Prophecy Update #2 - The Midnight Cry
Updated: Dec 2, 2022
* NOTE *
After writing this update, and learning a lot more about Bible prophecy, my understanding of both the Feasts of the LORD and the Jubilee year has changed drastically. Please read the very end of this update (after the pictures depicting the wise and foolish virgins and the days of Noah), where I tell you where I went wrong and how I know. Thank you. :)
Your still-learning brother,
-Daniel
“For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.” ~1 Corinthians 14:33
“The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and the LORD tests hearts.” ~Proverbs 17:3
“But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” ~Luke 21:34-36
***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?
An Expected Surprise
After the apparent coming and going of the Feast of Trumpets this year, many started to wonder if the recent signs of Jesus' return had any validity. Remember, the Feast of Trumpets is the next prophetic feast to be completed, which Jesus Himself has indicated as being the season when He snatches His bride (all Christians) out of the earth in an event popularly known as the rapture of the Church. More information on the Feast of Trumpets corresponding to the rapture can be found in my previous posts. If the appointed time for Jesus to come is now over, how can anyone possibly still be expecting Him this year?
On September 23rd, the day the Revelation 12 sign appeared in the heavens, the Holy Spirit put the word “delay” on my heart. At first, I thought that it came from me praying things like, “Lord, please don't delay,” but by the time evening came that word was still sitting with me. Again, I thought it was me, thinking that Jesus was delaying His return to another year, but that idea (while possible) didn't sit well either. So many unprecedented signs of the end times are converging in 2017: record hurricanes, record flooding, record earthquakes, and record fires worldwide, birth pangs coinciding with the woman in labor in the sky, Israel on the verge of striking a peace agreement that inspires their confidence, the list goes on and on!
Then the Lord began to remind me of passages of scripture that hint at Jesus appearing to come late to those who are expecting Him. Let's take the parable of the wise and foolish virgins as an example:
“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” ~Matthew 25:1-13
What can we learn from this? There was an appointed time when the bridegroom was supposed to come, which the virgins all knew. The bridegroom came later than expected, but only by a few hours (he came the same night). The midnight cry rang out, telling the virgins to go out to meet the bridegroom, but the foolish didn't have enough oil to last until they were received by him. In a rush, they ran off to buy more oil and then the bridegroom came, leaving them behind. How long does it take someone to buy oil? Probably a half hour, at most. The bridegroom came quickly after the virgins were warned of his appearing. Also, I should mention that there was no punctuation in the original Greek manuscripts (that was added in later). When Jesus says “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour,” I don't believe it was meant to be an aside to the listeners - He's speaking to the foolish virgins! He's telling them to watch for him. If the foolish virgins were watching for His coming then they would be the wise virgins, and not foolish at all. :)
The next passage we need to look at deals with the parable of the faithful and wicked servants. Notice how Jesus seems to reference the parable of the virgins here:
“Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect...Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions... ...But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful (unbelievers).” ~Luke 12:35-46
The Bible says, “A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. (Deuteronomy 19:15)” The two passages about the virgins and the servants serve as witnesses to the idea that Jesus will appear to come late somehow. He's delayed in both parables! Now, before I knew about the Appointed Times of the Lord (also known as the Feasts of the Lord), given in Leviticus 23, I thought that the foolish virgins and wicked servants were just tired of waiting for God to act. If the rapture can happen at any time, there are bound to be people that get frustrated eventually. But can someone be delayed if there is no expected time of arrival? I was confused by that thought, but the Appointed Times of the Lord made everything make so much more sense to me! I realized that the virgins were all invited to the wedding feast, and likewise the servants were all under one master. In each story they all had the same calling and purpose, but reacted to that calling differently. They were called to watch. Remember who Jesus is speaking to here...a Jewish audience. They knew the Appointed Times, and would have understood that they are the reason that one could possibly call Jesus' appearing “late.”
