Prophetic Signs That Must Precede Christ’s Return (Part 1)

Toward the end of Christ's ministry and his time on this earth, he sat down with his disciples at the Mount of Olives as they asked him a question that we see recorded in Matthew 24.

We'll open our Bibles here to Matthew 24. If you like to put your ribbon in places that we go back to a few times, you can put your ribbon here in Matthew 24. We're not going to work through, and this is not a sermon entirely from Matthew 24, but we're going to hop back and forth to Matthew 24 a few times. I've got my ribbon here to help aid me in my finding my way back.

But we find a story of the disciples talking with their Lord and Savior, Jesus, walking around the city of Jerusalem. The disciples are pointing Christ to most likely pointing him to the temple mountain, showing the majesty of what God had instructed to be built, and the beauty and the magnitude of what was around them. It was their home, right? It was their place of worship. It was sacred to them. It was special, kind of like our congregation building here. It's a blessing that we have what we have here. We can call this home, and it's set up for us every week, and it's comfortable. We know we're able to have a play area in the back. It's something that we enjoy. I think the disciples were recognizing the blessing that they had in this, and they were pointing it out to Christ. Notice how Matthew 24 opens up in verse 1. It says, Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and his disciples came up to show him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus 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. It starts off on a down note, doesn't it? Kind of a downer of a message Christ begins to share with them. But it planted a seed that as they continued in their journey and their walk with him that day, it posed another question that they asked him, or posed the question that they asked him in verse 3. Because it says, Now as he sat at the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age? The disciples wanted to know, what should we be looking for when things become bad?

What should we look for as we continue living our lives, but recognize that things will eventually change? What would be the signs or the markers before Christ's return? The ones asking the question may have been thinking about the words that the prophet Daniel shared in Daniel chapter 12. Let's turn next there. Daniel 12. A couple weeks ago, we were looking in the book of Daniel. I believe it was Daniel chapter 8. So this is the end of the book of Daniel. It's the last chapter that we have here, wrapping up the vision that God had given to him, a vision that is of the end time of things to still occur on this earth. Notice Daniel 12 and verse 1. It says, At that time, Michael shall 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. We've seen many times of trouble as we've experienced our own lives. We've seen historically severe times of trouble, and the vision that Daniel was being given says none of that adds up to the level that will come at a future time in the future. And he's saying, Even to that time, and it says, At that time, your people shall be delivered, though, everyone who is found written in the book, that is the book of life, and many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall wake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. And this is referring to our destiny as children of God, the stars that will shine. But he says, But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.

Then I, Daniel, looked, and there stood two others, one on this riverbank and the other on that riverbank. And the one said to the man-clothed and linen, who was above the waters of the river, how long shall the fulfillment of these wonders be? Then I heard the man-clothed and linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by him who lives forever, that it shall be for a time, times, plural, and half a time.

And so our understanding of this passage here is we're talking a time would represent a year, times, plural, would represent two years, and then half a time, of course, half a year. So we're looking at three and a half year time of this end time, this tribulation period. And when the power of the holy people had been completely shattered, all of these things shall be finished and come to a conclusion. He says, although I heard, I did not understand. And then I said, my lord, what shall be the end of these things? And he said, Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till that time of the end. Many shall be purified, made white, and refined. But the wicked shall do wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand, but notices, but the wise shall understand. We want to be in that group showing wisdom. We want to be understanding of these times, just as the disciples asked that question to Christ, what will be the signs? They wanted to be in that category as well. They wanted to understand what to look for. What is there coming? And so, Daniel has been given this vision and these words that the wise will understand. And so it's good that we dive into topics like this. It's good that we continue to explore the prophecies that we have in looking at this future time.

There's a lot we can unpack from Daniel chapter 12, but just very quickly, we recognize there will be a time of trouble unlike this world has ever seen before, unlike we've ever experienced.

But we see that God's people will be delivered, those found written in the book of life.

