First of all, we see in the scriptures the signs of the end times and the Christian countermeasures, which is not to think in advance what to say, but to rely completely on the Holy Spirit, and in the process, to endure to the end. Second, we have shared the prophecy and ending of Jerusalem before, so we won’t go into details about it, but we will point out where the details we shared before can be found. Third, when the Son of Man comes in a cloud with power and great glory at the end of the world, we see that Christians and non-Christians have completely different reactions. Once again, we see that God is consistent in telling us through the Bible that Jesus will come in clouds at the end of time. Finally, in the fourth part, we discussed using the sprouting of the fig tree and various trees as a metaphor. When we see the sprouting, we naturally see that the kingdom of God is near. We also discussed the prophecy of the restoration of Israel in the Old Testament. There will be many signs of the end times. It is not just the restoration of Israel. The end will not come until the gospel is spread throughout the world. We really need to “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”(1 Peter 5:8)
1. The signs of the end and countermeasures
“They questioned Him, saying, “Teacher, when therefore will these things happen? And what will be the sign when these things are about to take place?” And He said, “See to it that you are not misled; for many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not go after them. When you hear of wars and disturbances, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end does not follow immediately.” Then He continued by saying to them, “Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be great earthquakes, and in various places plagues and famines; and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven. “But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, delivering you to the synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for My name’s sake. It will lead to an opportunity for your testimony. So make up your minds not to prepare beforehand to defend yourselves; for I will give you utterance and wisdom which none of your opponents will be able to resist or refute. But you will be betrayed even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death, and you will be hated by all because of My name. Yet not a hair of your head will perish.”(Luke 21:7-18)
They are asking about the end of the world and there are signs. The current Russian-Ukrainian war, the expanding Israel-Hamas war, etc. are obviously about people attacking people and countries attacking countries. War can cause famine, and now there is the COVID-19 plague, and there are constant earthquakes, but there aren’t terrors and great signs from heaven. Apparently, not all signs are happening. The book of Revelation also clearly mentions that there will be various disasters and also says, “I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.”(Revelation 22:18-19)
Someone said to me that only spiritual people could see the seven peals of thunder. For example, that person said that the September 11 incident was one of them. But the Bible clearly says, “When the seven peals of thunder had spoken, I was about to write; and I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up the things which the seven peals of thunder have spoken and do not write them.””(Revelation 10:4) This really adds something to the prophecies in the Book of Revelation. God’s will is to know that the corresponding disaster would occur only after the seven peals of thunder had occurred. Otherwise, if everything else was written down, why would only seven peals of thunder be sealed? Of course, we also see John’s obedience here, since he did not write it down as told. We know that there will be a new heaven and a new earth in the end (see Revelation 21:1). The temple prophesied in the book of Ezekiel that we shared before has not yet been built. It must be built first before there will be a new heaven and a new earth, because God’s prophecies never fail. We have elaborated on this in “1079 Prophecy of the destruction of the temple and the temple prophesied by Ezekiel – Jesus (31).” Those who are interested should go there to see the details.
The signs of the end are clearly recorded here, but before that we will be persecuted, as the scripture says, “But as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now also.”(Galatians 4:29) This is actually similar to this verse, “You will be hated by all because of My name, but the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.”(Mark 13:13) This is indeed the case now, and what is happening in China is a good example.
The countermeasures taught to us are also very simple, that is, do not think about what to say in advance, rely completely on the Holy Spirit, and in the process, be patient to the end. This is why we chose ‘First the Blood, then The Ointment’ in our hymn worship. Just like Job in the Book of Job, God allowed him to be severely tempted twice before he received the blessing. In the end, God Himself intervened to let Job see himself clearly and thus repented, which also explains why Jesus said, “And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.”(Matthew 10:38) David counted the people, and thus allowed him in the same way to see himself clearly and repent (see 2 Samuel 24:1-14). There are other examples recorded in the Bible, so I won’t go into details. We also saw the promise that “Yet not a hair of your head will perish.”(Luke 21:18) At that time, when family members had different viewpoints from ours, it would happen that “…a man’s enemies will be the members of his household.”(Matthew 10:36) At that time, we will really be hated by everyone for the name of Jesus.
What we have to live now is a life sanctified by faith, hope and love, starting from faith, “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.””(Romans 1:17) With faith, we have hope, because “through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exalt in hope of the glory of God.”(Romans 5:2) “Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”(1 Peter 1:13) “and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”(Romans 5:5)
2. Prophecy of disaster in Jerusalem
”But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is near. Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those who are in the midst of the city must leave, and those who are in the country must not enter the city; because these are days of vengeance, so that all things which are written will be fulfilled. Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days; for there will be great distress upon the land and wrath to this people; and they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.”(Luke 21:20-24)
We have seen that these were days of vengeance, and it also spoke when it would happen. Although in the New Testament era we have been forgiven because of Jesus’ death on the cross, we must not forget, “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne …”(Psalm 89:14) “For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”(Galatians 5:13) “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”(2 Peter 3:9) There is a time for everything, so it is said in Luke 21:24 that “until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.” We have discussed these verses before, so we won’t go into details. For more discussion, please see “1067 Narrow Gate, Jerusalem, Healing Dropsy, and Self Exalted – Jesus (20).”
3. Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory at the end of the world
”There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”(Luke 21:25-28)
From these verses, we see that although Christians and non-Christians will encounter suffering in the same way, their reactions will be very different. For non-Christians, the thought of the disasters mentioned in revelation that will come to the world can be frightening. But when Christians know that the day of redemption is near, they will stand up and hold their heads high. Let’s look at the verses in Acts 1:9-11, “And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. They also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.”” Once again, we see that God is consistent in telling us through the Bible that at the end of the day, Jesus will come in the clouds.
As we said before, we can see that God tells us through the Bible many examples that are consistent, but no matter what, these examples will always be finite. We must expand this fact into a logical axiom as the beginning of our logical derivation. We also see, “Behold, I am coming like a thief. …”(Revelation 16:15) The thief will not tell you the time to steal so that you can be on guard, so we don’t know the exact time of His coming, but His coming has the signs that were mentioned before. We can also see what happened after His coming in the Book of Revelation. Unlike when He became flesh, He came humbly and was born in a manger. At that time, He came with power and great glory. We will talk about it in detail when we talk about the Book of Revelation.
4. Use the sprouting of fig tree and all the trees to recognize that the kingdom of God is near
Some people say that the sprouting of the fig tree refers to the restoration of Israel. This is not the case. We have to look at what the scriptures say. “Then He told them a parable: “Behold the fig tree and all the trees; as soon as they put forth leaves, you see it and know for yourselves that summer is now near. So you also, when you see these things happening, recognize that the kingdom of God is near. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. “Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap; for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth. But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” Now during the day He was teaching in the temple, but at evening He would go out and spend the night on the mount that is called Olivet. And all the people would get up early in the morning to come to Him in the temple to listen to Him.”(Luke 21:29-38)
Here the ending verses talk about the accommodation on the Mount of Olivet. This clearly explains what we have shared before, His mode of doing things when His time has not come. He goes into Jerusalem to preach during the day and leaves the city at night, until His time comes and He is crucified on the cross. As for us, “…take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.” (Ephesians 6:13) We have mentioned before that in the full armor only the word of God that is the sword of the Spirit is the weapon of attack (see Ephesians 6:14-17), we know that we by ourselves cannot do anything right (see John 15:5) and we have to “Do not quench the Spirit.”(1 Thessalonians 5:19) When the Holy Spirit tells us to attack, we will never fail.
And Jesus also “…was saying, “The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows—how, he himself does not know. The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.””(Mark 4:26-29) So here it is said, when we see them sprouting, we naturally see that the kingdom of God is near. Some people say that the fig tree sprouting refers to the restoration of Israel, so the kingdom of God is near! But the Bible doesn’t say that. It says when the fig tree and all kinds of trees sprout, not just the fig tree. As shared before, judging from the current situation, it should be a sign of “…Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom.”(Luke 21:10) There are many types of signs that are gradually coming to fruition, and it cannot be said to be the end of the world with just one.
We need to note that even if heaven and earth pass away, the words of Jesus will not pass away. That day will come upon you suddenly like a snare, as we shared before, “Behold, I am coming like a thief. …”(Revelation 16:15) “But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.”(Matthew 24:13-14) When will the gospel be preached throughout the world? We don’t know that, at least now with the satellite network, the gospel can now reach some places where it could not be preached before. We really need to “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”(1 Peter 5:8)
Regarding the restoration of Israel in 1948, the Bible does have prophecies. Let’s take a look at the following two places. “Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘Behold, I am going to save My people from the land of the east and from the land of the west; and I will bring them back and they will live in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God in truth and righteousness.’”(Zechariah 8:7-8) ““Do not fear, for I am with you;
I will bring your offspring from the east, And gather you from the west. “I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ And to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring My sons from afar And My daughters from the ends of the earth.”(Isaiah 43:5-6) We have seen that these verses do not refer to the time of returning to rebuild the temple. At that time, the returning people would only come from the east, because these verses say that people came from all directions. So this refers to the restoration of Israel in the present era. Although Israel has been in ruins for more than 2,000 years, they are now restored. No country in the world can be restored after more than 2,000 years of destruction, but God’s promises have never failed.
By the way, because ““This is the statute of the law which the LORD has commanded, saying, ‘Speak to the sons of Israel that they bring you an unblemished red heifer in which is no defect and on which a yoke has never been placed. You shall give it to Eleazar the priest, …Then the heifer shall be burned in his sight; its hide and its flesh and its blood, with its refuse, shall be burned. The priest shall take cedar wood and hyssop and scarlet material and cast it into the midst of the burning heifer.”(Numbers 19:2-6) The purpose is to “…gather up the ashes of the heifer and deposit them outside the camp in a clean place, and the congregation of the sons of Israel shall keep it as water to remove impurity; it is purification from sin.”(Numbers 19:9) So they are looking for such a pure red heifer. There is news on the Internet that cannot be completely confirmed that the Israelites have prepared the materials to rebuild the temple. Once the red heifer is found, the temple will be rebuilt. Obviously, this is inconsistent with what the Bible says. There is no prophecy about the rebuilding of the temple, only the prophecy that Ezekiel’s temple will be built, and the materials for rebuilding the temple are obviously not enough to build Ezekiel’s temple.
(Verses refer to those in NASB unless otherwise specified.)
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