Dear
Doves,
I have to
give credit to KS Rajan for pointing out that the January
20, 2019 Super Blood Moon will fall on a minor Jewish
Holiday Called Tu Bishvat (https://www.breakingisraelnews.com/119211/prophecy-trump-cyrus-blood-moons/).
I decided
to take a closer look at the holiday to see if any
connections could be made to the Rapture. This is
what I found.
Tu Bishvat
is the New Year for Trees. It is a minor holiday
that grew out of a prohibition from eating the fruit of
trees within the first three years of planting. (“And when ye shall come into the
land, and shall have planted all manner of trees for
food, then ye shall count the fruit thereof as
uncircumcised: three years shall it be as
uncircumcised unto you: it shall not be eaten of. And
when ye shall come into the land, and shall have planted
all manner of trees for food, then ye shall count the
fruit thereof as uncircumcised: three years shall it be
as uncircumcised unto you: it shall not be eaten
of. But in the fourth year all the fruit thereof
shall be holy to praise the LORD withal.
And in the fifth year shall ye eat of the fruit thereof,
that it may yield unto you the increase thereof: I am
the LORD your God.” Leviticus 19: 23-25.)
According to tradition, the age of a fruit tree is
supposed to be calculated from Tu Bishvat which falls on
the 15th day of the month of Shevat.
We
are trees
So is
there a prophetic connection to us? Well, people are
compared to trees in the Bible. (“Blessed is the man that
walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth
in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the
scornful. But his delight is in the law
of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and
night. And he shall be like a tree
planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his
fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and
whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” Psalm 1:1-3.)
And the nation of Israel is compared to a fig tree.
(“I found Israel like grapes in
the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the firstripe
in the fig tree at her first time:
but they went to Baalpeor, and separated
themselves unto that shame; and their
abominations were according as they loved.” Hosea
9:10.) So the holiday could have prophetic
implications for godly people and Israel.
Time
of Judgement?
I have a
book about Jewish Holidays that also calls Tu Bishvat the
Judgment of the Trees because the fruit of a tree is
inspected at that time. This reminded me of the time when
Jesus looked for fruit on a fig tree: “And when he saw a fig tree in the
way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but
leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee
henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree
withered away. Matthew 21: 19.
Do you
remember the parable where a fig tree is judged for its
lack of fruit?: “He spake also
this parable; A certain man had a fig tree
planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit
thereon, and found none. Then said he unto the
dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I
come seeking fruit on this fig
tree, and find none: cut
it down; why cumbereth it the ground? And he
answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year
also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it:
And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then
after that thou shalt cut it down.” Luke 13: 6-9.
There will
come a time when God will judge the fruit of our lives and
that of the nations. Believers have been grafted
into Christ and are expected to bear fruit. Jesus
said: “I am the true vine, and my
Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that
beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch
that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring
forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the
word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and
I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself,
except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye
abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the
branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the
same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do
nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast
forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them,
and cast them into the fire, and they are
burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in
you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done
unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye
bear much fruit; so shall ye be my
disciples.” John 15:1-8. I
personally expect there to be judgment after the Rapture
when some will receive eternal rewards for what they have
done in this life. “Every man's
work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare
it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire
shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If
any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he
shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be
burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be
saved; yet so as by fire.” 1 Corinthians
3:13-15. God will conduct a fruit
inspection of everyone's life. “Even so every good
tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree
bringeth forth evil fruit. Even so every good tree
bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth
forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth
evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring
forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth
good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore
by their fruits ye shall know them.” Matthew
7:17- 20. Judgment may not be a positive thing to
think about in connection to the Rapture but since it is
something that happens after death, I figure that it will
also happen when we are on the brink of eternity after the
Rapture. (“Just as people are
destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was
sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will
appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring
salvation to those who are waiting for him.” Hebrews 9:27-28.)
So
if Tu Bishvat
represents a time of judgment for trees it may be a
fitting time for the Rapture.
Three
Years
The
duration of three years is biblically significant for
fruit trees. If people are trees, then Jesus was
also tree (not that farfetched since the Messiah is called
the Branch and the Root). It is widely thought that
the ministry of Christ lasted for three years. Clearly,
His ministry bore great fruit after three years, the age
for judging fruit trees.) If Christ is a tree— then
He is our Tree of Life and we can eat/benefit from the
fruit of His three year ministry, the sacrifice of His
body for the forgiveness of our sins. “And as they were eating, Jesus took
bread, and blessed it, and brake it,
and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my
body.” Matthew 26:26.
Is
Tu Bishvat Prophetic?
I am
reluctant to say that Tu Bishvat, a non-biblical holiday,
is prophetic, but the coming Blood Super Moon does
seem to highlight the holiday. Is it a coincidence
that they fall on the same day this year? I don’t
know.
I always
wonder about the moon because of the Sixth Seal
Judgment of Revelation 6:12-13: “And
I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo,
there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black
as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as
a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is
shaken of a mighty wind.” The opening of
this Seal occurs during a visible phase of the moon and
notice that the stars fall like figs from a fig tree (is
this a picture of the judgment of the trees?) The stars
are compared to unripe figs – so is a (figurative?) fig
tree (people or nation?) being judged and found wanting?
Grafted
into the Tree
There is a passage in Romans 11, where Paul tells Gentiles
not to get too arrogant about the blessings they have
received in Christ over the Jews due to their
unbelief. There will come a time when Israel will be
reconciled to God, and grafted back into the Tree: “I say then, Have they stumbled that
they should fall? God forbid: but rather
through their fall salvation is come unto the
Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy …. And if some
of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild
olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them
partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;
Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou
bearest not the root, but the root thee. Thou wilt
say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be
graffed in. Well; because of unbelief they were
broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not
highminded, but fear: Well; because of unbelief they
were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not
highminded, but fear: For if God spared not the
natural branches, take heed lest he also spare
not thee. Behold therefore the goodness and
severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but
toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his
goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.
And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief,
shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in
again. For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree
which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to
nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall
these, which be the natural branches, be
graffed into their own olive tree? For I would
not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this
mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits;
that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until
the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And
so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There
shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn
away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my
covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
Romans 11:11-27. God has not forsaken the
Jews. Their unbelief is a temporary state, “until
the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.” There is
teaching that holds that there is a finite number of
Gentiles that must be saved before the Rapture can take
place – i.e. the “fulness of the Gentiles.” Then the eyes
of the Jews will be opened to receive Christ. So, will
Israel be grafted into the Tree during a holiday that
celebrates trees?
Is it a
coincidence that the three year mark of the Tribulation
will be a time of great testing and trial for the people
of God -- since three years is the time for judging fruit
trees?
Well, I
think that I have speculated enough. I am really
into biblical models and patterns and tend to see them
everywhere. However, I think it would be worth it if
we all think about what Jesus would say to us if He
examined the fruit of our lives from the past year.
If we make any New Year’s resolutions, let us resolve that
Jesus will say “Well done” to us by the next Tu Bishvat.
I wish all
of the Doves a blessed New Year and am so thankful that
there is a site like this where I can fellowship with
other prophetically-minded people.
Maranatha.
“In the midst of the street of it, and
on either side of the river, was
there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month:
and the leaves of the tree were for the
healing of the nations.” Revelation 22:2.
“He
that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto
the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree
of life,
which is in the midst of
the paradise of God.”
Revelation 2:7.
–
Lisa Taylor