Why would the Lord intentionally come at an unexpected time? I believe the reason is to reveal what is in the heart of every believer, those who say that they belong to the Lord. If someone sees that the Feast of Trumpets is past for the year, and says in their heart, “Oh, I have at least another year before the Lord returns. I can live however I want until that time,” and follows after whatever their heart truly desires (more than God), then their actions reveal their heart's true motives. Those who remain faithful and stop doing evil because of the Spirit's conviction and their love of Christ will also reveal their true hearts as well.
Believers, we cannot only worship outwardly when it seems convenient to do so and expect to make it into God's kingdom. God is testing the hearts of humanity, even now.
“But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.” ~John 4:23
If God is really the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8), why would He fulfill the Appointed Times in order (Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, and Pentecost) and on the very day, only to miss His next appointed day on Trumpets? Well, I'm glad you asked! This next part is so exciting to me.
In the case of a Jubilee year, the Feast of Trumpets is started at the same time, but doesn't reach it's conclusion until the next prophetic feast: the Feast of Atonement!
Celebrating the Year of Return
According to the Talmud (which is basically a Jewish code for how to live civil and religious life), the Jubilee year starts on Tishri 1, or Rosh Hashanah (which means 'Head of the Year,' and shares the day with the Feast of Trumpets), but doesn't actually take effect until Tishri 10, on the Feast of Atonement.
The Jubilee years were established by God in Leviticus 25:
“Count off seven sabbath years—seven times seven years—so that the seven sabbath years amount to a period of forty-nine years. Then have the trumpet sounded everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement sound the trumpet throughout your land. Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each of you is to return to your family property and to your own clan. The fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you; do not sow and do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the untended vines. For it is a jubilee and is to be holy for you; eat only what is taken directly from the fields. In this Year of Jubilee everyone is to return to their own property.” ~Leviticus 25:8-13
Once the Jubilee year started, ancient Israelites would be allowed to redeem their ancestral homeland or property. Also slaves were freed and debts were settled in the whole country. The point of the Jubilee year, practically, was to provide a way to return everyone to their initial state (a kind of economic reset) so that the rich couldn't lord their power over the poor forever. It saved Israelis from being persecuted by people from their own country. For generations, Bible scholars have believed that Jesus would come for His bride during a future Jubilee year. The reason for this is that Christians have been purchased from death with Jesus' blood on the cross, and so we (His property) will likely be redeemed and return to him on one of these years.
In section II of the celebration instructions on the yovel (jubilee) on betemunah.org, the following was taken from the talmud.
R. Johanan b. Ishmael writes:
“AND FOR JUBILEE YEARS. [is the New Year for] Jubilees on the first of Tishri? Surely [the New Year for] Jubilees is on the tenth of Tishri, as it is written, on the day of atonement shall ye make proclamation with the horn? — What authority is here followed? R. Ishmael the son of R. Johanan b. Beroka, as it has been taught: And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year. What is the point of these words? [It is this]. Since it says, On the day of atonement [ye shall make proclamation], I might think that the year is sanctified only from the Day of Atonement onwards. Therefore it says, And ye shall sanctify the fiftieth year. This teaches that it is sanctified from its inception. On this ground R. Ishmael the son of R. Johanan b. Beroka laid down that from New Year to the Day of Atonement slaves were neither dismissed to their homes nor subjected to their masters, but they ate and drank and made merry, wearing garlands on their heads. When the Day of Atonement came, the Beth din sounded the horn; slaves were dismissed to their homes and fields returned to their original owners. And the Rabbis [ — what do they make of this verse]? — [They say it teaches that] you are to sanctify years but not months.”
From this we can clearly see that jubilee years are to begin on the Feast of Atonement. As I said before, in the Jubilee year the Feast of Trumpets is extended from Tishri 1 all the way to Tishri 10, on the Feast of Atonement. Everything proceeds normally on the Feast of Trumpets, but the last trump is not blown. It seems that the last trump signifies when the year actually starts
(The last trump is the technical term for the final trumpet blast in a series of 100 on the Feast of Trumpets)
This “last trumpet” is what gives us confidence that the rapture of the church occurs on this feast. Not only is it next in line prophetically, but Paul writes about it by inspiration of the Holy Spirit as well.
“Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep (die), but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.” ~1 Corinthians 15:51-52
And again:
“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
It's clear from these scriptures that a trumpet blown by God must be present for the rapture to take place, but not just any trumpet, the LAST trumpet (from the Feast of Trumpets)! The Talmud states that, during a Jubilee year, the last trumpet is to be blown in conjunction with the Feast of Atonement. Some of you reading this may be skeptical about using the Talmud to determine possible days of the Lord returning. I just want to point out that the 100 trumpet blasts, along with the last trumpet, was not written down in our canonical Bible, yet Paul still references it as the trumpet that God blows when He returns for His church! You won't find it anywhere in the Bible before that point, but it is in the Talmud. Given that fact, we can assume that it's at least possible that God would use the extension rule for the Feast of Trumpets as well.
Given that it may be a Jubilee year this year (there's a lot of debate about whether it is or not), and given that the Lord does indeed operate the way the Talmud describes, the possibility exists that Rosh Hashanah (the Head of the Year) has been moved up 10 days. That means that until the Feast of Atonement we will still be in the Jewish year 5777; the year hasn't changed yet!
The Days of Noah
The end of the age is spoken about by Jesus many times, and in the gospels he alludes to it being like 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.” ~Matthew 24:37-39
The worldwide flood is an archetype of the last judgment on earth, the Great Tribulation period. Jesus is mainly talking about how the flood was unexpected to much of the world, but notice how he gives a loose timeline as well: He notes the day when Noah entered the ark and when the flood came. What can we learn by looking at those times in Genesis?
“Then the LORD said to Noah, 'Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation...For in seven days I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.'” ~Genesis 7:1-4
This passage outlines a gap in time between when the ark was prepared to bear Noah and his family away, and when the flood actually came; The gap was seven days long. The Revelation 12 sign was fully formed on the 23rd of September on the Feast of Trumpets (a time when many expected the rapture to happen and the “flood” to come) and seven days later is the Feast of Atonement (a possible rapture window). In Matthew, Jesus could very well be saying that the rapture is not only going to be unexpected, but also contain a gap of time before it would come. It would explain why He specifically mentioned that seven day period of waiting for Noah.
The number 40 has symbolic meaning in the Bible. Thematically, 40 is the number of trial and probation: Moses and the Israelites were kept in the wilderness for 40 years, Moses was on Mount Sinai for 40 days, and Jesus was tempted by the devil in His 40 day fast, to name a few times the number has recurred.
On August 21st, 2017, the United States was crossed from coast to coast by a total solar eclipse. That day in the Hebrew calendar was Elul 1. What's significant about that is that Elul 1 is the first day in a series of high holy days for Israel called the 40 Days of Repentance. In Judaism, a solar eclipse (especially on Jewish holidays) are signs of judgment on the nations (gentiles). So, in the Jewish mind, the American solar eclipse is a strong message from God to the surrounding nations, and the message is to repent. Israel has already set time aside to repent, as the 40 days of repentance had just started. In essence, God is calling the entire world to repent from evil and to turn to Him.
According to Mark Biltz, Elul 1 was also the day that Jonah arrived in Nineveh, and what does he say to them?
“And he called out, 'Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!' And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.” ~Jonah 3:4-5
Nineveh had 40 days to repent, during what would be known as the 40 days of Repentance! Why do you suppose that the people of Nineveh repented so quickly? If you study the history of Nineveh and find the time that Jonah arrived, you'll find that the city was overcome with a plague, then a civil war, followed by another plague. Finally, after all these things the last sign to Nineveh was a total solar eclipse that passed just north of them. The people of Nineveh knew then that it was God who was sending all the disasters on the city! So when a grubby stranger from another town who probably smelled like fish started telling everyone to repent, they were more than willing to do so. Now, I believe the world is being called to repent, with the disasters heaping up after the eclipse on Elul 1, not before. God relented from His planned judgment on Nineveh because they repented, but will our world repent of their sins?
