Shabbat Shalom everyone. We are going to continue today in the 13th chapter of the Gospel of Mark. In Mark chapter 13, the Lord Yeshua, Jesus our Messiah, have given instruction to the disciples concerning the future tribulation period. And so the Messiah, before he has gone to the cross, to the shameful altar, where he would become the Redeemer, the Savior of this world, he gave those instructions to the Hebrew believers, the disciples, the apostles, concerning the future tribulation period. So I'm reading today, we have covered the first 23 verses in our previous message, and today I would like to read the last verses of Mark chapter 13, beginning with verse 24 all the way to verse 37.

So please follow me as I'm reading this text. But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of Man, Ben-Hadam, coming in the clouds with great power and glory. And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven. Now learn the parable of the fig tree. When her branches is yet tender, and put as forth leaves, ye know that summer is near.

So ye in like manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you that this generation shall not pass till all these things shall be done. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. But of that day, and that hour knoweth no man, know not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. Take heed, watch, and pray, for ye know not when the time is. For the Son of Man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house and gave authority to his servants and to every man his work, and commanded the potter to watch.

Watch ye therefore, for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at evening, or at midnight, or at the cock crowing, or in the morning, lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you, I say unto all, watch. This is Mark chapter 13, verses 24 to 27. Now, in our previous message together, as we read verses 1 to verse 23 of the Gospel of Mark, I would like to remind you that Yeshua was at first in the temple in Jerusalem, and that is Mount Moriah. As he left the Mount Moriah, went down through the slope of the mountain, crossed the Kidron Valley, climbed to Mount of Olives, when he arrived to that mountain, the disciples approached him and they said to him, as we began in our study together of Mark chapter 13, they came to him and they said to him, if you remember in Mark 13 verse 1, See what manner of stones and what buildings are here.

The disciples, of course, look back at this wonderful building on Mount Moriah, the temple that was built, extended by Herod, the temple that was already built years earlier by Zerubabel and by Ezra and Nehemiah. We build the wall around the city of Jerusalem. This man by the name of Herod, the King Herod, having lodged a temple, had built a tremendous, magnificent temple that was a beauty in those days. Everyone would look at this temple, you would see the strength that is found in this temple, the beauty of this temple. And even the disciples were so impressed with this temple that they asked Yeshua, and they said to him in Mark chapter 13 and verse 1, as we read, says, look what manner of stones at what manner of buildings are here.

Herod built humongous buildings on the Temple Mount in the city of Yerushalayim. So if you remember, Yeshua said to the disciples in verse 2, which we have also read, he said unto them, seest thou these great buildings? There shall not be left one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down. In other He predicted the destruction of the temple, which was later on destroyed by the Romans at about 70 AD. When Titus and the Roman army surrounded the city of Jerusalem and they came in 70 AD and they burned this temple completely. They took the gold out of the cracks. It melted.

they took all the stones and they cast them down and they have beloved brothers and sisters 1,100,000 Jewish people were killed in 70 AD by the Romans or the Holocaust many of them have been taken captive and became slaves in other areas of the Roman Empire and you can just imagine the destruction that was predicted by Yeshua the Messiah of that very temple and so as he was predicting this the disciples obviously wanted to know when is that going to happen because at about 30 AD he was speaking with them 70 AD the destruction of the temple came to pass about 40 years later but they wanted even to know more according to Matthew chapter

24 they really ask him three questions and the three questions he sought to answer these three questions to those disciples and I just want to repeat them for the benefit of us all they said in verse 3 of Matthew chapter 24 which is correspond with Mark chapter 13 they said when shall these things be what shall be the sign of your coming and what shall be the sign of the end of the age they wanted to know when the temple will be destroyed what will be the sign of the messiah's second coming because he was going to go now to heaven very shortly after he will die on that roman cross they wanted to know

when the destruction of the temple be what should be the sign of the second coming of the messiah because he have already came the first time and what shall be the sign of the end of the age and so we started together beloved brothers and sisters in chapter 13 where we are and in chapter 13 Yeshua gave them instruction in verses 5 6 and 7 he told them about the ongoing events that will happen here in this world during his absent in verse 8 Yeshua pointed to them of the sign of the beginning of the end of the age and If you remember, we read in verse 8 of chapter 13, nation shall rise up

against nation, kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be earthquakes and diverse places, and there shall be famines and trouble.

