Signs of the Rapture

What to Look For

The Venus and Jupiter Conjunction of November 12-13, 2017

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Venus Jupiter conjunction of November 12-13, 2017As the story goes, about 2020 years ago on Sept. 11, 3 B.C.,  wise men in the East noticed an unusually bright star in the western sky.  We now know with a very high degree of certainty that the celestial object they saw was a conjunction of the planets Venus and Jupiter, which separately are the two brightest objects that can be seen in the evening sky.  When the orbits of the two planets came together, one on top of the other like a figure eight, they would have formed the brightest celestial object ever seen by man.  A conjunction involving Venus and Jupiter is not rare, it happens every year…often times during the day.  What is rare is being able to see it.  For the first time since the birth of Christ, a conjunction between Venus and Jupiter will be visible on November 12-13, 2017 on the Eastern horizon just before the sun rises. As the earth turns and the sun begins to rise, the incredibly bright ‘star’ will begin to fade into the daylight.Why do I mention this?  I mention it because unlike some, I believe that Biblical astronomy is worthy of study, as it relates to signs of Jesus coming and signs which involve the ‘Sun, Moon and Stars’ as mentioned in the Gospel of Luke 21:25.

The upcoming conjunction of Venus and Jupiter is the last astronomical event this year involving a string of highly unusual events which began 3 1/2 years ago.

  • First, there were a series of four blood moons which fell exactly on the Jewish Feast Days of Passover and Feast of Tabernacles (Succot) for two consecutive years.
  • Then there was the Great Eclipse of 2017 which cut a swath of darkness across America from the northwest to the southeast.
  • Then there was the retrograde event of Jupiter for 9 months, 2 weeks and 6 days within the womb of the constellation Virgo, exiting on September 9-10.
  • Then there was the Revelation 12 Sign, an alignment of the Sun, Moon, and Stars which matched a literal reading of verses from Revelation 12:1-5.
  • Then there was the predawn conjunction of Venus and Mars, to which I can attest, appeared to be a much brighter star than usual.
  • And next is the predawn conjunction of Venus and Jupiter.

There are two very interesting, polar opposite theories about the Venus/Jupiter conjunction:

1) In Revelation 22:16  Jesus Himself allegorically states, “I am the bright morning star”  which is another name for the planet Venus.  Why would He say that? It is theorized that the Venus/Jupiter conjunction is symbolic of Jesus as the Head of the Church, coming together with Jupiter as the Body of Christ, for the first time in 2,000 years.  We have already read about the symbolism of Jupiter as the Body of Christ, or the male child in Revelation 12 who is raptured to the throne of God. Jupiter symbolically representing the actual body of Christ as well, as portrayed in Isaiah 53, with stripes and with a bloody red spot where He was pierced on the side. When they are seen for the first time in 2,000 years coming together, Venus will set on top of Jupiter, symbolizing the head on top of the body.

2) Another theory is that Venus represents Satan who is also characterized in the Bible as the ‘morning star’ in Isaiah 14:12: “How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!” (NIV). The KJV and NKJV both translate “morning star” as “Lucifer, son of the morning.” The theory states that the church (Jupiter) after having been born from Israel (Virgo) is chased by Satan (Venus) before being ‘caught up’ to the throne of God (raptured).

Two other similar words used in the Bible used to describe Jesus and Satan are ‘lion’ and ‘ruler’: Jesus as King is the Lion of Judah, while Satan is the lion who seeks to devour and destroy.Jesus is King of the Universe (Melech ha’Olam), while Satan is referred to as the Prince of the power of the air, Prince of Darkness (Eph.6:12),  or the ruler of THIS world (2 Corinthians 4:4) but with limited authority.

Between the two theories, I’d be more inclined towards the first one, since Jesus is also described as the Groom who goes to retrieve His bride, the Church, to take her away to the Father’s house.

Just as the Bethlehem Star did not signify a specific date to the wise men, but an event, it might just be that the series of unusual astronomical events these last few years should be viewed the same way, as portents of an upcoming event, not of a specific day.  What if?

Eph 5:23 – Christ IS THE HEAD OF THE CHURCH: AND HE IS THE SAVIOUR OF THE BODY.

Col 1:18 – And he is THE HEAD OF THE BODY, THE CHURCH: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

Rev 22:16 – I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and THE BRIGHT AND MORNING STAR.

