Life of Christ Lesson 138: Olivet Discourse - Part VIII {Parable of the Fig Tree}

Lord's presentation of his Olivet discourse,

he knew that his disciples were probably

wondering when all the things he had been predicting,

all the labor-pain signs of false Christ

and rumors of wars, famines, pestilences, earthquakes,

and the great tribulation signs of unprecedented persecution

and massive worldwide deception,

a worldwide love of sin and a growing coldness toward God

and the things of God, and then the worldwide preaching

of the gospel, the kingdom, as well as the specific

end time signs of the abomination of desolation

and all the cataclysmic changes

that would be going on in the heavenly luminary bodies

and the appearance of the final son of man.

They've just heard about all these things,

so in their minds, they're thinking, when?

When are these things going to happen?

And in order to answer their unverbalized question,

they didn't ask him when, although back in verse three,

they had asked when these things would happen,

but then, of course, they were speaking of the destruction

and the desolation of the temple and Jerusalem.

But now, after hearing all these things about his second coming,

they're thinking, when?

When, Lord, when are these going to happen?

And so, he gives them a parable, which is commonly known

as the parable of the budding fig tree.

This is to essentially answer their when question,

which you will find out as we study the parable,

he doesn't really answer.

He doesn't really tell them when this will happen.

He basically says, you know, it's only for the father to know.

Even the angels and the sun does not know,

at this point in time when he gave the parable.

But that's what we're gonna look at this morning,

primarily, is gonna be our look at the budding fig tree parable.

If you look again at your outline for the Olivet Discourse,

which is toward the beginning of your books,

page seven, Roman, numeral seven,

we are on part three of our basic outline,

which is called the sermon, and underneath part three,

we have already discussed his prophetic,

the Lord's prophetic announcement of Jerusalem's destruction.

We did that long ago when we looked at her destruction in 70 AD,

and then we just last week completed our look at part B,

the Lord's panoramic account of the end times.

And today we're going to cover part C, you see that?

Entitled parabolic answer to the end time.

And then we're even going to Lord willing.

I don't get to sidetrack.

We're gonna move into part D,

preparation, advancements, or warnings.

He gives a number of warnings for the end times.

But let's begin by looking at Matthew 24,

verses 32 to 35, his parabolic answer to the end time,

and the parable of the budding fig tree.

Matthew 24, starting in verse 32, he says,

now learn a parable of the fig tree.

When his branch is yet tender and puteth forth leaves,

you 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.

Heaven and earth shall pass away,

but my words shall not pass away.

End right there.

Now this parable, as I'm sure you know,

has become rather controversial.

And in part, that is because of those who have viewed it

as a complicated allegory rather than a very simple analogy.

One interpretation of this parable,

views the budding fig tree that we just read about

as symbolically representing Israel,

the nation of Israel.

And that interpretation,

how many of you have heard that interpretation?

Probably many of you have heard that

because it was made very popular in the early 70s,

primarily by a man named Hal Lindsey.

You've heard of Hal Lindsey?

Did you read the late great planet earth?

When I became a Christian in 1972,

somebody gave me that book,

and it was the first Christian book I ever read

other than the scripture.

And I got all excited about the Bible.

That was the book that got me excited about the Bible.

Hal Lindsey has been greatly used of the Lord

because he's big on prophecy.

And in that book, which I reread this week,

he does say that the budding fig tree in this parable

symbolizes the nation of Israel,

which in 1948 we know became a nation again.

He said that the fact that she is a nation

is the budding of the leaves on the fig tree,

which he interpreted as meaning,

therefore, the generation that saw the return

of Israel to the land would be the generation

that would experience what,

the rapture of the church.

And I know back when I read his book,

I didn't even know what the rapture of the church meant,

but I found out, you know, people taught me

and I found out and I got all excited

because I was born in 1949, you know,

so I thought this generation, that's my generation.

I'm not gonna have to die.

I'm gonna be of the generation that will experience the rapture

and people got caught all up and they're very excited.

It is exciting to always hope that we are the generation

that will experience the rapture.

But as I said, I reread his book this week.

And it's funny because he only mentions that

in one short paragraph, but people saw that

and they ran with it, you know?

And I don't know if he still holds to that interpretation

today, I don't know, but that's what made

this interpretation very popular.

Now, I handle Lindsay, I'm not putting the man down.

I disagree.

I know when I first taught Revelation the first time,

some of you that might buy the old books out there

for $5 a revelation, I did go with this interpretation

initially, but further study, I have discovered

that we can't use the parable that way

and I'm gonna explain that in a minute,

but I don't wanna put down Mr. Hellenzi

because he has been very much used by the Lord.

Everything else I read in his book, I agreed with 100%.

But he wrote another book in the 1980s

and it was called The 1980s, Countdown to Armageddon.

And I bought the book and I read it

and I shared it with my husband who was unsaved at the time

and I thought, well, this is really gonna appeal to him

because it was all about the arms build up and prophecy

and my husband was still in the Navy and flying

and I thought, this will appeal to him

and he read the book and got saved.

So I love Mr. Hellenzi.

Please don't misinterpret me to say,

I'm putting him down because of his interpretation of the.

Anyway, I'm gonna show you some problems that I have now

with further study about the fig tree representing Israel

back in the land and that she symbolizes the budding fig tree.

It presents a problem in one way

because what do we do with the other budding trees

that are in this parable?

Now, if you look at Matthew, you say,

what are you talking about?

It just is a parable of the fig tree.

But for this, we have to look over at Luke.

If you turn, remember now, the Olivet Discourse

has parallel passages in Mark and Luke.

So we have to consider all three of them

when we look at the Olivet Discourse

and over in Luke 21, if you look at verses 29 to 30,

it says this, Luke 21, verses 29 to 30,

it says, and he, Jesus spake to them

is disciples a parable to hold the fig tree and notice this.

And all the trees.

Jesus wasn't merely calling attention to the fig tree

as though it symbolized the nation of Israel.

Instead, he was calling attention

to all the trees that bud in the spring time.

Now, interpreters who talk about Israel

as being the budding fig tree don't mention these other trees

because they don't fit in the picture.

You know, what do we do with these other trees?