These are the beginning of sorrows. In other words, he says, listen, when we are heading towards the end of the age, towards the sorrows, the tribulation period, he said to them, the beginning of death, the sign of the beginning of the end of the age is the fact that there will be nation rising against nation kingdom against kingdom earthquakes and all sort of things famine that will happen all over the nations of the world and really from our point of view looking back to the first and second world wars where there will be nation against nation then kingdom against kingdom this will indicate the beginning or the sign of the beginning of the end of the age.

Soon we are heading towards the tribulation period and eventually the Messiah's second coming. Now we read about the fact that there will be all sort of events that will occur this was verse 18, kingdom against kingdom, nation against nation, earthquakes, diverse kind of famine and I pointed out to at last ministry meeting how terrible condition is prevailing even these days in the world like we have never heard before. Tsunamis, earthquakes, all kind of things that have happened in the world today. It is terrible and it's only a sign for us that we are heading towards the last days of this church age.

Soon the church is going to be taken out of here and the beginning of the tribulation will start in verses 9 to 13 Yeshua informed the disciples of that which they are personally will experience in their own days and he told them if you remember they will be persecuted take heed to yourself for they shall deliver you up to council and to synagogues and all these things a bit later on he says all these things going to happen to you personally you disciples you Hebrew disciples you will experience this in your own life he's saying to them they're going to persecute you they will take you from the synagogue from the council and eventually they

will beat you they will be bringing you before rulers simply because you believe that i am the messiah i am the lord yeshua the messiah and then finally if you remember in our previous meeting together ministry meeting together on the first 23 verses in verses 13 all the way to verse 23 Yeshua spoke to them about the great tribulation which will come later on in the end of the days and this beloved brothers and sisters what I want to emphasize today before we're going to move to verse 24 there are four things that I want us just to bear in mind what do we mean when we talk about the tribulation or the great tribulation

just quickly turn with me to Daniel chapter 9 and I want you just to see a verse there that will help us to understand that Daniel received a revelation from God concerning the tribulation period which will last seven years that's why it is called the tribulation.

In Hebrew, we call it Sarat Yaakov, Jacob's trouble. And the length of Jacob's trouble will be seven years and no more. You notice Daniel chapter 9, and I'm going to just read this verse. It says in verse 24, 70 weeks are determined upon your people, the angel is saying to daniel and upon your holy city this is the city of jerusalem this 70 weeks is 490 years length because the word weeks is standing for shavuim meaning 70 times 7 of years 7 times 70 or 70 times 7 is 490 years 490 years daniel are determined upon your people the Jewish people upon your city, the city of Jerusalem, and there will be six things that these 490 years will accomplish.

What they will accomplish, notice verse 24, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up a vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy. In other words, Daniel, there will be 70 years, 70 times 7, 490 years through which God is going to use these years to accomplish that which he intended. He's going to finalize the transgression. He's going to make an end for sins. He will make reconciliation. He will bring an everlasting righteousness. he will seal up the vision and the prophecy and finally he will anoint the holy one or the holy the temple and the messiah himself but then from there on from verse 25 to verse 27 he is giving him instruction when will these years these 490 years will start and the starting point according to verse 25, is at 444 BC, know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the command to restore and to build Jerusalem up to the Messiah, the priest, there will be, and then he divided them, seven weeks, threescore and two weeks, and the street shall be built again, and the wall even in a troublous time.

