Lesson #8
Signs of the coming of Jesus

Reading: Luke 21
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Jesus will come back to thisearth.

The Bible tells us this very plainly, as we sawin the last lesson. His coming is part of God's plan for our world. He willbe 'King of Kings', ruling the world from his throne in Jerusalem. Thiswas the promise of God to the Jews in Old Testament times, and it is themessage of the New Testament. The early followers of the Lord Jesus lookedforward to the day when ...
"... the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;and he shall send Jesus Christ ... " (Acts 3:19,20)

The coming of Jesus will be the most tremendous thing that has ever happened.It will change the lives of all who live on earth. So we are bound to ask,"When will this happen?".

We do not know the exact date. Jesus himself said: "Of that day andhour knoweth no man, no, not the angels in heaven, but my Father only"(Matthew 24:36). But God has given us very clear signs in His word. Jesustells us some of these in this same chapter, Matthew 24. He says:
"When ye shall see all these things, know that it (that is, the comingof Jesus and the Kingdom of God) is near, even at the doors."

A man going on a journey knows when he sees certain landmarks and signpoststhat he is getting near his journey's end. In the same way, the signs wesee in the world show us that we are getting very near the time of the returnof Christ.

When the disciples asked Jesus, ''What shall be the sign of thy coming,and of the end of the world ?" (Matthew 24: 3) he gave them certainsigns. He told them that Jerusalem would be destroyed (this happened about40 years later, in A.D.70), and the Jews would be scattered. He went onto speak of his return. He gave them 'landmarks' to watch for, and we shouldbe watching too.

What signs are there thattoday
we are living in the last days?

(1) SIGNS CONCERNING THE JEWS

The Bible says that in the last days -
(a) the Jews will return to the land of Israel;
(b) Israel will become a nation again;
(c) Jerusalem will be freed from its enemies.

(a) The Jews were scattered throughout the world in A.D. 70. Fromthat time, for nearly 2000 years, they have had no country of their own.But in our day we have seen them going back to the land of Israel and sofulfilling Bible prophecy.

"For, lo, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will bring again thecaptivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith me Lord: arid I will causethem to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shallpossess it" (Jeremiah 30:3).

(b) In May 1948, in spite of bitter opposition from the Arabs, and againstall odds, the State of Israel was set up, and Israel took its place amongthe nations of the world. God had said long ago through the prophet Ezekielthat this would happen.

''Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whitherthey be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into theirown land: and I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountainsof Israel" (Ezekiel 37:21,22).


(c) Jerusalem is now the capital city of the Jews. Read the wordsof Jesus in Luke 21:24, which tell of the scattering of the Jews. Noticethat Jesus says that Jerusalem will be trodden down of the Gentiles untilthe times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. See what an exciting verse thisis.

After almost nineteen hundred years, in May 1967, the Jews fought the six-daywar, and freed Jerusalem from its enemies. The city is no longer "troddendown of the Gentiles" but is in the hands of the Jews. What a signthat the coming of the Lord is near!

SIGNS IN THE WORLD WE LIVEIN

Everywhere in the world there are troubles, troubleswhich the rulers of the nations cannot solve.
There are:

- millions of people starving, while others have far more than they need.
- problems of pollution. Men are destroying the world they live in throughtheir greed and carelessness.
- problems with the growing world population. Growth is so fast that governmentscannot cope with the increase.
- wars throughout the world bringing suffering and death.

Jesus foresaw these problems. He said:

"There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon and in the stars;and upon the earth distress of nations with perplexity" (Luke 21:25).

The word 'perplexity' means 'with no way out' - and that is true of theproblems the world faces today. Men can find no way out. In the next verse,Jesus goes on to speak of
"men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those thingswhich are coming on the earth" (Luke 21:26).

In these days, men are afraid! They are afraid of nuclear war, and nuclearaccidents like the one at Chernobyl in Russia in 1986. They are afraid ofterrorism, hijacking, violent robbery, kidnapping, vandalism - and thereis no way out!

There seems to be no answer to all these problems; but see what Jesus saysin the very next verse:
"And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with powerand great glory" (Luke 21:27).

Surely we are getting very close to the time when the Lord will come.

Disbelief in God and HisWord

The apostle Paul wrote of the people of his day:"There is no fear of God before their eyes." How true this isof people today! Most people do not want to hear the truth written in God'sWord; they do not want to know about Jesus coming back to set up God's Kingdom.They prefer to go their own way, and listen to anyone who will tell them,not what is true, but what they want to hear. Paul said that such peoplehave "itching ears":

"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; butafter their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itchingears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turnedunto fables" (2 Timothy 4:3,4).

The apostle Peter also said that in the last days men would scorn God'sWord. He said they would be "scoffers", saying, "Where isthe promise of his coming?" {2 Peter 3:3-4). That is just what mensay today.

The breakdown of law andorder

In the days when Israel was ruled over by Judges,we are told that "... there was no king in Israel; but every man didthat which was right in his own eyes" (Judges 17:6). The result ofthis was murder, robbery, rape, and every kind of violence. It is like thistoday. Men disregard both God's laws and the laws of the nations; thereis no self-control.

Men are greedy (the Bible calls this "covetousness"). They donot care how much others suffer so long as they can get what they want -whether it be riches or power. Paul said it would be like this in the lastdays:

"This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. Formen shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous ... disobedient to parents,unthankful ... without natural affection ... Iovers of pleasures more thanlovers of God"
(2 Timothy 3:1-5).

A time of trouble such asnever was

That is how the prophet Daniel spoke of the dayswe live in. And how true it is! We hear a lot about the 'economy' thesedays - all nations depend for their prosperity on a stable economy.

In 1973 the Arabs attacked Israel, but failed to destroy it. After this,they put up the price of oil very steeply. Now many nations depend on MiddleEast oil and the action by the Arabs has created a very unstable economythroughout the world. Rich people get richer, and poor people get poorer.Every country suffers from the unrest this creates - there is unemploymentand unhappiness everywhere. There seems to be no way out of these difficulties.Today there is "a time of trouble such as never was" just as Danielsaid:

"There shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there wasa nation, even to that same time ... and many of them that sleep in thedust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shameand everlasting contempt" (Daniel 12:1,2).

The resurrection of the dead? When Jesus comes back, that is the first thinghe will do. The 'time of trouble we are living in shows how near we areto the Lord's return.

Israel and the nations

Israel is surrounded by enemies. The Arab nationsare determined to wipe out the Jewish nation and re-possess the land whichthey consider is theirs. There is continual strife and warfare on Israel'sborders.

The Arabs consider that they have a claim to the land, but God promisedthat land long ago to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and their descendants for aneverlasting possession. The bitter struggle goes on, and all nations willat last be drawn into this war. That is when Christ will return. The sceneis set: his return is near.

Talking of these times, the apostle Peter said to those who knew about them:

"What manner of people ought ye to be, in all holy conversation (thatis, way of life) and godliness (2 Peter 3:11)

That is a question we all have to answer for ourselves.

Summary

We do not know the exact date when the Lord Jesuswill come back from heaven to this earth, but there are many signs thathis coming is near. Here are some of them:

* The return of the Jews to their land;
* The establishment of the state of Israel in 1948;
* Jerusalem the capital of Israel since 1967;
* World problems;
* Men fearful of the future;
* Violence and increasing crime;
* A time of trouble, such as there has never been before;
* Israel's enemies waiting to strike at her.

Verses to read: Jeremiah 31:10; Ezekiel 5:5; Joel 3:1-2, 9-17

Learn by heart: Luke 12:40
"Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour whenye think not."

Quiz for Lesson #8