What Did Darby See?
As you may know, people who revile the doctrine of the pre-tribulation Rapture frequently resort to pinning what they view as a heretical doctrine on John Nelson Darby (1800–1882), an Anglo-Irish minister that they claim swiped the idea from the celebrated vision of a 15-year-old Scottish girl named Margaret MacDonald in 1830.
As I have discussed in
several articles over the years, however, this is simply not the case. Not
true, never happened. End of story. And this can be readily established by
historical writings of the period.
Not to mention the
inconvenient fact that several statements Margaret MacDonald made in her vision
blatantly contradict a pre-trib scenario.
Oops. But one thing I had
never done (although I had long been tempted to) was to closely examine exactly
what Darby was thinking in late 1827, while he was convalescing from a riding
accident in which a startled horse crushed his leg against a doorpost—a
convalescence that extended from about October 1827 to January 1828 according
to reliable sources. Be aware, however, that a surprising number of people
place it one year earlier, from October 1826 to January 1827—as did I until I
did some research for this article.*
*Note: The later October 1827
to January 1828 date is based on a number of very reliable, independent
sources, while the earlier, oft-quoted date of October 1826 to January 1827
is based on one misdated letter that was in possession of the Plymouth
Brethren, the group Darby co-founded in 1825. According to some, the Plymouth
Brethren ended up pushing the highly questionable earlier date in order to
maximize the length of time between Darby's revelations and other Rapture-related
revelations that came out in the next few years. Anyway...trust me on this one:
Go with the later '27–'28 date.
But either way, the injury
was a very serious one and it left Darby with a noticeable limp for the rest of
his life.
Darby later wrote that in
1827 the Holy Spirit revealed several key scriptural truths to him that led him
very naturally to the point where he could see that the Rapture of the Church
must logically precede the Tribulation.
In other words, according
to his writings:
While he could do
nothing but lie in bed and study the Word, God revealed to him several key
truths from Scripture that, taken together, pointed him in the direction of a
pre-trib view of the Rapture.
Now, understand that John
Nelson Darby was, if nothing else, an eminently meticulous theologian. He
didn't slap everything together overnight into one slick, pre-trib package. He
didn't run down the street in 1827 excitedly telling everyone that he was 100
percent certain that the Rapture had to come before the
Tribulation! (Well, he was bedridden, but you know what I mean.)
Not even close. Darby
continued to pore over it and study the Word, and over the next several years
he fleshed it out and crafted it into a scripturally sound, more fully
developed doctrinal teaching that lays key end-time events out in a specific,
scripturally logical order. In his later writings, however, Darby pinpoints the
period during which he was convalescing in 1827 as when God revealed to him
several scriptural truths that led him to the doorstep of the pre-trib view of
the Rapture, and which caused him to begin to give shape to that particular
end-time doctrine.
But that leads to the
question that had intrigued me for years, but I had never gotten around to
doing the detective work...until I decided to sit down and work on this
article, that is:
What exactly did
God show Darby in 1827 that caused him to begin to see the truth of the
pre-tribulation Rapture, and that got him started developing it into a more
mature doctrine?
In other words, back in
1827...
What did Darby see?
And I can tell you one
thing right now:
Most of the answer
merely confirmed
what I already believe, either from my
own study or the teaching of others.
But part of it was quite
a surprise.
But before we get into the insights the Holy
Spirit revealed to Darby in 1827, let's dispense with one rankling issue once
and for all.
Adiós,
Maggie!
I want to take a moment to
go ahead and get this nonsense out of the way before we get to the meat of the
article, and it's something I sincerely wish every post-tribber out there would
read. Most of them would probably have a contrived reason for insisting I'm
totally wrong, but I honestly don't care.
In the spring of 1830,
15-year-old Margaret MacDonald had been suffering from what is believed to be
tuberculosis for the previous two years and was bedridden with it (and I have
read that she was so adversely affected by her condition at that time that she
would sometimes become delusional). And this is when she had her so-called
vision. It got passed around to a number of ministers, and it was ultimately published in 1840 (the same year
she passed away at the age of 25). And ever since then, post-tribbers have
descended upon it and done their best to pass it off as portraying a pre-trib
Rapture.
According to their story,
as soon as her vision started making the rounds, John Nelson Darby got wind of
it and began palming it off on a naive, unsuspecting Church as the
"secret" pre-trib Rapture that would enable wimpish believers to
escape the slightest wisp of persecution during the future Tribulation.
To the suprise of no one,
there were also "slightly edited" versions of her vision being passed
around with a few inconvenient passages altered (if not deleted)...passages
that stated a few problematic items such as the following:
• Her original transcript explicitly states
that the Church will go through a "fiery trial," and in the given
context this is almost certainly a reference to the Tribulation and its
associated judgments.
• Her original transcript states that the
Church will be "purged by the Antichrist." No, for two reasons: (a)
The Church's "purging" occurred at the cross, and (b) Satan's man
doesn't purge anyone until during the Tribulation. Before that,
he's just a charismatic peace-maker rising in world prominence.
•
Her original transcript only describes one single coming of Christ for purification and judgment during
(after??) the Tribulation—not a two-part event in which He comes to take
the Church out of the world prior to that judgment, and afterwards returns with
the glorified Church to establish the kingdom (as espoused by the pre-trib
doctrine). Thus, her vision would seem to describe a post-trib (or
possibly pre-wrath) Rapture, but it is so unclear and ambiguous that it's
difficult to say. In fact, there's only one thing about it that is
clear:
It does not describe a pre-trib Rapture.
The bottom line is this:
The original version of
Margaret's
vision emphasizes preparation and
suffering through judgment, rather
than preemptive removal from it.
And "preemptive
removal from judgment" is an apt description of the blessed hope Scripture
clearly promises the Church.
Not only that, but as we
will discuss in greater depth in the remainder of this article, Darby
documented in his later writings that he began to see the basic scriptural
logic of the Rapture preceding the Tribulation in late 1827. Margaret MacDonald
had her vision about two and a half years later in early 1830. So the timing
renders the claims of post-tribbers at best implausible, and at worst a
flat-out lie designed to poison and undermine the teaching of the hated
pre-tribulation Rapture.
For the record, it appears
John Nelson Darby actually met Margaret MacDonald in 1830. He reportedly
visited her while he was in Port Glasgow investigating the outbreak of wild
charismatic phenomena within the denomination Margaret was associated with. He
concluded (as did a number of other prominent ministers in the region) that
this outbreak of charismatic activity was at best excessive and unscriptural,
and at worst demonically inspired.
And Darby reached
essentially the same conclusion in regard to Margaret MacDonald's vision, and
so felt obligated to denounce the whole mess.
But the point is that what
transpired between Darby and MacDonald was not her filling his
head with glowing images of a pre-trib Rapture, something that was
tantalizingly new to him.
The bottom line is that in
regard to the development of the doctrine of the pre-tribulation Rapture, I
have only one thing to say to our dear Margaret MacDonald and her celebrated
vision:
Adiós, Maggie!
And feel free to take that
"vision" of yours with you.
What
Darby saw...
It strikes me that it's
easy for modern believers to look back in retrospect at early developers of
various biblical doctrines and think things like...
"Duuh! Didn't they
see that A obviously has to happen before B?!"
