The Imminent Return of Christ
The coming of the Lord is at hand. Never have I seen changes happen so
drastically and so quickly in all of my life.
What is one of the most remarkable signs that Jesus is soon
to return? In one word: Jerusalem. Jerusalem was a forgotten city of
history.
All of the prophecies
concerning it seemed impossible to ever come to pass. It seemed so absurd to think the world would ever be concerned
again about Jerusalem.
Since the first century until recently Jerusalem did not matter to the
nations of the world. It seemed so unfeasible
that the prophecies could be fulfilled that theologians interpreted them
to mean something else. The Catholic Church came up with the
“replacement theology,” which teaches that the church replaces Jerusalem and Israel.
The reformers accepted this teaching.
Why?
Again, it seemed so hopeless that they could ever be fulfilled.
Even Martin Luther believed this teaching. Most mainline denominations
teach that Israel is replaced by the church, that God has no further plans for Israel and Jerusalem.
Mark Twain, in his book Innocents
Abroad, wrote that Jerusalem was a forgotten city that no one would want
it.
This was written in the latter half of the nineteenth century. He said that
it was a place of desolation.
This reminds us of what Jesus said about it. Luke 13:35 (KJV) Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you,
Ye shall not see me, until the time
come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the
Lord.
But this would only be until just before He returns. According to the prophets Jerusalem would be
the focus of all nations in the last days, as it is now. Leaders of the world believe that there
cannot be peace until the “Jerusalem question” is settled. Israel has controlled the city since
1967.
Israel had not controlled it since
587 B.C. Twenty-five hundred years
passed before Israel regained the control of Jerusalem.
The Muslim nations say that Israel must give it up. Their sacred “Dome of the Rock”
is there. The Jews say that they will never leave.
.The nations of the world want Israel to give it up. President Obama has stated that the
“Palestinians” should have it.
Notice what the prophet Zechariah said about it
Zechariah 12:2, 3 (KJV) Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round
about, when they shall be in the
siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. 3 And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people:
all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the
people of the earth be gathered together against it.
Joel tells us that the nations of the world will gather
against Israel and Jerusalem.
Joel 3:1,2 (KJV) For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall
bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,
2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley
of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people
and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land
God said that He would bring them back from captivity, that they would be
in the land and that they would control Jerusalem.
This has been fulfilled in my lifetime. Now, we see the world turning against Israel. Ahmadinejad, the leader of Iran is developing nuclear weapons
and says that he will use them against Israel. He is in for a surprise. The Lord God Almighty will defend Jerusalem. See Zechariah 12:4
God said that He chose Jerusalem to place His name
there. See 2 Chronicles 6:6. When it seems like Israel will be destroyed
the Lord Jesus will come and fight for them.
Zechariah 12:9 (KJV) And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the
nations that come against Jerusalem.
Zechariah 14:1-4 (KJV) Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil
shall be divided in the midst of thee.
2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city
shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished;
and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of
the people shall not be cut off from the city. 3 Then shall the LORD go forth,
and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives,
which is before Jerusalem on
the east…
Everywhere I go in the world there is a feeling of uncertainty, a feeling
that something drastic is about to happen.
Those of us who believe in Jesus and have
committed our lives to Him know what it is.
He is soon to come! Even so,
come Lord Jesus!
David Fuller International Ministries, Inc.
P.O. Box 3082
Waco, Texas 76707
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