Was Jesus in the Grave for Less Than 40 Hours?

From https://www.thetrumpet.com/ Few have ever thought to question the traditional “Good Friday to Easter” time frame.

It is commonly assumed that Jesus was crucified on a Friday afternoon and then rose from the dead a day and a half later around sunrise on Sunday morning. But if Jesus died on Friday and vacated His tomb at dawn on Sunday, how does that amount to three days and three nights, the time frame Christ established as proof of His Messiahship?

That’s the intriguing question posed by USA Today article some months ago. Sadly, the article attempted to explain away the sure prophecy of Christ by holding up weak arguments presented by biblical scholars. One “expert” actually reasoned that Jesus didn’t intend for His words in Matthew 12:40 to be a “precise” measure of time!

Even Pope Benedict xvi, the article informs, wrestles with the three-day time frame in his book about Christ’s last days. According to the pope, “There is no direct scriptural testimony pointing to the ‘third day.’”

No scriptural testimony? When the Pharisees asked Christ for a sign as proof of His Messiahship, being in the grave three full days and three full nights was the one and only sign Jesus gave. He meant what He said. In another passage, He even referred to the daylight portion of a day as including 12 hours (John 11:9-10).

So when Jesus said three days and three nights, He meant 72 hours—no more, no less. That is the plain testimony of Scripture.

When it comes to the Easter sunrise service, however, there is no scriptural testimony to observe that man-made holiday. The word “Easter” appears once in the Bible—in Acts 12:4—and only in the King James Version. Hastings Bible Dictionary and other translations of the Bible correctly render this word, pascha—as it is translated in every other instance it appears in the Bible—as Passover. The Bible says that Jesus Christ was crucified on Passover (Matthew 26:2).

As the USA Today article and encyclopedias point out, the Easter tradition for Christians began with “the words of the ancient Nicene Creed”—not with the Bible. The tradition actually has its roots in paganism, following customs that began long before Christ ever lived.

In ancient Israel, God’s people observed Passover by killing lambs and smearing blood over their doorposts (read Exodus 12). God then passed over each house where the blood was applied, sparing that household from death. All this was only a type of “Christ our Passover,” as it says in 1 Corinthians 5:7. Today, it is Christ’s shed blood that spares the life of a truly repentant Christian.

Jesus Christ died in a.d. 31. The Passover that year fell on Wednesday, April 25 (not Friday). Because God’s days begin and end at sunset, the actual Passover ceremony that Jesus observed with His disciples occurred Tuesday night—the beginning of the 14th day of the first month on the Hebrew calendar. On Tuesday afternoon, the disciples had asked Jesus about where to make preparations for the service (Matthew 26:17). That night, during the ceremony, Jesus changed the symbols, explaining that He was now that Passover sacrifice (Matthew 26:26-28).

After that Passover service, they went out into the Mount of Olives (verse 30). Christ spent much of the night praying while His disciples slept (verses 36-45). Early Wednesday morning, while it was still dark (John 18:3), Judas came with the multitude to arrest Christ (Matthew 26:47-50). The crucifixion occurred later that same day.

At the “ninth hour” of the 14th, Jesus cried out (Matthew 27:46-50; Mark 15:34-37; Luke 23:44-46). This would have been at 3 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon. That night, at sunset, marked the beginning of the first day of Unleavened Bread—one of God’s holy days, as outlined in Leviticus 23 (see also Numbers 28:16-17).

The weekly Sabbath, of course, is on Saturday. But the first day of Unleavened Bread was the first of seven annual sabbaths instituted by God. Since most people do not observe God’s holy days today, they do not know that the Bible also refers to these days as sabbaths (see Leviticus 16:31; 23:24, 26-32, 39).

Now follow this course of events closely. In John 19:30, Jesus bowed His head and said, “It is finished.” Notice the very next verse: “The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away” (verse 31). Here is where so many scholars jump the track. They assume that because the day of Christ’s crucifixion is referred to as “the preparation” prior to “the sabbath” (Matthew 27:62; Mark 15:42; Luke 23:54) that it must have been on Friday. But as John points out, the preparation day was actually before a sabbath that was a “high day”—an annual holy day.

John 19:32-42 explain what happened between Christ’s death and His burial. Notice especially verse 42: “There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews’ preparation day; for the sepulchre was nigh at hand.” They buried Him late Wednesday afternoon, before sunset, because, according to Jewish customs, all dead bodies had to be buried before the Sabbath, whether weekly or annual. So Christ died on the afternoon of the 14th at 3 p.m. He was buried later that afternoon before sunset. From that point, all we have to do is count three days and three nights to know when He was resurrected.

But first, let us go back to the Gospel account in Matthew to continue following the course of events. “Now the next day [after the Passover], that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again” (Matthew 27:62-63). Even these deceived Jews knew what Christ said! After three days and three nights—not one day and two nights—“I will rise again”!

So Pilate set a watch on the sepulcher for three days and nights. The story continues in the first verse of the next chapter. “In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre” (Matthew 28:1). Here again is where so many trip up—mainly because of a poor translation. The King James, along with just about every other Bible version, translates the first part of this verse, “In the end of the sabbath” or “after the sabbath.” But if you study the Greek text, you learn that the word for sabbath is actually plural! “After the sabbaths,” it should read.

Why is this significant? Jesus, remember, was crucified on a Wednesday afternoon and buried later that evening, before sunset. The next day, Thursday, was an annual sabbath. The day after that, was preparation day for the regular weekly Sabbath. The reason Matthew refers to sabbaths, plural, is because there were two sabbaths that week! When Matthew says Mary came early Sunday morning, before dawn, after one of the sabbaths, he is referring to the weekly Sabbath.

There is one more sequence of events that provides additional support for the 72-hour time frame and the fact that there were two “sabbaths” this week. Mark 16:1 says Mary Magdalene and her companions bought spices “when the sabbath was past.” They were planning to prepare these ointments and spices so that they might anoint the body of Jesus. Yet Luke 23:56 says they prepared these spices and then rested on the weekly Sabbath day. Compare these two texts carefully.

Christ inspired four different Gospel accounts to be written so that all the important details of His life might be canonized. Mark said these women bought the spices after the sabbath was past. Luke said they prepared the spices before the Sabbath arrived. Those who hold to the Good Friday-Easter belief must conclude that these verses are a glaring contradiction. They are not! They complement each other perfectly, if you understand that there were two sabbaths that week. The women bought the spices on Friday, after the annual sabbath on Thursday. They prepared the spices that same day, before the weekly Sabbath, and then rested on the Sabbath according to God’s command.

When Mary approached the tomb early Sunday morning, before sunrise, an angel nearby exclaimed, “He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay” (Matthew 28:6). Yes indeed! He had already risen—the day before, just prior to sunset at the end of the weekly Sabbath. His death, burial and resurrection happened precisely the way He prophesied it would happen.

