Many have thought and been taught that the next event for this generation is the Rapture, or the Receiving of the Bride by Christ. The premise was that the evil in the world would increase more and more, and God would then have the Rapture occur to save his bride.

Some teach the Rapture will occur before the coming Tribulation Period starts. Others teach the Rapture will occur half-way through the Tribulation Period, others teach it will occur three-quarters through the Tribulation Period, and still others state it will not occur until the end of the Tribulation Period, or maybe even not at all.

Those in the pre-tribulation rapture camp point to several Scriptures to support this premise. God states his people will not be part of wrath (1Th 5:9) and what will be coming on the earth (Rv 3:10). They also point to the time of Noah in which the ark which saved Noah and his family from the wrath of the flood as a metaphor of God saving his people from his coming worldwide wrath. They also state that the evil in the world today is not part of God’s wrath as stated in Scripture because that wrath will be much worse than what we are experiencing today.

Those who believe the Rapture will not occur until the Tribulation has started point out the evil in the world as proof that wrath has already started. It seems the main support of this view is that the wrath of God is not the beginning of the Tribulation Period but the beginning of the Great Tribulation Period (Rv 11) and they therefore believe the persecution of the followers of Christ in the first three and one-half years of the Tribulation Period (Dn 7:25) is talking about believers today rather than those who become believers after the Tribulation period starts. In addition, they believe the trumpets mentioned by Paul and John are the same trumpet (1Co 15:52; Rv 11:15) while others believe these are not the same.

Those who believe the Rapture occurs three-quarters through the Tribulation Period state the wrath of the tribulation is broken into three separate phases of wrath: the wrath of Man, the wrath of Satan, and the wrath of God. Christians are protected from the Wrath of God but not from the Wrath of Man and Satan.

Then, there are those who believe the Second Coming of Christ and the Rapture are really the same event. The Rapture occurs and then immediately Christ returns to the earth.

Yet, it seems these views are not the case because the idea of the Kingdom Age we mentioned in a previous post has not been considered in any of these views concerning the Rapture. I think all these views will become united if we consider the Kingdom Age (i.e., the end of the Church Age). This shows that the evil we are currently experiencing, even though severe, is not the evil, or God’s wrath, that these current views of the Rapture are defining.

Also, perhaps the confusion around the timing of the Rapture is because we have not taken the Rapture event into its proper context. The groom would show off his bride before taking her to his home. He would not allow her to be crushed if he had the power to prevent it. Granted, evil in this world has increased at an ever-alarming rate and many individuals within the universal Church, Christ’s bride, have suffered. Yet, this is as Christ prophesied (Mt 24: 9-13). Why would he allow such to occur? As Paul stated, Christ wants a bride who is without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish and is holy and blameless (Ep 5:26-27). Is the Church that way currently? No. No, it is not. We have a lot of disunity within the body of Christ. Paul also tells us Christ bride is to be a picture of unity and will bear with each other in love (Ep 4:2-3). So, this is what the Lord is currently doing—making his bride pure. Then, rather than taking her away, he is going to present her to the world as she was originally intended to be. The effect of the Church, his bride, through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, will allow the entire world to see and honor his bride. Many in the church will lead scores of others to become part of Christ’s bride.

It is then, and only then, after a large harvest of souls, who also become part of Christ’s beautiful, unified bride, will he then come to receive her—a bride beautiful, without blemish. He will receive his bride from the earth in all her glory, not in her humiliation.

How does this then unite all these views of the Rapture? It shows that there is a definite demarcation between the current evil in the world and the evil that is to come. Therefore, it is after the Kingdom Age at the end of the Church Age where the time of the Wrath of God of earth history will occur. Since all these views of the Rapture are united in stating the Rapture occurs just prior to the coming of God’s Wrath, understanding the time of the intense outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the reign of the Church during this time, it brings the timing of the period of God’s Wrath in each of these Rapture views to be at the same time.

This helps us to see that really understanding God’s Scripture to us really does help to put all our disagreements into their proper context and we become more unified in our doctrinal beliefs. Perhaps us now understanding the aspect some are calling the Kingdom Age, or the end of the Church Age, is God starting to unite his Church so he can work with it and bring it to being his unblemished bride.

