Monday, January 25, 2016

My Hypothesis for the fulfillment of the Fall Feasts in Revelation

I watched much of Michael Rood's Prophecies in the Fall Feasts.  He says much that I found wonderfully edifying, especially on the Seventh Trumpet.  But I disagree on the Final Week beginning and ending in Tishri, I see the Fall Feasts as chiefly the midway point.

I want to lay out my hypothesis here, and while I'll be linking to earlier posts I'm also going against some things I said before in those same posts.  My mind does change as I study more.

I have a post on how the Two Witnesses and the 7th Trumpet fulfill Yom Teruah.  And about the Rapture of The Man-Child.  But I have one thing to add for Yom Teruah.

I'm hesitant to build doctrine on Rabbinic Traditions the way Michael Rood does, but some are interesting.  One idea not gained directly from The Bible is the days of Awe which begin with Yom Teruah and end with Yom Kippur in which the gates of Heaven are open.  Well one more thing we are told about the Seventh Trumpet in Revelation 11 is that the God's Temple in Heaven and the Ark of the Covenant was seen.  Genesis 24:55 could provide a basis for a period of ten days.

2 Chronicles 31 has the first fruits of Hezekiah's harvest begin being heaped up in the third month (the month of Pentecost) and finished in the Seventh month when they are gathered up and placed in the secret chambers of YHWH's House.  The beginning of Revelation 11 tells us the city of Jerusalem will be mostly Gentiles during the first half of the Week.  At the end when most of those people believe The Witnesses after their ascension, that is when he Fullness of the Gentiles is come in.

The days of Awe are the days you can seek atonement, the Judgment is set on Yom Kippur, but it's carried out on Tabernacles.  According to Rabbinic views at least.  That can happen to fit what I will lay out below, but it's not necessary for my argument.

The main interpretation of the twin Goats of Yom Kippur is that both point to Jesus, one bears our Sins and the other's Blood is shed for them.  One is Jesus bearing The Cross the other is him On It.  Biblical symbolism can be layered however, so that preferred view need not conflict with others.

Including the possibility of seeing Satan or other villainous figures in the Scapegoat.  I've argued on this blog before about both Cain and Barnabas.  I've also thought about the Goats of the Sheeps and Goats judgment being cast out.  I really don't like the Book of Enoch's popularity, but it does reflect a possibly very old tendency to see Satan in the Azazel/Scapegoat by calling it's most unique fallen angel Azazel.

What's relevant here is IF you think such a connection is valid, it can justify seeing Yom Kippur as the day Satan is cast out of Heaven.

My study of Isaiah 14 has lead to me to a conclusion that the Eight King ascending out of the Abyss happens after, probably the same day, Satan is cast out of Heaven.  Since I made that study I no longer view his death has needing to happen during the end times.
[Update note: my perspective on Isaiah has changed rendering this point moot.]

Traditional Jewish interpretations of the chronology of Exodus say the 40 days Moses was on Mt Sinai from Exodus 24:18-31:18 were Elul and the Days of Awe.  Near the end of that period is when chapter 32 tells us they made the Golden Calf.  When Moses came down on Yom Kippur they were worshiping it.  Antiochus Epiphanes' Abomination of Desolation was set up 10 days before it was consecrated.

So connecting the Abomination to Yom Kippur could make a lot of sense.  But I still think it possible there is an abomination of sorts at the start of the Week.  But putting these pieces together really helps my theory that the Image of Revelation 13 is the Eight King.  If you're thinking "but he has to kill the Witnesses before Yom Teruah" well I think that Beast is actually the second one.  Ascending out of the Bottomless Pit can apply to both, but Apollyon is The False Prophet.

I think maybe the mortal sword wound being healed isn't a death and resurrection itself but a sign that he's already resurrected.

But for those that insist the Abomination must happen both at about the middle of the week and before the Rapture.  I would consider placing it maybe when the Witnesses die three and a half days before the Rapture.  Or maybe a week before on Elul 23 the day referenced at the end of Haggai 1.  Or maybe 10 days before, Jesus refereed to 10 days of tribulation in the message to Smyrna.  Or maybe the beginning of Elul referenced at the start of Haggai 1.  Post-tribbers think Matthew 21-28 must span three and a half years because of other Biblical importance to that time frame, but Jesus mentioned no specific time lengths.

