"JESUS IS COMING BACK AGAIN!"

Minutes before Jesus died on the cross at Calvary He fought the devil. With the tool He had always used, He quoted, "The Word of God". Psalms chapter twenty-two, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me"? In His language He said "Eli, Eli, Lama Sabachthani"?

Jesus is, was, and shall forever be Lord and Savior.

A few hours before his death He had talked to His followers and told them He had to leave them. "let not your heart be troubled. I will come again and receive you, that where I am you may be"

It has been over two thousand years and we are still waiting for Jesus to fulfill that promise.

It could happen today! Many people thought when Israel became a Nation, that this would start the beginning of the end. Many believed the organization of the United Nations and the National Security

Council, with all member Nations would certainty bring the raft of God. They thought that the fall of Russia, an atheist nation, was an indicator that the predictions of the Bible about the last days were coming to pass. In the last few decades, world conditions have changed dramatically. The World Trade Center Disaster woke up a lot of Americans from a dreamland. They could not believe that this terrible, cowardly act of killing so many, innocent people were necessary to prove a point of religion.

The truth of the matter is religion has nothing to do with what happened September Eleventh Two Thousand One. The person that is responsible for this tragedy has been band from his on country, separated by his own religion, called by them an extremist, has a twenty five million dollar ransom

on his head, wanted dead are alive, has no country of his own and has to live in a cave like the wild animal he is. I hope he enjoys sleeping with his camel.

A series of false alarms sounded by date-setters and recent movies made by Christians, the left behind series, have all influenced the way we think about prophecy. Several books have also been written to challenge the Christian view that "maybe Christ will come back today." Many Bible students believe Jesus never told His disciples to think of His coming as imminent. As evidence

Jesus told Peter not to expect Him to come back before he was an old man. (John 21-18) Jesus told His disciples His return would follow unprecedented events, "The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give it’s light, the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken." Then Christ, He and His angels will come with an unmistakable display of power. ("Matthew 24-21-31.")

Jesus said something else that is important to know. Jesus included an element of mystery about the time of His coming. To keep us ready and watching, Jesus said other things that don’t fit His promise to return at the time of the worst trouble the world has ever known. Jesus told stories to illustrate the importance of being ready for His return. "For the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect." (Luke 12-40)

How can both be true? How could Jesus tell His disciples that He would come at a time they didn’t expect if the signs described in (Matthew -24-21-30) would precede His return? This is not the first time people of God have been faced with prophecies that seem contradictory. The Priest of Israel could not understand why their prophets talked about a Messiah who would be both "servant, and ruling king." What they didn’t know was that these two roles of Messiah would be fulfilled by two comings separated by two thousand years.

We find ourselves today in a situation similar to that faced by the Jewish people, in the Old Testament. We too have pieces of a prophetic puzzle that don’t seem to match. God has given us a precedent for expecting more than one appearance. We now have reason to consider, though not explicit in the text, but seem to be implied that His coming could be both imminent (any moment) and several years away (after the sun and moon are darkened with judgment). But why would two more appearances be necessary? One answer involves Israel and the other is the church.

Israel and the church are similar in that both share the same spiritual heritage. "Both are loved by the same God." Both are grounded in the scrolls of Jewish prophets. Both are a "chosen people" called to be a light to the world.

But there are also broad and far- reaching differences. Israel is a national body founded on the teachings of Moses, and the promise of a Messiah who would subdue and rule the earth(Isaiah 2-1-4).

The church is an international body, a living temple made not of stone but of people, all of who are priests and messengers of God. They’ve been sent out into the world to represent the mind and heart of Jesus until He returns to lead them, and the friends they’ve made, back to His father’s house.

(John 14-1-3) and (1 Thessalonians 4-15-17).

These alike but different roles of Israel and the church are the reason Jesus spoke in such different terms about His return. Israel and the church have the same God but different relationships to Him. That is why Jesus is coming to rapture the church first and then He will return to rule the world only when the sun and moon stop shining and the heavens pass away.

We have every reason to live as if His coming could be a moment away, "Just as we have every reason to plan for the future as if His coming will not happen in our lifetime. "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. ("2-Timothy 2-15)."

"But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat, both the earth and the works that are in it will "be burned up. "(2-Peter 3-10)".

Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth where righteousness dwells (2-Peter-3-13)."

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, "says the Lord who is and who was and who is to come, the "Almighty" (Revelation 1-8).

Now let us get down to the real problem in the world today. It is none other than the Arab- Israeli Conflict in the Middle East. This war has been going on for generations like a river of tears and bad blood. From the days of Abraham there have been millions of people killed on both sides.

The Jewish and Arab problem affects all of us. It cost us every time we buy gas at the service station. It divides us at church. Some of us think our faith leads us to be pro-Israel. Others are just as sure that the Bible gives us reason to support those who feel wronged by Israel’s return to the land.

