Preface: I'm of the mind that there is no rapture. But I was wondering for those who believe in one, can you provide Old Testament proof that God or anyone else spoke of it? In Amos, it's said that God doesn't do anything except He reveal it to the prophets first. And please, if you're going to post, you can respond with something better than an abstract bit in Genesis where it's said that Enoch was taken up. OK? Thanks!
Your mindset is wrong, Israel is raised at the very end, when Jesus rescues the 144,000 {a metaphor for all Israel}. We know that because Daniel 12:1-2 tells us when they are raised. during the 70th week, when the greatest ever troubles come. The Church is Raptured before the 70th week begins. Israel are the Wheat, the Wicked Tares are those who accept the Mark of the Beast and are killed in the Wine-press of God in Rev. 14:18-20, they grow together until the end. The Tares are BOUND UP {in the grave} and will be burned in 1000 years at the Second Death.
The Church and Israel are two separate entities. Why would an instruction book for Jews go overboard telling them what is going to happen to the {mostly} Gentile Church ? The bible is all about Israel and their coming SEED {Jesus} that washes away the sins of the world. The Old Testament never mentions Jesus' name either does it ? Or does it ? Yes it does, but just like looking for the Rapture in the Old Testament to see it we have to be very keen, or be led by the Holy Spirit unto all truths. What does Yeshua {Jesus} mean in Hebrew ? Salvation !! Get it ? There are a lot of times the Prophets of old mention Salvation and its {CHILLS} all pointing to Jesus !!
The Old Testament prophets were often commanded to give their children names that described God’s dealings with Israel.
Most Old Testament names that incorporate either the syllable “el” or the letter “Y” (sometimes “J” in English) incorporate the name of God. For example, Joshua (Hebrew Y’hoshuah) means “God saves”; Eli means “my God”; Daniel (Hebrew Dani-El ) means “God is my judge”; Jonathan (Hebrew Yhonatan) means “Jehovah gave,” or “God’s gift”; Ezekiel (Hebrew Yechezk-El) means “God will strengthen”; Zechariah (Hebrew Zechar-Yah) means “the Lord remembers”; Isaiah (Hebrew Yeshayahu) means “salvation of the Lord.”
When the angel told Joseph that Mary was to be the mother of the Messiah, he said of the child, “Thou shalt call his name
Yeshua (Salvation), for he shall save his people from their sins.” The name was commanded as assurance that this indeed would be Israel’s Holy One. Not only does that name mean “salvation,” it means “God saves.” Not only was the Messiah to be God’s instrument of salvation, he was to be God in the flesh, reconciling his lost creation to himself.
Old Simeon in the Temple knew that. As he cradled the infant Yeshua in his arms, he prayed, “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation (thy Yeshua) which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.”
Yeshua is the Jewish way to say Jesus. Yeshua is the Jewish way to salvation for all people. When he returns, Yeshua will yet be the glory of his earthly people Israel.
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Y E S H U A
IN THE TANAKH
(The Name of JESUS in the Old Testament)
Arthur E. Glass
In dealing with my Jewish brethren for the past many years in Canada, the United States, Argentina and Uruguay. I had one great difficulty, and it was this: My Jewish people would always fling at me this challenging question,
"If Jesus is our Messiah, and the whole Old Testament is about Him,
how come His name is never mentioned in It even once?"
I could never answer it satisfactorily to their way of thinking, and I admit I often wondered why His name was not actually written in the Old Bible. Oh, yes, I could show them His divine titles in
Isaiah 7:14,
9:6 and
Jeremiah 23:5,
6, and even the word MESSIAH in several places; but the Hebrew name that would be equal to Jesus, that I could not show. Then one day the Holy Spirit opened my eyes, and I just shouted. There was the very NAME, Jesus, found in the Old Testament about 100 times all the way from GENESIS to HABAKKUK! Yes, the very word - the very NAME - that the angel Gabriel used in
Luke 1:31 when he told Mary about the Son she was to have. "Where do we find that NAME?" you ask. Here it is, friend:
Every time the Old Testament uses the word SALVATION (especially with the Hebrew suffix meaning "my," thy," or "his"), with very few exceptions (when the word is impersonal), it is the very same word, YESHUA (Jesus), used in Matthew 1:21.
Let us remember that the angel who spoke to Mary and the angel who spoke to Joseph in his dream did not speak in English, Latin, or Greek, but in Hebrew; and neither were Mary or Joseph slow to grasp the meaning and significance of the NAME of this divine Son and its relation to His character and His work of salvation. For in the Old Testament all great characters were given names with a specific and significant meaning.
