Matthew 24:42-51 – 42“Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. 43But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. 44For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will. 45Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. 47Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 48But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My master is not coming for a long time,’ 49and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards; 50the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know, 51and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
The previous article addressed the ongoing signs, signs that have continued through the centuries and have led the unchurched to mock the promise of His return. Natural calamities and wars are two prominent ongoing signs. The more subtle ongoing signs deal with the savior complex, cold love, falsehood and increased wickedness. These signs have always been around but are increasing in intensity and dimension. Ongoing signs declare His coming is near. As long as they continue, however, His coming has not yet occurred.
The other group of end-time events is the closing signs, signs that declare a particular generation is the final generation. Closing signs are unique to the end of time. Some attempt to mistakenly declare these events as irrelevant. Those who disregard these signs will witness His coming as a “thief in the night.”
Matthew 24 records a parable about a master’s slave – one with an assignment; one with responsibilities until the master returned. His instructions were simple: be faithful and sensible – feed instead of beat those under your care; nourish instead of neglect. The master came back, not unexpectedly but unsuspecting to that individual. The worthless slave was assigned a place with the hypocrites. He knew what signs to look for but chose not to look. Those who choose not to look will not prevent Jesus from returning.
A National Geographic magazine showed, through color photos and drawings, the swift and terrible destruction in A.D. 79 of the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. The explosion of Mount Vesuvius was so sudden that residents were killed while in the midst of their everyday routine. Men and women were at the market, the rich were in their luxurious baths, slaves were at toil. They died amid volcanic ash and superheated gasses. Even family pets suffered a quick and final fate. The pictures leave little for the imagination of the panic on that terrible day.
The saddest part is these people did not have to die. Scientists confirm what the ancient Roman writers’ recorded. Weeks of rumblings and shakings preceded the actual explosion. An ominous column of smoke was clearly visible from the mountain days before the eruption. They only had to read and respond to Vesuvius' warning!
There are similar rumblings in our world. People need not be caught unprepared. We dare not fail to notice the closing signs. Today is the day for faithfulness, not indifference.
The sign of the fig tree.
“Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. 34I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 35Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” (Matthew 24:32-35)
The parable of the fig tree is generally accepted as the restoration of the nation of Israel. Years after Jesus ascended into heaven, around AD 70, the temple was destroyed and the people of Israel were dispersed among the nations. They kept their beliefs while adapting to new cultures and societies. No group of people has survived without land like the Jew. No group of people has been harassed and blamed for social ills more than the descendents of Abraham. No group of people has endured more attempts at annihilation than Israelites.
When the fig tree brings forth her leaves, summer is near. The fulfillment of God’s promise to the descendents of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is a sign of the end-times. The tree of Israel showing life once again is testimony the time of the Gentiles is down to its last generation.
The Bible reveals the length of a generation to be around 35 to 40 years (Job 42:16 and Numbers 14:33) When did the nation of Israel become restored? In 1948 the United Nations chartered the Jewish people a portion of land in Palestine, shaped and designed by human government. It excluded much of the land declared in the Abrahamic covenant. Old Jerusalem was not part of the agreement.
In 1967 an amazing six-day war occurred. Jerusalem and a larger portion of the covenant land became their possession. In 1948 land was chartered by man, in 1967 more territory was incredibly conquered. It was also in the late-1960’s that the world saw the greatest shift in morality.
Today much of the covenant property is not in their possession. Could 1948 to 1967 be Israel’s budding years and 1967 to the “trumpet sound” be their leaf-bearing years? What follows the “trumpet sound” is the fruit-bearing years, when the wine press of God’s wrath is poured out.
The sign of Noah’s generation.
“Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.” (Luke 17:26-27)
Jesus specifically mentions their “business as usual” mentality. In other words, they did not care.
Noah’s generation saw the ark being built and did not care. They witnessed the warnings from righteous Noah’s life and did not care. They had a testimony of pending doom for a long time and did not care.
