"As it was in the days of Noah..."

Dear friends:

If the rapture is not this year, it may be the next, or the next! Let us not grow weary in looking for that "blessed hope," and being obedient while we are here.

But we are still in a major window of possibility this year even though the major feasts on the modern Jewish calendar have passed..

Personally, I have always given in to those who look for the rapture on a major feast day and they may well be right; however, I have been most moved by the possibility of "as in the days of Noah," before the feast days were even established.

1. I have always been especially intrigued with Jesus' words about the rapture when He said it will be "as in the days of Noah." Except on Ascension Day when the angel said He would come back "in like manner," that may be the only place in the Bible that may give us a specific day of the year for the rapture. The flood came on the 17th day of the second month. When Moses wrote that, if he was using the only calendar given him by God in Exodus 12:1, that would be 17 Heshvan, or November 15, 2000 on the modern Jewish calendar.

On Rabbi Michael Rood's agriculturally corrected Hebrew calendar, 17 Heshvan would fall on about December 14, I believe. So we have a window this year extending to November 15 or December 14.

2. But, also on Rood's calendar, we still have:
Tishri 1 = Feast of Trumpets: sundown Oct.28-sundown Oct.29
Tishri 10 = Day of Atonement: sundown Nov.6-sundown Nov.7
Tishri 15-22 = Feast of Tabernacles: sundown Nov. 11-sundown Nov.12

Several possibilities there.

3. In past years we have seen some good reasons given for Hanakuh. That would be December 22-29 on the modern Jewish calendar.

Bottom line: We have a window of from October 28 through December 24 that could be possibilities.

4. Lot's deliverance is also a type of rapture. I was wondering if Scripture gives some kind of hint about the time of year Lot was delivered. I am not sure, but consider the following.

In reviewing Genesis 13 and 14, I noted that just before the two angels left Abraham and went on their way to Sodom, they said, "At the time appointed I will return unto thee, ACCORDING TO THE TIME OF LIFE" (KJV).

For "time of life," the RSV says "in the spring." Some translations say "next year." But the Hebrew word for time of "life" here is "chay" (Strong's 2416). According to my lexicon, Chay means:
1a)    green (of vegetation)
1b)    flowing, fresh (of water)
1c)    lively, active (of man)
1d)    reviving (of the springtime)

The RSV is probably correct.

So, if when the angels left for Sodom they told Abraham they would be back in the spring, it seems to me this seems to imply that Lot's deliverance from Sodom may have been in the fall, the same time of year as Noah's deliverance from the flood, if Moses was using the Exodus 12:1 (sacred) calendar, which I suspect he was (but not sure).

Again, this seems to indicate that the rapture may be in the fall, following the pattern of both Noah and Lot. (Yet, when nothing happens in the fall, I am always expectant in the spring!)

With all this and with the heating up, near-war conditions in the Middle East, keep looking up!

Jim