The Rapture: Can the Timing be Known?

7/12/2018 NOTE: For a better, more up-to-date version of my understanding of end times, please refer to my July 7 post The July 27 Blood Moon is NOT the Sixth Seal.

Only the Father Knows

Back in July of this year I shared what my understanding was relative to the timing of the catching away of the Church Bride. I have removed that post because as mentioned in my September 27 post, The Trump of God, the assumption of a Feast of Trumpets rapture was influenced by rabbinical teachings.  More on that a little later in this post. 

In the first couple of decades of my life as a disciple of Yahshua Ha Moshiach, I believed that Christ could come to meet His Church in the air on any day. As I went on in my studies, though, I learned about the 7 Feasts of the LORD, Scriptural idioms, and that I was living in what is referred to as “The Fig Tree Generation”.

This deepened my understanding so that I now believe the Rapture event will be in my lifetime on a day chosen by our Heavenly Father. Just as in the ancient Hebrew wedding tradition, the Heavenly Bridegroom Jesus will come to snatch away His Bride when His Father decides that all is ready. (For more information on this go to ldolphin.org/TheNuptials and biblestudytools.com.)

Then about two years ago, it was as though the Spirit of the Lord turned a switch to ‘ON’ inside me and I KNEW the Rapture was critically close at hand! I dove headfirst into studying a section of the Bible I had read through only once—the Book of Revelation—and prayed for understanding and for the Holy Spirit to guide me to reliable commentaries. I share this not to infer that I know it all but to let you know that I take this seriously. I was driven by the promise God made in His Word:

Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets. - Amos 3:7 KJV

Here is what I saw…

2014-15 Blood Moon Tetrad

Already having a knowledge of the festivals of the Lord years before this event, I knew the blood moon tetrad was significant.

Many of us had a deep sense that God was trying to get our attention and sure enough He did.  Before the blood moons, only a very few in the Church were "looking up" at the heavens - some of this "looking up" was inspired by Rick Larson's 2007 documentary, The Star of Bethlehem.  Yet as the blood moons began occurring and similar lunar eclipse patterns were found around significant dates in Jewish history, Christians began to realize God wasn't joking when He said:

Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs, and for appointed times, and for days and years. - Genesis 1:14

And

There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven. - Luke 21:11

Christians watching for Jesus' return were now aware of the prophetic significance of the seven appointed times of the LORD (from Leviticus 23) and also that God was communicating prophetic events to us through the heavenly luminaries.  The blood moons served their purpose.  And don't forget all the crazy things that actually did happen in September of 2015 around the time of the final blood moon: a freak sandstorm in Israel, lightning striking Mecca and killing 111, huge earthquakes, Pope Francis at the U.N. and addressing the U.S. Congress, the 2030 Agenda coming to fruition, the Knife Intifada, and Russia invading Syria.  Prophetic events did indeed happen, which stunned those of us watching, and those events served as a template of sorts for what is still to come: a rapture like lightning, world-rending earthquakes, Ezekiel 38, a false prophet, and a covenant with many. unsealed.org/the day and hour revealed

Scriptural versus Traditional Idioms

I had been taught that there were idioms related to the 1 Thessalonians 4:15-16 catching away. What I did not realize is that they may have become idioms through tradition and not by way of the Scriptures:

#no man knows the day or hour—The Feast of Trumpets or Rosh Hashanah is also known as the feast that no one knows the day or hour; HOWEVER, it is uncertain whether this idiom was formed out of tradition.  

Yet another name for Rosh HaShanah is Yom HaKeseh, "The Day of the Hiding" or "the Hidden Day." …Satan, the accuser, is not to be given notice about the arrival of Rosh HaShanah, the Day of Judgment.  ...It is symbolically hidden from satan (satan did not know and understand the plan of the cross [tree], First Corinthians 2:7-8). This was hidden from him as well.
One of the reasons most often given to disclaim that the resurrection of the dead and the catching away of the believers is on Rosh HaShanah is the statement given by Yeshua in Matthew (Mattityahu) 24:36, as it is written, "But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but My Father only." Because Rosh HaShanah was understood to be the hidden day, this statement by Yeshua is actually an idiom for Rosh Hashanah. Thus it should be given as proof that He was speaking of Rosh HaShanah because Rosh HaShanah is the only day in the whole year that was referred to as the hidden day or the day that no man knew. hebroots.com/chap 7

Jesus DID speak this phrase in Matthew 24:36 and it is taught to be an idiom for Rosh Hashanah, but is that what He meant or was He referring to the ancient Hebrew wedding tradition that only the father knows the day when all will be ready for the wedding? (See above section "Only the Father Knows".) 

Yom Teruah is the only festival that no man knows when exactly it will occur. This is due to the fact that it begins on the new moon. The new moon was sanctified when two witnesses see the new moon and attest to it before the Sanhedrin in the Temple.

This sanctification could happen during either of two days, depending on when the witnesses come. Since no one knew when the witnesses would come, no one knew when the Feast of Trumpets would start.