Although it may be
"obvious" to us today, the simple answer is...
No, it wasn't so
obvious to them why A had to happen before B.
And the reason is
simple—we tend to forget one fundamental truth:
They may have just begun
to understand the realities of A and B...the precise temporal
relationship between A and B may have represented an additional layer of
complexity that took time to iron out.
Today, we have
thoroughly developed and scripturally researched doctrines served up to us on a
silver platter by capable Bible teachers. In other words, we are lucky enough
to enjoy the benefits of centuries of intense, in-depth study of God's Word by
legions of men who dedicated their lives to such study.
And John Nelson Darby just
happens to be one of them.
And we certainly run
into some of this "A before B" sort of thing when we talk about what
Darby began to see in 1827 in regard to the doctrine of the pre-tribulation
Rapture. In 1827, Darby was just beginning to see (that is, God was just
beginning to show him) some of the foundational principles that he would later
fit together more precisely and in a more scripturally supported manner with
the help of additional study of the Word.
So, it strikes me that
one good way to characterize all this is to say that as far as the doctrine of
the pre-tribulation Rapture is concerned...
In 1827, the Holy Spirit laid
out several bricks for Darby.
Darby spent the next several
years puttying in the cracks.
Some of these points may
sound obvious to us today—but they weren't quite so obvious 200 years ago. In
the early nineteenth century, the Church had not yet broken quite as loose from
the bondage of the stuffy confines of formal, institutionalized Christendom as
it has in the twenty-first.
Be that as it may,
however, here are several of the fundamental points God showed Darby in 1827
while he was convalescing from his riding accident, and they are insights that
led him to the doorstep of the doctrine of the pre-tribulation Rapture. Many
sources lay these out and explain them in slightly different terms, but the
following points constitute the gist of what God showed John Nelson Darby in
1827, according to Darby's later writings:
1. The absolute authority of Scripture.
2. Believers are in Christ, and united to Christ in heaven.
3. As a result, the Church has a heavenly calling.
4. Christ is coming to receive His Church to Himself.
5. Israel has an earthly prophetic destiny coming in the future.
6. The Church's heavenly destiny must be distinguished from Israel's future earthly destiny.
So let's consider these points that God showed John Nelson Darby in 1827 that led him to begin to see that the Rapture must precede the Tribulation.
1. The absolute authority of Scripture.
According to Darby,
during his several months of recovery from his accident, one of the first
things that the Holy Spirit impressed upon him was seemingly simple and
straightforward, but profound to the highest degree:
The absolute authority
of Scripture.
Of course, like almost
any competent minister, Darby had always recognized the Bible as the Word of
God. But just like today, in most cases ministers back then had doctrinal
positions and interpretations imposed on them by the particular denomination
they were formally involved with, rather than their own studied interpretations
of what they thought God's Word said and meant.
For example, if someone
is an Assemblies of God minister today, they are obligated to teach that the
miraculous sign gift of speaking in tongues that was in full operation 2,000
years ago is still in operation today. That's how that
denomination reads and interprets Scripture (and I only know this because that's
the church my family attended when I was a kid).
So the first thing God
wanted to do was set Darby free from all that so it would be easier to
"show him a few things" without having those things forced to pass
through some man-made denominational filter. Darby later wrote:
An accident happened
which laid me aside for a time; my horse was frightened and had thrown me
against a door-post. During my solitude conflicting thoughts increased; but
much exercise of soul had the effect of causing the scriptures to gain
complete ascendancy over me [...and over whatever theological system he
had been trained under]. I had always owned them to be the word of God. [Inspiration
wasn't the issue...it was ascendancy.]
(emphasis & [comments] added)
— The Writings of J.N. Darby: Letters, vol. 3, #226 [ Source]
This "ascendancy of Scripture" attitude made it easier for Darby to simply study the Word and see things in it that he had previously failed to see.
And he had certainly never seen the pre-trib Rapture in the Word before.
2. Believers are in Christ, and united to Christ in heaven.
One fundamental thing the Holy Spirit impressed upon Darby in 1827 was the simple fact that every born-again believer is in Christ. So we are, in a very real sense, united with Christ in heaven. Darby wrote:
When I came to understand that I was united to Christ in heaven, and that, consequently, my place before God was represented by His own, [in other words, the place Christ occupies is where we will be soon and very soon] I was forced to the conclusion that it was no longer a question with God of this wretched "I" which had wearied me during six or seven years, in presence of the requirements of the law. It then became clear to me that the church of God, as He considers it, was composed only of those who were so united to Christ, whereas Christendom, as seen externally, was really the world, [that is, the organizational, establishment "church" (the RCC, et al.) was in reality just part of a lost world] and could not be considered as "the church"...
(emphasis & [comments] added)
— The Writings of J.N. Darby: Letters, vol. 3, #226 [Source]
The Holy Spirit impressed upon Darby that true believers are in Christ, and that this did not include much of what Darby referred to as "Christendom."
Or what I like to call "Churchianity."
Of course, the fact that believers are "in Christ" wasn't a radically new idea in Darby's day any more than it is today. We see this in a number of places in the New Testament. For example:
11Thus consider yourselves also to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(Romans 6:11 / emphasis added)
Darby also described it thusly:
I was in Christ,
accepted in the Beloved, and sitting in heavenly places in Him...This led me directly to the apprehension of what the true
church of God was, those that were united to Christ in heaven.
— The Writings of J.N. Darby: Letters, vol. 1, #308 [Source]
The point is that the Holy Spirit gobsmacked Darby with it because this was arguably the first step along a doctrinal journey He was leading him on. He made Darby see that the place Christ occupies is where believers are spiritually now, will be physically in the future, and it is where we will always be. Christ is currently in heaven, and that's where we're going to be soon and very soon.
3. As a result, the Church has a heavenly calling.
So the Church has a heavenly position because it is united with a heavenly Christ. And this leads us very naturally to another point the Holy Spirit brought to Darby's attention.
The Church has a heavenly calling.
Since believers are united with a heavenly Christ, we are in effect His body, and as a result we have a heavenly calling or destiny.
The Holy Spirit brought passages such as these to Darby's attention:
3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 4According as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
(Ephesians 1:3–4 AKJV / emphasis added)
2Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 3For you are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall you also appear with him in glory.
(Colossians 3:2–4 AKJV / emphasis added)
And the Holy Spirit used such passages to lead Darby to reason that the Church's proper position is heavenly, and as a result the Church's calling or destiny is centered on heaven, not earth. As a result, Darby began to see that, as a rule, Bible prophecy focuses primarily on the earthly future of Israel, not the heavenly future of the Church. As Darby puts it:
At the same time, I saw that the Christian, having his place in Christ in heaven, has nothing to wait for save the coming of the Saviour, in order to be set, in fact, in the glory which is already his portion in Christ.
(emphasis added)
— The Writings of J.N. Darby: Letters, vol. 3, #226 [Source]
I love that:
The only thing we're waiting for is Jesus!
Which leads us to:
4. Christ is coming to receive His Church to Himself.
So the Holy Spirit began to impress upon Darby that Christ was coming to take His Church to be with Him, and that was the only thing the Church had to look forward to. For example:
1Let not your heart be troubled: you believe in God, believe also in me. 2In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
(John 14:1–3 AKJV / emphasis added)
Darby mentions the fact that Christ was coming to take the Church to be with Him in heaven in different places in several letters:
I saw in that word the
coming of Christ to take the church to Himself in glory.
