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(formerly known as: Yeshua's Plan)
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The following is a more in depth explanation of God’s festival called “the day and hour that no man knows” and how it is might be directly tied into Yeshua’s (or Jesus) second coming. Jesus name in Hebrew is “Yeshua” which means “salvation”! Please understand right up front that I am not proclaiming that Yeshua is absolutely coming again on the Feast of Trumpets! Although, He most certainly could! In a few minutes you will understand why I say that.
However, I am saying that Yeshua was referring to ONE of the 7 Holy Days “or feast days” of God (listed in Leviticus chapter 23) when He was speaking the term “The day and hour no man knows.” I am also trying to encourage you as a true believer seeking truth to take a small journey with me that I truly believe will change the way you see the Bible from this day forth! I believe it will open many passages to you and make them so much clearer because you will understand how God used these feast days as shadow pictures to show us the details of Yeshua’s first coming, the outpouring of His Holy Spirit and how they tell of Yeshua’s second coming and reign on Earth!
It is absolutely fascinating how God used the first 3 “spring” festivals to show us how Yeshua would die and be resurrected. God also used the 4th feast to show us the coming day of the outpouring of His Holy Spirit (as seen in the book of Acts). Lastly and most importantly, God will use the last 3 “fall” feasts to show us details about the second coming of Yeshua! The first of those 3 “fall” feasts is called “The feast of Trumpets” and is all about Yeshua coming again as the King of Kings, quite possibly on the feast of Trumpets, also known as the “Day and hour that no man knows”! So, what should every “faithful believer” be watching at sunset on the evening of the Feast of Trumpets? The sliver of the moon in the sky, which signals Yeshua's return! And the reason is because Yeshua Himself warned us to be watching and waiting for His coming.
My hope is that every true Bible-believing disciple would be aware of something very important that Yeshua (Jesus) specifically told them to be watching and waiting for. Do you know what that is? Yes, His return or 2nd coming to Earth! But, now wait just one minute, didn’t Yeshua himself say in Matt 24:36 But of that day and hour knows no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.”? Well, Yes he did.
But then just a few verses later Yeshua instructs his followers to “WATCH”. Matt 24:42 Watch therefore: for you know not what hour your Lord does come. He repeated this again in the very next chapter in Matt 25:13 “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man comes.”
So, WHY would Yeshua tell his followers to WATCH, if he is coming in a day and hour that no man can possibly know that he is returning? If ONLY the Father Himself knows, then how can we possibly watch or be ready for the day of His return? Does it simply mean to ALWAYS be watching, daily, so you are always ready? That would certainly be the safest thing to do. However, Jesus actually rebuked those who were NOT discerning the signs of the times!
Jesus is the Son of God, the Savior of mankind, and "they" (the majority of the Sadducees, Pharisees and other religious leaders of the time when Jesus walked the Earth) could not recognize all the Scriptures that foretold of His coming. He said that they could clearly see the signs in the sky, knowing a storm was coming, but they could not see that He was the Messiah, standing right in front of them, even though there was ample evidence!
Mat 16:1 The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would shew them a sign from heaven. Mat 16:2 He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, you say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. Mat 16:3 And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowering. Oh, you hypocrites, you can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times? Mat 16:4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah. And he left them, and departed.”
First of all, in case you are not aware, Jesus was Jewish and lived in a Jewish culture. His 12 disciples were also Jewish. Paul the apostle, who wrote most of the books in the New Testament was also Jewish. So, it helps a lot to understand at least a few things about the Jews and their Hebrew culture.
Each culture has something called “idioms”, which are phrases or expressions whose meaning can't be understood from the ordinary meanings of the words spoken. For example, “It is raining cats and dogs” meaning it is raining very hard, or “I went to the grocery store and it cost me an arm and a leg” meaning it was very expensive. “Get off my back” is an idiom meaning “Stop bothering me!” The idiom “You hit the nail on the head” means “You're exactly right.”
