Prophecy Update #1 - The Revelation 12 Sign
Updated: Sep 29, 2019
“But you are not in darkness, brothers and sisters, for that day [the Day of the Lord] to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.” ~1 Thessalonians 5:4-6
*** Disclaimer ***
I'm a watchman for Christ's coming (Ezekiel 33:6), but not a time traveler. I can't say with absolute certainty that anything will happen this year or any other year, simply because I haven't been to the future and come back to tell all about it. All I'm doing is investigating physical phenomena with the Bible as my guide and using the brain that God gave me to do what He commanded all Christians: to watch for Jesus' return and to tell others when I see that day coming closer (anyone who has an ear to hear).
That being said, I'm incredibly excited by what I'm seeing, both in our world today and in God's word. The way that scripture and world events are merging, both hugely encourages my faith and gives me the chills. God is definitely getting ready to do something new...are you ready?
Do you know what time it is?
A Journey in Review
In my past posts dealing with the topic of end times, I pointed out that there are divine appointments - called the seven Feasts of the Lord - established by God in Leviticus 23. These divine appointments were prophetic in nature, and were shadows of things to come. They served as a kind of “dress rehearsal” for God's people, so that they could know the season when God would intersect with human history to bring His people to Himself. So far, four out of seven divine appointments have been fulfilled – to the day and hour of the time of their celebration!
The four feasts that have been fulfilled all took place in the spring: Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, and Pentecost. On Passover, Jesus was nailed to the cross at the third hour of the day (or 9 AM) at the exact same time that the Passover lamb was to be bound to the altar to be sacrificed. At the ninth hour (or 3:00 PM), Jesus died, which was the exact time the Passover lamb was sacrificed on the altar. Immediately, Jesus was taken down from the cross and buried by evening, which was when the Feast of Unleavened bread started. Jesus called Himself the bread of life and He, like the bread in the feast, was unleavened (without sin). He rose again three days later on the Feast of First Fruits. He did this to show that He was the first fruits of the resurrection from the dead (that will be Christians when we join Him in Heaven!). Fifty days after Passover, the Feast of Pentecost was held, and wouldn't you know it? The Holy Spirit is poured out on the disciples. Boom. The church begins.
The main thing we learn through these feast days is that God is in complete control and knows everything. He had everything all planned out! The timing of the feasts, down to the very hour and minute, was all flawlessly paralleled with Jesus' redeeming work on Calvary. Jesus' death was not an accident or “plan B.” It was the plan all along, and He executed all of His plans with absolute precision.
Now we are in a grace period called the Church Age, awaiting the time for the three remaining feasts to be fulfilled. The next prophetic feast to be completed is the Feast of Trumpets, which Jesus Himself has indicated is the season when He snatches His bride (all Christians) out of the earth in an event popularly known as the rapture of the Church. For more information, or if you don't believe the Bible teaches that we can know the season when the rapture happens, see my previous posts.
Next, I explored the possibility of 2017 being a biblical Jubilee year (also known as a year of return); anyone who had lost an ancestral homeland in Israel would return to it on these years. Jubilee years occur every fifty years. The reason I, and many others besides me, suspect that 2017 is a Jubilee year was that one hundred years ago, in 1917, the Balfour Declaration was signed, which gave Israelis their ancestral homeland back to them after nearly 2000 years of not being a nation. Then fifty years later, in 1967, Israel took back the city of Jerusalem in the Six Day War; an incredibly significant event, as the Bible says that God will rule and reign from Jerusalem in the future.
So what's going to happen in 2017? The only two pieces missing from Israel in the end times equation are the Temple Mount and something that doesn't exist yet...the actual temple of God. More on that later! :)
The Revelation 12 Sign
“And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years...” ~Genesis 1:14
“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.” ~Psalm 19:1-4
“And there will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves...” ~Jesus, Luke 21:25
Okay, now we're finally into the NEW stuff!
