JESUS, ARE YOU STILL COMING?

by Jack Kinsella

''Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of His coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.'' (2nd Peter 3:3-4)

 

Peter makes a couple of points up front.  The first is that this is a prophecy directed to those living in the last days.  The second is they are 'walking after their own lusts.'

 

What does 'walking after their own lusts' mean in this context?  Have you ever thought to yourself, (either seriously or not) "I hope that the Rapture will hold off until . . . ".

 

The reasons can be legion: "Until I get married.  Until my baby's born.  Until I get that new promotion.  Until I see my first grandchild.  Until I retire.

 

Then, as the reality of your own mortality really sinks in, it becomes "Even so, come, Lord Jesus." And suddenly, you're not walking after your own lusts anymore.  And you're pretty proud of yourself.

 

(I've noticed that as the years pile up, I don't walk after nearly as many lusts as I used to.  The sin nature is willing, but the flesh is weak.  It's not exactly virtue, but more a case that the closer I get to Heaven, the more practice the Lord thinks I need before I get there.)

 

From time to time, along comes some event or happening around which Bible prophecy watchers close ranks announcing, "This is it! He's coming soon!"

 

When the end doesn't come on schedule, they are discouraged.  And worse, those with whom they shared their insights are now confirmed scoffers.  Not to mention the disappointment of the believer himself, especially a new believer.

 

All that can be damaging beyond our capacity to comprehend.

 

Who are the scoffers that Peter is talking about?  Most of us assume they are unbelievers and that this verse is talking about how hardened people will become to the Gospel in the last days.

 

If one reads it carefully, however, one realizes that Peter is talking to believers damaged by somebody misdirecting their faith away from Jesus and into believing in some personal interpretation of prophecy.

 

We've discussed in back in 2009 the teaching that we've already entered the Tribulation Period and that Javier Solana is the antichrist.  Except that Solana's due to retire in October, coincidentally, JUST in time for the Rapture.

 

Every year at Rosh Hashana, (usually late September or early October) somebody announced they have cracked the mystery of the exact date of the Rapture than that it will either be the last day of the Feast of Trumpets or, alternatively, on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

 

These are usually accompanied by complicated calculations of days and weeks divided by months starting from some significant starting point - most recently, the 1967 capture of Jerusalem.

 

Nobody else can decipher the calculations, but the argument is so compelling that nobody bothers.  Here is the logic.

 

"Every one of the major miracles in the life of Jesus corresponded to a major Jewish feast day. The only two feast days for which there is not a corresponding major miracle are Rosh Hashana - the Feast of the Trumpets - and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement."

 

This makes PERFECT sense to me.  The Rapture begins with the blowing of the "last trumpet."

 

"In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." (1st Corinthians 15:52)

 

And Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement.  Jesus died to atone for my sins and on the Day of the Rapture, I will be caught up with Him, completing my atonement process!  It is an entirely logical assumption.  It is extremely compelling.  Heck, it might even be right.

 

Except it isn't.  Every year, both days go by and we're still here.  We didn't go last time around.  Probably won't go this time around.  And it is just as likely that when we DO go, it will be Good Friday, Easter -- or maybe Labor Day.

 

Religion is bound up in calendars.  If we're going to put our faith in a calendar date, it would be helpful to know which calendar God uses.

 

Does God follow the Jewish calendar?  Then today is 22 Iyar, 5773.  Does He follow the Gregorian calendar like we do?  Then today is May 2, 2013. If God follows the Julian calendar, then today is April 19, 2013.

 

Other choices include the Islamic calendar, the Coptic calendar, the Chinese calendar, the Ethiopic, the Persian, Mayan, French . . . what about the digital ISO calendar?  God invented DNA.  Maybe He works off computer time.

 

But that's not the way people are wired to think.  It is ENTIRELY natural for Americans to think of God as an American.  From there, it isn't that far a stretch to assume He thinks like they do.

