What
a wondrous age that we live in today, to think that our Lord Jesus
Christ is about to return to this earth soon. The disciples of the
early church did not have this hope to look forward to, their hope was
in the resurrection, and they knew that Jesus was not coming back in
their time, but knew he would return. One day after leaving the temple,
while Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, his disciples came to
him asking, "Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the
sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world”(Mt. 24:3)? Jesus then
proceeds to explain to them the specifics of these three occurrences, He
tells them what to look for when the temple would fall, and that the
day and hour that the earth would be destroyed no man knew, and talks
about the signs of His coming and what those days would be
like. Maybe we as believers today we should be more like those that
walked with Jesus and ask more questions about what we have been taught,
and question what will be the signs of His coming.
Are
we looking to the signs of his coming today, are we looking for the
days of the son of man? If we are truly living in the last days, then
the signs of His coming should be all around us. For over one hundred
and fifty years we have been told He was coming and that we are in the
last days, the doctrine that He could come any time has been with us
many years. The years and days roll on, and many have passed on from
this world, never seeing His return, never seeing his days. Here we sit
still waiting and some of become complacent on the Lord’s return,
because they still cannot see his days. "But and if that evil servant
shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; And shall begin to
smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; The
lord of that servant shall come in a day when he
looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, And shall
cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there
shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Mt. 24:48-51). The days of our
Lord are here all we have to do is see the signs.
"Why,
seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty, do they that know him
not see his days” (Job 24:1)? The signs are here and many are just
going about their lives unaware that our Lord is coming soon. This
scripture is clear, God knows what time it is and that his plans are
right on schedule, and is asking us why we cannot see the days of the
Lord. Jesus gave the wicked generation of Jews in his day a sign when
that asked of Him a sign, and He said the only sign they would have was
the sign of the prophet Jonas: and he left them hanging and did not even
bother to explain. (Mt.12:39) When Jesus hung on the cross, died, and
was in the grave three days and three nights, they did not see the
sign. Our Lord didn’t leave us hanging concerning signs of His return,
in Matthew 24 and Luke 17, we are told the signs
of his days and what we should be looking for. We are told the days of
Noah and Lot would be our sign, everything that took place in their day
is a sign of what it will be like when the son of man returns.
Jesus
is not just telling us that life will be going on as normal when He
comes back, although to those that are not looking at the signs it will
be. The sign of Noah and Lot were to show that someone would know the
times and seasons and days. These men were warned by God of emanate
destruction that was to come and God delivered them from it. Noah
prepared an ark for the saving of his house, and those animals that got
on, two angels came to Lot and his family and lead them out before the
fire and brimstone fell. These are our signs, if we are to know and see
what it is going to be like when Jesus comes, we must look what happen
to these men and ask God to give us understanding. I know that many
will say we are not to know the day nor the hour, and they use Mt. 24:36
and Mr. 13:32, never bothering to ask what day or hour
Jesus was talking about, it is just presumed that He is talking about
when he will return. If we would take the time and read the verse above
we can clearly see that Jesus is talking about a day the elements will
melt with fervent heat and not His return. (2Pet. 3:10) We are told to
take heed, for we know not when the time is, but we are not told that we
will never know. Does God change? At the first coming of our Lord
there was a great sign in the heavens, the wise men from the east even
were aware of it, and made the journey to meet child born to be king of
the Jews. Jesus said, immediately after the tribulation of those days,
then the sign of the Son of man would appear in heaven, and they shall
see the Son of man coming in clouds of heaven. (Mt. 24:29-31) Will our
eyes be open and be like the wise men at the first coming? "For I am
the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed”
(Mal. 3:6).
We
are told by Jesus, the days of Lot are a sign to us of his return, He
even warned us to remember Lot’s wife, which almost seems out of place
if we are to believe the common doctrine taught today about the Lord’s
return. God sent two angels into Sodom before the destruction, to get
those righteous out that would heed the warning. Before they were sent
the Lord made a special visit with them to Abraham letting him know what
was about to happen. The Lord said he was going to have a look a Sodom
to see if the noise of their wickedness was as bad as He heard.
Abraham pleaded for mercy and bargained with the Lord to not destroy the
righteous with the wicked, and finally got the Lord to if there were
ten righteous people that He would save Sodom. The Lord then turned
with the other two angels to look at the
wickedness in Sodom, the decision was thumbs down on the city and those
that were righteous in it would be taken out before God would wipe
Sodom off the map. Here we see that Abraham knew of the destruction
before it happened and was desperately trying to see that the righteous
would be saved.
The
judgment was set and Sodom would fall, on the eve of the calamity God
sent the two angels to the city, to hurry those that would hear out. We
see there was a little time that they could warn those righteous and
get them out. When they came to Lot, he invited them to come to his
home, and fixed them a meal of unleavened bread, perhaps to show us what
time of year this took place. I know that the Law of Moses had not
been given yet, but Moses did write this occurrence as the spirit of the
Lord moved on him, the feast of unleavened bread was a was given to the
children of Israel to observe, because God said, "for in this selfsame
day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall
ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance for ever” (Ex.
12:17). God didn’t just mention what kind
of bread Lot had made to let us know what they were eating or how they
made bread, He always has a meaning to what He tells us, so when we hear
unleavened bread we should associate it with other places where it is
mention. This also ties these two events together, Sodom and Egypt,
where in both places God sends two in to deliver his people.