Now people who are not from a certain culture or who may not speak the original language might hear two people from that culture speaking and they might very well misunderstand them when they use a common idiom. For example, one might think “When it rains, do cats and dogs actually rain down out of the sky?” Or they might say “Why did you have to cut off your arm or your leg to buy your groceries?”
So the Hebrew language and the Bible are full of idioms written and understood from many centuries ago, by the people of that time and culture. But, when we hear them with our 21st century “American” ears, we might not even catch that it is an idiom or understand what was TRULY being conveyed. This is the case when Jesus speaks about the “Day and Hour that no man knows” and “the day and hour that ONLY the Father knows”. But let me quickly explain one other thing before I expound on that. I hope that it will become much more clear.
Now please stay with me, as what I am about to share may sound a bit foolish at first or it may sound like I am trying to trick you. I will assure you I am not. It is just a way to show people how EASILY we can think we know something, when we might not really understand the “origin” of what we believe at all. We just believe it because it is “tradition”, or what we have always known to be true. I hope I am speaking to people who desire TRUTH, rather than tradition and who are open to study a matter, if they are challenged to examine it closer.
If I ask you “how many tentacles does an octopus have?” or “how many sides does an octagon (or a STOP sign) have? You will most likely say “well that’s easy, the answer is eight”.
But if I then ask you “what number out of 12 months is the month of October?” and suddenly you would realize that October is the 10th month, not the 8th month. BUT, do you know "why" October is the 10th month? Don’t feel bad. I will explain and then you will understand WHY it is so important to understand God’s Word from the original language “Hebrew” and from the culture and people to whom it was written.
You might be saying “I don’t NEED to understand that stuff to understand the Word of God or to be saved!” and I would whole-heartedly agree with you. But, if understanding the times and the culture and a little bit about the language and the people who wrote it and who lived during the time it was written helped you to be closer to God and be more intimate with Him, wouldn’t you "like" to know? These things really are extremely fascinating and amazing, so would you please give me just a few more minutes to explain?
The reason that October is the 10th month is because there have been MANY different calendars used over the years all over the world by different cultures. The calendar most Americans are familiar with today is called the Gregorian calendar and it is the calendar used in mnay parts of the world. It is named after Pope Gregory XIII, who introduced it in October 1582.
But remember, Yeshua walked the earth over 2000 years ago, so they did not have the Gregorian calendar in Jesus days. Besides, the Jews followed a different calendar than their conquerors (the Romans) did. But many centuries ago the Roman calendar only had 10 months and it started with the month of March, named after their god of war, Mars. Their 2nd month was April, named after Aprilis, a spring time festival and possibly the name of a fertility goddess. Their 3rd month was May, named after Maia, a Greek goddess. Their 4th month was June, named after the goddess Juno. Then their 5th month was July, named after the roman emperor Julius Caesar, who claimed to be a god. Their 6th month was August, named after another roman emperor, Augustus Caesar, who also claimed divinity.
Then the following months were simply named after the Latin word for their number, Septum meaning seven, Octavis meaning eight, Novem meaning nine and Decem meaning ten. However, eventually with only ten months in their calendar, the seasons started to run together and get off, so a roman monk was commissioned to correct the calendar. He did this by creating January, named after Janus the roman two-faced god and February, named after Februa, a roman purification festival. He then placed these two new months at the BEGINNING of the year. This caused October to shift and become the 10th month, instead of the 8th month.
My reason for explaining all of that was so that we could see how easy it is to know something all of our lives but really not know the origin of something we commonly follow and accept. It is the same with the origin of the names of the days of the week and the planets, mostly named after pagan gods. But to keep this study shorter and on subject, I will let you research those things for yourselves. Unfortunately, it is also this same regarding most of the Holy-days or “holidays” we follow in our lives as Christian believers, when in reality, most of us have no idea of the pagan origins where those holidays came from. I will leave those things to your own research also.
So, the God of the Bible, (YHWH) the father of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has a calendar or method of keeping track of time also, and it is not the Gregorian calendar, even though He does things in spite of us creating our own calendars, and not using His. After I share about God’s calendar, it should become VERY clear about WHY Jesus used the phrase or idiom “A day and hour that no man knows”, so please stay with me a short bit longer.
