Lessons in the Ladder Days

Candace Long: I'm Candace Long with Lessons in the Ladder Days, offering biblical commentary to make sense of the times that we're living in. Today, in part seven of the final week of the church age, I want to try to answer the primary question people have: who is Jesus coming for in the Rapture?

Surprisingly enough, the answer is clear when we follow the body and examine Jesus' last days in light of how they are rooted in the Torah. In part six, I showed you that plague number 10, the death of the firstborn, was the one that made Egypt spit Israel out of its land.

Guest (Male): Joshua 24 tells us, "The Lord told the people: I plagued Egypt, and afterward I brought you out." This tells us two things. First, the people had to endure 10 plagues and were protected through them all. Second, when the last plague was over, the earth spit them out.

Candace Long: As it was then, so it shall be with us. God will spit us out of this earth immediately after the final plague. My research tells me this will be at the end of 2026. Now, just as the parting of the sea was God's path of deliverance for the Jews, the Rapture will be His transportation vehicles for followers of Jesus. He will part the heavens to receive us.

Now, before I can answer your question "who goes and who stays," there are two other questions we need to consider first. Question number one: why did God call His people out? In Exodus 4, God told Pharaoh, "Israel is my firstborn son. Send him out so he may serve me."

I want to point out a couple of things here. God used a different word than is typically translated in most Bibles. He did not ask Pharaoh's permission, saying, "Let my people go." What He said, directly translated from the Hebrew, is "Send my people out." God spoke to Pharaoh, King to King, as Melekh HaOlam, King of the Universe, to the King of Egypt, where His people were being held.

The Hebrew word He used with Pharaoh was shalach, which is the word used for an apostle, someone who is sent out as a representative of someone in higher authority for a specific purpose. Jesus was called "the sent one." He was shalach-ed by the Father to represent Him in the flesh. He said, "If you have seen me, you have seen the Father."

In like manner, Israel, God's firstborn son, was shalach-ed or sent out for a specific purpose, which was what? To serve Him. Israel had to come out then because God had an appointed time for them to be trained and repositioned into their assigned places so they could learn how to serve Him as a nation of priests.

Now, what I want you to consider is that the timing of our departure has been likewise planned from the foundation of the world. We will have to come out of the earth in order to be trained to function in our assigned places in the Kingdom. When this needs to happen is found in Genesis 2, where God lays out this simple outline.

Man has been given six days. Each day lasts a thousand years. Once we have been in existence for 6,000 years, that split second begins the seventh day, or the Day of the Lord. Now, this day is always on God's mind and, contrary to the way most Christians believe, He expects those who are His to know His time frame revealed in His word.

Now, hear me, please. The bride is never clueless when the bridegroom is right around the corner. Question number two: who went out in the Exodus? Now, according to the Oral Law, only one-fifth of all of the Jews actually left Egypt. That amounted to some three million people, which was a big group.

But if that was only 20%, this means that 12 million Jews chose to stay in Egypt. Now, those who left were the called-out ones. There was something inside of them that made them leave everything they had going and follow this man named Moses, who told them God was waiting to meet with them, and they believed him.

Now, after being miraculously delivered through the sea, what took place next were seven prophetic weeks spent in a secluded part of the wilderness, where God transformed this scraggly group into what was to become His nation. I want to describe a graphic illustration that changed my life. If you understand this ancient picture, you will know who goes in the Rapture. I'm quoting from my book, The Levitical Calling.

Guest (Male): "God had a specific place for each person in the wilderness. The Tabernacle, or the Tent of Meeting as it was often called, was in the middle of the 12 tribes. Surrounding the Tabernacle were the Levites divided into their respective families. The Kohathites were positioned south of the Tabernacle, the Gershonites were on the west, and the Merarites on the north.

Moses and Aaron and Miriam and their families lived east of the Tabernacle. And altogether, these made up the Levites, and God viewed them as His Royal Guard. He required them to live separated from the other tribes in order to be near His presence at all times. This is the Levitical calling in its essence.

The rest of the tribes had their unique places as well, a little further away, but each tent from every tribe faced the Tabernacle. Looking at the encampment from above, it was arranged so that the whole group could move east as one unified army in the direction of the Golden Gate, from which Messiah will walk through when He comes to rule the Kingdom.

Here is where each tribe was positioned relative to the Tabernacle. On the east, leading the way nearest to Moses, was the camp of Judah, the tribe from which Messiah came. This camp consisted of the tribes of Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. South of the Tabernacle was the camp of Reuben and included Simeon and Gad. To the west was the camp of Ephraim, followed by Manasseh and Benjamin. And to the north was the camp of Dan, which included Asher and Naphtali."

