Signs of the Times, Pt. 2 – The Urgency of the Hour
I. GOD’S NATURE IS TO TELL AND WARN HIS PEOPLE OF TROUBLE BEFOREHAND
7 Surely the Lord GOD does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His…prophets. (Amos 3:7)
A. The nature of God is always to warn before releasing judgment. It is not consistent with His nature that He would
come without warning to surprise the whole earth.
B. Jesus said, “I have told you these things beforehand,” because He wanted us to know the info.
25 See, I have told you beforehand. (Matthew 24:25)
C. God appeared to Abraham in Genesis 15 to renew the covenant. The Lord told Abraham that his family would be
sent to Egypt for 430 years of oppression. The Lord spoke many years before the Assyrian and Babylon exiles warning
Israel of its coming and He spoke a generation before Rome’s destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.
D. The Scripture gives us trends in many areas of life including spiritual (positive and negative), social, political,
technological, natural, (signs in heaven and earth) and the accelerator signs and especially the prophetic developments
in Israel.
II. THE PROPHETIC SPIRIT CAREFULLY SEEKS MORE UNDERSTANDING
A. Jesus said only the Father knows, not so the Church would be passive, but so the Church would pursue the Father
and seek out what is in His heart.
10 Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to
you, 11 searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified
beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. (1 Peter 1:10-11)
19 We have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day
dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts… (2 Peter 1:19)
B. The prophets of old searched carefully. We need to search what manner of time the Holy Spirit was indicating
when He testified about the glories of Jesus that would follow. The prophetic spirit searches out carefully the application
for prophecies.
III. KEY PROPHETIC SIGNPOST – THE RETURN OF ISRAEL:
A. One of the most significant indicators that serve as a key prophetic sign for the church is the re-emergence of
Israel as a political state. This shocking event in 1948, followed by the 6-Day War and the recapturing of Jerusalem in
1967, mark the beginning of a chain of events that set the stage for the fulfillment of hundreds of prophetic scriptures.
1. For 1800 years the absence of Israel made the study of biblical prophesy exceedingly difficult. The sharpest
theologians could not reckon with the thousands of scriptures that spoke to a scattered people whose nation was a
distant memory. It did not seem possible or probable that these passages could be literally fulfilled while under the
control of Muslims.
2. The shift back to a common-sense reading of the Word of God began in the 1850’s with a renewed interest in
God’s purposes for Israel. The theological shift was beginning 100 years before the rebirth of the nation, just as it had
done 100 years after its destruction.
3. The theological foundations of this new perspective that were emerging were exciting and exhilarating to those
that felt like they were discovering the Word for the first time. Though there was much that emerged from that season
that made for a great beginning, much of the key theological perspectives were missed – they simply were not near
enough to the end of the age for all the pieces to fall into place.
4. The key perspective that emerged from early pre-trib eschatology was a renewed focus on the nation of Israel.
The other key line of thinking that was vital was the interpretation of the Word at face value, allowing for literal temporal
judgments and a Day of the Lord to be a real possibility.
5. Missing components in that day were the Bridal Paradigm of the Kingdom of God, clear understanding of an End
of the Age Prayer and Worship Movement, and a clear understanding of the Church’s role in partnership with Jesus at the
release of eschatological judgment. There was a fundamental misunderstanding of the leadership of Jesus in producing
wholehearted love and obedience as well as His governmental strategy: intercession.
6. The “cement dried” on the eschatological system before these components could impact the conclusions. Still,
the way was paved for a new understanding of Israel and her place in the prophetic plans of God. The rebirth of the
nation and the reclamation of Jerusalem stand as one of the most noteworthy and spectacular prophetic signposts of
our generation.
B. These “prophetic signposts” of Israel are significant timing indicators relating to the hour in which we live as the
final generation at the end of this age:
1. Re-gathering of the people (Isaiah 11:10-12 and Ezekiel 37:1-12).
2. Re-establishment of the state (Isaiah 66:7-8; Zechariah 12:1-6; and Matthew 24:32-35).
3. Reclamation of the land (Isaiah 35:1-2, 7 and Ezekiel 36:34-35).
4. Revival of the language (Zephaniah 3:9).
5. Resurgence of the military (Zechariah 12:6)
6. Refocusing of world politics (Zechariah 12:2-3).
7. Reoccupation of Jerusalem (Zechariah 12:2-6).
8. Re-emergence of a remnant of Jewish believers in Jerusalem (Romans 9:27; 11:5)
IV. MATTHEW 24:4-8 – THE BEGINNING OF SORROWS:
A. Jesus spoke in Matthew 24:8 of the “beginning of sorrows” – a time frame that would represent a marked shift in
the time in history that would represent the “beginning of birth pangs”, or the chain of events that would culminate with
the end-time judgments and the Second Coming. These disruptive prophetic signs would precede the final seven years
and the beginning of the Great Tribulation in Matthew 24:15 – thus the generation of believers who witnessed these signs
were exhorted by Jesus to “see that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.”
