The Ancient Paths - Understanding Biblical Prophecy and God's Appointed Times

Today, we embark on a journey through Scripture that leads us to examine God's appointed times and the ancient paths of biblical prophecy. As I write these words, I'm compelled by a deep conviction that we are living in the season of Christ's return - not because of human speculation, but because of what God's Word reveals about His appointed times and the signs He has given us to recognize.

The Wedding Invitation, Not Date Setting

Let me be clear from the outset: this is not about setting dates for Christ's return. This is about understanding a wedding invitation that has been written in the stars, sealed in Scripture, and confirmed through the prophetic voices of old. When Jesus spoke the words "no man knows the day or hour" in Matthew 24:36, He wasn't dismissing our ability to know the season - He was speaking in an ancient Jewish idiom that His disciples would have immediately understood.

The phrase "no man knows the day or hour" was a common expression in first-century Israel specifically referring to Rosh Hashanah - the Feast of Trumpets. This feast required the sighting of the new moon by two qualified witnesses and official declaration by the Sanhedrin. Everyone knew the approximate timeframe - it would fall within a 48-hour window on either the 29th or 30th day of Elul - but no one knew the exact moment until the witnesses confirmed the new moon's appearance.

This wasn't about ignorance of timing; it was about readiness within a known season.

The Biblical Foundation for Watching and Knowing

Scripture is abundantly clear that believers are called to be watchful and expectant. This isn't passive hoping - it's active anticipation based on God's revealed timeline through His appointed feasts and prophetic Word.

The Command to Watch

Jesus repeatedly commanded His followers to watch and be ready:

"Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come" (Matthew 24:42)

"Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things" (Luke 21:36)

"And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch" (Mark 13:37)

These aren't suggestions - they're direct commands from our Lord. But watch for what? Random timing? Arbitrary moments? No - watch for the fulfillment of His prophetic calendar, the signs He told us to recognize, and the season He appointed for His return.

The Promise of Recognition

Paul makes it clear that believers will not be surprised by the timing of Christ's return:

"But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief" (1 Thessalonians 5:4)

The day comes as a thief in the night to the world - to those who are not watching, not prepared, not discerning the signs. But to believers who are walking in the light, who are studying God's Word and watching His prophetic calendar, that day will not overtake us as a thief.

"Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober" (1 Thessalonians 5:6)

The Parable of the Ten Virgins: A Tale of Two Responses

Jesus' parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25 isn't about salvation versus condemnation - it's about preparation versus negligence among those who profess to follow Him. All ten virgins were waiting for the bridegroom. All ten had lamps. All ten fell asleep. But only five were prepared when the cry went out: "Behold, the bridegroom cometh!"

The difference wasn't in their initial intention or their religious appearance. The difference was in their preparation - their oil, representing the filling of the Holy Spirit, the depth of their relationship with Christ, and their readiness for His appearance. THEY LOVE HIS APPEARANCE BEFORE HE APPEARS.

"They that were ready went in with him to the marriage" (Matthew 25:10)

"But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not" (Matthew 25:12)

This isn't about eternal salvation - it's about participation in the marriage supper, about being part of the bride who is caught up to meet the Lord in the air. The five unwise virgins missed the wedding not because they weren't believers, but because they weren't prepared, weren't watching, weren't filled with the Spirit's oil.

The Wheat and Tares: Understanding God's Covenant Children

Jesus' parable of the wheat and tares in Matthew 13 reveals a profound truth about two different spiritual lineages on earth. This isn't merely about individual choices - it's about spiritual origins, about the "seed" from which people spring.

"The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one" (Matthew 13:38)

The wheat represents the "good seed" - those who are truly born of God's Spirit, genuine believers who may not always be perfect but are authentically His. The tares represent those who may appear religious, may even claim Christ, but are not truly born from above.

This parable speaks directly to the question of children in the coming Harpazo (rapture). If children are part of the "good seed" - born into families where genuine faith exists - then God's perfect goodness would naturally extend to protecting these innocent ones. The wheat children would inherit the spiritual protection of their lineage.