Do they, what do they symbolize?

Do they symbolize all the other nations,

the Gentile nations?

And does that mean that they're all returned

to their lands too, which doesn't really make sense

because Israel is the only amazing people

that ever returned to their land

after being out of the land for so many years.

So they don't usually mention these other trees.

Now, there's even a more problematic situation

with the interpretation that says the budding fig tree

represents Israel back in her land.

And that is something, and that something is

that such an interpretation assumes

that the budding fig tree is a sign for the church

to get ready for the what or the rapture.

It assumes that what is exciting for those believers

who witness the rest, who witnessed the restoration of Israel

is that they will be the generation,

like I got so excited about, you know, the generation

that will experience the rapture, the church.

However, the rapture of the church is not what is in view here.

And I have been saying that to you over and over again

as we've been looking at this Olivet Discourse.

The whole purpose for the discourse was to answer

the disciples' question regarding the signs

of the second phase of the second coming of the Lord.

You know, what shall be the signs of that coming

and the end of the age, the end of the Jewish age

of anticipating the Messiah,

which would begin immediately then the kingdom.

And this is a Jewish thing, you know, at this point,

the Jewish disciples who are being talked to by Jesus,

they don't know anything.

I mean, very little about the church at all.

The church is still a mystery.

Now, Jesus has mentioned the church to them twice,

but they don't really know what he's talking about.

You know, he says, Ecclesia, what's the church?

He, you know, it's not been explained.

He mentioned it once in Matthew 16,

when he's talking about church discipline.

And then he mentioned it again after Peter made his grand

statement, Thou art the Christ, the son of the living God.

And Jesus said, Thou art Peter and upon this rock,

I will build my church and the gates of hell

will not prevail against it.

And of course it was on Peter's statement about who Christ was

that he would build the church.

He won't build the church on Peter, the first Pope, you know.

But so he's mentioned the word church a couple times,

but other than that, they don't have a clue

what he's talking about.

They don't know anything really about the church.

And I can say this dogmatically,

they know absolutely nothing about the rapture.

They know nothing about the rapture.

He has not talked to them at all about that.

He won't until the night of his crucifixion

when he's in the upper room.

And they've celebrated the Passover.

And then he starts speaking in John chapter 14.

And he says, let not your heart be troubled.

You know, you believe in God, I believe also in me.

And in my father's house are many mansions.

And I go to prepare a place for you.

And if I go to prepare a place for you,

I will return again.

You know, if it were not so, I wouldn't told you this.

I'm going to come back again so that where I am,

there you might be also.

That's really the first time they hear about rapture.

And I don't think they really even grasp that at that time.

I'm sure they don't.

The rapture isn't really explained

until you get into the New Testament,

you know, in Corinthians and Thessalonians.

So they wouldn't understand if he was talking to them

about a sign for the rapture.

Furthermore, the church doesn't look for a sign.

We're not, you know, the rapture is imminent.

It could happen before we leave this morning.

There are no signs.

You know, the church looks for the Savior, not for signs.

Who does he give signs to?

Who are the ones that want the signs?

The Jews.

The signs are for the Jews.

And then, of course, also, you will know this whole thing

that he's talking about.

All the signs and events that he's been speaking of here

in the Olivet Discourse in these verses in chapter 24

are about the final seven-year week of Daniel's 70-weeks

prophecy.

And we have talked before about the fact

that the church is not in Daniel's 70-weeks prophecy, right?

Wasn't in the first 69 weeks

since she won't be in the last one week.

So this is all about Israel.

He gave signs that Israel will be able to recognize

as indicating the soon return of Hermesiah

and the establishment of his Messianic kingdom.

Furthermore, in interpreting this parable,

we need to consider the Lord's words of verse 33.

Are you back in Matthew 24?

Look at verse 33 where he said,

So likewise ye, when ye shall see,

what does it say next?

All these things, no, that it is near even at the doors.

Now, what is that phrase?

Is that singular or plural?

All these things, all these things is plural.

It's not singular.

Whereas the reinstatement of Israel as a nation

was a singular event.

So if the budding of the fig tree was meant to be interpreted

as the rebirth of the nation of Israel in 1948,

Jesus would have said,

so likewise ye, when ye shall see this thing,

no ye that it is near even at the doors.

So when the context of his statement here is considered,

we find that all these things can only refer back

to all the previous signs that he had just been predicting.

You know, the birth pain signs of Matthew 24 verses 4 to 8,

the great tribulation signs of verses 9 to 14,

the abomination of desolation sign of verse 15,

the unprecedented persecution and subsequent warning

to flee signs that were given in verses 16 to 28

and the darkening and the upheaval of the heavenly bodies

in verse 29.

These are the things or signs that will indicate

to the generation that sees them that it is near.

See that, that it is near.

Now it, in some of your Bibles, it may say that he is near.

And we know what it is from Luke's parallel account,

I should have kept reading over in Luke,

because in Luke 21, 31, he says that it's the kingdom

of God that is near.

When you see all these things, you can know

that the kingdom of God is near, even at the doors.

So whether your Bible says it is near or he is near,

that doesn't make any difference

because the king brings with him his kingdom.

So when the generation that sees all these previous signs,

he has been given, when they see those signs,

they can know that the king is at the door, right?

They're very near and with him the kingdom, right?

This says nothing about the rapture

because the church does not look for the labor pain signs

or the antichrist or the great tribulae, aren't you glad?

We don't look for the, for all these signs,

that we see their shadows coming before them,

but we don't have to look, I'm so glad.

We don't have to experience all those labor pain signs.

And you know, he said, when you see these signs,

know that it is near, even at the doors.

And time alone has already shown us that it's not really.

If it was the generation that saw the rebutting

of Israel in the land in 1948,

you know it's been on May 14th, it will be 62 years.

Do you think that would be at the doors?

I know, the Lord's timing is a little different,

but then he goes on to say,

this generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled.

And so once again, he was referring to these things

as plural, not singular.

And then remember, we have all the other trees

to be concerned about as well.

And the context forces us to refer to the sign events

that Jesus predicted would occur during the tribulation.

This generation refers therefore to those

who will be living during the end times.

Since the time of the tribulation is only how long?

