Posted 1-26-01
At 6 PM that day, Sivan 6, the Feast of Weeks/Pentecost will begin. The Jews have 12 hours of night, then 12 hours of day. At the following 6 AM in 30 AD, Acts 2:1-4 records that extraordinary event we think of as the birth of the church. It says, "when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance."
If this Pentecost/Feast of Weeks will be the first day of the Tribulation, it will be the day the peace covenant is confirmed (Dan. 9:27). I wonder if "JOANNES PAULUS II" will be the one to meet a leader from Israel at the Vatican to "CONFIRM" the peace treaty that day.
Note: Dan. 9:27 says, "he (the False Prophet) shall CONFIRM (gabar, to be strong, to strengthen, make stronger) the covenant with many (with the Pope and the united nations) for one week (of years, the Tribulation): (the Jews start sacrificing at the temple) and in the midst of the week he (the then Satan-possessed False Prophet) shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease (he sits in the temple 'shewing himself that he is God,' II Thess. 2:4), and for the overspreading of abominations (idols) he shall make it (the temple) desolate, even until THE CONSUMMATION (Day of God's Wrath, 2300th day of the shortened Tribulation, Dan. 8:13,14), and that determined (God's Wrath, i.e., the asteroid impacts of Rev. 8:8,10) shall be poured upon the desolate (desolator)." Job 20:23 says, "When he is about to fill his belly (noon, Zeph. 2:4,5), God shall cast the fury of his wrath upon him, and shall rain it upon him while he is eating."
Since the day the covenant is confirmed will also be the day of the arrival of Moses and Elijah, I wonder if there will be a similar outpouring of the Holy Spirit to empower them for their 1260 days of prophesying. If the Holy Spirit descends like this, it would make sense for him to also ascend with the Bride of Christ on this day. She would be born into a new world on Pentecost, as the church was born into this world on Pentecost in 30 AD.
II Thess. 2:6-12 tells us of the unveiling of the False Prophet. It will be when he confirms the covenant as the Tribulation begins. The Literal Concordant Version, says, "now you are aware what [the Holy Spirit] is detaining, for him (the False Prophet from Israel) to be unveiled in his own era (the Tribulation). For the secret of lawlessness is already operating. Only when the present detainer [Holy Spirit] may be COMING TO BE OUT OF THE MIDST [at the Rapture], then (tote, at the same time) will be UNVEILED the lawless one (whom the Lord Jesus will despatch with the spirit of His mouth and will discard by the ADVENT OF HIS PRESENCE [Second Advent), whose [the False Prophet's] presence is in accord with the operation of Satan, with all power and signs and false miracles and with every seduction of injustice among those who are perishing, because they do not receive the love of the truth for their salvation. And therefore God will be sending them an OPERATION OF DECEPTION, for them to believe the falsehood, that all may be judged who do not believe the truth, but delight in injustice."
If the "COMING TO BE OUT OF THE MIDST" is the Rapture, and it sure sounds like it is, that little word "then" (tote, at the same time, Dr. Keiper, Dr. R.B. Thieme; 'at the time that,' Strong's; 'when the thing under discussion takes place (or shall have taken place),' Thayer) becomes important for our understanding exactly what is being revealed here. This could mean that the Rapture is on the SAME DAY that the covenant is confirmed.
Under the Greek words, Green's Interlinear has "until out of (the) midst he be (gone)."
Note: II Thess. 2:6-8 (NEB) says, "you must now be aware of the restraining hand (the Spirit of God) which ensures that he (the False Prophet) shall be revealed only at the proper time. For already the secret power of wickedness is at work, secret only for the present until the Restrainer (Holy Spirit) disappears from the scene (as he takes us to Heaven). And then (tote, at the same time) he will be revealed, that wicked man whom the Lord Jesus will destroy with the breath of his mouth." Following this, but on the same day, the Holy Spirit will probably descend again to empower Moses and Elijah, who begin to prophesy that day.
