In the first part I talked about the season that we are in that Jesus called "summer". In this part I want to develop that a little more.
The main portions of scripture I will use for this is Matt 24:4-8 and Luke 21:7-18.
I. SIGNS OF THE SEASON OF THE LORD'S RETURN
A. We find 7 signs in Matthew:
1. false christs vrs 5
2. wars and rumors of wars vrs 6
3. ethnic conflicts--racial tensions and religous tensions v 7
4. famines vrs 7
5. pestilences vrs 7
6. earthquakes vrs 7
7. beginning of sorrows (birthpangs) vrs 5-8 The idea is; they will increase in frequency and intensity.
B. In Luke we see 8 more signs:
1. commotions Greek NT:181 akatastasia, instability, disorder: KJV - commotion, confusion, tumult. (this is really happening globally right now the results of this is terror!) Luke 21:9
2. fearful sights-- NT:5400 phobotron, exceedingly afraid because of what you perceive, have great terror
3. great signs from heaven--signs and wonders in the sky: sun, moon, stars, meteors, comets, ufo's etc.
4. great distress in the land --NT:318 anagke; from NT:303 and the base of NT:43; constraint (literally or figuratively); by implication, distress: KJV - distress, must needs, (of) necessity (-sary), needeth, needful. The word for great is megas and the base word of anagke is agkale which means "ache". We could say that this is "mega stress or mega need or mega ache" all over the earth.
5. distress of nations--NT:4928 sunoche; restraint, i.e. (figuratively) anxiety: KJV - anguish, distress.
6. perplexity--NT:640 aporia (ap-or-ee'-a); from the same as NT:639; a (state of) quandry: KJV - perplexity. NT:639 aporeo (ap-or-eh'-o); from a compound of NT; to have no way out, i.e. be at a loss (mentally): KJV - (stand in) doubt, be perplexed. (This will be the increasing conditions of the nations and humanity in general.)
7. waves roaring--confusing seas as a result of underwater earthquakes, tsunamis, epic storms, hurricanes etc.
8. men's hearts will fail them--increase of heart attacks due to stress etc. vrs. 26
All of these things will be happening during the final generation that is alive when the Lord returns. There is only one generation in which all these things happen simultaneously on a global basis.
33 When you see all these things, know that it is near--at the doors! 34 Assuredly this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place (Mt. 24:33-34)
It is this generation that Jesus commanded to "know" that his coming is near, at the door.
II. TO KNOW OR NOT TO KNOW THE TIMES AND THE SEASONS
A. There are some people that say we are not to know the times and seasons and there are others who try to set the exact dates. Both of these are extremes however, we are to know the season (kairos) and as we get closer to the time of His return we will be more sure of the chronological time.
There is only one generation that will know more specifically than any other generation because all of these things will be happening simultaneously and the Jewish people will be in the land in a restored Israel with Jerusalem as its capital. This has only happened since 1948 and 1967.
B. Jesus himself said that no one knows the exact day or hour (instant).
Mt 24:36-44 "But of that day and hour (instant) no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. 37 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 40 Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. 42 Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour (literal day) your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour (watch) the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. 44 Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour (instant) you do not expect. NKJV
We do not know and no one knows the EXACT DAY OR HOUR (INSTANT)! However, we can know the season and the year and month.
C. The Days of Noah and Lot
He goes on to say as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of man be. We can be like Noah or everyone else. The warning is that many people will be so busy eating, drinking, marrying and getting engaged that they will be oblivious to the times and season as the people in Noah's time were. They did not know until the flood came and took them all away. The flood is judgment and the ones take away are the wicked. Noah knew the day that he entered the ark. Noah probably did not know the rain would start 7 days after he entered the ark.
In Genesis 7-8 we have very specific days mentioned regarding Noah: when he entered the ark, the rain, the flood, the recession of water, the drying of the Earth and the day that Noah came out of the ark. Noah and Lot are the only O.T. patriarchs mentioned by Jesus where He specifically mentioned His coming would be "as the days of Noah" and "as the days of Lot". We have much to learn from Noah regarding this but suffice it to say that Jesus Himself tells us we will NOT know the DAY OR HOUR and to WATCH because you do not know the HOUR that the Lord is coming. vrs. 42. He says again in vrs. 43 that if the master of the house had known the watch (hour) the thief would come that he would WATCH. vrs. 44 Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour (instant) you do not expect.
Lk 17:20-37
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." NKJV
The days of Lot are described as eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting and building.
When Jesus brings up Noah and Lot he does not focus on all the sin that was going on during those time periods as horific as it was. He does not focus on the violence of the time of Noah.
Ge 6:5 Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually . 12 God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. 13 God said to Noah, "The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them or the horrible immorality of Sodom.
