Luke 21  Church and Jewish prophecy

We update studies as the Lord Jesus leads us. You can find the latest update of this study at ChurchAges.net

Looking wealthy does not impress Jesus

LUKE 21:1   And he looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury.

Rich men were handing in impressive sums of money.

LUKE 12:48   … For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required:

If you have much and give a lot it is not very impressive because you still have much to spend on yourself. You do not suffer because of what you give.

LUKE 21:2   And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites.

This poor woman was not worth noticing as she contributed so little.

A woman symbolizes a church. A poor church group of people that spreads the true revelation of the written Word does more for God’s kingdom than what we realize. Believing truth is more important than impressive church works that involve unscriptural errors like Good Friday, Christmas on 25 December, or having a man as the head of a church, and calling William Branham the Voice of God.

LUKE 21:3   And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all:

“Of a truth”. The truth is the most important aspect of the Gospel. Those who struggle because of what they give materially and spiritually, do the most for God. Believing the truth makes people poor or deprived of fellowship because of their rejection and condemnation by the outwardly “successful” churches.

LUKE 21:4   For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had.

When we have a lot then it does not hurt to give.

This woman depended on God for her survival. Depending on God is the secret of success.

God is not impressed with an outward show of prosperity and popularity.

LUKE 21:5   And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, he said,

Some of the disciples were very impressed with the beautiful Temple building, especially its adornment with precious stones and expensive gifts that were designed to impress.

They forgot however that the Temple had been built by king Herod who was the man that tried to kill Jesus when he was born.

Today there are big churches built by preachers who deny the revelations that brother Branham brought and thus do their best to kill the influence of the King James Bible by claiming that it is a flawed translation. Jesus is the Word of God. Those who kill the interest of the people in the King James Bible are the very people who build the big churches. Thus churches today prefer to use one or more of the over one-hundred different variations of the Bible. They have convinced people that there is no absolute truth, no infallible Bible.

LUKE 21:6   As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

But God is not interested in the impressive outward show. The Temple was run by religious leaders who wanted to kill Jesus. As a result, about 37 years later the Temple would be totally destroyed and all the Temple religious leaders would be killed by the pagan Roman soldiers.

The unscriptural church doctrines of today are cast down by the revealed truth that God promised to Daniel and the churches themselves will be destroyed in the 3½ years of great Tribulation.

Only the few who used brother Branham’s quotes to understand the Bible will be ready for the Second Coming of the Lord and thus escape the horror that is to come.

Few disciples wanted to know the deeper truth

LUKE 21:7   And they asked him, saying, Master, but when shall these things be? and what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass?

According to Mark, there were only four disciples who asked Jesus this question.

MARK 13:3   And as he sat upon the mount of Olives over against the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately,

This demonstrates the lack of interest that disciples have when it comes to understanding Bible truth.

LUKE 21:8   And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them.

The big enemy is deception. For 2000 years the church will be endlessly fooled by preachers who claim that they are Christ, which means anointed.

The anointing Holy Spirit behaves like water. It gives life to the seed that is in the soul. But the only good seed is the Word of God. But for 2000 years preachers will run around preaching partly truth and partly error and these errors will fool the people and make them part of the foolish or fooled virgins. Virgins are clean women representing saved Christians in the churches. Saved but fooled into believing unscriptural doctrines.

LUKE 21:9   But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by.

The pagan Roman Empire killed about 3 million Christians. Constantine became emperor and stopped the pagans killing the Christians. But within 100 years, the Roman Catholic church was persecuting pagans and then those Christians who were not Catholics. Roman Catholics killed tens of millions of dissenters until they became exhausted after the 30-Year War in Germany that ended in 1648. Then the mad religious killing and inquisitions stopped.

Nations began to emerge in Europe but they continued the killing spirit as they began to conquer and rule overseas colonies and thus new Empires emerged. The British, the Dutch, the Spanish, the Portuguese, The French, the Belgians, and the Germans.

