I Avoided Preaching This for 40 YEARS...

Why did I avoid what is the second biggest topic in the New Testament? Because of the ambiguity, because of the controversy, and I saw it wrong.

I remember hearing a preacher say, he was like, look, I'll use his first set of Revelation. He said, look, there's a lot of things I don't understand on that. And he said, so I don't really like to teach out of it.

You're describing me for the 30 years before 2020. Here's the question I had to ask myself: if God, who is perfect in wisdom, God gives this much attention to the second coming of Jesus? What should be the fruit of us reading and studying and meditating on this? I've been preaching now for almost 40 years, and I am really sad to say, in 40 years, I've not been behind a pulpit and preached on a message dedicated to this, not once in 40 years. Hey everybody, we'll get back to the episode in just a moment, but first I want to thank the patrons who make this podcast possible. Your support behind the scenes is critical to sharing these messages, so thank you. To become a patron, just click the link in the show description or go to johnbevere.com/patron. Now let's get back to the show. Welcome to the John Bevere Podcast. It— I'm so happy to be here with my son Arden. Arden, we just have so much fun Fun doing this.

Oh, it's always exciting to be here.

I actually look so forward to our recording days because you always bring out these golden nuggets, and I'm like, whoa, I didn't— I never would have thought of that if I was doing this by myself.

Well, I just asked you the questions. That brings out those golden nuggets.

Yeah, but you have some input that has been so good. But you know what are we talking about? We are talking about the second coming of Jesus, but we're really kind of diving into this. And so let's ask this big, big question: does Jesus actually give us an indicator of the time period, or I should say the season, that he's coming? What do you think that answer is?

I say yes.

You would say yes?

Yeah.

Okay.

I mean, he says that you would know the season.

Well, I think you're right. And let me ask you this, Arden. What makes us different than any other generation?

That I don't know. And that's, that's what it's always challenging. And I've even said this before, is I haven't looked as much into this And so I found that to my fault. And I've actually done some more deep dives even since our last episode to try to even study more. And I had a guy come up to me in the gym and he came over and he started one of the previous episodes and he's like, so do you think it's happening in our lives? I'm like, I don't know.

Yeah.

I mean, I said, I'm excited to keep learning and go deep diving into it.

So, you know, I want to be a little vulnerable here right up front before we actually get into our material today. I've been preaching now for almost 40 years, and I am really sad to say in 40 years I've not been behind a pulpit and preached on a message dedicated to this, not once in 40 years. Now, I used to pride myself in that. I used to say it's too controversial, it just creates arguments, people just sit around and, you know, argue with one another about, ah, this is the generation that's gonna be a pre-trib, post-trib, You know, mid-trib. They talk about millennialism, amillennial, post-millennial. And it just, I just, the fruit of it, I just, I mean, I remember when your mom and I, we were in really early days of ministry. We were still serving at our local church. And this guy comes out with this book, "88 Reasons Why Jesus Is Gonna Return in 1988." And you know, Lisa, your mom never bought it, but I bought it hook, line, and sinker. I mean, man, I'm like, Jesus is coming September of 1988. And all my friends, man, Man, they were bought in. All of us were reading this book, and I remember when the date came and went, I was, you know, ooh, I took a step back and I thought, there's something really wrong here. And I remember there were some of my friends who didn't. I mean, we actually knew a young couple who said, we're not, we're not going to have children because we just know that Jesus is coming so soon, we don't have children. And they medically did something about it. And I look at Lisa and I, and I look at our We did our family photo just a couple months ago, and 19— well, 18 people in that family photo. And my heart breaks because this couple was so precious and their intentions were so pure. But, you know, I hope they adopted, you know, because it's almost 40 years later. I look at some people, they stop paying their credit cards, they stop paying their mortgages. They're like, "Hey, Jesus is coming in September '88." And the fruit of it, to be honest with you, wasn't good. And so I kind of swung the pendulum and I thought, I'm not preaching on this. And I'm sad to say, I finally realized I was wrong because it happened about 5 years ago, the beginning of COVID For some reason, I felt this drawing of the Holy Spirit to get back in and start studying, not just glancing, 'cause I glanced, believe me, all those years between '88.

You talked about it with us.

Yeah, I would talk about it with my family, I would talk about it with my friends, I would read about it in scripture, but I didn't study it. And starting in 2020, I felt like the Holy Spirit was tugging my heart and I started studying and I started reading books and listening to people who were very healthy teachers of end-time events. And Arden, I noticed a change in my life and I gotta witness right here. And if this isn't true, then you just correct me. I give you permission to correct me, but I found that I started becoming more tender. I started not getting so upset about things. I started getting a greater passion for souls. I started having more empathy for people. I would say that my passion to do altar calls greatly intensified. So I started looking at my life, and is this true? Did you see any of that in you? So I started looking at my life and I thought, I'm seeing good fruit out of this. I'm not seeing bad fruit out of this. Which all of a sudden I start realizing, wow, what Peter Peter said is really true. So if you look at what Peter's talking about in 2 Peter 3, he's talking about second coming. He's talking about the new heavens and earth. He's talking about everything that's going to happen, right? About people rising up in the last days saying, where's the promise of his coming, right? Yeah. But I thought it was interesting, and I feel like the Holy Spirit just revealed this to me recently. He said, therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things— what things is he talking about? He's talking about The second coming, the end of the world, the new heavens and earth. He said, you should be diligent to be found in him in peace, without spot, blameless. Now that's what we're really gonna focus in on. And he said, considering the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation. So in other words, the reason Jesus hasn't returned yet is because he wants to see more people saved, right? As also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you. 'As also all his epistles, speaking in them of things in which some things are hard to understand.' Now listen to this statement. 'Which untaught and unstable people.' Untaught, unstable people. 'Twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the scriptures.' Now, I started thinking, wait a minute. I'm seeing this produce good fruit in my life, but then what caused me to not talk about this is seeing the people not paying their credit cards and all of that. So I started really examining the realities here. And this is some of the things I discovered, and this is mind-blowing what I'm about to say, okay? The return of Jesus is the second most frequent mentioned topic in the Bible. Second, only to salvation.

Can I ask, is that not just the New Testament? That's the entirety of the Bible?

I'm almost sure it's the entire Bible, but I know for sure it's the New Testament.

Yeah.

Secondly, it's mentioned 318 times in the New Testament. Wow. 318 times. 23 of 27 books in the New Testament talk about it. Only 4 books in the New Testament don't talk about Jesus' second coming. This is the mind-blower: 1 out of every 30 verses in the New Testament talk about the second coming of Jesus. And On top of that, it was the second, if you look at the early church fathers, Polycarp, if you look at all these guys that were discipled by the disciples, if you look at their writings, it was the second most written about thing by the early church fathers. We're talking about the first, second, and third century church. So all of a sudden I'm thinking here, wow, God's talking about this a lot. Now here's the question I had to ask myself, if God, God, who is perfect in wisdom, gives this much attention to, you know, to the second coming of Jesus, what should be the fruit of us reading and studying and meditating on this? It shouldn't be slothfulness or contentious arguments. It should be what? Passion to advance the kingdom. Because—

Creates an urgency.

At 1:30 in the morning, the Holy Spirit woke me up. I was up from 1:30 to 3:00 this morning. The Holy Spirit, I know, woke me up.

Which normally you're up from 3:30 till like the rest of the day.

Well, I usually get up around 5:00.

Yeah, I feel like it's a weird 1:30 to 3:00. When you said that, I was like, that's unusual.

He woke me up last night and I felt, I started praying in the living room and I was walking back and forth and praying and I felt like the Holy Spirit said, go up and see how often and frequently the disciples write about Jesus coming soon. Now I'm thinking, okay, these guys wrote in the first century AD, right? Okay, Revelations 3:11, this is right out of Jesus's mouth. I am coming soon. Yeah, hold on to what you have so that no one will take away your crown. That's Revelations 3:11. Revelations 22:7, look, I am coming soon. Blessed are those who obey the words of this prophecy of this book. Revelations 22:12, These are all right from Jesus' mouth. "Look, I am coming soon." All right, this is written in 95. John wrote this in 95 AD. Okay? All right, 1 Corinthians 7:29. "But let me say this, dear brothers and sisters, the time remains very short. So from now on, those with wives should not only focus on their marriage. Those who weep or those who rejoice or those who buy things should not be absorbed by their weeping or their joy or their possessions. Those who use things of the world You should not become attached to them, for this world as we know it will soon. So here we are again in 95, soon pass away. 2 Corinthians 4:18, listen, this is amazing. So we don't look at the troubles we can see now, rather we fix our gaze on the things which can't be seen. For the things which we see now soon, again, will be gone. Philippians 4:5, let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. The Lord is coming soon. Let's do one more. 1 Peter 4:7, the end of the world is coming soon. Therefore be earnest and disciplined in your prayers. Okay, whoa, whoa, whoa. I started thinking, okay, these guys are writing as if this is happening in their generation. And that was in the first century. We're 2,000 years later. Okay, so I'm sitting there and I'm thinking, what's going on here? So I started thinking about this in the fact that when Peter writes about the people that will mock and scoff and say, where's the promise of his coming? Forever since the fathers fell asleep, everything remains the same. Hey everybody, let's be honest. Most believers, they want to know God more intimately. They wanna find freedom, discover their calling, and improve their relationships. But spiritual growth rarely happens by accident. You need to be intentional. To equip yourself with the right tools to help you in your journey. So if you haven't done it already, download our free MessengerX app where you'll get great access to an entire library of courses, audiobooks, sermons, and short daily videos designed specifically to encourage you in your faith and help you mature as a believer. Download the free MessengerX app today and take your next step in your spiritual journey. Spiritual journey. But Peter said, don't forget, right there after he talks about these guys mocking, where's the promise of his coming? He says, don't forget, one day with the Lord is a thousand years, and a thousand years is one day. So one of God's days is a thousand of our years. Now, Arden, let's go back to your wedding, okay? You guys got married down at, down in, uh, Panama City Beach area, and I remember that like it was yesterday. Okay, your wedding's in two days.

