Last week I wrote about Israel being the fig tree and a clue as to when the “Church Age” would be over. This week I would like to expand that clue a little bit. Also give you my interpretation of the rapture or taking away of the Church.
Let’s look at Matthew 24:27, KJV: “for as lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall the coming of the Son of man be.” Jesus spoke these words to his four disciples (Mark 13:3) as they were resting on the Mount of Olives, verse 3. He was giving them a up close and personal view of the end times and the destruction of Jerusalem and also the end of this world, of which they had just asked him.
If you look at verse 3 you will see that they had asked him 3 questions. 1-Tell us when these things shall be? The destruction of the Temple; 2-What shall be the sign of thy coming? His return as Messiah, 3-When will the world end? Jesus answers their questions, not by telling them distinctly, but by intermingling the destruction of Jerusalem with information about the end of the world.
This makes it very difficult for them and us to follow the clues specifically and try to guess the end of time with a date and year. This is not God’s way, but it’s ours and He knew it. Knowing the end of time would make us lazy, and He wants us to be alert and watching for his return.
But this letter is not to be a study on the whole discourse of chapters 24-25, but rather a short look at the rapture of the Church. Look at verse 27 and how Jesus used lightning as his reference to the rapture. Do you know what is the speed of light? Light travels 186,000 miles per second. Everyone will agree that’s very fast. Just how fast is it when comparing it to what Jesus had just said in verse 27, the blink of an eye?
Skeptics say how could all Christian’s be removed from the earth in the blink of an eye? Good question, I say in their defense, after all our planet earth is 24,901 miles around its circumference. The earth is too big for this to happen all at once. But when you do the math, it looks like this. Light travels at 186,000 miles per second, and it will have traveled around the earth 7.5 times in that one second of time, or the blink of an eye. Wow!
Thinking about it in that way, everyone that is a child of God will leave their earth suits at the same time, all together. That deserves another Wow! It is almost more than we can understand, unless you like SciFi. My brother-in-law and I both love sci-fi, especially Star Trek. The star ship Enterprise had a transporter that could dismantle anything molecule by molecule, and reassemble them at another destination or back to the space ship. Surely God with unlimited power can do it even more efficiently.
Now I once again want to look at verse 32 and how “this generation” that is spoken about could very well be our first clue to the end of the Church age and the rapture of it. Most people that were alive at this time (1948) are still here, although we are getting older and dying off due to our ages and decaying bodies (2 Corinthians 4:16). A lot of this generation has already passed on and soon we will be gone.
Just how many are left? I have no clue, but we are getting smaller in numbers every day. Just when does the end time clock start ticking down to its final hour? It will be in my lifetime if I and others have the right interpretation of the fig tree being Israel. Time will tell, just keep your focus on Jesus and you will not be surprised by the drastic things that will soon come to pass.
Just read and reread chapters 24 and 25, and study it for yourselves. The World Wide Web has enabled the anti christ to finally be able to take his stage, for his “15 minutes of fame” and then meet his end and be judged by God. Jesus will return for us, we have his word on it (John 14:3). In chapter 24:35 Jesus said heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. Period!
Go back in my letters to the Church and read my other blogs on the rapture and the end times. This is just a short look at a very important subject. Maybe I will take all my research and combine them into a series of blogs. Just keep yourselves alert and aware of what is going on around you. Don’t watch the secular news everyday, but go to Christian sites that will keep you aware of world events according to what the Bible has to say.
Do read your Bible and study it daily. I know life has a way of getting in our way, but do try to keep yourselves focused on Jesus and loving each other is more than saying I love you. Show it, get together and study the word of God and break bread with each other, in other words share a meal together. Love is an action word! Do it daily and be blessed. Remember, you will make it, just don’t give up.
In His Service As Kilted Priest
The Kilted Priest 