Previously, I had highlighted in a post that Mark Biltz, pastor of El Shaddai Ministries in Bonney Lake, Washington, was suggesting that a rare string of lunar and solar eclipses said to fall on God’s annual holy days in 2015 could herald the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jack Kelley over at Grace Thru Faith has written a response to the videos. Now, my disagreement with his take on the Rapture aside, I think he makes some valid points on the speculation that the above-mentioned phenomenon possibly points to the return of our Lord Jesus Christ in 2015.
Here’s a quote from the article:
We all think of Eternity as the final outcome, and so starting at the end and working backwards means we begin there. But the last major event described in any detail in the Bible is the Kingdom Age or Millennium, the Lord’s 1000 year reign on Earth, which is distinguished from and precedes Eternity. Simply put, Eternity can’t begin until the Millennium ends.
The Millennium obviously can’t happen till the Second Coming, because that’s when the Lord returns to establish it. And the Second Coming can’t happen till the end of the Great Tribulation. And that can’t happen till the anti-Christ stands in the Temple in Israel declaring himself to be God. (2 Thessalonians 2:4) That’s the event Jesus warned Israel to look for as the Great Tribulation’s opening salvo. He called it “The Abomination of Desolation” in Matthew 24:15-21.
But that can’t happen till there’s a Temple. There hasn’t been a Temple in Israel since 70AD and there won’t be one until the Jews decide they need one. That won’t happen until God reinstates their Old Covenant relationship, signaling the start of Daniel’s 70th week. And that can’t happen till the Battle of Ezekiel 38-39 is won, because it’s Ezekiel’s battle that officially draws the Jews back to God. (Ezekiel 39:22) And that can’t happen till the Church is gone, because the Church and Israel are mutually exclusive to Him. (Romans 11:25Â & Acts 15:13-18) And that brings us to the present, because there is no preceding event for the Rapture of the Church. It could happen at any time.
You can watch the two-part video on the discovery of the phenomenon below, then head over to read the entire article by Jack Kelley at Grace Thru Faith.
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Didn’t Jesus say he’d come as a “thief in the night”? If so, how can we make predictions? I mean, I hope he comes back in 2015. That would be great, but I’m inclined to think it’s going to be many thousands of years later…
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Thats again setting time for His coming, Casey. If He will come like a thief in the night, it can be tomorrow or probably in a week.
Happy Birthday Isaiah! =)
Sid
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Casey:
Yes, He did. At first the discovery did excite me but when I thought about it I realized that quite a few things that are in prophecy have yet to happen, so unless some things actually happen these couple of months, it’ll be a stretch.
Jack Kelley put it across quite well so I thought I’d link to his post.
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Isaiah, Am with Sidhart on this…
BTW A very HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!
wish you many more years of fulfilment in Jesus Mighty Name AmenGodbless
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Sid, I think you misinterpreted what I meant. I was merely saying we can’t know. My gut feeling is that it’s going to be a long time from now, because there are still so many people predicting that it’s going to be within our lifetimes. They’ve been doing that since the time of Jesus, and they’ve all been wrong. Of course, the whole point is that we need to be ready, and I hope we all are.
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Hi.
I’m too tired to watch the videos (I have to be at work in 8 hours…and I haven’t crawled into bed yet
But the points made in the post are interesting, if these prerequisites are correct, then (Ezekiel 39:22) may not be too far away. The passage speaks of war with Russia (Gog/Magog), no? Well, take note of Russia’s flexing of ‘military might’ of late, the ‘interceptions’ of their jets in ‘our’ airspace. Take note of the proposed U.S. missile ‘defense’ system in Poland and Russia’s reaction to it. But most interesting, take note of the Bush administration’s posturing when it comes to Iran…and Iran’s words for Israel…and that Putin (now the country’s Prime Minister…which means he’s still president) promised to ‘get involved’ if Iran is attacked. And, in case you’ve missed it, there’s been plenty of reliable chatter that Bush/Cheney has pretty much promised to attack Iran before leaving office…which may mean he may not be leaving office.
Just my two cents and purely just talk you know. I am no prophecy buff, but I pay particular attention to current events reported from and omitted by the mainstream press.
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Prophecies that stood still for years have been fulfilled in the last 50-60 years.
There is just one thing remaining: “Preach the Gospel of the Kingdom to all nations and then the end will come”.
Some may believe in Pretribulational harpazo, others in Mid-tribulational harpazo, still others in Post-tribulational harpazo.
The prophetic fulfillments in each differ.
Which ever theory it is, there is one thing that the early Church focused on “His coming”, and as you said, we need to be ready for His coming.
If you say “I have a gut feeling its many many years from now”, thats not being ready
?Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed.” [Romans 13: 11]
Sid
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LaV: You’re quite current with the news.