Why does it matter? Because Jesus Christ staked His claim to being your Savior on the fact that He would remain in the grave for three full days and nights. •

Weds night to Thurs night = 1 day, Thurs night to Fri night = 2 days, Fri to Sat night = 3^rd day. He rose this night! Sunday AM when the women came to the tomb He was already risen the night before (Sat night/Sun morning in Jewish time). He was in the grave 3 nights and 3 days as He said He would be.

PROPHETIC END TIME EVENTS IN THE NEWS

 

Germany is a country to watch as the European Union crumples. They are going to play a key role in the unfolding of end time events. Germany will be the most powerful country in Europe and ironically the nation of Israel will look to Germany for protection.

 

 

Only Germany is holding together as separatists threaten to rip Europe apart.

The increasing predilection for fragmentation across the continent will result in Teutonic political hegemony - if we're lucky...

By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/ambroseevans_pritchard/11088265/Only-Germany-is-holding-together-as-separatists-threaten-to-rip-Europe-apart.html

9:10PM BST 10 Sep 2014

　

Europe is disintegrating. Two large and ancient kingdoms are near the point of rupture as Spain follows Britain into constitutional crisis, joined like Siamese twins.

The post-Habsburg order further east is suddenly prey to a corrosive notion that settled borders are up for grabs. "Problems frozen for decades are warming up again," said Giles Merritt, from Friends of Europe in Brussels.

The best we can hope for - should tribalism prevail - is German political hegemony in Europe. The German people so far remain a bastion of rationalism, holding together as others tear themselves apart. The French are too paralysed by economic depression and the collapse of the Hollande presidency to play any serious role.

The far worse outcome is that even Germany succumbs to centrifugal forces, leaving Europe bereft of coherent leadership, a parochial patchwork, wallowing in victimhood and decline, defenceless against a revanchist Russia that plays by different rules.

Former Nato chief Lord Robertson warns that a British break-up is doubly dangerous, setting off "Balkanisation" dominoes across Europe, and amounting to a body blow for global security at a time when the Middle East is out of control and China is testing its power in Asian waters.

He warns that the residual UK would be distracted for years by messy divorce, a diminished power, grappling with constitutional wreckage, likely to face a resurgence of Ulster's demons. Scotland's refusal to allow nuclear weapons on its soil means that no US warship would be able to dock in Scottish ports, while its withdrawal from all power projection overseas would push British fighting capability below the point of critical mass.

"The world has not yet caught up with the full and dramatic implications of what is going on. For the second military power in the West to shatter would be cataclysmic in geopolitical terms. Nobody should underestimate the effect this would have on existing global balances,” he said.

Europe has largely disarmed already. While America spends $76,000 per soldier each year, EU states are down to $18,000, largely earmarked for pay and pensions, according to the Institute for Statecraft. Almost nothing is being spent on new equipment. Europe has slashed defence budgets by $70bn over the past two years even as Russia blitzes $600bn on war-fighting capabilities by 2020 and turns itself into a militarised state, a Sparta with nuclear weapons.

A portrait of Peter the Great hangs above the desk of Russia's Vladimir Putin. One might conclude that Mr Putin will not rest until he has avenged the post-Soviet losses of Narva, Riga and Poltava, the triple victory sites of that mercurial Tsar. The first two lie across the EU line in the Baltics, the latter deep within Ukraine.

The Scottish precedent threatens - or promises, depending on your view - to set off a chain reaction. "If the Scots votes Yes, it will be an earthquake in Spain," said Quim Aranda, from the Catalan newspaper Punt Avui.

Madrid has declared Catalonia's secession to be illegal, if not treason. Premier Mariano Rajoy has resorted to court action to stop Catalonia's 7.5m people - the richer part of Spain - holding a pre-referendum vote for independence on November 9. Barcelona is already covered with posters calling for civil disobedience, some evoking Martin Luther King, some more belligerent.

There is a hard edge to this dispute, with echoes of the Civil War. One serving military officer has openly spoken of "1936", warning Catalan separatists not to awaken the "sleeping lion". The association of retired army officers has called for treason trials in military courts for anybody promoting the break-up of Spain, a threat since disavowed by the current high command.

Rioja's premier, Pedro Sanz from the ruling Partido Popular, seemed to threaten a massacre, warning Catalans that they "will die" (morirán) if they persist in playing with fire. That will not stop 1m or more taking to the streets this week for Catalonia's "Diada", the national day, evoking the fall of Barcelona to the Bourbons in 1714.

"If the Scots and Catalans go, the Flemish will follow. The precedent creates so much pressure," says Paul Belien, a Belgian author and Flemish nationalist. The separatist Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie is the biggest party in the Flemish parliament.

"I am not happy. I fear the Scottish experiment will end in economic disaster and discredit our cause. We are the ones who subsidize Wallonia, so we're really in the position of England," he said.

Less understood is how this domino effect is spreading to a new group of stranded people, the irredentists left on the wrong side of Europe's borders at the end of the Great War, victims of Versailles and Trianon. You can feel an icy chill of history. "We thought we had solved the problems of Europe's borders, but as the glue comes off in one place, it is losing its hold elsewhere," said Mats Persson, from Open Europe.

"Scotland is our example," says Eva Klotz, leader of Süd-Tiroler Freiheit movement in the Italian Dolomites. "What is happening in Scotland changes everything for us. That the Scots can vote - and crucially that England respects it - shows that it's possible to achieve self-determination democratically, without war and violence," she said.

Yet there is a twist. The sub-plot of the Süd-Tirol campaign is reunification with Austria, 100 years after it was torn away and handed to Italy as a strategic barrier, or spoils of war. There are many such pockets across Europe: the Swedes in eastern Finland, the Germans on the wrong side of the Belgian border or indeed across much of Alsace, the Irish Catholics of Derry, and soon perhaps the Shetlanders within a new Scotland. Above all there are the Hungarians.

Europe's stability since 1945 is built on the sanctity of borders, a universal acceptance that nobody will reopen this Pandora's Box, even if they have legitimate cause. It is why Russia's seizure of Ukraine has been such a shock, so dangerous since it drew a chorus of apologists within the EU, some aiming to exploit it, others useful idiots.

Hungary has it is own "Crimeas", the severed kin of the Székely Land in Romania, those left in Serbia's Voyvodina or southern Slovakia or Ukraine, together numbering 2m. Premier Viktor Orban has played on this burning grievance, granting passports to ethnic Hungarians with more than a whiff of Magyar chauvenism. He has to cover his flank against even more radical ideology from the Horthy revivalists in the ultra-Right Jobbik party, actively enflaming revanchiste claims.

Exactly where Mr Orban stands on Hungarian borders is a subject of intense debate, like everything about his movement. (Germany's Social Democrat statesman Peer Steinbruck wants Hungary thrown out of the EU for failing to abide by the EU's Copenhagen Criteria on democracy and the rule of law). He is an open convert to "market Leninism", admirer of the authoritarian regimes in Russia, China and Turkey, with a judicial and media clampdown to match. "The new state that we are building is an illiberal state," he said last month.

