Rapture References in Scripture
In ancient Israel, Tu B’Av commemorated the lifting of the ban on inter-tribal marriage and was celebrated as a “matchmaking day” for unmarried women. On the full moon of Av, virgins would dress in white and go out and dance in the vineyards to attract husbands. Some speculate that Ruth’s wedding to Boaz, a picture of the Church’s wedding to Messiah, occurred on Tu B’Av: Scripture records that Ruth lived with her mother-in-law, Naomi, until all of the wheat harvest was complete (Ruth 2:21-23). Tu B’Av traditionally marks the beginning of the grape harvest and, therefore, an unofficial conclusion to the wheat harvest. This is presumably when Ruth would have stopped living with her mother-in-law to take up residence with her new husband/redeemer, Boaz. Pertaining to the grape harvest, a rapture-typology in Song of Solomon associates ripened grapes with the coming of the shepherd to gather and spirit away his beloved Shulammite maid: “For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over an...