In Gen 1:14-16 it says “And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day (the sun), and the lesser light (the moon) to rule the night: he made the stars also.
So God uses the sun, moon and stars for signs, seasons, days and years. In the very beginning of the Bible, He created certain things on certain days and He numbered the seven night/day periods. Day 1, Day 2, … and the seventh day was special and set apart for man to rest, just as God rested from His creation.
Gen 2:1-3 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
A little later in the Bible, God tells us what is to be the first month of the year and then He numbers the months after that, just like He did the seven days of the week. Notice in the following verse how God refers to time. He counts it, rather than naming it. Gen_8:13 And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry.
The word “month” comes from the Hebrew word “chodesh” meaning new moon, which is how God starts each new monthly cycle, with the new moon, which is the first slight visible sliver in the sky each month. In the following verses, God tells us when to begin the new year, every year, or in other words, which moon cycle "month" will be used to start the new year. Exo 12:1-2 And the LORD spoke unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. We see that the new sliver of each new moon or month is how we determine the new month because all throughout the Bible God instructs us to determine a matter by two or three witnesses.
NASA and other meteorological organizations (groups who use the sun, moon and stars to determine dates) refer to the dark moon (called the conjunction moon) as the “new” moon, but no person can view or observe “or see” the dark moon, because this is the period of 1 to 3 days when the moon is located directly between the earth and the sun, so we can not see any of it being illuminated, so it “appears” to be dark to us or gone from our viewpoint.
However, we must use Scripture to back up everything. God tells us how to do things “His” way and He says “Deut 19:15 … at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established”, and “Mat_18:16 But if he will not hear you, then take with you one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established”, and “2 Cor_13:1 This is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.” Witnesses give testimony of what they “see”, not what they do not “see”. Therefore, doesn’t it seem logical that the new sliver of the moon would establish the “beginning” of the month, rather than the dark or conjunction moon which can't be seen?
The moon does the same cycle every month. It starts out as a tiny barely visible sliver, and gets or “appears to get brighter” (or fuller) for two weeks until it reaches FULL illumination or a FULL moon. This is called “waxing”. The reason I used the word “appears to get brighter” is because the moon does not “produce” light like the sun does, but rather it reflects light from the sun. The moon is then “illuminated” for us here on Earth. Directly after the full moon, the moon appears to get “less bright” or slowly shrinks back down to a cresent or sliver and then disappears again. This 2 week period of lesser illumination is called “waning”. Click here to see a short 2 minute video on how this works.
So, if we can establish when the first month of the year is, all of the rest of the feasts “or God’s Holy days” throughout that same year can be established simply by watching each month and counting the days within a month, starting with the witnessing of the new sliver of the "first" new moon or "first" month. God’s Holy Days are described in chapter 23 of the book of Leviticus. One of those is the “Day and hour that no man knows” or “Feast of Trumpets”.
The 1st feast “Passover” begins on the 14th day “after” the new sliver of the FIRST moon “or month” is sighted. (Jesus died directly on Passover as the Passover Lamb.)
The 2nd feast “Unleavened Bread” begins on the 15th day after the sliver of the FIRST moon and lasts for a 7 day period. (Jesus lied in the grave during the first half of the Feast of Unleavened Bread)
The 3rd feast “First Fruits” begins the day after the weekly sabbath (Saturday) which falls "during" the week of Unleavened Bread, therefore the Feast of First Fruits always falls on the first day of the week, or a Sunday. I am guessing that Yeshua died on a Thur evening in the year that He died on the cross. We know this because He said He would be in the grave or tomb "3 days and 3 nights". Thur evening was the 1st night, Fri morning was the 1st day, Fri evening was the 2nd night, Sat morning was the 2nd day, Sat evening was the 3rd night, and Sun morning was the 3rd day. The scriptures state that He was "seen" by Mary Magdelene "early" on the 1st day of the week or Sunday morning. So, the Roman Catholic doctrine of dying on Good Friday and Rising Sunday morning does not fit the count of what Jesus clearly stated about being in the tomb for 3 days and 3 nights. (Yeshua rose as the "first fruits" of many brethren. See 1Cor 15:20 "But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the First Fruits of those who are asleep".)
The 4th feast “Shavuot” also known as the “feast of weeks” or “Pentecost” is calculated by counting seven sabbaths “or 7 weeks” or 49 days after the feast of First Fruits and adding one day. The Greek word for “fifty” is the word “Pentecost”, because you counted a total of 50 days from the weekly sabbath that occurs during the week of Unleavened Bread. Therefore, Pentecost will always fall on a Sunday.
The 5th feast “Trumpets” occurs on the very FIRST day of the 7th moon “or month”. It is the ONLY one of God’s feast days that begins at the sighting of the new sliver of the moon. Therefore, since the cycle of the moon is to go dark for anywhere from 1 to 3 days, you have to watch daily to see the waning moon of the 6th month shrink smaller and smaller until it finally disappears or appears to go dark or black. Then you know that any day now you will observe the new sliver, which signals the beginning of the 7th month, at sunset. Remember, the beginning of a new day starts at sunset. Genesis 1:5 tells us "the evening and the morning were the first day".
To determine WHEN the 5th feast of “Trumpets” will begin, you need to be out watching and waiting each night after the crescent of the "6th moon" disappears, because you know NOT the “day” or “hour” in which the new sliver will appear, signaling the beginning of the feast of Trumpets. For thousands of years the Jews have referred to the new sliver of the 7th month or “the feast of Trumpets” by a very common Hebrew idiom.
And that idiom is “The day and hour that no man knows” and also by the name “the day and hour that only the Father knows”, because the only way to know when it will occur is to be watching and waiting for the new sliver. The feast of Trumpets is also called "the day of shouting". The Hebrew word for Trumpets is “teruah” which literally means: acclamation of joy or a battle cry; especially clangor of trumpets, as an alarm, blowing of the trumpets, joyful, jubilee, loud noise, rejoicing, shouting, sounding, proclaiming, announcing, declaring.
The rams horn or shofar (trumpet) is blown for certain occasions, such as: to warn or alarm or wake up the people, and at the coming or crowning of a king, and to proclaim or announce an important event. More on this shortly.
The 6th feast “Atonement” is on the 10th day of the 7th month, so you simply count 10 days after you know that Trumpets has started and then you know when the Day of Atonement begins.
The 7th feast “Tabernacles” (or Sukkot in Hebrew) begins of the 15th day of the 7th month and also is simply counted from the feast of Trumpets. Tabernacles is celebrated to commemorate the 40 years of living in the desert or wilderness in tents or temporary dwellings, before the people got to cross over into the promised land. This feast lasts for seven days and then there is a sabbath day directly after this feast on the 8th day after the beginning of Tabernacles. Eight signifies "new beginnings".
And those, my friends, in a nutshell are the Feasts of the Lord, described in Chapter 23 of Leviticus. Remember, the Lord said they are “His feasts”, or Holy convocations. The word convocations in Hebrew is Miqra and means: something called out, that is, a public meeting (the act, the persons, or the place); also a rehearsal: - assembly, calling, convocation, reading.
So, if these feasts are “the Lord’s feasts or Holy Days”, should we not want to know more about them and what they represent? They are called Holy rehearsals or shadow pictures of what is “yet” to come. If the Tabernacle and all the items in the Tabernacle were copies of the originals in heaven, and they are shadow pictures of what is "yet" to come, it seems important that we understand them and have an affection for them, since the Lord calls them “His feasts”. I would submit to you that they are for ALL of God’s people, not just the Jews. Just like the sabbath was given to ALL mankind, or to Adam in Genesis chapter 2, and Adam was NOT Jewish.
Zechariah tells us in chapter 14 that those who do not celebrate the feast of Tabernacles during the millennium will be cursed. Zec 14:16 And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. Zec 14:17 And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. Zec 14:18 And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. Zec 14:19 This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. (Reading earlier in Zechariah 14 you can see this is during Yeshua's Millennial reign.)
