When looking at potential rapture dates, I, like my fellow believers at RITA, like to consider them rapture drills. We may not know the exact date and time, but we do know it is close and we do know we need to be ready.

Considering all of the recent signs, the destructive legislation coming out of the whitehouse and the FEMA plans being leaked, the end of time is already beginning. It appears that the governments of the world intend to usher it in – in a big way – by Aug or Sept of this year.

Since the rapture occurs before the beginning of the tribulation, how close are we? IF Dec 2012 is the mid-trib point, then the trib will be starting during the last half of this year. That leaves April to June for exit dates.

Arlene from Fivedoves and CJ from RITA have released a rapture drill sequence for next weekend. As with anything, when you read it, openly ask the Holy Spirit to confirm or deny what is included and open your bible to compare everything with the Word. The Holy Spirit and The Word are the final authority.

Important Note: The Barley Harvest in Israel has officially begun.

God Bless!
——-
Arlene’s study edited re: Nissan 10 by CJ

Rapture before or on Nissan 10 (MOST LIKELY) is almost inevitable people

Most fascinating studies I have ever seen, absolutely brilliant. This is my mind almost guarantees rapture on or before April 3rd!!!!!

I took bits a pieces of out this study, (the things that don’t talk about Nissan 10 possibilities) and added some of my own things.

ENJOY:

This is a very important day for us to look forward to if this be the year of His coming. This paper will discuss the two mighty days of our Lord,,,that is,,,,the Passover, instituted by Moses (Nisan 14), and the entering into the inheritance, the promised land,,,,,(Nisan 10),,,which event was commissioned to Joshua after Moses died. ONE OF THESE DATES has been fulfilled FOR US,,,by our Lord and Savior,,,,as Paul has said “Christ our Passover, IS sacrificed for us”.

But the other date, Nisan 10,,,,glaringly screams of our inheriting the promise of our Lord, our own crossing of the Jordan River….foreshadowed by the events in the book of Joshua, and also foreshadowed by our Lord in His triumphal entrance into Jerusalem on Nisan 10. For the Jews, after Moses dies (their bondage to the law),,,THEN COMES JOSHUA ! Their “commander in chief”….and for the Jews this day will commence their 7 years of fighting for their inherited land….for us, we leave the scene, departing to our inheritance with our Lord. (?)

God ordered that the Israelites, by Moses, choose out a lamb four days before the Passover, to inspect it, that it might be found without BLEMISH. (HE WILL COME FOR AN UNBLEMISHED BRIDE!!!!)

The great day of Passover, with the parting of the Red Sea, is the picture of SALVATION; that is, salvation from Egypt, the world, from our bondage to sin. The slaying of the lamb, and the passing over of the angel of death, for those who believed, and put the blood of the lamb on their door posts and lintels, together with the passing through the Red Sea by God’s hand of power.

Here is seen the suffering of the lamb, the humility of our Lord; We, as Christians, have likewise been saved by the blood of the Lamb of God, and given the “power” from on high (the Holy Spirit) and continue in our walk through the wilderness as foreigners and strangers, awaiting our entrance into the promised land, to be with our Lord and Savior.

We await our own great day of entrance into our promised inheritance, when we shall be given our resurrection bodies,,,,,fully redeemed to our Lord. For this we were sealed by the giving by God of the His Holy Spirit, “unto the day of redemption”.

THIS WAS THE DAY WHICH WAS TO COMPLETE THE END OF DANIEL’S 69TH WEEK!!! the 10th of Nisan, April 6, 32 AD.

And, in Daniel 9:26, he is told that AFTER this 7 weeks plus 62 weeks, the Messiah would be “cut off”, which He was, 4 days later. But the Nisan 10 presentation of Israel’s King is the day when the 69th week ended. It was on this day that Israel COULD HAVE accepted their KING, and have had His Kingdom set up, right then and there. This was refused.

Now, the time was determined for Daniel’s people, and the city (Jerusalem), so on this day, as He was riding into Jerusalem, was the day that Jesus wept over Jerusalem (the city), and said,

And now,,,He gives them over to having their eyes darkened, blinded, to the things which could have been theirs….And this is the blindness of Israel, of which the apostle Paul speaks:

“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 fullness of the Gentiles be come in.”

