Good morning from the top of
Mount of Olives This is Amir Tsarfati. This is our special teaching on a subject that
had confused so many people throughout history regarding the content of one of the most
important teachings of Jesus here in Jerusalem. It's very interesting because the content of this
following message that Jesus gave is a content that had been so often misunderstood that actually it
affected the entire view of Eschatology for generations. We're going to start with a prayer, and then we're going to dive into the word of God and see what the word of God says regarding the famous Olivet Discourse, the prophetic teaching of Jesus from atop Mount of Olives 2000 years ago to His disciples. Father we thank you for your word. Your word is true and we ask that You will sanctify us by Your truth. Your word indeed is a light unto our feet and a lamp unto our path. We asked that You will not only show us where we stand today, where our feet are today, but also the path itself. Where the world is
going, where Israel is going, and where the believers in You are going. So we thank you and we bless you. And we ask
this only in the matchless name of Yeshua. Amen. So this morning we're on top of Mount of Olives. You're gonna probably hear a
lot of background sounds of roosters, chickens, people walking people working. This is a bustling city right here. We're on top of the slopes of Mount of Olives where quite a few people live there today. And we found a beautiful location overlooking probably the most interesting piece of property on planet Earth. You're talking definitely about the most contested, the most, I would say controversial piece of real estate on planet Earth. And of course I'm referring to the Temple Mount that is right here behind me.
Today, we have there the Dome of the Rock standing there ever since 691 AD. Built by a Muslim ruler, when Mecca was actually
not accessible to Muslims due two some revolt. And of course Jerusalem then was an alternative worship place for about 10 to 15 years. We're now going back in history all the way through the reality of 2000 years ago. The Jewish people live in Jerusalem.
This is their capital for almost 1000 years then, of course, ever since King David and 3000
years ago. And of course Jesus came 2000 years ago. This is a capital. This is a
pilgrimage place for Jewish people. If they couldn't make it seven times a year for
all the festivals, the least they could do is come three times a year for the high festivals
which were Tabernacles, Pentecost, and Passover. We're now dealing with a week before Passover. No doubt the most important festival on the Jewish calendar. We're definitely talking about a time in history where the Roman Empire is controlling this part of the world. We're talking about a year in the history of the Roman Empire, where the Roman governor is actually present right here in the city of Jerusalem. And of course all of that is to somehow address a potential situation of a Jewish revolt against the Romans. It's been peaceful.
We know that the temple was standing. Somebody said that Jerusalem of those
days, especially the temple building of those days, was one of the most magnificent
buildings to behold in the world. Somebody said that if ten measures of beauty were given to the world, nine were taken by Jerusalem of those days. We had a sort of coexistence between the Jewish establishment and the Jewish people and the Roman Empire and rulers. Somehow, in the top levels the Jewish high
priests and the top echelon of the Jewish leadership, somehow made it possible to live
under Roman rule and make it a tolerable situation. So here we are, coming to the last phase of the Gospels in the New Testament. We all know that Jesus was born of the tribe of Judah. We all know that He was dedicated in the
temple, in Jerusalem, when He was a few days old. We all know that His "semi," what we call "bar mitzvah sermon", was actually as he was anything between 12 and 13 years old right here this region in the courts of the temple. We all know that He, Himself said "I came
to the lost sheep of the House of Israel." We all know that even in His encounter with a Samaritan woman, Jesus addressed the fact that salvation indeed is of The Jews. Namely, Messiah is of Jewish descent. Messiah is coming from the tribe of Judah. And salvation,
not only to Israel, but the whole world, is coming from the loins of the Jewish nation. There is no doubt about it. Even when He addressed the magnificent change of starting something completely new, when actually people anywhere can worship Him in Spirit and in truth. You don't have to be necessarily just a Jew. You don't have to be necessarily in Jerusalem to worship Him in Spirit and the truth. Even then, in the same message He gave to that Samaritan woman, He made it very clear to that woman, as far as the facts are concerned, Salvation is of the Jewish people. So we we must put things in the right context. Jesus is not a Catholic priest. He is not a Greek Orthodox monk. He's definitely not coming to give a message to the land of Greece, or the land of Turkey of those days. His message went throughout all of Asia Minor. Yes, in fact all over the world. But He came to His own. He came to the lost sheep of the House of Israel. Much of His ministry and His message was directly, at the time, facing the Jewish people. This is an important thing that we we need to