. . . Yom Teruah is always celebrated for two days. These two days are celebrated as though it is just one long day of forty-eight hours. The reason that it is celebrated for two days is because if they waited to start the celebration until after the new moon had been sanctified, they would have missed half the celebration because the new moon can only be sanctified during daylight hours. The command seems to be that we know the season, but not the day or the hour (Matthew 24:32-36). unsealed.org/rapture on rosh hashanah

So the catching away or Rapture may or may not occur on Rosh HaShanah. Almost all the other names associated with the Feast of Trumpets points to this possibility (see the section "Rosh HaShanah: Names, Themes and Idioms" at The Seven Festivals of the Messiah).

Some additional points from unsealed.org:

Some Christians argue that Jesus Himself still doesn't know. I think that line of thinking is patently unbiblical.  Jesus had humbled Himself into the body of a man, with all its earthly limitations.  Yet He was later raised from the dead, glorified, seated at the right hand of God, and restored to omnipresence (Ephesians 4:10).  He revealed new prophetic knowledge later in the New Testament that was not yet known at the time He spoke the oft-repeated "no one knows" saying in the Olivet Discourse.  For example, He revealed the "mystery" of the rapture to the Apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 15:51-52, 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).  He also revealed the entire vision of Revelation to the Apostle John (Revelation 1:1).  New knowledge.  Daniel 12:4 supports this proposition:

But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.

For an unspecified time, certain prophetic knowledge was "shut up" or "sealed".  Yet that sealed knowledge will be unsealed at the time of the end.  I believe the biblically-given time of unsealing was when the Revelation of Jesus Christ was given to the Apostle John per Revelation 22:10:

And he said to me, "Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near."

     

#the last trump—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. All God said about this feast is found in Leviticus 23:

Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first [day] of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation. Ye shall do no servile work [therein]: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD. - Leviticus 23:24-25 KJV

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

For one thing, it’s interesting that Paul refers to the last trump in 1 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

#like a thief in the night—This also became a reference to Rosh Hashanah. sweetmanna.org

Jesus warns the church to watch for Him or He will come as a thief:

Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. - Revelation 3:3 KJV

In contrast to this, those who seek the Lord and do watch, will know the nearness of the Rapture:

But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober. 1 Thessalonians 5:4-6 NASB

The Sign of the Woman and Stellarium

…Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. - Daniel 12:4b KJV

Using a software program called Stellarium, it is possible to visualize the wonder described in Revelation 12:1-2 that occurred September 23, 2017.

I've been sharing this thought with readers: I find it fascinating that the blood moon tetrad made national and international headlines in 2014 and 2015 (as did Y2K and the Mayan nonsense in 2012).  Books were written and some of the biggest names in Bible prophecy talked it up to no end.  Multiple times headlines appeared on the first page of Drudge and so forth.  Yet here is a sign that is described in explicit detail in the Bible, called "great", and possibly even connected directly to the rapture per Revelation 12:5, and there is silence.  The world and the Church are asleep. unsealed.org

For those who have been watching for the Rapture or 'catching away' by the Lord of His Church Bride, this was exciting news! 

Many in the watchmen community believed the September 23, 2017, celestial alignment was occurring on a feast day--The Feast of Trumpets--the festival most likely associated with the Rapture. What we did not know, or had forgotten, was that since the time of Christ the Jews have not strictly followed the Biblical calendar as set forth by God Almighty; therefore, we do not know with certainty when the feasts of the Lord begin or whether we are in a Jubilee year yet or not. Endtimepilgrim.org addresses the question: Can the Biblical Calendar be Restored?

One of the most fascinating symbols of Israel is “the travailing woman” that is contained in the vision of the Apostle John recorded in the Book of the Revelation Chapter 12:

And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. - Revelation 12:1-2

Throughout Scripture the prophecy of the travailing woman representing Israel is seen. These are just a sample:

Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness? Alas! for that day [is] great, so that none [is] like it: it [is] even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it. - Jeremiah 30:6-7 KJV

But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, [though] thou be little among the thousands of Judah, [yet] out of thee shall he come forth unto me [that is] to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth [have been] from of old, from everlasting. Therefore will he give them up, until the time [that] she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel. - Micah 5:2-3 KJV

These particular verses are referring to a time of travail for the nation of Israel that is future. It is my belief, along with many others, that this time of ‘Jacob’s trouble’ is nearly upon us!

For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.

For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, - 1 Thessalonians 5:2-4, 9 KJV

Peace and Safety

The International Day of Peace was commemorated on September 21—two days prior to the Great Sign of Revelation 12.

For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. 

For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, - 1 Thessalonians 5:2-4, 9 KJV 

As the day of His appearing draws nearer, more is being revealed to those who are keeping watch. It appears that we are seeing the false labor pains as evidenced by world events. This will lead to true labor which, once it commences, cannot be stopped!

Grace [be] to you and peace from God the Father, and [from] our Lord Jesus Christ, Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver [exaireō--pluck out; rescue] us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: - Galatians 13-:4 KJV

And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, [even] Jesus, which delivered [rhyomai--rescued] us from the wrath to come. - 1 Thessalonians 1:10 KJV

Caveat: I do not necessarily agree with all the beliefs of anyone whose material I reference. I seek to be led of the Spirit of God as to the sources I use, however, even Spirit-filled Christians only 'see in part' as it says in 1 Corinthians 13:12.