Backwards Birth
If the Jubilee really is this year, and if the Feast of Trumpets really is extended during a Jubilee, then so many disjointed elements of how I thought about end times events are resolved! Timelines make more sense now than they ever did! Surprisingly, I actually have more reasons to believe the rapture could occur this year than I did before the Revelation 12 sign first formed.
For starters, we have the birthing ritual of Leviticus 12, relating to the Revelation 12 sign:
“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
Previously, I said that the thirty-three days probably related to the thirty-three days before the sign formed in the sky (August 21st – September 23rd is 33 days), and then I made a jump and assumed that the seven days in the passage referred to the seven year long Tribulation period. This was, of course, assuming that the rapture would occur on the 23rd, and we all know now that it didn't. After the Revelation 12 sign, what do we have? Seven days until Atonement! So, now the days remain days and don't jump suddenly to years in the timeline; the symbolism is consistent now! Currently, it's looking like the birthing process of Leviticus 12 is completely reversed. After the thirty-three days, are seven days, seven days would bring us to the birth (rapture?), and the birth would bring us to the labor (child birth is what God uses to describe the Tribulation period throughout the whole Bible)! After all this is complete, the priest makes Atonement for her (the Tribulation ends on Atonement). The only part that is distinct from what the mother goes through is the part that mentions the circumcision of the child, but even that makes some sense: if you count eight days from the Revelation 12 sign on the 23rd of September (the sign that portrays a woman giving birth), you end up at the tail end of the Feast of Atonement. If the rapture does take place, then all Christians will be circumcised of their earthly flesh and be forever set apart for God, about eight days from the sign of the birthing woman!
“Jesus said to them, 'I did one miracle, and you are all amazed. Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath. Now if a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing a man’s whole body on the Sabbath?'” ~John 7:21-23
The pharisees of Jesus' day held that circumcision of children should be done on a Sabbath day, which isn't written in the original law. The pharisees added to the law, and Jesus rebuked them for it. But should there be a circumcision of the body of Christ on Atonement, it will be on a Sabbath (which is Saturday), which is fascinating, as Atonement is not always on Saturdays!
The second reason why the Lord rapturing the church on Atonement makes a lot of sense is that the Great Tribulation lasts for exactly seven years, and Jesus appears in glory with His church (the second coming) on Atonement! If Jesus raptured the church in a normal year (not a Jubilee year), He would have to come again to battle His enemies on the normal Feast of Trumpets days. So what would he be doing for a week while He waited for Atonement to begin? Would He just float in the sky while Satan scrambles to gather his armies to battle? With the rapture happening on Atonement, everything suddenly fits! God comes down with His armies and us, exactly seven years after the rapture, and Satan is immediately there to face Him (he will be expecting God)! Also, on Atonement, the high priest does all the heavy lifting for the feast. He's the one who sanctifies the people and runs everything, the people just have to submit to God, that's all! With Jesus as our savior, that's especially true, as He's our perfect sacrifice before God, so we don't even have to bring animals to cover our sins. He raptures us, we don't rapture ourselves. He fights on our behalf at the second coming, we won't have to lift a finger.
Unseen Hope, the Only Kind
It's really strange to be finishing this update while the Feast of Atonement is taking place, but I had to point these things out and trust that God will use it somehow. It may seem like a stretch to have to assume that it's both a Jubilee year and that the extension of the Feast of Trumpets is true in order to believe the rapture could happen, but if it is true then so many things fall into place! We have the “missed” appointed time that reveals the hearts of mankind, the last trump blown on a feast when Jesus must return on exactly seven years later, parallels in the bible that shadow the events of the last month down to the day, the birthing timeline of the Revelation 12 sign completely reversed and consistent, and a circumcision of the flesh eight days later. Not only that, but everything else that I wrote about in my first prophecy update has not changed! In fact, everything has either stayed the same or increased in weight (as in the case of Israel and the U.N. They really ARE starting to say “peace and safety!”)
