Lesson #14

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LESSON #14
SIGNS OF THE END TIMES CONTINUED

• MEMORY VERSE: MAT 24:44

• READ MAT 24:32-44 (LUK 21:29-34) THINGS THAT NEED TO COME TO PASS BY EXAMPLE:
• BLOSSOMING OF THE FIG TREE (MAT 24:32-35)
• THE FIG TREE REPRESENTS ISRAEL.
• READ MAT 21:19-20 HOS 9:10
• WHEN IS THE BLOSSOMING?
• THE BLOSSOMING COULD REFER TO 1948 WHEN ISRAEL BECAME A NATION.
• THERE ARE MANY PROPHECIES IN THE OLD TESTAMENT CONCERNING THE RETURN TO THE PROMISED LAND BY THE JEWS. (ISA 11:11,12 AMO 9:14-15 EZE 36:17-24 EZE 37:1-14)
• GOD WILL RETURN THE JEWS GRADUALLY TO THE PROMISED LAND LITTLE BY LITTLE (BONE BY BONE EZE 37).
• THE JEWS HAD BEEN WITHOUT A HOMELAND FROM 70 AD TO 1948 AD.

• THE HISTORY OF ISRAEL — BECOMING A NATION:
• IN 1917 A JEWISH SCIENTIST AND STATESMAN LIVING IN BRITAIN NAMED CHAIM WEIZMANN DISCOVERED A NEW PROCESS FOR PRODUCING 2 COMPONENTS USED IN MAKING HIGH EXPLOSIVES. HE OFFERED THE PROCESS TO THE GOVERNMENT OF BRITAIN IN EXCHANGE FOR HELP TO BRING ABOUT THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A JEWISH HOMELAND. IT WAS CALLED THE BALFOUR DECLARATION. IN 1917 THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT SIGNED THE BALFOUR DECLARATION THAT COMMITTED ENGLAND TO FAVOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF ISRAEL AS A NATION.
• THE BRITISH REASONS FOR APPROVING THE DECLARATION:
• TO MAINTAIN AN OPEN CHANNEL THROUGH THE MIDDLE EAST TO BRITISH EMPIRE NATIONS OF INDIA AND IN EAST AFRICA.
• TO ENCOURAGE RUSSIA AND AMERICA TO JOIN THE WAR AGAINST GERMANY AND TURKEY. TURKEY HELD THE LAND OF ISRAEL FOR 400 YEARS.
• TO OBTAIN THE HIGH EXPLOSIVE CHEMICAL PROCESS.
• THERE WAS A MAJORITY OF BIBLE BELIEVING CABINET MEMBERS IN THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT.
• IN 1918 WITH THE HELP OF A FEW JEWS, GREAT BRITAIN ATTACKED THE TURKS WHO POSSESSED THE LAND OF ISRAEL.
• IN 1922, AFTER WORLD WAR I, THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS RATIFIED THE BALFOUR DECLARATION AND GAVE GREAT BRITAIN THE MANDATE TO GOVERN THE TERRITORY
• IN 1936, ARAB GUERRILLA WARFARE PUT PRESSURE ON GREAT BRITAIN TO STOP THE IMMIGRATION OF THE JEWS TO ISRAEL. GREAT BRITAIN BOWED TO THE PRESSURE. THEREFORE, THE JEWS TURNED AGAINST GREAT BRITAIN. AS A RESULT, THE BRITISH DISARMED THE JEWS.
• IN 1947 THE UNITED NATIONS INTERVENED AND DIVIDED THE LAND INTO TWO INDEPENDENT STATES, ONE FOR THE JEWS AND ONE FOR THE ARABS WITH JERUSALEM OPEN TO ALL AS AN INTERNATIONAL CITY RUN BY THE UNITED NATIONS. THE JEWS ACCEPTED THE MANDATE, BUT THE ARABS REJECTED IT AND ATTACKED THE JEWS.
• AS A RESULT, THE JEWS OBTAINED THEIR NATION BUT THE PALESTINIAN ARABS DID NOT.
• IN 1948, GREAT BRITAIN LEFT ISRAEL WITHOUT ANY DEFENSE. ISRAEL DECLARED ITS INDEPENDENCE. ARAB ARMIES FROM SYRIA, EGYPT, LEBANON, JORDAN, SAUDI ARABIA, AND IRAQ ATTACKED THAT SAME DAY.
• THE UNITED STATES WAS THE FIRST NATION TO RECOGNIZE THE NEW NATION OF ISRAEL AS AN INDEPENDENT NATION.
• ACCORDING TO EZE 37, THE VICTORY OCCURRED BY THE POWER OF GOD THAT BREATHED LIFE BACK INTO THE DEAD BONES OF ISRAEL.

