Signs of the Rapture

What to Look For

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”

Revelation 12 Sign of September 23, 2017

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Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.

And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born.  She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne. Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.

  • Revelation 12:1-6

On September 23-24, 2017 there will be an astronomical event in the sky involving the constellation Virgo which looks remarkably like the ‘great sign’ that is described in Revelation 12:1 when reading the prophecy as literally as possible.

This event is similar to the Star of Bethlehem theory which was developed around 2001 by lawyer and professor Rick Larson of Texas A&M University using today’s modern tools of astronomical software like Stellarium, which accurately displays what the sky looked like or will look like from any location on planet Earth, for any date.

The compelling story that has been developing for the last 3 years is only becoming more interesting and is worthy of consideration.

Before I begin to share the story I want to emphasize that what is being discussed has everything to do with astronomy and Biblical prophecy, but has nothing at all to do with astrology (fortune telling by the stars) or date setting which is the confident proclamation that the Rapture of the Church is set to occur on a specific upcoming date and time.  To be fair, this story is conjecture, as any opinions put forth have been formed on the basis of incomplete information.

First, let’s start with a few scriptures to keep in mind while considering this.

 

It is the glory of God to conceal a matter,
But the glory of kings is to search out a matter.
– Proverbs 25:2

 

Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years;
– Genesis 1:14

 

“Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades,
Or loose the belt of Orion?

Can you bring out Mazzaroth in its season?
Or can you guide the Great Bear with its cubs?

Do you know the ordinances of the heavens?
Can you set their dominion over the earth?
– Job 38:31-33

 

So in searching out the meaning of the prophecy found in Revelation 12, we see that God placed the stars and planets first and foremost as ‘signs’. We also see that giving consideration to the Constellations is not something God prohibits, as the Hebrew word ‘Mazzaroth‘, which is only mentioned in Job 38:32, literally means the 12 signs of the Zodiac and their 36 associated constellations.

Let’s take a look at a couple of the original Hebrew word in Genesis 1:14.  The word for ‘signs‘ is ‘owth‘ which means a ‘sign’, a ‘signal’, an ‘omen’, a ‘warning’. The word for ‘seasons‘ is ‘mow’ed‘, which means ‘the appointed time’, ‘sacred season’, ‘set feast’, the ‘appointed time or signal’. Keep these two words in mind.

 

On November 20, 2016 the planet Jupiter enters the torso area of the constellation Virgo, the Virgin. Historically, Jupiter is referred to as ‘The King Planet’ by many cultures.  The Hebrew name for Jupiter is ‘Tzedek‘ which means righteousness, as in Melchi-zedek, the High Priest.  So what we have here is a picture of the conception of the King of Righteousness entering the womb of the Virgin.  However, while in exile on the island of Patmos, John the Revelator was given this vision some 80 years after the birth of Christ, so if the picture is prophetic it must have some other significance, as it is obviously not foretelling the birth of Christ.

Now the planet Jupiter starts to do something interesting after entering Virgo’s womb that is called ‘Retrograde’, which as a result of Earth’s elliptical orbit, which causes Jupiter to appears to move back and forth within Virgo’s womb for a period of 9 months, 2 weeks and 6 days…which is 41 weeks, or 293 days total, which is the normal gestation or period of time between conception and birth for the development of a human baby.  On September 9, 2017 Jupiter the Righteous King is birthed by exiting from in between the legs of Virgo.

2 weeks later, on September 23, 2017 we see what is being called the Revelation 12 Sign appear in the heavens.  Using Stellarium software, if you have enough patience, it can be shown that this particular event has not happened since the birth of Christ, and does not happen again for at least several hundreds of years in the future.  At some point, looking for another occurrence just seems to be a fruitless endeavor.  Specifically, what happens is the constellation Virgo is clothed in the Sun, with the Moon at her feet, and above her head are a crown of 12 stars comprised of the 9 stars in the constellation of Leo the Lion of Judah, and the 3 planets  Mercury, Mars and Venus.   Now understand this, 2,000 years ago people did not know what a planet was.  Their understanding was that these celestial objects were bright like stars, but unlike the stars which were fixed in their relative positions, they moved across the sky, so the word ‘asteres planetai‘1 was used to describe the planets, which in Greek literally means ‘wandering stars’.  So here we have 9 stars + 3 wandering stars for a total of 12 stars above Virgo’s head, just as is described in Revelation 12.

