Signs of the Times....Are we truly living in the last days?

[BrotherTony]

I was listening to a sermon on a Christian broadcasting netword, and the preacher who was speaking stated several times that ALL THE PROPHECIES that needed to be fulfilled, and all of the conditions for Christs return in the Rapture had been met...all that we were waiting for was for God to tell the Son that it was time for him to come and get us. I know that many of the Bible prophecies have been fulfilled, and that the time of his coming is near...but

are we truly living in the last days? 

Have ALL the prophecies that need to be fulfilled been fufilled for his coming? 

Is this mandate by Mr. Biden a dry run for the upcoming Mark of the Beast??

I know I've been hearing these things since I was 9 years old....I'm nearly 60 now. The apostles believed THEY were living in the last days and that Christ would soon return to take his bride home. 

Could it be another 5 years, 10 years, or even longer before his coming for us? 

Thanks for your input in advance. I know what I believe, and have studied this for many years...I just find it strange the twists that some preachers put on this.

[Jerry]

One of the prophecies about Jesus' return had to do with Israel coming together as a nation.

Matthew 24:32-34 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.

This passage refers to Israel as the fig tree (a symbol used in various other places in the Bible), and states that they will not pass until these things be fulfilled. The word "not" is a double negative and is often indicates something that can never happen: "no, never". That seems to indicate that the generation of Israelites that came together in 1948 to form the modern nation of Israel will not completely pass away (and for the sake of the argument, seems to indicate there will be quite a few remaining, not just a couple of stragglers hanging on).

If the average age of that generation in 1948 that formed the nation of Israel were 20 years old (just using this age as a reference point), that means they would now be 93 or more years old. How much longer will they live before they can no longer fulfill the statement Jesus made that they would NOT (no, never) pass away.

If this passage has some other meaning that is consistent with Bible prophecy and symbolism, I am not aware of it (doesn't mean there isn't or can't be another meaning - just that it is not being presented or taught that I know of).

[BrotherTony]

Good insights, Jerry. Some preachers don't believe that this rebirth of Israel is what the Bible is speaking of. I don't see how they could possibly just discard the possibility that it is. It's the first time in nearly 2K years that the nation has been in place.

 

[Jerry]

I don't endorse Grant Jeffreys - but in one of his books, using the same calculations that Robert Anderson gives to show the fulfillment of the 69 weeks of Daniel (Jesus coming into Jerusalem on April 6th, AD 32), he shows Bible-based calculations that literally show Israel returning to their land in 1948.

I read this book like 20 or so years ago, and about 6 months back I tried to explain it as best as I could to some friends as my faulty memory could recall (copied just now from my texts to them).

Have you ever read Robert Anderson’s The Coming Prince? In the book he calculated how to show when the OT showed the Messiah would come. Using Daniel’s prophecy of the 70 weeks (70 x 7 years, 490 years). The first 69 weeks (483 years) led to Messiah the Prince (the last seven being the 7 year tribulation period). Dating from the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem - which was 445 BC - 483 years comes out to April 6, 32 AD.

He got his calculations by taking 483 years, times 360 days per year (as Revelation shows the Jewish year is), divided by our calendar year of 365 days a year.

483 x 360 = 173,880 days
Divided by 365 = 476.38 years
Minus 445 BC takes us to 31.38 AD (now add one year because there is no year 0)
That takes us to April 6, 32 AD

I also remembered the passage and the formula that comes out to 1948. I was reading Ezekiel 4 this morning.  See especially verses 5-6. Using the same calculations Robert Anderson used to calculate the date when Jesus came riding into Jerusalem on a donkey (Palm Sunday, April 6, 32 AD)

430 days - a day for a year - 430 years minus the seventy years in Babylon. Then times 7 according to Leviticus 26. If they kept walking in rebellion against the Lord, they would be punished seven times more for their sins. Only some of the nation went back to Jerusalem after being released from their Babylonian captivity. The final judgement in Leviticus 26 was for the Jews being scattered around the world in exile, in the lands of their enemies.

360 years x 7 = 2520 years
2520 x 360 days a year (for their year) then divided by 365 days a year (for our years)
2520 x 360 = 907,200 days
divided by 365 = 2485.48 (rounded up)

According to Wikipedia, the seventy year Babylonian captivity ended in 538 BC
2485.48 minus 538 gives us
1947.48 years (add one year because there is no year 0)

If this part matters, it should be easy to verify again, but from what I recall, when they were released from the Babylonian captivity, it was supposedly in the fall. 1948 and 1/2 years brings us to spring 1948.

If there is something off in the way I am explaining this or something I am forgetting to connect with it, I am sorry about that - but this shows a pretty clear calculation to the year 1948, when Israel became a nation again. (May 14, 1948)

[SureWord]

I'm not sure if the modern day Israel is the rebirth of the nation of Israel as mentioned in the bible.

Seems to me the rapture and tribulation could have happened at any point over the last 2,000 years but keeps getting hindered (Daniel 10:20,21). I really believe that there's always been one person on this earth that could have been the Antichrist but the battle that takes place behind the scenes in the spirit world has prevented it. Paul said the mystery of iniquity was already at work in his day. 

[BrotherTony]

4 minutes ago, SureWord said:

I'm not sure if the modern day Israel is the rebirth of the nation of Israel as mentioned in the bible.

Seems to me the rapture and tribulation could have happened at any point over the last 2,000 years but keeps getting hindered (Daniel 10:20,21). I really believe that there's always been one person on this earth that could have been the Antichrist but the battle that takes place behind the scenes in the spirit world has prevented it. Paul said the mystery of iniquity was already at work in his day. 

