Did you know that the Last Trumpet of Revelation was Blown almost 2,000 years ago?
Most Christians do NOT Believe that but according to the Bible it has to be a Past Event.
IF the Bible is WRONG then we should throw it in the trash and forget about it or find another belief system.
Read on to see how the Bible and History prove that the Blowing of the Last Trumpet was in the PAST.
All the scriptures below were copied from the New King James Version unless noted otherwise.
THE EVERLASTING KINGDOM
Revelation 11:15 Then THE SEVENTH ANGEL SOUNDED: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and HE SHALL REIGN FOREVER AND EVER!"
Daniel 2:44 is also a prophecy about a kingdom that lasts forever...
Daniel 2:44 And IN THE DAYS OF THESE KINGS SHALL THE GOD OF HEAVEN SET UP A KINGDOM, WHICH SHALL NEVER BE DESTROYED: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and IT SHALL STAND FOR EVER.
What "KINGS" is Daniel writing about?
Answer: The Kings of the 4th Kingdom or the Roman Empire...
Daniel 2:40 And THE FOURTH KINGDOM shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others.
Daniel 7:7 "After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, A FOURTH BEAST, dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth; it was devouring, breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and IT HAD TEN HORNS.
The fourth Beast of Daniel 7:7 seems to be the same beast of Revelation 13...
Revelation 13:1 Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I SAW A BEAST RISING UP OUT OF THE SEA, having seven heads and TEN HORNS, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name.
Revelation 13:5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and POWER WAS GIVEN UNTO HIM TO CONTINUE FORTY AND TWO MONTHS.
Revelation 13:6 And HE OPENED HIS MOUTH IN BLASPHEMY AGAINST GOD, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
Revelation 13:7 And IT WAS GIVEN UNTO HIM TO MAKE WAR WITH THE SAINTS, AND TO OVERCOME THEM: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
Revelation 13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Daniel 7:23 Thus he said, THE FOURTH BEAST SHALL BE THE FOURTH KINGDOM UPON EARTH, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.
Daniel 7:24 And THE TEN HORNS OUT OF THIS KINGDOM ARE TEN KINGS that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.
Daniel 7:25 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.
Daniel 7:26 'But the court shall be seated, And they shall take away his dominion, To consume and destroy it forever.
Notice the similarities between the Beast of Revelation 13 and the Fourth Beast of Daniel 7...
1) Both had 10 Horns
2) Both Spoke Against GOD
3) Both Made War Against the Saints for 42 Months or 3 1/2 Years
Daniel 7 is also a prophecy about Christ's kingdom which lasts forever......
Daniel 7:13 "I was watching in the night visions, And behold, ONE LIKE THE SON OF MAN, Coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, And they brought Him near before Him.
Daniel 7:14 AND THERE WAS GIVEN HIM DOMINION, AND GLORY, AND A KINGDOM, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: HIS DOMINION IS AN EVERLASTING DOMINION, WHICH SHALL NOT PASS AWAY, AND HIS KINGDOM THAT WHICH SHALL NOT BE DESTROYED.
Daniel 7:18 But THE SAINTS OF THE MOST HIGH SHALL RECEIVE THE KINGDOM, AND POSSESS THE KINGDOM FOREVER, EVEN FOREVER AND EVER.'
Daniel 7:27 Then the kingdom and dominion, And the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, SHALL BE GIVEN TO THE PEOPLE, THE SAINTS OF THE MOST HIGH. HIS KINGDOM IS AN EVERLASTING KINGDOM, And all dominions shall serve and obey Him.'
So according to scripture, Christ's Kingdom will be set up during the time of the 4th kingdom or the Roman Empire and it will NEVER BE DESTROYED.
The Prophet Isaiah also prophesies about Christ's Everlasting Kingdom...
Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a Child is born, Unto us A SON IS GIVEN; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:7 OF THE INCREASE OF HIS GOVERNMENT AND PEACE THERE WILL BE NO END, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even FOREVER. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
The Angel Gabriel told Mary, the mother of Jesus, that her son's Reign would be FOREVER...
Luke 1:30 Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
Luke 1:31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS.
Luke 1:32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.
Luke 1:33 And HE WILL REIGN OVER THE HOUSE OF JACOB FOREVER, AND OF HIS KINGDOM THERE WILL BE NO END."
A HEAVENLY KINGDOM
What did Christ say about the LOCATION of his kingdom?
John 18:36 Jesus answered, "MY KINGDOM IS NOT OF THIS WORLD. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now MY KINGDOM IS NOT FROM HERE."
Therefore, Christ's Kingdom is a HEAVENLY KINGDOM!
The phrase "kingdom of heaven" is used 33 times in the book of Matthew. The phrase "kingdom of God" is used instead in the other synoptic gospels (Mark & Luke).
John the Baptist and Christ both preached that the kingdom of heaven was AT HAND...
Matthew 3:1 In those days JOHN THE BAPTIST came preaching in the wilderness of Judea,
Matthew 3:2 and saying, "Repent, for the KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND!"
Matthew 4:17 From that time JESUS began to preach and to say, "Repent, for THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND."
Before Christ's Resurrection people did not go to Heaven or the Lake of Fire when they died. They went to Hades...
John 3:13 NO ONE HAS ASCENDED TO HEAVEN but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.
At the time of Christ the nation of Judea was part of the Roman empire.
There were 9 Roman Emperors or Kings from the time of Christ's birth to the Destruction of the Jewish Temple and the City of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.
The Roman Empire ended over 1,500 years ago but some Futurists are still looking for Christ to come and set up his kingdom on earth.
Since the Roman Empire no longer exists some Prophecy Preaching PIMPS have deceived some Believers into believing that Christ will return during a "Revived Roman Empire".
Their Failed Predictions NEVER END!
Were the Old and New Testament Saints looking for an Earthly Kingdom?
The Writer of Hebrews (probably the Apostle Paul) wrote that "HERE WE HAVE NO CONTINUING CITY"...
Hebrews 13:14 For HERE WE HAVE NO CONTINUING CITY, but we seek the one to come.
The Writer of Hebrews also wrote about the Faith of Abraham and what he was waiting for...
Hebrews 11:8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.
Hebrews 11:9 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise;
Hebrews 11:10 FOR HE WAITED FOR THE CITY WHICH HAS FOUNDATIONS, WHOSE BUILDER AND MAKER IS GOD.
The Writer of Hebrews also wrote the following about the Old Testament Saints...
Hebrews 11:13 THESE ALL DIED IN FAITH, NOT HAVING RECEIVED THE PROMISES, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and CONFESSED THAT THEY WERE STRANGERS AND PILGRIMS ON THE EARTH.
Hebrews 11:16 But now THEY DESIRE A BETTER, THAT IS, A HEAVENLY COUNTRY. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for HE HAS PREPARED A CITY FOR THEM.
Is the New Jerusalem the City they were waiting for?
Notice in Hebrews 11:16 that the Old Testament Saints were still waiting to receive the promise of A HEAVENLY COUNTRY.
Evidently that meant they weren't in Heaven and/or the New Jerusalem yet.
WHEN were the Saints going to receive the Heavenly Kingdom?
The Writer of Hebrews said that THEY (the Audience, the Hebrews) would receive the "PROMISE" because Christ was "COMING" in "A LITTLE WHILE"...
* (KJV) Hebrews 10:36 For YE HAVE NEED OF PATIENCE, that, after ye have done the will of God, YE MIGHT RECEIVE THE PROMISE.
Hebrews 10:37 For yet A LITTLE WHILE, and HE THAT SHALL COME WILL COME, and WILL NOT TARRY.
* King James Version
If Christ wasn't Coming for 2,000 years then why would those Hebrews need patience?
Are they still alive somewhere patiently waiting for Christ's 2nd Coming?
I don't believe that "WILL NOT TARRY" can mean 2,000 years later! Do you?
The Apostle John revealed what Christ had promised his followers...
1 John 2:25 And this is the PROMISE that He has promised us — ETERNAL LIFE.
The Apostle Peter wrote about an INCORRUPTIBLE INHERITANCE RESERVED IN HEAVEN...
1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again TO A LIVING HOPE through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
1 Peter 1:4 TO AN INHERITANCE INCORRUPTIBLE and undefiled and that does not fade away, RESERVED IN HEAVEN FOR YOU,
1 Peter 1:5 who are kept by the power of God through faith FOR SALVATION READY TO BE REVEALED IN THE LAST TIME.
Notice in 1 Peter 1:5 that their SALVATION was READY TO BE REVEALED IN THE LAST TIME.
Peter was writing to Christians so they had already been Saved from their Sins by Faith in Jesus Christ.
They were waiting for the Goal of their Salvation or the End of their Faith which is ETERNAL LIFE!
It was READY TO BE REVEALED and THEY were IN THE LAST TIME!
The Apostle Peter also spoke of the SALVATION OF SOULS (Eternal Life) and said that the Prophets had Prophesied by "THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST WHO WAS IN THEM" that GRACE would come during the days of Peter and those to whom he was speaking. The GLORIES would follow the Sufferings of Christ.
1 Peter 1:9 RECEIVING THE END OF YOUR FAITH—THE SALVATION OF YOUR SOULS.
1 Peter 1:10 OF THIS SALVATION THE PROPHETS have inquired and searched carefully, WHO PROPHESIED OF THE GRACE THAT WOULD COME TO YOU,
1 Peter 1:11 searching what, or what manner of time, THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST WHO WAS IN THEM was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and THE GLORIES THAT WOULD FOLLOW.
1 Peter 1:12 TO THEM IT WAS REVEALED THAT, NOT TO THEMSELVES, BUT TO US they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you THROUGH THOSE WHO HAVE PREACHED THE GOSPEL TO YOU BY THE HOLY SPIRIT sent from heaven—things which angels desire to look into.
1 Peter 1:13 Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon THE GRACE THAT IS TO BE BROUGHT TO YOU AT THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST;
(KJV) 1 Peter 1:13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and HOPE TO THE END FOR THE GRACE THAT IS TO BE BROUGHT UNTO YOU AT THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST;
* King James Version
Peter indicated that "RECEIVING THE END OF YOUR FAITH" was the same as "THE SALVATION OF YOUR SOULS".
Notice that Peter and his audience were to "HOPE TO THE END FOR THE GRACE" (the Salvation of their Souls or Eternal Life) and that it was to be "BROUGHT" to them "AT THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST".
13 EVENTS THAT ARE ASSOCIATED WITH THE SOUNDING OF THE LAST TRUMPET
1) CHRIST REIGNING
Revelation 11:17 saying: "We give You thanks, O LORD GOD ALMIGHTY, THE ONE WHO IS AND WHO WAS AND WHO IS TO COME, Because YOU HAVE TAKEN YOUR GREAT POWER AND REIGNED.
How do we know that verse 17 is referring to Christ?
Because of Revelation 1:8... "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End," says the Lord, "WHO IS AND WHO WAS AND WHO IS TO COME, THE ALMIGHTY."
We already saw in Daniel 7:13-14 that Christ received his kingdom after his ascension to the Father.
In the Parable of the 10 Minas (Luke 19:11-27) Jesus described his going away to receive the kingdom and his return after having received his kingdom...
Luke 19:11 Now as they heard these things, HE SPOKE ANOTHER PARABLE, BECAUSE HE WAS NEAR JERUSALEM AND BECAUSE THEY THOUGHT THE KINGDOM OF GOD WOULD APPEAR IMMEDIATELY.
Luke 19:12 Therefore He said: "A CERTAIN NOBLEMAN WENT INTO A FAR COUNTRY TO RECEIVE FOR HIMSELF A KINGDOM AND TO RETURN.
Luke 19:13 So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas, and said to them, 'Do business till I come.'
Luke 19:14 BUT HIS CITIZENS HATED HIM, and sent a delegation after him, saying, 'WE WILL NOT HAVE THIS MAN TO REIGN OVER US.'
Luke 19:15 "And so it was that WHEN HE RETURNED, HAVING RECEIVED THE KINGDOM, he then commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading.
Luke 19:27 BUT BRING HERE THOSE ENEMIES OF MINE, WHO DID NOT WANT ME TO REIGN OVER THEM, AND SLAY THEM BEFORE ME.' "
Notice in Luke 19:27 what happened to those who rejected Christ as their King.
The Bible Commentary, Robertson's Word Pictures, says this about the Parable of the 10 Minas...
"Apparently this parable has the historical basis of Archelaus who actually went from Jerusalem to Rome on this very errand to get a kingdom in Palestine and to come back to it. This happened while Jesus was a boy in Nazareth and it was a matter of common knowledge."
The Nobleman (Christ) who went away to receive a kingdom returned during the lifetime of the servants to whom he gave the minas to reward them according to their works.
He wasn't gone for 2,000 years!
Jesus told his disciples that some of them would still be living when he returned...
Matthew 16:27 For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and THEN HE WILL REWARD EACH ACCORDING TO HIS WORKS.
Matthew 16:28 Assuredly, I say to you, THERE ARE SOME STANDING HERE WHO SHALL NOT TASTE DEATH TILL THEY SEE THE SON OF MAN COMING IN HIS KINGDOM."
* Back to the Events associated with the Last Trumpet...
2) WRATH of Christ/GOD HAS COME Upon His Enemies
3) JUDGMENT of the DEAD
4) REWARDING the Prophets and the Saints
Revelation 11:18 The nations were angry, and YOUR WRATH HAS COME, And the TIME OF THE DEAD, THAT THEY SHOULD BE JUDGED, And that You should REWARD YOUR SERVANTS THE PROPHETS AND THE SAINTS, And those who fear Your name, small and great, And should destroy those who destroy the earth."