Right now the sun, moon, and stars are lining up in an extremely specific way, and a large majority of Christians watching for Jesus' return are calling it “the Revelation 12 sign.” Let's look at Revelation, chapter 12 to see why:
“And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to His throne, and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1260 days.” ~Revelation 12:1-6
Until now, pastors and teachers have been mystified by this passage. Many commentators have claimed that every character, event, and article of these verses are purely symbolic and have no grounding in the real world. While it's true that everything here does have heavy symbolic meaning, what if it IS literal, in a sense? What if it's pointing to something we can actually see in the night sky?
The most literal interpretation of Revelation 12:1-2 is that it's referring to the constellation Virgo (which is commonly referred to as “the woman”). Very soon the sun will be in Virgo (it passes through her every fall) and the moon will be lining up with her feet (as it does every month). This is all normal for this time of year, except for what comes next.
Mars, Venus, and Mercury are joining with the constellation Leo (the Lion, which is made up of 9 stars) to form a “crown” of 12 stars over Virgo. “Wait a minute,” you might be thinking, “planets aren't stars! What are you trying to pull?” Well, planets are called wandering stars, and, to the naked eye, they can often appear to be stars. The question we are trying to answer is, “What did John see?” What does the Bible say? The woman, “was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth.” So, is Virgo pregnant? At the end of last year, Jupiter entered into the “womb” of Virgo and has been in retrograde motion (spinning around, from our perspective), and will be in her for about 42 weeks (or 9 months). That's a human gestation period, when the baby is developing and finally ready to be born!
Using recently developed technology, we're able to track the movements of planets and stars throughout time (past and future), and it's been determined that Jupiter will exit Virgo (through her legs) on September 9th, 2017, and the sign will be entirely complete on September 23rd, 2017.
All of this could be easily dismissed if this alignment of the sun, moon, planets, and stars happened regularly in the past. If this occurred every other Tuesday we would have no reason to take notice, but when people have looked for it, both in the past and thousands of years into the future, they've found that this is the ONLY time that it will ever happen like this (with Virgo consistently pregnant for 9 months, and with an eerily straight alignment of stars and planets to form her crown). If the Revelation 12 sign is indeed referring to Virgo, then September 23rd of this year will be the only time when she fulfills the sign...ever!
John, who wrote the book of Revelation, calls these things “a great sign” in heaven. “Great” has been translated from the Greek word, mégas. Of course, Virgo, the planets, and stars will be great in terms of their size, but that's obvious and not what John is saying. The definition that makes the most sense here for mégas is:
“Something esteemed highly for its importance:
of great moment, of great weight, importance”
It's as if the Lord is saying not to miss this sign or discount it as nothing. This is important! But what could it mean?
I'll get to the dragon soon, but first I want to focus on the child that's born. John writes, “She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to His throne (out of the waiting jaws of the dragon!).” Many commentaries say that the child is Jesus, and that Revelation 12 is a callback to His birth and escape from the sins of the world/Satan. The main evidence they use to conclude this is that the child bears a rod of iron, which is what Jesus will rule with someday on earth (Revelation 19:15). However, we also know that Jesus will give his church a rod of iron to rule with as well:
“Only hold fast what you have until I come. The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father. And I will give him the morning star. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” ~Jesus, Revelation 2:25-29
Even though Jesus is addressing one specific church in these verses, His words are for anyone who “has an ear” for what the Spirit of God is saying. In other words, all true Christians, who will all hold onto their faith in Jesus until the very end. :)
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, 'For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.' No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” ~Romans 8:35-37
So then, the child could very well be the church, not Jesus! Also, isn't it a little strange to think that Jesus had to be rescued from the dragon? When I read the Bible, I see Jesus conquering the dragon, not running away by being snatched into heaven, especially as a baby. But who IS “caught away” in the Bible? Again, it's the church!
“But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep (those who have died), that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.” ~1 Thessalonians 4:16-18
That was the apostle Paul revealing the rapture of the church! The rapture is essentially an evacuation event which God will execute before pouring out His wrath on the earth for sin in a seven year period of time called the Great Tribulation.