Yom Kippur imagery possibly still exists in Revelation 14 as well.  In the past I've written off theories that the Rapture doesn't happen all at once.  I'm now more open to that but not in any sense of them being separated by years, but rather less then half a month.  The Church is caught up on Tzom Gedaliah at the latest after being glorified on Yom Teruah.  If you're not saved by the Last Trumpet it's too late to be the Bride, but maybe not too late be a guest at the wedding.  No one I think gets Raptured alive after Yom Kippur.

The Son of Man on the Cloud with the Sickle and Crown is both the High Priest and the Shekinah Glory which are prominent in Leviticus 16.  The 144,000 I see s being a specific group of Church Age believers from each Tribe of Israel, but also representing the whole in a sense.

Those who argue Jesus was born on Tabernacles (a theory I find impossible) like to Translate John 1:14 "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us," as "And the Word was made flesh, and tabernacled among us".  Well if any use of "dwell" or it's word forms can justify an illusion to Tabernacles, let's look at Revelation 13:6 talking about The Beast.

"And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven."  I've long viewed this as proof we are Raptured by this point.  Now I don't think we're at Tabernacles yet, I see this as the II Thessalonians 2 abomination event.  But it shows the conditions are in place.

One of the themes of Revelation 14 is the Grape Harvest.  The Grape Harvest has to be done before Tabernacles, Tabernacles is the festival to celebrate the Harvest.  One thing you can point out to undermine people's assumptions about how the Last Supper relates to Passover is to point out that there is no Torah basis for drinking wine on Passover or during the days of Unleavened Breast.  The only Holy Day where wine is mentioned is the Feast of Tabernacles in Deuteronomy 16.

When I was real little, I used to visualize God filling seven bowls with his Wrath as him vomiting into them.  As I got older I started thinking of that as silly and immature.  Until when I used to listen to Chuck Missler's seminars a lot how he'd cite verses I can't remember right now as saying our Sin is like a vile stench in God's nostrils.

And now I'm thinking of this Grape and Wine connection.  You know how when someone gets drunk off red wine they puke vomit that looks kinda blood red?  Well imagine then seven bowls filled with God's blood red vomit, two of which are poured into the world's water supply.  It will logically become red like blood.

The Blood=Wine connection didn't begin with the Last Supper.  It's implied in the very etymology of the Hebrew words for them according to Strongs.  It's implied in Genesis 49:11 and Deuteronomy 32:14 which refer to wine as the blood of grapes.  And Isaiah 63 which talks about Blood and Winepresses.  And it's repeated again at the end of Revelation 14, talking about God's Wrath.

Revelation 20 tells us those post Rapture Saints martyred for not taking The Mark will be beheaded.  Revelation 15 has them all in Heaven before the Bowls of Wrath are poured out.  I don't think this persecution will last very long, Revelation 13 seems to give the Beasts the means to kill most resisters pretty quickly.  I don't think any die after the Bowls have started.  Revelation 14:13 says.
And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, "Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them."
I've speculated before this could mean from here on all believers who die are resurrected and raptured right away.   But if not I think these martyrs will be Raptured when Tabernacles starts.

Does that mean I think once the Bowls start the only people on earth without The Mark are the Israelites being protected in Edom?  Maybe, maybe not.  It could be the troubles caused by the Bowls, even the first Bowl which will effect every Marked person, will hamper the beasts' ablity to kill anyone else.

John The Baptist was also beheaded, only other NT reference to that form of capital punishment, it's is pretty rare in Tanakh too, only occurrence I can recall is Jehu using it.

When I argued for Jesus being born in December, I also conjectured John was conceived between Yom Kippur and Tabernacles.  I now favor the 14th of Tishri as the day his conception process started paralleling Jesus on the 14th of Nisan- First Fruits.  Since one theme of that was Jesus being conceived at the same time frame (on the Hebrew calendar) as his Death and Resurrection, perhaps likewise John was beheaded on the 14th of Tishri.

Contrary to the Blood Moon hype, the 14th not 15th days of Biblical Months are the Full Moons.  The least important thing I'll mention in this thread is that if one model I'm speculating for when this might play out is correct, the 14th of Tishri in question will be a Lunar Eclipse.