Some have stated that Rosh Hashanah (Trumpets) represents the Rapture of the Church, but these feasts are prophetic for Israel. However, this feast is not totally devoid from the Church because if this feast is representative of God remembering his covenant with Israel (Ro 11:28-32), then God can’t concentrate on Israel as a nation again until the Church is removed. This accomplishes two things: God can focus on bringing his people back to their homeland during the Tribulation Period (Israel), and he can remove his bride from the coming wrath of the Tribulation period (the Church).

God is so multifaceted, isn’t he? Only he could accomplish so much in such a unique way that glorifies not only himself but us, his bride, as well. What a mighty God we serve!

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

The Bible contains many non-straight-forward passages. I would like for us to look at four of these and see what we can glean from them. All passages in this post are from the New International Version of the Bible.

So what are these verses?

1.      Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away (Gn 5:24).

2.      I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you (Gn 6:17, 18).

3.      As they [Elijah and Elisha] were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind (2Ki 2:11).

4.      But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” (Ju 9)

While these seem diverse, there is, I think, a common denominator to them. What do they have in common?

Hope.

These actions of God provided hope to Old Testament saints because if their hope was in their coming Messiah then Sheol would not be their final destiny. Also, these actions of God also provide hope to New Testament saints because, as believers, our ultimate destiny will be with Christ in glorified bodies.

Let’s investigate and see how this is the case.

Part of what I will say here has been provided in another post: What was Special about Enoch, Moses, and Elijah? Yet, the point being made there is somewhat different.

In that post, I stated that perhaps these individuals (Enoch, Elijah, and Moses) were given as archetypes of who will become part of Christ’s future Promised Kingdom. Let’s review some of the previous points made and add some additional information.

We’ll look at each of these individually. The first to look at in this post is Enoch.

The book of Jude tells us Enoch was a prophet in an evil society and prophesied about how God would one day come and judge them for their wickedness (Ju 14, 15). Yet, he remained pure to God despite this evil corruption around him and God rewarded him by taking him (Gn 5:22).

While Scripture does not explicitly say he was taken to heaven rather than to Sheol, the Hebrew words used in these verses seem to imply that God himself received Enoch – therefore, he likely did not go to Sheol but was taken to heaven. As a corollary, say you went to the school where your child attended and decided to retrieve him or her as a surprise. Would it make sense for you to then take him or her to a place he or she would have no contact with you? That would be counterproductive to why you took them out of school in the first place, wouldn’t it?

Others say this act would contradict scripture which states only Christ ascended to heaven (Jn 3:13). To ascend implies volitional will and ability. Enoch did not ascend on his own but was taken by God himself. So, this incident does not violate other scriptures.

It would then seem that Enoch could be an archetype representing how saints who survive the Tribulation will be received by Christ into his Promised Kingdom without having to die.

Enoch was received by God during a period when Satan tried to establish his rule on earth by remaking mankind in his image (Gn 6:1-9). Also, while not scripture, the apocryphal book, Book of Enoch, adds additional details to this aspect of what these Genesis scriptures allude toward. This act of Satan and his angels parallels the future time when he will again attempt the same during the Tribulation Period and try to set up his own earthly kingdom.

I have previously posted that the first Fall feast, Rosh Hashanah or Feast of Trumpets, represents God remembering his covenant with Israel: Fall Jewish Holidays - Part 1: Rosh Hashanah. Its prophetic fulfillment will occur sometime after the Receiving of Christ’s Bride, the Church (also called the Rapture, meaning “caught up”; 1Th 4:16, 17) at which time the restraining power of the Holy Spirit (Gn 6:3) is removed (2Th 2:7). That means Satan and his demons will have more authority to do as they please, but it doesn’t mean the Holy Spirit will not still draw people to Christ (Rv 7:14).

God’s action with Enoch helped those in Old Testament times reason that Sheol, the place everyone went when they died, would not have to be their final resting place. It gives us hope today that God has a plan for us which will lead to the ultimate victory of us being with him forever. Now, that’s a great hope, isn’t it. Are you preparing for it? It will be here sooner than you think.

