Rabbi Schneider steers this enlightening episode towards understanding the complex and debated topic of the end times and the rapture. Using the Passover as a lens, he explains the connection between biblical events and future occurrences described in Revelation. Join us as we explore pre-tribulation, mid-tribulation, and post-tribulation beliefs while emphasizing the importance of staying spiritually awake. This episode is a must-listen for anyone seeking clarity and comfort in knowing what to expect from prophetic biblical teachings.
Hello and welcome to Discovering the Jewish Jesus. I’m your host, Dustin Roberts. And today, Rabbi Schneider is going to help reveal the timing of the rapture. Is it coming when you think? From YouTube prophecies to book authors like Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins, and even Hollywood movies, there is no shortage of people talking about the end times. But what does the Bible say about the last day? Well, that’s what Rabbi is gonna focus on today. He’s gonna continue his study of the book of Revelation. We’ve got a lot to cover, so if you’ve got your Bible handy, we’re gonna start with some context that can be found in 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 16. And now here’s Rabbi Schneider to open up our time with a word of prayer today.
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Father God, we worship you. We ask you to come and speak to us through your word. Father, we pray that the word would enter our hearts today, that you would build us up by your Holy Spirit in spirit and in truth, in Yeshua’s name, in Jesus’ name. And all God’s people that are in agreement spoke together with me and said, amen and amen. I was just thinking before I came to film the old hymn. Some of you may remember this hymn. It’s about standing up in Jesus and being bold witnesses. And some of you older folks will remember it. It goes, Stand up, stand up for Jesus, ye soldiers of the cross. Lift high his holy banner.
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We must not suffer loss From victory unto victory His army shall He lead Till every foe is vanquished And Christ is Lord indeed
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Indeed. So we want to keep on lifting up that cross, beloved ones, and being bold witnesses because Jesus is coming back soon. And today we’re continuing our study in the book of Revelation. We’re calling this series Revelation Decoded as we prepare ourselves for the return of Yeshua HaMashiach, King Lord Jesus. Now, I’m going to be speaking today on the concept of the rapture. Most of you have heard of the term rapture. The word rapture is never actually used in the Bible, but it comes from the book of 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 16 and 17, where it speaks about the dead in Christ rising, and we that are alive will be caught up together with them, listen now, to meet the Lord in the air. So the concept of the rapture is being caught up, both those that have passed on and those that are still alive on earth that believe in Jesus. We’re going to be raptured. We’re going to be caught up. We’re going to ascend off the earth to meet Jesus in the clouds. Now, I know that this is so far removed from anything that we’ve ever experienced. To those that don’t have faith, this seems like make-believe. But let me remind you of this. That’s how the people of Noah’s day felt. when Noah began to warn them that a flood was coming. And God commanded Noah, we all know the story, to build the ark. And the people laughed at him. They thought it was a fairy tale. They thought it was nonsense. They could never imagine it. But you know what? The waters came. The flood came. And all those that were in the ark were saved. And those that were not were vanquished. They perished. Jesus, beloved, is coming back. And those of us that know him will be raptured up to meet him in the air. And this is no fairy tale. I want to challenge you today to step out of being passive in your mind, because if we don’t wake ourselves up by the word of God, we’re going to let this go over us like water off a duck’s back. thinking that the rapture, you know, might sound nice, that we may agree with it intellectually because we know that the Bible teaches it, but we really don’t believe it. But I want to challenge you today. The rapture is real. It’s going to happen. I think of a scripture in the book of Peter, and Peter was talking about how he was with Jesus, and he saw Jesus, he said, when he was with him on the holy mountain that we call the Mount of Transfiguration. You remember the stories in the gospel where Peter, James, and John went up on top of a mountain with Jesus. And when they got to the top of the mountain, beloved, suddenly Jesus was transformed before them. And he became a spirit before their eyes. In other words, they could no longer just see his body. But now they saw him as a spirit. There was the radiance of of God’s light that was shining through his body. And then they heard a voice from heaven that said, this is my beloved son, listen to him. And this is what Peter said about that. He said, he wrote it in his book, he said, we did not follow cleverly devised fairy tales when we made known to you the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He said, we were with him on the holy mountain. when we heard the divine voice from heaven say, this is my son, listen to him. In other words, Peter is saying that the coming of Jesus is no fairy tale. Peter said, I was with him on the mountain when he was