David Sliker – Three Key Timing Indicators – Israel – Part 1

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Three Timing Indicators of the Return of Christ, Part 1 – Israel (Matt. 23:37-39)

Our results for this study will rely heavily upon our previous discussion of the major interpretive considerations in the Olivet Discourse.  The PDF version of this can be located here.

  1. REVIEW: UNDERSTANDING THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES – 32 Learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near–at the doors! 34 Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words (prophecies) will by no means pass away. (Matthew 24:32–35)
    1. There are many prophesied signs in Scripture that mark the final generation as unique [This stems from a wrong assessment of the word ‘genea’ in Matthew 24:34.  ‘This generation’ must refer to the then living generation, as it refers to the then visible buildings.  As such, the idea that the signs mark the ‘final generation’ is incorrect.]. These signs give us the understanding that we are in a unique season in redemptive history. Yet many make wrong assumptions regarding Matthew 24:36 and 44:
      1. Wrong assumption #1: “No one can know the day or the hour”, which would falsely imply a sudden, unexpected departure. No one can know the day or the hour, but Jesus Himself made clear that we could (and should) know the season, or the generation, of His return.  Verse 36 does, indeed, indicate the Second Coming, not the 70 AD events of the destruction of Jerusalem.  However, the preceeding signs, up through v22, point to the events leading up to the destruction of Jerusalem.  We can be somewhat aware that some similar events are quite likely to preceed His second coming, since God certainly indicated that the signs leading up to 70 AD would be like telling the weather, but the specific verses of the chapter do not apply in an literal sense to the preceeding of the coming of the Son of Man, in that they were completely and literally fulfilled regarding the 70 AD time frame.
      2. Wrong assumption #2: “No one will ever know the day or the hour.” It is true that “of that day” no one knows, only the Father Himself. That does not mean, however, that we will never know the time of His coming.
      3. The Bible gives precise information to believers (number of days, months, and years pertaining to certain events in the last days) that will give us great hope in the midst of great trial. We may still not know the exact day or hour, but we will have great hope alive within us that there is a predetermined end to the trial that will soon come.  Again, false.  Most of this comes from a wrong understanding of Daniel’s prophecies, in conjunction with a mis-translation of ‘eutheos’ in Matthew 24:29.
    2. The subject of the signs of the times is greatly neglected by many within the Body of Christ. [While we agree that the signs of the times should be heeded, we don’t see that it is overly neglected.  What is neglected, in our opinion, is the teaching of what to do about it.  Too many in churches see the growing conflict, or are caught up in it, and yet lack the sufficient prayer and faith required to effect real spiritual action] Yet many Scriptures emphasize how important prophetic signs are at the end of the age. Scripture shows that Jesus, more than any of the apostles, instructed on our need to discern the times. Jesus gave severe rebukes to those who did not pay attention to the prophetic signs that pointed to His first coming. [Agreed, however, the instruction and preparation for those of that day is different than ours today.  As it is written, When the Son of man comes, will He find Faith in the Earth?] The following verses are examples of the mandate to Jesus to pay attention to signs of His return: Matthew 16:1-4 and 24:32-44, Luke 19:41-44, and Luke 21:34-36.
    3. There are three types of biblical “indicators” that indicate to the generation in which the Lord returns that His coming is near:
      1. Sign events: these are predicted in Scripture and alert us to the timing of Jesus’ return.
      2. Sign trends: both positive and negative sign trends will signal His coming
      3. Prophetic experiences: subjective personal experiences alert us to the end times.
  2. JESUS CONNECTED THREE EVENTS TO HIS RETURN
    1. There are three key sign trends that strongly indicate that we are in the generation of the Lord’s return. Jesus personally connected the timing of His return to the earth to three events that are all emerging simultaneously in this hour of history:
      1. Jesus connected the timing of His return to the repentance and revival of Jewish political and spiritual leaders in Jerusalem in Matthew 23:37-39.  False.  The revival will come, but the Great Tribulation is already past, and the Jews get saved at the end of Ezekiel 39.  The Second Coming comes at an unknown interval after this, as we see it, in Revelation 20:11-15.
      2. Jesus connected the timing of His return to the preaching of the gospel throughout the whole earth in Matthew 24:14.  Incorrect.  Paul says in Colossians 1:23 that this already took places.  However literal or figurative you want to take Matthew 24:14 is the same level you can take the other.