For example, in
Genesis 5:29, Lamech called his son
Noah [Comfort], saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and tell of our hands. In
Genesis 10:25, Eber calls his firstborn son,
Peleg [Division]; for in his days was the earth divided. The same is true of Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob (changed to Israel-God's Prince), and all of Jacob's sons (see Genesis, chapters 29-32). In
Exodus 2:10, Pharaoh's daughter called the baby rescued from the Nile,
Moses [Drawn-Forth]: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water. And so we can go on and on to show the deep significance of Hebrew names.
Now then, when the angel spoke to Joseph, husband of Mary, the mother of our Lord, this is what he really said and what Joseph actually understood:
And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus [YESHUA (SALVATION)]: for he shall save [or salvage] his people from their sins. (
Matthew 1:21). This text was so forcibly brought home to my soul soon after I was converted over 24 years ago, that I saw the whole plan of the Old Testament in that one ineffable and blessed NAME.
So let us proceed to show clearly the Hebrew name YESHUA
(Greek = Iesus English = Jesus) in the Old Testament.
When the great Patriarch Jacob was ready to depart from this world, he by the Holy Spirit was blessing his sons and prophetically foretelling their future experiences in those blessings. In verse 18 of Genesis 49 he exclaims,
I have waited for thy salvation, 0 Lord! What he really did say and mean was, "To thy YESHUA (Jesus) I am looking, 0 Lord"; or, "In thy YESHUA (Jesus) I am hoping (trusting), Lord!" That makes much better sense.
Of course YESHUA (Jesus) was the One in Whom Jacob was trusting to carry him safely over the chilly waters of the river of death. Jacob was a saved man, and did not wait until his dying moments to start trusting in the Lord. He just reminded God that he was at the same time comforting his own soul.
In Psalms 9:14, David bursts forth, I will rejoice in thy salvation.
What he actually did say and mean was,
"I will rejoice in (with) thy YESHUA (Jesus)."
I
n Psalm 91:14-16 God says, Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high [raise him above circumstances], because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life [eternal life] will I satisfy him, and show him my [YESHUA (Jesus)] salvation. Of course. That promise is realized in Revelation 22:3, 4: And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it: and his servants shall serve him: And they shall see HIS face.
In Isaiah 12:2, 3 we have something wonderful. Here SALVATION is mentioned three times. The reader will be much blessed by reading these glorious verses in his Bible, but let me give them as they actually read in the original Hebrew with Jesus as the embodiment and personification of the word SALVATION:
Behold, might (or, God the mighty One) is my YESHUA (Jesus-in His pre-incarnation and eternal existence); I will trust and not be afraid:, for JAH-JAHOVAH is my strength and my song; He also is become my YESHUA (Jesus).... And the WORD (Jesus incarnate) became flesh, and dwelt among us. (
John 1: 14). ...
Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of YESHUA [Jesus - waters of salvation flowing forth from Golgotha]."
Something very interesting occurred one spring in St. Louis: I was visiting in the home of our friends, Brother and Mrs. Charles Siegelman, and another Jew was present there. He claimed Jewish orthodoxy for his creed. Of course the conversation centered around Him Who is the Center of all things -- Jesus. This good Jewish brother opposed the claims of Yeshua in the Old Testament verbally, and in a friendly fashion, most violently. His best offensive weapon, he thought, was to fling at me and at all of us there the well-known challenge: "
You can't find the name of 'Jesus' in the Old Testament;" and this he did.
I did not answer him directly, but asked him to translate for us from my Hebrew Bible,
Isaiah 62:11. Being a Hebrew scholar, he did so with utmost ease, rapidly, and correctly; and here is what and how he translated that text verbatim:
Behold, Jehovah has proclaimed unto the end of the world. Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold thy YESHUA[ Jesus] cometh; behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him. Just then he crimsoned as he realized what he had done and how he had played into my hands, and he just fairly screamed out, "No! no! You made me read it 'thy YESHUA' Jesus], Mr. Glass! You tricked me!" I said, "No, I did not trick you, I just had you read the Word of God for yourself. Can't you see that here SALVATION is a Person and not a thing or an event? HE Comes, 'HIS reward is with HIM, and His work before him.' Then he rushed at his own Old Testament, talking away frantically saying, "I'm sure mine is different from yours." And when he found the passage, he just dropped like a deflated balloon. His Old Testament was, of course, identical. All he could use as an escape from admitting defeat was to deny the divine inspiration of the book of Isaiah.