 

Then when He fails to conform to the image in which people have reconstructed Him, they become scoffers.  Who are the scoffers?  They aren't skeptics, or atheists.

 

Read Peter's assessment again. He tells you not only who they are, but WHY they became scoffers.

 

"And saying, Where is the promise of His coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation." (2 Peter 3:4)

 

They are believers who got burned by bad doctrine.

 

Assessment:

 

As students of Bible prophecy, we have an awesome responsibility before God because we KNOW what the scoffers don't.

 

Bible prophecy is both the proof of God's existence and the assurance we have of our salvation.

 

"We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:" (2 Peter 1:19)

 

The same Voice that proclaimed,

 

"So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. (Isaiah 55:11)

 

He also proclaimed,

 

"And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." (John 10:28)

 

Bible prophecy is not gloom and doom, but is instead hope and a blessed assurance.  It is proof positive that God remains on His Throne and that He WILL do all that He has promised.

 

Believers are instructed to await the return of the Lord for His Church, but our emphasis is supposed to be on Who is coming, not when.  If the predicted date of the Rapture takes place on schedule, the timing is irrelevant, since the Church Age is over.

 

If it doesn't take place on schedule, the predicted date is only relevant in that it provides the skeptics with more ammunition to discredit both the Message and the messenger.

 

In many cases, when the date comes and goes without incident, it just means readjusting the Rapture from pre-Trib to pre-Wrath to make it relevant again.

 

1 Thessalonians 1:10 admonishes us; . .

 

"to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come."

 

We are to be waiting for the Deliverer from wrath, not the wrath itself.

 

To the lost the Lord will come unexpectedly like a thief.  But to believers who are expecting Him and do not sleep, Christ will not come "as a thief."

 

This does NOT mean that we are prepared because we KNOW the date of His return, rather, we are not surprised because we are EXPECTING an IMMINENT Rapture.

 

It is the job of the Church to prepare the world for the coming of Christ, not to warn the world of His exact itinerary.

 

"Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." (2nd Peter 1:20-21)

 

We're to be witnesses.  Not storytellers.

AGE OF LAW VS. AGE OF GRACE

There is a belief that exists within the Church that argues that because Jews have a special relationship with God, they will be welcomed into Heaven even if they have rejected Yeshua HaMashiach (Jesus the Messiah).

Therefore, the thinking goes, there is no need to evangelize the Jews.  They'll be saved automatically.  This is known as 'Dual Covenant' theology. But is it Biblical? Is it valid?

If not, why is it so popular?  Let's take the last question, first.  I am a Christian Zionist.  I believe that the Jews of Israel are descended from the Jews of antiquity and that Israel is the Divinely-appointed Jewish homeland.

Christian Zionists love the Jews.  It is painful to think of them as being unsaved because they rejected their Messiah.  Unlike Replacement Theology, which is rooted in jealously and hatred for God's Chosen People, 'Dual Covenant' theology finds it roots in our love for the Jews and our desire to see them saved.

How were Jews saved before the coming of the Messiah?

We know that Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. (Romans 4:3) Hebrews Chapter 11 addresses the conundrum of salvation for the Jews.  It is a conundrum because we Christians don't fully comprehend it.

We know that God entered into a special covenant relationship with Israel at Sinai when He gave them the Torah (means teaching / instruction – not LAW).  But how do these covenants, and the additional instructions from God – forming the rest of the Tanakh, work out in the life of the Jew?

God said, "If you will keep all…."  Obey the Torah and all its 316 commandments, you will be right with Me.  Clearly, nobody, Jew or Gentile, is capable of meeting that standard.  The Torah will cause the man of faith to throw himself on God’s mercy for forgiveness.

David was a man after God’s own heart, but he fell well short of Torah standards.  David acknowledged his sin, repented and was forgiven and restored.  The Torah included a system of sacrifices for dealing with sins, but the sacrifice had to be offered in faith that God would accept it as a token of his repentance and forgive him.