— The Writings of J.N. Darby: Letters, vol. 3, #226 [Source]
This is extremely important, because
here Darby wasn't just saying that Christ would return—he was saying that
Christ would return for the sole purpose of taking the Church to be with Him
in heaven.
Along the same lines, Darby also wrote:
The coming of the Lord
was the other truth which was brought to my mind from the word, as that which,
if sitting in heavenly places in Christ, was alone to be waited for, that I
might sit in heavenly places with Him.
— The Writings of J.N. Darby: Letters, vol. 1, #308 [Source]
This is part of the root idea behind the imminent, "any-moment" appearance of Christ in the clouds to remove both living and deceased Church Age believers from earth and take them to be with Him in heaven:
The Rapture.
5. Israel has an earthly prophetic destiny coming in the future.
Although Darby saw that the only thing the Church had to wait for was to be translated to heaven in the Rapture, God's people Israel had some very different things to look forward to here on earth. Another key part of what Darby saw in 1827 focused on Israel, and God's prophetic plans for His covenant people in the end times.
One important thing God showed Darby during his convalescence was what the prophet Isaiah describes in chapter 32, which is a future earthly "dispensation" that awaited Israel:
Isaiah xxxii. brought me
to the earthly consequences of the same truth...but I saw an evident change of
dispensation in that chapter, when the Spirit would be poured out on the
Jewish nation, [Isa. 32:15] and a king reign in righteousness. [Isa.
32:1]
(emphasis & [comments] added)
— The Writings of J.N. Darby: Letters, vol. 1, #308 [Source]
A bolt from the blue: This was a total surprise for me—when I first saw Darby's reference to Isaiah 32, seriously...I was like "Isaiah what?!"
In 1855, nearly three decades after God showed him these things during his convalescence, Darby described it this way:
In my retreat [i.e.
his recovery from his accident], the 32nd chapter of Isaiah taught me clearly, on God's behalf,
that there was still an economy to come, of His ordering; a state of things in
no way established as yet. The consciousness of my
union with Christ had given me the present heavenly portion of the glory,
whereas this chapter clearly sets forth the corresponding earthly part.
(emphasis
& [comments] added)
— The Writings of J.N. Darby: Letters, vol. 3, #226 [Source]
In the same letter, Darby confides that he
didn't immediately put all the pieces God was showing him in 1827 together at
that time:
I was not able to put these things in their respective places or
arrange them in order, as I can now; but the truths themselves were then revealed
of God, through the action of His Spirit by reading His word. [Note that Darby freely
admits he didn't have all the pieces the Holy Spirit had shown him put together
back in 1827...it took him several more years of study to work out the details
of the whole scenario.]
(emphasis
& [comments] added)
— The Writings of J.N. Darby: Letters, vol. 3, #226 [Source]
But God had given Darby the primary bricks he needed. And one of the most crucial bricks is the final point:
6. The Church's heavenly destiny must be distinguished from Israel's future earthly destiny.
Here is where the bricks finally began to fit together in a more logical manner. Darby saw that the Church has a heavenly destiny or calling, and that Israel has a future earthly destiny as described in Isaiah 32. In other words, Darby was seeing two distinct spheres of activity:
Heavenly: Christ and the Church.
Earthly: Israel and her promised kingdom.
Concerning his perception of these two spheres of activity, Darby wrote:
I am daily more struck with the connection of the great principles on which my mind was exercised by and with God, when I found...the church as His body; Christ coming to receive us to Himself; [the Rapture] and collaterally [see remarks below] with that, the setting up of a new earthly dispensation, from Isaiah 32 (more particularly the end); [Israel's promised kingdom] all this was when laid aside at E.P.'s in 1827. ["E.P." is Edward Pennefather, Darby's brother-in-law who lived about 30 miles from Dublin, at whose home Darby spent most of his convalescence.]
(emphasis
& [comments] added)
— The Writings of J.N. Darby: Letters, vol. 1, #206 [Source]
Note Darby's use of the word "collaterally" in the above quote. The suggestion is that he remembered these two truths together: (a) the Rapture, and (b) Israel's earthly prophetic destiny, which includes their kingdom ruled by Christ as described in Isaiah 32.
But since God had led Darby to see that the Church had a heavenly destiny and had nothing to wait for except the Rapture—and that Israel's prophetic destiny was earthly, Darby began to see that Israel's future destiny of judgment followed by the establishment of a kingdom ruled by Christ should logically follow the Rapture. In other words, you might say...
It seemed incongruous to Darby to have a heavenly Church still on earth while Israel was being groomed for its earthly kingdom.
As a result, Darby began considering the idea that these events must belong to different end-time phases or segments. Following these revelations he received from God during his convalescence in 1827, Darby was faced with the following series of bricks:
• The Church has a heavenly destiny, and Israel an earthly destiny.
• Christ comes to remove His heavenly Church.
• God's earthly destiny for Israel resumes.
• With the heavenly Church removed, Israel's earthly destiny plays out.
Although this presents us with the fundamental architecture of the pre-trib doctrine, suffice to say that Darby still had a few cracks to putty in.
So, again...an important caveat:
Not so fast: Again, we have to be careful and avoid saying that in late 1827, Darby saw the whole "pre-trib Rapture, seven-year Tribulation, Second Coming of Christ to launch the Millennial Kingdom" prophetic panorama all worked out in scriptural detail. By his own testimony, he did not, at least not yet. Many of the details and the systematic ordering of things took him several more years of study to iron out with confidence and scriptural certainty.
One useful way of looking at Darby's
thinking that resulted from what God showed him in 1827 is as follows:
Darby wasn't simply
asking "When does the Rapture happen according to some prophetic
timeline?" He began reasoning more along the following lines:
Q. What is the Church's calling?
A. Heavenly.
Q. What does the Tribulation deal with?
A. Israel's earthly destiny, which includes God's judgment followed by their promised kingdom ruled by Christ.
Q. Will the Church remain on earth to pass through that period?
A. No. Why should it? How are these compatible? The Church must be removed to heaven before God's earthly prophetic program for Israel resumes—a program that includes God's judgment on both Israel and the world prior to the establishment of Israel's promised kingdom. Of course, the Church will return with Christ to play a role in that kingdom, but that's a different issue.
People who hold views that place the Church in the Tribulation need to explain why the Church needs to be subjected to judgments expressly aimed at Israel and a fallen world that has persecuted God's people. Just a reminder:
The Church's judgment was
a done deal on a blood-stained
cross at Calvary 2,000 years ago.
We've come a long way, baby!
Before I close, I want to point out that due primarily to the fulfillment of prophecy that we have witnessed over the years, we have come a long way in our understanding of the end-time scenario since 1827, when God showed Darby these few precepts that led him to see the logic of a pre-trib Rapture.
Today, most people who have a clear, scripturally informed grasp of the end-time scenario take the fact that the Rapture comes before the Tribulation as a virtual given. Why? Simple:
Because they know that no other view
makes as much scriptural horse sense.