Yeah.

Are you going to call that soon?

Yes, very soon.

Yeah. If your wedding was a year and a half—

I haven't planned at all too, right?

Especially if you hadn't planned. Yeah. So 2 days is soon.

Yeah.

We're talking it's only been 2 days since these guys wrote this in God's timetable. Now, why, why would God have this written? Is this kind of deceptive? Of course, God cannot be deceptive. He cannot lie. Why does he do this? Because God sees the value, the wisdom of us living with an urgency. If my wedding is a year and a half away, I'm gonna have appointments, I'm gonna have things that I got.

I'm gonna spread 'em out.

I don't feel like doing this. Yeah. I'm tired today. Or, hey, I got a great pickleball game coming up. I don't want to go to that appointment for the tux. I can do that later. It's still a year and a half off, right? You're gonna do that. Yeah, but if your wedding's in 2 days and you still have to get the tux, you still have to get the wedding garment, you still have to get all the arrangements made, man, you're not playing pickleball. No, you're not. You're not going out for a casual golf round. You have an urgency. Yeah, correct.

Yes.

So now why does God do this? To protect us. Not to be mean to us, not to taunt us, not to, you know, say, hey, I'm gonna get y'all to think I'm coming in any moment, and then it's going to be 2,000 years. He doesn't do that. He does that because what does Jesus say? Jesus says, "The evil servant says in his heart, 'My Lord delays his coming.'" And when he says that in his heart, he starts getting distracted by the world. He starts partying. He starts taking advantage of other servants, okay? So now God, in his wisdom, says, "I'm gonna protect my precious people. It's soon to me. It may not feel soon to them." But I want them to have that urgency. And this is why I believe the apostles in the scriptures write about it 1 out of 30 verses. This is why the early church fathers talk about it so much, is because it's urgent, urgent, urgent. God wants an urgency in us.

Well, and I like that because I feel like a lot of people don't preach on it or talk about it because they don't feel like it's necessary important to their salvation. But I think you're putting that emphasis that Yes, sure, it might not be important to your salvation, but it is important to how you live after you have entered into the kingdom of God, entered into this new creation, and us to have that urgency. I think my question would be around it is—

Wait a minute, can I just say something about what you just said?

Yeah.

You said it's not about salvation. I think it is about salvation. Now, don't get me wrong, listen carefully. Here's the guy who says in his heart, "My Lord delays his coming." He begins to beat the men and female servants. This is the parable that Jesus tells in Matthew 24, right after talking about about the second coming of Christ, right? He begins to party, he begins to get drunk, he begins to become excessive, right? Jesus said, "I'm gonna come in an hour he doesn't expect." That's not good. Because John says, "Make sure that you abide in him because when he appears, that we're not ashamed at his coming." So this guy is living very worldly. I'm not gonna go to the level of salvation because that's not mine to decide, but I am gonna say, I don't want that to be me.

Well, even what we talked about, the different judgments in the past, like understanding coming in a time period where you are operating and functioning with the mindset that I am living for eternal rewards. And so I need to act as such and I need to make and take ground as such. But I agree with you, and maybe I shouldn't have said that, but I think that's important.

No, I'm glad you said it.