In other words, 444 B.C., Nehemiah received from the king under whom he served a permission to go to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. That happened 444 B.C., approximate. From 444 BC, you have to start to count 490 years, which will bring about eventually the restoration of Israel, the everlasting, as it says here, righteousness, and to anoint the Most Holy One. Now, as he's giving this instruction, in verse 26 and verse 27, he explains how eventually the Messiah will come, but something is going to happen to the Messiah. Notice it says in verse 26, after the three score and two weeks, Messiah shall be cut off. The Messiah will come, and the Messiah will die.

He will be cut off, not for himself, not because of any sin that he had committed, but he is going to die because of the sins of others. And then he continues, and he speaks about the rise of the Antichrist. There will be a rise of a man, counterfeit Messiah, as it says, the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. That happened in 70 AD. And then in verse 27, the last part of this prophecy, he says, he, this is the Antichrist, will confirm a covenant with many for one week. And this is for seven years. That's how we get the seven-year tribulation.

In other words, what he said, the Messiah will be cut off and there will be a certain period of time that the dealing with Israel will cease for a while. And that while is already more than 2,000 years. There will be a day coming where God is going to continue to deal with the final seven years that are still waiting, and that is the seven years of the tribulation period. In other words, 483 years is already past tense until Messiah had died some 2,000 years ago. The remaining one more week, which is seven years in a future day, and that is what we call the tribulation period. that's why you notice he said he shall confirm a covenant with the many this is the many from the people of Israel and it will be for seven years and notice what it says here in the middle of that week that seven years he shall cause the sacrifices and oblation to stop and then he's going the climax of all this for the overspreading of abomination he shall make desolate even until the consummation until the end.

In other words, Daniel received an information from the angel that there will be seven years that Israel will make an agreement with a man that is called here the prince that shall come. That's the counterfeit Messiah. And Israel will make an agreement with this man. He will promise them to build them the temple. He will promise them to reestablish the sacrificial system. Our own Jewish people desire so badly to have a temple. We want a temple. We want an altar. We want sacrifices to be offered. The blood to be shed as it was in days of old. And he's going to make disagreement with them.

They will assume that he was really the one that will take care of them. And in the middle of the seven years, three and a half years, into the midst of those seven years, he, according to Daniel 9, 27, he will cause the sacrifices and the oblation to cease. According to other passages, beloved brothers and sisters, he will stand in the temple, he will claim to be God, and he will seek the people of Israel instead of offering sacrifices to the true and living God to worship him in the temple in the city of Jerusalem. This will be in the middle of the tribulation period. Now, it is interesting that the Apostle Paul mentioned it in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, and I'm just going to read this verse.

In 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, he says in the earlier verses, so that he as God, 2 Thessalonians 2 and verse 4, sit in the temple of God showing himself that he is God and the Apostle Paul is emphasizing the fact that that wicked one claimed to be God will one day sit at the temple and expect from the people of Israel to worship him as God. Now, here is where we are, beloved brothers and sisters, when Yeshua is speaking to us about the coming tribulation period. The tribulation period, as I mentioned, is only seven years. The tribulation period is in relation to the people of Israel because the Messiah haven't died as yet.

The church was not born as yet. He is specifically speaking to the people of Israel and the future of the nation of Israel. Now one more thing I want to mention, then we're just going to move to our chapter. During those seven years of tribulation, according to Revelation chapter 7, the Lord will raise 144,000 Hebrews. These 144,000 Hebrews are going to be from every one of the 12 tribes of Israel. Read Revelation 7, verses 1 to 8. Beginning from every tribe, there will be totally 144,000 Hebrews. Those Hebrews, he will seal them. They will be the one who will preach the message of the gospel during the time of the seven-year tribulation. They will preach the gospel of the kingdom.

They will tell everyone, turn to Jesus, the Messiah, in order to enter into the messianic kingdom. Accept the Mashiach. He is the answer for your sins. Turn to him, and he will be the one that will bless you, will save you, and will allow you to enter into the future messianic kingdom. We are calling them the Jehovah Witnesses. These are truly the witnesses of Jehovah, of the Lord, during the tribulation period. Revelation chapter 7, verses 1 to 8, they will preach the gospel of the kingdom. In other words, let me just make sure that I'm clear in what I'm saying here. When this seven-year tribulation will start, the church that is the believers of this present-day dispensation will be taken out of here before this seven-year tribulation will start.

