Saved in His Life

On the fourth day of the restoration of Earth, we read this description: “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” (Gen. 1:14). As Creator of all we see about us, the Lord reserves the right to intervene in His creation, and one of the primary ways is by the use of the heavens and its luminaries. When He put the stars in place, and explained the Zodiac to Adam and Job and others, He did so in order to tell the story of redemption that would unfold throughout the six thousand-year history of humankind. He expects us to know His Word, and to know what the heavens are telling us. Satan, of course, has corrupted the story in the stars through the gross distortions of astrology, but he cannot erase their position and meaning. As we study these things, we can know what has happened in the past, and what is to come in the future, enabling us to prepare ourselves accordingly.

   The signs and wonders are not confined to the heavens. For example, Jesus said in Luke 21:24, that the nation of Israel “shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.” The Jews were dispersed to the nations for over 1900 years and held captive. Jerusalem was overrun by the Romans, by the Muslims, by the Crusaders, and by the British all those years, but now the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled, as we shall see. The fact that Israel is now a viable country in control of Jerusalem, having survived the systematic extermination of the Holocaust, is a colossal sign of the Lord’s intervention in her history. We shall see what heavenly signs accompanied that incredible chain of events.

   It is virtually impossible to understand the meaning of the heavenly signs if we don’t understand the feasts of Israel, for it is upon the feast days that the Messiah fulfills prophecy exactly to the day what the feasts were predicting concerning Him. We could easily and reasonably apply the feast days to the passage in Genesis regarding “seasons” because they occur regularly in the spring and in the fall. The Feast of Passover occurs on the full moon of the first month of Nisan. The Feast of Tabernacles also occurs on the full moon of the seventh month of Tishri. The feast days are the “seasons” in Genesis 1:14. When there are lunar eclipses associated with these moons, the significance is, pardon the pun, astronomical.

   Jesus the Messiah is the fulfillment of the first four feasts beginning with Passover. “Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us” (1 Cor. 5:7). He fulfilled the Feast of Unleavened Bread. “Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Cor. 5:8). Every time we take communion, or the Lord’s table, we are participating in this fulfillment. There is nothing of leaven in Him. He fulfilled the Feast of First Fruits when He rose from the dead. “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming” (1 Cor. 15:20-23). His resurrection ensures our own salvation and future resurrection. He is the guarantee of the entire harvest to come. He is also the fulfillment of the Feast of Pentecost, when, as the Spirit, He is poured out upon His Body comprised of Jews and Gentiles. Two loaves, barley and wheat, were waved before the Lord, and they represent the two people groups. He baptized His Body with His Spirit at the fulfillment of this fourth feast.

   The remaining feasts are future, and in the ancient practice in Israel, they come after a long summer of heat during which the fruit are ripened. The fulfillment of these final three feasts is vital in understanding the end times of this age. The Feast of Trumpets (Tishri 1) alerts the people of the two final feasts coming quickly, and it opens the seventieth seven of Daniel (the Tribulation). The Feast of Atonement (Tishri 10) is the national introspection and repentance to deal with sin and Israel’s rejection of her Messiah. At the end of the Tribulation, she recognizes and embraces Him. The final feast is the Feast of Tabernacles (Tishri 15), the happiest of all feasts, for it represents the coming together and mutual dwelling of Yahweh and His people in the Millennial Kingdom. Details of how these three feasts unfold in the final seven constitute the bulk of the Apocalypse.

   The stars tell the story of redemption. Now some will refute this, saying that human imagination produced the starry gospel out of whole cloth, but it is inconceivable to me that knowing our Creator’s precision in all things He creates, that He would fail to arrange the stars in a meaningful pattern for the benefit of humankind. Yahweh told Isaiah to “Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth” (40:26). The “host” refers to the stars, all of them named. The Psalmist confirms this: “He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names. Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite” (147:4-5). What can be the reason for Yahweh to name the stars if not to tell a story with them? Job wrote that Yahweh “hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent” (26:13). The heavens are not just there, but are “garnished,” viz., designed and beautified to tell a story, and included in this story is Hydra, the coiled serpent in the stars. If this is not true, how else can we interpret Psalm 19:1-6? “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.” “Night unto night showeth knowledge.” It is obvious that this is a reference to the stars, so how can the stars reveal knowledge if they don’t tell a story? “There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard.” The stars are speaking! The stars have a voice and a language because they are telling the ageless story! The question before us is, what is that story the stars are declaring night after night?

   The early patriarchs undoubtedly learned the story of the stars from the Creator himself. Adam, in his innocence and in his years, perhaps, of fellowship with Yahweh, surely must have learned how the twelve divisions of the Zodiac was the picture book of the Lord’s plan of salvation. And Adam, if he did not record the story for his progeny, at least taught them diligently by word of mouth. Abel knew the story. Seth knew the story, and so did all the early patriarchs. Job would have been another whom the Lord brought into the high knowledge of the heavens, for in his writing he mentions the Zodiac (Mazzaroth), the Pleiades, Orion, and Arcturus. Amos mentions the Pleiades and Orion (5:8). Where did those names come from if not from Yahweh very early on? They certainly did not learn of them from early civilizations in the area. I have to believe Adam was the source. In sum Yahweh aimed to tell His story through the naming of the stars, and that intention has been in place from the beginning. Names have meaning, and meaning is elucidated in a story. The night sky is the Lord’s scroll, and understanding men have been reading it faithfully. Abraham was just such a man.

   When Yahweh came to Abraham in a vision, Abraham complained about his lack of an heir. The Lord “brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them” (Gen. 15:5). The Lord commanded Abraham to tell Him the story of redemption in the stars, not to count them. The verb “to number” means to recount, the show forth, to speak of, to tell out, to enumerate. In answer to Abraham’s anxiety regarding an heir, Yahweh instructed Abraham to tell forth the story in the stars in proper order and in all its details, for He knew that in the telling Abraham would discover the answer. Abraham obeyed, and beginning with the constellation Virgo, the Virgin, with its alpha star Zerah (meaning “seed” in Hebrew) depicting her son the promised seed of Genesis 3:15 – “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” – he spoke lucidly of that single seed coming from the Virgin (“‪Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” – Isa. 7:14), of the beta star Tzemech, the Branch (“‪In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land” – Jeremiah 33:15), and of Virgo’s beta star Tsbiyahweh meaning “beautiful Yahweh.”  He told of Virgo’s ancillary constellations of Como (Kamah in Hebrew) – the desired one (“‪And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come” – Haggai 2:7), of Centaur, the dual natured creature (man/horse) depicting the God/Man to come (“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given . . . and his name shall be called . . . The mighty God, The everlasting Father” – Isaiah 9:6), and of Bootes, the coming Shepherd (“‪He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young” – Isaiah 40:11).