Rev 2:18-29 – But hold fast what you have till I come. And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations – ‘He shall rule them with a rod of iron; They shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels’ as I also have received from My Father; and I will give him the morning star.
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”‘

So it would seem that Rev. 2 does refer to the male child described in Revelation 12, who is given the same rod of iron and who is also given the ‘morning star’. Could this be a portrayal of the Church (male child/Jupiter) coming together with Jesus (Venus/morning star), or it could be said Jesus is going to give Jupiter the morning star (Venus).

A few mathematical date related oddities which relate to November 12/13 are:

  • 777 days from the last Blood Moon on Sept. 28, 2015
  • 444 days from a Jupiter/Venus conjunction on Aug. 27, 2016,
    • which itself was 333 days after the last blood moon of September 28, 2015.
  • 50 days after the Revelation 12 Sign of September 23, 2017.

So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many,
will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those
who are eagerly waiting for him.

– Hebrews 9:28

LOOK UP!

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Revelation 12 Sign Sept. 23-24, 2017 RaptureWhen Jesus says, “Look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draws near”
-Luke 21:28

I’m beginning to believe that I’m developing a deeper understanding of what Jesus meant.

a) First, in Luke 21:28 Jesus says, “Now when these things BEGIN to happen, LOOK UP and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.”

Note that He doesn’t say to look up AFTER the signs have concluded in becoming apparent, but BEFORE they have concluded. This command to look up may not be poetic, figurative speech after all, but may be very literal. If this is a literal command to look up, then what are we to be looking for? The Rapture is the Redemption of those waiting to be rescued, taken away, caught up by Christ Himself.

When Jesus tells us to look up, it’s not because our Redemption is here, but because it draws NEAR.  Something near hasn’t already arrived.

Again, what are we to be looking for?

b) Because the Rapture happens in the ‘twinkling of the eye’ I’m suggesting that there is no time to look up before we are Raptured to see Christ beckoning us to “Come Up Here!” The Rapture is described as being instant…one moment we’re here, the next moment we’re gone.

c) 3 verses earlier in Luke 21:25 we are told  “there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars;”   This is not figurative, but literal.  To see signs in the sun, moon and stars where do we have to look?  Bingo! We have to “LOOK UP!“.

Now what could those signs involving the sun, moon and stars be?  Many have already dismissed the 4 Blood Moons which happened precisely on the Jewish Feast Days.  Maybe they were too hasty to dismiss these 4 moons as meaningless coincidences.  If nothing more, they may have  been meant to get our attention, to ‘Watch’.

There is one ‘sign’ coming up on September 23, 2017 that involves all three elements of the sun, the moon and the stars. It just so happens that September 23 and 24th 2017 mark the Jewish Feast Day called Yom Teruah, or Feast of Trumpets.  The sign is the alignment of Mercury, Mars and Venus with the 9 stars of the constellation Leo, right above the head of Virgo, while the sun is behind her upper torso and the moon right below her feet.  This alignment has not happened in the last 2,000 years and does not happen again for hundreds of years, if ever.  As a matter of fact, Virgo is usually in the western sky in September, but won’t be ‘clothed with the sun’ …

Now lets, read Revelation 12:1-6

And there appeared a great sign in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:

And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.

And there appeared another sign in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.

And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to be delivered, to devour her child as soon as it was born.

And she brought forth a male child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.

And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and three score days.

A literal reading of this scripture is that a great sign appeared in heaven, it can’t be made more plain than that.  The sign involves the sun, the moon and 12 stars.

Here is an explanation of this upcoming astronomical alignment based on Revelation 12.

Virgo the Virgin, clothed with the sun, with the moon at her feet, and crowned with 12 stars, the sum of the 9 fixed stars from Leo the Lion of Judah plus 3 ‘wandering stars’ or ‘aster planetes’ being Mercury, Mars and Venus.

But you may be thinking, “What about the woman ‘being with child’?  How can that possibly relate to the constellation Virgo?”

The explanation gets even better.

