A Rapture, of Sorts?

08/31/2016 | Mordechai ben Avram

[Jeremiah Jr]

A Rapture, of Sorts?

Disclaimer: First things first. I do not believe in what some people call a pre tribulation rapture and I’ve discovered that there is no *seven year tribulation, ergo, no mid tribulation anything.

But there is a return and that I can write about.

Second the word rapture does not appear in the Bible so let me find a word that is there...

Genesis 5:24 And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.

Took:

לָקַח

לָקַח lâqach, law-kakh'; a primitive root; to take (in the widest variety of applications):—accept, bring, buy, carry away, drawn, fetch, get, infold, × many, mingle, place, receive(-ing), reserve, seize, send for, take (away, -ing, up), use, win.

Hebrews 11:5 By faith Enoch was translated so that he did not see death, “and was not found, because God had taken him”; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

בָּאֱמוּנָה לֻקַּח חֲנוֹךְ

Same word laqach English: translated

Shift: Now Yeshua was keen to throw people off the trail from time to time, for instance.

John 6:53 Then Yeshua said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.

Well, anyone can tell you that scenario is not kosher at anyones table, clearly a metaphor.

Now this one is one of the best ‘fork in the road’ statements He ever delivered.

Matthew 24:36 But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.

And here’s an interesting fact about this statement, Yeshua actually narrowed it down when He said this!

The keys to unlocking scripture lies in the rituals, for instance.

Honey is an ingredient for Rosh Hashanah dishes, honey cake, apples dipped in honey etc.

So when you read: Revelation 10:10 Then I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. But when I had eaten it, my stomach became bitter.

This tells me the new year will start off sweet but will turn bitter soon afterwards.

Same thing with the ‘no man knows the day or the hour’ statement.

Now I’ve heard many ‘rapture teachers’ state that ‘the rapture can take place at any time’

This could not be further from the truth.

The day no man knows, is an idiom for Rosh Hashanah and it’s a festival that this phrase fits perfectly. Anywhere in the world it’s one of two days, ergo...

Here’s some examples of the importance of the Feasts of the LORD

25 Kislev 3756 - Chanukah / Conception of Yeshua

15 Tishri 3757 - Sukkot / Birth of Yeshua

15 Nisan 3790 - (30 C.E.) Pesach / Crucifixion of Yeshua

For reference go to your main library and see Encyclopedia Judaica, Jesus died 30 C.E.

Big Notice! Rosh Hashanah takes place on the new moon and it lasts two days. But there are other two day new moon festivals that take place during the year.

Bamidbar (Numbers)10:10 Also at your times of rejoicing--your appointed feasts and New Moon festivals--you are to sound the trumpets over your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, and they will be a memorial for you before your God. I am HaShem your God."

Now there are a few words you should pay attention to, trumpets, new moons, wedding celebrations, etc...

From:
Torah Readings

Each week in synagogue, we read (or, more accurately, chant, because it is sung) a passage from the Torah...

In the synagogue service, the weekly parshah is followed by a passage from the prophets, which is referred to as a haftarah.

http://www.jewfaq.org/readings.htm

Yeshua read the haftarah See: Luke 4:16-30

This section is read for Shabbat Machar Chodesh and it’s the one we’re interested in.

1 Samuel 20:18 Then Jonathan said to David, “Tomorrow is the New Moon; and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty. 19 And when you have stayed three days, go down quickly and come to the place where you hid on the day of the deed; and remain by the stone Ezel. 20 Then I will shoot three arrows to the side, as though I shot at a target; 21 and there I will send a lad, saying, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I expressly say to the lad, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you; get them and come’—then, as the Lord lives, there is safety for you and no harm. 22 But if I say thus to the young man, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you’—go your way, for the Lord has sent you away. 23 And as for the matter which you and I have spoken of, indeed the Lord be between you and me forever.”

