God’s Timetable
Although Scripture tells believers that Jesus could return for them at any moment, there are specific events on God’s timetable that must take place prior to his return. In Israel, God’s Clock, Dr. Jack MacArthur writes that the key to knowing where we are in God’s timetable for Jesus’ return is Israel’s prophesied return to its homeland.
Let’s take a brief look at what has happened in Israel, beginning with their rejection of Jesus as its Messiah.
When Jerusalem rejected Jesus as their Messiah, he sadly told the people, their “house will be left completely empty.” In AD 70 Romans destroyed the city and those who survived fled to other lands. Jesus then said, “You will not see me again until that time when you will say, ‘God bless the One who comes in the name of the Lord’” (Matthew 23:39, NCV).
After AD 70, Jerusalem remained under foreign control for nearly 1,900 years. During that period, most people never expected Israel would ever be reestablished as a nation. But God had promised their return: “I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land” (Ezekiel 36:24).
In fulfillment of prophecy, Jewish people flocked to their original homeland in waves, beginning in the early 20th century, and peaking in the 1930s due to persecution in Europe. Their desire to be restored as a nation was finally realized in 1948. Nineteen years later Jerusalem was conquered by the Jews, setting the stage for Christ’s return.
God’s timetable for Jesus’ return to Jerusalem also requires it to be surrounded by its enemies. The Israel-Hamas conflict, beginning October 7, 2023, and rising global antisemitism highlight the growing threats to Israel, aligning with biblical prophecies. Today, Israel is surrounded by several countries that are committed to Israel’s destruction.
So, now that the stage is set for Jesus’ return to Jerusalem, what does that mean for his coming for his Church? Although they are separate events, their timing is still related.
In 1894, British scholar Sir Robert Anderson wrote of Jesus’ imminent return, although Israel’s rebirth was still 54 years from fulfillment. In his classic survey of Daniel’s prophecy of the end times, The Coming Prince, Anderson writes,
Certain passages testify that Christ will return to earth…and others tell us that He will come, not to earth, but to the air above us, and call His people up to meet Him and be with Him….These difficulties admit of only one solution…namely, that the second advent of Christ is not a single event, but includes several distinct manifestations. At first, He will call up to Himself the righteous dead, together with His own people then living upon earth. Before the return of Christ to earth, many a page of prophecy has yet to be fulfilled…but not a line of Scripture bars the realization of this the Church’s special hope of His coming to take His people to Himself.1
Since Jesus’ return for believers and his return to Jerusalem are linked together in the “second advent,” Israel’s rebirth should cause us to “look up for your redemption is near” (Luke 21;28).
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