One of the most common verses used by believers of a future rapture is this:-
On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south.
Now, many would look at this as the fulfilment of this verse.
“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
So they will look forward to a future event where in the Mount of Olives will be separated into 2.
Let me present my case to you.
“Citing the Midrash, Ernest L. Martin in his book Secrets of Golgotha: The Forgotten History of Christ’s Crucifixion claims that a rabbi named Jonathan witnessed the departure of the Shekinah or Glory Cloud from the Temple in A.D. 66.
The Shekinahis the presence of God. And the Glory Cloud is the visible manifestation of God’s presence.
After leaving the Temple, the Shekinah or Glory Cloud then allegedly sat atop the Mt. of Olives for three and a half years before rising up to heaven several months prior to the arrival of Titus and his army at Jerusalem in A.D. 70.
If this event did, in fact, occur during the Jewish War as Martin claims, then this event literally fulfills Zechariah 14:4: “On that day his [God’s] feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem[.]”
Regardless of whether or not this event occurred during the Jewish War, the fact that God stood on the Mt. of Olives is confirmed by the fact that the Mount of Olives was split in two from east to west by a Roman road in the first century.
And indeed it was and is! The Mt. of Olives was, in fact, split down the middle by a Roman road that formed a valley through the middle of the mountain in the first century.
Below is a photograph of the Mount of Olives taken a little over a hundred years ago showing the Mount of Olives split in two by a road.
As stated in the introduction above, the splitting of the Mount of Olives also hints to the miracle of the parting of the Red Sea.
Waters and mountain are both Biblical symbols for a kingdom (Revelation 17:15, Psalms 2:6, Psalms 48:1, Isaiah 66:20, Jeremiah 51:25, Joel 3:17).
The fact that the Mount of Olives is split in half is a physical manifestation or symbol of the fact that according to verse 2, “[h]alf of the city [or mountain of Jerusalem] will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken from the city.”
The same symbolic message is inherent in the miracle of the parting of the Red Sea. With the departure of the Jewish slaves from Egypt, Egypt, as is illustrated by the parting of the waters, is a divided kingdom.
As is abundantly shown in the commentary on Revelation, the events surrounding the Jewish War with Rome are wrapped up in the symbolism of Exodus.
Therefore, the symbolic linkage between the splitting of the Mt. of Olives and the parting of the Red Sea is in alignment with a major theme of eschatology.”
“So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— then let those who are in Judea FLEE to the mountains.
Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers!
Pray that your FLIGHT will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath.
Flee. Flight. Exodus. Leave AD70 Jerusalem.
To be continued.