24 Then David hid in the field. And when the New Moon had come, the king sat down to eat the feast. 25 Now the king sat on his seat, as at other times, on a seat by the wall. And Jonathan arose, and Abner sat by Saul’s side, but David’s place was empty. 26 Nevertheless Saul did not say anything that day, for he thought, “Something has happened to him; he is unclean, surely he is unclean.” 27 And it happened the next day, the second day of the month, that David’s place was empty. And Saul said to Jonathan his son, “Why has the son of Jesse not come to eat, either yesterday or today?”

28 So Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly asked permission of me to go to Bethlehem. 29 And he said, ‘Please let me go, for our family has a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to be there. And now, if I have found favor in your eyes, please let me get away and see my brothers.’ Therefore he has not come to the king’s table.”

30 Then Saul’s anger was aroused against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman! Do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness? 31 For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, you shall not be established, nor your kingdom. Now therefore, send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die.”

32 And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said to him, “Why should he be killed? What has he done?” 33 Then Saul cast a spear at him to kill him, by which Jonathan knew that it was determined by his father to kill David.

34 So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, and ate no food the second day of the month, for he was grieved for David, because his father had treated him shamefully.

35 And so it was, in the morning, that Jonathan went out into the field at the time appointed with David, and a little lad was with him. 36 Then he said to his lad, “Now run, find the arrows which I shoot.” As the lad ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. 37 When the lad had come to the place where the arrow was which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan cried out after the lad and said, “Is not the arrow beyond you?” 38 And Jonathan cried out after the lad, “Make haste, hurry, do not delay!” So Jonathan’s lad gathered up the arrows and came back to his master. 39 But the lad did not know anything. Only Jonathan and David knew of the matter. 40 Then Jonathan gave his weapons to his lad, and said to him, “Go, carry them to the city.”

41 As soon as the lad had gone, David arose from a place toward the south, fell on his face to the ground, and bowed down three times. And they kissed one another; and they wept together, but David more so. 42 Then Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, since we have both sworn in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘May the Lord be between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants, forever.’” So he arose and departed, and Jonathan went into the city.

This is the critical section:

Then Jonathan said to David, “Tomorrow is the New Moon; and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty. 19 And when you have stayed three days, go down quickly and come to the place where you hid on the day of the deed; and remain by the stone Ezel.

Hebrew names have definitions and Ezel means...

‏Ezel אֶזֶל

Ezel = "departure"
a memorial stone between Ramah and Nob; scene of final farewell between David and Jonathan

New Moon, Three Days, Departure

Are you paying attention?

Proverbs 7

19 For my husband is not at home;
He has gone on a long journey;
20 He hath taken a bag of money with him;
He will come home at the full moon.
צְרוֹר־הַכֶּסֶף לָקַח בְּיָדוֹ לְיוֹם הַכֵּסֶא יָבֹא בֵיתוֹ

כֶּסֶא כֶּסֶא keçeʼ, keh'-seh; or כֶּסֶה keçeh; apparently from H3680; properly, fulness or the full moon, i.e. its festival:—(time) appointed.

Strong's Number H3677 matches the Hebrew כֶּסֶא (kece'), which occurs 2 times in 2 verses in the Hebrew concordance of the KJV

Psalm 81:3 Blow the shofar in the new moon, in the time appointed, H3677 on our solemn feast day.

Proverbs 7:20 He hath taken a bag of money with him, and will come home at the day appointed. H3677

כֶּסֶא Kaf Samech Alef New Moon, Full Moon
Ben Yehuda’s Hebrew English Dictionary

John 2:1 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. 3 And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.”

4 Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.”

My hour has not yet come, what does that mean?

Wedding hour?

A solar eclipse can only take place at the phase of new moon, when the moon passes directly between the sun and Earth and its shadows fall ... blah blah blah
space.com

Diamond ring effect. noun, Astronomy. 1. a phenomenon, sometimes observed immediately before and after a total eclipse of the sun, in which one of Baily's beads is much brighter than the others, resembling a diamond ring around the moon.

And diamond rings are used in Weddings! Is the picture becoming clearer?