And here is where these all kind of dilemmas by so many people about the rapture of the church, and some don't believe in that. But listen, there are many views and many opinions, but I'm just honestly telling you what I understand from the scripture. When Jesus the Messiah was speaking to these disciples, the church was a non-existence. He spoke to Israel, the nation, the Jewish people who will be restored in the future day. Later on, that pastor Paul, when he wrote 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, 1 Corinthians chapter 15, he was writing to the assemblies, to the church, in a local assembly, Corinth and Thessalonica. To them he gave the hope of the heavenly company to be taken out of this world before the tribulation shall begin.

And therefore it is helpful for us to understand whom do the Lord speak to when he speaks to, whom does that apply, and how do we understand this in our own personal life today. So, seven-year tribulation, it was concerning Daniel's people, the Jews, Daniel's city, the city of Jerusalem. During those seven years, there will be a judgment that will fall upon this world like never before. There will be seven seals that will be unloose. There will be seven blowing of the shofals during this time of the judgment of God that will come upon the face of this earth. There will be seven bowls of God's wrath that are going to fall upon the face of this earth.

Just read from Revelation chapter 5 all the way to Revelation chapter 19, which give us seven-year tribulation period. After the seven-year tribulation, a new heaven, then a new earth, and a messianic kingdom that will last for a thousand years, according to Revelation chapter 20. So now we are back here. If we just understand the tribulation period and the time of Jacob's trouble that will fall upon the face of this earth, judgment after judgment after judgment after judgment, God will refine the Jewish people, refine Israel, and eventually will preserve them to enter into the Messianic kingdom, those that will be left after the tribulation period will arise. And so now, just back to Mark chapter 13 with me, please.

You notice that I mentioned that in verse 13b, it says, He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. We read it last ministry meeting. What does that mean? He that shall remain, endure unto the end, unto the end of what? Unto the end of the tribulation period. Those that will survive the tribulation period will be not saved, eternally saved. He's not talking about eternal salvation here. He's talking about they will be delivered and will enter into the kingdom age. In other words, they were already saved because salvation is not dependent upon endurance. Salvation depends upon faith in Jesus the Messiah. They believed, they were saved, and the Lord had allowed them to sustain themselves in the tribulation period because, beloved brothers and sisters, there will be terrible days here.

The judgment of God will fall upon the face of this earth. Read what we read in the book of Revelation. Read what the prophets of Israel said. For example, Zephaniah said in chapter 1, it will be a day of wrath, verse 15, a day of trouble, a day of distress, a day of wasteness, a day of desolation, a day of darkness, a day of gloominess, a day of clouds, a day of thick darkness, a day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities and against the high towers, And I will bring distress upon men and they shall walk like blind men because they have sinned against the Lord and their blood shall be poured out as dust and their flesh as the dung.

Terrible day the tribulation period will be. Zephaniah said this in his chapter. I don't have to read other passages such as Isaiah 2 and Jeremiah chapter 30 and other passages that promise the tribulation period. Read it in the book of Revelation, beginning there of chapter 6, really, all the way to the end of chapter 19. Judgment after judgment after judgment that's going to fall upon the face of all the people that are dwelling here on earth. And God will sustain His people Israel, even though many will suffer and die and perish. Eventually, He will take the remnant of Israel and will bring them into the Messianic kingdom. So now, here we are.

Mark chapter 13, verse 24. From verse 24 of Mark chapter 13 all the way to verse 37, Yeshua the Messiah is now telling the disciples about his second coming at the end of the tribulation period. At the end of the seven years, Terrible time that's going to happen upon the face of this earth. So notice what he began in verse 24 and 25. There in these verses, Yeshua answered the question that they asked him earlier. When shall these things be? Notice that in the earlier verse. What shall be the sign that these things all will be fulfilled? They wanted to have a sign. In Hebrew we say ot. You know, Scripture said that the Jewish people, the Jews seek for a sign.