Those who are following God will shine and be noticed by others. But we also see knowledge shall increase. People will be able to understand more and more. It reminds me very similar to where we're at right now in history, the amount of information and knowledge that continues to come forward and to be confirmed. But then it says, God has revealed all of this to the wise who understand as well. We know that God is complete and complete control of all world events that occur. He does allow us to have free moral agency. We, as mankind, can choose our path to a large degree. And even people who are not in our walls, people who are not believers or followers of Jesus Christ, they are given freedom to make decisions. A lot of world leaders make decisions. A lot of people make decisions. A lot of business people make decisions. But overall, God controls the outcome of historic events as it works and as it relates to his overall plan for mankind. I can assume that some in the room have had their eyes on the meetings that occurred between the president of Russia and President Trump a week and a half or so ago in Alaska. Wondering what would come out of that. Would they be able to broker a peace deal? Would they be able to implement pieces? Would there be a full end to the Ukrainian war and that crisis in that region? Or would there be little pieces that maybe would come forth that could be building blocks? And then this past week, we saw world leaders join President Trump in the White House.

There's been photos of them sitting around his desk as they all met. And I'm sure talked more about some of these issues that came up. We wonder if there will be a resolution to peace, right? A way to find peace in this world. But the big question that I think we've asked and have seen answered many times, how much do these things really matter, right? How many times have we been able to solve the issues of war and find peace in this world? We haven't, right? It's one of our continued problems that we have. But God's plan doesn't change one way or another. God's plan isn't moved by the events that man makes. God moves the events that go on in our lives. God gives us prophecy to ultimately encourage us to draw near to Him. As we heard when we're going through difficulties, we're going through trials or challenges, God wants us to draw near to Him, to share that with Him when we're in those situations. He gives us prophecy that as we read this and as we can become troubled or question different events that are going on, that we can draw near to God through this, knowing that He is the source of truth, that He is a source of power, He is an ultimate control. But prophecy also gives us encouragement that what God says will happen will actually happen. And prophecy provides us comfort that as God is always truthful, we know that His ultimate plan is to bring many sons to glory, and that plan will be completed.

The Apostle Peter references the role that prophecy plays in the lives of the Christian believer in 2 Peter chapter 1 and verse 19.

This is important for us to understand, especially as in-time events occur, whether that's in our lifetime or later on. We need to be aware because as we looked at with the Antichrist and that Antichrist figure, it seems by all accounts God's going to allow them to be able to perform miracles, similar to remember Pharaoh's magicians, and they did some things in front of Moses and his brother Aaron, and then they kind of went back and forth. But it seemed like there was some ability that God allowed those magicians to have to perform those magic tricks. God, it seems like, is going to allow this end-time figure to perform some miracles, and that'll grab people's attentions. And with that, they may make some prophecies. They may claim that God has spoken to them and shown them and told them of events to occur. And so, when we see this, if we see this in our lifetime, we need to be aware because what does 2 Peter talk about prophecy and how it serves and how God has set this up to work? 2 Peter 1 verse 19, it says, And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as the light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your heart. Knowing this verse, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation. It means that God has not given prophecy, so just one person is able to explain it. It's not just for private interpretation that one person only on this planet can understand what he's written here. But collectively, and over many decades, we have come to understand and man has come to understand with some level of understanding. Now, I'm not going to say we got it all figured out, right?

Prophecy has its twists and its turns. God knows it all. But he has given mankind, collectively, to understand certain aspects and events and a chronological record of what should occur next in different things. Now, there's a lot that we don't know. But Peter is saying here that one person isn't the only understanding, the person to understand prophecy. It's not just up for private interpretation. He says, for prophecy never came by the will of man, meaning it's not like I stand up here and I say I got it all figured out that somehow I have this knowledge. But holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit to not only share prophecy and prophetic messages, but then, as we see many times, to then give the explanation for it. So today, I'd like to look at with you several prophetic signs that must happen before the return of Jesus Christ.

Now, there's many different signs that we see written in Scripture that we believe will occur at the end times. To try to bring it all down to a series of sermons, we'd be here for quite a while, looking in depth at every single one of these. But there's some major events, and we're going to look at four today and probably the next time I'm with you, we'll look at three or four more as well, depending on where God leads that second part of this sermon. Because these are the kind of those mile markers. You drive down the road, you don't have a mile marker every eighth of a mile, right? You just get one usually every mile along the way. And so these are kind of like those major mile markers along the highway that we know as we see these events occur, we're moving towards and forward to these end time events that we see described in Daniel chapter 12.

Let's turn to 1st Thessalonians 5.

1st Thessalonians It's right at the end of those letters, Paul's letters to Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians. See, all my Bible school lessons are coming back to help me, as you can tell. I have to say this out loud to remind myself sometimes where these books of the Bible are at, but 2nd Thessalonians chapter 5. I'm sorry, 1st. There is no 2nd Thessalonians. There's no chapter 5 in 2nd Thessalonians. It's in 1st Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 1.

