WHY STUDY PROPHECY
There are many today who decry the study of prophecy. I have en-
countered this reaction to the teaching of prophecy to such an extent that I
want, the Lord helping me, to set forth some of the Scriptural reasons for
studying and preaching prophecy.
1. It would seem to me that the first reason would be apparent to every
student and minister of the Word. In Matthew 4:4 our Lord, in response to
the first temptation, tells Satan that man is to live by EVERY WORD that
proceedeth out of the mouth of God. That includes all of the prophets and
prophecies of the Old Testament, as well as those of the New Testament, including the book of Revelation.
It is interesting to hear men talk and preach on the subject of the church
when our Lord, as far as the record goes, just mentioned the church twice
during His earthly ministry-in Matthew 16 and Matthew 18. He didn't
mention it in Mark, Luke or John, but all through these four books He
spoke repeatedly of His second coming; and these same preachers refuse to
accept, believe or teach about His muchly publicized return. Others preach
continually on baptism, co-operation, tithing- which are well and good in
their place but seldom mentioned or referred to by the Lord, whereas practically everything that is said throughout the whole of the New Testament points to and emphasizes the return of the Lord Jesus Christ and the
establishment of His kingdom.
2. The second reason for the study of prophecy is manifest in Paul's two
epistles to the Thessalonians. In I Thess. 1:7 we learn that the church at
Thessalonica was the model church. In verses 9 and 10 this model church
did three things: (a) they turned to God from idols, (b) they served the living
and true God, and (c) they waited for His Son from heaven (second coming).
In II Thess. 2 we find that during the three weeks' ministry Paul had with
this church he spoke of the day of the Lord, he preached on the Antichrist,
and he preached on the great apostasy which would precede the second coming. In I Thess. 4:13-18 he preached on the rapture-the resurrection of the
dead and the translation of the living. In the fifth chapter he preached on
the signs of the times. Throughout the entire book he preached on rewards
to be given out at our Lord's return.
3. A third reason for the study of prophecy is that one may be able to
discern false spirits (I John 4:1-3). If anyone does not believe and confess
that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, he is of the spirit of Antichrist (how
can one know about Antichrist apart from prophecy?). II John 7: if one
doesn't believe that Jesus Christ is coming back in the flesh that one, too, is
of the Antichrist. I wonder how many ministers there are standing in the
pulpits today, trying to preach the Word, who in reality are the spirit of
Antichrist because they don't believe Jesus Christ is coming back in the
flesh.
4. Another reason for studying prophecy: II Peter 1:19-whereas we
learn that prophecy is THE LAMP which the Lord has given us as a guide in
this time of darkness in which we live. Anyone attempting to go through his
Christian life without a knowledge of prophecy may be compared to an individual tearing down the highway at night in an automobile at sixty miles an
hour without any lights.
5. Another reason for the study of prophecy is to be found in I John
3:1-3, in which we are told that hope in things surrounding the coming of the
Lord Jesus Christ is a purifying agent for any and all who are looking for His
coming, and this cannot be done without a knowledge of prophecy.
6. A further reason for studying prophecy is that according to Hebrews
5:10 through 6:12, prophecy is revealed as the meat of the Word, and the
Lord desires that babes in Christ get off the milk of the Gospel after they
are saved and get on into the meat of prophecy that they might grow into
manhood.
7. Another reason - and to me this might well be considered the primary
reason - is that only through the study of prophecy can we know the approximate period of our Lord's return and in truth watch for His appearing.
Again and again our Lord admonished His followers to watch and be ready
at the time of His return. In this way we would not lose our reward; in this
way we would not be shut out of a place of rulership in His kingdom; in this
way we would bring great honor and glory to Him; and in this way we would
enter into the full realization of the things that the Lord has prepared for
those who love Him and long for His return.
When one says he is not interested in the Lord's return he is proclaiming
that he has little interest in the Lord. When one says he doesn't believe in
the Lord's return he is denying the Word of God. The Apostle Paul, a great
example for a minister to follow, preached salvation by grace and rewards
on the basis of works, such works to be carried on diligently in the light of
our Lord's soon return. One cannot go into all the world and preach the
gospel to every creature and leave out half of the good news.
"Study tb shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not
be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth" (II Tim. 2:15). "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for
reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of
God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works" (II Tim.
3:16, 17).
The above quoted Scriptures are entirely meaningless to any teacher or
minister of the Word who does not study, teach and preach prophecy; and
such a one standing in the presence of the Lord at the judgment seat of
Christ cannot say with the Apostle Paul "For I have not shunned to declare
unto you all the counsel of God" (Acts 20:27). I am reminded of what a great
Methodist evangelist said on one occasion when, in referring to the dearth
of prophetic teaching and preaching, he said, "Anyone who doesn't teach
and preach the second coming of Christ is either a coward or an ignoramus."
WHAT TIME IS IT?
For the past few years one of the major questions posed by Bible
students, conference speakers, statesmen, and historians has been the questin which is the subject of this article; namely, "What Time Is It?" So far
as we have been able to ascertain, the answer has been the same by all: "It is
later than you think."
When we turn to the Scripture we are first of all impressed with the truth
that man cannot set a date. In fact he has been warned by God that such is
outside of man's province. Many people err greatly also in thinking that
God does not know, but it is well to keep in mind that all of the times of
Scripture are God's appointed times. There is no such thing as an unknown
or unanticipated event as far as God is concerned. "Known unto God from
the beginning are all of His works" (Acts 15:18). Jewish writers and early
Christian writers presented a testimony that the history of man would continue for six thousand years and then we would have the day of rest for the
people of God spoken of in Heb. 4:9, which would be the seventh day or the
seventh one thousand-year period of the history of the world - namely, the
millennial reign of Christ. We want to quote from a number of Christian
writers of the first three centuries.
1. Barnabas, the companion of Paul in his travels. In the 13th chapter of
the epistle ascribed to him, we find the following passage: - "God made in
six days the works of His hands and He finished them the seventh day; and
He rested the seventh day and hallowed it. The meaning of it is this: that in
six thousand years the Lord will bring all things to an end, for with Him one
day is as a thousand years, as Himself testifieth; therefore in six days -
that is in six thousand years shall all things be accomplished. And what is
this He saith - He rested the seventh day? He meaneth this, that when His
Son shall come and abolish the season of the wicked one, and shall judge the
ungodly, and change sun, moon, and stars, then He shall gloriously rest on
that seventh day."
Now, to what does this witness testify? (a) That at the end of six thousand
years from the creation of the world, the glorious or Millennial rest will
begin. (b) That to inaugurate this period, Christ will come. (c) That the
wicked will be in the ascendant, possessing the dominion till Christ does
come. (d) That at His coming He will judge the ungodly, dethrone evil,
and give the dominion to the saints. (e) That the seven thousandth year of the
world will be the beginning of the Millennium of rest.
2. Papias, our second witness, was a disciple of John, and the companion
of Polycarp. His workers have perished, but an extract from them, given by
Eusebius, contains the following: "There will be a certain thousand years
after the resurrection of the dead when Christ will reign corporally
(personally) upon the earth"; and he says, "that what he relates are the very
words of the elders Andrew, Peter, Philip, Thomas, James, John, Matthew,
Aristio, and John the Presbyter, as related by them to those of whom he
constantly made the enquiry"; and he pledges himself to the "truth and
fidelity of what he reports."
3 Justin Martyr, born ten years before the death of the apostle John,
says, in his dialogue with Tyrpho, "I, and all that are orthodox Christians,
are acquainted with the resurrection of the body, and the thousand years in
Jerusalem - rebuilt, adorned, and enlarged, as the prophets Ezekiel, Isaiah,
and others do declare. Moreover, John, one of the apostles of Christ, did
prophesy that the faithful believers in Christ shall live a thousand years in
Jerusalem, and after that, the general and everlasting resurrection and last
judgment of all together."
4. Irenaeus was the disciple of Polycarp, the pupil of John. He wrote,
among other things, five books upon the heresies of his time. Moshiem says
that his writings are "the most precious monuments of ancient erudition."
He says: "In whatever number of days the world was created, in the same
number of thousands of years it will come to its consummation. God on the
sixth day finished His work and rested on the seventh. This is a history of
the past - and a prophecy of the future - for the day of the Lord is as a
thousand years. Irenaeus sealed his testimony with his blood, being beheaded under Severus, A.D. 202.
