The meaning behind “the thief in the night”/ Are you ready for the rapture of the Church/June 9, 2010

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 Matthew 24:36 "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

Before you read this post I want to make one thing very clear. In no way am I saying the rapture of the Church is going to happen this coming September. Yes it is possible, but we just do not know for sure. Jesus could choose to come for His Church next year, the year after, ten years from now. The point is this. We know He will come for His Bride the Chruch at some point during the Feast of Trumpet. Since we do not know what year we must do what He asks and keep on the watch. Be ready at all times so that when He does come He will find you doing His will and ready to be taken at the rapture.

Why does Jesus want us to keep our eye on the biblical calendar? Jesus wants those who are watching for His return to be ready when he comes to take the church out of the world. The only way one can do that is to know what they are looking for. It is clear as day what Christians are to look for, but I would say most Christians don't have a clue as to what the sign is. Why don't they know? I can see two reasons, first they are in a church where their pastor never teaches about the signs of the times and, second Christians are not studying the word themselves and they therefore would not know the signs. Let me help you understand  a very important message from Christ. If you understand what Jesus was talking about, it will become clear to you what you and your family should be watching for.

Many people have asked me, why waste time trying to figure out when Jesus is going to come back when, Jesus himself said no man knows. Let me quote Jesus in Matthew 24:36 so you know what I'm talking about. “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only." Now I want you to take notice what Jesus is really saying here in relation to the Jewish thoughts and Jewish traditions.

The phrase but of that day and hour no  man knows is a common Hebrew idiom for the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah. Rosh Hashanah is one of the seven Jewish Holidays, and it is known to the Jewish people as the feast of trumpets. The Feast of Trumpets takes place in the fall. In Leviticus 23 you see these feasts are appointed times established as yearly rehearsals that taught both historically and prophetically the whole plan of God. This plan included the coming of Christ and how Christ would bring redemption to all who received him. In short, God has given us his biblical calendar. Out of the seven biblical holidays the only ones left to be fulfilled are the fall feast which are Rosh Hashanah also known as the Feast of Trumpets, Yom Kippur, which is the day of atonement, and tabernacles. I am going to center on the Feast of Trumpets because on God's calendar this is the next in line to be fulfilled. Knowing this information, let me get back to Jesus’ statement in Matthew 24:36 where he said “no man knows the day or hour”.

This verse has to do with the Jewish wedding. The father had to make sure the Son had everything prepared and ready for the wedding. If anyone would ask the Jewish man when is the wedding, he would say ask my father only he knows. This was the normal practice for the Jews. That statement was a traditional response. When it came time for this wedding to take place the man would go out at midnight sound the blast by blowing the sulfur letting his bride know he had come for her. The Feast of Trumpets, or Rosh Hashanah points to the Jewish cultural evidence that Rosh Hashanah will be the appointed time of the rapture of the church. As proof of this let me now show you what has already taken place with this Jewish wedding in relation to Jesus Christ and his bride the Church.

In a Jewish wedding the Jewish woman indicates she will marry him by accepting his proposal by drinking a cup of wine he gives her. What did Jesus do with the last supper? Jesus passed a cup of wine at the Last Supper and those who drank the wine accepted being his bride.

Secondly, the Jewish man would have to pay a price to the bride's parents. What did Jesus do and what was the price he paid? Jesus paid the price for us as His bride with His own life by dying on the cross for us.

The next thing and Jewish men would do to prepare for the wedding was to give His bride a gift. What gift did Jesus Christ give His bride the Church?  Jesus gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The next thing the Jewish man would have to do to prepare for this wedding was go and prepare a place for both himelf and his wife to live in when they were married. Do you remember the words of Jesus Christ in John chapter 14: 3? Jesus said, “and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there you may be also”. This is where Jesus is right now, he is preparing the home for His church the bride of Christ.

The next thing the Jewish man would do to prepare for Jewish wedding is this, he would take a host of people with Him at midnight go out shouting and blowing the shofar for his bride. The shofar is a horn. Now read what Jesus told the Apostle Paul to write in First Thessalonians chapter 4 verses 15 through 16. Paul mentions the exact timing of this event twice! In verse 15, he says that this occurs at the coming of the Lord, and in verse 16, Christ comes down from heaven with a shout with the voice of an ark angel, and with the trumpet of God. This is the point at which time Jesus will come for us, the church, just the same way the Jewish man would go out at midnight and call  for his bride. This will be the next thing to take place on God's calendar at the Feast of Trumpets.