The Judgment of the Living and the Dead occurred at the time of his APPEARING.
2 Timothy 4:1 I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, WHO WILL JUDGE THE LIVING AND THE DEAD AT HIS APPEARING and His kingdom:
5) The TEMPLE in HEAVEN is Opened
Revelation 11:19 Then the TEMPLE OF GOD WAS OPENED IN HEAVEN, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail.
People have searched for the "lost ark" and movies have been made about it. However, Revelation 11:19 reveals its location.
Actually, I don't know if the ark that was seen in the temple of heaven was the same ark that was in the temple on earth. The ark on earth was most likely a copy of the ark in heaven.
The writer of Hebrews said...
Hebrews 9:8 the Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing.
Some Bible Commentators interpret this to mean that people could not enter Heaven while the Jewish Temple was still standing or had standing (validity).
JOHN WESLEY: The Holy Ghost evidently showing - By this token. That the way into the holiest - Into heaven. Was not made manifest - Not so clearly revealed. While the first tabernacle, and its service, were still subsisting - And remaining in force.
ALBERT BARNES: That the way into the holiest of all - Into heaven - of which the Most Holy place in the tabernacle was undoubtedly designed to be an emblem. It was the place where the visible symbol of God - the Shekinah - dwelt; where the blood of propitiation was sprinkled, and was, therefore, an appropriate emblem of that holy heaven where God dwells, and whence pardon is obtained by the blood of the atonement.
Was not yet made manifest - The way to heaven was not opened or fully understood. It was not known how people could appear before God, or how they could come with the hope of pardon. That way has now been opened by the ascension of the Redeemer to heaven, and by the assurance that all who will may come in his name.
While as the first tabernacle was yet standing - As long as it stood, and the appointed services were held in it. The idea is, that until it was superseded by a more perfect system, it was a “proof” that the way to heaven was not yet fully and freely optioned, and that the Holy Spirit “designed” that it should be such a proof.
Since Revelation shows that there were people in heaven before the last trumpet was blown then maybe it means that they were not allowed in the temple in heaven until it was opened in Revelation 11:19...
Revelation 6:9 When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held.
Revelation 6:10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?"
Revelation 6:11 Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed.
According to Revelation 6:9-11 the people were martyrs. The martyrs had their blood avenged with the Destruction of Jerusalem who was Mystery Babylon, the great harlot of Revelation 17-18.
Revelation 19:2 For true and righteous are His judgments, because HE HAS JUDGED THE GREAT HARLOT who corrupted the earth with her fornication; and HE HAS AVENGED ON HER THE BLOOD OF HIS SERVANTS SHED BY HER."
Be sure to read my article: WHO IS MYSTERY BABYLON IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION?
The JUDGMENT and REWARDING of the DEAD occur AFTER their RESURRECTION!
6) The RESURRECTION occurs at the Last Trumpet and the Dead Saints are Raised with Incorruptible Bodies
1 Corinthians 15:51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: WE SHALL NOT ALL SLEEP, but WE SHALL ALL BE CHANGED -
1 Corinthians 15:52 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 Corinthians 15:53 For THIS CORRUPTIBLE MUST PUT ON INCORRUPTION, AND THIS MORTAL MUST PUT ON IMMORTALITY.
7) The Living Saints Bodies are CHANGED from Corruptible to Incorruptible
Philippians 3:20 For OUR CITIZENSHIP IS IN HEAVEN, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
Philippians 3:21 WHO WILL TRANSFORM OUR LOWLY BODY THAT IT MAY BE CONFORMED TO HIS GLORIOUS BODY, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.
8) The 2nd Coming of Christ also occurs at the time of the Resurrection
1 Thessalonians 4:16 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.
9) The Living Saints are CAUGHT UP in the Clouds to meet the Resurrected Saints and the LORD
1 Thessalonians 4:17 Then WE WHO ARE ALIVE AND REMAIN SHALL BE CAUGHT UP TOGETHER WITH THEM IN THE CLOUDS TO MEET THE LORD IN THE AIR. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
10) The Thessalonians receive REST/RELIEF from PERSECUTION at the Coming of the LORD
2 Thessalonians 1:4 so that we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith in all YOUR PERSECUTIONS AND TRIBULATIONS THAT YOU ENDURE,
2 Thessalonians 1:6 since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you,
2 Thessalonians 1:7 and TO GIVE YOU WHO ARE TROUBLED REST WITH US WHEN THE LORD JESUS IS REVEALED FROM HEAVEN WITH HIS MIGHTY ANGELS,
2 Thessalonians 1:8 IN FLAMING FIRE TAKING VENGEANCE ON THOSE WHO DO NOT KNOW GOD, AND ON THOSE WHO DO NOT OBEY THE GOSPEL OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.
2 Thessalonians 1:9 THESE SHALL BE PUNISHED WITH EVERLASTING DESTRUCTION from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,
* (NASB) 2 Thessalonians 1:6 For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you,
2 Thessalonians 1:7 and TO GIVE RELIEF TO YOU WHO ARE AFFLICTED and to us as well WHEN THE LORD JESUS WILL BE REVEALED FROM HEAVEN WITH HIS MIGHTY ANGELS IN FLAMING FIRE,
2 Thessalonians 1:8 DEALING OUT RETRIBUTION TO THOSE WHO DO NOT KNOW GOD AND TO THOSE WHO DO NOT OBEY THE GOSPEL OF OUR LORD JESUS.
2 Thessalonians 1:9 THESE WILL PAY THE PENALTY OF ETERNAL DESTRUCTION, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,
* New American Standard Bible
If Christ did not return during the lifetime of the Persecuted Thessalonians then the Apostle Paul LIED when he said that they would get RELIEF/REST "WHEN THE LORD JESUS IS REVEALED FROM HEAVEN WITH HIS MIGHTY ANGELS".
11) The LORD JESUS CHRIST is GLORIFIED and ADMIRED by the BELIEVERS
2 Thessalonians 1:10 when He comes, in that Day, TO BE GLORIFIED in His saints and TO BE ADMIRED AMONG ALL THOSE WHO BELIEVE, because our testimony among you was believed.
According to Hebrews 9:28, Christ was supposed to APPEAR a "SECOND TIME" to THOSE WHO EAGERLY WAIT FOR HIM.
Hebrews 9:28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. TO THOSE WHO EAGERLY WAIT FOR HIM HE WILL APPEAR A SECOND TIME, apart from sin, FOR SALVATION.
Does that mean that he would APPEAR a "SECOND TIME" to the Believers who were still living and saw him before his ascension?
Matthew 16:27-28 would support that...
Matthew 16:27 For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and THEN HE WILL REWARD EACH ACCORDING TO HIS WORKS.
Matthew 16:28 Assuredly, I say to you, THERE ARE SOME STANDING HERE WHO SHALL NOT TASTE DEATH TILL THEY SEE THE SON OF MAN COMING IN HIS KINGDOM."
Hebrews 9:28 says that Christ would appear the second time "FOR SALVATION".
This is PROOF that GOD'S PLAN OF SALVATION was NOT YET COMPLETE!
The Plan of Salvation Began At the Cross and then came Christ's Resurrection (He was the FIRSTFRUIT) and these 2 Events were MAJOR Parts of GOD'S Salvation Plan for sure but there was MORE To COME!
What is the Goal of Salvation?
Is it not ETERNAL LIFE with GOD in his Heavenly Kingdom?
Remember what the Apostle Peter said...
1 Peter 1:9 RECEIVING THE END OF YOUR FAITH—THE SALVATION OF YOUR SOULS.
I could be wrong but I believe that Christ was ADMIRED by the LIVING BELIEVERS when they were RAPTURED at the time of the Resurrection.
12) Death & Hades are Defeated and Cast into the Lake of Fire after the Great White Throne Judgment
1 Corinthians 15:54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: "DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY."
1 Corinthians 15:55 "O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING? O HADES, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY?"
Revelation 20:11 Then I saw a GREAT WHITE THRONE and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them.
Revelation 20:12 And I saw THE DEAD, SMALL AND GREAT, STANDING BEFORE GOD, AND BOOKS WERE OPENED. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.
Revelation 20:13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And THEY WERE JUDGED, EACH ONE ACCORDING TO HIS WORKS.
Revelation 20:14 Then DEATH AND HADES WERE CAST INTO THE LAKE OF FIRE. This is the second death.
Revelation 20:15 AND ANYONE NOT FOUND WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF LIFE WAS CAST INTO THE LAKE OF FIRE.
What Jesus said about the Great White Throne Judgment in Matthew 25...
Matthew 25:31 "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, THEN HE WILL SIT ON THE THRONE OF HIS GLORY.
Matthew 25:32 ALL THE NATIONS WILL BE GATHERED BEFORE HIM, AND HE WILL SEPARATE THEM ONE FROM ANOTHER, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.
Matthew 25:33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.
Matthew 25:34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'COME, YOU BLESSED OF MY FATHER, INHERIT THE KINGDOM PREPARED FOR YOU FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD:
Matthew 25:41 "Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'DEPART FROM ME, YOU CURSED, INTO THE EVERLASTING FIRE PREPARED FOR THE DEVIL AND HIS ANGELS:
Matthew 25:46 AND THESE WILL GO AWAY INTO EVERLASTING PUNISHMENT, BUT THE RIGHTEOUS INTO ETERNAL LIFE."
13) The Marriage Supper of the Lamb
Revelation 19:7 Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, FOR THE MARRIAGE OF THE LAMB HAS COME, and His wife has made herself ready."
Revelation 19:8 And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for THE FINE LINEN IS THE RIGHTEOUS ACTS OF THE SAINTS.
Revelation 19:9 Then he said to me, "Write: 'BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO ARE CALLED TO THE MARRIAGE SUPPER OF THE LAMB!' " And he said to me, "These are the true sayings of God."
Notice that the Marriage Supper of the Lamb occurs after the Destruction of Babylon in Revelation 17-18.
Jesus also revealed that the Marriage Supper of the Lamb was after the Destruction of Jerusalem in the The Parable of the Wedding Feast in Matthew 22:1-14...
Matthew 22:2 "THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS LIKE A CERTAIN KING (GOD the Father) WHO ARRANGED A MARRIAGE FOR HIS SON (Christ),
Matthew 22:3 AND SENT OUT HIS SERVANTS (Apostles & Prophets) TO CALL THOSE WHO WERE INVITED (Hebrews) TO THE WEDDING; AND THEY (Unbelievers) WERE NOT WILLING TO COME.
Matthew 22:5 But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business.
Matthew 22:6 And the rest (Hebrew Persecutors) SEIZED HIS SERVANTS, TREATED THEM SPITEFULLY, AND KILLED THEM.
Matthew 22:7 But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And HE SENT OUT HIS (Roman) ARMIES, DESTROYED THOSE MURDERERS, AND BURNED UP THEIR CITY (Jerusalem).
Jesus warned that instead of sitting down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob at the Wedding Feast - the Unbelieving Hebrews would be cast out of the Kingdom of Heaven...
Matthew 8:11 And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob IN THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.
Matthew 8:12 BUT THE SONS OF THE KINGDOM (The Hebrews) WILL BE CAST OUT into outer darkness. THERE WILL BE WEEPING AND GNASHING OF TEETH."
Luke 13:25 When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open for us,' and He will answer and say to you, 'I do not know you, where you are from,'
Luke 13:26 then you will begin to say, 'We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.'
Luke 13:27 But He will say, 'I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.'
Luke 13:28 THERE WILL BE WEEPING AND GNASHING OF TEETH, WHEN YOU SEE ABRAHAM AND ISAAC AND JACOB AND ALL THE PROPHETS IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD, AND YOURSELVES THRUST OUT.
Luke 13:29 They will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God.
TIMING FOR THE LAST TRUMPET EVENTS
I've covered the events that are associated with the last trumpet and the timing for some of the events but let's see what else the scriptures say about the TIMING of these events.
Let's start with the Book of Revelation...
Revelation was written to the 7 Churches of Asia Minor so it had to apply to them and it was important for them to understand.
Revelation 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, WHICH GOD GAVE HIM TO SHOW HIS SERVANTS - THINGS WHICH MUST SHORTLY TAKE PLACE. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John,
Revelation 1:2 who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw.
SHORTLY does not mean 1,900+ years later and neither does THE TIME IS NEAR.
Revelation 1:3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; FOR THE TIME IS NEAR.
Revelation 1:19 Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this.
* (YLT) Revelation 1:19 'Write the things that thou hast seen, and the things that are, and THE THINGS THAT ARE ABOUT TO COME after these things;
* Young's Literal Translation
The Greek word MELLO is used in the original text and it means "TO BE ABOUT TO": STRONG'S G3195
So according to Revelation 1:19, the Apostle John was to write about things in the Past, Present and things that were ABOUT to take place.
You will not find any verses in Revelation that state that any of the prophecy is for thousands of years in the future!
THE 144,000 SEALED FROM THE 12 TRIBES OF ISRAEL
Before the Wrath of GOD began there were 144,000 from the 12 tribes who were SEALED or Protected from GOD'S WRATH...
Revelation 6:12 I looked when HE OPENED THE SIXTH SEAL, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood.
Revelation 6:15 And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains,
Revelation 6:16 and said to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and HIDE US FROM THE FACE OF HIM WHO SITS ON THE THRONE AND FROM THE WRATH OF THE LAMB!
