A Pentecost Rapture

Posted 3-11-00, updated 3-22-00

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As always, Your internet friend in Christ since 1996
Steve Shackleton

Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year...the feast of unleavened bread...the feast of harvest (Pentecost), the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering (Feast of Tabernacles), which is in the end of the year...Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord GOD....The first (i.e., Rapture I) of the firstfruits (all those "redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God," Revelation 14:4) of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the LORD thy God (Exodus 23:14-19)

We are the first of the firstfruits! and Pentecost is when "The FIRST of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the LORD thy God." This seems to be Rapture I. The Bride of Christ is the "FIRST" of the entire Body of Christ, which is the whole "firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb."

In other words, the entire firstfruits is the Body of Christ, but the first of the firstfruits is the Bride of Christ. It looks like the Bride is taken to Heaven in the Pre-Trib Rapture on Pentecost. The remainder of the Body of Christ is caught up to Heaven in the Pre-Wrath Rapture on the Feast of Trumpets, the 2,300th day of the Tribulation.

Hidden in scripture are secrets that are likenesses or duplicates of things that have happened before. History repeats itself by the Lord's design. In the oldest book in the Bible, Job told us that "THE SECRETS OF WISDOM...THEY ARE DOUBLE TO THAT WHICH IS!" (Job 11:5,6)

For example: the church was born on Earth on Pentecost, and it looks like it will be born into Heaven on Pentecost

Boaz, the kinsman-redeemer type of Christ, chose Ruth as his Gentile bride on Pentecost, "the end of barley harvest and of wheat harvest" (Ruth 2:23). This is significant since we are called wheat (Matthew 13:38), and "a kind of firstfruits of his creatures" (James 1:18). The barley may represent the Jewish segment and the wheat the Gentile segment of the Church. Boaz "measured six measures of barley" and gave it to Ruth.. It suggests 6000 years, but just as Boaz and Ruth were not married that day, we have a bit of extra time after the 6000 years are up. (Ruth 3:15). In 28:11, Isaiah said, "with stammering lips and another tongue will he (the Lord) speak to this people," and in these latter days, the Jews have heard the gospel of Jesus Christ from the Gentiles.

Pentecost is "the firstfruits of wheat harvest" (Exodus 34:22).Nehemiah said it was a time "to bring the firstfruits of our ground, and the firstfruits of all fruit of all trees (i.e., all nations), year by year, unto the house of the LORD: Also the firstborn of our sons" (Neh. 10:35,36).

The first trumpet of the Bible sounded on Pentecost the day the Ten Commandment were given at Sinai. Jewish tradition says the first trump sounds on Pentecost, the last trump on the Feast of Trumpets and the great trump on the Day of Atonement. These tie in well with the Rapture of the Bride of Christ when the first trump sounds and the Rapture of the remainder of the Body of Christ on the Feast of Trumpets. The great trump probably applies to the Lord's acceptance of the remnant of Israel. We can also see another similitude: God espoused Israel at Sinai on Pentecost (Jeremiah 2:2,3).

There is another good tie in for Pentecost. On that day in 30 AD, the church was FILLED with the Holy Spirit. At the Rapture, the church that is FILLED with the Holy Spirit will, I believe, be sure to be chosen as the Bride of Christ. Ephesians 5:18 says to "be filled with the Spirit." It is important. Our lamps should not be going out. They should be brightly lit with the oil of the Holy Spirit, as they were in the church on Pentecost in 30 A.D.

According to "The Romance of Redemption: Gleanings from the book of Ruth" by Chuck Missler, Enoch was born on the 6th of Sivan and was raptured on the 6th of Sivan. This could foretell the dates of the birth of the church into this world and the birth into another new world (Heaven). It paints a perfect picture.

I think the Rapture of Enoch and the days of Noah apply to the first Rapture before the Tribulation, and that the Rapture of Elijah and the days of Lot apply to the second Rapture on the first day of the millennial Day of the Lord just before the wrath of God is poured out. The first day is peaceful. The second is not. Fire falls that same day.