5. Tertillian, the contemporary of Irenaeus, says, in his third book against
Marcion: "We also confess that a Kingdom is promised to us on earth before
that in heaven after the resurrection. It will be for a thousand years in a city
of divine workmanship,"
6. Cyprian says, "In the divine arrangement of the world, seven days were
first employed, and in them seven thousand years are included. Evil things
and adverse will increase until the end foretold shall come."
7. Clement of Alaandra, who wrote between A.D. 193 and 218, says that
both Greeks and Hebrews accounted the seventh day sacred because it
pointed to the renovation of all things.
8.. Nepos, a learned Egyptian bishop (A.D. 262), held similar views.
9. Lactantius, A.D. 310, the "Christian Cicero," and reckoned one of the
most learned of the fathers, says: "He (God) shall restore the just that have
been from the beginning unto life, and He shall converse among men a
thousand years, and rule them with a most righteous government."
10. Gibbon, the infidel historian, speaking of this doctrine of the Millennium says: "The ancient and popular doctrine of the Millennium was intimately connected with the second coming of Christ. As the works of the
creation had been finished in six days, their duration in their present state,
according to tradition, which was attributed to the prophet Elijah, was
fixed to six thousand years. By the same analogy it was inferred that this
long period of labor and contention would be succeeded by a joyful sabbath
of a thousand years, and that Christ, with the triumphant band of His
saints and the elect who had escaped death or who had been miraculously
revived, would reign upon the earth."
11. The celebrated Chillingworth says, "This doctrine was by the Church
of the next age after the Apostles held to be true, and by none of that age opposed or condemned." And now let the reader note well, when and under
what circumstances this Apostolic and primitive mode of receiving and interpreting Scripture began. During these centuries of persecution, this doctrine of the pre-millennial Advent of the Lord Jesus Christ had been the
church's fondest hope. This had lit up the darkness of the dungeon, fired the
zeal of the martyrs, and blunted the edge of the persecutor's sword. The
heathen persecutors recognized this at last, and said, "It is no use
persecuting these men and putting them to death, for they say they shall
rise again from the dead and live and reign with him they call Christ, a thousand years upon the earth."
12. Luther. He believed that "The great purposes of God's mercy would
reach their consummation at the end of six thousand years from the creation," and that the day of judgment was not much more than three hundred
years removed from his time."
13. Malanethon affirmed that the "Mohametan Empire and the Papacy
would be destroyed about the same time, not long before the first resurrection; that the world would endure six thousands in its present state, and
then enter upon a Sabbatic Millennium of rest."
14. Latimer says, "The world was ordained to last six thousand years."
15. The Rabbi Ketina, as cited in Gemara, or gloss of their Talmud, says,
"The world endures six thousand years, and one thousand it shall be laid
waste (that is the enemies of God shall be destroyed), whereof it is said, "the
Lord alone shall be exalted in that day."
16. The Jewish Cabbalists taught the same. The first letter of the Hebrew
Alphabet (Aleph) occurs six times in the first verse of the first chapter of
Genesis; and as a numeral in Jewish arithmetic it stands for 1,000, which
being six times repeated in the same verse, they regard as prophetic, or
typical of the six thousand years of secular history as well as the six days of
creation.
From these quotations one cannot help but be impressed with the fact
that those living nearest the Lord and His Apostles believed beyond any
shadow of a doubt that the world was divided into the two periods of six
days of work and a day of rest. And because the Lord had said that "one day
is with the Lord as a thousand years," the true significance of the days
meant, God would work with the world six thousand years and then enter
the day of rest.
Without attempting to set any dates whatsoever, one cannot but be interested in the fact that the four leading chronologers, who vary but about
one hundred years in their findings, all believe that the world is approaching
some time in the near future its six thousandth year. Among these
chronologers is the late Sir Martin Anstey of England who believed that the
six thousandth year of Scripture coincides with 1958 of the year of our
Lord. We appreciate the fact that this is in the realm of speculation, but it is
of interest to note that regardless of whose chronology we adopt, one must
admit that the sands in the hour glass of time are fast running out. The Lord
Jesus Christ is coming back someday (and none of us knows what day);
therefore it becomes us to be ready everyday.
SIGNS OF THE TIMES
Matthew 16:1-3. "Ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern
the signs of the times?"
When one speaks of the Lord's return and its eminence the questions
arise, "How do you know that His return is near?" and" Are there any signs
of His return, and can they be safely interpreted?"
The importance of our Lord's return is at once manifested in that Satan
has made it the focal point of his attacks upon the eternal plan and purpose
of God. A Christian whose hope is in the coming of the Lord purifies
himself, and Satan is not interested in Christians' being pure. Therefore, he
tries to bring the doctrine of the second coming of Christ into disrepute and
make spectacles of those who preach His soon return.
Now to address ourselves to the signs of the times. It is a principle of the
moral government of God in His dealings with mankind not to permit a
judgment to come upon man, nor a dispensation to come to a close, nor any
great event to come to pass without ample warning and many signs to
make one realize that the event in question is at hand. Let us consider some
of God's signs and warnings from the beginning:
I. The destruction of all flesh on the face of the earth by the flood was
preceded by three great signs easily understood by any who so desired.
The first of these signs was the building of the ark according to God's
revelation to Noah, wherein He gave specifications to the dimensions and
the activity of the builders. All of these things should have startled the
public into the realization that something was in the offing.
The second of these three signs was Noah's preaching righteousness for a
hundred and twenty years, in which he constantly reminded the people and
exhorted them concerning the judgment of God which was to come upon the
world in the form of a flood. But it seemed to have had no effect whatever.
The third sign of this impending destruction by the flood was the gathering of the animals into the ark. They manifestly entered without any fear or
timidity in specified numbers according to the revealed will of God. There
may have been a little excitement among the people but there was nothing
that caused them to think upon themselves and their relationship to God.
But there was not a one who perished in the flood but who would have had
to acknowledge that he had ample warning.
Let us not forget that Jesus said, "And as it was in the days of Noah, so
shall it be also in the days of the Son of man." There are many Christians today as oblivious to the second coming of Christ as these people were to the
approaching of the flood.
II. The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah followed God's warning.
Before the Lord rained fire and brimstone upon these two cities and several
other cities of the plain, he sent His angels into the city of Sodom to warn
the inhabitants of the impending judgment, with the call unto them to flee
from the city before the destruction came. The warnings of these two
angels, which were also taken up by Lot, meant nothing to the inhabitants
of the city, and even Lot's married daughters and their husbands looked
upon Lot as if he were out of his mind. There was not a person who perished
in the destruction of these two cities but who had ample warning with plenty of time to flee.
III. Before the great famine in Egypt which also spread to the whole
world, the Lord through Joseph gave plenty of warning, first of all by giving
them seven years of plenty, exhorting them to save during the years of plenty for the years of famine that would follow. Because of this warning of God,
Joseph was able to prevail upon Pharaoh to store up for the years of famine,
thereby averting many heartaches that would have been brought on by
starvation.
IV. Before the Lord God destroyed Pharaoh and all his hosts in the Red
Sea He had given them ample warning through Moses and the ten plagues.
Pharaoh knew of the judgements of God and Pharaoh had ample time to
make preparations, but he, like so many today, cared not for the things of
the Lord and destruction was his portion.
V. Before the handwriting appeared on the wall, announcing Belshazzar's
doom and the fall of Babylon, God had demonstrated through his father
Nebuchadnezzar that Jehovah was the Lord and that beside Him there was
none other. Belshazzar had seen his father grazing in the fields with the
cattle for seven years. Belshazzar saw his father restored to sanity and back
to the headship of the Babylonian Empire, but none of these things moved
Belshazzar, and he lived as if there were no God nor any day of accounting
unto the Lord.
A most pertinent statement pertaining to the truth that God makes His
will known ahead of time is Amos 3:7: "Surely the Lord God will do nothing,
but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets."
When certain of the scribes and Pharisees came to Jesus, and asked for a
sign from heaven, He rebuked them severely, saying, "0 ye hypocrites, ye
can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the
times?"