Seven years, the generation of people who witness its events

will also witness the return of the Lord.

No matter how long you say that a generation is,

we know it is at least seven years long.

Now, people differ on what a generation is.

Some say it's 25 years because basically

that's how old a person is when they get married

and have children, you know, roughly around 25.

And the next generation begins.

I don't know if there's really any support for that one

in the scripture.

Others say that a generation based on scripture

is 40 years long, which I can understand

because they were in the wilderness wandering

for how many years, 40 until those who didn't believe

they could go in and take the land

until that generation died off.

And then remember Jesus said that the generation

that crucified him would suffer the destruction

of Jerusalem in the temple.

God would have his day of vengeance on that generation

that rejected his son.

And we know from the time he began his public ministry

at the age of 30 until the destruction of Israel

in 70 AD was how many years, 40.

So a generation looks like biblically it could be 40 years.

Right, 40 years.

And if that's the case,

Israel would have been 40 years old

back in the land in what year, 1988?

Well, that year came and gone and the generation

didn't see the rapture of the church, did she?

I don't know if anybody that says the generation

is 50 years long, but even if it is,

that too has passed now.

And some say a generation is 60 years.

I'm not sure where you would get the scripture for that,

but even that has passed now because in 2008,

Israel experienced her 60th birthday.

Now, one that I like is 70 years.

You know, it says in a man shall live three score and 10.

You know, it's average age and that perhaps could be a generation.

I do get excited about that because in 2018,

Israel will experience her 70th year.

So perhaps if there is some hidden meaning,

we can't dogmatically take this parable

and say it definitely teaches a sign that because Israel's

back in the land, that means that like my generation,

we'll see the rapture, but if included in that,

the Lord is giving a mysterious little hint to us.

Maybe it is 70 years.

You know, the Lord has done a lot of things

with Israel in 70s.

If you study her history, you know,

she was in captivity in Babylon for how many years?

How many elders were there assigned to help Moses 70?

What was Daniel's prophecy in chapter nine?

The 70 weeks prophecy that would be all about Israel

and God would finish his program for Israel in 70 weeks of years.

And what year did he destroy Jerusalem?

70 AD.

And I could go on and you know the Bible is seven is God's number.

And the book of Revelation is full of seven.

Seven seals, seven trumpet, seven bowls.

And so 2018 would be a very interesting year

for the Lord to complete his program with Israel.

It would be an interesting year for him to return

at the end of Israel's 70th year, wouldn't it?

And then if the rapture of the church happened seven years

before that, you know what year that is?

2011, that's right around the corner, isn't it?

So, you know, I don't want you to all get saying,

oh no, it might not be our generation, you know,

it could be, it could very well be

in the way the world situation is stacking up.

My goodness, you hear the latest about Russian, Iran

and everything they're planning?

I mean, we're just right on the precipice.

So, I have this little theory, okay, about next year.

If next year comes and goes, I'll be very disappointed,

but I'll have to go back to the scripture

and come up with something else.

And I know no date setting, Catherine.

You know, I'll talk about that a little bit later

this morning too, about that date setting business.

Anyway, all the signs of Matthew 24

that the Lord has given, will easily be experienced

by one generation, however long you interpret a generation

to be, you know, if it is that seven,

those people living in the seven-year tribulation,

which is the proper interpretation, really,

dogmatically for this parable.

It's a simple and reasonable interpretations.

And after all, the Lord gave parables

so that his men would easily understand a spiritual truth.

You know, he gave something from nature

that would help them in understanding

a deeper spiritual truth.

And if he was talking to his men here

about the reinstatement of Israel in 1948

and the rapture of the church, surely wouldn't be clear to them.

They wouldn't have a clue, you know,

as far as their concern, Israel's in the land

when he's talking to them.

So, you know, parables were to help believers.

So, the simple interpretation is one

that even a child could understand.

When a fig tree brings forth its leaves in late spring,

I looked at my fig trees and they're not,

there are no leaves on them yet

because they don't get leaves until late spring.

But when they do, what do you know?

What can even a child know?

Summer is right around the corner.

It's like, it's so obvious to us now

when we, isn't it beautiful?

Oh, I love Bradford pear trees.

They're one of my favorite trees

because they're so perfect.

Every one of them is so perfectly shaped.

And they're beautiful every season.

But when we see the Bradford pear blooming,

when we see the daffodils coming up,

what can we assume?

Spring is right, you know, right around the corner.

Spring is here and summer is right around the corner.

And that's, you know, that's the truth,

even a child can understand.

And that's the simple lesson from nature

that he intended to assure, that he used

to assure his Jewish listeners,

especially those living during the tribulation,

that their winter of distress,

their time of Jacob's trouble,

would soon come to an end

and their summer of national blessing

in the millennial kingdom would be about to begin.

So there's no basis from this parable

for thinking that because we have now seen

the restoration of the nation of Israel,

that it will be, you know, those of my generation,

which includes all of you that came after me as well,

that we will experience the rapture of the church.

But in saying that, let me clarify

that it doesn't mean that the rapture

won't take place during my generation.

I happen to believe it will.

And I hope so.

Because one of the greatest signs,

and it's not really a sign, I guess,

but it is a sign.

I don't know what to call it,

but is the fact that Israel is back in the land?

You know, I know those who were born before 1948,

believe that they could be the nation

that would experience the rapture.

And the Lord intended that,

because he's wanted every generation

since the disciples to have that hope before them.

He's always set a hope before every people.

You know, all the people in the Old Testament days

had the continual hope that the Messiah would come,

that, you know, and the women all desired

to be the mother of the Messiah, didn't they?

There was that continual hope in the Old Testament.

In the church age, we have,

and he wants us to have the continual hope,

the blessed hope of the rapture

that it could be at any time.

And even for those in the tribulation,

they have the continual hope of his second coming.

And so, you know, he gives that hope

so that we'll all do what?

Be ready and waiting and keep ourselves pure

so that we won't be ashamed at his coming.

But having said that,

then I also have to back up and say that really,

the nation of Israel had to be back in the land

before the rapture could take place.

Because how could the Antichrist confirm a covenant

with the people that were scattered everywhere?

