Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Holy Week; Part XV: "From the fig tree, Learn its lesson..."

Dani'el 7:13-14 "I kept watching the night visions, when i saw, coming with the clouds of heaven, someone like a son of man. He approached the Ancient One and was led into his presence. To him was given rulership, glory and a kingdom, so that all peoples, nations and languages should serve him. His rulership is an eternal rulership that will not pass away; and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed."

"Immediately after the tribulation of those days

'The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.'

Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a great shofar, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

"From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

"But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. As were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left.  Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

 "Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time?  Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that wicked servant says to himself, 'My master is delayed,' and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards,  the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

After making us aware of what the wold will be like in his absence and in preparation for his second coming, Yeshua turns to the specifics of what his return will be like. This is an exciting passages for believers, or it should be. The chosen should be longing for the day when H'Meshiah returns, because it is the culmination of this Gospel story into which our lives have been woven. This is because this world in which we live, not only is it not our home, but it, like us, is broken. As beautiful as this place can be, it is fundamentally flawed by the curse of sin, which causes death. We should be longing for the day Yeshua returns, not because of a hatred of this world, but because of a hatred of sin. This is a repentant heart, one that has walked away from its sin to the point of hating everything  flawed in sight. When Yeshua returns, the power of sin on this world will be broke, and what we perceive now as beauty will look abhorrent in comparison with the righteousness of our Savior.

Yeshua outlines some things that will signify his coming. He is trying to tell us not when it will happen, but what it will be like. We get a sense of a scientifically cosmic event. Astronomical signs of the sun and moon disappearing or going dar, and stars also vanishing. It affects not only humans, but all of creation. Everything touched by sin would naturally be touched by such a wondrous righteousness returning. We live in a sin-torn world. This world will be shaken and totally transformed as Yeshua returns, as OUR G-D IS A CONSUMING FIRE!

Yeshuas second coming will not be a secret thing either. Not only will creation give witness, but there will be public signs. A trumpet will sound, and the "sign of the son of man" and it will be obvious. Everyone is gonna see this, and will be able to observe his glory and they will mourn. In that moment when the chosen receive the ultimate confirmation of the truth, the rest of the world will see how wrong they were. We can only hope the gospel has been spread across the nations.

For, upon hearing and seeing the signs, and even witnessing the return, the world will see the pure glory of Yeshua himself. He will send out his angels to gather the chosen. See we who have been saved from sin are only partially complete. We have been sanctified and cleansed, but we are still waiting to be glorified. When the trumpet sounds, it says that the chosen will be gathered together into Yeshuas glory and will be glorified with him, as the sin and corruption is removed. Not only is this a chance for the world to see and be redeemed, but this will be the final piece of our redemption as believers, when all sin is ripped away, and we see Him as he is. We get to watch Yeshua take all this mess of our world and our lives and fix it and put all back the way he intended it to be. 

We are getting an image of the vastness of Yeshua. The presence of this G-d man is enough to shake the entire creation. THe world, every person, and every place will be aware and enamored with Him.

So be aware! Be watchful! This spectacular event is wonderful, but your perspective of it is shaped by your relationship with the savior now. There is no other option, either you are in or you are out. Either you will be transformed and glorified with Him, or you will be destroyed. That is the fundamental difference of repentance and trust in yeshua. In that moment, when put before him, all sin and evil being burnt away, the only question that matters will be what you belong to. Either you belong to sin, or you belong to Yeshua. If you belong to sin, in that moment, you will be destroyed by the fire of his holiness. If you belong to him, then that fire will burn away anything else and you will be like Him.

So what do you belong to?

The sun will be dark

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