This is Europe in September 2014. The borders are breaking. The liberal order is crumbling. The contractionary policies and perma-slump of the EMU saga - and its effects on EMU satellites - is surely a major reason why the governing dispensation has been so discredited, but it does not explain the parallel debacle in the UK.

Germany has its own separatists, of course. Politician Wilfried Scharnagl has written a book calling for Bavarian secession, deeming Bavaria's vote to join the German Empire in 1871 to have been an unmitigated disaster. "Maps are not set in stone for eternity," he says.

Yet Germany seems largely immune to fragmentation fashion, a stark contrast to the late years of the Holy Roman Empire when Germans were ruled by a mosaic of princes and margraves, pushed around by powerful nation states in the rest of Europe. Even Sweden dictated terms to minor German kings in the 17th century. The historic roles have been reversed.

Some may view German dominance with alarm. Yet perhaps we should be thankful that at least one great European state is holding the line. It is hard to imagine a more reluctant hegemon, a vibrant democracy under the rule of law, defended by a first-rate court, with very strong antibodies against authoritarian mischief.

Yet Teutonic ascendancy is likely to grate. As southern Europe has discovered in the EMU crisis, Germany has a different view of events and different interests, and a pedant's certainty that its policy nostrums that are right for Italy, Spain, Greece or even France, when a dozen Nobel economists insist otherwise.

The EU was supposed to lock in a European Germany, not a German Europe. The grand design assumed a plausible level of parity between Berlin and Paris, buttressed by an array of cohesive nation states led by London. This is dying before our eyes.

Some swivel-eyed federalists in Brussels cannot hide their glee at Britain's all-too possible downfall next week. They should be careful what they wish for.

THE SONG OF MOSES - DEUTERONOMY 32

 

A FRESH LOOK AT THIS PROFOUND SONG

 

The Song of Moses may be the most profound prophecy in the Bible. Moses was seeing far into the future when he sang this song--all the way to the end of this age as described in the Book of Revelation. It is an ancient Hebrew poem in the simplest of form.

We can image it as taking place in the Supreme Court Room of Heaven. It is God’s opening statement, indictment, trial, and closing argument against sinful mankind as addressed to His people. It is God’s indictment against us all--but is also His expression of love towards His creation!

God gave man a free will to choose. Mankind as a whole was predestined to attain glory with God--to become His sons. We are all predestined, but the catch is how we decide with our free will. God does not want robots. He desires that we ask Him into our lives and follow his law--the Torah. This is what the entire book of Deuteronomy is about.

We can choose our “pre-destination” or choose to go another way. God’s sense of justice and righteousness demands that sin is judged. The Torah points out our sinful nature--it shows us that we need a redeemer. The law, Paul said, is spiritual. It took a spiritual act for God to redeem us through Yeshua. We could say the “letter” of the law was satisfied through the “spirit” of the law.

Man will resist God until the bitter end--but God’s great love for His creation will overcome all at the end of the age. He loves us all and someday we will all be together in His family. It is profound that man will resist and cause God to carry out His judgments in the earth. It would be so much easier for man to just listen to the words of Deuteronomy 28 and live according to the laws of the Kingdom! This poetical Song of Moses says it all.

1. Introduction, with summoning of witnesses. 32.1-3
“Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. Let my teaching drop as the rain,
My speech distill as the dew, as raindrops on the tender herb, and as showers on the grass. For I proclaim the name of the Lord: Ascribe greatness to our God.”
 
Much of mankind’s worship has centered on heavenly bodies such as sun/moon worship, horoscopes, gaia, new age, etc. The earth and heavens were created to remind man of YHVH. The sun and moon were to create God’s calendar and be signs for the seasons and feasts of the Lord. The four season’s of the earth also were to remind man of the Lord’s Feasts (Gen 1.14/Lev 23).

The two witnesses, heaven and earth will witness the permanent giving of Torah to all peoples of the earth!

2. Summary accusation of Israel’s disloyalty. 32.4-6
“He is the Rock, His work is perfect; for all His ways are justice, a God of truth and without injustice; righteous and upright is He. “They have corrupted themselves; they are not His children, because of their blemish: a perverse and crooked generation. Do you thus deal with the Lord, O foolish and unwise people? Is He not your Father, who bought you? Has He not made you and established you?”
Yeshua was the Rock whom Israel followed in the wilderness. He is the Rock the assembly of the faithful is built upon. God the Father and Yeshua are just and true. Daniel (2.34) prophesied of the Rock which would destroy the fourth and final kingdom of man. The Rock would become a great mountain and fill all the earth.

3. Recital of YHVH’s loving actions on Israel’s behalf as the basis of the charge. 32.7-14
“Remember the days of old, Consider the years of many generations. Ask your father, and he will show you; your elders, and they will tell you: When the Most High divided their inheritance to the nations, when He separated the sons of Adam, He set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the children of Israel. For the Lord’s portion is His people; Jacob is the place of His inheritance. “He found him in a desert land and in the wasteland, a howling wilderness; He encircled him, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye
As an eagle stirs up its nest, hovers over its young, spreading out its wings, taking them up, carrying them on its wings, so the Lord alone led him, and there was no foreign god with him. “He made him ride in the heights of the earth, that he might eat the produce of the fields; He made him draw honey from the rock, and oil from the flinty rock; curds from the cattle, and milk of the flock, with fat of lambs; and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the choicest wheat; and you drank wine, the blood of the grapes.”
 
The Lord expresses His great love for his disobedient and stiff necked people. The Lord’s portion is His people--the apple of His eye. This is both physical Israel (Judah) and those who comprise the one new man (Ephraim/Joseph). Jews and Joes!

4. Indictment of Israel as disloyal. 32.15-18
“But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked; you grew fat, you grew thick, you are obese! Then he forsook God who made him, and scornfully esteemed the Rock of his salvation. They provoked Him to jealousy with foreign gods; with abominations they provoked Him to anger. They sacrificed to demons, not to God, to gods they did not know, to new gods, new arrivals that your fathers did not fear. Of the Rock who begot you, you are unmindful, and have forgotten the God who fathered you.”
A very strong indictment by God against His rebellious people. Israel(Ephraim) will exhaust all his options pursuing her own way before turning back to YHVH. This is also the case for the State of Israel (Judah) today. She functions according to secular humanist government and tolerance of lifestyles that defile the Land.