This kind of makes a person wonder: If God’s people celebrated His Holy Days for thousands of years prior to Jesus being born on the Earth (and even Yeshua Himself celebrated them during the time He lived on Earth during His first coming, AND every nation on earth during Yeshua’s Millennium reign (or 1000 reign of peace) will be punished “if” they do NOT come to Jerusalem every year to celebrate Sukkot (Tabernacles), then why was this Holy Day (as well as the other feast days) removed between Yeshua’s 1st and 2nd coming? Or were they? Why were these “Holy Days of YHWH” replaced with hol-i-days celebrated by the pagans that worshipped false gods, which days were then converted into our common “Christian” holidays like easter and christmas?
Did you know that Yeshua fulfilled all of the spring feasts (or first 3 feasts) during his FIRST coming on the very EXACT feast days that YHWH described in Leviticus chapter 23 as being HIS feast days. Yeshua died EXACTLY on “Passover”, as the perfect, spotless, sinless Lamb of God. He then laid in the tomb during part of “Unleavened Bread” as He was without leaven (sin and false teachings) and became our unleavened Bread of Life. He then rose from the dead EXACTLY on the Feast of First Fruits, as the First Fruits of many brethren to rise from the dead. Then Yeshua sent the Holy Spirit EXACTLY 50 days later on the day of Pentecost or “Shavuot”.
So, if Yeshua fulfilled ALL of the 3 spring feasts on the EXACT days that they represented during His first coming AND He poured out the Holy Spirit EXACTLY on Pentecost, is it really that difficult to believe He will return and fulfill the fall feasts in His 2nd coming? It makes total sense! HalleluYah! And let me show you what the 3 fall feast are called and what they are shadow pictures of. This is where it gets very exciting!
As I shared before and have spent all this time leading up to the first "FALL" festival or feast day which begins at the sighting of the new sliver of the moon of the 7th month. It is called the Feast of Trumpets and the idiom for that feast is that it is called “The day that only the Father knows” as well as “The day and hour that no man knows” because it is the ONLY feast day that BEGINS right "on" the new moon sighting or 1st day of the month, so we must watch for it to know when it actually begins.
The Feast of Trumpets “last year” fell on the Gregorian date of Sept 27th, 2022 at sunset. If you went out near sunset (about 7:20 pm) and looked directly to the west horizon, the new sliver first appeared right shortly before sundown. This can be a daunting task if it is extremely cloudy in the western horizon. Even with clear skies, it can be very difficult to see the first time, if you have no practice in spotting the new moon. But you want to look pretty much straight west and then hold your arm “directly” out in front of you and make your hand into a fist. Then extend your other arm out in front of you and make a fist and set that fist on top of your other fist. Now look up in the sky at the area right above your top fist. That is the general area where the new sliver will appear. It may be a little to the north or south of true west. It might be a little higher or lower in the sky than above your top fist, depending on what time you are out there looking. But this will get you in the ballpark area to view it.
CAUTION: The sun will always be low in the western sky every month when you look for the new sliver of the moon. So, please be careful to not look directly into the sun. I usually close one eye and then extend one hand out to block the sun and then try to look for the moon. It is much easier if you just wait until the sun actually goes completely down over the horizon so you don’t have to deal with trying to block it. The first sliver of the moon goes down over the horizon fairly shortly after sunset. For example, last year on Sept 27th, the sun set at about 7:02 pm and the moon set at about 7:30 pm, so that gave you about 1/2 hour to look for it. The darker it gets, the easier it is to see.
So, am I saying that Yeshua will appear directly on the Feast of Trumpets at sundown? No, I am not. First of all, there are 24 time zones across the globe or Earth and sunset on Sept 16th of this year (2023) will be at about 7:25 pm in each of those zones. So, if I am in Iowa looking for the moon at 7:25 pm and my friend is in California looking for the moon at the same time that I am and I am telling him over my cell phone where to look in the sky for the new sliver moon, he will not see it, because sunset for him will not occur for another 2 hours, at 7:25 pm in "his" time zone.