I'm not trying to sound like some sort of biblical know-it-all (which I'm not—there is plenty I don't know), but if someone cannot at the very least see that the Rapture simply must occur before the launching of the Tribulation for a host of clear, compelling scriptural reasons, they are missing a step or three in what the Bible clearly teaches about the end-time scenario
And it saddens me to say it, but today's Church is filled with people who miss considerably more than a step or three in that regard.
These days, well-tuned watchmen are more likely to discuss somewhat more obscure, detailed points, such as the relative timing of the attack of Gog-Magog, the ethnic background of the man who will become the Antichrist, and so on and so forth. For such people, the fact that the Rapture occurs prior to the Tribulation is like "Well...yeah." In other words...
For scripturally informed watchmen today,
most of the points we've discussed in this
article constitute rock-bottom basic stuff.
But they are still of critical importance.
All I set out to do in this article was to give you some insight into what God showed John Nelson Darby back in 1827 that led him to see the truth of the pre-trib Rapture, that's all. But I'm pleased to report that dedicated, scripturally informed watchmen of modern times can look back and truthfully say:
We've come a long way, baby!
'27 or bust
People who adhere to an
intra-trib view of the Rapture (post-trib, pre-wrath, whatever) must explain
why the Church, which is united with a heavenly Christ, needs to suffer through
all or any of the judgments of the Tribulation—judgments that are
expressly aimed at His people Israel and a fallen world that has persecuted
them, and not the body of Christ. And every single argument from such
people I have ever heard falls as flat as a Crêpe Suzette and can be dismantled
with a minimal amount of scriptural legwork.
Over the years, I have
essentially retired from arguing with those who treat the doctrine of the
pre-tribulation Rapture as if it were little more than the lunatic ramblings of
a gaggle of tinfoil hatters who are too terrified of the idea of getting a
hangnail during Daniel's 70th Week to consider the "truth" of one of
their intra-trib views.
And if that steps on a
few toes
out there, that's a real shame.
A few years ago I might
have said "Hey, bring it," but I've learned the hard way that doing
so is a waste of time. So I am perfectly content to refrain from arguments
about the timing of the Rapture—it's too late in the game for that, and it just
distracts people from more important things.
Speaking of the Rapture,
I hope you haven't failed to notice that rantings against the doctrine of the
Rapture, particularly of the pre-trib variety, are rising and intensifying in
many parts of the Church these days, not to mention the world. Why? That's
easy: Satan's been a busy boy.
And when Satan's a busy
boy, it's usually worthwhile to take notice.
I almost hate to mention this, because in the last few years I have reached the point where I usually try to politely steer clear of anything that even has the odor of Rapture prognostication. It's not because I think there's anything necessarily wrong with it, mind you—it's just that I totally stink at it.
I mean, I'm no dummy, but when people start talking about the paths and positions of comets and constellations, I just go glassy-eyed.
But as I worked on this article, this whole idea of God revealing to John Nelson Darby a series of insights into the nature of the pre-trib Rapture turned the words "1827" into a little chant I kept hearing in the back of my mind:
1827...1827...1827...
And I couldn't help but think that in about three months it will be (drum roll, please...) 2027, the 200th anniversary of Darby's experience of the Holy Spirit giving him these insights into Christ's coming for His Church in the Rapture before the Tribulation and His end-time dealings with Israel during it. And that little chant began to morph into:
2027...2027...2027...
And I started wondering if God did anniversaries. And sure enough, the next thing I knew I was getting a whiff of that odor again...
Oh, all right...just this once. Here's a nifty little idea for you: Notice that the number 27 is 33 (i.e. 3 x 3 x 3). The number 3 represents divine completeness, especially in the sense that the Trinity is the completeness of God's person and presence. In the expression 33 it appears as if you have a small portion of God flying up into the clouds, which is more or less what happens at...you know, the Rapture. Sort of. Kinda nifty, huh?
Sigh... OK, back to the real world. So now you know why I tend to avoid Rapture prognostication.
Yeah, yeah, I know...what are the odds, right?
From Greg Lauer @ A Little Strength—OCT '26: "What Did Darby See?"
2027! 🥳
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ReplyDeleteGreg, thank you for this detailed study on the letters of John Nelson Darby and how he got his profound insights and doctrine which I suppose were new in 1827. Please don't take it for granted that many of us should know these things about Darby or Margaret MacDonald, because we don't know. Though I grew up in the Brethren Church, I knew very little about Darby. We have been familair with the general teaching on the pre-tribulation rapture but it is good to know the origin and how Darby came to these conclusions. Being bedridden for a time, like Darby experienced, has some spiritual advantages of God getting through to us when otherwise we are too busy to listen well. Thank you for all your hard work writing this article. I hope Gary would also publish a new article soon.
ReplyDeleteYour final insight in a possible connection between 1827 and 2027 is the first glimmer of hope I have seen that the rapture might finally be in 2027! Of course no one knows the year but we are hopeful. Besides 2026 isn't finished either. I want to remain watchful and looking up for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ (Titus 2:13).
ReplyDeleteAbel,
DeleteGreetings! I know it's been said before, but I thought I'd remind us of another 2026-2027 glimmer of hope.
I know you remember Daniel 12:11-12 . . .
"And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.
Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days."
Well, Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Jerusalem in late 598 BC. By at least March 16, 597 BC, the Temple was pillaged as the city fell and the people were carted off. Daniel would certainly have remembered that time intimately. Now call that the "daily sacrifice being taken away" and add 1,290 years . . . and you come to the completion of the Dome of the Rock.
The muslim Dome of the Rock continues to be an "abomination" on God's mountain to this very day. And it's still making the site "desolate" when it comes to Jewish worship. But that dam is beginning to break as we speak.
Add 1,335 years to the mosaic inscription inside the Dome that states 691-692 AD as the completion date, and . . . what do you know?! . . . "blessed is he that waiteth and cometh" to 2026-2027.
That's enough hope to go on for another few months, right?
Jeremy
Jeremy, If I’d ever heard that, I’d forgotten and how could that be! Maybe at the time it seemed too far out. VERY compelling. And Greg, I appreciate the backgrounding re Darby. I’ve been slapped with that dead fish.
DeleteOn another track, Ron Wyatt would still seem to have a role to play in these end-time revealings. (I’m very curious to see whether they ‘disprove’ it again or give a final witness for the sceptics among us.)
When I Iearned of Wyatt's precipitous death soon after his final adventure (the Ark of the Covenant) I imagined this exchange with the Almighty. Ron: could you please help me find this final treasure on my list? God: I could, but then I’d have to kill you. Ron: I accept your offer.
I hadn't told anybody about this imaginary conversation for obvious reasons.
But during last restless night, some understanding may have fleshed out that story. When we approach the Father asking for Truth and nothing but the Truth…so HELP me!!, He might say: I can tell you, but then I’d have to kill your sorry self—first your pride and then any illusion of self-sufficiency….and we’ll take it from there.
It behooves us to die humble.
Greg,
ReplyDeleteOf the articles you've written, this is probably my favorite. It is concise regarding the lessons that Darby learned in convalescence. It is historically informative regarding the circumstances. It is useful as a teaching tool in these last hours. And it is enlightening for defending against those holding inaccurate portrayals of dispensation and rapture development since the unsealing of Daniel’s prophecies began.