5. Declaration of the decision to punish Israel. 32.19-25
“And when the Lord saw it, He spurned them, because of the provocation of His sons and His daughters. And He said: ‘I will hide My face from them, I will see what their end will be, for they are a perverse generation, children in whom is no faith. They have provoked Me to jealousy by what is not God; they have moved Me to anger by their foolish idols. But I will provoke them to jealousy by those who are not a nation; I will move them to anger by a foolish nation. For a fire is kindled in My anger, and shall burn to the lowest hell; it shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains. ‘I will heap disasters on them; I will spend My arrows on them. They shall be wasted with hunger, devoured by pestilence and bitter destruction; I will also send against them the teeth of beasts, with the poison of serpents of the dust. The sword shall destroy outside; there shall be terror within for the young man and virgin, the nursing child with the man of gray hairs.”
The end of the age will see the destruction of all man-made systems, rooted in Babylonian/Roman philosophy, which currently govern this earth. As God sent plagues upon Egypt, so he will do again to the whole earth on a global scale. Mankind will finally realize there is no power or protection in anyone but YHVH.
Note: We are not called to be judges in this life. We are called to be Defense Attorneys. We are to plead with God for the those who do not know the Lord to come to repentance and salvation. We are to be like a defense attorney appointed to one who has committed a criminal act and to plead for them. God will be the final judge.

6. YHVH recognizes a risk to His honor. 32.26-27
I would have said, “I will dash them in pieces, I will make the memory of them to cease from among men,” Had I not feared the wrath of the enemy, lest their adversaries should misunderstand, lest they should say, “Our hand is high; and it is not the Lord who has done all this.”
 
"…the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. 7"The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but because the LORD loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the LORD brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt…Deut 7.6-8

God will be glorified in the presence of all nations and all nations will bow unto Him.

7. YHVH pivots from judgment of Israel to punishment of Israel’s enemies. 32.28-43
“For they are a nation void of counsel, nor is there any understanding in them. Oh, that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end! How could one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, and the Lord had surrendered them?
For their rock is not like our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges. For their vine is of the vine of Sodom and of the fields of Gomorrah; Their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter. Their wine is the poison of serpents, and the cruel venom of cobras. ‘Is this not laid up in store with Me, sealed up among My treasures? Vengeance is Mine, and recompense; their foot shall slip in due time; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things to come hasten upon them.
 
For the Lord will judge His people and have compassion on His servants, when He sees that their power is gone, and there is no one remaining, bond or free. He will say: ‘Where are their gods, The rock in which they sought refuge? Who ate the fat of their sacrifices, And drank the wine of their drink offering? Let them rise and help you, and be your refuge. ‘Now see that I, even I, am He, and there is no God besides Me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; nor is there any who can deliver from My hand.
For I raise My hand to heaven, and say, “As I live forever, if I whet My glittering sword, and My hand takes hold on judgment, I will render vengeance to My enemies, and repay those who hate Me. I will make My arrows drunk with blood, and My sword shall devour flesh, with the blood of the slain and the captives, from the heads of the leaders of the enemy.

Rejoice, O ye Gentiles, with his people, for he will avenge the blood of his slaves and will render vengeance to his enemies and will reconcile his land, to his people.”
The false gods, the rock of the nations, cannot stand up to King Yeshua. The nations will receive judgment and will know that the Lord is God at the end of this present age. The Gentiles (Joes) will rejoice with the Judah (Jews) at the final judgment of the nations and the land of Israel will be restored.

Moses said: "Just and right" are God’s "judgments." Deuteronomy 32
The Lamb says: "Just and true" are "thy judgments." Revelation 15.

"Because I will publish the name of the Lord: ascribe ye greatness unto our God. He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity,

just and right is he." Deuteronomy 32: 3-4

 

"And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty;

just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thy judgments are made manifest." Revelation 15:3-4

The Song of Moses is the one given by Moses to Israel the day that he died. It is called the Song of Moses and also the Song of the Lamb, because the Lamb later confirms that same Song to us. There were two songs given by Moses, forty years apart, one at the crossing of the Red Sea and the other was the song Moses’ sang the day that he died. Both are ancient poems that prophetically refer to the end of this present age.

Song of Moses after Red Sea

The first song of Moses was a song of triumph and of God’s judgment on His enemies. The song sung after the crossing of the Red Sea is recorded in Exodus 15:1-19. Both Moses and the children of Israel sang this together. It is a song of redemption for God’s people and final judgment against their enemies. It will be sung after Hasatan has been cast into the Lake of Fire forever!

Song of Moses and the Lamb

The Song of Moses and the Lamb proclaims God’s judgments and punishments against His own people and then against the wicked. On a future Day of Atonement, at His second coming, He receives His chastened people and then punishes their enemies. This will take place at the end of the age just prior to the beginning of the Millennial Kingdom.

The Song of Moses and the Lamb is a two-fold punishment. It pertains to both Jew and Gentile, Israel and the Church. Just as Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the other prophets pronounced God’s judgments against ancient Israel first, and then against her enemies, so does this song. It is a song describing the culmination of the age of man. It ushers in the thousand year Millennial Kingdom.
The disobedient people of God will repent during this time (working out their own salvation with fear and trembling), the true obedient followers will be “over comers”, and the wicked will be judged as the second coming unfolds (Matt 13:24-30).
The arm of the Lord brings deliverance--The Lord redeemed Israel “with an outstretched arm”(Exod.6:6), “To who has the arm of the Lord been revealed” (Isa.53:1), “Therefore my own arm brought salvation for me” (Isa.63:5)--it not something that we accomplish. No flesh shall glory in His presence (1 Corinthians 1.29).
That is the lesson of the Song of Moses and the Lamb. The Lord will deliver us--no man will be able to boast. We will cry out, “Come Lord Jesus” and the nation of Israel will cry out, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.”

　

　

　

　

　

Days of Awe

Level: Basic

The ten days starting with Rosh Hashanah and ending with Yom Kippur are commonly known as the Days of Awe (Yamim Noraim) or the Days of Repentance. This is a time for serious introspection, a time to consider the sins of the previous year and repent before Yom Kippur.

One of the ongoing themes of the Days of Awe is the concept that G-d has "books" that he writes our names in, writing down who will live and who will die, who will have a good life and who will have a bad life, for the next year. These books are written in on Rosh Hashanah, but our actions during the Days of Awe can alter G-d's decree. The actions that change the decree are "teshuvah, tefilah and tzedakah," repentance, prayer, good deeds (usually, charity). These "books" are sealed on Yom Kippur. This concept of writing in books is the source of the common greeting during this time is "May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year."

Among the customs of this time, it is common to seek reconciliation with people you may have wronged during the course of the year. The Talmud maintains that Yom Kippur atones only for sins between man and G-d. To atone for sins against another person, you must first seek reconciliation with that person, righting the wrongs you committed against them if possible.

Another custom observed during this time is kapparot. This is rarely practiced today, and is observed in its true form only by Chasidic and occasionally Orthodox Jews. Basically, you purchase a live fowl, and on the morning before Yom Kippur you wave it over your head reciting a prayer asking that the fowl be considered atonement for sins. The fowl is then slaughtered and given to the poor (or its value is given). Some Jews today simply use a bag of money instead of a fowl. Most Reform and Conservative Jews have never even heard of this practice.

Work is permitted as usual during the intermediate Days of Awe, from Tishri 3 to Tishri 9, except of course for Shabbat during that week.

