We're thankful, God, to have your word, to know
that you can see the future. You know the future,
Lord, and you've warned us. You've exhorted us
to be ready, to be watchful, to be waiting as
a church, as your bride, Lord. And so we give
you this time, Lord. I pray you just stir our
hearts, God, that you would draw us closer to
you, Lord, as we see the day approaching, God,
your soon return. So we just give you this time,
Lord, in your name. Amen. The book of Hebrews,
the writer of Hebrews says to not forsake the
gathering of yourself together as the manner
of some is. As we see the day approaching, that
day is the day of the Lord, his return. Because
what the writer of Hebrews saw was what the Bible
teaches and what Jesus said is in the last days,
there's going to be a departure from the faith.
A slow digression away from fellowship, the word
of God, real faith, and truth. That's what we're
going to see in the last days. So the writer
of Hebrews sees that, understands that, and says,
hey, don't forsake yourself. Why? Because that's
the place of encouragement. We sharpen one another.
We get in the word together. We're reminded of
what Jesus says, what the Bible says, and it's
the foundation of our life. It's the truth that
we stand on, we hold on to, and we walk in. So
the writer of Hebrews explains that. We're in
the book of Matthew going through the signs because
Jesus gave the disciples signs of the last days,
things to look for, earmarks that the disciples
and the church for the last 2 ,000 years could
see these things increasing. Jesus said that
they would be as birth pains. labor pains. These
things would increase in frequency and intensity
as Jesus is coming back. He's returning, right?
And we've looked at a lot of these things. We've
looked at, understood in the book of Acts, as
Jesus is taken into heaven, the disciples are
looking and the angel says, why do you stand
gazing up? The same Jesus will come back in like
manner, in the clouds. He's coming back. And
that's been the encouragement. of the church
for 2 ,000 years. And so we're going to look
at some of the signs. We looked at some of the
signs the last couple weeks. But here's the reality,
what Jesus did. If you look at Matthew in particular,
we call it the Olivet Discourse. Most of what
Jesus is sharing, most of what he talks about,
even at the end of Matthew 24, and then all of
Matthew 25, is a warning. It's an exhortation
to be watching. These signs are given not so
you can follow signs because people will go online
and look at reels and, oh my gosh, what's this?
There's a comet coming. There's this happening
and that. And everyone's looking, searching for
the latest and greatest. What's the next? Earth
is going to be destroyed on this day, whatever.
I don't even know what people are looking at,
but I hear what some people are saying. Jesus
gave us these signs, not to just look at signs
all the time, but that we would be ready, that
we would be busy about his business. If you look
with me at the end of chapter 24, it says this.
And I think I read this a couple of weeks ago,
but I want to remind you. And then all of chapter
25 is an exhortation of readiness, looking up,
being prepared. But it says this, we're the servants
and Jesus is the master. It says this in verse
45, who then is a faithful and wise servant?
Whom his master made ruler over his household
to give them food in due season. Blessed is that
servant, that's us, whom his master, when he
comes, finds doing so. What? We're busy. We're
looking up. We're prepared. We're ready for when
he does come back. He said, Assuredly, I say
to you, verse 47, that he will make him ruler
over all his goods. But if that evil servant
says in his heart, My master is delaying his
coming. And he loses sight of this fact. He's
delaying. He's not coming back yet. Don't worry.
We've got time. You've got time. Plenty of time
to get saved. I believe the Bible, but I'm waiting.
If that evil servant says in his heart, my master's
delaying his coming, and he begins to beat his
fellow servants and to eat and to drink with
drunkards, The master of that servant will come
on a day when he's not looking, he's not prepared,
he's not waiting for him. And at an hour when
he's not aware and will cut him in two and appoint
him his portion with the hypocrites. And there
shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. There's
a level of urgency and awaiting that the church
has always been waiting, anticipating Jesus's
return. So Matthew 24 gives us a little bit of
an outline as we travel through it. Also, I wanted
to mention this to you. What zaps the church?