Because I view Revelation as Chronological.  I believe the time allotted for the Bowls must span about three and a half years, the 42 months the beast reigns and 1260 days Israel is in the widlerness.  Arguments for a shorter time for the Bowls include Chris White and other Pre-Wrathers saying they're a month, Michael Rood saying they span the days of awe, and Rob Skiba saying they're all one day.  The only shorter model I could entertain is them spanning the seven days of Tabernacles.

But I've found an answer for how to bring the Tabernacles connection and spanning three and a half years together.

I've argued before the First Bowl must happen soon after The Mark is instituted.  Back then I was willing to allow half a year between them, but now I think closer to five days.  Then in my Great City post I observed how the remaining 6 bowls came in pairs.

The first Bowl I think will be the 15th of Tabernacles immediately following the Midway point drama I've just discussed.  One year later the 2nd and 3rd bowls will be poured out on the 16th and 17th of Tishri, destroying the world's water supply.

One year after that the 4th day of Tabernacles will see the Sun become really super hot.  But that I don't see lasting a long time.  In John 7 the midst of the Feast is when Jesus (The Sun of Righteousness) made his presence known.  The next day it will be blotted out, and based on Isaiah 13 that continues at least to the fall of Babylon.

One year after that, the last Tabernacles during the seven years, will see the last two days fulfill the last two bowls.

Haggai 2 refers to the 21st day of the Seventh month as a day YHWH will shake the nations.  I see that as alluding to the great earthquake of the 7th Bowl, the greatest of any in history including the more commonly quoted Sixth Seal.

Because of how Haggai 2 ties into Hanukkah and my careful reading of the Maccabees account.  I think the 21st of Tishri was actually the day the Maccabees liberated Jerusalem, but it wasn't till the 24th of Kislev that they had cleansed everything, then the following 8 days they Rededicated The Temple with a sort of second Tabernacles.  Antiochus Epiphanes did not die till awhile later, contrary to speculation I did before I read the accounts more carefully, we don't know when exactly.

As I said in the Great City post, the 7th Bowl is when Jerusalem is divided in three, and then after that God will judge Babylon.  That day is a judgment on Jerusalem, but also part of it's liberation, the beginning of it being reshaped into what we see in Ezekiel 40-48.

The eighth day I think will be Revelation 17-18 (and to an extent early 19) the Judgment on Babylon.

Esther 2:16 says Esther became the King's Wife in the Tenth Month (Tebet) of the seventh year.  It doesn't say what day.  Hanukkah begins in late Kislev but always ends in Tevet/Tebet.  The New Moon of Tevet is always during Hanukkah.

The next event in Revelation's timeline is the Marriage Supper.  Michael Rood talks about Jewish weddings being traditionally a seven day feast followed by an eighth day, thus justifying placing it on Tabernacles.  But remember Hanukkah is eight days because it was a second Tabernacles.

And The Bride of Christ is also His Temple, so it makes sense that the Feast of Dedication (which Jesus observed in John 10:22) will be the Wedding Feast in which He dedicates Himself to His Bride.

Also in Revelation 1-2 the Seven Churches (which typify the entire Church) are represented by Seven Lampstands.  Hence the importance of the Menorah to Hanukkah.  And Zechariah 4 has the two olive trees, the Witnesses next to it.  Jewish Weddings traditionally have Two Witnesses.  Jews also like to link Zechariah 4 to Hanukkah, seeing the Olive Trees on each side of the Menorah as foreshadowing the two added candles of the Hanukkah Menorah.

Jesus called himself "The Light of The World" in John 8, but He also called us in Matthew 5:14 "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid."

I disagree with the view that during this time-frame two thirds of all Jews will be wiped out in a holocaust that surpasses Hitler's.  I think that one detail of Zechariah 13 is being misused.  This will be a time that Israel (The Woman of Revelation 12) is protected in the Wilderness like in the days of Moses (which Tabernacles is supposed to be a memorial of).  There will be hardships, but I agree with those who assert that viewing the end times as God and Satan torturing the Jews until they repent is in fact a sneaky kind of antisemitism.  I believe this time results in their finally accepting Yeshua as their Messiah, but it will be what's done for them not to them that brings that about.

This isn't the final fulfillment of Tabernacles however, Zechariah 14 tells us it'll be observed in The Millennium.  And I've argued before that Tabernacles will be when New Jerusalem descends and the Eight Day when Time (as we know it) stops.  Though when I talked about that in the past I was more open to the Seven Millenniums theory that I now oppose.

I now have a follow up on the Spring Feasts.

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