• THE BLOSSOMING COULD REFER TO 1967 WHEN ISRAEL SUCCEEDED IN CONQUERING JERUSALEM IN THE 6 DAY WAR. HOWEVER, THEY DID NOT KEEP CONTROL OVER THE TEMPLE MOUNT BUT GAVE CONTROL BACK TO JORDAN.

• THOSE WHO SAY THE BLOSSOMING OF ISRAEL OCCURRED IN THE SIX DAY WAR OF 1967, COUNT A GENERATION OF 40 YEARS WHICH ENDS IN 2007.
• OBVIOUSLY THIS IS INCORRECT FOR WE ARE NOT CURRENTLY IN THE TRIBULATION PERIOD WHICH WOULD HAVE BEGUN IN THE YEAR 2000.
• THE RESULTS OF THE 6 DAY WAR:
• THE JEWS GAINED MUCH OF EGYPTIAN TERRITORY. HOWEVER, THEY RETURNED ALL BUT THE GAZA STRIP AFTER THE WAR.
• THE JEWS GAINED CONTROL OF THE WEST BANK TERRITORY INCLUDING JERUSALEM BY DEFEATING JORDAN.
• THE JEWS GAINED CONTROL OF THE GOLAN HEIGHTS FROM SYRIA.

DATES	HISTORIC RETURN OF THE JEWS	POPULATION STATISTICS
1882 – 1904	25,000 EASTERN EUROPEAN JEWS
1904 – 1914	40,000 RUSSIAN JEWS
1919 – 1923	35,000 RUSSIAN, POLISH, AND ROMANIAN JEWS	1922	84,000 JEWS 590,000 ARABS
1924 –1932	88,450 JEWS MOSTLY FROM POLAND	1931	171,000 JEWS 760,000 ARABS
1933 – 1939	215,000 JEWS MOSTLY FROM POLAND AND GERMANY	1939	450,000 JEWS 900,000 ARABS
1939 – 1945	62,531 JEWS FROM NAZI EUROPE
1946 – 1948	57,456 EUROPEAN HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS	1948	600,000 JEWS
1948 – 1951	684,000 MOSTLY HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS
1955 – 1957	161,000 JEWS
1961 –1964	220,000 JEWS
1991	14,000 BLACK JEWS FROM ETHIOPIA
1991 – 1995	600,000 JEWS FROM RUSSIA
1996		1996	4,656,000 JEWS 842,000 MOSLEMS 170,000 CHRISTIANS 96,000 DRUSE

JEWS AROUND THE WORLD –AUGUST 1998	COUNTRY OF RESIDENCE
5,600,000 JEWS	THE UNITED STATES
4,900,000 JEWS	ISRAEL
600,000 JEWS	FRANCE
450,000 JEWS	RUSSIA
360,000 JEWS	CANADA
310,000 JEWS	UKRAINE
TOTAL JEWISH POPULATION IN THE WORLD = 13.8 MILLION	92 PERCENT OF THE WORLD’S JEWS LIVE IN THESE COUNTRIES

• JESUS INDICATES THAT THE GENERATION THAT BEGINS TO SEE THE SIGNS WILL NOT PASS AWAY UNTIL CHRIST RETURNS.
• WHICH GENERATION WILL NOT PASS AWAY (34)?