Next time, we’ll continue with the other examples. Stay turned.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

Well, another year is upon us. Did you make any resolutions this year? Now, the real question: do you plan to keep them? Resolutions are hard—and hard to keep. Does the Bible have anything to say about this? Let’s look at the Jewish New Year. While this is not really a new year, per se, as it is in the seventh month of the Jewish calendar, I think it can tell us a lot. Rosh Hashanah, or Jewish New Year, occurs on the first day of the seventh month, Tishri, in the Jewish calendar. When this festival was first instituted, it was called the Feast of Trumpets (Lv 23:23-25). While all the Jewish festivals were memorial feasts, meaning they were to be a remembrance of something, this one was specifically called out to be such (Lv 23:24; Nu 10:10). The sound of trumpets was made to request God to remember his covenant with Israel, his chosen people. The reason becomes clear if we look at when this feast was instituted after Israel had lapses of celebration of these assigned feasts.

There are at least three examples of this (2Ch 5; Er 3; Ne 8). Let’s take a brief look at each one. Solomon dedicated his temple to God in the seventh month (2Ch 5:3). When the exiles returned after their Babylonian captivity, they dedicated their service to God starting on the first day of the seventh month (Er 3:6). Then, once the temple was completed, they again dedicated it to God starting on the first day of the seventh month (Ne 8:2). Did you notice the similarity? Each time, they wanted God to be in on their dedication. They wanted God to remember his covenant with them as they declared their dedication to him. Why? The Day of Atonement where judgment was to be imputed was coming in just a few days. An individual could not stand on their own merit, they needed to stand on the covenant God made with them before they could stand before a Holy God. Only by God remembering his covenant with them could they ever hope to come out unscathed.

So, in our first month of our new year, shouldn’t we do something similar? While we are not bound to these Israelite customs from the Old Testament, they do provide good analogies for us to follow. Before we start the year out with our agendas, we should first turn to God and be sure we are on the same page with him. Let’s let our agenda be part of his agenda. That’s how these Israelites dedicated themselves so they would be on the same page as God. Are we on the same page with God? Maybe starting our year off with prayer and meditation would be the best way to start out our new year. Now, that’s a resolution to take to heart. Wouldn’t you agree?

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

We all know Christ was born on Christmas, right? Well, that’s when we celebrate his birth, but chances are, this was not his actual birth date. When was it? Let’s see if we can discover.

Rick Larson has done a lot of research about the star of Bethlehem. There are several significant points of time we need to consider:

1.      When did the sign in the sky first appear? It seems to have been in September of 3 BC near the time of Rosh Hashanah when the king planet (Jupiter) came into a conjunction with the king star (Regulus). Yet, over the next few months, it did this three times—all within Leo (the lion constellation). In other words, Jupiter went into retrograde motion three times over a period of a few months. The lion has always been a symbol of the tribe of Judah.

2.      In June of 2 BC, Jupiter had a conjunction with Venus (the mother planet) within Virgo (the virgin constellation).

3.      Then on December 25, 2 BC, the planet Jupiter went into retrograde motion and seemed to stand over the town of Bethlehem. This was when the Magi visited Mary and Joseph to see the king who had been born.

Before we go further, we also need to understand something about the Feast of Israel which occurred around September and June and what they represented:

1.      Feast of Weeks (Pentecost; Shavuot): This is a feast about paradigm changes. Israel became a chosen nation before God when they stood around Mount Sinai on Shavuot (Ex 24:1-8). The incorporation of Rahab and Ruth (both Gentiles) into the nation of Israel occurred on or near Shavuot (Js 6:25; Ru 4:13). This is what the two loaves (Lv 23:17) made on this feast, both containing leaven, represented: the inclusion of everyone into God’s plan. This was a mystery to Israel until Shavuot in Acts 2 when the Holy Spirit was given, and the birth of the Church began. This was the mystery to which Paul referred and of which he preached (Ep 3:6).