The Bible tells us that Abraham, Isaac, David, Joseph, Moses, (and even Rahab the Harlot) were all saved by faith before Messiah came.

Hebrews 11:13 says of the patriarchs:

"These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth."

The OT patriarchs were saved, not by the Abrahamic Covenant, but faith in its eventual fulfillment by the Messiah, Jesus.

The Scriptures say,

"without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." (Hebrews 11:6)

Dual Covenant Theology comforts those Christians who love the Jews and can't bear the thought of their not going to Heaven unless they accept the Messiah.  But for that thinking to work, then there must be two Messiahs -- one for the Christians and another for the Jews.

Dual Covenant Theology ignores the fact that Yeshua Hamashiac is, first and foremost, the JEWISH Messiah. "He came unto His own, and His own received Him not," we learn from John 1:11.

Jesus came to the Jews first.  Mark tells the story of the Syrophenician woman who begged Jesus to cast a devil out of her daughter.  Note His reply carefully:

"But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it unto the dogs." (Mark 7:27)

The 'children' referred to here were the 'children of Israel'.  "Dogs" was a slang name among the Jews for 'Gentile'.

Jesus' first ministry was to the Jews.

He did NOT teach that the Jews could be saved by trusting in their ability to keep the Law.  He told them, "I am the way, the truth and the life, and no man comes to the Father but by Me."

Assessment:

Now we run into a major stumbling block.  Did you spot it?  Replacement Theology argues that the Jews have forfeited promises of the First Covenant to the Church.  Dual Covenant Theology argues that the First Covenant has NOT been replaced by the Covenant to the Church.

Replacement theology is wrong.  And so is Dual Covenant.  How do we reconcile these glaring contradictions in Scripture?  By recognizing they cover two separate Dispensations of God.

As we've already seen, Hebrews 11:13 says the Patriarchs were saved by faith that God would fulfill His promise of a Redeemer.  During the Age of Grace, we are saved by faith that the Redeemer is come.

Dispensationalism takes into account the unfolding revelation of God.  God exists outside of time and space, but we don't.  We are bound by chronology.  The Bible 'dispenses' revelation progressively throughout history, even as God, at different times in history, dealt differently in his interactions with man.

He walked in the garden with Adam (Age of Innocence).

He allowed Adam's descendants to conduct themselves according to their own consciences, devoid of further revelation (Age of Conscience).  After the Flood came the age of Human Government.

Abraham's covenant with God was yet a new progressive revelation (Age of Promise).

But man was not accountable for violating Divine Law until God's revelation of the Ten Commandments (Age of the Law).  That revelation was truly progressive, in that the longer man had to try, the more obvious it became that it was impossible to keep the whole law.

In keeping with His covenant with Abraham, God provided for a temporary system of sacrifice whereby the blood of bulls and rams would serve as an imperfect covering for the sins of the children of Israel until the advent of the Messiah.

The Prophet Daniel outlined the future history of Israel from the restoration of the Temple sacrifice system following the Babylonian exile until the coming of the Messiah to a period of 490 years, divided into seventy 'weeks' of years.

From the issuance of the order to rebuild the Temple by King Artexerxes in 445 BC until the coming of the Messiah, Daniel predicted, would be a period of 69 weeks, or 483 years.  Fast forward the requisite number of years and you come to the third decade of the first century.

Daniel says at the conclusion of the 69th week shall the Messiah be cut off (killed) but not for Himself (for the sins of His people).  The seventieth Week is put on hold to allow for the next Dispensation (Age of Grace) to move forward.  The Age of Grace is the New Covenant which was offered at the Last Supper.

Yet there remains one more unfulfilled week of the Law.  The Prophet Daniel says that a prince of the people who destroyed the Temple (the Romans in AD 70) would confirm a covenant with Israel that will result in the restoration of Temple worship and animal sacrifice on Temple Mount.

"And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate." (Daniel 9:26)

The Age of Grace concludes before the 70th Week because they represent two different Dispensations of God.