LUKE 21:10   Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:

The killing spirit then drove these European nations to do their best to commit suicide by attacking each other in the First World War and the Second World War. They bankrupted themselves and lost their Empires which now broke up into separate kingdoms that each demanded independence. Much blood was shed to establish independence.

Independence often required warfare between neighbouring states or kingdoms.

In 1947, Hindu India chased out the Muslims to Pakistan and the Muslim Pakistanis chased out the Hindus to India.

15 million people were displaced and one million were killed in the process.

Bangladesh was part of Muslim Pakistan at that time.

In 1971, Bangladesh wanted independence from Pakistan and Pakistan attacked them to rule them by force. Ten million Muslim Bangladeshis were displaced into Hindu India. Hindu India intervened and Muslim Pakistan had to withdraw from Muslim Bangladesh. But the Muslim Pakistanis had killed three million of their fellow Muslim Bangladeshis. This was part of the savage warfare that gave birth to our modern states.

In 1947 the United Nations allowed the Jews to fight the Arabs for three small portions of their homeland.

Four brutal wars followed that Israel won.

In 1967 the Jews conquered a big portion of the Promised Land but went too far by taking the Sinai Desert too.

The Sinai Desert was never promised to Abraham.

In 1982 the Jews gave Sinai back to Egypt and for the first time in almost 2000 years they were back within the limits of their Promised Land.

Natural disasters and man made disasters

Jesus describes great natural disasters that will strike during the seven church ages.

These will be prevalent after 1900.

LUKE 21:11   And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

Earthquakes in different places have been a violent reminder that this earth is not as stable as it seems.

We must look for a more secure home in heaven.

What we fear now is earthquakes in areas that have great financial significance. When a big earthquake sinks Los Angeles into the sea that will cripple California, America’s wealthiest state. That will cripple America as the COVID-19 virus pandemic greatly boosted America’s debt burden between 2020 and 2021. The lockdowns that attempted to counter the virus broke many of the international supply chains that further damaged the economy. All this escalating debt will help the Roman Catholic church to take over America which will lead America to ruin. The Vatican is the world’s wealthiest organization.

Famines have struck often between 1900 and 2022 and tens of millions have starved to death.

Pestilences. The 1918 – 1919 Spanish Flu killed up to 100 million people. The Aids epidemic killed tens of millions. The COVID-19 virus swept the world and caused endless emotional and financial harm with its lockdowns that seriously damaged the world’s economy.

Fearful sights are huge floods, uncontrolled wildfires, massive tsunami waves pouring in from the sea, and devastating droughts that we see daily in the news.

“Great signs from heaven”.

Signs high up in the atmosphere were twice promised by Scripture.

JOEL 2:30   And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.  

“Blood and fire”.   The terrible Second World War killed tens of millions.

In 1945 two atomic bombs exploded over Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan.

Pillars of radioactive smoke, two of them.

The Hiroshima bomb sent up a radioactive pillar of smoke that was 18 kilometers high. The Nagasaki smoke pillar was slightly lower.

The atomic age hit the world with tremendous shock. Big changes were coming.

Israel was granted the right to fight for its independence in 1947 by the United Nations. They declared their independence the following year.

The transistor was invented in America in 1947 which would form the basis of the internet that takes the revelation of the Bible mysteries to the ends of the earth.

In 1947 William Branham began to reveal the mysteries of the King James Bible.

The sign of the Son of man in heaven

The ministry of brother Branham reached its peak in 1963 when he revealed the Seven Seals.

This great event, the revelation of the Seven Seals,

was forerun by a high-up sign in the upper atmosphere of a supernatural cloud of angels' wings,

and then a dramatic secret visit by seven angels to give him the commission to reveal the Seven Seals.