The Bible says in Mat 24:30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
So, it sounds to me like ALL the tribes of the earth shall mourn AND they shall see the Son of man coming "in the clouds". Then the very next verse says: Matt 24:31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
So, Yeshua is going to appear “in the clouds” and He will send His angels with a great sound of a “trumpet” or ram's horn (shofar).
Then the very next verse says “Matt 24:32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near:
To me, this means Yeshua is saying you will know when that time is very close, or "at hand" because of the signs that the heavens and earth reveal. And what did YHWH tell us in Genesis that He uses for signs?
Gen 1:14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
That’s right, the sun, moon and the stars. And what sign does Yeshua Himself say will proceed this gathering of the elect, from one end of heaven to the other? The sun, the moon and the stars!
Mat 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
Most Bible believers refer to this “catching away” or “gathering of the elect” as the rapture. Most of us have been taught that we can not know the day or the hour of Yeshua’s second coming because Yeshua Himself refers to this day as the day and hour that no man knows, or that ONLY the Father knows.
Well, now we know that when Yeshua told His disciples, (all of whom were Jewish) in Matthew 24, that He was coming on “The day and hour that no man knows” and ALL of His disciples would have understood Him to be saying “I am coming on the feast of Trumpets”. This was a very common idiom used to describe this one particular feast day.
But wait, didn’t Yeshua also say He would come as a thief in the night? Doesn’t a thief come sneaking and catching people unaware? Well, lets see what Yeshua Himself said, also right in this same area of Matt chapter 24.
Mat 24:43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
Jesus made this statement directly after he likened the time He would come again as "the days of Noah”.
Matt 24:36 But of that day and hour knows no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. Mat 24:37 But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. Mat 24:38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, Mat 24:39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
But let me ask you this: to whom did Yeshua come to “as a thief”? Was it God’s elect or chosen, meaning Noah and his family? No, it was unto the rest of the world that was not watching and waiting for the Lord. Noah and his family were well aware of the day that the Lord would bring the rain and they were ready and prepared. Not only did Noah and his family prepare all of those years in building the ark, but when they were finished YHWH gave them a seven day notice before the rain came so they could know in advance.
Gen 7:4 For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.
So, it was not Noah and his family who were caught unaware, but the wicked people around them who were unaware.
Yeshua confirms this in the next verses in Matt 24, in context:
Mat 24:39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
So, it looks as if YHWH came as a thief in the night to the “unaware” in Noah’s day and that Yeshua is saying He will come in like manner, to those who are “unaware”, not to the faithful who are watching and waiting. In context, then consider the very next verses that most Christians believe is talking about the rapture of the saints. NOTE: I "personally" think it sounds like it is speaking of the “collecting” or “gathering” of the "unsaved" for destruction.
Mat 24:40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Mat 24:41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
But right after these two verses Yeshua exhorts His true believers to “Watch” because you do not know the hour in which your Lord comes.
Mat 24:42 Watch therefore: for you know not what hour your Lord does come. Mat 24:43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
The goodman of the house would have done what? He would have “Watched” and not suffered…
So, would it not make more sense that the one in the field who is taken and the one at the mill who is taken, are not the righteous who are raptured, but rather the “unaware” who were not watching and waiting for their Lord? This would seem to fit perfectly with the rest of the verses in Matt chapter 24 which go on and speak of a “faithful wise servant” who is ready and gets blessed as opposed to an evil or “unfaithful” servant who get drunk and is NOT watching or “aware” of his masters return. What does Yeshua say about how He will come to that evil servant?
Mat 24:50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, Mat 24:51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
The very next verse in Matt chapter 25 convey this same context, the wise are watching and waiting, but the foolish are caught unaware.
Mat 25:1 Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. Mat 25:2 And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Mat 25:3 They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: Mat 25:4 But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. Mat 25:5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. Mat 25:6 And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go you out to meet him. Mat 25:7 Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. Mat 25:8 And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. Mat 25:9 But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go you rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. Mat 25:10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. Mat 25:11 Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. Mat 25:12 But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Mat 25:13 Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man comes.
