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Last Trump Gathering Bible Studies
Volume One With Taken and Left [Behind] Surprises!
Volume Two Pretribbers Read and Weep (1)!

These studies consist of various instructions, deductions, warnings, and Biblical (Heb 10:7) information and truths for the budding or mature Christian. In the final third part of this study, my decisive focus is on three annually observed Israelite festivals (Exo 23:14-17 ⁷¹) when all the males appeared before the LORD, and other ones ⁵⁵ that have spiritual fulfillments (Mat 5:17-19).

Some of the things learned in these studies are not necessarily accepted by the Dispensational Premillennialist, or the schools that teach non-Biblical Pre-Tribulation Rapture, Gap and Day-Age Theories, traditions and false visions. Their errors only helped reinforce my quest, leading me to explore deeper (1 Cor 2:9-14) the riches (Rom 11:33) of God's Word to find more truths.

After all these years of periodically studying the Book of books (John 21:25; Rev 10:8-11), from Genesis to Revelation, I still do not have revelations (Dan 10:1) and visions (Ezek 1:1) like the prophets (Heb 1:1-3) did. The privilege of being in His kingdom (John 3:5), one of His children and joint heirs with Jesus Christ (Rom 8:14-17) opens the door, enabling me to receive the right understanding (Mat 13:51-52 ⁵¹), and gives me the liberty (2 Cor 3:17) to learn truths (Col 1:25-27; Rev 1:1-3). The ones that I receive are manifested and declared through what the Holy Spirit unveils (1 Cor 2:9-14) while studying (2 Tim 2:15 ³⁶), with His guidance (John 16:12-15), the Bible and scriptures (Rom 16:25-27) contained within.

Various Categories

To help get the right ideas across in these studies, the Word of God could be placed into various categories. Besides the historical side, parts of the Bible form a road map showing present location and route, which represent our sinful condition and direction, and guiding both Jew and Gentile the way to salvation. Then, some parts are comparable to gathering material and building a house, which show how God is gathering His children and building a spiritual house with lively stones (1 Pet 2:3-5), a holy temple (Eph 2:19-22), His new covenant Church ⁵⁶ with many members (Eph 5:29-30) -- are one bread and one body (Eph 3:6) in Christ (1 Cor 10:16-17 ⁶) -- who are being conformed to the image ³ of the Father's ²⁸ dearly beloved ⁶⁰ Only ⁴ Begotten Son. ⁵

Gathering Scattered Pieces

And then the prophetic parts are like gathering scattered pieces of a picture puzzle and placing them, which clarify God's unveiling (2 Cor 3:13-18) order of events (1 Cor 15:20-28), learning about things once sealed (Dan 9:24, 12:3-4, 9), but now not sealed (Rev 22:9-10) and revealed (Mat 11:25-27; Eph 3:1-6) about the Savior (Psa 40:7-8 ^R) and His (mysteries) secrets (Rev 10:7) to whoever He so desires (Amos 3:6-8; Deu 29:29 ⁷). Just as Jesus' first coming was foretold with various details scattered throughout the prophetic (1 Cor 13:9-13) Word, it is the same with His second appearing (Heb 9:28) and coming (Mat 24:30).

Examine Both Testaments

To understand more of Jesus, and He and His disciples' messages, and where they were coming from (considering they were in the covenants' transition), we need to examine both Testaments.

Preparation for a Good Foundation

We will begin by examining some O.T. scriptures (spoken of in the N.T. are the O.T. and its passages), which testify of our Savior (John 5:39-40), and getting an over-all picture of things. The O.T. is the foundation for the N.T. books. For if it did not exist, we would not have the true creation account (Gen 1-2), the beginning ³⁰ of the heavens and earth, which have existed for around 6000 years (not eons), ²⁹ and the Law and written prophecies (2 Pet 1:20-21), which are being fulfilled, and much more.

The Fall

Beginning with Genesis, we first learn about God's good and finished creation, His order of things, about Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, their fall (Gen 3) into sin (Rom 5:12) and death (Gen 2:16-17; 3:1-13),, and the beginning of disorder and chaos on the earth.

After the serpent deceived Eve (Gen 3:13; 2 Cor 11:3), and she and Adam ate of the forbidden fruit, the LORD (Yehovah) God ('elohiym) said unto Satan...I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he will bruise your head (Rev 13:3), and you will bruise his heel (Gen 3:14-15), which happened at Calvary during Roman rule. Man had alienated himself from God, but He had made plans before hand to redeem him (Rev 13:8; 1 Pet 1:18-20). God said unto Adam and Eve, "...be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish [fill] the earth, and subdue it..." (Gen 1:27-28 KJV).