The next thing that would take place after a Jewish wedding, which came after the man went out to get his bride would be to spend seven days alone with his bride to consummate the marriage in their wedding chamber. When Jesus comes back for his bride the church, he takes the church to heaven for seven years. If you notice, this is the exact length of the seven-year tribulation. Listen to what it says in Isaiah chapter 26:20-21 “Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.” These are the chamber's Jesus will keep his church in while the seven-year tribulation is taking place on earth. The church, bride of Christ, will be hidden from these terrible times that will befall the earth during the tribulation.

As you can now see, everything that Jesus has done was in accordance to the traditions of the Jewish wedding which is also based on the holidays of the  biblical calendar. I want to get back to what the Apostle Paul had to say in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5:1-4 when he stated the following, “But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief”.

Paul was a Jew and he understood the signs of the times would be taking place during the times and seasons, or the Jewish holidays. In the above verse Paul eludes to the sign of peace and safety and he tells the reader they won't be in the darkness because they would be watching for these events to take place during the Jewish holiday season. When you read Genesis chapter 1 verse 14 we see the word seasons which is the Hebrew word for a pointed time. The seasons, appointed time, Paul was referring to was the actual day that Jesus was going to return on the feast of trumpets which would take place in the fall. So when Paul told the Jews you have no need that I write and to you, being Jewish they understood exactly what Paul was talking about. The only people who will be in the dark when Jesus comes on his feast will be those who do not have the understanding of the word of God in them, and do not have any understanding of these biblical matters.

Please take notice in relation to Rev. 3:3. In part of this verse Jesus tells the church at Sardis, which was considered a dead church to repent from their ways and to watch. Notice what happens when you aren’t watching? I quote, that part of verse 3 here, “I will come on the as a thief and the owl shalt not know what hour I will come upon the.” Do forget, Jesus is speaking to the dead church. What is Jesus showing us in this verse? Christ is showing us He only comes to the dead church as a thief, not to an alert and alive church, they will not be caught off guard.

In Revelation chapter 3 verses 17 through 18 Jesus is now speaking to the Church of Laodicea. This is another church that is not ready and Jesus calls this church and lukewarm church. What happens to a lukewarm church? Jesus tells us this answer in Revelation 3:16 where he says, “So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth”.  Notice in those verses Jesus tells them to go and buy white raiment that “that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear.” What most people don't understand is what this white raiment really means. Stay with me and you'll understand exactly what it is. Rev. 3:18 is another key to understanding what Jesus is showing us. I quote “I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see”.

Now I want you to tie in what is written in Revelation 16:15, by connecting this verse to Rev. 3:18, this will become clear to you why you have to make the connection. Revelation 16:15 says the following: “Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame”.

Let's go back to the Jewish traditions for a second, and I will show you how all this is ties together. During the time that the Jewish Temple was standing when Jesus was here the first time, the high priest and the captain of the guard were known as the “thief in the night” and, this is why. There were watch posts at the Temple where the priest had to be watching. One of the things they had to watch for was that the fire on the altar would not go out. This was a Godly fire that fell on the altar and it was commanded by God that this fire never go out. The priest had to watch this fire. If her priest was found to be sleeping when the captain of the guard checked on his rounds, the captain of the guard would take his torch, which was next to the altar fire, and set the priest’s garment on fire with the torch. The priest would be awaken by the fire, he would get up run through the Temple tearing off the garments that were on fire, and the shame of the priest’s nakedness would appear.

Now you see how Revelation chapter 16 verse 15 ties into what Jesus said about the Church that was dead.  Now. when you go back and read 1 Thessalonians 5:1-4  Paul says the following: “for yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night” you now know what is meant by this phrase, “as a thief in the night”. In other words, when Jesus comes back and finds you sleeping like the priest in the Temple, and obviously not on the watch, you'll end up like the priest, running in your nakedness and in shame because you were not ready for his visitation.