Song of Solomon 2:10-14 seems to give time clues for the Rapture of the Bride of Christ. (I left out "of birds" and "places" since they are not in the original and seem to obscure the meaning.) It says,

"RISE UP, MY LOVE, MY FAIR ONE, AND COME AWAY. For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing...is come, and the voice of the turtle (lit., turtledove) is heard in our land; The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. ARISE, MY LOVE, MY FAIR ONE, AND COME AWAY. O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock (in Christ), in the secret...of the stairs."

This is the secret of the stairs. This reminds us of Jacob's ladder that reached from Earth to Heaven, and angels went up and down it. In Rev. 2 and 3, angels of the churches are mentioned. They seem to be the star performers. Maybe the angels of the churches also go up and down Jacob's ladder. It seems to project the right picture.

They go up at the Rapture, visit their habitation (Job 5:24), and return with Christ at the Second Advent. Later, after Christ sets up the millennial government, they will return with him to Heaven. "And David my servant shall be king over them" (Ezek. 37:24). Jer. 30:9 says, "they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them." Ezek. 34:23,24 says, "And I will set up one shepherd over them and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. And I the LORD (YHVH of hosts, Christ, Isa. 44:6) will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them."

The time clues of Song of Solomon 2:10-14 are bookended with "RISE UP, MY LOVE, MY FAIR ONE, AND COME AWAY" and "ARISE, MY LOVE, MY FAIR ONE, AND COME AWAY." Both statements strongly suggest the Rapture. What is in between must be important.

Winter is past, so it must be spring. The rain is over and gone. In Israel, the former rain begins Tishri 1 and the latter rain begins Nisan 1 (Unger's Bible Handbook, pp. 163,165). Winter is the rainy season. It does not rain in the summer. Therefore, I think that the rainy season starts Tishri 1 and ends the following Nisan 30. To me, this eliminates the three feasts in Tishri and the three feasts in Nisan. Of the seven feasts, ONLY Pentecost is left. It is certain that it is after "the rain is over and gone."

Flowers appear in Israel even before spring. Mt. Carmel is covered with flowers in April. Unger's Bible Dictionary says that in the month of Nisan, the uplands are brilliant with SHORTLIVED verdure and flowers. We say that April showers bring May flowers. It seems that the flowers say spring. By Tamuz (June/July) "Springs and vegetation generally dried up. Bedouins leave steppes for mountain pastures. Elsewhere, the country is parched, dry and hard, a dreary waste of withered stalks and burned up grass (Unger, p. 164). This clue narrows the Rapture time slot down to between the end of the latter rain and the arrival of Tamuz. Pentecost is the ONLY feast in this time slot.

The time of the singing ties in with the "new song" sung after the Rapture (Rev. 5:9). The voice of the turtledove is heard almost constantly in April. At that time, the doves are thick, on every tree and bush, cooing their soothing plaintive song and representing the presence of the Holy Spirit.

According to Peter Farb's "The LAND, WILDLIFE and PEOPLE of the BIBLE," p. 21, the turtledoves are migrants that stay in Israel from April until October and spend the remainder of the year in Africa.

In "All The Birds Of The Bible," p. 64, Alice Parmelee wrote of the turtledove, "It's arrival in Palestine every spring when 'the voice of the TD is heard in our land', is one of the most striking events of the bird year....Only from April to October can the TD be obtained (for sacrifices), for they spend the winter in Africa."

According to "The Bible Handbook," by Joseph Angus, the fig sprouts at the vernal equinox, and yields three crops of fruit. The first ripens about the end of June. Thus there can be green figs in Sivan (May/June) or early Tamuz (June/July).

Grapes begin to ripen in the very end of May and in June. The vintage is in Elul (Aug./Sept.) and Tishri (Sept./Oct.).

I really think next Pentecost, Sivan 7, 5760 (Sat., June 10, 2000) is the most likely day for the Rapture. It seems that the Lord figured out when important events would take place, then set the feasts on those days. It is a predetermined day, not an ever-imminent event. Prov. 7:19 says, "he will come at the day appointed."

Dr. Tabor, who is translating for the Original Bible Project, wrote me and said, "I am sure you have looked at Jeremiah 5:24 before. There we have reference to our former and latter rains--and how they come in their proper TIME, but also we read: 'and he keeps for us Shavuot, appointed for the harvest.'" How about that? The Lord keeps Pentecost.

