FORWARD 

By Donna Walton:

I accepted Jesus as my savior in March of 1973.  One of my first memories of the word “rapture” was revealed to me when I attended a Christian based movie at my local theater in the mid 1970’s.  The story line was as you would expect.  The characters are introduced and going about their daily lives.  One of the characters believes in Christ and is doing her best to convince a close family member to accept the Lord. Despite her best efforts she is not successful.  The days then unfold with daily routines and repeated and signs of the soon return of the Lord, yet these go unnoticed. Then, in the twinkling of an eye, the rapture occurs and all  believers have disappeared.  Amid the chaos and confusion the family member that refused to believe is left behind and realizes her Christian relative was right all along.  Graves have been opened, devastation is world-wide and the promise of the Lord’s return is now a reality.

Truly, I cannot imagine anything more spectacular than the rapture.  As you read the work Richard Kendrick has so carefully presented here you will soon see how magnificent this event will be and that it was, indeed, foreshadowed in the scriptures.

Richard’s work in this most recent project provides new information yet ties in previous projects available on this website.  You will be moved through scripture and word studies to understand the significance of the rapture and understand why we are, in fact, living in the last days.  You’ll understand the significance of the Jewish feasts and why the Shemitah, that occurred in 2015, did not produced the predicted economic collapse or destruction as in past Shemitah’s.

As you read this current project you will be directed back to previous projects Richard has written that provide even more details about the rapture.  You will see that this current project encompasses many of those already on his website.  In the project, “The Vision of Things to Come” his words paint a vivid picture of the instant the rapture occurs and the magnitude of this single event.  With absolute proof, Richard has scripturally documented the pre-tribulation rapture.  You’ll find all the details in the project entitled “Scriptural Evidence of a Pre-Tribulation Rapture”.  Be sure to read “The Rapture Bombshell in 2 Thessalonians!” too.  My favorite project is “Final Evacuation Orders to the Overcomer”.  I re-read this project often and hang on every word.  Even the question of what it means to be an overcomer is covered in, “The Rapture and Overcoming – Am I Ready and Worthy?”.

For the doubter or non-believer that has made it to this site please don’t turn away!  Read “Horrors Beyond Reckoning – The Coming Desolation of the Temple” and “How Can I Be Saved?”.  It is no coincidence that you are here reading these words right now.  The Holy Spirit is moving inside you and if you turn away you may not be afforded another chance at salvation before the tribulation begins.

For the non-believer left behind just know that this site was always intended for you.  You will find an explanation of what is to come in two projects entitled:  “Order Of The Judgements In the First 42 Months Of The Tribulation” and “Order Of The Judgements In The Second 42 Months Of The Tribulation”.  Save your eternal soul by following the instructions in “How Can I Be Saved?”.  Don’t delay.

After reading these projects you will see the move of the Holy Spirit in Richard’s work.  Richard has dedicated countless hours amassing these projects and they fit together like a huge puzzle providing clarity, a picture of those things that are being revealed during these last days and the things to come.

There may be some temptation as you read this project, and the others on his website, to begin to feel anxious or fearful.  Be prayerful as your read this material.  Schedule time to read without interruption and know that everything is in God’s hands.  He created the end from the beginning.  If you believe in Jesus and live the life of an overcomer you will be spared from the wrath to come.

I work in the investments field and am reminded of what I tell my client’s during difficult market periods, “It’s not the end of the world until it’s the end of the world and otherwise, it’s a market correction!”  And, when it is the end of the world we’re taken out in the rapture!  We are to “influence and occupy” until He comes.  You will simply approach each day differently after reading this.  The light will go off and you will “get it”.  Time is short.  Do not delay.

Now, dive in and begin the journey Richard has prepared for you!  In the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,

Donna Walton ~

Due to the length of this project, here is the link for a PDF version of this project with page numbers:

The Case for the Pre-Trib Rapture, Part One

What you are about to read will be one of the most mind-blowing projects ever written on the rapture of the church.  This project will detail evidences for the pre-tribulation rapture that you have likely never read before.  The subjects discussed here have been touched on by various teachers in different settings and contexts, but this project represents the first time they have all been brought together in a single resource.

One of the most unique aspects of this project will be the inclusion of the Shemitah, and the picture of the rapture that it presents.  This statement may come as a bit of a surprise, given that no prophecy teacher that I know of teaches that there is any connection of the Shemitah to the rapture.  That would include me, until now.

It is amazing what the Lord reveals, and the pictures He presents.  This project has taken many different forms.  At different times, this was going to be a Shemitah only project, a Day of Atonement only project, a Sabbath cycles only project, a Feast of Trumpets only project, an immanency only project. . .

Needless to say, it did not end up being any of these.  It ended up being ALL of these.

There are no words to describe what is contained in this project, other than “mind-blowing”.  When this project is taken with the other “mind-blowing” rapture projects on Trib Rising, the irrefutable case made here for the pre-trib rapture enters a territory for which I have no words to describe.  The case for pre-trib has passed the point of “reasonable doubt”, and even the point of “beyond a reasonable doubt”.  In other words, I can plainly and categorically declare that if you do not believe the pre-trib rapture is real after this, it is simply because you don’t want to.  I can also declare with absolute certainty that it is now fully and completely impossible to refute the total case that I have made for the pre-trib rapture.

When taken with all of the projects on Trib Rising, there is no possibility of any scholar debunking and refuting the pre-trib rapture.  You may be able to formulate a defense against some of the points (notice I did not say “prove wrong” – I said “formulate a defense” only), but you will not be able to do so on all or the points – or even a majority of them.

The most fascinating thing about this particular project is how it all started.  It came about on the heels of several very simple, very straightforward questions:

“Why did Jesus fulfill events from the Day of Atonement during His death, burial and resurrection, if we are not yet at the Day of Atonement?”

“If Pentecost was fulfilled in the upper room, then what happened to the Firstfruits of the Wheat harvest?”

It’s amazing what the Lord will answer when you are willing to ask tough questions!

At any rate, if you are new to my work and want to read all of the projects that detail proof of the pre-trib rapture, you can click on the links below.  Each of these projects have a downloadable PDF complete with page numbers.  Due to the massive volume of information, the PDF versions may be the better option.

http://tribulationrisingcom.fatcow.com/what-will-the-rapture-look-like/

http://tribulationrisingcom.fatcow.com/a-conversation-from-the-king-james/

http://tribulationrisingcom.fatcow.com/addendum-good-things-to-know/

http://tribulationrisingcom.fatcow.com/matthew-24-and-the-rapture/

http://tribulationrisingcom.fatcow.com/scriptural-evidence-of-a-pre-tribulation-rapture/

http://tribulationrisingcom.fatcow.com/the-rapture-bombshell-in-2-thessalonians/

http://tribulationrisingcom.fatcow.com/is-the-7th-trumpet-of-revelation-the-last-trump-of-the-rapture/

http://tribulationrisingcom.fatcow.com/john-angels-and-martyrs-final-proof-of-the-pre-trib-rapture/

http://tribulationrisingcom.fatcow.com/addendum-3-common-sense-the-bride-of-christ/

Here is the link to the media page, where all of the PDF links are kept.  You can find the PDF for each of the projects, and many more, listed above on this page:

http://tribulationrisingcom.fatcow.com/tribulation-rising-media-and-download-center/

Top Down, Bottom Up

Before we get into the depth of this project, we need to take a few moments and discuss something I call “top down, bottom up” (TDBU).  It is a study method that is utilized in different forms, yet has not been quantified as a single study method as of yet.  You will recognize it, however, as we go along.  You have most likely used it, or parts of it, yourself – especially if you conduct detailed studies in prophecy.  We will start by detailing the “top down” method, followed by the “bottom up” method.

In using the top down approach to study prophecy, we find that future prophetic books such as Daniel and Revelation provide the definitions and context required to understand the things we see in the Torah, and the Old Testament as a whole.  The seven feast of Israel are one such example of learning “top down”.

In top down, we can take the Book of Revelation and break it into its various pieces. We can then find those pieces in the different aspects of the feasts.  Actually, top down is demonstrated in the life of Jesus and His fulfillment of the first three feasts during His crucifixion and resurrection.  When Jesus is crucified at the exact moment the Passover lambs are being slaughtered, we are able to see top down exactly why Moses and the Israelites were required to sacrifice a lamb.  In the trial of Jesus and the release of Barabbas, we can see why the Torah required two goats on the Day of Atonement. These are two such examples of “top down”, where the later event shows the significance of the prior event.

We can take this same approach and apply it to the study of future prophetic fulfillments.

Revelation 8: 1-5 English Standard Version (ESV) – The Seventh Seal and the Golden Censer:

When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2 Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. 3 And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, 4 and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. 5 Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings,[a] flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.

When we apply top down to this passage, we find that this is a direct correlation to the Day of Atonement and the offering of the incense by the High Priest.  Incense was offered daily in the Temple, but was only offered once a year before God in the Most Holy Place.  In taking this piece and finding its corresponding piece in the Torah, it allows us to see and understand what the Torah was showing us.

Top down has become one of the best tools for studying prophecy.  While it is not called “Top Down”, the unofficial title truly describes the function of this method of study. Simply put, you use the heavenly things to define the earthly things.  You take the things which happen “up top”, and find the equivalent event “down here”.  Everything we see in prophecy has a picture in the Old Testament and the Torah.

Ecclesiastes 1:9 English Standard Version (ESV):

 What has been is what will be,
and what has been done is what will be done,
and there is nothing new under the sun.

Simply stated, the things that will happen, have happened.  That is the premise behind all prophecy.  We see this in prophecy that has already been fulfilled.  Every aspect of the life of Christ is found in some earlier event.  Every aspect of His life to come is likewise found in some earlier event.  

Top down also provides timing markers and clues to understanding some of the more difficult elements of the Torah.  The counting of the omer is one such example.  The counting of the omer is a 50 day process that starts on the Feast of Firstfruits, and ends on Pentecost.  Each day, a sheath of barley is to be counted and presented at the Holy Temple.  At first glance it seems an odd command.  However, there are no accidents in the Bible.  There is nothing written “just because”.

A detailed study of the counting of the omer and a top down approach finds the fulfillment of the counting in Revelation.  (We cover this on several other pages on Trib Rising).  The counting of the omer is the prophetic picture of the martyrdom of those that find Christ in the first 42 months of the tribulation.  Top down also reveals the counting to be a chronological, or timing marker for the overall timing of the tribulation.  Not only does it confirm the order of the rapture with regards to the tribulation, it also confirms the prophetic timing of the Ten Days of Awe – also in the Torah (the ten days beginning with the Feast of Trumpets, and ending with the Day of Atonement).  In the Ten Days of Awe we find the overall timing of events from the rapture to the Second Coming.  We will cover this in greater detail later in this project.

Top down has opened up a far deeper understanding of the Bible than any of us could have ever imagined.  This does not apply to prophecy alone, but to the entire breadth of the plan for salvation.  Because of top down, we are able to chronicle a growing body of evidence for the divinity and life of Christ as well.  As more discoveries are made that prove the existence of Israel during Biblical times (contrary to the claims of those that deny Israel’s right to the Holy Land) and of yet older manuscripts of the Bible, so emerges more confirmed evidence that Christ did exist, and that He was indeed who He said He was – and is.

However, top down does have limitations in what we can learn.  Rather, it’s not that there are limitations – it’s that top down is only half of the learning equation.  To truly open our understanding of the scriptures, and specifically prophecy, we must bring in the other half of the learning model.  This is something I call “Bottom Up”.

In top down, we use the events in heaven to define the nature and purpose of the things on earth.  Top down gives us the “why” when it comes to things such as the feasts and the Law of Moses.  However, there is another consideration when it comes to the Torah:

Hebrews 8: 1-5, 23-24 English Standard Version (ESV) – Jesus, High Priest of a Better Covenant:

Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2 a minister in the holy places, in the true tent[a] that the Lord set up, not man. 3 For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. 4 Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. 5 They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things.

23 Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

24 For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.

In these scriptures we have the justification for top down.  It tells us that the things on earth are the copies of the heavenly things.  This is what allows us to use the heavenly things as the model for what is yet to come.  However, in these same scriptures we also find the justification for going “bottom up” in our studies as well.

There is something that needs stated before we continue.  It is not possible for the things of God to be duplicated on a one to one ratio, or basis.  In other words, imperfect men cannot perform the perfect things of God.  As such, singular pictures in the heaven are broken down into multiple pieces on earth.  What exactly does this mean?  That question is best answered with a question:

Have you ever wondered why the Law of Moses consists of over 600 commands, yet Jesus said they could be summed up into one command – to love others as we love ourselves?

How is this even possible?  It comes down to a simple premise.  There is no law or command of God that is given “just because”.  Every last one has a common sense purpose and reason.  Each law teaches us something about God, and reveals something about Him.  In each law, love for others is the overarching theme.  

For this reason, God gave us the Bible.  In its pages, we see the many small pieces of the much larger puzzle.  The seven feasts are a prime example of this.  In the feasts are the picture of humanity, redemption from sin, and the coming Kingdom.  However, everything we see in the seven feasts could not be rolled into a single feast that presented the total picture contained in all seven.  If they could be rolled into one feast, the Lord would have done just that.  There are additional reasons for the number seven, but for this discussion, the point is this – it takes more than one feast.  Imagine – a single feast that matches in perfect detail all of the events we see play out in Revelation!

Instead, we get the Passover Lamb during the Feast of Passover.  In this feast we see the defining elements of what Christ would do on the cross, given over 1,500 years prior to Moses and Israel.  This is followed by Unleavened Bread which defines the burial of Christ for three days.  This was followed by the Feast of Firstfruits, which encodes far more than we have the time to cover in this project.  The point is this.  We have three feasts which encode and define the events that transpired over three days in Jerusalem. They involve the life of one Jewish carpenter.  Yet, they encode the salvation of all mankind.  They even set timing markers that we will cover later in this presentation.

This was three days that could not be encoded in a single feast.  It was a singular event in the life of Christ.  Yet, imperfect men cannot duplicate the perfect things of God.  So, smaller pieces of a larger picture are required.  This becomes especially evident when you get into the prophetic impact of these three feasts, and how they weigh on the things that are yet to come.

With that said, here is where bottom up comes into play.  We use top down to give us the context for the feasts, the Law of Moses, and the Torah.  However, this is only half of the equation.  This does not answer all of the questions.  Here is what I mean.  

Let’s use the first three feasts, and the scriptures given above as an example.  When you take the full reading and context of the scriptures, you notice something.  Hebrews talks about Christ entering the Heavenly Temple and sprinkling the furniture with His blood.  Here’s the problem.  That is an act encoded in the Day of Atonement – a feast which has not yet been fulfilled.  It seems that something is out of order.

Furthermore, a detailed study of what is revealed in Hebrews tells us that this series of events actually happened on the Feast of Firstfruits!  Literally, we have the merging of three separate feasts into a single moment – Passover (the blood), Firstfruits (the offering at the Temple) and Atonement (the cleansing of the Most Holy Place from sin).

This can be confusing for those that are new to prophetic studies.  Likewise, they are confusing if you practice a top down approach alone.  As we stated earlier – top down gives you the context for the things practiced on earth.  However, our scriptures from Hebrews reveal the second piece of the puzzle.  Inasmuch as the things on earth are the copies of the things in heaven, then we need to take the individual pieces of the earthly things and place them in their proper perspective with regards to the heavenly things.

In other words, we use top down to give us the overall context for the study and understanding of the feasts, Law, and Torah.  This context tells us where each of the earthly things go in the heavenly picture – the actual picture.  So, now armed with the proper context for each of the feasts, for example, we can now go “bottom up”.  We can take the earthly event, and fit it into its proper place in Daniel, Revelation, Matthew 24, Luke 17, etc.  Though the context is found “top down”, the definitions given in the feasts, Laws and Torah themselves must also be known and understood.  You see, in the example of the feasts, there are requirements and pieces which are the specific definitions needed to understand the things in Revelation.  These definitions are required to understand the meaning behind why we see the things in Revelation.

When we do this, the answers to some very tough question emerge.  How does the Shemitah come into play with end times prophecy?  Does the Shemitah show us the rapture?  Why does Atonement show up in more than just the Day of Atonement?  How does immanency reconcile with the Feast of Trumpets?  (Hint – While “no man knows the day, nor hour” does come from the Feast of Trumpets, what it actually means is nothing less than a bombshell, and I am NOT talking about narrowing the rapture down to a set two day block every year.)

Why are the saints in white raiment prior to chapter six, as opposed to white robes after 6:1?  What is the significance of the white stone and the new name?  What is the significance of the order of events given in Revelation?  Is Revelation chronological?  All of these questions, along with numerous others, are best answered in the bottom up approach.

These are just a few of the questions that we will address in this study.  It should also be noted that when prophecy is studied “top down, bottom up”, it will NEVER contradict ANY single scripture, or block of scripture.  It is the truest fulfillment of the words of Isaiah:

Isaiah 28: 9-13 King James Version (KJV):

9 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.

10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:

11 For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.

12 To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.

13 But the word of the Lord was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

This is a lot of information to take in.  Also, if you have never thought about this type of learning, or attempted to quantify exactly what you were doing when you utilized these particular tools, then you may still be a bit hazy on exactly how this works.  Rest assured that by the time you finish this project you will understand exactly how “top down, bottom up” works.  We will refer back to TDBU at various points in the project, and show exactly how it reveals the answers to some of the toughest questions we are asking.

With that, let’s move forward!

The Importance of the Rapture

This project deals with seldom understood principles behind the rapture.  These principles tell us what the rapture is, the feast in which it occurs, and why there is no possibility outside of the pre-trib rapture.

The rapture is viewed by many believers as nothing more than a minor event of little significance.  Sadly, this is true among many in the pre-trib camp itself.  Likewise, the treatment of the rapture is even worse among those that claim, mid-trib, post-trib, and pre-wrath points of view.  In their eyes, the rapture is a secondary event in occurrence and importance – after the rise of the Antichrist!  In other words, they place more prominence and importance on Satan than the Blessed Hope of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

What does this say to the world about Jesus Christ?  Imagine how it must look to outsiders when they see those that are supposed to have Christ spending all of their time and energy concentrating on an enemy that is supposedly already defeated.  Yet, that is exactly what these positions hold.

The rapture is the single greatest event in all of history, outside of salvation.  Yes, this includes the tribulation, the Second Coming, and the millennial reign of Christ.  Here is why.  First and foremost, it is the most direct fulfillment of this scripture:

Hebrews 11:1 King James Version (KJV):

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

The rapture is about faith.  Not the faith that so many try to substitute, but the full and abiding “holding fast” to something that we have no earthly reason to believe.  We have no reason to believe, as the rapture comes at a time when there is no evidence for its coming.  Here is what I mean.

Obviously, we can look to the times before us and surmise that the rapture is at hand.  However, what we see happening is NOT a sign of the rapture.  It is a sign of the tribulation.  The rapture is understood to be at the door because the Bible sets its timing to the moments before the start of the tribulation.  That is also the point.  And, when we see these things coming to pass, and we know the tribulation is at hand, where will our eyes rest?  Will they rest upon the soon return of the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ?  Will they rest on the Blessed Hope, to the forsaking of all fears?

Or will they rest upon the doom, death and destruction to come?

Will you trust in yourself, and the things you can see and touch?  Or will you read the scriptures, take them at their words, and look to a better hope?  The rapture is about the things we can see, yet trusted not in them, but in the promises that the Lord delivers to us.

John 20:28-30 English Standard Version (ESV):

28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? 30 Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

The rapture is the single greatest event in history precisely because it DOES require a full and abiding faith.  Not only that, but it requires a quantifiable faith.  It requires you to make actual decisions NOW, that will literally put your life in the hands of the Lord.  It requires you to bank on the Lord now, trusting in Him alone.

If you are truly pre-trib, then you have arrived at a simple decision.  You will not be swayed by fear for the things you see coming.  Instead, you will push through those fears, and keep working for the kingdom TODAY.  That is the biggest separation between those that have the Blessed Hope, and those that do not.

Those with the Blessed Hope use all available time and resource today.  They do not hold back that which is the Lord’s today, in an effort to save their own lives tomorrow. To those with the Blessed Hope, there is only today.  Today is the acceptable day.

Luke 17: 32 ESV:

Remember Lot’s wife. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it.

For the pre-tribber, it is really quite simple.  If the promises of the Lord are truth, then tomorrow is in the Lord’s hands already.  So, we can either put a full and abiding faith in the Lord today, taking no security for ourselves – or we can cut short the Lord’s provision for the salvation of others, for the saving of our own lives tomorrow.

Matthew 6:25-34 English Standard Version (ESV) – Do Not Be Anxious:

25 Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?[a] 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

34 Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Did you know that these scriptures were never deleted or negated anywhere in the Bible?  Read them closely.  Do you see an expiration?  Can you find a single scripture that EVER suspends them simply because the tribulation arrives at your doorstep?

We can go one better on this.  Read Revelation chapters two and three – the letters to the seven churches.  Consider closely what you are reading.  Can you find ANYTHING in those two chapters that EVER takes the emphasis off working today, in favor of safety tomorrow?

There is a reason why the answer is “no”.

I have covered this premise on Trib Rising more times than I care to count.  It still holds true, nonetheless.  It takes no faith to look to the rapture AFTER the tribulation has begun.  Any man can have faith in something he can see in his own hand.  Yet, to have faith in that which is not seen is quite another matter.

The rapture is a reward for faith.  That is something we need to address.  Specifically, the faith component to the rapture WILL be fulfilled.  Here is what I mean.  You will either have a full and abiding faith for the Lord now – of your own accord, or you will be left behind and forced into a situation where full and abiding faith is ALL you have left.  That is what the tribulation will be for those left behind – which will include many that thought they had things all figured out.

Sadly, we have covered in great detail where those in the Body of Christ are that are guilty of the most egregious of offenses – those found in Hebrews 10 – will be outright destroyed at the rapture.  We cover this in “The Devil’s Body Count” and “The Vision of the Things to Come”.  Yet, there will be a number of our brothers and sisters that will enter the tribulation because their faith was lacking.  We cover this in “The Final Warning”.

http://tribulationrisingcom.fatcow.com/the-revelation-of-the-rapture-and-the-beginning-of-sorrows/

http://tribulationrisingcom.fatcow.com/the-devils-body-count/

http://tribulationrisingcom.fatcow.com/the-final-warning/

Why should the rapture be a reward for faith, as opposed to a reward for salvation?  For starters, salvation IS the reward for finding Jesus Christ. However, in the days leading up to the tribulation, there is more than ample history, time, modern events and signs from the Lord declaring exactly where we stand in history.  Those in the Body that have been faithful in the study, service and relationship will know the truth of the days, and will know the truth of the Blessed Hope.  Now, catch this – it’s not because they can read that they know. Anybody can learn to read.

It’s that where there is the kind of faith necessary to have the Blessed Hope, there also exists the faith to have a full and abiding relationship with the Lord.  This means that those with the Blessed Hope also have an active and full relationship and fellowship with the Lord.  The guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit is a daily part of their lives. As such, they are not swayed by the winds that blow. They have a solid and consistent relationship with the Lord.  Therefore, their faith and understanding is just as solid and consistent.  It does not ebb and flow.  It remains strong and unbending.

This means they are not caught off guard by strange doctrines and revelations.  It means that they don’t bend with every breaking news story.  It means that the Blessed Hope remains their central focus, and as such, the work at hand remains their central focus.  If you take a step back you can see it, especially on social media.

Watch the comment threads sometime on stories shared among believers.  This will always reveal the truth of the matter.  The most consistent and assured in their faith will ALWAYS be those with the Blessed Hope.  They are also the hardest to shake loose. There is a reason for this.  Do not miss what I am about to say next.

I have the Blessed Hope not because I listened to some man, and parroted his words.  I think Trib Rising more than slaughters the notion that I cannot think and research for myself.  Clearly I know how to read, and do so.  I have the Blessed Hope because the same faith required for such a hope also manifests daily in my life, and does so exactly how the Bible declares it will manifest.  In other words, the Lord proves the Blessed Hope to me personally (as He promises to do with anyone that will but trust Him over their own flesh and understanding) on a daily basis in all aspects of my life.  Remember, the rapture is a reward for faith.  That means such faith must be present and active in your life PRIOR to the giving of that reward.  When such faith enters your life, it will manifest in ALL other areas of your life.

That is the difference between those with the Blessed Hope, and those without.  Those without can be blown like the wind.  We cover that as well in the “Body Count” project. Jesus specifically addresses this when He speaks of John the Baptist.  I see this all the time.  Believers of weak faith get caught in the wind, and spend hours, days and weeks chasing every last breeze that blows their way.  Sadly, this has led to an epidemic where the Body of Christ has, on balance, become the one group most guilty of the very first sin – desire for the “forbidden fruit”.

How many of you spend more time chasing conspiracies than reading the Bible and in prayer?

Let me ask you this.  What exactly will happen if you do reach that last piece on the top branch?  The last time I checked, the Lord had already given us His revelation on the end times.  Ironically, it is called just that – Revelation.  What exactly will change if you find that one final piece?  Do you think that Satan will suddenly relinquish command of the earth over to you?  The last time I checked, the Bible said the the Lord alone lifts kings up, and tears them down.  Satan may have his choices, but it is the the Lord alone that gives the final “yes” or “no”.

I have covered this before, and I will cover it again.  Where is your heart these days?  It breaks my heart to see so many that have been to the cross so focused on Satan, and what he will do.  Here is a newsflash.  Never in the Bible is ANY time period in the tribulation EVER ascribed to Satan.  He does not set the agenda.  He can only react to what the Lord allows him to react to.  The Bible does indeed tell us that his wrath will be great during the second 42 months of the tribulation.  However, to not only declare this time HIS time, but to actually reorder Revelation to give Satan equal billing with God is beyond unconscionable.  The second 42 months is not, nor will EVER be the time of Satan’s wrath.  It may come during this time, but it is the time of GOD’S wrath alone. Only God sets the timing and agenda.  Only God Himself sets the calendar.

Only God defines the times and seasons.

Yet, so many of our brothers and sisters cannot take their eyes off of what Satan will soon do.  That is the very definition of a lack of faith.  If you have the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ active in your life, then why the focus on Satan?  The Blood of Jesus has broken Satan.  Yet, if you cannot trust that blood enough to wager your own life on it. . .

Real faith banks on Jesus, His Blood, and His promises WELL in advance, and leaves NO room for ANY plan B.

There is no “I will hope for the best, yet prepare for the worst”.  Talk about lukewarm.  If you have Jesus, then it’s time to put your money where your mouth is.  Nothing says “lack of faith” like “I will have a backup plan in case God fails. . .”

To the Church in Laodicea:

14 And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation.

15 ‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. 17 For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.

Talk about lukewarm!

It also bears mentioning that verse 18 should scare the daylights out of these folks.  I cover this in detail in “Bodycount”.  Verse 18 speaks SPECIFICALLY to those in this camp – those that are banking on a “plan B” – just in case.

Remember, the scriptures above are from Revelation, chapter three.  There are no accidents in the Bible, nor errant orders to the things given.  There is a reason that this is the last warning given to the church just before the rapture occurs at verse 4:1.  Before you jump on the whole “4:1 is not the rapture” thing – save your strength.

I deal with that in more detail than you can refute in “John, Angels, and Martyrs – Final Proof of a Pre-Trib Rapture”.  If you want to take exception with this statement, you will need to go read that project first.

http://tribulationrisingcom.fatcow.com/john-angels-and-martyrs-final-proof-of-the-pre-trib-rapture/

Before we move forward, I want to share an excerpt on quantifiable faith found in the project in tithing.  It will help to cement the understanding of why faith if so critical to the rapture.  Although the excerpt centers on tithing, you will see its relevance to this discussion.

“Specific and quantifiable – that is what tithing is.

Tithing, unlike many other areas of faith, is not an abstract expression of faith that brings an abstract fulfillment.  It is easy the have an abstract faith, a faith that does not require concrete results.  We can say that when we die we will go to heaven.  This is easy, as there is no danger of being put to the test before we die.  There is no chance to be declared a liar, proven false, or required to show in quantifiable terms that your faith is true.

