I've used this picture before, but I felt it was worth posting again! For you men out there, the wedding of the lamb has nothing to do with gender. It is a union of love of the heart, a covenant of love and faithfulness with the King of Kings!
Soon and very soon, we're going to see the King!!
Thought you might find this interesting: https://www.facebook.com/twtramm
ReplyDeleteTHE BIBLICAL FEAST of Tabernacles begins October 21 this year.
ReplyDeleteAs the concluding harvest festival, Tabernacles marked the final ingathering of produce from the orchards, fields and vineyards. In ancient Israel, the granaries, threshing floors, wine and olive presses would be at capacity at this time (Ex. 23:16).
To celebrate the harvest, God instructed the Israelites to “take palm branches and rejoice before the Lord for seven days” (Lev. 23:40, 41). Additionally, they were to build a tabernacle, a temporary hut or shelter, and inhabit it during the festival as a reminder of the temporary shelters they lived in after the flight from Egypt (Lev. 23:42, 43).
Commentators generally agree that the Feast of Tabernacles foreshadows an ingathering of believers at Jesus’ second coming and, ultimately, the Millennial Kingdom when God “tabernacles” with man. However, some also see the festival as a plausible time for the Rapture.
Here are some reasons why:
• Tabernacles is a festival of ingathering (Ex. 34:22). The Rapture is a gathering of believers to the Lord (2 Thess. 2:1).
ReplyDelete• Tabernacles is the last festival of the year, so the trumpet blast announcing it is the “last trump” (1 Cor. 15:52).
• Jesus’ transfiguration “after six days” is believed to have occurred during Tabernacles (Matt. 17:4). The transfiguration after six days foreshadows the Church’s glorification, or rapture, after 6,000 years (2 Pet. 3:8).
• Tabernacles (Sukkot) is the name of the place the Israelites first camped after departing Egypt (Ex. 12:37). The departure from Egypt is a picture of the Rapture.
• The Feast of Tabernacles begins at the full moon. Since the moon is symbolic of the Church, the full moon denotes the “fullness of the Gentiles” at the end of the age (Rom. 11:25). Furthermore, Scripture links the full moon to the return of the goodman of the house, a picture of Jesus returning to settle accounts at the end of the age (Prov. 7:19, 20; Mark 13:35).
• At the Feast of Tabernacles, every man was required to bring an offering proportionate to the blessings God had bestowed upon him (Deut. 16:16, 17). The requirement to bring a proportionate offering recalls Jesus’ admonition concerning the judgment of one’s fruits at the end of the age: “From everyone who has been given much, much will be required” (Matt. 25:14–30; Luke 12:48).
• Solomon, a type of Christ, dedicated the Temple to God at the Feast of Tabernacles (1 Kings 8:65). The Temple is a type of the Body of Christ, or Church, which will be presented to God at the Rapture (Eph. 2:20–22).
• Grapes and apples are harvested in autumn, around Tabernacles. In Song of Solomon, the passages depicting the Gentile maid in the presence of her beloved shepherd mention apples and grapes (Song 2:3–5, 13).
• In the Book of Ruth, the Gentile bride marries the Jewish redeemer Boaz after all the grain was harvested or laid up in the barns (Ruth 2:21, 23 DRB). Thus, the typological wedding of Ruth and Boaz could have occurred around the Feast of Tabernacles (Ruth 2:21, 23; Deut. 16:13).
• Tabernacles is when the last grain is brought into the barns, grapes are crushed, and figs and olives are harvested (Deut 16:13). In Scripture, grain represents the Church, grapes represent nonbelievers, and figs and olives are symbolic of Israel (Matt. 3:12; 13:24–30; 24:32–34; Rev. 14:18–20; 19:15; Jer. 11:16; 24:1, 2; Rom. 11:17–25).
• According to Luke, Jesus returns at a time when people are “planting” (Luke 17:28). Autumn, the season of Tabernacles, is when many crops are planted.
• In John chapter 7, Jesus attends the Feast of Tabernacles in partial secrecy because His time had not yet fully come and not even his brothers believed in Him (vv. 5, 6). Similarly, the Rapture is a “limited appearance” of the Lord at a time of unbelief.
One of the most striking correlations between Tabernacles and the Rapture is in Revelation 7 where “a great multitude from every nation, tribe, and language is seen rejoicing before God’s throne with palm branches in their hands” (v. 9 abbr). Recall that Tabernacles is when the people rejoice before the Lord with palm branches (Lev. 23:40). Furthermore, it is said of the multitude, “The One seated on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them” (Rev. 7:15 BSB).