Like, I just, I think that's what I'm saying is ultimately I don't hear a lot of people talking about it. And even what you were even saying, because we talked about even with false teachers is saying they major on the minors and minor on the majors. And to me, this has been something that I've looked up and I think, thank God that you've expressed it and shared this with us in this way, because I don't see this as— I felt like it was more of maybe a minor more in my life in the way that I treated it. I definitely always looked at the second coming as this is a really important thing. But I looked at Revelation and I looked at different scripture, and this would actually even be my next question around that. Is I looked at a lot of those things and I thought to myself, well, maybe because there are so many arguments around it, because there's a lot of interpretation around it. There's a lot of different beliefs. There's a lot of different ways. It's not so much that you can read it on some of these things and say, okay, I read this. It makes total sense to me. I don't need to go into deeper study onto this. I can read it for what it is right here. And I understand what it's saying. But no, within— I think a lot of things that's talked about within Revelation, a lot of things talked about in second coming, there's a lot of interpretation around it. And do you feel like it's—

which can create ambiguity?

Yeah. And do you feel like that's mostly like, why is that reason? Or why is it— is it because it's supposed to stir up that hunger in people to deep dive into it? I remember hearing a preacher say, he was like, look, I'll use this verse out of Revelation. He said, look, —there's a lot of things I don't understand on that. And he said, so I don't really like to teach out of it. And I remember feeling like, well, that's like, that's tough. I feel like you as the pastor, you're supposed to be really teaching your people and going through it.

You're describing me for the 30 years before 2020. Yeah. And so I'm first to say I'm ashamed that I did it. I swung the pendulum to the other side. Why did I Avoid what is the second biggest topic in the New Testament because of the ambiguity, because of the controversy. And I saw it wrong. And Arden, I think with all my heart, it takes the Holy Spirit, because Jesus said he will show you things to come, and to teach it correctly so that we don't create bad fruit from teaching it. Yeah. Go ahead.

Well, I was gonna say, it kind of goes back to even our conversation around once saved, always saved, and us talking about how that is a topic topic that can cause a lot of division. But yet if we look at it in the correct way, it can create a lot of urgency with how you live. And so I do think it's like the enemy's scheme is, yeah, let's make this something that has a lot of division around it because people are going to stop talking about it. But yet if they see it from a perspective of urgency, it's actually going to change how they live on an eternal mindset. So, and I feel like that's ultimately what's happening here.

Let's just get to the bottom line, okay? If you're selfish and you want comfort, you want pleasure, you're gonna interpret scriptures in a certain way. If you want to see Jesus glorified, you wanna really serve people, you're gonna see scriptures in a different way. Because you're looking at it from two postures of two different hearts. So the people in the church today, in the American church especially, who want pleasure, who want ease, who don't want to be urgent and be about the kingdom business, you know, on a fervent basis. They don't wanna talk about those things. The once saved, always saved, I don't wanna talk about that. I wanna stay in my worldliness so I don't have to, you know, I prayed my sinner's prayer, I wanna be secure. The people about the second coming, don't tell me about being holy, don't tell me about being urgent, don't tell me about winning souls, don't tell me about laying my life down to serve Jesus. Don't tell me about watching and praying diligently, about living at peace, about living godly. So, if you're coming at the kingdom, church, whatever you wanna call it, Christianity, however you wanna call it, label it, with those two different postures, your interpretations are gonna be totally different. And that's why Peter said they twist this particular truth. He's just talked about once saved, always saved. You know, the error of thinking that you can never, ever, ever walk away from your salvation. He talks about the new heavens and earth, and he says they twist the scriptures. Why do they twist? Because it's a wrong heart posture. And I have to tell you, there is nothing I've ever written on or shared that I have gotten on my face and, I shouldn't say on my face, on my knees out praying early in the morning at the tennis court saying, Jesus, please, Holy Spirit, please, please, please help me present this with the heart of Jesus, with the same intention that you presented it. Because I don't want to see bad fruit. I wanna make it abundantly clear that this is not about becoming lazy. This is not about going, oh, well, I don't have to be responsible anymore 'cause Jesus could come any moment. I believe we live, we live like he's coming today as far as our godliness, our holiness, our urgency to work in the kingdom. I think we plan like he's coming 200 years. Because he said occupy until I come. So that means you're planning, you're strategizing, you're doing things. But you're, you're, you're living in a way like he could come any moment. He could come right now. Yeah.

And I think it's good for people to hear this. And I know you probably won't love this, but I want to say this is you have been in ministry or you've been saved for 40 years now.

I mean, it's 45 years, 45, 40 years. Yeah.

So you've been studying the word of God for 45 years. And I watch as you study the word of God. Large part of that 45 years, you've been studying it in the way that you study it today. I love it that after 45 years, you can still have areas where you're saying, oh man, God, I, I have missed this. And I like repent that I have not focused more on this. I have not gone deeper into this. I think what I do see a lot of times within my generation is we have people who have read something a couple of times and then they have built an idea or a mindset, and then they're not allowing God to continue to grow them and develop them. I was reading a book I've read many times, it's by A.W. Tozer called "The Knowledge of the Holy." And he talks about one of my favorite lines in there is, "A low view of God is a cause for a thousand evils." And he talks about—

Whoa, whoa, you just said that really quick. That's so powerful. One more time.