   Abraham spoke of Libra, the constellation of scales, or balances, showing the conflict between good and evil, the evil, of course, weighing heavily in the scale, and requiring One to pay the price with blood to tip the scales; and of the associated constellations, Centaurus, the two-natured man/horse, with the lethal spear executing righteous judgment while standing upon the Southern Cross upon the victim Lupus, who willingly submits (“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” – 2 Cor. 5:21); of Scorpius, whose tail (Lesath in Hebrew) means the “Perverse One, and whose brightest star is Antares means “anti-Lamb,” or Antichrist, who overturns the altar of the Temple in his desecration; of the secondary Ophiuchus restraining Serpens (Serpent) from capturing the Crown while placing his heel on Antares to crush his head (Gen. 3:15); of Sagittarius, the Centaur with a bow and arrow aimed at Antares, the heart of the Scorpion, harbinger of the Mighty Prince coming to destroy Antichrist and to rule the Earth; of Capricorn the sacrificial goat with the fish tail doing double duty –  carrying away the sins of the people into the desert, and being sacrificed on the altar of Yahweh’s judgment – as the Messiah did in His earthly career: “Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:4-5); of Aquarius (in Hebrew, deli, or water buckets), a picture of Jesus pouring out the living water in fulfillment of the Lord’s promise to Israel: “For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring” (44:3); of Pisces, the vertical fish and the horizontal fish, kept alive by the living water of Aquarius, and representing the earthly, horizontal body of Israel, and the heavenly, vertical Body of Christ; of Aries the lamb (Taleh in Hebrew) broken in death, but triumphant in life, standing upon the bonds of the Cetus, the sea monster, to the fishes of Pisces, to deliver them; of Taurus, the returning bull, with its ancillary constellations, the Hyades (congregated) and the Pleiades (the seven-star cluster), all revealing that Christ will return to His congregated people, the Ecclesia; of Gemini (Hebrew Thaumin, “joined together”), the twins, one coming to labor and to suffer (Al Henah), and the other to trample underfoot, showing the two advents of Messiah – first to be bruised on His heel, and second to vanquish His enemies; of Cancer, the Butterfly in Hebrew, hiding its cluster (Praesepe) in its shell until new life emerges, revealing Christ our hiding place until the time of our metamorphosis; and finally of Leo the Lion, the regal one of Judah whose father prophesied of him: “Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father’s children shall bow down before thee. Judah is a lion’s whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be” (Gen. 49:8); this twelfth constellation whose brightest star is Regulus, the regal star, whose second brightest star is Denebola, the “Judge” in Hebrew, and whose third brightest star is El Gibbor in Hebrew, the “mighty God-man” (Isa. 9:6) who treads underfoot Hydra, the fleeing serpent, whose brightest star is Alphard “the Cursed One,” leaving the remains to Corvus the crow and other raptors to feast on the flesh of armies when Crater the Cup pours our the wrath of the Almighty.

   So after this wonderful recounting of the story of redemption featuring the Coming One, Abraham finished the story. Yahweh said unto him “So shall thy seed be.” Then Abraham pondered this word, and with the guidance of the Spirit, realized the wisdom of his God. His heir would be ONE seed – the Coming One, the Messiah, who dominates the divine story hidden in the stars, yet so plainly revealed to the understanding mind and receiving spirit. It is small wonder that after such a revelation dropped into his understanding that Abraham “believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness” (Gen. 15:5-6). This is what Paul affirmed in Galatians 3:16: “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.” The promise to Abraham, written and declared in the night sky, was that his one seed would be the Messiah Christ. Abraham’s belief in this One gained him imputed righteousness, for that single revelation governed the rest of his life.

   It is obvious from this account of Abraham that the Lord placed the stars in their locations for a purpose. The heavens belong to Him and He will use them to instruct humankind. This is exactly what He did when His Son took on human flesh and passed through various experiences in His human life. In fact all major events in Jesus’ life were in conjunction with the feast days, and the main feast days (Passover, the first, and Tabernacles, the last) involved the moon. That He was born on the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles is apparent in John’s gospel account: “That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (1:9-14). The Feast of Tabernacles celebrated the mutual abiding of Yahweh and His people in their wilderness wanderings – Yahweh in His tabernacle, the people in their tents. It was the feast that featured rejoicing, rejoicing in the past memories, rejoicing in the bountiful care of Yahweh during the year, and rejoicing in the promising future. John said the “Word was made flesh, and tabernacled among us.” Jesus was the embodiment of the desert tabernacle wherein dwelt His Father. Surely something so monumental as this had to be accompanied by a full moon, a heavenly sign. 

   Even more astonishing was the experience of the Bethlehem shepherds on the night of Messiah’s birth. Here’s Luke’s account: “And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger . . . And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them” (2:8-16, 20). This was truly a heavenly sign and wonder, and a solid argument for the Feast of Tabernacles themes surrounding this event. There is the presence of the heavenly beings full of glory, coming down to overcome the darkness, and to produce in the shepherds great joy and rejoicing. In addition the timing was right, for at the Feast of Tabernacles, the harvest was in, but the fields weren’t plowed yet, leaving the stubble for the lambs. The shaft of light that extended into the heavens over the village was the star of Bethlehem seen by the Magi far to the east in Babylon. This was not a natural conflation of stars or planets, but rather an entirely supernatural phenomenon. And the Magi, still influenced after centuries by the teachings of Daniel and his 70 weeks prophecy, knew the time of the Messiah was at hand, and they eagerly watched the night sky for evidence. When they saw the shaft of light, they knew the time had arrived and they saddled up. The glory of the Almighty Himself extending from heaven to His Son on Earth was their guiding light to bring them to the newborn King. What they were witnessing was His star. Balaam was the first to mention that Messiah had His own star. Numbers 24:17 says this: “I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel.” This star was unlike any other, and this is what guided the Magi. It had nothing at all to do with nature and regular stars, but everything to do with the Almighty and His angels in heavenly brilliance hovering over the infant Messiah, and how long it lasted or how many times it appeared, we are not told. However, when the Magi diverted to Jerusalem and unwittingly informed Herod of the birth of the King, the record says that “when they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was” (Matt. 2:9). They had to leave the religious center of Judaism in order to see the heavenly shaft of light over the young child.

   A great sign and wonder in the heavenly realm transpired in the final three hours of Jesus’ execution, when the sun was blacked out at noon, not by natural means, but by supernatural. It was not a eclipse, because no eclipse lasts three hours. It was the Lord recognizing the death of His Son. Amos described the day like this: “Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? and it shall rise up wholly as a flood; and it shall be cast out and drowned, as by the flood of Egypt. And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day: And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day” (8:9). We have the darkening of the sun and the land trembling with an earthquake. Here’s how Matthew describes the scene: “‪Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God” (Matt. 27:54). Joel also describes it: “And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come” (2:30-31). The significance is that the black sun represented the Son of righteousness being blackened with the sins of the world. Darkness always accompanies judgment, and in deep, midday darkness the Father laid upon His Son, the sacrificial Lamb of Yahweh, the sins of the world, and judged them.

   How dark was that time for the Son of Man, who the night before had prayed in agony for fear of failing His mission of bearing the sins of the world? Listen to the distressing prayer of prophecy from Psalm 22 that He may have been reciting at the end: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent. But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded. But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him. But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother’s breasts. I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother’s belly. Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help. Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me. They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture. But be not thou far from me, O LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help me” (1-19). This is an agonizing soul, made dark for our salvation. He cried in the daytime, from 9 am to noon, and in the night season, from noon to 3 pm. Here is the missing “night.”

   Antiquity, both religious and secular, confirms that the year of the Lord’s death was 33 AD, so Passover had to be on Friday. This seems to conflict with Jesus’ answer to the Pharisees, when He said this: “For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matt. 12:40). He was buried on Friday late, in the tomb on Saturday, and rose early on Sunday, which makes up three days; however that meant He was in the tomb on Saturday night (which started at sundown Friday) and Sunday night, leaving a missing night. But as we’ve seen, there was a night in the middle of Friday when the sun turned dark. Furthermore, when the sun darkened, and the stars shone, the sun was in Aries, the Zodiacal constellation of the sacrificial ram! The stars told exactly what was happening on the Earth at that exact time. This is NOT coincidental. This is the Lord speaking in His heavenly scroll.

   When Friday Passover ended and the Sabbath began at 6 pm, another sign and great prophecy was fulfilled. In Peter’s speech at Pentecost, he quoted Joel 2: “But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:16-21). This prophecy was fulfilled when the full moon rose over Jerusalem that evening when Jesus was entombed, and it was a blood moon, a rather dramatic blood moon because of all the dust in the air from the earlier earthquake. What a strange time that was for the children of Israel! First the unprecedented midday darkness of night, then the earthquake, and finally the partial lunar eclipse, all within a few hours. In fact, the sunset and moonrise happened at the same time, a stunning sign to the nation, and to the Romans, for that matter. These phenomena preceded the “great and notable day of the Lord” by two days, and that day was the day of resurrection. Then fifty days later the Spirit fell upon the disciples to complete the prophecy of Joel. It must be emphasized that this prophecy was fulfilled in its entirety at this time by all these events. The fulfillment of Joel is why so many Jews believed and were saved by Peter’s preaching on the great day of the outpouring.

   These are the signs surrounding the first advent of our Lord the Messiah. But Israel as a nation would not receive Him as her Messiah, but rejected Him, and forced that generation to repeat what the generation that came out of Egypt in the exodus had to do, viz., wander in the wilderness until death, allowing the next generation to go in to the promised land. The generation that rejected the Lord had to die, and another generation had to rise up to possess the land and to seize the opportunity to receive the Messiah. That “second” generation (after the start of Yahweh’s clock in 1948) possesses the land today, and is waiting for events to transpire that will provide them the opportunity to do what the evil generation in the first century would not do, and that is to recognize and receive and embrace their Messiah King. Because of this gracious opportunity, the prophecies in Joel regarding the sun and moon will occur just as Jesus predicted they would be. In Luke 21:25-27 He said this: “And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.”

   It is extraordinary how many prophecies describe these signs – the earthquake, and the blacked out sun, moon and stars – of the last days. In Matt. 24:29-30, Jesus said that, “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: 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.” Isaiah wrote: “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. I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir. Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger” (13:9-13). In Joel 2:10-11 we read: “The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining: And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?” Joel follows that with: “The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel” (3:15-16). The three signs of the first advent – earthquake, darkened sun, and blood moon – will, with some variation accompany His second advent – earthquake, darkened sun, darkened moon, and darkened stars. We see in the breaking of the sixth seal an earthquake, a blackened sun, and a blood moon. “And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind” (Rev. 6:12-13). The similarities with Joel 2 are uncanny and definitive, proving that Joel’s prophecy will be fulfilled in the Day of the Lord.

   At Jesus’ death the dark sun revealed the Father’s judgment on the One who was made sin for us. The blood moon following signified the redeeming blood of the Lamb to save us. At Jesus’ return the darkened sun signifies Yahweh’s judgment on the world, whereas the blood moon shows Israel covered in the blood of their Messiah after their repentance and recognition and acceptance of Him. Zechariah makes this clear in 12:10: “‪And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.” This national repentance will usher in the glorious blessing of 14:8-11: “And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be. And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one. All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from Benjamin’s gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananeel unto the king’s winepresses. And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.” Hosea writes of the two comings of the Messiah. The first coming is in Hosea 5:14-15: “For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah: I, even I, will tear and go away; I will take away, and none shall rescue him. I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.” The Lord Jesus returned to His place in heaven with the Father, waiting for the nation to acknowledge their offence, and seek His face. After much affliction during the reign of Antichrist, the remnant of Israel finally cries out in the anguish of Psalm 79. “O God, the heathen are come into thine inheritance; thy holy temple have they defiled; they have laid Jerusalem on heaps. The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meat unto the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth. Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem; and there was none to bury them. We are become a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and derision to them that are round about us. How long, LORD? wilt thou be angry for ever? shall thy jealousy burn like fire? Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen that have not known thee, and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy name. For they have devoured Jacob, and laid waste his dwelling place. O remember not against us former iniquities: let thy tender mercies speedily prevent us: for we are brought very low. Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name: and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy name’s sake. Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is their God? let him be known among the heathen in our sight by the revenging of the blood of thy servants which is shed. Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee; according to the greatness of thy power preserve thou those that are appointed to die; And render unto our neighbours sevenfold into their bosom their reproach, wherewith they have reproached thee, O Lord. So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture will give thee thanks for ever: we will shew forth thy praise to all generations.” Psalm 80 continues the theme and Israel recognizes the Man at Yahweh’s right hand. It is the pivotal moment. “Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved. O LORD God of hosts, how long wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy people? Thou feedest them with the bread of tears; and givest them tears to drink in great measure. Thou makest us a strife unto our neighbours: and our enemies laugh among themselves. Turn us again, O God of hosts, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved . . . Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself. So will not we go back from thee: quicken us, and we will call upon thy name. Turn us again, O LORD God of hosts, cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved” (80:3-7, 17-18). This brings the Deliverer to His people! In Hosea 6:1-3 we have the second coming of the Messiah: “Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.”