These updates were never written to predict the date of the rapture. What good would that do me? If I did that and was right, no one would care. We'd be in heaven! If I did that and was wrong, I would only heap up scorn for myself. Nor were they to win any popularity contests. No, but these are and were to turn believers and unbelievers alike back to God, and to get us ready to meet our Creator. We all need to confess our sins against God to God, so that we can receive His amazing grace, which He gives freely and abundantly to everyone who calls out to Him. Repentance is the only avenue by which we can receive that grace.
“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” ~Romans 10:9
“The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” ~2 Peter 3:9
I love you all, and can hardly wait to see what the Lord will do in the coming hours, days, and years. Who knows? This could be a Jubilee for the ages!
“For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” ~Romans 8:19-25
Reading this now, I see the Jubilee year written all over this verse! Maranatha!
Eagerly waiting for Him,
-Daniel
(09/30/17)
The Wise and Foolish Virgins
The Days of Noah
“...knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, 'Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.' For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.” ~2 Peter 3:3-7
-Update (09/03/18)
The Jubilee Year and the 120 Times
Boy, it's really hard to read a prophecy update I wrote nearly a year ago and to disagree with much of what I said then. Not all of it, but a considerable amount. That's because this update hinges on the idea that the rapture could occur on a future Feast of Trumpets OR Feast of Atonement (if the year happens to be a Jubilee year).
But, as 1 Corinthians 14:33 says: “God is not a God of confusion but of peace.” God is not trying to throw anyone off by changing His appointed times (the feasts of the Lord found in Leviticus 23). It was wrong of me to teach otherwise, and I apologize for that. Jesus will be coming for His bride on the Feast of Trumpets, not any other appointed time. Since the Feast of Atonement symbolically represents Jesus saving national Israel when He returns at the end of the seven year long Tribulation, I thought that the rapture could occur exactly seven years earlier, on another Feast of Atonement.
I now believe that the Jubilee year won't occur at the beginning of the Tribulation, but instead at the end. In fact, that's the only time the Jubilee can take place! There are two main reasons I conclude this: God's 120 “times” and the sealed scroll from Revelation.
The Final Countdown
Just before He sent the great flood to destroy all life on the earth, and before He commanded Noah to build his ark, God looked over the whole earth and saw that every person was only thinking of how to get away with doing evil things (Genesis 6:5). Then He made this statement:
“My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” ~Genesis 6:3
What does it mean for God to “strive” with humanity? This word comes from Strong's H1777, diyn, and it means to plead a cause, or also, to fight against. It's true that God has revealed His nature to all people and, therefore, His right to rule over them (Romans 1:19-21). I suppose this could be God pleading with humanity by appealing to them to turn to Him.
I think a closer match is the second definition – to fight against.
“For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” ~Romans 8:7-8
“For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.” ~Galatians 5:17
God specifically mentions the flesh of mankind when He says He will not always strive with them. I think He does that to clarify that the flesh is that with which His Spirit is striving (fighting against). People have a natural fallen tendency to make their own decisions about what is good and evil, even though God has shown each of us His moral law. When we go our own way, we rebel against Him. There is coming a time when God, not man, will be ruling on the earth. He will enforce right living by ruling with a “rod of iron (Revelation 19:15),” not allowing humanity to openly sin anymore. This time is the millennial reign of Christ, which will take place immediately following the Tribulation period (Revelation 20:4-6).
Now for the second part of Genesis 6:3: what does it mean for humanity's days to be 120 “years?” Truthfully, there are many interpretations of this passage, but I have one to suggest to you. If you look at the word for years, you'll find that it comes from Strong's H8141, shaneh, which denotes a unit (or a measure) of time. This doesn't mean a year, necessarily. Technically, it could be referring to any measure of time at all: a month, a week, a day, an hour. Some have interpreted this verse as saying that humanity's lifespan is limited to 120 years, but there have been several people who have lived beyond this age, so that can't be what the Lord meant. In fact, Genesis 9:29 records Noah's lifespan at a whopping 950 years! It also isn't an average lifespan, as most people die before they reach 120 years old.