Then skipping on to Habakkuk, we have the greatest demonstration of the NAME "Jesus" in the Old Testament; for here we have both the name as well as the title of the Savior. In
Habakkuk 3:13 we read literally from the original Hebrew:
Thou wentest forth with the YESHA [variant of ESHUA-Jesus] of [or for] thy people; with YESHUA thy MESSIAH [thine Anointed One: i.e., with Jesus thy Anointed] thou woundest the head of the house of the wicked one [Satan]. Here you have it! The very NAME given to our Lord in the New Testament - JESUS CHRIST! So don't let anyone - Jew or Gentile - tell you that the Name JESUS is not found in the Old Testament. And so when the aged Simeon came to the Temple, led there by the Holy Spirit, and took the baby Yeshua in his arms, he said,
Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes have seen thy salvation [YESHUA (Jesus)] (
Luke 2:29-30). Certainly! Not only did his eyes see God's Salvation - God's YESHUA (Jesus) - but he felt Him and touched Him. His believing heart beat with joy and assurance as he felt the loving heart of God throbbing in the heart of the holy infant YESHUA.
And thou shalt call his name Jesus (SALVATION = YESHUA);
for he shall save [salvage] his people from their sins!
Yesha’yahu – Isaiah 53:1-12
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The Rapture is likewise in the Old Testament, we just have to know how to dig it out. One place is here, this speaks of the Church going to the Wedding Chamber.
11 – The Bride and Groom go to the wedding chamber.
Church – This period when the Bride and Groom spend time together seems to show that the Bride of Jesus will be with Him in Heaven. This appears to indicate a
pre-Tribulation gathering of the Church, and is described in Isaiah 26:20; “Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.” Praise the Lord!
The Feasts of God in Leviticus 23 tell us the Whole history of Mankind.
Fall Feasts that Jesus fulfilled.
1.) Feast of Passover { Jesus is our Passover whose blood covers our sins}
2.) Feast of Unleavened Bread { Jesus was Without Sin }
3.) Feast of First-fruits { Jesus was the First-fruits of the Dead/Grave }
The next Feast {Like the Church Age} was on the Calendar all by itself !!
4.) The Feast of Weeks/Pentecost/The Harvest { This is the Church Age, we are in it now, it started at the Pentecost, it will end when we are called home by Jesus at the LAST TRUMP !! We are the body of Christ, our job is to Harvest souls. The Mantle was taken away from the Jews and given to the Gentiles {read Roman chapters 9-11} until the Rapture, then God will GRAFT Israel back into the tree and ALL Israel will be saved, not every Jew, but Israel as a Nation, thus Abraham's seed is preserved, just as God promised Abraham {see Zechariah 13:8-9, 1/3 of the Jews Repent, 2/3 will perish}. The next Feast is the Feast of Trumpets, it never did much except make ANNOUNCEMENTS !! So at the LAST TRUMP Jesus calls us home, ending the Harvest, just like the Feast of Trumps ENDED the Summer Harvest and announced that Atonement and Tabernacle were nigh at hand. }
Fall Feasts soon to be Fulfilled
5.) Feast of Trumpets { Jesus will call an end to the Harvest when he calls the Church home to marry the Lamb, and that means the Feast of Atonement is nigh, and we know via the 70th week Prophecy that Israel MUST REPENT before the 70th week can come to pass. }
6.) Feast of Atonement {Israel ATONES for their Rebellion against God, they accept Jesus as their Messiah, see Zechariah 12:10, Zechariah 13:8-9 and Malachi 4:5-6. See Romans chapter 11, God saves ALL Israel, He grafts them back in when they do what ? BELIEVE AGAIN !! Paul explicitly says so, he says they have lost their way because of UNBELIEF and thus when they BELIEVE AGAIN, God will Graft them back in !! And that is what happens during the 70th week, when Elijah shows up to turn Israel back unto God, just before the Day of the Lord {Middle of the Week}. So the 1335 is the Two-witnesses showing up 1335 days before the Second Coming ends these wonders, the 1290 is the False Prophet placing the AoD {European Presidents Image} in the Temple 30 days before the Anti-Christ Conquers Jerusalem/Israel and the MANY Nations in the Mediterranean Sea Region, that happens 1290 days before the Second Coming ENDS THESE WONDERS. Then the A.C. Conquers Jerusalem to become The Beast at the 1260, and that happens 1260 days BEFORE the Second Coming ends all these Wonders.}
7.) Feast of Tabernacle { The word TABERNACLE means to Dwell with God !! Where does Jesus {who is God} dwell for 1000 years ? In Jerusalem with the Jews, OF COURSE !! It all fits doesn't it ? Every Feast was set up with a Purpose in mind because God is ALL KNOWING, and gives us hints at all things. We can see His pattern for the whole history for mankind in these Feasts, if we are keen, just like we can see Jesus in the Old Testament, if we are receptive. }