When Jesus was being led to his crucifixion he warned the women of Jerusalem that this would happen in their generation...
Luke 23:27 And a great multitude of the people followed Him, and women who also mourned and lamented Him.
Luke 23:28 But Jesus, turning to them, said, "DAUGHTERS OF JERUSALEM, DO NOT WEEP FOR ME, BUT WEEP FOR YOURSELVES AND FOR YOUR CHILDREN.
Luke 23:29 For indeed the days are coming in which they will say, 'Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which never nursed!'
Luke 23:30 THEN THEY WILL BEGIN 'TO SAY TO THE MOUNTAINS, "FALL ON US!" AND TO THE HILLS, "COVER US!" '
Jesus also warned the Scribes and Pharisees that GOD'S WRATH was going to come upon THEM... UPON THIS GENERATION!
Matthew 23:29 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous,
Matthew 23:30 and say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.'
Matthew 23:31 "Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.
Matthew 23:32 FILL UP, THEN, THE MEASURE OF YOUR FATHERS' GUILT.
Matthew 23:33 Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?
Matthew 23:34 Therefore, indeed, I SEND YOU PROPHETS, WISE MEN, AND SCRIBES: SOME OF THEM YOU WILL KILL AND CRUCIFY, AND SOME OF THEM YOU WILL SCOURGE IN YOUR SYNAGOGUES AND PERSECUTE FROM CITY TO CITY,
Jesus had already warned his Disciples that they would be persecuted and that His COMING would occur before they had gone through the cities of Israel...
Matthew 10:16 "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.
Matthew 10:17 But beware of men, for THEY WILL DELIVER YOU UP TO COUNCILS AND SCOURGE YOU IN THEIR SYNAGOGUES.
Matthew 10:22 And YOU WILL BE HATED BY ALL FOR MY NAME'S SAKE. But he who endures to the end will be saved.
Matthew 10:23 When they persecute you in this city, flee to another. FOR ASSUREDLY, I SAY TO YOU, YOU WILL NOT HAVE GONE THROUGH THE CITIES OF ISRAEL BEFORE THE SON OF MAN COMES.
* Back to Matthew 23 where Jesus Warned the Scribes and Pharisees...
Matthew 23:35 THAT ON YOU MAY COME ALL THE RIGHTEOUS BLOOD SHED ON THE EARTH, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.
Matthew 23:36 ASSUREDLY, I SAY TO YOU, ALL THESE THINGS WILL COME UPON THIS GENERATION.
* Back to Revelation 6 & 7 and the 144,000...
Revelation 6:17 FOR THE GREAT DAY OF HIS WRATH HAS COME, and who is able to stand?"
Revelation 7:1 After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree.
Revelation 7:2 Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea,
Revelation 7:3 saying, "DO NOT HARM THE EARTH, THE SEA, OR THE TREES TILL WE HAVE SEALED THE SERVANTS OF OUR GOD ON THEIR FOREHEADS."
Revelation 7:4 And I heard the number of those who were sealed. ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-FOUR THOUSAND OF ALL THE TRIBES OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL WERE SEALED:
The 144,000 are written about again in Revelation 14 and THEY ARE IN HEAVEN and we are told that they were FIRSTFRUITS REDEEMED FROM AMONG MEN.
That means that they were the first Christians from the 12 Tribes of Israel. The Gospel was preached to the Hebrews before it was preached to the Gentiles.
Revelation 14:1 Then I looked, and behold, A LAMB STANDING ON MOUNT ZION, AND WITH HIM ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-FOUR THOUSAND, having His Father's name written on their foreheads.
Revelation 14:2 And I heard a voice from heaven, like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of loud thunder. And I heard the sound of harpists playing their harps.
Revelation 14:3 THEY SANG AS IT WERE A NEW SONG BEFORE THE THRONE, before the four living creatures, and the elders; and NO ONE COULD LEARN THAT SONG EXCEPT THE HUNDRED AND FORTY-FOUR THOUSAND WHO WERE REDEEMED FROM THE EARTH.
Revelation 14:4 These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. THESE WERE REDEEMED FROM AMONG MEN, BEING FIRSTFRUITS TO GOD AND TO THE LAMB.
Revelation 14:5 And in their mouth was found no deceit, for THEY ARE WITHOUT FAULT BEFORE THE THRONE OF GOD.
So how could the WRATH of GOD written about in Revelation be in OUR FUTURE since the 144,000 FIRSTFRUITS were STILL ON EARTH and were SEALED (PROTECTED FROM GOD'S WRATH) AFTER the 6th Seal had been opened?
Let's look at the time statements in the last chapter of Revelation...
Revelation 22:6 Then he said to me, "These words are faithful and true." And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show His servants THE THINGS WHICH MUST SHORTLY TAKE PLACE.
THINGS WHICH MUST SHORTLY TAKE PLACE does not mean 1,900+ years later and neither does QUICKLY...
Revelation 22:7 "Behold, I AM COMING QUICKLY! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book."
Revelation 22:10 And he said to me, "DO NOT SEAL THE WORDS OF THE PROPHECY OF THIS BOOK, FOR THE TIME IS AT HAND.
Compare verse 22:10 with what the prophet Daniel was told...
Daniel 12:4 "But you, Daniel, SHUT UP THE WORDS, AND SEAL THE BOOK until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase."
Daniel 12:9 And he said, "Go your way, Daniel, FOR THE WORDS ARE CLOSED UP AND SEALED TILL THE TIME OF THE END.
If Daniel’s message was to be SEALED because it belonged to a time over 500 years away, how can John’s message, which he was told NOT TO SEAL, belong to a time 1900+ years in the future?
Revelation 22:11 He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still."
Revelation 22:12 "And behold, I AM COMING QUICKLY, AND MY REWARD IS WITH ME, to give to every one according to his work.
Revelation 22:11 reveals that the time was so short that there wasn't time for a change in behavior!
Revelation 22:20 He who testifies to these things says, "SURELY I AM COMING QUICKLY." Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
So beginning with the first verse of Revelation and ending with the next to last verse and several places in between we see time restrictions.
These restrictions do NOT allow for the events of Revelation to be projected 1900+ years and counting into the future!
TIMING FOR THE EVENTS OF DANIEL 12
In Chapter 12 of the Book of Daniel, Daniel writes what he was told about the TIMING of the Great Tribulation, the Deliverance of the Believers, the Resurrection of the Just & Unjust and their Judgment...
Daniel 12:1 "At that time Michael shall stand up, The great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; And THERE SHALL BE A TIME OF TROUBLE, SUCH AS NEVER WAS SINCE THERE WAS A NATION, Even to that time. And at that time YOUR PEOPLE SHALL BE DELIVERED, EVERY ONE WHO IS FOUND WRITTEN IN THE BOOK (The Book of Life).
When Daniel writes of the "TIME OF TROUBLE" in Daniel 12:1 he is writing about the Jewish-Roman War that caused the Destruction of the Jewish Temple and Jerusalem. This time is also known as the GREAT TRIBULATION.
Daniel had already prophesied about the Destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem in THE WAR in Daniel 9:26...
..."And the people of the prince who is to come Shall DESTROY THE CITY AND THE SANCTUARY. The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of THE WAR desolations are determined."
It's easy to see that Daniel is writing about the Great Tribulation or War when you read what Jesus said about it...
Matthew 24:21 FOR THEN THERE WILL BE GREAT TRIBULATION, SUCH AS HAS NOT BEEN SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE WORLD UNTIL THIS TIME, NO, NOR EVER SHALL BE.
Jesus instructed his Disciples to FLEE JUDEA/JERUSALEM in order to escape the war...
Luke 21:20 "BUT WHEN YOU SEE JERUSALEM SURROUNDED BY ARMIES, THEN KNOW THAT ITS DESOLATION IS NEAR.
Luke 21:21 THEN LET THOSE WHO ARE IN JUDEA FLEE TO THE MOUNTAINS, LET THOSE WHO ARE IN THE MIDST OF HER DEPART, AND LET NOT THOSE WHO ARE IN THE COUNTRY ENTER HER.
In Daniel 12:1 there's a Prophecy of the Deliverance of the Believers (EVERY ONE WHO IS FOUND WRITTEN IN THE BOOK).
The same prophecy is mentioned in Revelation 12:14 and it is for the same amount of time given in Daniel 12:7.
Daniel 12:7 Then I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever, that IT SHALL BE FOR A TIME, TIMES, AND HALF A TIME; AND WHEN THE POWER OF THE HOLY PEOPLE HAS BEEN COMPLETELY SHATTERED, ALL THESE THINGS SHALL BE FINISHED.
Revelation 12:14 But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a TIME AND TIMES AND HALF A TIME, FROM THE PRESENCE OF THE SERPENT.
This event is also mentioned in Revelation 12:6 but the time given is ONE THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED AND SIXTY DAYS.
Revelation 12:6 Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there ONE THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED AND SIXTY DAYS.
The 144,000 from the 12 Tribes of Israel must have been included in the DELIVERANCE since they had been SEALED or PROTECTED (Revelation 7:1-7:8).
The following is quoted from the book - THE CHURCH HISTORY OF EUSEBIUS, REV. ARTHUR CUSHMAN McGIFFERT, Ph.D., pp. 271-272.
"But the people of the church in Jerusalem had been commanded by a revelation, vouchsafed to approved men there before the war, to leave the city and to dwell in a certain town of Perea called PELLA.(631)
And when those that believed in Christ had come thither from Jerusalem, then, as if the royal city of the Jews and the whole land of Judea were entirely destitute of holy men, the judgment of God at length overtook those who had committed such outrages against Christ and his apostles, and totally destroyed that generation of impious men."
(631) PELLA (See MAP 1) was a town situated beyond (EAST OF) the Jordan, in the north of Perea, within the dominions of Herod Agrippa II. The surrounding population was chiefly Gentile. See Pliny V. 18, and Josephus, B. J. III. 3. 3, and I. 4. 8. Epiphanius (De pond. et mens. 15) also records this flight of the Christians to Pella.
For more information on the Flight to Pella GO TO: Pella Flight Tradition Study Archive
According to the Jewish Historian Josephus, Cestius Gallus, the Roman General, took his army and pursued Jews to Jerusalem. He set up camp about 7 furlongs outside of Jerusalem and waited for 3 days. On the 4th day which was the 30th of Tishrei in the Jewish Year 3827 or October 5th, 66 AD, the Roman Army entered the city.
DATE CESTIUS GALLUS ENTERED JERUSALEM
Christians may have fled the city of Jerusalem before the Roman Army entered Jerusalem or they may have fled after the Roman Army left the vicinity or both.
Josephus wrote: "But when Cestius was come into the city, he set the part called Bezetha, which is called Cenopolis, [or the new city,] on fire; as he did also to the timber market; after which he came into the upper city, and pitched his camp over against the royal palace; and had he but at this very time attempted to get within the walls by force, he had won the city presently, and the war had been put an end to at once; but Tyrannius Priseus, the muster-master of the army, and a great number of the officers of the horse, had been corrupted by Florus, and diverted him from that attempt; and that was the occasion that this war lasted so very long, and thereby the Jews were involved in such incurable calamities.
5. In the mean time, many of the principal men of the city were persuaded by Ananus, the son of Jonathan, and invited Cestius into the city, and were about to open the gates for him; but he overlooked this offer, partly out of his anger at the Jews, and partly because he did not thoroughly believe they were in earnest; whence it was that he delayed the matter so long, that the seditious perceived the treachery, and threw Ananus and those of his party down from the wall, and, pelting them with stones, drove them into their houses; but they stood themselves at proper distances in the towers, and threw their darts at those that were getting over the wall. Thus did the Romans make their attack against the wall for five days, but to no purpose. But on the next day Cestius took a great many of his choicest men, and with them the archers, and attempted to break into the temple at the northern quarter of it; but the Jews beat them off from the cloisters, and repulsed them several times when they were gotten near to the wall, till at length the multitude of the darts cut them off, and made them retire; but the first rank of the Romans rested their shields upon the wall, and so did those that were behind them, and the like did those that were still more backward, and guarded themselves with what they call Testudo, [the back of] a tortoise, upon which the darts that were thrown fell, and slided off without doing them any harm; so the soldiers undermined the wall, without being themselves hurt, and got all things ready for setting fire to the gate of the temple.
6. And now it was that a horrible fear seized upon the seditious, insomuch that many of them ran out of the city, as though it were to be taken immediately; but the people upon this took courage, and where the wicked part of the city gave ground, thither did they come, in order to set open the gates, and to admit Cestius as their benefactor, who, had he but continued the siege a little longer, had certainly taken the city; but it was, I suppose, owing to the aversion God had already at the city and the sanctuary, that he was hindered from putting an end to the war that very day.
7. It then happened that Cestius was not conscious either how the besieged despaired of success, nor how courageous the people were for him; and so he recalled his soldiers from the place, and by despairing of any expectation of taking it, without having received any disgrace, he retired from the city, without any reason in the world. But when the robbers perceived this unexpected retreat of his, they resumed their courage, and ran after the hinder parts of his army, and destroyed a considerable number of both their horsemen and footmen" - Flavius Josephus, WARS OF THE JEWS, Book 2, Chapter 19, Sections 4-7.
