2007-2013 Tribulation now?
We are told plainly in Scripture not to set dates for Christ's Second Coming, and we are given several reasons for that. Firstly, no man knows the day or hour of Christ's return, nor the angels in heaven, but the Father only. Those are the words of the Son of God, and yet men continue to try and set dates for Christ's return. Why?
Mark 13:32-33 But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.
Acts 1:6-7 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.
Secondly, because we are not told the day and hour of Christ's return, it behoves us to watch and be ready at all times. This principle is laid out in several of Christ's parables, of the five wise and foolish virgins, and again in the parable of the wise steward. If we knew the time of Christ's coming we might be inclined to grow cold, forgetting what Christ originally commanded us to do which was to "occupy till I come", Luke 19:13, not "occupy when I come". Like Christ, we must work "while it is day" (John 9:4), and always be doing our Father's business (Luke 2:49).
Luke 12:45-46But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken; The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.
With that said, we must be extremely careful when it comes to prophecy. The Lord has a unique sense of timing, and sometimes like Abraham, anticipation can give way to haste, and soon we start planning our lives around prophecies we have created in our imaginations, instead of relying on God to fulfil His will. I know, I have done that with some promises God gave me, and I made a mess of things. If prophecy encourages me to keep looking up, if it encourages me to long for Christ's coming again, for which every believer is promised a special reward (2nd Timothy 4:8), then prophecy is profitable. But if I start relying on prophecy being fulfilled when I want it to be fulfilled, instead of relying on God, then we have gone too far.
But over one third of the Bible is prophetic material, and the Lord does encourage us to study into prophecy. 1st Peter 1:12 states that even the angels desired to look into the things that were revealed to the prophets regarding the death and resurrection of Christ, and when Moses and Elijah were with Christ on the mount, they too were intrigued by the events that were soon to follow (Luke 9:31). Revelation is also the only book of our Bible where a special blessing is promised to those who read it (Revelation 1:3), yet it is one of the most neglected books in our Bible today.
Jesus derided the Jewish leaders for their failure to recognise the Messiah. They missed His first coming, because they didn't know their Old Testament prophecy.
Luke 12:56 Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not discern this time?
Is it possible we could be making the same mistake they did? The Rapture of the Church used to be one of the most preached-on topics, now it is rarely mentioned. What are the signs Jesus gave that would show us when His coming was near? Jesus told his disciples a parable of the fig tree to illustrate when they would know His coming was near.
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.
The fig tree, of course, is a spiritual picture of Israel. We have seen Israel literally blossom in these "last days". From 1948, when Israel declared independence, to 1967, when Jerusalem saw the end of over 2500 years of Gentile rule.
Hosea 9:10 I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the firstripe in the fig tree at her first time: but they went to Baalpeor, and separated themselves unto that shame; and their abominations were according as they loved.
But what promise did God make to the generation that would see Israel reborn? That generation shall not pass until all these things are fulfilled. Friends, we are the generation that has seen Israel reborn, and Jerusalem's captivity ended. Therefore we know, without setting dates, that the Lord's coming is near at hand, and now is the time to get right with God.
I say all that before giving you the following information, for I don't know for certain whether the period from 2007 to 2013 will mark the tribulation period or not, and that you would know why I can never know that. But a lot of prophecy is being fulfilled, and even though the Lord could delay His coming if that was His will, the years 2007 to 2013 seem to be coming up again and again in the news media as prophetically significant. I will briefly list some of those reasons...
To see the reasons go to: http://www.evenmore.co.uk/prophecy/2007.html
Mark 13:32-33 But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.
Acts 1:6-7 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.
Secondly, because we are not told the day and hour of Christ's return, it behoves us to watch and be ready at all times. This principle is laid out in several of Christ's parables, of the five wise and foolish virgins, and again in the parable of the wise steward. If we knew the time of Christ's coming we might be inclined to grow cold, forgetting what Christ originally commanded us to do which was to "occupy till I come", Luke 19:13, not "occupy when I come". Like Christ, we must work "while it is day" (John 9:4), and always be doing our Father's business (Luke 2:49).
Luke 12:45-46But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken; The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.
With that said, we must be extremely careful when it comes to prophecy. The Lord has a unique sense of timing, and sometimes like Abraham, anticipation can give way to haste, and soon we start planning our lives around prophecies we have created in our imaginations, instead of relying on God to fulfil His will. I know, I have done that with some promises God gave me, and I made a mess of things. If prophecy encourages me to keep looking up, if it encourages me to long for Christ's coming again, for which every believer is promised a special reward (2nd Timothy 4:8), then prophecy is profitable. But if I start relying on prophecy being fulfilled when I want it to be fulfilled, instead of relying on God, then we have gone too far.
But over one third of the Bible is prophetic material, and the Lord does encourage us to study into prophecy. 1st Peter 1:12 states that even the angels desired to look into the things that were revealed to the prophets regarding the death and resurrection of Christ, and when Moses and Elijah were with Christ on the mount, they too were intrigued by the events that were soon to follow (Luke 9:31). Revelation is also the only book of our Bible where a special blessing is promised to those who read it (Revelation 1:3), yet it is one of the most neglected books in our Bible today.
Jesus derided the Jewish leaders for their failure to recognise the Messiah. They missed His first coming, because they didn't know their Old Testament prophecy.
Luke 12:56 Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not discern this time?
Is it possible we could be making the same mistake they did? The Rapture of the Church used to be one of the most preached-on topics, now it is rarely mentioned. What are the signs Jesus gave that would show us when His coming was near? Jesus told his disciples a parable of the fig tree to illustrate when they would know His coming was near.
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.
The fig tree, of course, is a spiritual picture of Israel. We have seen Israel literally blossom in these "last days". From 1948, when Israel declared independence, to 1967, when Jerusalem saw the end of over 2500 years of Gentile rule.
Hosea 9:10 I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the firstripe in the fig tree at her first time: but they went to Baalpeor, and separated themselves unto that shame; and their abominations were according as they loved.
But what promise did God make to the generation that would see Israel reborn? That generation shall not pass until all these things are fulfilled. Friends, we are the generation that has seen Israel reborn, and Jerusalem's captivity ended. Therefore we know, without setting dates, that the Lord's coming is near at hand, and now is the time to get right with God.
I say all that before giving you the following information, for I don't know for certain whether the period from 2007 to 2013 will mark the tribulation period or not, and that you would know why I can never know that. But a lot of prophecy is being fulfilled, and even though the Lord could delay His coming if that was His will, the years 2007 to 2013 seem to be coming up again and again in the news media as prophetically significant. I will briefly list some of those reasons...
To see the reasons go to: http://www.evenmore.co.uk/prophecy/2007.html
posted by Sinner saved by grace at 8:02 AM
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