God, throughout the history of our nation, Israel, always gave us signs after signs. The circumcision was a sign. The Shabbat keeping was a sign with Israel. The blood of the doorpost and the Passover was a sign. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. Sign after sign after sign. Even the birth of the Messiah, I will show you a sign. The virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Emmanuel. Jewish people, our people need a sign because God has shown a sign throughout the ages. So notice why he's now telling them in the next verses, verse 24, 25, and also 26, He answered them to the question about the sign, when shall these things will be when eventually the Messiah will come?

And so we read in verse 24 and 25, and then notice that it says, verse 24, but in those days, after the tribulation, notice that word here, after, mark down the word after, after After those seven years of the tribulation period, the sun shall be darkened and the moon shall not give her light and the stars of heaven shall fall and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken. Yeshua is saying to the disciples, here is the sign, the sign of the end of the tribulation and the approaching coming of the Messiah at the end of the seven year tribulation is the fact that there will be complete darkness upon the face of this earth.

Again, let me remind you, in those days after the tribulation, verse 24, it says, the sun shall be darkened. Can you imagine, beloved brothers and sisters, if God's going to shut the sun from giving us light? Do you remember when was the last darkness that happened when Yeshua the Messiah died on the cross, on the tree? The sun refused to shine. And why the sun refused to shine? Because God was dealing with the Messiah. He was laying upon Him the iniquities of us all. He bore our iniquities in his body on the tree. And the second half of the six hours that he was on the cross, in the second three hours, the last three hours from that time, there was darkness upon the face of the whole earth.

The Messiah was being punished on our behalf. Now he's looking to the second coming of the Messiah. And Yeshua giving us, Jesus, the Messiah giving us a description. In those days, after the tribulation, the sun shall be darkened and the moon shall not give her light. In other words, there will be a complete darkness upon the face of this world. In fact, he says in verse 25, Even the stars of heaven shall fall and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken. In other words, there will be a catastrophic event at the end of the tribulation there were already other events such as this happened in the middle of the tribulation and in the early days of the tribulation but here you have a complete darkness now you know what the Bible say that men love darkness rather than light in a sense beloved brothers and sisters is a description of the reason that God had to send the Messiah to die for a world that is filled with moral and spiritual darkness.

And here, when he finally laid the judgment of the balls and the trumpets and the seals of judgment, which we read in Revelation 6-19, finally he is in preparation to send the Messiah.

But no longer in the first, the way he came in humility, when he suffered here upon the face of this earth he is going to come in glory and with power to take this world and rule over this world in righteousness so when you have the complete darkness you notice what we read and I think Matthew helps us give us a little better information than Mark Matthew in his chapter give us kind of additional light on that that mark doesn't mention in matthew 24 and verse 30 and notice what we read there matthew 24 and verse 30 it says here and then shall appear the sign of the son of man in heaven see mark

doesn't mention about that sign of the son of man now what is that sign of the son of man that will appear in heaven when there is complete darkness according to mark 13 24 and 25 the sun will refuse to shine the moon will give not her light the stars will fall down from heaven and then there will be a complete shaken in the heaven and then all of a sudden there will be a sign appear of the son of man coming in glory now what do we learn from that that sign will be the shekinah glory the shekinah we call it in hebrew this is the manifestation of the glory of the son of

god to remind you there will be all of a sudden a light that will come from glory from heaven and that light is the manifestation of god when god presented himself before israel our people of you remember he was leading them with pillar of fire by night and pillar of cloud during the day when the tabernacle was finished to be built god's presence came into the tabernacle and the cloud filled the tabernacle in those days exodus chapter 13 and exodus chapter 33 that sign is a manifestation of the Shekhinah, the Shekhinah glory.