Paul writes, But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that in the day of the Lord, that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. So Paul had already talked and taught that some of these end-time events that we're going to look at would occur. And he says, you know perfectly. He's already taught them, just as many of us have been taught over the years. But that it'll come as a thief in the night. And notice verse 3, For when they say, Peace and safety, sounds similar to maybe what we've heard over these last few weeks, right, from some of the world leaders. Well, we're going to be able to figure this out. We're going to solve this. We're going to end this war. Peace and safety. Then suddenly destruction come upon them as labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they shall not escape. But notice, but you brethren are not in darkness, so that this day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep as others do, but let us watch and be sober. Let us keep our eyes open and be serious-minded about these things that we see in Scripture as we continue to just keep our eyes open to the world around us.

And so, let's look at these for today's sermon, these four signs, and we'll look at some more in the next one. But the first sign that we know must occur before the end times is that mankind must have the ability to exterminate itself. Mankind must have the ability to exterminate itself. Let's turn back to Matthew chapter 24 and verse 6. Matthew 24 verse 6. Going back to the prophecy, or going back to Jesus's teaching at the Mount of Olives when they asked him, what will the end times be like? Notice what what Jesus shares here in Matthew 24 and verse 6. He says, and you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. It feels like this has been my entire lifetime.

Anybody who's born and has lived since pretty much 2011, 2001, any of those generations that had grown up, like my daughter's generation, it's been constant conflict. It's been constant rumor, constant overseas conflict. There's not been really any time of peace that that has seen, that their generation has seen. He says, and you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled, for all of these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet, for nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. Notice verse 21 and 22. For then there will be a great tribulation, such as not been seen since the beginning of the world, until that time, nor, nor evil, nor, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved, but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened. Seems like, again, in our evening news cycle, there's story after story in your social feeds, wherever you're getting your news at, of international conflict, of war, of terrorist activities. And I can only imagine, when Jesus shared this, talking about unless these days were shortened, that no one would be able to survive, I think they probably had a hard time imagining this in their own mind, because you remember they were part of the Roman Empire. They had heard the history lessons of empires rising up and then putting down the next one, right? There's always somebody who has a bigger stick. There's always somebody who wins the battle, right? And then they're the ones in charge. And so for the disciples, the thing like, wait, war is going to break out that utterly destroys both sides? There's always somebody who wins. And I think in mankind's mind, even up to just only 100 years ago, this was a similar thought. There's always been a victor. There's always been somebody who wins and then puts the others down, and then society continues to operate however it does. But 100 years ago, it would have been hard for mankind to imagine a scenario where mankind could wipe out all life on this planet just 100 years ago. In 1903, which is only 122 years ago, Orville and Wilbur Wright were the first men to achieve sustained flight with a powered and controlled aircraft. I think Mr. St. Charles was there with them. You went to school with Orville and Wilbur, didn't you? I thought his history book had you. They were flying the plane. You were, you had flags on the ground, didn't you? No? Could have? So see, you guys should have all said, oh, Mr. Phelps. That's not very nice to go. He didn't do anything to me. Well, today, I should say.

Right? Today, you haven't done anything. Not yet. But realistically, this is only 122 years ago that we're talking about the first controlled, sustained, motor-powered aircraft was able to lift up off the ground. But as soon, almost as soon as the aircraft was invented, airplanes have been used for military purposes. The first war to see major use of aircraft was World War I, from 1914 to 1918. So if the aircraft was invented in 1903, 11 years later, we're now using that to drop bombs, to influence battles, and to kill people. How quickly we can take something that is just almost impossible for mankind to imagine ever being able to do, and then say, how can I use this to win battles? Seems like it's almost ingrained in who we are. Then in 1930, the development of the jet engine began in Germany and Britain, as both countries would go on to develop jet aircraft by the end of World War II. And then after the Second World War, commercial aviation grew rapidly, as did additional military applications. The 1945 invention of the nuclear bomb and its use was made and applied through the development of aircraft. And you may have seen them. We've just celebrated, I believe, or this year's the 80th anniversary. It was 80 years ago that that bomb was dropped in 1945.

Following the war, German scientists were relocated to the United States to work directly on creating the world's first practical design of an intercontinental ballistic missile.