   We cannot praise the Lord enough for His gracious treatment of Israel in providing her a final opportunity to embrace her Bridegroom. Her rejection of Him at His first advent meant grave discipline for 1950 years during her Diaspora, but it allowed the Body of Christ to incubate and mature during the interim. Now it is Israel’s turn to take center stage for the grand finale of the ages. Once the rapture of the overcoming Ecclesia occurs, the seventieth seven will begin, and will end in the Bride’s tearful embrace of her Bridegroom. How wonderful are these events to come! May we ready ourselves individually and collectively, and may we pray for the peace of Jerusalem, viz., that Jerusalem (and the remnant of Israel) would come to know the Prince of Peace! Hosea wrote of the day when this would indeed come to pass. “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her. And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt. And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, that thou shalt call me Ishi (Husband); and shalt call me no more Baal. For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name. And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely. And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD. And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the LORD, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth; And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel. And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God” (2:14-23). The day will come when Israel will forsake her idols and recognize her Bridegroom during her final seven years following the age of the Ecclesia.

   In Matthew 24 Jesus predicted the destruction of the Temple, and that incited the disciples to ask Him three questions: “Tell us, when shall these things be?” “What shall be the sign of thy coming?” And, “What shall be the sign of the end of the age?” The whole discourse recorded by Matthew is in answer to these three questions. Question one concerns the destruction of the Temple; question two inquires about His second coming, which occurs at the end of the Tribulation; and question three is about the time preceding the beginning of the tribulation period – the end of the age. These are three separate events, and each has its own separate signs, not necessarily heavenly.

   Jesus answered question one in Luke 21 in rather simple fashion. “And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled” (21:20-24). In the middle of the Jewish revolt of 67-73 AD, the Roman Titus crushed Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple, eventually driving the Jews onto Masada and suicide in 73. After this the process of dispersion to other nations began and finished with Hadrian in the 130s. From 70 until 1967 Jerusalem was “trodden down of the Gentiles,” but in 1967, when Israel captured the city, the “times of the Gentiles” were fulfilled.

   The answer to question two (the signs of His coming during the Tribulation) is not so simple, and that occupies a good portion of Matthew 24. “And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet” (24:4-6). Here Jesus gives us the general situation in the world preceding the Tribulation – “the end of the age.” It is a preface for His answer to the second question regarding His coming, which does not occur until the end of the Tribulation. “For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows” (24:7-8). Once the Ecclesia is removed from Earth, the Tribulation begins, and Jesus calls that the “beginning of sorrows.” Paul likens the beginning of the Tribulation to a woman in labor. In 1 Thessalonians 5:2-3 he writes: “ For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.” What Jesus has just described are labor pains that open the Tribulation, similar to what John describes when the Christ begins to break the seals on the scroll in Revelation 6. The Four Horsemen of the first four seals ride forth into the Earth to disrupt the lives of the unbelieving world, viz., to ratchet up the labor pains of judgment through war, famine, pestilence, and persecution unprecedented in world history. As these pains intensify, Jesus’ next words describe the situation: “Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved” (24:9-13). This is a harsh warning to Christians who fail to answer the upward call (Rev. 4:1) because of indolence and apathy, and find themselves in a hostile environment; and to Israel the Bride who is under the purifying discipline of the Bridegroom. What is at stake here is the millennial kingdom promised to Israel, so for those of Israel who desire to rule in it, and for those Gentiles who want to participate in it, there is the gospel of the kingdom preached by the two witnesses and the 144,000 sealed first fruits of Israel that demands obedience. This is what Jesus refers to in 24:14: “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”

