Harvest = Gathering/Resurrection
It is well known that our Lord came to fulfill all things
pertaining to the Levitical law through His life, death by crucifixion, and victorious
resurrection.
We celebrate His resurrection during the springtime in
America, but in Israel it is already summer. The seasons of the Bible—winter
and summer—match Israel’s climate:
Israel, therefore, has two unique
climates: a long dry season called Summer or Kayitz and a short wet season
called Winter or Horef. Source
Summer is marked
by the vernal equinox in March and ends at the autumnal equinox in September;
so Biblically, it is already summer and time for our Beloved to take us away:
My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my
fair one, and come away.
For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over [and] gone;
The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing
[of birds] is come, and the voice of the turtle is
heard in our land;
The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines
[with] the tender grape give a [good] smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and
come away. Song of Solomon 2:10-13
Beginning with the resurrection of Jesus and the Old
Testament Saints as the Firstfruits Barley Offering we see the beginning of a Pattern
of Resurrection Paralleling the Harvest Cycle of Israel.
But now is Christ risen from the dead, [and] become the
firstfruits of them that slept. - 1 Corinthians 15:20 KJV
For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. - 1 Corinthians 15:22-23 KJV
In my studies I have seen that if the Gathering of Those in
Christ is a Harvest—and I believe it IS a harvest—then it is represented by a
BARLEY HARVEST.
. . . My friend and excellent eschatological researcher Luis Vega makes the point that YHVH does not fulfill prophecy on random dates:
One cannot know or say for sure,
100% when is the Rapture. No one can and that is one’s point. These Arguments
below are only to show where and why, one ascertains the Rapture to be a Summer
Prophetic Fulfillment.
And that it is from a point of view of Prophetic ‘Typologies’, Patterns,
Symmetry, Menorah Pattern, clues from Jesus’s Teachings and Astronomical
Linkage, as that is how Agricultural Cycles are pegged to, etc. [Postscripts #618 excerpt]
Lu agrees that every other feast
type also has clues as to Rapture timing, however, the typology of a Harvest
began on a Pentecost and he presents a strong case that it will likely end on
one. From BY
SUMMER’S END NOWHERE TO GO BUT UP!
I appreciate my friend and Brother in Christ, Lu, admitting
that no one knows 100% when the Rapture will happen; for I believe this also
and that the Rapture of the Bride of Christ will parallel a Hebrew wedding in
that although we see the Day approaching, we will not precisely know the Day of
our Catching Away as the Father of the Groom makes that decision:
Before the bridegroom could go and
get the bride, the groom's father had to be satisfied that every preparation
had been made by the son. Only then could he give permission to the son to go
and get the bride. In other words, while the bridegroom was working on the
bridal chamber, it was the father who "okayed" the final bridal
chamber. The bridegroom
did not know when his father would declare the bridal chamber fit and send him
to go get his bride. This is exactly what Yeshua was referring to in
Mark 13:32-37. The
Seven Festivals of the Messiah
In that same spirit, I would like to present some thoughts
not to be argumentative but simply “iron sharpening iron” regarding how the
Rapture of the Bride of Christ might mirror the Barley Harvest rather than the
Wheat Harvest.
As I put forth my findings, though, we will discover that the Rapture may indeed be a “Summer Prophetic Fulfillment” as my professor friend Luis B. Vega suggests.
Typology Pattern
First of all, Lu is correct in that the typology of offering
up Firstfruits of a Harvest began on Pentecost, however, Jesus and the Old Testament saints were offered
up to God during the Passover season which could supercede that and mark
Passover as the starting point for The Typology Pattern of a Resurrection
Paralleling the Harvest Cycle of Israel:
Jesus, when he had
cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.
And, behold, the
veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth
did quake, and the rocks rent;
And the graves
were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,
And came out of
the graves after his resurrection,
and went into the
holy city, and appeared unto many. Matthew 27:50-53 KJV
The Harvest and the Rapture
Harvest imagery is throughout the Scriptures and it is
something I have studied off and on for years and have written about (for
example, The
Rapture Mystery), for the harvest serves to illustrate the Resurrections
of the Bible and the Rapture.
