May 28, 2015

The time of the rapture of the Philadelphian Church of Revelation 3 was never revealed in the Scriptures. I was not pre-trib, nor post trib, nor any trib at all. The only promise of Scripture is that the rapture event would be PRE WRATH OF GOD. That means that it has nothing whatever to do with Israel, the signing of peace treaties, the 70th week of Daniel's prophecy, etc. It is a stand-alone event. That is why it was preached by earlier preachers as imminent. They meant by that term that the rapture could have been any time at all, from Peter's Pentecost sermon until now. It turns out that the time is now.

God had Solomon write the Song of Songs circa 900 B. C. It is a prophetic stage play in which types and symbols were used. It could not be prophetically understood until our time. It is only now that we can see the prophetic significance of this book. It ties the various passages together dealing with the rapture of Jesus saved ones. It explains the why of Jesus' teaching. I'll explain.

First Jesus said in Matthew 25 that there were 10 virgins. Five of these were wise and five of these were foolish. The wise had lamps and oil as they awaited the call of the Bridegroom, who was to come for them. The foolish has lamps, but no oil in them as they too awaited the call of the Bridegroom. At midnight, the call came forth for them to arise and go out to meet the Bridegroom. All of the ten did just that, but the foolish ones had no lamp to see the pathway with, so they begged oil of the wise. But the wise barely had enougb to light their lamps, so the foolish had to go and buy oil. While they were gone, the Bridegroom came and took the five wise and left the five foolish behind.

The Song of Songs shows this in type and symbol. In the Song, there is one girl, a gentile called a Shulamite. She is in love with a Shepherd who dwell in heaven (among the lilies). She has been kidnaped by Solomon (a type of Satan) who wants to make her is own. He heaps all the palace treasure (the world system) on her but to no avail. She is just simply in love with her Shepherd (Jesus). This gentile girl is the Church of Jesus Christ on earth and in the world. His descriptions of her are beautiful and her descriptions of Him are magnificent. She truly loves her absent shepherd lover (the lover of her soul). He expects her to love Him as well, although they are absent from one another.

There are 8 acts to the play. Each chapter is an act. So in chapter 2:10ff the Shepherd comes to take her away. It is some year, in the Spring time, beginning at the Solstice, but late in the season when the green figs appear and the grape vines have tender (green) grapes. This speaks eloquently of Pentecost. The year has turned out to be 2015 A. D. Pentecost this year is May 24 or thereabouts, depending on which calendar is the true one. The general expectation is that the first rapture will occur about now. (Later you will find the reason for this statement: that I believe it to be May 31/June 1 because just 120 days forward is the final blood moon of the tetrad on September 28, 2015.

In that same year, just 4 month away is the rapture of the left behind. It occurs in chapter 6:12. It is at the time of the pomegranates budding when the grapes are ripening full. That is September quite late in the month.

Chapter 7 talks about the marriage of the Bridegroom to the bride. And chapter 8 deals with the bride and later modern Israel and what to do with her.

The key to understanding the two phases of the rapture seen in the Song of Songs is found in Revelation chapter 3. All the members of the Church before the Philadelphian and Laodicean church ages are dead. They have learned to obey Christ by being in heaven where their souls reside. Only Philadelphia and Laodicea have living members, therefore only these two are in the Song of Songs. The first group are Philadelphians, that is they who love Jesus and have served Him. Since the treasure of man is the focus of his heart, God sees and judges the heart of man, not his deeds. These Philadelphians are in every denomination on earth and in the Catholic group as well. God knows who they are and Jesus is coming to take them out of the world.

But the poor, miserable, blind, naked, wretched, and miserable Laodiceans (who don't even know they are like that, but think they are rich and in need of nothing) whose hearts are not focused on Jesus will be left behind to learn obedience in their hearts. These are the five foolish virgins who have accepted Jesus at some time (they have lamps) but no guiding Holy Spirit These are the rapture people of chapter 6, taken only after they learn to obey Christ through hardship.

Tie this in now with the very important message of Jesus Christ to His disciples while at the Samaritan well. He said to them in John 4:35 “Say not ye there are yet four months and then cometh the harvest? Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest”. How does this govern the Song of Songs and tell us when these two raptures will be? Jesus was speaking to the Samaritan woman on Pentecost. The BARLEY crop was white to harvest, that is, it was ripe. The WHEAT crop was yet 4 months from being ripe to harvest. That totals 120 days. That is Rosh Hashana or Atonement or Tabernacles, more or less.

So, the Song of Songs said that the first rapture would be at the time of the barley, which is a type of the Philadelphian Church. It's rapure would be PRE-WRATH, and in the Spring of some year. That year is now, 2015. The second rapture would be 120 days later on September 28, or so the FINAL BLOOD MOON.

This also ties the Laodicean rapture to the parable of Matthew 13. Notice that verse 24ff says “Another parable put He forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man who sowed seed in His field: But while men slept, His enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and when his way. But when the blade was spring up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So, the servants of the householder came and said unto Him, Sir, didst not Thou sow good seed in the field? From where, then hath it tares? He said unto them, an enemy hath done this. The servants said unto Him, Wilt thou, then that we go and gather them up? But He said, Nay: lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. LET BOTH GROW TOGETHER (LAODICEAN CHURCH AND THE WORLD)until the time of the harvest: and in the time of the harvest I will say reapers, Gather first the tares and bind them into bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn”.

So the poor Laodiceans are so mixed with the world that one can't tell them apart, but they do have the lamp of salvation. They will become WHEAT, and tares cannot do that. The wheat will be taken in the rapture of Song chapter 6:12 while the world will burn.

What this has done is to tie the Song of Songs to Revelation 3, and to Matthew 25, and to Matthew 13, and finally to John 4.

Maranatha

Gerry Almond
sgalmond@yahoo.com