One of the things that draws the church away
and distracts the church, and we know... I could
spend a lot of time on this, but I really believe
the urgency. I mean, for me, it's kind of fun
to go through all these things, to know the sequence
of events, what's going to transpire in the last
days. That's exciting for me. But as Jesus writes
the seven churches in Revelation, the last church,
kind of the last church age, is the church of
Laodicea. I've mentioned this before. And you
probably are familiar with it. But it's a church
that's lukewarm. It's not hot. And it's also
not cold. And Jesus said, I'm going to spew that
church, I'm going to spew that person out of
my mouth. Because it's neither cold or hot. And
Jesus said, I wish you were cold or hot. Pick
a side. Because when you're lukewarm, it's a
place of complacency. There's another church.
We go through all the churches. The church of
Pergamos is a church that it literally means
that word means an unholy union. The church of
Pergamos, I think it's the third church in Revelation,
and it's a church of compromise. It's a church
that lets the world in as much as the Lord, right?
It's a church that claims to be Christian. but
at the same time allows the world to come in.
And Jesus uses the example of Balaam and Balak.
He says that Balaam, this prophet, taught Balak
how to cast a stumbling block before the children
of Israel. And if you look it up, you see that
that stumbling block was to intermarry. Because
Balaam could not curse the children of Israel,
couldn't pronounce a curse on them. He went from
location to location and pronounced actually
seven oracles, seven blessings over this church,
over Israel. And he was going to get paid for
this. And so then he realized, you know what,
I can't curse these people. I have to say what
God tells me, but let me tell you what to do.
They'll curse themselves. And let me tell you
how. Send your daughters in to the camp. Have
them bring their idols. And they'll begin to
intermarry, have sex, and they'll begin to worship
these other gods. And then God's hand of blessing
will come off of them. And that's exactly what
happened. And that's the warning, the church
of Pergamos. And that's the warning to the church
today. Compromise. And what we allow in our life,
what we allow to come into our life as Christians,
that causes us to not be ready for his return,
to know that he's coming back, to intermarry
with the things of this world. We're called to
be separate, salt and light in this world, that
the world can look to us as different with answers
and hope. And if you don't have that hope, Jesus
wants to offer that. The Bible says today is
the day of salvation. If you don't have that
hope, you can have it. The gospel of Jesus Christ
is full of hope. Jesus Christ wants to give eternal
life. But this life is so short. The Bible likens
our life as a vapor. I was looking up. I saw
something online the other day. was, you know,
for me, a little funny, a little scary. It's
like, if you're this old, this is about how many
years you have left. 20 years. And for me, it
was 20 years. Obviously, that can be adjusted,
and I can get healthy, hopefully. Get in shape.
But the reality is, is we have a short amount
of time. Limited. I thought 20 years. Leah and
I have been married for 25 years. I'm past the
halfway point. This will be our 25th year anniversary.
How much time do we have left? How much time
do we have to get ready? How much more time do
we have to be waiting, to be watching, anticipating
Jesus' return? Should we be busy? Should we be
a faithful and wise? Steward, busy about God's
business and his kingdom. So although Jesus gives
so many signs that we can track for a reason
and a purpose, and the purpose is that the church
will be ready because the Bible clearly says
that in the last days, there'll be a cooling,
a departure, a leaving of the faith. So the church
needs to be prepared because I believe we're
living in the last days. We're living in where
these signs, verse 8 in Matthew 24 says, these
are the beginning of sorrows. And that means
birth pains. That they increase in frequency
and intensity. They get harder and closer together
until the baby comes, right? Until Jesus comes
back. And so the church needs to be ready. So
kind of exciting looking at these things, reading
about these things. Last week we looked at some
of the first signs. We compared them to Revelation
chapter 6, which is part of the first half of
the tribulation, which is tribulation. It's not
the great tribulation. That's the midway point.
That's three and a half years into the judgment.
Where judgment, like the days of Noah, come on
the whole planet, on the whole earth. So we looked
at verse 4. I'll just read it, and we'll kind
of catch up here with what Jesus says. It says,
Take heed that no one deceives you. For many
will come in my name, saying, I am the Christ,
and will deceive many. It will be a heightened
deception. People being deceived, people in the
church being deceived. It's very easy to be deceived
if you don't know the Bible. If you're watching
reels or random clips online and you don't know
the word, you might believe them. Maybe they're
not true. Maybe they are. I don't know. But deception
will be the first greatest earmark. And there's
always been deception, right? All these things.