There'd be no nation to sign that covenant of death with.

And you read back some of the Bible scholars,

several hundred years ago,

and they were all predicting ahead of time

that Israel would come back to the land.

They knew that based on prophecy

that she had to come back into the land.

You know, there can't be an abominations

of desolation set up in the holy place

where the Jews are resacrificing,

you know, have their own temple

without Israel being back in the land.

So the fact that she is back in the land

is one of the greatest indicators

that the rapture could be right around the corner.

You know, it's one of the most magnificent miracles

that's ever happened.

You don't see hit tights.

Do you, had you seen any hit tights around

or Jebus sites or Amorites?

Or I do see a lot of parasites.

It's always cool.

Whoa, boy, do we.

But that's a miracle that the Jewish people,

no other people has ever come, once they are scattered,

they amalgamate, they intermary and they disappear.

It is a miracle that God has kept the Jewish people separate

and has brought them back.

And Israel is now a nation again.

And the Hebrew language has resurrected from the dead.

That's a miracle.

Never is an ancient.

People don't go around speaking ancient Egyptian anymore.

You know, especially if a language was dead

and nobody was speaking it.

All those Jews that were scattered to the other countries,

they didn't keep speaking Hebrew.

They started speaking German or English

or whatever country they went to, Russian.

But when they came back as a nation,

they all again learned Hebrew.

It's a miracle.

So it is exciting to think about,

especially with the world,

seen the way it is today.

You know, God may God, Russia, Iran,

lining up all the nations of European Union,

this country, you know, now we have federally funded abortion.

It makes me not even want to pay my taxes.

I mean, that goes against my principles.

What do we do?

Render under Caesar, the things that are Caesars.

But what about when they go against?

So I guess we still have to pay our taxes,

but it upsets me a lot.

I'm sure it upsets every one of you.

Terrible direction we're going, but I could be out of here soon.

Well, then to remove any doubt whatsoever

as to the validity of his words regarding the many events

that he had just been predicting.

What has he been talking about?

His second coming, okay?

So look at this verse in light of what he has just been talking about.

He's talking about his second coming.

He said in verse 35,

Heaven and Earth shall pass away,

but my words shall not pass away.

Two things to point out about that.

Number one, whose words won't pass away?

He said, my words, can you imagine someone getting up

in front of a crowd of people and saying,

everything is going to dissolve.

Everything is going to disappear one day,

not only this Earth, but the heavens.

But my words never will pass away.

Do you know what that's a claim to?

Deity, you know, there's so many claims he made to deity.

Sometimes we just take it for granted,

we miss something like this.

He said my words, he didn't say God's words,

he said his own words.

That's a definite claim to deity.

And then what has he been talking about?

He's been talking about his second coming.

Now, you can go to a lot of churches today

and you will be shocked at how few ever talk about

the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

You know, I think it should be one of the main topics today

that you hear from the pulpit, don't you?

But go to some churches, go to your church,

ask your pastor, ask your minister, ask your reverend,

ask your priest, whatever you call him.

Do you believe in the second coming of Jesus Christ?

You believe in the rapture?

You might be shocked.

There's a lot who don't.

Or they just believe in some general something, you know,

way off in the future, some general resurrection

and yet a Lord will spiritually come

and we'll all go into the eternal kingdom,

no literal kingdom here on Earth now.

But he has been talking about literal things

and he says, you can bank on it.

I am coming again.

All these things I have just said

are going to come to pass.

God's predetermined program for Israel

and his predetermined program for unbelievers,

earth dwellers, his program for the satanic trinity,

his program for the tribulation saints

and the Gentile nations,

all these things will come to pass just exactly

as he has proclaimed it.

And he knew, he said this because he knew

that scoffers would arise,

not only back in his day, were there scoffers,

but there have been scoffers all along,

especially today, there are scoffers,

people who will say, where is the promise of his coming?

You people, you nutcases, you have been saying

that he's gonna come back for years now.

We heard your great, great grandmother saying

that he was gonna come back and here you know,

where's the promise of his coming

for since the father's fell asleep?

All things continue as they were from the beginning.

You know what those people are called?

Uniformitarianists.

They believe that all things continue uniformly, you know,

as they were from the beginning,

we don't believe in cataclysmic changes.

All things continue as they were from the beginning

of creation.

Of course, that's in second Peter,

three versus three and four.

And what cataclysmic upheaval do they forget about

because they don't believe in it?

The flood, the great flood.

They say everything continues as it was from the beginning.

That's not true.

Everything at the beginning was wonderful.

Then there was the fall and then there was the flood.

And there are gonna be all these catastrophes.

You know, I think people more and more are starting

to see that maybe there is some great catastrophe coming.

I know lately there's been an awful lot of programs

on the history channel and some of the other channels.

I just saw one this past week about how people,

you can see how people are wondering more and more

how long this world can last.

And that's why this massive space program

because I think something could happen to this earth.

So they have to go out there and find another place

that people can live on.

But they say, well, what if the sun does run out of hydrogen

and experience a nova, you know, it burns out?

What if we do blow up each other up with a nuclear war

and or what if some giant meteor comes from outer space

and hits the planet?

You know, so.

But anyway, he knew the Lord knew that people would come along

and they would laugh at the prospect

of such drastic changes occurring on earth,

on earth whose stability they had grown a custom

to over the centuries.

You know, people will laugh at us as they laughed at Noah

when we say, even the rapture of the church,

go out there and talk to an unbeliever

at the grocery store and tell them,

you know, one day I'm just going to disappear.

I'm going to be and then I'm not going to be

and my clothes are going to be laying here.

What do you think they're going to think of you?

I know the first time I heard it,

I thought that was just really a little bit freaky.

And what about, you know, talking about the sun

and the moon growing dark?

You know, one day Al Gore is going to be proven right.

There is going to be global warming

because the sun is going to increase

seven times in its intensity.

But the Lord knew that they would laugh at the thought

of a universal blackout and the divine sign

in the sky appearing, you know, for all the world to see

and an angel circling the globe,

preaching the gospel of the kingdom.

He knew that many would contemptuously reject

the serious predictive signs that he had given

in the Olivet discourse, you know, man setting up

an image of himself.

Hmm, that's not so far fetched.

I could really actually, and the image speaking,

of course, with modern computers.

It could do anything.

Have you ever gone to Disney World

and seen Abraham Lincoln talking to you?

That's pretty amazing.

It's like he's right there.

He knew that men would consider them absurd

and improbable just as the people of Noah's Day,

you know, had scorned Noah's preaching

about a flood.

And this is why in verse 35,

he, very emphatically, the Lord made the statement,

which essentially says to all scoffers and all doubters,

it doesn't matter what you people think.

You know, it doesn't matter that you laugh at my children

who are trying to tell you the truth

and warn you ahead of time that all these things are coming

and that you need to get yourself right with the Lord

and that you need to get saved.

So you won't be left behind and have to go

through all of these horrible judgments.

It doesn't matter how much you heartily laugh

at my words or my people's words to you.

My words are going to be fulfilled.

And they're not gonna pass away unaccomplished.

You know, his word does not return unto him, boy, does it?

One thing you can bank on is that the Lord is coming again.

It's true.

The Bible predicted his first coming.

It came to pass, didn't it?

You don't see anybody laughing at that.

There are some really weird people that say Jesus never came,

but his history proves he did.

You can prove a historical Jesus

that really did live on this world, in this world.

And they don't even deny his miracles

in that he was that they might deny his resurrection.

But he did come, as he said, with the first coming

and he is coming again, as he's promised

with his second coming.

But as I'm sure you know,

we live in a very unbelieving world.

Not to say people don't believe, they believe.

They believe in everything except the truth, don't they?

Anything and everything.

They'll believe Al Gore before they believe Jesus Christ

in the scripture.

But this isn't anything new.

As I just mentioned, you know, people know his day.

They were also unbelieving, weren't they?

And the people of the time of the Lord's first coming

were unbelieving.

They were very religious people.

But nonetheless, they were unbelieving.

They didn't really believe in God

or they would have believed in his son.

They would have recognized his son.

You know, we look back at that and we scratch our heads

and we say, how could they have missed it?

They had everything they needed.

They had Daniel's 70 weeks prophecy.

They could have known the time of his coming.

Didn't the Lord tell him even where Jesus would be born

in Bethlehem, Ephraim?

The wise men knew enough to follow the star.

Why couldn't they have followed up on all that?

And if they did miss his birth,

what about when he was 30 and he suddenly appeared

in the temple, which is what Malachi said would happen?

The Messiah when he came would suddenly come in here

was this guy from nowhere and he cleansed

the temple single handedly and then he proceeds

to perform all these amazing miracles

which nobody ever denied.

He had all the pedigree, everything fit together

and we say, how could they have missed him?

And then we look at the people living in the tribulation.

We say the same thing, don't you?

How can they miss all these things?

First of all, we're out of here

and then how are they gonna explain that fantastic mystery

and all these hundreds of, maybe millions,

I hope millions of people disappear

and then everything comes to pass

just like the book of Revelation said

and I hope that many of them will remember

what we have told them would come to pass

and they see it like reading their daily newspapers

oh, there's the abomination of desolation

how can they miss it?

How can they not fall on their knees and repent?

And we say, how can you know why?

Why there's always been believers

and always unbelievers and always will be

because they don't believe this book?

They deny the truth of this book.

They'll believe everything and anything

but they won't believe this book.

They scoff at this book and well that's nothing new

though all the world may doubt yet his word will be fulfilled.

Now let's move quickly to preparation admonishment

for the end times and in this section

I think I have five warnings that the Lord gave.

There's a flooded monishment,

there's the thief admonishment

which will probably be as far as we get today.

There's an evil servant admonishment

which I'll probably just have you read in your notes

because we already did discuss that admonishment

he had given it one other time earlier

in the book of Luke and we discussed it

so I'm not worried if we don't get to that today

but then when we come back Lord willing in two weeks

and I hope you all have a wonderful resurrection day break

and don't forget what it's all about.

It's not about Easter bunnies and painted eggs.

I don't care how you celebrate the holiday

but don't forget what it's all about.

The resurrection had nothing to do

with chocolate covered bunnies.

I just gave my grandson one yesterday.

I don't know how did bunnies get,

how do bunnies lay eggs?

Yeah, my bunnies, I don't have bunnies,

chickens lay eggs in my book but anyway.

But the whole reason of course

and you wanna make sure you teach this to your children

is about the fantastic resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ,

the only one who ever defeated death and the grave

is Jesus Christ, he's not in his tomb, it is empty.

He has risen and because he lives we too, we'll live

as long as he is your Lord and Savior.

But when we do come back we're gonna talk

about the sleeping porter admonishment

and also the daily care admonishment

and then we're gonna move on into the parable

of the 10 versions, not versions, versions.

But let's look now at the flood admonishment and for this

I wanna read Matthew 24 verses 36 to 42.

Jesus says,

Matthew 24, 36,

but of that day and hour knoweth no man,

no not the angels of heaven, but my father only.

But as the days of Noah were,

so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

For as in the days that were before the flood

they were eating and drinking,

marrying and giving and marriage until the day

that Noah entered into the ark.

And do not until the flood came and took them all away.

So shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

For shall then shall to be in the field,

the one shall be taken and the other left.

To women shall be grinding at the mill,

the one shall be taken and the other left.

Watch therefore for you know not what hour

your Lord death come.

Although there are going to be numerous observable

indicators as to the return of the Lord Jesus Christ,

yet Jesus himself says here in verse 36

that the exact time is of his return

as far as the what and the what.

Yes, the day and the hour are not known to any man

or to any angel.

God alone, Jesus says,

God alone knows when that day and when that hour will be.

Now of course he's talking to his disciples.

They want to know when are all these things going to happen

and he's saying no one knows but God.

Not the angels of heaven and you know what else he includes?

Himself and you don't see this in Matthew.

But if you go over to Mark 1332,

he says that even he, at that time,

did not know the precise day and hour of his return.

In Mark 1332 it says neither the Son.

Now some people have taken that statement of Jesus

and run with it wild and they say here you go,

this proves that Jesus was not God.

He did not know the hour or day of his return.

Only God knew and that proves that he's not God, okay?

And they've really gone wild with this statement.

Now what we have to understand is that Jesus made this statement

at this point in time to his disciples

when he is still in his human body.

He was referring to his human knowledge,

which he willingly limited at the time of his incarnation.

Although he was fully God, a hundred percent God

and fully man, a hundred percent man,

yet Jesus voluntarily restricted his use

of certain divine attributes when he took upon himself

a human body.

He didn't lose his divine attributes.

He merely laid them aside willingly

and did not use them or manifest them

except as he was directed by his father.

He did always those things that his father wanted him to do.

He always did the will of his father.

At this point in time therefore he tells his men

that even he did not know when that future day would be.

Of course we know it's been some 2000 years now

and he's saying only my father knows when that time will be.

But I want you to see something interesting.

If you'll flip over now to Acts chapter one,

Acts chapter one and look with me at verse six.

This is after the Lord's crucifixion,

his death, burial, resurrection,

and now he is about to say his final words

to his men before he ascends back up into heaven.

Now his disciples are still all hung up on the kingdom,

aren't they?

They want the kingdom.

They're expecting the kingdom at any moment in time.

Even though they know he's about to leave them

because he's told them in his upper room discourse,

I'm going to be leaving you.

I'm going to send the Holy Spirit,

but they still think the kingdom's coming.

And so what do they ask him in verse six?

When they therefore were come together,

they asked of him saying, Lord,

will thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?

You know, they're thinking, okay, you're going to go up,

but are you going to come right back down

and set up the kingdom up you going down you come?

And here we go, kingdom time.

And how does he answer them?

Look at what he answers.

He says unto them, it is not for you to know the times

or the seasons which your father has put in his own power.

You notice this time he doesn't say it's not for me to know

because now he's in his glorified body.

He's resurrected.

And now he does know he's fully, again,

got all the divine attributes.

He doesn't include himself here saying that I don't know.

He just says it's not for you to know.

This then when back to Matthew is why he stated

that he didn't know the day or hour,

he would return because he's still in his humanity.

Now of course the various signs he had just described

in the earlier part of his discourse

will allow those who are living in the tribulation

and who understand and interpret those signs.

They read the Bible, they're the saved people.

It will, all these signs will enable them

to know that they are definitely living in the last days.

And some of the more specific signs

like the abomination of desolation

will even allow them to calculate down to the year

and to the month and to the week of his return.

Wouldn't you say, I mean think about it.

He says when the abomination of desolation

is set up in the holy place,

that's in the middle point of the tribulation.

That's at the three and a half year mark.

And from there to the Lord's return will be how many days?

1,260 days, three and a half years.

So I was thinking because I've been cursed

with an analytical mind.

It really, it is a curse.

I can't lay, my husband can lay his head down at night

and go instantly to sleep,

but their Catherine is analyzing everything

that happened during the day.

Everything she's read.

What about the children?

What about the grandchildren?

And analyzing this and that and I told them,

I've been cursed with an analytical mind.

He says, yes, you have been.

So as week, I'm analyzing, how can they not know the day

or the hour, well the hour I can understand

how they cannot know the hour when he would return, right?

But couldn't they calculate to the day?

If the Lord told him to be three and a half years,

1,260 days, if it was me, I'd be counting down the days

marking him off on my calendar.

Today is gonna be the day.

But then the little mind started analyzing

and I thought, well, you know,

when you set up an abomination,

that I'm ever gonna set up an abomination, I hope,

but if somebody sets up an abomination

and we do have an abomination today, by the way,

I can't help that.

I mean, it's just there, isn't it?

Abomination, we have, it's the truth.

We do have an abomination.

When you set up an abomination,

it doesn't happen in one day, doesn't,

they will have to go in, stop the sacrifices

that may take a little bit of time,

then whatever this figure, this image is that they build,

they'll build the, it'll take,

so maybe that people won't know the exact day

to start counting down 1,260 days.

Maybe setting that up will take a week.

Maybe it'll take a month.

I don't know.

And then I thought too, you know,

all the cataclysmic things that are gonna be happening,

especially in the vile judgments,

with the days maybe being shortened,

so that we don't have a 24 hour day.

Maybe the earth will be spinning faster.

Maybe daylight will not be 12 hours,

and maybe people with the earth,

off its, off its axis.

Maybe you won't be able to calculate the days accurately.

I don't know.

And then remember, he said, after the tribulation,

you'll see the sign of the man.

I thought, well, maybe they'll get to the 100, 200,

that 1,260th day,

and then there'll be a little pause of time,

and they won't know exactly the day your hour,

he will show up, but anyway,

I was analyzing all these things.

Now some people would just say, who cares, Catherine?

God knows, you know, but people,

somehow they won't be able to know the hour or the day.

But see, that's very specific,

because you could know the week.

You could maybe even know the end of the week.

You just won't know the hour and the day of his return.

And what is all that about?

The second come, you know what people tell me all the time

when I give them my little theory about the rapture?

They say, oh, Catherine, you can't set dates

because the scripture says you can't even know the hour

of the day, and I say to them, yes,

but that's not talking about the rapture.

That's talking about the second coming.

So let me do my little date thing, okay?

Just leave me alone.

If I'm right, none of us will care, will we?

If I'm wrong, then I'm wrong.

And I'll have to just go back to the drawing board.

Anyway, I'm not dogmatic about my date,

but I do have this very interesting theory.

And if you want to see me later, I'll tell you about it.

It's based on the Jewish feast days,

and it's based on the 70 years of Israel, okay?

Well, the Lord continued with his discourse

by comparing the days preceding his return

to the days of who?

Noah, verse 37, in both situations,

there will be, and there were numerous signs and warnings

given to the people as to the approaching end,

and the coming judgment, but in both situations,

Noah's day and the tribulation day,

the same attitude of unbelief prevailed, and will prevail.

Before the flood of Noah's day, a lot of strange things occurred.

There were a lot of signs to tell the people

that something was about to happen.

First of all, we discussed this last week.

Heenak was, and then he wasn't.

He was translated.

He just was raptured before the flood, right?

That was rather strange.

One day he was there, and the next day there

was this clothes laying there.

And he was the one who had named his son,

Methuselah, which means when he dies, it shall come.

Now to show you God's grace,

Methuselah was the man who lived to be the oldest ever

of any human being.

How many years did he live?

969 years.

God was, he's long suffering.

He was giving man all those 969 years

to pay attention to his signs.

You know, Enoch had been preaching to the people,

all those ungodly people.

We learned that from Jude, 14 and 15.

He'd been preaching for them to get themselves right.

And then, you know, he named his son, Methuselah,

and then Noah was preaching to the people

for how many years?

God, can you, do you know what a man of faith Noah was?

Have you ever stopped to think about Noah?

And what he went through, you talk about people's scoffing,

they must have thought that guy was just totally bananas.

He just was really off his rocker.

To be building an ark, nowhere near a big body of water,

and to be building it for 120 years,

and to be preaching to people all that time

about a coming judgment

when they had never even seen rain.

They'd never seen a thunderstorm.

They hadn't even seen a simple April shower

because the world was just moisturized by the dew of the ground,

you know, coming up.

And because the world was covered with that

like water vapor canopy.

And so everything was like a terrarium effect.

And here's this old guy saying, judgment is coming,

there's gonna be this flood, you know, prepare, prepare.

And he must have just been the laughing stock of the community,

but he kept on, kept on, kept on, didn't he?

What faith?

I'm sure.

Well, I don't, I don't think I would have continued, would you?

For a hundred, I'd say Lord, you know, after maybe 20 years,

25 years, this is ridiculous.

I don't think I'm gonna continue this little ark project here.

But then think about the people,

also had another very strange signs.

You talk about strange signs in the end times.

How would you like to see this?

All of a sudden, all these animals in twos

start migrating to the ark.

And up to little ramp they go into the ark.

You know, I was just people saying,

hmm, maybe no, it does know something we don't know.

This is really strange.

No one didn't go out and get them.

God just put in the animals of the migration thing

to go to Noah's ark.

And I believe they were all the babies of the species, you know,

and they got into the ark as babies.

And then he gave them even an extended period of grace

because once Noah and his family went into the ark

before the God shut the door,

how many days did he give them?

Extra, seven more days that they could have changed their mind.

By the end, I think I would have been a little bit curious

about why all the animals are in that ark

and their behaving, you know,

they're not killing one another.

And bunnies aren't laying eggs and chickens aren't hopping.

And oh, I get silly, but all those signs.

And then, you know, they could say to each other,

oh, my goodness, did you read today's abituary?

Methuselah died.

Remember what his name means?

Let's get in the ark.

But nobody did, did they?

They scoffed at Noah right up to the end

till the day the door was shut and who shut the door?

God shut the door.

What was it that kept people of the pre-flood day

from listening to either Enic or to Methuselah's name

or to the animals or to Noah?

And what was it that kept them from taking

heed of the various signs that God gave to them?

Yes, exactly.

It was their casual living, their day-to-day life.

They were more consumed with just the mundane things

of life, not mundane.

Eating is fun.

God admit me.

Eating and drinking and marrying and giving and marriage.

Even though Noah announced coming judgment

and offered people a way of escape,

people were just more concerned with their everyday course

of life to bother with his strange predictions

of something that they had never seen before,

occur in the world.

They shrugged him off as some kind of a religious fanatic

like they do with you and I.

We're just religious.

We're just out there, you know?

Far-right fanatics.

Bible thumpers, those born again, the born again crowd.

And it's going to be the same in the days of the tribulation.

Most people are going to shrug off the frantic warnings

of the 144,000 Jewish witnesses.

They'll say those guys are just your extreme.

They will really think the two mighty witnesses

are very strange indeed.

With blowing fire out of their mouth,

people probably wonder, how do they do that?

I wonder what magical trick they do to do that.

And all the tribulation saints who will try

to persuade their loved ones and friends of their need

to recognize the signs of the times

and prepare their hearts and souls for the Lord's return,

they'll be scoffed at.

It'll just be like the pre-flood days.

People will be so absorbed in partaking

in every kind of conceivable sin

and sin will be abundant and available.

You know, you could probably go to your local wall green

to pick up any kind of drug you want.

You'll all be free under the new health care form.

You know.

And evil won't be restrained anymore

by the presence of the Holy Spirit, the church.

They will, and they will ignore the warnings.

And they will ignore the many and varied signs.

And really, they'll readily believe in every

and any explanation for all the signs that they're given.

You know, they'll believe whatever Al Gore says to them

is why the planet is shaking, why there's so many earthquakes,

why there's so many diseases, you know,

everything will be explained to them

in logical scientific terms and they'll believe it.

They'll believe anything except the truth.

And so he said in the latter part of verse 39

that this is precisely how it was in Noah's day,

it's precisely how it will be

at the time of this coming of the Son of Man.

When the Lord on that unannounced day and hour

after the tribulation suddenly appears in this guy,

people everywhere are going to be caught off guard.

Men, he gives us a hypothetical situation here.

He says some men will be out working in the field

in one part of the world

and suddenly one will be taken.

Two women will be grinding at their meals

and suddenly what happens?

One will be taken.

Now, before I move on, I want to ask you a question.

How many have heard this passage of the scripture

right here taught to you about the rapture?

Yeah, probably most of us.

I know I have many, many times that this passage

has been used to speak about the rapture.

Two men out in the field, one's taken in the rapture

and the other one's left to go through the tribulation.

But let me tell you and remind you again here

that this, all of this, this, all of it discourse

is not about the church, it's not about the rapture.

As many have interpreted it to be.

Now post-tribulationists take this verse

or these two verses here and they use them

as their proof text

that the rapture of the church occurs

as part of the second coming, after the tribulation.

Now, I am a pre-tribulation rapture.

In other words, I believe with all of my heart

because based on scripture that the tribulation happens before,

I mean, the rapture happens before the tribulation.

Some people believe the rapture happens

in the middle of the tribulation.

Some people believe it happens five, six to the way

through the tribulation and others are called post-tribulation

as they believe that the rapture of the church

does not happen until the time of the Lord's second coming.

So he comes back, the church is raptured,

all the people are raptured,

and then they just turn around, come right back with it.

