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
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
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