Both Revelation 12 and 1 Thessalonians 4 have the phrase “caught up,” and they are each derived from the same word, “harpadzō” in the Greek, which means:
i) to seize, carry off by force
ii) to seize on, claim for one's self eagerly
iii) to snatch out or away
Harpadzō is translated to “raptus” in Latin, and it's from this where we derived our English word “rapture.”
The Bible says that, “the Lord God does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets. (Amos 3:7)” Could it be that the Lord has revealed the timing of the rapture? Is that possible? Maybe, but if that's true we'll have to find evidence that the Tribulation period starts soon after this sign (indicating the rapture), because that's partly why the rapture exists in the first place. Does any evidence like that exist?
In my research, I was surprised to find that a commandment in Leviticus may have served both as a ceremonial cleansing and as a prophetic statement. Stick with me now, this next part is so cool to me! The child that's born in Revelation 12 has another characteristic beyond having a rod of iron and being caught up to God: it's a male child. What does Leviticus say needs to happen when a male child is born?
“The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 'Speak to the people of Israel, saying, ' If a woman conceives and bears a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days. At the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean. And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. Then she shall continue for thirty-three days in the blood of her purifying. She shall not touch anything holy, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying are completed...And when the days of her purifying are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting a lamb a year old for a burnt offering, and a pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering...And the priest shall make atonement for her. And she shall be clean.'” ~Leviticus 12:1-8
Seven days. That's very important, because the Great Tribulation will last for seven years (in biblical prophecy days are often exchanged for years).
“And he (the Antichrist) will make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering.” ~Daniel 9:27
Another name for the Great Tribulation is “Daniel's 70th week,” also the time of “Jacob's trouble,” and, “the Day of the Lord.” It's well known that a week here really means seven years, because other things happened on other “weeks” which Daniel prophesied by the Spirit of the Lord.
In any case, it would make sense that Leviticus is hinting at the Tribulation, because, after the Feast of Trumpets (the feast that speaks of the future rapture of the church), the next prophetic feast to be fulfilled is the Feast of Atonement, a day when God will purify His people, Israel, from their sins and open their eyes to Jesus, their Messiah! That can only happen once the days of Israel's uncleanness are over: seven days and thirty-three days.
What about the thirty-three days, you may ask, where are they? Do those come after the seven days, like in Leviticus? Are there another thirty-three years after the Tribulation? That's actually a question I'm not completely sure about, but I do know of a thirty-three day length of time...the days after the 2017 American solar eclipse.
Many people, even Christians, scoff at the idea of solar and lunar eclipses being a sign of judgment from God, but the Bible makes it clear that He uses the sun, moon, and stars to communicate with us. Interestingly enough, the number of days between 8/21/17 (the day of the eclipse) and 9/23/17 (The day of the Revelation 12 sign) is thirty-three days. Now, normally we would expect that everything about a birth, whether prophetic or physical, would follow a certain order; The labor occurs before the baby is born, the baby is born before the seven days, the seven days are before the thirty-three days, etc. But scripture says that this prophetic birth will be all out of order! Take a look at what Isaiah says:
“'Before she was in labor she gave birth; before her pain came upon her she delivered a son. Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall a land be born in one day? Shall a nation be brought forth in one moment? For as soon as Zion was in labor she brought forth her children. Shall I bring to the point of birth and not cause to bring forth?' says the Lord; 'Shall I, who cause to bring forth, shut the womb?' says your God.” ~Isaiah 66:7-9
The child is born before the labor happens! The woman in the Revelation 12 sign gives birth...does that mean a “labor” will follow? And what is born according to Isaiah? “Shall a nation be brought forth in one moment?”
“[Peter, speaking to all Christians] But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. A people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” ~1 Peter 2:9-10
Fall Out Boy
So, what then? Does the Revelation 12 sign hint at the rapture or the Tribulation period? I'm fairly sure it's hinting at both at the same time! Why? I don't say that solely on what Leviticus, Isaiah or Peter says. Look at this:
“Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?” ~2 Thessalonians 2:1-5
I had to do a little bit of digging to find the meaning of “falling away.” The way that this section of scripture was translated lead me to believe that many Christians will leave their faith, but what originally bothered me was confusion over how many “falling away” was the right amount. 100,000 Christians? 1,000,000 Christians? How many had to “fall away” before the son of destruction (the Antichrist) arrives on the scene? The whole thing seemed very vague. And because the Bible teaches that all believers are sealed by the Holy Spirit for the day of salvation, I couldn't accept that a true Christian could just give up their faith and lose everything.