"So the Jews went on pursuing the Romans as far as Antipatris; after which, seeing they could not overtake them, they came back, and took the engines, and spoiled the dead bodies, and gathered the prey together which the Romans had left behind them, and came back running and singing to their metropolis; while they had themselves lost a few only, but had slain of the Romans five thousand and three hundred footmen, and three hundred and eighty horsemen. This defeat happened on the eighth day of the month Dius, [Marchesvan,] in the twelfth year of the reign of Nero." - Flavius Josephus, WARS OF THE JEWS, Book 2, Chapter 19, Section 9.
"After this calamity had befallen Cestius, many of the most eminent of the Jews swam away from the city, as from a ship when it was going to sink;" - Flavius Josephus, WARS OF THE JEWS, Book 2, Chapter 20, Section 1.
DOWNLOAD THE WARS OF THE JEWS by Flavius Josephus
NERO
Nero was the Roman Emperor when the Jewish-Roman War began. He reigned from A.D. 54-68.
Nero was probably the 6th king of Revelation 17:10, the one presently reigning, when John wrote the Book of Revelation. The 1st king would have been Julius Caesar and the 7th king would be Galba who followed Nero and only reigned for 7 months.
Revelation 17:10 There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time.
"When Nero was informed of the Romans’ ill success in Judea, a concealed consternation and terror, as is usual in such cases, fell upon him. And as he was deliberating to whom he should commit the care of the East, now it was in so great a commotion, and who might be best able to punish the Jews for their rebellion, and might prevent the same distemper from seizing upon the neighboring nations also, - he found no one but Vespasian equal to the task, and able to undergo the great burden of so mighty a war. So Vespasian sent his son Titus from ACHAIA (See Map 2), where he had been with Nero, to ALEXANDRIA (See Map 2), to bring back with him from thence the fifth and. the tenth legions, while he himself, when he had passed over the Hellespont, came by land into Syria, where he gathered together the Roman forces, with a considerable number of auxiliaries from the kings in that neighborhood." - Flavius Josephus, WARS OF THE JEWS, Book 3, Chapter 1
"And now Vespasian took along with him his army from ANTIOCH (See Map 2), (which is the metropolis of Syria, and without dispute deserves the place of the third city in the habitable earth that was under the Roman empire, both in magnitude, and other marks of prosperity,) where he found king Agrippa, with all his forces, waiting for his coming, and marched to PTOLEMAIS (See Map 1). At this city also the inhabitants of SEPPHORIS (See Map 1) of Galilee met him, who were for peace with the Romans. These citizens had beforehand taken care of their own safety, and being sensible of the power of the Romans, they had been with Cestius Gallus before Vespasian came, and had given their faith to him, and received the security of his right hand, and had received a Roman garrison; and at this time withal they received Vespasian, the Roman general, very kindly, and readily promised that they would assist him against their own countrymen. Now the general delivered them, at their desire, as many horsemen and footmen as he thought sufficient to oppose the incursions of the Jews, if they should come against them. And indeed the danger of losing Sepphoris would be no small one, in this war that was now beginning, seeing it was the largest city of Galilee, and built in a place by nature very strong, and might be a security of the whole nation’s [fidelity to the Romans]. - Flavius Josephus, WARS OF THE JEWS, Book 3, Chapter 2, Section 4.
"But as to Titus, he sailed over from ACHAIA to ALEXANDRIA, and that sooner than the winter season did usually permit; so he took with him those forces he was sent for, and marching with great expedition, he came suddenly to PTOLEMAIS (See Map 2), and there finding his father, together with the two legions, the fifth and the tenth, which were the most eminent legions of all, he joined them to that fifteenth legion which was with his father. When all were united together, amounted to sixty thousand, besides the servants, who, as they followed in vast numbers, so because they had been trained up in war with the rest, ought not to be distinguished from the fighting men; for as they were in their masters’ service in times of peace, so did they undergo the like dangers with them in times of war, insomuch that they were inferior to none, either in skill or in strength, only they were subject to their masters." - Flavius Josephus, WARS OF THE JEWS, Book 3, Chapter 4, Section 2.
Titus arrived in PTOLEMAIS (See Map 1) with the 5th and 10th legions in the late winter of A.D. 67.
The following was copied from Flavius Josephus, WARS OF THE JEWS, Book 3, Chapter 6, Sections 1 & 2.
1. AND now Vespasian, with his son Titus, had tarried some time at PTOLEMAIS, and had put his army in order.
2. But as Vespasian had a great mind to fall upon Galilee, he marched out of PTOLEMAIS, having put his army into that order wherein the Romans used to march.
Look at MAP 1 and Notice how close PTOLEMAIS is to the VALLEY OF JEZREEL.
The Valley of Jezreel is also known as the Valley of Armageddon.
When people think about Armageddon they think about a great battle at the end of the world but let's look at what the scripture actually says...
Revelation 16:13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.
Revelation 16:14 For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, TO GATHER THEM TO THE BATTLE OF THAT GREAT DAY OF GOD ALMIGHTY.
Instead of using the word "battle" the New American Standard Bible uses the word "war"...
* (NASB) Revelation 16:14 for they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole world, TO GATHER THEM TOGETHER FOR THE WAR OF THE GREAT DAY OF GOD, THE ALMIGHTY.
* New American Standard Bible
WAR - STRONG'S G4171
Word Summary
polemos: war
Phonetic Spelling: (pol'-em-os)
Part of Speech: Noun, Masculine
Short Definition: war
Meaning: war
Strong's Concordance
battle, fight, war.
From pelomai (to bustle); warfare (literally or figuratively; a single encounter or a series) -- battle, fight, war.
Revelation 16:16 AND THEY GATHERED THEM TOGETHER TO THE PLACE CALLED IN HEBREW, ARMAGEDDON.
Therefore, the scripture could be interpreted to mean that ARMAGEDDON was NOT the name of the battle or war but it was the name of the place where the armies were gathered together to go to war. This actually makes more sense when you know that the war was in the past and you have a written history of it.
Also, there's what appears to be the same prophecy in chapter 20 of Revelation...
Revelation 20:7 Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison
Revelation 20:8 and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, TO GATHER THEM TOGETHER TO BATTLE, whose number is as the sand of the sea.
* (NASB) Revelation 20:8 and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, TO GATHER THEM TOGETHER FOR THE WAR; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore.
* New American Standard Bible
THE WAR BEGINS
The following was copied from Flavius Josephus, WARS OF THE JEWS, Book 3, Chapter 7, Sections 1 & 3.
1. So Vespasian marched to the city GADARA (See Map 1), and took it upon the first onset, because he found it destitute of any considerable number of men grown up and fit for war. He came then into it, and slew all the youth, the Romans having no mercy on any age whatsoever; and this was done out of the hatred they bore the nation, and because of the iniquity they had been guilty of in the affair of Cestius. He also set fire not only to the city itself, but to all the villas and small cities that were round about it; some of them were quite destitute of inhabitants, and out of some of them he carried the inhabitants as slaves into captivity.
3. Now Vespasian was very desirous of demolishing JOTAPATA (See Map 1), for he had gotten intelligence that the greatest part of the enemy had retired thither, and that it was, on other accounts, a place of great security to them. Accordingly, he sent both foot-men and horsemen to level the road, which was mountainous and rocky, not without difficulty to be traveled over by footmen, but absolutely impracticable for horsemen. Now these workmen accomplished what they were about in four days’ time, and opened a broad way for the army. On the fifth day, which was the twenty-first of the month Artemisius, (Jyar,) Josephus prevented him, and came from TIBERIAS (See Map 1), and went into JOTAPATA, and raised the drooping spirits of the Jews.
21st of Iyyar, 3827 = Sun, 22 May 0067
So the Jewish-Roman War was well under way by May, A.D. 67. We know the dates of the Destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem so all one needs to do is go back 3 1/2 years to see when THE WAR began.
DOWNLOAD THE WARS OF THE JEWS to read more about THE WAR.
I am going to skip ahead to the END of THE WAR...
END OF THE WAR
According to the Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus, the Jewish Temple was burned on the 9th & 10th of the month of Av. The 10th of Av converts to Sunday, August 3rd, A.D. 70 if the following Hebrew Calendar Converter is correct.
10th of Av, 3830 = Sun, 3 August 0070
The following was copied from Flavius Josephus, WARS OF THE JEWS, Book 6, Chapter 4, Sections 5-8
5. So Titus retired into the tower of Antonia, and resolved to storm the temple the next day, early in the morning, with his whole army, and to encamp round about the holy house. BUT AS FOR THAT HOUSE, GOD HAD, FOR CERTAIN, LONG AGO DOOMED IT TO THE FIRE; AND NOW THAT FATAL DAY WAS COME, ACCORDING TO THE REVOLUTION OF AGES; IT WAS THE TENTH DAY OF THE MONTH LOUS, [AB,] UPON WHICH IT WAS FORMERLY BURNT BY THE KING OF BABYLON; ALTHOUGH THESE FLAMES TOOK THEIR RISE FROM THE JEWS THEMSELVES, AND WERE OCCASIONED BY THEM; for upon Titus’s retiring, the seditious lay still for a little while, and then attacked the Romans again, when those that guarded the holy house fought with those that quenched the fire that was burning the inner [court of the] temple; but these Romans put the Jews to flight, and proceeded as far as the holy house itself. AT WHICH TIME ONE OF THE SOLDIERS, WITHOUT STAYING FOR ANY ORDERS, AND WITHOUT ANY CONCERN OR DREAD UPON HIM AT SO GREAT AN UNDERTAKING, AND BEING HURRIED ON BY A CERTAIN DIVINE FURY, SNATCHED SOMEWHAT OUT OF THE MATERIALS THAT WERE ON FIRE, AND BEING LIFTED UP BY ANOTHER SOLDIER, HE SET FIRE TO A GOLDEN WINDOW, THROUGH WHICH THERE WAS A PASSAGE TO THE ROOMS THAT WERE ROUND ABOUT THE HOLY HOUSE, ON THE NORTH SIDE OF IT. AS THE FLAMES WENT UPWARD, the Jews made a great clamor, such as so mighty an affliction required, and ran together to prevent it; and now they spared not their lives any longer, nor suffered any thing to restrain their force, since that holy house was perishing, for whose sake it was that they kept such a guard about it.
6. AND NOW A CERTAIN PERSON CAME RUNNING TO TITUS, AND TOLD HIM OF THIS FIRE, as he was resting himself in his tent after the last battle; whereupon he rose up in great haste, and, AS HE WAS, RAN TO THE HOLY HOUSE, IN ORDER TO HAVE A STOP PUT TO THE FIRE; after him followed all his commanders, and after them followed the several legions, in great astonishment; so there was a great clamor and tumult raised, as was natural upon the disorderly motion of so great an army. THEN DID CAESAR, BOTH BY CALLING TO THE SOLDIERS THAT WERE FIGHTING, WITH A LOUD VOICE, AND BY GIVING A SIGNAL TO THEM WITH HIS RIGHT HAND, ORDER THEM TO QUENCH THE FIRE. BUT THEY DID NOT HEAR WHAT HE SAID, though he spake so loud, having their ears already dimmed by a greater noise another way; nor did they attend to the signal he made with his hand neither, as still some of them were distracted with fighting, and others with passion. But as for the legions that came running thither, neither any persuasions nor any threatenings could restrain their violence, but each one’s own passion was his commander at this time; and as they were crowding into the temple together, many of them were trampled on by one another, while a great number fell among the ruins of the cloisters, which were still hot and smoking, and were destroyed in the same miserable way with those whom they had conquered; and WHEN THEY WERE COME NEAR THE HOLY HOUSE, THEY MADE AS IF THEY DID NOT SO MUCH AS HEAR CAESAR’S ORDERS TO THE CONTRARY; BUT THEY ENCOURAGED THOSE THAT WERE BEFORE THEM TO SET IT ON FIRE. As for the seditious, they were in too great distress already to afford their assistance [towards quenching the fire]; they were every where slain, and every where beaten; and as for a great part of the people, they were weak and without arms, and had their throats cut wherever they were caught. NOW ROUND ABOUT THE ALTAR LAY DEAD BODIES HEAPED ONE UPON ANOTHER, as at the steps
7. AND NOW, SINCE CAESAR WAS NO WAY ABLE TO RESTRAIN THE ENTHUSIASTIC FURY OF THE SOLDIERS, AND THE FIRE PROCEEDED ON MORE AND MORE, HE WENT INTO THE HOLY PLACE OF THE TEMPLE, WITH HIS COMMANDERS, AND SAW IT, WITH WHAT WAS IN IT, WHICH HE FOUND TO BE FAR SUPERIOR TO WHAT THE RELATIONS OF FOREIGNERS CONTAINED, and not inferior to what we ourselves boasted of and believed about it. BUT AS THE FLAME HAD NOT AS YET REACHED TO ITS INWARD PARTS, BUT WAS STILL CONSUMING THE ROOMS THAT WERE ABOUT THE HOLY HOUSE, AND TITUS SUPPOSING WHAT THE FACT WAS, THAT THE HOUSE ITSELF MIGHT YET HE SAVED, HE CAME IN HASTE AND ENDEAVORED TO PERSUADE THE SOLDIERS TO QUENCH THE FIRE, AND GAVE ORDER TO LIBERALIUS THE CENTURION, AND ONE OF THOSE SPEARMEN THAT WERE ABOUT HIM, TO BEAT THE SOLDIERS THAT WERE REFRACTORY WITH THEIR STAVES, AND TO RESTRAIN THEM; YET WERE THEIR PASSIONS TOO HARD FOR THE REGARDS THEY HAD FOR CAESAR, AND THE DREAD THEY HAD OF HIM WHO FORBADE THEM, AS WAS THEIR HATRED OF THE JEWS, AND A CERTAIN VEHEMENT INCLINATION TO FIGHT THEM, TOO HARD FOR THEM ALSO. MOREOVER, THE HOPE OF PLUNDER INDUCED MANY TO GO ON, AS HAVING THIS OPINION, THAT ALL THE PLACES WITHIN WERE FULL OF MONEY, AND AS SEEING THAT ALL ROUND ABOUT IT WAS MADE OF GOLD. AND BESIDES, ONE OF THOSE THAT WENT INTO THE PLACE PREVENTED CAESAR, WHEN HE RAN SO HASTILY OUT TO RESTRAIN THE SOLDIERS, AND THREW THE FIRE UPON THE HINGES OF THE GATE, IN THE DARK; WHEREBY THE FLAME BURST OUT FROM WITHIN THE HOLY HOUSE ITSELF IMMEDIATELY, WHEN THE COMMANDERS RETIRED, AND CAESAR WITH THEM, AND WHEN NOBODY ANY LONGER FORBADE THOSE THAT WERE WITHOUT TO SET FIRE TO IT. AND THUS WAS THE HOLY HOUSE BURNT DOWN, WITHOUT CAESAR’S APPROBATION.