"A low view of God is the cause for a thousand evils." Wow. And I know I'm just quoting it kind of offhand, but when you were talking about these things, he talked about the idea that our view of God has been watered down over the ages. And how a lot of times people do not allow God's word to disagree with them. And they're like, well, I'll just skip over that part, or I won't talk about that part. But I love this. And I think this is a beautiful example for people to be able to see 45 years studying the word of God. And you still allow God to see, hey God, check me in this area, change my heart. And I think that's really important for people as we're talking about these things, as you're thinking about end times, to allow the Holy Spirit to be your teacher. Do not think that— what was it? There's that other quote that says, if you— if your God never disagrees with you, it might be that you're, you're, you're worshiping a glorified example of yourself or something like that. And I just butchered that quote, but it's something—

you did really good.

Well, it's something similar to that where it's you've created the God that you're going to keep you comfortable in. And I think this is a really great thing for people to be able to see, is that 45 years, you're still allowing God to continue to keep changing things, changing the ways that you're seeing the Word of God.

That's my hope when I'm 90 years old, that I'm even more so than I am right now. I wanna stay teachable the rest of my life and throughout eternity. Blessed are the meek. I mean, I just read it yesterday morning, Jesus's word, blessed are the meek. The meek are the teachable or those who, walk in controlled power. They shall inherit the earth. Wow.

Yeah, and I know I got us off course, but I just wanted to say that.

No, you didn't get us off course. We prayed that the Holy Spirit would lead us on this podcast. So let's briefly review what we talked about in the last podcast. We've got Daniel who's seeking God. Israel's been in captivity, to Babylonian captivity, now Persian captivity for 68 years. Daniel suddenly realizes Jeremiah prophesied it would only be 7 years, 70 years. He starts seeking God diligently. He goes on a 21-day fast. The angel Gabriel comes to him. Angel Gabriel comes. And the angel Gabriel comes and says, Daniel, he's here, he is repenting for his sins, the sins of his people. And the angel comes and says, hey, there's going to be 7 sets of 70 years. In other words, 490 years. And he said 483 of those 490 years is going to be between the time that King Artaxerxes in 445, March of 445 BC, gives the order to rebuild. That's when he tells Nehemiah, go back and rebuild the streets of Jerusalem and the walls. Walls, right? It will be 483, and that's ancient Jewish years, not Gregorian calendar, which we're under, between then and the time in which the Anointed One will be killed, talking about Jesus, having appeared to accomplish nothing. That's exact quote from Daniel 9:26. If, you know, we've got two guys, we've got this guy Julius Afrikaans in the 3rd century church, and we've got this Robert Scott guy who is a lawyer in England, who is head of the Scottish Yard. They both do a study separately of converting the ancient Jewish calendar to our modern-day Gregorian calendar, and they both, their work coincides, even though they didn't study on one another. Of course, Julius can't, because Robert was how many years later? 1,500 years later, okay? But they learned how to convert the Gregorian calendar into the Jewish, and they found out, they did all the math, and people much smarter than me have done this over and over and over, that if you take March 15th, 444 BC, and you go 15 years, or excuse me, 483 years, and that's the ancient Jewish years, you come out to April 6th, 32 AD. That is the time that guys much smarter than me, again, said it was the exact day Jesus rode in Jerusalem on the donkey and the people laid the palm branches. And Jesus looks at them and he rebukes them for not knowing the time of their visitation. Why does he rebuke them? Because God gave a prophecy, and there's only about 4 prophecies in the Bible. Where it's an exact timeline. You've got a beginning and an end, and God gave the timetable. There's others. There's a couple others, and I was actually just looking at them this weekend, but this is one of them. And Jesus rebuked the Pharisees. He said, "You can read the signs of the weather, but you are not being pure-hearted enough to read the signs of the times." And so you've got these people who obviously, I look at the Essenes. The Essenes were the ones that were really kind of right on with God. You look at the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the scribes, the lawyers, The scribes, they were all fighting. Not all. Many of them were fighting against Jesus. But you never hear about the Essenes because they're the ones that hid the Dead Sea Scrolls in the caves of Qumran. They were the ones that really preserved the ancient Jewish calendar, and they're the ones that have helped us to really understand. Oh, wow. It went right down to the day, that prophecy. Yeah. So we asked the question in our last podcast. All right, here God gives Daniel the timeline for when Messiah's coming. But also, in that prophecy, he said it's going to be 490 years, not 483, until the new heavens, or I should say, the new earth is formed, the millennial, the kingdom reign of Christ. There's a 7-year period that hasn't been fulfilled. And the reason it was is because sandwiched in between 483 And then 484 is a church age in which many Gentiles get saved. That's what's so cool, right? So now we gotta ask, do we have a timeline to his second coming? Now, it was an exact day for his first coming. It is not an exact day for his second coming. It is, Jesus said we wouldn't know the day or the hour, but we would know the season. So in order to set this up, I wanna go back to Hosea 5, which we talked about in the last podcast, and we're doing a quick review. God says in Isaiah 5:14, "For I will be like a lion to Israel." Now remember, this is a word spoken to Israel, not to the Gentiles, not to the church. "I'll be like a lion to Israel and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear them and go away." Now wait a minute, go away? Okay, so we're talking about there's a leaving, there's a departing. And the very next statement, he says, I will take them away and no one shall rescue them. All right, now what does he mean, I'm going to go away? Jesus left this earth. He ascended to the Father. The angel said the way he left is the way he's coming back. And then 40 years later, what happened? Titus came in and destroyed Israel. Now, is this all in Scripture? It sure is. Jesus said in Luke 21, but when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know its desolation is near. Let those who are in 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 by the prophets may be fulfilled, which we just read, right? But woe to those who are pregnant and those who are nursing babies in those days, for there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon its people, and they will— now listen to this— fall by the edge of the sword. That It was Titus. Do you know, some accounts are 1 million, some are 1.5 million Jews that were slaughtered by Titus on that year, 70 AD. And he said, "And they'll be led away captive to all nations." Now, whoa, whoa, whoa, all nations? Yes. In the first leading away, when Babylon came in and destroyed Judah, they were led to Babylon. This Jesus says the Jewish people are gonna be spread to all nations. And Jerusalem, listen to this, will be trampled by Gentiles until the time, the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. In other words, non-Jewish people are going to be governing that land until the time of the Gentiles is fulfilled. Now, this is really interesting, okay? Because if you look at Acts 15, James comes along and James says, Peter has told you about the time. So obviously there's a time period. God first visited the Gentiles. So right now, James is speaking prophetically, all right? God first visited the Gentiles to take from them a people for himself. That would be the church age, the age of grace. And this conversion of Gentiles is exactly what the prophets predicted. Now that's other— Isaiah and all, right? All right, so then you go over to Paul's writings, And he says in Romans 11:25, I want you to understand this mystery. So here's a mystery, an uncovered truth that wasn't revealed until the apostles saw it, right? Dear brothers and sisters, so that you will not feel proud about yourselves, a portion of the people of Israel have hard hearts, okay? But this will last only until the full number of Gentiles come to Christ. And so all Israel will be saved.