MATTHEW 24:30   And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven:

65-0718   TRYING TO DO GOD A SERVICE WITHOUT BEING THE WILL OF GOD

And then in that great observatory, so that the world will be without, they're still wondering what happened. In Tucson, them big observatories took the picture of it up there; still wondering what happened. What is it? They still put in the paper, "Does anybody know anything about what, how it could have happen?" There is no fog up there, there's no air, there's no moisture; thirty miles high in the air. Oh, my!

"There shall be signs in the heaven above. And when these things take place, earthquakes in divers places,

then shall appear the sign in the heaven, of the Son of man."

But long before these end-time events that happened after the Second World War, Christians who opposed the official churches had been persecuted by those official churches.

Flagstaff observatory is where astronomers first saw evidence of galaxies outside our own galaxy.

The supernatural cloud above Flagstaff on 28 February 1963, which was seen by the Tucson observatory, was about 42 kilometers high and was a dramatic sign of the impending revelation of the Seven Seals that would enable us to get outside the limitations of the church doctrines. Then we could understand the deeper mysteries of the King James Bible.

On 8 March 1963, eight days later and 200 miles south of Flagstaff, seven angels came to brother Branham at Sunset Peak to give him the commission to reveal the Seven Seals.

65-1127  TRYING TO DO GOD A  SERVICE WITHOUT IT BEING GOD'S WILL

I throwed this little bull-header down, forgetting about That. And started across the hill real easy and looked back, they didn't see me, and run down and hit this deer trail. I had a great big black hat on. I started running up through this canyon real fast, and it happened.

The whole earth shook, everywhere. Rocks that size rolled down, dust flying like that. And I looked, and standing before me stood seven Angels; just exactly the way it was. I felt like I was standing way up off the ground. First, I thought somebody had shot me, you know, with that black hat on; looked like a javelina hog, anyhow, you know they're dark. I thought somebody had shot me, such a... right close. And I seen then what it was. Well, as soon as... I got my commission, and the Scripture, "The Seven Seals which is the seven mysteries." See?

Between 17 March and 24 March at Jeffersonville, brother Branham, with the help of those 7 angels, revealed the Seven Seals that unlocked the mysteries of Scripture.

Christ is the Word. Thus, as the Word becomes revealed, so Jesus as the Son of man is revealed walking through the pages of the Bible.

The revealing of the Seven Seals was the great event.

Only Jesus is the Son of man. A prophet is only a son of man.

A prophet can only be a star in the right hand of Jesus. A prophet can never take the place of Jesus.

Bible truth will be rejected and persecuted

LUKE 21:12   But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake.

There has always been a strong urge in the church world to reject and persecute the people who God reveals His truth to. The Roman Catholics persecuted the Hussites and the Lutherans who in turn persecuted the Methodists who rejected the Baptists who rejected the Pentecostals who rejected William Branham. Message people who follow William Branham reject those who do not believe that William Branham is the Voice of God and the Son of Man.

Each group accepted one revelation of truth but rejected the next revelation as more truth unfolded.

LUKE 21:13   And it shall turn to you for a testimony.

Our best testimony is to quote from Scripture. You never have to apologize for what is written in Scripture. We need to be able to prove that we are part of the seventh church age.

Daniel said that the mysteries of the Bible would be revealed at the end.

DANIEL 12:9   And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up

and sealed till the time of the end.

:10   Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand;

but the wise shall understand.

The wise virgins from Matthew Chapter 25 will be able to understand the mysteries of the written Word that brother Branham, from America, revealed. That will enable the wise virgins to return to the beliefs of the first church age. The foolish or fooled virgins, who are saved Christians, will ignore or corrupt the end-time revelations of Scripture and remain complacently unaware of the need to be strictly Scriptural.

LUKE 21:14   Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer:

If we study the Bible and learn how to use brother Branham’s quotes to understand the written Bible mysteries, then God can guide our thinking to the right answer when we have to say something.

LUKE 21:15   For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist.

Those who oppose the revelation of the Bible truth lack the knowledge of many Bible verses. Their unscriptural statements can be quickly silenced by those who do understand the Bible.

