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Which Generation?
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Israel’s return and blessing is conditional on their repentance which
certainly has not happened and will not occur until the Russian-led Islamic
invasion brings them to repentance IN the first half of the 7 years. That is
why Antichrist turns against them in the mid-point of the Tribulation and
that is why God protects them in the second half of the Tribulation. The return
of Israel to the land in 1948 is a sign that the time of the Tribulation is
drawing near for it signals God’s intention to bring them to repentance in the
Day of the Lord. The Church must depart before that day.
by John R Ecob DD
“So likewise
ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it [the Second Advent] is
near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass,
till all these things be fulfilled.” - Matthew 24:33-34
“So likewise
ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is
nigh at hand. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till
all be fulfilled.” - Luke 21:31-32
“So ye in like
manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it [the Second
Advent] is nigh, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, that this generation
shall not pass, till all these things be done.” - Mark 13:29-30
The Scriptures above have been interpreted by many to
teach that the generation that sees the Jewish people become a nation again
would also see the Rapture.
Since Israel became a nation in May 1948, the
proponents of this view have struggled with the question:
How long is a generation?
The Parable of the Fig Tree
The passages above follow the parable of the fig tree:
“When his branch is yet tender
and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh…”
Fig trees put forth leaves AFTER they put forth FRUIT.
That’s why when Jesus came into Jerusalem and He saw a
tree with leaves He expected to find fruit on the tree but He found nothing but
leaves and He cursed it (Matthew
21:19).
The fig tree is a symbol of the nation of Israel (Joel 1:7) and when Jesus came, He found no fruits of righteousness but
only the leaves of profession.
It will not be until the Tribulation that Israel will
turn to the Lord and bear the fruits of righteousness.
The leaves of profession and testimony will follow.
Luke does not confine the parable
to Israel but adds, “and all the trees” (Luke 21:29)
For the Tribulation will see
a “great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and
kindreds, and people, and tongues” that will be saved during
the Tribulation.
The angel stated: “These are they that came out of (the) great tribulation…” - (Revelation
7:9,14).
The last-days revival, that some teach, will not occur
until after the Rapture when God pours out His Spirit on repentant Israel but
Scripture teaches that the Church age will end in apostasy.
“Now the Spirit speaketh
expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving
heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in
hypocrisy…” - (1 Timothy 4:1-2).
The generation that sees “these things” will be near, even at the doors, to
the coming of the Lord and the kingdom of God which is “immediately after the Tribulation of
those days” (Matthew
24:29).
But the things that will be “seen” are not confined to the conversion of
Israel for Matthew states “ALL these
things” which includes ALL the things that Jesus had just spoken about.
He therefore indicated that the generation that
saw all the terrible judgments of the Tribulation
would know that the summer of God’s kingdom was nigh.
We have not seen the Tribulation judgments described
in the Book of the Revelation chapters 6 to 18 therefore we are NOT the
generation to which Jesus referred.
Two Returns
There is no Scripture that says the Rapture will occur
in the generation that sees Israel becomes a nation and there are two returns of Israel to the land prophesied in
Scripture.
The first return is described in Ezekiel ch.36 and it occurs while
Israel is in unbelief because God
says: “THEN will I sprinkle clean water upon you and ye shall be clean… and
I will put my Spirit within you…” (Ezekiel 36:25- 27).
We have witnessed this return since the beginning of
the Zionist Movement in 1881 and especially since WWII.
The second return to the land is described in Isaiah 60:8-10 – AFTER Christ
returns to reign.
Jesus said that as soon as He
returns, He will gather His elect nation from the “four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” (Matthew 24:31).
Isaiah 59:20-21 states that the Redeemer must “come to Zion” BEFORE the saved nation is brought
back to the land and blessed.
So, this return is AFTER the Lord returns to reign. He comes to
those “that turn from transgression in Jacob”.
The whole portion of the Olivet Discourse in Matthew
24:7-28 is about the 70th week of Daniel – the 7 years of Tribulation
immediately BEFORE Christ returns.
Jesus said that the generation that sees “all these things” will know His coming
is “near, even at the doors”.
Luke’s account indicates they must see “these things come to pass” BEFORE the “kingdom is nigh at hand”.
The Olivet Discourse is addressed to ISRAEL when they
are in the Tribulation and has nothing to do with the Rapture except that the
sign of missing persons will let Israel know that the Tribulation has arrived.
The sign that one is “taken” and the
other “left” (Matthew 24:40-41) is a global sign of “missing persons” to Israel to let them know when
the “end of the age” has come.
We know that those “taken” are the
Church age saints at the Rapture because we now have Paul’s Church epistles.
It will be this sign of missing persons that will
trigger the conversion of 144,000 Jewish men immediately after the Church has
been caught away and BEFORE the judgments of the Tribulation begin (Revelation 7:1-3).
