The Song of Solomon says that when the Rapture of the Church takes place, Israel will already have been regathered back into their land (May 14, 1948)
"The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice. My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away." Song Of Solomon 2:8-10 (KJV)
All through the Bible, God uses many things to paint pictures of coming events, this is known as 'typology'. Merriam-Webster
defines typology as "a doctrine of theological types;
especially : one holding that things in Christian belief are prefigured or symbolized by things in the Old Testament". For example, when Jonah was in the belly of the whale for three days and three nights, it was a type of the suffering of Jesus and His payment at Calvary on the Cross.
"For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." Matthew 12:40 (KJV)
Yes, the actual Jonah was really in the belly of an actual whale for 72 hours, but at the same time it was a type picture of a future event of prophecy. This is one of the things that Jesus is confirming in the above passage. God uses typology to a very high degree in the Old Testament to illustrate future, prophetical events.
Another great Old Testament type in the Bible is found in Genesis. The Bible tells us of a man called Enoch, a gentile who was the great grandfather to Noah. Enoch lived for 365 years, which just coincidentally matches the 365 days of the gentile calendar (the Hebrew calendar has 360 days). The Bible says that Enoch began walking with God after the birth of his son Methuselah, the oldest living man in the Bible. And then something amazing happened, here it is:
"And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him." Genesis 5:22-24 (KJV)
See what we have here? It's a type picture of the Rapture of the Church. Enoch was a gentile believer in God, had fellowship with Him and 'walked with Him'. Then, at some point in that walk, God took him home to Heaven literally and physically without ever having to die first. But that's not all. Enoch's rapture happens shortly before the tribulation of the flood of Noah destroys the Earth. Do you get that? Enoch is raptured out
before the flood which destroyed the world. The apostle Paul teaches in the New Testament that
the Church will be raptured out before the time of Jacob's trouble which will cause global death, misery and destruction.
Now that you have a good grasp of what typology in the Bible is, let's look at an amazing type picture in the Song of Solomon on the timing of the Rapture of the Church
In the second chapter of the Song of Solomon, God paints us a picture of the Rapture of the Church. Not only that, He tells us what time of the year that the Rapture will likely take place. In verses 8 and 9, we see Jesus looking down from the windows of Heaven at His beloved.
"The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice." Solomon 2:8,9 (KJV)
In the New Testament, when the apostle Stephen was being stoned to death, he looked up and what did he see? He saw the 'windows of Heaven opened' and Jesus getting ready to return in the Second Coming.
"But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God." Acts 7:55,56 (KJV)
In the book of Revelation, the 'window of Heaven' opens two times. Once in a type picture of the Rapture of the Church in chapter 4:1,2, and again in chapter 19:11-14 at the Second Coming where we return with Him at the Battle of Armageddon. In Song of Solomon 2, we see Jesus 'looking through the lattice' at His beloved Bride the Church. But notice that He calls for Her to 'rise up' to where He is and to 'come away' with Him. Now where in the New Testament do we hear anything resembling that? Right here:
"After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter." Revelation 4:1 (KJV)
The Pretribulation Rapture is connected with the Feast of Firstfruits which takes place in the Spring
Her beloved is calling for her to rise up and out to be with Him. Not only that, we see the likely timing of the Rapture as given in the context. It happens after the Winter is gone, and glorious Spring has come where new life once again fills the Earth.
"For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;" Song of Solomon 2:11,12 (KJV)
Many Bible scholars have tried to set the timing of the Rapture of the Church with the Feast of Trumpets because a trumpet-like Voice heralds the Rapture. But it is much more likely and seems to be indicated in the passage that the Rapture will align with
the Feast of Firstfruits which takes place in the Spring. Clearly that is what's happening in Song of Solomon 2.
Lastly, the Song of Solomon says that when the Rapture of the Church takes place, Israel will already have been regathered back into their land (May 14, 1948). Compare the passage with what Jesus in Matthew 24 said would take place, and we have harmony.
"The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a goodsmell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away." Song of Solomon 2:13 (KJV)
"Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors." Matthew 24:32,33 (KJV)
Remember that the Day of the Lord, while being an actual Day of His return, is also a period of time covering just over 1,000 years. The time period of the Day of the Lord starts with the
Rapture of the Church first, then kicks off
the time of Jacob's trouble, leads into the
Battle of Armageddon where we return with Jesus on white horses (that's the singular Day), starts the 1,000 Reign of Jesus Christ from Jerusalem, then
the Battle of Gog and Magog, the Great White Throne Judgment, and then....Eternity!
I hope you have enjoyed this brief snapshot of types in the Bible. The Pretribulation Rapture is shown in Song of Solomon, but it's hidden, it's a 'mystery', which would not be made known until the apostle Paul was called out.
"Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." 1 Corinthians 15:51,52 (KJV)
God paints us a beautiful type picture in the love song of Solomon, of the coming glorious future of the blood-washed, born again believers in the matchless Bridegroom Jesus Christ when we will be called to 'come away' with Him.
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