transfigured before me as a being of glorious light. And I heard God speak from heaven saying, this is my son, listen to him. Jesus’ last words were, behold, I come quickly. I’m coming soon. So I just want you to shake it off because we have a tendency to think it didn’t happen last week. Didn’t happen last year. Didn’t happen five years ago, 10 years ago. Didn’t even happen 100 years ago. Hasn’t happened in 2,000 years. And so we stop staying awake. We stop expecting. And if we’re not careful, we’ll even stop believing. But God wants to remind us today, beloved, the scriptures are the word of God. Heaven and earth will pass away, but his word will never pass away. The rapture is real, and Jesus is coming back for you soon. i want you to do something with me now just to allow the holy spirit to do something in your heart i want to just activate faith in god’s word for you concerning the rapture and the coming of jesus i want you to put your hand over your heart with me first and just put your hand over your heart and just repeat after me jesus just say it with me jesus is coming back soon Now let’s do it this way. Let’s say together, Jesus is coming back for me. You feel that? I know I do. The question I want to address today is, when will the rapture take place? And when is Jesus going to return? I want to first today concentrate on the rapture. Now, if you’ve studied what is known as biblical eschatology, that’s just a fancy word for studying the end times, you know that there’s a big debate as to when the rapture will take place. Will the rapture happen before the tribulation begins? Will the rapture happen in the middle of the tribulation? Will the rapture happen at the end of the tribulation? Or is there another approach? And so in theological schools, we have those people that are called pre-tribbers. They believe that God will take his people off the earth, out of the world, before the tribulation begins that Jesus describes in the gospels and in the book of Revelation. And if you’re not familiar with this, I encourage you to get this entire series because I covered this in great detail. So some people believe, many probably have been taught, that the rapture will happen, that God will take his people off the earth before the tribulation begins so that none of God’s people will experience the plagues that will fall on the world during the great tribulation. That’s called pre-trib. Some people are mid-tribbers. They believe that God will take his people off the earth in the middle of the tribulation. Then there’s those that are post-trib. They believe that the Lord will not take his people off the earth till after the tribulation. And it’s all very confusing. I remember as a young believer being very confused by all this. And I heard one person, you know, give all types of scriptures to support his pre-tribulation theology. I had another person give all scriptures to support his post-tribulation theology. I even in Bible school had a class that I was in just to understand the book of Revelation. And at the end of the class, beloved ones, I was still confused. Even though as I had shared in an earlier broadcast, I still got an A in the class because I memorized the information, but I didn’t understand it. I was very confused. And then when I first started ministering, when I first started pastoring, later becoming a Messianic rabbi, but I remember in those early years, people would say to me, you know, what are you? Are you pre-trib, post-trib, mid-trib? What are you? And I was of the opinion, you know, I’m not going to take a position just to take a position. People expected me to take a position because I was a pastor, but I wasn’t gonna take a position just to take a position. And so I just said, you know, I don’t know. I describe myself as a pan-tribber. I don’t know if it’s post-trib, mid-trib, pre-trib. I just know it’s all gonna pan out. It’s all gonna pan out. I’m a pan-tribber. And I really didn’t have a position because I was too just cloudy about all the information. But about 10 years ago, the Lord, beloved ones, began to give me clarity. And I want to share with you today what I believe the Lord gave me. And I really know it’s going to bring some comfort to many of you that are listening today, because some of you have been confused about this, too.
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You’re listening to Discovering the Jewish Jesus. And before Rabbi Schneider continues his teaching, he has a special message to share with all of us.
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Greetings in Messiah on this new year. You know, January comes, we think about things in our life that we want to change. One thing that perhaps some of you have thought about but never taken action on is creating or updating your will or trust. I want to encourage you, go to our website. We have a free tool there, just hit Wills and Estates, and we can help you update or create your will or estate trust gift. Listen, God bless you. I love you. Many of us have honored the Lord while we’re living with our finances. Let’s carry that over and remember the Lord with our finances when we pass by creating a will and a state so that finances can go to the work of the kingdom.
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What a meaningful way to honor God with our finances this year. And if you feel the Lord leading you to create a free will, visit us at discoveringthejewishjesus.com. It’s free for you whether you support us or not. Now let’s return to Rabbi as he continues his teaching.