Doesn’t this fit perfectly with the earlier parable in Matthew chapter 13 where Yeshua taught the following:
Mat 13:36 Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. Mat 13:37 He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; Mat 13:38 The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; Mat 13:39 The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. Mat 13:40 As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. Mat 13:41 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; Mat 13:42 And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Mat 13:43 THEN shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Yeshua teaches here that FIRST the angels gather all things that offend, and them that do iniquity and cast them into the furnace. THEN the righteous shine forth as the sun!
Lastly, here is another reason it does not make sense to me when people teach “there is no way you can possibly know when Yeshua is coming back again.” What does the apostle Paul say about NOT being able to know the time of the Lord’s return, thereby being caught sleeping and unaware?
1Th 5:1 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. 1Th 5:2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. 1Th 5:3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction comes upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. 1Th 5:4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. 1Th 5:5 You are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. 1Th 5:6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us WATCH and be sober. 1Th 5:7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. 1Th 5:8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. 1Th 5:9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, 1Th 5:10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. 1Th 5:11 Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also you do.
In verse 1Th 5:1 the Hebrew word for “times” is “oth” which means signal, flag, beacon or token. And the Hebrew word for “season” is “moed” which means appointment, fixed time, festival or solemn feasts. So, it appears Paul is writing to brethren who know the feasts of the Lord very well. They also know that in the verse just before 5:1 (or the last few verses of chapter 4) that Yeshua is talking about the day that He comes to catch away His people, with a SHOUT, a TRUMPET of God to meet them in the air or clouds. TRUMPETS!!
And remember, Paul says you are NOT in darkness, that the day of the Lord should overtake you as a thief.
Let’s take just a minute to look at the other “rapture” verses that Paul discusses in 1 Thess and 1 Corin.
1Th 4:13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 1Th 4:14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 1Th 4:15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 1Th 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 1Th 4:18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. 1Co 15:51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 1Co 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 1Co 15:53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
So the above verses seem to fit perfectly with Matt 24:29-31 which seem to confirm the rapture:
Mat 24:29 “Immediately AFTER the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: Mat 24:30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. Mat 24:31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (Also NOTE: Yeshua says “immediately AFTER”)
So all 3 sets of verses here appear to be speaking about the rapture and so what can we gather from these verses? We know that Yeshua will come “in the clouds of heaven”. We know the Lord will descend with a SHOUT and will send his angels with the sound of a TRUMPET of God. And we know that we will be gathered together in the clouds with the Lord, to ever be with Him! HalleluYah!
And what did Yeshua (and every Jew) call the feast of Trumpets? The “day and hour that no man knows” and “the day that only the Father knows”. And why is the trumpet (or ram’s horn – also called a shofar) blown in the Bible?
1) To warn people or sound an alarm for everyone to get ready.
2) As an acclamation of joy! There's no more joyous time than His 2nd coming!
3) To announce or proclaim or declare the coming of or the crowning of a king. And who is coming? The King of Kings Yeshua! The feast of Trumpets is also known as “the day of shouting!” Shout for joy!
So, the last two FALL feasts are: The day of Atonement on the 10th day of the seventh month. This was the ONE day every year that the high priest would go into the Holy of Holies where the Ark of the Covenant stood (God’s throne on earth) and he would make atonement for his own sins and the sins of the nation of God’s people. Yes, Yeshua already atoned for our sins, once and for all. HalleluYah!
But this day also represented the day of judgment or the standing before the Lord to be judged innocent or guilty. And what is Yeshua supposed to do directly after His return for His saints? Separate the sheep and the goats at the BEMA judgment seat.
Mat 25:31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: Mat 25:32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: Mat 25:33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
And the last FALL feast is called “the feast of Tabernacles” or in Hebrew Sukkot. As previously stated, it is a shadow picture, a rehearsal, a remembrance of the 40 years God’s people spent wandering in the wilderness, just before they entered the Promised Land! It lasts for 7 days long and occurs starting five days after the day of Atonement. To the Jews it is also known as the “wedding feast” as it was common after the somber period of Atonement, to celebrate after you were forgiven! Many people took brides and married during this feast. These were called feasts because one common feature is that it is a time to EAT or feast on delicious foods!