What is the full number of Gentiles?

The full number that God's appointed to salvation. In other words, all the Gentiles that come in, right? Okay. And then all Israel's gonna be saved. Now listen to Hosea again. "I will return again to my place." Okay, so he came and he returned. Jesus returned. He came from the Father, he returned. "I will return." This is verse 15 of Hosea 5. "I will return again to my place until they," that's Israel, "acknowledge their offense." They will seek my face in their affliction. Now that's the 7-year tribulation, which is also known as Jacob's trouble. Jeremiah 30:7, alas, for that day is great so that none is like it, and it is the time of Jacob's trouble, but he shall be saved out of it. 7-year tribulation, but Jacob's going to be saved. Remember Paul said all of Israel will be saved. Yeah. All right. I will return again to my place. We're back in Hosea 5:15. Until they acknowledge their offense and they will seek my face in their affliction. That's Jacob's trouble, the tribulation. They will earnestly seek me. Now listen to the next verse. This is chapter 6, verse 1. Come, this is Israel speaking, let us return to the Lord, for he is torn, but he will heal us. He is stricken, but he will bind us up. Now here's the key. After 2 days, remember Peter said, most importantly, don't forget, A day with the Lord is 1,000 years. After 2 days. You know what's interesting? Do you remember the parable of the Good Samaritan? Okay, the Samaritan's a Gentile, right? What does he give the innkeeper? He gives him 2 denarius, 2 days' wage. A day with the Lord is 1,000 years. Then I'm going to come, right? I mean, you see these things. If you look at when Israel comes out of Egypt, right? They come to the mountain. God looks at Moses and says, "In 2 days, tell the people to prepare themselves because in 2 days, on the beginning of the 3rd day, I'm coming down on this mountain." That's prophetic. After 2 days, 2,000 years, he will revive us. Now, who's revive us? Israel. Remember Paul said, "When the time of the Gentiles is fulfilled, all of Israel will be saved." He will revive us on the 3rd day, that's the 3rd 1,000th year, he will raise us up that we may live in his sight. That is the 1,000-year millennial reign of Christ. So he goes on to say, let us know, let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord. His going forth is established as the morning. In other words, the sun doesn't come up at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. It comes up at the appointed time. Yeah.