Now let us look at Matthew chapter 25:1-13. In these verses Jesus’ is talking to two groups of virgins. One group was ready and on the watch, they were prepared for the bridegroom to come. This is a picture of the church doing the will of the Father, This again ties in to the Jewish wedding in  keeping on the watch and the Lord coming back for his bride. Jesus said five virgins were ready and had oil in their lamps when the bridegroom came. Notice that the bridegroom comes at midnight as the custom of the Jewish wedding, notice also, he comes with a shout as with the custom. The five virgins who were ready went in to be with the bridegroom and the door was shut. This is what will happen at the rapture of the Church which we now believe will take place during the Feast of Trumpets, on the Jewish Holiday. This is why it is so important to keep on the watch at all times, especially during the Jewish Feasts.

What about the other five virgins who were not ready to go out to the bridegroom when he came at midnight? Jesus tells us they didn't prepare. These five virgins did not have oil in their lamps when he came at midnight so they had to go and buy oil to light the way. However, when they came back to the door of the bridegroom, the door was shut and the Lord said, “verily I say and to you”. “I know you not”. This is a picture of all the people who were not on the watch and are kept outside the door of safety in Christ Jesus. These five unprepared virgins is a picture of all the people who will find themselves tossed into the seven-year tribulation, because they like the priest at the Temple were fast a sleep. They like the priest were discovered by the Captain of the guard who was know as the thief in the night, or in this case Jesus Christ. As a result of you not being ready you as the priest will have been found and become naked and ashamed just like the priest did.

Now look at the message Jesus gave to us about the good servants and evil servants found in Luke 12:37-40. This is the message to the good servants. “Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through. Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not”.

In Luke 12:41-47 Jesus is now talking to the evil servants who were not doing the will of the father, they were not watching for the thief in the night. Look what Jesus said to these evil servants. “The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looked not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and he will cut him sunder, and will point him his portion with the unbelievers”. These are the people who knew better, they knew the Lord's will but they are not doing the Lord's will.

The next verse tells us in verse 37, ”and that servant, which knew the Lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes”. I ask you now, are you one of the so-called believers who are not abiding in Christ today, and you are not doing the will of the Father? We know for a fact that there are millions of people around the world who claim to be Christians but in fact are not doing the will of the Father. This class of Christians is neither doing the will of the Father or are they watching for the Lord's return as Christ asked them to do. These type of people we are told, they knew his will yet didn't follow his will.

In Luke 12 :41 Peter asks Jesus,"are you speaking this parable to us, or even tell all?”. This question goes to the core of the question who is the evil servant? Jesus answered Peter by telling him of the evil servants who do not do the will of the Father. Once again we see a group of people being split in half. First there was the ten virgins, five which were wise and ready, and the other five who were not ready and were unprepared when the Lord came at midnight. Now we see good servants watching and doing the will of the Father who will be blessed, compared to the other half, the evil servants, who know God's will, but are not doing his will, and are not keeping watch, and will be beaten.

Another very important fact to remember about the Feast of Trumpets is this, no one knows the day or hour because the Feast of Trumpets started at the sighting of the full moon. Let me explain. On the 30th of each month, the members of the high court assembled in the court yard in Jerusalem, where they waited to receive the testimony of the two reliable witnesses. These two witnesses were the people who could verify that they had seen the full moon.

At the spotting of the full moon it would allow  the members of the high court to then sanctify the new moon. This would mean that the Feast of Trumpets would begin.  The new moon is very difficult to see on the first day because it can be seen only about sunset, close to the sun, when the sun is traveling north. So, looking for a very slim, faint crescent moon, which is very close to the sun, is a very difficult thing to do. If the moons crescent was not seen on the 30th day, the new moon was automatically celebrated on the 31st day. For this reason, the Feast of Trumpets is always celebrated for two days. These two days are celebrated as though it is just one day of 48 hours. The reason that it is celebrated for two days is because if they waited to start the celebration until after the new moon and then sanctified, they would have missed half the celebration because the new moon can only be sanctified during daylight hours. The command seems to be that we know the season, as Paul stated, but not the day or the hour as we have seen in Matthew  24:32-36.