The 70th week of Dan. 9:27 seems to begin on the Feast of Weeks, which applies to the Tribulation. It is also Pentecost, the birthday of the church and the harvest of the first of the firstfruits. Ex. 23:19 says, "The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the HOUSE of the LORD thy God." That fits the Rapture. In Jn. 14:2-4, Jesus said, " In my Father's HOUSE are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I WILL COME AGAIN, AND RECEIVE YOU UNTO MYSELF; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know ('third heaven,' II Cor. 12:2), and the way ye know."
We even know what he will say, "Come up hither" (Rev. 4:1). Rev. 11:12 demonstrates what happens when he says, "Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them."
These are interesting days for watchers. Agape
> > Hebrews 9:27 it says that it is "appointed unto men ONCE to die". If Moses were to be one of the witnesses, he would have to die twice
General rules do have exceptions. Lazarus, Tabitha, and a few others died twice. None of the living ones that are Raptured will have to die once. Even though Moses is, we are not coming back to die a natural death. Satan disputed with Michael about the body of Moses (Jude 9), because it was an irregularity, but what the Lord decides goes.
Rev. 11:3,4 says, "I will give power unto my TWO WITNESSES, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees, and the TWO CANDLESTICKS STANDING BEFORE THE GOD OF THE EARTH."
Zech. 4:11-14 says, "What are these two olive trees (Israelites, Rom. 11:17) upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof? And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil (Holy Spirit) out of themselves? And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. Then said he, These are theTWO ANOINTED ONES, THAT STAND BY THE LORD OF THE WHOLE EARTH."
Both Moses and Elijah are Israelites. Enoch was a Gentile. Both Moses and Elijah stood by the LORD of the whole earth at the Transfiguration. Mt. 17:3 says, "behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him."
Moses was instrumental in smiting Egypt with plagues. Rev. 11:6 says that the two witnesses will "smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will." Enoch didn't smite the Earth with plagues.
At Sinai, when the "voice of the trumpet exceeding loud" was heard, "Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God" on the third day (Ex. 19:16,17), "and Moses WENT UP" (v. 20). Was he a type of the Bride of Christ? Israel broke the covenant and made the golden calf. Moses was not in on that. On that same third day," the LORD then said unto Moses, GO DOWN" (Ex. 19:21). It now seems that after the Rapture takes place, Moses will descend again on the third day (year).
We should take Ex. 19:10 to heart and get ready. It says, "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." Agape
I am 30 years old. At the age of 22 I was baptized and accepted Jesus as my Savior. Previous to this, I had limited religious background. My parents raised me to have a general believe in God and that the Bible was true. Although the baptism was within the Mormon Church (I do not include the details to how I arrived at the Mormon Religion within this email), it was a full body baptism and conducted publicly and verbally stated in the name of only God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Immediately at the baptism, I felt the Holy Spirit within me and very strongly during the weeks afterwards. The feeling was just an overwhelming sense of peace and joy. Over the past 8 years I fell from church, prayer and walking with the Spirit. I have sinned many times since then.
I have recently been drawn by the Holy Spirit to confess my sins and reconfirm my acceptance of Jesus as my savior. I am no longer a practicing Mormon. I consider myself a Christian. In the last month I have been reading the bible and building my testimony again.
I have a strong feeling that the end times are coming soon. I am an identical twin. My brother and I have always shared a strong feeling that we were meant to see or experience something very special within our lifetimes. For as long as we can remember, we have felt this. Sometime between the age of 10 to early teens, we discussed that at the age of 30 this "something special" would occur. Initially, we did not relate the feeling to Jesus or Religion. Just a feeling. This feeling has increased in my brother and myself during the last year.
During the last 8 years, as I drifted from God, I was intrigued by witchcraft, psychic explanations and New Age Information. I did not practice these crafts, just read about them. I now believe that as I drifted from God, I was looking for something to fill the void, trying to find answers that only led to emptiness.
