TOPIC:“Timely Events On God's Prophetic Calendar” (Part I)
by Rev. Dr. Reg Dunlap
TEXT:Matthew 24:32-36
“Just so, when you see the events I've described beginning to happen, you can
know His return is very near, right at the door” (Matthew 24:33, NLT)
Though we do not know when the Lord will return, the Apostle Paul did declare that as believers we should “not be in darkness that the day should overtake us as a thief” (I Thessalonians 5:4). Listen as he exhorts us in these words: “Therefore, let us not sleep, as do others, but let us watch and be sober-minded” (I Thessalonians 5:6). Elsewhere the Apostle Paul in writing about the return of Christ commands believers to expect it, to wait for it, to preach it, to look for it, and to be unashamed when it happens, but never to predict it.
Remember, we Christians are not looking for SOMETHING to happen, but for SOMEONE to come - the Lord Jesus Christ. So let us keep our eyes off the SIGNS and put them on the SON. In this message and the ones to follow I want to put the emphasis on some of those future events that are certain to take place on God's prophetic calendar. I will be using several key words to accomplish this task.
I.
The first key word I want us to think about is the word REGATHERING. It is the restoration of the nation of Israel. The Bible clearly teaches, I believe, that before Christ comes back again, Jewish people throughout the world must be restored as a nation and regathered back into their land. For over 2600 years Israel has been scattered throughout the world. They have been a nation without a country and a people without a land. All of this is in the process of change as we behold prophecy being fulfilled right before our eyes.
The regathering of Israel out of Babylon as told in the Old Testament was only a small remnant of about 50,000, but the present restoration of Israel will be universal as described by Moses in these words: “That then the Lord thy God will…have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations where the Lord thy God hath scattered thee” (Deuteronomy 29:3). Ezekiel the prophet puts it in these words: “For I will take you from among the nations, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land” (Ezekiel 36:24). Now this will be a physical restoration of unbelieving Jews to their own land as an everlasting possession . In Ezekiel chapter 37 verses 25 through 28 five times the Lord emphatically states the eternal nature of His promise to Israel. We read these words “forever in verse 25, “forever” again in . . .