Now September 23, 2017 is NOT just any ordinary day.  This happens to be Feast of Trumpets or Yom Teruah, 1 of the 7 moedim, or ‘appointed times‘ that God established in Leviticus 23:2.  These festivals are often referred to as the Jewish Feast Days, and commemorate specific times and event’s in Israel’s history when the Messiah, Jesus / Yeshua, met with His people.  Of the 7 significant Appointed Times; 3 are in the Spring, 1 in the Summer, and 3 are in the Fall.  In order, they are:

  1. Passover (Pesach) … Jesus died on Passover.
  2. Feast of Unleavened Bread (Chag HaMotzi) … Jesus was entombed on the Feast of Unleavened Bread
  3. Feast of First Fruits (Yom HaBikkurim) … Jesus rose from the dead on the Feast of First Fruits
  4. Pentecost (Feast of Weeks or Shavuot) … the Church was born.
  5. Feast of Trumpets (Yom Teruah, also known as Yom HaKeseh which is the ‘Hidden Day’) … thought to signify the Rapture.
  6. Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) … thought represent Israel being reconciled to their Messiah, Yeshua.
  7. Feast of Tabernacles (Succot) … the 2nd Coming, when Jesus / Yeshua returns to Earth with His Church, to defeat Satan and to rule from Jerusalem.

Since God fulfilled the first 4 Appointed Times to the day, and since God is a God of order, is it unreasonable to expect that He will follow through with the pattern He has already established, and fulfill the last 3 Appointed Times to the very day?

Part of the difficulty in considering this possibility is tied to the Church having lost touch with her Jewish roots these last 2,000 years.  Jesus is a Jew, the disciples were Jews, and the Bible was written by Jews.  Another part of the difficulty in understanding the Bible to it’s fullest is that we read the Bible in English, which is translated from Latin, which is translated from Greek.  It really helps to use a tool like BlueLetterBible.org to dig into the original Greek, or original Hebrew in the case of the Old Testament, and to search the usage of specific words throughout the Bible.

The predictable, bible based refutation to the notion that God might actually Rapture His Church on Feast of Trumpets is based on the verse in Matthew 24:36, “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.”

However, according to Jewish tradition, the phrase “no one knows the day or the hour” is a Jewish idiom which would have been commonly understood by those who Jesus was speaking to, as they were all Jews. The meaning of this phrase relates to the Jewish calendar which is based on a 30 day Lunar cycle.  Each month, two reliable witnesses would look to the sky for evidence of the first sliver of the New Moon. Having not seen the New Moon, the two witnesses would say, “No one knows the day or the hour”.  Once the New Moon was spotted, the two witnesses would report it to the High Priest at the Temple, who would independently question them before officially proclaiming the first day  of the new month.  Once the new month was proclaimed fires would be lit on top of mountains within line of sight to spread the message throughout the land.

 

 

[ continuation of this article will include the following ]

  • Discuss the meaning of Feast of Trumpets
  • Yom HaKeseh, the Hidden Day, why this Feast must be 2 days long based on sighting of the New Moon by two reliable witnesses.
  • No one knows the Day or the Hour … common interpretation compared to the Jewish idiom of the ‘watchers’.
  • Discuss how the Virgin represents Israel, the male child represents the Church, and how the dragon may possibly be symbolically collective as well.
  • The Church is referred to in the ‘male’ form in – 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6, as ‘Sons of Light’ and ‘Sons of the Day’.
  • G.H. Pember considered this in his book ‘Earth’s Earliest Ages’ copyright 1876.
  • The word ‘harpazo’ is used to describe the Rapture, not the Ascension.
  • Daniel was told that ‘knowledge would increase’..that the vision was sealed up until the End Times… isn’t it now being unsealed?
  • Touch on Daniel’s 70th Week cracked by Sir Robert Anderson of Scotland Yard. (LINK TO SEPARATE ARTICLE)
  • Explanation of  Tribulation being a Week of Years, with the Mid-Tribulation event being the Abomination of Desolation.
  • Touch on the Incredible parallels between the traditional Jewish wedding and Christ the Groom coming for The Church, His Bride.  (LINK TO SEPARATE ARTICLE)
  • Interesting that Comet P67, the Rosetta Comet, is at Virgo’s feet next to the Moon on 09/23/2017 … too much for coincidence, but what does it mean?

 

  1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Definition_of_planet