I think it is of great significance that those with twisted or perverted
views of the second coming of Christ are given specific appellations by the
Lord. Here He calls them HYPOCRITES. In Luke 24:25 He calls those who
do not believe everything spoken about the Lord FOOLS. In Matt. 24:48
anyone who would put anything between us and the coming of the Lord is
called an EVIL SERVANT. And in II Pet. 3:3 those who make light of and
ridicule the second coming of Christ are called SCOFFERS. What a catalog
of names! Hypocrites. . . fools. . . evil servants. . . . scoffers. This is what
our Lord calls those who make light of the second coming of Christ.
When the Lord was approached by the scribes and Pharisees who desired
of Him a sign from heaven, He rebuked them for not being able to discern
the signs of the times; that is , they had been given ample signs of His first
advent so that everyone of them should have known that it was time for
Messiah to be at hand.
The first sign to which I call your attention is what we call the
chronological sign. In Daniel, chapter 9, as Daniel was studying the book of
Jeremiah he realized that the 70 years of captivity of the children of Israel
were almost completed and his thought was that with the expiration of the
70 years the Lord would come. However, in vv. 24-27 of that ninth chapter
the Lord made it very plain that He would not appear on the earth at the expiration of the 70 years but at the end of 483 years. Daniel was told that
God would yet deal with Israel 490 years, this period of time being divided
into three periods. At the end of 49 years the temple would be rebuilt. At the
end of 483 years the Messiah would appear and be cut off. There was not a
Jew alive in those days but who could figure from the decree that was issued
by Cyrus (Isa. 44:28) that 483 years had passed and that it was time for the
Messiah to appear and to be crucified. (There still remain 7 years in which
God will yet deal with Israel as a nation according to the laws of the Old
Testament.
The second sign is the celestial. In Num. 24:17 Balaam spoke of a Star
arising out of Jacob and a sceptre out of Israel. The old rabbis from time immemorial have associated the star which appeared in the east with the Star
of Jacob prophesied by Balaam. There were many who recognized the
significance of the prophecy of the star in the east, but by far and large the
majority of the people of Israel ignored it.
The third sign: The wise men out of the east. Their presence on the streets
of Jerusalem was of such import that Herod ascertained from them the
time of the appearing of the star and then, having learned where the Christ
should be born, sent his soldiers to Bethlehem and had all the male children
two years and under slain, hoping to destroy the King of the Jews who
would ascend to the throne of David. This sign seemed to have had little impact upon the scribes and Pharisees.
The fourth sign: The prophecy of Micah concerning Bethlehem. The star
guiding the wise men from Jerusalem to Bethlehem and the slaying of the
male children of Bethlehem projected Bethlehem into such prominence that
the very city itself became a sign that some great event had transpired.
The fifth sign: The announcement of the shepherds from the field, accompained by the singing of the angels in the heavens. This phenomenon should
have produced wonder and amazement sufficient for the scribes and
Pharisees to ask why and find their answer in the first advent of the
Messiah.
The sixth sign: The departure of the scepter of Judah. As Jacob lay upon
his deathbed he gathered his sons around him to tell them of the things
which would befall them in the last days. He said to Judah (Gen. 49:10),
"The scepter shall not depart from Judah, not a lawgiver from between his
feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be."
Simply expressed this means that when the scepter had departed from
Judah the Messiah would be on the earth. The scepter is the visible symbol
of the power of government. Gen. 9:6 tells us that the basis and authority of
civil government reside in the power to execute capital punishment upon
the murderer. So what Jacob said in effect was that when Judah could no
longer execute a sentence of capital punishment, Shiloh (that is, the Lord
Jesus Christ) would have come.
In John 18:28-31, wherein we read of Jesus' being convicted and sentenced to death by the Sanhedrin, they take Him to Pilate to be executed. Pilate
had no inclination whatever to do so and tells them, "You take Him, and
Judge Him accordingly to your law," to which the Jews reply, "It is not
lawful for us to put any man to death." THE SCEPTER HAD
DEPARTED FROM JUDAH. The Jews could not execute a man guilty of
a capital offense. There was not a Jew present but who should have known
instantly that the prophecy of Jacob had been fulfilled. The scepter had
departed from Judah because Shiloh had come.
No wonder our Lord called them hypocrites, with all of these signs in
evidence and still they would not accept the fact that the Messiah had come
and that He, Jesus of Nazareth, was their Messiah. The Jews did not see -
the Jews did not understand - they were blinded. And all of this because
they had turned from the Book that recorded these signs and read only the
traditions of men. They cared not for the Word of God, and they missed the
greatest opportunity of their life. For two thousand years the nation of
Israel has paid and paid in agony, tragedy and suffering untold. All of this
because they did not believe in the signs of the times.
WHEN SHALL THESE THINGS BE?
In Matt. 24:3 the disciples asked the Lord three questions: "And as he sat
upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying,
Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?"
In our Lord's lament over Jerusalem (Matt. 23:37-39), He solemnly announced, "Behold, your house is left unto you desolate." In the use of the
word house in Scripture, sometimes it refers to the house of Israel and
sometimes to the temple. Here, I think, it refers to both with the emphasis
on the temple. As was our Lord's custom during His last week on earth, He
ministered in the temple by day, and retired to the olive garden at night. It
was on one of these occasions that the disciples, pressed down with the
burden and worry of the desolation of Jerusalem which was prophesied,
showed Him the building of the temple, and as they looked at it and
meditated upon its massiveness and grandeur, they remembered that
Herod was 46 years in building it. They were also cognizant of the fact that
many of the stones in the building were 12x20x4O feet in measurement. The
desolation of such a structure was inconceivable to their minds; so our Lord
said, "See ye not all these things? Verily I say unto you, there shall not be
left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down." This was
our Lord's own exposition of Matt. 23:38- a destruction of such a nature
that not one stone would be left on top of another. These massive parts of
the building themselves were to be scattered all over the temple area. Later
on in the day as He sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him
privately asking three questions: (1) "When shall these things be?" That is,
when will the temple be destroyed to such an extent that one stone will not
be left upon another? (2) "What shall be the sign of thy coming?" (3) "What
shall be the sign of the end of the world?"
God in His providence, in giving His revelation to man, has not given us
an organized, well-defined system of theology, but has so made known His
truth that man must dig if he is to comprehend it all. This first question is
not answered at all in Matthew; neither is it touched upon in Mark. It is not
until we come to Luke 21:20 that we find the answer. Now let us put three
things together that we may correctly understand.
Jesus said, "Your house is left unto you desolate" (Matt. 23:38). The disciples asked, "When shall these things be" (Matt. 24:3)7 Jesus answered,
"And when Ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that
the desolation thereof is nigh" (Luke 21:20). Without any other designation
in this verse of Scripture, it follows of necessity that it is the first time
afterthe speaking of this prophecy that Jerusalem shall be surrounded with armies, that constitutes the sign or the desolation of Jerusalem.
Not only did our Lord give them the sign in this passage in Luke, but in verse 21 He says
that when Jerusalem is compassed with armies, "then let them which are in
Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it
depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereunto." This
prophecy was uttered in about 30 A.D. The year 40 A.D. went and no armies
had surrounded Jerusalem; likewise, 50 A.D. Then 60 A.D. arrived and no
armies; but in October of 66 A.D., Cestius Gallus and his Roman legions
moved against the city of Jerusalem, completely surrounding it. Jerusalem
was then surrounded by armies for the first time since our Lord had uttered
His prophecy giving the sign of its approaching desolation.
One cannot but
wonder what the Christians were thinking. Here was the sign the Lord had
given. He also had told them that when this sign appeared they were to flee
from the city to places of safety. It presented quite a dilemma - commanded to flee, and flight an impossibility. But Jesus Christ, being God and
knowing all His works from the beginning, had prophesied right. Just about
a month later, in November 66 A.D., for no known reason at all, Cestius
Gallus and his Roman armies withdrew and left the territory completely.
Jerusalem was on the verge of absolute disaster. Food and water supplies
were exhausted. They could not have withstood the siege another week.
Military tacticians themselves have been baffled through the years trying
to explain the movement of Cestius Gallus in withdrawing from Jerusalem.
We who believe the Bible understand it readily. The sign of the imminent
desolation of Jerusalem was the emcompassing of the city by armies. That
sign had been given. The accompanying command was for the Christians to
leave Jerusalem when they saw this take place. Because they could not
leave while the armies were there, our Lord removed the armies so that the
Christians could flee the city and not be in the carnage of its desolation.