What I suggest is this: God said that 120 “measurements of time” would take place before the millennial reign at the end of the age (the time when His Spirit stops striving with humanity). What unit of time could possibly be big enough for 120 of them to bring us to the end of the age?
It's the Jubilee year!
Remember, the Jubilee year happens every 50 years. From the time of the Garden of Eden, after the fall of humanity (when God began to strive with us) to the millennial reign, 120 units of 50 years would bring us to 6000 years. This can be confirmed with the genealogies in the Bible, which notes how long many of those people lived. Bible scholars have used these to determine that the earth should be about 6000 years old. The Jubilee year being the unit of time is further confirmed by all the signs of the end of the age (Matthew 24) currently happening all around us, getting closer and closer together, and more frequent.
Now, it's important to understand that the millennial reign doesn't start when the Tribulation period begins, but rather, when it ends! What does this mean for the timing of the Jubilee? Assuming that the Jubilee is, in fact, the unit of time God meant in Genesis 6:3, the Jubilee year will not and cannot happen until the Tribulation period ends. In other words, until the Tribulation starts, we will always be at least 7 years out from the Jubilee. This means that the appointed time of the Feast of Trumpets (which represents the future rapture of the church) is a fixed appointed time and will not be fulfilled on Atonement. The appointed times will be fulfilled in order, just as they have been up to this point!
Trumpets is the next prophetic festival to be fulfilled.
After the 6000 years are ended, the millennial reign of Christ on the earth begins. As the name suggests, Jesus' reign will last for 1000 years, making the earth 7000 years old when all is said and done. This helps to further confirm the Jubilee theory, because God often works in very poetic ways. In scripture there are patterns, cycles, and types (foreshadows) of future people and events. There are also “mirrors,” things that exist parallel to one another. One of these parallels appears to be the seven day week and the seven 1000 years of earth's history. This would make the following verse very literal:
“But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” ~2 Peter 3:8
In the beginning, the seventh day was established by God as a day of rest (Genesis 2:1-3). The last 1000 year “day” of earth will be one of rest as well, when sin will be under control, nature will be flourishing, and the world will be at peace.
Keep Scrolling...for Seven Years
The scroll from Revelation 5 is the next major piece of the puzzle, pointing us to the timing of the Jubilee. Once the church has been raptured and rescued from danger, and before the Tribulation begins, we see this scene in heaven:
Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals,for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” ~Revelation 5:1-10
In ancient days, scrolls like the one described here were used as title deeds. These were legal documents, which showed ownership of property. They too were written on the inside and outside, and sealed. This particular document is not only a title deed, but also a deed of purchase, meaning that in order to open it a price must be paid in advance. No one in heaven or on earth was able to open the scroll (pay the price) except one, Jesus the Messiah. By shedding His own blood, He bought not only the men and women who trust in His name, but also the right to rule over creation once again by setting up His kingdom. He rules with those He has redeemed! The scroll is a title deed as well as a deed of purchase for the earth! When Jesus, the Lamb, breaks the seals, judgment begins to be poured out on the world. The seal judgments lead directly into the trumpet and bowl judgments as well. Once every seal is broken, and their respective judgments are completed, the Tribulation will be over. Jesus will then have the legal right to return to the earth and begin to rule and reign.
The Jubilee year was established as the time when anyone who had lost their ancestral homeland would have their property returned to them. All debts were settled, slaves were freed, and the land rested. All of these elements are present in the breaking of the seals and are made manifest in the earth by Israel stepping into all the Lord has promised them: a secure dwelling in the promised land, becoming a blessing to the entire world, and the Lord Himself living among them as their God.
Despite the rapture being the redemption of our bodies (also purchased by the blood of Jesus), the Jubilee is not limited to it. It's the culmination of all of the redemptive works of God, and the believer's greatest hope. This is why it comes at the end of the age!
Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying, “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign. The nations raged, but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.” ~Revelation 11:15-18
Come Lord, and take what is already yours!
Eagerly waiting for Him,
-Daniel
For more on the scroll of Revelation being a title deed:
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