2.      Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah): This was a feast to request God to remember his covenant with the nation of Israel (Lv 23:24). You see, Yom Kippur would soon come where they would be judged. They, just as we, had no righteousness on their own. Therefore, they needed God’s mercy and requested he remember his covenant where they would be his people forever. We have evidence of this when Solomon dedicated his temple (2Ch 5:3, 7:8-10), when the altar of the temple was rebuilt (Er 3:1, 6), and when the wall of Jerusalem was completed (Ne 8:1-2).

3.      Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot): This feast was to represent God dwelling with his people. Yet, this is more representative of Christ’s second coming than his first. We’ll revisit this later.

So, what can we put together from all these pieces of information? We see that the New Testament opens with the birth of Christ. The time from Malachi to Christ’s birth has often been referred to as the Four Hundred Years of Silence. God remembered his covenant with his chosen people Israel, and did so in a big way. God appeared to Mary and stated she would have a child. If Larson is right, Christ’s conception occurred in September of 3 BC, on Rosh Hashanah. From what we have seen about this feast, it would be consistent with God remembering his covenant.

Nine months later puts us into June. What occurred around this time period? Well, Shavuot is typically around this time, but Shavuot is not typically nine months from Rosh Hashanah. From Tishri 1 of 3 BC (Rosh Hashanah) to Sivan 6 (Shavuot) would typically be just a little over eight months (243 days)—not quite enough time for a normal gestation period (average time: 280 days). Yet, something interesting happened this year. In 3 BC an extra month, Adar II, was added to the Jewish calendar. This was periodically added to realign the Jewish feasts with the seasons of the year since the Jewish calendar was a lunar calendar, not a solar calendar. Adding this extra month allowed the two calendars to realign. This added 29 more days to the time between these two feasts. Now, the time between the two feasts was 272 days—very close to the average normal gestation period. After all, it’s an average, with some babies born a little earlier and some born a little later. It seems appropriate he could come a little early. After all, he had an important job to fulfill! This would mean Christ’s conception was likely on September 10th of 3 BC, and his birth was likely on June 8th of 2 BC (although, some say June 2nd). The angels appeared to the Shepherds at Midgal Eder, the Watchtower of the Flock, to announce Christ’s birth. These Shepherds who watched over the sheep for sacrifice were trained in rabbinical law of the requirements for sacrifice and had to ensure all lambs were without blemish. The angels appeared to them to let them know their job was now obsolete. The sacrificial lamb for which they had long awaited was now lying in their manger wrapped in the swaddling cloths they use to wrap newborn lambs to keep them calm for their inspection to ensure they were without blemish.

Therefore, what Rick Larson has discovered in the stars seems to align with these Jewish feasts and the meaning behind them. I just think that is fascinating. Yet, I know many feel Christ was born on Sukkot. After all, isn’t that what his prophesied name, Immanuel (Is 7:14; Mt 1:23), was supposed to mean: God with us? Yet, although Christ did offer his kingdom upon his first coming (Mt 4:17), that was rejected (Mt 16:21). In addition, Matthew records the angel Gabriel stated to name him Jesus (Mt 1:21), meaning, “he will save his people from their sins,” which is what he did by paying our sin debt, fulfilling the mystery of how the whole world would get incorporated into his Kingdom, and setting the stage for the time when he will come again and truly dwell with his people as the King of kings (Rv 17:14, 19:16).

There is one other supportive piece of information which this timing seems to support. Why was Jesus brought to the temple when he was twelve rather than being the normal thirteen years of age? According to the Mishnah, even in the first century, thirteen was the age of questioning in the Commandments for a male. It seems this is what was going on and he amazed them all in his answers to their questions (Lk 2:47). If he had been born on Sukkot, he would have been almost fourteen years of age when he visited the temple at that Passover. Yet, Scripture reports he was twelve (Lk 2:42), because his birthday would have been just a couple of months later.

Isn’t it amazing how Scripture and events go together like hand in glove? God is not a God of accidents. He has a purposeful plan. It helps to also know he has a purposeful plan for us as well. Are you listening to what he has planned for you? More than likely, it will be pretty special.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens