Following on from my last Post, I figured out today that it is exactly 49 days or 7 weeks from today (Saturday March 23 2019) to Saturday May 11 2019, which is the 70th anniversary of the recognition of the state of Israel on May 11 1949. That's a lot of 7's!
- Today is a sabbath which is the 7th day of the week.
- A week in itself is 7 days.
- 7 weeks are therefore 7 sevens.
- The 70th anniversary is 7 decades.
- 1949 was the 49th year of the 20th century.
- 49 days from today is 7 sabbaths away.
- Seven is the number of perfection.
So why May 11, and why 2019?
You can read the full text of my previous Post on this topic here:
https://steemit.com/life/@auskiwi/why-jesus-christ-may-return-in-2019
But just to provide a short summary, the May 11 date comes from the date that Israel was accepted by the UN as its 59th member state, on May 11, 1949. This was United Nations General Assembly Resolution 273.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_General_Assembly_Resolution_273
Now, this is not the only signpost that points to May 2019, but it is the most specific date.
I myself am not 100% predicting that the rapture will happen on this date, because in my mind May 11 is a deadline, so the rapture could well happen before May 11.
A lot of people reading this Post will wonder how I come to this conclusion. I recommend you read the following Posts I have written, and also click through to the links within those Posts, which link to external sites:
https://steemit.com/life/@auskiwi/why-jesus-christ-may-be-returning-in-2017-part-1
https://steemit.com/life/@auskiwi/why-jesus-christ-may-be-returning-in-2017-part-2
But again, just to summarise, there are 3 prophetic theories which work together to triangulate to a particular week within the month of May in 2019 (basically it's the 2nd week of the month give or take a few days). There is also a fourth theory that works separately to confirm a similar timeframe, but not so precisely.
(1). The Millenial Day Age Theory - this is the theory that gives us the year, working in combination with the 2nd theory.
In short, the theory is that the church age in which we now live is a 2000 year age, or 2 millennial "days". Basically, the 2000th anniversary of Jesus' own rapture, also known as the ascension, could occur in May 2019. Ascension Day is celebrated by Christians around this time every year.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennial_Day_Theory
(2). The revised calendar found at BiblicalChronology.com postulates that our current calendar which says we are in the year 2019, is about 15 years out of sync, because Jesus Christ was not born in the year 1 AD, rather He was born in the year 15 BC. You can find specific links from this site below:
http://biblicalchronology.com/tiberius.htm
http://www.biblicalchronology.com/census.htm
(3). The Fig Tree Generation Theory from Matthew 24 and Luke 21 (the Olivet Discourse)
Lk 21:29 – 32: And he spoke to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees. When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.
http://www.christiantruthcenter.com/the-fig-tree-generation-the-generation-that-will-not-pass/
The above website comes to other conclusions about the rapture date, but explains the theory fairly well.
My reasoning is that the state of Israel had to fight a war of independence after May 14 1948, and had to win that war before Israel could be accepted by the UN as a member. Don't forget, that the Jewish people had been talking about establishing their nation state since the Basel conference of 1897, but simply stating an intention is not enough. Even the declaration of May 14, 1948, as the British ended their mandate in Palestine, was not a fulfillment of that intention.
An election had still not been held on May 14 1948, and other parties living in the land contested the establishment of the state. In the end though, by consensus of the UN, the state of Israel had become a fait accompli by May 11, 1949. So if we add 70 years to that date, using the definition of a generation given in Psalm 90:10, we come up with May 11, 2019.
Psalms 90:10: The days of our lives are seventy years; and if by reason of strength they be eighty years, yet is their labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
So why the rapture? The verse from Psalm 90 hints at this, for one thing: "for it is soon cut off, and we fly away."
In addition, according to the pre-tribulation rapture theory, there are no precursors to the rapture, once the tribulation is at hand. In other words, if it's time, it's time. The church has to be snatched away, because the church is not appointed to wrath. See below in item 4, why according to Revelation 12, the tribulation is very close.
(4). A fourth indicator or signpost is the Revelation 12 sign, which I went into in a previous Post.
In short, the sign predicted in Revelation 12:1-2 appeared in the sky on September 23, 2017.
This sign is not so precise in predicting a May rapture, but to my way of thinking, the Revelation 12 sign of the birth of a male child and an imminent threat on that child's life, refers back to the birth of Christ and the subsequent attempt by Herod 2 years later to take the life of the Christ child.
Because we don't know exactly when Joseph was warned to escape with the mother and child to Egypt, it is quite plausible that it was indeed a few months before September, and possibly in May, that the escape ("snatching away") occurred. So if the Revelation 12 prophecy has dual meaning, as I believe it does, then we should see a parallel fulfillment in 2019 as we are now coming up to 2 years out from the September 23 2017 sign.
Revelation 12:10 goes on to describe Satan being hurled down to earth following the rapture in v5, and that is a sure sign that tribulation (trouble with a capital T) has come to the earth. Please note though, that this is not trouble for the Christians, who are already gone from the earth, but trouble for those who have rejected Christ. In fact, as v10 states, the kingdom of Christ is beginning as trouble descends to the earth in the form of Satan, who has just lost a war in heaven and really has nowhere else to go as he has been ejected from heaven.
Revelation 12:10 New International Version (NIV)
10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
“Now have come the salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God,
and the authority of his Messiah.
For the accuser of our brothers and sisters,
who accuses them before our God day and night,
has been hurled down.
If anyone wants to comment on what I have written above, please do. I am not afraid of debate, or even of scoffers, because I am not trying to make a hard and fast prediction or prophecy here, just putting a theory out there, and ultimately finding out if the theory holds water, over the next 7 weeks. I actually am publishing this Post on Sunday March 24 local time in QLD Australia, but I started writing the article yesterday, and I am aware that it is still Saturday in other timezones, so let's just wait this thing out over the next seven sabbaths, and if the theory is right, well and good. If not, we can discuss that later...