understand. Now, twice in the entire Gospel, Jesus is standing on a mountain and He's giving a long sermon that actually speaks to mostly Jewish people. We know that because of its content in Mount Of Beatitudes. Right above the Sea of Galilee, He addressed, of course the whole world. We know that He spoke to Jewish audience by the fact that He quoted on and on and on, over and over again and again the Old Testament. As you know, it is said "Do not to this or do not
do that." I tell you what it really means. Now, none of the non-Jewish people would even understand what He meant when He quoted the Old Testament. It was definitely to Jewish ears, and so I need you all to understand. The context of the messages and predominately the two major ones: The Beatitudes and the Olivet Discourse. These are messages for Jewish ears. We must start with that because that is the foundation of the content that is about to give. And so now we know that we're definitely talking about a situation where Jesus is in the last week before Passover. In chapter 21 of Matthew, Jesus is already entering into Jerusalem, in what we call the triumphal entry. He was riding the donkey, He was fulfilling Zachariah chapter 9. He's entering into the city as the Messiah, and He is for the first time allowing the people to say that He is the Messiah. And He even said that “if these people will not talk, then of course the stones will be talking." And therefore, we know that this is the day.
This is the hour. That is the year that Daniel the Prophet, according to Chapter nine, predicted that Messiah will come and enter the city. We talk about exactly a time of 173,880 days, from the day King Artaxerxes gave Nehemiah the decree to go and rebuild Jerusalem the city and the temple itself. Ladies and gentlemen, the word of God is accurate. The word of God is reliable.
The word of God is authentic. The word of God is it is very very trustworthy. And when God wants to give us a timetable, He will give it to us in the accuracy of sometimes of a hour, of a day, of a month, and of a year. And this is it. April 6th 32 AD, Jesus entered the city of
Jerusalem as the coming Prince. Now watch this. Now, In the next few days, Jesus is going to have an interesting encounter, mostly with the Jewish leaders. The Jewish Pharisees. The Sadducees. The priests. And of course,
with His own disciples. Matthew 24 comes right after Matthew 23. Mathew 23 is a chapter where Jesus
is actually encountering the Jewish leadership. And it's very interesting because Matthew 23
comes after Matthew 21, and in Matthew 21, We see that Jesus even saw a fig tree there by the
road. There was no fruit on that fig tree. We can see that this type of faking tree may Jesus very very angry. And He said "Let no fruit grow on you ever again." Now He spoke to that tree, but we all know that in Isaiah 29 Verse 13, Joel Chapter 1 Verse 6, Hosea 9 Verse 10 We know that the fig tree was also symbol of a national privileges of the Nation of Israel. And therefore, the present situation that Jesus saw in Jerusalem, where the religious authority was exploiting the people and was a hypocrite one. Where they actually said one thing and did another thing. That, of course, made Jesus say "this cannot stay longer." And so now we move to Chapter 23 when He's using seven times the phrase "woe to you, scribes and pharisees, hypocrites". So now we understand the mindset of Jesus is not
only bringing the good news to the Jewish people, but also talking to them about their present
religious situation where there is very much doom to fail. And then, of course, we're entering into a very different scenario. Now, it's very interesting, in Chapter 23, He also concludes with "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!" He's obviously speaking about the leadership. He's obviously speaking about a nation that is religious and not really follower of God and God's Word. The prophets were God's people and look what the Bible says: "Jerusalem kills the prophets and stones those who were sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. But you, the leadership, the religious spirit, you were not willing. See your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more until you say, 'Baruch Haba B'shem, Adonai; Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'" Jesus is speaking to the nation of Israel, not only about the present situation 2000 years ago but He's also telling them I will come back to this city, but I will not come back until you will say
"blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord." Jerusalem, the people, the nation, you'll have to be
back here. You'll have to have your city back again. You'll have to, maybe, even have your Messianic expectations rekindled. But you will invite me to come back and I will. This is besides words of exultation, these are words of hope, and expectations. So now we're talking about Matthew Chapter 24. We're entering into our Olivet discourse. The teachings of Jesus on Mount of Olives. As I said, two major sermons were given by Jesus, mostly to the Jewish people. It was the Sermon on the Mount