The ability to have this technology was predicted a few years earlier in 1943, when U.S. Army General Hap Arnold wrote, quote, someday, not too distant, there can come streaking out of somewhere. We won't be able to hear it. It'll come so fast, some kind of gadget with an explosive so powerful that one projectile will be able to wipe out completely the city of Washington.

End quote. Right now, as it has been for many years, there are enough nuclear weapons to destroy this world many times over. Some of you may even remember practicing for these drills of a nuclear missile coming over or bomb being dropped in school, like the whole duck and cover, as I've seen in some of the videos. Did anybody remember actually experiencing that?

As if it was going to save us, right, or save you at that time. But the fear was real.

The concern was there. And so people practice, what would we do if this occurred? And you remember that fear and you remember the concern held by the American people. I've even seen a few movies or movies that have reference. I think it was 1962, the Cuban Missile Crisis, if I've got my date, right? The fear that was in this nation, not wondering, even some of the movies has depicted like the news reports, the president's warning, and it looked like the people were scouring around, trying to figure out how to get out of the major cities. Because New York, Washington, and some of the movies depicted people grabbing their kids and calling people and jumping in the car.

And then, but then the next day, the sun rises up. Nothing happened, right? But the fear was real. The concern was genuine. The uncertainty was just present. I think for my generation, we, sadly, have grown comfortable. That's a weird word to use when comparing nuclear, Holocaust, or nuclear attacks. But we've become comfortable with the nuclear state of our world. But the question is, should we really be comfortable? You may recall an event in Hawaii that occurred on January 13, 2018, so just seven years ago, and it set off widespread panic when a text message was accidentally sent to the mobile phone users in the state. The message said, emergency alert, ballistic missile threat inbound to Hawaii, seek immediate shelter. This is not a drill. So imagine, like, we get those emergency texts today sometimes. It could be an emergency alert about the weather, thunderstorm coming. Could be about those hamburgers, like there's a kidnapped child, and everybody's phones start. Could you imagine getting all of us, like, right here, suddenly our phones just all start beeping, and this is the message. It went unanswered or uncorrected for 38 minutes. Talk about, like, 38 minutes. It just couldn't seem like it went any slower. People panicked. People started grabbing their kids, their stuff. Their husbands are at work. Their kids are at school. How am I going to get over there? They grab bags.

Many tried to find shelters that maybe, perhaps, they could protect them, but as we know, whenever people panic, the roads get crowded. Everything comes to a screeching halt. Nobody can get where they feel they need to get. Some people cried. Some people called their loved ones to say goodbye.

The panic just... imagine that, just sitting in the way that our society handles these types of things. I remember 9-11. I mean, that was probably the closest that I've had in my lifetime of where everything seems to be just closing in and what's going to come out of this. It's one of those times where, for my generation, many of you have other moments, maybe when President Kennedy was assassinated. You remember right where you're at. For my generation, it's 9-11. I can picture where I was at at work. I called Laura. We talked on the phone because she was up here in Michigan.

Watching the news. No work got done that day. And I remember going home and continuing to watch that evening on the news. What's next? Is anything going to happen? I remember them talking about there was a run on gas. A lot of people were running out and filling up their car. I happen to live right across from a gas station. I'm like, lucky me, I'm going to get up, go fill up my car because I want to make sure I have acid. I got up, looked out the window, and the line was already... some other people had the same idea. And I'm like, I sat back down because I'm like, well, I'm not getting any gas tonight. This is that mindset that sets in when panic grabs hold, as it has in many different times before.

Today, we live in the fear of nation states that are under unstable leadership or unstable national laws and culture. These nations that produce and possess nuclear weapons pose a great risk to the whole of the world. This week, an article popped in my newsfeed from Newsweek on my phone, and I pulled it up just now. It's entitled, North Korea's Kim Gives Nuclear Order.

And this is from, again, Newsweek published this week. It says, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said his country must quickly expand its nuclear arsenal as he warned that the annual U.S.-South Korea military exercises include nuclear elements, which he said could spark war.