This heavenly observance of Tabernacles obviously occurs well before the Second Coming as the Tribulation trumpet-judgments have yet to commence in Revelation 8. So while there is no way to know exactly when the multitude with palm branches arrived in heaven, their observance of Tabernacles is noteworthy and suggests a preliminary (heavenly) fulfillment of the festival prior to the Second Coming.
ReplyDeleteHaving highlighted some thematic correlations between the Feast of Tabernacles and the Rapture, we understand that similar correlations can be drawn with other festivals, particularly the Feast of Weeks. So while anything is possible, this study is not to suggest the Rapture will necessarily occur during Tabernacles.
In fact, a case can be made that the Rapture may not coincide with a feast day at all, or at least not a day recognized as such (Matt. 24:36–51). This is not to say the Rapture will occur on a random day. God is not random. However, it is conceivable that the appointed time of this particular event is concealed so that not even the angels can know it:
“About that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels” (v. 36).
Concerning the timing of the Savior’s appearing, it is important to keep in mind that the God of the Bible is an “eleventh-hour” God: He will allow the wicked maximum time for repentance before bringing judgment (2 Pet. 3:9). He will allow believers to endure an extended period of waiting or uncertainty as a test of faith (Gen. 16). Most importantly, God will make a way where there seems to be no way (Isa. 43:16; Matt. 19:26). The Israelites trapped on the beach by the Red Sea saw no way of escaping the advancing Egyptian army. Yet, the path of rescue was right before them, concealed beneath the waves.
This is why one should never lose hope concerning the imminence of the Rapture.
And this is why one should be ready always.
NOTES:
ReplyDelete1. According to the modern Jewish calendar, the Feast of Tabernacles begins September 21. However, as happens in certain years, the Jewish calendar is a month out of sync with the true biblical calendar in 2021. When the biblical New Year (Nisan 1) is correctly reckoned the first new moon after the spring equinox per the command to “guard the month of Aviv” (Deut.16:1), the fall festival dates occur as follows:
Feast of Trumpets: October 7–8
Day of Atonement: October 16
Feast of Tabernacles: October 21–27
More on calendar reckoning:
https://storage.googleapis.com/.../Calendar%20Confusion...
https://storage.googleapis.com/.../Fall%20Feasts%20and...
2. There are seven biblical festivals. However, only three are harvest festivals, during which every Israelite male was required to appear before the Lord: Unleavened Bread, Feast of Weeks (Pentecost), and Tabernacles (Deut. 16:16).
3. All biblical festivals are announced by the sounding of a trumpet (Ps. 81:3).
4. The moon as a symbol of the Church: In Song of Solomon the Gentile/Shulammite maid, symbolic of the Church, is compared to the moon: “Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon .... Return, return, O Shulamite; return, return, that we may look upon thee” (Song 6:10, 13). The spiritual parallel between the Church and the moon is that the full moon, as bright and beautiful as it is, has no brilliance of its own. It relies entirely upon the sun, which is a picture of Christ (Ps. 84:11; 19:4, 5), for its light. Without the sun, the moon has no light. Likewise, man has no light of his own. We were created in the image of God to reflect His brilliance and glory (Gen. 1:27). When we turn to face the majesty of God, when we surrender to Him and seek Him with all our hearts, we reflect His glory (Matt. 5:14).
5. At the dedication of Solomon’s Temple, 120 priests sounded trumpets (2 Chron. 5:12). This could be an allusion to the 120th Jubilee, or 6,000th year, marking the end of the Church Age
6. Possible timing of Ruth and Boaz’s wedding:
Scripture records that Ruth lived with her mother in law until all the wheat harvest was complete (Ruth 2:23). One translation specifies that Ruth lived with her mother-in-law until all the barley and the wheat were “laid up in the barns” (v. 23 DRB). If Boaz’s supervisory duties as a wealthy landowner kept him occupied until the end of the harvest season, when all the crops were processed, sorted, and put in barns, it is possible the wedding may have been delayed until summer’s end.
ReplyDeletehttps://storage.googleapis.com/.../Ruths%20Wedding%20and...