• TODAY A GENERATION IS BETWEEN 20 AND 30 YEARS.
• THE WORD, “GENERATION” IS genea OR genus WHICH MEANS RACE OR FAMILY AND REFERS TO THE JEWS, AND TO THE POINT IN TIME WHEN A MAN HAS HIS FIRST CHILD.
• THROUGH THE BIBLE, THE LENGTH OF A GENERATION HAS CHANGED OVER TIME. REMEMBER THOSE IN GENESIS LIVED HUNDREDS OF YEARS (METHUSALEH LIVED 969 YRS.). NOAH LIVED 950 YEARS AND HAD HIS FIRST CHILD WHEN HE WAS 500 YEARS OLD.
• JESUS SAID HIS SECOND COMING WOULD OCCUR IN A TIME LIKE THE DAYS OF NOAH. (MAT 24:37) DID JESUS MEAN THE LENGTH OF THE GENERATION THAT WOULD NOT PASS AWAY WAS 500 YEARS?
• THE AVERAGE LENGTH OF A GENERATION FROM ADAM TO NOAH WAS ABOUT 156 YEARS.
• BY THE TIME OF MOSES (AFTER THE FLOOD), A GENERATION HAD DECREASED CONSIDERABLY. A GENERATION WAS THEN 40 YEARS. (NUM 32:13)
• IN THE TIME OF THE NEW TESTAMENT WHEN JESUS SPOKE THESE WORDS, A GENERATION WAS BETWEEN 30 AND 40 YEARS.
• OBVIOUSLY JESUS DID NOT MEAN THESE THINGS WOULD OCCUR WITHIN 30 OR 40 YEARS OF HIS SPEAKING, BECAUSE WE STILL WAIT.

• CONCLUSION:
• WE DON’T KNOW FOR SURE HOW LONG WE SHOULD ALLOW FOR A GENERATION.
• WE DON’T KNOW FOR SURE IF JESUS MEANT THAT THE STARTING DATE FOR THE GENERATION SHOULD BE 1948 OR 1967 OR SOME OTHER MAJOR EVENT IN ISRAEL THAT IS YET TO OCCUR.
• THEREFORE, WE MUST CONCLUDE THAT NO MAN KNOWS THE HOUR OR THE DAY. WE CAN ONLY DETERMINE THE APPROXIMATE SEASON.

• THE DAYS OF NOAH (MAT 24:36-39)
• WHAT OCCURRED IN THE DAYS OF NOAH THAT SETS THAT TIME PERIOD APART FROM OTHER TIMES IN HISTORY?
• READ GEN 6:4-5, 11-12
• THE DAYS OF NOAH ARE CHARACTERIZED BY MATERIALISM, IMMORALITY, PERMISSIVISM, HEDONISM, HUMANISM, WORLDLY WISDOM.
• HOWEVER, WE HAVE ALWAYS HAD THESE CHARACTERISTICS OF SINFULNESS WITH US ON EARTH.
• THE DAYS OF NOAH ARE CHARACTERIZED BY A SEXUAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FALLEN ANGELS AND MAN.

• THE SONS OF GOD ARE DEMONIC ANGELS WHO MATED WITH HUMAN WOMEN. THEIR OFFSPRING WERE GIANTS CALLED NEPHILIM. (GEN 6:4-5)
• THE PHRASE “SONS OF GOD” IS USED TO REFER TO ANGELS IN THE BOOK OF JOB. (JOB 1:6, 2:1, 38:7)
• THE PHRASE “SONS OF GOD” IS NEVER USED IN THE OLD TESTAMENT TO REFER TO MEN AS IT IS IN THE NEW TESTAMENT.
• THIS IS SATAN’S ATTEMPT TO CORRUPT WOMEN SO AS TO PREVENT MESSIAH’S BIRTH, BUT GOD INTERVENED WITH THE FLOOD.
• THE OFFSPRING, NEPHILIM (GIANTS), LITERALLY MEANS = “FALLEN ONES”.

• CONCLUSION:
• EVIDENTLY THERE WILL SOME ATTEMPT BY SATAN TO PRODUCE AN EVIL OFFSPRING BEFORE THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST.
• THIS COULD BE A REFERENCE TO THE ANTI-CHRIST WHO WILL BE INDWELT BY SATAN.