where He gave the Beatitudes and it was sermon off His prophetic teaching on Mount of Olives. Which He also gave it to the Jewish disciples here on top of Mount of Olives. We're probably not too far from where He actually sat with His disciples. They might have heard the same roosters crowing. They must have heard some noise and the birds and all that we hear now. Yes the dome was not there. There was a temple that was much bigger than that. But I want to tell you. not much has changed since. The Bible says, "then Jesus went out and departed from the temple." Imagine that the Temple Mount which is behind me, and then there's the Kidron Valley between where we are in the Temple Mount. He left the temple, crossed the Kidron and made it up east towards Mount of Olives. And the Bible says "and he said to them 'do you not see all these things? Assuredly I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.'" You understand what Jesus just said? Jesus is
telling Jewish people who followed Him for the last three years, "look we just left the most magnificent building,
probably in the world," of those days. Definitely, one of the staircases in the bridges that lead to that temple, was the largest staircase in the world. Of those days. known today is Robinson's Arch. I want you to understand that the words that Jesus just said If you go there today, You're going to find the street and a pile of stones,
all piled up because not even one remained on top of the other. Do you see a Jewish temple right there? Absolutely not. Why? Because He knew what they could not see. Watch this. This is, by the way, just about three minutes walk from where I'm sitting right now, there's a church called Dominus Levitt, 'Tears of Christ.' It's a teardrop shaped church. Inside that church, there are four engravings of situations. From the moment that Jesus was weeping over Jerusalem as He came down into the city riding the donkey. And one of them, you can see the people are shouting "Hosanna" and they're happy, and they look at Jesus. But Jesus is looking at the coming destruction of Jerusalem and He's weeping. They look at Him, He knows the future. They're happy, He's sad. And so He's probably
spoiling the party right now. I mean they just showed him the most beautiful building, Matthew 24 says, that, but you know if I take you to Luke Chapter 21, which is by the way parallel to that, the bible says "Then, as some spoke of the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and donations. He said 'These things which you see-the days will come in which not one stone shall be left upon another that all shall not be thrown down." Do you understand? They were happy about the building, He was sad about their souls. They were happy about the outward things, He was sad about the inwards things. And so here, they realized that there's something wrong. As we say "Houston we've got a problem." They realized there is a problematic aspect. He is not singing the song and dancing the dance of what they expected Messiah and His arrival to look like and sound like. And as He sat on Mount of Olives in verse 3, "the disciples came to Him privately." Why did they come to him privately? They normally would always be next to Him showing off, "this is our teacher. Everybody if
you want to come in and listen to him. Just so you know we're one of the people that He chose to follow Him." This is a situation where actually they were a little embarrassed. He just said something that through everybody off. "So they came to Him privately," the Bible says. And in private situation, they're asking Him the most important questions. Almost as if we hear great things in the synagogue. We hear great things by our rabbis, but we want to know the truth. So tell us privately nobody hears. We want to know three things. "Tell us, when will these things be that you just talked about
About the temple being destroyed? And then, tell us what will be the sign of Your coming? And also, because You just said, You will come back when the city will invite You. A few verses earlier and then tell us 30 questions Tell us the sign of the end of the age." You know, walking downtown New York City, Fifth Avenue, Seventh Avenue, Six Avenue, More than anything else I noticed psychic shops,
of course a lot of Starbucks. There's a lot of other things. Psychic shops are just unbelievably
famous and very popular, not only there by the way. And why do I mention it? Because people have this
tendency to want to know the future. Even though, by the way, in Judaism and Biblical it's forbidden
to go to sorcerers, to go to a fortune teller. In fact King Saul was judged by God for going to a fortune teller to bring back Samuel from the dead and asking questions. You know God gives us 1/3 of the whole Bible regarding the future Now we choose not to deal with this and we choose to go to someone who is afflicted and infected with so many bad spirits. And we asked him for our future. And here we
are, they asking him the $1,000,000 questions. Tell us about the destruction of the temple. Tell us, You just talked about Your return. What are the signs of your return, and tell us what is the sign of the end of the age? Wow. Literally, everybody wants to know these things. And it's very interesting because look
non-Jews didn't think that way. Non-Jews didn't think about Messiah. Non Jews didn't think about the temple. Non-Jews didn't think about end times. Non-Jews had philosophy that was completely contradicting all of that. They believed in multiple gods. They did not believe in heaven and hell. They did not believe in sin and atonement.