Then he talks about wars. and famine, and pestilence,
and persecution. All these things have always
been, right? But he says they're like birth pains,
beginning of sorrows. Turn to 2 Timothy chapter
3 with me for a second. We're just going to look
at a couple verses, and then we're going to roll
out all the way to verse 31. We're going to look
at the tribulation. The middle of the tribulation,
which is the temple is going to be built and
Antichrist is going to set himself up in the
temple to be worshipped. 2 Timothy chapter 3.
We're just going to be there. I want to read
you just a couple more verses talking about the
last days. So I'm trying to keep my spot in Matthew.
Paul telling Timothy, giving him very important
information. In verse 1 it says, 2 Timothy chapter
3, But know this, that in the last days perilous
times shall come. Those are harsh, fierce days.
And then he says this. He says, men will be lovers
of themselves. And we already know that people
love themselves, right? Husbands are to love
their wives as Christ loves the church. Love
your wife as you love yourself, right? The Bible
understands. And the reality is we do love ourselves.
But the first, both the great commands that Jesus
says as he was asked, they're linked together,
loving God and loving people. It's a deferred
love. It's understood we love ourselves. But
if you love God, you're going to love people.
And that's part of God's equation. When you become
born again and saved now. You're loving God with
all your heart, and then you love people. You
have a heart for people. You want to minister
to people. You want to share God's love with
people. But Paul is warning Timothy in the last
days, something very drastic is going to happen.
People are going to love themselves, and their
love is not going to get deferred, even in the
church. People will go to church. But not have
a real relationship with the Lord. Listen, it
says they'll love themselves. They'll love money.
They'll be boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient
to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, again,
unforgiving, slanderers, without self -control,
brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong,
haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers
of God. But then here's the twist is verse 5.
It says having a form of godliness. Like they'll
be coming to church. They'll have Bibles. They'll
have a form of godliness. An outward display
at times and a profession. They'll have this
form, but it says they'll deny its power. There
won't be any power in their life to overcome
sin and loving yourself and all these sins that
take place when you love yourself. Like the fruit
of the flesh. It says, from such people turn
away. And we've read it before. I encourage you
to read chapter 3. Chapter 4, he goes on to say,
Same letter, Paul says, I charge you, therefore,
in verse 1, before God and the Lord Jesus Christ,
who will judge the living and the dead at his
appearing and his kingdom, preach the word, be
ready in season and out of season, convince,
rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering. And then
he goes on to say, the time will come where they
won't endure sound doctrine, that people won't
stand for the teaching of the Bible. People won't
want to hear what the Bible says anymore. They
won't want to hear any challenge, rebuke, exhortation.
Like, I love myself. That's ridiculous. We're
supposed to love ourselves, right? And sometimes
that's the philosophy of the day. You're not
happy because you don't love yourself enough.
You're not happy because you don't have enough
me time. time on your own or whatever it is.
And there's a philosophy of the day. And I understand
that you do need to take time for you and the
Lord, you and your spouse, you and your kids.
Those things need to be in balance. But the problem
has always been a self problem. Jesus came to
save us from ourselves because our self and our
sin and this nature was destroying us. So Paul
says to Timothy, the time will come in the last
days. This is all part of the same letter. For
the time will come when they won't endure sound
doctrine. But according to their own desires,
because they have itching ears, they will turn
their ears away from the truth, and they'll be
turned aside to fables, stories. People will
turn away from the truth. Other things that make
him happy, like that guy doesn't say what I want
him to say. That guy doesn't. And you begin to
find teachers, pastors, people on TV or the Internet
that you can agree with. Instead of you agreeing
with the Bible, you want to find people that
agree with you to keep you and allow you to live
the lifestyle you're living. You understand that?
Does that make sense? So Paul is warning Timothy,
that's what's going to happen in the last days.
Turn to 1 Timothy. Chapter 4. Same idea. Paul
tells Timothy in his first letter to Timothy,
now the spirit speaks expressly. Like this is
a fact, Timothy. This is by God's Holy Spirit
that in the latter times, the last days, some
will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving
spirits and doctrines of demons. speaking lies
and hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared
with a hot iron. Like when you have your conscience
seared with a hot iron, anything goes. Your conscience
is what tells you, no, that's wrong. That's bad.