My reconnection with Jesus and the Holy Spirit began only within the last few months. I had a Dream in October that the sky was filled with something like the aurora lights. In the dream, I was looking up from my deck with my wife and some other family members. As the translucent lights swept across the sky, colored spheres, slightly larger than a car, raced across the sky. A voice said that we needed to get inside the spheres at which point we would be carried up into the sky. I was given the impression that we must do this quickly and not to delay. The dream ended with me and my family members getting into the spheres. I am not sure if this is a vision of what is to come. I do not relate the spheres to UFOlogy. I believe that I have had dreams that may have come from God in the past. This is just based on the feeling of the dreams and the experiences that they related to and the turn of events shortly after the dreams occurred (I leave these experiences out because it is not the purpose of my email).
Shortly after the dream and throughout December, I had an overwhelming urge to look into the sky. I wanted to purchase a large telescope to look at planets and the stars. I began looking at Venus, Saturn and Jupiter with binoculars at night as they stretch across the evening sky in Oregon.
At the end of December, I was browsing through a bookstore at the local Mall. I came across the Left Behind series by Tim LaHaye. The series consists of Christian fiction about the end times beginning with the Rapture. I felt drawn to the books and returned many times over the next few days. I eventually purchased "Left Behind" and "Are We Living in the End Times?" by Tim LaHaye. After reading the two books in just over 2 days, I realized that I was really missing Jesus and the Holy Spirit. I asked my wife to kneel with me next to the bed and pray out loud. We confessed our sins and asked for Jesus' forgiveness. We accepted Jesus as our Savior and the fact that he died for our Sins in order for us to have eternal life. He died and was resurrected to return to his father in heaven. I have continued to pray daily. Within the last couple of weeks, I found your web site and have read your pages and referenced scripture.
I continue to pray and have begun asking my brother to confess his sins and ask Jesus into his heart. I share my thoughts with my family as well.
I ask if you would please pray for me and my family and help us to have Jesus and the Holy Spirit in our lives. I feel that Jesus has led me back to him. I am very thankful. God Bless You and Your Family
> > I have recently been drawn by the Holy Spirit to confess my sins and reconfirm my acceptance of Jesus as my savior.
I'm so glad you have taken this step to make sure. The Mormons do not believe the right things about Jesus Christ. He truly is the Almighty, as he himself told us in Rev. 1:8. He explained, "I am Alpha AND Omega, the beginning (LORD of the Old Testament) AND the ending (Lord of the New Testament), saith the Lord, which is (at the Rapture), and which was (at the First Advent), and which is to come (at the Second Advent), THE ALMIGHTY." In Rev. 22:13, he repeated, "I am Alpha AND Omega, the beginning AND the end, the first AND the last. In v. 16, he said, "I am the root (YHVH king of Israel) and the offspring of David" (YHVH of hosts, the Redeemer, in the human body of Jesus). II Cor. 5:19 explains that "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto HIMSELF." Isa. 41:4 agrees. It says, "Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the LORD (YHVH), the first, AND with the last; I am he."
He is YHVH king of Israel AND YHVH of hosts, the Redeemer. Isa. 44:6 says, "Thus saith the LORD (YHVH) the King of Israel, AND his redeemer the LORD (YHVH) of hosts; I am the first, AND I am the last; and beside me there is no God." No wonder he will have the titles in Isa. 9:6: "unto us a child is born (inheriting his human nature from his mother), unto us a son is given (inheriting his deity from his Father): and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, THE MIGHTY GOD, THE EVERLASTING FATHER, The Prince of Peace.
YHVH of hosts always was the one with whom man had to deal. Isa. 48:12-18 shows that he was the one that met Israel at Sinai. It says, "Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I ALSO am the last. Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together....Come ye near unto me, HEAR YE THIS; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it (the beginning) was, there am I: and now the Lord GOD (the Father), and his Spirit (the Holy Spirit), hath sent me (Christ). Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD (YHVH) thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go. O that thou hadst hearkened to MY COMMANDMENTS!"
> > I have a strong feeling that the end times are coming soon. My brother and I have always shared a strong feeling that we were meant to see or experience something very special within our lifetimes.....This feeling has increased in my brother and myself during the last year.
You are right about the end times coming soon. It is not fully understood how twins seem to know what the other is thinking and feeling, but I think what you are experiencing will help your twin.
> > I was looking for something to fill the void, trying to find answers that only led to emptiness.