Dry Bones
The fact that there will be two returns of Israel; a partial return in
unbelief, and complete return as a redeemed people; is seen in the prophecy of
the valley of dry bones (Ezekiel
37:1-14).
Ezekiel saw a valley of scattered
dry bones and is told, ”these bones are the whole house of
Israel” (Ezekiel
37:11).
Ezekiel prophesied three times. The first time the
bones come together to become skeletons.
When he prophesied the second time the bones were
clothed with flesh and sinews but they have no life.
Finally, when he prophesied the third time the corpses
receive breath and become a living army.
Bones become skeletons: From 1881 to 1948 the scattered Jews began to unite
with a view to re-establishing as a nation in Palestine.
Bone
came to bone. The Jews began to come together to discuss a return to the Land
beginning with the first Zionist Congress at Basle in August 1897.
Skeletons become Corpses: In 1948 the skeleton was clothed with flesh and sinews
and became a nation recognized by the United Nations but it had no spiritual
life.
The
Jews still reject their Messiah and King and God has not poured out His Spirit
on the nation.
Corpses become a Living
Army: After the
Rapture of the true believers who make up the Church of Jesus Christ, the
nation will be saved at the time of the Russian-led Islamic invasion described
in Ezekiel 38/39 and Joel 2.
Then “the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God
from that day and forward” (Ezekiel 39:22).
The first return in unbelief is therefore partial
and before the nation turns to Jesus Christ.
Ezekiel chapter 36 describes this return to the land
in UNBELIEF in Ezekiel 36: 24-25.
God specifically states that the return is “not for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name’s
sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen” (Ezekiel 36:22).
Also, in Ezekiel 36:32.
The second return is complete; every Jew on the face
of the earth will be saved and will be returned to the Land:
Then shall they know that I am the LORD their God,
which caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of
them any more there.
Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I
have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith
the Lord GOD (Ezekiel
39:28-29).
The Palestinian Covenant
The Palestinian covenant promised a return to the land
AFTER the nation repents and turns to the LORD.
And it shall come to pass, when
all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse… “And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey
his voice… the LORD thy God will bring thee into the
land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess
it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers” (Deuteronomy 30:1-5).
Israel’s return and blessing is conditional on their
repentance which certainly has not happened and will not occur until the
Russian-led Islamic invasion brings them to repentance IN the first half of the
7 years.
That is why Antichrist turns against them in the
mid-point of the Tribulation and that is why God protects them in the
second half of the Tribulation.
The present return therefore is “not for your (Israel’s) sakes” (Ezekiel
36:22,32) but in God’s
sovereign will in order to bring Israel to repentance IN THE TRIBULATION
when “all Israel shall be saved” (Romans 11:26;
Joel 2:15-32; Zechariah 3:9-10; Isaiah 66:7-9; Isaiah 25:9.)
So, the suggestion that the generation that saw the
nation established in May 1948 is the generation that sees the Rapture has no
Biblical basis at all.
If it were the case, then we would only need to
accurately determine the length of a generation and we would know when the
Rapture would occur but Jesus said that not even He, knew when He would come
until the Father revealed it.
“But of that day and that hour
knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father” - (Mark 13:32).
The return of Israel to the land in 1948 is a sign
that the time of the Tribulation is drawing near for it signals God’s intention
to bring them to repentance in the Day of the Lord.
The Church must depart before that day.
“For God hath not appointed us to
wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ” - (1
Thessalonians 5:9).
The return in unbelief is therefore a warning that the
Rapture is near and no more.
John R Ecob
Editor, Herald of Hope Inc.
Mr John Ecob is the second son of the late Pastor Russell Ecob. He was born at Leeton NSW 28/2/33.
John was savingly converted to Jesus Christ under his father's preaching on the 1st August 1948 in the Hurstville Baptist Church. From the very beginning he committed his life to Christ and began preparing for whatever service the Lord should choose.
For many years he was involved in open air preaching, open air Sunday schools, and lay preaching through the Lay Preachers Association in Sydney Australia.
While indentured as an apprentice in engineering drafting, he completed 2 years at the Sydney Bible Night School under the ministry of T.R. Ford BA.
Editor, Herald of Hope Inc.
Mr John Ecob is the second son of the late Pastor Russell Ecob. He was born at Leeton NSW 28/2/33.
John was savingly converted to Jesus Christ under his father's preaching on the 1st August 1948 in the Hurstville Baptist Church. From the very beginning he committed his life to Christ and began preparing for whatever service the Lord should choose.
For many years he was involved in open air preaching, open air Sunday schools, and lay preaching through the Lay Preachers Association in Sydney Australia.
While indentured as an apprentice in engineering drafting, he completed 2 years at the Sydney Bible Night School under the ministry of T.R. Ford BA.
The Herald of Hope
Magazine
Proclaiming Bible
prophecy as related to the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, the message
of revival as it concerns the Church and the individual, and the Gospel of
Jesus Christ to those who are lost.
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