When everything is dark and you can't see a thing, all of a sudden, Matthew 24, 30, which is connected with Mark chapter 13 and verse 24 and 5, we all of a sudden read in verse 30, Then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. That sign is the Shekhinah, the Shekhinah glory. which will lead into the actual appearing of the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, at his second coming. Now, can you imagine, beloved brothers and sisters, when all of a sudden, when everything is dark, if you will turn the lights off completely here and shut all the windows and cause to be dark, all of a sudden somebody is going to just turn a flash on or a candle or a match, and all of a sudden you can see everyone will be able to see that little light that is appearing.

Everyone from everywhere in the world people will be able to see that sign of the coming of the Son of Man the Shekhinah, the manifestation of the glory of God that will be at the end of the tribulation period. After that there will be a darkness of the sun darkness of the moon the stars will fall down there will be a shaking in heaven and the world at the end of the seven year trouble that they have experienced will finally see that here is the coming of the Messiah in fact we read in the next verse Mark 13 and verse 26 then the Messiah will appear after the Shekinah glory you might say will lead the way as we have this in Matthew 24 30 here we see notice in verse 26 and then shall they see the son of man the son of man is a messianic title of Yeshua the Messiah he is called Ben HaAdam the son of man it's a messianic title he will be coming in the cloud but notice at the end of verse 26 with great power and with glory in other words when he came at his first coming he came in humility he was born to the virgin miriam he was born in the city of bethlehem he was serving in natseret and in galilee and he died just outside of the city of yerushalayim but that his second coming is going to be all together different.

No longer this humble Yeshua who come in humility to suffer and die for the sin of this world. But as he says in verse 26 coming in the clouds with a great power and glory. This is the second coming of the Messiah which will occur according to verse 24 after the tribulation. Not before not during but after the tribulation after the seven years Jacob's trouble which Israel will experience trials like they have never experienced before and the world will experience sorrows like they have never experienced before and finally the son of man the Mashiach Yeshua is going to come in glory and power and every eye shall see him turn to Revelation 1 for a moment Revelation chapter 1 Notice what the book of Revelation says Right at the beginning of the first chapter Notice what we read Revelation chapter 1 There we read in verse 7 It says Behold he cometh with clouds And every eye shall see him And they which pierce him And all the kinders of the earth shall wail because of him Even so, amen.

And Yeshua said, I am the Alpha and the Omega. I am the beginning and the ending, says the Lord, which is and which was and which is to come, the Almighty One. Behold, he cometh in cloud, and every eye shall see him, beloved brothers and sisters. Turn to Daniel chapter 7 for a moment. Look what we read in Daniel chapter 7. Daniel received the revelation of the Lord of the second coming of the Messiah and in chapter 7 of the book of Daniel we have this record about the second coming of the Messiah it says in verse 13 and I saw in the night visions and behold one like the son of man here is where you get the word Ben-Adam son of man it's a messianic title one like the son of man came with the clouds of heaven and came to the ancient of day and they brought him near before him, before God.

And there was given unto him dominion. Listen to this. Dominions and glory and a kingdom that all people, all nations, languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. You see, beloved brothers and sisters, when Jesus, when Yeshua HaMashiach came at his first coming, he was despised and rejected of men. He was a man of sorrows that came and experienced grief here in this world. He was rejected by men. They still reject him today. But he's coming again. And he's going to come, as we read in Mark chapter 13. He is going to come, according to verse 26, in the clouds and with great power and glory.

Behold, Revelation 1, 7, he cometh with the cloud and every eye shall see him. Can you imagine the very same Jesus that was once upon the face of this earth that was despised and rejected of men? He's going to come again. And when he's going to come again, Every eye will see him. Every knee shall bow. Every tongue will confess and say that he is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Those that rejected him will eventually be punished. Those that have accepted him will enjoy to enter into a future messianic kingdom which will come in a future day where he will reign as King of Kings and as Lord of Lords.