During the Tribulation, the antichrist desecrates the Temple. Jesus called it 'the abomination of desolation.'  That raises an interesting question.  If the Tribulation Temple is not legitimate in the eyes of God, how could it be desecrated in the eyes of God?  It is Jesus Christ who links the antichrist's presence in the Temple with the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel. He ought to know.

Paul describes this coming abomination more thoroughly:

"Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God." (2nd Thessalonians 2:4)

Paul does not describe it as the Tribulation Temple, or the antichrist's Temple.  He calls it the Temple of God.  Paul was an Apostle of Christ.  Once again, he ought to know.

None of this is possible during the Dispensation of Grace.  During the Age of Grace, those indwelt by the Holy Spirit are 'the temple of God'.

But Daniel says Temple priests will resume Temple worship, including sacrifices and oblations to God.  The Third Temple will be desecrated, says Jesus.  Paul says it is, at that time, the Temple of God.

Jeremiah refers to Daniel's 70th Week as the "Time of Jacob's Trouble".  Jesus warns those living in Judea that when it comes, "pray it not be on the Sabbath".

All of this body of evidence taken together suggests that the Tribulation is, as Jeremiah indicates, the time of Jacob's Trouble, not the Church's.

There are TWO covenants, and God has not abandoned the First Covenant in favor of the Second.  If He had, Replacement Theology would be valid.  Where Dual Covenant theology is wrong in that it assumes both covenant agreements operate simultaneously.

The Church exists under the New Covenant, or Age of Grace, which is concluded at the Rapture.  The indwelling ministry of the Holy Spirit is withdrawn, and with Him, the Temple that He occupied.  That leaves nobody on the earth except the Christ-rejecting Gentiles and the Jews who remain in unbelief.

Jeremiah, Zechariah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and Paul all clearly state that the Tribulation results in the national redemption of Israel.

"And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn." (Zechariah 12:10)

Daniel clearly says that God's covenant with Israel has one more week.  All Jesus' comments and warnings about the Tribulation are addressed to Sabbath-keeping Jews.  Jesus declares the Third Temple will be desecrated by the antichrist.  Paul describes how, and in so doing, identifies it as "the Temple of God".  Daniel says that at the time when this abomination of desolation takes place, Jewish priests will once again be offering animal sacrifices.

Remove Dispensationalism from the equation, and Dual Covenant and Replacement theology are either both wrong, or they are both right, while simultaneously contradiction one another.  Introduce the Church into the Tribulation Period without first concluding the Age of Grace at the Rapture muddies the picture still more.

Restore pre-trib Dispensationalism and Scripture is in harmony with itself.  We're not yet in the Tribulation because the Lord, in His mercy, has not yet concluded the Age of Grace.

Not yet.

WE AWAIT THE PRIZE

by Jack Kinsella

When somebody dies, it is always an occasion for grief, even among Christians.

I know, I know. When a Christian dies, he goes home to be with the Lord, it is cause for celebration, his suffering is past, and all that.

But I've been a Christian for more than half my life, and in that time, many of my loved ones have gone home to be with the Lord. 

I have to admit that I grieved their loss, in each and every case. For some whom I particularly loved, that grief is only diminished, but not gone, even after many years. 

Paul was writing of physical death when he penned; 

"But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope." (2nd Thessalonians 4:13) 

Does that mean I am ignorant? Or faithless? I don't think so. I believe in the certainty of salvation, the literal existence of a loving God and the literal existence of a place called "Heaven."

My grief isn't for the person who has gone to be with the Lord. My grief is for my own loss. 

Knowing I will see my loved one in the 'sweet by and by' is a source of immense comfort, but it isn't the same as seeing them now. 

You don't fully appreciate the measure of comfort offered by the certain knowledge salvation until someone you love dies without that hope. When that hope is absent, the grief is magnified beyond measure. 