Two lesser special occasions occur during the course of the Days of Awe:

Tishri 3, the day after the second day of Rosh Hashanah, is the Fast of Gedaliah. This really has nothing to do with the Days of Awe, except that it occurs in the middle of them. For more information, see Minor Fasts.

The Shabbat that occurs in this period is known as Shabbat Shuvah (the Sabbath of Return). This is considered a rather important Shabbat.
 http://www.jewfaq.org/holiday3.htm

　

YOM TERUAH - THE FEAST OF TRUMPS - THE DAY OF BLASTING

Pentecost is the bridge between the two advents of Yeshua. The feasts of the Lord (Lev23.1) are divine appointments. The Hebrew word is mo’ed = appointed times. The feasts give us the knowledge of what lies ahead. Observing them is like a dress rehearsal. We keep ourselves prepared so that we are not surprised by the thief in the night.

Trumpets is the day of the creation of the world. The date on the Hebrew calendar is 1 Tishri. It is also called Rosh Hashanah. We say Shana Tov = Happy New Year. We are commanded in Lev 23.1 to proclaim the feasts. To go out and let everyone know. A proclamation.

Trumpets (Yom Teruah) is the time for repentance. Ten days after the Feast of Trumpets is the Day of Atonement. The ten days between Trumpets and Day of Atonement are called the “Days of Awe” and are to be the time of repentance as the Day of Atonement approaches. The Day of Atonement is our “day of redemption”, but for the wicked it is the “day of wrath”. Five days after the Day of Atonement is the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) which is a time of rejoicing and celebration--a wedding celebration with the King.

The three fall feasts are prophetic of the end of the age when the Messiah comes and restores all things. The Jewish community is still waiting for the return of the Messiah. They do not know who he is because they missed him at his first coming--Yeshua is his name--Jesus the Christ (The Anointed).

Yom Teruah is known as the “Day of Blowing” in the Jewish community. It is the time of Jacob’s Trouble as proclaimed by the prophets in the Old Testament. Other names for Trumpets are: Day of Awakening Blast, Yom Hadin = the Day of Judgment, Opening of the Gates, the Hidden Day, Ha Melech = Coronation Day, Opening of the Books.

Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years…Gen 1.14

The Hebrew calendar is both solar and lunar. Solar defines the years and the lunar defines the months. The west is on the Gregorian Calendar which was a refinement of the Julian Calendar started by Julius Caesar. In 1582 Pope Gregory adjusted the calendar for lost days. This is the calendar we observe today.

God wants us on another calendar--His calendar. We cannot know the times or seasons if we do not understand God’s calendar as revealed in the Bible. Satan knows what is coming and he has deceived the world. He knows God’s mo’eds, the appointed times. And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. Dan 7.25

Can two walk together, except they be agreed? Amos 3.3 We need to be in agreement with God and understand His calendar. The book of Revelation says that Satan has deceived the whole world. That deception begins with the calendar. If we do not understand the times (1 Chron 12.32) we will not know what is happening--we will have no hope!

Trumpets is a memorial. It is something we are to remember, to be mindful of. If the Lord doesn’t remember us what would that mean? It would mean He has rejected us: And if ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresses you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before the Lord your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies. Numbers 10.9

The Israelites were to blow the shofar--to sound an alarm--and God will remember them. This is a shadow of the Feast of Trumpets. Trumpets is the warning blast of the shofar that announces the imminent coming of the King!

Then they that feared the Lord spoke often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name. And they shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spares his own son that serves him. Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serves God and him that serves him not. Mal 3.16-18

This speaks of the Book of Remembrance. Remember, Trumpets is called the “Opening of the Books” and the “Opening of the Gates” in Hebrew culture. These shall be mine says the Lord--I will spare them (on the Day of Atonement).

This speaks of the 10 virgins; five wise and five foolish. Who belongs to the Lord? Isaac was bound by Abraham on this day--and God remembered Isaac and spared him. God prefers to show mercy--not judgment.

And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work: it is a day of blowing the trumpets unto you. Numbers 29.1

A Holy Convocation--the Day of Blowing. From this verse we get “Yom Teruah”. Teruah is a battle cry, an alarm, a shout. Alarm, Trumpets, Shouting!

For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle? 1 Cor 14.8 Uncertain sound? We are to know the sound--this is the purpose of the dress rehearsal of Yom Teruah.

God is gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet. Ps 47.5

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:1 Thess 4.16

And the Lord shall be seen over them, and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning: and the Lord God shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with whirlwinds of the south. Zech 9.14

These verses all are symbolic of the Feast of Trumpets. The feast is a reminder, a memorial, to what is going to occur sometime in the future at Yeshua’s second advent. We are to know and understand.!

Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance. Ps 89.15

The sound of the Trumpet is a joyful sound--Our redeemer comes!

Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness? Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble, but he shall be saved out of it. Jeremiah 30.6-7

Trumpets is the alarm! Those who know the Lord and are prepared will recognize the sounds of alarm!

Like as a woman with child, that draws near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and cries out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O Lord. Isaiah 26.17 This will be a difficult time for all: Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt: And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travails: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames. Isaiah 13.6-8

And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. Dan 12.1 Everyone found written in “The Book”.                       

The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hastens greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. Zephaniah 1.14-16

The Feast of Trumpets is our dress rehearsal. The Lord wants us to remember so that we will not be caught like a thief in the night unawares!

For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Matt 24.7-8

Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it? Amos 5.20

Trouble, distress, a day of blowing!

In Revelation 17 we see a picture of Mystery Babylon. In Daniel 11.32 we see the Antichrist uses flattery: And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.

In scripture “law” or “commandments” means Torah. It is a poor translation. Torah means “instruction”. Torah means to “hit the mark” and sin means to “miss the mark”.

In Proverbs 7 we see the harlot (Whore of Babylon) using flattery: My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee. Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye. Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thine heart. Prov 7.1-3

Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister; and call understanding thy kinswoman: That they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words. For at the window of my house I looked through my casement, And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding,

Passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house, In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night: and, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart. Prov 7.4-10

We see a description of the Antichrist (Satan) deceiving the world. God has given us all the information we need to not be deceived. It is up to us to seek and understand. We have no excuse once we have heard. The Feasts of the Lord have deep prophetic meaning--we are to rejoice in them!

Yeshua’s parables speak of these days. Ref Matt 25, Matt 20, Proverbs 7. The Goodman or Householder is not home--he is on a far journey--what do his servants do while he is gone. What will happen when he returns?

Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves. For the goodman is not at home, he is gone a long journey: He hath taken a bag of money with him, and will
come home at the day appointed. Prov 18-20

The dayappointed is the word mo’ed = God’s appointed times--His feasts--His memorials. Satan knows the appointed times!


Hebrew word Koseh = day appointed = full moon. Jesus died on the full moon of Passover. He will return and celebrate (dwell with man) at the Feast of Tabernacles (Booths) which is also on a full moon. The fall feasts are appointed times yet to be fulfilled. The spring feasts, Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, and Pentecost have already been physically fulfilled by Yeshua.