This is a real faith to be sure, but it is abstract and not quantifiable while we yet live on earth.  It is a future fulfillment of a future event.  It does not require that you provide a definitive proof now.  This is why anybody can speak these words.

This is credit based faith.  It is “buy now” based faith.  You buy it now, and pay later so to speak.  There is nothing to which the believer is required to step out on “the ledge”.

However, much like the pre-trib rapture, tithing is a verifiable quantity.  What makes tithing so different, is that it is a defined and quantifiable act of faith.  The Bible declares that if you do this specific thing, then you can expect this specific result.  When you tithe, you receive a quantifiable and verifiable response now, and not many years in the future.  The Lord’s response to your tithing comes in real time, for all the world to see.

Tithing is an act of faith that requires an accounting now.  That is what makes it so dangerous to so many believers.

Quantifiable and verifiable faith requires the willingness to get called on what you believe.  It requires a willingness to get called on a lack of results.  It is an iron-clad result that can show the believer to be lacking in their walk with the Lord.

Stated differently, it is a spotlight on the soul of the individual believer.  If you fail to produce the promised results, then it becomes a clear indication that there is something wrong – and it is not the Lord!

Just as many believers are falling into fear and disbelief, attempting to turn to their own devices to save themselves during the tribulation, tithing requires that you stand on full faith in God now, before the benefits of that faith are realized.  Either you are willing to stand on the promises of the Lord and act in faith on His word, or you will fall into the “tomorrow” pattern, where all of your faith will stand “tomorrow”, while never being required to stand today.  For the record, if you are a believer that is trying to prep your way through the tribulation, to get “prepared” – let me help you with something.

It is the complete and total wrath of God.  It cannot be prepared for.  It cannot be mitigated.  It cannot be stopped.  It is His wrath, and it is reserved for His enemies.  If you find yourself in the tribulation, it means that you missed the one and only thing you actually could have done. . .

Overcome.”

Healing is another example of abstract faith.  I know that seems incorrect – but bear with me.  There are many believers that will declare that the Lord heals.  They will ask for healing, and pray for healing for themselves and others.  Yet, in their heart it is not the miracle of healing they are looking to.  It is the natural healing that will automatically come even if a single prayer is never uttered.  There is a true doubt in their heart that miracle healing will come.  So, they go through the motions hoping for healing – rather than standing on the faith in the healing of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Stated differently, they will pray a prayer for an abstract healing from an abstract faith. Yet, they will never dare to lay hands on the sick.  Even though it is the Lord that tells us when to do such a thing, they will be filled with a doubt that convinces them that the voice of the Lord is not really His voice.

That is abstract faith – a faith that will never risk looking like a fool.

With all of that said, we must address another aspect of the rapture, specifically the pre-trib rapture.  It is more than a faith-based event.  It is the key piece to the fulfillment of a number of events taken from the Old Testament.  Stated differently, without the pre-trib rapture there can be no fulfillment or completion of the Law of Moses.  I am going to bring in a section from the “Coming Signs” project that details the different aspects of the Law of Moses that requires a pre-trib rapture.  Again, without the pre-trib rapture, none of what you are going to read is possible.

Here is the excerpt from “Coming Signs”.

“To complete this process, we must first define the other fulfillments of the Old Testament that occur in the Book of Revelation.  To do this, we must understand something.  The Book of revelation is full of events and imagery that are rooted in the Old Testament.  These are the proofs to many things in prophecy, first of which is the timing of the rapture or the Great Assembly.

Among these proofs are the opening and closing of the Temple doors.  The doors show us the start of both the morning and evening services at the Temple.  Also, the silence in heaven lasting for the space of about half an hour occurs also in the earthly Temple on the Day of Atonement.  The half hour of silence occurred when the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies. The silence was linked to respect and the need to listen for the telltale ringing of the bell, which would indicate if the High Priest was successful in his efforts – or if the Lord struck him dead for being less than properly prepared.  We see additional proofs in the white stone, the new name, the secret manna, the white raiment and the white robes as well.  These are proofs of three different fulfillments from the Law of Moses – the seclusion of the High Priest in the days between the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement.  Likewise, they also show the course of priests coming on duty in the Temple, and the initiation of the new order of priests as well.

There is a premise that we need to address, and it is touched on in other sections of this site.  From the rapture to the Second Coming there must be a total of eight days, or eight years in order to fulfill the Law of Moses.  More specifically, there must be a minimum total of ten days (Ten Days of Awe) from rapture to judgment with the rapture being the first day (Feast of Trumpets) and the judgment being the tenth day (Day of Atonement).  That leaves a total of eight days, or eight years that must be fulfilled between the rapture and the Second Coming.

So the question becomes how to get eight plus days from a seven year tribulation (a full eight years is required with the Judgment of Nations occurring not until the tenth day has begun, or the Day of Atonement).  We have already touched on the additional 30 days at mid-tribulation in the section on the timing of the tribulation, which puts the grand total at a minimum of 2,550 days. However, there is one thing that many simply never consider when studying prophecy:

Unless the rapture and the confirming of a covenant with many occur on the exact same day, the tribulation begins sometime after the rapture.  Each day that separates the two events – combined with the separation at the mid-tribulation point –  puts us one day closer to the eight day requirement.”

Here is a link to the page detailing the timing of the tribulation:

http://tribulationrisingcom.fatcow.com/the-timing-of-the-tribulation/#.U4Uo-vldWSo

“So, does the Shemitah – or yearly Sabbath cycle – fit the other fulfillments of the tribulation?

(We will address the Shemitah and Sabbath cycles in the next section of this current project).

The last thing that must be understood – and the most enlightening of them all – is that when we look at the Sabbath cycles in relation to the other fulfillments that occur with the rapture and the tribulation, we see that they not only fit – they are absolutely critical to those fulfillments.

Stated differently, when we apply the current Sabbath cycle to the coming years, we see that they complete a perfect prophetic alignment for the prophecies detailed in Daniel and Revelation.  Let’s take a look at these additional fulfillments and an overall timeline for the period from the rapture to the Second Coming.

Here is the first of two timelines of the fall feasts declared in the Law of Moses:

This timeline shows just the Biblical requirements for the appointed days for each feast.  It also shows the singular distinction of the Day of Atonement as a “Sabbath of rest”. That makes Atonement the only feast day to have the same designation as the weekly, or seventh day Sabbath.  This is a prophetic reference to the future significance of the feast.

It tells us that the Day of Atonement was set as the day of the Second Coming when the Lord declared it to Moses.

It is the Second Coming which begins the seventh and final day of creation, or the last 1,000 years.  That would be the final Sabbath, served in perpetuity throughout the whole of the millennial reign of Christ.  Likewise, this goes hand in hand with the perpetual celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles, or the feast of the coming Kingdom.

The second graph shows the imposition of the 10 days of awe, and how the two Sabbaths, the eight days from the rapture to the Second Coming, and the Day of the Lord fit into the days of the fall feasts.

The two Sabbath days in the final week of the age also stand as a memorial to what once was is that which shall be.  It represents how the world started from a state of rest in the beginning, and how it will be returned to a state of rest in the end.  It likewise shows God’s full and final power, even during the darkest times in the history of humanity.  It is a declaration to the world that no matter how bad the days become, there is a rest in the Lord coming.

The following two graphs demonstrates ten separate fulfillments that match perfectly with the Sabbath days falling on the first and eighth days between the rapture and the Second Coming.  It shows that the Sabbath cycle is the last piece of the puzzle for understanding God’s final timing on the coming tribulation.

It must be remembered that all parts of the Law of Moses must be fulfilled.  Most are fulfilled with Messiah.  However, there are parts that cannot be fulfilled by Messiah. These include the appointed days of the feasts, to include the days between the feasts, the parts of the Law that specifically require the congregation to fulfill, and the Sabbath cycle which was given in the Law of Moses before any of the seven major feasts were established, save Passover.  These are timing fulfillments, and require time to transpire to check them off the list.

It should be noted that what you are about to see is also ironclad proof of the pre-tribulation rapture.  In fact, none of these fulfillments are possible without it.

 

Here are the ten separate fulfillments that coincide with the coming Sabbath cycle.

The Sabbath Cycle:

The first timeline is simply showing the coming Sabbath cycle, starting with the final year of the prior Sabbath cycle.  This timeline replays every seven years.  It shows the Sabbath on the seventh year of the prior cycle, followed by the seventh year of the future cycle.

It also shows the Sabbaths falling on the first and eighth days of the eight years from the rapture to the Second Coming.  This is also a prophetic reference to the coming perpetual fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles, which also declares a Sabbath on the first and eighth days.

Also, it should be noted that the fulfillment of the Sabbath requires two things.  It requires the ceasing of all work and a Holy Convocation, or a Holy Assembly.  We will see that several of the fulfillments of the tribulation provide that both requirements are met.  In fact, it is the Sabbath requirements for a Holy Convocation which shows us prophetically that the first and eighth years from the rapture to the Second Coming MUST be Sabbath days in heaven.

We will detail the relationship between the Sabbath day and year on earth and the Sabbath day in heaven to a greater degree at a later date (that would be the current project that you are now reading).

Great Assembly of Israel:

The second timeline shows the Great Assembly.  The Great Assembly was convened every seven years.  It was a declared Sabbath of Rest, making it a perfect fit with the coming Sabbath cycle.  It was a one day assembly.

What made the Great Assembly different from the Assembly in the other six years was the attendance of the King, as well as the attendance of the women and children.  In the Assembly that occurred the other six years, it was the men alone that were required to attend.  In the Great Assembly, however, it was the entire congregation that was called to the Temple.

As we said, the King himself attended the Great Assembly.  It was the King that actually sounded the call of the two trumpets as well.  He would blow two gold trumpets – the first to raise the camp, or “awaken the dead” (actually called “awakening the dead” in ancient Israel) – and the last trump to order the camp to “come up” to the Holy Temple. There would be a very short space between the two trumps – just enough time to throw on your coat and head for the door.

Once assembled, the scroll of the Law would be passed among the priests and the Assembly, with none being worthy to open it.  It would then be handed to the High Priest, which handed it to the King.

It was the King alone that was worthy to loose the seal thereof.

The Active Course of the Priesthood:

In the days of the Temple, there were 24 courses (or shifts) of priests that traded duty in the Temple.  Each course would serve the official functions of presenting the offerings and sacrifices during their tour of duty.  Each course was on station for a week, and would be called twice a year to serve.  They would serve the other functions, such as the Sanhedrin, during the remainder of the year.

The course of priests that were next to serve would be summoned to the Temple, arriving hours before the Sabbath would commence.  They would prepare and purify themselves, and dress in the white raiment of their office.

In the early hours of the Sabbath they would relieve the current course of priests and start their tour.  They would remain in the Temple for the next seven days, meticulously attending to the requirements of the Lord in His Holy Temple.

The Following Sabbath, in the early morning hours, they would be relieved by the oncoming course.  Once relieved, they would gather on the eighth and final day of their tour (the Sabbath Day that they were relieved) and sit together for a final meal at the Temple.

After this final day they would depart the Temple for home.

The High Priest and the seclusion for Atonement:

After the Feast of Trumpets, the High Priest would need to prepare for the upcoming Day of Atonement.  This was the feast of the judgment, and it was the most solemn of all the feasts.  It was the day where all of the sins of Israel would be atoned for the following year.

If the High Priest was less than deadly serious, or ritually unclean in ANY way, the Lord would strike him dead when he entered the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement. This is the only day of the year that any human was permitted to enter the presence of God.

When the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies, there would be complete silence throughout the entire Temple, lasting the space of half an hour – the length of time required for the process in the Holy of Holies.  The silence was more than an issue of respect – it was practical.  The priests and Jews were listening for the telltale sounds of small bells worn by the High Priest.

If the bell was sounded the priests would know that he had fallen.  Likewise, they would know to pull on the rope also attached to the High Priest.  If he died in the Holy of Holies, the other priests could not – under any circumstances – go in and get him.  They had to pull him out.  If they entered the Holy of Holies for ANY reason they would also be struck dead.

If the High Priest was ritually unclean, or if he missed any part of the process (or performed it out of order) he was finished.  It is understandable that the current High Priest would be interested in getting the process exactly right.  Likewise, even if he got the process exactly right, and remained pure – if his heart was not exactly right then the sins of Israel would not be atoned.  He would emerge from the Holy of Holies – and Israel would be set for a really bad year.

So, to prepare for this most important day, the High Priest would go into seven days of seclusion after the Feast of Trumpets.  While in seclusion he would read the Law and remain clean.  On the eighth day he would emerge.  He would gather with the rest of the priests for a meal, and then prepare for the following day’s activities.

On the 9th day (day 10 of the 10 days of Awe) – the Day of Atonement – he would emerge publicly before the Assembly.  He could not be touched as he had not yet ascended to the heavenly chamber – and before the presence of God.

Once the process was complete he could be touched.  Likewise, the High Priest would now depart the Temple and begin the administration of the coming year which he had just atoned for.

Initiation of the New Order of Priests:

The process to become a priest was not an easy one in ancient Israel.  There were nearly 200 hundred issues that could disqualify you from serving in the office.

Upon the acceptance for service, the new initiates would be summoned to the Temple in the hours before the Sabbath.  As it was with the active course of priests, the new initiates would be prepared to start a process that lasted seven days, or Sabbath to Sabbath.

They would ritually clean and dress in the white raiment of the priesthood, being given a white robe made one ritually clean.  Likewise, they would be given a white stone and a new name.  They would go “on duty” with the active course of priests and complete the process.

At the conclusion of the week, on the following Sabbath, they would likewise be relieved.

If all was right and acceptable, they would record their new names of the priesthood in the Temple register and the city register of Jerusalem.  If not, they would be stripped of their white stone, have their name stricken from the books and their white robe would be taken.  They would be dressed in a black – or “dirty” robe – and cast from both the Temple and Jerusalem into the outer darkness.  The gates would be shut and locked behind them.  

The successful candidates would then join the course of priests for the same eighth day meal in the Temple.  Following the meal they would depart the Temple and begin their new lives in the service of God – now a part of the “kingdom of priests” in His service.

Jewish Wedding:

This is perhaps the most known and understood of the fulfillments in the Old Testament present in the rapture and tribulation period.

(What about the betrothal and price paid for the bride?  Do you want to elaborate on that here?)

After the long wait, the Father tells the Son that the preparations are complete.  The Son has used his learned skills – such as carpentry – to build the bridal chamber at the house of his Father.  It is the room – translated “mansion” many times in the English – where the Bride and Bridegroom will hide away for seven days.

The Bridegroom sets out to retrieve his Bride.  Usually occurring at night, the bridal party (friends of the Bridegroom) announce shortly in advance of his arrival “the Bridegroom comes!”

Very shortly is a more accurate description.  There would be just enough time to throw on the wedding garment, light the lamps and go.  As the Bridegroom arrives the last announcement goes out that proclaims “come out!”

In ancient Israel this was done with trumpets and shofars.  Sadly, today, it is done with car horns.

At this time the Bride would be snatched up and carried away – literally.  She would not walk as the others would do.  She would ride in the Israelite equivalent of a litter.

Upon arriving at the Father’s house, the Bride and Bridegroom would enter the house, followed by the massive wedding party.  With the Assembly present on the first day of the wedding, the Bride and Bridegroom would enter the bridal chamber while the friends of the Father would commence the celebration that ran for the entire seven days that the couple was secluded in the chamber.

On the eighth day the married couple would emerge.  Now, the entire assembly would gather once more for the marriage supper.

The following day, the couple would return very publically to the house that had likewise been prepared for the newlyweds.  Unlike the catching away of the bride which occurred “in secret” and at night – with the bride veiled, the return occurred in the daylight down the very same streets where they had left.

This time every eye would see the Bridegroom and the Bride, knowing exactly what had happened eight days prior.

Once the couple arrives at their new home, they would remain in Sabbath rest for the next year.  They would enjoy each the company of each other during this time.  After this Sabbath rest, they would start the rest of their lives together.

The Counting of the Omer:

This is the least understood of the required fulfillments of the coming tribulation. The Law of Moses requires the counting of 49 days – from First Fruits to the day before Pentecost.  During this time, the omer, or measurements of barley are counted.  Also, the presentation of the Firstfruits of barley for the congregation are completed.

On the Feast of Firstfruits, there are two wave offerings made at the Temple.  The first of these wave offerings are made for the High Priest and the priesthood itself. This was done so that the priests themselves were compliant with the law and acceptable to offer the remaining First fruits.

The second offering – or offerings – were made on behalf of the congregation.  In other words, the First fruits offerings that the people brought to Jerusalem were to be offered. Those closest to Jerusalem (and God) would have their offerings presented on the first day.  It should be noted that the first day’s offerings were completed when Christ ascended to heaven after he arose on First Fruits and cleansed the Temple.  He was the fulfillment of the wave offering of the High Priest, and presented the Old testament saints seen walking in Jerusalem as the first day’s offerings of the congregation.

This leaves 48 “days” of barley first fruits yet to be fulfilled.  This fulfillment occurs during the 48 months (first four years after the rapture).  However, this will be 48 months on the Jewish calendar, which will be approximately three months shy of 48 months on the Gregorian calendar that the rest of the world will be operating under at that time.

Remember that the rapture starts the second day of the omer, or the second day of barley offerings for the congregation.  More on this in a moment.

Pentecost is the 50th day of Firstfruits, or the day that the First Fruits of the wheat harvest are presented at the Temple.  On Pentecost, the 144,000 sealed Jews are raptured as the First Fruits of the wheat harvest.

This accompanies the short break at mid-tribulation where the Abomination of Desolation occurs, which then starts the Great Tribulation, the time of Jacob’s trouble and the main harvest of the fields.

There is more detail on the timing and requirements for the counting of the omer in the section on the timing of the tribulation, and the order of resurrections and martyrdom during the tribulation period.

http://tribulationrisingcom.fatcow.com/order-of-resurrections-martyrdoms-and-judgments/#.U4UuSfldWSo

The Seven Year Tribulation:

This timeline shows how the Sabbath year release of debts and farm fields match the timing of the first six seals to start the tribulation.  Likewise, it shows that it is the seventh seal that starts the final seven years of the age, and the final seven year Sabbath cycle.  Again, this is a prophetic replay of the perfection of 777.

It also shows the space from the rapture to the confirming of a covenant with many – a requirement in order to fulfill the 10 days of Awe.  Likewise, it shows where the six seals are completed just before the Sabbath year concludes, allowing for the short space between the two halves of the tribulation as shown in Daniel.

(We will deal with this later in the current project)

The 10 Days of Awe:

This timeline shows the fulfillment of the 10 days of Awe.  It shows the Feast of Trumpets as the first day, and the Day of Atonement as the 10th day – as required by the Law of Moses.  It then counts out the remaining eight days (years) between these two feast days.

The Heavenly Assembly:

This timeline shows the calling of the Great Assembly in heaven, starting with the calling of the first assembly at the rapture.

It also shows the seven sealed scroll, which is the model for the scroll of the law on earth.  As the Great Assembly in Jerusalem starts with the passing of the scroll to the King to open, the heavenly assembly likewise starts with the passing of the seven sealed scroll to the King of kings.

We see the calling of the Great Assembly yet again seven years later, when the call is given to the host of heaven to assemble once more – this time for the great marriage feast.” ~~~~

This excerpt was written over three years ago, as a part of the Coming Signs project. Since that time, the Lord has opened a greater understanding to the things addressed above.  In the following sections, we will detail even greater revelations in the Sabbath Cycles, the Shemitah, the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Trumpets.  Likewise, we will be able to show how the Feast of Trumpets and the Doctrine of Immanency fit together perfectly.  For now, take the base information given above and tuck it away. We will refer back to it, and show how the Lord has expanded it even further.

The Shemitah – The Sabbath Cycle

We will now turn our attention to the Shemitah and the Sabbath cycle.  There has been a great deal written and spoken on this subject ever since Jonathan Cahn first brought both to prominence in “The Harbinger” released in 2012.  There are many truths and myths out there, and more predictions that you can shake a stick at.  What exactly does the Shemitah and Sabbath cycles mean to the tribulation, and to the rapture?  We will discuss this question in detail throughout this section.

We should start with a quick introduction to the Sabbath cycle in the Law of Moses. Simply put, there is a time of rest commanded by God to the nation of Israel.  It is to fall every seventh day and every seventh year.  Sabbath rests are also commanded for the High Holy Days, but the Sabbath year cycle is the concern for this discussion.  The Sabbath cycle is one of the methods that God himself keeps time as well.  More on this in a moment.

The Shemitah is a requirement given in the Law of Moses that requires Israel to grant a time of rest – or release to the land every seven years.  Likewise, it requires a release of all debts.  If Israel failed to keep the Shemitah, or the Sabbath rest for the land, the Lord would “impose the Shemitah” and bring the rest to the land.  He would ensure that Israel was prevented from farming the land – one year for each Sabbath year they disobeyed the law of the Sabbath cycle.

When Israel was carried into the Babylonian captivity, the Lord declared that they would remain in Babylon for 70 years.  This was to be one year for each Shemitah, or yearly Sabbath rest that they disregarded.  Israel had failed to observe the past 70 Shemitahs, which meant that for 490 years prior to being carried off into captivity, they had farmed the land non-stop.  It likewise meant that they had failed to discharge all of the nation’s financial debts during this time as well.  During the 7th year, or Sabbath year, all debts would be wiped out, with the final act of total forgiveness occurring on the last day of the 7th year – the 29th of Elul.  

There will doubtless be some of you that noticed something else about the timing of the Babylonian captivity.  Those of you that are familiar with the prophecy of 70 weeks – given to Daniel during the same Babylonian captivity – this also matches the Shemitah judgment that fell upon Israel.  This was no accident.  It is yet another prophetic parallel to the end times.  It is also serves as another confirmation that we sit at the cusp of the tribulation.  You see, the reverse Genesis timeline also uses the 490 years as a confirmation in the telling of Lamech in Genesis 5:31 – which details his age at death as 777 years old (we will see this again in a moment) and again in 4:24 – where Lamech is used as a prophetic confirmation that the seven year tribulation begins after the rapture in 5:24.  It confirms this through a double reference – Lamech declares that the 490 years are soon to be complete with the beginning of the final seven years of the prophecy of the 70 weeks of Daniel.

The Genesis timeline is covered in greater detail in the section on “How Much Time is Left?”

http://tribulationrisingcom.fatcow.com/addendum-4-how-much-time-is-left/#.U4CU8vldWSo

During the Sabbath year, the ground was to lie fallow and remain undisturbed.  Israel would eat of any crop that grew naturally, and the poor and indigent would likewise be allowed to partake of any and all fields in Israel.  However, the forgiving of the debts became an issue for Israel.  All economies function on debt.  You exchange something of value to receive the goods that you need.  If you have likewise provided goods to another, yet know the debt owed to you is erased, on the surface it appears as though you are out the resource you provided to the other party.  That creates a potential disaster in the minds of many economists.  It creates a state of loss that most would argue as unrecoverable.  The priests of Israel devised methods to avoid the mass forgiveness of debts for this very reason.

What this did, however, was show a complete lack of faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  It was a direct challenge to the power of God himself.  It said that God’s power was not sufficient to see Israel through the time of release.  If Israel would have stayed true to the laws of God and honored the Sabbath rest, they would have seen an outpouring of the blessing and power of God that would have far surpassed anything that occurred when Israel was led to the wilderness from Egypt.  Alas, as it always happens – man loses the ability to trust the Lord for increase and sustenance.  Indeed, the Lord told Israel that he would provide three times the required quantity of crops before the Shemitah year.  The provision would be so great that Israel would still be eating the old crops three years later.

Deuteronomy 15:1-5 KJV:

1 At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release.

2 And this is the manner of the release: Every creditor that lendeth ought unto his neighbour shall release it; he shall not exact it of his neighbour, or of his brother; because it is called the Lord’s release.  

3 Of a foreigner thou mayest exact it again: but that which is thine with thy brother thine hand shall release;

4 Save when there shall be no poor among you; for the Lord shall greatly bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it:

5 Only if thou carefully hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all these commandments which I command thee this day.

Leviticus 26:31-35 KJV:

31 And I will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation, and I will not smell the savour of your sweet odours.  

32 And I will bring the land into desolation: and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it.  

33 And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste.

34 Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies’ land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her sabbaths.

35 As long as it lieth desolate it shall rest; because it did not rest in your sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it. ~

At this point, we need to address the elephant in the room when it comes to the Shemitah and the Sabbath cycles.

September, 2015.

What Happened?

There is no way around this.  The world did not end in September, 2015 – though many of us were really wondering.  There was no massive economic collapse.  There was no start of the tribulation.  There was no rapture.  So, what exactly happened?

There was no shortage of Bible teachers that felt as though the year between September 2014 and September 2015 would finally see the start of the judgments of God, with a particular interest in 29 Elul, 2015.  I was counted among those in this camp.  We certainly had good reason to wonder.

Ever since the Lord revealed the Shemitah in Jonathan Cahn’s “The Harbinger”, He opened up a steady stream of understanding and fresh insight into the Shemitah. Specifically, Cahn’s book highlighted one of the most dramatic prophetic revelations since Israel became a nation in 1948, and recaptured Jerusalem in 1967.  What occurred in the United States in 2001 and 2008 could not have been scripted any better by Hollywood.  The Shemitah was real, and so were the devastating effects.  With 2014-2015 only a few short years away, there could be no doubt as to what was coming. Here is a quote from my original “Coming Signs” project that accurately sums up the moments before the soon to come 2014 – 2015 Shemitah:

“First, it can be said with no leap of the imagination that we have not turned back to God.  To the contrary, the world now delights in specifically mocking and dishonoring Him.  This will not work.  The Shemitah was revealed on much, much less.  Now, we have reveled in the behaviors that brought the judgments in the first place.

Second, now that we have the historical reference to see what happened both before and during the completion of the last Shemitah cycle, it is likewise no stretch to say that the world should be shaking in its boots.  Of course, it is not.  This is a mistake that will prove to be fatal.  We may be getting ready to end the second Shemitah cycle, but it will represent the third such judgment.  What is the adage in baseball?

Three strikes and you are out.

The first strike came September 2001.  The second strike came September 2008.  Guess where that leaves us?”

Here is the thing.  It was not simple speculation that we were addressing.  It was actual revelations from the Lord that judgment was coming.  The Lord had started pouring out His spirit on all flesh as detailed in Joel chapter three.  He was giving (and still is) abundant dreams, visions and revelations.  He would literally speak phrases such as “I am at the door” and “I am coming soon” to overcomers all over the place.  He began to pour out rapture dreams, and dreams detailing pieces of the tribulation to overcomers.  All of the dreams, visions and revelations were similarly consistent with scripture.  It’s not just that overcomers were simply reading the signs of the times and guessing.  It’s that the Lord was literally revealing the truth, and backing it up with His own scripture.

Here is an excerpt from the project detailing the timing of the start of the tribulation:

“Take a minute and think of just how much has come to pass in the last three years.

Two summers ago, we had watched a shift in world politics that set the planet squarely on an end times footing.  There was still a chance to turn things around.  Yet, we did not take it.  As we approached the Feast of Trumpets in 2013, we stood on the brink of war in Syria.  For the first time since 9-11, the Lord began to emphasize end times prophecy in the hearts and minds of overcomers.  We started to understand things such as Psalms 83 and Isaiah 17.  It was also the first time the the Body of Christ had ever collectively begun to acknowledge that time was approaching an end.  As the Feast of Trumpets approached, many of us wondered if the rapture would come and the tribulation would start.

No dice on both.

Over the next six months, the Lord really opened up the prophetic understanding.  The revelations began to flow, and the understanding of prophecy was kicked into high gear.  The Lord began to pour out His spirit in earnest.  As more and more overcomers came forward to speak of the dreams and visions that were coming to them, the Lord turned up the dial to 11.  Each passing day saw more dreams, visions and revelations – and more overcomers that were willing to share what they were learning.  With every dream vision and revelation came clearer interpretation.  And came then came the most remarkable part.