They did not believe in sacrificial ceremonies and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. They did not believe that there is one God.
They did not believe in creation. Obviously, these things that the Jewish disciples are asking Jesus, are of the most important Jewish issues. And Jesus, the Bible says "answered and said to them: take heed that no one deceives you." Basically says "I'm gonna tell you some somethings right now, and the things I'm going to tell you are going to be distorted, changed, destroyed, and people will deceive you. And he says "Take heed that no one will deceive you." for what? He says "for many will come in My name saying 'I am the Messiah.' Many will come in My name." he says Look guys. I'm going to tell you what's going to
happen, but I want to warn you many are going to come and say 'in the name of Jesus.' And then they will
give you some horrible Eschatological scenarios. And then He said "You will hear of wars and rumors of wars." Look what He said "see that you are not troubled." I want to something. 99.9% of Christians around the world every time to hear of wars and rumors of wars, they're troubled. Why? Yeah, it's the end. Hey, He said "You
will hear of it, don't be troubled" He said. And then He says, and that's interesting "for all these things must come to pass, before the end but the end is not yet." Isn't that interesting? He basically says wars and rumors of wars are part of life. They will happen. Actually they must happen. But it's not yet the end. Very interesting.
And by the way, He's using the word "must." This is the same words we can also see in Luke Chapter 24 just before His ascension. Jesus said in verse 44 "'These are the words which I spoke to you while
I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of
Moses the Prophets and the Psalms concerning me.' And then He opened their understanding that
they might comprehend the Scriptures." The only thing that concerned Jesus was, "I want You to understand the scriptures." And the only scriptures that existed in the time of Jesus was the Old Testament. There was no New Testament. There was no eschatological books, DVD's, YouTube videos, nothing. It was the words of the Tanakh, in the Hebrew.
The Law, the Psalms, and the Prophets. That's it. And I want you to understand that Jesus is directing them always to the Scriptures. And then He says "nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines, pestilences, earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows." Jesus is basically telling them "look, this is a fallen world." And just as the Prophet Joel talks about it, and the Prophet Jeremiah, and the Prophet Isaiah, and the Prophet Micah, and the Prophet Hosea, it's not gonna get prettier here. But I want you to know this is just nothing compares to what's coming next. Now you would probably think that, "wait a minute, what kind of an attitude is it to come and tell them Hey believe in Me But yet, hey, things are gonna get worse?" No, He's basically saying "if you trust Me, don't be troubled. But if you don't trust Me, this is just the beginning of the trouble." And He's talking to Jewish people about Jewish matters, and about the fate and the future of Israel. And He says to them "they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake." Now why would He say "You will be hated by all
nations?" This is by the way the definition of antisemitism. You will be hated by all nations. Now when one person hates you it's one thing, but when the world, the nations hate you, that's another thing. The Jewish people went through horrible situations, but it wasn't yet that bad when the whole world hated them. Now watch this. It's not the end. He said "and then many will be offended, and will betray one another, and will hate one another. And then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because of lawlessness
will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved." In other words, let me tell you something. Even when a world leader is going to come and tell you "follow me" and ask you to worship him as god, if you stand up and say not me, if you endure
to the end, you shall be saved. In other words, after the church is gone, raptured, Israel is going to find itself in a situation where it is misled. But if you've wake up on time to understand that something is horribly wrong and you say "no, thank you, I believe in God," then you shall be saved. Israel has hope. "And this, by the way, gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come." In other words, watch this.
