Good Evening Everyone,
We finally got through the Mystery of Israel’s blindness and restoration — Romans 11:25-27. Matthew 24 & 25 are two incredible chapters that deal with the world conditions during the tribulation and the nation of Israel in particular.
Matthew 24: V.5-12: World conditions are described leading up to horrible events of the tribulation.
V.13: Endurance of the Jews throughout the tribulation will bring salvation…either by death or the 2nd Advent. Rev. 6:9-11; Matt. 27:37-44
V.14: The gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout all the world, and the 2nd Advent occurs. This is the gospel of John the Baptist to the nation of Israel — Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand — the physical kingdom of the Messiah King. This is the message of the 144,000 sealed missionaries in Rev. 7:3-8. Matt. 3:2, 4:17, 23, 9:35, 10:7, 11:12
V.15-20: The blindness of Israel is removed when they see the abomination of desolation placed in the temple. This is the midpoint of the Tribulation, 3 1/2 years into the 70th week of Daniel’s 70 weeks. Rev.12:6-17 V.21-28: The Great Tribulation (the last 3 1/2 years) begins and the horror of why it is “great” explained.
V.29-31: The 2nd Advent occurs.
V.32-36: Christ gives us the #1 sign to signal his 2nd Advent — the blooming of the fig tree — the national life of Israel as a nation. The olive tree is a picture of the spiritual life, which never ended, because it is centered in God and his covenant with Israel. The fig tree is a picture of the national life, which ceased to exist when Titus & Rome leveled Jerusalem. It came back to life in 1948 when the United Nations deeded a sliver of the old nation back to the Jews. The fig tree began to bloom again.
V.27-44: The story of Noah is given to reveal that the wicked will be purged out of this world when Jesus comes to rule with a rod of iron and a sword in his mouth (the Word of God). Rev. 19:11-16
V.45-51: Faithful and wicked servants (Jews) are defined.
Matthew 25: Jesus lays it all out very plainly what will happen when he returns to establish his eternal kingdom, through a series of metaphors.
V.1-13: The 10 virgins — 5 wise and 5 foolish. The wise are a picture of the 144,000 sealed virgins (Rev. 7:3-8, 14:15) and 2 witnesses
(Rev. 11:3-6; Zech. 4:3, 11-14; Malachi 4:4-6) The foolish are the Jews who live a life of self preservation and ignore the message of the 144,000 missionaries preaching the gospel of the kingdom.
V.14-30: The 3 servants and the talents, and judgment of their stewardship.
V.31-46: The judgment of the nations, dividing the sheep from the goats.
Thank you for your patience going through this mystery. Next Sunday we will look at the Mystery of Iniquity and Mystery Babylon. It will be an incredible time together! Please remember to pray for one another, especially Jim Lillard and his recovery and rehabilitation of the surgery on his shoulder. Rebecca Moon’s mother is very sick, and was taken to the ER today, with symptoms of pneumonia.
Karin and I are so grateful for all of you, and your desire to grow in grace, through digging deep in God’s Word!
Your fellow pilgrim in this journey,
Ken Wooten