Just prior to this Paul had been teaching that God had not spared the natural branches of the olive tree, and that we wild olive branches (gentiles) had been grafted in, so we make up that great company of gentiles being called out in His Name, until the fullness be come in……Paul says this is a “mystery”,,,that we should not be ignorant of…….these natural branches will take quite quickly into their own stock.

If blindness was given to Israel on Nisan 10,,,,as declared by our Lord….will they be grafted back in on the same day? Will God’s time clock start back up on the same day that it was stopped, (Nisan 10) in order to graft in the gentile branches…

Israel’s eyes were stopped by the Lord on Nisan 10,,,,,and Paul says that this is a “mystery”,,,,,,,that the time of Israel’s returning to “spiritual sight”,,,would be when the fullness of the gentiles would be come in.. that is,,,when the Lord had called in the full number of gentiles for His Name…

so,,,,,,,could this “sight” be restored to Israel on the same day that Jesus our Lord gave them over to blindness? Nisan 10?

God is very exacting in keeping His appointments. If Daniel’s 69 weeks was finished on Nisan 10 in 32 AD, then since there are 70 weeks total to the prophecy, wouldn’t His clock start right where it stopped? If we pull the plug on an electric clock,,,and then two weeks later, plug it back in,,,it starts ticking right where it was stopped.

Wouldn’t God’s clock work in the same way? Israel, right after crossing the Jordan, began their battles for the land,,,,,Joshua sent in two spies to the city of Jericho……paralleling the sending forth of 2 witnesses, for the Jews. And so starts the tribulation years, for the Jews, after we are taken out, crossed our own Jordan on dry ground, being blessed by the giving to us of our own inheritance.

What else did the Lord say to Israel at that time?

First of all, notice what the joyful deciples were shouting:

And when he was come nigh, even now at the descent of the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen;

38 Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.

I particularly like the saying above that He was come nigh, even now at the descent of the Mount of Olives. (rapture?) (and this is where He will descend to His people Israel, His feet landing upon this mount according to Zechariah.)

But in Matthew, our Lord’s words were somewhat different, in addressing Jerusalem…and the people of Jerusalem:

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.

For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord.

Notice is again given here of the desolation of Jerusalem, whereas in Luke He mentioned the blindness of Israel. But, this is important,,,,He tells them directly WHEN THEY WILL SEE HIM AGAIN…. It is when THEY will say exactly what His joyous disciples were shouting (see above Luke 19:38). There, the disciples shout:

Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the Name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.

And, Israel WILL SEE HIM AGAIN,,when THEY THEMSELVES, will say,

Matthew 23:39 For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord.

If God’s time clock starts ticking at the very same time and day, when it stopped, at the end of the 69th week,,,,then one week remained (7 years), or the 70th week of Daniel, and Israel’s blindness were removed, and Israel, being the natural branches grafted back in, returned to God in humility and acceptance of their true Messiah,,,then (perhaps?) EXACTLY seven years later, on the same day,,,they, too, would be saying “Blessed is He that cometh in the Name of the Lord”.

OUR PASSOVER, AND OUR INHERITANCE

Paul tells us that we are to be unleavened, and that we will “keep the feast”, (the Passover feast) as unleavened. Below, you will see that Joshua led the people across the dry River Jordan,,,and THEN once across the river, they “kept the feast”,,,,,we will keep this feast with our Lord, as He has stated that it “will be fulfilled in the Kingdom of the Father”,,,,we also will have just crossed our own Jordan?

Moses, the most humble of all of God’s servants, led the children of Israel out of Egypt by the institution of the first Passover. Our Lord, in His “humility”, became man, and likewise Himself “became” our Passover.

Then Moses died before crossing over the Jordan. The law is typified as “dying”, and then the promised inheritance is realized. Joshua, was a fighting man,,,a warrior to lead the people in their taking of the promised land…Likewise,,,when our Lord returns, it will be “no more Mr. Nice Guy”,,,but He will come with power and “a sword”.

