The Visitation

One solitary birth is the basis upon which the future hangs for every person who enters this mortal realm we call planet Earth. How each man, woman, and child who has reached an age to understand the salvation issue views this visitation determines where their home will be for eternity.

Many believe Jesus was sent by God to show us how to live a good life. Some believe He was a great prophet and teacher. Others believe He was a philosopher, right up there with Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and the rest. A few among the billions who have lived since His birth have believed Jesus is the Son of God, but perhaps one among others of a created angelic order assigned to influence the affairs of humankind. Still fewer believe He was who He claimed to be–the Only Begotten Son of God; the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6).

No birth of any individual has ever caused the excitement and controversy that the birth of Jesus has engendered. Was this baby a stranger of an otherworldly order, sent to Earth to provide moral guidance? Was Jesus sent to philosophize on the ups and downs of the human existence? Or was this visitation something more?

Jesus came into the world through the Jewish race. Only those who are inalterably antagonistic to the truth of history will argue against that. So, we should examine this birth–this visitation—through the prism of Israel and its dealings with Jesus.

Although there are other histories about the era, the Bible’s historical account has, through archeological unveilings, proven time after time to be accurate in details concerning matters surrounding Jesus, the Jews, and Israel. (One such example is the relatively recent discovery of artifacts and evidence that someone called Pontius Pilate ruled the area of Judea during the times attributed to Jesus’ crucifixion. Until the discovery some years ago, Pilate’s existence was seriously doubted, even denied, by many historians.)

We can know the accuracy of how Israel–the religious Jews in particular—dealt with Jesus. We can know with assurance that He performed miracles and claimed to be God, Himself, by using the Bible’s documented veracity as proof that Jesus was born exactly as foretold in detail by Old Testament prophets. These Jewish religious leaders’ treatment of Christ’s first coming as a baby lays groundwork for understanding what that visitation means to the souls of all humankind. Understanding that will also help frame the importance of how each of us views Christ’s prophesied Second Advent.

Tragically, the pious Jewish leaders refused to accept that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah sent from Jehovah to be their King and Savior. They rejected Him despite the precise prophecies He fulfilled in His coming and His ministry. They chose to have Rome rather than Jesus rule over them. As our headlines attest, the results of their rejection continue to reverberate, not only in the Holy Land, but throughout the entire world. Armageddon is building, its nucleus grounded in satanic rage against God’s chosen people.

Jesus wept over God’s people of Israel and the city Jerusalem. He saw times ahead that would eventuate in calamity for them:

“And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation” (Luke 19:41-44).

Christ’s first visitation was ignored and scoffed at by the religious leaders of the time. Their choice was their own way rather than God’s way. Each preferred to do what was right in his own eyes. True to Jesus’ prophecy, Jerusalem was laid waste, the Temple was destroyed, and the Jews were scattered to every part of the world. Genocide was committed against them to the point that their very existence as a race was threatened.

Israel continues to pay the price. Anti-Semitism is growing in Europe and around the world. The nation is becoming marginalized, just as the prophet warned in Zechariah chapters 12 and 14.

But a bright day is coming for those who accept the Messiah’s second visitation. Paul the apostle warned believers not to feel superior to Jews. He forecast a time when Israel would shine among the nations:

“For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in” (Romans 11:25).

God foretold, again through the prophet Zechariah, that believing Israel will yet recognize the Lord Jesus upon His second visitation to the Earth:

“And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for [his] only [son], and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for [his] firstborn” (Zechariah 12:10).

The Apostle Paul said:

“And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob” (Romans 11:26).

A parallel can be drawn between the ecclesiastical Jewish leaders of the time of Jesus’ first visitation and many among mainstream evangelical clergy today. Neither group has considered prophecies of Christ’s coming as relevant to their times. Their attitude is akin to the one described by the Apostle Peter:

“Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation” (2 Peter 3:3-4).

This sin-darkened sphere is on the brink of another visitation. Unlike the first, when He came as a humble Baby, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, He will come the next time as the King of all Kings and the Lord of all Lords. Let us who claim Christ as Savior heed His words about His coming again. The first phase of that Second Coming will be unannounced, and in the twinkling of an eye–the Rapture!

“Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch” (Mark 13:35-37).