Candace Long: I first saw this illustration in a book called The Odyssey of the Third Temple by Rabbi Ariel. Here's how he describes this incredible arrangement.

Guest (Male): "The structure of the camp of Israel as it traveled through the desert was the superlative symbol of the manner in which God's glory, the Shekhinah, dwells in the world. Closer to the center, the dwellings of the various families of the tribe of Levi are located. They are completely dedicated to the divine work of the Tabernacle, musically accompanying the sacrificial services and carrying the Tabernacle itself whenever the signal to move is given.

The center of the camp is the abode of the Tent of Meeting, covered by the cloud of glory. Each Jew rising in the morning can plainly see this cloud, the sign that the divine presence is resting in the camp of Israel. In the innermost chamber, the Holy of Holies, stands the Ark of the Testimony containing the tablets of the law given at Mount Sinai.

The nation is literally concentrated around the Torah. The routine of life in the camp centers around the service of the Tabernacle. This people has an announcement to make, a message for all of the peoples of the earth: Look, there is a nation who has God in its midst."

Candace Long: Rabbi Ariel ends by quoting Leviticus 26, where God tells His people, "I will set my dwelling among you and I will be your God and you shall be my people." Now, this arrangement is a prophetic picture, a Tavnit. Its origin is found in Genesis 50, where on his deathbed, Jacob charged his son Joseph to carry his body out of Egypt and bury him in the tomb of the patriarchs and matriarchs in the Cave of Machpelah in Hebron.

According to the Talmud, Jacob assigned his sons to their respective positions around his bier, his casket, exactly as they would later encamp around the Tabernacle. The tribes, headed by Jacob's 12 sons, were organized into four formations of three tribes each, each one represented by a banner and each tribe displayed its own unique flag.

Each tribal flag was the same color as the stone on the breastplate worn by the High Priest of the tribe of Levi. I want you to notice a few things. First is how ancient this picture is and how breathtaking. During the time of Moses, the King of Moab contracted a false prophet named Balaam to come curse Israel because the King was afraid of this huge army that showed up near Moab.

He brought Balaam to the top of a mountain so he could look down and see Israel's encampment. Now, remember, Balaam was a false prophet, but he was a prophet nonetheless. He heard from God. We read the story in Numbers 24.

Guest (Male): "And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel encamping tribe by tribe and the Spirit of God came upon him." What Balaam said was so inspired that God memorialized it in the Torah. Jews recite it when entering the synagogue. "Ma tovu ohalekha Ya'akov, mishkenotekha Yisra'el. How lovely are your tents, O Jacob, your dwelling places, O Israel."

Candace Long: This ancient picture shows us how God desires to live with His people in the Messianic Kingdom. The second thing I want you to consider is that Israel, true Israel, did not include every Jew. In the wilderness at Mount Sinai, this smaller group was made up of members of the Levitical family and the 12 tribes who were willing to leave where they were and follow Moses, to learn God's ways and be sent out, shalach-ed, to represent Him to the nations.

In the same way, the Kingdom will not include everyone who calls themselves a Christian, but those who likewise were willing to leave everything and take upon themselves the heavenly yoke. The third thing you should now clearly begin to see is who ultimately got transported, who went through the Exodus?

Only those who survived the plagues, who put the lamb's blood on their doorposts, and were willing to leave everything and follow Moses to meet with God. So, how does this picture relate to Jesus? I want you to see how closely linked Moses and Jesus are. Right before Israel entered the land, Moses told the people in Deuteronomy 18:15.

Guest (Male): "The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brethren. Him you shall listen to."

Candace Long: Now, he was speaking of the end of the age, and the sages have always seen this verse as referring to Messiah. Now, let's fast forward now some 1,500 years later when Moses saw his prophecy being fulfilled. We find the two of them together, Moses and Jesus, on the Mount of Transfiguration.

Moses was not there by chance. On the contrary, he was fulfilling an important Levitical duty required by the Torah. You see, it was customary for priests to rehearse with the High Priest all of the rituals involved in the holy convocations, such as Passover, so everything would be done right according to the Torah.

I believe Moses and Elijah were serving Jesus as priests rehearsing with him every detail that would soon take place at Calvary. The next prophecy to be fulfilled was when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the 10th of Nisan as the promised Messiah. In that one scene, we find four different groups of people.

First were the Romans. They were in charge and they hated the Jews. The second group were the Jewish priests and their multitudes who were leading another lamb for the Passover sacrifice. The third group was a large crowd who, at the time, eagerly welcomed Jesus as the Messiah, but as the week progressed, they got distracted with trying to overthrow Rome.