Jeremy
Thank you Greg! I started attending a small church a couple of years ago. They seemingly had all the attributes of a Spirit Filled church. After a couple of months I started talking with some of my brothers about The Pre Trib Rapture. Almost immediately I was given the cold shoulder and no one would even talk to me. I was on the Church text line in where they would send out inspirational texts almost daily.
ReplyDeleteThose stopped as well and never heard from them again. I have to assume that our Lord din't want me there any longer!
RE: The Darby Rapture?
ReplyDeleteGreg!
How are you and things over there on the Taiwanese Front? :) I pray you and your wife are doing well. Thank you for the article in providing a historical perspective of how Darby came to formulate his Pre-Tribulation Rapture theory/timing.
It is rather nauseating how many Brethren parrot how they are convinced it was Darby that was the man who single-handedly was behind the Doctrine of the Rapture. It is a bit baffling how John 14 and the Epistles of Paul, to which the Mystery of the Rapture was given to convey that to the Church are totally ignored.
In this case, I cannot help but see the ploy of the Enemy that has to tried to convolute Darby’s studies with that of MacDonald. It has been to cast doubt or question the supposition, which is strictly biblical at the core. It is the Old Serpent strategy since Eden. The reason for this post is that I wanted to say and share how your last 2 points, Point 5 and 6 really resonated with the studies I am currently considering and pondering regarding the 2 Blood Covenants that pertain to Israel and to the Church, etc.
So, I just wanted to say that I am in full agreement with your conclusions and how there is a distinction between what pertains to Israel and what pertains to the Body of Church. I think that from a Replacement Theology point of view, Darby’s exposé about the Rapture’s timing hit an ecclesiastical and theological nerve that upset the ruling body on Earth throughout Christendom. They dreaded the return of Israel that was not on the map, literally, as of yet. But surprise! Daniel’s 70th Week remains.
I like how you delineate between the Church Body and Israel, and what is yet to be prophetically fulfilled for each, respectively. And most importantly, that the Bride of Christ, i.e., the Church Body is to be removed before Jehovah turns His attention back to national Israel. Of course, those Brethren that still hold fast to a Post-Tribulation or Pre-Wrath Rapture timing do disagree with us on this matter.
But, as a complement to your articles, I like to contribute to the conversation here, my video to show how your Points 5 and 6 really hit home for me and how they are addressed also in a visual format for those that might be interested in what that may look like. Please excuse any personal implications as to the specific year or start of the Tribulation Period, as it only based on one’s conjecture and speculation.
Keep the Watch,
Lu Vega
YouTube video
A260: WHEN WILL THE CHURCH AGE END?
OVERLAPPING COVENANTS
Theology of Blood Atonements and the Rapture’s Timing
https://youtu.be/A8g89N3hCJw
Article
A260: WHEN WILL THE CHURCH AGE END?
OVERLAPPING COVENANTS
Theology of Blood Atonements and the Rapture’s Timing
https://postscripts.org/articles/f/a260-when-will-the-church-age-end
Thank you, Lu. I have long wished I had your talent for visual stuff.
DeleteFor me, it's just words, words, and more words.
I love words😀.
DeleteCY, I think it's very compelling, too!
ReplyDeleteThroughout the Bible, there are many references to bringing desolation, and many of those are directed at the Babylonian Captivity that Daniel experienced. I think he understood the desolation, but not the "abomination."
Jeremiah 18:15-16
"Because my people hath forgotten me, they have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up; To make their land desolate, and a perpetual hissing . . . "
Above, both Greg and Abel refer to the 1827-2027 connection. Can we also add to that the connection between 1867 and 1967?
In 1867, Mark Twain's "The Innocents Abroad" helped us to draw an obvious correlation between Jerusalem and Israel as a desolation and Jerusalem's captivity coming near an end in the retaking of 1967. Twain told the whole world, "It is a hopeless, dreary, and uninviting land."
Daniel knew when the Temple's daily sacrifices stopped. We don't exactly. But in the closing months of 598 BC, it's not hard to imagine the city under Babylonian siege doing exactly that. If people can't come in or out freely, then they might be praying more than ever, but I feel confident that access to sacrificial animals during the siege would have dried up very QUICKLY.
598 BC +1290 = 692 AD
692 AD +1335 = 2027 AD
And, yes, the Dome was completed between 691 and 692, so you'll have to forgive me, but I'm gonna be selfish and choose the earlier date.
691 AD + 1335 = 2026 AD
I won't go overboard and choose October 4th of 691 AD!
Looking up . . . for our redemption is near!
Jeremy
I hope you will all forgive me for my shotgun approach to this. There won't be a single point made here, but a few scattered thoughts.
ReplyDeleteI watched the latest 2 videos, from October 2nd, over at Rev12Daily.blogspot.com regarding Venus. I recommend them. And from my perspective, it's reassuring that the morning star is sending a timely and intriguing message for this very moment. It's especially hopeful when he points out that each passing of Venus by Virgo since the Fall of 2017 is equivalent to the 10 Virgins waiting for the bridegroom. Five of the ten virgins "received their lamp" when Venus passed in the astronomical "evening star" phase, and the other five watched Venus pass by in the "morning star" phase. Just amazing!
But there's so much going on that it's hard to collect it all.
I was also trying to tie together threads from the past. Listening to Avi Lipkin on "Prophecy Watchers" this week, I really feel that there's ZERO doubt that Daniel's 70th Week is here. Within weeks to months.
Avi made mention of the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, in which the Catholics had destroyed the entire muslim Turkish fleet. And even though I've always had a lifelong interest in military history, I was unaware that the British protectorate established in Cyprus in 1878 was an indirect response to that. Now, I know that sounds off topic, but it's really not.
I'm willing to bet that most of you are aware of the concept of "Greater Israel." It's the Biblically-based picture of what were supposed to be the original borders of Israel proper, as established by God, Himself. And the current nation of Israel, today, is only a fraction of that.
https://www.guideoftheworld.com/map/asia/israel/political/greater-israel-map.jpg
I would ask that you compare that picture to the first picture you see in "God A Minute's?" YouTube video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQM3uyj97nA
Now, let me try to pull this all together into something useful as evidence.
We know that in 2017 and 2024, two eclipses made a prophetic X over America.
We know that in 1999 and 2006, two eclipses made a prophetic X over Turkey.
We know that in 2027 and 2034, two eclipses will make a prophetic X over Egypt.
We know that those last 4 eclipses are centered around God's stated boundaries for Israel.
We know that those last 4 eclipses match God's stated size for New Jerusalem.
We know that those last 4 eclipses outline an area widely believed to be the Garden of Eden.
We know that Adam and Eve were cast out to the East of that, and into the Mesopotamian Cradle.
We know that the Tribe of Dan was lost as it moved North in the direction of Turkey.
We know that the Tribe of Dan is still believed to have settled in Turkish and Greek territory.
We know that the Tribe of Dan is a likely candidate for the Tribe of the antiChrist.
We know that the 1999 eclipse also marked the prison release and rise of Recep Erdogan in Turkey.
We know that he was forced to hide his fanatical religious aspiration as a condition.
(I'm not saying he's the antiChrist, himself)
We know that he now wants a new islamic caliphate. (I refuse to capitalize satan's religion.)
We know that the British did not return Cyprus in 1977, after their 99-year occupation agreement.
