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Mustard Seed July/August 2003
Born Again! What Does It Really Mean?
End Time Events
Mustard Seed - July/August 2003
What is the mot significant event that is prophesied for the end time that will signal the end of the age and the return of Christ? This question was asked and discussed by a host and a panel of twelve men on one of the local Albuquerque religious channels recently. All twelve men on the panel agreed that the most significant event would be the return or re-gathering of the Jews to Palestine.
Jesus was asked basically this same question in Mt. 24:3 "tell us when shall these things be and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?"
Jesus then began to list events that would occur in the end time. Not once in this prophecy did he mention a return or re-gathering of the Jews to the "holy land." Mark 13 and Luke 21 gives the same account of the Olivet Prophecy, and neither of these mentions anything about a return of the Jews.
when we consider that the tiny nation of Israel is only slightly larger than the state of Massachusetts, (8,020 square miles) the population (1999) 5,749,760 (world almanac), we have to ask: "if all the Jews from all over the rest of the world migrated back to Israel, what kind of effect would it have on the tiny nation?"
It has been said that there are more Jews in New York City alone, than in all of the nation of Israel. This is not to mention Houston, Dallas, Chicago, Los Angeles, or any other large city in the world. Put this together with the fact that the Jews are only one of the twelve tribes of Israel and if all Israel returned to Palestine, there would be hundreds of millions of people! Since there is already an average of 717 people per square mile (world almanac) there would not even be standing room.
There are many scriptures in the new testament that tell us to watch and be ready, but I personally don't believe that this is one of the things that we need to watch for.
So, what did Jesus say would be the most significant thing that would signal the end of the age and the return of Christ?
It goes all the way back to the beginning of Christ's ministry. Mt.4:23 "and Jesus went all about Galilee teaching in their Synagogues and preaching the gospel of the Kingdom...." Jesus' entire ministry was about preaching the gospel of the kingdom. He commanded his disciples to go into all the world and preach the gospel Matthew 28:19-20.
This has been the responsibility of the Church of God down through history. This is the most significant sign, when this has been accomplished, that will announce the end of the age.
In Mt. 24:14 it states: " and this GOSPEL of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world as a witness unto all nations; AND THEN SHALL THE END COME."
In the nest issue, we will discuss, "Just what is this Gospel?"
-Neil Wroten
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