That's sin. But the more you do it, it just continues
to sear that and sear that and sear that. And
then it becomes callous. And then you can take
a higher temperature, right? It's not as bad
anymore. Like 102 is good, then 105, and then
we can, you know, that callus. If you guys know,
if you have a callus, it can endure a lot, right?
Sometimes you need them for your job. Like I
need this callus. When we used to do flooring,
Justin and I, it would be like humorous because
the way you cut carpet along the wall. Your knuckles
were always scraping on the wall. They're always
scraping. It was like, oh my gosh, what is that
on my knuckle? It looks like a, but it was this
massive callus and now slivers didn't go in.
And that's what he's saying about your conscience.
Something that should be sensitive becomes dull,
becomes hard. And now you don't hear anymore.
And we need to be careful of that. So back to
Matthew 24. It says this, these birth pains,
these sorrows are coming and they've always been.
But then it says this in verse nine. And if you
mark your Bible, you can. This is the beginning
of the tribulation. Verse nine, it says, then
they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill
you. and you'll be hated by all nations for my
namesake. And then many will be offended and
betray one another, and they'll hate one another.
And many false prophets will arise and deceive
many. People will be looking for teachers, having
itching ears. So these false prophets will arise
and deceive many people. They'll make you feel
comfortable in your sin. The tribulation begins.
It says you'll be hated by all nations. It doesn't
say except for the United States, by all nations.
Everyone's going to turn their back as a nation
against God. We're leaning that way already as
a Christian nation. Europe is already gone. Europe,
England, these countries that started out to
be Christian. And had these great pastors and
preachers have veered and swerved. And our country
is doing the same. And we're going to land at
this place at some point. And I might have mentioned
this last week. The fastest growing religion
on planet earth is Islam. It's Islam. It's not
larger than Christianity. in numbers right now,
but it's awful close. And if you read, I think
it's Revelation 20, different parts of Revelation
talking about the people, the tribulation saints,
people who get saved. I think it's Revelation
20. It says that they were beheaded for God's
name, for the name of Jesus Christ. And the number
one way of capital punishment in Islam, is beheading.
And so potentially, some part of the last day's
religion that Antichrist is going to resurrect
and raise up and pour all different mixtures
in there, part of that will be this capital punishment.
If you don't mold or fold and become part of
that religion and you proclaim Jesus Christ,
and him as your savior to do that it's going
to be very difficult in the tribulation because
you're going to have to lay down your neck you're
going to have to be willing to die for your faith
right right now you know we're trying to live
for our faith not in a lot of fear what happens
when somebody pressures you and there's real
persecution and it's like deny or you die Are
you willing to? That's a lot of pressure. That's
what the tribulation saints are going to have
to endure. Real persecution and death and punishment.
So you'll be hated. It says, verse 12, because
lawlessness will abound. Iniquity, your Bible
might say. People unwilling to obey God's moral
law. And the law. Because lawlessness will abound.
Look at the love of many will grow cold. Always
reflecting on love and what you love and who
you love. But he who endures to the end shall
be saved. There's going to be need of great endurance
in the tribulation. You don't want to go there.
There'll be deception at an all -time high. Persecution
at an all -time high. Everything that Jesus talks
about, when the tribulation kicks off, is going
to be very, very, very intense. It says, and
this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in
all the world as a witness to all nations, and
then the end will come. Jesus is going to come
back. So the witness part of that witness, if
you read the book of Revelation, You read, I
think it's chapter 7, where God anoints 144 ,000
Jewish evangelists, 12 ,000 from each tribe that
are evangelizing the world. You'll read about
two witnesses in Jerusalem who can't die during
the tribulation period. Many people think it's
Moses and Elijah, the law and the prophets. Very
well could be. I believe that. And they cannot
die, but they're a witness. And their greatest
witness is at the midway point when Antichrist
sets himself up in the temple, kills these guys,
and the world gives gifts. They all watch it.
Finally, these guys can die. The world watches
it. The world is giving gifts to each other.
You know, CNN, Facebook, Instagram, everybody's
covering this scene. this news and then in three
and a half days they they stand up after everyone's
been just left them there they stand up and they
walk away from that god takes them to heaven
like a great witness so there'll be a witness
throughout the whole world during the tribulation
there'll be an angel flying at some point declaring
uh the gospel of the kingdom so the gospel of
the kingdom it'll be preached during the tribulation
There'll be tribulation saints. There'll be people
getting saved. Verse 15 says, therefore, when
you see the abomination of desolation spoken
by Daniel, the prophet standing in the holy place,
then he says, whoever reads, let them understand.