—Terry

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Peace or a Prelude to War

As I write, Israel celebrates the return of twenty living hostages who appear to be in fairly good health. But does this mark the end of the Gazan War or even of hostilities in the Middle East?

In one of his speeches celebrating the deal with Hamas, President Trump proclaimed the Gazan War “is over!” Later in the day, he said, “Let’s call it eternal peace in the Middle East.”

Is His optimism for lasting peace in the Middle East overblown? It is.

Several reports on Telegram quote Hamas as saying it will not disarm nor give up control of Gaza as required in the plan initiated by President Trump. He has issued severe warnings to Hamas if it does not abide by the terms of the agreement. And what about the threat from Iran?

I do not know what might happen between the time I finish this article and you read it, but I know what the Bible says about the time between now and Jesus’ Second Coming, and it isn’t peace in the Middle East or anywhere else in our world.

The Matter of “Sudden Destruction”

The elite powerbrokers of our world have been saying “peace and security” for several years. These words have become their mantra as they constantly repeat them in their speeches and agreements aimed at settling disputes, particularly those that concern Israel. This obsession partially fulfills the words of Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3:

“Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, ‘There is peace and security,’ then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape” (vv.1-3).

As for people saying, “There is peace and security,” we are there. The arrival of the “sudden destruction,” which will mark the start of the Day of the Lord, has not yet happened. As New Testament saints, we won’t know that this has occurred until we are in the air. That’s because the Lord promises us, through the words of His apostle, deliverance via the Rapture from this future time of wrath upon the earth (1 Thessalonians 5:9-10).

Jesus Said

When the disciples asked Jesus about the end of the age and the signs of His return to the earth, He included these words in His response:

“And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains” (Matthew 24:6-18).

Just like “birth pains,” Jesus said increased warfare and “rumors of wars” would characterize the era leading up to His return to the earth. This is already happening, and it will only get worse, not better. As for the war in Gaza, if Hamas carries through on its threats, it will flare up again with perhaps a greater intensity. If Iran continues on its path to acquire nuclear weapons, it will lead to a major war.

After Jesus opens the first four seals (see Revelation 6:1-8), the worst wars in the history of humanity will occur. Regardless of the intent of those proclaiming, “peace and security,” it’s just an illusion. Based on Jesus’ own words and those He revealed through the Apostle John, lasting peace will never happen until the Prince of Peace returns to the planet.

Only Jesus Will Bring Peace to the Middle East

I believe President Donald Trump genuinely desires to lead the way for the establishment of peace in the Middle East. Perhaps, like other presidents before him, he wants this as his legacy. Maybe he has other motivations.

Scripture, however, tells us that only Jesus will establish permanent peace between Israel and its adversaries, and that will not happen until He returns to the earth after the seven-year Tribulation.

The prophetic words of Psalm 46:8-10 describe the era of peace that will ensue with Jesus’ return:

“Come, behold the works of the Lord,
how he has brought desolations on the earth.
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the chariots with fire.
‘Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!’”

Jesus will fulfill these words at His coming. He alone will deliver Israel from the terrors of antichrist. He alone will end all warfare on the earth during His reign. Until then, the Middle East will remain a hotbed of conflict, and wars will continue.

Any period of Middle East peace in the coming weeks or months will only be a temporary respite in the Satan-inspired hostility toward Israel and the Jewish people. Until the day Jesus rules over the nations of earth, the world’s refrain of “peace and security” will remain an illusion, a bubble soon to burst.

As for us, as New Testament saints, our expectation is that of meeting Jesus in the air. I pray that it happens soon. Maranatha!!

-Jonathan

Armageddon’s Trigger

Jerusalem sits atop land that would be among the least desirable in terms of real estate values. The natural inclination would be to look for more scenic, lusher beauty rather than the much-improved but still-arid landscape in Jerusalem and the surrounding area. But when considering Jerusalem, one is talking in terms not of the natural, but of the supernatural.

Since before the Lord led Abraham to Moriah with Isaac in tow, when the patriarch was willing to follow through on the sacrifice of his son, the area that is now Jerusalem has been at the very center of spiritual warfare—like no other place on the planet.