That's post-tribulation, and they use this verse.

They say, okay, the Lord has been talking

about his second coming and here,

two are in the field, one is taken.

So that proves we're right, a post-tribulation rapture.

Well, my little analytical mind was busy this last week

and I got to thinking about this,

now hang on and think with me through this, all right?

If the rapture of the church does not happen until

after the tribulation, that means that everyone saved

during those seven years, whether Jew or Gentile,

everyone saved will be raptured at the Lord's second coming.

They'll have their glorified bodies, right?

So who will be left on earth?

Only the unsaved in mortal bodies, right?

And they all perish.

Why would he have to have after he returns

the judgment of the sheep and goats?

All he'd have to have is the judgment of the goats

because all the sheep would have been resurrected

in their glorified bodies, right?

So you see, if that happened,

there would be no saved mortals left

to go into the millennial kingdom.

Therefore, all the Old Testament prophecies

about the millennial kingdom, about it being repopulated.

You know, Jesus ruling over literally a people.

One verse I think of is where, you know,

it says that the lion will lay down with the lamb

and it says that even your children can play in the snake pit,

not my child, my grandchildren won't play in the snake pit,

even in the millennial kingdom,

but you can let your children play in this thing?

No, but it says things.

I mean, none of that would be fulfilled, would it?

So that is a great proof for against a pre,

I mean, a post-tribulation rapture.

I hope you followed me on that.

But at the rapture, the exact opposite is gonna take place

as what we read here.

At the rapture, those who are taken are those who are saved

and they are taken where?

To be with Jesus in heaven,

where we then will stand before him at the judgment seat,

you know, Christ, the beam of seat.

While those who remain are those who have to go

through the seven years of tribulation.

However, here in Matthew 24,

verses 40 and 41, the situation is the opposite.

Those who are taken are taken in judgment.

We have to remember that Jesus compared the time

of his second coming in this passage

to the days of Noah and the flood.

It was the unbelievers of Noah's day

who were taken away by judgment through the flood.

And Noah and his family members were those

who remained on earth to repopulate it.

They're the ones who escaped judgment.

It will be the same at Christ's return.

Those who are taken are taken in judgment.

The ones left behind here are the good ones.

And I can give you a proof text for that.

You all say, oh, I'm not sure about that, Catherine.

Well, you know, we're talking about the second coming.

All right, the church isn't in here,

the rapture isn't in here.

But if you're still doubting me,

look over, would you at Luke 17?

Luke 17.

And I want you to look at verses 34 to 36.

Here again, now, if you like, if you look back at verse 27,

or 26, in Luke 17, look at verse 26.

It says, and as it was in the days of Noah,

so shall it also be in the days of the Son of Man?

They did eat and they drank.

They married wives, you know,

and they were given in marriage

until the day that Noah entered into the ark.

And he says, he'll be like the days of Lot.

And then go over to verse 34.

And he says, I tell you in that night,

there shall be two men in one bed.

Now, I always wonder why two men would be in one bed.

But then again, that does sound like, you know,

our day.

It says, the one shall be taken and the other shall be left.

And he says, two women shall be grinding together.

The one shall be taken and the other left.

Two men shall be in the field.

The one shall be taken and the other left.

And the disciples heard this and they said,

you know, what are you talking about, Lord?

Where are they taken?

Look at that, verse 37, and they answered and said into him,

where, Lord, the question they're asking is,

where are they taken, Lord?

Where?

And how does he answer them?

He says, where, so ever, the body is,

did there will the eagles be gathered together?

And in the parallel passage,

there's one in Matthew 2428 in Revelation 1970 to 21.

He talks about where the corpses are.

The vultures will be gathered.

So those taken are taken in judgment.

They are the ones that we read about, you know,

that the vultures will feast on.

They perish.

So it's exact opposite of what you've always heard,

that this passage is used for the rapture.

It isn't.

Speaking of the rapture, it's talking about the second coming.

Those taken are those taken in judgment.

Those left are those who will go into the millennial kingdom

in their mortal bodies and repopulate the kingdom.

Let me see how much time I have.

I don't have any time.

So let's conclude with this.

He says in verse 42, watch, therefore,

for you know not what hour your Lord does come.

You know, and we could say, if that's true of the tribulation,

people, if they don't know the hour,

and they're given it so much more specifically,

then what does it say to you and I?

Should we be watching and should we be ready?

And when he says, be ready, what is he speaking of?

Having oil in your lamp, make sure that you are safe.

Make sure that the Holy Spirit indwells you

and that you are a member of Christ's church, his body,

because he will not allow his body and his bride

to go through the judgment, his own judgment.

I guarantee you that.

I am right on the pre-tribulation rapture.

The scripture definitely, definitely supports

pre-tribulation rapture, but we need to be ready

at any one moment in time.

Forget my little theories.

It could come today.

And I hope he does.

I hope he does.

You know there is a crown of righteousness laid up for them

that love his appearing.

I tell that to the special of the younger girls,

because they say, oh, I don't want him to come yet.

I want to get married.

I want to have children.

I want to see my children grow up.

Let me just tell you, girls, you'll be far better for you

and far better for your children.

If the Lord just comes and takes us into glory

to be with him and then to live here in the kingdom,

it will be far better for all of you

than to let your children grow up in this wicked, wicked world

that I very much fear for their future.

Getting more and more like Noah's Day.

And that door might be about ready to slam shut.

Let's pray, Father, thank you for the patience of your people.

Thank you for their hunger for your word.

I pray I haven't confused them, Lord,

but I know that your Holy Spirit will take your word

and use it in every life here.

And may we again concentrate on that, which is most important.

Put our priorities in alignment and be faithful

to teach this next generation the truths of your word

because I fear with each passing generation

they are becoming more and more biblically illiterate.

So may we be faithful as mothers, as grandmothers, as aunts,

and as Sunday school teachers and Wednesday night teachers.

And any time we have an opportunity to be exposed

to young people, may we be faithful to teach them

the truth of your word so that we can pass the baton

onto them in the next generation.

If you do not come soon, Lord,

but we close in saying, even so, do come quickly, Lord Jesus.

We pray in your name, amen.