rapture.”

Above is a quote I saved since January 2019. It is from a Comment left by Sherry Griffin at Unsealed.

The Resurrection/Rapture of the Overcoming Church will be THE final sign to Israel and the unbelieving world that man’s dominion over the earth is coming to an end.

The window of time before the Overcomers are harvested is narrowing rapidly; however, God is merciful and desires that none perish (2 Peter 3:9). I believe the world will see greater natural disasters which will hopefully awaken the spiritually slumbering people before the true Church leaves.  Just as the chosen bride Esther was instrumental in the revealing of Haman’s evil plot against the Jewish people, the catching away of the true Church and Bride of Christ will lead to the full revealing of the Luciferian elite’s New World Order plot. tribulation before The Tribulation

America Destroyed by Fire, Water, Wind

The lifting of God’s hand of favor over our nation has already resulted in disastrous consequences to the United States for her role in the dividing of God’s land (Why is America Suffering? The Fall of America), but there is more coming.

Not too long ago I was one of those naïve American Christians thinking that no really bad thing could happen here before the Rapture. But the Spirit of the Lord has shown otherwise:

Before war comes to America, I believe God—IN HIS GREAT MERCY—will allow Her to experience some type of national calamity. It most likely will come as an apparent natural disaster. Let me explain.

I am not talking about God causing or sending this catastrophe. It has been proven there is advanced technology being used to manipulate the planet’s climate. It is my suspicion that since the United States must be destroyed for the New World Order to arise, they will use this fallen angel technology to bring down our beloved nation. Many believe that no such thing could happen before the Rapture of the Overcoming Church, but if Japan can suffer a large earthquake that leads to a tsunami in this Age of Grace, so can America. If Greece, Venezuela, etc. can have their economies collapse, so can America. (Related article: 3 Days of Darkness?) [Excerpt from The dropping of HIS shoe]



Others have been shown the Overcoming Church will still be here when America goes down on her knees and experiences a time of revival before she falls completely:

My remnant-bride you will see things that you hoped and prayed you wouldn’t but take heart, it won’t be for long. When you see these things you will know your redemption draws nigh and that the great harvest end time is at hand. Spend time with Me in your secret places for there you will filled with the oil and new wine of My Spirit. [Excerpt from Holy Spirit Wind]

. . . America you will be destroyed by fire by water by wind. . . There are many around you and the powers that be want to see you be destroyed America and it’s gonna happen when you least expect it. People will be saying peace and safety, America will be great again but I tell you that is a lie! For destruction will come upon you in the blink of an eye because you are not ready. You are spiritually blind, you are deaf and your hearts are turned to stone.

There are those who are mine who will go out and bring in the biggest harvest ever of souls to me your Lord and King Jesus. No one can stop them! For they will walk in my power and in my glory. I will go before them and I will be behind them no one can stop them my remnant. [Excerpt from One day very soon the fiery kickoff event will happen 5-11-19 Juanita Godshall]

Juanita Godshall is not the only watchman to prophecy of a fiery kickoff event. Could this be referring to a missile attack on NYC by North Korea as seen by many, most recently Jennifer Leclaire - Vision & Prophetic Word of Warning Concerning New York City? Will this be the “national calamity” I wrote about in The dropping of HIS shoe or will it be a natural disaster perpetrated by using advanced technology?

SOMETHING calamitous is coming to America just before the Rapture. And when a multitude of people unexpectedly disappear in this country—the Rapture—it will bring sudden—and final—destruction to an already greatly weakened United States.


War in US but Without God’s Help

Henry Gruver was shown that America would have to go to war but must fight it without God. To me, that means the Overcoming Church would have to be off-planet just before or when World War 3 begins thus confirming the “when the missiles come down we go up” prophecies, dreams and visions. (Related article: I Asked the Lord When is the Rapture)

My thinking is that the New World Order elite plan is to take advantage of America’s weakened state after an apparent natural disaster and infiltrate the contiguous United States with armies and terrorists from all directions.

As I was writing this article, I was inspired to see what I could find on the web related to this. BINGO! Look at what I found within the first 3 pages of this November 1999 essay, Asymmetric Warfare and the Threat to the American Homeland:

The United States military is immensely strong on the battlefield, perhaps even unbeatable with its superiority in information management, precision indirect fires and close combat. Only a fool would attempt to take on this juggernaut in a direct "symmetric" battle. A weak country that chose to challenge us would be forced to find another way. . .

The rational opponent-and even the smart irrational opponent-will take the indirect approach, the asymmetric response to our conventional superiority. He will attack us where we are weak. Increasingly, that weak spot is our own homeland. ausa.org/asymmetric warfare


Rapture is Sooo Soon!

Steve Monette mentions the consequences to America related to dividing Israel’s land but also relates very encouraging Scriptural insight as to the timing of the Great Harvest—the Rapture—in his recent 11-minute video!

And to top it off, Mark Ekawamai did an exciting video that included a clip of Sandy Armstrong sharing what God showed him when he asked the Lord, “What is going on—the Rapture is misbehaving?”


In the first 5 minutes of that Final Hour 393 video (starting at about the 12-minute mark), you get the gist of the message—the Rapture is sooo soon!! Both Steve and Sandy lean towards this Shavuot/Pentecost being the possible Blessed Hope Event but that ONLY FATHER GOD KNOWS THE CORRECT DATE!




If you continue watching Final Hour 393, there is a very moving recording of a young blind woman being healed. Dear Family, Christ Jesus is IN us saving, healing, and delivering the world! Do not despair or lose hope in your seemingly long wait for His Appearing.

He loves the people of the world so much He will turn the enemy’s chaotic plans into a Great Harvest of Souls for the Millennial Kingdom! We will be moving in awesome power and in His great glory right up to that very last “twinkling of an eye” moment!

Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. - 2 Timothy 4:8 KJV
Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; - Titus 2:13 KJV