People are wondering what in the world is going on? Rebellions and uprisings; Islamic Jihad; earthquakes like the ones in Haiti and New Zealand; world wide seismic activity; rise in the frequency and intensity of violent crime; economic instability. All these events and activities have captured the attention of thinking Christians.
The truth is none of these are “signs” of the end. Jesus said when you see these things that the end is not yet.
Clearly, Jesus tipped us off to the two things, and only two things, that believers should be watching in the last days.
First, is that the Gospel will be taken to every nation. At least one person in every nation and people group will be introduced to the Gospel The death of 4 people killed by Somalian pirates is more of a sign of the end times than the uprisings in the middle east. Why? Those 4 people were attempting to take the Bible to the Far East. They were carrying out the command of Christ the “go in all nations.” That is relevant to end time prophecy.
Second, Jesus, and all of Scripture for that matter, told us that it’s all about Jerusalem. It’s not about world events or wars or pestilence. It’s about Jerusalem!
Jerusalem is the place the Messiah died for our sins; it’s where He rose from the dead; it’s place to which He will return; it’s the city He will replace with a whole New Jerusalem.It’s all about what happens to and in Jerusalem.
Many prophecy buffs try mark the time of Jesus’s return (against His specific command) from 1948, when the UN voted to establish the State of Israel. But that’s not as important as 1967 – when Israel reclaimed Jerusalem for the first time in 1,941 years.
Christians should be concerned with two things: 1. Taking the Gospel, and/or supporting the sending of the Gospel, to the world; 2. Praying for Jerusalem and the people of Israel.
What’s going on in the world is not nearly important as what is happening with the Gospel and with Jerusalem. What those two things.