8. Now although any one would justly lament the destruction of such a work as this was, since it was the most admirable of all the works that we have seen or heard of, both for its curious structure and its magnitude, and also for the vast wealth bestowed upon it, as well as for the glorious reputation it had for its holiness; yet might such a one comfort himself with this thought, that IT WAS FATE THAT DECREED IT SO TO BE, WHICH IS INEVITABLE, BOTH AS TO LIVING CREATURES, AND AS TO WORKS AND PLACES ALSO. HOWEVER, ONE CANNOT BUT WONDER AT THE ACCURACY OF THIS PERIOD THERETO RELATING; FOR THE SAME MONTH AND DAY WERE NOW OBSERVED, AS I SAID BEFORE, WHEREIN THE HOLY HOUSE WAS BURNT FORMERLY BY THE BABYLONIANS. NOW THE NUMBER OF YEARS THAT PASSED FROM ITS FIRST FOUNDATION, WHICH WAS LAID BY KING SOLOMON, TILL THIS ITS DESTRUCTION, WHICH HAPPENED IN THE SECOND YEAR OF THE REIGN OF VESPASIAN, are collected to be one thousand one hundred and thirty, besides seven months and fifteen days; and from the second building of it, which was done by Haggai, in the second year of Cyrus the king, till its destruction under Vespasian, there were six hundred and thirty-nine years and forty-five days.
As far as I know, Josephus was not a Christian but he did recognize that the Destruction of the Temple was an Act of GOD.
JESUS PREDICTED THE DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE AND JERUSALEM
Jesus told the Scribes and Pharisees that the Temple would be DESTROYED...
Matthew 23:37 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!
Matthew 23:38 See! YOUR HOUSE IS LEFT TO YOU DESOLATE;
Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem...
Luke 19:41 Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it,
Luke 19:42 saying, "If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.
Luke 19:43 FOR DAYS WILL COME UPON YOU WHEN YOUR ENEMIES WILL BUILD AN EMBANKMENT AROUND YOU, SURROUND YOU AND CLOSE YOU IN ON EVERY SIDE,
Luke 19:44 AND LEVEL YOU, AND YOUR CHILDREN WITHIN YOU, TO THE GROUND; AND THEY WILL NOT LEAVE IN YOU ONE STONE UPON ANOTHER, BECAUSE YOU DID NOT KNOW THE TIME OF YOUR VISITATION."
Luke 21:24 AND THEY WILL FALL BY THE EDGE OF THE SWORD, AND BE LED AWAY CAPTIVE INTO ALL NATIONS. AND JERUSALEM WILL BE TRAMPLED BY GENTILES UNTIL THE TIMES OF THE GENTILES ARE FULFILLED.
Revelation 11:2 REVEALS How Long Jerusalem would be "TRAMPLED BY GENTILES"...
Revelation 11:2 But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles. And THEY WILL TREAD THE HOLY CITY UNDERFOOT FOR FORTY-TWO MONTHS.
When talking about the Destruction of Jerusalem, Jesus said: "THESE ARE THE DAYS OF VENGEANCE, THAT ALL THINGS WHICH ARE WRITTEN MAY BE FULFILLED."
Luke 21:20 "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near.
Luke 21:22 FOR THESE ARE THE DAYS OF VENGEANCE, THAT ALL THINGS WHICH ARE WRITTEN MAY BE FULFILLED.
Only the Old Testament had been written at this time but the Resurrection, Judgment and the Everlasting Kingdom were written about in Daniel. The Resurrection and the New Heaven and New Earth were written about in Isaiah so what else is there to be fulfilled after these things?
Isaiah 65:17 "For behold, I CREATE NEW HEAVENS AND A NEW EARTH; And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind.
Jesus reveals in Luke 21:23 that the WRATH is upon the Judeans or Jewish people.
Luke 21:23 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! FOR THERE WILL BE GREAT DISTRESS IN THE LAND AND WRATH UPON THIS PEOPLE.
According to the Jewish Historian Josephus, 1.1 Million Died and 97,000 were taken captive in the Jewish-Roman War...
"Now the number of those that were carried captive during this whole war was collected to be ninety-seven thousand; as was the number of those that perished during the whole siege eleven hundred thousand, the greater part of whom were indeed of the same nation [with the citizens of Jerusalem], but not belonging to the city itself; for they were come up from all the country to the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and were on a sudden shut up by an army, which, at the very first, occasioned so great a straitness among them, that there came a pestilential destruction upon them, and soon afterward such a famine, as destroyed them more suddenly." - Flavius Josephus, WARS OF THE JEWS, Book 6, Chapter 9, Section 3.
AND thus was Jerusalem taken, in the SECOND YEAR of the reign of Vespasian, on the eighth day of the month Gorpeius [Elul]. - WARS OF THE JEWS, Flavius Josephus, Book 6, Chapter 10, Paragraph 1.
Vespasian's reign began in 69 AD during the year of the 4 Emperors so his 2nd year would have been A.D. 70.
According to the Hebrew Calendar the date of 8 Elul 3830 (Jewish Year) converts to Sunday, August 31, 70 AD...
* Back to Daniel 12...
Daniel 12:2 is surely about the Resurrection of the Just & Unjust and their Judgement and it occurred "WHEN THE POWER OF THE HOLY PEOPLE WAS COMPLETELY SHATTERED"...
The Power of the Hebrews was the Mosaic Covenant they had with GOD and it was "COMPLETELY SHATTERED" when their Temple and Jerusalem were Destroyed in A.D. 70.
Daniel 12:2 And MANY OF THOSE WHO SLEEP IN THE DUST OF THE EARTH SHALL AWAKE, SOME TO EVERLASTING LIFE, SOME TO SHAME AND EVERLASTING CONTEMPT.
Daniel 12:3 THOSE WHO ARE WISE SHALL SHINE LIKE THE BRIGHTNESS OF THE FIRMAMENT, AND THOSE WHO TURN MANY TO RIGHTEOUSNESS LIKE THE STARS FOREVER AND EVER.
Compare Daniel 12:3 to Matthew 13:43 which occurs at the END OF THE AGE according to Christ...
Matthew 13:36 Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field."
Matthew 13:37 He answered and said to them: "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.
Matthew 13:38 The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one.
Matthew 13:39 The enemy who sowed them is the devil, THE HARVEST IS THE END OF THE AGE, AND THE REAPERS ARE THE ANGELS.
Matthew 13:40 THEREFORE AS THE TARES ARE GATHERED AND BURNED IN THE FIRE, SO IT WILL BE AT THE END OF THIS AGE.
Matthew 13:41 THE SON OF MAN WILL SEND OUT HIS ANGELS, AND THEY WILL GATHER OUT OF HIS KINGDOM ALL THINGS THAT OFFEND, AND THOSE WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS,
Matthew 13:42 AND WILL CAST THEM INTO THE FURNACE OF FIRE. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Matthew 13:43 Then THE RIGHTEOUS WILL SHINE FORTH AS THE SUN IN THE KINGDOM OF THEIR FATHER. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!
Do YOU Have Ears to Hear?
Daniel 12:6 And one said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, "HOW LONG SHALL THE FULFILLMENT OF THESE WONDERS BE?"
Daniel 12:7 Then I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever, that IT SHALL BE FOR A TIME, TIMES, AND HALF A TIME; AND WHEN THE POWER OF THE HOLY PEOPLE HAS BEEN COMPLETELY SHATTERED, ALL THESE THINGS SHALL BE FINISHED.
What were the "WONDERS" mentioned in Daniel 12:6?
Answer: The Great Tribulation or War, Resurrection and the Judgment mentioned in Daniel 12:1-2.
Like Daniel, Jesus also Prophesied that the RESURRECTION would occur AFTER THE TRIBULATION or WAR and it would happen in their GENERATION...
Matthew 24:29 "IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE TRIBULATION OF THOSE DAYS the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
Matthew 24:30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and THEY WILL SEE THE SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN WITH POWER AND GREAT GLORY.
Matthew 24:31 AND HE WILL SEND HIS ANGELS WITH A GREAT SOUND OF A TRUMPET, AND THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER HIS ELECT FROM THE FOUR WINDS, FROM ONE END OF HEAVEN TO THE OTHER.
Matthew 24:34 Assuredly, I say to YOU, THIS GENERATION WILL BY NO MEANS PASS AWAY TILL ALL THESE THINGS TAKE PLACE.
What THINGS?
Answer: The Great Tribulation or War, Christ Coming in his Kingdom, the Resurrection, Judgment and the End of the Age.
THE FEASTS OF THE LORD
To determine when the last trumpet was blown we have to know a little about the 7 Annual Feasts of The LORD.
I highly recommend that you watch the video series titled THE SEVEN FEASTS OF THE LORD presented by Pastor David Curtis of Berean Bible Church!
The first 4 Feasts were in the Spring and the last 3 were in the Fall.
The Feasts or Festivals represented Events of the Past as well as Prophecies to be Fulfilled by the Messiah.
The Events of the Past were the Types and the Prophecies Fulfilled by the Messiah were the Antitypes.
The Types were Shadows/Copies of the Real/Substance or Antitypes.
What is confusing is that the Nature of the Types/Shadows were Physical and the Nature of the Antitypes were often Spiritual or Fulfilled in the Spiritual Realm.
3 of the 7 Feasts were Harvest Festivals: Firstfruits, Pentecost and Tabernacles
The Feast of Firstfruits was associated with the Barley Harvest. Pentecost was associated with the Wheat Harvest. The Feast of Tabernacles was associated with the Fruit Harvest and it was in the Fall.
Many Christians know that Christ Fulfilled the first 4 Feasts or Spring Festivals during his First Coming.
They look forward to Christ Fulfilling the Fall Feasts in the Future but what they don't realize is that Christ Fulfilled ALL of the Fall Feasts as well - in A.D. 70 to be exact.
The 3 Fall Feasts were the Feasts of Trumpets, Atonement and Tabernacles. They all occurred during the 7th month or Tishrei.
The Feast of Tabernacles or Sukkot was the Fall Harvest Festival.
Let's look at How Christ Fulfilled the Feasts of The LORD...
1) PASSOVER
Leviticus 23:4 'These are the feasts of the LORD, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times.
Leviticus 23:5 On the FOURTEENTH DAY OF THE FIRST MONTH (Nisan) AT TWILIGHT IS THE LORD'S PASSOVER.
Jesus was the Passover Lamb who died for our sins. He was crucified on Passover (14th of Nisan) at the same time that the final passover lamb was slain.
The high priest would yell, "It is finished." when the last passover lamb was slain. Christ yelled, "It is finished." just before he died.
John the Baptizer revealed that Jesus was the Lamb of GOD who takes away sin...
John 1:29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! THE LAMB OF GOD WHO TAKES AWAY THE SIN OF THE WORLD!
The Apostle Paul knew that Christ was the Passover Lamb...
1 Corinthians 5:7 Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed CHRIST, OUR PASSOVER, WAS SACRIFICED FOR US.
2) FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD
Leviticus 23:6 And ON THE FIFTEENTH DAY OF THE SAME MONTH IS THE FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD TO THE LORD; SEVEN DAYS YOU MUST EAT UNLEAVENED BREAD.
Jesus was the Bread of Life...
John 6:35 And Jesus said to them, "I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.
John 6:47 Most assuredly, I say to you, HE WHO BELIEVES IN ME HAS EVERLASTING LIFE.
John 6:48 I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE.
John 6:49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and ARE DEAD.
The DEAD were in Hades, Separated from GOD, at this time.
John 6:50 This is the bread which comes down from heaven, THAT ONE MAY EAT OF IT AND NOT DIE.
Obviously, this does not mean that Believers would never experience physical death but it meant that they would never be separated from GOD in Hades or any where else.
John 6:51 I AM THE LIVING BREAD which came down from heaven. IF ANYONE EATS OF THIS BREAD, HE WILL LIVE FOREVER; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world."
3) FEAST OF FIRSTFRUITS
Leviticus 23:10 "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest.
Leviticus 23:11 He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted on your behalf; ON THE DAY AFTER THE SABBATH (Sunday) the priest shall wave it.
Christ was the Firstfruits FROM THE DEAD. He was the 1st to RISE out of HADES and never return.
1 Corinthians 15:20 But now Christ is risen from the dead, and HAS BECOME THE FIRSTFRUITS OF THOSE WHO HAVE FALLEN ASLEEP.