And then he talks about what to do. Verse 15.
I know we talked about it a couple of weeks ago.
Daniel chapter nine. It's when Antichrist makes
a covenant with Israel. For seven years. Revelation
chapter 6, also same scenario. When the rider
on the white horse, that first seal gets opened,
it's Antichrist. He comes with a bow. That's
the covenant of Daniel 9. Same thing. And he
makes this covenant for one week. The one week
is seven one -year periods. At the midway point.
He goes into the temple, desecrates it, demands
worship. Israel figures out this is not the Messiah.
And he says, then flee, right? So Daniel talked
about it. Jesus talked about it as a future event.
It didn't happen. We don't have time to go there.
I already talked about it. It didn't happen at
177 or 166 BC. Jesus talked about it as future.
So the requirement of that, I know I talked about
this too, there needs to be a temple. Micah,
I think it's Micah 1 .8, says the Lord that you
seek, or 3 .1, the Lord that you seek will come
back suddenly to his temple. So Israel's frame
of mind, believing Jews that are still waiting
for Messiah are going to get deceived, but they
believe for Messiah to come back, there needs
to be a temple. something, a place for Messiah
to come back to that he can't come back until
the temple is built. That's very important. If
you turn with me to 1 Thessalonians chapter 2,
this will be my last cross -reference, and then
we're just going to kind of zip through this.
1 Thessalonians chapter 2. Actually, it's 2 Thessalonians
chapter 2. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. We could
spend a whole Sunday on this. I'm just going
to read it. But Paul tells these guys. In verse
1, 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. Now, brethren,
concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that's the second coming, and our gathering together
unto him, that's the rapture. We ask you not
to be, verse 2, soon shaken in mind or troubled,
either by spirit or by word or letter as if from
us, as though the day of Christ has come. So
they got a letter. From somebody that forged
Paul's signature and said, you're in the tribulation
period. And they were going through trouble.
They were dying. They were going through a ton
of persecution. So they believed it. They're
like, we missed the rapture. We're in the tribulation
period. And Paul says, don't be troubled by that.
And then he reminds them of his teachings, of
what he taught them. And it says that the book
of Acts, and we'll get there, that Paul was only
there for three and a half or three Sabbaths.
So he was there for three and a half weeks. Some
people believe that that was the only place,
time he could go to the synagogue. And then he
got kicked out and all the rest of his teachings
had to be other places. So he might've been there
longer because it's pretty thorough and intense
teaching that Paul gives on the last days. But
he says, don't let anyone deceive you, verse
three, by any means for that day will not come
unless there's a falling away comes first. The
word is apostasia. And there's two views on that.
It can be the rapture of the church or a literal
departure from the faith. And there's good arguments
on both. I just bought a book the other day and
very good. A lot of evidence that this could
be the falling away is the rapture of the church.
But I think it really fits for both because the
last days there is going to be an apostasy. There
is going to be a departure from the faith and
the church is going to be raptured. So it says
that happens first and then the man of sin is
revealed, the son of perdition. So you won't
know if you're a born again Christian here, you're
going to get raptured. You'll never know who
Antichrist is on this side of eternity because
he's not going to get revealed until the church
is out of here. That's what the Bible teaches.
Then that man of sin is revealed, the son of
perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above
all that is called God or that is worshiped,
so that, listen, here's the important verse that
I really wanted to read that I'm getting everyone
probably confused on. He opposes and exalts himself
above all that is called God or that is worshiped,
so that he sits as God in the temple of God.
showing himself that he is God. And that's when
Jesus encourages Israel to flee because that's
not Messiah. Do you not remember when I was still
with you, I told you these things, and now there's
no sense in going through that. I'll talk about
that when we talk about the rapture of the church,
which will be next week. So he says, listen,
there has to be a temple. It's going to be the
abomination of desolation. And we know that the
Temple Institute in Jerusalem, everything is
prepared. All the lavers and everything is ready
for the temple. Once it's built, everything's
ready. It's already made. And if you ever go
to Israel, you can go see everything. the things
that are made out of gold. They're doing DNA
tests. They want to figure out who the priests
are to make the sacrifices. It's ready. The temple
is going to be built. Those who are in Judea
fleeted the mountains. Many people believe that
that is the rock city of Petra in Jordan. People
drop off tracks there. There's food there, non
-perishable food there. There's tracks and Bibles
and all kinds of stuff in that city because many
people believe that that in the geography, I
think it might be Isaiah 16 also. I can't remember.
