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| 5:01am, April 4, 2015, without a tripod, through the window screen |
For signs... "Then God said, "Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years;" Genesis 1:14.
The prophecy of Joel 2:30-32,
"And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth:
Blood and fire and pillars of smoke.
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood,
Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD.
And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.
For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance,
As the Lord has said, among the remnant whom the LORD calls."
Like many prophecies of scripture, future fulfillment has present application. Words spoken to and for the Jews give truth, admonition, application and hope to every believer, Jew, Gentile, man, woman, slave or free.
This third lunar eclipse of the 2014-1015 tetrad occurred this morning on Pesach, Jewish Passover. Two weeks ago, a solar eclipse occurred on March 20th, 1st Nissan. It is undeniable that this will repeat in the fall during Rosh Hashanah and Sukkot. Might we apply Christ's words to these signs in the heavens? I think, "yes." It is not the end of the world. It is probably not the complete fulfillment of Joel 2 yet! But it is a wake up call to all the world. His Word is true! The Father of Lights is communicating to us that the glorious appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ is coming soon! Be ready!
Luke 21:25-28, "And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roar; men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth.... Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things BEGIN to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near." Continue through the chapter; hint- the fig tree refers to Israel. Israel has budded. As a nation, in our fathers' generation, she was born in a day in fulfillment of Isaiah 66:8. Matthew writes to the Jews, Jesus' words in chapter 24, "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." This seems to me to be the literal complete fulfillment of Joel's prophecy. The entire remnant of Israel will call out and be saved in that day!
Israel remains God's beloved. See Paul's writing in Romans 11:11-36. Non-Jewish believers are simply wild branches grafted into a cultivated olive tree. "...how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel; until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved,.... Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable."
There is a catching up, a blessed hope, a meeting the Lord in the air that comes before the day of wrath at an hour unknown. We are exhorted to all be ready! (1 Thess 4:17-5:11, Titus 2:13, 1 Cor 15:51-52, Mk 13:32)
Matthew 24:36-44, "But of that day and hour no one knows.... But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. ...eating and drinking marrying, and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know.... Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. ....Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect."
Luke 17:26-36, "And as in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: They ate, drank, they married wives,.. Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built;"
Be alert, watchful, awake, lamps lit with plenty of oil....
Jesus warns us with the example of the "wicked and perverse generation" of the pharisees and sadducees, demanding a sign from heaven as He himself, the God of heaven, stood in flesh before them! He tells them they must discern the sign already given, the sign of the prophet Jonah. That's all they are going to get. He fulfilled that prophecy in the weeks following. We celebrate it this weekend, his death and three days in the belly of the earth, before his resurrection, the Living Christ this Lord's day!
Matthew 16:3, "and in the morning, 'It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.' Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times."
Luke 12:56, "Hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern this time?"
Discern the time. Call upon the Lord and be saved! Celebrate the Risen Lord! Look to our Blessed Hope and His glorious appearing!