      3. Jesus connected the timing of His return to night and day prayer happening on the earth in Luke 18:7-8.  We disagree with the application of these verses.  The issue here is ‘faith’, a faith that contends.  Jesus asked the question of whether people would believe in His words, His Kingdom, and in what He lived, when He returned to the Earth.  Would the Gospel message of Faith and the Kingdom still be alive on the planet when He came?  The only suitable answer to this is, of course, ‘He will if I’m still here’, but the difficulty remains firmly fixed in that much of the church today, still, does not believe in the delivering and miracle working power of the Holy Ghost, nor the Kingdom of God.  They have a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof, or, like many, literally or effectively deny the present reality of the Kingdom, the invisible domain of God, which has always existed since the world began.  It is this everlasting Kingdom, Psalm 145:13, that is the subject of faith.  Everything else done in the church world is worthless (Hebrews 6:1, ‘dead works’).  Jesus asked a question, and did not make an assertion in v8.  v7 is not prophecy either, but v8, specifically, asks a question.  May He indeed find it, but the question remains to the church:  How long will you remain in your idolatry, non-repentance, and lukewarmness.   You have gone around the mountain long enough, denied the reality and existence of the Kingdom of God, and it’s high time to make a decision, and stop wavering between two opinions.  Either make the way to the Kingdom, or get out of the way and stop blocking the way of those who are trying to enter.  The Kingdom is here, and has been since Jesus came as it’s door.  All claims to the contrary are blasphemous, denials of the full text of the scripture, and uninformed.  If it was the Kingdom which came upon those who witnessed deliverances, to say the Kingdom is not here is to say there is legitimate Christian deliverance today.  To say that it was somehow ‘here and not yet’ is a denial of John the Baptist, who said Jesus Christ had the Spirit without measure.  The Kingdom is like a little bit of leaven (Matthew 13:33), because just as sin through evil spirits could spread through an entire congregation, so too now, through the speaking of faith and the power of the Holy Spirit within the people, God’s righteousness could spread in the same way.  This is the Kingdom, and Jesus made it’s distinction clear in Luke 13:18.  All other attempts to explain this away as something else are simply in denial of the very thing Jesus came to bring, and the thing which was preached by all the church, the “Gospel of the Kingdom” (See Matthew 24:14; Acts 8:12; 28:31).  Very simply put, The Kingdom is and always will be spiritual, even as Jesus’ priesthood is spiritual, and hence better, according to the author of Hebrews.  Hebrews 10:11-12 demonstrates that Jesus is upon the throne of the Father now, and that He cannot leave there, including going to another throne, until every enemy is put under his feet.  1 Corinthians 15 says that the last enemy to be defeated is death, after which, Christ will give the Kingdom back to the Father.  This is the truth of the scripture, and this is the question:  When the Son of Man returns, will He find faith on the Earth?
    2. All three trends are, in a clear, measurable way, happening in this generation in a manner that is unique to any other time in redemptive history. Messianic (Jewish) congregations of believers in Israel and Jerusalem are experiencing more growth through conversions than any time in church history since the 1st century. There has been a notable statistical increase in particular over the past ten years. This trend is one that has also been reflected in the modern missions world: a notable spike in the increase of church planting and world evangelism over the past decade alone.  It is agreed that the signs do yet point to a coming return, indeed.  How they fit into the prophetic history is yet to be seen.
    3. Evangelical missions organizations are now conservatively projecting that the gospel will have been heard by every people group and language on the earth for the first time in church history in the time frame of 2025 to 2032.
    4. The recent increase of night and day prayer across the earth is unique in any generation throughout church history – this is a historic hour for prayer initiatives (24/7 and otherwise), prayer gatherings, stadium gatherings, and the planting of houses of prayer worldwide.  A better pattern could, perhaps, be the tabernacle.  Martin Luther restored justification by faith, or the cross, which is the brazen altar.  The Holiness movement brought the washing of the water with the Word, leading up to the early 1900’s.  In 1906, a restoration of Pentecost began, bringing the lampstand and the the oil of the Holy Spirit.  As well, the teaching and the body of Christ was built up in the 1970’s, or the table of shewbread.  Since September 19, 1999, there has been 24/7 prayer and worship in Kansas City, MO, and a prayer movement is indeed rising up all over the globe.  This points to the altar of incense.  Yet, as glorious as that is, we look forward to the greatest restoration to come, which, of course, is already here and already has its followers and its ‘tares’.  This final movement, the movement which will bring in the harvest, is the final piece of furniture, the ark of the covenant, or the glory.  The highway of holiness will be raised up, the other pieces of the furniture must all be in place, and the place of the mercy seat.  The final revival to bring in a billion souls must be in the power of the glory of God.  And, even as it was pioneered by people such as Ruth Ward Heflin, and perverted and used for profit by unscrupulous soundrels today, it must be in the power of the glory of God that this last days revival is brought in.  This is the place of the 24/7 prayer movement, and it is indeed a ‘forerunner’ to the thing that God is bringing.  Yet, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith in the Earth?  When the true glory comes forth, will the people in the prayer room leave their programs and schedules?  Or will they, like the congregation, only stand at the door of their tents, and watch Moses go into the tent of meeting himself?  Will they have the faith to join the new?
  3. JESUS’ PROPHECY TO JERUSALEM’S LEADERSHIP (MATT. 23:39) – 37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! 38 See! Your house is left to you desolate; 39 for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ ” (Matt. 23:37-39)
    1. In this passage, Jesus has just initiated the most intense confrontation yet with the obstinate leadership of the scribes and the Pharisees of Jerusalem. Some of the leaders that Jesus rebuked directly in Matthew 23:1-36 were part of the overall spiritual leadership of the nation of Israel known as the Sanhedrin.
    2. The Sanhedrin functioned as a type of ancient “Knesset” (the current legislative branch of Israeli government) or governmental assembly of Jewish leadership. The scribes and the Pharisees that Jesus chastised sat on a 71-member council of leaders that governed the affairs of the nation (under the authority of Rome and Pilate, its representative) that would, a few days later, gather to put Him to death (Matt. 24:59).
    3. Jesus, in Matt. 23:29-36, moves beyond rebuking the leadership of Jerusalem for their hypocrisy to condemning them for their murderous rejection of the prophets – the “woes” that He has been proclaiming over them because of their behavior have culminated in the recognition of what they are about to do: what their fathers have always done.
      1. They had imagined that, if they had lived in the times of Isaiah and Jeremiah, they would have acted differently than their fathers – yet they were on the precipice of a murder far more heinous and wicked. They are truly the sons of those who murdered the prophets of old, from Abel to Zechariah. Jesus proclaims to them, “Go on then, finish what you started!” (Matt. 23:32; cf. 1 Thess. 2:16) They had personally come to the full measure of the wickedness they were looking for as a sign of the coming of the Messiah! [Blomberg, Craig L.; The New American Commentary: Matthew; Broadman Press; Nashville, TN, 1992] (cf. Daniel 8:23)
    4. Yet, at the climax of this passage, the tone of Jesus’ proclamation dramatically shifts. He moves from rebuke and condemnation to a public lament at the fate of Jerusalem and, particularly, its leadership. He longed for things to go differently with Him – that they would not reject and murder Him as they had done so many times in their past. They did not want Him as their Messiah. They had made their choice – therefore they would be left as “desolate”, or without leadership, protection, and the presence of God. Jesus proclaims over them the prophecy of Hosea:
      15 I will return again to My place till they acknowledge their offense. Then they will seek My face; in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.” (Hosea 5:15)
    5. Jesus prophecies over them, declaring that their desolation (the withdrawal of Himself) would end on the day that they proclaim, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord”. There would be a coming day in which the leadership would openly proclaim Psalm 118:25-26:
      25 Save now, I pray, O LORD; O LORD, I pray, send now prosperity. 26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! We have blessed you from the house of the LORD. (Ps. 118:25-26)
    6. This proclamation represents a genuine welcoming of the Messiah of Israel, or the one sent by God to save the people of Israel from oppression. The peoples of Jerusalem and Israel had proclaimed this phrase corporately just a few days earlier (Matt. 21:9); yet Jesus prophesied of a coming day in which the leadership of Israel would receive Him in the same manner, with full understanding of their offence as well as full recognition of Jesus of Nazareth as the Holy One ofIsrael. They said it, Jesus indicated, but “you” will say it, He prophesied.