Later, God visited the Israelites upon Mt. Sinai, and came to actually “live” with the Israelites….likewise,,,,on Pentecost, God sent His Holy Spirit to “live” within us.

The above, are two great fulfilled types which our Lord fulfilled for us. After 40 years, the Israelites were allowed to “enter” into their inheritance, (they then had to fight for 7 years to claim it),,,,picturing their time of Jacob’s trouble…and likewise, after forty jubilees, we shall also enter into our inheritance.

So, we have had our Passover, Christ, fulfilled, and also our Pentecost, fulfilled. But we await the fulfillment of the promised entrance into our inheritance, for which we were sealed by the Holy Spirit.

ON TO JOSHUA

I have just been doing a pretty heavy study of Moses, and Joshua…something I highly recommend to all of you, for there is much to learn, and many fine details to examine,,,but I shall try to keep it as broad as possible, notwithstanding all the marvelous little notes I have collected…I shall try to spare you my tendency to get all tangled up. Perhaps I can fill in later on some of the details as we approach Nisan 10.

Moses brought the people out of Egypt,,,,(our salvation by the Passover Lamb,,,from Egypt),,,but it was Joshua, the successor to Moses, who led the people into their inheritance forty years later. (And so it will be with the current generation of Jews) Remember, Moses, was humble, and not a man of war,,,,but during the fighting with the Amalekites, held his hands up in prayer, interceding with God, for the victory. Likewise,,,Christ has been in heaven, interceding on our behalf, as our High Priest and advocate with the Father.

Joshua, however, was “commander in chief”,,,,a man who was to lead the actual wars of the taking of the inheritance in the promised land….a man of war. Likewise, when our Lord comes to take us to His promised inheritance, He will be as “the Lion of the Tribe of Judah”…a Lord of judgment, and war, coming in the Glory of His Father, rather than the sacrificial Lamb, humble.

So,,,,here,,,,are the two facets of our Lord in types…Moses, the meek, the bringing in of Passover, by the way who was denied entrance into the promised land (as Christ was denied the opportunity to take His people to their inheritance on Nisan 10, 32 AD, awaiting His coming as “Joshua”).

And, 40 years (jubilees for us) later,,,Joshua,,,,the one to whom God said “be STRONG” in His commission to him to lead the people into their inheritance….., the opposite of the meekness of Moses. This then, is the type of our Lord when He returns to lead us, and His people Israel, into their promised inheritances,,,,and He will come in STRENGTH AND POWER,,,as Josuah was commissioned to be to the people.

In the book of Revelation, John sees the Lamb, “as it had been slain”, (is this because John had arrived in heaven at the time of Passover?) as worthy to take the scroll and open it,,,,and behold, the Lamb also is seen as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, at that point, worthy to open the scroll of our great inheritance. Moses, becomes Joshua, here, the types fulfilled. Thus, our Lord is seen as the author and finisher of our faith,,,as the Lamb,,,and as the Lion of the tribe of Judah.

THE RED SEA, AND THE RIVER JORDAN

A quick look at the difference here, before proceeding, of the passing through of God’s people through two different kinds of waters,,,one, a great sea,,,,another a flooded river.

Moses led the people through the parted waters of the Red Sea. Finding ourselves on the shore of this place,,,and the opening of the waters for us,,,follows the Passover (applying the blood of the Lamb), and enabling us to leave Egypt, the world and its enticements, which is bondage to sin and the flesh…..destroying our enemies when the sea returns upon them…..that is, Christ, making a “shew of principalities and powers, triumphing over them”.

Moses cried aloud “STAND STILL,,,and see the salvation of God !” That is the Red Sea, and we have all passed through in this way, following Him, our Saviour. Moses, in meekness, led the people through this salvation experience, as our Lord, in meekness and obedience to the Father,,,leads us into and out of the Red Sea, from death to life.

It is our baptism into His death. Then Pentecost,,,,God coming to “live with us” by sending His Holy Spirit. We went on to wander in the wilderness, learning to depend upon our Lord for all our needs, and learning about Him, receiving the Bread from heaven, the manna of His teachings, and being instructed in His ways. Our “old man” dying in this wilderness, because of sin…..so that the younger generation, our “new man”, may enter into the promised inheritance.