4) PENTECOST or FEAST OF WEEKS or SHAVUOT
Leviticus 23:15 'And you shall COUNT FOR YOURSELVES FROM THE DAY AFTER THE SABBATH, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: SEVEN SABBATHS SHALL BE COMPLETED.
Leviticus 23:16 COUNT FIFTY DAYS TO THE DAY AFTER THE SEVENTH SABBATH; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the LORD.
Exodus 34:22 "And you shall observe the Feast of Weeks, OF THE FIRSTFRUITS OF WHEAT HARVEST, and the Feast of Ingathering at the year's end.
Pentecost was a Harvest Feast associated with the wheat harvest.
About 3,000 souls were harvested or saved on the day of Pentecost...
Acts 2:41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and THAT DAY ABOUT THREE THOUSAND SOULS WERE ADDED TO THEM.
The Law (TORAH) was given on Shavuot and the Holy Spirit was given on Shavuot.
The Law was a SHADOW of the "GOOD THINGS TO COME"...
Hebrews 10:1 For the law, having A SHADOW OF THE GOOD THINGS TO COME, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect.
The Apostle Paul said that The HOLY SPIRIT was Given as a "GUARANTEE OF OUR INHERITANCE UNTIL THE REDEMPTION"...
Ephesians 1:13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, YOU WERE SEALED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT OF PROMISE,
Ephesians 1:14 who is the GUARANTEE OF OUR INHERITANCE UNTIL THE REDEMPTION of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.
Ephesians 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom YOU WERE SEALED FOR THE DAY OF REDEMPTION.
The Old Covenant (Type) arrived on Shavuot and the New Covenant (Antitype) arrived on Shavuot.
The Nation of Israel (Type) was born on Shavuot and the Church (Antitype) was born on Shavuot.
THE 2ND EXODUS
There were 4 months between Pentecost and the Fall Feasts.
There was a period of 40 years between Christ's Fulfillment of the Spring Feasts and the Fall Feasts.
This period is known as the 2nd Exodus. The 2nd Exodus was the "Antitype" to the 1st Exodus which was the "Type".
The 2nd Exodus was the time of the last generation of Hebrews under the Old Covenant Age or the Age of the Law.
At the end of the 1st Exodus the Faithful Hebrews entered the Promised Land.
At the end of the 2nd Exodus the Faithful Hebrews entered Heaven.
The Apostle Paul revealed that not all of the Festivals had been fulfilled by Christ...
Colossians 2:16 So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths,
Colossians 2:17 WHICH ARE A SHADOW OF THINGS TO COME, but the SUBSTANCE IS OF CHRIST.
It was the final three feast days that were still waiting to be fulfilled when Paul wrote Colossians.
Before the Old Covenant could pass away GOD had to Fulfill all the Promises he made to Old Covenant Israel.
What were some of the Promises that GOD made to Israel that had not been Fulfilled?
1) The Resurrection
Isaiah 27:12 And it shall come to pass in that day That THE LORD WILL THRESH, FROM THE CHANNEL OF THE RIVER TO THE BROOK OF EGYPT; AND YOU WILL BE GATHERED ONE BY ONE, O YOU CHILDREN OF ISRAEL.
Isaiah 27:13 So it shall be in that day: THE GREAT TRUMPET WILL BE BLOWN; THEY WILL COME, WHO ARE ABOUT TO PERISH IN THE LAND OF ASSYRIA, AND THEY WHO ARE OUTCASTS IN THE LAND OF EGYPT, AND SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD IN THE HOLY MOUNT AT JERUSALEM.
Daniel 12:2 And MANY OF THOSE WHO SLEEP IN THE DUST OF THE EARTH SHALL AWAKE, Some to everlasting life, Some to shame and everlasting contempt.
2) To "Swallow Up Death Forever" / Destruction of Hades/Sheol
Isaiah 25:8 HE WILL SWALLOW UP DEATH FOREVER, And the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces; The rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; For the LORD has spoken.
Isaiah 25:9 And it will be said in that day: "Behold, this is our God; We have waited for Him, and He will save us. This is the LORD; We have waited for Him; WE WILL BE GLAD AND REJOICE IN HIS SALVATION."
Hosea 13:14 "I WILL RANSOM THEM FROM THE POWER OF THE GRAVE (Sheol) ; I WILL REDEEM THEM FROM DEATH. O DEATH, I WILL BE YOUR PLAGUES! O GRAVE, I WILL BE YOUR DESTRUCTION! Pity is hidden from My eyes."
GRAVE - STRONG'S 7585
Word Summary
sheol: underworld (place to which people descend at death)
Transliteration: sheol
Phonetic Spelling: (sheh-ole')
Part of Speech: Noun Feminine
Meaning: underworld (place to which people descend at death)
Strong's Concordance
grave, hell, pit
Or shol {sheh-ole'}; from sha'al; Hades or the world of the dead (as if a subterranean retreat), including its accessories and inmates -- grave, hell, pit.
3) Rewarding of the Saints
This is the time that Daniel and the Old Covenant Saints would receive their Eternal Inheritance...
Daniel 12:13 "But you, go your way till the end; for you shall rest, AND WILL ARISE TO YOUR INHERITANCE AT THE END OF THE DAYS.
Study the context of the scriptures given above in Isaiah, Daniel & Hosea and you will see that these 3 Events were to occur near the time that the Temple and Jerusalem were Destroyed...
Isaiah 25:12 THE FORTRESS OF THE HIGH FORT OF YOUR WALLS HE WILL BRING DOWN, lay low, And bring to the ground, down to the dust.
Isaiah 27:9 Therefore by this the iniquity of Jacob will be covered; And this is all the fruit of taking away his sin: WHEN HE MAKES ALL THE STONES OF THE ALTAR LIKE CHALKSTONES THAT ARE BEATEN TO DUST, Wooden images and incense altars shall not stand.
Isaiah 27:10 Yet THE FORTIFIED CITY WILL BE DESOLATE, THE HABITATION FORSAKEN AND LEFT LIKE A WILDERNESS; There the calf will feed, and there it will lie down And consume its branches.
Isaiah 27:11 When its boughs are withered, they will be broken off; The women come and set them on fire. FOR IT IS A PEOPLE OF NO UNDERSTANDING; THEREFORE HE WHO MADE THEM WILL NOT HAVE MERCY ON THEM, AND HE WHO FORMED THEM WILL SHOW THEM NO FAVOR.
Daniel 12:7 Then I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever, that it shall be for a time, times, and half a time; and WHEN THE POWER OF THE HOLY PEOPLE HAS BEEN COMPLETELY SHATTERED, ALL THESE THINGS SHALL BE FINISHED.
Daniel 9:26 "And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; AND THE PEOPLE OF THE PRINCE WHO IS TO COME SHALL DESTROY THE CITY AND THE SANCTUARY. THE END OF IT SHALL BE WITH A FLOOD, AND TILL THE END OF THE WAR DESOLATIONS ARE DETERMINED.
Hosea 13:3 Therefore they shall be like the morning cloud And like the early dew that passes away, Like chaff blown off from a threshing floor And like smoke from a chimney.
Hosea 13:4 "Yet I am the LORD your God Ever since the land of Egypt, And you shall know no God but Me; For there is no savior besides Me.
Hosea 13:9 "O ISRAEL, YOU ARE DESTROYED, But your help is from Me.
5) The Feast of Trumpets or Rosh Hashanah or Yom Teruah was associated with Judgment.
Leviticus 23:24 "Speak to the children of Israel, saying: 'IN THE SEVENTH MONTH, ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE MONTH, you shall have a sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.
According to the Hebrew Calendar, The Feast of Trumpets in A.D. 70 was on the 1st of Tishrei or Monday, 22 September 0070.
The Feast of Trumpets was a solemn one.
"The sounding of the trumpet for Rosh Hashanah was to bring the heart of the people into repentance for the judgment, and prepare them for the Atonement. In fact, from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur was ten days and that period of time was called the days of repentance.
Scripture affirms that the judgment – the fulfillment of Rosh Hashanah – was at hand in the first century, as A.D. 70 approached." - Don K. Preston
The Apostle James said that "THE JUDGE IS STANDING AT THE DOOR!"
James 5:7 Therefore BE PATIENT, BRETHREN, UNTIL THE COMING OF THE LORD. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain.
James 5:8 You also be patient. Establish your hearts, FOR THE COMING OF THE LORD IS AT HAND.
James 5:9 Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. BEHOLD, THE JUDGE IS STANDING AT THE DOOR!
The Book of James was written around A.D. 62 by Christ's half-brother. It was written to "the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad"...
James 1:1 James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, TO THE TWELVE TRIBES WHICH ARE SCATTERED ABROAD: Greetings.
By the time of the Feast of Trumpets in A.D. 70 the Temple and Jerusalem had been Destroyed!
It was the time that Heaven and Earth Passed Away and the Law and ALL Prophecy was Fulfilled...
Matthew 24:35 HEAVEN AND EARTH WILL PASS AWAY, but My words will by no means pass away.
Jesus was speaking to his disciples when he spoke this prophecy.
He was responding to their questions in Matthew 24:3: Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?"
The disciples questioned Jesus because of what he had said in Matthew 24:1-2...
Matthew 24:1 Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple.
Matthew 24:2 And Jesus said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down."
Luke also recorded the prophecy about Heaven and Earth Passing Away...
Luke 21:33 HEAVEN AND EARTH WILL PASS AWAY, but My words will by no means pass away.
Luke 21:36 Watch therefore, and PRAY ALWAYS THAT YOU MAY BE COUNTED WORTHY TO ESCAPE ALL THESE THINGS THAT WILL COME TO PASS, AND TO STAND BEFORE THE SON OF MAN."
Matthew 5:17 "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I DID NOT COME TO DESTROY BUT TO FULFILL.
Matthew 5:18 For assuredly, I say to you, TILL HEAVEN AND EARTH PASS AWAY, ONE JOT OR ONE TITTLE WILL BY NO MEANS PASS FROM THE LAW TILL ALL IS FULFILLED.
If Heaven and Earth have NOT Passed Away then we are still under the law according to the words of Christ in Matthew 5:18.
Luke 21:20 "But WHEN YOU SEE JERUSALEM SURROUNDED BY ARMIES, THEN KNOW THAT ITS DESOLATION IS NEAR.
Luke 21:21 Then LET THOSE WHO ARE IN JUDEA FLEE TO THE MOUNTAINS, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her.
Luke 21:22 FOR THESE ARE THE DAYS OF VENGEANCE, THAT ALL THINGS WHICH ARE WRITTEN MAY BE FULFILLED.
Luke 21:23 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! FOR THERE WILL BE GREAT DISTRESS IN THE LAND AND WRATH UPON THIS PEOPLE.
Luke 21:24 AND THEY WILL FALL BY THE EDGE OF THE SWORD, AND BE LED AWAY CAPTIVE INTO ALL NATIONS. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
Of course the entire Heaven and Earth were not literally Destroyed!
What good would it do for those in Judea to "FLEE TO THE MOUNTAINS" if the entire planet was going to be destroyed?
The passing away of "Heaven and Earth" was a metaphor symbolizing the passing away of the Temple, Jerusalem and the Old Covenant.
The following is quoted from the book, BAMBOOZLED BELIEVERS by Michael Biehler, Kindle Edition...
"'HEAVEN AND EARTH' is a metaphor for the temple and the Jewish religion as it existed 2,000 years ago. These things did pass away as Jesus predicted in his Olivet Discourse.
Answering his disciples’ question about the destruction of the temple, he said: "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away" (Matthew. 24 35). He was talking about the destruction of the temple and the end of the Old Covenant religion, not the end of the universe. Since the old 'heaven and earth' is a metaphor for the Old Covenant, it seems very likely that the 'new heaven and the new earth' is a metaphor for the New Covenant.
The simple truth is that the 'old heaven and old earth' passed away in AD 70. The 'old heaven and old earth' is imagery! We live in the age of grace; we are no longer under the Law. In his letter to the Ephesians - Paul tells us that Jesus abolished 'the law of commandments expressed in ordinances' (Ephesians 2:15). Since the law has passed away, 'heaven and earth' must have passed away also. The phrase 'heaven and earth' is a metaphor!
Many Futurists say that the Old Covenant (the old heaven and old earth) was abolished at the cross, but that is not the case; when the book of Hebrews was written, in about AD 63, the Old Covenant was 'growing old' and was ready to 'vanish away' - Hebrews 8:13. In AD 70 it did vanish away... in the siege of Jerusalem. Some of the people ate their children and they bowed down to the slaughter. Josephus describes these events in gruesome detail, reporting that 1,100,000 died and many survivors were sent to Egypt.
God’s people were called by a new name: 'Christians'. They ran away from the city when they saw armies approaching. They ran because Jesus had told them to run; in Luke 21 we see Jesus’ warning: 20 But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. 21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it, 22 FOR THESE ARE DAYS OF VENGEANCE, TO FULFILL ALL THAT IS WRITTEN. Jesus says that those days of vengeance 'to fulfill all that is written'. Isn’t this another indication that the new heaven and new earth prophecy of Isaiah 65:17-25 was fulfilled in AD 70? Verse 20 of Isaiah 65 says that there will be sin and death in the new heaven and new earth: ...'for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed.' The simple, inconvenient truth is that Isaiah’s 'new heaven and new earth' is not the renovated planet with no suffering and no physical death. We are living in the New Covenant age... the 'new heavens and new earth.' Futurists don’t see the imagery: the wolf and the lamb feeding together is a metaphor for peace. Jesus, the prince of peace, has given us the peace that 'surpasses all understanding' (Philippians 4:7). Also, believers have 'passed out of death into life...' (1 John 3:14). Jesus 'hath abolished death, and brought life...' (2 Timothy 1:10) Jesus said it very clearly; at conversion, we pass from death to life. 'Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life' (John 5:24).
21 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away; and the sea was no more (Revelation 21:1 ESV). In this passage the appearing of the 'new heaven and new earth' is associated with the passing of the first heaven and the first earth. We know that the first heaven and first earth is a metaphor for the Old Covenant temple-centered religion, so we conclude that the 'new heaven and new earth' is a metaphor for the New Covenant. Since this verse comes from a part of Revelation that is replete with imagery, there is a pretty good chance that it is not referring to a new planet."
MICHAEL BIEHLER - https://BamboozledBelievers.com
Michael's book, BAMBOOZLED BELIEVERS, convinced me that Full Preterism was the CORRECT Eschatology!
* (ESV) Psalms 78:69 He built his sanctuary like the high heavens, like the earth, which he has founded FOREVER.
* English Standard Version
Notice how in Psalms 78:69 GOD built his sanctuary like the heavens and the earth. Also notice that the earth was founded or established FOREVER!
Isaiah 51:16 And I have put My words in your mouth; I have covered you with the shadow of My hand, THAT I MAY PLANT THE HEAVENS, LAY THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE EARTH, And say to Zion, 'You are My people.' "
GOD is speaking about what he HAD done. He gave Israel the LAW (Mosaic Covenant) to plant the heavens and lay the foundations of the earth.
Obviously GOD is not speaking about the LITERAL Heavens and Earth since they were created long before Israel was given the Mosaic Law!
When describing "the Most Holy Place" (Holy of Holies} of the Tabernacle, the Jewish Historian, Flavius Josephus, referred to it as "a heaven peculiar to God" and the rest of the tabernacle was described as "sea and land, on which men live".
4. As for the inside, Moses parted its length into three partitions. At the distance of ten cubits from the most secret end, Moses placed four pillars, the workmanship of which was the very same with that of the rest; and they stood upon the like bases with them, each a small matter distant from his fellow. Now the room within those pillars was the most holy place; but the rest of the room was the tabernacle, which was open for the priests. However, this proportion of the measures of the tabernacle proved to be an imitation of the system of the world; FOR THAT THIRD PART THEREOF WHICH WAS WITHIN THE FOUR PILLARS, TO WHICH THE PRIESTS WERE NOT ADMITTED, IS, AS IT WERE, A HEAVEN PECULIAR TO GOD. But the space of the twenty cubits, is, as it were, sea and land, on which men live, and so this part is peculiar to the priests only. But at the front, where the entrance was made, they placed pillars of gold, that stood on bases of brass, in number seven; but then they spread over the tabernacle veils of fine linen and purple, and blue, and scarlet colors, embroidered. The first veil was ten cubits every way, and this they spread over the pillars which parted the temple, and kept the most holy place concealed within; and this veil was that which made this part not visible to any. Now the whole temple was called The Holy Place: but that part which was within the four pillars, and to which none were admitted, was called The Holy of Holies.
Antiquities Of The Jews by Flavius Josephus (Translated By William Whiston Book 3, Chapter 6, (CONCERNING THE TABERNACLE WHICH MOSES BUILT IN THE WILDERNESS FOR THE HONOR OF GOD AND WHICH SEEMED TO BE A TEMPLE.) Paragraph 4.
When Moses distinguished the tabernacle into three parts, and allowed two of them to the priests, as a place accessible and common, he denoted the land and the sea, these being of general access to all; but he set apart the third division for God, because heaven is inaccessible to men. - Antiquities Of The Jews by Flavius Josephus (Translated By William Whiston Book 3, Chapter 7, Paragraph 7.
6) The Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur was associated with the Second Coming of Christ.
Leviticus 23:27 "Also THE TENTH DAY OF THIS SEVENTH MONTH SHALL BE THE DAY OF ATONEMENT. It shall be a holy convocation for you; you shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire to the LORD.
According to the Hebrew Calendar, The Day of Atonement in A.D. 70 was on the 10th of Tishrei, 3831 or Wednesday, 1 October 0070.
Yom Kippur was the only day of the year that the high priest entered the most Holy Place of the Tabernacle/Temple.
Hebrews 9:2 For a tabernacle was prepared: the first part, in which was the lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary;
Hebrews 9:3 and BEHIND THE SECOND VEIL, THE PART OF THE TABERNACLE WHICH IS CALLED THE HOLIEST OF ALL,
Hebrews 9:7 But into the second part THE HIGH PRIEST WENT ALONE ONCE A YEAR, NOT WITHOUT BLOOD, WHICH HE OFFERED FOR HIMSELF AND FOR THE PEOPLE'S SINS COMMITTED IN IGNORANCE;
Hebrews 9:8 THE HOLY SPIRIT INDICATING THIS, THAT THE WAY INTO THE HOLIEST OF ALL WAS NOT YET MADE MANIFEST WHILE THE FIRST TABERNACLE WAS STILL STANDING.
Some interpret Hebrews 9:8 to mean that no one could enter heaven while the temple on earth was still standing or had standing.
Hebrews 9:9 IT WAS SYMBOLIC FOR THE PRESENT TIME in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience—
Hebrews 9:10 concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances IMPOSED UNTIL THE TIME OF REFORMATION.
Hebrews 9:11 But Christ came as High Priest OF THE GOOD THINGS TO COME, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation.
Hebrews 9:12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but WITH HIS OWN BLOOD HE ENTERED THE MOST HOLY PLACE ONCE FOR ALL, HAVING OBTAINED ETERNAL REDEMPTION.
Hebrews 9:15 And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, THAT THOSE WHO ARE CALLED MAY RECEIVE THE PROMISE OF THE ETERNAL INHERITANCE.
Hebrews 9:24 For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, WHICH ARE COPIES OF THE TRUE, but INTO HEAVEN ITSELF, NOW TO APPEAR IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD FOR US;
On the Day of Atonement the Hebrews waited eagerly for the high priest to come out of the Holy of Holies to let them know if their sins for that year had been forgiven.
The 1st Century Christians were EAGERLY WAITING FOR CHRIST'S RETURN...
Philippians 3:20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which WE ALSO EAGERLY WAIT FOR THE SAVIOR, THE LORD JESUS CHRIST,
Philippians 3:21 who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.
Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,
Hebrews 9:28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. TO THOSE WHO EAGERLY WAIT FOR HIM HE WILL APPEAR A SECOND TIME, APART FROM SIN, FOR SALVATION.
What is the Goal or Result of Salvation?
Is it not ETERNAL LIFE?
Romans 8:23 Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, EAGERLY WAITING FOR THE ADOPTION, THE REDEMPTION OF OUR BODY.
Romans 8:24 For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees?
Romans 8:25 BUT IF WE HOPE FOR WHAT WE DO NOT SEE, WE EAGERLY WAIT FOR IT WITH PERSEVERANCE.
The Prophecy Preaching PIMPS of today will tell you that Christians have been waiting eagerly for 2,000 years but this is what Jesus told his followers...
Luke 21:27 Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
Luke 21:28 Now when these things begin to happen, LOOK UP AND LIFT UP YOUR HEADS, BECAUSE YOUR REDEMPTION DRAWS NEAR."
When Jesus said "LOOK UP AND LIFT UP YOUR HEADS, BECAUSE YOUR REDEMPTION DRAWS NEAR" he was still talking to his disciples and answering these questions...
Luke 21:7 And they asked him, saying, Master, but when shall these things be? and what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass?
Are you STUPID enough to believe that the answers Jesus gave his Disciples to their questions was not meant for them but was meant for people thousands of years in the future?
Unfortunately most people are that STUPID! They have been BRAINWASHED!
Luke 21:31 So you also, WHEN YOU SEE these things happening, know that THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS NEAR.
Luke 21:32 ASSUREDLY, I SAY TO YOU, THIS GENERATION WILL BY NO MEANS PASS AWAY TILL ALL THINGS TAKE PLACE.
Matthew 16:27 FOR THE SON OF MAN WILL COME IN THE GLORY OF HIS FATHER WITH HIS ANGELS, AND THEN HE WILL REWARD EACH ACCORDING TO HIS WORKS.
Matthew 16:28 ASSUREDLY, I SAY TO YOU, THERE ARE SOME STANDING HERE WHO SHALL NOT TASTE DEATH TILL THEY SEE THE SON OF MAN COMING IN HIS KINGDOM."
"Scripture affirms that the second appearing of Christ for salvation– to consummate the atonement– was coming ‘in a very, very little while' and without delay." - Don K. Preston
Hebrews 10:35 Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward.
Hebrews 10:36 For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:
Hebrews 10:37 "FOR YET A LITTLE WHILE, AND HE WHO IS COMING WILL COME AND WILL NOT TARRY.
7) The Feast of Tabernacles or Booths or Sukkot or Ingathering was associated with the Resurrection and the Wedding of the Lamb.
Leviticus 23:34 "Speak to the children of Israel, saying: 'THE FIFTEENTH DAY OF THIS SEVENTH MONTH SHALL BE THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES for seven days to the LORD.
Leviticus 23:35 On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it.
Leviticus 23:36 For seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. ON THE EIGHTH DAY YOU SHALL HAVE A HOLY CONVOCATION, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. It is a sacred assembly, and you shall do no customary work on it.
The 8th Day was known as Shemini Azterat and it represented the New Creation.
Exodus 23:16 and the Feast of Harvest, the firstfruits of your labors which you have sown in the field; AND THE FEAST OF INGATHERING AT THE END OF THE YEAR, WHEN YOU HAVE GATHERED IN THE FRUIT OF YOUR LABORS FROM THE FIELD.
Sukkot was a time of Thanksgiving and a time of great REJOICING...
Leviticus 23:39 'Also ON THE FIFTEENTH DAY OF THE SEVENTH MONTH, WHEN YOU HAVE GATHERED IN THE FRUIT OF THE LAND, you shall keep the feast of the LORD for seven days; on the first day there shall be a sabbath-rest, and on the eighth day a sabbath-rest.
Leviticus 23:40 And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and YOU SHALL REJOICE BEFORE THE LORD YOUR GOD FOR SEVEN DAYS.
Deuteronomy 16:13 "You shall observe the Feast of Tabernacles seven days, when you have gathered from your threshing floor and from your winepress.
Deuteronomy 16:14 And YOU SHALL REJOICE IN YOUR FEAST, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant and the Levite, the stranger and the fatherless and the widow, who are within your gates.
Deuteronomy 16:15 Seven days you shall keep a sacred feast to the LORD your God in the place which the LORD chooses, BECAUSE THE LORD YOUR GOD WILL BLESS YOU IN ALL YOUR PRODUCE AND IN ALL THE WORK OF YOUR HANDS, SO THAT YOU SURELY REJOICE.
According to the Hebrew Calendar the Feast of Tabernacles in A.D. 70 was on the 15th of Tishrei, 3831 or Monday, 6 October 0070.
Remember that the Feast of Tabernacles was at the end of the Fruit Harvest.
GOD showed the Prophet Amos that the END OF ISRAEL would occur at the time of the Fruit Harvest...
Amos 8:1 Thus the Lord GOD showed me: BEHOLD, A BASKET OF SUMMER FRUIT.
Amos 8:2 And He said, "Amos, what do you see?" So I said, "A basket of summer fruit." Then the LORD said to me: "THE END HAS COME UPON MY PEOPLE ISRAEL; I will not pass by them anymore.
Amos 8:3 AND THE SONGS OF THE TEMPLE SHALL BE WAILING IN THAT DAY," Says the Lord GOD—"MANY DEAD BODIES EVERYWHERE, THEY SHALL BE THROWN OUT IN SILENCE."
Christ said that's how it would be when he returned...
Matthew 24:27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; SO SHALL ALSO THE COMING OF THE SON OF MAN BE.
Matthew 24:28 For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.
Christ revealed that the GATHERING/HARVEST/RESURRECTION would occur ""IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE TRIBULATION OF THOSE DAYS"...
Matthew 24:29 "IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE TRIBULATION OF THOSE DAYS the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
Matthew 24:30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and THEY WILL SEE THE SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN WITH POWER AND GREAT GLORY.
Matthew 24:31 AND HE WILL SEND HIS ANGELS WITH A GREAT SOUND OF A TRUMPET, AND THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER HIS ELECT FROM THE FOUR WINDS, FROM ONE END OF HEAVEN TO THE OTHER.
The Gospel of Mark says the same thing...
Mark 13:26 Then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.
Mark 13:27 And then He will send His angels, and gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest part of earth to the farthest part of heaven.
I interpret the "TRIBULATION OF THOSE DAYS" to mean THE WAR between Judea and Rome that caused the Destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem.
Christ revealed that the HARVEST/RESURRECTION was at THE END OF THE AGE in the Parable of THE TARES OF THE FIELD...
Matthew 13:39 The enemy who sowed them is the devil, THE HARVEST IS THE END OF THE AGE, and the reapers are the angels.
Matthew 13:40 Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the END OF THIS AGE.
Matthew 13:41 The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness,
Matthew 13:42 and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Matthew 13:43 THEN THE RIGHTEOUS WILL SHINE FORTH AS THE SUN IN THE KINGDOM OF THEIR FATHER.. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!