Though I believe that we have seen a significant shift in the season and time of history, I do not believe we have seen
the beginning of this prophetic season yet.
B. “For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.” The context has been
established in Israel for many to emerge as false political “messiahs” to bring forth the deliverance of Israel from her
enemies and establish the Torah again nationally. These false leaders may also be instrumental in instigating the
rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem, which Daniel spoke of in Daniel 9:27 (and Paul spoke of in 2 Thess. 2:3).
C. “And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars…For nation (ethnic group) will rise against nation, and kingdom
against kingdom.” in the 20th century alone 100 million people were killed in war; 1993 saw a record number of wars
fought in one year – 29; the first century to see global conflict of any kind. Ethnic conflicts and genocides, already
increasing in number and frequency, will become widespread and bring a “global gloom” that will be accompanied by
the other signs that Jesus predicted. The peoples of the earth will long for peace and provision.
D. “And there will be famines”: 4 million people a year currently die of starvation; the World Health Organization
estimated that over 1/3 of the earth’s population is under-fed; and in ten years (1990-2000) over 100 million children
died of illness and starvation.
E. “…pestilences”: virtually unheard of hundreds of years ago are over 100 different kinds of cancer that now kill
over 5 million people per year; the AIDS virus alone has killed tens of millions; new and untreatable strands of malaria,
typhoid fever, tuberculosis, cholera, and the Black Death have emerged over the last 10 years; disease is the number
one enemy of tsunami victims throughout Asia.
F. “…and earthquakes”: one of the critical signs of the times to watch for, according to Jesus, was the reality of
“earthquakes in various places” as a precursor to the coming cataclysmic earthquakes described in the book of
Revelation that would be greater in scope and destructive force than any other earthquakes in history. The initial
tremors related to the birth pangs will come in “various places” – I do not think that this means that there will be more
earthquakes in the final hours of history, but that earthquakes will continually increase in severity as we get nearer
to the end. These earthquakes, like the increase in famine and pestilence, will shift the global mood drastically and
create a greater desperation in a greater number of people for social and societal change.
V. THE GREAT SHAKING AND VICTORY OF THE CHURCH – MATTHEW 24:9-14:
A. The “beginning of sorrows” precedes a time of great shaking and trouble for the church – one that even precedes
the Great Tribulation that will trouble the whole earth. Jesus described the next series of events that would function as
a sign of the nearness of the end – the time frame that Paul described as one of “false peace and safety”
(1 Thessalonians 5:3). The book of Revelation describes this time frame as well (Revelation 17:6). This will be
an intense time of betrayal, hatred, and persecution for the church worldwide.
B. The end of the age is truly the apex of the rage of man against God and His leadership that has been boiling for
thousands of years. The global climate is becoming increasingly anti-God – but even more troubling is that man is
becoming more unified in their stand against God and His Word. We are seeing right before our eyes the emergence
of an anti-God culture that is centered on the deceptions of humanism and man’s accomplishments.
C. The natural progression that follows, according to Revelation 14:8 and 17:1-18 is that the climate and culture
produce an anti-God religious network knit to extravagant economics and prosperity – the heights of the human ideal
in the spirit of solving the problems of the globe in human cooperation – apart from the leadership of Jesus (though
in the “spirit” of His teachings). The issue is global unity in rejecting the leadership of God and His Anointed One with
spiritual language – just as in the days of the Tower of Babel.
D. The emergence of a global religion will be a staggering prophetic sign for the church – and one that will be
difficult for many to endure to the end (Matthew 24:13). Paul called this prophetic sign the “great falling away”
(2 Thessalonians 2:3). There will be a widespread spirit of murder and open hatred directed at the church in the
coming days (Matthew 24:9). This would be followed by “the love of many growing cold” (Matthew 24:12) in which
great betrayal and offense will be revealed from within the church – among the brethren. Many will turn from the
Lord in that time.
E. The true, prophetic, and purified church will emerge victorious however – as the gospel of the kingdom will fill
the earth as a witness (Matthew 24:14) to the coming King, and a great harvest from every tribe and tongue will be
the result (Revelation 7:9). These times require preparation in prayer, fasting, and responsiveness now that we might
have grace to endure then.