The
Seeing Generation: The Second Coming
Made Plain, Part 1
A series of messages suggesting that the Bible charts the
immediate future for the little flock
Matthew 24: 36-39,42-44. “But of that day and hour no one knows, not
even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. 37. As
were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of man. 38.
For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying
and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39. and they did not know until the flood came
and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of man. 42.
Watch therefore, for you do not know on what day your Master is coming. 43.
But know this, that if the householder had known in what part of the
night the thief was coming, he would have watched and would not have let his
house be broken into. 44. Therefore you also must be ready; for the Son
of man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
Luke 21:23b-24,31-33. “For
great distress shall be upon the land and wrath upon this people; 24. they
will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led captive among all nations; and
I read an op-ed
article in a Canadian publication this week. The writer was having a hard time getting a
handgun permit. He was thwarted time
after time by various interpretations of the law explained by numerous people
over the phone. Finally he got down to
the real problem. The expert at the
Canadian Firearms Centre told him his handgun permit was denied because the
registration expired after the gun owner died.
The writer insisted, “But I am the gun owner. Just when did I die?” In a very matter-of-fact tone, the expert
replied, “Well, you died in May of 2007.”
The writer went on to ask, “You’re based in
Of course, the title of the article is
“Where Were You Next Thursday.”
Getting simple answers to Bible prophecy
questions is similar to the ordeal this writer endured in learning his gun
rights. Interpretations aren’t far off,
but the timing is. In this series of
messages, we’ll point out some common sense signs pinpointing our time
in salvation history. And in this
particular message, we’ll learn when and how the Messiah will return to redeem
creation.
Previously, The Signs Were Missing
Believers of all ages since the first
have understood their generation to be the last before the return
of Yahweh to rule over a united earth.
Consider the words of
1 John 2:18. Children, it is the last hour; and as
you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come;
therefore we know that it is the last hour.
We wonder: if John’s time back then was the
last hour, what’s our time? Actually,
it’s been the last hour all this time, through countless generations,
even unto today. And every generation
has had its signs of the times. It
hasn’t been until this generation that the primary signs of the
last hour could even be possible, but now they’ve come to pass as a thief in
the night. Believers intent upon
being among the little flock of Messiah’s elect are just beginning to
wake up to the fact that “the thief in the night” may really be “at the
gate” right now.[1]
To see the signs of the last hour doesn’t
require great Bible scholarship, only the willingness to break free of the
world’s attachments for a moment and open up instead to the obvious signs,
which abound around us. For this next
few minutes, reflect on just a couple of the many convincing signs of
Messiah’s presence.
What is the Millennium?
Consider first the prophetic significance of
creation. We know that for six
days, Elohim gave birth to the world from nothingness, and on the seventh day
he rested. That’s why we remember the
seventh day,
Exodus 20:11. For in six days Elohim created heaven and
earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: therefore
Elohim blessed the Sabbath day, and made it holy.
Think of the seven days of
creation as a long-range prophecy, with the admonition of St. Peter in mind; he
wrote, “you must never forget: that with Yahweh, a day is as a thousand years,
and a thousand years as a day” (2 Peter 3:8). Seven days of creation represent seven
thousand years of salvation history, from the beginning of the
creation, through the gauntlet we call time, unto today. The Holy Spirit has recorded the seven
thousand-year history of salvation in the Bible. The Bible tells us nothing of what happened
before the first prophetic day and very little of what will happen after the
seventh.
It does tell us that the last
thousand-year day of salvation history is a Millennium of peace
and justice. In fact, we call the
seventh prophetic day The Millennium.
The Millennium is recorded primarily in
Revelation 20:4. Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were
those to whom judgment was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had
been beheaded for their testimony to Yahshua and for the word of Yahweh, and
who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on
their foreheads or their hands. They came to life, and reigned with
Messiah a thousand years (cilia eth).
In that last thousand-year
span of the seven thousand years of salvation history, in The Millennium,
the Bible tells us that
- the Messiah will be ruling and reigning over
the land,
- his elect of all ages will be reigning with
him,
- the devil, demons, death, Hades and all evil
will be imprisoned,
- the dead of all ages will be resurrected in
the course of those ten centuries,
- a judgment of all who ever lived will continue
throughout,
- and all creation will cease it’s
groaning and ultimately be born anew.
By the end of this thousand-year time span,
the Messiah will present a perfected world to his Father Yahweh, and he’ll
reign forever over all who remain.
When is the Millennium?
I mentioned that The Millennium is the
seventh thousand-year “day,” but when will it begin? ¿When are the Messiah and his Millennium of
peace, resurrection and justice to arrive?
If you don’t know already, you’ll be surprised at how easy it is to find
out WHEN.
The Jews have almost always kept meticulous
track of time. If you check The Jerusalem Post today, you’ll find the
date to be the 15th of Kislev (November 28) of the year 5765 (2005). The year
5765 means five thousand, seven hundred sixty-five years from Adam. That’s five prophetic days of a thousand
years each, plus 765 more years.
I said the Jews kept track meticulously almost
always. They made one big boo-boo.