Talks about them fleeing and being sustained.
Revelation talks about that. Fleeing to the wilderness
that he's protected. I think it's Revelation
12. House top, not go down to take anything out
of his house and let him who was in the field
not go back to get his clothes. But woe to those
who are pregnant, those who are nursing babies
in those days. Pray that your flight be not in
winter or on the Sabbath. It's very Jewish. What's
taking place? There needs to be a temple. And
the tribulation is very Jewish. Okay? The church
will be out of here. This is God. God's taking
the scales off of the eyes of Israel during the
tribulation period is what's going to take place
here. He says, for then there will be, and this
is the midway point of the tribulation, there
will be great tribulation such as had not been
since the beginning of the world until this time,
nor ever shall be. Unless those days were shortened,
1260 days, the Bible gives us that number. I
think Daniel and Revelation. Unless those days
were shortened, no flesh would be saved. But
for the elect's sake, those days will be shortened.
If anyone says to you, look, here's Christ or
there, don't believe it. For false Christ, false
prophets will rise, show great signs and wonders
to deceive, if possible, the elect. The tribulation
period is going to be the most deceptive time
because there will literally be miracles during
the tribulation. In fact, Antichrist, it says,
He's going to take a deadly wound, and he's going
to be healed, resurrected. People will believe
that he gets resurrected, and that's part of
what makes the world worship him, right? Comes
back to life like Jesus. So he says, if it was
possible, even the elect would be deceived. That's
Israel. See, I have told you beforehand. Therefore,
if they say, look. He's in the desert. Don't
go out or look. He's in the inner rooms. Don't
believe it. And we're going to close right here.
Verse 27, for as lightning comes from the east
and flashes to the west, so will be the coming
of the Son of Man. This is the second coming
at the end of the tribulation. For wherever the
carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered
together. Immediately after the tribulation of
those days, the sun will be darkened. The moon
will not give its light. The stars will fall
from heaven and the powers of heaven will be
shaken. And then the sign of the Son of Man will
appear in heaven and all the tribes of the earth
will mourn and they will see the Son of Man coming
in the clouds of heaven with power and great
glory. And he will send his angels with the sound
of a great trumpet and they will gather together
his elect from the four winds and from one end
of heaven to the other. So don't get confused
with this trumpet. This isn't 1 Corinthians 15
trumpet. This isn't 1 Thessalonians 4 trumpet.
If you read the book of Revelation, it talks
about seven different trumpet judgments, right?
People would use a trumpet in war, in battle,
to sound a lot of things, like go into battle,
come back from battle, it's launch, you know,
whatever, right? So just because it's a trumpet,
You can't associate it with just one event, the
rapture of the church, right? The last trump,
the trumpet of God. So we'll look at that next
week. We're going to look at the regathering
of Israel next week. And we're going to look
at the rapture of the church next week and probably
finalize this little series in Matthew of the
last days, the end times, really preparing the
church. We need to be ready for his return. So
hopefully everything made sense. And next week,
I'm kind of excited. I want to look at, we'll
be in Ezekiel, looking at Israel being reborn.
Isaiah chapter 66 says, Isaiah asks the question,
can a nation be born in a day, in one day? Can
the earth give birth in a day? And that's what
happened May 14th, 1948. Israel becomes a nation
recognized by the world of its sovereignty. And
it gave birth in a day. And Israel is very important.
It's one of the signs. It's a super sign of the
last days. Israel's important. And the days of
Noah. The days of Lot, it's the moral condition
of the planet. So we're going to look at those
next week. Rapture of the church, the moral condition,
and Israel, and the exhortation to be ready,
to be watchful as we see these signs unfolding
in greater intensity. And Israel is the super
sign, right? It's reborn and rebirthed at first
in unbelief, and during the tribulation, the
blinders come off. The scales come off.