God describes the “Day of the Lord” and the coming of Messiah as normal days and He compared the time of Noah as normal. The warning of the flood occurred for hundreds of years before there was a flood. “For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark.” With a greater warning we see and have heralded to our ears that Jesus is coming soon! But, “scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts,” records 2Peter 3:4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.”

Today’s generation is special for Jesus gave us a clue in Matthew 24:32. “Now learn this parable from the fig tree (Israel): When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer (Messiah) is near.” The destruction of Israel at the hands of the Babylonians was completed in 587 B.C. with the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. Then, miracle of all miracles Israel became a nation May 14, 1948 never to be removed, states God, through His prophet Amos 9:14. “I will bring back the captives of My people Israel; They shall build the waste cities and inhabit them.” (15) “And no longer shall they be pulled up from the land I have given them,” Says the LORD your God. If you were able to visit this God given land of Israel you would see and say as does Ezekiel 36:35, “This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden.” Jesus is recorded in Matthew 24:34 giving a major time clue for the end time event that may come in my life time. “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 Bible describes a generation in several manners. God first defined a generation as 100 years when He told Abraham that his descendants were to be in “a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. Genesis continues in 15:16, “But in the fourth generation they shall return here.” The 90th Psalmist verse 10 describes a generation as “The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.” Within this generation, this 100 or so years, we should expect the return Christ as stated by the angel in Acts 1:11. “This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.”

The daughter of Billy Graham, Anne Graham Lotz, stated last month, “I believe Jesus is soon to return to take all of His followers to Heaven with Him in what is referred to as the Rapture. While this will be deliverance for His people, can you imagine the impact on our nation, let alone the world, when suddenly every single authentic Christian disappears?” This will be a time when “Institutions will collapse. Banks will close. The Stock Market will plunge. Planes will fall out of the sky. Cars will crash on the road. Government in America at every level will disintegrate. Families will be torn apart. In the unprecedented turmoil, our nation will be vulnerable for our enemies to seize the moment and attack us. There will be mass chaos, confusion, fear, grief, despair, anger, threats, danger … judgment.” God says to every person in this world that His love and compassion is sufficient for every person. Jesus says in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

 

N. Brad Carter is a bible class teacher on WMER (1390 AM) Radio. Email him at rbc@wmerworldwide.com.