The Teaching Ministry of
Rev. Marjorie Kummrow
Bible Studies
This ministry has made a choice to be "Biblically correct" as opposed to "politically correct" therefore we have forfeited the non-profit status available to us. Please note that all donations to this ministry are not tax deductible. Thank you for your support.
(This series of The Remez has 5 Lessons) Previous Lesson 3
The emphasis of this study is the Jewish idiom “a thief in the night”. What we will discover in this study is that this particular idiom does refer to the fall feast of Rosh Hashanah also known as the wedding of the Messiah. Since Rosh HaShanah is for two days, it clarifies the statement that only the father knows the day or the hour. Even the statement, “that only the father knows the day or the hour”, is an idiom, which is explained in the more detailed study of Rosh Hashanah that is found in the fall feast series on this website. This “remez” series is intended to familiarize the reader with hidden deeper meanings within the text that would be recognized by a Jewish audience and not so much from a Western mind set.
This is the fourth and last study on “remez”, the Hebrew way of communicating and on Jewish Idioms that help us further in the study of the scriptures from a Jewish perspective.
The previous weeks we have explored the “manna from heaven hidden in plain sight” concerning the word shofar, “the times and the dates”, and “the Day”. In studying the great shofar, we learned that "the great shofar" was another name for Yom Kippur, known also as the Day of Atonement. We also saw that the shofar would be blown on the day of our Lord's return to this earth. Then we learned that there are several names for the biblical holiday of Yom Kippur, one of which is “the Day”.
This fourth study is going to be finishing up with the scriptures below from Thessalonians, which has introduced my readers to remez. I hope that these studies have peeked your interest to continue to find “the manna from heaven hidden in plain sight”,
throughout the Word of God. The final phrase for our investigation is the Jewish idiom, “a thief in the night.”
1 Thessalonians 5: 1-4 But you have no need to have anything written to you, brothers, about the times and dates when this will happen; because you yourselves well know that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. When people are saying, “Everything is so peaceful and secure.” Then destruction will suddenly come upon them, the way labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there is no way they will escape.
I think before we examine the above idiom, it is important to put the fall festivals on a time line for you so that it will be easier to understand just how all of the idioms and hints (remez) are tied together. My first introduction to the deeper meaning of the biblical festivals came several years ago, and it totally changed the way that I study the Word because it brought life back into my studies. I hope that for those of you that are first being introduced to the fall festivals as a foreshadow of the second coming will feel the same way.
The fall festivals begin with a season that is called “The Season of Teshuvah.” It is a season of returning to God or that of repenting. Teshuvah is Hebrew for return or repent. The season begins on the first day of the sixth month and continues until the tenth day of the seventh month, which is 40 days. The season for repenting begins on the first of Elul and ends 40 days later on Yom Kippur. Thirty days into the season, comes Rosh HaShanah, which is the Jewish New Year. The New Year begins the last ten days of repentance, known as the High Holy Days and ends on Yom Kippur, The Day of Atonement. Five days later begins the seven day celebration of Sukkot, otherwise known as the Feast of Tabernacles. Immediately after the Feast of Tabernacles comes Shemini Atzeret (the eighth day of assembly) and Simchat Torah (Rejoicing in the Torah) which are celebrated together for two days.
The awesome picture that God has painted for us in these festivals will be studied thoroughly in the weeks ahead. For now, it is important to see where Rosh HaShanah fits into our study. Rosh HaShanah means, Head of the Year or Birthday of the World. The holiday has many other names, that we will go into when we study each phase of the season more in depth. For this study, one of the names for Rosh HaShanah that we will look at is the name Kiddushin Nesu’in. This name means “the wedding ceremony” or” the wedding of the Messiah”.
The ancient biblical wedding ceremony that God gave the Jewish people, was given to teach about the wedding of Messiah. The customs consisted of the following twelve steps. Next week we will take a deeper look into these customs. I think you will find next week’s study very exciting. For now I have just given a brief outline for the purpose of today’s study.