“It is written…” will always silence any human opinion that differs from the Scriptures.

LUKE 21:16   And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death.

Believing the truth will produce strong opposition from the family members.

Character assassination is common in church circles.

LUKE 21:17   And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake.

The name of Jesus Christ in water baptism denies the Trinity doctrine as the Triune God has got no name. Opposing the nameless Trinity makes a believer hated by the churches.

This life is not the final issue. When believers die here we go to a better place.

LUKE 21:18   But there shall not an hair of your head perish.

JOB 6:18   The paths of their way are turned aside; they go to nothing, and perish.

Perish does not just mean die. Perish means they have nothing in the future life. They burn in hell and when their time is up they will utterly consumed and not even a memory of them remains.

JOHN 3:15     That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

Those who believe in Jesus may be killed and die but then they will claim their immortal bodies in the resurrection and live for eternity. A true believer cannot perish.

II CORINTHIANS 4:16   For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.

Our flesh grows old and dies and rots in the grave and disappears. But that is the outer man.

But the inner man is the unseen spirit. That is the part of us that passes from death to life when we die.

No man can harm that inner spirit which is life.

The Spirit is life. Eternal life.

ROMANS 8:10   And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin;

but the Spirit is life

because of righteousness.

The body is dead. All our human achievements end at the grave. Only what is done for God’s Will can go into the next life that is beyond the grave.

Your soul is bound up in the bundle of life-giving Spirit.

I SAMUEL 25:29   Yet a man is risen to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul:

but the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the LORD thy God;

LUKE 21:19   In your patience possess ye your souls.

Patience means perseverance while sustaining afflictions.

The Christian church must go through seven church ages. The truth would die out during the Dark Ages and again at the end of the seventh church age.

No Christian can change the main events of the church age that they are born into. So, whatever has to happen in your age will come to pass and must be endured. Those who keep believing in the Scripture and the revealed truth of their age will be part of God’s Bride as they patiently wait for God to achieve His Will for their day.

We cannot push to make things happen according to our human will.

II THESSALONIANS 1:4   So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure:

LUKE 17:21   Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

The kingdom of God is within you. You do not have to go somewhere to find God.

Our focus must be on God’s kingdom, the revelation of God’s written Word, not our own will.

We must not be distracted by our circumstances.

We do not have to bring events to pass, God will do that in His good time.

The inner voice of the Holy Spirit guides us through the Word of God.

JOHN 16:13   Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth:

Not my will but God's will be done.

LUKE 22:42   Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me:

nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.

Each Gospel has a different emphasis

We must focus on the revealed Word for our day. Not our personal circumstances.

There are four beasts around the throne of God. A Lion, an Ox, a Man, and an Eagle.

REVELATION 4:6   And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.

Eyes speak of intelligence. They know the past and they know the future.

REVELATION 4:7   And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.

The Lion was the true Word of God written down by the apostles in the early church.

During the long centuries of the Dark Ages, the Calf grew into the strong Ox which is the beast of burden and slaughter as tens of millions were killed by the Roman Catholic church. The church age of Thyatira, the dominating woman. A woman represents a church. Bible truth died out at this terrible time.

Matthew and Mark put a lot of emphasis on the Gentile church.

Luke is the third Gospel that represents Jesus as a Man. The Man who came to the Jews as Messiah.

So, Luke often puts the emphasis on the Jews, as now happens in this prophecy.

The prophecy now refers to the Jews

Jesus now refers to the AD 70 destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by the pagan Roman army under general Titus.

LUKE 21:20   And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.

In AD 66 the Roman governor of Syria, Cestius, surrounded and attacked Jerusalem with 35000 men but after a few days inexplicably retreated. Cestius was then beaten in battle by the Jews.

The way was open for Jews to leave Jerusalem if they did so quickly. If they had listened to Jesus.