We know that Cyprus and Israel are now sharing possession of vast natural gas fields offshore.
We know that Turkey is willing to fight to take a spoil.
We know that the whole rest of the world is preparing for war as well. Everybody.
But most likely, the coming wars and Seal Judgments won't happen until the world reaches an "Archduke Franz Ferdinand" moment. And I believe the Rapture would fit that requirement perfectly.
As short as I know how to say it, if you're looking at God's design for the Garden of Eden, Abraham's Promise, the New Jerusalem, then you are looking at a conflict centered on a single location. And, yes, lots of other conflicts will be unleashed across the globe as a result, but the Lord is drawing it all back to Israel for 7 years. AND YOU CAN SEE IT HAPPENING.
(continued below)
The fight over Turkish F-35's and Russian oil refining is a fight over Israel. The fight over Cyprus and islam is a fight over Israel. The fight over Gaza and an Egyptian path is a fight over Israel. The fight between the shiites and sunnis in Jordan and Arabia is a fight over Israel. Obviously, the fight over the Temple Mount and the soon-coming Temple, itself, is a fight over Israel.
DeleteBut not one of these fights can move forward until something triggers it. Something that removes an obstacle and a restrainer. Something that turns every eye towards Israel. Something that gives EVERYONE an EXCUSE to do what they're prepared to do. Something that's going to happen soon. And something that you can see woven into every fabric and thread of God's patchwork quilt from 2026-2034.
It's truly fascinating. And simultaneously humbling, that He would go so far to make it evident to those who call him King.
Growing up, I found it frustrating and unfair that He would not show overwhelming miracles in my times of need. I openly admit that He did work some smaller personal miracles. But I was looking for miracles that were regular, undeserved, and easily recognizable. The kind that I would expect Him to be giving in eternity, you know?
It took a long time before I realized that the changes I needed had to come from me, first. The mistakes and failures were mine, and the consequences had to be, too. Yes, there used to be a time when God worked regular, global, and public miracles, but that time ended with the risen Son of God. And it will return with the Rapture and Seals. We live in the time between. We are called to be the one and only example of a people with faith apart from sight. Like prophets of God or first-century converts, we're being asked to stand up when there's no visible reason to do it. To persevere when it doesn't make sense. To sacrifice and hurt when it isn't necessary. To speak the truth when there's no reward for it. Not yet, that is. In reality, we're only being asked to do EXACTLY what Jesus did for us. And soon, and very soon, there will be a dramatic change. And that faith will be rewarded beyond expectation. And we will be lifted up to a higher throne than others can hope for.
Jeremy
Oh my goodness, Jeremy:
Delete"Yes, there used to be a time when God worked regular, global, and public miracles, but that time ended with the risen Son of God. And it will return with the Rapture and Seals. We live in the time between. We are called to be the one and only example of a people with faith apart from sight. Like prophets of God or first-century converts, we're being asked to stand up when there's no visible reason to do it. To persevere when it doesn't make sense."
I am not a theologian, and I call on the theologians here to weigh in, but this strikes me as utterly profound. How many times do we as NT Christians shake our heads that God does not heal, deliver, perform some necessary, in our eyes, miracle? After all, we are filled with, united with, the God of all creation, the God Who sacrificed Himself so that we may be so. Surely, if anyone should be able to successfully implore Him for a miracle, it should be us? YET, how many of those prayer requests (yes, we ask/request He act) go undone? Like all of us I know so many Christians struggling with major health, relational (I pray for your situation too, brother), provisional issues--not to mention the persecuted church. We KNOW our God can act. Why doesn't He? I am utterly intrigued by the idea of an pentecostal (Church) age "faith not sight" era in relation to miracles. Of course, there are still some, but isn't the general rule." God is good, anyway." Yes, God is good, all the time. We believe this, we preach it, we live it. Even when, our prayers go unanswered. And isn't God glorified in THAT, in His work and plan within US, in our continued faith and love for Him as much as in another miracle that most certainly He can do? (Don't misunderstand me, I REJOICE in the miracles He brings to His Beloved). I think you've hit on something, brother. At the very least, for me, it makes as much sense as any other explanation for the lack of miracles--after all, they defined and validated the very God Who came to rescue us!
Henk, welcome to the conversation--here and at rev12daily.
While Lu's research and graphic arts skill is amazing, Greg L, you KNOW how I appreciate your ability with words, words, words, as I have told you before 😊
Hmewrdbd,
DeleteThank you for your prayers, and know that I am praying for all of you as well. We know that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. Just not usually in the ways we would imagine.
I suppose I could've also said it like this: That the truest satisfaction in a marriage comes from a groom and bride tackling life together. And that Jesus asks us to carry whatever we can. And that's more than we realize, when we have Him helping us.
Or there's the old adage that we are His hands and feet on the earth. Of course, He doesn't technically need us to accomplish His purposes. But when Paul said that "anyone unwilling to work shall not eat," he was also touching on something else. Carrying FAITH to the world IS our work. And the craziest part is that God said He would make the Israelites jealous by having faith spread by another people. So He legitimately made one miraculous move to SAVE the world while also giving another group of people the outright blessing of being a FAITH CARRIER, for which there appears to be no greater reward in heaven.
That is such an opportunity! To have the chance to carry some of His burden in our pain and trials. And it took such a long time of ungratefulness and complaining before I woke up to realize that He was only trying to give us a chance to be rewarded beyond measure. All the times I wondered why He wouldn't just do it the "better" way for both of us, He was still letting me have the chance to learn, earn, and grow closer. For us, the miracles aren't necessary. Who needs them when you have the chance to show your true faith every day?
I am often ashamed of my selfishness. How blind I can be. How wrong to think that Paul just chose to suffer, or that he was somehow set apart from us for just that day, when in part he was accepting a gift that we also have access to.
How wonderful Jesus is, and how little I knew it.
And if our current miracles are fewer and smaller, that we might shine brighter, then how much more do we not need to worry about our escape? Angels do his bidding on our behalf. And BIG miracles will return at the end of the Age.
Jeremy
Hmewrdbd and Jeremy,
DeleteThank you for the welcome. Your exchange about God's intervening, and about the times He does not, touched me. You both write with an insight that only comes through life itself: through pain, struggle and grief.
Hmewrdbd, you called on the theologians here. I am one, and what I can offer is less theory than testimony.
I believe God is more concerned with forming our character than with healing and quick fixes. Even our Lord 'learned obedience from the things He suffered' (Heb 5:8), and the same holds for us. His thoughts are higher than ours, as the heavens are higher than the earth (Isa 55:9).
On the very day I began my theology studies, a strange weariness came over me. Over the years it grew into a chronic illness. In the last years I felt life flowing out of me, and death tightened its grip. It was not that I was living in some sin. I prayed, and others prayed with me, year after year. Then, exactly 14 years later, to the calendar day, I felt compelled to pray. I had to vomit, and from that moment the grip of death was broken. His timing is perfect, and in those years of illness I learned to live in dependence on Him. He has NEVER let me down, He has always graciously provided. Just not always as I had dreamed or hoped. But He was there with me. And that was and always will be enough, for you as well.
So I can only testify: whether He intervenes or not, God is good, even when we do not understand Him. With Job we may cry out, 'I know that my Redeemer lives and in the end He will stand on the earth' (Job 19:25).