“In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” ~Ephesians 1:13-14
If we were able to walk away from our faith in our sinful flesh, we would do it (Jeremiah 17:9), but we have a guarantee in the Holy Spirit that we will endure and hold onto our faith until the end of our lives. If Christians could just walk away at a moments notice, the “guarantee” of our heavenly inheritance (the Holy Spirit) would be no guarantee at all.
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one.” ~Jesus, John 10:27-30
The whole “falling away” thing just didn't sit well given the context of these other scriptures. Not to mention the passage is incoherent if Paul is talking about falling away from the faith! Here's why: what Paul is talking about is the rapture. That's what he means when he mentions “our gathering together” to God. Regarding the rapture, he writes, don't be shaken up or afraid of missing it! Evidently, someone had been forging letters in Paul's name and scaring the early church in Thessalonica. They all knew how terrible the Day of the Lord would be because of what the prophets had written up to that point. They wanted to avoid it at all costs. So, in order to calm them down...Paul tells them that Christians just like them will have to leave the faith before the end can come?
Um...what? That's a terrible way to encourage someone, Paul, and you're making no sense.
Of course, that's not what Paul is really saying, but that's how it reads in many English translations! Remember Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians, where he describes the rapture? He ends the description by saying, “encourage one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:18)” The rapture is comforting because it's how we escape the dragon...who comes during the Tribulation! The early church believed in a pre-tribulation rapture! The following scriptures about wrath (we know that the Tribulation is God's wrath) lead me to believe this.
Paul himself wrote to the Thessalonians:
“You turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.” ~1 Thessalonians 1:9-10
And again:
“For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.” ~1 Thessalonians 5:9-11
Anyone who wants to study the Bible seriously quickly finds out that the original words, in their various languages (and meanings), matter quite a lot. The reason for this is that some meaning can be lost when a text is translated across languages. I believe that the original manuscripts are God-breathed and God inspired (2 Timothy 3:16), and thus perfect, but that every translation can still have its problems. It's that way for any book that is translated into other languages, so we have to be careful. It's interesting to note that the first seven English translations of the Bible take the Greek word for “falling away,” apostasia, and translate it as “the departure.” Those translations are the following:
The Wycliffe Bible (1384)
The Tyndale Bible (1526)
The Coverdale Bible (1539)
The Cranmore Bible (1539)
The Breeches Bible (1576)
The Beza Bible (1583)
The Geneva Bible (1608)
If you search for apostasia in a Greek dictionary, you'll find that the root word, apo, speaks of moving away from something physically. A physical event would also make the definite article, the (the falling away, the departure), completely justified, because rather than having a vague event like a general falling away from faith, a mass exodus is much more obvious and defined.
Well, now everything is starting to make sense again! Paul is comforting the Thessalonians by saying, “Don't be shaken up! Don't think that you're in the Day of the Lord, because:
“That day will not come unless the departure comes first,
and the man of lawlessness is revealed.”
In other words, the rapture is first, then the Tribulation. I say the Tribulation because of what the Antichrist does when he's revealed: “he will make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. (Daniel 9:27)” The Antichrist reveals himself by making that covenant with many, which lasts for seven years – the same seven years that makes up the entire Tribulation period.
What good news for the Thessalonians and us!
Birth Pains and the Tribulation
That brings us right back up to the present again! Oh, boy!
What have we got so far? Here's a brief review:
-The Revelation 12 sign on 9/23/17 is the only one of its kind.
-The male child represents the church.
-Revelation 12 is likely a rapture sign!
-Revelation 12 is likely a Tribulation sign!
-The rapture occurs before the Tribulation.
Okay, and we're off to the races!
