The Return of Christ

Birth Pains

V 10-11

all these do point to the destruction of the Temple

but they do not necessarily point to the end of the age

these are merly birth pains that get worse toward the end

at the fall of Jerusalem the people were scattered around the world

just as Jesus said would happen

with these birth pains the wars have been bigger

more evil and deaths

the earthquakes have been more and bigger

the volcanoes have been bigger and more

the famines and plagues

so all these things will get bigger and more frequent

then when

Christ Returns

V 25

lets see some of what the Old Testament says

Isaiah 13:9–12 (LSB)

9Behold, the day of Yahweh is coming, Cruel, with fury and burning anger, To make the land a desolation; And He will exterminate its sinners from it. 

10For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not flash forth their light; The sun will be dark when it rises And the moon will not shed its light. 

11Thus I will punish the world for its evil And the wicked for their iniquity; I will also put an end to the pride of the arrogant And bring low the lofty pride of the ruthless. 

12I will make mortal man scarcer than fine gold And mankind than the gold of Ophir.

V 26

And again in Isaiah

Isaiah 24:18–20 LSB

Then it will be that he who flees the sound of panic will fall into the pit, And he who climbs out of the pit will be caught in the pitfall; For the windows above are opened, and the foundations of the earth quake. The earth is broken asunder; The earth is split through; The earth is shaken violently. The earth reels to and fro like a drunkard And it totters like a shack, For its transgression is heavy upon it, And it will fall, never to rise again.

all the earthly people are terrified of all of the unusual earthly and heavenly phenonima

V 27

when everyone is terrified. the world systems are upside down

Jesus will come in the sky riding ona white horse coming to do battle with the earth

Who is Jesus talking to here?

who will be alive at this time ?

this is at the end of the tribulation

the church at this time will have already been raptured

the church would have already been with Jesus for at least 7 years

so who is Jesus talking to here?

we have the one third of the Jews that are still alive

Zechariah 13:8–9 LSB

“And it will be in all the land,” Declares Yahweh, “That two parts in it will be cut off and breathe their last; But the third will be left in it. “And I will bring the third part through the fire And refine them as silver is refined And test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, And I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are My people,’ And they will say, ‘Yahweh is my God.’”

we also have the the saints who get saved in the tribulation

under the gospel message of the 2 witnesses and the angels flying through the sky spreading the gospel message

these are the people this verse is speaking to

1 your pain will soon be over

2 your enemies that you have been hiding from will soon be killed

3 you will have plenty of food and clothing

4 you will now live in peace as you rule with Jesus in His millennial kingdom

V 28

The Fig Tree

V 29-32

there is a teaching out there that says the fig tree is Israel

in 1948 Israel became a nation

in 1948 this fig tree started putting forth leaves

V 32 this generation that is alive will see all of these things come to pass

so what they are saying is the generation that started in 1948 will see the great tribulation

but they have run out of time

every conceivable length of generation has passed

V 29

the fig and all the trees

V 30

how many trees put on leaves in the summer, or autumn

always in the spring

one of the best sights in the spring is the green tint on the trees

every day that green tint gets brighter and fills in the whole tree

V 31

as soon as people see these things know the end is near

This Generation

the Point of contention

the beginning point of Partial Preterism

this is their logic

Jesus is speaking to the disciples

and telling them all of what is going to happen

then Jesus makes the statement

V 32

you see what else could Jesus mean except the generation of the disciples

and we know what happened at Ad 70

knowing this we have to make most of the future prophecies fit into before Ad 70

read V 25-28

SO what does this Generation mean?

it could mean the people V 31

but the Bible has many different meaning for generation

Deut 32

God through Moses is warning the people that will enter the promise land what would happen when they turn against God

He calls them this generation

but the people who go into the land. settle the land and stay there

so this generation is not them

V 5 crooked and perverse generation

V 20 I will see what their end shall be

“they” are in the future

“They” are the Israelites through all generations

the culmination of their punishment wont be until the return of Christ

all of what happens to the Israelites in Revelation

Luke 21:32 CJB

Yes! I tell you that this people will certainly not pass away before it has all happened.

Jesus is talking about the rebellious people who should know better.

who really started with Jacob ah his family who went down to Egypt

Jesus is now going to give an encouragement to the saints who get saved during the tribulation

V 33

second peter says all of the elements will be burned up

then there will be a new heaven and a new earth

where there will be no more sickness, death, heartache, crying, no more war, sadness, hunger, pain…

but the words of Jesus will never pass away.

V 34 , 35

these warnings are written for the saints that are struggling during the tribulation

but they could be a warning for us also

we can apply these warnings to ourselves as we witness the birth pains

as we wonder when is the rapture?

let us all be looking for Jesus return for His bride

V 36

Ephesians 6:10 LSB

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the might of His strength.

the only way we can remain strong is by the power of the Holy Spirit in us

be in prayed every day asking for power to remain strong and looking for Jesus

to be prepared as the bride prepares herself for the groom to come ant any moment.