It was in 70 A.D. that Titus returned with the Roman armies and threw
up a siege which resulted in the sacking and desolation of the city. More
than one million perished in the fall of Jerusalem. Josephus, in his Antiquity of the Jews, tells us that the wave of Jewish blood flowing down through
the gutters of the city reached such proportions that whole houses on fire in
the southern part were extinguished by this wave of human blood. Josephus
also tells us in the same book that so far as could be ascertained, not a Christian perished in the fall of Jerusalem who believed the sign our Lord gave
them, and fled at the opportunity provided.
How did the temple fare? History records the fact that when the siege was
over there was not one stone of the temple left on top of another. Tradition
has it that gold leaf was between the stones to enhance the beauty of the
temple. The need of the Roman Empire for gold was such that each stone
was removed, taken off by itself and the gold scraped from the stone and
added to the coffers of the Roman Empire. Another tradition is that the
dome of the temple was made of solid gold, and the holocaust melting the
gold caused it to run down between the stones with the result that they had
to be separated and the gold scraped off to save it. Thus was the prophecy of
our Lord concerning the desolation of Jerusalem and the temple fulfilled.
WHAT SHALL BE THE SIGN OF THY COMING?
In our last article we answered the first of the three questions the
disciples asked the Lord -"Tell us when shall these things be?" In this current article we will deal with the second question, "What shall be THE sign
of thy coming?"
One cannot but be amazed at some fundamental scholars who go to great
lengths to try to prove that there are no signs of the coming of our Lord,
when He, Himself, took special pains to show that there was A sign of His
coming as well as innumerable signs of His imminent return.
In Matthew 24:4, Jesus cautioned the disciples against the deception of
man. He also told then that many would come in His name saying that they
were Christ. How true it is that around the world today there are many who
claim to have the power and attributes which belong to Him. The Lord also
called attention to the fact that there would be wars and rumors of wars until His return; but in verses 7 and 8 He gives us THE sign of His coming:
"For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and
there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
All these are the beginning of sorrows."
What we have mentioned in verse 7 is a world-wide conflict followed by
famines, pestilences, and earthquakes. The language of Scripture will not
permit the acceptance of any other world war as a sign except the first one
to take place after the utterance of the prophecy. It would have been
necessary for the Lord to have used an ordinal number to specify the worldwide war He had in mind; but He did not, and it can be no other than World
War I. In verse 8, Jesus says that this world war, followed by famines,
pestilences, and earthquakes, was the beginning of sorrows. The word sorrows is the same that is used in I Thess. 5:3, which is there translated
travail. That is, all these are the beginning of travail. Let me express it still
in another way: This is the first birth pang. This is the exact language the
Lord used. Just as the first siege of Jerusalem, after the prophecy, was the
sign of the approaching desolation, so the first world war after this prophecy was the sign of our Lord's imminent return. Now watch closely two
other passages of Scripture: "Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted,
and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake"
(verse 9). The word then relates this experience to the sign. Sometime after
the first world war there is going to be a persecution of the Jews that shall
be world-wide in that they shall be hated by all nations. The phrase "all nations" is never used except to distinguish all the Gentiles from the children
of Israel; hence, this verse does not have to do with just the persecution of
Christians but also the persecution of the Jews by all the Gentile nations.
Just before the tragedy of Pearl Harbor, the persecution of the Jews had
reached such proportions that even the United States of America would not
permit two boat loads of Jewish refugees to enter its borders. Had not Pearl.':
Harbor happened, the evidence is to the fact that persecution of the Jews :
would have broken out all over this country. The, result of this world-wide
persecution of the Jews was the decimation of over one-third of the Jewish
population of the world. All of that was "for my name's sake." How could
these unsaved Jews be persecuted for Christ's sake? The Jew is hated for
three particular reasons: First, because he gave us our Bible as far as human
means is concerned; second, he gave us the Messiah after the flesh; and."
third, he is to be Jehovah's witness to the ends of the earth. That is the;'
reason Satan hates the Jew, and that is the reason the world hates the Jew. '
But it seems paradoxical that the three reasons for which he is hated
guarantee his perpetuity on the earth.
In that same passage we have these verses: "Now learn a parable of the
fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know j
that summer is nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know
that it is near even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, this generation shall
not pass, till all these things be fulfilled." In this parable of the fig tree
Jesus says that soon after Israel becomes a nation again you know that He
is near, even at the door; for in this parable the fig tree symbolizes Israel as
a nation. As a national power Israel was set aside, the fig tree was cut down.
But Jesus said that Israel is to be restored as a nation and that this event
itself is a sign of His imminency. In verse 34, Jesus gives the added
chronological aspect of the sign of His coming in the words of this generation: that is, the generation mentioned in verse 33, meaning, the generation
which sees these things shall not pass away until all these things be
fulfilled.
To sum it up, Jesus said that the generation which sees a world-wide war
followed by famines, pestilences, and earthquakes, followed by world-wide
persecution of the Jews in which untold numbers would be killed, and
followed soon thereafter by Israel becoming a nation again - THAT
GENERATION would see His return to earth.
It is because of these Scriptures that the writer believes that our Lord
may come in this generation. We have seen the war of 1914-18; we have
seen the slaying of six million Jews in World War II, and on May 14, 1948,
we saw the fig tree bud. Surely the coming of the Lord draweth nigh, for
Jesus said this is THE sign of His coming.
WHAT SHALL BE THE SIGN OF THE END OF THE WORLD?
This article brings us to the third and last question the disciples asked the
Lord as recorded in Matthew 24:3. The first question was, "When shall
these things be?" meaning the destruction of Jerusalem. The second question was, "What shall be the sign of thy coming?" Now for the third and
last they asked, "What shall be the sign of the end of the world?"
We call your attention first of all to the fact that the correct translation is
not "the end of the world" but "the end of the age." The end of the world
will not take place until some thousand years after the end of this age. There
are several signs spoken of portending the end of the age which we will
discuss a little later; but right now we present THE SIGN of its swift consummation: "When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation,
spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let
him understand:) For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since
the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And then shall
appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of
the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of
heaven with power and great glory" (Matt. 24:15, 21, 30).
The abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel refers to the image
made and erected by King Nebuchadnezzar as described in Daniel 3. There
is further reference to this abomination of desolation spoken of in Rev.
13:15. This will be the placing of the image of the Anti-Christ in the Holy of
Holies, to which life shall be given and worship of which shall be exacted
from the people under penalty of death for refusal. This ushers in the great
tribulation which shall be followed immediately by the darkening of the sun,
the failure of the moon to give light, the falling of the stars from heaven, and
the appearance of the sign of the Son of man in heaven. There is no description of the sign, but the Scripture is clear to the extent that there will be no
doubt as to the sign and its significance. That is what our Lord gave as the
answer to the question, "What shall be the sign of the end of this age?"
Now I want to give you a number of events which in themselves constitute signs of the end of this age.
1. The rapture of the saints (I Thess. 4:13-5:6). Whereas the catching away
of all the saints by the resurrection of the dead and the translation of the living is a secret event known and experienced only by the saved, yet the
absence from the earth of a vast number of individuals whose bodies will not
be found on the earth will be a sign to the ones remaining that movements
have been set in motion which will swiftly culminate in the end of the age.
2. The appearance all over the world of 144,000 Jewish evangelists
simultaneously appearing and beginning to preach the gospel of the
kingdom, is another sign that this present age is about to close (Rev. 7).
3. The rise of the Anti-Christ as described in II Thess. 2, will be another
sign to the peoples on the earth that the end of the age is fast approaching.
In Dan. 9:26, 27 we have a description of his coming from the city of Rome
with his covenant of peace with the children of Israel for seven years, which
covenant will be broken at the end of three and a half years when the great
tribulation will begin. The inaugural years of his reign shall be of unparalleled peace and prosperity, swiftly changing to persecution a~d reducing
many to direct extremities during which two-thirds of the Jewish population will be destroyed from the face of the earth.
4. The rebuilding of the city of Babylon and its subsequent downfall as
described in Rev. 18, will be another very striking sign that the end of the
age is at hand. There are a few who deny the rebuilding of the city of
Babylon, but a careful study of the prophecy of the description of the fall of
Babylon will reveal the facts that none of these prophetic destructions has
as yet been fulfilled, which will necessitate the rebuilding of Babylon in
order that the Scriptures might be fulfilled.