I have heard many preachers say that they believe that the adversary has had a person ready to take over in every generation. I believe that this could be the case. He has to be ready because he doesn't know when the Rapture is going to happen, and he has to be on top of the situation when it does. Most Messianic Rabbi's believe that this is the Israel that is supposed to be restored. I have many Jewish people in my family. Most are Christians.

[Jerry]

If Jesus could have come anytime in the last 1900 years, what about the prophetic portions of Revelation 2-3? I believe each letter in those two chapters also clearly represents 7 eras of church history, from the first century until the rapture of the church (see Revelation 4:1). There are two many things that are fulfilled in church history to be just a coincidence or reading into these chapters. For example, the 10 days that Smyrna will be tried historically refers to 10 literal persecutions of Christians by Roman emperors in the first three centuries, ending when Constantine united church and state in his realm in 312 AD. This is represented by Pergamos, which literally means "elevated by marriage." Right now we are in the age of Laodicea, the time of the great falling away which the NT foretold - and which Paul stated has to come first before that man of sin is revealed. He therefore could not have come in the second or third century AD because the falling away had not yet occured.

[BrotherTony]

18 minutes ago, Jerry said:

If Jesus could have come anytime in the last 1900 years, what about the prophetic portions of Revelation 2-3? I believe each letter in those two chapters also clearly represents 7 eras of church history, from the first century until the rapture of the church (see Revelation 4:1). There are two many things that are fulfilled in church history to be just a coincidence or reading into these chapters. For example, the 10 days that Smyrna will be tried historically refers to 10 literal persecutions of Christians by Roman emperors in the first three centuries, ending when Constantine united church and state in his realm in 312 AD. This is represented by Pergamos, which literally means "elevated by marriage." Right now we are in the age of Laodicea, the time of the great falling away which the NT foretold - and which Paul stated has to come first before that man of sin is revealed. He therefore could not have come in the second or third century AD because the falling away had not yet occured.

I agree. They didn't have a perfect Bible/guideposts for them to go by. They had partial knowledge, and they were the instruments that God was using to complete his word. History and prophecy are two of my favorite subjects. One minor was in history. I went to many prophecy conferences in the early years, and found that there are many varying interpretations of the scriptures. I know which one I agree with and believe is Biblical. 

[SureWord]

15 hours ago, Jerry said:

If Jesus could have come anytime in the last 1900 years, what about the prophetic portions of Revelation 2-3? I believe each letter in those two chapters also clearly represents 7 eras of church history, from the first century until the rapture of the church (see Revelation 4:1). There are two many things that are fulfilled in church history to be just a coincidence or reading into these chapters. For example, the 10 days that Smyrna will be tried historically refers to 10 literal persecutions of Christians by Roman emperors in the first three centuries, ending when Constantine united church and state in his realm in 312 AD. This is represented by Pergamos, which literally means "elevated by marriage." Right now we are in the age of Laodicea, the time of the great falling away which the NT foretold - and which Paul stated has to come first before that man of sin is revealed. He therefore could not have come in the second or third century AD because the falling away had not yet occured.

That's a spiritual application but the Rapture happening in, say, 500 AD would not have changed the historic truth of those 7 churches. 

The scripture can be fulfilled in many different ways. For instance, if the Jews accepted Christ John the Baptist would have fulfilled the prophecy of the coming of Elijah.

[Jerry]

Fulfilling of prophecy is not an application. There are specific things that are prophesied that were fulfilled historically. Those things would not have happened if Jesus was already reigning from Jerusalem.

There are seven parts to each of the letters, including the prophetic preview of church history: The names of the churches (the meaning of the name also telling us something about those churches), Jesus' description of Himself, warnings, rebukes, promises, the promises to the overcomers, and the prophetic preview of church history.

See https://ewministries.earnestlycontending.com/smyrna/

[SureWord]

Don't be surprised to see the nation of Israel dissolved. There's a huge push within the nation itself to either flood the nation with Palestinians and Africans at the least or totally dissolve the nation itself at the most. This push is coming from many Jews themselves including Orthodox Jews who oppose a Zionism because they do not believe the modern state of Israel was established by God. 

If this happens this would definitely shake the faith of many Christians especially those who believe that 1948 was a fulfillment of prophecy.

https://www.nkusa.org/aboutus/zionism/opposition.cfm

[Jerry]

Go back up a few post. There is 100% no way that God would give prophetic calculations in His Word about the nation of Israel coming together in 1948 (to the exact time of year) for it not to the same nation God has preserved throughout history and promised to bring back together. Ezekiel chapters 37-38 shows that the nation does not have spiritual life yet (and will not until He brings them out of the graves of the nations they were scattered among), AND then there's this passage:

Ezekiel 20:33-38 As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you: And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out. And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face. Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord GOD. And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant: And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me: I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

This will be fulfilled during the tribulation period. First God brings them back to the land then brings them to life, - purges out the unrepentant rebels, and then ALL remaining Israel will be saved, according to Romans 11:26.

[Hugh_Flower]

Another cool thing about the revelation of 1948, is that the Bible said the Jews would not rule yet - not until their Messiah rules. And look they are currently ran by the UN

Edited October 22, 2021 by Hugh_Flower

[BrotherTony]

4 hours ago, Hugh_Flower said:

Another cool thing about the revelation of 1948, is that the Bible said the Jews would not rule yet - not until their Messiah rules. And look they are currently ran by the UN

Are they? I don't see them being run by the UN. They seem to be doing fine on their own.

[Hugh_Flower]

13 hours ago, BrotherTony said:

Are they? I don't see them being run by the UN. They seem to be doing fine on their own.

Sorry I meant the City of Jerusalem

 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Status_of_Jerusalem