God created us with a hunger to know Him. Until we find him, we are searching, searching, searching, for what we know not, but searching all the same.
> > I asked my wife to kneel with me next to the bed and pray out loud. We confessed our sins and asked for Jesus' forgiveness. We accepted Jesus as our Savior
Thank you Lord.
> > I ask if you would please pray for me and my family and help us to have Jesus and the Holy Spirit in our lives. I feel that Jesus has led me back to him. I am very thankful.
I am thankful too. As I started to pray for you, goose bumps ran all over me. The Lord is working in your life. You have the right approach. Keep all sins since accepting Christ confessed, and the Spirit of Christ will be as a fountain of water welling up within you. It is not hard to see why king David said his cup runneth over. When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we are as wise virgins with plenty of oil of the Holy Spirit in our vessels (bodies). Sin quenches the Holy Spirit. Confession breaks down the sin barrier so we can be in fellowship with our Holy God. May God bless you richly. Agape
Rev 4:2: And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. 3 And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. 4 And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold. 5 And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. 6 And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. So 28 moons, 24 for the elders and 4 for the 4 beasts round about the throne? Love
I like the scripture you quoted. There are hidden meanings there. In Rev. 4 and 5, YHVH of hosts, YHVHshua, Y'shua, can be identified as being BOTH the one on the throne AND the Lamb of God who took the Title Deed of the Earth "out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne" (5:7). It takes a bit of sorting it out, but if we persevere, the picture of the first AND the last emerges.
Rev. 4:2,3 says, "a throne was set in heaven, and ONE (i.e., 'LIKE THE SON OF MAN,' Dan. 7:13) sat on the throne. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper (FIRST stone in the breastplate) and a sardine stone (LAST stone in the breastplate, i.e., he is the first AND the last): and there was a rainbow (7 color rings) round about the throne (Saturn has 7 rings), in sight like unto an emerald" (stone representing Judah in the breastplate) (i.e., this one sitting on the throne is both the first (YHVH king of Israel) AND the last (YHVH of hosts, Isa. 44:6).
This ties in with other verses that say that Jesus is the first AND the last. In Rev. 1:8, Jesus said, "I am Alpha AND Omega, the beginning AND the ending, saith the Lord, which is (at the Rapture), and which was (at the First Advent), and which is to come (at the Second Advent), the ALMIGHTY. In Rev. 22:13,16, Jesus said, "I am Alpha AND Omega, the beginning AND the end, the first AND the last....I am the root (YHVH) AND the offspring of David" (YHVHshua, Y'shua, Jesus).
Rev. 5:4,5 says, "no man (i.e., no mere man) was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion (emblem on Judah's banner) of the tribe of Juda (symbol, emerald), the Root of David (YHVH king of Israel), hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof."
No wonder a symbol of Christ was used in Rev. 5:6,7. It says, "lo, in the MIDST OF THE THRONE and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a LAMB as it had been slain, having seven (all) horns (power, i.e., all power, omnipotent) and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. And he (the Lamb representing YHVH of hosts, the Redeemer, YHVHshua, Y'shua, Jesus) came and took the book out of the right hand of him (YHVH king of Israel, Ancient of days) that sat upon the throne."
This is the same kind of picture we get in Dan. 7:13,14. It says, " I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one LIKE THE SON OF MAN came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought HIM (YHVHshua, Y'shua) near before HIM (YHVH, the Ancient of days). And there was given HIM (Y'shua) dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed." Agape
In 1987 the Lord called me out from my job and Judy to full time ministry to "get the church excited about the second coming". We had people in our home several times each week and tried to show that God always set dates. He set dates for every major event in the Bible. Would he change now? Would he not set the date for the rapture, or the second advent, or the tribulation? Even folks who had their eyes opened and agreed that God is a date setter would later rebuff us with "remember, no one knows the day or hour" when speaking of the rapture. My stand did not change, but my voice withered.
The call was lifted from us and, as he had promised, he provided work and blessings a-plenty.
