The Beauty of the Word, The Glory of the Scriptures

Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, 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 incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
“O Death, where is your sting?
O Hades, where is your victory?”
1 Corinthians 15:51-55

The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
1 Corinthians 15:56-58

My friends, our Lord has defeated Death and the Grave!  Blessed be His Holy Name!

I recently posted an urgent message straight from my heart to yours.  And now, I must write to you again.  You see, this is a very holy week, and God is impressing it upon my heart to once again reach out to you and tell you why.    

This week, the Feast of Trumpets, Rosh HaShanah will be celebrated in accordance with God’s Word:

The Feast of Trumpets
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord.’ ”

This is the first of the Fall feasts, or “appointed festivals” that are celebrated by the Jewish people each year.  The Spring festivals are:

• The Passover and Unleavened Bread
• The Feast of Firstfruits
• The Feast of Weeks (Pentecost).

These Spring feasts have all been fulfilled by and through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!  Let’s see how:

• Passover involved the sacrifice of a “perfect lamb”.  The innocent lamb was slain as a substitute for the death of the firstborn, which was required as a result of the rebellion of Pharaoh against God’s Word.  As the angel of death swept through Egypt, he “passed over” any household that displayed the blood of the lamb on its doorposts.  This became a required annual feast as a remembrance of God’s mercy to His people Israel in bringing them out of Egypt and sparing their lives.
  • This holy convocation gave the Jews a picture of the fulfillment yet to come.  While a lamb can never be righteous enough to buy salvation, the death of a perfect innocent man can.  However; no man has ever lived a perfect and innocent life.  Until Jesus.
  • Jesus fulfilled this feast through living a perfect life and giving Himself as a righteous sacrifice in order to save us from the angel of death.  His blood on the cross is enough to save all of those that trust in Him.  The cross, then, becomes our doorway to salvation.

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

John 1:29

 

“And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, …”

Revelation 5:6a

• Unleavened bread speaks of righteousness and sinlessness.  Leaven is a picture of sin – working its way through the lump of bread in order to affect the entire batch of dough. 
  • Jesus fulfilled the Feast of Unleavened Bread by living the sinless life and giving His body as our spiritual food.

Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?”

Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”

Therefore they said to Him, “What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ”

Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.”

And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.
John 6:28-35 

• The Feast of Firstfruits speaks of thankfulness for the harvest that God continually brings to His people – the harvest that shows the transformation from a dead grain to the live fruit that sustains us.
  • Spiritually, we are dead in our sins.  And we cannot live without going through the death process:

But Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.
John 12:23-24

• • Jesus fulfilled this feast by becoming the Firstfruit through His resurrection three days after His death. 

Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men. But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you.”
Matthew 28:1-7

• Finally, the Feast of Weeks (or Pentecost) speaks of the harvest.  Fifty days after the Sabbath of the Firstfruits, this feast was celebrated. 
  • This feast was fulfilled on Pentecost following the death of our Lord, Jesus. 

When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Acts 2:1-4

Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.
So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
Acts 2:41-47

The next feast on the Jewish calendar begins the Fall feasts – the Jewish New Year (Rosh HaShanah, or the Feast of Trumpets).  This is feast which speaks to our sin (requiring us to realize our sin to the point of brokenness) and then immediately celebrating our atonement through God’s mercy.  Just as the Spring Feasts have been fulfilled through Christ, it follows that the Fall feasts will be fulfilled through Jesus as well.

There is good reason to believe that the fulfillment of the Feast of Trumpets will include the calling away of Jesus’ bride (His church) in order to meet Him and join Him in His wedding feast prior to His earthly second coming.  This event has been called the rapture (from the word “rapturos”. Which is Latin for “a snatching away”. 

Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, 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 incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
1 Corinthians 15:51-53

For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
1 Thessalonians 4:15-17

My friends, no one knows when this “catching up” will occur.  But many of us believe that it is coming soon.  This world will not last forever, and the Holy Scripture tells us that we must be ready and that we should live soberly, righteously and in expectation of His return. 

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.
Titus 2:11-14

I personally believe that Jesus will come for His bride as a fulfillment of the Feast of Trumpets.  It is for this reason that I am writing to you now – not as a proclamation that this is the year of our rapture (catching away), but in recognition that it just might be.  And it is my great desire that you will join me in  that blessed event!  All it takes is for you to become “spiritually engaged” to our Savior by accepting the price He paid (the dowry – His blood) for your redemption and looking forward to the fulfillment of that redemption.  I pray that you will join me!

But alas, some will not.  And for those that do not, please realize that there will come a day when multitudes will suddenly disappear from this earth.  There will be many theories regarding the sudden disappearance of many people. Some will call it a “cleansing”, while others will call the “punctuated evolution” of the Human race.  But please recognize the truth – Scripture will have been fulfilled!  For those that are still on the earth at that time – there is still hope for you!  If you are not one of those caught away to be with Jesus, you can still make a decision for His salvation!  But it will be much harder, as there will be many deceiving spirits.  Do not harden your heart against the gift of the Living God!

Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, while it is said:
“Today, if you will hear His voice,
Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”
Failure of the Wilderness Wanderers
For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses? Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
Hebrews 3:12-19

Please – do NOT lose your opportunity to join me in the wedding feast of our Savior, and its ensuing rest:

Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.
Hebrews 4:1-2

Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
Hebrews 4:11-13

I pray that many of you will read and LIVE!  My love to you all, as we enjoy the season of God’s grace and look forward to joining Him in His righteousness and His rest!  Selah!

YouJi