5. The institution of a system of idolatry headed by the worship. of the
beast and his image described in Rev. 13:15, will constitute Scriptural
evidence that the end of the age will soon appear. One cannot but be impressed with the fact even today that there are evidences of many people
turning from the worship of the Creator to the things which the Creator has
produced - that is, transferring the affection from the Creator to the
created.
6. After the rapture of the saints and the restoration of the Jews to their
land and their subsequent conversion, there will be the fulfillment of the
prophecy of Joel 2:28-32. "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will
pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall
prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see
visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days
will I pour out my Spirit. And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the
earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into
darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the
LORD come. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the
name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem
shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the
LORD shall call." The attempt to place the fulfillment of this prophecy
before the rapture is causing havoc in Christian circles today. All of these
signs, wonders, and miracles after the rapture will be a sign of the end of the
age.
7. The restoration of all the Jews to their land and their conversion to the
Lord (Romans 11:25, 26) is a sign that this present age is drawing to a close.
8. The breaking out of wars under the leadership of the Anti-Christ is a
harbinger of the end of the age (Dan. 9:26b).
9. The appearance of Elijah will be a Scriptural testimony to the fact that
this age has run its course: "Behold I will send you Elijah the prophet
before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall
turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to
their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse " (Mal. 4:5, 6).
While it is of intense interest and absolute necessity that we study these
signs and be informed concerning them, they do not concern us except that
we can see their shadows already beginning to appear, for nothing is truer in
the prophetic Word than that coming events cast their shadows before
them. The appearance of these shadows should be a sign to us Christians
that the rapture of the saints is drawing near because that great event will
take place before any of these above mentioned signs.
"And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up
your head; for your redemption draweth nigh."
WHEN IS THE GOSPEL TO BE PREACHED IN ALL THE WORLD
"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a
witness unto all nations,' and then shall the end come" (Matt. 24:14).
Since the beginning of the Christian era, there has been a philosophy of
missions in relation to the doctrine of the second coming of Christ based on
the above verse of Scripture as follows: "The gospel must be preached in all
the world to all nations before Jesus Christ can return for His saints."
A careful reading of Matthew 24:14 will reveal two most pertinent facts:
(1) It is the gospel of the KINGDOM that must be preached and NOT the
gospel of grace. (2) The result attendant upon the preaching of the gospel of
the kingdom is clearly set forth as the END and not the second coming of
Christ.
Let us now treat these two fallacies in their given order. (1) What is the
gospel of the kingdom, and (2) Wherein does it differ from the gospel of the
grace of God?
The word "gospel" strictly, technically, and literally means, "good
news." It comes from the Anglo-Saxon word "godspell," which is derived
from two words "God" and "spell" - "spell" meaning "tale" or "story";
hence, God's tale or story. Or yet again, God's news or good news.
Therefore, the word "gospel" in the evangelical sense means "good news of
God." The gospel of grace is the good news pertaining to the grace of God.
The gospel of the kingdom is the good news of the establishment here on
earth (in fulfillment of the covenant God made with David pertaining to his
house and his throne) of His kingdom, over which the Seed of David as King
would rule and reign for one thousand years.
The gospel of the grace of God is, "'. . .. Christ died for our sins according
to the scriptures; and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third
day according to the scriptures" (I Cor. 15:3, 4).
Under the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom the nation of Israel was
called upon to REPENT for her disobedience to the commandments of God;
and after the crucifixion of Christ, she was called upon t() REPENT of her
rejection and crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ. Under the preaching of
the gospel of the grace of God, individuals are called upon to BELIEVE on
the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 10:43; 16:30, 31; Rom. 1:16).
According to Matthew 10:5, 6, the gospel of the kingdom was to be
preached only to "the lost sheep of the house of Israel." The preaching of
the gospel of grace is to the Jew first, but it is ALSO TO THE GREEK
(Rom. 1:16).
Under the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom, they were to provide
neither gold, nor silver, nor extra clothing (Matt. 10:9, 10). Under the
preaching of the gospel of grace, they were to "provide things honest in the
sight of all men" (Rom. 12:17). They were to distribute as the necessity of
the saints demanded (I Tim. 6:18).
The gospel of the kingdom called for a man to sell all that he had and give
all to the poor. (A rich man could hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven
according to Matt. 19:21,23.) But under the gospel of grace, rich men are exhorted to do good with their riches and be ready and willing to distribute,
and to communicate to those who have need. They are not charged to sell all
and give to the poor. (I Tim. 6:17-19). Notice in this connection that "The
living God giveth us richly all things to enjoy" instead of requiring the oath
of poverty.
Under the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom, the Lord says in Matt.
6:31-34a, "Take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we
drink? or, Wherewithall shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do
the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need for
all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his
righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore
no thought for the morrow." But under the gospel of grace, Paul says that
the minister of spiritual things is to share in the material things of those
who are free to engage in business. He further states that the minister of the
gospel is to live by the gospel just as the priest of the temple lived on the
things of the temple. That is a definite expression of the Spirit of God for a
stated salary and expenses for ministers (I Cor. 9:11, 13, 14).
Under the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom, the poor were supplied
out of the common treasury (Acts 2:44, 45; 4:34, 35). But under the
preaching of the gospel of grace, a man was to provide for his own (I Tim.
5:8). Also, in II Thess. 3:10-12, a man was forbidden to eat unless he did
work, with further exhortation that he must work and eat of his own bread.
Under the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom, they were forbidden to
take an oath in the courts of the land (Matt. 5:34-37). But under the gospel
of grace, they were commanded to be in subjection to civil authorities and
honor all the laws of the land (Rom. 13:1-5).
Under the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom, the ministry was ac-
companied by signs, wonders, and miracles which served to authenticate
the messengers and their words (Mark 16:16-20). The preaching of the
gospel of grace was to be under the power of the Spirit of God with the Word
being illuminated by the Spirit, and it was to be accepted because it was
from God.
Strange as it may seem, many people do not distinguish between the
everlasting gospel of Rev. 14:6, and the gospel of grace. A careful reading of
Rev. 14:6, will reveal that the everlasting gospel is not preached until near
the close of the tribulation; and it announces the JUDGMENTS of the
everlasting God who was before all creation and who is after all creation,
who has neither beginning nor ending, and is therefore called the
Everlasting Gospel.
THEN SHALL THE END COME
Matthew 24:14 emphasizes the fact that the gospel of the kingdom will be
preached in all the world before the end comes. The average missionary expositor of this text uses the word end as if it were synonymous with the
Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit has used two different Greek words for
end. The one used in Matthew 24:14 is telos, which means the complete final
consumative end of all things. The other word is sunteleios found in Matthew 24:3, which means the gathering together of certain necessary accomplishments for the closing of a particular age or dispensation. In Mat.
thew 24:3, the disciples were asking what would be the sign of the end of the
age, meaning the gathering of the attendant circumstances which would
mark the end of the age of grace. In Matthew 24:14, Jesus called attention
to the fact that before the final end of all things, which of necessity would be
long after the end of the age just referred to, that the gospel of the kingdom
would be preached in all the world for a witness to all nations.
I think it worthwhile to note that this statement of our Lord is not as the
missionary preacher expresses it - That the Gospel MUST be preached
before the Lord comes - but rather it is a simple prophecy that the gospel
of the kingdom WILL be preached before the ultimate end.
Now let us turn to I Cor. 15, where the Spirit uses the word telos (final end
of all things) in connection with attendant events. Notice verses 22 through
28: "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But
every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits: afterwards they that are
Christ's at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered
up the kingdom to God, even the Father,' when he shall have put down all
rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all
enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For
he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are under
him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him.
And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also
himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be
all in all. "
In verse 24 it says, "Then cometh the end, when. . ." This word when has
the exact meaning of the word after, and I note that the end does not come
until He shall have delivered up the kingdom, even to God the Father, and
that does not occur until He shall put down all rule and all authority and
power. That does not occur until after His reign of one thousand years (Rev.
20:6); and not until then is the last enemy destroyed, which is death. Not until then does the Son become subject unto Him that put all things under
Him that God may be all in all.
Now permit me to sum this up in one sentence if possible. The end of Matthew 24:14 does not come until Christ has returned, reigned one thousand
years, put all enemies in subjection under His feet, including death, and
then shall have delivered all unto the Father.