Yet we must hold this with humility, recognizing that we cannot definitively identify who are wheat versus tares in this life. Our response should be universal love and Gospel witness, following Paul's instruction that God "desires none to perish" (2 Peter 3:9).

The Feast of Trumpets: God's Appointed Time

The biblical feasts are not merely Jewish holidays - they are "the feasts of the LORD" (Leviticus 23:2), divine appointments that reveal God's prophetic calendar. Jesus fulfilled the spring feasts through His first coming:

Passover: His crucifixion as the Lamb of God
Unleavened Bread: His sinless body in the tomb
Firstfruits: His resurrection on the third day

The fall feasts await fulfillment through His second coming:

Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah): The calling of the bride
Day of Atonement: The final judgment
Feast of Tabernacles: The millennial kingdom

The Feast of Trumpets holds special significance as the "last trump" mentioned by Paul:

"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)

"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first" (1 Thessalonians 4:16)

The "last trump" isn't the seventh trumpet of Revelation - that belongs to the judgment period. The "last trump" is the final trumpet of Rosh Hashanah, the great shofar blast that calls God's people to attention, that announces the King's arrival.

The Essene Prophecies: Ancient Confirmations

The Essenes, that dedicated Jewish sect whose writings were preserved in the Dead Sea Scrolls, demonstrated remarkable prophetic accuracy regarding Christ's first coming. Their calculations, based on careful study of Daniel's prophecies and other Scriptural chronologies, pinpointed the timing of Messiah's arrival with stunning precision.

These same ancient scholars left predictions regarding the second coming of Christ and what we know as the Harpazo. Their calculations, based on biblical chronology and prophetic patterns, point to specific seasons when these events would unfold. While we must test all prophecy against Scripture, the historical accuracy of their first-coming predictions gives weight to their end-times calculations.

The Essenes understood what many modern believers have forgotten: that God works according to appointed times, that His prophetic calendar is revealed through careful study of His Word, and that those who are watching can discern the seasons of His activity.

Signs in the Heavens: God's Celestial Calendar

"And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years" (Genesis 1:14)

The Hebrew word for "seasons" is "moadim" - the same word used for God's appointed feasts. The heavenly bodies were created not just for timekeeping but for displaying God's prophetic calendar. In recent years, we have witnessed:

Blood moon tetrads falling precisely on biblical feast days
Solar eclipses crossing significant geographic locations
Planetary alignments coinciding with prophetic timeframes
Stellar formations that echo biblical imagery

These aren't random cosmic events - they're part of God's celestial announcement system, declaring to those who have eyes to see that His appointed times are at hand.

The Fig Tree Generation: Understanding the Season

Jesus said, "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).

The fig tree is Israel, and its budding began in 1948 with the nation's rebirth. Jesus said the generation that sees this budding would not pass away until all these things are fulfilled. A biblical generation is typically 70-80 years (Psalm 90:10), placing us squarely within the timeframe He described.

But the signs aren't limited to Israel's restoration. We're witnessing:

Global convergence of technology enabling the mark of the beast system
Unprecedented moral decay as described in 2 Timothy 3
Natural disasters increasing in frequency and intensity
False prophets and deception spreading through the church
The beginning of sorrows that Jesus predicted

Current Convergences: Technology and Prophecy

Perhaps no generation has been better positioned to understand biblical prophecy than ours. The technology now exists to fulfill every end-times prediction:

The Mark of the Beast System: Digital currencies, biometric identification, and surveillance networks have created the infrastructure for Revelation 13:16-17 - a system where no one can buy or sell without the mark.

Global Communication: Revelation 11:9-10 describes the whole world seeing the two witnesses, something impossible before satellite technology and global media.

Weapons of Mass Destruction: The judgments of Revelation now have technological explanations - nuclear weapons, chemical warfare, biological agents.

