THIS IS THE TIME OF THE END
The Time of the End Will Not Last Forever
The prophecy given to Daniel was to be fulfilled at the end of time. At the end of time people will be traveling back and forth on the earth and knowledge will increase on the earth. Since that is happening at this very moment, we know that we are now living in the end of time.
Therefore, since we are living in the time of the end, we know that the end time prophecies found in the scriptures are for today. Furthermore, we can now understand the end time prophecies as never before, since the end time prophecies were sealed up until the time of the end; that is, the understanding of these prophecies was kept a secret until now.
Amos 3:7-8 Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.,The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord GOD hath spoken, who can but prophesy?
The Lord God loves us and He wants us to know what He has planned to do before He does it; furthermore, the Lord reveals His plans to us in order to encourage us to live for Him. Prophecy is also given so that we might know and understand what God has planned before it happens; so that, when it does happen we will know that God was in control all the time, and that we might give glory to Him. Just as a person would respond to the roaring of a lion, the prophet could not help but prophesy. We must also respond by believing the prophecy, as we would respond to a roaring lion; we must not ignore prophecy.
Dan 9:24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
Dan 9:27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
Here we see that the prophecy given to Daniel concerning the seventy weeks and the last of the seventy weeks [the time of Jacob's trouble, the great tribulation] was for Daniel's people, the Jews, and for Daniel's city, the city of Jerusalem. Therefore, we know that the end time prophecies have to do primarily with the Jews and Jerusalem. We should keep this fact in mind as we consider end time prophecies throughout the scriptures. We can say that end time prophecies are for Jews, for Jerusalem, and for today. Since the seventieth week is not meant for the Church but for Israel, the rapture of the Church must take place before the seventieth week begins.
Matt 24:32-35 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know 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. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
All the end-time events that Jesus spoke about in Matthew chapter twenty-four will take place in one generation, the last generation, our generation, the time of the end. No one knows when this generation will end because God has not told us in His word, but if we look back and determine when this end-time generation began we may be able to determine when it may end.
Just as we know that summer is near when we see the fig tree put forth leaves, we know that the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ is near when we see these things begin to take place. The fig tree began to put forth its leaves on May 14, 1948, the day Israel became a nation after not being a nation for almost nineteen hundred years. The generation that will not pass away, until after all the end-time events take place, began on May 14, 1948. This means the generation of adult males who were living in the land of Israel on May 14, 1948, will not all die until after all the end-time events have taken place. God wants us to know the end is near.
Matt 24:36-39 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
No one knows the exact day and hour when Jesus will come again to this earth, but we can know when His return is near. The unbelievers of Noah's day did not understand that they were about to be taken away by the coming flood, but Noah was not surprised. Noah knew one hundred and twenty years beforehand, when he started building the ark, that the flood was coming. Noah did not know the exact day of the flood; but as Noah finished building the ark, he knew the flood was near. We also know that Jesus is coming again soon and He will remove His Church at least seven years before He returns as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Jesus will take away the unbelievers of this world when He returns after the seven year tribulation (Matt.24:37-42). The unbelievers will not know Jesus is coming again soon when the rapture of the Church takes place, they will not understand that their destruction is near, no more than the unbelievers of Noah's day understood that they were about to be destroyed when Noah entered the ark. Noah was not taken by surprise, and neither will we because God has given us prophecy; so that, we will know what is about to happen before it happens. Prophecy is not given to remain a secret forever, but at the proper time God gives understanding to those who will take notice and believe. God wants His people to set proper priorities in life and to live for Him and not for this soon passing world. 1Thes 4:15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. Paul did not say they, referring to people of some future time, but he said we. Paul expected and preached the soon return of Jesus Christ and so should we.
I repeat what I already said because it is essential to the understanding of end time prophecy; the end time prophecies are primarily given to the Jews and are for the Jews and for Jerusalem. Remember the Church is no longer in the world during the last week, seven years, of time before Jesus comes again. Therefore, the blossoming of the fig tree has to do with the Jews, and the generation of the end that Jesus mentioned is a generation of Jews. As I stated earlier, I believe the end time generation began on May 14, 1948. That was the day Israel received a home again, after being a homeless nation for about 1900 years. Remember, Jesus said that " this generation will not pass away until all these things take place ". This means that some of the people of that generation will still be alive when Jesus returns at the end of the tribulation. I believe that every adult male Jew, twenty years old and older, who was in the land of Israel on May 14, 1948, is part of the end time generation, and some of those men will still be living when Jesus comes back to this earth as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Ps 90:10 The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
We are told the strong man can expect to live 80 years on this earth. Some people do live longer than 80 years, but the normal strong man can expect to live only 80 year, according to the word of God. The generation begins with adulthood, at age twenty. The youngest of the adult males who was twenty years old on May 14, 1948 will be eighty years old in the spring of 2009; therefore, the strongest members of the end time generation may not live beyond the year 2009. No matter how long the last generation lives, one thing is certain, we are now living in the last generation and this generation will not live forever, even if it does live longer than 80 years.
2 Pet 3:3-4 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
We must be careful that we do not play the part of the mocker. It seems that the closer we get to the Lord's return, the more we hear preachers saying that the Lord may not come back for hundreds of years yet. The Lord wants us to expect His soon return and we are not setting a date for His return when we say He is coming soon, very soon, in this generation.
John 1:11-13 He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
The first time the Son of God, Jesus Christ, came to this earth He was rejected by His people. Anyone who does not reject Him, but accepts Him, by believing in Him, receives a birthright to become a son of God. All those who believe in Him are born again, they are made a new creation, they are no longer a child of Adam but they are now a child of God. Furthermore, being born again is not a physical birth but a spiritual birth. It has nothing to do with who we are in this world, what our status is in life, or who our family is. It has nothing to do with our will, it is not as a result of our desire, or the desire of anyone else. Being born again is all of God's doing not ours. If we only believe in Jesus Christ, as apposed to rejecting Him, we will be made children of God. If we are a child of God when Jesus Christ returns to this earth, He will take us to be with Himself and we will be with Him forever.
1 Cor 16:22 If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha.
All Scripture taken from King James Bible
* Bible Studies by Max Swan
Thus says the LORD, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the LORD. (NAS) Jer 9:23-24