May I emphasize very strongly that the gospel of the kingdom will be
preached in all the world before that end comes. In the meantime, we are to
go into all the world and preach the gospel of grace to every creature in obedience to the command of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. But please
don't be guilty of trying to make the Lord's return dependent upon the success of man's missionary program. The time of our Lord's return has been
set by God as we read in Acts. 15:14, and Romans, 11:25. When the elect out
of the Gentiles have been gathered in and united with the remnant of Israel
according to the election of grace to form the Body of Christ, then our Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ will return.
THE SIGN OF HIS COMING
Matthew 23:37 - 24:1-14 "What shall be the sign of thy coming?" is one of the questions asked by the disciples in the Olivet discourse. This question is answered by the Lord,
and His answer should be a beacon light for all who are looking for His
return.
During the last week of our Lord's earthly ministry He went daily into the
city of Jerusalem, but returned to the Olive Garden where He spent the
night. These nights were given almost wholly to prayer. On one occasion the
Lord uttered His lament over Jerusalem as recorded in Matthew 23:37: "0
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them
which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children
together even as a hen gathered her chickens under her wings, and ye would
not." He then pronounced Israel's fate in the words of verse 38: "Behold,
your house is left unto you desolate."
One must fix in his mind that the Lord prophesied desolation upon the
city, the temple and the people. The word house in regard to Israel is used to
refer to the land, city and people. This prophesied desolation made an impact upon the disciples, and as they left the temple on that evening they
pointed out the massive building to the Lord as if to refute His prophecy of
desolation. This temple was the building which Herod had taken forty-six
years to build. It was reputed to have many stones in it 12x20x40 feet -
stones quarried out of rock of that dimension making it an architectural and
engineering phenomenon. The beauty of it was such that a common saying
was, "If you have not seen Herod's temple, you do not know beauty.'! It
was inconceivable to the disciples that such a building should be made
desolate. Our Lord's reply was, "There shall not be left here one stone upon
another that shall not be thrown down." The magnitude of the desolation
was overpowering; and when they reached the Mount of Olives and were
alone, the disciples asked Jesus these three questions: "Tell us, when shall
these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of
the world?" This is so important that we repeat: (1) They wanted to know
when the temple would be left desolate; (2) they wanted to know what would
be the sign of His coming, and (3) they wanted to know what would be the
sign that the age was coming to an end. (The Greek text sets forth the fact
that it is the age and not the world, as such, of which He speaks.) These
three questions concerned the disciples in the day of our Lord. These three
questions concerned the Lord when He was here on the earth. These three
questions should concern all students of the Word of God today. The Lord
spoke more about His second advent than His first; the prophets spoke
more of His second advent than of His first; and we should have more than a
passing interest in His second advent. The plea that the study of the second
coming of Christ gives people the wrong perspective is illfounded, for there
is no Scriptural truth but what is placed in the wrong perspective by some
of its adherents. The first advent had no significance apart from the second.
Our redemption is incomplete until Christ returns. Christ's ministry is incomplete until He returns, and all Scriptural truth is rendered out of focus without a clear-cut conception of Christ's second advent. It is important to
know about the coming of the Lord to this earth.
Now let us take up the questions in their order:
"Tell us, when shall these things be?" (That is, when is our house going to
be left desolate?) In Luke 21:20, 21, we have these verses: "And when ye
shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation
thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judaea {lee to the mountains; and
let them which are in the midst of it depart out,' and let not them that are in
the countries enter thereinto. "
The sign of the approaching desolation was that Jerusalem would be encompassed with armies; and since there is no specific number as to which
siege was meant, it follows of necessity that it must be the first one after the
uttering of these words. The next time an army moved down against
Jerusalem and surrounded it, then the disciples and the inhabitants were to
know that the desolation of the city was in the offing. They were to know
also that its desolation was as certain as the Word of God. The exhortation
was given by the Lord that when the city was encompassed with armies
then those in the city were to flee to the mountains, and those outside the city were not to enter therein. This would be a rather difficult thing to do with
the city in a state of siege-but wait and see how the Lord fulfilled His
Word.
There is a space of approximately 40 years between the time the Lord ut-
tered these words and the time of the desolation - 40 years during which
they had opportunity to repent as a nation and see the fulfillment of Acts
3:19. Three decades passed and there was no evidence of armies or a siege
against Jerusalem; but in October of 66 A.D. Cestius Gallus and his Roman
legions came against the city and threw up a siege that virtually paralyzed
it. Our Lord had said that this would be the sign of the approaching desolation of the house of Israel. One cannot help but wonder how many people
recognized it as the sign. Subsequent events prove that the first generation
of Christians believed far more in the signs of the times than our present
generation of believers. Of course those in the city could not flee to the
mountains as the Lord had urged; neither could those outside enter in. But
wait - about a month later, in November of the same year, for no visible or
understandable reason, Gallus and his legions withdrew and left that part of
the country. The disciples and believers within the city then fled to the
mountains. Josephus, in his Antiquity of the Jews, tells us that so far as the
record goes, there was not a single Christian who persished in the fall of
Jerusalem some four years later. They believed the word of the Lord and accepted that first siege as the sign, and as opportunity presented itself, fled.
It is doubtful that many inhabitants of the city hearing again of the Lord's
prophecy attached any importance to it but reckoned it as a mere coincidence. But in the year 70 A.D., the Emperor Titus threw up a siege
against the city and ultimately reduced it to shambles, slaying two or three
million Jews who were in the city at the time. So great was the blood shed
that Josephus speaks of whole houses on fire in the southern part of the city
being extinguished by the wall of human blood that flowed down into that
area. Tradition has it that between the stones of the building was gold leaf
which had been placed there to enhance the beauty of the temple. Its dome
also was of solid gold, and the Roman's need for gold caused them to remove
each stone separately and scrape the gold from it, leaving no stone upon
another when they had finished. The prophecies of the Lord were fulfilled in
minutest detail concerning the desolation of the house of Israel.
If the Lord went to such pains to prophesy and fulfill the destruction of
Jerusalem, who can say that the prophecies pertaining to His second coming are not as valid and worthy of study?
The second question of Matthew 24:3 was, ". . .and what shall be the sign
of thy coming?" This question is answered in the immediate context when
Jesus says, "Take heed that no man deceive you."
There has been much deception pertaining to the coming of the Lord - all
of which originated with Satan. He has sought to bring the doctrine of the
coming of the Lord into disrepute by mishandling and perversions on the
part of sincere but misled folks. Some of them deceive by saying that His
coming is already past; others by saying that the destruction of Jerusalem
was His second coming; others say that the conversion of an individual is
the second coming; others, that the advent of the Holy Spirit was the second coming; others say that the death of a Christian is the second coming;
others, that His coming is spiritual and not literal, and still others deceive
by saying that He is not coming back at all. One can readily see the need of
the exhortation of our Lord when He said, "Take heed that no man deceive
you."
The Lord also warns against deception in Matt. 24:5 when He says,
"Many shall come in My name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive
many." False Christs were in evidence during the Lord's time on earth and
also in the time of the apostles. John the beloved says in I John 2:18, "Even
now are there many antichrists. " From the time of Christ until now many
have claimed to be the Christ. A couple whom we sent to India as missionaries reported there were some 14 or 15 natives of India who said they
were Christ, claiming to have died and risen again from the dead. Our missionary in Miami Beach, attended a meeting where she was introduced to a
man from the Middle East who claimed to be the resurrected Christ. She
asked to see his hands, and when they revealed no nail prints, she asked
him, "Where are the wounds?" Of course he was a false Christ, as are all the
others.
Our Lord Jesus Christ is in heaven and has been there since His ascension. He will not return to the earth until after He has appeared in the air
and called His own to meet Him there (I Thess. 4:13-18).
All these false Christs make their appearances with the preaching of a
false gospel. In the preaching of a false gospel we do not mean that all their
preaching is false; but error is mixed with the truth in such a subtle way
that few can distinguish between truth and error. The one true test is the
Word of God. We have the simple statement in Isaiah 8:20 that if they
speak not according to the law and to the testimony it is because there is no
light in them.
The best antidote in this time of deception is a thorough knowledge of the
Word of God.