And that's not just a prophecy for Jesus's resurrection as well, right?

That's a prophecy right there for his return. The return. His going forth establishes the morning. He will come to us like the rain, like the latter and former rain to the earth. I'm gonna say you're right.

I'm saying the 2 days and the 3rd day.

His going forth is established. The first coming was established. The second coming is the Sabbath. You're right. I've never seen it like that. But you're absolutely right. Okay? And if you look at the former rain, it's the book of Acts. Look at the outpouring of God's Spirit. The latter rain, I believe you're gonna see another great outpouring of God's Spirit. And sometime in the midst of that, Jesus is gonna come to catch away his bride. All right? So James makes the statement, be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, that would be souls, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and the latter rain. You also be patient, establish your hearts, because the coming of the Lord is soon. Okay, so that's Hosea. Does Jesus give us a time period of his return? Absolutely yes. And before I go to Jesus's words, let me first read what Isaiah prophesied about Israel that applies to us today. Okay, you ready? This is Isaiah 11. I hope everybody's staying with us. Isaiah 11:10-11, "And in that day, there shall be a root of Jesse," that of course would be Jesus, "who shall stand as a banner to the people, for the Gentiles shall seek him." Remember, Peter declared that there was a time that God would, right? All right, the Gentiles will seek him. 'And his land where he rests will be glorious.' Okay, Israel is God's land. Yeah.

Why does he say the root of Jesse there and not the root of David?

So David being the grandson, or the son of Jesse?

I know, but like, why does he not just start it with David?

Very good question. And guess what?

I don't know that answer.

All right, but that's a good question. Just curious. Let's see if we can find out for the next podcast.

I'm sure there's someone who knows. Yeah, too.

All right. 'In that day.' Yes, I'm sure there is, and it's something I would like to find out now. All right, so a root of Jesse who shall stand as a banner for the people, for the Gentiles shall seek him, and his land where he rests will be glorious. Verse 11 and 12, it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord, okay, in the day when the Gentiles are seeking him, that the Lord shall set his hand again, the second time, to recover the remnant of his people who are left. What was the first time? That was when they came, Nehemiah came, and they rebuilt Jerusalem from Babylonian captivity. Yep. To recover the remnant of his people who are left, he will set up a banner for the nations and will assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. Not from Babylon, from the four corners of the earth. So we can see, second time, when they came back the first time, they came from Babylon. This time they're coming from the four corners of the earth, which we saw happen April 14th, 1948. That is when Israel became a nation, and since that time, we are watching Jewish people come from all over the world back to their homeland. God, isn't it amazing? They're dispersed all over the world, yet they stay a nation. They stay a people. If you look at any other nation, if it was dispersed, they blended into the culture, the new culture of the nations they went into. It is so miraculous that God kept these people with their customs, their traditions preserved for over 1,800 years.

Yeah, it's crazy.

