I’ve been watching a lot of watcher videos on YouTube and I am more convinced than ever that we are closer to the Rapture than we ever have been. While I am stating the obvious, my intention has more to do with expressing the immediate immanency of the Lord’s return for His Church; what I have come to call ‘danger close.’ While there has been much debate over the years as to what a generation actually is; 20 years, 40 years, 50 years, 70 years and such. I believe Moses penned a prayer in the psalms that best identifies, with specificity, truly how long a generation is.
“The days of our lives are seventy years; and if by reason of strength they are eighty years, yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.” – Psalm 90:10
- While this entire prayer psalm is a tribute to Moses’ love for the Lord, in this verse we are given a clue as to the possible year of the Lord’s return, 2021. The prophet Isaiah declared, again, with specificity, the rebirth of Israel in our modern time, what we have come to call the last days. “Before she was in labor, she gave birth; before her pain came, she delivered a male child. 8 Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? Shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion was in labor, she gave birth to her children. 9 Shall I bring to the time of birth, and not cause delivery?” says the Lord. “Shall I who cause delivery shut up the womb?” says your God. 10 “Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all you who love her; rejoice for joy with her, all you who mourn for her; 11 That you may feed and be satisfied with the consolation of her bosom, that you may drink deeply and be delighted with the abundance of her glory.” – Isaiah 66:7-11
The ‘she’ referenced here is Israel. The male child is Jesus, but also the Jewish people. The ‘one day’ referenced is May 14, 1948, when Israel declared that she was a nation once again. The global community didn’t give Israel a week to survive and the ensuing wars proved them all wrong as God Almighty assured her victory and stability for the final chapter of the Age of Grace.
Isaiah commands those who love Israel to ‘rejoice with her’ because of what she brings to the world, ‘the consolation of her bosom,’ that is, the Gospel message of Jesus and the abundant life He promises to all who receive His salvation. This provision comes through Jesus who came through the Jewish people.
If you take both of these passages, one by Moses and the other by Isaiah, we discover that the Lord gives us a formular of when He will return for His Church. From the year 1948 to 2028 is 80 years, it we subtract 7 years for the tribulation we get 2021. Many Bible scholars believe that Jesus will return to the earth in His Second Coming with His Church on a future Day of Atonement. Seven years prior, Jesus will rescue (rapture) His bride, the NT Church, from the earth and from Paradise in God’s presence, and take them home to heaven with Him.
This means that the summer and fall of 2021 is a major high-watch season that we all need to be observing if this formula is correct. This being the case, what are we to be doing and how are we to be living just before the Lord’s rapture of His Church?
“Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? 46 Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. 47 Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods.” – Matthew 24:45-47
“And the Lord said, “Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season? 43 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 44 Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has.” – Luke 12:42-44
- We must be a people who are about the Master’s business when He returns.
Being about the Master’s business has more to do with occupying with His agenda for our lives. While we are all supposed to be living productive lives for Jesus, loving Him, and loving others in His name. We are also to be occupied with a lifestyle that best reflects the blessing of the Lord and His presence in our lives. This includes, but is not limited to, being a good citizen in whatever country God has placed us in. We must stimulate the local economy and take good care of both things and people that God has blessed us with and entrusted to our care. While this is not the priority, it is part of our ‘doing business’ mandate.
We are a people who need to have plan ahead, we need to keep our focus forward in our living, moving, and thinking. We need to be looking up (for the Lord’s return), but also looking out, (for a future should He tarry). Our plans are best made when they are made in a way that is consistent with the Lord’s will for our lives. However, God is the One who establishes our steps in the end, not us. We get to plan and walk by faith, but the Lord is the One who makes it come to pass. Our mandate doesn’t include sitting out in a field somewhere and looking up into the sky. However, we can peek up from time to time from our place of occupation and responsibility and anticipate the nearness of His return.
All my life I have believed that when we get close to the Rapture we would know it. Jesus gave us plenty of signs to be looking for and as we near His return, we really can see that He is near to us, even at the very door. While I am trying to maintain a dual focus on what I am supposed to be doing now and my anticipation of the Lord’s return, it can be difficult at times, and even a bit confusing. I mean, look at me, I moved out here to MO to be close to my family, I left my church (in good hands I might add), and I still serve the Master, just in a different way. I am an interim pastor for a local church, I am helping them to find a pastor while hosting their pulpit and their people. I am willing to do more as the Lord leads and all the while I am looking up, wondering if this could be the day of the Lord’s return. I have the dog’s food set for ‘long term’ service, I keep the toilet seats up in the house, I have stored plenty of food, water, and supplies; most likely for someone else, and yet I am still pondering my next steps and future in ministry.