Joshua, on the other hand leads the people across the Jordan River,,,which during the spring harvest season was a torrent of flooding over its banks every year at that time. Seemingly insurmountable problem, to get across that river. Yet, the Lord says:

And thou shalt command the priests that bear the ark of the covenant, saying, When ye are come to the brink of the water of Jordan, ye shall stand STILL in Jordan.

When our Lord is about to do a mighty work,,,He wants us to “stand still” and not panic,,,to be fully confident that He is able to perform the impossible,,,,in Luke we are told to “look up”, for our redemption draws nigh…………we are to keep our eyes fixed on our Lord coming from heaven,,,,like Joshua told the people to “follow the Ark”, and look at it instead of the raging, heaped up waters around them….and like Peter, who, when his eyes were fixed upon the Lord, did not sink in the water, but when he began to fix his eyes on the raging of the sea around him,,,began to sink.

When Joshua told the people to “follow the Ark of the Covenant”, he here changes “dispensations”, for them,,,,because prior to this they had followed the cloud by day, and the column of fire by night. But now, they are to “follow the Ark”,,,,and the Ark itself, was sent to lead the priests in the battle of Jericho. Israel, soon, will begin to “follow the Ark of the Covenant”,,,that is,,,,Jesus Christ our Lord….in a new “dispensation” for them.

The name of the River Jordan means Jor = “spreading”and Dan =

“judgment”,,,,so the River Jordan, a river which floods (spreads) over each year,,,means judgment for sin, a flood of judgment. Thus, John the Baptist said, “repent” of sin, and be baptized, sin judged, in this river. I find it interesting that in Daniel, the prophet says “and the end shall come WITH A FLOOD”…..(flooding of judgment),,,,perhaps even a literal flooding of the River Jordan. Daniel also speaks of the “overspreading” of abominations,,like a flood,,,,,the judgment of the overspreading waters of the River Jordan.

Now, God caused this river to heap its waters up coming from its source, and the lower waters to recede away,,,making the river bed dry, so that the priests could carry the Ark, first, into its midst. This is a picture of Israel, and us, following the Ark of the Covenant (our Lord and Savior) being able to cross this river of judgment, “dry”, or without sin, for Joshua had told the people the day before to “sanctify themselves, for tomorrow God will do a great work for you….” (purify themselves) and we, as I quoted above, are to “be ready”,,,,and “unleavened” and “purified virgins” ,,,,as our Lord comes to lead us into our inheritance, “without sin”, as:

“So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.”

After crossing this river,,,,,it returned again to its overflowing character,,,picturing the overspreading of “judgment”,,,and the “overspreading abominations”, which would be judged, this inundation as seen in the ensuing day of God’s wrath.

just another little note, is that when the people passed over,,they had “removed from their tents”, as:

Joshua 3:14 And it came to pass, when the people removed from their tents, to pass over Jordan, and the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people; etc.

According to our apostle Paul, we also “groan” to get out of these “tabernacles”, or tents. Now, it is quite obvious to any that these people would have had to remove themselves out of their tents before crossing over the Jordan River,,,,so the Holy Spirit, has added this little detail for our benefit,,,,,,it means something, or it wouldn’t be there,,,for there is no part of the Word of God, that does not have an application to our Lord, or for our own learning.

Above,,,This is the exciting part. Notice the day upon which the Israelites “crossed over Jordan” to receive their inheritance.

This, also, in the law of Moses, was the day of the selection of the lamb for the Passover feast,,,,these people crossed over Jordan,,,and “kept the feast” on the day of Passover, on the 14th Nisan, as the apostle Paul (and our Lord) say that we will keep the feast, fulfilled, in the Kingdom of the Father. Christ fulfilled this lamb-selection day when He rode into Jerusalem,,,,rejected as King,,,,but selected as the Lamb of God.