There will be two witnesses in Jerusalem. According to Chapter 11, there will be 144,000 witnesses according to Revelation chapter seven and chapter fourteen. There's going to be, lady and gentlemen, always witnesses to the Gospel and to the message of hope. And the end will come after everyone had a
chance to hear it. And look what He says, "Therefore when you see the 'abomination of desolation, 'spoken of by the Prophet Daniel standing in the holy place" (whoever reads, let him understand), "then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains." Jesus is speaking to the Jewish people, to the residents of Jerusalem. When the anti-Christ is going to rise. He's speaking to a nation that will have a temple. He's speaking to a nation that is next to the mountains of Judea. He's talking to them about the landscape of Israel,
about the landscape of Jerusalem. He's talking to them. "Let him who is on the house talk not go down to
take anything out of his out." In other words, there will be no time. Just run.
Don't try to come and collect your stuff. Just run! And then "let him who is in the field,
not go back to get his clothes. But woe to those who are pregnant and of those who are nursing babies in those days and pray that your flight may not be in the winter or in the Sabbath." You know you need to be here in Jerusalem during the winter to understand why you don't want that to happen. And you need to be here, also, to understand that Sabbath might be a place where, in some places, roads are blocked. In some places people might even stone you for driving in their neighborhoods on Shabbat. Ladies and gentlemen, nobody in the Netherlands will understand why you have to go up to the mountains. And nobody in Indonesia will understand why you have to not work or not do it on the Sabbath. And certainly nobody in the Philippines will
understand what's so wrong with the winter. But if you understand that all of these, all of these things are speaking of a nation that is in its land, in its city, then you understand this is a message to the Jewish people. This is a prophetic message to the Jewish people. And then look what He says, "for then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time." It's the same words that the prophet Daniel himself used when he described that in Chapter 12. He says "let then Michael stand up, The great
prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; And there shall be a time of trouble, Such as never was since there was a nation, even not to that time." Ladies and gentlemen, don't we see? It's the same language the same phrases the same people that is talking about. It's not about the church. The church will not
go through the tribulation. It's about Israel. This is the same exact thing that the Prophet Jeremiah in Chapter 30 is speaking of. He's saying to them in Chapter 30, ladies and gentlemen regarding that
tribulation, he says, "the day is great, so none is like it; And it is the time of Jacob's trouble." It's not the time of the church It's the time of the trouble of Jacob, whose other name is Israel. We must understand, everything in this particular chapter, or this portion of the chapter is speaking of Israel itself. "And unless those days were shortened no flesh would be saved. But for the elect's sake those days will be shortened." This is a portion that causes many to understand the whole thing wrongly. The use of the word 'elect' here, eklektous. This is a Greek word in the original New Testament manuscript. And by the way, a lot of people think, "oh the believers. They are the elect. So it must be speaking of the church." Absolutely not. It is the same word, by the way that you can find in Deuteronomy chapter 7. You, regarding the nation of Israel, Ladies
and gentleman, in Deuteronomy Chapter 7, he says to the people of Israel the following
thing. He says this thing. Okay you ready? Watch this. He's telling them, verse 7, "the Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all people; But
because the Lord loves you and because he would keep the oath which he swore to the fathers
the Lord had brought you out mighty hand." The choice, the elect, they are chosen people.
