Prophecy Sign #12  The Preaching of the Gospel to all Nations

Sign #12 The Preaching of the Gospel to all Nations	Matthew 24:14 (ESV) 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
What it looks like	The Gospel of Jesus Christ will be preached to all nations before the Second Coming. I suspect this prophecy has been fulfilled in our generation, but it could be referring to the supernatural presentation of the gospel by angels in the Book of Revelation.
Current Status	FULFILLED

 

See Prophecy Sign #13

Robert Van Kampen writes:  "The sequence of events in Daniel 9:24-27, then, provides a step-by-step outline of God's prophetic timetable.  The seventieth week - the seven years remaining - will transpire in the end times.  But before this last "week" could take place, Israel needed to regain control of her Promised Land (which she did in 1948) and then the entire city of Jerusalem (which she did in 1967).  When will the seventieth week begin?  In His Olivet Discourse, Christ tells His disciples that "when you see all these things (things associated with the seventieth week), recognize that He (Christ) is near, right at the door.  Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass until all these things take place.  (Matthew 24:33,34).  'These things' referred to by Christ are the events that will occur during the seventieth week, not before, and they must take place before we can look for the return of Christ.  Therefore, the seventieth week has tremendous significance to all who are 'looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour, Christ Jesus' (Titus 2:13)." See Daniel's 70th Week

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Billy Graham, Pastor In Chief

 Time Magazine (August 20, 2007) examines Billy Graham's private and public relationships wth every President going back to Harry Truman.  "I loved them all."  This man has preached the gospel to more people than any other man that has lived, helping to fulfill this prophecy:  

Matthew 24:14 (NIV) 
^"And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come." 

John F. Kennedy wanted to talk about how the world would end.  Johnson wanted Graham to preach the gospel and "tell 'em how they can be sure they can go to heaven."  Graham was among the first to urge the nation to forgive President Clinton during his scandal.  George W. Bush said his encounter with Graham put him on a path to a new relationship with Jesus and "planted a mustard seed."  

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Birds of pray

The Jerusalem Post reports (2.28.08):  "They are mentioned in the Book of Jeremiah, and are believed to have come through Jerusalem as spring approaches for thousands of years.  The birds' decision to nest in the crevices of the Western Wall is also attributed to the site's easy access, and the fact that the 17-cm.-long birds are able to find room - and warmth - inside the structure, said Ulrich Tigges, a German expert on Common Swifts who carried out a study on the Swifts of the Wall in 2002.   "They need a covered location and the Western Wall provides the ideal nesting place," Tigges said. "The author of the Bible must have been a bird-watcher," he said."

I am attending a gospel class and a question of discussion was "How does God reveal himself to us?" "God reveals himself to us in two ways:  Special Revelation and General Revelation.  The primary means of special revelation to man are the person of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit and Scripture.  General revelation is the way God reveals himself to all men at all times.  His character qualities are evident in humanity and in all creation."  One comment on the article said it this way;  "I also believe it is a sign from G_D to the Jews of his presence."  Indeed, the God of Israel continues to make his character qualities evident in all his creation, to Jews and Gentiles alike.

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Israel's Messianic Jews Under Attack

In the News...   Time Magazine.  Friday, Jun. 06, 2008.  By Tim McGirk/Ariel

The flyers appeared everywhere inside the Jewish settlement of Ariel, on car windshields and telephone poles, and in bus shelters. "Beware," it read, "these are the members of the Jewish Missionary Cult. They are baptizing Jews into Christianity."...  Included was a photo of Pastor David Ortiz and his address.  Ortiz didn't give it a thought. His Jewish neighbors liked him, and so did Ariel's mayor, who found Ortiz, originally from Brooklyn, useful in recruiting funds and political support from American and German Evangelicals for this stone-clad settlement on a breezy hilltop inside Palestinian territory.  But somebody disliked Ortiz and his beliefs enough to try to kill him and his family. By chance, Ortiz and his wife Leah were gone on March 20th when an unknown person dropped off a bomb disguised as a holiday gift package loaded with candy and chocolates...  Messianic Jews, as these Jews who believe in Jesus are called, number just a few in Israel - anywhere between 6,000 and 15,000 - but they provoke hatred all out of proportion to their meager numbers. Many orthodox Jews view them as traitors for joining the Christian faith, which for centuries has persecuted Jews...  Some rabbis also view the Messianic Jews' conversion as part of a grand Evangelical scheme to fulfill Biblical prophecy (which requires the conversion of the Jews) and hasten the Messiah's arrival. Messianic Jews observe Judaism's rites, holidays and customs but believe in Jesus as the Messiah. 