Next time He comes, it will be as our King, and our Prince, our Wonderful One, and also the beginning of Israel’s return to their God and Saviour, and King. Israel, in the day in which Christ rode into Jerusalem, failed to see that their “deliverance” was shown clearly to them in the events with Joshua,,,,,that their inheritance could be had then,,,,,and as Jesus said,,,,they “could have known the day of their PEACE”…..(arrival of the Kingdom,,,and millennium of peace)

But their failure is our treasure, as we gentiles were afar off from the family of our Father and His Son. We have benefited by their blindness,,,,,we all have much gratitude to the Jewish people, in many different ways, and a great sorrow for their sacrifices on our behalf.

First, as soon as they were crossed over,,the Lord commanded them to be circumcised “again”…this shows the soon-coming re-circumcision of Israel, who will come back into a state of circumcision of the heart, having neglected their closeness and trusting in God over the last forty years. Likewise, Moses was not allowed to attend to God’s mighty work in Egypt, until he had circumcised his sons, on the way to Egypt.

The above pictures the Lord arriving to help in the battles for Israel, after the rapture of the church, the manna ceasing, as the removal of the Holy Spirit, the restrainer, with the church.

KEEPING THE FEAST

The River Jordan was crossed during the day time. We are children of the day. The “night”, that is, when the son of perdition is revealed is the 13th of Nisan (that is, the transition from the 13th – 14th Nisan, evening and night) as Judas was revealed on that night. and as Haman was also revealed on the 13th of the month of Adar, the night of Esther’s second dinner. (13th – 14th Adar)

And Jesus said to the people who came to arrest Him,,,”are you come to take me as a THIEF?”,,,,and so, He will come as a thief in the night to the “world”. The events of that dark evening, the 13th Nisan, foreshadowed the turning point, when the son of perdition would be given “his time”, and our Lord has “nothing” with him….

This is an event of “the night”. And Judas went out,,,and it was “night”. Perhaps the arrival of the son of perdition, and his false prophet (Elijah to the Jews)…..but, again, we are children of the day. And we should see that day coming according to Paul. We are seeing more than a smattering of Christianity being blasphemed by such books as the Da Vinci Code, and this new book announcing the discovery of the graves of our Lord and His mother, etc. Our own abominations of desolations stare us in the face each and every day.

Paul said that the Restrainer would be taken out (the rapture), and THEN that wicked one would be REVEALED. Perhaps on Nisan 10, we will be taken across the River Jordan, to our own inheritance,,,the restrainer going with us…. after which the “manna ceased”,,,,or, the ministry of the Holy Spirit, who gives us to remember His Words,,,or His manna from heaven.

THEN,,,a few days later that wicked one is “revealed”,,,as was Judas, on the night of Nisan 13. The “hour” of darkness, of which our Lord spoke on that night: Judas “went before” the crowd that arrested Jesus…

“Then Jesus said unto the chief priests, and captains of the temple, and the elders, which were come to him, Be ye come out, as against a thief, with swords and staves? 53 When I was daily with you in the temple, ye stretched forth no hands against me: but this is your hour, and the power of darkness”

Now, on the evening/night of the 13th / 14th Nisan, Jesus held a Passover / communion dinner with His deciples,,,, He said to His deciples on that night,

“And they went, and found as he had said unto them: and they made ready the passover. 14 And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him. 15 And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: 16 For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”

Above, He says He desires greatly to eat the Passover with His deciples “before” He suffers,,,in other words, He could not keep it the next night. But take note that he says He will not partake of the Passover meal again until “IT BE FULFILLED IN THE KINGDOM OF HIS FATHER”.

Going back to the book of Joshua, after the Israelites passed over the River Jordan, they were then able to keep the Passover Feast, in their new land, and after that they were able to eat of the “fruit of that land”, for the manna had ceased, and the old corn, unleavened, had been eaten.

Likewise, when we enter into our promised inheritance, the manna which has been our daily bread, will cease, the old corn eaten,,,and we will be able to KEEP THE FEAST with our Lord, FULFILLED in the Kingdom of His Father…..for He Himself said that the next time He would keep the feast would be at the fulfillment of it in HIS FATHER’S KINGDOM…., with us.