   But this is not the end, only the middle of the Tribulation. Jesus continues His discourse by describing Israel’s life under the Beast during the final three and a half years of the seven. “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be” (24:15-21). As Antiochus IV of Greek dominion desecrated the Temple prior to the Macabbean revolt, so at the midpoint of the Tribulation the Beast (Antichrist) halts the Temple sacrifices, sets up his image in the holiest place, and thoroughly desecrates the Temple. This assumes, of course, that Israel is sovereign over the land during this time of trial; otherwise there would be no Temple to desecrate.

   The end of the Tribulation has its peculiar signs, as Jesus explains: “Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. 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: 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. 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” (Matt. 24:23-31). The false Christ is the Antichrist, and the false prophet is the False Prophet who promotes the Antichrist. The carcass is Israel, and the eagles are the armies gathered against her at the battle of Armageddon. Then there is another blackout, as happened at the close of the original seventieth week when Jesus hung on the tree. The appearance of the Son of Man is the final sign of His second coming. The dispersed of Israel will return as Isaiah predicted in 11:11-12: “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.” Thus does Jesus answer the second question: “What shall be the sign of thy coming?”

   This leaves the third question as to the signs preceding the Tribulation, which Jesus answers in Matt. 24:32-51: “Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. 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. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; 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, And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” This passage has great relevance for the Christian because it tells of the situation before the upward call of the past believers and those living who are first fruits and ready to be harvested. It tells of the end of the age of the Ecclesia, that time given during the Jewish Diaspora for the Body of Christ to be birthed, to grow, and to mature into the one New Man of Ephesians 2:15. Jesus said in Luke 21:28 that “when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” What things is He referring to if not to those things that occur at the end of the age of the Ecclesia prior to the Tribulation?

    His answer begins with the fig tree and its tender branch leafing out in the spring before the summer heat. The Tribulation is doubtless the summer heat, and the fig tree is the nation of Israel (Hosea 9:10, Joel 1:6-7, Ezekiel 36:8), which put forth its tender branch in 1948 at its statehood. That was “springtime” for the fig tree, and the summer of heat (Tribulation) is not far off. In fact, it is so near that Jesus said that the generation of Israel’s statehood – the Baby Boom generation – would not pass away until all these things would be fulfilled. What things? Those things preceding the Tribulation.

   The days prior to the Tribulation will be like the days of Noah before the flood. People indulged in eating and drinking, in marrying and in giving in marriage. It is curious that the Lord used the most human of activities to delineate the days of Noah. Everyone has to eat, but we get the impression that Jesus was implying pleasure in the activity. People love to eat and to experience the subtle nuances of the eating experience. Drinking, especially alcoholic beverages, offers a panoply of disparate distinctions that seasoned palates enjoy, indulge in, and even obsess about. With marriage, there is not a more optimistic practice among humankind. Marriage looks to a future full of hope and family and happiness and joy, and the beginning celebration has no regard to any looming problems. And no celebration is more sated with food and drink than is marriage. It is the highlight of every young adult’s life, and it speaks of the endless carefree days ahead. These are what Jesus highlighted regarding the days of Noah, things that numb people to the dangers surrounding them. So shall it be when the age winds down to its termination.

   The similarities between the days of Noah and the upward call of the Ecclesia are remarkable. Most people live life as if it will never change or end, but in Noah’s time, when people blithely enjoyed the pinnacle of human life – marriage, the flood came suddenly and shockingly and without immediate warning. When the trumpet sounds to summon Christians to “come up hither,” some (probably the vast majority) will discover too late their dysfunction and dereliction. The door to the heavenly court will close to all but the prepared, leaving behind the rest to pass through the first six seals with their flood of judgments. What else can the Lord mean when He tells us of the two in the field and the two grinding at the mill, one of each who are taken, leaving behind the other?