What does the Bible seem to indicate is going to happen after the judgment seat? Yeshua came back to get His bride! He wants us to attend the Wedding Supper of the Lamb!
Did you know that for thousands of years (maybe not so much today, but in the past years) when a jewish man wanted to take a bride, he proposed to her, placed a deposit to hold her, and he built and addition on to his father’s house. One day when it was finally ready, he would steal away, usually at mid-night or a late hour, and go get his bride. If she was a good and faithful bride, she kept her lamp full of oil and shining, watching and waiting for her husband to come for her. Then the husbandman took his bride and brought her to his father’s house where he had prepared a place for her that she might be there with them. Then he had the wedding and a feast and finally went into the bridal chamber for seven days to consummate the marriage. Sound familiar?
John 14:1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. John 14:2 In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. John 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. HalleluYah!
CONCLUSION: Am I proclaiming that I believe the ONLY day of the year that the Lord can possibly make His second coming is on the day of Trumpets? No, not at all. He is sovereign and can do whatever pleases Him and suits His plan the best. I will say that it makes a lot of sense to me that we can NOT know the very day or hour because there are 24 time zones on the earth and there are from 1 to 3 days darkness before the new sliver of the 7th moon so it is impossible to know the exact day or hour. It is also impossible to know with absolute certainty which "year" He will return. But I will also say that since Yeshua PERFECTLY fulfilled the Spring feast days in His FIRST coming, AND poured out His Holy Spirit EXACTLY on the feast of Pentecost, that I believe it is EXTREMELY likely that He will fulfill His SECOND coming EXACTLY on the Fall feast days, especially knowing what they each stand for and especially considering the signs of the times we are currently in, such as: Putin stating he might use nukes, the devaluation of the US Dollar (world reserve currency), Klaus Schwab of the WEF speaking about the Great Reset where we will all "own nothing and be happy", the recent lock down of the world from Covid and talk about electronic vaccine passports, Biden passing the recent order to switch from fiat (paper) currency to a US digital currency (USDC), great draughts and floods occurring all over the world destroying major portions of the worlds food supply, etc....
Remember, although we can not know the EXACT day or the hour, but “if” He follows the pattern in the Bible and He does come back on the feast of Trumpets, then it is possible to get ready for the seventh sliver moon by just watching and waiting for the first 6 slivers of each moon preceding the seventh month. Therefore as we watch the 6th moon wane (get less) those last two weeks of the 6th month and then if we go out and watch and wait for the 7th sliver on the night or two after the conjunction moon (dark moon) then we are like the 5 wise virgins faithfully waiting for the bridegroom!
So, the focus or important part in all this is NOT about seeing the new sliver, it is about knowing that Yeshua is coming at some point, likely right after that new sliver! The new 7th moon is only a "sign" that Yeshua is coming! The important part is making our hearts ready to meet the King of Kings and to obey His instruction to be "watching and waiting" for His coming!
Just like the Pharisees and Sadducees could see red sky and know a storm is coming, YHWH has a time clock where we can watch and know almost to the very day when He will “likely” send His Son back for His bride and therefore we can get ready and be prepared. We can NOT know the day and hour, but we are exhorted to be ready, as opposed to just sitting around never being sure and wondering, or being caught "unaware".
I don’t believe YHWH is as concerned about us needing to track each moon as much as He is concerned about the condition of our hearts and how we treat our fellow man! I mean if we truly love God with everything inside of us, shouldn’t it be a pleasure and exciting to learn more about His Word and His ways and His Feasts and His calendar? I hope this article has blessed you!
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More teachings to come soon in the near future.
Please check back at the website: YeshuasPlan.com regularly, as I intend to add additional pages, with other subjects you may find interesting. Thank you so much for your time to consider these things I have shared.
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