But most of the Jews, unfortunately, chose to stay in Jerusalem and prepare for war with Rome. They looked at their circumstances where they had just beaten the Romans. They did not know that Cestius had no battle experience. (But the next Roman general that they would face was Vespasian who was the best Roman general.)

Not too long after Cestius and the Romans left, robbers and zealots would take over the city of Jerusalem and stop people from leaving.

In AD 67 Roman emperor Nero sent Vespasian with four legions (or armies) plus the army of king Agrippa II to conquer Israel. By AD 68 Vespasian had conquered the countryside and was ready to attack Jerusalem. Then Nero died in June AD 68 and Vespasian had to wait to get permission from the new emperor Galba to continue the attack. Then there was chaos as Galba was killed after 7 months by Otho who lasted 3 months as emperor. Vitellius killed Otho but then Vitellius was killed by Vespasian’s men in December 69. Vespasian was declared emperor and thus for the first time since June AD 68, he was able to tell his son Titus to attack Jerusalem.

The Roman army marched up and began to surround the city. Then they built a ramp of earth around the city. After that, nobody could escape.

From June AD 68 until the start of AD 70, the Jews did not have the Romans surrounding Jerusalem.

But inside Jerusalem, there were zealots, robbers, and Idumeans who terrorized the Jewish people and stopped them from leaving.

LUKE 21:21   Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto.

The situation from AD 67 to AD 70 was very turbulent. It was difficult for people to escape from Jerusalem. But the longer they waited, the more of a risk it was to try to escape from Jerusalem.

The safest time was just after Cestius retreated. They had seen Romans surround the city of Jerusalem. When Cestius left, the Jews and Christians should also have left. Those in the country should have escaped across the Jordan river and not gone to the city. The zealots and robbers allowed people into Jerusalem but then guarded the gates to stop them going out again.

Fleeing to the mountains was the safest way as it was difficult for Romans or robbers to catch them in the wilderness and mountains.

LUKE 21:22   For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.

This was a deadly time. God raised up the pagan Romans to slaughter over one million Jews in order for God to take revenge on the Jews for killing their Messiah.

LUKE 21:23   But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people.

Pregnant women and mothers with babies would really struggle in the mountains. The people would suffer as God’s wrath would be upon the Jews. A huge price to pay for killing Messiah.

But once the first Roman soldiers under Cestius appeared around Jerusalem, the people had to move out. The later they left it the harder it would be to escape. But they had to flee to rough places in the mountainous wilderness. The safest places were on the other side of the Jordan river.

LUKE 21:24   And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

“The edge of the sword” symbolizes being killed.

Over one million Jews were killed in AD 70 by the Roman general Titus. It was a savage outburst of Roman hatred for the Jews. The Temple treasure was looted by the Romans and taken to Rome to build the Colosseum where Christians were later fed to lions to entertain the Romans. Ninety thousand Jews were taken to Rome as slaves to build the Colosseum.

A Jewish giant, Bar Kochba, led a revolt against Rome from AD 132 – 136.

About 580,000 Jews were killed and the survivors were exiled to all parts of the Roman empire.

Then followed about 1900 years when the Jews were persecuted, killed, robbed, and expelled from many countries. Pagan Roman hatred of the Jews survived as anti-Semitism which saw Jerusalem occupied and trodden down by Gentiles.

In 1967 the Jews won back Jerusalem but only occupy one-quarter of the Old City in East Jerusalem. The Armenians, Muslims, and Christians each occupy another quarter. The Muslim Dome of the Rock dominates the Temple Site.

LUKE 21:25   And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;

The sea represents the restless nations.

The Arabs launched four roaring waves of wars to try to stop the Jews from establishing a homeland in Israel.

2022 saw the cruel invasion of Ukraine (which has a Jewish President) by the Russian military.

Perplexity. Only Luke uses this term. Anti-Semitism reached a peak in the Second World War when Hitler killed 6 million Jews. This horrific mass murder even shocked the United Nations into offering the Jews a small piece of their homeland in 1945.