Notes:

*See: The book of Revelation There is no seven year time period recorded in the book of Revelation

NEW MOON
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0015_0_14794.html

Yom Teruw’ah: “The Day That No Man Knows!”
http://doubleportioninheritance.blogspot.com/2011/05/yom-teruah-day-that-no-man-knows_3315.html

[achilles2000]

True, “Bible” does not appear in the Bible, but neither do other words of a language that didn’t exist at the time the Bible was completed. Nevertheless, we get the word “Bible” from the Greek word “biblos”, which translates directly as “Bible” because “Bible” was introduced in English to mean “biblos”, which does appear in various places in the New Testament (e.g. “biblos”, “biblia”, biblion”, etc.). The real issue is the validity of premillennial dispensationalism, together with it’s “Rapture” doctrine. Those doctrines are essentially the 19th Century creation of John Darby and were popularized by Scofield in his Bible notes in the 20th Century. An examination of this thread shows how thoroughly this heresy has been ingrained in Evangelicals by generations of unlearned pastors, virtually none of whom have studied the issue dispassionately and carefully.

[metmom]

Nobody is claiming to know the day or hour but Jesus told us to know the seasons and gave us lots of information in Matthew 24 to let us know the time is drawing near.

He will seem to appear suddenly to those with no spiritual interest as they won’t see the signs, but believers should be and will be aware that the time is drawing near.

[PrairieLady2]

Beautifully done! Thank-you! And yes, I get it. I have to look at the calendar..when is Rosh HaShanna this year?

[aMorePerfectUnion]

"Those doctrines are essentially the 19th Century creation of John Darby and were popularized by Scofield in his Bible notes in the 20th Century. "

"Those doctrines" pre-date Darby historically. I've posted the data a great many times here on FR. Then a poster, such as yourself, shows up to repeat this claim.

In addition, the issue is always, what does the Scripture say?

[MHGinTN]

Same accusation from the same quarters. Catholiciism cannot allow a Rapture into the minds of Catholics. And their apologists will go to any lengths ...

[Maudeen]

As I have posted before. . .no one not even Jesus knows the exact moment when God will pull the plug on the world as we know it and indicate to Jesus “it is time”. But in the meantime what we DO know is that all of us, me included, need to be ready to meet Jesus. No one is guaranteed a next breath, second, minute, hour, day or year here on earth. Believing in the Lord Jesus Christ should be the main concern for not only ourselves but for others. http://www.thereishopeinJesus.com

[metmom]

The real issue is the validity of premillennial dispensationalism, together with it’s “Rapture” doctrine. Those doctrines are essentially the 19th Century creation of John Darby and were popularized by Scofield in his Bible notes in the 20th Century. An examination of this thread shows how thoroughly this heresy has been ingrained in Evangelicals by generations of unlearned pastors, virtually none of whom have studied the issue dispassionately and carefully.

I've heard that kind of comment before from FRoman Catholics, and I find it rather ironic in light of the *doctrinal development* that Cardinal Newman puts for to justify changes in Catholic church doctrine.

The word *assumption* is not found in Scripture either, but that didn't stop the Catholic church from finding, or developing, the doctrine about Mary some 1900 years after she died.

Same with the *immaculate conception*.

[Celerity]

The love of Christ and the acceptance into Heaven is one of the easiest things there is.

I don’t understand why more people don’t seek it.

[ealgeone]

2 Timothy 3:15 covers it.

[bellwether_blues]

I fully believe there has to be a Rapture of true believers, but it isn't to get Christians out of harms way. It seems more due to the positive influence of the Holy Spirit on earth. I also believe it’s still 10 or 20 years away. Why do I say this? In that day:
- People will stop eating meat
o Scary, but there is already a lot of talk that people eating beef need to stop
- Babylon will be a great city again
o This requires a large ?Muslim? country and an effort to rebuild

Eventually the false-prophet will perform miracles, in my opinion, as in the days of Job. The miracles will be so convincing that it is written that if the days were not shortened, even the very elect would be deceived. In the book of Job, Satan was able to 1) call down lightening from the sky 2) stir up armies and have them take over new territory 3) control whirlwinds to destroy (Job’s children’s house) 4) time events in such a unique way to allow the most devastating impact to Job 5) damage Job’s physical body and infest him with worms and do other damage. How would you react if someone could call down lightening or a tornado right in front of you?