Another reason Ruth and Boaz’s wedding may have been delayed until summer’s end is a Jewish custom that requires certain brides to observe a 3-month period of separation before marrying. Havchana is a rabbinic law that requires a divorcee, widow, or new convert to Judaism to allow at least 3 months between the betrothal and the actual wedding. The purpose of the 3-month period is to ensure that the bride is not already pregnant before marrying and to avoid any confusion concerning the lineage of the child. Since the Gentile Ruth was both a widow and a convert to Judaism, it is possible that in accordance with the law of Havchana the couple was not married until the end of summer or early fall, about three months after the betrothal on or around Pentecost.
7. In Revelation 7, it is said of the multitude waving palm branches before God’s throne, “Never again will they … thirst” (7:16). It was on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles that Jesus stood and cried out, “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink” (John 7:37).
8. Festival sequence in Revelation: Significantly, after the multitude of saints is seen celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles in heaven, we are shown an angel performing the Day-of-Atonement/high-priest ritual of offering up much incense (Rev. 8:3, 4; Lev. 16). After that, a series of trumpet blasts announcing various judgments evoke the Feast of Trumpets (Rev. 8, 9; Lev. 23:24). What is interesting is that these allusions to the feasts occur in reverse order of the actual festivals (Tabernacles/Atonement/Trumpets vs. Trumpets/Atonement/Tabernacles). However, this may be due to the fact that Revelation gives “snapshots” of events, which may be separated by months or years.
9. According to Scripture, the Feast of Tabernacles will be celebrated throughout the millennial period, not only by Israel but by every nation, including those who came against her during the Tribulation: “Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, and to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles” (Zech. 14:16).
IMPORTANT MESSAGE: No one knows the day or hour of Jesus’ return (Matt. 24:36). However Scripture says those who are awake and watching will see the Day approaching (Heb. 10:25; 1 Thess. 5:4; Luke 21:28). A convergence of biblical signs and timelines indicates the Day is near. In order to escape the horror of the tribulation period, one must be in a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. If you have not yet done so, call on His name and believe that He is the Son of God who died for your sins and was raised from the dead (Rom. 10:13). Do it today. Time is running out.
ReplyDeleteKathy, thank you SO MUCH for copying alll here great information over ere. Is this yours or from TWTramm? I have seen his work from time to time .. so very good. Either way, I appreciate you putting all this here for all to see. Tomorrow... or I guess today (It’s after 1 am here in Tenn) is a very high watch date.. I am with family here but will continue to look up as often as I can! For my Prince!!! Thanks especially for posting how to get saved... Time is indeed short!
DeleteHi MaryLu, this article was from TWTramm on Facebook. I thought it was appropriate for the "season" and just had to share. I could not paste the entire article at once due to character restrictions, but I managed. TWTramm has many good articles concerning the timing of the rapture. It is a very high watch date between now and 10/27/21 and I will be watching every day! It is cold and rainy here in WI, but it would be an appropriate time "to go." I hope everyone gets to read this, as it is very encouraging as to timing. Take care. Enjoy your time with your family. Hope to see your Friday posting!!
DeleteI’m so glad you posted it. We all need encouragement ! Its so hard .. this waiting.. as we watch the storm rise around us. Thanks again!!
DeleteI’m so glad you posted it. We all need encouragement ! Its so hard .. this waiting.. as we watch the storm rise around us. Thanks again!!
DeleteHi Kathy, Wow!! Your notes are very encouraging! Thank you for sharing this with everyone.
ReplyDeleteMaryLu, thank you for having this awesome forum where chats and sharing can take place. Hope you are having a good visit with family!
Rebekka
Rebekka, you are quite welcome! We all need encouragement as the time of the Rapture draws near, and we get disappointed when it does not occur when we think it should. I, too, get discouraged as the time drags on, but articles like this help keep me faithful that it is indeed coming still. Thanks for reading it. It came from TWTramm on Facebook. He encourages me, as much as MaryLu does. I appreciate their knowledge! Have a great day!! Keep looking up!!
DeleteThanks, Kathy! I enjoyed the article a lot, especially with all the specific verses he cited. Very instructive! I found the post on FB and shared it. Only one "like" so far (tho I don't gey hung up on such things) but I hope people will at least see it and think about the Lord. It will be so awesome when He comes, whenever that is. Sounds like we are neighbors - I'm from IL - it will be awesome to be neighbors in Heaven. We seem to have a sunny day here so far; hope you have a great day, too! Rebekka
DeleteThank you Kathy for the post very informative and helpful encouraging words. Marylu thank you for taking the time to redirect the old site to this one so we can all still share the words as God speaks to each of us. Pam
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