In 1945 two atomic bombs exploded. The evil mushroom cloud of radioactive dust, which could reach 18 kilometers high, produced a dark shadow on the ground as it briefly darkened the sun. Then all the charcoal fires in the wood and paper houses in Hiroshima and Nagasaki were knocked over by the pressure blast of the bomb. The burning houses produced a non-nuclear firestorm whose smoke and debris rose high in the air, also producing a dark shadow, long after the radioactive mushroom cloud of the nuclear explosion has dispersed.

For the first time, man had put smoke and dust high into the atmosphere where it darkened the sun and created a large shadow.

The firestorm smoke particles lingered in the upper atmosphere and darkened the moonlight.

The distress of nations on earth was due to the many wars that were fought since the terrible First World War.

Signs in the stars

LUKE 21:25   And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars;

“The stars” can have a spiritual meaning.

GENESIS 26:4   And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven,

The Jews are the seed of Abraham. God sees them as stars.

There were 17 million Jews before the Second World War.

So the death of 6 million Jews in the Holocaust was about one-third of their number.

One-third of the Jewish stars were destroyed.

A sign of such horror that even the Jew-hating United Nations briefly felt sorry for them and gave them the right to fight for a homeland in Palestine in 1947.

In 1948 David ben Gurion raised the new Jewish flag, the Star of David.

A clear sign that God is starting to turn back to the Jews.

The estabishment of the State of Israel after almost 2000 years is a clear sign that in turning to the Jews, God is turning away from the Gentile churches.

There is not one end-time prophecy or one end-time parable that says anything good about the churches.

LUKE 21:26   Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

We live in a troubled world. Financial insecurity makes many people fearful of the future.

Tension and stress can lead to heart disease and heart attacks are a leading cause of death in the Western world.

Our stressful modern lifestyle and the endless rocket attacks by the Arabs on Israel as well as the endless anti-Semitism in the world increase the fearful pressure on the Jews.

Ahead lies the 3½ years of great Tribulation when the seven Trumpets (in Revelation Chapters 8 and 9) will sound and those supernatural events will force all the Jews to return back to Israel.

NUMBERS 10:2   Make thee two trumpets of silver; of a whole piece shalt thou make them: that thou mayest use them for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps.

The two trumpets represent Moses and Elijah who will call the Jews back to assemble in Palestine so that they can meet Messiah.

The powers of heaven (atmosphere) will be shaken when the hail falls and burns on the ground.

The Jews will remember that this happened during the exodus out of Egypt and going back to Israel.

EXODUS 9:24   So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, very grievous, such as there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.

Many will leave where they are and head back to Israel.

REVELATION 8:7   The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.

The next three supernatural Trumpets all involve events from high above that will shake our laws of atmospheric physics. High up in the sky can be called heaven.

Hail burning together with six other supernatural events that occur as the other six Trumpets, will drive the Jews back to Israel.

LUKE 21:27   And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

Towards the end of great Tribulation the 144000 Jews will meet Messiah and recognize Him.

Then Christ will be seen Coming down for Armageddon to destroy the nations that are attacking Israel.

LUKE 21:28   And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.

All these events happening to the Jews will be difficult to live through but they will all be signs of the Coming of the Messiah to meet the Jews in Jerusalem.

LUKE 21:29   And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees;

The fig tree is the symbol of Israel.

When the Jews were going to reject and crucify Jesus, then Jesus cursed a fig tree that withered up. This symbolized the withering up of the Jews’ faith.

Now Jesus is speaking of Israel at the end time.

LUKE 21:30   When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.

The fig tree is Israel being restored as an independent nation by the United Nations in 1947.

“And all the trees” represent all the other nations who wanted independence. India gained independence in 1947. Many nations in Africa gained independence in the 1960s.

LUKE 21:31   So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.

