30th Mar 26 | 13:54
Studies by Book
Luke 21 29-33 WATCH AND PRAY V 04 Luke 21 29-32 His return will be a thief in the night
📖 Luke 21:29-33
*FRIEND OF GOD*
18Jun2021 - *His return will be a thief in the night* - _Luke 21:29-33_ - WATCH AND PRAY V (04) – Bible reading: _I Thessalonians 5:1-2_
We are, as a generation, expecting our Lord to return at any time. It is in this context that we look at the matter of watching and praying.
_Luke 21:29-32 Then He spoke to them a parable: "Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. (30) When they are already budding, you see and know for yourselves that summer is now near. (31) So you also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near. (32) Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all things take place._
It is this verse, _32_, that is being used very much in these last days as to when the Lord will return. So many people have taken it on themselves to predict a time line for the return of the Lord.
How are we to take all of these predictions that are being made?
We must never lose sight of this fact that it is only the Father who knows the precise timing of the end of the age, the return of our Lord and the establishing of His kingdom.
Note, that the Lord told us to watch and pray with regard to the signs of the end times but this is what our Lord Himself told us about the time of His return.
_Acts 1:6-7 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, "Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" (7) And He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which *the Father has put in His own authority*._
_Matthew 24:36 “*But of that day and hour no one knows*, not even the angels of heaven, *but My Father only*._
This is what the Apostles told us with regard to the timing of the Lord’s return.
_I Thessalonians 5:1-2 But *concerning the times and the seasons*, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. (2) For you yourselves know perfectly that *the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night*._
_II Peter 3:10 But *the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night*, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up._
So, *it is not for us to try and work out the dates and times of our Lord’s return, since that has not been given to us*. Let us focus on what has been available to us and do what is expected of us to do, in these times.
It is for us to watch and pray, which implies that we must be doing the work that has been entrusted to us to do.
As we see in this passage, there is the parable of the budding of the fig tree and other trees and then the Lord is using that analogy to teach us His return.
The fig tree and the figs are about Israel. So, the return of our Lord is very much linked to what happens with the nation of Israel.
_Jeremiah 24:1-7 The LORD showed me, and there were two baskets of figs set before the temple of the LORD, after Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the princes of Judah with the craftsmen and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon. (2) One basket had very good figs, like the figs that are first ripe; and the other basket had very bad figs which could not be eaten, they were so bad. (3) Then the LORD said to me, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" And I said, "Figs, the good figs, very good; and the bad, very bad, which cannot be eaten, they are so bad."_
_(4) Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, (5) "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: '*Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge those who are carried away captive from Judah, whom I have sent out of this place for their own good, into the land of the Chaldeans. (6) For I will set My eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land; I will build them and not pull them down, and I will plant them and not pluck them up. (7) Then I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the LORD; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to Me with their whole heart*._
The connection with the parable of the fig tree, which Jesus gave and the end time sign is the return of the people of Israel. It is not only of their physical return back to their land but also of them being planted back in their own land and not plucked up again. *Not only will they be established in their land but they will begin to turn back to the Lord with their whole heart*.
Mat 24:34-35 Assuredly, I say to you, *this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. (35) Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away*.
The Lord is laying much emphasis on the fulfillment of this particular prophecy by saying that His word will not pass away. This is the reason why we need to watch this prophecy, very closely, in terms of its fulfillment and be watchful and prayerful, in doing the task given to us.
We know that the Jews did return to their land, from Babylon, but in AD70 they were once again dispersed. They have been scattered all over the world for the last 2000 years and it is only in the last 100 yeas or so that we have been seeing their return and the establishing of Israel as a sovereign nation.
The fruit of the fig tree symbolizes the spiritual state of the people of Israel. It is not just their return and them being planted in their land but in them returning to the Lord with their whole heart. This is what we are beginning to see now that there are many Jews, who are turning to Jesus.
*Thought to ponder*
```The fig tree is surely beginning to bud.```