Most Christians have sided with those who are sympathetic to the Jewish struggle for a homeland. We are embarrassed by the anti- Semitist of church people who saw all Jewish people as Jesus- killers. We see God’s hand in Israel’s rebirth and believe it is His purpose to restore Israel in the last days "(Isaiah 11-12). We hear God say to Abraham, "I will bless those who bless you, and I will cruse him who cruses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed". "(Genesis 12-3).

We Christians have been praying for the peace of Jerusalem but have not been praying for peace of Damascus, Cairo or Baghdad. While seeing biblical reason to love the Jewish people, we have not done as well in seeing the needs of families who worship in mosques rather than synagogues. We should be sorry that over the years we have used our biblical convictions as an excuse to care more for Jewish people than for their neighbors. God is opening our eyes to see how wrong we have been in deciding against Arab advocates because of their anger toward the modern state of Israel. We have not done well in distinguishing between what God is doing in Israel and what Israel herself is doing with or without the approval of God. We need discernment from God.

Humans have always interfered with the higher purpose of God. Abraham, whose children are now fighting for his legacy, is no exception. God promised him descendants, "Genesis 12 1-3)". But at the age of 85, "the father of many" was still childless. Believing that he and Sarah could not have a child of their own, the couple decided it was time to solve their own problem. Sarah gave her Egyptian handmaid to Abraham as a child- bearing wife. "(Genesis16-3)". Within a year Ishmael was born.

The couple’s attempt to solve their own problem gave birth to trouble. Ishmael, while dearly loved, was not the son God had promised. After Ishmael’s birth the Lord told Abraham that Sarah was going to have a son. "Genesis 16-12". Although Sarah laughed, it happened, she gave birth to Isaac.

Now we are getting to the root of the problem. Two wives and two sons competing for Abraham’s affection. The house wasn’t big enough for all of them. Sarah requested Hagar and Ishmael to leave. Hagar and her son were pushed out into hot barren wilderness. But they were not alone. Earlier the

Angel of the Lord had given Hagar’s son a name that means, "God will hear" (Genesis 16-11). Now in response to their cries Heaven responded tenderly to their tears. "Genesis 16-12". God assured Hagar that He had heard the voice of Ishmael and that He would make him a great nation. The assurance came with troubling prophecies. The Lord, who loved Hagar, said of her son, "He shall be a wild man, (wild donkey). His hand shall be against every man, and every man’s hand against him. And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren."(Genesis 16-12)." The prediction is a common result of human rejection. Hurt people tend to hurt people. Sad but true, where love and understanding is missing, hate, mistrusts, and angers, grow and nourish at an alarming rate.

The balancing factors are this; we should have a wake-up call. God’s covenant relationship with Isaac doesn’t give us an excuse to care only for the Jewish people or ourselves as Christians. Although Isaac was chosen to be the son of promise, God also cared about Ishmael. (Genesis 21-17-20).

Ishmael was predicted to be a "wild donkey" of a man, there were equally unflattering names and predictions in the Jewish legacy. Jacob father of the 12 tribes of Israel was given a birth name that meant "betrayer" or "deceiver". Later the prophets of Israel described their nation as a "lusty donkey," as a "prostitute". (Jeremiah 2-20-24). As a community they made Sodom and Gomorrah look good by comparison. (Ezekiel 16 –48 –52). The legacy of the chosen people included a heavy burden. They were chosen not only to showcase the love of God for all nations (Isaiah 9-6) or in the book of (Genesis 12-1-3). They were to show all the people of the earth what happens to those who wander from the wisdom of God, the Creator of all. (Deuteronomy 28 30).

God’s hand can be seen in Israel’s presence in the land, but we need to remember her spiritual condition. Israel today mirrors what the prophet Ezekiel foresaw in his vision of the dry bones. Hundreds of years before Jesus, God predicted that in the last days Israel would come together physically before being reborn spiritually. (Ezekiel 37-1-14).

Israel’s present efforts to secure her borders by military strength provides a striking parallel to Abraham and Sarah’s attempts to have a son by Hagar.

God has chosen Israel through whom He will reveal Himself to the world. But we need to make that affirmation with discernment and impartiality. There is a difference between what God is doing through Israel, and what Israel is trying to do with or without Him. We need to pray as Christians that

the United States Of America not get tangled in political and military arguments. That God will open everyone’s eyes to see that the problems in the Middle East are a reminder of how much we all need the grace and peace of the Messiah born to this nation. We pray God let America be a blessing to the world and that all Christians pray "Peace for Jerusalem" and the Middle East.

Howard Strickland-Bible Study Ministry-2316 Foxtrot Dr, Florence, Sc, 29501, 843-393-9768