Last Sunday was Easter and that got me thinking a lot about the way the Lord uses three days as a pattern. We know that Jesus was crucified and His body lay in the tomb for three days. I did a little digging and found that besides the obvious three days that Jonah was in the belly of the whale (Jesus even talks about this in reference to His own three days), there are several others.

Joseph (remember the amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat?) was thrown into prison in Egypt where he was approached by two guys. Each had dreamed a dream they didn’t understand and wanted Joseph to interpret for them. The first one was a butler and had a dream about three branches on a vine. They budded and produced ripe grapes.

Genesis 40

¹¹ Then Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.”

Joseph told him that in three days he would get his job back and be serving wine to the Pharaoh again. He did, understandably, also ask him to remember him and “make mention of me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this house.”

The second guy was the Pharaoh’s baker who told him about a dream with three baskets on his head with birds flying in to eat the baked goods in them. Joseph basically said “Ooo, bad news, dude”

Genesis 40

¹⁹ Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head from you and hang you on a tree; and the birds will eat your flesh from you.”

It’s interesting to note that the two things mentioned here are bread, which is broken and hung on a tree, and wine placed in the Pharaoh’s hand.

Another mention of three days was when Moses raised his hand over Egypt and caused a darkness.

Exodus 10

²² So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days. ²³ They did not see one another; nor did anyone rise from his place for three days. But all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.

But probably the best one, to me, is right after the first Passover. The Hebrews put the blood of a lamb on the doorposts of their homes to protect their firstborn children during the first Passover. Immediately afterwards, Pharaoh gave in and let Charlton Heston’s people go. They gathered up what they had without spending a lot of time baking (hence the unleavened bread – bread without yeast) and took off. The Passover happened on the 15^th of Nisan. Three days later, on the 18^th, they walked through the Red Sea. This is remembered as the Feast of Firstfruits.

It was three days after the crucifixion of Jesus, on Passover, that He rose from the tomb on the Feast of Firstfruits. According to the Jewish calendar, these happened on the 15^th and 18^th of Nisan.

The reason this year stood out for me is that the Council of Nicaea had gone to great lengths to insure that Easter NEVER fell on Passover. And they succeeded. I’ve tried to find an instance when they fell on the same day and I couldn’t. They failed, however, in preventing it from falling on the Feast of Firstfruits, which it actually commemorates. I could be wrong, but I wasn’t able to find any reference to Easter coinciding with Firstfruits in the last 2000 years. That would make this year something special.

Now, this is where I get all weird and go off on a tangent. Before I do…..

Let me state emphatically that I am NOT trying to set any dates or that I’m even convinced that this is true. Ok? Clear? Alright…

If, and I mean IF, this “coincidence” was planned by God, then what could it mean? Taking into account that three days could symbolize three years (as in the 70 weeks of Daniel), what could happen three years from now?

It’s a fact that the Mayan calendar was extremely accurate until December 12, 2012. Then it just stops. People have been trying to figure this out for decades. No one has a reason or even a consensus on what is supposed to happen in 2012. Some think we’re in for a huge apocalypse, some a whole new world.

So, anything is possible, maybe even nothing. If it is meaningful, it could be the year of the rapture or the beginning of the 70^th week of Daniel (Tribulation). I’m convinced that the rapture will precede the Tribulation by some time. I don’t think, as the Left Behind series portrays, that the Tribulation will follow the rapture immediately. The Tribulation begins with the signing of a treaty presented by the antichrist to bring peace in the Middle East. In order for him to be revealed, the restrainer, which I believe is the Holy Spirit, must first be removed from the earth. Since we, as believers, are not to be separated from the Holy Spirit, we would also have to be gone. So any period of time could pass before the antichrist is in any position to sign a treaty with Israel.

So here’s the possibility:

• Easter coincides with Firstfruits in 2009
• The Church is raptured on the anniversary of its birthday, Pentecost (May 29, 2009)
• During the next three years the world crumbles economically and socially (big surprise)
• The Battle of Gog and Magog with Israel sets up the acceptance of the peace treaty
• The antichrist rises to a position of authority and signs a treaty with Israel (possibly on December 12,2012

Remember, this is all speculation. But as more time passes, more time passes. Meaning we are only getting closer to the end.

Live as if He’s coming today, but plan ahead, just in case.

Randy

admin Bible Prophesy 2012, easter, End Times, Firstfruits, Jesus, mayan calendar, Moses, Passover, rapture