That is what I pray for you both.
With love, in Him who is coming,
Henk
My master's thesis, even in those years of weakening, was on the close of the book of Micah, which opens with the question 'Who is a God like You?' (Mic 7:18). This book grew out of it, a hymn of praise to our incomparable, matchless God: Who Is a God Like You?
I’ve appreciated this thread. I feel stung every time I think of: ‘the prayers of a righteous (wo)man avail much.’ The things that have mattered to me most seem not to budge. Maybe I need to think more in terms of what IS being availed.
DeleteCy and Cry, I had typed a rather lengthy response continuing this thread of discussion, but lost it when I went to post--sigh. So I decided to add it to my blog instead of trying to re-type it here again. This is what I wanted to say:
DeleteThe idea that in this dispensation of the Church Age, the "time out" in God's dealing with Israel, the role of miracles could be different from what we thought is fascinating and enlightening to me.
Think about it. Which would glorify God more a miracle, that, after all, the God of all creation has no difficulty doing, or the on-going desperate faith of His sons and daughters when faced with the knowledge and belief in God's miracles, but the absence of them?
Over thirty years ago I read a book by Merlin Carothers titled Prison to Praise. I only remember his thesis: thank God for all things. Inexplicably to me, as someone who studied grammar in college, he uses 1 Thessalonians 5:18 as his proof test: "In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." In this verse Paul uses the preposition "in" which is distinctly different from "for." I was ready to dismiss the concept until I read Ephesians 5:20, ". . .giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . ." (emphasis added).
And that has made all the difference. God is always at work in us to accomplish His own purpose. Purposes we will not see until we get to heaven. God is always good. All the time.
God is worthy of all our praise and thanksgiving whether or not He performs miracles for us. In many ways, how much more gratifying it must be for Him when we fight for and cling to our faith when the enemy and our circumstances scream at us to give it up? I often have a picture of God in heaven pointing his finger at the heavenly host and saying, "You see! My son, my daughter, still loves me, still believes!" Even when we don't see the desire of our faith.
Henk Visser,
DeleteThank you for speaking to this. Maybe like you, in my past career, I very often felt the same way about a growing weariness, a chronic illness, and a death grip that I couldn't find release from. In hindsight, I would rather have been a counselor, or something more useful to others.
To this day, the book of Job confuses me. Not the theory or the intellectual argument. Not the surrender or the trial. I get all of that. What confuses me is the lack of direction and control. He's not really aiming to be rich or successful or happy or healed. He wants to understand it and feel justice being done. But as far as he can experience it, it's almost like "Job's Ark" has no movement, and he's therefore suffering for no apparent reason. It's the heavy emotion he's trapped in, but it's a direction he needs to move forward.
We're left with a whole lot of "Why?!"
What can a person in his shoes do in such a situation? Merely exist? Become a living sacrifice? Spread the Gospel in suffering? Cry out to no avail? Feel the loss? Come to appreciate it?!!!!
"Letting go" is not an easily understood assignment.
And how does Job's story end? Is it anything like our own? He's lost real family and treasure; and he gained different family and treasure. Was that a perfect solution? And maybe that isn't so for everyone; especially in our day. What did he feel about his ending? I doubt he measured himself by the gain of sheep, camels, oxen, and donkeys. You know that his first family meant something to him. So, I doubt that he would say it was all "worth it" from his perspective. But from God's? Well, that's a different story.
Maybe the most painful realization of being a Jesus follower is that from the moment you're born, you're born into Job's curse. Existing here is nothing but learning to live with that curse. Maybe it's no coincidence that the saints followed an "expedited" path to eternity when faced with God's purpose. Or that those who live longest come to loneliness and weariness.
There's a tension between seeking godly joy on earth and seeking godly joy in His eternal presence. And I often feel like the real "winners" are those who never get the chance to think too much on it. The path and the person become one by reluctance or force.
Would you rather God use you on the front lines, where survival odds are low, but the orders are clear? Or would you rather He assign you to a general's rank, where you live a potentially longer life with some added benefits, but always wrestling with a weight, a responsibility, a daily loss, a hopeful gain, a slim chance of victory, the threat of collective destruction? Praying, hoping, begging, trying, cheering, smiling, crying?
Job lived a moment of sacrifice to the cause. Of that, there's no doubt. But if he could've chosen to be a pawn, a knight, a rook, a bishop, a queen, a king . . . I wonder what he would've asked for. What would we have chosen if God had asked us directly? But maybe that's another point. We don't get to choose which piece we are on the board beforehand. Do our personalities and gifts suit the position we're stuck in, or do we spend our lives fighting to become the piece that feels right?
Personally, I never felt comfortable with the end of Job's book. I certainly don't measure myself by worldly gain. How much sacrifice and suffering does it take before a paradise lost on earth becomes a paradise gained?
Maybe the ultimate lesson is that we ARE Job . . . all the time. And all we can do is make righteous daily decisions. The rest is completely out of our hands. At this rate, I'm going to need to spend the entire Millennial Kingdom in the recovery ward looking FOR a counselor! LOL
Jeremy
Blessings, Jeremy. I appreciate your thoughts. Personally, the whole Book of Job is encapsulated in one Verse:
Delete“ Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him: but I will maintain mine own ways before Him.”
I also am catapulted backwards by the atomic bomb God drops on Job and his friends after letting them drone on for 37 chapters.
“Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,
Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?”
So good.
CY and Hmewrdbd,
DeleteI restricted my last post to Job's earthly view, but I have no doubt that you are both correct from the Lord's. Almost certainly, your prayers and daily struggles for the Kingdom are working to your great reward. And He is as eager to say "Well done!" as you are to hear it and rest.
2 Corinthians 4:8-12
"We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body.
So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you."
While we wait . . . for the return of big miracles and a righteous King . . . let me step in, with no authority of my own, to say that I am proud of you. And that every small fight won each day is won by someone just like you. We can only serve, while Jesus does the saving. It's not for us to carry responsibility for that which we cannot control. That much is true of Job's story.
Jeremy
AA, some of my favorite passages of Scripture: Job 38-41, Where were you when I . . . , Have you commanded . . . etc. ? I love how God puts it all in perspective. Yes, yea though He slay me . . . .
DeleteIt was true then, it's true now. The eye of the ant trying to understand the way of the Farmer.
The most eloquent Rebuke of all time. I absolutely cherish how the Eternal God of all Creation breaks it down to Job and his friends. The sheer poetry of it all stirs my soul without end.
DeleteGreg, thank you for digging into Darby's letters. His first brick was the authority of Scripture, and your chant from 1827 to 2027 caught my eye, because my own study lands on the autumn of 2027 from another direction.
ReplyDeleteYou wrote that comets and constellations make you go glassy-eyed. You are in good company. God made the lights to be signs and to mark seasons (Gen 1:14), but a sign in the sky without a season from Scripture is like a clock hand without a dial. You see it move, but you cannot read the hour.