Timing

Esther (which means star, hidden and secret) was chosen as one of the virgins from which king Ahasuerus (lion king, i.e., a type of Christ) would choose his bride. I think some were wise and some were foolish. Esther was definitely wise. She spent 12 months purifying herself before being taken to the king (Esth. 2:12), and she pleased the king. Therefore, she was chosen as his bride. "And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favour in his sight more than ALL THE VIRGINS; so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen."

The same lesson can be seen in Gen. 5:23,24. We must please God. This passage says, "And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: And Enoch WALKED WITH GOD; and he was not; for God took him."

In Lu. 13:6-9, Jesus told a parable of the barren fig tree. It may explain the years from 1998 to 2001. It says, "A certain man (Christ) had a fig tree (Israel) planted in his vineyard: and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years (1998, 1999, 2000) I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also (2001), till I shall dig about it, and dung it: And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down." This agrees with the Tribulation starting in 2001.

The Jewish year 5758 (1997/1998) means the season of Noah. I think that we entered the season of Noah in 1998. In Gen. 8:8-12, Noah "sent forth a dove" (symbol of the Spirit of Christ). The dove returned to him the FIRST TIME. Think of this as the first of the three years in the parable of the barren fig tree in Lu. 13:6-9. Noah waited seven days and sent out the dove again. She returned to him the SECOND TIME. He waited "another seven days" (equal intervals) and sent the dove out again. The THIRD TIME, she did not return, but flew off. This fits the Rapture in the THIRD YEAR of the parable of the barren fig tree. That is the year that Christ comes and speaks.

This year may also be indicated as the church of Thyatira's "space to repent" in Rev. 2:21. When the Rapture is "at hand," most of the church groups in Rev. 2 and 3 are told to repent. We should take advantage of our space to repent and do what Esther did during the 12 months before she was taken to the king, purify ourselves. Oil of myrhh is mentioned in Esther 2:12. Oil is mentioned in the parable of the 10 virgins. Oil (Holy Spirit) is what we need to be a wise virgin. How do we get it? we repent, confess our sins. The church of Philadelphia is not told to repent. She already has, and she is the one that has the "open door" set before her (Rev. 3:8). This is the door in Heaven that opens as the Rapture takes place (Rev. 4:1). After that, in Rev. 5:9, we see a group "out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation" in Heaven. We want to purify ourselves so we will be in that group.

In Israel, for the bride, the betrothal was a time of ANTICIPATION AND PURIFICATION. Likewise, we seem to have a time of testing to see if we will hold fast.

In the parable of the wise and foolish virgins, before the foolish are left behind, both wise and foolish "went forth to meet the bridegroom." I can't be sure, but this may apply to the 480th year in the Modern Parallels, 5758 (1997/98). From that 6000th year of man's test being mortal and knowing good and evil, we may have entered the time set forth in the parable of the barren fig tree in Lu. 13:6-9. Jesus only speaks in the 3rd year, saying, "These THREE YEARS I come seeking fruit on this fig tree."

From this point, "the bridegroom TARRIED," as Samuel tarried to test Saul. We must be careful to not fail our test as Saul failed his I Sa. 13:14). We must be patient. Rev. 3:10 says, "Because thou hast kept the word of my PATIENCE, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation (peirasmos, trial), which shall come upon ALL the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth."

This tarrying may end on Pentecost in the 3rd year, which could be 2000. I certainly hope so. We are running out of time in the 7 good years, and in the type, Joseph took up 1/5th of the grain in the 7 good years. I think our 7 good years started when the Oslo Accords were signed Sept. 13, 1993.

Mt. 25:6 says, "at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him." It doesn't seem that this "cry" could have come yet, for the foolish virgins do not have time to get ready between the cry and the coming of the bridegroom (v. 6-10).

Do we have any clues to how long the bridegroom tarries? We have the parable of the barren fig tree. If that applies, it seems that the 3rd year applies to the Rapture. Let's look for types. At Sinai, in the month of Sivan (Pentecost is in Sivan), "the Lord said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes, And be ready against the third day: for the third day the LORD will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai" (Ex. 19:10,11).

This ties in well with the Rapture of the Bride of Christ, because Israel was betrothed to the Lord at Sinai. I am hoping for the Rapture next Pentecost. Forty years from the Sign of the End of the Age, the Six-Day War of 1967, is 2007. From Sept. 13, 1993, the signing of the Oslo Accords, to Sept. 13, 2007 is 14 years. Aren't these the seven good years and the seven bad years as typified when Joseph was in Egypt? The year 1993 + 7 = 2000. This works for I think the Tribulation begins on the Feast of Weeks in 2001. A fifth of the corn was taken up by Joseph in the seven good years. I think we are the fifth of the corn (grain) and the Pre-Trib Rapture must take place before 2001. There must be some time to build the Temple before the Tribulation begins (Rev.11:1). It seems reasonable to assume that since we are the temple of the Holy Spirit and believer priests, we will be raised up before the earthly temple is constructed and Israel takes over as priests. Her priests are now over 30 and eligible for service (1967 + 30 = 1997). Maybe the first Rapture will be Pentecost, 2000.

FIRST ESCAPE: Rapture I. Luke 21:36 says, "Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be ACCOUNTED WORTHY to ESCAPE ALL THESE THINGS that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man."

SECOND ESCAPE: Rapture II. Thank God that he "will with the temptation (peirasmo, trial, i.e., the trial that will come upon all the world, Rev. 3:10) ALSO make a way to ESCAPE, that ye may be able to bear it. Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say" (I Cor. 10:13-15). Fleeing from idolatry sounds like "Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues" (Rev. 18:4).

Hebrews 10:34-38 says, "ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance. Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For YET A LITTLE WHILE, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith: but IF ANY MAN DRAW BACK, MY SOUL SHALL HAVE NO PLEASURE IN HIM."

We do not dare "draw back." We must remain strong and hang on to our "blessed hope." Titus 2:12-14 says, "Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; LOOKING FOR that BLESSED HOPE, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." We are not to be "LOOKING FOR" the Tribulation and the Antichrist, as some say. We are to be "LOOKING FOR" the Rapture and Jesus Christ. First Thess. 4:18 says, "COMFORT one another with these words." Looking for the Rapture and for Christ is comforting. Looking for the Tribulation and for Antichrist is NOT comforting.

In 2 Cor. 11:2, Paul said, "I betrothed you to one husband, that to Christ I might present you as a PURE VIRGIN." In Eph. 5:25-27, he said, "just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her; that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the WASHING OF WATER with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having NO SPOT OR WRINKLE or any such thing; but that SHE SHOULD BE HOLY AND BLAMELESS."

Is our PERIOD of TESTING, SIFTING, ANTICIPATION AND PURIFICATION running from Pentecost 1998 to the Pentecost 2000? We will have to wait and see.

Song of Solomon 3:1-4 says, "I sought him, but I found him not....IT WAS BUT A LITTLE...I FOUND HIM." It is "YET A LITTLE WHILE, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry." Every indication is that the Rapture will be soon.

Other things keep fitting into the same pattern. For instance, II Sam. 5:4,5 says, "David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years. In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years AND SIX MONTHS: and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty and three years over all Israel and Judah." If you add 33 years to 1967, when Jerusalem was re-unified, you get 2000. Add another 7.5 years and you get 2007 plus another half year. That would take you to the middle of 2008. I think Christ will return on Nisan 1, 5768 (our Apr. 6, 2008). Maybe the Rapture will be Pentecost, 2000.

This ties in with the Oslo Accords being signed on Sept. 13, 1993. Add the seven good years and you get 2000. Add the seven bad years and you get Tishri 1, 5768 (our Sept. 13, 2007). (Also 1967 + 40 = 2007.) Adding the extra half year brings us EXACTLY to Nisan 1, 5768 (our April 6, 2008).

WOW! Yes, things do keep adding up. I'm excited. The grain is taken up in the seven good years. Paul said, "I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 3:14). This high calling is "the trump of God" in I Thess. 4:16, the "great voice, as of a trumpet" in Rev. 1:10, and the "trumpet talking" saying, "Come up hither" in Rev. 4:1.

The Pre-Trib Rapture was foreshadowed by "the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud" when "Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God" at Sinai in the month of Sivan in Ex 19:16,17.

"And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a VOICE. And the LORD came down upon mount Sinai (type of Heaven, Sani, Saturn), in the top of the mount: and the LORD called Moses up to the top of the mount (i.e., to Heaven); and Moses went up" (Ex. 19:19,20). This a beautiful picture of the Pre-Trib Rapture.