The Flood

Around 1656 years later, ²⁹ when the earth was corrupt before God and it was filled with violence (Gen 6:11-13), the LORD (Yehovah) said He will destroy man and every living creature, but Noah found grace in His eyes (Gen 6:8). God ('elohiym) said unto him to build an ark (Gen 6:14-22), and then He caused it to rain upon the earth (Gen 7:1-4) to the Flood it and destroyed all flesh in whose nostrils was the breath of life (Gen 6:17; 7:21-23), except for eight souls (Gen 7:12-13; 1 Pet 3:20) and those that were with them in the ark.

Abram and Isaac

Around 367 years after the flood and the LORD had said unto Noah to multiply and replenish the earth (Gen 9:1), He chose (Neh 9:7-8) a man named Abram (Gen 11:31-25:10). The LORD said unto him to get out of his country and go unto a land that He will show him. So at 75 years old, he departed Haran and went forth into the land of Canaan (Gen 12:1-5). The LORD gave him and his seed the land (Gen 13:12, 14-15) and changed his name to Abraham (Gen 17:5-7). When he was 100 years old, his son Isaac was born unto him (Gen 21:5) by his wife Sarah who was 90 (Gen 17:17).

After God tested him (Gen 22:1-14), He said, "...because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son [Isaac], thine only son: That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed ⁸ because though hast obeyed my voice" (Gen 22:15-18 KJV). And according to Galatians 3:16, ²⁷ the promises were made to one seed, which is Christ—and if you are in Christ, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise (Gal 3:29).

Note: Abraham means "father of a multitude" according to Strong's Dictionary.

When Isaac was 60 years old, he had two sons born unto him, Esau and Jacob, by his wife Rebekah (Gen 25:19-26).

Jacob and Israel

When (Gen 32:28) Jacob (Israel) was 130 years old (Gen 47:9), he and eleven of his twelve sons and their families (Gen 46:5-7 ⁹) went into Egypt (Exo 1:1-5) to be with son Joseph and his family (Gen 48:5; 50:23).

After the children of Israel stayed four hundred and thirty years (Exo 12:40-41 ¹⁰) and multiplied (Exo 1:6-7; Deu 10:22), the LORD called Moses (Exo 3:1-10) who He had raised up (Exo 9:16) and delivered the children of Israel from the authoritarian Pharaoh. And while in the wilderness (Exo 19:1), He gave them the Law (Exo 24:12; John 1:17), commands (Exo 16:28), ordinances (Exo 18:20), statutes (Deu 4:4-10) and judgments (Lev 26:46) in which they were to keep (Lev 18:4-5) and observe (Deu 12:32) to do (Deu 17:18-19). If they did they would go in and possess (Deu 4:1-2; 8:1) the Promised (Canaan) Land (Lev 20:22-24), live (Deu 5:31- 6:2) and be blessed (Deu 28:1-14), but if they did not they would be punished (Lev 26), cursed and destroyed (Deu 28:15-62). Moses wrote the words of the Law in a book, and it was put beside the Ark of the Covenant (Deu 31:24-26).

After seeing all the signs (Num 14:11) and wonders (Exo 7:3; Deu 4:34) in Egypt (Exo 7-13) and the miracles in the wilderness (Num 14:22), having an angel of God go before them (Exo 14:19; 23:20), having a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night (Exo 13:20-22; Num 14:14), crossing in the midst of the divided Red Sea waters on dry ground, seeing the drowning of the Egyptians by the returning waters (Exo 14:1-15:21), the coming of the quails and the manna from heaven (Exo 16:9-36), hearing the voice of the LORD (Exo 19:14-25), seeing the LORD (Exo 33:9-23), the God of Israel and the glory of the LORD on top of Mount Sinai (Exo 24:1-18), which appeared at the tabernacle of congregation (Num 16:42), seeing the fire that came out from before the LORD and consuming the burnt offering (Lev 9:23-24), and much more, regardless of all the wondrous works (Neh 9:9-23) the LORD did (Psa 78), the children of Israel sinned still (Num 21:1-9) and believed Him not (Num 14:11; Psa 78:32).