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So I want to begin by saying this. I believe God gives us a blueprint for understanding the book of Revelation. I believe God gives us a blueprint to understand the timing of many of the main events in the book of Revelation so that we can understand when the rapture will take place by this blueprint that I’m going to explain. The question is, is there something in the Hebrew Bible, is there something in the Old Testament that helps us to understand the book of Revelation and the end time events that are described in the New Testament? And I believe 100% there absolutely is. Paul said in the book of Corinthians that the Old Testament, that the law of Moses, the prophets and the Psalms, Paul said was written for our instruction upon whom, listen now, the end of the ages has come. So Paul said the events in the Hebrew Bible were written for the church today, upon whom, listen again, the end of the ages, we’re talking about end times now, has come. So there’s a pattern, a blueprint in the Hebrew Bible that helps us to understand, listen, when the rapture will take place. What is that blueprint? Well, when we look at the book of Revelation, we find that Jesus and his ministry is referred to, get it now, 29 times in reference to the Lamb. The lamb before the throne, the lamb, the lamb, the lamb. John the Baptist, when he introduced Yeshua to the world, introduced Yeshua, get it now, as the lamb of God. John pointed to Jesus and said, behold, the lamb of God, listen now, John said, behold, the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. And some of us have missed this. We think of lamb and we just think, oh, that means that Jesus is nice. You know, he’s all soft and furry like a lamb. No. The lamb terminology is not based on the warm wool of a lamb. The lamb terminology, beloved ones, comes from the Passover. It’s the Passover lamb that brought forth Israel’s deliverance. So, for example, when we go to the book of Revelation, chapter number 5, we see there, Revelation 5, 6, the lamb before the throne. We see there standing before the lamb that was slain. We see in verse 8 of Revelation 5, they fell down before the lamb. In verse number 12, worthy is the lamb who was slain. We see there as well that him who sits on the throne and to the lamb be blessing, honor, glory, power forever and ever in verse 13. And it goes on. We read in Revelation 21 that in the new Jerusalem, there’ll be no need of a son because listen now, The lamb will be the light. 29 times in the book of Revelation, Jesus is referred to as the lamb. Now he’s referred to as the offspring of David. He’s referred to as the bright and morning star, but that’s just in a couple references. overwhelmingly, he is referred to as the Lamb. So it must mean something, the fact that over and over and over and over, overwhelmingly, Jesus and his activities is referred to as the Lamb. That must mean that it has something to do with the Lamb that we see revealed in the book of Exodus. In fact, the Exodus of Israel out of Egypt is the prototype for understanding the book of Revelation, including the timing of the rapture. So considering that, I want you to think about this. Again, we read that we are redeemed, get it now, Peter says, by the precious blood of the Lamb. This is all pointing back to Israel’s deliverance. How was Israel delivered out of Egypt? Through what now? The blood of the Lamb. of the lamb. Most of us know the story. Every Israelite family was commanded to take an unblemished lamb, to slaughter the lamb, to eat the lamb, and then listen now, to put the blood of the lamb over their doorpost. And then when the angel of judgment, the angel of death, moved through the land of Egypt that night, what happened? Everybody that was in a home that had been marked by the blood of the lamb, judgment passed them over, they were delivered and saved. Again, this is all pointing to Yeshua. So I want you to think about this. Because we see that Jesus is overwhelmingly referred to as the lamb in the book of Revelation, and knowing that that lamb terminology, get it now, is Passover language, this tells us that the book of Revelation must be seen through the lens of the Passover. So interpreting now the book of Revelation through the lens of the Passover and trying to discern from this the timing of the rapture, I want you to consider this. We have already determined that the ancient Passover lamb that the Israelites put to death, that was a symbol of Jesus, the lamb of God that died for the sins of the world. Israel, ancient Israel, was a symbol of God’s people today, the church. Pharaoh that was oppressing Israel is a symbol of Satan who’s trying to oppress God’s people and the world. The plagues that fell upon Egypt locally during the Exodus 3,500 years ago Those same plagues almost identically will fall upon the world globally during the Great Tribulation. So we need to understand the timing of the rapture through the lens of the Passover because we see the fulfillment of all the shadows. Now here’s the question. When the 10 plagues fell upon Egypt, where was Israel? Israel was in Egypt while the 10 plagues fell. Now, there was protection for them, but they were in Egypt, and they felt the effects of the plague because, for example, when the Nile turned to blood, everybody that was living in Egypt felt it, but Israel was marked and protected. They were in Egypt, however, for all 10 of the plagues. It wasn’t until the final wrath of God was poured out on the Egyptians till Israel was delivered. The ten plagues fell, Israel was in Egypt. Then