2. WHY NOT ROSH HASHANAH?

I am sure we all wilted when Rosh Hashanah came and went with no resurrection, no call of the Bridegroom – nothing. What? It all seemed to fit so well. So, back to the drawing board we go. We are now in the Days of Awe portion of time between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. These are days of deep reflection, leading up to the most somber day of fasting and repentance, during which we reflect upon our sins. The Sabbath day that falls during these two feasts is called The Sabbath of Return or “Shabbat Shuvah”, which means the Sabbath of repentance, or returning to the Lord from our lives of sin.

I have felt for some time that there lurks in the first (church-related) portion of the book of Revelation, the answer to WHEN the rapture would be, for John himself was called to “come up hither”. John is a “type” of the bride of Christ (he laid his head upon the breast of our Lord at the last supper, typical of what a bride did at a betrothal dinner), and he was called “the beloved deciple”. Therefore, we look at John to find out what becomes of the beloved betrothed bride.

First, John hears a voice like a trumpet, (this is the “first trump) introducing the words of our Lord, and he turns to see the Lord “in the midst of the seven candlesticks” Revelation 1:12-13. He is instructed to write to the churches what He speaks. His feet were like unto “fine brass”, which bespeaks of judgment, and a sharp two-edged sword coming out of His mouth. This two-edged sword we have encountered before, in the words of Paul:

Hebrews 4:12 - For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

So, with this two-edged sword, He is about to both compliment, and rebuke, the seven churches, for He identifies the seven candlesticks as “the seven churches”. He dictates these words of discernment while John is still on earth, which claim I still stick to, else, how could John later be told to “come up hither”, if he was already

“up thither”, and in fact the bride / church is on earth during this time of dressing-down by the Lord, and during this time of repentance.

Now, I think that this scenario pictures exactly what happens prior to Yom Kippur. The reason that the Lord does not come on Rosh Hashanah, is that IT IS STILL IN THE 40-DAY REPENTANCE PERIOD, leading up to YOM KIPPUR, THE LAST DAY OF THE REPENTANCE PERIOD. For:

2 Peter 3:9 - The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance