“Son of man, behold, they of the house of
Israel say, The vision that he seeth is for many days to come,
and he prophesieth of the times that are far off. Therefore say unto
them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; There shall none of my words be prolonged any
more, but the word which I have spoken shall be done, saith the Lord GOD.” (Eze
12:27-28 AV)
For almost two millennia, the church has believed it was always in the
last days. In fact, reading the statements
of our Savior and of Paul, it would appear as though from the time of Jesus’
ascension, the church was potentially in the last days. This has led to an apathetic attitude towards
the LORD’s appearing which is becoming somewhat of a concern. Our newest generation is accusing the older
generation of being alarmists to the point of trepidation leading to the lack
of effort on our part to build the work of God.
They do have a point. It is one
thing to expect the second coming at any moment. Quite another to allow that expectation to
freeze us in a state of anticipation to the point we no longer strive for the
kingdom of God. Be that as it may,
someone has to be the generation which experiences the rapture. The passage above describes this paradox
pretty well. For such a long time, the
prophets have been warning Israel and Judah that God will withdraw His hand of
grace, allowing the hand of chastisement to fall in the form of captivity to
their enemies. One generation after
another has come and gone without this event transpiring. No doubt, as each generation passed without
the chastening of God, the more they became complacent in their
wickedness. But here’s the thing. God’s hand did eventually come. And, it came on the generation that least
expected it.
How many have gone on a road trip and passed speed trap after speed
trap only to see someone else get pulled over.
We play the game of slowing to the legal limit, hoping the radar was not
focused on us when we surpassed that legal limit. There is one stretch of Ohio that is famously
known as a speed trap heaven. No matter
how many times I have traveled that stretch of road, I have never seen it free
from speed traps. It amazes me when I
see a driver pulled over. What made them
think they were immune to the law? Have
you ever gone on a stretch of road like that and someone passes you going
twenty miles over the limit and in the back of your mind, you hope he gets pulled
over? Then, a few miles up the road,
there are the blinking lights with the driver on the shoulder of the road with
a trooper at his window. What went
through the mind of that driver? “So
many other drivers when through here and I don’t see them pulled over.” “I have done this dozens of times and never
been given a ticket.” “There are not going
to waste their time with me when the guy behind me is pushing me to get out of
his way so that he can go even faster.”
There has to be the generation that is raptured. There has to be the generation that goes
through the tribulation. There has to be
that last generation of the age of grace.
There has to be the generation to who all the warnings come to a
head. Israel and Judah were caught in
the idea that it will always be the next generation. Not this one.
Prophecy used to be a common subject matter a generation ago. Not so much anymore. Why? Because,
like Judah, we just don’t think it will be us.
It will be some future generation.
It can’t be us. We have been
saying Christ is returning for so long, we have gotten used to the idea He won’t
come back in our lifetime. Perhaps. But perhaps not! It has to be someone. Best to be prepared.
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