Daniel 9:3-4. "I turned to Adonai, God, to seek an answer, pleading with him in prayer, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to ADONAI my God and made this confession: "Please, Adonai, great and fearsome God, who keeps his covenant and extends grace to those who love him and observe his mitzvot (commands)!"
2 Chronicles 7:13-15. "If I shut up the sky, so that there is no rain; or if I order locusts to devour the land; or if I send an epidemic of sickness among my people; then, if my people, who bear my name, will humble themselves, pray, seek my face and turn from their evil ways, I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin and heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears will pay attention to the prayer made in this place."
For me, it started with Barry Smith, the New Zealand evangelist. He started appearing in the late 1980s or early 1990s telling us, here in the UK, what was coming and how the New World Order would be established eventually leading to the time of the Lawless One. He quickened me to start studying or paying attention to what was going on. I didn't read the Bible consistently for many years after this or pray regularly but I went to conferences (some better than others, some not on the subject), I pricked up my ears whenever something on this subject came to my attention. I also read books from time to time. A good friend who I "picked up" would let me come round on Sunday afternoons from time to time and we would sharpen each other with scriptures and videos. Eventually, I would pick up a few scriptures which would become important to me. These three above are some of the most important.
With this in mind, I have pieced together what I see as an important set of events coming on the world soon. They might be right, they might be wrong, they may be in the right order or wrong order. The purpose, from my perspective, is to think out loud and start a dialogue or just to give you understanding of how things might happen. Enjoy!
Revelation 4:1-2. (The Throne in Heaven.) "After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it." John is caught up to Heaven or sees Heaven or comes up here (as requested) through an "open door?" Is this the same as the rapture for us soon? I have heard other interpretations. Some say, the rapture occurs after the events of chapter 6. (Verses12-13 say:) "I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind." There are a serious of seals opened by the Lamb. The sixth (mentioned above) includes an earthquake, a solar eclipse and a blood red moon (or lunar eclipse). We are already into a blood moon tetrad (as I write on 21 September 2014) on the LORD's feasts started on 15 April 2014 and ending on 28 September 2015. There are also 2 solar eclipses (one partial, one full) during this time. Does the rapture coincide with one of these events? Again, I have heard it said, the rapture might be on 1st Tishri (the Jewish New Year) the day14 September 2015.
Again, either viewpoint could be correct! Maybe we are looking at the same event from a different angle. In Genesis 1:14-15 we read: God said,"Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to divide the day from the night; let them be for signs, seasons, days and years; and let them be for lights in the dome of the sky to give light to the earth"; and that is how it was." From this we can see that the primary purposes of the sun and moon weren't to provide warmth and light (that comes in verse 15) but for/as signs, seasons, days and years. Further to this, if we look at Strong's Bible it can also be interpreted as set, solemn feast. So instead of seasons (spring, summer, autumn/fall & winter) maybe we could read Passover & Succot - the first and last Feasts of the LORD.
Take note to these events. In Revelation 18:4 it reads: " Then I heard another voice out of heaven say: "My people, come out of her! so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not be infected by her plagues." In this one verse, perhaps, lies a clue to God's endtime purpose for the Jews, Israeli's, Messianic believers and gentile believers. Christianity can rumble on like machinery. Do we hear His voice daily? Is He a part of our everyday life? There are different ways to look at this. There are the regular things of the Christian life. Praying, witnessing, observances and Bible reading. Is there anything in any particular day which makes it different from the previous, though? We need to be aware of those things which go on in the world which subtly manoeuvre us into position and control us.
So how do we come out of her as the scripture says? I have observed a clue in the book of Ruth. "Don't press me to leave you and stop following you; for wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God will be my God. Where you die, I will die; and there I will be buried. May ADONAI bring terrible curses on me, and worse ones as well, if anything but death separates you and me." When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her." Moab is the world. Naomi is Israel. They are coming back from the Diaspora at the end of the age. Ruth is the believing church which supports Israel. Boaz is a type of Christ. In order to gain Ruth as his wife (bride) he has to first redeem Naomi. The other man who could have redeemed couldn't do it. He didn't have the character but Jesus will! My people, come out of her! so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not be infected by her plagues. Your people will be my people and your God will be my God. Where you die, I will die; and there I will be buried. May ADONAI bring terrible curses on me, and worse ones as well, if anything but death separates you and me. Similar phrases in both passages are underlined.
Consider His ways.