We all have heard from the Bible that cites Jesus’ words, “No man knows the day and hour”…that The Lord will return since The Father sets those times.
However we can know the “season” or as The Apostle Paul says, “we are not of the darkness that that day might overtake us unawares.” Paul in writing The Thessalonians goes on to say, “at the last Trump the dead in Christ will rise first and then we who are alive will be caught up together with them in the air…”
This has long been understood to reference the “rapture” of the church although the word “rapture” is actually never used in scripture. It is the “catching up” of the body of Christ to be with Him evermore.
And the “last trump” reference would have been easily recognized by the Jewish audience to be a reference to the “last trumpet” of the feasts of Trumpets of the Jews. Which INCREDIBLY “No man knows the day or the hour,” since it’s occurrence requires the physical sighting of the sliver of the moon by “two witnesses” on the temple mount. So this feast actually can happen on one of two days, but “no man knows the day or hour”!
So as Christians we can certainly know the time of the year when Jesus Christ will return. Since at His first coming He fulfilled the Spring Feasts (see below), at His second coming He will most certainly fulfill the fall feast days of the Jews. 1. The feast of trumpets, 2. the feast of atonement, and 3. the feast of tabernacles remain as yet to be fulfilled by “the Son of Man”.
We all understand that the Spring feasts were indeed perfectly fulfilled by Jesus Christ at His first appearing. He precisely fulfilled the feast of Passover at His death, then the feast of first fruits when He rose from the dead, then the feast of weeks or Pentecost as illustrated by this short explanation below.
Here is a breakdown of the religious feasts and their fulfillment in Jesus: In a nutshell, here is the prophetic significance of each of the seven Levitical feasts of Israel:
1) Passover (Leviticus 23:5) – Pointed to the Messiah as our Passover lamb (1 Corinthians 5:7) whose blood would be shed for our sins. Jesus was crucified on the day of preparation for the Passover at the same hour that the lambs were being slaughtered for the Passover meal that evening (John 19:14).
2) Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23:6) – Pointed to the Messiah’s sinless life (as leaven is a picture of sin in the Bible), making Him the perfect sacrifice for our sins. Jesus’ body was in the grave during the first days of this feast, like a kernel of wheat planted and waiting to burst forth as the bread of life.
3) First Fruits (Leviticus 23:10) – Pointed to the Messiah’s resurrection as the first fruits of the righteous. Jesus was resurrected on this very day, which is one of the reasons that Paul refers to him in 1 Corinthians 15:20 as the “first fruits from the dead.”
4) Weeks or Pentecost (Leviticus 23:16) – Occurred fifty days after the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread and pointed to the great harvest of souls and the gift of the Holy Spirit for both Jew and Gentile, who would be brought into the kingdom of God during the Church Age (see Acts 2). The Church was actually established on this day when God poured out His Holy Spirit and 3,000 Jews responded to Peter’s great sermon and his first proclamation of the gospel.
5) Trumpets (Leviticus 23:24) – The first of the fall feasts. Many believe this day points to the Rapture of the Church when the Messiah Jesus will appear in the heavens as He comes for His bride, the Church. The Rapture is always associated in Scripture with the blowing of a loud trumpet (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and 1 Corinthians 15:52).
6) Day of Atonement (Leviticus 23:27) – Many believe this prophetically points to the day of the Second Coming of Jesus when He will return to earth. That will be the Day of Atonement for the Jewish remnant when they “look upon Him whom they have pierced,” repent of their sins, and receive Him as their Messiah (Zechariah 12:10 and Romans 11:1-6, 25-36).
7) Tabernacles or Booths (Leviticus 23:34) – Many scholars believe that this feast day points to the Lord’s promise that He will once again “tabernacle” with His people when He returns to reign over all the world (Micah 4:1-7).
Should Christians celebrate these Levitical feast days of Israel today? Whether or not a Christian celebrates the Jewish feast days would be a matter of conscience for the individual Christian. Colossians 2:16-17 tells us, “Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.” Christians are not bound to observe the Jewish feasts the way an Old Testament Jew was, but we should not criticize another believer who does or does not observe these special days and feasts (Romans 14:5).
While it is not required for Christians to celebrate the Jewish feast days, it is beneficial to study them. Certainly, it could be beneficial to celebrate these days if it leads one to a greater understanding and appreciation for Christ’s death and resurrection and the future promise of His coming. As Christians, if we choose to celebrate these special days, we should put Christ in the center of the celebration, as the One who came to fulfill the prophetic significance of each of them.
Read the Entire Article here.
Then finally and most incredibly please review the astonishing prophecy of a 12th century Rabbi named Judah Ben Samuel.
Prophecy of Judah Ben Samuel
The 12th century Rabbi Judah Ben Samuel predicted that the last Jubilee cycle and the Messianic End Time will start when Jerusalem “will once again come back into the possession of the Jewish nation” – the event which happened in 1967:
http://www.wnd.com/2012/11/12th-century-rabbi-predicted-israels-future/
http://www.wnd.com/2012/10/just-5-years-till-end-times-commence/
Here are Judah Ben Samuel’s exact words:
“When the Ottomans (Turks) – who were already a power to be reckoned with on the Bosporus in the time of Judah Ben Samuel – conquer Jerusalem they will rule over Jerusalem for eight jubilees.
Afterwards Jerusalem will become no-man’s land for one jubilee, and then in the ninth jubilee it will once again come back into the possession of the Jewish nation – which would signify the beginning of the Messianic end time.”
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