The explanation given at gotquestions.org summarizes my belief and parallels that of
Don
Stewart who wrote, “The first resurrection refers to the resurrection of
all believers, though separated in time”:
The first resurrection takes place
in various stages. Jesus Christ Himself (the “first fruits,” 1 Corinthians
15:20), paved the way for the resurrection of all who believe in Him. There
will be the resurrection of “the dead in Christ” at the Lord’s return (1
Thessalonians 4:16) and the resurrection of the martyrs at the end of the
tribulation (Revelation 20:4). The Old Testament saints will also be raised at
the end of the tribulation, and they are also part of the first resurrection.
The Book of James calls Those in Christ “a kind of
firstfruits”:
Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that
we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. - James 1:18 KJV
a kind of first-fruits--Christ is,
in respect to the resurrection, "the first-fruits" ( 1Cr 15:20, 23 ):
believers, in respect to regeneration, are, as it were, first-fruits . . . that
is, they are the first of God's regenerated creatures, and the pledge of the
ultimate regeneration of the creation. . . [From Commentary/jfb]
Our Lord was the Firstfruits of the Barley Harvest—the first
grain harvested in Israel.
Are You Barley, Wheat, or Grapes?
There are three major crops harvested in Israel: Barley, wheat, and grapes. . .
So, we see that the harvest of the grain and grapes represent harvests of souls for different people groups, and we will shortly determine which people groups they represent. Reaping the soul harvest ends in death, but Jesus is the first fruit of the resurrection to life of the souls harvested for those saved in Him:
1 Corinthians 15:20-24 - But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ's at His coming. Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power.
Note that there is an order of resurrection of the just, or the righteous, starting with Christ's resurrection and ending when He returns to deliver His earthly kingdom to the Father, thus proving that there is more than one event of saints rising from the dead in the first type of resurrection to life that spans at least 2,000 years. Similarly, the reaper harvests the grain over the course of time, over weeks or months, because crops do not all ripen at the same time.
Under the Mosaic Law, the Lord commanded Israel to offer the firstfruits of all the produce they harvested in the land (Deuteronomy 26:1-3, 10). In the first harvest of souls, the Old Testament saints were resurrected right after Jesus rose from the dead, and many were seen in Jerusalem:
Matthew 27:51-53 - Then, behold, the
veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked,
and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the
saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after
His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.
. . . Since Christ fulfilled all things in the Mosaic Law, then it makes sense that He offered these saints at the heavenly tabernacle as firstfruits of the first harvest of souls. . .
The first harvest in Israel is the barley harvest.
Therefore, the firstfruit of the barley harvest represent the Old Testament
saints, the general harvest of barley represents the souls who have died in
Christ since the cross, and gleanings of the barley harvest represent those who
are alive in Christ when Christ calls the Church saints to Heaven in the
rapture before the Tribulation. . .
1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 - For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. 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 together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
. . . In the parable below, Jesus
shows that the wheat harvest represents those who become believers in the
Tribulation and enter the kingdom at the end of the harvest. . . Source: trackingbibleprophecy.org/The
PreTribulation Rapture/page 3
The above referenced web page goes on to give a very
compelling perspective of how the Wheat Harvest Offering—the two loaves of leavened wheat bread—is to be fulfilled
by the Two Witnesses and the Gathering of the 144,000.
 |
| A tribulum was a Roman tool used for threshing wheat and was probably pulled by oxen. It resembles a sled with the bottom studded with teeth of stone or iron. They are still in use in some remote rural areas of the world today as demonstrated in this brief video. |
Barley is a soft grain so its threshing process is gentle compared to wheat and grapes. The wheat crop is trampled upon with a tribulum to separate the hard wheat grain from its chaff (tribulum = tribulation). The tribulum process for the wheat, like the Tribulation itself, is torturous; but no one should want to be part of the end time Grape Harvest, for they will be crushed:
And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and
gathered the vine of the earth, and cast [it] into the great winepress of the
wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came
out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand
[and] six hundred furlongs. - Revelation 14:19-20 KJV
The Sign of the Woman
This brings me to the subject of the Mazzaroth—specifically
the constellation Virgo, The Woman. Virgo
marks the starting point of the history and redemption of the children of
Israel as revealed in the 12 signs of the Hebrew Mazzaroth (or Zodiac).