And this is what the North Korean state media reported. And then later on in the article, it quotes Kim as saying, Kim said that the security environment around North Korea is getting more serious by the day and requires us to make a radical and swift change in the existing military theory and practice and rapid expansion of nuclearization. And so this is according to what he said in according to Newsweek, and they're reporting on this. We're surrounded by all kinds of ideas, politically, motives, self-preservation ideas that other countries have. And so this is present around us. But with this first sign, we must remember that Christ himself said, we just read it, and unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved, but for who? The elects say those days will be shortened. Christ himself said that the gates of hell will not prevail against his church. And so there has to be an end-time church, an end-time presence of God's people, and we'll continue to have that. And because God says it will be there, we know that these days will be shortened. This sign, obviously, has already been fulfilled, but God will not allow man to completely destroy the creation that was made in his own image. He will intervene, and he will prevail to stop this from happening. A second event that must occur before the return of Jesus Christ is a Jewish homeland must be established in Israel.

Why does the end-time focus so much on the Middle East and on Jerusalem? Let's look at a brief history. Abraham almost, by all best accounts and by tradition, almost sacrificed Isaac on Mount Moriah, which would later become the location of the Temple Mount. Today, the Dome of the Rock, which is the Muslim holy place, which was built in 691 A.D., so about 660 years after Christ died, it stands over where many believe the Holy of Holies and the Ark of the Covenant were in God's Temple. From 1096 to 1291, Christian Crusaders sent by the Pope from Europe traveled to Jerusalem to drive the Muslims out. And in doing so, Crusaders massacred Jews and Muslims in retaking Jerusalem.

Later, around 1517, the Muslims pushed the Christians out. The Middle East was centered in Constantinople under the Ottoman Empire until after World War I. Then in 1948, after World War II, the modern state of Israel came into existence. And I think we're very aware of the conflict that has existed in Israel since that event occurred in 1948 and continues up till today. The state of Israel and Jerusalem matters because it has to exist at the end time with a Jewish presence in Jerusalem. The prophet Zechariah was used by God to reveal a great amount of end-time events. Let's look at Zechariah chapter 12 in verse 1. We're going to look at a couple passages that references that at those end of days there has to be a Jewish presence in Jerusalem. We see this in Zechariah and we also see it in one of the gospel accounts. Zechariah 12 in verse 1, though. Let's read this. The burden of the word of the Lord against Israel, thus says the Lord, who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him. It's a reminder that God is in control. Before he gets into the details, he's saying, I am God. I've done everything that you see all around you, from the stars in the heavens to physical life on this earth. I mean, I've got it because he's reminding us as but just before he gets into these end-time events. He says verse 2, Behold, I make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem. So, against the Jews and Jerusalem. And it shall happen in that day. So, we know anytime we see that phrase, or most often when we see that phrase, it's a reference to end-time events that will occur at those end of days. And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples. All who would heave it away will surely be cut into pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it. He's saying this heavy stone that they're just going to want to wipe off the planet, he's not going to allow to be moved, even though all the nations notice that. Though all nations, not just a few, not just a few regional powers, all nations of the earth are against it. Verse 8, In that day the Lord will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the one who was feeble among them, in that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, and the angel of the Lord before them. It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. Now let's flip ahead a couple chapters of Zechariah 14 in verse 1.

He says, Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, and your spoil will be divided in your midst, for I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem. The city shall be taken, the house is rifled, and the women ravished.

Half of the city will go into captivity, but the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then the Lord will go forth, and fight against those nations as he fights in the day of battle. And in that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which face Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west, making a very large valley. Half of the mountain shall move towards the north, and half of it towards the south.

We have symbolically and figuratively and most likely, I guess you would say physically, Jesus Christ standing on the Mount of Olives, his presence, him returning, and the nations of the world battling against him. However they're confused, however they're misled by the end-time beast and false prophet, they're going to battle against Jesus Christ standing on the Mount of Olives.

And so Jerusalem has to exist at that time. God's people have to be present at that time, and we see this prophetically here in Zechariah. Let's go to a parallel account that we have already read from Matthew 24, but let's look at Luke 21 verse 20. Luke 21 and verse 20. Again, this is a parallel account to Matthew chapter 24, so they share very similar.

It's the same account from different perspectives of the gospel writers, but notice what Luke captures here, Luke 21 verse 20 and through 22 that Jesus shares. It says, But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in who Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her.

For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. And so this is viewed as a dual prophecy because it was first fulfilled around 8070 when the Roman Empire came in and demolished the Temple Mount. Pretty much bulldozed everything that was there, as Christ prophetically said would happen, that these stones would be demolished. They would no longer stand on each other. But we also understand that this is an end time prophecy, as end time nations will come together to do battle in and around Jerusalem, which we'll see with our next prophetic sign that must occur before the return of Jesus Christ.