Concerning Lot Ezekiel tells us:
Eze 16:49 Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom : She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. 50 And they were haughty and committed abomination before Me; therefore I took them away as I saw fit. NKJV
D. The lesson from Jesus concerning the days of Noah and Lot
The point that Jesus makes clearly with using the days of Noah and Lot is specifically their indifference towards Him, lack of watchfulness and not knowing the times and seasons therefore they are caught off gaurd and one is take and one is left. In both cases the wicked people that are eating, drinking, marrying, working, buying, selling, building and planting are taken away. Noah and Lot are left on the Earth and delivered out of and through the judgment of God.
III. KNOWING THE SEASONS
According to the Words of Jesus it is impossible to know the exact instant within a 24 hour period that the Lord will return. He did not say year, month or week. The point of Matt. 24 and Mark 21 is to give us a clear framework to know the SEASON!
A. It is hypocrasy to not discern the times
Jesus rebuked His generation for not being able to read the signs of His first coming. Asking for a sign was a legitimate request because Joel prophesied that the Messiah would give signs from heaven (Joel 2:30). Their hypocrisy was in testing Jesus by asking for signs beyond those that He was doing in their sight.
1 The Pharisees came testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven 2 Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times. 4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign (Mt. 16:1-4)
Israel's unresponsiveness to God was partly related to them not knowing the time of their visitation. There is a relationship between the measure to which people are informed of coming prophetic events and the measure in which they respond to God in context to those events.
42 If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace 43 For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, 44 and level you, and your children within you, to the ground because you did not know the time of your visitation. (Lk. 19:42-44)
B. Who is the faithful and wise servant? He is the one who is watching and is able to give food in due season.
Mt 24:45-47 "Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? 46 Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. 47 Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods. NKJV
The more that a person is faithful, wise and watchful as to the coming of the Lord and the end times: (prayerfully studying Daniel, Revelation and the 150 chapters regarding this event) the more the Lord will give you a capacity to give meat in due season. Revelation about the season (kairos). The entire book of Revelation is given to the generation of the Lord's return in order for us to have a road map concerning his coming.
IV. CONSIDER THE THEME OF THE THIEF
Paul taught that the Church should know the times and seasons related to the Lord's coming.
Concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. 2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night (the unprepared suffer unnecessary loss) 4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. 6 Therefore let us watch and be sober. (1 Thes. 5:1-6)
Paul said that we are not in darkness that the Day of the Lord should overtake us as a thief. A thief causes one to suffer loss of things that could have been avoided by watching. The theme of the thief mostly emphasizes the element of loss that one suffers because of an unexpected coming. Jesus, Peter, Paul and John all bring up this theme in the context of the Day of the Lord. The last time it is used is by Jesus in the Revelation of John.
Rv 16:15 "Behold, I am coming as a thief . Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame." 16 And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon. NKJV
The context here is just prior to the battle of Armageddon. The garments are the righteous works of the saints. In other words your acts of obedience is what clothes you lest everyone see your nakedness and your shame. Those that are not watching will not be taking steps of faith in preparing for the return of the Lord.
Rv 19:8 And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints . NKJV
To know or not to know the times and the seasons?
WE ARE TO KNOW THE SEASONS BUT WE WILL NOT KNOW THE SPECIFIC TIME WITHIN A 24 HOUR DAY AND THE INSTANT THAT HE WILL RETURN.
V. THE LAST TRUMPET
A. We know that the Lord comes at the sound of the LAST TRUMPET.
Mt 24:31
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. NKJV
1 Co 15:51-53
51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed - 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet . For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. NKJV
1 Th 4:16-18
16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words. NKJV
Rv 11:15-16
Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying,"The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!" NKJV
It is interesting to note that the first time the word trumpet is used is in Exodus 19:13-18 speaking of a trumpet that the people heard at Mt. Sinai that was to call them to come close to the Lord. The mountain quaked the trumpet blew for a long time and got louder and louder. This is a type of the blowing of the last trumpet in Rev. 11:15 - Rev. 14:16 It is possible that this trumpet will sound for hours or perhaps days as the Lord gathers His people from "the 4 winds of the Earth".
Chapter 16 is the "7 bowl judgments" which could be poured out almost simultaneously or even in conjunction with the last trumpet. Whatever time period it is it will be over very quickly and it will be extremely intense...such as the world has never seen before.
The bowl judgments are also the height of the wrath of God on an unbelieving world. We will be spared that because the time of the rapture will be at the last trumpet prior to or in conjunction with. We are clearly promised in Scripture that we WILL NOT experience the wrath of God. God knows how to deliver the godly out of the ungodly in a time of wrath. Consider Israel in Egypt when Moses brought on the judgments. God protected them in Goshen. Also, Noah was delivered through the flood. Lot was delivered out of Sodom. Etc.