Israel becoming a nation again after almost 2000 years and the Hebrew language being resurrected from the dead is a definite sign of the end times.

All the nations demanding independence after World War Two is another sign that time is running out.

God is about to finish with the Gentile church world that has rejected the revelation of the mysteries in the written King James Bible. Then God will turn to the Jews.

LUKE 21:32   Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.

The Jews conquered the main part of the homeland in 1967 in the Six Day War.

Their general was Moshe (Moses) Dayan. He fought for six days and rested on the seventh day. This obeyed the Sabbath law of Moses who said to work six days and rest on the seventh.

But the Jews overdid things and also conquered the Sinai Desert which is not part of the Promised Land. The Arabs attacked the complacent Jews in 1973 and the Jews took a hammering. They won the war thanks to a massive airlift of military equipment from American President Richard Nixon. He bravely stepped in to save the Jews when they needed help.

Their high casualty rate made the Jews happy to return the Sinai Desert to the Egyptians in 1982 in return for peace.

So, Israel really became a nation within the limits of Abraham’s covenant in 1982.

Christians must also learn to live within the limits of Scripture. They should not be smokiing, drinking, using drugs, swearing, and getting divorced and re-married.

We do not know when the Lord will return but it seems possible that the generation born since 1982, who are about 40 years old in 2022, will live to see the Coming of the Lord, whenever that happens.

Two Comings are involved

Jesus comes to catch His Bride up to Heaven just before great Tribulation starts.

Then He comes 3½ years later for the battle of Armageddon which will clean up the world and destroy the evil forces that are attacking Israel.

LUKE 21:33   Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.

Every word in the Bible is true and nothing will be changed as these events happen.

LUKE 21:34   And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.

We, humans, make the mistake of taking our eyes off God’s Big Picture and getting too focused on our own personal circumstances. Then we get distracted and take our eyes off the goal so that we will not be ready when the Lord comes. We have to be Scriptural and believe what the early church believed.

LUKE 21:35   For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.

World conditions will become dangerous, confusing, and frightening.

We will be sorely tempted to abandon God's Plan so as to secure our personal survival.

It is essential that we find God's Will in the Bible and follow that path. This is only possible if we die to ourselves and all our short-term distractions.

LUKE 21:36   Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

Our only escape will be when the Bride is caught up to meet the Lord in the air. So we need to focus intently on understanding the Word of God. That alone can prepare us for the Second Coming.

HOSEA 4:6   My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge:

Ignorance of the Bible mysteries is our biggest weakness.

LUKE 21:37   And in the day time he was teaching in the temple; and at night he went out, and abode in the mount that is called the mount of Olives.

Right at th end, Jesus put the emphasis on teaching rather than on supernatural healings.

Bible-illiteracy is the biggest problem in the churches.

Jesus taught by day in the Temple which gave the Jewish leaders every opportunity to arrest Him. But they were scared of the people. The people had seen the miracles of Jesus and were impressed.

Jesus lived a tough life as He spent the nights on the Mount of Olives that was close to the Temple, just across the Kidron valley. An easy and comfortable life was not His choice. His lifestyle was hard and Spartan with few if any comforts. But His message was also hard as He exposed the hypocrisy and errors of the religious leaders.

LUKE 21:38   And all the people came early in the morning to him in the temple, for to hear him.

The people loved to hear Him. His simple and austere life was a dramatic contrast to the ease and luxury of the Temple priesthood. This created a massive problem for the religious leaders. They needed to turn the people against Jesus in order to get rid of Him.

Today we see Jesus revealed in the mysteries of the King James Bible.  The church leaders are very energetic and persuasive in their attempts to convince the people that the King James Bible is flawed.

But Jesus is the Word of God.

Whatever you say about the King James Bible, you are actually speaking against Jesus.

Criticize Jesus in any way and you will never be ready for His Second Coming.

Those who criticize the King James Bible cannot get ready for the Second Coming.