Thursday, October 23, 2008



During our Wednesday night youth bible study Kris is going over the book of Revelation and Prophecy. He is covering what will come to pass during the last days before the rapture. I find this very interesting and a little scary. We live our lives like we have forever, but do we really? Are we the Terminal generation? That is what his first weeks sermon was on the "Terminal Generation." The definition of Terminal is the end of something, occurring at the end of a series, FINAL. This week we went over 10 signs of the coming of Jesus.

1. Knowledge Explosion

In Daniel 12:4 it says: "But you, Daniel, keep this prophecy a secret; seal up the book until the time of the end, when many will rush here and there, and knowledge will increase.”

A literal translation of this Scripture indicates that during the end time, or the terminal generation, an explosion of knowledge will occur. I think if we just look around we can see that this has clearly occurred. Cars, planes, cellphones, space travel, Internet, medical. We have came farther in the last 50 years as far as technology goes that anyone else did in the thousand of years that preceded our generation. Kris quoted someone Wednesday night but my hand was already going 90 to nothing I didn't have a chance to write their name down but the quote was "Knowledge without God can only produce smarter sinners."

2. Plague in the Middle East

Zechariah 14:12 says: And the Lord will send a plague on all the nations that fought against Jerusalem. Their people will become like walking corpses, their flesh rotting away. Their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths.

If you think of when this was written and what they had to compare things to its very minimal. They didn't have all the technology and things we have today. But if you look at this verse it sounds a lot like a nuclear weapon. Something that we hear about on a daily basis in the Middle East. In some versions of this verse it says that their flesh will melt before their bodies hit the ground. That's exactly what would happen in a nuclear warfare.

3. Rebirth of Israel

May 15, 1948, when the United Nations announced their recognition of the state of Israel. Israel is described as a fig tree in Matthew; he claims that when Israel is a young tree, it will be reborn and growing, but, "as soon as its branch becomes tender and starts putting forth its leaves", the end times are at hand (Matt. 24:32-34).

So this says that when Israel is able to stand alone and is made into a state that the end is near.

The fact that Israel was made a nation in one day is proof, that this is a fulfillment of biblical scripture: "who has heard of such things... shall a land be born in one day... shall a nation be delivered in one moment... yet as soon as Zion was in labor she delivered her children" (Isa. 66: 8-10).

4. Jews Return Home

Another sign is when the Jews return home. They were driven out of their country for so long. they are since returning because they are able to worship now.

Jeremiah 23:7-8 says “In that day,” says the Lord, “when people are taking an oath, they will no longer say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who rescued the people of Israel from the land of Egypt.’ 8 Instead, they will say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the people of Israel back to their own land from the land of the north and from all the countries to which he had exiled them.’ Then they will live in their own land.”

Israel's children are now, in our own time, returning home from Russia and other places in the world. This is consistent with biblical prophecy which states, "...as the Lord lives who brought up and led the descendants of the house of Israel from the north country and from all the countries where I had driven them... and they shall dwell in their own land"

5. Jerusalem no longer under Gentile rule

Prophecy says that Jerusalem will not be under Gentile rule during the terminal generation.

The fact that the gentiles controlled Jerusalem from 70 A.D. until the Six Day War of 1967. The statement of Luke that Jerusalem would be "trampled by the gentiles until the times of the gentiles is fulfilled" (Luke 21:24).
The "times of the gentiles" has been fulfilled as a result of the Six Day War of 1967, since Jerusalem is now under the control of Israel. Therefore, since Jerusalem cannot be under gentile rule in the terminal age, the current situation of the Jews controlling Jerusalem is a sign that we are in the terminal age.

6. International Instant Communication

Revelation 11:3 and 7-10 says: "And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will be clothed in burlap and will prophesy during those 1,260 days.” 7-10 When they complete their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the bottomless pit will declare war against them, and he will conquer them and kill them. 8 And their bodies will lie in the main street of Jerusalem, the city that is figuratively called “Sodom” and “Egypt,” the city where their Lord was crucified. 9 And for three and a half days, all peoples, tribes, languages, and nations will stare at their bodies. No one will be allowed to bury them. 10 All the people who belong to this world will gloat over them and give presents to each other to celebrate the death of the two prophets who had tormented them.

The existence of satellites, TV, radio, the Internet and all the modern wonders of instant communication exist is a direct sign of the terminal age. Instant communication must exist in order for all people to see God's "two witnesses" who will "prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth"

7. Days of Deception

There are several examples to illustrate how deception is present in our world today. New Age theories and philosophy are nothing but deception. These are signs of the end times. There is no such thing as absolute truth anymore. We can't trust anyone these days, our government especially. We live in a world of new age religion and "Oprah" religion. On a side not I think she is a complete and total wacko and I think we shouldn't support someone with as much power as she has and is clearly leading people away from God.
Biblical prophecy states about the end times: "Everyone will deceive his neighbor, and will not speak the truth; they have taught their tongue to speak lies; they weary themselves to commit iniquity" (Jer. 9:5).

8: Famine and Pestilence

Jesus said that in the latter days "there will be famines, pestilence, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows" (Matt. 24:7-8).
Aids and the Ebola virus and other diseases are proof that we are the terminal generation.

9. Earthquakes

God communicates with the "spiritually hard of hearing" through earthquakes. Some people believe that Israel's Messiah will be announced by an earthquake: "and he said, 'the Lord roars from Zion, and utters His voice from Jerusalem; and the pastures of the shepherds mourn, and the top of Carmel withers" (Amos 1:2).
The increasing occurrence of earthquakes is a sign that the great earthquake that will announce Israel's Messiah is at hand. Here are some numbers to look at:

16th Century...253 (2 major earthquakes)
17th Century...378 (2 major earthquakes)
18th Century...640 (5 major earthquakes)
19th Century...2119 (9 major earthquakes)

From October 2005- September 2006 there were 4494 earthquakes. In one year there were double the amount that in the entire 19 century.

10. As in the days of Noah

"But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be" (Matt. 24:36-39).
In Noah's days, the destruction of humanity by the flood resulted because of man's wickedness. If you look at our world today "murders, rapes, kidnappings, assaults, child abuse, parental abuse, etc.," are evident in our daily lives as direct signs that the end is at hand.

When I heard that Kris was doing this series I was very excited. There are so many things in the Bible that we don't understand and probably never will. Revelation being one of the main ones. I like how he broke it down and showed how each of those 10 prophecies have already been fulfilled.

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