Coming Soon - Pt. 6

 

Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. (1 Thessalonians 5:1-6 ESV).

 

There are several current events that are prophetic signs of the second coming. Our reading today tells us that we don’t know the day or the hour of Christ’s second coming, but we know the times and the seasons. There are some possibilities we must consider. We are told by the Prophet Ezekiel of a future battle when Israel will be attacked by a Russian/Arab military coalition, pushing them into the Mediterranean Sea (cf. Ezekiel 38). It could be a portent of the present-day geopolitical climate. Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, supporting the Syrian Arab Republic’s president, Bashar al-Assad placed both these nations in a strategic military relationship. We cannot forget that Russia’s warplanes in Syria are just a ten-minute flight from Jerusalem.

 

The Bible says the Russian/Arab army will march on Israel immediately following the rapture. You can see this military coalition coming together and being put in place, ready to completely fulfill prophecy after we are “caught up together” at the rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:17). Revelation 9:16 tells us that an army of two hundred million will march from the east and wage war on Israel.  China is the only army that boasts two hundred million in their army. China is building an east-west superhighway that spans from China to Asia and into the Middle East. Again, the stage is set for prophecy to be fulfilled.

 

Revelation 17 and 18 describe a rebuilding of the ancient city of Babylon. Starting with Saddam Hussein in the 1970s, Iraq began rebuilding the ancient city of Babylon. The Ishtar Gate has been rebuilt. Daniel 12:4 says that there will be an explosion of knowledge. There has been an information avalanche in the last several decades, with the body of knowledge doubling every 45 days. These are all signs of an imminent return. This is call for hope and vigilance.