So first the dial, in outline:
- 3510 AM: The decree to restore Jerusalem, 458/457 BC; the 70 weeks of Daniel 9 begin
- 3993 AM: Jesus is baptized, AD 27, 69 weeks (483 years) later
- 3996.5 AM: Jesus is crucified, AD 31 (Dan 9:26)
- 5993 AM: Daniel's last week opens, autumn 2027
- 6000 AM: The return of the King, autumn 2034
Daniel counts the weeks 'until an anointed one, a prince' (Dan 9:25). On my reading that is the baptism in AD 27, when God anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit (Acts 10:38). Two thousand years later is the autumn of 2027. So yes, I think God does anniversaries. The 200th of Darby's sickbed may fall in the same season as a far older one.
Now the hands. Next year Jupiter stands in Leo, the constellation that formed the crown above the woman in 2017. It returns to the morning sky, still in Leo, in the weeks before Tishri 1, 5788 (October 2, 2027): the Lion of the tribe of Judah, right before the seals are opened (Rev 5:5). On August 2, 2027, a total solar eclipse crosses Put (Libya), Egypt, Arabia with Mecca in the full shadow, and Sheba (Yemen). In 2032 and 2033, in the second half of the week, a tetrad of total lunar eclipses follows; on the biblical calendar of new moon and barley all four fall on Passover or Tabernacles. On March 20, 2034, a total solar eclipse crosses from Cush (Sudan) over Arabia to Persia (Iran).
You asked what the odds are. No single sign proves anything. What strikes me is that they cluster inside a window God's Word announced long ago. Where the Church stands within that week is a conversation for another day.
I may be wrong about the details. If I am, the King still comes, at an hour I did not calculate.
With love, in Him who is coming,
Henk Visser
My site: The Architect's Library: the timeline
My Substack: Four eclipses draw a map of Ezekiel 38
Sean Osborn posted this : his morning Israel began lowering the national Star of David flag to half-staff around the country in memorial events to remember the events of October 7, 2023.
ReplyDeleteAround the world more than 260 events in more than 30 countries will be held to honor the HAMAS and PIJ terrorists who took part in the massacre of Jews over the next 10 days. At least 40 will occur in the US with the remainder of 200 occurring across Europe and Canada
Outrageous!
That really angers me. I cannot wait for the Lord to pour out His 21 Judgments on a heinously reprobate world that is crying out for it.
DeleteWELCOME HENK!
ReplyDeleteWelcome to Unsealed! I see you've been busy building models. I too enjoy building models and software to explore timelines and the times given by God through His word. Here are a couple you may enjoy exploring if you're interested,
6,000-year Sabbath/Jubilee Slide Rule Calculator
Sabbatical Calculator Tool
The 6,000 year Slide Rule Calculator models the 120 Jubilee of years based on a user-selected end date. The slide rule feature shows where the calendar properly aligns with the Shabbat. The Sabbatical Calculator Tool allows user input for a given year with a +/- range of years to show the Shemitahs according to the four models most touted in Jewish tradition.
Again, glad to have you join us. Welcome to UNSEALED.ORG!!
Pastor Rich
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ReplyDeleteMOON OCCULTS JUPITER
ReplyDeleteI just got a reminder from Sky Guide that the Moon and Jupiter are in conjunction and that at about 4:30 AM (EDT) the Moon will begin to occult the King Planet, man-child of the Revelation 12 Sign (R12S). I find the event interesting as it lasts an hour and will end as the Sun rises; as though the man-child is being hidden for an hour. It reminds me of,
10 Because you have kept my word
about patient endurance, I will keep
you from the hour of trial that is coming
on the whole earth.
RED LETTERS (Revelation 3:10 ESV)
Consider also...
4 Then I heard another voice from
heaven saying,
"Come out of her, my people, lest you
take part in her sins, lest you share in
her plagues;
(Revelation 18:4 ESV)
I find it interesting, that if one were to consider New York City as Babylon the great, symbolic at least, and use the 9/11 Memorial as ground zero to perform a sighting of this rare celestial event, you would find that not only does the occultation of the man-child occur in the constellation of the lion (Leo), it aligns directly with Jerusalem.
But wait!
Not only does this celestial event align with Jerusalem, when viewed from the 9/11 Memorial in NYC, that line also continues toward Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS which has just ascended over the western horizon into the water bearer (Aquarius) in the opposite direction (westward).
Yes, you could draw a straight-line as on a Mercator map from Jerusalem, through the occultation of the man-child (Jupiter) and the Moon, through the 9/11 Memorial in NYC and to the short-period visiting Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS (which just passed closest to us on October 2nd); connecting the water bearer (Aquarius) and the lion (Leo) over the feast (Sukkot) when the water libation ceremony was celebrated in Israel.
John testifies to the day, an Essene day on the calendar, I would argue, the Eighth Day, known as the Great Day,
37 On the last day of the feast,
the great day, Jesus stood up and
cried out,
"If anyone thirsts, let him come to
me and drink.
38 Whoever believes in me, as the
Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart
will flow rivers of living water.'"
(John 7:37-38 ESV)
Check the boxes,
1) Jerusalem in view, aligned with...
2) The Lion of the Tribe of Judah and the King Star (Rex/Regulus)
3) The man-child of the R12S, Jupiter
4) Moon as hand of the clock
5) Ground zero of Babylon the great, 9/11 Memorial in NYC
6) Comet 161P aligned in Aquarius the water-bearer the end-point
7) Timing, the water libation ceremony
8) Essene Great Day (Eighth Day)
9) Jesus proclaiming rivers of living water
These are the latest findings I've made regarding the day. The Great Day (Eighth Day/Essene) begins at sunset Tuesday evening in Israel. That's 6:17 PM (IDT), 3:17 PM (UTC) and 11:17 AM (EDT) tomorrow, October 6, 2026. Overlaying the timing of (Luke 12:35-38); the second watch will begin at 9 PM (IDT), 6 PM (UTC) and 2 PM (EDT) which will end at 12 AM (IDT), 9 PM (UTC) and 5 PM (EDT). That gives way to the third watch which will run until 3 AM (IDT), 12 AM (UTC) and 8 PM (EDT).
Now bring in (Matthew 25:1-13) and the coming of the Bridegroom. At what hour do we hear the cry of His coming? The midnight hour! Stepping back even further and bring in (Joel 2:15-16) and in what season do we see the Bridegroom come? He comes when the trumpet (Shofar) is blown in Zion when the solemn assembly is called, that's the Eighth Day, when the people are assembled and, "the bridegroom leaves his room, and the bride her chamber." (Joel 2:15-16)
This timing aligns with the visitation of the angel to Daniel at the banks of the River Tigris (Daniel 10), reckoned according to the Essene calendar, occurs on Tishri 26 of the Civil calendar (that's 7/26, reminiscent of Strong's G726 "harpazo"), and suggest the arrival of the two-witnesses this weekend for Shabbat Beresheet, the beginning of Torah reading for the New Year.
MOON OCCULTS JUPITER (Continued)
ReplyDeleteTHIS IS IT!!!
This is the ultimate test of my calendar model for this year. THE GREAT DAY. If we find ourselves at Home, it's Kingdom Cake for all -- just come by our place; Hillary and I will be baking up a storm!!! If not? We'll keep watching, waiting, working and witnessing together here and in the world.
No matter what happens, thank you for making UNSEALED.ORG a most excellent place to fellowship and share the possibilities of all that God has done, is doing and will do in the time to come. We are truly, Kingdom Family.
ALL GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST!! MARANATHA!!!
All eyes on Jesus, all hope in Christ,
Pastor Rich