29-07-2020
There are two dimensions to Israel’s return:
- Israel’s salvation
- To bring judgment on the nations
He is going to come to bring great salvation (great deliverance) and judgment at the same time.
For those who refuse to yield to Him, His coming is not good news—His coming is judgment.
1 Samuel – God defeats the Philistines and Samuel erects a stone and calls it Stone of help.
A stone that you erect as a memorial reminds you of something significant that had happened.
God says Jerusalem itself is a memorial. Jerusalem is the city of the Great King. “My throne is on Mount Zion and it is a witness for the whole world.” The nations will come against Jerusalem to push the stone away. The consequence is that they will hurt themselves.
For all of those who take refuge in Him, they are blessed.
The Hill of Megiddo is the assembly point for all the nations that are gathering together to fight and destroy Jerusalem.
In World War 2, Normandy was the assembly point to take Berlin.
The final battle is for Jerusalem because it is the heavy stone.
Jerusalem is focus. Jerusalem is the city of the Great King.
Judgment is coming but also healing.
We fulfill the creation mandate to be partakers of the Tree of Life.
Psalm 2:8 New King James Version (NKJV)
Ask of Me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for your possession.
So we make ourselves ready.
Jesus will rule and reign for a thousand years in His millennial kingdom.
The Scripture tells us in Ezekiel that the third temple will be built.
Rapture means we will meet the Lord in the air. The Scriptures tell us that we will, along with those who are dead in Christ, rise to meet the Lord in the air.
In Acts 1 and Zechariah 14, the Scriptures tell us the same way He goes up, the same way He will come down.
After the Tribulation, then He will gather the saints.
Matthew 24:15-31 New King James Version (NKJV)
The Great Tribulation
15 “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), 16 “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. 18 And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. 19 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.
23 “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. 24 For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand.
26 “Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it. 27 For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 28 For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.
The Coming of the Son of Man
29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Luke 17:20-37 New King James Version (NKJV)
The Coming of the Kingdom
20 Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; 21 nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”
22 Then He said to the disciples, “The days will come when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 23 And they will say to you, ‘Look here!’ or ‘Look there!’ Do not go after them or follow them. 24 For as the lightning that flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in His day. 25 But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 26 And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: 27 They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; 29 but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.
31 “In that day, he who is on the housetop, and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back. 32 Remember Lot’s wife. 33 Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. 34 I tell you, in that night there will be two men in one bed: the one will be taken and the other will be left. 35 Two women will be grinding together: the one will be taken and the other left. 36 Two men will be in the field: the one will be taken and the other left.”
37 And they answered and said to Him, “Where, Lord?”
So He said to them, “Wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together.”
As an argument for pre-tribulation rapture, Paul says we are not appointed for wrath. There is a parallel between the plagues on Egypt and the final judgments that we read about in Revelation. There isn’t any evidence that we will not experience tribulation. When God pours out wrath on Egypt, Israel does not suffer the wrath of God but they are not removed from the scene. It is possible for God to protect us from wrath without removing us from the earth. There is no dispute for what the Bible says. We are not appointed for wrath. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him. Jesus tells us to get ready because the time is coming. When you see all these things, Jesus tells us not to be afraid. Throughout history, believers have faced tremendous tribulation. As far as wrath goes, we are not appointed for wrath. The important thing is, we know these things are coming, our job is to be prepared. As for all the details, we leave it to the hand of God.
Presently, among the Jewish people, there is an expectation that Messiah is coming. There is no such thing as systematic theology among the Rabbinic Jews. They speak of the world to come. They see a glorious kingdom. But the issue becomes being worthy of the world to come. If you are doing what you’re supposed to be doing, then you’re worthy of the world to come. Jesus says pray that you will be worthy before the Son of Man. Their emphasis is on the world to come and being worthy to participate in the world to come. Even among the orthodox Jews, the expectation is not only for the Jews but for all people.
We therefore hope in You, O Lord our God, that we may soon behold the glory of Your might, when You will remove the abominations from the earth and when all idolatry will be abolished. We hope for the day when the world will be perfected under the kingdom of the Almighty, and all humankind will call upon Your name.
Is the Bride in Revelation 19 the new Jerusalem?
The New Jerusalem is the eternal abode where humanity and God dwell together. In that sense, this is the marriage.
Do Jewish festivals have any connection to the Last Days?
The Holy Spirit was poured out on the day of Shavuot or Pentecost.
Both Pentecost and Passover are firstfruits feasts.
The fall feasts are also harvest festivals but are known as ingathering—the large harvest at the end of the year.
One of the definitions of firstfruits is what is the pledge to come.
Jesus rose from the dead. It is a witness and a guarantee that we would also rise from the dead.
When the shofar blasts, that’s when the dead in Christ will rise.
On the day of atonement in the year of Jubilee, the priests are to blow the shofar to declare freedom for all the captives.
They speak prophetically of the end.
What is the significance of 42 months, 1260 days, times, time and half a time?
The seven years is an understanding of Daniel’s seventy weeks. There is a period that it is 3.5 years. It is repeated over and over again. It is significant. There is a grace that the Lord has determined to ensure that there are those who survive. No one knows the hour. Don’t concern yourselves with the times that are in the Father’s authority. There are warnings about being preoccupied with the times.
In Conclusion
The Jewish people figure prominently in the return of the Lord. If their trespass means riches for the world, how much more their fullness.
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