B. The mystery in 1 Cor 15 we will all be changed
In 1 Cor 15:51 Paul say I tell you a mystery. The mystery is not about the coming of the Lord but that we are changed from a corruptible body to an incoruptible body in the twinkling of an eye at the coming of the Lord. The mystery is that at the time of the rapture we are instantaneously changed into our glorified body and we meet the Lord in the air at the sound of the last trumpet.
C. The fulfillment of the fall feasts: Trumpets, Yom Kippur and Tabernacles
This is a huge theme in itself but let me quickly say we know that the Feast of Trumpets must be fulfilled. Passover, First Fruits and Pentecost were all fulfilled on the very day. Therefore, we can be sure that the Lord will fulfill the fall feasts on the very day as well.
VI. DANIEL
A. Daniel is a key! In Dan 9:2 we see that Daniel got revelation out of the prophecies of Jeremiah that there was 70 years in the destruction of Jerusalem. Daniel was reading the scrolls of Jeremiah and looking at his calendar and gets this revelation. It launches him into one of the greatest passages of intercession and identificational repentance in all of scripture. Chapter nine ends with the angel Gabriel coming to Daniel and giving him "skill to understand". Dan 9:22. It is through this that Daniel began to see it is time for Israel to go back to Jerusalem. It is also through this that we have end-time understanding.
AS DANIEL GETS A KEY OF TIMING FROM JEREMIAH SO WE GET A KEY OF UNDERSTANDING FROM DANIEL AS TO TIMING! DANIEL HAS A NUMBER OF PLACES WHERE HE SPEAKS OF THE 7 YEARS, 3.5 YEARS AND NUMBERS OF DAYS. THESE ALL AGREE WITH WHAT REVELATION SAYS AS WELL.
Jesus, Himself, tells us that the Daniel is a key.
B. Jesus speaks of the abomination of desolation
Mt 24:15
"Therefore when you see the 'abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet , standing in the holy place" (whoever reads, let him understand), NKJV
Mk 13:14
"So when you see the 'abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet , standing where it ought not" (let the reader understand), NKJV
It is this very event that will literally happen in Jerusalem when the anti-christ says the he is God and takes up a throne in the temple of God marking the last 3.5 years of the tribulation. It is also the same time Daniel tells us the number of days left.
C. This is a very real event that will signal the church as to how many days are left
Da 12:11 "And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days. NKJV
D. During this same time period that we will see Elijah and probably Enoch prophesying in Jerusalem for 3.5 years.
Rv 11:1-14 Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel stood, saying,"Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there. 2 But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles. And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months. 3 And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth." 4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth. 5 And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner. 6 These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy ; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire. 7 When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them. 8 And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. 9 Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies three-and-a-half days, and not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves. 10 And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth. 11 Now after the three-and-a-half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. 12 And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here." And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them. 13 In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. In the earthquake seven thousand people were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven. 14 The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe is coming quickly.
NKJV
E. The next event after this is the 7th trumpet the rapture of the church!
VII. FOUR TYPES OF PROPHETIC SIGNS THAT WE "WATCH FOR"
A. Sign Events: signs predicted in Scripture will alert the Church to the timing of His return.
B. Sign Trends: happen in society and creation and will escalate as a woman in labor.
C. Cosmic Signs: highly unusual phenomena will happen in the sky: sun, moon, stars, comets, astroids, etc.
D. Personal Signs: subjective prophetic experiences will alert individual believers to the end-times. These have the lowest level of prophetic significance because they are subjective and fallible.
- IN CLOSING PLEASE PRAYERFULLY CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING POINTS:
- I KNOW A FEW OF YOU MAY STILL BE HOLDING TO A PRE-TRIB RAPTURE PERSPECTIVE THAT BLINDS MANY OF GOD'S PEOPLE THE ISSUE OF BEING WATCHFUL AND PREPARING FOR DIFFICULT TIMES. I WOULD ENCOURAGE YOU TO PREPARE FOR THE WORST AND HOPE FOR THE BEST. A POST-TRIB RAPTURE PERSPECTIVE HAS NOTHING TO LOOSE AND EVERYTHING TO GAIN BUT A PRE-TRIB RAPTURE PERSPECTIVE HAS THE POTENTIAL OF DAMAGING YOUR FAITH AND LEAVING YOU NAKED WHEN HE COMES. THE WORD OF GOD CLEARLY HAS TOLD US THAT THERE WILL BE A GREAT FALLING AWAY, MUCH DECEPTION AND TO ANTICIPATE INTENSE PERSECUTION AND MARTYRDOM.
- PREPARE FOR MARTYRDOM AND DIFFICULT DAYS THROUGH INTIMACY WITH JESUS AND YOU WILL BE IN STEP WITH WHAT HE IS DOING.
Shalom, Clint