About the Rapture itself, I believe it will happen somewhere towards the middle of the tribulation, but before the false prophet performs any significant miracles. Jesus said He would never leave us, nor forsake us. He is honoring His word through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Scripture tells us that the Holy Spirit has to be “removed” from the earth before the fullness of evil is revealed. I believe that will be the time of the Rapture.

[Just mythoughts]

The ‘false prophet’ is going to be calling himself ‘Jesus’. How many converts can he possibly get acting like the devil? Paul describes the first tribulation in Ephesians 6. Not a war of flesh and blood but spiritual wickedness in high places.

[jsanders2001]

Maybe we entered the tribuation on January 20, 2009 and we’re coming to the end of it after going through hell on earth with Obama and Soros..../s Hardest times I’ve lived through during my lifetime....

[boatbums]

Those doctrines are essentially the 19th Century creation of John Darby and were popularized by Scofield in his Bible notes in the 20th Century. An examination of this thread shows how thoroughly this heresy has been ingrained in Evangelicals by generations of unlearned pastors, virtually none of whom have studied the issue dispassionately and carefully.

Untrue as "those doctrines" were taught IN Scripture by the Apostles John, Paul and Peter and found in the writings that got preserved of many of the early leaders of the Christian community. Plus, you can't label something "heresy" when a doctrine really IS based on Scripture rather than some total whole cloth invention - like many Roman Catholic doctrines/dogmas are. Not to mention, the rapture is NOT a salvific kind of doctrine. This means whether someone accepts it or rejects, it has no bearing on their eternal salvation. There are many such "disputable" matters in our Christian faith and we are told to avoid quarreling over them (see Romans 14:1).

I happen to agree with the Pre-Tribulation Rapture teaching because I have studied it for decades and I agree that it CAN be scripturally proven. If you don't or won't believe it because your church has declared it wrong, then you ought to at least check it out for yourself - what do you have to lose? Heck, you may find out they got some other things wrong in the process. Either way, the Rapture will or won't happen regardless of whether or not people believe it. If one is a born again believer in Jesus Christ, he/she will be taken up should they be alive when it happens and then won't they be pleasantly surprised to NOT have to go through the Great Tribulation?! Heresy? NO.

[Just mythoughts]

With all your years of study do you know who the antiChrist literally is?

This ‘great tribulation’ is not a flesh and blood war. The tribulation is mass deception.

[Mark17]

Second the word rapture does not appear in the Bible

eh, the word Bible doesn't appear in the Bible either.

Great minds think alike bro, because that is the first thing that came to my mind also. I generally don't get too deep into these other peripheral doctrines. They might be important, but I want to know what their plan of salvation is. Where will they spend eternity?
And why continuously call Him Yeshua? I prefer to call Him Jesus Christ.

[Mark17]

Nor does ‘sola scriptura’ anywhere appear in the Bible...

Exactly. All that matters is whether something is taught in the Scriptures. We use descriptive terms to make it easier to have a discussion.

You are correct AMPU. You know what though? I never heard the term sola scriptura, till I saw it used here on Free Republic. Of course, I believe in it 100%. I am just saying I never heard the term outside of FR. I NEVER go beyond what is written. 😊

[Mark17]

You’re right...For you, there is no Rapture...The Rapture is for Christians only

Ouch cool guy. I agree, by the way. 😊

[Mark17]

The love of Christ and the acceptance into Heaven is one of the easiest things there is.

I don’t understand why more people don’t seek it.

It reminds me of a song. Abundant life He came to truly give man, but so few His gift of grace receive.

I don't get it either, but that is reality.

[Elsie]

Nor does ‘sola scriptura’ anywhere appear in the Bible...

Acts 17:11
Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

---

Still darned good advice!