In the three thousandth, eight hundredth and
ninety-fifth year from Adam (our year 135 AD), the Jewish rulers decided that their military general was the
Messiah[2],
for he had good success in fighting the Romans. But their
Messiah didn’t fit the timetable of Daniel’s prophecy, so the Jewish rulers set
their calendar back 240 years to conform their new Messiah’s advent to
the prophecies of Daniel.[3]
When their Messiah failed, they stubbornly
refused to set the calendar back to its correct date. And now, in our year 5765 from Adam, the
Jewish calendar is still 240 years short.
When we correct it by adding back the 240 years to the 5765 in today’s Jerusalem
Post, we learn that we’re actually living in the 6005th year
from Adam[4];
that is, six prophetic days of a thousand years each, plus
five more years, give or take, from Adam.
This reckoning has us living at the start of
the seventh prophetic day – the seventh thousand-year time period. As we mentioned before, the Bible tells us
that the seventh prophetic day is the Millennium – the
period in which Messiah takes the reigns of government and begins the
judgment.
Do you understand that the calendar shows
the Millennium to be JUST ABOUT RIGHT NOW? All things take time to grow.
The Christian Calendar Concurs
The Christian calendar also bears this
out. On the Christian Calendar, 2005
begins today (November 28, 2004) in
the Hebraic year 6005. We understand
that our Messiah Yahshua first came as a babe at the end of the 4th
prophetic day – after 4000 years had passed from Adam. Over two prophetic days, two thousand years,
have since passed.
One great significance is in recalling what
Elohim created on the fourth day – the sun, moon, stars and light (Genesis
1:14-19). From these, the calendar was
formulated. On the fifth day, he created
[zoological] life.
The Beloved Disciple knew the significance
of Messiah being born at the end of the fourth prophetic day – the day of
light, and at the beginning of the fifth prophetic day – the day of life. The Beloved wrote: In him was life; and
the life was the light of men. And the
light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. (John
1:4,5 KJV) Get it? The
wise of all generations proclaim with the first wise men, “We have seen his
star in the East, and have come to worship him” (Matthew
2:2 RSV).
When Messiah left the world a generation later, he
promised to return. The Beloved Disciple
also tells us WHEN: At the seventh trumpet, sometime around the end of the 6000th
year (Revelation 11:15). That would be JUST ABOUT RIGHT NOW. Pretty simple, huh? And for some, pretty scary.
Since the prophets and the calendar agree that
Messiah’s time is at hand, let’s learn how he’s to appear.
Like a Thief
Let me remind you of your Savior’s words,
Matthew 24:42-44. Watch,
for you do not know on what day your Master is coming. If the householder had known when in the
night the thief was coming, he would have watched. Therefore you also must be ready; for the Son
of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
Nobody knows the exact
day, but we’ve learned that we’re really close. He commands the little flock to WATCH. Pay attention! There’s something secret about his
return if he insists you WATCH for him, then tells you he’s coming “like a
thief in the night.” Messiah reiterates
this warning of a secret return in
Revelation
16:15 I shall come like a thief.
Blessed is anyone who has kept WATCH, and has clothes on, so that he
does not go out naked and expose his shame (NJB).
And doesn’t Peter, Paul and John record the
same simile – he’s coming as a thief in the night – on the seventh
prophetic day – the day of the seventh trumpet (1 Thessalonians 5:2,4; 2
Peter 3:10; Revelation 3:3, 16:15)? Listen to the warning of St. Paul:
1 Thessalonians 5:1-6 excerpts:
1. About times and dates, there is no need to write to you 2. for the Day of
Yahweh is going to come like a thief in the night. 3. It is when people
are saying, “How quiet and peaceful it is” that sudden destruction falls on
them ... 4. But you do not live in the dark, that the Day should take you
unawares like a thief. 5. No, you are all children of light and children
of the day: 6. so we should not go on sleeping, as everyone else does.
Notice St. Paul’s theme –
“the day of Yahweh.” He comes secretly, as a thief in the night
– afterwards, sudden destruction falls – that means judgment. But since we’re children of light (and
since Yahshua is the light and life),
he says, we shall not be found sleeping as the others. We’ll be WATCHING.
Prior to the public appearance of the
Messiah, he comes in secret to prepare the world for his reign. A few will recognize his presence and help
him out – but only a for only a few will be awake and watching for the
thief. The rest will say, “How quiet it
is!” Or they’ll listen to my tape and
say, “We’re not to know the dates or times...” Or they’ll say, “We needn’t be concerned
because we’ll learn everything in the rapture...” Or they’ll say, “We don’t know nothin’
‘bout that.” Or they’ll say, “If
G-D wanted us to know that, he’d tell us.”
Or they’ll say, “But John Hagee says so and so...” Then they’ll go back to sleep and dream
they’re shopping naked at the Piggly Wiggly.
And their Jesus will say, Blessed are you who watch and
have your clothes on, so that you don’t go out naked and expose your
shame. Amen.
When Yahshua ascended to heaven, his
white-robed messengers promised he’d return the same way – i.e.
in secret – and only to a small number of disciples.