All of the dreams, visions and revelations were puzzle pieces.  They were the literal fulfillment of Isaiah’s line on line, precept on precept.  When all of the pieces were put together, a larger picture of the coming end times emerged, and that picture agreed 100 percent with the scriptures.

The scoffers seemed to grow as well.

As we inched towards the first blood moon, things started to shift.  The Lord began to speak to the overcomers.  The message was always the same:

“I am coming soon”.

“I am at the doors”.

“Time is up”.

“Get ready”.

The Lord began to emphasize the lateness of the hour.  So, we started to reveal what was being made known to us.  Then came the first blood moon, and the most significant unfolding of end times prophecy since Israel captured Jerusalem – the birth of the Beast.  ISIS burst on the scene, and suddenly it became apparent that Matthew 24:3-14 was in full swing.  We watched as earthquakes and volcanoes started to wind up.  We watched as the king of the North began to move into position.  We watched as Persia began to prepare for the things to come.

When this was taken with what the Lord was speaking to overcomers, we once again wondered if 2015 would be the year.  After all, how much more could the Lord bring to bear before we ran out of prophetic real estate?  How much more water would rise against the glass?  How much longer before the glass would break loose, and the world suddenly collapse?

This must have been what the Hebrews felt as they passed through the Red Sea, looking upon walls of water that never broke loose on them.  This is how they must have felt as they walked on dry land where the sea once rested.

But, the Feast of Trumpets came and went.  No rapture, no tribulation; however, the revelations of the Lord and the unfolding of prophecy never ceased.  To the contrary, they were kicked into overdrive.

Shortly after this came the understanding of Lot’s Wife and the Great Falling Away.  There also came something else, resignation and completion.  It was as if the overcomers had finally hit the final stage of grief – acceptance.  We had been through the roller coaster of emotions over the last two years, each wondering if the time had come.  Now something had settled in our souls.  The Lord had used the last two years to shake us out and steel our resolve.  He had taken us through the gauntlet to prepare us for these days.

These are the days of the Great Falling Away and Lot’s Wife.

We knew this was coming, but never imagined what we would find when we got here.  As the third blood moon passed, we witnessed an immediate spike of all the signs given in Joel chapter two and Matthew 24:1-14.  Not just “somewhat” fulfillments, mind you.  But literal, textbook occurrences of the signs – word for word as they are spoken in the Bible.  We have been living the general fulfillments since the first blood moon.  That is how prophecy works.

When you have two scriptures that seem to indicate the same sign, with one being a general statement and the other a specific statement – you get both scriptures fulfilled.  That is where we are now.  We have been living the general falling away.  Now, we are seeing the passing of a singular moment where the falling away is pronounced, and clear to the eye.  It is a moment that shouts “FULFILLED!” to any with eyes to see.

It is the same with Joel chapter two, Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 17 and 21 – each have prophecies that are both general and specific.  There will be a general fulfilling as the signs before the signs.  Think of these as God’s way of getting our attention.  These are the hands on the pressure gauge.  As the needle steadily advances towards the red zone on the dial, we are meant to see what is happening and understand.

Yet, as with all dangerous high pressure situations, there is that moment where the needle will suddenly spike, and the pressure reaches the point of critical mass.  In that moment you reach the point of no return.  In that moment you have only minutes – or less – to evacuate.  You have one chance to turn from the danger and go.  If you hesitate – if you look back . .

You are dead.

That is where we are now.  Since the third blood moon, the gauges have begun to spike.  Each reactor is now at critical mass.  The time has come to go.  There is nothing that can be done now.  No amount of pressure relief will save us.  There are those that will try.  “If we do this we can still turn it back!”  “If we do that it will not fail”.

What makes the overcomer is that we now understand.

There is nothing that can be done.  It is the judgment of God.  It cannot be mitigated.  It cannot be bargained with.  It cannot be prepared for.  It is God’s judgment, and it is total.  If you are left here when it comes, then you are in deep trouble.

If you are left here when it comes, it is because you did not listen to those that watched the gauges.

I have known that there would be an increase in the volcanic and earthquake activity.  I remember asking the Lord if there would be that one massive eruption that screamed “prophecy”.  I never in my wildest dreams imagined that we would actually get what has come.

I take that back.  The thought did enter my mind once or twice that maybe we would “see one of these signs everyday”.  I did not believe it, however.  I thought it to dismiss it.

No, we would not get one massive eruption that screamed “prophecy”.

We would get multiple eruptions that scream “prophecy”.  They would come everyday with their companion sign –  earthquakes.  I still sit stunned as I watch this unfold.  This is literal Bible prophecy, rolling out before our very eyes.  Not general fulfillments, mind you.

The actual, spike the gauge, red zone, literal, word for word fulfillments that can only come right before the rapture and tribulation.  These signs are global, they do not discriminate – and they are coming for a reason.

The time has come.

As we head into the summer and towards the feast days, we will once again wonder after the things to come.  Will 2015 be the year?  Will this be the Feast of Trumpets that sees these things come to pass?  Will this be the year that the Lord returns for His Bride and the tribulation falls upon the earth?

Truly, I don’t know.  I know what I suspect.  Yet, no man knows the day nor hour for a reason.  I do know this.  There is now a sense of completion to all things.  This has never occurred before.  I see the revelations the Lord has given me, and other overcomers as well.  They all seem to have followed the same general progression, and it is as though the final secrets are being revealed.  We have reached the point where every false doctrine has an answer to its lies.  We have reached the point where overcomers can answer every false doctrine with no less than three evidences to the contrary.

We have reached the point where it does not matter.  Those that refuse to hear will simply discard the truth wholesale.  They simply ignore what they do not want to admit.  That is also a final sign of the end.  They have been given over to their deceptions, and they are past the point of no return.

Even this project speaks to completion.  When I see the differences between the first Coming Signs project and the second, I can see it.  When I read what you are going to read next, you can see it.

When I look at the bulk of history unfolding around us – I can see it.

We have gone through our progression.  We have angered over our nation. We have warned over the world.  We have prepped for trouble.  We have declared the need to be ready by accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior and live the life of an overcomer.  We have stood defiant against Islam, the NWO, abortion, gay marriage and Monsanto.  We have condemned McDonald’s, and declared that if only a few more would wake up things would turn.

We have marched in rallies, and stood for the Second Amendment, the Constitution and the Republic.  We have shaken our fists at Washington and declared “you will not trample us!”  Yet, at the end of the day, as overcomers we have all arrived at the one place we were destined to arrive, the realization that this was never in our individual hands.  This is beyond any of us.  It is beyond all of us.  All of this was ultimately in the one capable set of hands where it has always been.

God.

All we can do now is the only thing we could have ever done.

Overcome.  

There is a reason that all of this is called prophecy.  There is a reason the Bible tells us that these are the things to come.

So, that is what we do.  We no longer turn to our own understanding as overcomers.  There are many believers that do this very thing, struggling to find something – anything – that will declare them righteous.  They struggle to find something, anything in the Bible that confirms that the lack of the Holy Spirit in their life is actually a good thing, an expected thing.

A holy thing.

They struggle to find something – anything – that declares that they cannot possibly be the one that is wrong.  Something that declares that a life which is falling apart is somehow “proof” that they are righteous, that they are being persecuted for the Lord.

They struggle to find something – anything – that confirms that those who overcome are not actually living the blessings and promises of the Holy Bible, promises and blessings that continue to elude them.

Struggling to find something – anything – that comforts them, whispers to them, consoles them.

“You will not perish.  It is they that have false doctrine!”

So, that is where we stand now.  We watch the world, read the headlines, and marvel at what they reveal.  We watch each gauge spike and we feel the tremors as the pressure reaches critical mass.  We turn and look up to our escape.  There is nothing to stop this now.”

As I write these words, I think about a sight I see out of my window every night now.  In the western sky, there is a star rising that is brighter than any I have ever laid eyes on.  It is considerably brighter, not just “somewhat” brighter.  Many times, I am struck by the three wise men that once saw a star rise in the west.  I wonder if we are seeing the sign of the son coming Messiah.  I wonder if this is the sign of the soon coming false Messiah.  I can tell you this.

There is a star rising from the west, and it is a sign to us all.

With all of that said, let’s put everything together that we have learned from both projects, and see what they reveal for the days ahead.  I promise you this – if you did not think we were at the end before, don’t worry – you will soon enough.

As we go through the pieces, I will try my best to reference the parts of both projects that come into play.  However, if I forget to do this, you can find the material if you need to reference it in the download center at Trib Rising.  There are several more pieces that I will lay out as we go through this list.  I will cover them as we get to the point where they come into play.

Where We are Now?

As of this writing, we now find ourselves in the midst of all the general fulfillments that were to come at the end:

The blowing of trumpets – Joel 2:1**

The pouring out of the Holy Spirit on all flesh – Joel 2:28*

Dreams – Joel 2:28*

Visions – Joel 2:28*

Prophecies – Joel 2:28*

Wonders in the heavens – Joel 2:30**

The sun turned to darkness – Joel 2:31**

The moon turned to blood – Joel 2:31**

Signs on the earth – Joel 2:30**

Earthquakes in divers places – Matthew 24:7*

Famines and droughts – Matthew 24:7*

Blood, fire and smoke – Joel 2:30**

Wars and rumors of wars – Matthew 24:6*

Believers falling onto fear – Matthew 24:7, 24*

Those who serve Christ hated – Matthew 24:9*

Death to those that serve Christ – Matthew 24:9*

Believers falling away – Matthew 24:10, 24**

False prophets – Matthew 24:11, 24*

Lawlessness and hatred – Matthew 24:12*

Enduring until the end – Matthew 24:13*

The Gospel preached to the ends of the earth – Matthew 24:24**

Days of Lot and Noah – Matthew 25:37-42*

* These already have both general and direct fulfillments.

**These have one final direct fulfillment coming and already have general fulfillments on the books.

These are not the only scriptures, but I think the point is well illustrated with what we have here.  That said, many of these general signs are also time specific signs.  They are to be taken with counterpart scriptures that indicate a specific fulfillment at a specific time.  We have dealt with this at length through this project.  The signs in Joel are the primary example.  Taken alone, they are primarily general, yet hint at a specific fulfillment.  When taken with their companion scriptures, they are specific.  Both the general and specific fulfillments must come to pass.

The best example of this is Joel 2:31 and Revelation 6:12.  As we have detailed through this project, we will see a specific fulfillment at the sixth seal.  Yet, Joel 2:31 taken by its self is also scriptural truth, and tells us that there is a general fulfillment that comes as well. This is then confirmed by Acts chapter two.”

So, what happened?  Did the Lord lie?  Did we all get it wrong?

The answer is a resounding “NO” on all counts.

This is a good time to cover something that we all struggle with, and fall into.  You see, the Lord had revealed that judgment was coming.  He had revealed that the Shemitah was a countdown.  He had revealed that if we did not turn things around by the Shemitah that we would pass the point of no return.  He even revealed the the blood moon tetrad was a companion sign that likewise served as a countdown.  He had revealed that the end times would come with the end of the Shemitah and the blood moon cycle.  He simply did not say that the rapture would come, and tribulation would start by 29 Elul, 2015.

We jumped to conclusions.  After all, with what the Lord was telling us, and revealing in dreams, visions and revelations, how was anything else possible?  Not to mention that we had two definitive signs in 2001 and 2008.  The Lord changes not.  Therefore, 2015 had to be the end, especially after all that we had seen in 2001 and 2008.  How could 2015 be any different?  For that matter, how could 2015 not be much, much worse? The Lord doesn’t do third warnings.  

It’s not hard to do – conclusions, that is.  We all have the same tendency and fall into the same trap.  The Lord comes to us and tells us XYZ.  As we consider XYZ we begin to imagine the implications and possibilities.  “Why, if XYZ comes, surely we will see W come with this.  Hey, what about V?  Not sure if V would be a good thing, although, U would really make sense too.”

Here is the thing.  As we think through the scenarios that come with XYZ, UVW are natural fits.  The more we think about it, the more the lines start to blur.  Soon, the Lord’s revelation morphs into “UVWXYZ”.  There’s just one problem – this in not what we were told.  We were told simply that XYZ would come.

This runs into the next problem.  When these things come to pass, yet there is no UVW, we get frustrated and confused.  We ask “why” did the Lord fail to do all that He said? The Lord did not fail.  He did exactly what He said He would do.  However, we failed to listen to His exact words, and realize that if the Lord says “X”, that is exactly what He means.  His words are precise, and they mean exactly what they say.  We added in UVW by not simply taking the Lord’s word as it was given.

Here is the thing.  The Shemitah came and went.  29 Elul, 2015 came and went.  Many of us were left wondering what had happened.  The Lord had clearly spoken to us, and given us understanding.  Yet, no judgment.  Not only that, but once we settled down, the Lord picked up where He left off and continued to give revelation and insight on the Shemitah and Sabbath cycles!  That is, if we were still willing to listen.  Many were not.  Some of us were, however.

It was as though the Lord was not fazed by our assumptions.  He gave us the revelations, then sat back long enough for us to take our punch to the stomach.  He simply waited to see who would hold fast, and who would drop.  It was as though the Lord had His own timeline all along, and we simply misunderstood what He was saying. He simply continued to give understanding since nothing had actually changed for Him.  Some of us realized fairly quickly that we had assumed more than we were told.  Sadly, many did not.

Some folks jumped ship after this.  They were lied to, and that was all there was to it.  They were left confused and hurting through no fault of the Lord.  They had heard what He was telling us, and jumped right on the assumption train.  When their expectations were not met they bailed.  Unfortunately, some of these folks wanted disaster to come, and wanted it for all of the wrong reasons.  It was akin to folks that fight the pre-trib rapture with a secret desire for that “I told you so” moment when the tribulation comes. They are looking for their moment of glory, when the entire the world will suddenly marvel at their wisdom and understanding!

Still, others refused to give up on the Shemitah.  They knew what they “heard”, and what the Lord was “revealing” to them.  There was no possible way this was not right. They were simply “missing” something.  While that much is true, we were all missing pieces (we will get into this more in a moment).  These folks went the wrong direction on this.  The weren’t actually missing pieces.  Rather, they simply did not put all of them together in the proper context.  It did not take long after that.  We started seeing all manner of excuses.  Among my favorites were the attempts to change the calendar. Suddenly, there was a “shift” in the calendar based on the equinoxes.  29 Elul and the Feast of Trumpets were a month or more behind!

No dice.  A month after the last possible date there still was no great judgment.  I then saw speculations on changes to the calendar while the Jews were captive in Babylon.  While the Jews did bring back changes from their time in captivity, what gets lost is that Jesus also observed these changes.  There are several mentions in the Bible where Jesus is keeping the Feasts at the same time every other Jew is keeping them.  It seems that the Babylonian shift was honored by the Lord.  

According to these theories, the Shemitah actually ran from spring to spring.  This was based on the differences between the civil New Year and the religious New Year.  So, the Shemitah was actually spring 2015 to spring 2016!  As we pass into summer 2016, I think it is safe to say that these turned out to be wrong as well.

Sadly, even Jonathan Cahn has been caught up in this mess.  He has written another book on the Shemitah, and went off in search of “proof” that he was right.  He has expanded his search for economic disaster, and no country was out of reach.  He even chimed in on China in a recent article.  He spoke of the massive decline in the Chinese stock market and decline of their currency.  Indeed, what has happened in China was amazing to behold, and certainly has global impact.  There is one slight issue with Cahn’s position on this.

China is not the U.S.  It is not Israel.

In the original revelation in “The Harbinger”, the Lord revealed how the U.S. was tied to the Him through covenant.  This is what made the Shemitah possible here in the first place.  It would affect the rest of the world to be sure – and it did in 2001 with the falling of the twin towers and again in 2008 with the U.S. economic collapse.  However, the key is that it started here.  China is not subject to the Shemitah.  They are only subject to the after effects of it hitting here in the U.S.  They cannot be the primary catalyst for Shemitah judgment absent the U.S.  Now, if the Lord had used the sharp and sudden decline in the Chinese economy to suddenly tank the U.S. economy, followed by the ensuing global judgment, we would have a case for China in the Shemitah,  That is not what happened, however.

This is a good lesson for all of us.  Sometimes we assume more than we have been told.  Sometimes, we hear things right, yet miss a key piece.  When this happens – just stop.  Take a step back and take a breath.  It happens to all of us, in every aspect of our walk with the Lord.  It is normal.  Here is a news flash.  Your Pastor is also learning as he goes.  You are learning as you go.  The Lord did not call you into service, and then tell you to wait until you were qualified.  We are all sinners, and will NEVER be qualified. We were all told to simply get up, listen, and get moving.  We are learning as we go, teaching as we go.

It is the ultimate in on-the-job training!

When we miss a step we are not to worry.  We are not to hold on to the mistakes we have cultivated.  We are not to push and dig, desperate to reclaim the high ground.  We certainly are not to grab a shovel and head out on our own to dig.  I respect Jonathan Cahn’s work, but he needs to understand something fundamental to service in the Lord.

Sometimes, a revelation comes just once – then it is done.

That does not mean the Shemitah is done.  Rather, that the extent of the revelation given to Jonathan Cahn may be done.  In other words, his piece of the Shemitah was “The Harbinger”.  After that, the Lord has moved responsibility for the additional pieces to others.  That is how it works.  No one man can hold or receive the entire revelation from God.  So, He gives us each a piece.  What we are supposed to do is build a puzzle.  Jonathan Cahn was given the first and biggest piece.  Now, it is time for others to bring their individual pieces in, and add them to the puzzle.  The picture is growing, and becoming more and more clear.  We can all see it now.

Certainly, the Lord can decide to give Jonathan Cahn another piece on this.  However, it is clear from what Jonathan has produced since “The Harbinger” that this has not happened as of yet.  When we read “The Harbinger” we all knew it was real, and right.  We knew this because the Lord spoke to our souls.  There was no denying the truth of what we were reading.  Yet, that is not present in Cahn’s work since then.  To the contrary, it comes through that Cahn is “pushing” a bit too hard.  Sometimes, it is hard to learn when it is time to move on.  The Lord had Jonathan lay the foundation.  Now, it’s time for him to step away and watch the rest of us work.

There were any number of groups that had a vested interest in the Shemitah.  The Hebrew Roots Movement (HRM) went all in on this, and still holds onto the assumed or failed predictions.  Like Jonathan Cahn, they continue to nuance their way around the obvious.  To them, the Shemitah was the holy grail of the HRM.  It was the final “proof” that they were the only folks that understood the truth.  The Shemitah was distinctly “Hebrew”, and distinctly “Old Testament”.  It was proof that the greatest revelations are found in everything they alone teach and hold true.  The Shemitah judgment was going to be their “I told you so” moment.  The Shemitah and the blood moons was the greatest recruiting tool they could have ever hoped for!  I see prominent HRM proponents, such a Joseph Farah and WND, continue to double down on the original revelation of the Shemitah.  They had so much personally invested in this that they can no longer look at it objectively.  

That is what happens when the whole of your doctrine is false.  They got greedy and took their shot downfield.  They went for the big score and it backfired.  Now, because they built a large segment of their current membership on an incomplete revelation (incomplete, as the Lord is still revealing all of this), they are stuck in a bad situation.  If they stop and admit what is obvious to the rest of us, it will cost them support.  Only doctrines of truth can afford to make such admissions.  They can afford to admit mistakes because it is the Lord that guides those that hold those doctrines.

Many pre-trib critics likewise took their shots downfield with this.  By the time September, 2015 had passed, they would have all they ever needed to denounce pre-trib, or they would have the tribulation and get their “I told you so” moment.  Never mind that neither position was anything to desire or be vested in.  It was simply enough that they would soon be able to “stick it” to the pre-tribbers, and that is all that mattered to them.

So, What Did Happen, Actually?

This is a good time to talk about what the Shemitah really is.  First off, it is the seventh year of the yearly Sabbath cycle.  We have spoken about this prior.  It is a time that had to be honored, or the Lord would impose the Shemitah Himself.  2001 and 2008 are exactly what we have described so far.  The six years that followed 2008 are likewise exactly as we have discussed.  It is in the differences of that seventh year that we must look for the truth of the matter.

When the Lord began to impress upon me what I am going to share with you, it was several months before the end of the Shemitah on 29 Elul, 2015.  It started as a nagging statement that I could not shake that relates to the period following the Babylonian captivity.

“Israel came back”.

What this was speaking to was the return of the Jews after the 70 year Babylonian captivity.  Of course not every Jew returned home.  Yet, the Jews as a whole did return.  Jerusalem was restored, the Temple rebuilt, and the Jews actually returned to a period of self-rule once more, before Rome ultimately came knocking.

As brutal and devastating as the fall of Jerusalem and Israel had been, everything was reset after the 70 years of captivity.  As a point of order, we refer to Israel in general terms when speaking of the Babylonian captivity.  However, Israel was also the name of the northern kingdom which fell to the Assyrians roughly a century prior to the Babylonian conquest.  The southern kingdom – Judah – was the kingdom that fell to Babylon.  In Judah was the capital of Jerusalem.  By the time of the first decree of Cyrus for the Jews to return, the whole of both the northern and southern kingdoms sat under the command of the Persians.  This had the unique effect of opening up the whole of “Israel” to the Jewish people once more.  By the time Rome arrived, the Jews had a fully independent kingdom that consisted of most of the prior northern and southern kingdoms.

The key piece of this particular puzzle is a word that we highlighted just a moment ago – “reset”.  Here is why.  The judgment and destruction that came with the Shemitah is not the actual intended purpose.  The Shemitah is a reset first and foremost.  This is one of the key pieces that all of us missed.  Rather, it’s not that we missed this – it’s that the Lord was still revealing what the Shemitah actually meant for the end times.  We simply jumped the gun between the revelations of coming judgment, and the practical implications of 2001 and 2008.

Here is the thing.  As 29 Elul, 2015 came and went, it became obvious that the Lord was operating under a different understanding than the rest of us.  We were all left scratching our heads, while the Lord kept right on with His plans.  We expected final judgment, and the Lord never said such judgment would come at that moment.  It was after 29 Elul, 2015 that some of us began to understand something profound.  The danger wasn’t that the judgment would come.

It’s that it would not come.

Shortly after 29 Elul in a Shemitah year, the Lord began to emphasize that as a reset, the Shemitah was meant to balance the scales economically.  It was a reset that would give Israel a fresh start – if they trusted God.  A cursory examination of the Shemitah reveals that this was truly a trust situation, as no economy of debt could sustain the kind of loss that resulted in the resetting of the financial system and the release of all debt.  Yet, if Israel did trust in the Lord, provisions would be made in the sixth year for Israel’s needs – so much so that in the first year of the next Sabbath cycle, Israel would still be living off the increase the Lord provided in year six.  This would in turn lead to greater surpluses in the following cycle, as all year one harvests can likewise be stockpiled and kept.  If Israel had continued to honor the Lord’s Sabbath, they would have reached a level of wealth that would have made David and Solomon envious.

Here is the key thing.  Resets are only good if there is something to work with afterwards.

By the time Babylon came knocking on the gates of Jerusalem, there was little left to salvage.  The land had been worked continuously and the fields were depleted.  The economy and debts had grown out of control from a lack of trust.  It would take one year for every missed Shemitah to restore the land and the nation – 70 years in total.

Yet, there could still be restoration.  While there was little to work with, there was still something there.  There were the people, and there was God’s continuing plan to bring salvation through the Messiah.  Indeed, the years that followed the return saw Israel make a swing from its idolatrous ways, and a restoration of the Law of Moses as the truth of the nation.  For that matter, they would end up swinging too far to the right, and eventually end up in a far greater state of decay than before the Babylonian captivity.  In the midst of the captivity, the Lord opened up His revelation to prophets like Daniel. After the captivity, prophets such as Ezra and Nehemiah would commit the oral traditions to writing, expand the Great Assembly from 70 to 120 members, and produce the full Hebrew Bible.

Fast forward another 2,500 years or so, and a completely different picture emerges.  We see that The Lord and Savior Jesus Christ had come, and the Body of Christ has been present for 2,000 years.  The Gospel has been sent into all the world, and Western civilization became the dominant civilization on the planet because of it.  In the west we have seen the benefits of the Lord’s salvation, and could have remained the pinnacle of human civilization for another thousand years.

Yet, we have fallen from grace.  In the 20th century, the world witnessed a turning from the Gospel of Christ that directly paralleled ancient Israel’s turning from the covenant with the Most High God.  However, this time there was no remaining plan of salvation to be revealed.  That was completed 2,000 years prior.  Instead, what we had was the world as a whole now outright rejecting the word and will of the Lord.  Now, we had the completion of a cycle that began at the Tower of Babel.  The world was once again coming together as one, under one language, for the worship of pagan gods.

What’s more, there was a dual dynamic at play.  The Bible tells us that as it was in the beginning, so shall it be at the end.  That is exactly where we find ourselves now. However, it is two beginnings that are up on deck.  First is the beginning of the church. As the church was in the first century, so now is it becoming again.  From hidden house congregations back to hidden house congregations.  From martyrs back to martyrs. From pagan governments back to pagan governments.  Second is the beginning of the world, in the days of Noah.  We have cycled back around to the earliest chapters in Genesis, and are moving full speed back to the Garden of Eden.  If you have not done so, it is well worth your time to read our project on “How Much Time is Left”.  It details the phenomena of the reverse Genesis timeline.

http://tribulationrisingcom.fatcow.com/addendum-4-how-much-time-is-left/

The key difference between us now, and Israel 2,500 years ago is that our rejection of Christ leaves no more real estate.  When the Lord destroyed the world with the flood, there was still somewhere to go.  When Israel was sent into captivity there was still somewhere to go.  

Where do you go after the whole world rejects Christ?  What is left?

That is the point.  Once we turned from Jesus Christ there could be no more reprieve. The last time there was such evil and a wholesale rejection of God the flood came.  This time, there is nothing that remains for after the coming judgment, except for Christ to rule Himself.  Stated differently, there remains nothing worth resetting – or saving.

That is the one of the key reasons why the Shemitah never manifested on 29 Elul, 2015.  There was simply no point.  As the days of Noah reveal, the end of man has come up before God.  With 2001 and 2008 we should have learned some hard lessons. We did not.  As a result, by the time 29 Elul, 2015 hit there was nothing left worth saving.  There was no need for a reset, as resets are meant to extend the Lord’s plan for His people.  The United States was no exception.  If we had listened and repented, 2015 would have seen another reset.  It would have been a particularly tough one, but it would have really set us up for a future filled with renewed possibilities in the Lord.

That is what we did not do.  Now, all of the warnings that the Lord has delivered take on a whole new perspective.  They weren’t warnings of a massive Shemitah judgment coming.  Rather, they were warnings of what would come if we failed to heed the Shemitah warning.  There is another point that needs to be understood.  A detailed study on the Days of Lot and Noah reveal a terrible aspect in what we are discussing.  

That point is this – we were NEVER going to heed the warnings in the first place!

In a system of perfect justice, we must be given the chance to repent.  So, that is exactly what happened.  We were given a chance.  We failed.  Period.  However, it turns out that the very last thing the Lord does before He drops the hammer is best described as the “let us see” moment.  That is the point where the society in question passes the point of no return, and the Lord goes down to “see” the truth of the matter.  The Shemitah, blood moons, and days following the completion of both are that “let us see” moment.

The “let us see” moment is not about God learning something He did not already know. It’s about committing to record the final verdict.  It’s about ledger entries in the books in Heaven.  That is where we are now.  Everything that has happened prior to the Shemitah was a mark in the books against us.  The books are now closed on us as a nation, and on the world as a whole.  

However, all of this brings up an interesting aspect that we will discuss in a few moments – why 2001 and 2008?  Why not 2008 and 2015?  For that matter, why not 2015 and 2022?  Why has all of this come now, and is there any additional significance to the picture presented by 2001 and 2008?

This is a good place to stop and share excerpts of an article written by Israel Ben Barzle and Yehoshua Ben Barzle.  Here is the link to the full article:

http://beforeitsnews.com/prophecy/2015/09/the-shemitah-did-not-happen-as-expectedwhy-2473016.html?currentSplittedPage=0

“Unfortunately, the information you have received prior to the Shemitah of 2015 was incomplete.  Writers like Johnathan Cahn and others have done an outstanding job at bringing the subject of the Shemitah and some of its nuances to light, but they have focused primarily on symptomatic issues, various causes, and how this all fits into past history.