The LORD at first was not able to bring them into the Promised Land (Num 13-14). Even after forty years in the wilderness (Num 14:33-34) and proven (Exo 16:4; Deu 8:2), many of them still did not get to see (Deu 1:34-35) or enter (Num 20:23-24) it. Because of their complaining (Num 11:1-2), murmurings (Num 14:26-39 ⁷⁶), rebellion (Deu 9) and their disobedience (Josh 5:6), many died (Num 16:46-50 ³⁸) in the wildernesss (Num 26:61-65). Even Moses died (Deu 34:1-8) there because he sanctified the LORD not at the waters of Meribah-Kadesh (Deu 32:49-52). But Joshua as their new leader (Josh 1:1-9), Caleb (Deu 1:36-39) who followed the LORD fully (Num 14:24, 30), the children of Israel (Josh 1:10-18) who believed and obeyed the LORD, and their children (Num 14:31; Josh 5:7-10) crossed over Jordan (Josh 3-4) to possess (Num 14:24; Deu 3:18-20) the Promised Land (Deu 27:3; Neh 9:24-25), continuing to become that great nation (Gen 12:1-3, 46:1-4) as promised (Deu 1:8-11; 6:3).

Judges, Prophets and Kings

After Joshua died (Josh 24:28-31), the LORD raised up judges for a period of 450 years (Acts 13:20) who delivered them out of the hand of those who spoiled them (Judg 2:16-19). And during Samuel the prophet (1 Sam 3:20), the Seer (1 Sam 9:9) who also was a judge (1 Sam 7:15), the children of Israel wanted a king, in so doing were rejecting (1 Sam 10:19) the LORD as their king (1 Sam 8:6-7; Isa 41:20-21). So the LORD placed Saul, who He chose (1 Sam 10:24) and who the Israelites chose and desired, as king over them (1 Sam 12:12-13).

After two years (1 Sam 13:1), the LORD rejected him as king, because he rejected His word and transgressed His commandment (1 Sam 15:23-24), and chose David, a man (1 Sam 13:13-14) after His own heart (Acts 13:22). After David reigned seven and a half years in Hebron, he and his men took the strong hold of Zion. And from Jerusalem he reigned another thirty-three years—all together forty years (2 Sam 5:3-10). Because he was a man of war and had shed blood, the LORD chose his son Solomon instead to build His house (1 Chr 28:2-7).

In the four hundred and eightieth year after the Exodus, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign and after his Father's death (1 Chr 29:26-28), he begin to build the house of the LORD (1 Ki 6:1), and in the eleventh year, it was finished (1 Ki 6:37-38). After he reigned 40 years and died (2 Chr 9:30-31), David's descendants continued to sit upon the throne of David (1 Ki 2:45) and of Israel (1 Ki 9:5).

The LORD sent the divided kingdom (1 Ki 11:31-33; 12:16-20) prophets (2 Ki 17:13; Luke 13:34), and the children of Israel wanted them to prophesy deceits, not right things (Isa 30:9-11). He warned them time again, but many were still much of the time rebellious (Isa 65:2) and disobedient (Neh 9:26-38; Rom 10:21) to the Law and to the commandments of the LORD (Exo 16:28; Neh 1:7) during the reign of kings (2 Chr 12:1; Dan 9:5-6) and the judges (Judg 2:17) before them, whoring after the gods (1 Chr 5:25-26 ²⁰).

Captivity, Jerusalem and Temple Destroyed

Around 390 years (Ezek 4:4-5) after Solomon's death, the LORD brought the southern kingdom of Judah (2 Ki 24:14-17) into captivity -- earlier northern Israel (2 Ki 17:1-6, 22-24) -- and the land into desolation (Lev 26:25-35). In 586 B.C. (according to Western Civilizations, Eleventh Edition, Volume One, page 80) Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon destroyed Jerusalem and the temple (2 Chr 36:16-21; Ezra 5:12).

Rebuilding

In 516 B.C., after they were destroyed and Jerusalem lay desolate seventy years (2 Chr 36:21 ¹¹), the rebuilt temple (Ezra 1:1-2 ¹²) was completed (Ezra 6:14-15). Few years later, the remnant that were left of the captivity there in the province (Neh 1:3) begin repairing the wall and building the gates (Neh 3). According to Josephus in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of Xerxes (Artaxerxes according to Holman Bible Dictionary) in the ninth month, the wall was finished (Antiq. 11.5.8.179-180) -- completed in fifty-two days (Neh 6:15), possibly around 437 B.C. The LORD recovered a remnant the first time from all nations (Jer 43:5), and in these last days, He is recovering a remnant the second time (Isa 11:10-11; 27:12) from all nations (Deu 30:3-5). ¹³ The spiritual connotation of some of those O.T. scriptures is Jesus building His Church ⁵⁶ and the gathering together of His elect (Mat 24:31; Mark 13:27).

Still Disobedient

Better than four hundred years passed and after the birth (Mat 2:4-6) of Jesus (Mat 1:21) -- called Immanuel (Isa 7:14-16; Mat 1:22-23) -- some Israelites were still disobedient to the Law (John 7:19) and to the commandment of God (Mat 15:3-9 ¹⁴), some by their traditions.