It's very interesting because many times, it is the phrases that were given first to Israel,
that later on were also adopted by the church as in chapter 2 of 1st Peter, regarding
the church. You're also chosen people. You're also royal priesthood. Yes you
are also, but you must understand the word elect here, shouldn't make you jump
to any conclusion that it is the church. It is a word that originally, was referring to the people of Israel. And He said also, "unless those days were shortened no flesh would be saved." That's exactly what the prophet Jeremiah
and the prophet Daniel said. The terrible natural disasters that are going to come upon this world will be so severe, that anything you've seen so far in your life, is nothing. Do you think Covid-19 is of a great crisis in the world? Now kiss thought goodbye. We've probably already found you know, medication for it. It's probably have been something that
had been officially inflated. Ladies and gentlemen, the world is going through something now that is a mere shadow of the real, terrible things that are going to come from this world. Where you're talking about hundreds of millions that are going to perish, And then, of course He said, "therefore
if they say to you, 'Look he's in the desert!' do not go out; or 'Look, He
is in the inner rooms!' do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will also be gather." Ladies and gentlemen, this first coming of Jesus was to His people, for the issue of sin. Then he's gonna come in the clouds according
to First Thessalonians four for His church. He's not going to make a landfall, and
that's gonna be <snap> we're gone. The twinkling of an eye, first Corinthians chapter 15 says. We will change, we will disappear as you're gonna see further on in this chapter. But when Jesus will come back with His saints, with us, and His feet will stand on Mount of Olives as Zachariah 14 says, the whole world will see. So for the church, the coming of Jesus to take us will be very very swift. Nobody will manage to even notice that. But for Israel, the coming of the Messiah, at the end of the tribulation will be something no one can be able to miss it. Ladies and gentlemen look what He says "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 heaven, and the powers of heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven and then 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 the ends off heaven to the other." Now it's the church. This elect is the church. Why? He's gathering them. Where? From heaven. From they're already at. Ladies and gentlemen, you must understand, that the return of Jesus, the end of the tribulation will be with great wonders. Horrible things are going to come shortly before that. by the way, the Jewish prophet said that already. Joel the prophet, Joel chapter two, look what he says, speaking about Israel, talking to the Jewish people,
to repent. He says The following thing in verse 30 of chapter two, "I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth; blood and fire and pillars of smoke. Then the sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord." The awesome return of Jesus. "For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance." Israel will be saved when He will come back. "As the Lord had said, among the remnants whom the Lord calls." Amazing. Watch this. At this point Jesus pauses. He
just told him, "Guys I'm speaking to you right now as Jewish people and I'm telling you now
the entire future of the nation of Israel. I want you to know there will be A, B, C, D, and E, and I want you to know it's in accordance to all that is written in the scriptures. I want you to understand it. However, now I'm going to tell you about this
generation that is going to see the great transitioning point. And now He's talking to them and He’s saying "learn this parable from the fig tree." The same fig tree that three chapters ago, He referred to it is appearing right now. And if it meant Israel then, why shouldn't it
mean Israel right now. And He said "when its branch has already become tender and puts
forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near-at the doors!" A lot of people are kind of confused. Wait a minute. The word "you" isn't He talking to the first century
disciples? You, you, you. Absolutely not. We see so many times in the scriptures using the words you. An example is in Deuteronomy 30 verses 1-3, "Now it shall come to pass, when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, And you call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God drives you and you return to the Lord your God and obey his voice according to all that I command you today,
you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul, that the Lord your
God will bring you back from captivity." Look, He's speaking about then, and He's telling them the Lord will bring you back generations later. So when he used the word you, you can use it to you now. But it can also use it to your people generations later. That's not enough. We have also another passage in Jeremiah 31 verses 1 to 6. "'The Lord I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people.' He says that 'people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness-Israel when I went to give him rest.' The Lord has appeared. 'Yes I have loved you when an everlasting love; Therefore with loving kindness I have drawn you. Again I will build you and you shall be rebuilt.'" Same thing. God speaks to them then by the prophet about the same nation in the future. So this is interesting. Almost everything that people have a problem with that caused them to think it's all about the church, almost all of them, we just debunked. It is about Israel. Now watch this. He's telling now to a generation of believers. Look, I've talked about Israel right now, but now I'm talking to you believers. When you see the fig tree coming back to life, when you see Israel coming back to their land, when you see Jerusalem back in their hands, when you see, them returning from the four corners of the world as just we read in Jeremiah 31, I want you to know one thing, I want you to know "that this generation will be no means pass away until all these things take place." In other words, this generation, we live in this generation, the believers of Jesus right now, who live in this world and believe in His word, they are testimony to the fact that God did bring His people back to the land. He did bring his people back to this city. And I want you to know ladies and gentlemen,