This is the third one we'll look at today. The King of the North and the King of the South will rise as regional powers. Throughout history, there has been conflict, and after conflict, between kings and nations that were geographically located between located North and South of Jerusalem. And because Jerusalem sits between these historic powers, and because the city is located along road routes, the city has been dragged back and forth in these conflicts, and they've been trampled on multiple times by multiple kings and rulers.

When we looked at the figure Antiochus Epiphanes, sometimes he would travel through Jerusalem because it was his territory to attack other nations. And when those battles didn't go his way and he had to retreat back through Jerusalem, often he took his wrath, his anger, his frustration out on God's people there in Jerusalem. They got beat up for not doing anything wrong just because he wanted to win something.

We've seen this time and time again. The city has been in conflict, and God's people have suffered because of it. Daniel chapter 11 has a long and detailed prophecy of kings of the North and the kings of the North and South coming together to do battle. They would create treaties with one another only to then break those treaties and do battle again. Daniel lived and prophesied about events that would not occur until 200 years after his life, but the events I'd like to focus again today is on Daniel chapter 11 starting in verse 36. Daniel 11 and verse 36.

Here we see that there has to be this end time power arise, this organized, this organized countries that will go against each other in a powerful way and be present and be the primary empires in these regions. Daniel 11 verse 36 speaks to this. It says, Then the king shall do according to his own will. This is the king of the North. He shall exalt and magnify himself above every god, shall speak blasphemies against the god of god, shall prosper till the wrath has been accomplished, for what has been determined shall be done.

He shall regard neither the god of his fathers nor to the desire of women nor the regard of any gods, for he shall exalt himself above them all. But in their place he shall honor a god of fortresses, he shall enjoy his armies, he shall enjoy his fortified cities, his abilities, it's saying, and a god which his fathers did not know he shall honor with gold and silver and precious stones and pleasant things. Thus he shall act against the strongest fortresses with a foreign god in which he shall acknowledge and advance its glory, and he shall cause them to rule over many and divide the land for gain. And it says, At that time of the end the king of the South shall attack him, and the king of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind with chariots, horsemen, and many ships, and he shall enter into the countries, overwhelm them, and pass through. He shall also enter the glorious land, that is Jerusalem, that is Israel, and many countries shall be overthrown. But these shall escape from his hand, Edom, Moab, and the prominent people of Ammon.

He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape. So we have this prophetic king of the North and king of the South. Who they are? There are some questions, right? We're not completely explained in Scripture, but it leads us to this fourth prophetic sign that we'll look at. This will be the last one we will look at today, and it speaks to a dominating Roman system that will come to power at these end times. Now again, when we consider the forces that will come, we have some descriptions in Scripture, but we're not always certain exactly who or how. But let's look at a little bit of why we believe this is going to be a dominating Roman system that will again come to power at this end time.

Let's turn to Daniel 7. A few chapters earlier, Daniel 7 and verse 1. We were in Daniel 8 in the last sermon I shared with you, so we're one chapter earlier in Daniel 7.

And we see another vision Daniel was given about these beasts coming from the sea. And often when we see the imagery of a beast that's referencing an empire, a large empire, a large group of people, and when we see horns, that's actually often referencing an actual leader from that nation that is rising up. But notice the description of these beasts, and again this is a dual prophecy because these empires have risen up at one point, but we're also shown that there will be another time where this empire will rise up again. Notice Daniel 7 in verse 1. It says, In the first year of Belshazzar, king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions of his head while on his bed. Then he wrote down the dream, telling the main facts. Daniel spoke, saying, I saw in my vision by night, and behold the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea.

And four great beasts came up from the sea, and each different from the other. The first was like a lion, and this would be in reference to the Babylonian empire that rose up against Jerusalem. The first was like a lion and had eagle's wings. I watched till its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand on two feet like a man, and a man's heart was given to it. And then suddenly another beast, a second, like a bear, which would be representative of the Persian empire, was raised up on one side and had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. And they said thus to it, arise, devour much flesh. And after this, I looked, and there was another, like a leopard, which had on its back four wings of a bird. The beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it. So this would be the Greek empire. Remember Alexander the Great being that fast and religious, or that fast and powerful leader, but then when he died quickly, four of his generals rose and took part of dividing the empire and continued leading this Greek empire. And then we come to chapter seven, it says, After this, in the night vision, behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong, had huge iron teeth, it was devouring, breaking in pieces and trampling the residue with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, it had ten horns. And I was considering the horns, and there was another horn, a little one, coming up from among them, before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by its roots. And there, in this horn, were eyes like the eyes of a man, and mouth, and a mouth speaking, pompous words. Historically, this would have been the rise of the Roman empire that was in existence when Jesus walked this earth and when his disciples went out to preach the gospel message. But we see that this Roman empire, which was eventually collapsed, has tried to be revived multiple times over the centuries.