While the Revelation 12 sign is forming in the heavens, something interesting is happening on the earth. Every year the United Nations holds the International Day of Peace. Their mission: to make progress toward achieving peace between all nations. The IDP used to be held every year on September 11th, but since 2001 the date was changed to September 21st out of respect for America. Now, for the first time in sixteen years, the IDP is being held on the same day as the Feast of Trumpets! Why is that possibly significant? Keep reading...
Every International Day of Peace has it's own yearly theme:
In 2014, it was the Rights of Peoples to Peace.
In 2015, it was Partnerships for Peace
In 2016, it was Building Blocks for Peace
And now, in 2017, the theme is...Together for Peace, Respect, Safety, and Dignity for All
Together for peace and safety. If this means what I think it might, then God really does have a sense of humor.
“Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, 'There is peace and safety,' then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape, But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you as a thief.” ~1 Thessalonians 5:1-4
This illuminates the remaining characters in the Revelation 12 sign: as the child represents a corporate entity (the Church), the woman represents a corporate entity as well, Israel, the Father's virgin bride. Likewise, the dragon, who represents the Antichrist/beast system (all the forces of darkness). The child is caught up into heaven, out of the reach of the dragon, but the woman (Israel) is left behind. This is why Paul says that “labor pains” will come upon them as “a pregnant woman,” since Israel will not escape the reach of the dragon until halfway through the tribulation.
“And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time (one year, two years, and half a year).” ~Revelation 12:13-14
If this year's International Day of Peace is the meeting in which people really are saying peace and safety, and it's converging with the woman giving birth in the sky (before her birth pains), on the same appointed day of the future rapture of the church...this honestly gives me the chills! Especially given the fact that so many verses point to the Tribulation being like a woman in labor!
“Thus says the Lord: We have heard a cry of panic, of terror, and no peace. Ask now, and see, can a man bear a child? Why then do I see every man with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor? Why has every face turned pale? Alas! That day is so great there is none like it; it is a time of distress for Jacob; yet he shall be saved out of it.” ~Jeremiah 30:5-7
“Wail, for the day of the Lord is near; as destruction from the Almighty it will come! Therefore all hands will be feeble, and every human heart will melt. They will be dismayed: pangs and agony will seize them; they will be in anguish like a woman in labor. They will look aghast at one another; their faces will be aflame.” ~Isaiah 13:6-8
This next passage is SO important to understand:
“O Lord, in distress they sought you; they poured out a whispered prayer when your discipline was upon them. Like a pregnant woman who writhes and cries out in her pangs when she is near to giving birth, so were we because of you, O Lord; we were pregnant, we writhed, but we have given birth to wind. We have accomplished no deliverance in the earth, and the inhabitants of the world have not fallen. Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise, You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the dead. Come my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until the fury has passed by. For behold, the Lord is coming out from his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity, and the earth will disclose the blood shed on it, and will no more cover its slain.” ~Isaiah 26:16-21
While Israel and the earth are seized by labor pains, we see that God's people have been raptured; they're with God in heaven! Remember, the rapture will happen on a future Feast of Trumpets, and immediately after the rapture is the wedding of the church to Messiah (Jesus). That's why one of the names of the Feast of Trumpets is Ha Kiddushin (The wedding of the Messiah). In a Jewish wedding celebration, the bridegroom goes to prepare a place for his bride to stay with him (like in John 14:2). After the wedding is complete, he and his new wife disappear from public view in his prepared place for seven days. This is symbolic of the Church being safely hidden away during the seven year Tribulation period. Afterward, the bride and groom come out and enter society as man and wife to “rule and reign” together. :)
One more birth passage. Notice how the Lord deals with Israel after they reject Jesus as the Savior:
“Now muster your troops, O daughter of troops; siege is laid against us; with a rod they strike the judge of Israel (that's Jesus) on the cheek. But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old (it was planned from the beginning), from ancient days. Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has given birth; then the rest of his brothers shall return to the people of Israel.” ~Micah 5:1-3
Because Israel completely missed Jesus' first coming and rejected Him as Lord, God saw it fit to work with them again only after the woman (Israel) has given birth (i.e. her offspring, the Church, is raptured).