Acts 1:10. [The disciples] were
still staring into the sky as [Yahshua] went, when suddenly two men in white
were standing beside them, 11. and they said, “Why are you Galileans
standing here looking into the sky? This
[Yahshua] who has been taken up from you into heaven will come back in the
same way as you have seen him go.”
When the messengers said “the same way” they
meant the same way: that Messiah’s return would be secret witnessed by
few, and would remain secret until those few made the news public. Only then will “the Son of man be as the
lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, and shineth unto
the other part under heaven in his day.” (Luke 17:24). In the
meantime, he’s preparing his little flock to reign with him in
his earthly Kingdom that’s coming from the sky like lightning JUST ABOUT RIGHT
NOW. But “Fear not, little flock,”
says Yahshua, “for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you
the kingdom” (Luke 12:32).
That answers not only the question of how
Yahshua is to return, but to whom.
Not to the world at first, but to those disciples who’re awake and
eagerly preparing.
The Sign is Jerusalem
(Turn to Luke 21:23.) So “that
every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses” (Matthew
18:16), I’ll share one more sign from
the Messiah’s own words.
Luke 21:23. “For great distress shall be upon the land
(thV ghV) and wrath upon this people (law);
24. they will fall by the sword and be
led captive among all nations.”
He’s speaking of the
land of Judea as being in distress.
That was old news in Yahshua’s day.
The throngs of Israel had been dispersed in every generation since Joseph
of Egypt. But now, Yahshua predicts the
end of this dispersion in
Luke 21:24b
“Jerusalem will be trodden down by the Gentiles, until the times of the
Gentiles are completed.”
Yahshua says that the great sign he calls
“the end of the times of the Gentiles” will have come when Gentiles no longer
control (i.e. tread down) Jerusalem. Gentiles have
occupied Jerusalem since ancient times. Even after Israel became a nation by U.
N. decree in 1948, the city of Jerusalem was still split down the middle
between Israel and the Kingdom of Jordan.
But finally, on June 28th, 1967,
as a result of the Six Day War, the entirety of Jerusalem was surrendered and annexed
by Israel – this happened at the end of the sixth day of the
week – at the very end of the sixth prophetic day, in the Hebraic
year 5967 – or 1967 in our understanding.
Our lifetime is the only time since Yahshua was on earth that
Israelis have controlled Jerusalem. So
here may be a firm date upon which to anchor the future of
humankind. Remember JUNE 28, 1967!
Remember again that the disciples originally
asked Yahshua,
Luke 21:7. “Master, when will
this happen, then, and what sign will there be that it is about to take
place?”
Yahshua shows them and
us that the sign is the liberation of the city of Jerusalem in
1967.
When Again?
When Jerusalem is no longer
trodden by Gentiles, there’s to be another great sign.[5] If you’re still looking at
Luke 21: 32. “In truth I tell
you, before this generation has passed all will have taken place.”
A similar prophecy is in
Matthew 24:33b,34 “When you
see all these things, you know that [MESSIAH] is near, at the very
gates. Truly, I say to you, this
generation will not pass away till all these things take place.”
The generation he’s speaking of, the one that
will live to see it all, is the one living in 1967. I call it the seeing generation. We’ve lived to see the Sign of the Son of
Man: the liberation of the Holy City, that which we still pray for
all the time. We are the seeing
generation. Therefore, we know
Messiah’s at the very gates. And
if we place ourselves in his little house, we’ll be ready to catch the thief in
the night.
Is the Generation a
Span of Time?
“Before this generation has passed all will
have taken place.” Generally, a
generation means a life span – from birth to death. Some understand a prophetic generation as
seventy years – and that’s a possibility (Psalms 90:10). But maybe,
just as a prophetic day may be a thousand years, a prophetic generation may be forty years. Look:
- The generation of Israel wandered in the
desert forty years.
- David ruled forty years, a prophetic
generation.
- There are many more examples.
- Forty (arbaiym, tessarakonta
or tessarakontaetes)
is a special prophetic time in Scripture mentioned 144 times (12
x 12).
- Therefore, forty years is probably the
biblical, prophetic generation.
Indeed, for the
thirty-seven and a half years since the SIGN of JERUSALEM, we’ve been
sojourning in the wilderness of ignorance.
But now we see clearly. Do we
not?
- If six thousand years of time has passed since Adam;
- if we’re living at the beginning of the seventh millennium;
- if “the time of the Gentiles” was completed in 1967;
- if a biblical generation amounts to 40 years;
- if Yahshua comes secretly as a thief while the world sleeps;
- then we are the seeing generation;
- then we must stay awake for him,
- then Yahshua may be at the gate right now.
Matthew 24:33. “When you see all
these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates.”
For one prophetic generation beyond 1967 ends
in 2007 – that’s just two years away!
I said, TWO YEARS AWAY. Just
suppose 2007 is the year Messiah steals back as a thief in the night. Are you ready for him? Are you secure in him? Are you justified before him? Are you in the little flock? The inner circle? Are you watching and waiting? Or do you still have loose ends to tie
up? He may be arriving JUST ABOUT RIGHT
NOW, you know; will you catch him and live?[6]