Though much of the information presented by these writers is right on the money, what these writers have not done is viewed the Shemitah in the context of how it really works in the biblical sense as a mechanism of legal justice.  This is a critical point of the Shemitah, otherwise what happens is we get stuck focusing in on the various shades of law versus the ultimate legal verdict.

The word “Shemitah” is a legal term that comes from the Torah of Moses, the first five books of the Scriptures. Shemitah in the Hebrew means a “legally permanent release”.  The root idea of the word Shemitah in the Hebrew means to “violently throw something down with force—to utterly destroy something”.  To a biblical court of Law, the Shemitah was a time-sensitive, permanent legal release that was to absolutely abolish whatever legal issue was at stake.”

“But it is obvious we are not getting it. Even as the seventh year crashes become more and more serious with each passing Shemitah, America is continuing headlong into debt hell with no end in sight. So, for those watching and trying to understand the Shemitah cycles, it would seem like this Elul 29, 2015 would be a no brainer.  I mean, come on, in order to keep the building crescendo of a seventh year crash pattern keeping lock-step with our own immense debt ballooning into the stratosphere, we should have seen a bloodletting on the financial streets on Elul 29 of catastrophic proportions with all kinds of super precise number drops, like the Dow losing 7,777 points, or something…right?”

“So let’s put this into proper legal perspective.  The past Shemitahs in which we have seen the precise seven year pattern at work have been ultimately “corrective”.  The point losses on Wall Street and the result to the economy has CORRECTED the incorrect financial imbalances of improper gains made by improper debt.  The losses incurred by the date of Elul 29 every seventh year made things judicially correct. In essence, the price of not clearing the debt at the Shemitah was ultimately cleared by the Creator. 

In other words, G-d has used the past Shemitah economic hits as warnings; but He has also “corrected” the transgression by forcing financial loss on the transgressor and balancing the scales.  This is the ultimate goal of the Shemitah concept in the first place.  The whole point of the Shemitah is to make things financially right for everyone.

So the crashes we have seen in 2008, 2001, and those prior, have had much to do with a certain legal satisfaction.  America’s debt cup was full at the end of these Shemitah cycles.  Naturally, we would view these crashes as punishment…and in some ways that is not too far off.  But what we are missing is the fact that “technically” the Shemitah WAS satisfied by the resulting losses.  Literally, the greed gains of the debt cup were emptied, zeroed, in large measure by the losses that occurred at the end of these Shemitah’s.  Thus, America was given another seven year cycle with another chance to redeem itself.

Sadly, America has not learned from its many chances.  And as Elul 29 has come and gone, we now find ourselves in a whole new ball game.

The pattern has changed. Elul 29, 2015 was a no show.”

The Rapture Tie-In.

With everything that we have covered so far, the question at hand is this – what does any of this have to do with the rapture?  Most teachers – me included – have taught that the Shemitah has nothing to do with the rapture.  We were right about this, or so I thought.  To be fair, what we actually said is that the Shemitah was not a direct correlation with the rapture, nor would it predict the rapture.  It was, however; a direct correlation of the tribulation.  By default, if the Shemitah pointed towards the start of the tribulation, then it also pointed towards the rapture.  This much remains true.

However, in the days since 29 Elul, 2015, the Lord has opened up the understanding of the Shemitah in ways that even I struggle to describe.  Not only is it a greater predictor of the tribulation than we ever imagined (once you have enough of the pieces, including those that came after 29 Elul, 2015), it is, in fact, a direct correlation to the rapture – specifically the pre-trib rapture.  It fulfills these functions in several different ways, and each aspect is more exciting than the next!

The first aspect deals with the Shemitah as a sign that we are at the end.  This aspect occurred in conjunction with the blood moon tetrad.  The next aspect deals with the Shemitah as a picture of the time of Jacob’s Trouble and the Shemitah as a proof of the timing of the rapture.

The first aspect is the more “minor” of the discussions that we will have.  We will touch on it briefly.  It is a project in its own right, and requires an extensive amount of real estate to truly examine all of its points.  It is the second aspect that requires the deeper examination, in the context of this conversation.

Let’s start with the first aspect that the Shemitah as a sign of the end.  Here is an excerpt from the project on the signs in How the Tribulation Starts – Joel and the Timing of The Tribulation:

“As of this writing, we now find ourselves in the midst of all the general fulfillments that were to come at the end:

The blowing of trumpets – Joel 2:1**

The pouring out of the Holy Spirit on all flesh – Joel 2:28*

Dreams – Joel 2:28*

Visions – Joel 2:28*

Prophecies – Joel 2:28*

Wonders in the heavens – Joel 2:30**

The sun turned to darkness – Joel 2:31**

The moon turned to blood – Joel 2:31**

Signs on the earth – Joel 2:30**

Earthquakes in divers places – Matthew 24:7*

Famines and droughts – Matthew 24:7*

Blood, fire and smoke – Joel 2:30**

Wars and rumors of wars – Matthew 24:6*

Believers falling onto fear – Matthew 24:7, 24*

Those who serve Christ hated – Matthew 24:9*

Death to those that serve Christ – Matthew 24:9*

Believers falling away – Matthew 24:10, 24**

False prophets – Matthew 24:11, 24*

Lawlessness and hatred – Matthew 24:12*

Enduring until the end – Matthew 24:13*

The Gospel preached to the ends of the earth – Matthew 24:24**

Days of Lot and Noah – Matthew 25:37-42*

* These already have both general and direct fulfillments.

** These indicates one final direct fulfillment is coming and already have general fulfillments on the books.

These are not the only scriptures, but I think the point is well illustrated with what we have here.  That said, many of these general signs are also time specific signs.  They are to be taken with counterpart scriptures that indicate a specific fulfillment at a specific time.  We have dealt with this at length through this project.  The signs in Joel are the primary example.  Taken alone, they are primarily general, yet hint at a specific fulfillment.  When taken with their companion scriptures, they are specific.  Both the general and specific fulfillments must come to pass.

The best example of this is Joel 2:31 and Revelation 6:12.  As we have detailed through this project, we will see a specific fulfillment at the sixth seal.  Yet Joel 2:31 taken by itself is also scriptural truth, and tells us that there is a general fulfillment that comes as well. This is then confirmed by Acts chapter two.”

We have mentioned it briefly already.  The blood moon tetrad is a companion series of events and signs to the Shemitah.  Both served as elements to a greater picture, or warning, of the times to come and the judgment soon to fall.  We detail the validity of the blood moon tetrad on several different projects on Trib Rising, and the evidence for that validity is contained in the following projects:

http://tribulationrisingcom.fatcow.com/was-the-blood-moon-tetrad-a-real-sign/

http://tribulationrisingcom.fatcow.com/joel-and-the-combined-signs-in-the-heavens/

http://tribulationrisingcom.fatcow.com/coming-signs-2-joel-and-the-timing-of-the-end/

The best way to view the combined picture of the Shemitah and the tetrad is as such – the tetrad was the countdown to the point of no return, and the Shemitah was the confirmation of the point of no return.  The tetrad brought about events that were unprecedented in all of human history.  We witnessed everything from the rise of ISIS to active efforts to open the door for a seven year treaty in Israel.  The sudden and dramatic changes on the geological behavior of the planet alone should have given every believer pause.  Russia, Syria, gay marriage, world economics, natural disasters, strange events in the heavens, mysterious sky trumpets – the list goes on.  

We witnessed the rise of events that could only be described as “Biblical” in nature – all during the tetrad cycle.  The first of the these events were the global sky trumpets which first appeared several months before the Presidential election in 2008.  This was followed by the dramatic upswing in volcanic eruptions the month before the tetrad began.  Shortly after the Presidential election of 2012 saw the birth of ISIS, or the baby “Beast”.  From there came a snowball effect which brought more events than we can even recount now.  As of this writing, the nations are gathered in France for talks on dividing Jerusalem – in the midst of catastrophic flooding in Paris, only a few short miles from the location of the conference on Israel!

The tetrad was our countdown.  It was an event of such remarkable notice that only a fool would not understand that it portended something prophetic.  There have been only eight such Feast Days tetrads in the last 2,000 years, and three of the them since 1945! Not only that, but all of them can be linked to prophetic events in the history of the Jews. The last three witnessed Biblical prophecy line up with the birth of modern Israel, the capture of Jerusalem, and the birth of the Beast Kingdom.  Here is where the Shemitah comes into play.

Here is an excerpt from the “Coming Signs” project that bears on our current discussion:

“One of the great mysteries in end times prophecy is the timing of God. During the life of ancient Israel, the Israelites kept a continuous calendar that God gave to them.  Even during the Babylonian captivity they kept the calendar.  We know that it matched God’s calendar as Christ came exactly when the prophecy of 70 weeks of Daniel said he would.  Likewise, during the death, burial and resurrection, Christ fulfilled the appointed days of Passover, Unleavened Bread and First Fruits to the calendar day they were celebrated.  However, when the Roman Tenth Legion destroyed Jerusalem and scattered the Jewish people, all formal time keeping efforts ceased. While we can still know the general date as we know when Rome advanced on Israel, the differences in the Jewish calendar and the Gregorian calendar make the exact date an unknown.  Simply stated, we can know the approximate Jewish year (there is debate about this in rabbinical circles to this day), but we cannot be certain of where we are on God’s calendar.

There are efforts, of course, to track the current Sabbath cycle.  Many of which also agree with the Sabbath year releases we have spoken about so far.  However, absent a direct revelation from the Lord, we are still in the dark to exactly when the Sabbath year occurs.  Even the birth and death of Jesus are not known one hundred percent.  Most accounts place the birth at 1 or 2 BC.  Likewise, the death of Christ is placed at 32 or 33 AD.  Never underestimate the difference a year makes.

Even if we know the proper year on the Jewish calendar (I have seen differences that run as great as 450 years), all records as to exactly which year the Sabbath – or Shemitah – falls on are unverifiable for confirming the Sabbath cycles.  They are educated guesses at best.  Given that the Lord has intentionally blinded Israel and the Jewish people, we must remember that they may be operating in that delusion with any of their scholarship efforts.  So, it seems that we cannot be 100 percent sure of the current Sabbath cycle.  At least that’s what we thought.

Malachi 3:6 speaks a timeless truth – “I am the Lord, I change not”.  Many have uttered this verse, yet never truly grasped the implication.  It means exactly what it says.  What you see from the Lord today is the same as it was yesterday – and tomorrow.  The same applies to God’s calendar.  Even though Israel ceased to function as a nation for over 1,900 years and her calendar was never completely kept through any official methods, God’s calendar was kept.  The Harbinger revealed something that none of us ever expected:

It revealed the actual Sabbath cycle God is operating on.”

Stated differently, the seven year cycle from September 2001 to September 2008 was not a one shot deal.  It was the revealing of the exact calendar cycle where God currently sits.  It served to synchronize God’s calendar to man’s calendar.  What exactly does this mean?  It tells us one simple, immutable fact – now that we know the Sabbath cycle, we now know when the Sabbath will come from here on out.  It is no longer educated speculation.  It is now an ironclad fact.

As we said earlier, most Jewish calendars have presented these years as the Shemitah, but we still lacked that final confirmation from God himself. Prior to the Sabbath cycle from 2001 to 2008, we did not know if the current Jewish timekeeping efforts were correct.  We assumed they were, but now we know for certain.

That in and of itself is not a bad thing.  In a world where God is honored it becomes a non-issue – except for Israel of course, which is commanded to keep the Sabbath cycle.  For the rest of the world, it matters little by itself as long as the world remains primarily Godly in its pursuits.  This was indeed the case as the western world has been primarily Christian, and the dominate force on the earth during the bulk of the church age. Unfortunately, as we learned in The Harbinger, this has not remained the case.  Hence, the judgments that fell in September 2001 and September 2008.

Likewise, throughout the age of grace there was no need for the Sabbath cycle to be revealed.  The faith of Christ spread quickly, and it was the standard for the western world.  It was not until the 1960’s that the west began to fully turn away from God.  It was the 1990’s that witnessed the rise of what would become most of today’s greatest abominations.  While the Clinton Administration was tame by today’s standards, it was the Administration that oversaw the first real attempts to redefine the culture of the United States.  Likewise, the rest of the Western world also underwent a radical transformation.  By the time 2001 came, the United States and the rest of the world was on a collision course with prophecy.

The time had come to reveal the final prophetic timeline of the Lord.  I wonder, would we have reacted differently if we had realized what was truly occurring?

Instead, what we now have is the setting of God’s prophetic clock.  We now know where we sit on God’s Sabbath clock.  We also know that America has not learned from her mistakes.  Likewise, we know that the world has followed our lead and that the God of the Holy Bible is now public enemy number one.  In other words, the world has turned its back on God and ignored the warnings – the harbingers of coming judgment – and moved full steam towards final judgment.  This presents a slight problem. . .

The next Shemitah starts Thursday, September 25, 2014.”

During that countdown, things began to lineup for the end times and the tribulation.  However, none of what occurred during this year and a half needed to remain permanent.  If we had heeded the Lord and listened to His words, we could have repented and turned these things back.  I guess that is why it is called “prophecy”. The things in Daniel and Revelation were always going to come.  Yet, they did not have to come now.  Actually, they did.  We simply needed the opportunity to turn them around, or fail and record our disobedience for all time and eternity.  In reality, the Shemitah was less about one final chance.  Rather, it was paired with the tetrad as a dramatic statement.

“If you could turn this thing around, then there would be no need for this type of sign!”

Yet, here we are.  Running concurrently, the tetrad and the Shemitah served to announce that we were done.  Looking at the things that came during this period leaves little doubt.  Now, there is no turning back.

• ISIS could have been turned back in the months following the Shemitah.
• Russia could have made different decisions in the months following the Shemitah.
• Syria could have found peace in the months following the Shemitah.
• Europe could have remained at peace with Islam in the months following the Shemitah.
• The economy of the United States and the west could have recovered in the months following the Shemitah.
• Israel could have found ACTUAL peace with her neighbors (absent ANY efforts from outsiders) in the months following the Shemitah.

There is an entire host of other conditions that could have changed.  The weather patterns could have normalized.  The rampant earthquakes and volcanic eruptions could have subsided.  True Christian and conservative candidates could now be nominated for the upcoming Presidential election.  Yet, none of these things happened. They did not happen as we did not turn back to the Lord.  So, as the tetrad was winding down, the Lord moved upon the world, and denied us the one thing we needed most:

A reset.

The tetrad was our last chance.  It was a year and a half of remarkable events, not just in the heavens, but in the earth as well.  Anybody with a pulse should have been able to see and understand what was happening in the world.  This was further coupled with the revelations that the Lord was pouring out into overcomers.  The final piece of the puzzle came with “The Harbinger”, where the Lord laid out as plain as day where we were at prophetically.  Still, we did not listen.

I want to share another excerpt from “Coming Signs” that really highlights the prophetic nature of these times, and what the Lord truly revealed in “The Harbinger”:

“The Harbinger was set in motion when it occurred in Israel 3,000 years ago.  It’s not just that our own leaders uttered the fateful words.  It’s that they were ALWAYS going to utter those words.  You see, the Old Testament is filled with double reference events.

In other words – the events of September 11th, 2001 were ALWAYS going to happen, and they were always going to happen on September 11th, 2001.  We will speak more on this in a moment.

Here is just a few examples of how the Old Testament tells of the things to come:

– The story of Esther tells of the coming seven year tribulation, complete with the Antichrist, 10 kings, and the King and His Bride returning to save Israel.

– The story of Gideon tells of the coming tribulation, complete with Armageddon and the defeat of the Antichrist and the False Prophet.

– Ruth tells the story of the rapture and the Second Coming, complete with the restoration of Israel through the Gentile Bride of Christ.

– Exodus chapter 19 reveals the exact nature and occurrence of the rapture.

There is another example that I will give that is critical to understanding that Isaiah chapter 9 was prophesied to happen, long after Israel ceased to be a nation, and long before the fateful day of September 11th, 2001.  We find this in what I call “the reverse Genesis timeline”.

The timeline is a study of the Book of Genesis.  You start at chapter 11 and go in reverse until you reach chapter one. We think of it as reverse – it is more akin to reading the Bible in a Jewish format. It is more of a “right to left reading”, much the way the Jews would read the Torah.

What you get when you do this is the history of the world, starting with the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11th, 2001 and moving forward in time.  As you read through chapter 11 from “right to left’, you see the towers fall, men from the east, multitudes speaking the same language and other “strange” coincidences.  As you read through the lower chapters you gain a growing picture of the world around us.  The several chapters that contain the story of Noah and the Ark could have been written specifically about the last 15 years. You have everything from the recent increases in earthquakes to the floods and tsunamis.  Katrina to Indonesia – and everything in between – can be found in the story of Noah.

Right down to the major moves of the Holy Spirit in the three white doves and the spirit of prophecy that has descended on the body of believers in the imagery of the raven. We even have a remarkable telling of the seven year tribulation in chapter four.

Though it goes without saying, I will say it none the less.  If you know exactly where you are on the reverse Genesis timeline, then you will have some idea of how much time is left.

I had wondered why the Lord would choose Genesis 11 as the starting point for this revelation, and the terror attacks on September 11th as the starting point for the Genesis timeline.  It was reading “The Harbinger” that the Lord provided critical pieces of the puzzle.  September 11th, 2001 was the moment that the world officially entered the last days of the age of grace.  Everything that would be required to bring the final pieces of prophecy into place started with this fateful day.

How many of you remember exactly where you were and that sinking feeling that everything would be different from that moment forward?  How many of you actually verbalized that the attack would be the start of the end times?

If you study the types, shadows and patterns of the Lord long enough, you begin to see prophetic parallels in nearly every story recorded in the Bible. For instance, it was not lost on me that the Genesis timeline began with the fall of the two towers (11), on September 11th and was prophesied in the 11th chapter of Genesis.  For all of the numbers code folks, that would be 11-11-11.  Let’s take it a step further.  September 11, 2001 is also exactly 11 years before the Benghazi attack on September 11, 2012 in Libya – an attack that is directly connected to the coming war against Israel, and was set in motion by the events of September 11th, 2001.

We said a moment ago that the Isaiah Chapter 9 prophecy is no different than any other Old Testament prophecy in that is must come to pass twice. It is the Genesis timeline that confirms not only that it had to come to pass, but that it had to occur exactly as it did, when it did – with two towers falling at the hands of men from the east.  The first time (1) it was a single tower (1) that fell.  The second time (11) it was two (11) towers: 11 – 11 – 11.

The Genesis timeline also confirms something else for us.  It confirms that the United States will not turn and heed the warning.  To the contrary, something incredible has occurred:

The United States of America has doubled down on stupid – and we have convinced the rest of the world to come along for the ride.

The seven years following the attacks on September 11th saw America harden its heart to God.  In 2008, the Lord began to sound his trumpets in Zion, as we single-handedly doomed the world when we brought forth our new “king” that “knew not Joseph”.  From that time until this, we have watched as America and the rest of the world has taken its hatred of God from the shadows to the mainstream, and soon He shall bring his judgment upon us for this.

Have you ever glanced at what comes next in the Isaiah prophecy?

Isaiah 9:16-21 ESV:

16 for those who guide this people have been leading them astray, and those who are guided by them are swallowed up.

17 Therefore the Lord does not rejoice over their young men, and has no compassion on their fatherless and widows; for everyone is godless and an evildoer, and every mouth speaks folly.  For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still.

18 For wickedness burns like a fire; it consumes briers and thorns; it kindles the thickets of the forest, and they roll upward in a column of smoke.  

19 Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts the land is scorched, and the people are like fuel for the fire; no one spares another.

20 They slice meat on the right, but are still hungry, and they devour on the left, but are not satisfied; each devours the flesh of his own arm,

21 Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim devours Manasseh; together they are against Judah.  For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still. ~

For those of you thinking that this seems familiar – you would be right.  It is an Old Testament type and shadow of the rapture and the breaking of the first four seals in Revelation chapter 6.”

The reverse Genesis timeline is likewise confirmed in the second critical aspect that must be addressed – the Shemitah.

What the Shemitah of 2015 did was to highlight the nature of the tetrad, and the finality of what both were revealing.  We were given our final chance collectively.  We blew it.  As the excerpt above so eloquently states, “we doubled down on stupid”.  The rest of the world seems hell bent on following us into the abyss, and the rest of the west is in second place.

It is worth noting that this failure of collective repentance has given way to the last piece of outstanding prophecy to be fulfilled – the Days of Lot and Noah.  I deal with this in another project:

http://tribulationrisingcom.fatcow.com/elections-noah-and-lot-and-the-things-before-us/

These are the days of personal accounting.  These are the days where the Lord turns to “see” if all that has come before Him is “true”.  When you study this moment in stories of both Noah and Lot, you find that the Lord was not seeking to discover something He did not know.  He was committing to the eternal record the righteousness and unrighteousness of every last soul involved.  However, the key is this – He did not come to the unrighteous.

He came to the righteous.

Between the story of Noah and Lot, we see numbers emerge that are prophetically instructive.  They reveal a terrible truth.  They reveal that when this process is over, more than half of those that account themselves as believers will fall away, and perish on the way out the door.  I have detailed this many times in numerous projects here on Trib Rising, and do so to a great degree in the forthcoming back half of the project on Lot and Noah.

We failed collectively.  All that remains now is for each of us individually to record that we WILL overcome for the Lord, putting Him at the head of all things in our life. 

Now, all of the things that manifested during the tetrad are now permanent.  ISIS will become the Beast Kingdom that we see in Revelation 17 and 18.  They could have been defeated and another take their place at a later date.  Now, it is ISIS that will morph into something far more terrible than any of us can imagine.  The weather will continue to deteriorate.  Earthquakes, volcanoes and flooding will grow.  The global declines that began during the tetrad will continue to simmer.  The one exception to this will be a period that I cover in the project on the Days of Lot and Noah.

http://tribulationrisingcom.fatcow.com/elections-noah-and-lot-and-the-things-before-us/

However, new events and cycles have likewise began.  During the tetrad cycle, the events that we witnessed were the events that were needed to set the stage for the rise of all the things that begin after the rapture.  You cannot have the war of Gog and Magog if Gog is not in place.  So, events had to come to pass to prepare the way for Gog.  Likewise, Israel must be ready to accept the seven year peace after the rapture. The way must be made straight for this to be ready when the time comes.  There are a host of other events that occur during the breaking of the seven seals which must be ready before the rapture.  The timing of these events move very fast.  Everything must be in place for them prior to the sounding of the first and last trumps.

There can be no denying that the world which emerged from the tetrad and Shemitah was far different than the one that went into the tetrad and Shemitah.  I can still remember how much it seemed as though somebody hit the fast forward button after the 2012 Presidential election.  What a difference three years make!

Now, think about everything that has transpired just since the Shemitah and tetrad ended?  Could you have EVER imagined the things we are seeing today?  Forget the sudden rise of gay rights and gay marriage.  Did you EVER imagine that the U.S. would be fighting to let men into women’s restrooms, and the pedophiles would be recognized as an actual sexual orientation that must be accepted?  All of this is literally just the tip of the iceberg!

Everything we have witnessed since the conclusion of the tetrad and Shemitah have a far different feel than the things that happened during the prophetic cycle.  During the tetrad, there was still a sense that things could be turned around.  Now, there is not – at least not with overcomers.  Instead, we seem to have hit that final stage of grief – acceptance.  We are watching as events unfold to which there can never be a return. We are watching events unfold which we know can never be undone.  That is the difference between 29 Elul and 1 Tishri.  One day had possibility.  The next day had judgment and death.

So, as each subsequent day passes, more and more of the tribulation preparations will be completed.  We have all known that this must come.  Now, we are watching it with our very own eyes.  As much as the events prior to 29 Elul, 2015 seemed to be prophetic, they were nothing compared to the direct effect of what we are witnessing now.  Before 29 Elul things appeared prophetic.  Now, they are literally chapter and verse from the Bible.

That is what the tetrad and the Shemitah represent now.  The tetrad was the final countdown to the times of the end.

The Shemitah of 2015 was the confirmation that we have arrived.

As I completed the first half of this project, Brexit has caught the world by storm.  The fact that it was 7 years, 7 months, 7 weeks and 7 days since September 29, 2008 has led to a chorus of folks declaring Brexit as a manifestation of the Shemitah.  There is just one problem.

To be Shemitah, it must happen within the Shemitah cycle.  The Shemitah ended on September 17, 2015.

I do not want to give the impression that Brexit was not important, or that it has nothing  to do with the end times.  For that matter, I do not want to give the impression that there is no connection between the Shemitah and Brexit.  There is.  

Stated simply, Brexit was not Shemitah.  It was something far worse. 

Remember, 29 Elul, 2015 came and went.  By default, that means that any sign of prophetic fulfillment must be a direct sign of the tribulation lining up.  Brexit did not come because of the Shemitah.  It came because we would not heed the Shemitah.

I will deal with Brexit in a later project on Daniel, and the rise of the coming Beast Kingdom.  Until then, suffice it to say that Brexit was not Shemitah.  However, it is just as bad as the Shemitah folks declare.  Whether Brexit is or is not Shemitah is akin to deciding which is better – and atomic bomb made of uranium or plutonium.  You don’t want to be around when either arrives.  Think of it like this – Brexit is an end times sign. It’s just not “Shemitah” brand.  It’s “tribulation lining up” brand.

The Shemitah, Jacob’s Trouble and the Rapture.

We can now dig into the meat of what the Shemitah reveals with regards to the rapture. That seems odd to say given how much we have covered already.  The most pressing questions about why the Shemitah “fizzled” have been answered.  This would be “mission accomplished” for most of us, as it was for myself.  However, as it so often seems to happen, the Lord was just getting started with His revelations and understanding when He gave us “The Harbinger”.  

2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV:

16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Hebrews 8:4-5 ESV:

4 Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law.

5 They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.”

Hebrews 9:23-24 ESV:

23 Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

24 For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.

Proverbs 25:2-3 ESV:

2 It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out.  

3 As the heavens for height, and the earth for depth, so the heart of kings is unsearchable.

Isaiah 28:9-10, 13 ESV:

9 “To whom will he teach knowledge, and to whom will he explain the message?  Those who are weaned from the milk, those taken from the breast?

10 For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little.”  

13 And the word of the Lord will be to them precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little, that they may go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

We have covered the scriptural evidence for the Shemitah.  However, there is something that needs to be understood.  We have spoken numerous times on Trib Rising of the prophetic layer of scripture.  All scripture is valid at face value.  However, as Paul tells us, the things on earth are the copies of the things in heaven.  Likewise, Proverbs tells us that it is the glory of God to conceal a matter, and the honor of kings to search it out.  Also, Isaiah tells us that the truth of the Lord is built line on line, precept on precept, here a little, there a little, until the whole truth is revealed.

There is one other scriptural reference which sits at the heart of where we are going next:

Colossians 2:16-17 ESV:

16 Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.

17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.

In the multiple scriptures above, we can see the scriptural case for building doctrines line by line, precept by precept.  However, it is Colossians 2:16-17 that reveals the heart of the matter concerning the Shemitah.  It is a shadow of things to come.  However, it is how the Shemitah fills this bill that is absolutely astounding.

Let’s take a moment and talk about something that we covered earlier – the multiple revelations of judgment that the Lord has been giving to overcomers.  We already spoke of our assumptions that such judgment would come on 29 Elul, 2015.  We have also spoke of the reason why this was a natural assumption.  Given what had occurred in 2001 and 2008, assigning the warnings of the Lord to 29 Elul, 2015 made sense.  Of course, there is a big difference between “I am sending devastating judgment”, and “I am sending devastating judgment on 29 Elul, 2015”.

I don’t know about the others, but I have learned to listen a bit more closely to what I am actually being told!

