50 Days to Understanding the End-Times More Accurately - Day 48 - Signs of the Times

DAY 48 - Signs of the Times

The Bible really contains two types of passages.

One type is events and accounts that are recorded for us to gain information and insight from.

The Old Testament account of Joseph would be an example of this.

The second type is direct commands from God to us, such as “Be ye holy; for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16b) or “preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15b).

The determination, then, that we must make is whether the end-time prophecies are actual instruction for us or if they have nothing to do with us because we could be raptured at any moment and won’t be here for any of that.

Though the bulk of the New Testament is written to new covenant believers (which modern Christians are), somehow much of what it says has been dismissed as either “not for today” or “not applying to us”.

Jesus certainly told the Disciples at His ascension, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power” (Acts 1:7b), but was this actually a call to ignorance?

This same Jesus answered these same disciples when they asked, “Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” (Matthew 24:3b).

If complete ignorance about “the times or the seasons” was what Jesus required of His followers then He would have answered all those questions with “It is not for you to know.”

As well, Jesus would have never bothered to create the sun, moon, and stars, since they are “for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years” (Genesis 1:14b).

Also, would Jesus really have rightly called the Pharisees “hypocrites” for not being able to “discern the signs of the times” (Matthew 16:3b)?

No, we are to know the time period that we are in and that which we are to be doing.

Just as “the children of Issachar… were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do” (1 Chronicles 12:32), so should we.

Jesus’ response to His disciples was because He had given them a heavenly mission and they were still concerned with earthly things.

That is why He tells them in the following verse, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

They had asked about when the Jews would get Israel back from Rome, and Jesus told them not to worry about the times or seasons, but instead to wait for the Holy Spirit and witness unto Him.

Since we are not to be ignorant, we may be able to glean much information about the days ahead from what has been told unto us in Scripture.

When Paul wrote, “But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly well that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:1-2), he was not encouraging them to be ignorant or believe that this event was imminent.

They had “no need” that he should write them about it because he had already told them in person.

If he hadn’t, and his message was that the “Day of the Lord” coming “as a thief” meant that it was imminent, then he would have contradicted Joel 2:30-31, Malachi 4:5-6, Acts 2:19-20, and the teaching of his next letter to the Thessalonians, in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4.

He must have already shared such information with them, and “cometh as a thief” does not mean imminent when it relates to the “Day of the Lord” or the coming of Jesus.

Point #1: Specific information is given to us so that we can understand the times and seasons.

Point #2: This information is given so that we can have an “understanding of the times, to know what… to do.”

2+2=4

Thanks, @narrowminded

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In case you missed them,

Introduction
Back Cover
1 : The Foundation
2 : The Tribulation
BONUS : A Biblical, New Testament Understanding of Tribulation
3 : The Seventieth Week of Daniel
4 : Not Appointed to Wrath
5 : Wrath vs. Tribulation
6 : The Day of the Lord
7 : The Lord Alone
8 : The Exaltation of the Antichrist
9 : Promises
10 : The Presupposition
11 : 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4
12 : The Revealing of the Antichrist
13 : Same Day - 1
14 : Same Day -2
15 : Hand in Hand
16 : Overtake You as a Thief
17 : Another Thief
18 : Not Knowing the Day or Hour - 1
19 : Not Knowing the Day or Hour - 2
20 : Not Knowing the Day or Hour - 3
21 : Ignorance
22 : "Olivet Discourse": Armageddon or Rapture? -1
23 : "Olivet Discourse": Armageddon or Rapture? -2
24 : For My Name's Sake -1
25 : For My Name's Sake -2
26 : Enduring to the End
27 : The Righteous and the Wicked
28 : Dark Sun and Blood Moon - 1
29 : Dark Sun and Blood Moon - 2
30 : Dark Sun and Blood Moon - 3
31 : "Seal Judgments"
32 : The Fifth Seal
33 : Timing - 1
34 : Timing - 2
35 : Timing - 3
36 : Two Witnesses - 1
37 : Two Witnesses - 2
38 : Two Witnesses - 3
39 : Two Witnesses - 4
40 : Two Witnesses - 5
41 : Imminent - 1
42 : Imminent - 2
43 : Reasons Why
44 : The Cause of the Falling Away
45 : The First Watch
46 : Drunkeness
47 : The End-Time Call to Sobriety