And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God. Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know whathour I will come upon thee. Rev 3.1-3
This was a word to believers. The early church turned away from their Hebraic roots and to this day do not understand the Feasts of the Lord and their prophetic meaning! We need to understand God’s calendar. He comes as a thief in the night to those who are dead.


Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. Rev 16.15  The Lord is talking to “believers” who have fallen asleep! That is why the trumpet blast is an alarm!

In Israel in Yeshua’s time the High Priest was known as the thief in the night. He would walk around and check on the guards to see if they were sleeping. If they were he would place a burning coal on their garments and they would wake up on fire! They would be embarrassed in front of all the other guards. Ref: Matt 25.8-13 the 10 virgins. Those who are prepared go in, those who are not can not come in to the feast (Tabernacles). The says, “I don’t know you.”

Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through. Luke 12.35-39

And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowering. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times? Matt 16.3

And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do; the heads of them were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their commandment. 1 Chr 12.32 

But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. 1 Thess 5.1-4
 Did you catch that? We are to not be overtaken by the thief in the night because we understand the feasts and observe them. Many of these future events actually will be taking place on these days!


Sound of the Trumpet
Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman: If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people; Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul. Ezek 33.2-5, ref whole chapter, Jeremiah 6, and Isaiah 58.
Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken. Jeremiah 6.17 Will the tribulation begin on the Feast of Trumpets?


The Second Coming
Your dead shall live; together with my dead body they shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust; For your dew is like the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. Isaiah 26.19
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 1 Thess 4.16


The Feast of Trumpets announces the (second) coming of the Messiah. In ancient days when Israel was in captivity in Babylon the feast had to be proclaimed by the new moon. This is the only feast that begins on a new moon. The priests would watch for the new moon and announce the feast when they saw the first silver of the new moon. it. Since the land of captivity was so large it took two days for the word to travel to all those in the Diaspora (scattering). Yom Teruah became know as “one long day”. It also became known as “the day no man knows”.

The Lord is saying that even Satan doesn’t know the hour He will return. It is the only feast that the exact time it begins is not known. This is to confuse the enemy. Ref: 1 Cor 2.8: which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. The Father keeps the enemy guessing because he knows this is the end for him.

During Trumpets the shofar is blown 100 times in what is called the Teruah blast--three short shrill blasts of warning. Those three blasts are repeated 33 times = 99 sounds. The 100^th and final blast is know in Hebrew culture as “the last trump”. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 1 Cor 15.51-52

Isn’t it exciting how the Bible details all these events--everything in the Old and New Testament dove-tail together!

Our God is great and He has a plan that He is working in us and the entire world. We should note that Pentecost is called the 1^st Trump, Teruah, the Last Trump, and Yom Kippur, The Great Trump.

My beloved spoke, and said to me: “Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. Song of Solomon 2.2 Rain = blessing.

The Song of Solomon is actually a prophetic poem of the last days and the Bridegroom calling the sleeping church.

She (the church) doesn’t want to go out into the rain. She is asleep and doesn’t want to get out of bed. She says, “My beloved is mine!” Wait a minute, we belong to Him--not vice-versa!

She finally gets up: By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.

2 I will rise now, and go about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not. Song 3.1-2
 She looked in the broad ways--Jesus said, “Broad is the way to destruction, the way to God is narrow.”

I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night. I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them? My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved for him. I rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers with sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock. I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone: my soul failed when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer. Song 5.2-6

He is beating on the door (meaning of knock in this verse), “wake up, come out into the blessing.” He is in the rain enjoying the blessing, but she doesn’t want to come out because she is all primped for sleep. Ephesians 5.14 refers to this: Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.


Rewards
This is not a question of salvation. It is a question of rewards. There are rewards for what we have done in this life. That is the principle of the sower and the three fold principle seen in Yeshua’s parables. 100 fold, 60 fold, 30 fold--all have to do with our service in the Millennial Kingdom. (That is a whole other teaching.) Many are going to fall short and there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth in regret. Then the word says the Lord wipes away their tears. We all have a place in the MK, but what we do now determines that. Ref: Matt 8.12; 22.13; 24.51; 25.30


The Feast of Trumpets announces the coming Day of Judgment (Day of Atonement) which comes ten days later. The spies went out and searched the land and brought back grapes. They spied for 40 days (the number of testing) and found the large grapes in Hebron. That is where Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were buried. The Israelites refused to enter the land and where left to wander (be tested) for forty years before entering the Promised Land.


This symbolizes the Hebrew month of Elul, which is 30 days. Then on 1 Tishri is Yom Teruah and ten days later it is the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). That is 40 days. The month of Elul is a time to consider our faults or sins and then repent and be redeemed on the Day of Atonement. Many times the Holy Spirit has made me aware of my short comings and dealt personally with me during the month of Elul which is Aug/Sept on the Gregorian Calendar. Have you felt such prodding from the Spirit in this time?


In Rev 14 we see the angel reaping the grapes…it is the time of the fall feasts. The Book of Revelation is all about the fall feasts. The angel thrusts in his sickle and gathers the grapes into the winepress! The Day of Atonement is the time the Books are closed--no more chances--judgment day. The trial lasts ten days (From Trumpets to Day of Atonement is 10 days. Called the “Days of Awe” in Hebrew culture. Ten days of review before the Lord of Hosts.

Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. 1 Cor 3.13-15 
There are rewards above and beyond our salvation!

 Daniel 7.10-11: A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened. I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame. In Revelation 5 we see the same thing Daniel saw.


In Revelation 20.11-12 we see the white throne judgment after the millennium. Books are opened--the fall feasts are tied into all these things. Meditate on the following scriptures:

Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah Ps 24.7...ref: Ps 118
 The Feast of Trumpets is called the Coronation (of the King) and the Opening of the Gates. Do you see it here? Many of the Psalms are end of the age prophetic poems. Understand the fall feast and open your spirit to prophecy. Jesus Christ is the spirit of prophecy! Rev 1

Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand; A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. Joel 2.1-2

Fall feasts--Trumpets!

Sound the alarm! Blow the shofar! The day of the Lord is at hand!

And the Lord shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it? Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. Joel 2.11-13

 The feasts--Day of Atonement!

Day of the Lord
The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. Zeph 1.14-16

The Feast of Trumpets is the day of the Lord. Yom Hakeseh = Hidden Day in Hebrew. In Zeph 2 we are told to gather together before, before, before…etc. Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger. Zeph 2.3

For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock. Ps 27.5 ref:Isaiah 26--Enter your chamber and hide yourself. 

Wedding of Messiah - Tabernacles is the Wedding Feast - 15 Tishri
Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. Joel 2.15-16The bride takes on her husband’s name ref: Jeremiah 28-33.