Justinian, and then Charlemagne, and then Otto the First, and Charles the Fifth, and then Napoleon, and then more recently, even with Italy and German leaders who initiated the world wars. There's been this desire to bring back this powerful empire, these powerful rulers.

And we see that this is a dual prophecy because this Roman empire will have to be revived at the end times. Notice Revelation 17, so going to the book of Revelation, chapter 17, in verse 12 through 14.

We find a detailed and read of one final attempt to revive this Roman empire prior to Christ's return. Revelation 17, verse 12, it says, The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they received authority for one hour as kings with the beast. These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. These will make war with the lamb, and the lamb will overcome them, for he is Lord of lords and king of kings, and those who are with him are called chosen and faithful. So from our collective best understanding, Revelation suggests that there will be a voluntary union of these ten leaders to receive power and then give their authority to a single leader. In 1957, the Treaty of Rome was signed by six European nations that formed the European Economic Community, the EEC. Today, the EEC has grown into the European Union with its 27 member nations. Out of this, this group of nations, this workshop of these nations coming together, will likely come the ten kings or ten leaders that form the final resurrection of the world. The final resurrection of this Roman Empire. Now, does this explicitly state in scripture that this is going to be this conglomerate? We don't know, right? This is some of those questions that God will perform in his time. But we see that there has to be this king of the north. And when we look at biblical references to geographical locations, God always has the geography in play when he makes these predictions. When he says it's going to come from the north, it's not going to be an army that comes from the west. It's got to be a power that comes from the north. And when you consider the geography around Jerusalem and Israel today, with the Mediterranean Sea to its west, the north has to be either Europe, has to be Russia, has to be that general geographical area.

And when we see how the Roman Empire came from the European continent, there's this belief and understanding that this most likely will come from the European Union, gathering together, organizing themselves, and coming forth with this power. Notice this past week, well, today, I was looking at some references to some news articles because as I was studying and reviewing my notes, I was curious what some of the articles, some of the current news reports, have shared recently about this rising and this unification in Europe. And just by doing a quick Google search on European countries building up their military, came back with multiple articles from this summer. This one is from June 28, 2015. The article is from NPR and is entitled, And in about face, Germany plans to build Europe's biggest military.

And so that was from this past June. One month before that in May from the Wall Street Journal, Europe is racing to build its own version of the US military industrial complex. And then from an article a couple months earlier, beginning of the year in February, defending Europe with the US, excuse me, defending Europe without the US, first estimates of what is needed. That was just three of the top articles that came back from just this year. And then if I use Google AI just to come back with the same question, what does the AI search engine return says many European countries are significantly increasing their military spending and capabilities driven by rising geopolitical tensions and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. This era of rearmment, and it put it in quotes, includes plans like the EU's rearm Europe initiative with the goal of mobilizing billions for its defensive instruments in areas like artillery, drones and air defenses. And then it goes through saying key examples include Poland, the Baltic states and Germany, all of which are enhancing their defenses, with many NATO members committing to increase their defense spending to 5% of GDP by 2035. And so again, I don't share this to be to invoke fear or concern or for us to be trying to read more into this than God has shown us. But we're told to watch. We're told to be aware of what's going on. We're told to so that we're not afraid. We're not overwhelmed by these things.

Again, the Bible is not clear in exactly which regions or nations will configure this final revival, only that this new superpower will indeed emerge just before Christ's return. Obviously, this is a prophecy that has not yet been fulfilled. So I want to save a few of these, because we're out of time, and look at it again the next time we're together. But we've talked a lot over these last few weeks and over many years and many decades in the church about end-time events that must occur before the return of Jesus Christ. But I want to remind everyone what I shared in one of the previous sermons here recently. The lessons we can take from this are twofold. One, we don't have to be afraid. Right? God's got all of this figured out. He knows where we're at. He knows who we are, as we heard in the in the sermon at. It doesn't mean that we may not suffer or have to deal with some tribulation or some aspects of it, but God also promises and says He'll deliver His people. Those whose names are written in the book of life, that He will intervene. And ultimately, we know the endgame, that even if for some reason our lives come to a physical end, it's not the end of our hope because of the resurrection and our future with God. So we don't need to be afraid. We don't have to be fearful for our children. We don't have to be afraid of what will I get married? Will I go to college? Will I have a job? We don't have to be worried about these types of things because God is very much in the details of all of our lives.