Is the END OF THE AGE referring to the END OF THIS AGE or the END OF THE AGE TO COME?
Matthew 13:40 REVEALS the answer...
...so it will be at the END OF THIS AGE!
END OF THE AGE is used once in the Parable of the Net...
Matthew 13:47 "Again, the KINGDOM OF HEAVEN is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind,
Matthew 13:48 which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away.
Matthew 13:49 So it will be at the END OF THE AGE. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just,
Matthew 13:50 and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth."
So what can we learn about the END OF THE AGE from these 2 Parables?
1) The HARVEST is at the END OF THE AGE.
2) The REAPERS are the ANGELS.
3) The WICKED are Cast into the Furnace of FIRE.
4) There will be Wailing and Gnashing of Teeth.
5) The RIGHTEOUS will SHINE like the SUN in the KINGDOM.
The phrase "END OF THE AGE" is also used in the Olivet Discourse...
Matthew 24:1 Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up TO SHOW HIM THE BUILDINGS OF THE TEMPLE.
Matthew 24:2 And Jesus said to them, "Do you not see all these things? ASSUREDLY, I SAY TO YOU, NOT ONE STONE SHALL BE LEFT HERE UPON ANOTHER, THAT SHALL NOT BE THROWN DOWN."
Matthew 24:3 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "TELL US, WHEN WILL THESE THINGS BE? AND WHAT WILL BE THE SIGN OF YOUR COMING, AND OF THE END OF THE AGE?"
NOTICE in Matthew 24:3 how the disciples associate the Destruction of the Temple with Christ's COMING and the END OF THE AGE!
What does the word "COMING" mean in Matthew 24:3?
COMING - STRONG'S G3952
Word Summary
parousia: a presence, a coming
Phonetic Spelling: (par-oo-see'-ah)
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine
Meaning: a presence, a coming
Strong's Concordance
coming, presence.
From the present participle of pareimi; a being near, i.e. Advent (often, return; specially, of Christ to punish Jerusalem, or finally the wicked); (by implication) physically, aspect -- coming, presence.
In the Parable of the Tares and the Parable of the Net we learned that the HARVEST was the END OF THE AGE.
The Harvest seems to be referring to the Resurrection and Judgment.
When was the Resurrection and the Judgment supposed to occur?
1 Corinthians 15:21 For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead.
1 Corinthians 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so IN CHRIST ALL SHALL BE MADE ALIVE.
1 Corinthians 15:23 BUT EACH ONE IN HIS OWN ORDER: CHRIST THE FIRSTFRUITS, AFTERWARD THOSE WHO ARE CHRIST'S AT HIS COMING (PAROUSIA).
1 Corinthians 15:24 THEN COMES THE END, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power.
1 Corinthians 15:25 For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet.
1 Corinthians 15:26 THE LAST ENEMY THAT WILL BE DESTROYED IS DEATH.
1 Corinthians 15:23 REVEALS that the Resurrection occurs at Christ's COMING or PAROUSIA!
What more can we learn about the timing of the Resurrection?
Let's research the phrase LAST DAY...
John 6:39 This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should RAISE IT UP AT THE LAST DAY.
John 6:40 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and BELIEVES IN HIM MAY HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE; AND I WILL RAISE HIM UP AT THE LAST DAY.
John 6:44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I WILL RAISE HIM UP AT THE LAST DAY.
John 6:54 Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood HAS ETERNAL LIFE, AND I WILL RAISE HIM UP AT THE LAST DAY.
John 11:24 Martha said to Him, "I know that HE WILL RISE AGAIN IN THE RESURRECTION AT THE LAST DAY.
According to JESUS the Resurrection occurs AT THE LAST DAY.
The LAST DAY of WHAT?
It must be the LAST DAY of THIS AGE aka the AGE of the LAW aka the MOSAIC AGE aka the OLD COVENANT AGE.
WHY? Because it can't be the LAST DAY of the AGE TO COME aka the AGE of the MESSIAH aka the CHRISTIAN AGE aka the AGE of GRACE aka the NEW COVENANT AGE since that AGE has NO END!
And it can't be the LAST DAY of the WORLD because the WORLD has NO END!
Be sure to read my article - HOW THE BIBLICAL AGES PROVE THAT CHRIST'S 2ND COMING WAS IN THE PAST for more details!
What else occurs in the LAST DAY?
John 12:48 He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him - THE WORD THAT I HAVE SPOKEN WILL JUDGE HIM IN THE LAST DAY.
According to JESUS the JUDGMENT occurs IN THE LAST DAY!
Is the LAST DAY just one 24 Hour Day?
Answer: I don't know but if you make it to Heaven you can ask Jesus.
The Apostle Paul said that there was about to be a Resurrection of the Just and the Unjust...
Acts 24:15 I have hope in God, which they themselves also accept, that there will be a RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD, BOTH OF THE JUST AND THE UNJUST.
* (YLT) Acts 24:15 having hope toward God, which they themselves also wait for, that THERE IS ABOUT TO BE A RISING AGAIN OF THE DEAD, both of righteous and unrighteous;
* Young's Literal Translation
The Greek word MELLO is used in the original text and it means "TO BE ABOUT TO". - Strong's G3195
Paul told Timothy...
2 Timothy 4:1 I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, WHO WILL JUDGE THE LIVING AND THE DEAD AT HIS APPEARING AND HIS KINGDOM:
2 Timothy 4:2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.
The Apostle Peter said...
1 Peter 4:5 They (the Gentiles mentioned in 4:3) will give an account to Him (Christ) WHO IS READY TO JUDGE THE LIVING AND THE DEAD.
1 Peter 4:7 But THE END OF ALL THINGS IS AT HAND.
THE MARRIAGE OF THE LAMB
"Sukkot is paralleled to a Jewish wedding feast. A Jewish wedding lasts for seven days and is filled with feasting and jubilation. The marriage takes place under a Chupah, a pavilion.
Thus, the Sukkah can be interpreted as that Chupah and the seven-day long observance of Sukkot can be interpreted as the Wedding Supper of the Lamb where the groom Yeshua is joined with His bride (the righteous)! What an outstanding parallel." - SUKKOT: A PROPHETIC LOOK AT THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES
Revelation 19:7 Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, FOR THE MARRIAGE OF THE LAMB HAS COME, and His wife has made herself ready."
Revelation 19:8 And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, FOR THE FINE LINEN IS THE RIGHTEOUS ACTS OF THE SAINTS.
Revelation 19:9 Then he said to me, "Write: 'BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO ARE CALLED TO THE MARRIAGE SUPPER OF THE LAMB!' " And he said to me, "These are the true sayings of God."
The Marriage Supper of the Lamb occurs After the Judgment of the GREAT HARLOT (Mystery Babylon) who SHED THE BLOOD of the SERVANTS OF GOD...
Revelation 19:2 For true and righteous are His judgments, because HE HAS JUDGED THE GREAT HARLOT who corrupted the earth with her fornication; and HE HAS AVENGED ON HER THE BLOOD OF HIS SERVANTS SHED BY HER."
Be sure to Read My Article - WHO IS MYSTERY BABYLON IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION?
The Prophet Isaiah prophesied about the Wedding Feast of the Lamb...
Isaiah 25:6 And IN THIS MOUNTAIN THE LORD OF HOSTS WILL MAKE FOR ALL PEOPLE A FEAST OF CHOICE PIECES, A feast of wines on the lees, Of fat things full of marrow, Of well-refined wines on the lees.
Isaiah 25:7 And He will destroy on this mountain The surface of the covering cast over all people, And the veil that is spread over all nations.
Isaiah 25:8 HE WILL SWALLOW UP DEATH FOREVER, AND THE LORD GOD WILL WIPE AWAY TEARS FROM ALL FACES; The rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; For the LORD has spoken.
Isaiah 25:9 And it will be said in that day: "Behold, this is our God; We have waited for Him, and He will save us. THIS IS THE LORD; WE HAVE WAITED FOR HIM; WE WILL BE GLAD AND REJOICE IN HIS SALVATION."
Revelation 21:1 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.
Revelation 21:2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, PREPARED AS A BRIDE ADORNED FOR HER HUSBAND.
Revelation 21:3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "BEHOLD, THE TABERNACLE OF GOD IS WITH MEN, AND HE WILL DWELL WITH THEM, AND THEY SHALL BE HIS PEOPLE. GOD HIMSELF WILL BE WITH THEM AND BE THEIR GOD.
WHEN WAS THE LAST TRUMPET BLOWN?
According to the Book of Numbers the TRUMPET was to be Blown by the Priests IN YOUR APPOINTED FEASTS and OVER YOUR BURNT OFFERINGS AND OVER THE SACRIFICES OF YOUR PEACE OFFERINGS...
Numbers 10:10 Also in the day of your gladness, IN YOUR APPOINTED FEASTS, and at the beginning of your months, YOU SHALL BLOW THE TRUMPETS OVER YOUR BURNT OFFERINGS AND OVER THE SACRIFICES OF YOUR PEACE OFFERINGS; and they shall be a memorial for you before your God: I am the LORD your God."
The last sacrifice was on Shemini Atzerat, the 8th Day...
Leviticus 23:36 For seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. ON THE EIGHTH DAY you shall have a holy convocation, and YOU SHALL OFFER AN OFFERING MADE BY FIRE to the LORD. It is a sacred assembly, and you shall do no customary work on it.
ON THE EIGHTH DAY you shall have a holy convocation, and YOU SHALL OFFER AN OFFERING MADE BY FIRE to the LORD.
Therefore, one may think that the LAST TRUMPET was BLOWN on Shemini Atzerat in A.D. 70. However, there were NO MORE SACRIFICES after the Temple was Destroyed.
Remember that The LAST TRUMPET was NOT BLOWN by a Levitical Priest. It was BLOWN by an Angel...
Revelation 11:15 Then THE SEVENTH ANGEL SOUNDED: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and HE SHALL REIGN FOREVER AND EVER!"
I think the LAST TRUMPET was BLOWN on the 1st Day of the Feast of Tabernacles or Succot (15th of Tishrei) in the year A.D. 70.
I could be wrong though!
A.D. 70 may have been a Jubilee Year...
Leviticus 25:8 'And you shall count seven sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years; and the time of the seven sabbaths of years shall be to you forty-nine years.
Leviticus 25:9 THEN YOU SHALL CAUSE THE TRUMPET OF THE JUBILEE TO SOUND ON THE TENTH DAY OF THE SEVENTH MONTH; ON THE DAY OF ATONEMENT YOU SHALL MAKE THE TRUMPET TO SOUND THROUGHOUT ALL YOUR LAND.
Leviticus 25:10 And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you; and each of you shall return to his possession, and each of you shall return to his family.
Leviticus 25:11 That fiftieth year shall be a Jubilee to you; in it you shall neither sow nor reap what grows of its own accord, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine.
Leviticus 25:12 For it is the Jubilee; it shall be holy to you; you shall eat its produce from the field.
Leviticus 25:13 'In this Year of Jubilee, each of you shall return to his possession.
Maybe the LAST TRUMPET was BLOWN on the 10th Day of Tishrei in A.D. 70, the Day of Atonement.
As the Futurists like to say, "No one knows the day or the hour!"
Maybe I will ask Jesus when I get to Heaven.
For more information on The Last Trumpet read the following series of articles by Don K. Preston...
The Last Day – The Last Trumpet- #1
The Last Day – The Last Trumpet- #2
The Last Day – The Last Trumpet- #3
Don K. Preston has also started a video series on Israel's Feast Days on YouTube. Click Below To Watch...
Jesus ASSURED his Disciples at least 3 times that his 2nd Coming would occur while some of them were still alive...
1) Matthew 10:22 And you will be hated by all for My name's sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.
Matthew 10:23 When they persecute you in this city, flee to another. FOR ASSUREDLY, I SAY TO YOU, YOU WILL NOT HAVE GONE THROUGH THE CITIES OF ISRAEL BEFORE THE SON OF MAN COMES.
2) Matthew 16:27 For THE SON OF MAN WILL COME IN THE GLORY OF HIS FATHER WITH HIS ANGELS, and then He will reward each according to his works.
Matthew 16:28 ASSUREDLY, I SAY TO YOU, THERE ARE SOME STANDING HERE WHO SHALL NOT TASTE DEATH TILL THEY SEE THE SON OF MAN COMING IN HIS KINGDOM."
3) Matthew 24:30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and THEY WILL SEE THE SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS of heaven with power and great glory.
Matthew 24:31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER HIS ELECT FROM THE FOUR WINDS, FROM ONE END OF HEAVEN TO THE OTHER.
Matthew 24:34 ASSUREDLY, I SAY TO YOU, THIS GENERATION WILL BY NO MEANS PASS AWAY TILL ALL THESE THINGS TAKE PLACE.
Do you believe that Jesus Christ's 2nd Coming was in the past?
If you say "NO" then you don't believe what Jesus said and you are implying that Jesus LIED or FAILED to do what he said that he was going to do WHEN he said that he was going to do it!
If you said "NO" then how can you trust in Jesus Christ for your Salvation if you don't believe Jesus DID what he said that he was going to do WHEN he said that he was going to do it?
Romans 3:4 ...Indeed, LET GOD BE TRUE BUT EVERY MAN A LIAR. As it is written: "THAT YOU MAY BE JUSTIFIED IN YOUR WORDS, AND MAY OVERCOME WHEN YOU ARE JUDGED."
Thank You for taking your time to read this article! When I started writing it I didn't realize that it was going to turn into a book.