As it turns out, there is good reason to associate 29 Elul, 2015 with massive judgment, and not just the type of economic judgment that we witnessed in 2001 and 2008.  Here is an excerpt from “Coming Signs”:

“The natural question is whether the Shemitah Release fits any of the things we see in the Book of Revelation.  The short answer is yes – it does.  It’s how closely they match that is the frightening thing.  When you begin to look at the coming judgments, especially the seven sealed scroll, you can see exactly where the Sabbath cycle might just fall into place.

Let’s start with a basic understanding of the overall timing of the Book of Revelation, with regards to the start of the actual time known as the tribulation.  It must be remembered that the Book of Revelation deals with more than the seven years of the tribulation.  It begins with the rapture and concludes with eternity when the New Jerusalem comes down.  Starting with verse 4:1 (the rapture) we see the sequence of events that bring the seven year tribulation – the opening of the seven seals and the four horsemen of the apocalypse.  It is not until after the sixth seal (6:12) that the seven year covenant with many is confirmed and the seven year tribulation actually starts.  If you cross reference the events of the four horsemen with Daniel 11 and Ezekiel 38 and 39 you will see the stunning parallels that most simply read past in their studies.

Here are the seals that occur between the time of the rapture and the start of the tribulation:

~ Revelation 6 ESV:

Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Come!” 2 And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer.

3 When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.

5 When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand. 6 And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, “A quart[a] of wheat for a denarius,[b] and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine!”

7 When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” 8 And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.

9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne.

10 They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11 Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants[c] and their brothers[d] should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.

12 When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, 13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. 14 The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. 15 Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave[e] and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, 16 calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”

I thought it was best to simply list out all of Revelation 6 for this discussion.  Now, read through these verses with the Shemitah in mind. What you will see is going to floor you.  Let us put aside the individual colors of the horses for a moment, and concentrate solely on what comes with each seal.

The first seal brings the Antichrist, but not yet the Antichrist.  He conquers with a bow, but no arrows.  We see from Daniel chapter 11 that he manipulates the world into war against Israel.  His actions behind the scenes will bring the fulfillment of Ezekiel 38 and 39 – the nuclear war known as Gog and Magog.

This will devastate the world economies and food supply – or what is left after the devastation of the rapture in Revelation 4:1.  Check off the first seal in Shemitah sequence – it fits the requirements.

The second seal brings the confirmation that the manipulations of the Antichrist were successful.  As it was with the first seal, the second seal likewise fits as peace is taken from the earth.

The third seal resembles the implementation of the Shemitah.  In the third seal we see that 75 percent of the world’s economic power has vanished. We also know that this is based upon food shortages as the oil and wine are part and parcel to this judgment.  While it is beyond the scope of this discussion, it is well worth looking into the shortages of bees that have been occurring without explanation.  If the current rate of disappearance continues, we will have a massive shortage of world food, and it will occur very quickly.  It is estimated that we could lose one fourth of the global food supply within days.  Olives and grapes (oil and wine) would be immune to the disappearance of bees as they are pollinated by the wind. This is exactly how you can get the effect recorded with the second seal.

Also, it bears mentioning that there was an eerie lack of flowering plants this spring (2015).  No flowers and no bees equals no food.

The fourth seal is the net effect of the first three, and brings the totality of the Shemitah effect on the fields and finances.

The fifth seal brings the mass martyrdom of those that come to Christ after missing the rapture.  It is not just beheading during the first 42 months, but martyrdom through any means at hand.

The net effect of the fourth and fifth seals further intensify the Shemitah on the earth as a fourth of the earth’s population is killed.

The sixth seal occurs just before a covenant between Israel and her enemies in the Gog and Magog war, negotiated by the Antichrist.  It begins with a massive global earthquake that literally sends everybody with access to underground emergency bunkers into hiding (shelters and basements also fit the description in Revelation 6 – there would have been no real equivalent in John’s day when he saw these things).  The entire economic and power structure of the world will cease to exist (what’s left of it after the rapture) when world government, finance and industry leaders run and hide from the coming judgments.

The sixth seal effectively shuts down what remains of the world.  For global food and the global economy – that would be checkmate.

The seventh seal brings the sealing of the 144,000 Jews in chapter 7, also an indication that the tribulation has officially begun.

We can see that the first six seals in Revelation bear an uncanny resemblance to the Shemitah, and our present history bears out the uncanny similarities for us.  So the question becomes whether or not it is just a coincidence, or are we seeing the unfolding of the Shemitah Release in the first six seals?  We will explore this possibility in just a moment.

As it turns out, what each of us knew – without recognizing the connection – is that the Shemitah has at its heart the seal judgments unleashed in Revelation.  Even without the additional revelation and understanding that the Lord has since provided us, the relationship to the Shemitah and the tribulation cannot be dismissed.  We simply lacked the connecting pieces.  For the record, the Shemitah also aligns closely with all of the judgments that get poured out during the tribulation.  We especially see the connection between the Shemitah and the mark of the Beast.  However, it is the first six seals that hold the greatest significance to the Shemitah.  There is a reason for this.  We will examine this reason a bit more closely in just a few moments.  For now, suffice it to say that the Shemitah actually encodes what we see in the seal judgments.  That is why we could make the natural assumption that the tribulation was on deck with the Shemitah.

There is another aspect to this that needs addressed.  When Jonathan Cahn wrote of the Shemitah in “The Harbinger”, he touched on something interesting.  He relates how the Hebrew word for Shemitah can mean “a shaking”.  The implication being that there was a deeper meaning being conveyed by the Lord when He gave Israel the Shemitah in the first place.  To call the Shemitah a prophetic reference is an understatement. Cahn’s description does not do justice to what Shemitah actually reveals.

I find it interesting that the root word for Shemitah can give us “release” (most of us are familiar with the “releasing” aspect of the Shemitah, especially the day of release on 29 Elul), and it gives us “shaking”.  I think it is fair to say that the Lord means for us to pay attention to anything that has at it’s heart “release shaking” as a core premise.  With that said, is there anything else that we need to understand with regards to the Shemitah, and the wording the Lord used?  The answer is “yes”.

I have covered the nature of word studies more times than I can count.  They are an integral part of every major project on Trib Rising.  I also cover in great detail the need to make critical observations, and complete observations.  There has arisen an entire generation of “scholars” that fancy themselves as “experts” on Bible word studies. Granted, it has become considerably easier to do a quality word study these days as the proliferation of online and electronic sources put the original languages at our fingertips.  Still, I want to scream most of the time when I see the homegrown batch of scholars break out their resources.  Sadly, the overwhelming majority of “word studies” I see are atrocious at best.  I cannot tell you how many times I see incomplete research, poor conclusions, missed observations, etc., in these so-called studies.  There is an utter failure to ask critical questions 95 percent of the time.  There is a failure to explore greater context and alternate possibilities 98 percent of the time.

99 percent of the time, it seems that our “scholars” like to pick up a copy of Strong’s, and simply find the different definitions for a particular word, and plug in the definition that most closely fits what they WANT the text to reveal – and do so with NO effort to ascertain the linguistic differences which reveal the proper definition to be applied to the text in question.

So, what exactly is revealed when we apply this type of original language study to Shemitah?  Is “release shaking” an adequate understanding of the Shemitah?  Let’s start with “Shemitah” and go from there.

Strong’s Concordance
Shemittah: a letting drop, a (temporary) remitting
Original Word: שְׁמִטָּה
Part of Speech: Noun Feminine
Transliteration: shemittah
Phonetic Spelling: (shem-it-taw’)
Short Definition: remission

Brown-Driver-Briggs
שְׁמִטָּה noun feminine a letting drop of exactions, a (temporary) remitting: ׳תַּעֲשֶׂה שׁ Deuteronomy 15:1(at end of seven years), Deuteronomy 15:2 ׳לי ׳כִּי קָרָא שׁ; whence seventh year is ׳שְׁנַת הַשּׁ Deuteronomy 15:9; Deuteronomy 31:10.
שְׁמִירָמוֺת see below שֵׁם. p. 1029.

Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance
release
From shamat; remission (of debt) or suspension of labor) — release.

see HEBREW shamat

Forms and Transliterations
הַשְּׁמִטָּ֖ה הַשְּׁמִטָּה֒ השמטה שְׁמִטָּ֖ה שְׁמִטָּֽה׃ שמטה שמטה׃ haš·šə·miṭ·ṭāh hashshemitTah haššəmiṭṭāh šə·miṭ·ṭāh šəmiṭṭāh shemitTah

Englishman’s Concordance
Strong’s Hebrew 8059
5 Occurrences

haš·šə·miṭ·ṭāh — 3 Occ.
šə·miṭ·ṭāh — 2 Occ.

Deuteronomy 15:1 
HEB: שָׁנִ֖ים תַּעֲשֶׂ֥ה שְׁמִטָּֽה׃ 
NAS: you shall grant a remission [of debts].
KJV: years thou shalt make a release.
INT: years shall grant A remission

Deuteronomy 15:2 
HEB: וְזֶה֮ דְּבַ֣ר הַשְּׁמִטָּה֒ שָׁמ֗וֹט כָּל־
NAS: is the manner of remission: every
KJV: And this [is] the manner of the release: Every creditor
INT: This is the manner of remission shall release every

Deuteronomy 15:2 
HEB: כִּֽי־ קָרָ֥א שְׁמִטָּ֖ה לַֽיהוָֽה׃ 
NAS: the LORD’S remission has been proclaimed.
KJV: the LORD’S release.
INT: because has been proclaimed remission the LORD’S

Deuteronomy 15:9 
HEB: הַשֶּׁבַע֮ שְׁנַ֣ת הַשְּׁמִטָּה֒ וְרָעָ֣ה עֵֽינְךָ֗
NAS: the year of remission, is near,’
KJV: the year of release, is at hand;
INT: the seventh the year of remission is hostile eye

Deuteronomy 31:10 
HEB: בְּמֹעֵ֛ד שְׁנַ֥ת הַשְּׁמִטָּ֖ה בְּחַ֥ג הַסֻּכּֽוֹת׃
NAS: of the year of remission of debts, at the Feast
KJV: of the year of release, in the feast
INT: the time of the year of remission the Feast of Booths

So far, what we have here is what we would expect.  However, this is where critical observation skills come in.  We can see the Shemitah is a transliteration of another word.  In fact, it is one of multiple transliterations that will cover everything from the tense of the word to different circumstances covered.  It also bears noting that we also have evidence of the temporary nature of the actual Shemitah, or Sabbath year.  This is a further evidence of the “reset” nature of the Shemitah.

With that, let’s expand our examination further with an examination of “shamat”:

Strong’s Concordance
shamat: to let drop
Original Word: שָׁמַט
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: shamat
Phonetic Spelling: (shaw-mat’)
Short Definition: release

NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
a prim. root
Definition
to let drop
NASB Translation
let it rest (1), let go (1), release (2), threw her down (1), throw her down (1), thrown down (1), upset (2).

Brown-Driver-Briggs

[שָׁמַט] verb let drop (Late Hebrew id., loosen, detach, draw away, Niph`al slip off; Aramaic שְׁמַטּ loosen, pull away;  draw sword, draw or pull away; Arabic ; is hang, suspend, II. release debtor (Kam),  string of pearls); —

Qal let drop, fall: Imperative masculine plural suffix + Imperfect3masculine singular suffix וַיִּשְׁמְטוּהָ (final ו dittograph) שִׁמְטוּהָו 2 Kings 9:33 he said, Let her fall, and they let her fall; then figurative, of letting land rest in seventh year:, 2 masculine singular suffix: תִּשְׁמְטֶנָּה Exodus 23:11 (E); Perfect2masculine singular וְשָׁמַטְתָּ֫ה> Jeremiah 17:4 thou shalt let drop thy hand (read יָָֽרְךָ for וּבְךְ JDMich and modern) from (מִן) thine inheritance, i.e. abandon it; Infinitive abs. שָׁמוֺט Deuteronomy 15:2 let fall (a debt in seventh year; see מַשֶּׁה b). — Perfect 3 plural שָֽׁמְטוּ הַבָּקָר 2 Samuel 6:6= 1 Chronicles 13:9 is dubious, most naturally either they let the oxen fall (slip, stumble), or (as Targan) the oxen let it fall (reading שְׁמָטוֺ, that is, the ark); > Thes the oxen ran away; ᵑ6 slipped (the yoke)? see further Dr.

Niph`al Perfect3plural נִשְׁמְטוּ Psalm 141:6 their judges have been thrown down.

Hiph`il2masculine singular (?) jussive (?) תַּשְׁמֵט Deuteronomy 15:3 thou, shalt cause thy hand to let drop, etc.; BaNB 147

Qal; < read תִּשְׁמֹט (compare Dr), יָרֶ֑ךָ: subject

Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance
discontinue, overthrow, release, let rest, shake, stumble, throw down
A primitive root; to fling down; incipiently to jostle; figuratively, to let alone, desist, remit — discontinue, overthrow, release, let rest, shake, stumble, throw down.

8058 – shamat – to drop down, stumble, lie unplowed, to be thrown down, to cancel a debt. – release, discontinue, overthrown, rest, shook, stumbled, threw down, throw down.

Forms and Transliterations
וְשָׁמַטְתָּ֗ה וַֽיִּשְׁמְט֑וּהָ וישמטוה ושמטתה נִשְׁמְט֣וּ נשמטו שָֽׁמְט֖וּ שָׁמ֗וֹט שָׁמְט֖וּ שִׁמְט֖וּהָ שמוט שמטו שמטוה תִּשְׁמְטֶ֣נָּה תַּשְׁמֵ֥ט תשמט תשמטנה niš·mə·ṭū nishmeTu nišməṭū šā·mə·ṭū šā·mō·wṭ šāməṭū šāmōwṭ shameTu shaMot shimTuha šim·ṭū·hā šimṭūhā taš·mêṭ tashMet tašmêṭ tiš·mə·ṭen·nāh tishmeTennah tišməṭennāh vaiyishmeTuha veshamatTah way·yiš·mə·ṭū·hā wayyišməṭūhā wə·šā·maṭ·tāh wəšāmaṭtāh

Englishman’s Concordance
Strong’s Hebrew 8058
9 Occurrences

niš·mə·ṭū — 1 Occ.
šā·mə·ṭū — 2 Occ.
šā·mō·wṭ — 1 Occ.
šim·ṭū·hā — 1 Occ.
taš·mêṭ — 1 Occ.
tiš·mə·ṭen·nāh — 1 Occ.
way·yiš·mə·ṭū·hā — 1 Occ.
wə·šā·maṭ·tāh — 1 Occ.

Exodus 23:11 
HEB: וְהַשְּׁבִיעִ֞ת תִּשְׁמְטֶ֣נָּה וּנְטַשְׁתָּ֗הּ וְאָֽכְלוּ֙
NAS: but [on] the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow,
KJV: But the seventh [year] thou shalt let it rest and lie
INT: but the seventh shall let and lie may eat

Deuteronomy 15:2 
HEB: דְּבַ֣ר הַשְּׁמִטָּה֒ שָׁמ֗וֹט כָּל־ בַּ֙עַל֙
NAS: creditor shall release what
KJV: [ought] unto his neighbour shall release [it]; he shall not exact
INT: is the manner of remission shall release every archer

Deuteronomy 15:3 
HEB: אֶת־ אָחִ֖יךָ תַּשְׁמֵ֥ט יָדֶֽךָ׃ 
NAS: [it], but your hand shall release whatever
KJV: thine hand shall release;
INT: is with your brother shall release your hand

2 Samuel 6:6 
HEB: בּ֔וֹ כִּ֥י שָׁמְט֖וּ הַבָּקָֽר׃ 
NAS: of it, for the oxen nearly upset [it].
KJV: of it; for the oxen shook [it].
INT: and took nearly upset the oxen

2 Kings 9:33 
HEB: [שִׁמְטֻהוּ כ] (שִׁמְט֖וּהָ ק) וַֽיִּשְׁמְט֑וּהָ
NAS: He said, Throw her down. So they threw her down,
KJV: Throw her down. So they threw her down: and [some] of her blood
INT: said Throw Throw was sprinkled

2 Kings 9:33 
HEB: (שִׁמְט֖וּהָ ק) וַֽיִּשְׁמְט֑וּהָ וַיִּ֨ז מִדָּמָ֧הּ
NAS: Throw her down. So they threw her down, and some
KJV: And he said, Throw her down. So they threw her down:
INT: said Throw Throw was sprinkled of her blood

1 Chronicles 13:9 
HEB: הָ֣אָר֔וֹן כִּ֥י שָֽׁמְט֖וּ הַבָּקָֽר׃ 
NAS: because the oxen nearly upset [it].
KJV: the ark; for the oxen stumbled.
INT: the ark because upset the oxen

Psalm 141:6 
HEB: נִשְׁמְט֣וּ בִֽידֵי־ סֶ֭לַע
NAS: Their judges are thrown down by the sides
KJV: When their judges are overthrown in stony
INT: are thrown the sides of the rock

Jeremiah 17:4 
HEB: וְשָׁמַטְתָּ֗ה וּבְךָ֙ מִנַּחֲלָֽתְךָ֙
NAS: And you will, even of yourself, let go of your inheritance
KJV: And thou, even thyself, shalt discontinue from thine heritage
INT: let of your inheritance which

Here is where things get interesting.  When we review the expanded list of transliterations, and the context present in the nine occurrences of “shamat”, we see much more than just a “release”.  Look closely at the additional meanings of “shamat”:

discontinue, overthrow, release, let rest, shake, stumble, throw down

A primitive root; to fling down; incipiently to jostle; figuratively, to let alone, desist, remit — discontinue, overthrow, release, let rest, shake, stumble, throw down.

[שָׁמַט] verb let drop (Late Hebrew id., loosen, detach, draw away, Niph`al slip off; Aramaic שְׁמַטּ loosen, pull away;  draw sword, draw or pull away; Arabic ; is hang, suspend, II. release debtor (Kam),  string of pearls); —

We can take this a step further, and examine the meaning for some of the words listed above, to see if they do in fact present a picture of more than just a “release” from Strong’s:

Shook:

Strong’s Concordance
gaash: to shake, quake
Original Word: גָּעַשׁ
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: gaash
Phonetic Spelling: (gaw-ash’)
Short Definition: shaken
NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
a prim. root
Definition
to shake, quake
NASB Translation
shaken (3), shook (2), stagger (1), surge (2), toss (1).

move, shake, toss, trouble
A primitive root to agitate violently — move, shake, toss, trouble.

Strong’s Concordance
raash: to quake, shake
Original Word: רָעַשׁ
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: raash
Phonetic Spelling: (raw-ash)
Short Definition: shake

NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
a prim. root
Definition
to quake, shake
NASB Translation
leap (1), quake (4), quaked (5), quakes (3), quaking (1), shake (9), shaken (2), shook (2), tremble (2), wave (1).

Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance
make afraid, remove, quake, make to shake, make to tremble
A primitive root; to undulate (as the earth, the sky, etc.; also a field of grain), partic. Through fear; specifically, to spring (as a locust) — make afraid, (re-)move, quake, (make to) shake, (make to) tremble.

Strong’s Concordance
ragaz: to be agitated, quiver, quake, be excited, perturbed
Original Word: רָגַז
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: ragaz
Phonetic Spelling: (raw-gaz’)
Short Definition: tremble

NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
a prim. root
Definition
to be agitated, quiver, quake, be excited, perturbed

NASB Translation
come trembling (1), deeply moved (1), disturbed (2), enraged (1), excited (1), moved (1), provoke (1), quake (1), quaked (2), quakes (2), quarrel (1), rages (1), raging (4), shakes (1), stirred (1), tremble (11), trembled (3), trembling (3), troubled (2), turmoil (1).

Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance
be afraid, stand in awe, disquiet, fall out, fret, move, provoke, quake,
A primitive root; to quiver (with any violent emotion, especially anger or fear) — be afraid, stand in awe, disquiet, fall out, fret, move, provoke, quake, rage, shake, tremble, trouble, be wroth.

When you review the information above, you get the sense of what “shamat” truly encompasses.  It is a root word that touches on more than just a “release” or “shaking”. When the Bible uses “shamat” as the heart of words that mean “provoke”, “draw swords”, “fret”, “rages”, “wroth”, “tremble”, “make afraid”, “stand in awe”, etc., you begin to see that the core premise behind the Shemitah is more than just a financial collapse.

Rather, it is more accurate to say that those terms are what is contained in “shamat”.  At its heart, “shamat” introduces the understanding of prophetic concepts encapsulated in terms such as shook, threw, throw, thrown, overthrow, overthrown, release, stumble, and stumbled.  These are the terms that comprise the concept of “shamat”, and sit at the heart of the Shemitah.

In the terms above, we can take our search further by examining the roots and transliterations of the terms that define what the “shamat” actually is.  Recall earlier what we found:

8058 – shamat – to drop down, stumble, lie unplowed, to be thrown down, to cancel a debt. – release, discontinue, overthrown, rest, shook, stumbled, threw down, throw down.

Here is a more thorough listing of the Hebrews terms and transliterations which define each of the terms that comprise of “shamat”.  I used the term “more thorough” as this is not an exhaustive list.  It would simply require far too much real estate in this project to include a complete and exhaustive list:

Shook – Ragaz 7264, rahash 7493, gaash 1607;

Threw – Nathats 5422;

Thrown – Haras 2040, naphal 5307;

Throw – Ramah 7411;

Overthrow, overthrown – Haphak 2015, naar 5287, mahpekah 4114, natah 5186, madchephah 4073, salaph 5557, kashal 3782, shamad 8045;

Release – Hanachah 2010;

Stumbled, stumble – Kashal 3782, mekona 4350, melah 4417, nagap 5062, puq 6328;

For the record, some of the script above is a bit different than the actual script.  This is due to my own lack of understanding on the computer and where different characters are located.  I could have done a straight copy/paste, but this project has already far exceeded the time I anticipated I would need.  However, with the Strong’s number and the close script, you will be able to find the appropriate terms and continue your own study and research.

Taken together, what the information above reveals is that the Shemitah is far more than a financial release that occurs every seven years.  However, as it is with everything in the Torah, the Shemitah is a prophetic picture concealed in the plain text.

At this point, we need to bring in something we have covered a number of times.  Here is an excerpt from the section on “Matthew 24 and the Rapture” covering the prophetic layer of scripture:

“So many believers out there love to tout “the meat of the word”, yet when you really examine the content of what they believe, it becomes clear that they never truly moved past the milk stage.

In fact, they have been on milk so long that it has spoiled, curdled, become cottage cheese – and the more solid consistency has fooled them into thinking that they have meat.

Of course they don’t have meat.  They simply have spoiled milk masquerading as solid food!

Here is what I mean.

False understanding of the scripture always resides in one level of interpretation of the scriptures – the literal or “written” level.  In this level we have the literal written words studied as written.  This is the level where we all start, and where anybody can read anything they want.  It is also the only level where no real revelation from the Lord comes by itself.  This is important to understand.

Any believer that thinks they have a massive revelation from the Lord on the plain text of the scripture ALONE is in false doctrine.  All revelation in the first level comes ONLY AFTER revelation in the other three levels – the spiritual layers and the prophetic layer, or the level of mysteries.  Revelation in the first level is always given to confirm the greater mystery that God has revealed!

Here is where this comes into effect in Matthew 24 and 25.

When you read through the scriptures, it clearly states in the plain text that there will be persecution of those in Christ, “for my name’s sake”.  Clearly this refers to those that have the salvation of Christ during those days.  On the first level of interpretation, or the plain text level, it is obvious that this occurs.  Yet, those that seek only their own understanding, and answers to justify their flesh will stop there.

“See, this is proof that Jesus is addressing all of us!  Matthew 24 cannot be talking about a pre-trib rapture”.

Ultimately, that is why this is critical to understand.  Without the second, third and fourth levels of interpretation it becomes impossible to see the big picture, and thus, you become deceived.  That is why all false doctrine is found in the first level of interpretation alone.  Once the Lord opens your eyes to the second, third and fourth levels, you can never go back to the first level alone.

Now, I don’t want to give the impression that believers are not being addressed in Matthew 24.

To the contrary, it is as the pre-trib critics claim:  It is clearly believers that are being persecuted for the sake of the name of Christ.

Case closed, right?  Wrong.  To the contrary, if this is where you stop you will miss the most remarkable revelations hidden in Matthew 24 and 25.  If you seek the Lord for His answers He will eventually open up additional mysteries to you.  Each level of interpretation reveals the “next piece” to what you have just read in the plain text.  In other words, the plain text gives you the basic foundation.  It is the next three levels of interpretation where that base is applied and the real learning begins.

Here is an example of this.  We spoke of “one taken, one left” quite a bit.  However, one of the things we did not get into is the order of the parables in Matthew 24 and 25.  This is a study in its own right.  Here is the nickel tour of my point.  One of the things that gets missed by “one taken, one left – the wicked are taken” proponents is that the order of the parables are specific.  In other words, Jesus did not simply rattle off some parables in no particular order.  He gave them in a specific order to teach a specific point.  When you study the parables in the order they are given, you find that each parable defines the one before it.

You start out with one taken and one left.  You then add a layer of understanding with the next parable, and so on until you reach the end. When you are finished you will be left with the actual picture that Jesus was trying to convey.  None of the parables by themselves reveal the entire truth.

The same thing happens in Revelation chapters two and three.  We have the letters to the seven churches.  Yet, these seven letters also address our personal relationship with Christ as well as seven church ages that were to come (we are in the final church age by the way, or Laodicea).  Yet, there is something else there that is literally “hidden in plain sight”.

The order of the things given “to him that overcomes” reveals the actual order of events for the end times and the calling of the Great Assembly!  It is the key to understanding the different groups found in Revelation, and the rituals that we see occur throughout the time of the tribulation.  Also, when the things that are given to the overcomers are separated and listed, you see the bigger picture in that all of those things can only be given in heaven.  In other words, we must take a trip to receive those things awarded to the overcomer.  Not only that, but the additional study that these things mandate is undertaken, you find that these are not things that are simply awarded as each of us dies.  There is a specific time of awarding coming, it comes for all of us at the same time – and it is NOT the Judgment Seat of Christ (the full context of this statement is found in the original project on Matthew 24 and the Rapture – it makes more sense when the rest of the statement is not left off).”

This is essentially what we have in the Shemitah.  The Lord gives a plain text meaning that reveals the Shemitah is the seventh and final year of the yearly Sabbath cycle. However, when we go beyond the plain text and study deeper, the Lord reveals the deeper things He conceals in the scriptures.  The deeper understanding does not contradict the plain text.  It strengthens it, while opening up a prophetic picture concealed in the thing at hand.  That is what we have with the Shemitah.  What the prophetic layer reveals about the rapture will absolutely blow your mind!

In light of everything we have covered so far, it is a fair statement to say that the primary purpose of the Shemitah is to reveal an end times picture.  It is also fair to say that it was never meant as a last chance for us to repent.  It was, but the Lord already knew that we would not heed His warning and accept.  We spoke of that a moment ago.  It’s as though the Shemitah was meant to show us something “more”.  Indeed it was.

The question is this – what are we supposed to see?

The Picture that Everybody Missed.

We have covered a lot of territory thus far.  Still, there are questions that we need to ask and address in our study of the Shemitah.  We have already seen that it is more than just the seventh year of the seven year Sabbath cycle.  Here are several question which emerge regarding the Shemitah:

-What did 2001 and 2008 reveal?

-Why these two dates?  

-Why seven years apart?  Why not 14 years apart?  Why not 21 years apart?

-What was the difference between 2001, 2008, and 2015?

The answer to each of these questions can be found in a scripture we covered a few moments ago:

Colossians 2:16-17 ESV:

16 Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. 17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.

First, we are going to take a few minutes to cover something that will come into play in the later sections of this project on the counting of the omer, the Feast of Trumpets, and the Day of Atonement.  

The literal nature of the scriptures is a topic I cover in great detail throughout Trib Rising.  Most believers would agree that the scripture is indeed literal.  That said, what I have found is that the degree of “literal” changes from person to person.  Many times, that degree seems to be adjusted based on exactly what the person wants to embrace. Many times, the spiritual and literal meanings will swap places depending on the position that is being embraced.