But, look what comes next in this shadow picture. "And the LORD said unto Moses, Go down (i.e., to the Earth)...Away, get thee down, and thou shalt come up (to Heaven a little later), thou, and Aaron with thee" (Ex. 19:21,24). Doesn't this also picture Moses' ministry as one of the two witnesses during the first half of the Tribulation? Then, when Moses and Aaron went up, wasn't it a picture of Moses and Elijah ascending in the middle of the Tribulation, when "a great voice from heaven" says "unto them, Come up hither" (Rev. 11:12)? "So Moses went down unto the people, and spake unto them" just as he will do as the Tribulation begins on Pentecost/Feast of Weeks, probably in 2001....

I now think our testing may be three years. What we want to do is confess every sin we know about that we have committed since we accepted Christ. The Lord will then cleanse us of all unrighteousness (I John 1:9). At this point, we are filled with the oil of the Holy Spirit and are sure to have enough oil to go with the Bridegroom when he comes for his Bride, the wise virgins (Mt 25:1-12).

We will not sin after we are out of this body. It is called the body of sin. Paul said, "I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air; But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway" (i.e., a lukewarm Laodicean foolish virgin) (I Cor. 9:26,27).

Many will see the Rapture take place, just as Elias saw Elijah taken up and people saw the Ark rise upon the waters in Noah's day. Psalm 40:1-3 says, "I WAITED patiently for the LORD; and he inclined (bent down) unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit (as Jeremiah was taken up out of a pit, i.e., out of the Earth), out of the miry clay (our bodies of clay), and set my feet upon a rock (Heaven), and established by goings. And the hath put a new song (sung after the Rapture in Revelation 5:9) in my mouth, even praise unto our God: MANY SHALL SEE IT, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD."

This is an exciting time in which to live, because of our "blessed hope."

I keep wondering if Heaven's door was opened on Pentecost. The "breadth of the door was ten cubits" in Ezek. 41:2. The persecuted saints "shall have tribulation ten days" in Rev. 2:10. Was the door opened in 5758 (1997/1998), and will it close for good in 5768 (2007/2008)?

James 5:7-9 is interesting. It says, "Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold the husbandman WAITETH for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, UNTIL HE RECEIVE THE EARLY (former rain of Tishri) AND LATTER RAIN (of Nisan). Be ye also patient (as is Rev. 3:10); STABLISH (sterizo, turn resolutely in a certain direction) YOUR HEARTS: for the coming of the Lord DRAWETH NIGH. Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge STANDETH BEFORE THE DOOR."

After the engagement, don't you think the bridegroom watched the bride to see if she was pregnant or not? Do you think Christ "STANDETH BEFORE THE DOOR" to watch and see who is a wise virgin?

If so, he will probably wait until after both the former rain and the latter rain water his wheat. The next feast after the rain is over and gone is Pentecost, the beginning of wheat harvest.

We are to turn resolutely toward the Lord, for his coming draweth nigh. If we draw close to Him, He will draw close to us. A bride/bridegroom relationship must be one of love.

My reply

The Dispensation of Law began at Sinai at the time of Pentecost.
The "LORD came down" (Ex. 19:20).
The Dispensation of Law was cut short by 7 years on Pentecost, 30 AD (Dan. 9:26,27).
The Seventieth Week of Daniel is still future. The clock is to start when the peace covenant is "confirmed" (Dan. 9:27).

The Dispensation of Grace began at Pentecost in 30 AD.
The Holy Spirit came down (Acts 2:4).
Will the Dispensation of Grace be cut short by 7 years on Pentecost, 2000?
At the Pre-Trib Rapture, the LORD will come down (I Thess. 4:16).

Things happened to Israel for examples. Paul said, "they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ENDS (plural) of the ages are come" (I Cor. 10:11).

It seems that the ENDS of both of these Dispensations will start on The Feast of Weeks/Pentecost, 2001 (Sivan 6, 5761), run concurrently, and end in a photo finish as the Pre-Wrath Rapture takes place on the first day of the millennial Day of the Lord (probably Sept. 13, 2007; Tishri 1, 5768). At that time, the Sign of the Son of Man will be seen.

Agape, Marilyn

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