Dress Rehearsal for the Rapture

Craig Bong

THE DRESS REHEARSAL FOR THE RAPTURE…
The Hebrew word for “feast” is a reference to a divine appointment. In the ancient language, its implication is similar to that of DRESS REHEARSAL. God instructed the Jewish people in Leviticus 23 to keep and rehearse SEVEN FEASTS—FOUR IN THE SUMMER and THREE IN THE WINTER—and these were considered PROPHETIC DRESS REHEARSALS FOR FUTURE EVENTS, which became clear in the life of Jesus.
HERE IS A LIST OF HIS SEVEN FEASTS.
FEAST OF PASSOVER: Jesus was crucified on this day the same hour a lamb was sacrificed in the Temple.
FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD: Jesus was buried fulfilling this feast.
FEAST OF FIRSTFRUITS: Jesus was resurrected in the beginning of this day. First fruits of harvests typically begin in late April through June.
FEAST OF PENTECOST: The Holy Spirit descended upon the people of God on this day. This day connects to the wheat harvest completing in late summer.
Within the seventh month, the Day of Trumpets (Day 1-2) to the Day of Atonement (Day 10) are collectively called 'the days of Awe'. And the 7 full days in between the two appointed times and following the last trump (Days 3-9) to the beginning of the Day of Atonement (Day 10) are referred to the Time of Jacob's Trouble.
THE FEAST OF TRUMPETS: With the produce of the land all harvested, it is time to celebrate! During this day, according to tradition, the priest would blow the shofar—a ram’s horn that is often translated “trumpet” in the Bible—100 times as a call to repentance. Over nine different sessions, the priest will blow the trumpet 11 times. That’s 99 soundings of the shofar, which leaves a final and LAST TRUMP blast for the end. The last trumpet, the 100th blast, is the LOUDEST AND LONGEST—the FINAL TRUMPET of the Feast of Trumpets. Here is one way Paul described the Rapture to be on this day: “Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall ALL BE CHANGED— in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at THE LAST TRUMPET. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” (I Corinthians 15:51-52) YOM TERUAH means “a day of blowing” or “the day of the awakening blasts.” When the trumpet sounds during the Rapture, it is not just a noise to get our attention. It is an AWAKENING BLAST for those who are in their graves: “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the TRUMPET OF GOD. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be CAUGHT UP (raptured) together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus, we shall ALWAYS BE WITH THE LORD.” (I Thessalonians 4:16-17) YOM HA–DIN (another name for the feast of trumpets) is a reference to the day of judgment. The Jewish prayers during this feast emphasize it as a time during which the world is judged or put on trial. In Hebrew, Din means judgment. Within the culture, the Jews believe this day represents a period during which God weighs our rights and wrongs from the previous year. Of course, let’s understand why this ties in so closely to the Rapture and the events of the end times. “…behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, TO GIVE TO EVERYONE ACCORDING TO HIS WORK. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning, and the End, the First and the Last.” (Revelation 22:12-13) The Rapture will be a day when Jesus judges the church. THE DAY WHICH NO ONE KNOWS, Another phrase the Jews use to describe their blowing of trumpets is “THE DAY WHICH NO ONE KNOWS.” That’s one reason this “holy day” actually SPANS TWO DAYS on the calendar. It has everything to do with the new moon and when that new moon is spotted, then the last trump would be blown. The ancient Jewish calendar was a lunar calendar, based on the cycles of the moon. All the other Jewish holidays were timed to occur on the full moon, but Rosh Hashanah fell during the NEW MOON. It was at the first of the month at the beginning of a new agricultural year (winter). Leviticus 23:39 reveals the season the WINTER feasts, especially pertaining to Tabernacles, were to begin and that season was to be AFTER all the produce of the land was harvested. Harvests in Israel ends in December with pomegranates and artichokes.
THE FEAST OF THE DAY OF ATONEMENT: The Day of Atonement was a yearly feast instituted by God to completely cover (pay the penalty) for all the sins of the people of Israel. It provides prophetic insight into the Second Coming of the Messiah, the restoration of national Israel, and the final judgment of the world after 6000 years are fulfilled.
THE FEAST OF BOOTHS: Also known as Sukkot or the Feast of Tabernacles. The Hebrew word sukkah means a temporary dwelling and these booths were set up INSIDE their homes due to the cold of that time of year as per the eyewitness of Flavius Josephus…and this is the time when Jesus sets up His reign for 1000 years. The day of dedication of the new 4th Temple comes soon after the new millennial kingdom is set up on the 1,335th day (the winter festival of Hanukkah) since the abomination that caused desolation.
The four summer feasts have found prophetic fulfillment in the past, and the three winter feasts will be fulfilled in the future.
"While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease."
Psalm 74:17
You set all the boundaries of the earth; You made the summer and winter.
Jeremiah 33:25
This is what the LORD says: If I have not established My covenant with the day and the night and the fixed order of heaven and earth,