However, even when a believer has a healthy understanding of the literal nature of the Bible, often times they have an inability to listen and apply a genuine literal meaning to the scriptures.  Indeed, this same thing happens with revelation knowledge as well.  It happens with dreams and visions also.  It is exactly what happened with the Shemitah.  I outlined how the Lord will say something to a believer, and they fill in the blanks with their own assumptions – effectively adding to what they were actually shown.  So, let’s look at the scripture above, and see how the concept of literal meaning applies.

Colossians 2:16-17 ESV:

16 Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. 17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.

When most of us read this scripture, we get a general sense of what it is saying.  It tells us not to judge somebody on whether or not they practice the feasts and keep the Sabbath.  Given that this was spoken in Hebrews, and the entire book deals with Jewish believers and their inability to separate themselves from their old lives, this is a solid general understanding.  We also see that it applied to how the Jewish believers viewed the Gentile believers, and that fellowship in Christ should require the study of the Torah.

For the record, it also has a solid general meaning dealing with the Gentile believers, and their struggles to leave their pagan past behind.  Throughout the history of the early church, there were constant battles between the desire to institute the Torah and feast days, as well as battles to introduce the pagan practices as well.  These battles raged between the “Jew and the Greek” for a very long time.  Ironically, what both camps missed is that Christ came so that the relationship with God could move from the realm of the formal, and become what it had been in the beginning – a walk with God, on a personal level.

This general understanding is where the discussion usually stops.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV –

16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God[a] may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Did you know that the original Greek word for “all” means both “individually” and “collectively”?  The collective nature is probably not a surprise.  However, even that has more depth than most realize.

Strong’s Concordance
pas: all, every
Original Word: πᾶς, πᾶσα, πᾶν
Part of Speech: Adjective
Transliteration: pas
Phonetic Spelling: (pas)
Short Definition: all, the whole, every kind of
Definition: all, the whole, every kind of.

HELPS Word-studies
3956 pás – each, every; each “part(s) of a totality” (L & N, 1, 59.24).

3956 /pás (“each, every”) means “all” in the sense of “each (every) part that applies.” The emphasis of the total picture then is on “one piece at a time.” 365 (ananeóō) then focuses on the part(s) making up the whole – viewing the whole in terms of the individual parts.

[When 3956 (pás) modifies a word with the definite article it has “extensive-intensive” force – and is straightforward intensive when the Greek definite article is lacking.]

This reveals something critical to our study of the Shemitah.  It tells us that scripture has a collective and and individual component.  It also tells us that there is something deeper to the prophetic picture as well.  Let’s bring back the scripture in question:

Colossians 2:16-17 ESV –

16 Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. 17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.

Let’s start with the individual nature of these two scriptures.  What do we see here? Let’s separate out the key points.

• food and drink
• Festival
• new moon
• Sabbath

How many times do we read these scriptures, yet never realize that these are separate and distinct “things”?  We lump them under a single category, and that is where we confine our study.  However, it is when you break them out individually that a larger picture emerges.  Here is the $64,000 question – what do these things have in common? The answer actually resides in the dual meaning for the word “all” that we discussed a moment ago.  They are the individual elements of something covered all the way back in Leviticus 23.

Feasts of the Lord:
23 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, These are the appointed feasts of the Lord that you shall proclaim as holy convocations; they are my appointed feasts.

The Sabbath:
3 “Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work. It is a Sabbath to the Lord in all your dwelling places.

The Passover:
4 “These are the appointed feasts of the Lord, the holy convocations, which you shall proclaim at the time appointed for them. 5 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight,[a] is the Lord’s Passover. 6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. 7 On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work. 8 But you shall present a food offering to the Lord for seven days. On the seventh day is a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work.”

The Feast of Firstfruits:
9 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest, 11 and he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, so that you may be accepted. On the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. 12 And on the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb a year old without blemish as a burnt offering to the Lord. 13 And the grain offering with it shall be two tenths of an ephah[b] of fine flour mixed with oil, a food offering to the Lord with a pleasing aroma, and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, a fourth of a hin.[c] 14 And you shall eat neither bread nor grain parched or fresh until this same day, until you have brought the offering of your God: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

The Feast of Weeks:
15 “You shall count seven full weeks from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering. 16 You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath. Then you shall present a grain offering of new grain to the Lord. 17 You shall bring from your dwelling places two loaves of bread to be waved, made of two tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour, and they shall be baked with leaven, as firstfruits to the Lord. 18 And you shall present with the bread seven lambs a year old without blemish, and one bull from the herd and two rams. They shall be a burnt offering to the Lord, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord. 19 And you shall offer one male goat for a sin offering, and two male lambs a year old as a sacrifice of peace offerings. 20 And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering before the Lord, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the Lord for the priest. 21 And you shall make a proclamation on the same day. You shall hold a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work. It is a statute forever in all your dwelling places throughout your generations.

22 “And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, nor shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.”

The Feast of Trumpets:
23 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 24 “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of solemn rest, a memorial proclaimed with blast of trumpets, a holy convocation. 25 You shall not do any ordinary work, and you shall present a food offering to the Lord.”

The Day of Atonement:
26 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 27 “Now on the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. It shall be for you a time of holy convocation, and you shall afflict yourselves[d] and present a food offering to the Lord. 28 And you shall not do any work on that very day, for it is a Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the Lord your God. 29 For whoever is not afflicted on that very day shall be cut off from his people. 30 And whoever does any work on that very day, that person I will destroy from among his people. 31 You shall not do any work. It is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwelling places. 32 It shall be to you a Sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict yourselves. On the ninth day of the month beginning at evening, from evening to evening shall you keep your Sabbath.”

The Feast of Booths
33 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 34 “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, On the fifteenth day of this seventh month and for seven days is the Feast of Booths[e] to the Lord. 35 On the first day shall be a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work. 36 For seven days you shall present food offerings to the Lord. On the eighth day you shall hold a holy convocation and present a food offering to the Lord. It is a solemn assembly; you shall not do any ordinary work.

37 “These are the appointed feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim as times of holy convocation, for presenting to the Lord food offerings, burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its proper day, 38 besides the Lord’s Sabbaths and besides your gifts and besides all your vow offerings and besides all your freewill offerings, which you give to the Lord.

39 “On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the produce of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of the Lord seven days. On the first day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest. 40 And you shall take on the first day the fruit of splendid trees, branches of palm trees and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days. 41 You shall celebrate it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It is a statute forever throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month. 42 You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All native Israelites shall dwell in booths, 43 that your generations may know that I made the people of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”

44 Thus Moses declared to the people of Israel the appointed feasts of the Lord.

What we see in Colossians 2:16-17 is a direct reference to the Sabbath Day and the seven Feasts of Israel.  That is not a surprise, yet the connection gets glossed over, or missed outright most of the time.  This would not be a problem, except for the critical piece of the scripture that likewise gets missed.

These are a shadow of the things to come.

Thayer’s Greek Lexicon
STRONGS NT 4639: σκιά

σκιά, σκιᾶς, ἡ ((see σκηνή, at the beginning)), from Homer down, the Sept. for צֵל;
a. properly, shadow, i. e. shade caused by the interception of the light: Mark 4:32 (cf. Ezekiel 17:23); Acts 5:15; σκιά θανάτου, shadow of death (like umbra mortis, Ovid. metam. 5, 191, and umbra Erebi, Vergil Aen. 4, 26; 6, 404), ‘the densest darkness’ (because from of old Hades had been regarded as enveloped in thick darkness), tropically, the thick darkness of error (i. e. spiritual death; see θάνατος, 1): Matthew 4:16; Luke 1:79 (from Isaiah 9:1, where צַלְמָוֶת).

b. a shadow, i. e. an image cast by an object and representing the form of that object: opposed to σῶμα, the thing itself, Colossians 2:17; hence, equivalent to a sketch, outline, adumbration, Hebrews 8:5; opposed to εἰκών, the ‘express’ likeness, the very image, Hebrews 10:1 (as in Cicero, de off. 3, 17, 69 nos veri juris solidam et expresssam effigiem nullam tenemus, umbra et imaginibus utimur).

This tells us that the things we see in Leviticus 23 are not just food, feasts, festivals and Sabbaths, but that they are direct images of the real things to come!  They are the pictures, copies and definitions of the prophetic things we see happening in Revelation.

Let’s bring back an excerpt on “top down, bottom up” from earlier in the project:

Let’s use the first three feasts, and the scriptures given above as an example.  When you take the full reading and context of the scriptures, you notice something.  Hebrews talks about Christ entering the Heavenly Temple and sprinkling the furniture with His blood.  Here’s the problem.  That is an act encoded in the Day of Atonement – a feast which has not yet been fulfilled.  It seems that something is out of order.

Furthermore, a detailed study of what is revealed in Hebrews tells us that this series of events actually happened on the Feast of Firstfruits!  Literally, we have the merging of three separate feasts into a single moment – Passover (the blood), Firstfruits (the offering at the Temple) and Atonement (the cleansing of the Most Holy Place from sin).

This can be confusing for those that are new to prophetic studies.  Likewise, they are confusing if you practice a top down approach alone.  As we stated earlier – top down gives you the context for the things practiced on earth.  However, the scriptures from Hebrews reveal the second piece of the puzzle.  Inasmuch as the things on earth are the copies of the things in heaven, then we need to take the individual pieces of the earthly things and place them in their proper perspective with regards to the heavenly things.

In other words, we use top down to give us the overall context for the study and understanding of the feasts, Law, and Torah.  This context tells us where each of the earthly things go in the heavenly picture – the actual picture.  So, now armed with the proper context for each of the feasts, for example, we can now go “bottom up”.  We can take the earthly event, and fit it into it’s proper place in Daniel, Revelation, Matthew 24, Luke 17, etc.  Though the context is found “top down”, the definitions given in the feasts, Laws and Torah themselves must also be known and understood.  You see, in the example of the feasts, there are requirements and pieces which are the specific definitions needed to understand the things in Revelation.  These definitions are required to understand the meaning behind why we see the things in Revelation.

Let’s bring in the scriptures concerning the Shemitah:

Exodus 23:10-12 ESV:

10 “For six years you shall sow your land and gather in its yield, 11 but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave the beasts of the field may eat. You shall do likewise with your vineyard, and with your olive orchard.

12 “Six days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your servant woman, and the alien, may be refreshed.

Leviticus 25:1-7  (ESV) – The Sabbath Year:

The Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you, the land shall keep a Sabbath to the Lord. 3 For six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its fruits, 4 but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the Lord. You shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard. 5 You shall not reap what grows of itself in your harvest, or gather the grapes of your undressed vine. It shall be a year of solemn rest for the land. 6 The Sabbath of the land[a] shall provide food for you, for yourself and for your male and female slaves[b] and for your hired worker and the sojourner who lives with you, 7 and for your cattle and for the wild animals that are in your land: all its yield shall be for food.

Deuteronomy 15:1-6 (ESV) – The Sabbatical Year:

“At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release. 2 And this is the manner of the release: every creditor shall release what he has lent to his neighbor. He shall not exact it of his neighbor, his brother, because the Lord’s release has been proclaimed. 3 Of a foreigner you may exact it, but whatever of yours is with your brother your hand shall release. 4 But there will be no poor among you; for the Lord will bless you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance to possess— 5 if only you will strictly obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all this commandment that I command you today. 6 For the Lord your God will bless you, as he promised you, and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow, and you shall rule over many nations, but they shall not rule over you.

Deuteronomy 31:10-13 (ESV):

10 And Moses commanded them, “At the end of every seven years, at the set time in the year of release, at the Feast of Booths, 11 when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God at the place that he will choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. 12 Assemble the people, men, women, and little ones, and the sojourner within your towns, that they may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, and be careful to do all the words of this law, 13 and that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, as long as you live in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.”

Let’s tie all of this together.

In the Torah, or the first five books of the Bible, the Lord gives His laws and ordinances throughout the entirety of those five books.  In some cases what you are reading may be a simple retelling of something given earlier.  Other times, it will be the first time something is mentioned.  Still, you may be reading a variation of something that has already been given.  Such is the case with the Shemitah.

However, there is something that needs to be noticed.  In Leviticus 23, the Lord gives the feasts days for the first time as a genuine set ordinance.  Likewise, He also includes the Sabbath day and Sabbath week.  There is a reason why these eight items are set apart from the rest of the Law of Moses.  As Paul tells the church at Colossae, they are “shadows of the things to come”.

There are several observations that must be made.  First, that Paul’s words tell us something about where we are in history.  His words tell us that the remaining three feast will have a direct impact on future prophecy.  When he declares them as a shadow, he is telling us that these feasts are the direct prophetic picture of events yet to unfold.  This comes as no surprise to most of us, and the prophetic nature of the feast days is something that seems to be taught around every corner now, and with good reason.

There is a second observation that must be made.  While Paul speaks these words after the death, resurrection and ascension of Christ, we know that they also apply to the feasts which cover those same events.  Those would include Passover, Unleavened Bread and Firstfruits.  This is something we don’t think about, though it makes sense. Paul is speaking of the feasts as a whole.  When the Lord gave us the Law of Moses, all seven of the feasts were prophetic pictures of the real things to come.  At that time, none of the seven feasts had yet been fulfilled.  Each of them had to be fulfilled.  This becomes critical to the next point that we can observe.

When Jesus was crucified, buried and raised, He completed these days on the exact appointed days that were encoded in the first three feasts.  When He ascended to heaven 40 days later, with the Holy Spirit coming to the 120 in the upper room 10 days later, it set the fourth feast to fulfillment.  We will delve deeper into Pentecost later in this presentation.  For now, remember what we have covered so far, as it weighs heavily into Pentecost and the counting of the omer.

Here is the trick.  The Lord changes not.  We all know this, and quote these same scriptures all the time.  However, those words reveal more than most realize.  Here is what I mean.  If the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ fulfilled the first four feasts on the appointed days, then He must likewise fulfill the last three on the appointed days.  What that means is this.  The fulfillment of the Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, and Feast of Tabernacles must be fulfilled not only on the days appointed to them on the calendar, but in the same number of days appointed to them.

That gives us a grand total of 15 days in which to see Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles fulfilled.  This would seem to be a problem.  Most of us already know that these three feasts encode the rapture, tribulation and Second Coming.  So then, how can they be fulfilled in a literal 15 days, when this period by definition must be at least seven years in length?  This question is at the heart of what will be revealed throughout the rest of the study.  When TDBU is applied to the feast days, we find critical pieces of the equation that will open up prophecy in ways we never imagined!  We will speak more on Trumpets and Atonement in later sections.  All of this gives way to our fourth observation on the subject.

When exactly, does the Sabbath get fulfilled?

Remember, the weekly Sabbath is a part of the feasts days that were given in Leviticus 23.  They were specifically given with the feast days, to be included with the feast days. We find the weekly Sabbath nestled very snugly between these two verses:

Leviticus 23:1-2 ESV:

1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, These are the appointed feasts of the Lord that you shall proclaim as holy convocations; they are my appointed feasts.

Leviticus 23:44 ESV:

Thus Moses declared to the people of Israel the appointed feasts of the Lord.

We never discuss the Sabbath in connection with the feast days, and as such, it gets missed when we dig into the total prophetic picture.  That has been our loss.  Yet, it is there, and a part of the overall picture.  The weekly Sabbath, as with the other feast days, must also be fulfilled in the course of seven actual days.  This also plays into what we have discussed so far regarding the tribulation being seven years in length.  There is something else we must notice.  The weekly Sabbath cycle is a rolling cycle, and as such, has no set calendar day in which to be fulfilled.  

That gives us our next observation.  The weekly Sabbath likewise has no set day to begin.  Here is what I mean.  While Saturday is considered the actual Sabbath Day, when you go back and read the scriptures, you find something peculiar.  There are no actual days of the week given!  In other words, the weekly Sabbath cycle is not actually Saturday to Friday.  It is simply a numerical cycle, fulfilled every seven days.  The Sabbath is not Saturday.

It’s every seventh day!

Now, this is not to debate the merits of Saturday as opposed to Sunday.  In truth, every seventh day could have been named “Ralph”.  Every “Ralphday” would have been the Sabbath.  The names matter little.  It is the seven day cycle which was commanded by God.  It is the seven day cycle which is a part of the feast days.  It is the seven day cycle which is the shadow of the things to come.

The question becomes this – when is the weekly Sabbath cycle fulfilled?  It is given with the seven feast days, so it is therefore an extension of the prophetic cycle.  It was not fulfilled with the four spring feasts, thereby requiring a future prophetic fulfillment connected to the tribulation and end times period.  It cannot be an equivalent fulfillment, equating a thousand years to a day.  It must be an actual seven day cycle, fulfilled in seven days.  By extension, it must be at least eight days, given that there must be a first day of the week to confirm that the seventh day was indeed the seventh.  

This is something known as “the eighth day principle”.  We see it in the Feast of Tabernacles, and several other places.  It is the “mysterious” inclusion of an eighth day in the seven day celebration cycle.  We have spoken of it before on Trib Rising.  The premise is as follows – the eighth day is the first day of the new cycle.  In the beginning the Lord rested on the seventh day.  However, then came the eighth day – the first day that His new creation stepped forward as an actual whole creation.  We see this with eternity as well.  Jesus Christ died on the cross to undo the damage from sin on the eighth day.  With the new heavens and new earth, the eighth day begins anew.

The answer to this question resides in other fulfillments of the Law of Moses during the tribulation period.  In the first section of the project, we highlighted other cycles or fulfillments that required a pre-trib rapture to complete.  Among them was the course of priests in the Temple, the initiation of the new priests, and the ancient Jewish wedding. Each of these events require a full seven day cycle to fulfill, running a course of eight days (since each of these things start in the midst of the current day).  

This brings us to the next piece of the puzzle.  We touched on this earlier, and elsewhere in Trib Rising.  We asked a question regarding the weekly Sabbath cycle – how can the weekly Sabbath cycle be fulfilled in the tribulation, when the tribulation is a seven year period?  I am glad you asked!

What we are about to cover is something the Lord first introduced to me through a simple observation about the timing of the tribulation.  That observation was this – in Daniel, the Gospels and Revelation, there is no specific time period ascribed to anybody but the saints of the Most High God.  There are time periods – just not specific ones.  Here is what I mean.

When the time for the Antichrist is given, it is the ever cryptic “time, times, and a dividing of times”, 42 months, or three and a half years.  Here is the thing – which month?  Which year?  Is it the Gregorian calendar?  Perhaps it is the Islamic calendar.  After all, the times of the Gentiles do not actually end until after the tribulation.  Elsewhere in Trib Rising, we detail how the shortening of the days is part and parcel to this.  The question remains none the less.  Most folks will declare that a month is 30 days, and 42 months is 1,260 days.  However, that is just it.  We simply assume.  It is a good assumption, but nonetheless, it is not categorically stated anywhere in the Bible.  Even the Jewish calendar does not fit this time frame.  It never has.  Folks will declare the 30 day month as being a part of the Jewish calendar.  However, what this always leaves out is that the lunar cycle is only 29.5 days.  

When that is taken with the cycle of the new moon, which requires an extra two to three days, we have a year that never adds up to a year.  It is always a hair shy or a hair long. Not only that, but the fact that the time period from the rapture to the Second Coming is eight years in length, this leaves us in a situation where 42 months or three and a half years does not leave us with a clear cut start and stop to those particular time periods. We can surmise them fairly accurately, but it takes a detailed study of additional scriptures.  All of this leaves us with a simple position – there is no set amount of days to either the months or years ascribed to the earth, Antichrist or evil during the end times.

The only specific references to set times for the end is in conjunction with the saints.  It is only with the two witnesses, the Jewish remnant, and the coming time of restoration that we get specific time periods.  In each case it is given in days.  We have 1,260 days for the ministry of the two witnesses.  We have 1,260 days for the Jewish remnant to be protected.  We have 1,150 days for the Temple to be restored (even that is not expressly stated in terms of days.  Rather, it is in terms of the daily services at the Temple – 1,150 days by extension).  

What the Lord emphasized is that there is a reason why the saints alone are given times in specific quantities.  This is a prophetic marker.  It is meant as a line on line, precept on precept confirmation of the “day” as the measure for the righteous in prophecy.  We have discussed in detail in this project the importance of the “day” in prophecy.  We even see this play out in Revelation, with the declaration by John of the silence that lasted “about the space of half an hour”.  We detail that in the project “Joel and the Combined Signs in the Heaven”, and how this declaration is the key to understanding the timing of the start of the tribulation.  

When all of this is taken together with several additional points, what we are left with is this.  For those covered by the fulfillment in question, it will be in the days given by the Law of Moses.  Here is what I mean.  If you are in a group that is part of a particular fulfillment, then you will experience that fulfillment in days, not years.

We have covered this elsewhere on Trib Rising.  Here is how this breaks down.  For the time period we collectively call the tribulation there will be a total of seven years.  For the entire period from the rapture to the Second Coming there will be eight years.  This is governed by the 10 Days of Awe, the 10 days that start with the Feast of Trumpets, and end with the Day of Atonement.  This period is the prophetic picture of the tribulation.  However, as we have covered already, the spring feasts are the proof that this time must be fulfilled in the days given.  That means there must be a total of 10 days – eight days only between the rapture and the Second Coming.

Don’t blow a gasket just yet.  Yes, I know that there must be a seven year tribulation. So, the question is this – how is it possible for there to be both?  We have already touched on the answer.  Here is where this comes full circle.  

The fulfillment stays with those that fulfill.

Most of us know and teach of the parallels to the ancient Jewish wedding and the rapture.  However, there is a question that begs to be asked.  Why does the ancient Jewish wedding not last seven years, instead of seven days?  The first thing that comes to mind is that a seven year wedding is not feasible, or that the seven days is simple imagery.  Certainly, this is imagery.  However, the concept of the seven years not being feasible runs into problems.  After all, upon returning from the wedding to the new house eight days later, the bride and groom take a year off.  So, the concept of introducing a year into the earthly component is not unheard of.  The same can be said of the Shemitah, interestingly enough.  That was six years followed by a year of rest.  We can go a bit further.  Joseph prepared Egypt during seven years of plenty, for seven years of famine.  Jacob labored seven years for one promise, then seven years for another promise.  So, the question remains – why not have a seven year wedding?  For that matter, why not have the priests serve in the Temple for seven years?  How about this – why not have the Great Assembly convene for seven years, instead of once every seven years?

I will go one better.  If you have the time, it is worthwhile to sit down with a calculator and dust off some basic math skills.  If you do, you will be shocked at the ratio that you find when you compare the seven year tribulation and 1,000 year reign of Christ with a seven day wedding and one year of rest.  While it is not exact (nor can be mathematically), it is just about as close as you can get to an exact equivalent.

There are any number of places where the Lord could have introduced a seven year standard for the things in which seven days are given.  Yet, here we are.  The appointed days of the feasts are given in days, and the first four proved beyond doubt that these days are iron clad.

It should be noted that we will be delving into some absolutely amazing insights shortly when it comes to the feasts days.  Everything we are covering now is critical to what we will discover on the later subjects in this project.

What exactly did we mean by the statement “the fulfillments stay with those that fulfill?” It works like this.  When all of this comes to a head and the first and last trumps sound, this will be the first day.  For those on the earth, a period of eight years will begin.  It will be eight years on God’s calendar, with the world unsure of exactly which calendar that actually is (remember, the overcomers will be gone).  However, it is those overcomers which ARE the actual fulfillment.  We are the kingdom of priests.  We are the Bride.  We are those that these events were written for.  Day one will see us raptured.  Then follows eight literally days – for us!  We arrive in the midst of that first day.  We start our weekly Sabbath cycle in the Holy Temple of the Most High God.  We start our seven days of seclusion with our Bridegroom.  We start our seven days of initiation as priests.  After seven complete days – just a defined in the Law of Moses – our cycle is complete!

This will be the midst of the 8th day – just as it is given in the Law of Moses!  We will then sit down to a banquet on this same eighth day – just as it is in the Law of Moses! We will dine at the Marriage Supper.  We will dine with our fellow priests.  Then, as the evening arises and the Sabbath day closes, we will prepare to depart the Temple for our homes – homes back where we came from.

The house readied for our year with the Bridegroom!

The house we departed when we were summoned to the Temple for service nine days prior!

On that tenth day we actually return home, and resume our lives here on earth.  This time, we will be married!  This will be the Day of Atonement, and is an earthly fulfillment. As such, day 10 occurs on the earth.

Here is the critical piece to all of this.  When Christ came and fulfilled the first four feasts, it must be remembered that He remained here, He returned here, and that the newly minted Body of Christ never left here.  Even when Jesus was three days in the heart of the earth – He was three days IN the earth.  His body was still here, and so was He.  Though He was ministering in Abraham’s Bosom to 4,000 years worth of dead saints, that was still a chamber in the earth at that time.

Even when He arose on the third day and ascended in secret on Firstfruits (we will be covering an absolute bombshell in the process on the Day of Atonement that deals with this), the process that Paul reveals required that the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ be absent for – wait for it – only the space of about half an hour!  After this He returned. Because the totality of the 50 days from Passover to Pentecost required the saints to be present on the earth, the earth is where the 50 days were fulfilled.  However, when we get into the definitions of Trumpets and Atonement, we find that everything about them are heavenly in nature, and require heavenly fulfillments.  We see this further confirmed in the letters to the seven churches in Revelation chapters two and three.  We will delve deeper into those 50 days in the next section on the counting of the omer.

Here’s a hint – everything given to the overcomer can ONLY be given in heaven, and are given ONLY to the priests in the service of the Lord.  We cover this in multiple projects here as well.  None of what we have spoken here even addresses the coronation of the King of kings – another fulfillment concealed in the Law of Moses that also must be fulfilled in heaven!

The first four feasts required fulfillment on the earth.  The next two feasts require fulfillment in heaven.  So, heaven is where they are fulfilled.  The first four feasts required the space of 50 days on earth to fulfill.  The next two require the space of ten days – days one and ten on earth, with two through eight in heaven.  The days of the next two feasts stay with those required for their fulfillment.  The earth will experience eight years of wrath and judgment, while the saints experience the eight days written in the Law of Moses, for a total of 10 – the 10 Days of Awe!     

With that, let’s take a closer look at the direct descriptions of the feast days of Israel, given in the Law of Moses, specifically in reference to the Sabbath.

Here is the reference to Passover and Unleavened Bread from Leviticus 23 5-8:

5 In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the Lord’s passover.

6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the Lord: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.

7 In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.

8 But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord seven days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.

Here is the reference to Firstfruits:

10 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest:

11 And he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.

Here is the reference to Pentecost:

Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals; they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the Lord.

And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be an holy convocation unto you: ye shall do no servile work therein: it shall be a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.

Here is the reference to the Feast of Trumpets:

Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation.

25 Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord.

Here is the reference to the Day of Atonement:

Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord.

28 And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the Lord your God.

29 Ye shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

32 It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath.

Here is the reference to the Feast of Tabernacles:

34 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the Lord.

35 On the first day shall be an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.

36 Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord: on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein.

39 Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the Lord seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath.

Now, here were the additional uses of “Sabbath” in the scriptures above, that set the timing of First Fruits, the counting of the omer, and Pentecost:

11 And he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.

15 And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete:

16 Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the Lord.

Here are the observations that we can make:

In the actual description of the first four feasts, the word “Sabbath” is not used in the direct description of those days.  It is, however, used in the direct descriptions of the next three feasts in the fall – Trumpets, Atonement and Tabernacles.

When “Sabbath” is used in the three fall feasts, there is a difference between each. First, let’s look at the similar, or same, usage in the three fall feasts:

Strong’s Concordance
shabbathon: sabbath observance, sabbatism
Original Word: שַׁבָּתוֹן
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: shabbaton
Phonetic Spelling: (shab-baw-thone’)
Short Definition: rest

NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
from shabath
Definition
sabbath observance, sabbatism
NASB Translation
complete rest (4), rest (4), sabbath observance (1), sabbatical (1), solemn rest (1).

