As I was praying yesterday, a scripture came to my mind when I asked God what He would have me write. The passage is located in Luke 21:19, "In your patience, possess you your souls." 

The Lord, at that moment, caused me to realize just how important it is to have patience, especially now, in these last days. When I searched for the location of this passage on Biblegateway.com, I found that Jesus said these words to the apostles, as He explained to them that the temple would be destroyed. He also told them of things that would happen in the latter days, just before He returns.

If you compare what Jesus said would happen when the temple was destroyed (in 70 AD) and what He told them in Matthew 24, about what would occur prior to His return, they are very similar in description. You will find much of the same information in Luke 21, as you do in Matthew 24, because history repeats itself. In fact, history repeats itself so much that Christians throughout the ages have thought Christ would return in their day, as they experienced wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes and pestilences, etc.

There is one striking difference about our generation, unlike all the generations before us. The rebirth of Israel as a nation had not taken place, as it has in our generation. In fact, our forefathers forgot about one detail when they predicted the return of the Lord was imminent in their day; Israel had to become a nation once again, as it is today, in order for the Lord to return. The scripture bears out that fact.

Jesus said in Luke 21:20, "When you see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is near."

This happened when the temple was destroyed in 70 AD, but it will also happen when the Lord returns, according to the ancient prophets Zechariah and Ezekiel. Therefore, Israel had to become a nation once again and Jerusalem had to be a city within Israel in order for the Lord to return.

Zechariah prophesied about the gathering together of the nations that would come against Israel before the return of the Lord in the latter days,

"Behold, the day of the Lord comes and your spoil will be divided in the midst of you (God speaking to Israel). For I (the Lord) will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle and the city shall be taken and the houses rifled and the women ravished and half of the city will go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people will not be cut off from the city. Then shall the Lord go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fought in the day of battle. And His feet shall stand in that day on the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof, toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north and half of it toward the south."

In fact, when Jesus returns, He will appear on the mount of Olives in Jerusalem, Israel, and the mountain will split in half, creating a great valley. How could this happen if Israel had not become a nation again in 1948? How would the Arab armies of the Middle East be coming against Jerusalem in battle, if Israel had not gained control over Jerusalem again in 1967, during the Six Day War? You see, these latter days events are falling into place just like clockwork - make no mistake. The Lord will also return, as we see Russia's alliance with Iran, which is a fulfillment of the last days prophecy in Ezekiel 38,

"Son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord God, In that day when My people of Israel dwell safely, shall you not know it? And you will come from your place out of the north parts (Russia), you, and many people with you, all of them riding upon horses, a great company and a mighty army; and you will come up against My people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days and I will bring you against My land, that the heathen may know Me, when I will be sanctified in you, oh Gog, before their eyes.  Thus saith the Lord God, Aren't you he of whom I have spoken in old time by My servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring you against them? And it will come to pass at the same time when Gog will come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord God, that My fury shall come up in My face; for in My jealousy and in the fire of My wrath have I spoken. Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel, so that the fishes of the sea and the fowls of heaven and the beasts of the field and all creeping things that creep upon the earth and all the men that are upon the face of the earth shall shake at My presence and the mountains shall be thrown down and the steep places shall fall and every wall shall fall to the ground. And I will call for a sword against him throughout all My mountains, saith the Lord God. Every man's sword shall be against his brother. And I will plead against him with pestilence and blood and I will rain upon him and upon his bands and upon many people that are with him an overflowing rain and great hailstones, fire and brimstone. Thus will I magnify Myself and sanctify Myself and I will be known in the eyes of many nations and they shall know that I am the Lord." Ezekiel 38:14-23

The prophecies summarized above have not occurred yet. Obviously, Israel had to become a nation, with Jerusalem a city within the nation, before the Lord would return in the last days, according to the prophecies.  We can see that, not only is Israel once again a nation and Jerusalem the capital, which is a hotbed of dispute between Israel and the Arabs, but we can literally see the Arab nations aligning once again to destroy Israel, with Russia's President Vladimir Putin backing Iran and the other Arab nations, as prophesied in Ezekiel 38.

People are impatient in the world today. When you speak of the return of the Lord, some shrug and say, Everyone thought the Lord would return in their day throughout history; which reminds me of another passage of scripture written by Peter concerning the last days,

"Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" 2 Peter 3-4, 9.

Jesus said, "Watch therefore and pray always, that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass and to stand before the Son of man" Luke 21:36.

The Lord is not willing for anyone to perish and, if you haven't repented of sin and come to the Lord for forgiveness, He is waiting for your prayer.  We have all sinned and are in need of the Savior's forgiveness. Salvation is simple; it's only a prayer away. If you're not saved, please visit the How Can I Be Saved page of this website. Your eternal destiny is in the balance and there are only two places to go, heaven or hell; there is no in-between. We cannot enter the holy place called Heaven, unless our sins have been forgiven first. God bless you.