Because Virgo represents Israel (Isaiah 66:7-8) and in her
hand she supposedly holds a sheaf of WHEAT, I at first thought that those who
believe on the true Messiah during the Tribulation (mostly Jews) are
represented by Wheat. However, Virgo holds a Branch in one hand and a Sheaf of Grain
in the other—both representing Jesus the Messiah (Jeremiah 33:15-16).
We see Jesus as represented by what is assumed to be a Sheaf
of Wheat in this constellation, yet Jesus was resurrected as the
Firstfruits of the Barley Harvest along with the Old Testament saints
(Matthew 27:52-53; 1 Corinthians 15:20-23). Therefore, I wonder if the Sheaf of
Grain held by Virgo represents the ENTIRE Grain Harvest—ALL those who come to
Christ. This would make sense since the grain harvests overlap but are ALL
celebrated at The Feast of Tabernacles or Ingathering (Leviticus 23:33-44).
This line of thinking parallels the fact that the name Spica is “from Latin literally ‘ear of grain, spike or head of a plant’. . . corresponding to Greek stakhys”. The general connotation is that Spica refers to an “ear of wheat,” but could represent any grain. Additionally—
The star Spica – aka Alpha Virginis
– is the brightest star in the constellation Virgo the Maiden. . . Spica consists of two stars and maybe more. .
. And the two stars in the Spica system are individually indistinguishable from
a single point of light, even with a telescope. Only the analysis of its light
with a spectroscope –
an instrument that splits light into its component colors – revealed the dual
nature of this star. earthsky.org
Thus the star representation of the Sheaf of Grain contains
more than one star potentially symbolizing more than one type of grain!
Wheat Harvested at End of Which AGE?
It is my belief that the Body of Christ identifies with the
Barley Harvest instead of the Wheat Harvest, HOWEVER, my conjecture dovetails into the
timing our Brother in Christ Luis Vega surmises.
“The key to the whole issue is to remember that there were
and are TWO wheat harvests in Israel. . . Not only does Israel have winter
and spring wheat but they also have winter and spring barley [so TWO barley harvests],
oats, rye, etc. Winter wheat is sown in the fall and harvested in the spring,
about two weeks after the winter Barley harvest. The spring wheat is sown in
the spring and harvested in the summer about four months later -- and this is
the harvest found in Scripture for Pentecost wheat. We hope this information
will help you to understand that there is a SECOND wheat harvest in Israel that
is harvested about 50 days after the first wheat harvest -- and goes almost
completely unnoticed because of the traditions of men.” [Excerpt from hopeofisrael.org.
Emphasis and notes in brackets added by me.]
Barley matured faster and would be harvested sooner than the
wheat. The firstfruits of grain offered during the Festival of Unleavened Bread
would have been barley (Source: archive.gci.org/articles/harvest-seasons-of-ancient-israel).
Jesus and the Old Testament saints resurrected at the time of our Lord’s
resurrection would have fulfilled the Barley Firstfruits Offering. The barley harvest lasted
from Passover to Pentecost. As recorded in the Book of Ruth, the Barley Harvest
overlapped into the Wheat Harvest. (For more information on this
read The
Harvest and the Wedding.)
Luis Vega has presented his belief the Wedding of the Church
will occur when Boaz and Ruth’s wedding occurred—when the wheat harvest would
be concluding and the grape harvest is beginning:
One surmises that the Pentecost of Acts occurred in the Feast of New Wine. . . This New Understanding is predicated on their being a ‘Double Count’ and Interpretation of Leviticus 23:15-16.