Your personal loss is now inconsequential to the complete and permanent loss of the hopeless. Your grief isn't for yourself, it is truly and tragically for that lost one. 

Your loss is over, his is just beginning. 

We've discussed at length in previous briefings what kind of eternity is in store for those who enter eternity without Christ. 

Let's take a brief look at what the Bible tells us awaits the saved Christian on the other side. 

Is Heaven a Real Place?

"In My Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." (John 14:2-3)

This is a proof text for the Rapture; Jesus promises that He will come again and receive us personally unto Himself. 

That isn't the 2nd Coming, where He comes astride a white horse, with ten thousands of His saints, wielding a sword and exacting judgment on a rebellious earth. 

The purpose of this secret 'coming' is to take the Church, the Bride of Christ, to the honeymoon mansion prepared for us. 

But note that also that He is speaking of a real place. Heaven is His Father's house; within which are contained ancillary houses, (mansions) and "if it were not so, I would have told you," Jesus promises. 

Elsewhere, Jesus teaches: "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:" (Matthew 6:19-20)

That could only apply to an actual, literal, real physical place.

What Does Heaven Look Like?

"Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him." (1st Corinthians 2:9)

Since the Bible says it is beyond our capacity to imagine, those images we are shown are simply that -- images. 

John describes it in Revelation 21 and 22, streets of gold, inlaid with precious gems, but I like the picture in Revelation 22:1 of a "pure river of water of life, clear as crystal," with the Tree of Life growing on its banks, "and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations . . . and there shall be no more curse." 

Heaven is a place of indescribable beauty, but it appeals to me as a place of perfect peace. 

Do The Saved Go To Heaven Immediately?

Emphatically, yes. 2nd Corinthians 5:8 says: "to be absent from the body," [is] "to be present with the Lord." 

Paul wrote to the Philippians: For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better." (1:23)

Man is not 'a body', but rather, man has a body. My body is not me, it is my possession. These are my arms, my legs, my eyes, and my hands. 

This is also my keyboard, my monitor and my computer. They are in both cases, my possessions, they are not me.

When I leave this body behind, I leave behind a possession, but that part that is 'me' is the eternal part, that which was created in the Image of God. 

But From Body to Disembodied?

There is considerable Scriptural support for the conclusion that we already have some kind of temporary, physical body awaiting us in Heaven -- even before the resurrection of the dead in Christ at the Rapture. 

Paul writes to the Corinthians; 

"For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens . . . . 

Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: . . . 

We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord." (2nd Corinthians 5:1,6,8)

Paul reveals here that when our bodies die (and are dissolved) there awaits us a "new building of God."

Since our resurrection bodies are our actual physical earthly remains, reformed in the image of Christ's Resurrected Body, the 'building of God not made with hands' that awaits us in Heaven cannot be one and the same. 

Further, Luke 16 teaches that Lazarus had a finger to dip in cool water, that the rich man had a body to be tortured by the flame, and that the rich man recognized the forms of both Abraham and Lazarus. 

Chronologically, this all took place prior to the death and Resurrection of Christ. 

But they had bodies of some description, notwithstanding. 

If Heaven is a Real, Physical Place, Where is It?

We tend to think of Heaven as 'up' and hell as 'down' -- but the earth is round. 

If, when I die, I go 'up' to Heaven, does that mean that a guy in China who dies at that same moment goes 'down'? 

The idea of Heaven being 'up' is derived from the points on a compass. Straight up is 'north'. 

Christians often refer to the passing of a loved one into Heaven as a 'promotion.' Many obituaries announce one's 'promotion to Glory' rather than a death announcement. 

The Psalmist reveals: "For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south." (75:6) 

Isaiah recorded the indictment of Lucifer as follows: "For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north." (Isaiah 14:13)

Heaven, therefore, is a fixed location in 'the sides of the north' from our universe, orienting due north from our North Pole and somewhere north of the highest star. 

Will We Know Each Other?