Knowledge Increase: Daniel 12:4 predicted that in the end times, "knowledge shall be increased." The exponential growth of human knowledge, particularly in the last century, fulfills this prophecy.

One World Government: The infrastructure for global governance exists through international organizations, shared currencies, and interconnected economies.

The Restrainer and the Revelation

Paul wrote that the "man of sin" cannot be revealed until "he who now restrains" is taken out of the way (2 Thessalonians 2:6-7). The restrainer is commonly understood to be the Holy Spirit working through the church. When the church is removed in the Harpazo, the final world leader - the Antichrist - will be revealed.

The technology and political systems for his rule are already in place. The surveillance networks, digital currencies, biometric identification systems, and global communication infrastructure exist today. All that's missing is the leader himself and the removal of the church's restraining influence.

Watching for the Bridegroom

As I study these convergences, I'm not filled with fear but with anticipation. Like the wise virgins who kept their lamps trimmed and their oil ready, we who are watching and waiting for our Lord's return should be filled with joyful expectancy.

"Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ" (Titus 2:13)

"And unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation" (Hebrews 9:28)

This is about relationship, not religion. It's about a bride preparing for her wedding day, not slaves cowering before a master. It's about love responding to love, about hearts that long for the appearing of the One who loved us and gave Himself for us.

The Ancient Paths in Our Modern World

Jeremiah wrote, "Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls" (Jeremiah 6:16).

The ancient paths are God's eternal principles, His appointed times, His prophetic calendar that has governed history from the beginning. In our modern world of rapid change and uncertainty, these ancient paths provide stability and direction.

The Feast of Trumpets has been God's appointed time for calling His people for over three millennia. The same God who established this feast as a holy convocation, who commanded the trumpet to be blown, who ordained it as a time of gathering - this same unchanging God has appointed it as the season of His Son's return for His bride.

A Call to Readiness

As we stand at this unique convergence in history - with Israel restored, technology in place, signs multiplying, and God's appointed times approaching - the call to readiness becomes urgent. Not frantic fear, but joyful preparation. Not works-based earning, but faith-filled waiting. Not date-setting presumption, but season-recognizing wisdom.

"Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh" (Matthew 24:44)

The hour we don't expect isn't random - it's within the season we should expect, at the feast we should be watching, during the timeframe we should anticipate. Just as the Feast of Trumpets comes within its appointed window but at an hour that requires watchful waiting, so Christ's return will come within His appointed season but at a moment that requires faithful readiness.

The Love Story Unfolds

This isn't ultimately about tribulation or judgment or even prophetic fulfillment. This is about a love story - the greatest love story ever told. A bridegroom who went away to prepare a place for His bride, who promised to return and receive her to Himself, who has been preparing not just a place but also preparing His bride for that glorious reunion.

"Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready" (Revelation 19:7)

The bride is making herself ready. Not through her own righteousness, but through His righteousness imputed to her. Not through her own preparations, but through His sanctifying work within her. Not through her own timing, but through His perfect timing according to His appointed feasts and eternal calendar.

In Part 2, we'll explore "The Last Trump" - examining what Scripture reveals about the Harpazo itself, the calling away of the bride, and what this means for those who are watching and those who are not. We'll look at the immediate aftermath, the great catching away, and the transition from the age of grace to the time of Jacob's trouble.

But for now, let these ancient paths illuminate your understanding. Let God's appointed times frame your expectations. Let the bridegroom's promise fill your heart with anticipation. And let the wisdom of those who have walked these paths before us - from the Essenes to the apostles to faithful believers throughout the centuries - encourage you in your watching and waiting.

"Even so, come, Lord Jesus" (Revelation 22:20).

I am a student of biblical prophecy and God's appointed times. I believe we are living in the generation that will witness the return of Christ for His bride and are committed to encouraging the church to watch, wait, and prepare for that glorious day. This article represents my personal study of Scripture and prophetic patterns, intended to encourage thoughtful consideration and prayer among believers. Take it to King Jesus and let Him confirm it.