It does look that way from what my point of view as well. Putin is indeed still the man-in-charge. He put his former subordinate as the president and the latter immediately installed him as the PM, which says a lot.
And our reading of recent world events have been corroborated by a few observers as well, that Russia is once again a military power to be reckoned with, while the US of A is being stretched militarily and no longer feared as a military giant. If Obama enters the White House, some say that he will pull the plug on Iraq, creating a power vacuum that Iran will most likely fill.
Hezbollah has recently taken over much of Lebanon’s capital, while Hamas is re-arming. All these points to a possible concerted effort to eliminate Israel once and for all. The Arabs have learned their lessons from the 6-Day and Yom Kippur wars, and it’ll be quite a different war this time round.
Above all, the comfort we have is that God is in absolute control of everything!
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I just watched the first video. It is interesting, indeed. Not sure it’s going to mark the Second Coming, but I’m sure something big is going to happen. Perhaps the rebuilding of the Temple?
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Some folks in forums discussing this have put forward the same theory as you did, Casey. It could be, and only God knows. Whatever it is, I reckon Christians will have occasion to really welcome the year 2015.
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:-h
“Behold ye [Jews] among the heathen [Gentiles], and regard, and wonder marvelously: for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you.”
So dear reader, if you are one of the Lord’s disciples who do not believe what has been presented, don’t feel too badly. You have a Scriptural right to be a “doubting Thomas” if that is what you want. After
all, “doubting Thomas” didn’t believe until he saw the prints of the nails in the hands of the Lord Jesus [John 20:24-29], and most of the Messianic Jews today do not even believe there is going to be a rapture. But it is going to happen in spite of all the unbelief, and then you will believe.4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. I The 5:4
It is the dead church that will be in the dark. The article didn’t say it was a warning, but a watch. I think we better at least be watching… don’t you… or is it too dark where you’re at?
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Hey Isaiah,
I’ve been away from my computer for a few days so let me start by wishing you a happy belated birthday!
In response to several of the comments above about Jesus coming as a thief and Christians not knowing when He will return for them I would like to point out what the apostle Paul wrote to the Thessalonians. In 1 Thessalonians 5:1-4 he wrote:
“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 security,” 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 like a thief.”
Notice that He comes like a thief for those who are saying “peace and security” not for Christians; he says that the day of Jesus return will not surprise Christians like a thief.
I am not saying that we can know the day (the Bible clearly teaches that we cannot), but we will be able to see it approaching and we will definitely know the season.
Just something to think about.
Shalom!
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Hi, Isaiah,
It’s been a while since I’ve visited your blog since I’ve been spending more time with the LORD than with the computer, but I’m so glad I came over to your blog… your subject matter is always so intriguing.
I’ll be back soon. God bless you!
Shalom,
Deborah -
hey Chris,
Thank you for taking time to drop by, and for the birthday wishes, brother!
I agree with you and am of the same opinion that Jesus shall come like a thief in the night, but for believers we shall know the signs that indicate His impending return. Instead of being taken by surprise, we look up to our blessed hope when we see these things happen.
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
Titus 2:11-14
Shalom!
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hi Deborah!
It’s good to see you again, sister. I visited your blog a few times but it was closed for some reason. I am guessing that you have good reason to do so, and it’s a very good reason to do so!
Good to know that you are back, and thank you for your kind words of encouragement!
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BrotherMark:
Thank you for dropping by, brother! Well said, indeed, well said. We are to watch and there’s no excuse for not noticing the signs because our Lord Jesus Christ has already given us all that we need to know with regards to the season when He shall return.
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All,
I hate to dispute BrotherMark, again, but I do so as respectfully as possible as a sister in the LORD. I must dispel the rumor he heard and repeated, or the rumor he may have started.
BrotherMark,
Your comment “most of the Messianic Jews today do not even believe there is going to be a rapture” is erroneous! My mother is a Messianic Jew and is very involved with Messianic Jews all over the world. She is in full time ministry and knows a lot of the leaders in the Messianic Jewish community as well as lay ministers and congregants. And not one of them believes there won’t be a rapture. Most of them believe the rapture will occur mid or post tribulation, but all of them will tell you they’re ready whether the rapture is pre, mid, or post.
I, and they, agree with Sidharth’s May 9, 22:21, comment above.
Peace to you all – fill your lamps with the Holy Spirit so you’ll be one of the five virgins who is ready - no matter when the rapture occurs!
Deborah -
First of all I greet you in Jesus name. I visited your website and be pleased with it. Now if it can be possible we can have a Partnership with you. This will be a blessing to our Nations and even to you. I hope that the Holy spirit will explain more to you as you continue to think about it. God bless you.Any Question concerning this please contact me. Pastor Ruramutswa john from Rwanda kigali. Phon. +250 08739653 Grneral secretary Birori clement phon. +25008453840
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