THE SIGN OF HIS COMING
After the appearance of false Christs, the Lord says in verse 6: "And ye
shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all
these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. " The most striking
thing in this verse is that whereas there will be wars and rumors of wars until the time of the Lord's return, the end is not set forth in an era of peace
or wars. The Scripture speaks of three great conflicts that will take place
before the end of all things; so we are not to be particularly upset or excited
when we hear of wars and rumors of wars. But the Lord says there is coming
a day when "nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against
kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in
divers places" (v. 7). Here He is saying that someday there is coming a
world-wide war. Prior to this, conflicts will have existed on a lesser basis.
For instance, back when the Philistines and the children of Israel were
engaged in conflicts, often a champion was chosen from each side such as
David and Goliath, and the winner won the battle for his entire side. On
other occasions a few men would be chosen to engage in the conflict. Then
there were those days when just fighting men of different groups fought;
but it was not until 1914.18 that the world was involved in a conflict in
which not only the men of war engaged, but also the civilians, both men and
women. The importance of determining whether or not the conflict of
1914-18 was such is to be found in verse 8. The Lord states conclusively that
a world-wide conflict involving men, women and children, followed by
famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in divers places would be THE sign of
His coming. Notice verse 8 carefully. He says THESE things (the above
designated) constitute the beginning of sorrows, or travail, as it is in the
Greek text. Weymouth translates that verse: "All these are but like the
earliest pains of childbirth." What Jesus literally said was that a world-wide
conflict followed by famines, pestilences, and earthquakes was the first
birth pang announcing the birth of a new era, and this would be the harbinger of His return and attendant events. Because He did not specify whether it would be the first, second, third, fourth or fifth time this happened seems to mean it was to be the first time a world-wide conflict took place.
Our own conviction is that THE sign of the Lord's approaching advent was
World War I, which was followed by famines, pestilences, and earthquakes
in unparalleled number and intensity. We are not left in doubt at all concerning this because in verse 9 the Lord says: "Then shall they deliver you up
to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my
name's sake."
Now in order to understand this verse, one must also understand the expression "all nations." The word translated nations is also translated
heathen in some instances, and Gentiles in other instances. It is an expression used by the Holy Spirit to distinguish this group of people from the nation of Israel. What the Lord is saying in verse 9 is that they (the Gentiles)
will deliver the Jews up to be afflicted and shall kill them, and they (the
Jews) shall be hated by all the Gentiles for His name's sake. The expression
"for His name's sake" is the reason for anti-Semitism. Israel is hated, reviled, bemeaned, persecuted and killed simply and solely because God chose
her for His own people as a nation. He has not so dealt with any other nation
(See Rom. 9:4, 5).
Now let us tie our Scriptures together thus far. Jesus said that the sign of
His coming would be a world-wide war, followed by famines, pestilences,
and earthquakes in divers places, which would soon be followed by a worldwide persecution of the Jews in which they would be hated by all of the Gentiles and in which many would be killed. At the beginning of World War II
there was a wave of anti-Semitism which swept over the world including
even our own United States. In those days we heard one of our greatest
automobile manufacturers and another who was the idol of America
because of his aviation feat, speak over the radio from time to time, and
they castigated the Jews and charged them with everything conceivable to
a mind that was activated by Satan himself. Such a wave of Jewish hatred
was built up in the hearts of the American people that had it not been for the
Pearl Harbor debacle there is no doubt but that experiences would have
been observed in the United States similar to the ones which took place in
Germany under Hitler as he sought the decimation of the Jewish race. It
was during this time that two boat loads of Jewish refugees came to our
shores seeking a haven. And they were not only refused entrance here, but
also in Mexico, South America, and Africa, and had to return to Germany to
be destroyed along with more than six million others who died in that wave
of Jewish hatred. Just conceive for one moment if you can, of over one-third
of the Jewish population being wiped off the face of the earth and for no
other reason than that the Lord God Almighty chose them for His own.
That is what He means when He says, "For my name's sake."
In verses 32 and 33, we have the parable of the fig tree. A study of the
Scripture reveals that the Lord uses several different trees to symbolize certain aspects of Israel's witness. The olive tree symbolizes Israel and her
covenant relationship to the Lord (Rom. 11),' the grapevine symbolizes the
spiritual blessings which are to flow from Israel (Isa. 5); the fig tree symbolizes Israel as a nation (Mark 13:28,29,' Luke 21:29-31). The Lord came and
sought fruit from the nation of Israel for three years and found none, and He
ordered the fig tree, or the nation, cut down. The husbandman pled for
another chance, so Israel's life was extended; but when she persisted in
bearing no fruit, the nation of Israel was set aside and the Gentiles were
given the opportunity of being Jehovah's witness (Rom. 11:15-25).
We learn from this parable and many others that Israel is to be restored
(See also Isa. 11; Ezek. 39: 25-29).
Now back to Matthew 24:32. When the Lord says to learn a parable of the
fig tree, He is setting forth the truth that the fig tree symbolizes something
else, and from other Scriptures we note that it symbolizes the nation of
Israel. Trees are used to symbolize nations (See Judges 9:8; Dan. 4). So in
this parable He tells us that when the branch is yet tender and has just put
forth its leaves, you know that summer is nigh; that is, when Israel becomes
a nation again, and very soon thereafter, you know that something is about
to happen. It is in verse 32 that we learn what is about to happen. Jesus
says, "When ye shall see all these things, know that He (literal translation)
is near, even at the doors." Keep in mind that on May 14, 1948, the fig tree
put forth her branch. Israel became a nation.
Here then is a summation of the answer the Lord gave to the question,
"What shall be the sign of thy coming?"
(1) False Christs shall appear, deceiving many. This has been true for
years.
(2) There shall be wars and rumors of wars. These are ever present.
(3) There will be a world-wide war followed by famines, pestilences, and
earthquakes in divers places. This took place in 1914-18.
(4) This was to be followed by world-wide persecution of Jews with many
of them being killed. This took place in 1939-45 in which over six million
were killed.
(6)(sic) This was to be followed by the fig tree budding again. That took place
when Israel became a nation on May 14, 1948.
Jesus said when you see all these things taking place, know that He is
near, even at the doors. He also said that THIS GENERATION (the
generation which sees the beginning of these things) shall not pass away until all these things have been fulfilled. A generation, according to the Scripture, is threescore and ten years, and if by reason of strength, fourscore.
We are not setting any dates, neither attempting to. We are just trying to
interpret the Word of God.
SIGNS OF HIS COMING
1. There is to be a great conflict between labor and capital. This is
foreshadowed in James 5:1-8. "Come now, you rich (people); weep aloud and
lament over the miseries-the woes-that are surely coming upon you. Your
abundant wealth has rotted and is ruined and your (many) garments have
become moth-eaten. Your gold and silver are completely rusted through,
and their rust will be testimony against you and it will devour your flesh as
if it were fire. You have heaped together treasure for the last days. (But)
look! (Here are) the wages that you have withheld by fraud from the
laborers who have reaped your fields, crying out (for vengeance), and the
cries of the harvesters have come to the ears of the Lord of hosts. (Here) on
earth you have abandoned yourselves to soft (prodigal) living and to (the
pleasure of) self-indulgence and self-gratification. You have fattened your
hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned, you have murdered the
(innocent) righteous (man, while) he offers no resistance to you. So be patient, brethren, (as you wait) till the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer
waits expectantly for the precious harvest from the land. (See how) he keeps
up his patient (vigil) over it until it receives the early and late rains. So you
also must be patient. Establish your hearts-strengthen and confirm them
in the final certainty-for the coming of the Lord is very near" -Amplified
N.T.
2. There will be a great moral decay of society. We see this in II Tim. 3:1-5.
"But understand this, that in the last days there will set in perilous times
of great stress and trouble-hard to deal with and hard to bear. For people
will be lovers of self and (utterly) self-centered, lovers of money and aroused
by an inordinate (greedy) desire for wealth, proud and arrogant and contemptuous boasters. They will be abusive (blasphemous, scoffers), disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy and profane. (They will be) without natural (human) affection (callous and inhuman), relentless-admitting of no truce or appeasement. (They will be) slanderers-false acusers, trouble makers; intemperate and loose in morals and conduct, uncontrolled and
fierce, haters of good. (They will be) treacherous (betrayers), rash (and) inflated with conceit. (They will be) lovers of sensual pleasures and vain
amusements more than and rather than lovers of God. For (although) they
hold a form of piety (true religion), they deny and reject and are strangers to
the power of it-their conduct belies the genuineness of their profession.