Undoubtedly. Jesus told the Pharisees; "There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out." (Luke 13:28)

Clearly, if they can see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets, they will also recognize them for who they are. Otherwise, why the weeping and gnashing of teeth?

At the Mount of Transfiguration, both Moses and Elijah were there. Moses and Elijah had never met. (But not only did they know each other, note that they still had the same names.)

The rich man recognized Abraham. Ok, but that's Abraham! (He also recognized Lazarus)

Paul writes: "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known." (1st Corinthians 13:12) 

The Apostle Paul expected to be known when he entered Heaven. So do I. 

Assessment:

Heaven is a real, literal, physical place that will we will inhabit with real, heavenly, physical (but temporary) bodies that we begin to inhabit at the moment our physical bodies are 'dissolved' (die). 

According to the Bible, we will know and be known by our loved ones who have preceded us in death. 

Although the literal, physical Heaven is beyond our capacity to imagine, we are assured by our Maker that it will exceed our most optimistic hopes (He should know), that it will be a place of eternal peace, and that our existence there will be one of unimaginable joy. 

The curse will be lifted, man will no longer exist by the 'sweat of his brow' there will be no more sickness, no more death, and all our 'tears will be wiped away.' 

We began this morning talking about grief and loss. We went on to examine Paul's admonition that 'we sorrow not, even as others who have no hope' -- yet we know that we do sorrow at the death of a loved one, blessed assurance notwithstanding. 

But Paul began by saying, "I don't want you to be ignorant." 

We can't imagine Heaven, but we can be certain that it exists, and that every single Christian who ever lived and died is still alive and well and physically in the presence of God and all their loved ones. 

And we can be equally certain that they will still be there, waiting, when we get there. 

If Heaven is such a great place, why is it that we can't really imagine it? Think that through. God put us on this earth with a mission. 

It is our job to spread the message of Heaven and the path that leads to it. We are given to know just enough to fulfill that message. 

There is an old saying to the effect that "everybody wants to go to Heaven, but nobody wants to die." It's only true because we really can't imagine the things that God has prepared for those who love Him. 

That's how good it is. And how important the message we carry is. So important that God can't trust us with too much information about the Prize that awaits us at the end of the race. 

Because if we really knew what awaits us, there'd be nobody left down here willing to wait and carry the message to the next runner.

For now, we'll just have to take His Word for it. On faith.

So Come Lord Jesus. We await for your return. 

THE UNDENIABLE SIGN OF CHRIST'S RETURN

 - By Britt Gillette -

The signs of the Second Coming are all around us. When His disciples asked Jesus to describe the signs, He gave them several. The Jewish people back in possession of Jerusalem (Luke 21:24-28)...  the Gospel preached throughout the world (Matthew 24:14)... the arrival of the exponential curve (Matthew 24:3-8)... and more. 

 

The Old Testament prophets also pointed to a number of signs. An increase in travel and knowledge (Daniel 12:4)... the rise of a united Europe (Daniel 2:42)... the rise of the Gog of Magog alliance (Ezekiel 38-39)... and more.

 

Today, all these signs are either present or in the process of being fulfilled. Yet for 1,800+ years, none of these signs were present. Think about that. None of the signs. But today? Today, they're all around us. 

 

Nevertheless, most of the world remains ignorant of the soon return of Jesus Christ. While I can understand why some people might overlook some of these signs, I don't understand how they could miss one sign in particular. 

 

It's a clear and unmistakable sign. I believe in and of itself, it not only shows the return of Jesus is near - I believe it proves the existence of God beyond all doubt. So what is this sign?

 

Israel.

 

That's right. The existence of modern day Israel is a clear and unmistakable sign Jesus is about to return.

 

Israel Back in the Land

 

Centuries in advance, God foretold the modern-day nation of Israel. He promised to bring the Jewish people back into the land and re-establish the ancient nation. 

 

Moses declared God's promise when he said God would gather the Jewish people back from the nations where He scattered them and bring them back into the land of Israel (Deuteronomy 30:3-5).         

 

Jesus also foretold the rebirth of Israel. He said Jerusalem would be destroyed and the Jewish people taken away to serve as slaves in all parts of the world (Luke 21: 24). He then said non-Jewish people would control Jerusalem until the Jewish people come back into possession of it (Luke 21:24).

 

The prophets also foretold the re-emergence of Israel. Hosea said the people of Israel would go a long time without a king, sacrifices, sacred pillars, or priests. 

 

Then, in the last days, they will return to the land (Hosea 3:4-5). Joel said God will judge the world at the time when He restores Judah and Jerusalem, bringing His people back from among the nations where they were scattered (Joel 3:1-2).

 

This regathering of the Jews back into the land of Israel is repeated over and over by the prophets. Jeremiah said God would gather them back in the land just before His return (Jeremiah 23:7-8) and restore them to the land of Israel from distant lands (Jeremiah 30:2, 10). 

 

Ezekiel said God would call them from "among the nations" (Ezekiel 39:28) and welcome them home from the lands where they were scattered (Ezekiel 20:34). Isaiah said God would call them from "the farthest corners of the earth" (Isaiah 11:12). 

 

King David said God would gather them from "north, south, east, and west" (Psalm 107:3). And Zechariah said, though "scattered among the nations," God will bring his people back into the land of Israel (Zechariah 10:9).

 

Jeremiah said a day will come when people will no longer refer to the God of Israel as the one who rescued His people from the land of Egypt. 

 

Instead, they will refer to Him as the one who brought His people back into the land of Israel from all the countries in the world where He had exiled them (Jeremiah 16:14-15). Everyone alive on earth today is a witness to this fulfilled prophecy. It's an undeniable sign of the Second Coming.

 

Israel in the Last Days

 

The regathering of the Jewish people in Israel is a miracle in our time. But the prophets had much more to say about this monumental sign of the last days. They said Israel would be reborn in a specific way. Not only would the people be regathered, but the nation would have specific traits.

 

1) Born in a Single Day - Isaiah said the reborn nation of Israel would come forth in a single day. He likened it to a woman "who gives birth in an instant without labor pains" (Isaiah 66:7-9). 

 

Written more than 2,500 years ago, Isaiah's prophecy seemed ridiculous. No nation had ever come into being in a single day. 

 

But Israel did. On May 14, 1948, David Ben-Gurion read the Israeli Declaration of Independence, a document which declared Israel to be an independent state. That same day, the United States recognized Israel as an independent and sovereign nation.

 

2) One, United Nation - When Solomon died almost three thousand years ago, Israel broke into northern and southern kingdoms. 

 

It remained divided throughout the lifetimes of both Isaiah and Ezekiel. Yet both proclaimed the regathered nation of Israel would be a single, united nation - just as we see today with the modern-day nation of Israel. 

 

Isaiah said Israel and Judah would no longer be rivals (Isaiah 11:13). And Ezekiel said the regathered people would be unified into one nation (Ezekiel 37:22).

 

3) The Desert Will Bloom - Through the prophet Isaiah, God promised Israel would blossom agriculturally and fill the whole world with its fruit (Isaiah 27:6). He repeated this promise eight chapters later when He said the desert will bloom (Isaiah 35:1). 

 

Through Ezekiel, God said His people would re-enter the land, produce much fruit, and be more prosperous than ever before (Ezekiel 36:8-11). Do we see this today? Yes. In a 1869 visit to what is today known as the nation of Israel, author Mark Twain described the land as "barren," "dull of color," and "unpicturesque in shape." All he saw were "unsightly deserts fringed with a feeble vegetation." 

 

Yet today, the tiny nation is an agriculture giant. The land is fruitful and prosperous, and Israel is one of the world's leading fresh citrus producers and a net exporter of more than forty varieties of fruit.