1. The selection of the bride
2. The bride price that was established
3. The bride and Groom were betrothed to one another
4. A written document was drawn up containing the promises of the groom and the rights of the bride
5. The bride must give her consent.
6. Gifts were given to the bride and a cup of covenant was shared between the bride and groom
7. The bride had a mikvah (water immersion) which is a ritual cleansing
8. The bridegroom departed, going back to his father’s house to prepare the bridal chamber
9. The bride was consecrated and set apart for a period of time
10. The bridegroom would return with a shout, “Behold the bridegroom comes: and the sound of the shofar would be blown
11. The bridegroom would abduct his bride, usually in the middle of the night
12. Finally there would be the marriage supper of the guests that had been invited by the grooms Father.
Keep in mind that Rosh HaShanah and “the wedding of Messiah” are one and the same thing. The idiom that we are looking at for this study is ”a thief in the night.” This is also an idiom that refers to Rosh HaShanah . I needed to go into the wedding ceremony as one of the names for Rosh HaShanah and then to list the twelve steps that take place in a Jewish ceremony, in order to introduce you to the idioms that are referring to the wedding of the Messiah. In ancient times, when the bridegroom would come for his bride in the middle of the night, it was often referred to as “a thief in the night.” So now we see that “the wedding of Messiah” and Rosh Ha Shanah are one and the same. Then we see that “a thief in the night” also points to Rosh HaShanah.
Likewise, I want to direct your attention to another idiom reference for Rosh HaShanah that was mentioned earlier in our studies, is the idiom in Matthew where Yeshua, (Jesus) said “ “But when that day and hour will come, no one knows, not the angels in heaven, not the Son, only the Father." This language that Yeshua (Jesus) spoke was recognized as wedding ceremony language. It was the father of the groom who would tell the bridegroom when to go and get his bride. He would then go like a thief in the night and return with his bride. For our purposes here we are focusing on the steps 10 and 11 of the outline above. Next week we will cover more about the wedding ceremony. The following scriptures have been the emphasis of our study.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-18, For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a rousing cry, with a call from one of the ruling angels, and with God’s shofar: those who died united with Messiah will be the first to rise; then we who are left still alive will be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and thus we will always be with the Lord. So
encourage each other with these words.
As we saw in the twelve steps of the marriage ceremony, the Groom announces that He is coming for His Bride, with the sound of the Shofar. This is a picture that was painted to teach us about what we should be listening for when our Bridegroom comes for us.
1 Thessalonians 5: 1-4 But you have no need to have anything written to you, brothers, about the times and dates when this will happen; because you yourselves well know that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. When people are saying, “Everything is so peaceful and secure.” Then destruction will suddenly come upon them, the way labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there is no way they will escape.
It was my desire to use the following scripture verses in order to open up your understanding of these scriptures from a Jewish perspective. I hope that my readers see the value in looking at these familiar passages with a Hebrew understanding of what is really being said. Last week the emphasis was on Yom Kippur, The Day of Atonement. This week the emphasis is on Rosh HaShanah, the Jewish New Year. The important thing to remember is that Rosh HaShanah Begins the last ten days of the 40 days of repentance and the tenth day is Yom Kippur.
Continuing from the last study, the following is the paraphrase for the above scripture based on “remez” and Jewish idioms.
.. but you my Jewish brothers and sisters are well aware of all of the biblical holidays. You have no need for me to instruct you as to the times and the dates because you are very well acquainted with the appointed times and dates that the Lord our God has set for us from our Torah. You are well aware of the Day of the Lord, that Day of His return that it will come on a special and significant Yom Kippur. As for the times and the dates, you know that Yom Kippur falls exactly on the tenth day of the seventh month and is from evening to evening. There is no need for me to go into it, you already know these things.
Today we will add the following paraphrase based on the Jewish idiom “a thief in the night” and the remez way of communicating.
You also know that the Bridegroom (Messiah) will abduct (rapture) his Bride (true believers) on Rosh HaShanah with the sound of the shofar announcing his intention (remez). And you know that beginning with Rosh HaShanah there will be only ten days left for people to return to God and repent before the great sound of the Shofar announcing the Day of His return,
(second coming) which you know to be on some special Yom Kippur. You know these things, you have no need for me to write to you about them.
We may not know the year that these things will take place, but we can, contrary to popular belief, know the appointed times. My own personal belief is that even the year is hidden some place in the Holy Book. Since prophecy is a progressive revelation, perhaps at the right moment in time even the year will be revealed to those of us that have “eyes to see”.
To continue with The Remez Series click on Lesson 5- A Thief In The Night Jewish Idiom & Remez Statement
The twelve steps of the wedding ceremony was taken from Edward Chumney”s book. The Seven Festivals of the Messiah. A more detailed teaching of this wedding ceremony can be found by clicking on The Fall Feasts:Rosh HaShannah;The Wedding of The Messiah
May the study of God’s Word from a Jewish perspective draw you closer to your Hebrew Lord.
If you have any questions, please feel free to email us.
In His Service,
Rev. Marjorie
marjorie@sweetmanna.org
Contact us to be put on our email list at mailinglist@sweetmanna.org or make a prayer request at prayerwarrior@sweetmanna.org
The Remez Series
Part 4
A Thief in the Night