Yom Teruah, or the Feast of Trumpets, is the only Jewish Feast that we do not know the day in which to keep it, as we are not sure when the new moon will be spotted. Therefore, we have to be on the look and watch for it.  When Jesus is saying you won't know the day or the hour as recorded in Matthew 24 verse 36, He is telling us it is the Feast of Trumpets because it is this Feast and this Feast only that the Jews did not know the exact day or the hour in relation to when the full moon would be out. Hence the two-day celebration.  No one could today tell you when the rapture of the Church will happen because it could take place at any time within a 48 hour period.

At the Feast of Trumpets Jesus will return to remove his bride the Church, it will not overtake the church who is doing the will of the Father, this Church will standing on the watch for the master to return. Paul speaks of this rapture of the church in 1 Corinthians 15:51-53 where he says, behold, I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of the night, at the last trump: for the Trump shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality”.

At some point in the very near future Jesus will come out from heaven and call his bride to himself, just is in the Jewish wedding. We who are on the watch, His bride, will be ready, and we are going to be changed from these  human bodies to the heavenly bodies. The question to ask yourself at this point is, what class has Jesus placed you in?  Are you one of the wise virgins who are ready to go out to meet the Lord? Are you standing watch for him to return, or are you one of those five who are not ready and have no oil in your lamps?  Are you one of the good servants who when Jesus comes will find you standing at the door on the watch, and waiting for the master to return, or are you the evil servant who says he is a Christian but is not doing the will of the father, those of who will be accounted with the unbelievers when the master finally comes for his bride?  Wake up Church and choose what side you will be on, the light or the darkness.   If you are not a Christian I say wake up to what Jesus has shown you and repent so you can be accounted worthy to escape all the things that shall coming to pass and stand before the Son of Man, Christ Jesus. 

Technologies leading to the mark of the beast:

Read this next report first, then I will connect the dots for you. “Swipe your driver's license, look into the camera, blow into the breath sensor and — voila! — you have permission to buy a bottle of wine from a vending machine. Pennsylvania, which has some of the most Byzantine liquor laws in the nation, recently introduced the country's first wine "kiosks." If the machines are successful in their test run inside two grocery stores, the state Liquor Control Board could place the high-tech alcohol automats in about 100 others. But does anyone want to buy wine this way? It seems the answer is yes. Customers using the machine at a Giant supermarket outside Harrisburg were thrilled that it could be a permanent fixture” He is how it works. “A customer chooses a wine on a touch-screen display, swipes an ID, blows into an alcohol sensor (no contact with the machine is required) and looks into a surveillance camera. A state employee in Harrisburg remotely approves the sale after verifying the buyer isn't drunk and matches the photo ID. State officials say the process takes 20 seconds. The kiosks only take credit or debit cards, and they're closed on Sundays and holidays. A "convenience fee" of $1 would be added after the pilot phase.” Simple Brands President Jim Lesser stated, “Japan and Europe have beer vending machines, but Lesser said the self-serve alcohol concept probably wouldn't have worked in the U.S. until now. Today, he noted, Americans use kiosks for everything from buying movie tickets to checking in for airplane flights” (Bloomberg Businessweek July 8, 2010). As you can see, the way people buy products is changing very quickly. Right now they allow you to use a credit or debit card to by the wine after you have allowed a person to look at you via the surveillance camera. If this isn’t one giant leap to Big Brother I don’t know what is? Right now this is supposed to be the best secure method to by the wine, but wait, what is even better? A sure way to ID a person is to place a microchip implant in their hand or forehead. Then with the wave of your hand, while the surveillance camera is watching you, you will be able to buy the wine. Think I am kidding? This is the direction the world’s businesses and technologies are taking you. Once again we see ID’s being used in conjunction with the face and the approval of some government worker. Wake up my friends, Jesus’ warnings are in our face, and most of the world is in the dark about these things. Have we lost our minds thinking it is a good thing to allow someone behind a camera who is working for the government to approve or disprove what you can buy? This is the exact thing Jesus eluded to in Revelation 13:16-17! What do you think it means when we are told that no man will be able to buy or sell anything unless they have the mark of the beast? Let me show you another way people are being monitored.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iNSc82rttw43rBj0V93dMzho-oMwD9GQVU3G0