I have to write out what I am doing each day to keep me on track and productive. I realize that when it all goes, it’s going to go really fast. I mean, our nation is more vulnerable than it ever has been. I feel that what is going to happen in the near future is that we are going to get hit with a barrage of nuclear (or EMP’s) missiles in our major cities simultaneously, possibly coming from more than one enemy nation as represented in Jeremiah’s infamous chapter 51 (if you believe that Babylon is actually America). At the same time, Israel is going to be invaded by Russia and a pan-Islamic coalition representing the Gog and Magog war (Ezekiel 37 &38). Before the first missile touches down, we’re going to be raptured out of here. This slight of hand will mask the Rapture and destroy America in one hour, making way for the antichrist to rise from the ashes. Israel, of course, will survive as God Almighty will protect and defend her. Russia and those invading armies will be destroyed and the world will know that God Almighty is the One who watches over Israel. This will platform Israel to make a peace treaty with the antichrist that will involve many Islamic nations in the middle east and thus, kickstart the seven-year tribulation. It’s a good thing I kept up on all of my payments. Some believe that Yellowstone is going to blow and destroy over half of America; that’s a lovely thought, I’ll just log that away.
Whatever Elon Musk has cooked up with all of the satellites, 5G tech, and human tracking, it will usher in the mark of the beast which will platform a global reset, both financially and governmentally. This will occur during the tribulation when the entire globe will be divided into ten sections, each one being led by a dictator. These dictators will give their allegiance to the antichrist who will promise peace and prosperity for the world; but in the end, will deceive them all. Any people who resist, and there will be many, will be hunted down and killed, most likely for a bounty. These people, if they give their heart to Jesus, will be ushered into heaven when they die to be sequestered under the altar of the Lord in the heavenly temple where there they will wait till the end of the tribulation. Any believing survivors, when the seven year tribulation is over, will be judged by the Lord and granted access into His millennial kingdom. All tribsaints who were killed during the tribulation will, along with all of the rest of the raptured saints in heaven, return to the earth with Jesus to retake the plant to set up His millennial kingdom. The transition from heaven to earth will begin over the plains of Megiddo in northern Israel where the Battle of Armageddon will ensue.
Jesus will destroy the armies of the earth amassed there and continue toward the Mount of Olives where He will touch down, causing a major earthquake in that region. He will then cleanse the temple (30 days) and conduct the Judgment of the Nations (45 days), where the survivors of the tribulation, saved or lost, will be gathered and judged. Once the temple is cleansed and the nations judged, we will begin the seventh dispensation of time.
While this may seem a bit pie in the sky, it becomes more true and accurate as we approach the event. While there are a lot of Bible prophecy experts (which I am not one of) who can better articulate the play by play; what I am looking for is the Lord’s return. I am doing my best to steward well both marriage and family, both people and things, for God’s glory. If someone needs to be directed toward the Lord in my witness, I will do it. If someone needs counseling regarding the things of the Lord, I will do it. Whatever the Master has led me toward, I will do because this close to the Rapture, anything goes!
All of this in one generation. Think about it, if you were born in the early 40’s and you lived to see all these things take place regarding Israel. If you found faith in Jesus somewhere in the process, you represent the extent of that generation. I was born in the mid-60’s and found faith in Jesus at an early age. As I look over the past 80 years I can see how this generation really is what Pastor John Hagee calls ‘the terminal generation.’ This being said, I am saving money into a retirement account, I am planning to see my grandkids graduate from college, and I am taking good care of my body to last that long. However, in all of this, I wonder if we will be here next week. It’s a paradox that requires the strength and endurance of the Holy Spirit in these last days.
Perry Stone’s father, the late Pastor Fred Stone, said just before he passed, that just before the Rapture of the Church, believers will need to be praying in tongues like never before. They will need the Spirit’s power working in and through them as they witness for Jesus. Our goal is to lead others to Jesus and be a good witness to the world just before Jesus returns for us. We need to be about His business, in our witness and in our citizenship, we need to be praying for our nation, our leaders, and for the peace and protection of Israel. We need to pray for our Jewish brothers and sisters that they would come to faith in Jesus, their One and true Messiah (Psalm 122:6-9). If we are the generation, and I believe that we are, we need to be a living, risen witness of what Jesus has done for us and do His bidding in these last days. This is our great commission and it hasn’t ended. Let’s be the best witness of Jesus to this, the last, most precious and terminal generation. We can do it, we must do it, and the Holy Spirit will help us.
Maranatha!
Encourage Men 