Paul tells the Corinthians to “keep the feast” after purging out the old leaven,

Until that day, Paul tells us we are to remember His death, til He come:

Now, we are “unleavened”,,,,and also Paul tells us we are a “kind of firstfruits”….To me that rather puts our own entering into our inheritance in the spring, the season of unleavened bread, but before the “night” of Passover,,,,and also, we are a “type” of firstfruits. Our Lord was the first of the firstfruits of the resurrection. We are in Him, we are part of His Body.

Go back to the book of Genesis, and it shows that each creature and “plant” has its own seed within itself….If our Lord was barley, and the firstfruits of the barley,,,then are we not barley also? When we read of the field of the wheat and the tares, we are told that the field is “the world”, not the church,,,,and that the “harvest” of that field is the end of the age.

There are children of the devil and children of the “Kingdom” in that field, and it is wheat, of which there will be an abundant harvest….this harvest,,,I think,,,will be the harvest of those people who will suffer the first half of the tribulation years…the hot summer of wheat as it matures. I think the barley harvest, still, has to do with Him, His body, His flesh and His bones, as He showed to doubting Thomas. How can we be wheat, when our Lord and Saviour is barley?

his would represent, then, if this be our blessed year…and the tribulation started on Nisan 10 this year (April 4th (3rd HERE) ,,,exactly at mid-tribulation, on the feast of trumpets. At that time the two witnesses would be raised from being dead,,,and they went up with “clouds”, so that it may represent the final gathering in of the wheat field, just prior to the wrath of God commencing upon an un-believing world.

The trumpets of this feast, announce the coming of the king, warnings of war, and judgment, and the commencement of the “days of awe”, (ten days) which precede Yom Kippur, followed by the feast of tabernacles, five days later. So, here, judgment is surely announced. During this time period the Jews will see the abomination of desolation,,,

they will be on rooftops (says Jesus to them, to come down from the rooftops) when this time comes (feast of tabernacles?), because they put their tents on rooftops during that feast….they are to flee Jerusalem, hopefully at a time that is “not winter”,,,and this would be the autumn. The un-numberable crowd seen in heaven coming out of great tribulation,,,could be the wheat harvest,,,for they have “hungered, thirsted, the sun beating upon them, and much heat”…

that sounds like the wheat enduring the long hot summer,,,,finally taken up as a great harvest to the Lord. They have indeed endured famine, hunger, thirst, during the first 3 ½ years of the tribulation…and now the Lord can put in His harvesting tools, to deal with the “fruits”, or late harvest,,the grapes of wrath, while He shelters the fleeing Jews as He did when they were in the wilderness, and cares for them at the place where they flee.

Joshua Chapter 3

4
Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about TWO THOUSAND CUBITS by measure: come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go: for ye have not passed this way heretofore.

Above, we learn that there will be a space of about 2000 cubits, from when the Ark of the Covenant passed into the dry river. This pictures the 2000 + years which have passed since our Lord passed before us, our own Ark of His Covenant of grace with us. And the people are told that they have “not passed this way before”…what that actually means in other translations is that they had not passed over before in “this manner” instead of “way”……..as in a totally different experience from any that they had had in the wilderness. Joshua told the people the day before to sanctify themselves….for TOMORROW would be the day God would show His wonders. I wonder if we will also be told by our Lord in some manner, the day before the rapture.

JOSHUA’S STONES

When our Lord came upon the colt Nisan 10, all His disciples praised God with a loud voice, and rejoiced for “all His mighty works”. They cry out “peace in heaven, and glory to the highest”…as I am sure will be our joy and shouts of praise when He comes for us…during this pageant, the Pharisees came to Him to state their displeasure at the spectacle they were making…..Jesus then said something rather odd: that if He were to silence these rejoicing disciples, that the stones would immediately cry out in rejoicing….what? What stones?

It is well documented that the Jews require a “sign”. And during the tribulation years God will again show them many signs and wonders. During this age of grace, we love Him, though not having seen Him, or having any “signs”. Blessed are they who believe, without “seeing”.

John the Baptist, at the River Jordan, while baptizing, also rebuked the Pharisees with a similar message about “these stones”:

Matthew 3:9

“And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.”