  4. THE RETURN OF ISRAEL TO THE WORLD SCENE
    1. One of the most significant prophetic signs for the Church is the re-emergence of Israel as a political state. The return of Israel as a nation in 1948 after her total destruction at the hands of Rome in 135 AD is unprecedented in history. It is one of the most significant and important events in our generation. This shocking event on May 15th, 1948, was followed by the Six-Day War and the recapturing of Jerusalem in June of 1967. This marked the beginning of a chain of events that set the stage for the fulfillment of hundreds of prophetic scriptures for the first time in 1,800 years. These scriptures spoke of the current political, religious, and social context of Israel:
    2. Prophetic scriptures spoke of a future time of worldwide hostility towards Israel and Jerusalem, specifically: a coming day in which the nations would gather to again attempt to fully destroy that city (cf. Zech. 12:2-3). Therefore, it is  important to watch the trend of anti-Semitism that is sweeping the globe and increasing in intensity and frequency – particularly in Europe. [“Report: Anti-Semitism on the Rise Globally”, CNN News Website, March 14th, 2008.]
    3. Anti-Semitism increase significantly in the days to come. Revelation shows Satan attempting to exterminate the Jewish people so that a believing remnant cannot invite Jesus to rule Israel as her Messiah. (Rev. 12:13-17). An angel revealed Israel’s great trouble in the End-Times to Daniel (Dan. 12:1-10). Israel’s condition just before Jesus’ Coming includes being in prison camps and assaulted by foreign armies (Isa. 11:11-16; 27:12-13; 42:6-24; 49:5-25; 61:1-2; Jer. 30:3-24; 31:1-23; Ezek. 20:33–44; 39:25-29; Hos. 11:10-11; Amos 9:8-15; Joel 3:1-2; Zeph. 3:19-20; Zech 9:10-14).  While we agree with most of the conclusions, we differ on the exegesis.  The time of great trouble is seen as past.  Yet, notwithstanding, there has and will be other trials.
    4. Islamic terrorism was prophesied by Jesus. The initial fulfillment of this prophecy occurred in the first century at the hands of fellow Jews like Saul of Tarsus (Acts 9), then again by the crusaders through the Middle Ages. The most dramatic fulfillment of this prophecy will be in the End-Times by Islamic terrorists which will greatly increase (Ezek. 35:1-36:7). [“The World Factbook”, Central Intelligence Agency Website.]
      2 The time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. (Jn. 16:2)  Using this verse in reference to Islam is a bit blasphemous, in our opinion.  They serve their demon, not God, as is evident in their murder and rebellion.
    5. For Israel to speak the Hebrew language after being out of their homeland for 2,000 years is an unprecedented occurrence in history. Yet, today in Israel the Hebrew language is being spoken again as the official language.3 Some interpret Zephaniah 3 as speaking of this:
      9 For then I will restore to the peoples a pure language, that they all may call on the name of the LORD, to serve Him with one accord. (Zeph. 3:9)
    6. Jesus warned of difficult times for Jerusalem in the future regarding an unprecedented time of trouble and hardship for the people there that would take place so swiftly, residents would barely have time to escape (Matt. 24:15-20). He specifically commanded that believers, when the trouble unfolds, would pray that this terrible event would not happen during the winter or on the Sabbath:  Historical in 66 AD.
      20 And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. (Matt. 24:20) 

      1. In our time, for the first time in thousands of years, Israel has established the Saturday Sabbath as an official day of rest. [“Jewish Festivals and Days of Remembrance in Israel”. Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs Website.] Today, in Israel, the day is so strictly observed by Orthodox Jews that all activity shuts down there (including the use of certain elevators!). As observed by one visitor recently:
      2. “Keeping the Israeli Sabbath is hard work, even if you aren’t a tourist, particularly if you’re unmoved by its pleasures. Hence the dislike of many secular Israelis for Saturday —the streets cleared of buses, the shuttered grocery stores, the understaffed hospitals—as well as for the black-hatted men in ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods who stone Sabbathbreakers and who have in Israel’s half-century of existence twice brought down governments for violating Sabbath laws.”[Judith Shulevitz, Slate Magazine, “The View From Saturday: Secular Israelis Try to Rescue the Sabbath”. July 29th, 2005.]