Moriah is the site where Abraham laid Isaac upon the makeshift altar and started the plunge of the knife toward his son’s heart. The angel of the Lord (likely the reincarnate Christ) stopped the test of the old man’s faith by providing the sacrificial ram, caught in the thicket by its horns (read Genesis 22:1-13).

Moriah, the tumultuous centerpiece of Jerusalem to this day, is where God directed David to the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, from whom he purchased the site. This would be the place where King David would not be allowed to build God a house because he had the blood of war on his hands. But it is where David’s son, Solomon, built the great temple of God (read 1 Chronicles 3).

This plateau on Jerusalem’s perimeter is where the Ark of the Covenant sat within the Holy of Holies. It is where the veil that separated man from God in the Jewish sacrificial system was torn in two from top to bottom by the hand of God. This occurred when His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, died on the cross as the once-and-for-all sacrifice for the sin of humankind—so people would forevermore have direct access to God the Father through the one mediator, the man Jesus Christ. This high place in the city of David is the most contested real estate on earth. It is scheduled to become such a cup of trembling that all nations of the world will be drawn to the Valley of Megiddo—Armageddon.

Lucifer couldn’t usurp God’s throne in Heaven, although He tried with all his might (see Isaiah 14). Moriah is the site where Satan will again try to usurp the throne of God—the Almighty’s earthly throne that is the Temple Mount, where the Ark once sat and where the King of all Kings will one day sit atop a supernaturally elevated Mount Zion.

We witness it daily, even hourly, through the news cycles. This real estate named Jerusalem provides the present impetus for the world’s call for a two-state solution to the conflict involving Israel and the Palestinians. It is supernatural, spiritual warfare that instigates hatreds in the region and particularly in this ancient city, which is mentioned more than any other in the Bible. Jerusalem is the trigger to Armageddon.

Efforts to divide this city and nation are relentless these days as we witness things going on with Israel and the international community of nations to bring peace to the Middle East, led by the US president. This excerpt makes the point that the Temple Mount is at the heart of the millennia-long dispute that causes perennial war in that volatile region.

Under the 1994 Israel-Jordan peace treaty, Israel recognized Jordan’s “special role” in overseeing these [Temple Mount] religious sites, allowing the Waqf to manage daily operations, including access and religious activities, to preserve the Islamic character of the site.

The agreement prioritizes Muslim worship to maintain the Islamic character of al-Aqsa Mosque compound, and Israel enforces this by limiting non-Muslim religious activities to avoid escalating tensions.

The effect of the Israeli-Jordanian agreement has been disastrous for Jewish sovereignty. It concretized religious discrimination against Jews in the Jewish state, by the Jewish state, in the most sacred space in Judaism. Most Jews, and almost all Gentiles, assume that the Western Wall, a wall with no religious sanctity in Judaism, is the most sacred space for Jews. This is pure ignorance: The most sacred space has always been, is, and will always be the Temple Mount. (“Agreement on Temple Mount Pathetic Appeasement to Terrorism,” by Aliza Pilichowski, Israel News, The Jerusalem Post)

It is a spiritual, not a geophysical or geopolitical matter of satanic hatred that resides at the heart of the city God chose as His touchstone to humanity.

Jerusalem will be the nucleus of the covenant of false peace that will engulf the city, the Middle East, and all the world in a holocaust of God’s holy wrath and judgment. The world’s power-brokers elite will divide the city and, in God’s terminology, “divide My land.” The result will be to bring all nations into the battle of the Great Day of God Almighty.

“For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land” (Joel 3:1-2).

Of all the signals of these last of the last days, powerful issues surrounding Israel, Jerusalem, and the Temple Mount in particular are paramount. They constitute the trigger to Armageddon and Christ’s Second Advent.

The Rapture will preempt that time of cataclysm that will culminate at the last great battle. It is incumbent upon everyone who names the Name of Christ to get the Word out that there is safety from that horrendous time of judgment only in the Lord Jesus. You can be a part of that mission with your support of the Rapture Ready website ministry. And we thank you, our RR family, for that support, which is much-needed in this critical time while we see the approaching Tribulation–the Rapture of all believers—as imminent.

—Terry

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Eternity Versus the Illusion of Normalcy

I have heard it said in many ways from both Christians and pastors. They say today is no different than any other previous period in history. They tell us that just like the past, the trends we bemoan will correct themselves. In other words, there’s no reason to think we live in the last days of human history.