The
time was running out the two angels ask Lot of his other family member
in the city, besides the ones that were with him, to take them out of
the place also. Lot went to his sons in laws, which were married to his
other two daughters, now I say this to show that there were eight
righteous that were in Sodom, because if there were ten or more God
would have saved Sodom, because of his promise to Abraham. The
destruction was coming so we have to hear that there were not ten
righteous in the city, but Lot and his family were, Peter calls him just
(2Pet. 2:7). I would like you readers here to see that there was time,
though little, to try to let those few that trouble was coming and they
could get out if they wanted to. Lot tells his sons in law and
daughters, it is time to get out of this place and the Lord was
going to destroy the city, but they would not listen and made fun of
him, thinking he was crazy. As the day broke, the angel began to hurry
Lot, telling him to take his wife and two daughters that were there and
get out, lest they be caught in the iniquity of the city. Lot did not
feel the urgency of the time, while he dawdled around, the angels grab
him, his wife and daughters by the hand, the Lord being merciful to him,
and brought outside the city. When the angels had brought them far
enough, they told them to escape and not look back, to go to the
mountain, lest they be consumed. Lot thankfully pleaded that the
mountain was too far, and saw that there was a city near and that it was
a little one, maybe he and his family could go there. God allowed Lot
to go to the city that he would save that city for Lot’s sake, but he
has to hurry.
I
would like you to hear something in this passage that you may never
have heard before when you were taught about the story of Lot. Here we
see that Lot and his family made it out of Sodom safely before the
destruction came and they made it to a little city, it is there that
Lot’s wife sees what is going on and looks back then turns into a pillar
of salt. She didn’t just turn her head around and took a glance at
what was happening, if we read down a little farther in the passage we
are told that Abraham look toward the city when it was being destroyed
and he did not turn into salt. Lot’s wife not only looked back, but
turned back to her life and family that was left behind. I hear the
words of Jesus, "Remember Lot’s wife. Whosoever shall seek to save his
life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his
life shall preserve it” (Lu. 17:32-33) Lot’s wife was safe from the
harm, and turned to the life she had and the daughters and sons in law
that had been left behind. We are taught today that this passage reveals
the catching away, where one is taken and the other left, if we are
taken to heaven how could what happen to Lot’s wife reflect this. Can
you imagine someone being change to immortality, transporting to heaven
and then all of the sudden decide to look back on the life that they
were leaving.
The
Bible is a two edge sword, I believe those of you that read this paper
have heard that before, and from the story of Lot and the deliverance of
his family from the wickedness of Sodom, we can see how Jesus death and
resurrection, has saved us from our sin. But there are two edges to the
word of God and the story cannot just be about salvation, Jesus is
clear in Mt. 24 and Mr.13:32, his word shall not pass away. The
prophetic edge of the sword has to also take place, Peter said, heavens
would hold Jesus till all the scriptures were restored or fulfilled.
(Acts 3:20-21) Jesus has shown us the event that takes place in Lot’s
days is one of the last things going to happen before he comes back.
When Jesus gives power to his two witnesses and sends them out to
proclaim his coming, as in the midnight cry, they will try to get
as many out of the place where the judgment of the Lord will fall. The
sons in law of Lot reveal there will be those that will mock the two
witnesses, and will be caught unaware being left behind. The two
prophets will then press the urgency to those that will hear, sending
them where the body is and where Jesus will come. And when they have
finished fulfilling their portion of the bible, the beast will make war
with them and kill them. And their dead bodies shall lie in the street
of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where
also our Lord was crucified (Rev. 11:3-12).
God
sent two messengers into both of these cities and both events reveal
what it will be like when Jesus will come back. In Egypt Moses and
Aaron, the two wings of an eagle, that God had bring the children of
Israel out to meet Him and gave them the covenant of marriage on Mount
Sinai. The two angels to Lot to leave his life in Sodom and flee to the
mountain, and he went to the city of Zoar. God even uses the letter
"Z” the city to reveal if was prophesying of the end, for Jesus is the
Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, the author and finisher
of our faith. We have been given the key to open our understanding if
we will use is. All the Old Testament is prophecy according to the
words of Jesus, and they have to be fulfilled. When Jesus finished his
left behind story, his disciples wanted to
know the place where those who were taken were, and he said,
"Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together”
(Lu. 17:37). Are we going to be like disciple, a question should pop up
in our mind when we read the reply of Jesus, why did he call those that
were taken eagles? The word eagle is a key word, use to describe Moses
and Aaron in Ex.19 and the two witnesses, "And to the woman were given
two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into
her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a
time, from the face of the serpent” (Rev. 12:14).
There
were eight righteous in Sodom and only four heard the messengers, we
are told that there were ten virgins that heard the midnight cry and
only five made it into the wedding. Dear readers, we have reached the
end of six thousand years from Adam, and the King of kings is coming.
The words that are prophesied have to be fulfilled will be, and if we
are not watching and waiting we will miss it and be left behind. I
implore you today to shake yourselves, take the Bible of the stand next
to you and open it up. It is time to be sure of what we know and ask
the questions that we have had, but were content not to ask. If you are
not sure of your salvation, there is time to get it straighten with the
Lord before it is too late. Take a look at the world you are living
in, do you think that God is going to let it
continue in its iniquity? He is not. He is sending His Son to judge
this world and all that are in it, those that will hear and endure to
the end will be saved. I pray that we all will hear and prepare our
hearts and be ready, so that day will not come up on us as a thief, "And
this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the
thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house
to be broken through” (Lu. 12:39). People get ready Jesus is coming,
will you be one of those eagles that are safe under the shadow of His
wings? Ask the questions dear saint, Ask.