On November, 20th 2016 the Planet Jupiter began to enter the constellation Virgo. By November 28th, 2016 Jupiter was completely within the lines which connect the stars of the constellation Virgo.  Historically, Jupiter is known as ‘The King Planet‘ by many cultures.  In Hebrew, Tzedek is the name for planet Jupiter but it is also the Hebrew word for ‘Righteous‘, as in ‘Melchizedek’ the High Priest.  From Strong’s 4442, Melchizedek means “my king is right“. So here we have a picture of the Righteous King entering into the body of Virgo the Virgin.  On about February 18th, 2017 Jupiter will begin to go into retrograde, which means it will appear to move back and forth within the womb area of Virgo.  Jupiter remains in Virgo’s womb for 9 months, 2 weeks before exiting from between Virgo’s legs.  The normal, average gestation for a human baby is 9 months 2 weeks. Coincidence? I don’t think it is.

This is a Great Sign… the birth of a child whose name is King of Righteousness and all the elements of the Revelation 12 sign are in place.

For very long time now, the most common interpretation of Revelation 12 is that it portrays the birth of Christ.  To a degree this is true.  However there are some distinct differences.  First, John the Revelator was given the vision by Jesus on the island of Patmos some 80 years after the birth of Jesus, so Revelation 12 is not a prophecy of Jesus’ birth. Everything in the Book of Revelation is prophetic, telling of the future.  So what could this sign mean?  The key to understanding this sign hinges on 1 word in the original Greek of Revelation 12:5, the word is harpazo which is translated as ‘caught up’ in English;  “And her Child was caught up to God and His throne.”  So here we have an amazingly distinct difference between the birth of Christ and this Great Sign.  The Greek word ‘harpazo’ is where we get the Enlish word ‘Rapture’ from. The controversial word “rapture” comes from the Latin Vulgate where the verb “rápiō” is used. It means to seize and carry off, snatch, tear, pluck, drag, hurry away to safety. Harpazō, rápiō, and rapture all mean the exact same thing.  Jesus was not raptured!  The Greek verb used to describe His ascension is anapherō. Strong’s G399  defines anaphero as ‘to take up’ or ‘to lead up’, which is distinctly different from ‘harpazo‘ which means to snatch out, to pluck out.  Jesus leads the way up, the Church is harpazo-ed or Raptured out.

So you may be thinking that Revelation 12 can’t be about the Rapture because Christ comes for His Bride, the Church, and a Bride is always female, while the child that is ‘caught up’ is male.  Where in the Bible is the Church referred to in the male form?  Good question.  The answer is in 1 Thessalonians 5:5,

You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober.

1 Thessalonians 5:5

Wouldn’t you know it!? 1 Thessalonians 5 is one of the main Rapture chapters.  Those who are not awake and watching are in darkness, and these are the ones who will be surprised by the thief in the night.  Sudden destruction is what they will experience, “labor pains upon a pregnant woman”.  Did you catch that part about the pregnant woman already? The woman in Revelation 12 is pregnant.  After the Rapture happens, there will certainly be unimaginable confusion and catastrophic consequences.  Think about it…millions of people, hopefully hundreds of millions, will instantly vanish.  What will the world look like? Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins put forth their ideas in the best selling fictional Left Behind series.  1 Thessalonians 5 describes the Church as “sons of light and sons of the day“, that we are NOT in darkness so the Day of the Lord will NOT come upon us by surprise. 1 Thess. 5:9 shows us that the Rapture happens BEFORE the Tribulation because, “God did not appoint us to wrath“, and we are to be “comforted” by this fact.

So yes, the Church is referred to in the male form as “sons of light and sons of the day”.  The male child in Revelation 12 that is caught up to God in heaven, or Raptured to God heaven is the Church.  Is this a brand new idea?  No.  I’m not sure if he was the very first, but  G.H. Pember was a very well known theologian in his time. In 1875 he published the idea that the male child in Revelation 12 might be the Church in his book ‘Earth’s Earliest Ages’. That was over 140 years ago.  Besides, a test of truth is not dependent upon whether or not someone else has already put forth the interpretation or understanding of what a particular prophetic Bible verse means.  In Daniel 12:4 the angel told Daniel to

“shut up the words, and seal the book UNTIL the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.“

Daniel 12:4

So the increase of knowledge does not have to be limited to technological advancements, but can certainly apply to the knowledge and understanding of God’s word, some of which has been impossible to understand by God’s design because it wasn’t yet “the time of the end.”