We also we don't want to allow ourselves to be deceived. As I mentioned in the sermon to the previous two sermons, God has us all, again, taken care of as long as we continue doing our part, we'll be okay. But there's going to come rumors of worse. There's going to come other ideas that pop up. There's going to come, by all accounts, some sort of leader who's able to make things happen that is going to seem supernatural or divine. We can't get ourselves deceived by these things because it says that even the elect could be deceived. We need to understand what is going on. We need to understand what God has said, and then we need to process all of this accordingly so that we can then go forward with the discernment that we need to evaluate the times, but also the discernment we need to continue to work towards His kingdom and the things that we should be doing in our lives today. That means we have to continue to grow closer to one another. We have to continue to grow in love towards one another. We can't just get all focused in on prophecy and this happening and that happening, and if we figure this out, because what if somebody could figure all these things out? What if we could figure out the time of Jesus's returns? We could figure out who exactly is going to be the king of the north? We can figure out when is this conflict going to occur? If we could figure all of those things out but not grow in love towards one another, we may just miss the kingdom. That's the truth of it. The admonition that we're given is to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Don't ever lose sight of those two things. Those are like the big building blocks of life, right? We'll spend the rest of our lives working on those two things, because when issues around us swirl and we get maybe sidetracked or our vision goes over to something, then our vision is not on the kingdom.

And so God says, okay, let's bring it back. Bring it back over to the kingdom. Don't take your eyes off the kingdom. And then He says, don't take your eyes on seeking my righteousness in your life. That means doing the things we ought to be doing. That means loving one another, because the great commandments love God, love your fellow man. These things we cannot lose sight of as other things happen, right? But it's easy that if times change or things start occurring quickly or that thief of the night comes quickly, unexpected, that suddenly we're going to have that maybe deer in a headlights moment, right? But make it a moment. Make it just very brief, right?

9-11 grabbed my attention. For that whole day, my attention was on the TV, right? You can think of different times in your life when your attention was grabbed, but don't let it stay there. Recognize, okay, this is happening. This is occurring. I don't know how this is going to how much longer this is going to go on. If it's natural disasters, if it's rumors of wars, whatever these things are, it's okay to recognize. It's okay to watch, but don't lose sight of all these other aspects that God says we need to do in the meantime and to continue to put into our life. Our enemy wants us to relax now and in the future. He wants us to just enjoy our lives and continue going day by day and doing the things that we're doing. He wants us to say that these things we see around going on around us, they're not that big of a deal, right? They happen all the time, right? Conflict wars, natural disasters, different things. He wants us to become distracted with events in our lives and events in our nation. The fact is, Satan wants us to miss out on the amazing opportunity that God has for each one of us and for all of humanity. So, it's important from time to time, and I don't want to belabor the point here, so we're not going to be doing prophecy for the rest of the year. But it's important that from time to time we consider what Jesus said about the signs of his coming and consider the events going on around us. Let's close in Matthew chapter 24. Go back to Matthew, where we started today.

Matthew chapter 24, and notice verse 32.

Midway through this chapter, Jesus shares this with his disciples again at the Mount of Olives.

Matthew 24 verse 32.

That to me is like, oh, God is still good. Spring flowers are starting to push their little way up, and I know that before we know it, winter's coming to a close, spring's right around the corner. He's using the same analogy, saying, look at the trees and you know that summer is near.

Verse 36.

It's a beautiful analogy that he gives here because society were caught off guard, right? This flood, it's not going to happen. They went on. They were living life, marrying and marrying. But Noah, his wife, and his sons, and their wives, they were watching. They were ready. They were prepared, and they were saved. So we know that God is good, and we know that God does these things. Jesus is reminding them, saying that this will occur, and this is the order that it will occur, but it's a beautiful imagery here that we have. And notice the last verse, verse 42.

Watch, therefore, that admonition for us to watch again, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.