CBN News.com  Turning Up the 'Heat' on Messianic Jews.  By Chris Mitchell.  June 4, 2008CBNNews.com - JERUSALEM, Israel - In the latest in a growing number of incidents against Israeli Messianic Jewish believers -- Jews who believe that Yeshua (Jesus, in Hebrew) is the Messiah -- a group of ultra-Orthodox youth set fire to New Testaments collected from the town's residents.

Donnie's Remarks...  The salvation of Israel is one of several prophecy signs that will happen before Jesus the Messiah returns. The Apostle Paul writing to the Romans refers to the fact that many Jews have not trusted in Christ.  But, he affirms that sometime in the future "all Israel will be saved."

 Romans 11:11-12 (MSG)
¹¹ The next question is, "Are they down for the count? Are they out of this for good?" And the answer is a clear-cut no. Ironically when they walked out, they left the door open and the outsiders walked in. But the next thing you know, the Jews were starting to wonder if perhaps they had walked out on a good thing.
¹² Now, if their leaving triggered this worldwide coming of non-Jewish outsiders to God's kingdom, just imagine the effect of their coming back! What a homecoming! 

Romans 11:25-27 (MSG)
²⁵ I want to lay all this out on the table as clearly as I can, friends. This is complicated. It would be easy to misinterpret what's going on and arrogantly assume that you're royalty and they're just rabble, out on their ears for good. But that's not it at all. This hardness on the part of insider Israel toward God is temporary. Its effect is to open things up to all the outsiders so that we end up with a full house.
²⁶ Before it's all over, there will be a complete Israel. As it is written, A champion will stride down from the mountain of Zion; he'll clean house in Jacob.
²⁷ And this is my commitment to my people: removal of their sins. 

This Time magazine story reveals how deep the spiritual blindness of the nation Israel is today, and how reluctant, despite their religion, they are toward accepting Jesus Christ as the Lord, King and Messiah.  But rest assured they will accept Him.  I believe their conversion will occur toward the end of Daniel's 70th week when they, along with the rest of the entire world, will see Jesus return to the rapture the Church.  Perhaps the rest of the world will hear a collective "Oy Vey' He really is the Messiah!"

See Prophecy Sign #12

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Israel on Heightened security alert as Hamas declares 'day of wrath'

Gaza rockets put Israel's nuclear plant in battle zone

  In the News...  Times Online.  By David Byers.  January 2, 2009.

Israel is on heightened security alert today after Hamas declared a "day of wrath" after the killing of a senior Hamas leader in Gaza.  Thousands of security personnel were on alert after the Islamists called for "massive marches" after the main weekly Muslim prayers, starting off from the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem and from all other mosques in the West Bank.
The Times today reported that Israeli officials fear that Hamas has purchased dozens of Iranian-made Fajr-3 missiles with an even longer range, capable of hitting its secret nuclear installation at Dimona, 20 miles east of Beersheba, the desert capital that has itself come under attack.  Peace moves were also stalled at the UN Security Council even though UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that the conflict had become "a dramatic crisis".  


Donnie's Remarks...  As 2008 ends and 2009 begins, I do not think Daniel's seventieth week has started... yet. Several key prophecy signs are lacking: There is no seven-year peace treaty, no Antichrist reigning, no Jewish Temple and no sacrificial system. These are the signs that will indicate we are approaching the end. And these are the very signs we should continue to be watching for.  Ultimately, they will be fulfilled.

Luke 12:35-40 (NIV)
³⁵ "Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning,
³⁶ like men waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him.
³⁷ It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them.
³⁸ It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night.
³⁹ But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into.
⁴⁰ You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him." 

Jesus taught that His followers should be ready because the Son of Man will come at a time when most people will not be expecting Him. This parable in Luke describes a scene in which different kinds of servants were waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet. The point was that the faithful servants had to remain constantly vigilant so that the master would be able to come into the house whenever he might arrive at home. If they are watching (v. 37) and ready (v. 38), their master will serve them. The second watch was from 9 p.m. to midnight, and the third watch was from midnight to 3 a.m. The point of the words about the thief (v. 39) is a little different. Some of the servants will not "be ready" and  "the Son of Man will come" unexpectedly, like a "thief in the night"  to them. For many of us, the hour is getting late as the calendar relentlessly keeps turning.  It is even more imperative for us to be awake and ready to meet Jesus. 

Acts 16:30-31 (NIV)
³⁰  "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
³¹ They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved--you and your household."