From Jerusalem, on September 23, 2017, Yom Teruah / Feast of Trumpets, the Revelation 12 Sign occurs as the sun is about to set.  Because the constellation Virgo is “clothed by the sun” all anybody looking for the sign will see is the very bright sun itself.  Then as one day fades into another, Virgo dips below the horizon head first and her remaining stars appear at twilight, along with the moon at her feet.  But because knowledge has increased, we have the tools and the technology to know that this sign is appearing on that day. Using free astronomy software like Stellarium anybody can see what the stars in the sky looked like or will look like for thousands of years in the past and future. Also, anybody outside of the Earth’s atmosphere, (astronauts on the Space Station perhaps?) whose vision is not obscured by the Earth’s horizon, will see the Great Sign unobscured.

“Look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draws near”

What Did the 4 Blood Moons Signify?

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A few years ago, 2014 I think, I was asked by a very good friend what I thought the meaning of the 4 Blood Moons was. I had to say, “Honestly, I’m not sure…but if they mean anything, I think it’s a sign that war is approaching, and it’ll be war unlike any other.”

So for the last few months I’ve been sleeping with ear buds in, listening to David Hocking’s teachings on Revelation from YouTube. He has a very deep voice which for some reason helps me fall asleep. I’m not the first person to say such a thing, I know, because I met him in Edmonds, Washington this last Spring and he mentioned that a woman had recently told him the very same thing, which he questionably took as a compliment. Anyhow, the Revelation series plays for hours on end, and sometimes I wake up. When I do wake, as sleepy as I may be, I pay special attention to what he is talking about at that moment. Sometimes I feel that specific topics for me to dig into are being confirmed.

So at 2:00 am this morning when I woke, David Hocking was emphasizing the color Red in Revelation, in regards to the rider on the Red Horse and the Red Dragon being a fiery red or blood red color.

What follows are my notes which I may reformulate into more of a readable article later:

In the KJV Bible, the word ‘red’ occurs fifty-three times, six of which are in the New Testament. The color’s use in Scripture lends itself to symbolically meaning sin and sinfulness (Isaiah 1:18), Godly vengeance against sinners (Psalm 75:8, Isaiah 63:2), bloodshed and war (2Kings 3:22, Nahum 2:3, Zechariah 1:8, 6:2, Revelation 6:4, 12:3), as well as the temptation to sin (Proverbs 23:31).

Red Horses are mentioned in Zechariah 1:2 and 6:2

In Matthew 6:1-4 when the Pharisees and Sadducees asked Jesus for a ‘sign from heaven’ Jesus equated a red sky in the morning as being threatening.

The Greek work used is  πυρράζω  pyrrazō
Verb: to become glowing, grow red, be red, to redden

 

Another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword.
– Revelation 6:2

The red horse of Revelation 6, symbolizes war and bloodshed, appears when one of the prophetic end time seals is opened.

And thus I saw the horses in the vision: those who sat on them had breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; and the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and brimstone.
– Revelation 9:17
And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads.
– Revelation 12:3

The fiery red dragon represents Satan and his steadfastness to bring bloodshed and death to all, signaling the beginning of the Great Tribulation which is the worst time any human will ever experience.

The Greek word used in Revelation for red = πυρρός pyrros
adjective: having the colour of fire, red, fire-like, flame-colored

 

The Jewish Talmud (book of tradition) has interesting things to say about blood red moons:

“When the moon is in eclipse, it is a bad omen for Israel… If its face is as red as blood, [it is a sign that] the sword is coming to the world…”

Rabbi Meir said, “Whenever the luminaries are in eclipse, it is a bad omen for Israel since they are inured to blows. This may be compared to a school teacher who comes to school with a strap in his hand. Who becomes apprehensive? He who is accustomed to be daily punished.”

“Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them,”
– Jeremiah 12:2

 

The Bible reveals that God times used celestial events to speak to, prepare and warn His people of imminent earth-shaking events.

In Moses’ day, the camps of the Israelites were to be pitched in relationship to the sun, and their Passover meal was to be eaten at the going down of the sun.

The sun and the moon stood still for Joshua over Gibeon, so they could finish a war.

Young Joseph’s dream involved the sun, moon and stars.

Psalm 104:19 says, “He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knoweth his going down.”

Isaiah 13:9-11 says, “Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the STARS of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the SUN shall be darkened in his going forth, and the MOON shall not cause her light to shine. And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.”

“Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously”
– Isaiah 24:23

The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
– Joel 2:31

The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:
– Acts 2:20