All of these birthing verses are tied to the rapture and the Tribulation. Many, many more examples like these can be found all over the Bible! Here's a question: since the Bible teaches that all scripture is inspired by the Holy Spirit, is it coincidence that God repeatedly makes the comparison between the tribulation/rapture and childbirth? Was God simply unable to come up with any other analogies to describe those two events? Or is it possible that God was pointing us to the idea of childbirth over and over and over again because there was a “great and important sign” He wanted His people to see and recognize? Could it be that the Revelation 12 sign is the equivalent of the Star of Bethlehem, heralding the dawn of a new chapter in God's redemptive plan?
And with all this birth talk, maybe it's time we reconsidered what it means to be “born again,” huh?
Temple Run
In July of this year, intense fighting and riots broke out on the Temple Mount in Israel. That's nothing new, but the fighting was reportedly more intense than it has ever been, due to backlash against beefed up Israeli security measures (like metal detectors and extra cameras). The fighting has subsided for now but the heightened tension could reignite the violence at any time. From the Jewish publications I've read, everyone's attention seems especially fixated on the Temple Mount right now. For years, Israel has been talking about rebuilding the Temple of God (the third Temple in their history), and is even prepared to start working on it right away; the instruments, utensils, and priestly garments are ready to to be used as I write this, even the building materials are just sitting in storage, ready and waiting to be assembled.
Personally, I think they'll be able to build it this year, but that only makes sense if you understand the Jubilee years (which I recently posted about). The last two Jubilee years marked the times when Israel, a) became a nation, and b) moved into their holiest city (where the Temple of God was in ancient times). These Jubilees have seen Israel getting physically closer and closer to the Temple Mount, like a slowly burning end-times fuse! That's the pattern so far. With the U.N.'s “Peace and Safety” day fast approaching, I can't help but wonder if that's where they'll finally get permission to rebuild. Here's the thing though: it's going to take a miracle (or a great evil) for them to get that permission, because the U.N. is currently set on not letting Israel build any new settlements at all, and certainly not on a place as sensitive and coveted as the Temple Mount!
On December 23rd, 2016, exactly 9 months before the Revelation 12 sign is complete (a human gestation period, anyone?), the United Nations voted 14-0 to prevent Israel from developing new settlements of any kind. This includes “natural growth,” which is when people who live in Israel build new buildings of their own, as well as new housing for incoming immigrants. I believe that God will move to reverse that in some way, but whatever does that will cause a major upset to all nations represented by the U.N.
I'm just throwing this out there (all I have are the stars aligning and the Bible for this hunch), but maybe the Antichrist will be involved. We know that the third temple HAS to exist before the Tribulation is halfway over, because that's when Antichrist stops the sacrifices and sits down in the seat of the Most High.
“He will make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering.” ~Daniel 9:27
The Temple of God is the proper place where the sacrifices are made and the offerings are given, so it has to be rebuilt!
“Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come unless the departure comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. ~2 Thessalonians 2:3-4
From the very beginning, Satan's goal was to sit in the place of God, which is a problem, since he'll be cast down to the earth instead. If he can't have heaven, then he'll definitely want the world, which is what 2nd Thessalonians clearly says above.
“How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! You said in your heart, I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” ~Isaiah 14:12-14
Maybe. Just maybe.
Fun Facts
These are things I found that don't really constitute strong arguments in themselves, but I thought they were fun supporting facts for this prophecy update.
1. Numbers have symbolic significance in Jewish culture and the Bible. You'll often read about periods of time (40 years, 70 years, 50 years, ect.) and they all have thematic meaning. Right now, the Jewish calendar is in the year 5777. Religious leaders in Israel have been expecting their conquering Messiah to come on this year for a very long time. Why? The number 5 represents God's divine grace and the number 7 can mean completion. However whenever anything is repeated three times, it translates to absolute permanence or completion. So the number 777 would mean permanent completion.
In other words, the year 5777 seems to be saying, “This is the year of the permanent completion of grace (the end of the Age of Grace).
