Discerning the Signs but Looking for the Lord
I do listen. As I get older, I forget more easily, but I do listen to people’s concerns. In the last several years, a number of devoted Christians have asked me some form of the following question: “Are we close to the return of Jesus Christ?” As with any Biblical teaching, we must be careful with this subject. In Matthew 24:36, Jesus said, “Of that day and hour knoweth no man.” Later, in Acts 1:7, He added, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons.” Paul wrote in I Thesssalonians 5:2 that “the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.” Thus, date-setting defies God’s Word and dishonors our Savior. However, in Matthew 16:3, Jesus pointedly asks, “Can ye not discern the signs of the time?” We do not know and cannot know the exact time of Jesus’ Second Coming and the resulting period of the Tribulation, but we are told to seriously study the signs found in Scripture. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
One very specific sign is the existence of Israel as a nation. Quoting from Isaiah 59:20-21, Paul in Romans 8:26-27 says, “And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, ‘There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. For this is My covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.’” For this promise to be fulfilled, the nation of Israel must exist. In A.D. 70, the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and ended Israel’s status as a nation within the Roman Empire. For nearly 1900 years, the nation ceased to subsist. I remember reading about the fine preacher W. A. Criswell, who throughout the 1920’s and 1930’s taught that Israel would one day return. He was not trying to be controversial; he merely read the Bible, saw God’s promises to Israel, and concluded that a faithful God would bring Israel back to the Promised Land. Some scoffed at Pastor Criswell; others told him that he was wasting time on an unprofitable tangent. However, he correctly believed that he should teach the entire counsel of God. In 1948, Israel regained some of its land and became a nation again. Remember, this remarkable event came right after Hitler’s Holocaust, in which the German National Socialists slaughtered at least 6 million Jews, one third of the world’s Jewish population. Could Israel disappear again and then be brought back once more? Yes, but there is no such indication in Scripture. The current standing of Israel is a sign for all to see. It is also a gracious reminder to us that God will keep each one of His promises. In troubled times, He does not change (Hebrews 13:8). We can trust Him.