That is what Yeshua is teaching his disciples about the second coming of the Messiah in a future day. Now to remind you again, I'm emphasizing here that the Messiah is speaking to these disciples. And while already 2,000 years passed by, they have already died, obviously, he was speaking to them, you might say, in the future day when their Jewish descendants will live during the tribulation period, and they will be the one that will experience this manifestation of the glory of the Son of God, who will come in his second coming. This coming of the Lord has nothing to do with the rapture. This is his second coming to the very same earth, from which once he suffered and died when he was on here on the face of this earth.

Let me just remind you what the angels said to the disciples in Acts chapter 1. Just listen to this. In verse 10 it says, While they looked steadfully to heaven, as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, which also said, Ye men of Galilee? Why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Yeshua, this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, so shall he come in like manner, as ye have seen him go into heaven. In the same manner in which he was taken up to heaven, When he was taken up after the finished work that he had done on the cross, in the same manner, he went up, he's going to come back in the same manner.

And every eye shall see him. Every knee eventually will recognize that he is Lord to the glory of God the Father. So the Lord Jesus Yeshua the Messiah sitting on Mount Olives, giving the instruction to those Hebrew disciples who wanted to see the restoration of Israel. They had no idea of church truth that you and I know today. All what they had in their mind is the restoration of Israel, the second coming of the Messiah, the establishment of the Messianic kingdom, and the future day that was promised through the Hebrew prophets. And here the Lord gives them this instruction. at the end of the tribulation after those tribulations there will be darkness there will be no light and the Shekinah glory will appear and then after the Shekinah glory will appear the Messiah will come the Son of Man will come in the clouds with great power and great glory now he continues and you see he after all is the one that came in order to die to be buried, to rise again, and eventually to fulfill all the promises that was given in past days.

And so in the next verse, notice verse 27, Mark 13 and verse 27, here the Lord will send his angels to regather the people of Israel from all the nations of the world where they were scattered into. You see notice what it says in verse 27 and then shall he this is Jesus Yeshua will send his angels and shall gather together his elect from the four winds from the uttermost parts of the earth to the uttermost parts of heaven. In other words beloved brothers and sisters just imagine the elect of this passage has to do with the people of Israel who were scattered God has scattered the Jewish people and he said to them if you will not obey me I will scatter you among all the nations of the world but eventually I will regather you back and I will bring you back to your own land so the Messiah is coming at his second coming he's appearing and he's coming down to this earth and what does he do as he's coming down as he's going to establish now the messianic kingdom the promised thousand years reign of the messiah that the prophets of Israel have spoken about so many times again and again and again he's saying listen I'm going to send now my angels and they are going to go throughout everywhere in the earth and notice the uttermost part of heaven and they will gather together his elect, the chosen one.

You know, the church, you and I are also chosen people. We have been chosen in Christ and the Messiah before the foundation of the world, according to Ephesians chapter 1. But the elect, the chosen one, here in this passage, speaks specifically about the nation of Israel and those from the nations of the world during the tribulation who will accept the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And notice, beloved brothers and sisters, he will gather them. You notice the fact that it says here that he will send his angels. They will gather his elect from the four winds, from the Adamus part of the earth. In other words, the angels of God, the servants of God, will find out all those Jewish people who are scattered all over the world.

And he will gather them back to the promised land. And the basis for this is found in the book of Deuteronomy. If you bear with me, turn to Deuteronomy chapter 30 with me for a moment. God knew ahead of time what is going to happen to the people of Israel because of disobedience. And so even before they enter into the promised land, after our forefathers came out of Egypt, He had already given them the warning that He's going to do because of their disobedience. And He said to them in Deuteronomy chapter 30, in verse 1, And it shall come to pass when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the cursings which I have set before thee, that thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations whither the Lord thy God has driven thee.

and shall return to the Lord thy God, and shall obey his voice according to all that I commended thee this day, and thou and thy children with all thine heart and with all thy soul, that then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee. If any of thine be driven unto the uttermost parts of heaven, from thence will the Lord thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee. And 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 he will multiply thee above thy fathers.