One is of the Opinion that if and when the Rapture of the Bride of Christ is to occur, it will be during a Harvest Feast. And this Feast will be emblematic of how Jesus qualified it as so. The only Feast of YHVH that falls within in parameter is when the Church Age 1st started, Pentecost.
Jesus throughout His Ministry used the Metaphors and of a Wheat Harvest Time to convey the End of the Age. Source: Summer White Wheat Wedding Pentecost New Wine Rapture and End of the Church Age pp. 2 and 21
If God once
again shows Himself to be a “Last-Minute Rescuer”, and since the Barley Harvest lasted through
Pentecost,
it would be possible for the Rapture as a Barley Harvest Type to occur “when
Pentecost is fully come” thus fulfilling the Main Barley Harvest and Gleanings
as outlined in trackingbibleprophecy.org.
Even if there was additional Barley to be harvested after
Pentecost, the entire grain harvest was celebrated at Pentecost:
In Galilee, for example, part of
the grain harvest would be completed after Pentecost, especially in years in
which Pentecost came as early as mid-May. Even though all the crop might not be
harvested by Pentecost, Pentecost celebrated the entire grain harvest,
including the small amount of grain to be harvested shortly after the festival.
gci.org
Church Age or Age of Man?
Lu Vega states, “Jesus throughout His Ministry used the
Metaphors of a Wheat Harvest Time to convey the End of the Age”—BUT WHICH
AGE IS JESUS REFERRING TO? It can’t be the Church Age. (Remember His
audience was Jewish—Matthew 15:24—the Dispensation of the Church Age of Grace
had not yet begun.) When Jesus explains the parable in Matthew 13:38-39, he
says that the field that contains wheat and tares is, not the
church, but the world. And the good and bad seed will be separated on
the last day of the Age of Man:
The
field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but
the tares are the children of the wicked [one]; The enemy that sowed them is
the devil; the harvest is
the end of the world[aiōn-period of time; age]; and the reapers are the
angels.
As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the
fire; so shall it be in the end of this world [aiōn-period
of time; age]. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they
shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do
iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing
and gnashing of teeth. - Matthew 13:38-42 KJV
So which “age” is Jesus referring to then? Without going
into a deep dive on the different “Ages of the Bible”, it is my understanding
that Jesus used the Wheat
Harvest Time to convey the End of the Age OF MAN—NOT the End of the Church Age
(which is more accurately a Dispensation). So the harvest is the end of the world and will
come at the end of the 6,000 year long Age of Man; whereas, the Harvest of the
Righteous when Those in Christ are Resurrected and Raptured will occur 7 years
prior!
The above chart displaying the Dispensations, in my opinion,
would be more accurate if the 6,000 years were shown to end not with the
Church Dispensation but 7 years later when The Tribulation ends because man
will still be overseeing the earth but led by the Antichrist as God’s wrath
falls.
It is this misunderstanding of which age Jesus was referring
to that I believe influenced T. W. Tramm’s thoughts years ago in Ruth’s
Wedding and the Timing of the Rapture:
“3. The entire summer harvest season, the period intervening
the spring and fall festivals, may be seen as representing the Church Age. The
Church Age began with the “betrothal,” via the sending of the Holy Spirit on
Pentecost 2,000 years ago. The Church Age will end with Jesus coming to gather
the bride on a day no one knows, possibly around the conclusion of the
agricultural wheat harvest. Harvesting the Church at the end of the wheat
season symbolically allows the most possible time for believers to mature or
“ripen.””
Jesus and the Old Testament saints were Resurrected or
“Harvested” as the Firstfruits of the Barley Harvest. Since Pentecost completes
the Passover Season and we identify as having Christ IN us, it seems to me then
the Resurrection and Rapture of the Church would be a Barley Harvest. Therefore,
harvesting the Church at the end of the Barley Season “symbolically allows the
most possible time for believers to mature or ‘ripen’”:
“These four spring festivals are
joined together as an interrelated unit. . . The season of Passover (Pesach)
is not considered totally over until Shavuot (Pentecost) is completed.”
[From The Seven
Festivals of the Messiah | Chapter 2]
I could be misunderstanding this, but to me this means
the Rapture cannot be the Wheat Harvest.