There are 11 occurrences for this particular transliteration used in the Old Testament. In each occurrence, shabbaton is given as a “rest”, “complete rest”, or “solemn rest” in connection with shabbat.  All three of the fall feasts use this word, which is not used anywhere in the four spring feasts.  In all three fall feasts, shabbaton means specifically “solemn rest”, or “complete rest”.  This becomes evident when the context of all 11 uses is examined.

This is the critical difference between the spring feasts and the fall feasts.  While all seven of the feast days require a complete rest and Holy convocation, the Lord made the decision to reserve the use of the word Sabbath to the three fall feasts – even though the exact same requirements exist for all seven.  There are no accidents in the Bible – especially in the Torah, which alone bear the distinction of having been directly dictated from God to man, in this case Moses.  All of the remaining books were given to their authors under divine inspiration, and allowed to be written in the language of their choosing.

We are meant to see that the three fall feasts are unique from the four spring feasts!

The next observation that we need to make is this.  In the four spring feasts, the word Sabbath is used, but in the context of the start of First Fruits, the counting of the omer, and Pentecost.  This is critical.  Recall that Sabbath is not used in the direct description of these actual days, but that it is used to give the weekly Sabbath that starts off the giving of the the last two spring feast days.  Likewise, it is used in conjunction with the three fall feasts.  Here is why this is important.

There are those that try to reorder the days of the spring feasts to justify Torah keeping, and to deny that Jesus Christ is the Messiah.  Entire blocks of doctrine exist to twist the timing to deny that Christ arose on Firstfruits.  I deal with this in the project on Christmas and Easter.  Here is an excerpt from that project:

“Now we come to the heart of the matter – the resurrection.  The resurrection of the Lord occurred in the first day of the week, the day after the weekly Sabbath.  This was the Feast of Firstfruits.  Now, there is something that we must address here.

When you look at a modern Jewish calendar, you will see that Firstfruits begins on the second day of Unleavened Bread, and likewise the counting of the omer.  However, there have long been disputes about this in rabbinical circles.  Here is the text of the Torah with regards to when the Feast of Firstfruits was to occur:

Leviticus 23:9-14:

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest, 11 and he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, so that you may be accepted. On the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.

12 And on the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb a year old without blemish as a burnt offering to the Lord. 13 And the grain offering with it shall be two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, a food offering to the Lord with a pleasing aroma, and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, a fourth of a hin.

14 And you shall eat neither bread nor grain parched or fresh until this same day, until you have brought the offering of your God: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

There are additional scriptures that likewise establish the 49 days of the counting of the omer.  These are established in the law regarding the Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost.

According to the Law of Moses, the feast was to be the day after the Sabbath.  The question becomes “which Sabbath”, to which modern Judaism ascribes that this means the annual Sabbath, or the Sabbath of the Passover.  That is currently what we see displayed on the Jewish calendar.  However, this presents a problem.

When you go back to the original Hebrew text, the word Sabbath here is “Sabbat”, which literally means “7th day of the week, with an emphasis on worship”.  Likewise, The Feast of Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits and the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) are not declared in the Law of Moses as Sabbath days.  They are declared days where no work (laborious work in the original Hebrew) is to be done, but not as a Sabbath.  This is further evidenced by the declaring of the 7th day Sabbath, or “Sabbat” in the same chapter of Leviticus – which shows that the 7th day Sabbath is clearly understood and not forgotten.  Likewise, when we get to the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles, we see that these feast days are specifically declared either a Sabbath (Sabbat), or they are declared a “Sabbath Rest” – or Sabbaton – which is Sabbat by extension.  So, this leaves a question – how was Unleavened Bread determined to be the Sabbath by which the Feast of Firstfruits was to follow?

As it is even in our day, mankind has a habit of redefining the law as the year’s progress.  So it was by the time Jesus was born.  Given that the Sabbath and the High Holy Days both required a period of rest to celebrate, the “Sabbath Rest”, or Sabbaton came into existence.  Now, this does make sense to a degree.  After all, the Feast Days are the Holiest days of the year, worthy of a yearly – or annual – Sabbath status.  However, this would lead to the difficulties in determining the proper date for the celebration of First Fruits.  This was a problem that was further complicated by the Greek writing of the New Testament.  By the time the Gospels were written, there was one word in the Greek for Sabbath – sabbaton (pronounced the same as the Hebrew word sabbaton).  However, in the Greek, Sabbaton is used for the weekly Sabbath, the annual Sabbath, the Sabbath rest and the Sabbath days.  It requires the context of the passage to determine which version of Sabbaton we are looking at.

Now, you should understand something.  Everything I just shared here really bothered me.  Here is why.  I am a great respecter of academic knowledge, and for those that dedicate their lives to their given professions.  The same holds true of the rabbinical scholars that have determined that the Sabbath day which starts the Feast of Firstfruits is in fact the high day of Unleavened Bread – just one day after the Passover lamb is slain, or the second day of Unleavened Bread.  Understand, that when I began my own research, I could clearly see – with no difficulty – that the Sabbath day written in the Law of Moses for setting the Feast of Firstfruits was in fact the Sabbat, or the 7th day Sabbath.  I will be honest- this grieved me.  How could genuine Rabbinical Scholars miss what I could clearly see?  Likewise, what many Christian scholars could also clearly see (along with many Messianic Rabbinical scholars)?

Then the Lord impressed something upon my heart very clearly:

2 Corinthians 3:14-16:

But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.  But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart.  Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.

On a side note, we see yet one more time that the heart is the key piece of your worship of God.

The Apostle Paul tells us that the Jews have been blinded.  There are several other scriptures that confirm this as well.  Though many rabbinical scholars are well meaning in their research, they are nevertheless operating at a disadvantage.  Then something else I had discovered made sense.  During my research on this, I found where the disputes over the meaning of Sabbath stemmed from modern Jewish scholars declaring corruption of the Pharisees, and that it was their corrupt interpretation that declared the Sabbath in the Feast of Firstfruits as the weekly Sabbath, not the first day of Unleavened Bread.  This corruption is given as the reason why modern Judaism accepts the Passover Sabbath as the Sabbath that sets the timing of First Fruits, and not the weekly Sabbath.

All of this made sense now.  If the Feast of Firstfruits is acknowledged by modern Judaism as beginning the day after the 7th day Sabbath, then it has no choice but acknowledge what I am going to share with you.  Understand, there are ultra-orthodox Jewish Rabbis that spend the bulk of their scholarship in an effort to deny that Jesus Christ is the Messiah.  As such, there can be no connection to the events of his death and resurrection and the fulfilling of prophecy and the feasts.

Mark 16:9:

Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils.” ~~~

It is well worth your time to read the project on Christmas and Easter.  What is covered in that project after this excerpt is an absolute bombshell.

What should be noted here, and in the excerpt, is that the word for Sabbath used to set the days of Firstfruits, the omer, and Pentecost is shabbat, or the actual weekly Sabbath!  It is not the “High Sabbath”, which is a term never used in the Law of Moses. The Lord never declared any of the these days to be a “High Sabbath”, or a Sabbath of greater stature than another.  The “High Sabbath” is a creation of the Jews to distinguish the feast days as separate from the weekly Sabbath.  As the excerpt from the Christmas project denotes, it is a designation that enables the deception and blindness that comes with regards to the Messiahship of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

There is another point to remember.  You can have a Holy convocation without a Sabbath, but you cannot have a Sabbath without a Holy convocation.  This is critical.  The Jews use the principle of “rest” and “Holy convocation” to declare the spring feasts as “High Sabbaths”.  However, they were never declared Sabbaths in the Law of Moses.  They function the same as the Sabbath, but the Lord did not use the actual word “Sabbath”.  Simply because a Holy Convocation is declared, it does not mean it is automatically a Sabbath day.

No matter how you try to slice it, Firstfruits ALWAYS begins on the first day of the week, the day after the weekly Sabbath, even if the modern Jewish calendar does not acknowledge this.  Remember this, there are several things which must always be present in the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

He must die on Passover, before the meal, when the Passover Lambs are slaughtered.

He must be covered, laid in the tomb, with the tomb sealed by the evening – just before the start of the Passover meal.

He must lie in the tomb a full three days, as it was with Jonah in the whale (the sign of Jonah).

He must arise on the first day of the week.  This must be Firstfruits.

When you examine the combined texts very carefully, you find that there must be TWO Sabbaths during this four day period.  That would be the High Sabbath, and the weekly Sabbath (remember, this text is in the New Testament, long after the Law of Moses had been given – the High Sabbath was long since declared and set as a part of the yearly calendar).   

The final observation that we need to make is that the Day of Atonement bears a special significance.  It is the only feast of the seven that uses the word “shabbat” – the weekly Sabbath – in its direct description.  We have already established that the three fall feasts are connected directly to the Sabbath, where the spring feasts are not.  Now, the Lord takes this a step further, and reveals something amazing in two parts.  Here is a short excerpt from “Coming Signs”:

Here is the first of two timelines of the fall feasts declared in the Law of Moses:

Click on image for greater detail. T = Feast of Trumpets A = Day of Atonement  T=Feast of Tabernacles

This timeline shows just the Biblical requirements for the appointed days for each feast.  It also shows the singular distinction of the Day of Atonement as a “Sabbath of rest”. That makes Atonement the only feast day to have the same designation as the weekly, or seventh day Sabbath.  This is a prophetic reference to the future significance of the feast.

It tells us that the Day of Atonement was set as the day of the Second Coming when the Lord declared it to Moses. ~~~

First off, the use of the word “shabbat” reveals something about end times prophecy.  This tells us that the Second Coming has always been set to the Day of Atonement.  Rather, top down bottom up tells us that the Day of Atonement holds the definition for the Second Coming – DOA is the start of the great Sabbath day of creation.  This has been taught and understood through other scriptures.  Yet, we have a conformation that is been there ever since Sinai.

Here is the part that really blows this thing open.  The use of the word shabbat for Atonement sets the wording to the end of the prophetic cycle.  What did we say earlier about the eighth day?  It is the eighth day that confirms the cycle of seven.  Without the eighth day, all you have are seven days, and no cycle.  The eighth day confirms the start of the new cycle!  Not only does shabbat confirm the Day of Atonement as the Second Coming, and the start of the great Sabbath of the Day of the Lord, but it also sets the confirmation of the fulfillment of the weekly Sabbath cycle to the time between the rapture and Second Coming!  

Remember, you cannot confirm this by placing a day at the beginning and not the end.  Placing this day at the beginning alone leaves the cycle unfulfilled, as the Sabbath would then be the last day – with nothing coming afterwards.  We touched on this earlier when we spoke of the eighth day in the garden, and of eternity.  We know that Trumpets brings that Sabbath into the equation, as it is the first of the feasts to actually have Sabbath in its direct description.  We know that Atonement is the back end of this cycle because Sabbath is also in its direct description.

Shabbaton tells us that both feast days introduce a period of complete rest.  That would be a complete rest that begins with Trumpets, and a complete rest that begins with Atonement.  Clearly, the tribulation is NOT a time of complete or solemn rest.  Furthermore, the Sabbath is not made for God, it is made for man.  We see this in that the Lord is working during the entire time of the tribulation, while we are not.

Mark 2:23-27 King James Version (KJV):

23 And it came to pass, that he went through the corn fields on the sabbath day; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of corn.

24 And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful?

25 And he said unto them, Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungred, he, and they that were with him?

26 How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the shewbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him?

27 And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:

What did we cover earlier?  “The fulfillment stays with those that fulfill”.

With Trumpets, the start of the heavenly Sabbath is revealed.  This is further evidenced by the letters to the seven churches in Revelations chapters two and three.  With Atonement, the start of the earthly Sabbath is revealed.  Taken together, the weekly Sabbath cycle is revealed and fulfilled, a point the the Lord confirms by leaving no doubt when He declared the Day of Atonement as the actual weekly Sabbath – though it does not always fall of the actual weekly Sabbath!

We will be discussing the timing for the Feast of Firstfruits in the section on the counting of the omer.  It is absolutely critical that you understand why it was the weekly Sabbath, and not the second day of Unleavened Bread.

With that, I want to say something.

None of what we have covered here requires that it must be wrong to declare a feast day as a “High Sabbath”.  Nor does it mean that it is wrong to take “sabbaton” and translate it into “rest” or “solemn rest”.  There are many rules in written language, and in the translation of written languages into various other written languages.

In the Gospels, we see the “High Sabbath” is recognized.  The writers of the Gospels tell us of the High Sabbath during the time of the crucifixion of Christ.  It is the same premise as the debates on which calendar was followed in Israel after the Babylonian captivity.  Whatever influences were in place after the captivity, we see the Holy Days being honored by Jesus on that particular calendar.

Here is the trick.  While the High Sabbath is recognized in the Gospels, there are no indications of when any feast day became the High Sabbath.  We have no indication of when this concept was instituted.  The High Sabbath was not declared in the Law of Moses.  As we said earlier, there was only the “Sabbath”, with no Sabbath having greater prominence than another.

The declaration of the first day of Unleavened Bread as a High Sabbath is rooted in an assumption.  It stems from the fact that the three fall feasts contain direct Sabbath declarations – with Tabernacles declaring the first and seventh days as Sabbath rests.  This is coupled with the Sabbath calculation for the start of the counting of the omer and Pentecost.

In the next section of this project, we will explore this to an even greater extent.

The Prophetic Double Reference.

We need to take a few minutes and cover something that helps to lay the foundation for what the Shemitah reveals – the prophetic double reference.  Here are two excerpts from other projects on Trib Rising that helps to set the context:

“There is something else that we must understand.  There is something in the story of Jacob and Laban that is very curious.  Let’s take a look at several of the scriptures and see what they reveal:

Genesis 21-30:

21 Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife that I may go in to her, for my time is completed.”

26 Laban said, “It is not so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn.

27 Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also in return for serving me another seven years.”

28 Jacob did so, and completed her week. Then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife.

30 So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah, and served Laban for another seven years.

These scriptures beg the question:

Why would Jacob have finished the first week, then be told to finish that same week?

Here is the order that we see above:

• Jacob finishes his first week;

• He is told to complete that first week;

• He is promised Rachel in return for another week;

• Jacob completes that week;

• He marries Rachel;

• Jacob serves the second week.

There are a lot discussions that we can have here.  Perhaps Jacob was in fact nearly complete with the first week, and had approached Laban early.  This is a probable explanation, except for one slight issue.

The language in the Bible says that Jacob had actually completed the first week.  It leaves no wiggle room.  The word used for “completed” is male or mala, which has a very specific meaning.

Strong’s Concordance:

male or mala: to be full, to fill

Original Word: מָלֵא

Part of Speech: Verb

Transliteration: male or mala

Phonetic Spelling: (maw-lay’)

Short Definition: filled

Brown-Driver-Briggs:

מָלֵא249  verb be full, fill  (Late Hebrew id. (Pi`el transitive); Zinjirliמלא (Pi`el transitive) DHMSendsch. 60; Assyrian malû (transitive and intransitive) DlHWB 409; Arabic (transitive) ,(intransitive); Ethiopic (transitive and intransitive); Aramaic(transitive),מְלָא (intransitive and transitive), Palmyrene proper name מלא =plenitude, VogPalm 7, 2 and others; Sabean מלא Os14 Levy-OsZMG xix.1863, 211 f. DHMZMG xxix.1875, 595); —

1 be full, usually with accusative material:

especially of days, years, be full, accomplished, ended, Genesis 25:24; Genesis 29:21; Genesis 50:3(twice in verse) (JE); ~~

This does not leave open the possibility of an “almost” completion.  However, we see something interesting in the other listings of the “week” in question.  In verses 27 and 28, we have the exact same word for completed (transliterations for “complete” and “completed” respectively).  To the above definitions, we can add the following:

Qal); give in full וַיְמַלְאוּם לַמֶּלֶךְ 1 Samuel 18:27 (readוַיְמַלְּאֵם A ᵐ5L ᵑ9 We Dr Kit Bu); ׳מִלֵּא יַד מּ figurative for institute to a priestly office, consecrate

3 fulfil, accomplish, complete, object week, year, day, Genesis 29:27,28; Exodus 23:26; Isaiah 65:20; Job 39:2; 2 Chronicles 36:21;~~~

It appears that we have a contradiction!  Is that even possible?  The answer is no, it is not possible.  There are no contradictions in the Bible.  The answer is found in a simple revelation.

We have a prophetic double reference!”

Here is the second excerpt:

“Double references are not new in the Bible.  They come in several forms.  For instance, there is a prophetic double reference when it comes to Jesus going to Egypt as a baby.  It is spoken when Israel goes to Egypt and when Jesus goes to Egypt.  In one instance it says “my son, Israel”.  In the other instance it says “my Son”.  Both scriptures are nearly exact in their presentation.  However, one speaks to Israel and the other to Jesus.

There is another type of prophetic double reference as well.  In the story of Esther, the Bible tells us that the ten sons of Haman were hanged upon the gallows.  Yet, several verses later, the Bible once again speaks to this.  In both cases it is a present tense verse speaking to something that was soon to happen.  Yet, the second reference occurs AFTER they have already died!

Jewish scholars thought this a mistake for thousands of years.  That was until 1946.

When you look at the names of the ten sons of Haman in the original Hebrew, three of the sons have something peculiar with their names.  One Hebrews letter is written only about half the size of the other letters.  This is not normal.  However, when you take the numeric value of those three letters as a date on the Jewish calendar, it matches the Gregorian year of 1946.  That was the year that 10 Nazi’s were hanged for crimes against the Jewish people, and their attempts to exterminate the Jews – just as Haman and his ten sons tried to do.

It was not a mistake.  It was a prophetic double reference designed to conceal evidence until the right time.  It was offered as prophetic proof that the Word of God is truth.  Indeed, that is what separates Jesus Christ from every other attempt at religion.  Only the one true living God knows the ending from the beginning.

That is what we have in Revelation.  The two references to being in the spirit are meant to reveal something to us that is critical to understand.  While both instances appear to be the same thing, they are not.  There is a difference between the two.  Both do mean “in the spirit”.  They are similar in the original text as well.  Yet, there is something even there that comes into play with this discussion.” ~~

Here is an excerpt from Nazarenespace.com speaking on this subject:

“Esther’s request seems odd. The ten sons of Haman had already been killed, why bother to hang them?  In the writings of the Rabbis and the Midrashim, we find several thoughts that could elaborate on this:

On the word “tomorrow,” in Esther’s request, the Rabbis comment:

“There is a tomorrow that is now, and a tomorrow which is later.” (Tanchuma Bo 13 and Rashi on Exodus 13:14).

In other words, Esther was prophesying that the hanging of Haman’s ten sons would not be a single episode in history, but would be repeated at a future “tomorrow” as well.

Lets look at the original Hebrew of the Book of Esther…we can clearly see, at first glance, that the list of Haman’s sons appears on a separate page, written in a prominent, special manner:

The left-hand column contains the word v’et (and) ten times. According to the Thirty Two Rules of Eliezer, the word v’et is used to denote replication. Thus, we may conclude that another ten people are also to be hung in addition to Haman’s ten sons.

Who would these ten men be?

Lets now go forward in time 2,300 years forward in time…. Special newspaper editions on October 16, 1946 reported the execution of ten Nazi war criminals found guilty by the Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal.

It should be noted Adolf Hitler banned the observance of Purim, declaring it a capital offense to possess a copy of the Book of Esther. In a speech made on November 10, 1938, (the day after kristallnacht), A prominent Nazi named Julius Streicher said that just as “the Jew butchered 75,000 Persians” in one night, the same fate would have befallen the German people had the Jews succeeded in inciting a war against Germany; the “Jews would have instituted a new Purim festival in Germany.”

As a matter of fact many of the Nazi attacks against Jews often coincided with Purim. On Purim 1942, ten Jews were hanged in Zduńska Wola supposedly to avenge the hanging of Haman’s ten sons. In a similar incident in 1943, the Nazis shot 10 Jews from the Piotrków ghetto. On Purim eve that same year, over 100 Jewish doctors and their families were shot by the Nazis in Czestochowa. The following day, Jewish doctors were taken from Radom and shot nearby in Szydlowiec.

In an apparent connection made by Hitler between his Nazi regime and the role of Haman, he stated in a speech made on January 30, 1944, that if the Nazis were defeated, the Jews could celebrate “a second Purim”.

Amazingly, this outcome is hinted at in the Book of Esther!…

According to Nachmanides (the introduction to his commentary on Genesis) any change from the usual way of writing a word or letter indicates some hidden meaning in a text.

If we examine the list of Haman’s sons, we notice that three letters are written smaller:

the taf of Parshandata

the shin of Parmashta

the zayin of Vizata

(The enlarged vav of Vizata may refer to the sixth millenium.)

The three letters together form taf-shin-zayin, the Jewish year 5707 (1946 C.E.), the year that the ten Nazi criminals were executed.

Of the twenty three Nazi war criminals on trial in Nuremberg, eleven were in fact sentenced to execution by hanging. But just two hours before the sentence was due to be carried out, Goering committed suicide–so that only 10 descendants of Amalek were hung, thus fulfilling the request of Esther:

“let Haman’s ten sons be hanged.”

Furthermore, although the trial was conducted by a military tribunal, the sentence handed down was not the normal death by firing squad, or by electric chair as practiced in the U.S.A. However, the court specifically prescribed hanging, exactly as in Esther’s prophetic request:

“let Haman’s ten sons be hanged.”

None of this was lost on Julius Streicher….[as The New York Herald Tribune of October 16, 1946 reported after he ascended to the gallows] “With burning hatred in his eyes, Streicher looked down at the witnesses and shouted his last words as he was hanged: “Purim Fest 1946!”…

If we examine the calendar for that month. The date of the execution (October 16, 1946) fell on the Jewish festival of “Hoshana Rabba” (21 Tishrei). This is the traditional day all of Elohim’s verdicts are sealed.”  ~~~

The key feature I want to point out here is this.  The Lord will utilize singular concepts twice in a singular passage, description or command in the prophetic double reference.  Many times, the PDR seemingly makes no sense upon first inspection.  Such is the case with our examples.  However, given that there are no accidents in the Bible, these seeming “mistakes” serve as road signs that a closer examination is warranted.

How does this apply to the Shemitah?  

The weekly Sabbath is the only Sabbath cycle given in the appointed feast days of Israel.

The word “Sabbath” is not used for the Shemitah, except in a singular block of scripture.

Leviticus 25  (ESV) – The Sabbath Year:

The Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you, the land shall keep a Sabbath to the Lord. 3 For six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its fruits, 4 but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the Lord. You shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard. 5 You shall not reap what grows of itself in your harvest, or gather the grapes of your undressed vine. It shall be a year of solemn rest for the land. 6 The Sabbath of the land[a] shall provide food for you, for yourself and for your male and female slaves[b] and for your hired worker and the sojourner who lives with you, 7 and for your cattle and for the wild animals that are in your land: all its yield shall be for food.

Of the seven feast days, Sabbath is not used for the first four.  It is used only for the final three.

Of the three fall feasts, the word “shabbat” is used only for the Day of Atonement.

Of the scriptures on the yearly Sabbath, the word used is also “shabbat’, and not “shabbaton”, except when “of rest” is declared.  

That means that the yearly Sabbath cycle uses both forms of Sabbath found in the Old Testament.

So, what does all of this tell us?  Well, it goes like this.  In each of the scriptural references to the Shemitah, the Bible uses terms such as “seventh year”, “every seventh year”, “after six years”, and so forth.  Yet, in the passages in Leviticus 25, the Bible takes this a step further, and brings in shabbat and shabbaton.  Clearly, what is being described in all of the applicable passages looks like a Sabbath, acts like a Sabbath, talks like a Sabbath, walks like a Sabbath – if it walks like a duck, and talks like a duck – then it is a duck!

However, why not call every instance of the Shemitah a Sabbath?

We see this many times in the Bible.  You will have multiple verses relaying a concept.  However, in one particular instance there will be a slight difference.  It may be a letter left out.  It may be a seemingly unrelated word.  Sometimes, it will be a word that is typically associated with the concept at hand, though it is not used anywhere else to name the concept in question.  Usually, we simply assume that the word not used is simply what is meant.  That is, however, an assumption.

In the case of the fall feasts, it really makes a difference.  It gives us the critical pieces of the prophetic puzzle.  It does so with the Shemitah as well.  Here is an interesting observation.  The weekly Sabbath, the fall feasts, and the Shemitah all utilize the words “shabbat” and “shabbaton”.  However, the weekly Sabbath, the Day of Atonement, and the Shemitah alone utilize “shabbat”.

When all of this is taken together, we see that the weekly Sabbath, the fall feasts, and the Shemitah are tied together prophetically.  They are undeniably linked.  We have the obvious linkage with the count of seven – seven days, seven feasts, and seven years.  However, the use of “shabbat” tells us that there is more here.

It is the weekly Sabbath cycle alone that is given with the seven feasts.  We have already covered their prophetic link and picture.  They are the actual timeline and chronology for the times of the end.  However, the Shemitah is not given in the seven feasts.  What’s more, there are non-prophetic terms used to describe its overall function as the Shemitah.  However, the use of “shabbaton” connects the Shemitah to the time of rest found in the fall feast days, which start with the Feast of Trumpets.  The use of the word “shabbat” connects the Shemitah to the weekly Sabbath cycle as a timing picture, and to the Day of Atonement and the start of the great creation Sabbath, and the end of the 10 Days of Awe and tribulation.

In other words, we have a prophetic double reference that says although the Shemitah is not given in the weekly Sabbath and seven feasts, and not a part of the actual chronological timeline of the tribulation, it is directly linked to the weekly Sabbath and the three fall feasts.  Therefore, it is a direct prophetic picture of something tied to those three things, and specifically the actual days between the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement!  It also tells us that while the Shemitah is not a part of the direct chronological timeline, it is connected to the timeline and reveals something of the timing of the tribulation.

You will see the importance of all of this in just a moment.

Think of it like this – the weekly Sabbath cycle is a picture of the heavenly fulfillment, and the Shemitah is a picture of the earthly fulfillment.

With all of that said, there is another aspect that we need to discuss before we break down exactly what the Shemitah is meant to show us.  Here is an excerpt from two prior projects:

http://tribulationrisingcom.fatcow.com/addendum-2-proof-of-a-seven-year-tribulation/

http://tribulationrisingcom.fatcow.com/coming-signs-2-joel-and-the-timing-of-the-end/

“There are literally an unlimited number of theories on how the tribulation is laid out from a timing standpoint, once we get past seven years or three and a half years, depending on the particular aspect that is being discussed.  That said, I want to start with a personal observation.  In all of my studies, I have witnessed an immutable fact about the Lord and the way He does things.

Everything follows a pattern.

Everything that will happen, has happened.

Everything the Lord does has symmetry.

It is the last point that I want to discuss for a moment.  What exactly is symmetry, and how does it apply to the Bible?  Think of symmetry in these terms.  Symmetry is balance – either in the small details or the big picture.  Think of symmetry as an equation.  What happens on one side of the equal sign must happen on the other.

One of the things I have seen is how mathematics conceals the truths of the Lord.  For example, the trigonometry of the right triangle can be used to demonstrate the life of the believer, and the relationship between where we are and where we are supposed to be.  Mathematics is the universal language, and it is absolute proof of the existence of God.  Likewise, it is also a vehicle that Satan likes to pervert and use to his purposes.  There is a reason why so many cults, false religions and ancient discoveries revolve around mathematics such a geometry and trigonometry.  They are counterfeits of actual revelations proving the existence of the one true living God.

Equations reveal the Biblical nature of justice, and show in the purest form the laws of the harvest.  They show that what happens on one hand must be reflected on the other.  When the Bible reveals that the things that will be are the things which have been, we see the Biblical application of equations.  Likewise, when that understanding is taken as a blueprint for our lives, we see algebra in its purest form, with variables in place that allow the application of God’s law to any situation we encounter in life.  In its simplest form, life is one giant exercise in a=x, or whatever units you want to cover.  It is an exercise in plugging the unknowns into the Biblical equation, and seeing what answer spits out.

It also reveals a balance to all things.  This explains why so many cults and false religions work hard at hijacking the concept of balance.  You see, balance is the key to the patterns and timing in the Bible.  Balance is the essence of symmetry.