And the fourth group was the one who was invited to the last supper. It was a very small group compared to all the others. It consisted of those who believed Jesus was the Messiah and had left everything to follow him. What I want you to see is that Jesus fulfilled what the ancient picture foretold. He was sent out, shalach-ed, to represent God in the flesh.

He was surrounded by his 12, which included three Levites who were closest to him: Peter, James, and John. This close-knit group also included other faithful followers such as his mother and Mary Magdalene. And it was to this group that he promised to prepare a place in the Kingdom and for all of those who would believe in him through their work over the next 2,000 years.

So who is Jesus coming for at the Rapture? The ancient picture teaches us that at the end of day six, when the 6,000 years have been completed, Jesus is coming for two groups. He's coming for a Levitical people he called to live closest to him and who have been doing so for years, not really understanding this call. And number two, he's coming for his tribes: Jews and Gentiles who accepted Jesus as the Messiah and are actively serving him in many tangible ways.

Why did God call his people out in the Exodus? As you recall, once the Jews left Egypt, God brought them into the wilderness where they spent seven weeks. It was there where they were transformed, repositioned, and identified according to the ancient picture of the encampment. Let's look at the Rapture now through a similar lens.

The Rapture is our Exodus, the vehicle God has chosen to get those of us coming out of the church age off by ourselves so we too can be repositioned for our place in the Kingdom as Gentiles. The Apostle Peter wrote to the Gentile believers, "You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people."

Jesus confirmed this to the Apostle John in Revelation 1, saying, "He has made us kings and priests unto God and his Father." You ready to step into this role? I don't know about you, but I could sure use a time of training to learn how to function properly as a royal priesthood or a king or queen.

Not long ago, I stumbled across a passage in the Torah that appears to indicate how long our repositioning will take. Now, because I fully identify as a Levite, I pay attention to the book of Leviticus. But think about it this way: why would God dedicate 20% of the Torah for the training of priests and Levites if none of this matters in the Kingdom, unless it contains hidden wisdom meant for us today as we are about to go there?

Leviticus 8 is when Moses consecrated the priests. They didn't know what they were doing either. Remember, they had just come out of years of slavery. In verse 33, Moses tells Aaron and his sons.

Guest (Male): "You shall not go out from the door of the tent of meeting for seven days, until the days of your ordination are completed. For it will take seven days to ordain you. At the door of the tent of meeting you shall remain day and night for seven days."

Candace Long: My rabbi, Michael Washer, has trained us to study scripture as pictures and let those pictures teach us. Here are three takeaways to leave you with before closing. Number one: Leviticus 8 contains instructions for the consecration of the priests and Levites. By Moses repeating two times they must remain day and night at the tent of meeting for seven days, this means it happened once during the original consecration and will be repeated again in the Kingdom.

This is a common way God speaks. This means that before we can be consecrated and ordained as priests and kings, God requires us to go through a dedicated seven-year training period just as Leviticus 8 depicts. Number two: The Talmud explains what happened during these seven days of consecration. Moses dressed them in their priestly attire and taught them about the mikvah, how to submerge themselves in God's holiness.

They stayed on the premises the entire seven days during which Moses himself performed the service every day. He erected the Tabernacle, performed the service, disassembled the Tabernacle when the service was done. He did this every day so they would know the meaning behind every part of the Tabernacle, what every ritual meant, and what every vessel used by the priests was a picture of.

Number three: The expression for seven days and seven nights, this was not meant to be taken literally since they obviously had to eat and sleep and go to the bathroom. But the expression meant they were engaged in training for seven complete days, which I believe foreshadows the seven years that we will spend with the Master in heaven, personally being trained by Jesus, Moses, and Aaron, both as Levites and as tribes.

That's why we will be taken up, to see the place he went to prepare for us, where we will no longer be alienated from the commonwealth of Israel. We will find our place as the ancient picture foretold. If you have resonated with these episodes on the last seven years of the church age, please share them with others.

There's only a small window of time left for friends and family members to get serious about deepening their relationship with Jesus and with our Jewish foundation. Jesus is coming soon, not for the occasional pew-sitters, but for those who have been proven ready to be repositioned.

In the description notes to this episode, I will put links to my book, The Levitical Calling, that will help you understand your place in the Kingdom. You will know if you're called in a Levitical role or whether you need to study deeper to find your tribe. Go to candacelong.com/podcasts and look for the final week of the church age part seven: the ancient picture that teaches who Jesus is coming for. Thank you so much for being with me today. I hope you join me again next time for Lessons in the Ladder Days. God bless.