 

4) Surrounded by Enemies - The Bible said the regathered people of Israel would be surrounded by enemies. "Come, let us wipe away the nation of Israel. Let's destroy the memory of its existence," they'll say (Psalm 83:4). "Let us take for ourselves these pasturelands of God" (Psalm 83:12). Ezekiel said Israel's neighbors would say "God has given their land to us" (Ezekiel 11:1417), and "Israel and Judah are ours. We will take possession of them. What do we care if their God is there?" (Ezekiel 35:10). 

 

This is what we see today. Ever since the rebirth of Israel in 1948, the daily headlines have included these Bible verses. The surrounding Muslim nations claim the land of Israel for themselves. They have no regard for the God of Israel. The prophets foretold this exact situation more than 2,000 years ago.

 

5) A Small, Powerful Military - Centuries in advance, the Bible said the reborn nation of Israel would be a great military power. Ezekiel said the regathered nation of Israel would field "an exceedingly great army" (Ezekiel 37:10). Zechariah said it would be like a fire among sheaves of grain, burning up the neighboring nations (Zechariah 12:6). 

 

It would be so successful even the weakest Israeli soldier will be like David (Zechariah 12:8). Since 1948, Israel has fought no less than four conventional wars against its neighbors. Despite being outnumbered more than 50 to 1, and despite being surrounded on all sides, Israel has experienced overwhelming victory every time.

 

A Miracle in Our Time

 

The reappearance of Israel on the world stage is a modern day miracle. More than 2,000 years ago, God promised over and over again to bring the Jewish people back into the land He gave Abraham. For 1,878 years, the nation of Israel did not exist. For all those years, the Jewish people were scattered throughout the world. Yet they remained set apart for God. 

 

Unlike the Hittites, Amorites, Jebusites, and other conquered people, they did not assimilate into the nations where they lived. Then, in 1948, God fulfilled His promise and made Israel a nation once again. It was reborn in a single day (Isaiah 66:7-9). 

 

It was unified as one nation (Ezekiel 37:22). It transformed a desert wasteland into an abundant land of fruit (Isaiah 27:6). And in the face of many enemies, God has given Israel military victory after victory just as He promised (Zechariah 12:6).

 

We are all witnesses to this miracle. How could anyone see the nation of Israel and not give glory to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? How could anyone deny this is anything less than God's doing? God promised to bring His people back into the land, and He did. 

 

The rebirth of Israel as a nation is more than just a fulfilled prophecy. It's one of the biggest events in world history. Why? Because it's an undeniable sign of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. 

 

Next to the convergence of all end times signs (Luke 21:28), it's arguably the biggest sign of all. For 1,878 years, Christians could not point to this sign. Since 1948, they can.

 

Isaiah said Jesus will return and establish His everlasting kingdom after the Jewish people return to the land of Israel (Isaiah 11:11-12). 

 

Joel said, after the restoration of Israel, God will gather the armies of the world into the valley of Jehoshaphat (Joel 3:1-2). This is a direct reference to Armageddon (Revelation 16:16) which occurs just before the return of Jesus Christ. Micah said God will gather His exiled people and make them a strong nation, and then, God will rule from Jerusalem as their King forever (Micah 4:6-7). 

Israel is the door that unlocks bible prophecy and Jerusalem is the key to that door. Israel is looking to be refined as silver is refined in the fire, as God will make His people ready to accept their Messiah, but through much pain and persecution. They will cry as Jesus said they would "Blessed is He, who comes in the name of the Lord"...then Our God will come and fight for Israel as in the day of battle...Stay tuned, the end is close, and Jesus is coming soon, to take a people who were not His people from among the nations. THE CHURCH of the LIVING GOD. Then He will return full focus back to Israel...Israel will be refined, and she will be the premier nation on earth once again, as it was in the day of Solomon, but the King on the throne will be King Jesus. So come Lord Jesus. 

The message is clear. It's undeniable. Israel is back, and Jesus is coming (Revelation 22:20)!