In several ways, life has returned to more of a sense of normality since the lockdowns, business and church closures, and draconian restrictions of the COVID-19 era. Perhaps for many, this confirms their belief that our time is no different than any other of the past; normal always returns.

In America, this normality bias is especially strong. Even many believers plan their futures as though nothing will interfere with their distant aspirations. Their illusion of normalcy muffles the warning sirens loudly blaring all around them. “Things are not as bad as they seem,” they tell us, “we don’t share your pessimistic view of the future.” But does such optimism align with what the Bible says?

The Convergence of Signs Dispels Any Pretense of Normality

Yes, there have been times in history when immorality and lawlessness mirrored what we see today. The WWII era had many in that day thinking they were living in the last days; it was certainly a horrific and deadly time. For over a century, globalists have plotted world domination and population reduction. So, what makes today different?

It’s the great convergence of signs occurring at a time when Israel again exists as a nation.

Israel’s miraculous reemergence as a nation after two thousand years tells us by itself that we live at a time like no other. We are watching end-time prophecy unfold before our eyes as hostility toward the Jewish state and people rapidly intensifies throughout the world, just as the Bible said would happen in the last days. The nation’s fervor to build the third temple is also something the Bible said would occur. And we are watching that happen as well.

The convergence of a myriad of signs tells us the world will soon lose any pretense of normalcy. The nonstop threats of catastrophic wars and warnings of impending economic catastrophe point to the tragic conditions prophesied in Revelation 6:1-8. Lawlessness, government corruption, and deception are unlike anything I have seen in my life. The growing number and intensity of earthquakes and active volcanoes foretell the “birth pains” Jesus warned about in Matthew 24:3-8.

The murderous scheming of the globalists is nothing new. However, during the past decade, they have become remarkably transparent about their plans (although few are paying attention). A few years ago, they invited the press into a meeting where they openly discussed their plans for a one-world central bank digital currency (CBDC), something that will give them the domination they desire (and later fulfill the words of Revelation 13:16-18).

Yes, moral standards have been remarkably low at other times in world history, but has that ever coincided with a time of so much bloodshed? For example, the number of abortions worldwide during the past fifty years stands at over one billion. In America, that total exceeds sixty-two million. This alone tells us the world is living on borrowed time. How much longer before God says enough and intervenes (see Psalm 75:6-8)? I expected this to happen long ago.

There have been times in history, like today, that mirrored the days of Lot in terms of a blatant disregard for God’s moral standards. During other epochs, the world has experienced violence and bloodshed, perhaps reminiscent of Noah’s era. Today, however, we see both of them occurring at the same time and with an intensity that rivals any previous time, just as Jesus said would happen in the last days before His intervention in the world.

Even today’s illusion of normalcy fulfills prophecy, as it fits with the unawareness that Jesus warned would characterize the last days (see Matthew 24:36-39).

The convergence of biblical signs during the time of Israel’s miraculous reemergence and existence as a nation dispels any illusion that life will continue as it is for the foreseeable future.

The Comfort of Viewing Life from Eternity’s Vantage Point

Bible prophecy preserves my sanity. It’s my eternal focus that gives me peace amid the distressing headlines of our day. There’s no other way to make sense of all that’s happening in our world apart from what Scripture says about the future of this world. The only other alternative to an eternal perspective, if one wishes to remain sane, is to ignore the chaos and chase after the illusion of normality.

This focus also comforts us in our daily lives amid its many ups and downs. A few days ago, this quote from Paul David Tripp resonated deeply within me: “Without eternity in the center of our thinking, our picture of life is like a jigsaw puzzle missing a central piece.” The Apostle Paul put it like this, “If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied” (1 Corinthians 15:19). It’s what happens when Jesus appears that puts everything in this life into its proper place (see 1 Corinthians 15:47-55 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11).

Don’t fall for the illusion of normalcy. We surely live in biblical times; the trends toward more lawlessness, corruption, deception, and violence will continue. But take heart: this all means Jesus is coming for us sometime soon.

It’s our anticipation of His appearing that keeps our hope of eternity alive in our hearts and enables us to view life from the perspective of 2 Corinthians 4:17-18:

“For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”

Maranatha!!

-Jonathan