that He's telling them "guys unlike any other generation in the past, you are
the generation that shall not pass away." And by the way, Jesus is always saying: „everything I say is based on Scriptures. I'm not making it up. I am here because everything must be fulfilled. This is why I said, 'Heaven and Earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away'.” And then of course, after He talked first about Israel, and then He talked about the church during the time that Israel is back, which is now, look what He says, "That day and hour no one knows." For this generation, for our leaving, for our departure, for that day and that hour, no one knows. Look I want you to know that the tribulation is
a seven years' tribulation. It's not a day and it's not an hour. Now, I know
that sometimes the tribulation is called the Day of the Lord, but here he's going to the resolution of
the hour even. And he's saying "of that day and hour No one knows, not even the angels of
Heaven, but My Father alone." And then of course, He said, "So will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day of Noah entered the ark, and they did not know until the flood came and took them away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. And two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other one will be left. Two women will be grinding in the mill one will be taken and the other left. Watch therefore, for you do not know what our your Lord is coming." He's speaking about your Lord. He's already your Lord. You're speaking about believers. The rapture is imminent. We don't know the day. we don't know the hour. But we need to be ready. Why do you say watch? Your Lord is about to come. That's a promise. Watch it! Be ready at all time! "Therefore you also be ready," in verse 44, "for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect." In other words every believer that tells you the day and the hour and the minute, he's wrong. Don't expect Him to come on this holiday, or this festival, this city, or that year. Don't expect it because He will come in the at the time you are not expecting. He's coming to find your ready at all time and then, ladies and gentleman, we're concluding this message with the last portion of that chapter and we're going to come back to another message on Chapter 25, probably in a few weeks from now. But now, "who then is a faithful and why servant,
whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom is master, when he comes, will find so doing. Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler of all his goods. But if that evil servants says in his heart, 'My master is delaying his coming,' and begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with a drunkards, the master of that servant will come on the day when he is not looking for him and at the hour that he is not aware of, and he will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Weeping and gnashing of teeth reserves to the
end of the Millennial Kingdom to the white great throne of judgment, to of course, the eternal punishment
of the non-believers in the lake of fire. But ladies and gentleman, basically what we conclude this message with is this, first He talked about the nation of Israel, Then He talked about the believers right now, and
then He's warning them. Be ready. Don't act religion. Don't have your churches as social gathering only. Don't pretend that you are ready. Don't pretend that you're born again, Spirit filled. Don't say, "thus says the Lord" when you never heard from Him. Don't use money of the saints to promote your own things and your own ego. And don't be living in this world enjoying this
world as if this world is your final destination. Watch, be ready, and you will have a portion
in the new Jerusalem. You will have a portion. By the way speaking of ruling with Him, these are the promises we have even in the Millennial Kingdom. Not only that we will live with Him,
that we also, the Bible says we will rule. So I'm concluding this message with that simple hope that is all throughout the scriptures ladies and gentleman. From the top of Mount of Olives, from the city of Jerusalem, from the city of the great King, from the place where God brought back His people I want you to know the fig tree is blooming. Israel
is back. This generation shall not pass away. And there is a great difference between the churches rapture and the return
of Jesus with the church at the end of the tribulation for the nation of Israel. And we need to remember that if Israel is the one to go through the tribulation and not the church, that means that the church must be raptured before the tribulation. This is the basis of the pre-tribulation rapture of the church. And this chapter, instead of debunking, it's actually a proof to that wonderful hope that we're not destined to the wrath of God. He's coming to take us. That this is our blessed hope. And that some of us may not even see corruption, we will wear incorruption. We will change in a twinkling of an eye and
we will be with Him forever and ever. Father, I thank You for Your word. Thank You for Your promises. Not only to us but also to your nation Israel. We lament over the fact that they keep choosing religion and they keep falling into that terrible mistake of pretending. Father, I pray that they will understand the need for a Savior. That they will understand that the prophets, all the prophets call them to repent, and only repentance will eventually cause them to escape the terrible end of the whole world, and to be those whose name will be written in the
Lamb's Book of Life. We thank You Father for the hope that we have here. And we thank You for Jesus who came to save us. And it is in His name we pray. Amen