They may have been thinking, “When I see the flood, then I’ll worry.” It is no different then when people say, “When I see the rapture, then I’ll worry.” The time of the flood was too late in Noah’s day. The time of the rapture will be too late in the day of His coming.
Genesis 6:5 states the intentions of Noah’s generation were evil. They were continually bent on evil. They liked the crude, the sadistic, the foul, the sacrilegious, the brutal, the reckless and the treacherous. They were lovers of pleasure at other people’s expense. They found pleasure in viewing suffering. Their heart became hard, calloused and indifferent. They were a society that lost decency.
Genesis 6:11 states the craving of Noah’s generation was violence. Evil intentions and physical violence go together. The movie industry has statistics that prove the top moneymaker is violence. The second is sex. If the two themes are done together financial success is assured. Note the number of horror movies that regularly come out of Hollywood. It is a “Noah’s generation” form of entertainment. Violence is in entertainment, in sports and in the heart.
These signs, as in Noah’s day, will be evident in the last generation.
The sign of Sodom’s generation.
“It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. 30It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed.” (Luke 17:28-30)
Many assume the sign of Sodom is the act of Sodomy, defiant sexual behavior. This is a symptom of a greater problem. Ezekiel 16:49-50 reveals the real issue: “Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. 50They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.”
They possessed an attitude of arrogance. They based life upon unwarranted pride and self-importance.” 2 Timothy 3:2 states that the last days will be filled with arrogance like Sodom.
Arrogance carries a feeling of being unbeatable. Out of arrogance Lot’s son-in-laws thought Sodom could not parish. When an attitude like this develops, defenses go down and loose standards develop.
They had abundant food. The United States has 70% of the food and 7% of the world’s population. America is the food producer of the world. What is the wrongfulness of Ezekiel’s concern? Abundant food is representative of a failure to share with others; a testimony of uncaring people; a lack of compassion that causes hoarding. Sodom was not willing to share what they had. Over abundance is the testimony of selfishness; a visible statement of lacking faith and concern.
Sodom lived in careless ease. The King James Version writes, “An abundance of idleness.” This country’s leading industries are geared towards leisure and entertainment. Gambling, the ultimate waste of time and resources, has become a major enterprise of local and state government. Believers are to focus on service, not ease and chance.
Sodom refused to help the poor and needy, a willful defiance to recognize their plight.
Sodom was haughty. They had contempt for others; disdain for others; treating others as scum. The nature of haughtiness is abuse and is the source of cruelty. Haughtiness crushes the feelings of others.
Recall the story of Sodom, as recorded in Genesis. Visitors came and they desired to perform a contemptuous act. Forced sexual activity is a natural outgrowth of haughtiness.
Sodom committed many atrocities before God, one being homosexual preferences and behavior. Sodom is a picture of people feeling unbeatable, self important, uncaring, unresponsive to needs, having little sense of the sanctity of life or respect for people, pursuing pleasure at the cost of life itself and craving inappropriate moral behavior. This will also be the sign of the last generation.
The sign of the worldwide declaration of Jesus
“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:14)
The Good News is the ray of hope in the gloom of the final generation. Romans 5:20 states, “…where sin increased, grace increased all the more.” The church is to embrace the assignment of a righteous Noah (addressing a wicked world) and a righteous Lot (separating from a wicked lifestyle) and declare, “Today is the day of salvation; the day of the Lord is at hand.”
The story of Jesus is presently being told to a “business as usual” generation; a generation strongly influenced by arrogance, selfishness and haughtiness.
Worldwide missions is to be the high priority of the church. By word of mouth, through printed material and on the airwaves the good news is to spread around the world. Aggressively proclaiming the message of grace through faith to every nation is testimony of the final generation.
The end
Are the closing signs evident today? Israel has a promised land. The actions of Noah’s generation are being witnessed. A Sodom mentality is in our midst. The church is diligently proclaiming Jesus around the world.
Today is the day of salvation. Any moment can be the coming of the Lord.
No comments:
Post a Comment