TO BE A WATCHMAN
Jesus said, Matthew 24:32, that when the fig tree is tender, and begins to bloom, that is a sign that Summer is near. The fig tree, which represents the nation of Israel, began to bloom on May 15, 1948. This is the day when Israel was re-established as a nation. For more than 18 centuries the Jews had been without a nation. You see, in 70 A.D. when Titus, a Roman general, invaded Israel, destroyed Jerusalem, along with the Temple, and, slaughtered more than a million Jews, those who survived were scattered to the four corners of the Earth. This is when Israel ceased to be a nation. This was also the second time that God had driven His people out of the land. The first time occurred in 586 B.C. when the Babylonians invaded the land, and took the people back to their capitol city of Babylon, where they remained for seventy years, because of idolatry.
However, God had promised His people, long before this second dispersion ever took place, that He would one day regather them back into the land, from all the nations where they had been scattered to, and re-establish them as a nation. (Ezekiel 37) Isaiah and Jeremiah also prophesied that God would gather His people back into the land a second time. (Isaiah 11:11-12, 43:5-6;Jeremiah 32:27)[All of these topics will be discussed in more detail later in this review.]
Continuing on to verse 33 of Matthew 24, Jesus said that other events would happen, that would signify that His return would be near. The events that Jesus mentioned, which begin at verse 5, and end with verse 8, are referred to as the beginning of sorrows. They are: false christs, famines, earthquakes, pestilences, and, wars. These events are occurring more and more all the time. Not only that, but they are increasing in intensity. Do not believe it when people say things will get better. They won't. The Bible says that in the last days things will get worse and worse, as man degenerates more and more. Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 that in the last days perilous times would come. And, indeed they have. Today we are living in the most perilous times man has ever known. I would rather know Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior today, than wait until it is too late and pay the consequences.
article written by a Christian
brother, Dave Martin.