It is a miracle. That's amazing. I've never thought about that. All right, now after reading this, let's go to Jesus' words. Luke 21:20-24. I'm going to reread these again. And when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then you will know the time of its destruction has arrived. Okay, that was Titus. Then he switches over to the second coming, because in verse 25 he says, and there will be strange signs in the sun and the moon and the stars. And here on earth, nations will be in turmoil, perplexed by the roaring seas and the strange tides. In other words, those are the birth pangs. People will be terrified at what they see coming on the earth, for the powers of the heaven will be shaken. Now watch this. Then everyone who's— then everyone will see the Son of Man coming on a cloud with great glory. Everyone. Now, when these things begin to happen, look up, lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near. Okay, so now we're definitely in the time period of the second coming. We're not talking about Titus in 70 AD. Next verse, then he spoke to them a parable. Look at the fig tree and all the trees. Look at the fig tree and all the trees. All the trees is significant. Yeah. When they are already budding, you see and know for yourselves that summer is now near. So you also, when you see these things happen, know that the kingdom of God is near. Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away until all these things take place. That is the word of Jesus Christ. Now, when the Ottoman Empire was defeated after World War I, a bunch of nations started forming. Let me give you some of them. Saudi Arabia, 1932. You know what Saudi Arabia is called? Their nickname, the date palm tree. Lebanon, 1943. You know what their nickname is? The cedar tree. Jordan, 1946, you know what their nickname is? The palm tree. Syria, 1943, you know what their nickname is? The olive tree. Number 5, Israel, May 14th, 1948, is referred to as the fig tree. So here's 5 nations, they're all trees. Now remember Jesus said, look at the fig tree and all the trees. Now why is Israel the fig tree? Well, Hosea 9:10, God calls them the fig tree. If you look at Joel 1:6 and 7, God calls them the fig tree. So now let's look at Jesus' words again. "This generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place." Now, a generation in the Bible is either 40 years, 80 years, or 120 years. Noah preached for 120 years, right? And then all of a sudden, I mean, God gave that generation a chance. It has been almost 80 years, 80 years since Israel has become a nation. Okay, so basically, I'm gonna go out on a limb. I think we're, if our calendar systems are all lined up, we're within 50 years. Wow. Okay? Because when we're at 1968, that's 120 years, and there's nothing in the Bible, absolutely nowhere, that references a generation being more than 120 years. That's why I said in the last podcast, your children are gonna see the return of Jesus. I believe that with all my heart. We don't know the day or hour, But Jesus said, "We'll know the season." And I'm gonna be bold enough to say we're in the season. And the reason no generation, the 1700s, the 1600s, the 1500s, could say that is because Israel didn't become a nation until May 14th, 1948. And that's the big key that Jesus said. When you see this happen, learn from the parable of the fig tree and all the trees. When you see this happen, know that generation will not pass until all these things are fulfilled. And one of those things is the Son of Man coming in the clouds, comes in glory, and everyone in the whole world sees his return. Okay?

Which is possible nowadays.

So yes, so if you look at the prophet Hosea, he says it's going to be 2,000 years. So 32 AD, go 2,000 years, you're at 2032 AD. Now, of course, our calendar systems and all of that cannot be in line with God's perfect calendar system. That's why I'm saying, I believe we're within 50 years, and I'm going to say I think we're even closer personally, but I don't want to say, things that I have convictions on that I can't absolutely show from the word of God. Make sense?

Yeah, and you're looking at the season. I think that's important, 'cause I think even with the trees budding, it's looking at a tree, sometimes you can see a tree that buds a little bit early, and then something happens, a big storm, and it knocks off all of its leaves, and then you're like, well, I thought summer was coming, or I thought spring was coming, but I think it's good that you're identifying, I'm seeing the season. So we're seeing things happen. And I think that's good for people to even look at. And again, not to say this as, okay, well, if this doesn't happen, then it's all wrong. No, it's creating, like, even as you're saying this, it's creating an urgency. Like, why am I not thinking about this every single day? Regardless if he's coming back 50 years from now, 200 years from now, there needs to be urgency.

Because it keeps you healthy. Yeah. The fruit of it is good. And that's what I want you to see with every one of our podcast family. I wanna see good fruit. I don't wanna see people stop paying their credit cards. That's why I'm not—

Or going and saying, yelling at people, "Turn and burn, the hour is coming up." No, and I think even Thessalonians talks about it as one of those things that people that are looking to the end times is joy. They're marked with joy. They're rejoicing always in that effort. And so I do think it's good to have that awareness, be people that are led by those things, and be people that, truly exemplify what it means to look for the second coming, not the doom and gloom that people have painted it for.

So that's where we're going. The reason we're talking about all of this is because I look at a parable after he talks about his second coming in Matthew, and there are 10 virgins. 5 are wise, 5 are foolish. They all have light. They are all looking for the second coming. But 5 go and 5 stay. And I don't wanna be, I don't want anybody under my watch being one of the foolish. And that's why we're talking about this, because I'm believing with all of my heart, the Holy Spirit's gonna produce good fruit in every single one of your lives that are listening to this podcast. And I wanna review really quick what we just talked about, and then we'll pick it up here on the next podcast. There were consequences. For Israel not recognizing the time of Jesus's first coming. He said, there's not gonna be one stone left upon another, you're gonna be surrounded by the armies of Rome because you didn't recognize the time of your visitation. Daniel gave them the exact timeframe. That's why Jesus held them accountable. We are given the timeframe, not exactly like Daniel, right? But we know it's this generation. Of his return. We are given the timeframe by the prophet Isaiah, along with James and Paul's words. We are given the timeframe by Jesus himself. There are consequences for us, no different than the Jews, not recognizing the season of his coming. We will answer these things on the next podcast. I hope you guys will join us. See you then. This has been the John Bevere Podcast with John Bevere and Arden Bevere.