A Hebrew betrothal consists of money (Price of the Bride), wine drinking, and contract (Ketuba). Once the woman agrees to become the bride they are betrothed (considered married, though not consummated). Ref: Gen 24, Rebecca had to agree. We agree: Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: 1 Peter 1.8

The bridal price should be high--that is what you think of the man’s daughter! We too are bought: For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. 1 Cor 6.20

The betrothed do not live together. Ref: Jeremiah 2.2 and Hosea 2. The nation will come to Messiah. The Ketuba = price, promise, rights of bride--the Bible is our Ketuba (Wedding contract). Our I do: But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Rom 10.8-10

In Exodus 24 The people were told God’s word and said “I do”. We too receive wedding gifts: Eph, 1 Cor12.1.

In Israel the bide takes a bath (Mikvah) and then becomes a mother of Israel.

Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God, and thou becamest mine. Then washed I thee with water; yea, I throughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil. Ezek 16.8-9

After a cup of wine the groom goes and prepares a place for the bride--in his chamber. In Israel if a man is asked “when is your wedding” he will reply, “only my father knows.”

Bridegroom comes with a shout (Matt 25.6). Wedding supper follows (Isaiah 62). Blessed are those who are called to the wedding (Rev 19/Luke 14).

Jesus’ parables of the wedding in Matt 25--no one wanted to come. We are called but refuse to come! Israel was called and refused--the modern church is called and is refusing to come!


Summary
The fall Feasts of the Lord are prophetic of the end times. Trumpets (Tishri 1) represents the last trump and the coming of the King. A coronation. We meet Him in the air and come back with Him. This most likely happens at the end of the tribulation as there is only one second coming. We see that in Rev 19 after the tribulation.

The Day of Atonement (Tishri 10) signifies the final judgment and wrath of God on the Antichrist and the wicked. The ten “ days of awe” between Trumpets and Atonement would be God judging the nations and final separation of wheat and tares.


Tabernacles
(Tishri 15) would represent the wedding supper of the Lamb and rejoicing in the 1,000 year millennial reign of the Lord and his people over the nations.

Addition verses to consider for the Coronation of the King--Ha Malek. Ps 98; Ps 2.6-7; Gen 49.8-12; Heb 1.8; 1 Kings 1; 2 Kings 11; 2 Sam 5.3; Ps 50.4; Ps 102; Ps 47 the coronation psalm; Rev 19.16

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

THE SEVEN YEARLY FEASTS OF THE LORD

There are seven feasts on the Lord’s calendar. These feasts can be divided into four spring feasts and three fall feasts. The first three form a unit, and the last three form a unit. Pentecost stands in the long, dry summer, as a bridge between the past and the future. From a Christian viewpoint the first four festivals have been fulfilled and the final three are yet to be. Leviticus 23 gives a description of the feasts in order.

1. Passover remembers the Israelite’s exodus from hundreds of years of slavery in Egypt, and the redemption of a Newborn nation, a people belonging to the Lord. It was the blood of the Passover lamb that rescued the Israelites from the destroying angel, who struck down every firstborn in Egypt. It is the blood of Yeshua that covers our hearts, rescuing us from sin and death. Yeshua (Jesus) has physically fulfilled this feast at His death and crucifixion for our sins. First month on Hebrew Calendar 14^th Day (March/April)

2. Unleavened Bread is a seven-day period, beginning with Passover. During this week we eat no foods made with yeast. Leavened bread will spoil quickly, but unleavened bread will remain uncorrupted. Since the Lord’s body did not undergo decay in the grave, His incorruptibility was a picture of pure and unleavened bread, with-out the yeast of sin in His life. Yeshua lived a sinless life and physically fulfilled this feast as the unblemished lamb of Passover. First month, begins day after Passover (March/April)

3. First Fruits occurs on the third day after Passover and is an offering of the first barley that comes up in the early spring. It is like a Thanksgiving before the main crop has come in. By offering the Lord the first part of our crops, we are showing Him that we trust Him for a greater harvest in the weeks to come. The Lord Jesus was raised from the dead on First Fruits, the third day after Passover; this demonstrates that He went ahead of us, as the first one to be harvested from death. Since the Father raised Him to life, we can trust Him to resurrect an enormous harvest of the righteous dead at the end of the age. He is the first fruits risen from the dead. First month 3days after Passover (March/April)

4. Pentecost or the Feast of Weeks occurs fifty days after the Sabbath of Passover (Lev. 23:15-16). In Hebrew Shavuot means “weeks” and in Greek, Pentecost means “fifty.” We count off seven sevens, which is forty-nine days. Traditionally, the Israelites received the law of Moses on this day, fifty days after coming out of Egypt. Also, on this same feast, fifty days after Yeshua’s resurrection, the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Jewish disciples, who were waiting in Jerusalem for the gift and power of the Holy Spirit. So both Israel and the Church trace their birth to this season. Third month (May/June)

5. The Feast of Trumpets is also called “Rosh HaShannah,” which means “Head of the Year.” Some like to call this festival “The Memorial of Blasting,” which is a literal translation of the Hebrew name. This holiday, along with Atonement and Tabernacles, occurs in the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar. It is a solemn “wake up” call to repentance, commemorated by many blasts of the Ram’s horn, or shofar. It also prepares/warns us for the Messiah’s soon return, which will come with a startling trumpet blast and will produce instant Repentance on the earth. In ancient Israel kings were coronated/crowned during this feast.

Trumpets is the prophetic crowning or return of the king--the second coming of Yeshua in power and glory. It is believed that Yeshua was born during this feast and not in December. The Apostle Paul says the Lord will return at the sound of the “last trump.” Seventh Month 1^st Day (Sept/Oct)

6. The Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur is the only 24 hour fast day commanded in the Bible. It is the most solemn of the feasts, in which the high priest would enter the Holy of Holies, only on this day, and offer blood for the sins of himself and the people of Israel. In the Book of Hebrews, we see that Jesus was a greater high priest than those of Levitical lineage, and that He entered Heaven’s Holy of Holies with His own blood to make atonement for all the sins ever committed before and after his sacrificial death on the cross.

Prophetically the Day of Atonement represents the wrath of God on the wicked at the end of the age as written in the Book of Revelation chapter 20. The tares are gathered and burned and the righteous are gathered into (Matt 13) the barn. For the righteous the Day of Atonement is the Day of Our Redemption. Seventh Month 10^th Day (Sept/Oct)

7. Tabernacles is the last and most joyful feast, which lasts seven days. It remembers the Israelites living in tents during their long sojourn in the desert without permanent homes. We see that God has always desired to dwell or “tabernacle” with His people on earth, from the Garden in Genesis til the last words of Revelation, when “the dwelling of God is with man and he shall live with them forever” (Rev. 21:3). The earth is not our permanent home, and we live in mortal tents, looking forward to a permanent home whose builder and architect is God our father. Tabernacles is compared to the great Wedding Feast of the Lord with His people. Prophetically it is the beginning of the thousand year Millennial Kingdom of Yeshua. Seventh Month 15^th Day(Sept/Oct)

Summary:  The Lord has physically and spiritually fulfilled the first four spring feasts (Lev 23.1). He has yet to fulfill the final three fall feasts. Every believer should understand the meaning of these feasts prophetically. The final three are signposts explaining the events that will take place as described in the Book of Revelation. The reason the Lord would have us understand and observe these feasts is that they are rehearsals--we are keeping fresh in our minds the things He has done and those which He is still to do.