Avoid (all) such people-turn away from them" -Amplified N.T.
3. There will be a passing of personal liberties and freedoms. Already can
be seen the foregleam of that which is prophesied in Rev. 13:15-17. .. And he
was permitted (also) to impart the breath of life into the beast's image so
that the statue of the beast would actually talk, and to cause to be put to
death those who would not bow down and worship the image of the beast
(Dan. 3:5). Also he compels all (alike), both small and great, both the rich
and the poor, both free and slave to be marked with an inscription (stamped)
on their right hands or on their foreheads. So that no one will have power to
buy or sell unless he bears the stamp (mark, inscription), (that is), the name
of the beast or the number of his name" -Amplified N.T.
Today there is a centralized trend in government, religious totalitar-
ianism, and the attempt of the National Council of Churches to curtail all
freedoms of non-conformist churches and Christians.
THINGS TO COME
Is man about to destroy himself? Is the end of the world in sight? What
does the future hold? What is going to happen next? These are typical of
many questions asked the writer today.
There is order in the plan and purposes of God, and so far as the Scripture
is concerned, the next great prophetic event will be the rapture of the saints.
A close study of Hebrews 11 reveals the order in which things are to take
place in regard to Christian experience and the consummation of the age.
Since all the characters mentioned in this chapter are not enumerated in
their chronological order, it is evident that the order speaks of their typical
fulfillment.
Abel, with the blood sacrifice, typifies the Christian coming under the
blood of Christ through faith. This sets forth the beginning of this age as
the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The next event listed in Hebrews 11 is the translation of Enoch, which
typifies the truth that after the shedding of the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ, the next great prophetic event is the translation of the saints.
After Enoch comes Noah, and the judgment of God upon the world. This,
then, sets forth a type about which there can be no uncertainty: the great
tribulation follows the rapture. This establishes as a certain fact, in the light
of many concurring Scriptures, that the next great prophetic event is the
rapture.
Two or three Scriptures describe this event. In I Cor. 15:20-23, we see
Christ as the Firstfruit. Then, whenever man is raised, it is in his own company. They that are Christ's shall be raised at His coming. These are
divided into two distinct groups according to I Thess. 4: 16, 17. The dead in
Christ rise first, then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up
together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. There is no
room here for a split rapture or a division of the saints because the above
verse of Scripture says that ALL the dead in Christ and ALL the living
Christians are caught up.
There are two major events in the life of a Christian as related to this
earth. The first one is that moment when he is born from above, and the second is when he is caught up to meet the Lord in the air.
In looking at the major events relative to the end time, first there is the
rapture, or the raising of the dead: in Christ and the translation of the living
Christians. Immediately after the rapture there are events transpiring on
the earth, and at the same time, events are taking place in heaven.
The first one to take place in the heavens with the raptured saints is the
judgment seat of Christ. This is the time and place when Christians are
called to a personal accounting of the life they have lived after they are
saved. There will be rewards, honors, positions of prestige, and glory for the
faithful. There will be loss, shame, chastisement and grief for the unfaithful.
There is no escaping the issues of this judgment. It will be one of absolute
justice, and Christians will get just exactly what they deserve on the basis
of their works-nothing more, nothing less. Do not be deceived by the false
teaching that Christians will not reap the evil deeds done after they are
saved.
The judgment seat of Christ is followed by the marriage of the Lamb. The
issues of the judgment seat determine who will constitute the bride. Rev.
19:7, 8 gives the truth that the bride is composed only of those Christians
who have a wedding garment; and this garment is made up of the righteous
acts of the saints. If the judgment seat of Christ reveals that a Christian has
no good works, he will suffer loss and therefore have no wedding garment,
neither will he be a part of the bride of Christ, even though he has eternal life
by the grace of God. One would do well to study an Oriental wedding and
see that there are many other parties at a wedding ceremony other then the
bridegroom and the bride. The marriage of the Lamb has only to do with
New Testament saints, and these will be further divided into many groups
other than just the bride.
The marriage of the Lamb is followed by the wedding feast, which does
not include all of the wedding party. The Scripture speaks of the
blessedness of those who are invited to the feast (Rev. 19:9).
Now, in turning our attention earthward, the first thing to take place on
the earth after the rapture of the saints is the sealing of the 144,000 Jews
who will preach the gospel of the kingdom to the Gentiles during the tribulation (Rev. 7).
As soon as the sealing of the 144,000 is completed, the antichrist is made
manifest. His appearance marks the beginning of the tribulation, a period of
seven years, the latter part of which is known as the great tribulation. This
period is described in the Revelation from Chapter 6 through Chapter 18.
During this time great multitudes of Gentiles will be saved, many of whom
will be martyred. The great majority of the nation of Israel will be destroyed
when the antichrist makes war against the Lord's chosen people. This entire
period of seven years is called the time of Jacob's trouble and is spoken of as
a time of suffering, the like of which the world has never seen nor will ever
experience again. The only Jews who will be spared during this period is
that remnant which will be saved when they look on the Lord Jesus Christ
at the time of His descent to the earth. This is the event we shall discuss
next.
Rev. 19: 11 opens up the events of the end time in chronological order as
Jesus comes with His holy angels to reap vengeance on the earth dwellers
and to establish His reign of one thousand years. The Scripture teaches that
the first thing to take place when Christ returns to the earth is the salvation
of all the living Jews (Zech. 13:6-9; Rev. 1:7; Rom. 11:25-27). Very likely at
this same time there will be a resurrection of the dead Jews in their bodies of
flesh, blood and bones who, with the above mentioned Jews, go into the
Millennium as God's earthly people (Dan. 12:1; Ezek. 37:11-14).
The Lord Jesus Christ will then gather all the Gentiles before Him and
will divide them into two groups known as the sheep and the goats. The
sheep will be the nations who believed the gospel of the kingdom and were
saved. The goats will be the ones who did not believe the gospel of the
kingdom. The fact of their salvation will be manifested by their good works,
especially by their treatment of the brethren of our Lord (the Jews). The unsaved ones (goats) will be the vast multitude to be destroyed in the Battle of
Armageddon. The saved ones, known as the sheep, will constitute the Gentile nations who go into the Millennium also as an earthly people.
We see how that the location of the peoples for the thousand-year reign of
Christ is as follows: The New Testament saints will be in the new Jerusalem
located in the heavens. They are the heavenly people of the Lord. This group
will be made up both of Jews and Gentiles saved between Pentecost and the
rapture. The people of the earth will be the whole house of Israel. They are
made up of the Old Testament saints who died and are raised from their
graves to possess the land, and the living Jews who are saved at the return
of Christ to the earth and are restored to the land of Palestine. The Gentile
nations saved during the tribulation, together with the above, make up the
people who will live here on the earth.
The binding of Satan may well be the next event to transpire when he
shall be cast into the abyss for the duration of the Millennial reign.
Christ will then set up His kingdom with Himself as the King of kings
(Rev. 19:16). David will be raised to reign over the house of Israel (Ezek.
37:24, 25; Jer. 30: 9; Hos. 3:5). The twelve apostles will be given positions of
authority over the twelve tribes of Israel (Matt. 19:28); and the Christians
who can qualify, will reign over various cities (Luke 19:16-19).
At the end of the Millennium, Satan will be loosed for a season, and with
the vast number born during the Millennium who will not confess Christ as
Saviour will make war against Him and the city of Jerusalem (Rev. 20:7-9).
Satan is then cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where, with the beast
and the false prophet who are cast in at the beginning of the Millennium, he
will be tormented forever and ever. The present heavens and earth will then
pass away-be completely annihilated.
Next is the appearance of the Great White Throne before which will be
gathered the unbelievers of all ages as well as the fallen angels. Their portion in the lake of fire will be made known on the basis of their evil di!eds;
and all whose names are not in the book of life shall be cast into the lake of
fire to be tormented day and night forever and ever.
Then shall appear the new heavens and the new earth. The new Jerusalem,
the home of Christ and His saints, will come down to earth as the capital of
the new earth. The saved among the Jews and the Gentiles who came
though the Millennium will come into the new earth as Jews and Gentiles;
so it seems that the new earth will be peopled by the New Testament saints
as one group, the redeemed nation of Israel as another group, and the
redeemed Gentile nations as another.