2. Many watchmen, myself included, saw the blood moon tetrad of 2014/2015 as a warning sign from the Lord. Did you know that if you count the days from the last blood moon in the fall of 2015 to the Revelation 12 sign, the total comes to 726? The words in Strong's dictionary are all numbered, and if you look in the Greek words, the 726th word is...harpadzō. That's right! The very same harpadzō from which we derive the word “rapture.” Coincidence? Maybe. Maybe not.
Final Thoughts
(Or, The Last Trump)
The Tribulation will likely start on the Feast of Trumpets (Zephaniah 1:14-16); a LOT of events fall on that feast! :) The U.N. is also meeting for “peace and safety,” and all the while, the sign in the sky is taking form on the same two day long feast, prophetically tied to the rapture. I don't want to be dogmatic about dates, and I don't want to say that I know the future, but literally everything I can think of that's necessary for the end of the Church Age is here. The way that heaven and earth are converging in the exact way we see written in the Bible cannot be ignored. This is an awesome time to be alive for believers! Personally, although I can't know what will happen for sure, I'm issuing the strongest, high alert, code red warning I can give: keep watch! Now is not the time to be complacent in your faith, Christian! Repent of your sins and turn to Jesus with all of your heart! Share your faith with the people that God has put on your heart! If God does move on this Feast of Trumpets, you won't want to miss this!
It may seem strange that I'm being serious about the possibility of the end coming soon (frankly, it sounds strange to me too), but remember that when the end comes, many people won't be looking for it, just like in the days of Noah:
“For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” ~Matthew 24:37-44
This could be it. This could very well be our time to go home!
Please don't just take my word for these things. Test everything with scripture to see if it's true! Hopefully I've shown that these are all things worthy of your own research and time.
I'm still learning, and will readily admit that I don't know everything. If you find anything that seems wrong or lacking in what I've said feel free to reach out to me and point it out. It'd be great to start a conversation about these things. :)
Come, Lord Jesus!
The Feast of Trumpets this year is observed from September 21st at 8:39 AM PST to September 23rd at 8:39 AM. September 23rd, the day the Revelation 12 sign is complete in the heavens.
Eagerly waiting for Him,
-Daniel
Notes
Feast of Trumpets – names include:
Yom Harat Olam: “The Birthday of the World”
Yom Hadin: "The Day of Judgment." ˅˅˅˅
The beginning of Jacob's Trouble/the Tribulation period (Zephaniah 1:14-16)
Ha Kiddushin: The Wedding of the Messiah (Joel 2:15-16)
Ha Melech: Coronation of the Messiah (Psalm 47:5-9)
Yom HaKeseh: The “Hidden Day” ˅˅˅˅
“The Feast in which no one knows the day or the hour” (Zephaniah 2:3, Psalm 27:5)
“Opening of the Gates/Doors” (Psalm 24:7-10, Revelation 4:1-2)
“Day of the Awakening Blast” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, 1 Corinthians 15:52)
-Update (09/26/17)
Retrospective, and a Warning
To see a once-in-a-lifetime alignment in the sky that was foretold in the Bible 2000 years ago has been truly awe-inspiring. I'm so privileged to be living in a time when the scriptures seem to be jumping off the written page and into the world around me! Many, many people have wanted to see what we're seeing now, and didn't see it (Matthew 13:17), and the fact that this sign is from the book of Revelation is strong evidence that the Lord is returning very, very soon.
Now, about the elephant in the room. Many people have put massive expectations on the Revelation 12 sign, and have taken the stance that, because Christians weren't raptured on September 23rd, the sign wasn't really a sign at all. To my dismay, I've seen the entire sign be dismissed as being meaningless, sensational, and even pagan to look at or discuss. I'm not pointing fingers at anyone in particular, but it's all over social media right now. But friends, this has happened before! The 2014/2015 blood moons received a similar backlash, as scoffers came out of the woodwork to attack those that brought the phenomenon to light, all because of inflated expectations of what the blood moons would bring.