  5. THE COMING REVIVAL AMONGST JEWISH LEADERSHIP
    1. More noteworthy than the re-emergence, politically, of Israel and Jerusalem on the world scene is the presence of a remnant of Jewish believers in that nation, as Paul noted in the book of Romans (Romans 9:27, 11:5). It is noteworthy that Messianic (Jewish) congregations of believers in Israel are experiencing more growth through conversions than any time in church history since the 1st century:
      1. In a survey of Messianic Believers in Israel conducted in 1999, the number of congregations had increased from 2 (in 1970) to 81; the number of Jewish believers had, from 1970-1999, increased from under 200 believers to 2200 believers. [Survey conducted by Kai Kjær-Hansen and Bodil F. Skjøtt. Jerusalem: United Christian Council in Israel in cooperation with the Caspari Center for Biblical and Jewish Studies, 1999.]
      2. It is currently estimated by some (including the Messianic Jewish Alliance of Israel) that there are presently up to 120 Messianic congregations in the land of Israel comprising between 10-15,000 individuals. In other words, the number of congregations has increased by 50%. The number of believers in Israel has increased by nearly 700% in ten years.
    2. We live in a time of unprecedented salvation regarding the Jewish remnant of believers – which Paul attributed to the proof that God was not finished with them as a people (Rom. 11:5). The move of the Holy Spirit in our generation to lead many within Israel to faith in Jesus Christ is something that the earth has not seen since the first century! Equally as amazing is the prophetic promise of the Lord to establish night and day prayer in Jerusalem until it experiences full revival and transformation, as proclaimed by Isaiah:  We believe God is restoring Israel, although this is not the sign of the end, but we expect it at the end of Ezekiel 39.
      6 I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they shall never hold their peace day or night. You who make mention of the LORD, do not keep silent, 7 And give Him no rest till He establishes and till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth. (Isa. 62:6-7)
    3. What is stunning is that Jesus prophesied specifically about the Jewish political and spiritual leadership openly celebrating Him as the Messiah! The prophet Zechariah spoke of this as well, related to all of the inhabitants of Jerusalem:
      10 “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. (Zech. 12:10)
    4. Yet, a few verses earlier, Zechariah spoke of the political leaders of Judah being used mightily by God during that same time frame: 5 And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, “The inhabitants of Jerusalem are my strength in the LORD of hosts, their God.’ 6 In that day I will make the governors of Judah like a firepan in the woodpile, and like a fiery torch in the sheaves; they shall devour all the surrounding peoples on the right hand and on the left, but Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place—Jerusalem. (Zech. 12:5-6)
      1. In this passage, the political leadership of Jerusalem moves in unusual anointing from the Holy Spirit to resist the hopeless siege of Jerusalem taking place at that time. Just before the national revival of Zech. 12:10, the leadership of Israel turn to their God just before receiving Jesus at His coming (Matt. 23:39).
    5. The current move of the Spirit in Israel is the beginning of the beginning of the last phases of God’s plan to fully save and deliver Israel from great trouble in the days to come. The first phase of the prophecy of Jesus in Matthew 23 came to pass in the generation of His first coming: desolation. The word that Jesus used in that passage for desolation is an adjective derived form the word meaning “wilderness”. Israel lost everything after the first coming of Jesus and was scattered by Rome to the “wilderness” of the nations for 1800 years.
    6. Yet we live in the days of the second phase of the prophecy: restoration. On the day that the Jewish leadership welcomes their Messiah with great joy, the “times of the restoration of all things” will be at hand (Acts 3:21). There has never been a time in history where we have been closer to this moment than today, as Israel has returned, Jerusalem is under Jewish political and spiritual leadership, Jews are turning to Christ in historic numbers in the land, and groups of these believers are gathering to pray night and day for the revival of Jerusalem for the first time in 1800 years.
    7. Jesus, in Matthew 23:39, knit the culmination of these events to His return to the planet. While we do not know the exact time frame in which the peoples and the leaders will cry out for their Messiah, there has never been a more significant and exciting time in history for the fulfillment of prophecy and the culmination of our “blessed hope”, the glorious appearing of our great God and savior Jesus Christ.