Messenger Then Messiah

The Messiah, whom Moses (Deu 18:15-19) in the Law and the prophets wrote about (John 1:45) and who was to bruise the head of Satan (Gen 3:15), was to make His appearance. But first the messenger ²¹ of the Lord (Mal 3:1-3) had to come (Mat 11:7-15), who was John the Baptist and Elias (Mark 9:11-13), and preach repentance for the kingdom of God was at hand (Mat 3:1-3), preparing (Isa 40:3) the way of the Lord (Luke 3:2-6). For in their midst (Isa 9:1-2; Mat 4:14-16), who come preaching the gospel (Isa 61:1-2 ²²), was Jesus the Christ (John 1:40-41), the Lamb of God who was to take away the sin of the world (John 1:29), heal (Luke 4:18-19), forgive (Mat 9:1-8; Acts 26:17-18), do miracles ²³ by the power of God (Luke 9:38-43) and bring into man God's Kingdom (Luke 17:20-21). The Lord made a promise that He has kept. The New Testament (Mat 26:26-29), new covenant (Heb 12:24 ²⁶) believers, who were to be a kind of first fruits (James 1:18), were about to receive (Acts 2:1-4 ¹⁵) by faith in Jesus Christ (Gal 3:22-26) the promise and blessings of Abraham (Gen 12:1-3 ⁸).

Fulfillment

Israel—the Church (Acts 7:38; Heb 2:11-12) -- might have not known all what was happening. For the Law of Moses (John 1:17) and the Prophets was being fulfilled (Luke 4:17-21; 24:44-49) and not destroyed (Mat 5:17-19). Paul, who knew the scriptures (Acts 13:32-35) more than anyone that I know, other than Jesus who is the Living Word (John 1:1-5, 14), and who wrote thirteen possibly fourteen books of the N.T., by the inspiration of God (2 Tim 3:15-16) said, "...the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith" (Gal 3:24 KJV).

This one Israelite (Rom 11:1; Acts 22:2-3) had lived under (Rom 3:19-20 ²⁴) the Law (Exo 24:12 ²⁵). It made nothing perfect (Heb 7:19), as we can see from Israelites' disobedience in the past. The Law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, with gifts and sacrifices could not continually make the comers perfect (Heb 10:1), or he that performed the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience. The tabernacle ⁶⁵ the children of Israel had in the wilderness for forty years was a figure for the present time Heb 9:1-10), and the holy places were figures of the true (Heb 9:24-26). All could not redeem man, free him from the law of sin and death (Rom 8:2-4), give him power over the flesh (Col 2:23) and sin (Rom 7:5-25), nor could they take away sin (Heb 10:4, 11).

If one keeps the whole Law and offends in one point, he is guilty of all (James 2:10). Paul tells the brethren to have no confidence in the flesh (Phil 3:1-6). "...What the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh," God sent his own Son "...in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit" (Rom 8:2-4 KjV). By "Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances [Heb 9:1, 9-10] that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the away, nailing it to the cross" (Col 2:14 KJV), and abolishing "...in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances..." (Eph 2:15 KJV), the Lord made a way for us to live a new life in Him.

The Lord is the only One who could redeem them that were under the Law (Gal 4:4-5) and its curse (Gal 3:13), and from all iniquity (Titus 2:13-14). God has done the impossible (Mark 10:26-27; Luke 1:37) with the making of a new covenant (Jer 31:31 ²⁶), by the one offering that He hath perfected, by the one sacrifice (Heb 10:4-18) that could ever take away sin (1 John 3:5), writing His law in the heart (Jer 31:33; Heb 8:10) and perfecting (2 Tim 3:16-17 ¹⁶) the children of God (Heb 11:39-40 ¹⁷). With God's indwelling Spirit (Ezek 36:27), we can love our enemy (Mat 5:43-46), and fulfill the Law by loving one another (Rom 13:8-10) and our neighbor as our self (James 2:8-17).

(Heb 9:8-12 KJV) "The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing: {9} Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; {10} Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation. {11} But Christ being come an high priest ⁷⁴ of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; {12} Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us."

Blessing Received by Jews and Gentiles Alike

Not only has the Lord redeemed Israel, He has also brought in the Gentiles (Isa 11:10 ¹⁸) so they too could receive (Acts 26:17-18) through faith in Christ Jesus (Gal 3:14, 26 ¹⁹) the promise and blessings of Abraham (Gen 12:1-3 ⁸) -- "...a father of many nations have I made thee" (Gen 17:5 KJV), "...In thee shall all nations be blessed" (Gal 3:8 KJV).