 

DUALITY OF PROPHECY

 

 

 

Do you believe in Bible prophecy? As a believer in Yeshua the answer is yes. How do we understand Bible prophecy?

The key point to understand is that Bible prophecy is often dual. It contains two warnings:

1. It is a historical warning for the people who lived at the time it was given.

2. It is a warning to a future generation to which all aspects of the prophecy apply. It is for those who live in the “end times” as many scriptures phrase it.

When scripture says, “in the latter days”, “that generation”, or “in that day” it is referring to the end times. Many Bible prophecies have both an ancient and a modern day fulfillment. The ancient fulfillment is usually a partial fulfillment.

Matthew 24 is a good example of this. When the disciples asked Jesus about the end times and restoration of the kingdom, Jesus said His return would be preceded by the destruction of the city,  dramatic heavenly signs, and a great conflict. He also mentioned in verse 15 about the “abomination of desolation” as spoken by the prophet Daniel.

The “abomination of desolation” was set up during the revolt of the Maccabees in 165 B.C. when the Jews rebelled and overthrew Antiochus Epiphanes. Jesus used that already fulfilled prophecy to indicate an event that was going to take place at a future date. Jesus was showing us how to interpret dual prophecies with this example.

He was explaining events that were soon to happen with the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in 70 A.D. and pointing to an end time event. This is a prime example of how prophecy is often dual. The ancient fulfillment was a forerunner of an event which is yet to come.

Many prophecies in Ezekiel, Isaiah, Daniel, and other books apply to us today. Their fulfillments are in the “latter days” or the “end times” as stated in the Bible. The warnings to the nation of Israel were not just for them in their ancient kingdom but apply to the Christian nations today.

The prophets warned the nation of their sin and apostasy exhorting them to repent and turn back to God. If they refused, the prophets warned, then a hasty and wicked nation would come upon them and take them into captivity. That is exactly what happened in ancient Israel and is what is going to happen to our nation if we continue in our apostasy.

Watching today’s headlines we can see this happening. Radical Islam is a warning to the western Christian nations to repent and turn back to God. If we refuse, terrorism will increase until the United States and European nations will experience tragic terror attacks. Continued disobedience could lead to war and defeat in war that could have terrible consequences or occupation forces in our nation.

Many will say that is impossible as we are the world’s mightiest nation. History proves that the mightiest nations come tumbling down when they fall into grievous sin and depravity such as the United States is. The 60 million children who have been aborted are an abomination to God. There is innocent blood on our hands. I can mention many other things that are an abomination to Elohim, but I think you get the point.

Read the Old Testament prophets and read them as a warning to our nations. There is a duality to these ancient scriptures that is undeniable. Now is the time to seek the Lord and get right with Him! Now is the time to pray for God’s mercy as He chastises our nation for falling away from His law and commandments.

Perhaps He will find a hiding place for you in His bosom. “For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock.” Psalm 27.5



THE HARLOT CHURCH IN THE BOOK OF PROVERBS - PART TWO

 

 

 

 

Proverbs Chapter 7 - Beware the Seductress

7.1-5...¶ My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee. Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of your eye. Bind them upon thy fingers; write them upon the tablet of your heart. Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister, and call understanding thy kinswoman: That they may keep thee from the woman belonging to someone else, from the stranger who flatters with her words.

The young man is warned and exhorted to keep God’s law in his heart. He is told to love God’s law as the apple of his eye. This will keep him from the woman who belongs to someone else, the stranger who flatters with her words.

Prophetically we see how the apostate church has strayed from God’s word. Ministers use flattering words from the pulpit and embrace the sins of the world. The word of God is neglected.

7.6-10...
¶ For at the window of my house I looked through my casement and beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding, passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house, in the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night; and, behold, a woman met him with the attire of a harlot, and subtle of heart.


The writer tells how he witnessed a woman, dressed as a harlot, approach a young man in the dark street luring him to her house for a night of sex. Her words were silky, brazen, and lewd--the young man follows her like an animal going to slaughter.

Many Christians only receive the word when they go to church. They spend very little time in the word. They are easily swayed by false doctrine and new age teachings. The strange woman easily deceives them because they are ill prepared and versed in the word of God. They run to and fro following any ministry that woos them with sweet words they want to hear.

7.11-17...
(She is loud and stubborn; her feet do not abide in her house: Now without, now in the streets, she lies in wait at every corner.) So she caught him and kissed him and with an impudent face said unto him, I had promised sacrifices of peace; today I have paid my vows. Therefore I came forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee. I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt. I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.

This woman is always flitting about. She lies in wait and says whatever comes to her mind to seduce the young man. She says she has paid her vows and done her “religious duties” already. Now it is time to play.

Just as the un-read Christian is blown about, this seductress in always hunting for a mark. She loves to preach the prosperity gospel--God only wants to bless you and give you the things you deserve! No gospel of repentance or responsibility is ever preached. There is no cost for following Yeshua, no laying down of the life. It’s all about you being happy.

7.18-23...

Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning; let us solace ourselves with loves. For the good man is not at home; he is gone a long journey: He has taken a bag of money with him and will come home at the appointed feast day. With her much fair speech she caused him to yield; with the flattering of her lips she persuaded him. He went after her straightway, as an ox goes to the slaughter or as a fool to the correction of the stocks, until the arrow pierces through his liver. He is as a bird struggling in the snare and not knowing that it is against his own life.

 

The harlot seduces the young man and says that the good man of the house is not at home; he will come at the appointed feast. She flatters him until he is persuaded to sin.

Prophetically, the good man of the house is Jesus. He is waiting until the appointed feast day or day appointed (moedim in Hebrew) to return! In Matthew 24.42-44 we see Jesus warning the good man of the house to be ready for His return! Judgment begins at the house of God.

Revelation 2 and 3 are warnings to the church--then we see God warning the nations later in the book. These chapters are a great metaphor of the end of the age and the return of Yeshua.

7.24-27...

¶ Hearken unto me now therefore, O ye sons, and attend to the words of my mouth. Let not thine heart decline to her ways; do not go astray in her paths. For she has caused many to fall down dead; yea, all the strong men have been slain by her. Her house is the way to Sheol, going down to the chambers of death.

 All of the action with the harlot takes place in the dark. In Hebrew tradition this would be at the time of the new moon or the first of the month. The Feast of Trumpets (Yom Teruah) begins on the new moon of 1 Tishri. This is the feast of the final trumpet (1 Thess 4.15-18) prior to the second coming of Yeshua. Then ten days later is the Day of Atonement, the day of wrath for the wicked, but redemption for God’s obedient people.

The writer warns all young men (sons) to avoid the path to the strange woman’s house for it is the way to death.

The way of the apostate church leads to death. “Come out of her my people!”