I don't believe that faith is destroyed by going to the station to meet the train and finding that it does not arrive on time. We have said for a long time that the Lord will rapture the Church on a feast day and in the past 2 years we have believed that it will be the feast of weeks (Pentecost). It is the day that the Church was born on, Jewish tradition holds that Enoch was not only taken on Pentecost, but was BORN on Pentecost. Wouldn't it be appropriate that the church should be taken on Pentecost? This would leave 3 feasts for Israel for the 1st coming and 3 feasts for Israel for the 2nd coming. The mystery (Church) would fulfill (or double fulfill) the center feast (servant candle, the Jewish monorah candlestick has 7 sticks, the middle candlestick is the servant {Christ}).
I am a computer consultant and have been out of work for two months. Before Y2k work was plentiful but sparse now. We anticipated that the Y2k was a perfect time for God to show the world how a little thing (2 digits denoting the century) could bring the whole Earth to its knees. I am stupified that it was a non event, but continue to look up and now with revitalization from Him through your website.I do lift my heart to God to thank him for lifting my spirit by raising you up to declare what we were distracted from. That God is a date setter and that the rapture is the next thing on the horizon.
God bless you as God blesses me as I read and study the articles on your site.
Pentecost makes the most sense to me. I have tried to look at everything else with open eyes, but keep getting brought right back to Pentecost. In Song of Sol. 2:10-14, it is spring, the time of the firstripe grapes, the same time of year when Moses sent the spies into the land after 2 years.
They raised up the Tabernacle on Nisan 1 (1st month) in the 2nd year (Ex. 40:17)."Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle" (v. 34). The Shekinah glory's coming to the Tabernacle seems to be a good type of Christ's return in glory.
The Lord had them take a census on Iyar 1 (2nd month, Nu. 1:1). On Iyar 14, the ones that had not been able to keep Passover on Nisan 14 kept the 2nd Passover. On Iyar 20, "it came to pass on the twentieth day of the second month, in the second year, that the cloud was taken up from off the tabernacle of the testimony. And the children of Israel took their journeys out of the wilderness of Sinai" (Nu. 10:11). They took a 3-day journey (Nu. 10:33), bringing them at least to Iyar 23. Miriam was shut outside the camp for 7 days, bringing them at least to Sivan 2. "And afterward the people removed from Hazeroth, and pitched in the wilderness of Paran" (Nu. 12:16, bringing them to at least Sivan 3. After that, Moses chose the representatives of each of the tribes and sent in the spies, and "the time was the time of the firstripe grapes" (Nu. 13:20). The only feast that fits this time of year is Pentecost, Sivan 6/7. At the Rapture, we will be spying out the promised land in Heaven.
Pentecost is a harvest feast, when the first of the firstfruits were brought unto the LORD. It is the beginning of wheat harvest, and we are called wheat. Isa. 18:3,4 suggests the Rapture on Pentecost. It is "when he (the LORD) bloweth a trumpet" "in the heat of harvest." The first trumpet of the Bible was sounded by the LORD at Sinai near Pentecost.
In Nu. 10:2-4, Moses was to make 2 silver trumpets for the calling of the assembly and the journeying of the camps. When the 1st trumpet sounds, "then the princes, which are heads of the thousands of Israel, shall gather themselves unto thee." These are 12 of the elders of Rev. 4:4. The other 12 are the apostles. The elders are part of the Pre-Trib Rapture. And (the LORD) bloweth a trumpet" "in the heat of harvest." It seems that all roads lead to Pentecost being the feast of the Rapture.
In Heb. 12:23, "general assembly" is panegurei, a festal assembly (Thayer). It puts the Rapture on a feast day.
> > The mystery (Church) would fulfill (or double fulfill) the center feast (servant candle, the Jewish monorah candlestick has 7 sticks, the middle candlestick is the servant {Christ}).
Josephus was a Pharisee priest, and he said that the candlestick represented the planets, with the Sun among them (Ant. III. VI. 7). This made the Sun the 1st, Earth the center and Heaven the 7th, on the east. This explains why the western light was always to be kept lit. It represented the Sun. Thus Earth was the 4th and Pentecost is the 4th feast. That may not mean a thing, but it is strange how numbers recur.
May the Lord help you to find work soon. Agape
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