The Holy Spirit seems to confirm this and perhaps mark it
as a foreshadowing of the Gathering of the Bride of Christ as a Barley Harvest
to occur 7 years before the end of the Age of Man in the account of Ruth. I
shared this in The
Harvest and The Wedding:
 |
| Also he said, Bring the vail that [thou hast] upon thee, and hold it. And when she held it, he measured six [measures] of barley, and laid [it] on her: and she went into the city. - Ruth 3:15 KJV |
Six Measures of Barley
. . .Notice that Boaz accepted Ruth’s request for marriage
and gave her six measures of barley:
And she lay at his feet until the morning: and she rose
up before one could know another. And he said, Let it not be known that a woman
came into the floor. Also he said, Bring the vail that [thou hast] upon thee,
and hold it. And when she held it, he measured six [measures] of barley,
and laid [it] on her: and she went into the city. - Ruth
3:14-15 KJV
And she said, These six [measures] of
barley gave he me; for he said to me, Go not empty unto thy mother in law.
- Ruth
3:17 KJV
The Bible specifically gives the number, even though it doesn’t tell the size of the measure. What is it about the number six and what is it about barley rather than wheat that the Bible is trying to tell us? The number six, according to EW Bullinger, “…has to do with man; it is the number of imperfection; the human number; the number of MAN as destitute of God, without God, without Christ.” As he says, “it is certain that man was created on the sixth day, and thus he has the number six impressed upon him. Moreover, six days were appointed to him for his labour; while one day is associated in sovereignty with the Lord God, as His rest.”
Insightful as ever, Bullinger rightly tied the number six in with labors and that at the end of the labors there is the anticipation of “the Lord God, and His rest.” It is exactly what Naomi was seeking for Ruth, and thus implicitly, for herself through Ruth.” One cannot enter rest until the work is done. . .
In an astute observation, Lange gives us these words to consider concerning what this is showing us – “Naomi receives what she may take as an intimation that the time has come, when after long labor she must let Ruth go out free. The day of rest is at hand.”
. . . That explains the number six,
but why barley? The
reason for specifying barley is because of what barley
pictures. First, it is a picture of the resurrection of Christ because
barley was what was presented at the Feast of Firstfruits. [Excerpt
from a 2014 article by Charlie Garrett superiorword.org]
As Mr. Garrett pointed out: Bullinger rightly tied the
number six in with labors and that at the end of the
labors there is the anticipation of “the Lord God, and His rest”.
This, of course, brings to mind how 6 days is
6,000 years that man will toil and have dominion over the earth (related
teaching: The
6000 Year Earth Lease by Charles Capps). Seven years before the completion
of the 6,000 years, Jesus has promised to come and whisk the Church Bride away
to a place He has prepared for us and to our wondrous wedding!
The Great Shaking
It has been promulgated that the Barley is only winnowed (tossed
into the air) to separate the grain from the chaff. Even if Those in Christ
identify with Him and the Barley Harvest, there is threshing; and, therefore, shaking
involved in the barley harvesting
process before the winnowing,
Beloved in the Lord! A
flail was used for threshing small quantities of grain. Ruth must have used
such a wooden instrument. "And beat out that she had gleaned:
and it was about an ephah of barley" (Ruth 2:17).
Jesus warned in John 16:33 we would have to endure tribulation with a small “t”, but promised that we are saved from Tribulation with a capital “T” or Wrath. Nobody, including myself, wants to think about being shaken, yet God is allowing a Shaking just prior to the Rapture to awaken the sleepers! Those who do not enter the “ark of Jesus Christ” will be left on the threshing floor.
The threshing floor is symbolic of
judgment in the Bible. . . Of the nations who will come against God during the
end times, the prophet Micah says "they do not know the thoughts of the
Lord; they do not understand his plan, that he has gathered them as sheaves to
the threshing floor." Source: compellingtruth.org
Wheat is a harder grain than barley and must be trampled to separate the grain from the plant (makes me think of hard-headed people). Those in Christ will not be subject to the crushing tribulum of the Wheat Harvest, but we will be subject to the TRANSITIONAL SHAKING PERIOD of which I have written before (see the section titled “The Feasts & Shakings Pattern” in BUCKLE UP! Final Puzzle Piece Before Rapture).