• THE DAYS OF LOT
• READ LUK 17:29-32 AND JUDE 1:7
• WHAT WERE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DAYS OF LOT?
• THE CHARACTERISTICS OF WICKEDNESS, IMMORALITY, AND COMMON HOMOSEXUALITY EXISTED.
• THROUGH HISTORY HOMOSEXUALITY HAS ALWAYS BEEN PRESENT IN SOCIETY. HOWEVER, THE STANDARDS OF SOCIETY HAVE ALWAYS BEEN AGAINST THIS SEXUAL PRACTICE UNTIL RECENTLY.
• IN SODOM WHERE LOT LIVED, THE PRACTICE WAS COMMONLY ACCEPTED.
• TODAY, THROUGH THE MEDIA, NATIONS AND GOVERNMENTS ARE PASSING LAWS MAKING THE PRACTICE OF HOMOSEXUALITY LEGITIMATE IN MAN’S EYES.
• A CHARACTERISTIC OF LOT’S DAY WAS A WARNING GIVEN BEFORE GOD EXECUTED JUDGMENT.
• GOD ALWAYS WARNS MAN BEFORE JUDGMENT COMES.
• IN THE TRIBULATION PERIOD, THERE WILL BE THIS GREAT WARNING IN THE FORM OF THE 144,000 JEWISH WITNESSES (REV 5:11 REV 7:4-8) WHO WILL PREACH JESUS.
• IN THE TRIBULATION PERIOD, THERE WILL BE AN ANGEL THAT WARNS THE EARTH OF DESTRUCTION AND JUDGMENT. (REV 8:13)
• IN THE TRIBULATION PERIOD, THERE WILL BE TWO WITNESSES THAT PROCLAIM REPENTANCE. (REV 11:3)

• APPLICATION AND REVIEW OF THE END TIMES :
• WHAT SHOULD BE THE CHRISTIAN’S RESPONSE TO THESE SIGNS?
• NO FEAR
• BE INVOLVED
• BE INFORMED
• LIVE RIGHTEOUSLY AS AN EXAMPLE
• STAY CLOSE TO THE LORD. 

THE SIGN	SCRIPTURE
FALSE CHRIST’S DECEIVING MANY	MAT 24:5,11
APOSTASY OR FALLING AWAY OF BELIEVERS	2THE 2:3
SCOFFERS	2PET 3:3-4
WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS NATION AGAINST NATION = ETHNIC GROUPS KINGDOM AGAINST KINGDOM = POLITICAL GROUPS	MAT 24:6
FAMINE AND WATER SHORTAGE	MAT 24:7 JOE 1:20
PESTILENCE (INSECTS, DISEASE)	MAT 24:7
EARTHQUAKES TSUNAMIS STORMS AIR POLLUTION	MAT 24:7 LUK 21:25 ROM 8:22 AMO 8:9
SIGNS IN THE HEAVENS	LUK 21:11
CHRISTIAN PERSECUTION	MAT 24:9-10
SIN AND WIDESPREAD CRIME PORNOGRAPHY AND MORAL DECAY GOVERNMENT AND BUSINESS CRIME	MAT 24:12 NAH 3:5-6 2TIM 3:1-9
WORLD-WIDE EVANGELISM	MAT 24:14
AN OUT-POURING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT	JOE 2:23-28
SIGNS THAT RELATE TO ISRAEL THE FIG TREE A RETURN TO THE LAND IN 1948 POSSESSION OF JERUSALEM 1967 THE DAYS OF NOAH AND LOT	MAT 24   MAT 24:38-39 LUK 17:28-29

HOMEWORK
A STUDY OF THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH
THIS IS A SELF-STUDY. PLEASE DO NOT SEND HOMEWORK ANSWERS TO THE TEACHER FORCORRECTION.

• APPLICATION OF THE STUDY OF THE SIGNS OF THE END TIMES:
• WHEN YOU SEE THE SIGNS OF THE END TIMES EVIDENT IN THE WORLD TODAY, WHAT IS YOUR REACTION AND WHAT SHOULD IT BE?
• READ JAM 5:8
• LUK 21:28, 31, 34

• PREPARATION FOR STUDY OF “THE RAPTURE”:
• SET ASIDE ALL YOUR PRE-CONCEIVED THOUGHTS ON THE RAPTURE. READ THE FOLLOWING SCRIPTURES. AFTER EACH ONE, WRITE WHAT YOU LEARN ABOUT THE RAPTURE (ESPECIALLY IN REGARDS TO “WHEN” IT WILL OCCUR).
• 1COR 15:51-54

• 1THE 4:13-5:9

• 2THE 2:1-12

• MEMORY VERSE: 1COR 15:54