The majority of believers who were following this never claimed that the Revelation 12 sign would bring the rapture right away (although we did acknowledge it was a possibility). Believers didn't say it WOULD happen because that isn't what the Bible says (even though the text does suggest that it happens shortly after the sun, moon, and stars are all in place). Now, it's important to mention that there was a claim that an unidentified planetary body would crash into the earth on September 23rd, bringing the end of the world. However, for anyone doing even the simplest bit of research on the Revelation 12 sign, it's clear the 'end of the world' rhetoric was not what got Christians worldwide excited and talking about an impending rapture.
What concerns me most right now is how Christians have started lashing out at other believers over what they feel should have happened (or accusing them of being false prophets), instead of appreciating what God is doing. Jesus himself spoke about this in His parable about the wise and foolish servants:
“Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them. And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants...And the Lord said, “Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has...”
Don't miss this...
“...But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.” ~Luke 12:37-46
If you read a little further for context, it's clear that Jesus is talking about God's people (or at least those who claim to be God's people). Jesus clearly taught that we know who people are by the fruit they produce, or the attitude of that person's heart (Matthew 7:18). If anyone finds themselves slandering their brothers and sisters in Christ, or tearing them down over something they never said, or getting in their face to arrogantly gloat over “nothing happening” on September 23rd...the Bible says that the person producing those fruits are 'foolish servants'. What happens to them, according to the passage? God will surprise them, overtake them, and appoint them their portion “with the unbelievers.” What happens to the unbelievers when the Master, Jesus, returns?
...They're left behind.
Believers, hear me! Examine your hearts! Have you been attacking your fellow believer because you disagreed with them? If so, it's important to know that those who attack fellow servants are in real danger of being left behind, not because a Christian can lose the salvation they have in Jesus (who seals us with the Holy Spirit for the day of redemption, 2nd Corinthians 1:22), but because they are revealed as never having been saved at all.
Think of the unwise virgins, who ran out of oil right before the bridegroom came. The door to the wedding feast was shut, and they ran to the door, saying, “‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ (Matthew 25:1-13)”
And again, Jesus says:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’" ~Matthew 7:21-23
Jesus also addressed the dead church in Sardis with these words:
“‘I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you." ~Revelation 3:1-3)
Please understand me, I don't want this to happen to anyone; this is not my own judgment, but God's. I'm giving this warning to help those reading this, and not to condemn anyone. I'm genuinely concerned for some of my friends. Now is the time to repent and to seriously examine ourselves, to see whether or not we are in Christ (2 Corinthians 13:5, 2 Peter 1:10). This is not the time to abuse other members of His body. He gave us so much grace by not coming in the midst of the Revelation 12 sign! This was a warning.
Are we as the body of Christ heeding the warning and turning to God, or are we just falling asleep again?
Here's where I'm at with the Revelation 12 sign:
I'm not shaken in my belief that the sign is from God. It matches bible prophecy too closely for me to dismiss it so easily, plus it fell on an appointed day of the Lord! Even more, it fell on the appointed day of the Lord that directly correlates to the rapture of the church and the start of the outpouring of God's wrath in the Tribulation period! Friends, this was not an accident. It means something, just not what most people expected. It's much harder for me to accept that the alignment and its timing was formed by sheer chance, and God is not a God of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33).
To be honest, I was disappointed that the Lord didn't come for us on the 23rd, as many thought He might, but there's so much lining up on this year that I couldn't help but wonder if I was simply missing something. “Can a sign that directly relates to being “caught up” (harpadzō in Greek, or raptus in Latin, which means rapture) really be just a warning?” I thought. “It just seems too in-your-face to not be more.”
It didn't take long for the Lord to remind me of all the scriptures that seem to say that He will appear to miss His own appointed day when He comes back. This delay will take many (who aren't looking for Him) by surprise. I don't believe that we're out of the woods quite yet! God said He would come like a thief in the night to those who aren't watching for Him, and there's a way that He can appear to miss His own appointed time and still arrive at the appointed time exactly. He's God after all.
I'm watching for Him with hope and excitement and I hope you are too! Prophecy Update pt. 2 will be coming as soon as possible. ;)
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