Have you ever considered the number seven?  It is perfection because of its symmetry.  Seven is the very first number to exhibit the characteristics of true balance.  On one hand you have a set of three, with another set of three on the other.  Yet, in the middle there is a natural break or balance point.  Seven gives us a marked point of definition that no other number has – at least no number that also encompasses the second number of God – three.

However, if you take the number six – the number of man – you do not have a natural balance point.  It appears that you do as you have three on one hand and three on the other.  Yet, the balance point is still subject to interpretation as it falls somewhere between two numbers.  It is unmarked and undefined.  With the number seven, it is the number four which balances the entire equation.

Chances are you have this “familiar” feeling when you read this, yet you are unsure why.  This is because you live this symmetry every day that you serve Christ, and benefit from the salvation He purchased on the cross.

It is no accident that the life and death of Christ falls in the symmetrical center of human history.

When Christ was born, raised, died and resurrected, it was at the 4,000 year mark of the total 7,000 years that have been appointed to mankind for our preparation for eternity.  Remember, one day is as a thousand years with the Lord, and a thousand years is as one day.  In the overall calendar, Christ balanced out the equation on the fourth day.  He become the equal sign.  He became the balance point between God and humanity.

Remember, without a clearly defined balance point, the the scales will always tip to one side or the other – and mankind can NEVER measure up to God.  The number six has no defined balance point.  The number seven does.  Three and five have balance points – yet neither have the number of God on both sides of the equation denoting His presence in all things from start to finish.

Only the number seven meets these criteria.

This is the premise behind everything we see transpire in the Bible.  Every last pattern and cycle reveals this symmetry.  If you look closely enough you will see it.  Every pattern sets the balance for what the Lord is revealing.  Everything from the seven years of feast and famine in Egypt, to the two periods of Jacob’s Trouble – symmetry is found in everything the Lord does.

The tribulation and judgments are no different.

When you study the different theories on the timing of the judgments, you will find every concoction under the sun.  99 percent can be dismissed right off the bat from one standpoint alone – a lack of symmetry.  You see, symmetry is one of the unspoken confirmations of the Lord.  It alone says that only God could have done such a thing, as true symmetry is possible only with God.

Symmetry demands balance in all that it does.  It demands balance in the timing and judgments of the tribulation as well.  It demands that there cannot be a mass of the majority of judgments lumped together in just one part of the tribulation.  Here is what I mean.  There are a number of false doctrines that declare all of the judgments will fall after the seven years (or three and a half years in some cases), in a space of about one month or so.  Symmetry tells us that this is an impossibility.

Likewise, there are doctrines that attempt fit the seal judgments into the first half of the tribulation, and the remaining 14 judgments into the second half of the tribulation.  This is equally impossible as symmetry is lacking.

Still, there are a multitude of doctrines that declare the tribulation to be only three and a half years in length.  We deal with this at length in “Biblical Proof of a Seven Year Tribulation”.  However, it should be enough for all of us that the Lord declared the prophecy of 70 weeks – not 69 and a half weeks.  If the Lord says the end is a full week, then it is a full week.  Nowhere in scripture does the Lord EVER change the definition of what a week is.  It is still a symmetrical collection of seven.

For those that are not familiar with this concept, the word “week” is not unlike the words “couple”, “several”, and “set”.  All of these words have general, chronological and numerical meanings and implications.  For example, the word “couple” can be used to describe a collection of two.  It can be used to give a description of a short block of time.  That short block of time is always assumed to be a duration of two, be it two minutes, two hours, two days, two weeks, two months, two years, two hundred years, two thousands years, etc.  Its “short” stature is in comparison to equivalent blocks of time.  Two thousand years is short when compared to seven thousand years.

As I said, there cannot be a mass of the majority of judgments in one part of the tribulation.  Symmetry demands that there be equal spacing and dimensions given the block of time we are examining.  Likewise, symmetry demands that all timing in the tribulation sync up with established patterns given by God elsewhere.  You can have the judgments falling in a short space of time, if that period is itself a short space of time.  Likewise, if you have the appearance of asymmetry, then it requires that you study the entire event to see what patterns match up from elsewhere in the Bible.

For the record, the timing of all the events in the Book of Revelation fit the pattern of the Temple.  From the services to the order of events, every event from 4:1 until eternity can be found in the Temple functions and requirements.

OK – are you confused yet?  Don’t worry, it will clear up in a moment.  The ability to see symmetry is God given.  It is an ability that can lead to a career in the engineering fields.  Those with an ability to see symmetry are typically a bit “different”.  If you have ever worked with a collection of engineers before then you will know what I am talking about.  Symmetry is a different way of seeing the universe around us.  Let’s talk about this in practical terms.

The end times are typically seen as one period of time divided into two parts.  It is seen as the tribulation, a seven year period that has two 42 months halves.  For most conversations this is absolutely correct.  This description fits the bill.  However, when it comes down to a detailed study of end times prophecy, and the study of the timing of the end, it is an inadequate picture.  It is inadequate because it does not account for all the pieces.

Here is the more accurate breakdown of what we actually have:

The overall end times period consists of a defined period that leads up to the return of the Lord, followed by the period of time that follows the return of the Lord.  That period concludes with the Second Coming.

Birth pains  >—————->  Rapture  >——————->  Second Coming

The period from the rapture to the second coming is broken down into three time periods.  1) The time from the rapture to the signing of the seven year accord.  2) The signing of the accord to the Abomination of Desolation.  3) The Abomination to the second coming.

Rapture  >———->  Confirming a covenant with many  >————->  A.D.  >————->  S.C.

The period from the “confirming a convenant with many for one week” to the second coming is where we see the seven year tribulation.  Yet, this is actually three periods of time – not two.  It is the first period of 42 months, followed by a space at mid-trib, then comes the third period of 42 months.

42 months  >—————–>  Mid-trib  >—————->  42 months

There is another symmetrical chronology found between the rapture and the second coming.  It is a two period division, which gives us a time of preparation before the actual 42 month block of time.  The first period of preparation runs from the rapture to the confirming a covenant with many.  That is followed by the first 42 months.

The second period of preparation runs during the time known as “mid-trib”.  It starts at the conclusion of the first 42 months, and runs until the completion of the events at mid-trib.  Then will come the second 42 months.

Rapture  >————>  Confirming a covenant with many  >—————>  42 months complete

Mid-trib  >————->  42 months start  >————>  Second Coming

There is another symmetry that we must understand.  Each of the three sets of judgments are actually six judgments and a transition.

S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6 – S7 transitions to trumpets

T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, T6 – T7 transitions to bowls

B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, B6 – B7 transitions to second coming

All that we have laid out on the symmetrical periods on the end times gives us a chronology that looks like this:

R>Seals 1-6>Seal 7>Trumpets 1-6>Trumpet 7>Bowls 1-6>Bowl 7>SC

In the example above, seal 7 starts the first 42 months of the tribulation and trumpet seven starts the back half of the tribulation.  This also presents the next symmetrical pattern that must be understood – the period that most associate as the “tribulation” is not actually just the seven years of the tribulation – it runs from the rapture to the second coming.  That is not seven years – it is a total of eight years.  It is the combination of the time between rapture and the confirming a covenant with many, the first 42 months, the events in the space known as mid-trib, and the last 42 months:

R to Accord > Confirming a covenant with many to end of 1st 42 months >  Mid-trib >  2nd 42 months to SC

Here is the next piece that we need to bring in.  Let’s examine something in that we said just a moment ago:

“Likewise, if you have the appearance of asymmetry, then it requires that you study the entire event to see what patterns match up from elsewhere in the Bible.”

Here is where this comes into play.  The period from the rapture to the confirming a covenant with many will not be the same length of time that the events at mid-trib run.  This creates the appearance of asymmetry.  These two periods together will cover the space of about a year, yet they will not be six months each in duration.  As we will see in a moment, the period from the rapture to the confirming of a covenant with many is considerably shorter than mid-trib.  When we study the events of each, we can see the practical applications of each.  After all, the events at mid-trib are many, and they take time to unfold.

Remember, the symmetry of an event can also be found in the big picture.  In this case, the big picture is the fulfillment of something we have already touched on – the daily services at the Temple.

Let’s take the illustrations we  have above, and transition them into the picture of the Temple services and the fulfillments of the various aspects of the feasts:

Great Assembly > Read the Law > Ritual Prep > Morning Service > Ritual Prep > Evening Service

What we see in the Book of Revelation is the complete picture that is represented by the seven feasts, the Sabbath cycle, the daily service and the calling of the assembly and priests.  We discussed at length in the projects on Matthew 24 and tithing how the Lord broke the big picture into many tiny pieces.  This was done because it is not possible for a sinful and fallen humanity to duplicate the perfect things of God piece for piece.  So, the best we can do is simply take it one piece at a time.

Did you ever wonder how Jesus was able to say that to love the Lord with all our hearts, and each other as ourselves was to fulfill the law – yet there are 613 actual commands in that law?  This is possible because Jesus made it possible to have the law written in the hearts of men, as opposed to written in small pieces to be kept in a ledger.  Now, we can know the essence of the law – even if we never study a single word of the written law!

That is how it seems that we know right from wrong, and that we have sinned against God – even if no one ever points out which of the 613 commands we have broken.

Until the birth, death, and resurrection if Christ, the best that sinful man could do was take it one piece at a time.  613 commands are what it took to break out the singular big picture.

This premise reveals that the symmetry in the two periods of preparation are found in the Temple services.  The timing of the first preparation period – seals one through six – is found in the Great Assembly.  The timing of the second preparation period – the space between trumpet six and trumpet seven – is found in the rituals performed to prepare for the evening service.  While it is beyond the scope of this study, it bears mentioning that the events we see from 11:15 through 14:13 are fulfilled at the mid-trib break, and much of what finishes at mid-trib actually begins in the first 42 months of the tribulation.

Think of it like this.  The first 42 months ends at 11:15, and the second 42 months begins at 14:13.  The scriptures in-between reveal the backstory and key events that happened simultaneously with the unfolding of the judgments of God.

With that, we need to spend some time discussing the first preparation period.  It is here that we find the timing of the events that come with the return of the Lord and the start of the actual tribulation.  It is here that we find the revelations that tie into the Book of Joel and the things that must soon come to pass. ~~~

There is no need to spend a great deal of time on symmetry at this point.  It will become obvious how the excerpt above fits into the big picture in just a few minutes.  At this point, we are ready to move forward with what the Shemitah is telling us.  There is an observation that we can make which sets the Shemitah to its proper context.

It is a cycle, or a pattern.

Stated simply, it repeats, and does so for a reason.  For that matter, the weekly Sabbath cycle and the seven feast days are also cycles and patterns.  The yearly calendar is a cycle and pattern.  As the Jews well know, everything that God does is a cycle, or pattern.  What exactly is the pattern that we are to see?  Is it a simple seven year cycle?  Or, is there something more that we are supposed to ascertain?

To unlock what the Shemitah is telling us, we must find the complete pattern to find the actual pattern.  Here is what I mean.  When you have an unequal series of events that repeat, you have to extend your examination beyond the single series of unequal events.  You will extend until you reach the first point where each individual item forms a complete pattern.

Here is an example of both an equal and unequal series of events:

Equal = 3 days ——- 1 year ——-3 days.

Unequal = 3 days ——- 1 year ——- 1 year ——- 2 days.

In the equal series of events there is symmetry.  You can see the flow and balance of the series.  It is even with the ending the same as the beginning.  In the unequal series of events there is no such symmetry.  The beginning, middle or end does not match with the rest of the series.

Here is the first rule when it comes to the Shemitah – it must be a series that repeats.

Let’s demonstrate this through the use of a generic example or pattern:

( A – B – C <<< 7 YEARS >>> F – A – C – D – E )

This series of events are clearly not uniform or symmetric.  As such, the pattern is not apparent.  The first thing we need to do in our examination is confirm the repetition. Given that this is about the Shemitah, and we have confirmed the seven year repetition of the yearly Sabbath cycle, we will assume that we have confirmed repetition in this example.

Confirmed repetition gives us this:

( A – B – C <<< 7 YEARS >>> F – A – C – D – E )( A – B – C <<< 7 YEARS >>> F – A – C – D – E )( A – B – C <<< 7 YEARS >>> F – A – C – D – E )( A – B – C <<< 7 YEARS >>> F – A – C – D – E )( A – B – C <<< 7 YEARS >>> F – A – C – D – E ). . .

The confirmed repetition means that this cycle continues indefinitely.  Let’s take another look at this repeating series, or string.  We will drop the word “years” to shorten our example, and add a number to the end of each piece to aid in our study:

( A – B – C <<< 7 >>> F – A – C – D – E )1     ( A – B – C <<< 7 >>> F – A – C – D – E )2     ( A – B – C <<< 7 >>> F – A – C – D – E )3     ( A – B – C <<< 7 >>> F – A – C – D – E )4     ( A – B – C <<< 7 >>> F – A – C – D – E )5 . . .

Here is what you need to do.  Start with one of the unequal strings, and extend the picture until you reach the first possible equal pattern.  Let’s start with the series number 2.  There are two possible patterns which emerge, depending on which direction you travel – right or left.

Right >>>:

( A – B – C <<< 7 >>> F – A – C – D – E )2     ( A – B – C

Left <<<:

F – A – C – D – E )1     ( A – B – C <<< 7 >>> F – A – C – D – E )2     

When we clean up both patterns, here is what actually emerges:

Right =  A – B – C <<< 7 >>> F – A – C – D – E   A – B – C

Left =  F – A – C – D – E A – B – C <<< 7 >>> F – A – C – D – E

What you see here is normal in most aspect in our lives.  Everyday is an exercise in patterns.  We simply don’t realize it.  All of the mathematics, science and engineering that allows the world to function is built on what you have seen here – to a much more complicated degree, of course.

Where complex patterns emerge such as those above, the additional context reveals which of the two patterns is correct, or if both are applicable.  However, the Shemitah is not a complex pattern.  It is simple.  Let’s take what we have learned so far, and apply it to the Shemitah.

First – does the Shemitah repeat?  The answer is yes.

Second – define the series in question:

< ——-  7 Years  ——- D.o.D — >

D.o.D. stands for day of destruction.  That is 29 Elul.  As we have covered earlier, that is the hallmark of 29 Elul.  It was a day of destruction written into the yearly Sabbath cycle. It was a day that must repeat every seven years, so it cannot bring the destruction it is meant to show us in picture form.  Yet, it must encode that very destruction in its definition, in order to be a picture of a day of the end times.  This is top down, bottom up.  It is something the Lord will do throughout the seven feast days, and plays a big part in the later sections of this project.

With that, we need to extend our unequal string:

< ——-  7 Years  ——- D.o.D — > < ——-  7 Years  ——- D.o.D — > < ——-  7 Years  ——- D.o.D — > < ——-  7 Years  ——- D.o.D — > < ——-  7 Years  ——- D.o.D — >

Does an equal pattern emerge?  The answer is yes, there are two patterns.  As with our examples above, there is a right pattern and a left pattern.

Right = D.o.D < ——-  7 Years  ——- D.o.D — >

Left = < ——-  7 Years  ——- D.o.D — > < ——-  7 Years   

With these two patterns, we must determine which is correct.  This requires context through scriptures.  In this case, the context is the scriptures that give us a seven year tribulation.  We detail those scriptures in “Proof of a Seven Year Tribulation”.  We also know these to be the proper scriptures as the Shemitah is the seven year Sabbath cycle, and we have already established the link and prophetic double reference in the yearly Sabbath cycle.

Here is the link to the project on proof of a seven year tribulation:

http://tribulationrisingcom.fatcow.com/addendum-2-proof-of-a-seven-year-tribulation/

In the given context, there is only one period of seven years.  This leaves us with the right pattern, as opposed to the left.  Let’s clean up the right pattern, and see what we have:

( D.o.D. )   ( 7 year period   —   D.o.D. )

What we are left with is an absolute bombshell, and the truth of the timing of the tribulation.  We should also note that the left pattern is also prophetic, as it reveals the greater pattern of the time of Jacob’s Trouble.  We detail this extensively in “Horrors Beyond Reckoning – The Coming Desolation of the Temple”.  It is beyond the scope of this project, but the left pattern reveals the two times of Jacob’s Trouble, or the two periods of seven years.

http://tribulationrisingcom.fatcow.com/horrors-beyond-reckoning-the-coming-desolation-of-the-temple/

Returning to the pattern at hand, what is revealed in the Shemitah is the timing of the tribulation.  Here is what the Shemitah reveals:

A day of destruction;

A full seven year period;

A day of destruction on the last day of the seven year period.

This pattern leaves only one possibility, and the reason why the seven year Sabbath cycle was given.  

( Rapture )   ( Full 7 year period   —   Second Coming on Final Day )

There is no other position on the rapture which fits the pattern revealed by the Shemitah.  Likewise, there is no other position on the rapture which fits the mandatory timing requirements of the Ten Days of Awe.  The Shemitah, for everything it was and was not, reveals the truth in an undeniable picture of the end times.  It sets the framework and context for understanding why the Ten Days of Awe are the actual timing picture for the end times.  

The utter devastation that comes with the rapture is covered in two additional projects.   Take the time to reads these as well, and you will understand why the rapture is a “day of destruction”.

http://tribulationrisingcom.fatcow.com/the-revelation-of-the-rapture-and-the-beginning-of-sorrows/

http://tribulationrisingcom.fatcow.com/what-will-the-rapture-look-like/

Remember, it is the feasts days and the weekly Sabbath that set the actual timing. Everything else is context and pictures.  In the Shemitah, we see the general content.  The Shemitah tells us the the picture of the end is a day of destruction, followed by the full seven years spoken of by Daniel, followed by a final day of destruction at the end of the seven years.  Furthermore, the Shemitah reveals the separation between the first day of destruction and the start of the seven year period.  This confirms the short period between the rapture and the confirmation of a covenant with many at the seventh seal. 

We cover that period of time in “How the Tribulation Starts – Joel, and the Timing of the End”.

http://tribulationrisingcom.fatcow.com/coming-signs-2-joel-and-the-timing-of-the-end/

The Shemitah also reveals the connection between the second day of destruction and the seven year period.  It tells us that despite the natural separation of the first day and the seven year period, there is no separation between the seven years and the second day.  Stated differently, the second day of destruction is a part of the seven years.  The first day of destruction is separate from the seven years.

That is the pattern revealed in the Law of Moses concerning the fall feasts as well.  In the fall feast, the Feast of Trumpets starts the feast cycle.  However, it is not connected to the remaining days, as it is a celebration unto itself.  On the other hand, the Day of Atonement is the conclusion the seven days that preceded it.  It is the final day that culminates what the prior seven days prepared for.

This brings up an interesting point and question that will be central to something we cover later in the additional sections of this project.  In the picture given by the Shemitah, the final day of destruction is a part of the seven years.  It is one day, in a cycle that last seven years.  It seems to be an odd correlation, or at least it did to me.  However, the answer to this resides in a question that underlies the entire premise for this entire project, and the truth of what these final days before the tribulation reveals:

How exactly do you encode the timing of the tribulation into a 10 day cycle, when the tribulation lasts for a period of years?

Remember this question as we go forward into this project.  It will reveal just how much the Lord emphasizes and encodes into the separation of the feast days that we discussed earlier.  As we prepare to move on to the next section in this project, there is one final answer on the Shemitah that we need to cover.  Earlier in this project, we asked several questions:

• What did 2001 and 2008 reveal?
• Why these two dates?  
• Why seven years apart?  Why not 14 years apart?  Why not 21 years apart?
• What was the difference between 2001, 2008, and 2015?

What you are about to see here is one of the most amazing things in this entire project.  We have covered a number of reasons for these questions at various points in this project.  Certainly, it is about the passing of the point of no return.  Of that there can be no question.  However, there is a point to all of this that must be expressed, though we can see it clearly.

2001 and 2008 ended up being an isolated cycle.

You will recall something we covered earlier.  There can be no seven year cycle without the eighth day, or the first day of the new cycle.  Without that eighth day, all we have are seven days, seven years, seven millennia, etc.  In the case of the Shemitah, there had to be another full yearly Sabbath cycle to accomplish what we have discussed so far, and what we will declare now.  2001 and 2008 was the practical application of the picture revealed by the Shemitah.  What exactly does that mean?  We can say it like this.

The Lord gave us 2001 and 2008 to frame the general picture revealed in the Shemitah with real life examples!

That is the reason for 2001 and 2008.  It was to confirm not only what the scriptures reveal prophetically, but also to declare that it is now time for these things to come.   By giving us the real life picture and example of what is soon to come, the Lord was declaring that time is up.  He spent the 14 years setting the prophetic cycle to an actual real life series of events.  

This brings up another difference that needs highlighted.  The bulk of the 20th century had seen evidence of the Shemitah cycle.  On various iterations of the seven year cycle, there had been manifestations of the Shemitah.  I spoke earlier about folks being unable to come to terms with no release in 2015.  Part of that stems from what can best be described as a generic Shemitah principle that occurs on a seven year basis.  This really should come as no surprise, as the Lord does most things on a seven year cycle. However, 2001 took the game to an entirely new level.  It introduced something we had never seen before, and could not be denied.

There is something that must be remembered.  There is no example that can accurately or adequately depict what comes in the tribulation.  There are no pictures of the devastation that comes with the rapture that we can be given.  The tribulation is a time that was not since the foundations of the world, nor shall ever be again.  So, the Lord does what He has always done.  He gives us a limited picture that encodes the definitions of the events prophesied to come.  What did we say earlier about the day of destruction?

D.o.D. stands for day of destruction.  That is 29 Elul.  As we have covered earlier, that is the hallmark of 29 Elul.  It was a day of destruction written into the yearly Sabbath cycle. It was a day that must repeat every seven years, so it cannot bring the destruction it is meant to show us in picture form.  Yet, it must encode that very destruction in its definition, in order to be a picture of a day of the end times.  This is top down, bottom up.  It is something the Lord will do throughout the seven feast days, and plays a big part in the later sections of this project.

Take a few minutes and think back to the events of September 11th, 2001.  Think back to the utter devastation in New York and Washington.  Think back to the images of so many gone, in an instant.  Think of the scenes of utter judgment that the world witnessed.  Even the imagery of planes flying, and the devastation that followed those that were in flight gives us a prophetic picture.

Think back to the short separation in time between September 11th, and the actual start of the Shemitah.  Here is a kicker for you – did you realize that from September 11th to 29 Elul was exactly seven days?  Even in this picture there was another picture.  We had seven days of tribulation that started and began with a day of destruction!

Think back the seven years that followed that fateful day.  Think of Babylon rising, and the war in Iraq ramped up.  

However, there is something else that will make even more sense now.  In another project we cover the reverse Genesis timeline, and how the end is revealed from the beginning.  In the reverse Genesis timeline, the history of the end times through eternity is encoded from Genesis 11 back through Genesis 1.  Essentially, if you start at Genesis 11, and work in reverse to Genesis 1, everything we see now has been encoded in the scriptures.  This comes as no surprise, given that we have already detailed how the end is known from the beginning, and that there is no new thing under the sun.

All of it starts with September 11, 2001.  There is a reason why I don’t subscribe to conspiracy theories concerning 9-11.  It was foretold in the Bible, and it was ALWAYS going to come.  Here is the link to the project:

http://tribulationrisingcom.fatcow.com/addendum-4-how-much-time-is-left/

The irony in this is what else is revealed.  When you read through the project, you will be absolutely stunned.  It turns out that there is more of a connection to these days and the Shemitah than we could have ever realized.  As you read through that project, keep something in mind.

It was written in early 2014.

Earlier, we discussed that the Shemitah and tetrad was less about giving us one final chance, and more about declaring that we would never heed a final chance.  It was about the declaration that we had passed the point of no return, and that the end times cycle had begun.  When you think of the things that began to transpire immediately following the Shemitah and tetrad cycle, this really comes as no surprise.  For all the prophetic “feel” of the events that occurred during these cycles, what has come since absolutely feels as though things are lining up.

That is the reason for 2001 and 2008.  We were given a real life picture of the day of destruction represented in the falling of the twin towers (2001), followed by seven years, with a final day of destruction at the end of that seven year cycle represented by a economic collapse in the markets (2008).  That is why there could be no repeat in 2015.  The picture revealed that 2001 and 2008 could only exist if 2001 and 2008 were isolated.  Without that isolation there could be no confirmation of the cycle we now see in the scriptures.  That is critical for this reason.  It was not just about the tribulation.  It was about the soon return of the Lord. The Shemitah was the picture and proof of the rapture.

It was akin the Ark sitting before Noah, complete, and laden with all the animals.

It was akin to the two angels in Sodom, just after they supernaturally protected Lot and his family from the throng.

In both cases, just before the final destruction fell, an obvious and glaring sign revealed that time was up.  That is why the Lord gave us 2001 and 2008.  It was our Ark.  It was the two angels.  We did not repent.  It was undeniable, and now it is real.

Bear in mind that even the level of “destruction” between 2001 and 2008 was prophetic. Here is why.  The destruction that comes with the rapture is global in scope.  It will be massive, and a game changer.  The destruction that comes with the Second Coming is limited in scope and duration.  For the area affected it will be massive.  However, it is confined primarily to the Valley of Megiddo and the City of Jerusalem.  That is exactly the pattern revealed in the picture of 2001 and 2008.

It also bears mentioning that there is a reason why 29 Elul comes the day before Trumpets.  29 Elul is the last day of the old things.  1 Tishri is the first day of the new things.  In this case, it is the first day of the most terrible time that the world will ever know.  Hence the separation between the first day of destruction, and the seven year cycle that ends with a second day of destruction.

Once the signs are given, all that remains is to finish the process.  Noah and his family were moved onto the boat.  Lot and his family went outside the gates of Sodom and were told to go.  Once the doors of the Ark are shut and locked, and Lot reaches Zoar. . .

And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.

Luke 17:27-30 KJV:

27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.

28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;

29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.

30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.

That is the truth of the Shemitah.  That is the truth of 2001 and 2008.

We need to address something before we move on.  With the Harbinger (2012) and the blood moon tetrad (2015), there has been a great deal of interest in the Shemitah as the required timeframe for the actual seven year tribulation.  The logic goes as follows – the tribulation can only begin with the start of the new Shemitah, or yearly Sabbath cycle.  Under this premise, the tribulation cannot start at any time, but is confined to the seven year cycle revealed by 2001 and 2008.  If this were correct, then the tribulation cannot start until 2022, followed by 2029, and so forth.

Mark Biltz (discovered the prophetic blood moon tetrad pattern) is on record as supporting this position.  I certainly understand how this position appears to have merit.  Certainly, God does work on seven year cycles.  However, as we have clearly established, the time of the tribulation extends beyond a period of seven years.  This is true by virtue of the space at mid-trib alone.  There is one more feature that prevents the tribulation from falling in, and fulfilling the Shemitah.

The Shemitah, or yearly Sabbath cycle, is a Sabbath first and foremost.  As such, it has written into its requirements an immutable fact.  All Sabbath cycles MUST have a 6+1 format.  There must be six days of labor, followed by one day of rest.  The tribulation is a total of seven years of hard labor, broken into two periods of three and a half years.  That also precludes the Shemitah as the time of the tribulation.  The tribulation can be thought of a three and a half “day” increments.

We see the 6+1 format in the heavenly events found in Revelation.  This is why the weekly Sabbath is fulfilled in heaven.  However, as we have seen already, the Shemitah is a picture of the timing of the tribulation, and not the actual fulfillment of the tribulation.  Rather, the tribulation is the “side effect on earth” of the fulfillment of the weekly Sabbath cycle in heaven – which is why a picture of the tribulation timing was required in the first place!

Long story short, without a seventh day of “rest”, the tribulation cannot be a fulfillment of the Shemitah, nor can it be committed only to the Shemitah cycle in its duration.  

We have covered a great deal of ground so far.  Much of what we see in the Shemitah also has a direct impact on the additional sections in this project.  Additionally, sections such as top down, bottom up also bear directly on the counting of the omer, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Trumpets – all of which we will cover in this project.  Keep this in mind when I say that much of the coming project will refer back to what we have covered so far.

On with the show!

In the name of our most blessed Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.