The Pope's funeral is Saturday, so I will be able to test my theory comparing the Pope's funeral to the great sacrifice to Dagon called by God in 1 Kings 18.
Luke 16:19 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: 20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, 21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; 23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. 25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. 26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. 27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: 28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. 29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. 30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. 31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
I am wondering if the death of the Pope refers to this rich man dying. This involves a rather involved look at Judges, Kings, Luke, John, Genesis as well as the Catholic church and the Franciscan order with their commitment to poverty, charity and service to others and the Jesuit order.
In Judges Samson pushes out the pillars during a great sacrifice to Dagon. I believe that this is a picture of the rapture. All the stones resting on these two pillars are cast down, just as Jesus said would happen while the two pillars represent the church (Paul told us the church is the pillars) being taken out of the way by the strong man, Samson signifying Jesus. The priests of Dagon wear the same hat that the Pope wears. So we have connection between the Pope and the rapture in this story. There are many "great sacrifices" to Dagon like Easter and Christmas.
However, if we go to 1 Kings 18 when Elijah calls down fire this also signifies one aspect of the rapture. All of Israel is troubled by false prophets of Baal and those that sit at the table of Jezebel. There are 850 of these prophets at this event all trying to call down fire on their sacrifice while Elijah, the one true prophet, signifying the pure word during the church age, is standing against them. Elijah asks them "how long they would be caught between two opinions". It is the rapture that exposes all the false prophets while also revealing who was telling the truth. This event is similar to the story with Samson because it also is a great sacrifice, and in both stories the false prophets are killed after the rapture. However, this cannot be a holy day for Dagon because of two reasons. First, God called the assembly. And second, you would not get all of the false prophets around the world gathering in one place on Easter or Christmas because they have to do their own celebrations in their Cathedrals and temples. However, we refer to someone dying as "God calling them home". So everyone would gather at the funeral of the Pope and that would be considered a "great sacrifice to Dagon" which God called, and you would get all the religious leaders from the entire globe gathering there. So then this narrows down the possible event to the funeral of a Pope which traditionally is held four days after he dies. Hence he is in the grave for four days, which also aligns with the story of Lazarus.
In Luke it says that Lazarus was "laid at his gate". In Jerusalem there is a gate called the Damascus gate. This is important because Lazarus is the Greek form of Eleazar which was Abraham's servant who went and got Rebekah and brought her to Isaac, sight unseen. This is a picture of the church being raptured. Isaac is not allowed to return to the land yet because they had been seeking to kill Abraham there. Instead he meets Eleazar and Rebekah halfway just as the Lord will meet the raptured church in clouds. Eleazar was from Damascus. Also, at the Damascus gate there is a Catholic church of St. Stephen, the first martyr. So then Lazarus could refer to all the martyrs of the church age, 11 of whom were Franciscan monks killed in Damascus. Meanwhile Pope Francis is a Jesuit. Together we get 12, 11 are Franciscans and one is a Jesuit. This is similar to the disciples, 11 were Galileans and 1 was from Judah (Judas).
What is also interesting about the account in Luke is that this rich man asks that one returns from the dead to warn his brothers but we don't see Lazarus rise from the dead in Luke. And yet, we might actually see that. Enoch, the seventh from Adam, is a type of the church. He lived for 365 years and "was not". He walked with God, the implication being he walked with God every day and then poof, he was taken. That is a picture of the rapture. In Luke it concludes that they were continually in the temple blessing God. And then it ends as though, like Enoch, poof they are gone. The word blessing is very interesting, it is more general that worship, or teaching, or preaching, or evangelizing, or ministering. It is all inclusive for all the ways in which we can serve the Lord. Also, the rapture will be a warning to all those who are left on earth to not go to hell but to repent and receive Jesus.
Also in Luke we learn the rich man is dressed in purple, just like the Pope, and just like the Pope which has a Catholic church at the Damascus gate, Lazarus is laid at the rich man's gate.
Finally, in John we see the event that causes the whole world to praise the Lord on Palm Sunday. It was the raising of Lazarus from the grave. In the same way we will see a triumphant entry of the Lord after the rapture. In Joel we learn that the latter rain, referring to the revival that takes place after the rapture takes place in the first month. The rapture paves the way for the Lord to have a triumphant entry into Jerusalem just as raising Lazarus paved the way at the start of the church age.
Obviously we do have an issue with the calendar but I can address that later. The Bible is very clear that Satan has tried to change the times and seasons. However, the one thing that remains true is seedtime and harvest. If we look at the harvest and when Israel could reasonably celebrate the feasts of firstfruit for both Barley and Wheat it is very clear that the calendar is off by at least a month.