He probably pointed right to that pile of 12 stones,,,because John 1:28 says that he baptized in “Bethabara, beyond Jordan”…..”Bethabara” means “the house of passage”,,,,,,,,that is,,,the place where Israel passed over the river. These, then, must be the stones to which Jesus likewise referred in a similar way…

Back to the stones.

Notice the careful instructions which God gave to Joshua, about arranging a pile of 12 stones:

6 That this may be a SIGN among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones?

Now,,,were these the “stones”, which our Lord was bringing to the Pharisees’ attention, these very stones, which were to be a “sign” to the people of Israel,,,these stones which would “speak” and “cry out”, to them?

If some huge event were to happen on the 10th of Nisan, it would not take the Jews very long to figure out that Joshua’s stones had something to say to them. This, indeed, would be their first “sign” of the start of the tribulation,,,and of their entering into their promised land, to fight the wars which confront them, for their land, with Joshua (Jesus) as their commander in chief. Surely, then, Jewish children would ask their fathers “what mean these stones?”

Also, we ourselves are called by Paul “lively stones”, which make up the Temple of His Body. And the first work after crossing over the Jordan, was for Joshua and the people to set up these stones, as a memorial, forever.

The stones would be a memorial first to Israel,,,and then “THAT ALL OF THE PEOPLE OF THE EARTH MIGHT KNOW THE HAND OF THE LORD,,,THAT IT IS MIGHTY: THAT YE MIGHT FEAR THE LORD YOUR GOD FOREVER”

So, these stones would also be a “sign” to all the people of the earth.

All the people of the earth would surely know the mighty power of God, were the rapture to happen on that day, when the stones were set up. The 10th of Nisan.

Joshua had also taken 12 other stones and carried them into the dry river bed itself. These 12 stones were covered by the returning torrent of water. It is a picture of “leaving behind” the twelve old stones, of Israel’s past wanderings, the waters of judgment covering their old sins,,,,and the setting up of the 12 stones taken from the river bed, put on dry ground, one stone for each tribe in Israel. The number 12 here is meant as a message for the whole host of Israel, the complete 12 tribes.

EXTREMELY INTERESTING:

THE WEDDING AT CANA

It is interesting that the wedding where Jesus turned the water into wine, was JUST BEFORE the feast of Passover.

John 2: 12-13

12 After this he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples: and they continued there not many days.

13 And the Jews’ passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

Above, notice that after this wedding feast,,,He and His mother and brethren, went to Capernaum (just before Passover),,and continued there “NOT MANY DAYS”……this could well have happened on Nisan 10, for it is “not many days”, unto the feast of the Passover, which was “at hand” at that time. and notice:

“the governor of the feast called the bridegroom,

And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.”

Also notice above,,,,,that at this time “Jesus went up to Jerusalem”…(picturing His taking us (His mother, brethren, and deciples,,,to the “New Jerusalem” above?

Jesus Himself, had told His deciples,,,,,(see above) that when He drank again of the fruit of the vine,,,it would be fulfilled IN HIS FATHER’S KINGDOM,,,,,at the WEDDING FEAST,,,,,,,,,and that, indeed would be the “good wine”, which is served at the fulfillment of this day……the wedding at Cana, fore-shadows our joining with Him, in the coming wedding feast in heaven.

And this happened JUST BEFORE PASSOVER, “not many days hence”… Notice also above,,,that the governor says that “thou hast kept the good wine”…that is, the BRIDEGROOM Himself, had kept the good wine until the last. Also, the city of Capernaum to which they went after the wedding is the place which Jesus chose as “HIS OWN ABODE”,,,,,,,

CAPERNAUM
A city on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus chose, as the place of his abode,

Therefore, Jesus after the wedding is seen with His mother, and brethren, and deciples in HIS PLACE OF ABODE,,,,,,in heaven, for the “not many days” until that Passover. We shall also be with Him in His place, His abode, in the few days before Passover. And, according to Hitchcock’s Bible Dictionary,,,Capernaum means: “field of repentance,,,and place of comfort”….