after the tenth plague, remember, Israel is released from Egypt, they go to the Sea of Reeds, the Red Sea. They begin to go through the Red Sea, and eventually what happens, what? Pharaoh changes his mind, and he begins to follow them. So Pharaoh leads his armies and the chariots into the sea. What does God do? He takes Israel, listen now, to the other side of the sea, and while Egypt is still in the sea trying to catch up with them, what does God do? He drowns them all in the sea. The point is, Israel was in Egypt when the ten plagues fell, and it wasn’t until God poured out His final wrath upon the Egyptians by drowning them in the sea that Israel was first rescued out. I believe the same thing holds true today in terms of the timing of the rapture. That the church will be in the world for much of the tribulation. They’ll be in the world for the first seven seals. And for the first six trumpets, and you’ll have to get this whole series because I covered all that. It will be at the final trumpet, the seventh trumpet, when the seven bowls of wrath are released at the blowing of the final trumpet, that the church will then be raptured out of the world at the seventh trumpet. This is why the Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 15, 52, that when the last trump sounds, we’ll all be changed. This is why Paul tells us that the trump will sound and we’re going to be caught up and meet the Lord in the air. The application is, beloved, is that the church needs to get strong and we need to get ready because we will be in the earth, beloved, when the plagues start falling. But praise God, those of us that are looking to Jesus will be strong, will be lights, will be witnesses, will have everything that we need to successfully go through this part of the tribulation. And when that seven trump sounds, you’re going to be raptured out. It’s going to be glory beyond anything you could ever dream of when you meet Jesus in the air and then come back with him with all his holy saints to establish his glorious millennial kingdom here on earth. God loves you. He bought you and he’s coming back for you. In the book of Galatians, chapter six, verse nine, we read this, Grow not weary in doing good, for in due time you’re going to reap a harvest or reap a reward. Now, I want you to think about this. When the Holy Spirit gave us that word, He wants to apply it to every area of our lives. Sometimes we apply that word to some area of our lives, but sometimes we don’t apply that word to our finances. I want to speak to you that are listening right now. Let’s continue to put God first and honor him with our finances. Let’s continue to sow our financial resources into the kingdom so that God’s word can be spread to the ends of the earth. Beloved, I want to ask you, will you continue to do good with your finances? Would you make a financial contribution to the Lord through discovering the Jewish Jesus right now?
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Amen. And I want to encourage you to keep listening because Rabbi is going to be right back with the Aaronic Blessing. And if the Lord is leading you to financially support Discovering the Jewish Jesus with a gift of any amount, then would you please reach out to us today? You can call us at 800-777-7835. And if it’s easier, you can also go online to our website, discoveringthejewishjesus.com. And as a token of our appreciation for your gift, we want to send you several gifts of appreciation back. And one of those gifts is our recent newsletter. It’s full of insights, crusade updates, and personal correspondence from Rabbi and his wife, Cynthia, who is a real tree each and every month. And I believe that these letters will encourage and inspire you just like they do me. And you’ll also learn in these newsletters how you can connect with the ministry and listen to Rabbi Schneider and this program in so many different ways. And one of those ways that I want to mention to you today is Roku TV. It’s completely free and it’s a great platform to experience Rabbi’s dynamic teaching style from full HD in the comforts of your own living room or your bedroom, wherever you have a Roku device. And this year, I want to encourage you to make it a year where you do experience this ministry in new ways. Some of you have only tuned in via podcast or via audio, but this is an opportunity to catch Rabbi On Demand on Roku TV. And friends, we’re really thankful for how good the Lord has been to us to make this type of content available to listeners like you free of charge. Your help and your support enables us to do it. So I just want to thank those of you who are supporting this ministry. Thank you for allowing us to do this. We really, really appreciate you. And now as promised, here’s Rabbi Schneider with the Aaronic Blessing.
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The Aaronic blessing in the book of Numbers, chapter 6, is not a blessing that comes from an impersonal being out there somewhere in the heavens. This special blessing comes from a person, Yahweh God Almighty, our Creator and Maker. So receive God’s blessing into your life right now.
The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift you up with His countenance. And the Lord give you, beloved one, His peace. God bless you and shalom.
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I’m your host, Dustin Roberts, and this program is produced and sponsored by Discovering the Jewish Jesus. Join us again next time when Rabbi Schneider continues his discussion on the book of Revelation. That’s Friday on Discovering the Jewish Jesus.