   The summoning trumpet is called the “last” trumpet. In 1 Cor. 15:52 Paul writes: “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.” We should not mistake this for the seventh trumpet in Revelation 11, which sounds at the midpoint of the Tribulation and carries in its sounds seven vials of wrath waiting to be poured out on the decadent world during the last 3.5 years known as the Great Tribulation. This last trumpet in Paul is for the Ecclesia, summoning Christians to the upward call of Revelation 4:1. It is conceivable that this trumpet will be the same trumpet that begins the fulfillment of the Feast of Trumpets that signals the beginning of Israel’s seventieth seven, but again it has nothing to do with the seven trumpets of judgment that follow the opening of the seven seals.

   Jesus comes as a thief to steal away the valuable gemstones when He is least expected. To most Christians, shamefully, this word falls on deaf ears. We have been conditioned to think that the so-called rapture of the believers includes every genuine believer regardless of condition, but this is a false and pernicious teaching that anesthetizes Christians to the need for consecration, for devotion to Christ, and to service to His Body. Satan would have us believe that loving the world and the things in the world is merely the prelude for future self-indulgence in heaven. It is a destructive, debilitating doctrine that strips bare the hearts of Christians of passion for the Lord and for His people – the two greatest commandments Jesus gave us and expects us to fulfill. Failure will have its consequences. Two are in the field, and two are grinding at the mill. Is there any hint that they are not four believers? None whatsoever! And yet two are taken and two remain. The two taken are carrying on their daily routine as they should be. They are not in their closets praying, or outwardly being different than their companions. The stark difference is the inward condition of their hearts. Two hearts are divided between Christ and other loves. Two hearts are occupied with Christ and are eager to hear His call and see His face. Two are taken; two are not.

   The enemy of our souls would have us believe that two are Christians of any condition, and two are unbelievers. This is rank deception. Jesus is warning His people. If all believers regardless of spiritual condition are taken, then why would Jesus give a warning to watch? He wouldn’t. This is clear from Luke 21:34-36: “ And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.” He is calling us to watch and pray always in order to be accounted worthy to stand before Him (Rev. 4:1, Phil. 3:13-14). He told the Philadelphians that “because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.” The hour of temptation is the Tribulation, which we will avoid IF we keep the word of His patience. We can never blame the Lord’s sovereignty if we fail to answer the upward call. It is our choice what we do with our lives.

   This section dealing with heavenly and earthly signs would not be complete without mention of the blood moon tetrads associated with Israel’s recent history. A tetrad in our context deals with the nation of Israel and its feast days. Briefly, in two consecutive years on the first day (full moon) of the first annual feast – Passover – and on the first day (full moon) of the last of seven annual feasts – Tabernacles – there is a lunar eclipse in which the Earth casts its shadow over the surface of the moon, giving it a blood red appearance. Although these tetrads have appeared during the Diaspora, the important ones – those that are signs of end time events – have occurred since Israel gained statehood in 1948 in fulfillment of Ezekiel’s prophecy in 36:24: “For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.” The tetrad appeared in 1949-50, at the same time Israel was fighting and existential war to gain her independence, and at the very first Passover in the land in almost two millennia, a true testimony of the Lord’s renewed work with His earthly people. It is fitting because the Passover celebrates the exodus from enslavement in Egypt, whereas the 1949 Passover celebrated the return of the Jews from the persecuting nations of the Diaspora. This is certainly a monumental event worthy of a dramatic heavenly sign.

Another tetrad appeared in 1967-68, encompassing another war when Israel’s enemies tried again to exterminate her. Now we have the tetrad of 2014-15, and it can only be surmised that another war is imminent, perhaps and probably, the Gog war of Ezekiel 38 and 39, when a Russian-led coalition of enemies invades Israel. The 1948-49 war secured the land of Israel; the 1967 war captured the city of Jerusalem; so it could be that the next war associated with the blood moon tetrad will make possible the building of the Temple. The twentieth century wars and associated tetrads left Israel with more land and leverage. There is reason to believe that the current tetrad will result in the same thing.