Summertime Rapture Hopefully!
We see that the Resurrection and Rapture of Those in Christ is modeled after the Harvest Cycle of Israel, but what part of the summer will our Beloved come for His Church Bride? Will it be early summer around Passover (according to the Biblical seasons) or later when Pentecost is fully come at the New Wine Festival (at the last minute) giving the Bride of Christ a late summer wedding?
I’ve seen in the Scriptures (e.g., the Israelites crossing
the Red Sea) as well as in my own life where God comes to the rescue at what
seems like the very last minute (or at the last atomos)!
The New Wine Festival could mark “the last minute” for a Pre-Tribulation
Rapture. The Time of Wrath may begin this year or later, but according
to Hebraic understanding Rosh HaShanah or The Feast of Trumpets is the cut-off
date before The Tribulation days of Jacob’s Trouble.
In "X"
Marks the Year of the Rapture? I write about the prophetic connection of
the total solar eclipses over America during the 1800’s with the modern day
eclipses and the prophesied New Madrid earthquake:
IF THE PROPHESIED 2ND NEW MADRID EARTHQUAKE OCCURS IN THE SAME PATTERN—THAT IS, IT OCCURS 3 MONTHS AFTER THE CROSSING OF THE 2024 GREAT AMERICAN SOLAR ECLIPSE—IT WOULD MEAN AMERICA WOULD EXPERIENCE THIS HORRIFIC QUAKE IN JULY 2024.
At the beginning of this article I
mentioned that July 23 is what Luis B. Vega has suggested as a
possible Rapture date. I have written several articles proposing that the
Resurrection and Rapture of Those in Christ will occur around the timing of a
great earthquake in America—most likely the foretold New Madrid earthquake.
If our Heavenly Father decides the Rapture will occur around July 23, it would fit our Brother Lu Vega’s New
Wine Festival timeline and fulfill the promise Jesus made:
But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this
fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's
kingdom. - Matthew 26:29 KJV
The Messianic
fulfillment of Pentecost was the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, so the scenario
the Spirit has revealed about God sending a wave of glorious outpouring in the
last hours the Church is on earth would seem appropriate just prior to
catching away the Bride.
This leads me to have great anticipation that beginning at Passover (according to the Hebrew calendar) but no later than this Summer of 2024 could be when Those in Christ will be harvested.
The Resurrection and Rapture of the Ecclesia will
be a harvest, but will it be on a particular Feast Day or will the Wedding of
the Heavenly King and His Bride be on a Day that Father God deems unique (as
the day Jesus ascended which did not fall on a Feast Day)?
We may not know the precise timing of our escape, but I believe The Watching Church will KNOW when the Rapture will be next because of the Final Puzzle Piece Before the Rapture. Also—
Before war comes to America, I
believe God—IN HIS GREAT MERCY—will allow Her to experience some type of
national calamity. It most likely will come as an apparent natural disaster.
[From The
dropping of HIS shoe--2 Visions]
Perhaps that is what the two angels meant who gave an exciting message to a young girl recently. The angels appeared to her and said they had come to protect her and her family because—
Related: Harvest models
UNLOCKED! HOLY SPIRIT unfolded major insight! Rapture possible THIS MONTH!
Our Brother Will at Worship and Watch YTC also shares how he was shown that
Those in Christ are part of the Barley Harvest!
2nd
Shoe to Drop NOW then Rapture?
My Least Favorite Word from the LORD--Many of Those in Christ have an expectancy for certain Rapture “watch dates” coming up. . . What I believe He is encouraging us to do is what I learned in my youth when I ran hurdles in track--that you continue to give it your all past the finish line. You did not slow down as you approached the finish line—you PUSHED as hard as you could until you passed it!
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset [us], and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, - Hebrews 12:1 KJV