And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart and the heart of thy seed to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul that thou mayest live. In other words, God wanted from his people Israel to have not only an external circumcision of the flesh, but he wanted the people of Israel to have a circumcised heart that is tuned for the will of the Lord in their life. And that's the promise that we have in these verses. And you can see the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, knew the Word of God very well because he had given the Word, he had written the Word.

He is the eternal Word himself. So now after we mention the second coming of the Messiah, verses 24, 25, and 26, and then the regathering of the people of Israel back to the land, Mark 13, verse 27, notice what he does here from verse 28 on of this 13th chapter of Mark. He is presenting now a parable. And the Lord is the greatest teacher that ever lived. He always, Yeshua that is, always teach through parables. In Hebrew we call it Meshalim. A Meshal is, a parable is, giving us a story to illustrate some spiritual truth. And here is the parable of the fig tree. Verses 28 to 32. Yeshua presents the parable of the fig tree.

And you notice that, and I'm reading this very interesting parable. It says here in verse 28, and I'm reading, Now learn the parable of the fig tree. When her branch is yet tender, and put as forth leaves, ye know that the summer is near. So ye, in like manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh even at the doors. Verily, I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass till these things be done. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, know not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.

Interesting that parable, as it says here, the parable of the fig tree here in this passage. You notice that when a fig tree is begin to shoot its leaves, as it says here in verse 28, when her branch is yet tender and put forth leaves, you know that the summer is near. Now when we talk about the fig tree oftentimes people apply it to the people of Israel and they say Israel is the fig tree therefore when Israel will become a state in 1948 you know that this is the beginning of the future day that is yet been promised and yet to come. But I would like to suggest beloved brothers and sisters that even though Israel is a time looked as a fig tree The most common symbol of Israel is the vine rather than the fig tree.

The vine is a representation in Old Testament days of the fact that it speaks of the nation of Israel. Here, the Lord does not set up dates for us. He only gives us a literal, you might say, illustration of the coming bright day of summer, of the coming messianic age. He says, look at the fig tree. When the leaves are shooting up, and you can see, as it says here in verse 28, when you see that the branches are tender and leaves are starting to come out, naturally speaking, you know that the summer is ahead. Because in springtime, the fig tree and all other trees begin to grow and to develop.

And as it says here, Their branches are coming out. Their leaves are growing. And you can say, wow, the spring is coming now. And soon the summer, the sun is going to be shining. And it will be over with the cold, wintry days that just pass by. So Yeshua make an illustration. He says, just the same as you see the fig tree, that when it shoots forth its leaves and when the branches are tender, you know that summer is approaching. And then he says in verse 29, So also, so ye in like manner, when you shall see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh even at the doors.

In other words, what he's really saying, just the same like humanly speaking, when we see trees, fig trees and other trees starting to blossom we know that the summer is at hand in the same way he's saying to these people of Israel these disciples and the tribulation saints he's saying to them you will notice when you're going to see the signs that will show us that the Messiah is soon to come and the kingdom is soon to be established you know it because when you're And a C-door sign, it will give you an evident that things are just approaching. The Messiah is at the door.

Now, what are these signs? What are these things? You remember what he said earlier in our passage in this very same chapter, chapter 13 and verse 14? He was speaking about the signs that these Jewish people during the tribulation period will understand that a Messiah is coming when they're going to see the abomination of desolation sitting at the temple claiming to be God. It will be a sign for them that a Messiah is soon to return. When you're going to see these wicked men and you're going to sit there in the temple and he will cause the abomination of desolation spoken by Daniel the prophet as we have here in verse 14 of our chapter.

Ye which are in Judea, you know that this is the time that is soon the Messiah is going to come. You make sure that you are aware and alert because just like the blossoming of the fig tree is a sign that the summer is coming, the abomination of desolation in the temple in Jerusalem going to give you a sign that a Messiah is soon to come. And that's why he says in the next verse 30, Verily, verily, I say unto you, this generation shall not pass away till all these things shall be done. And a question that you and I might ask, what do you mean this generation?

Do you mean the generation that heard the Lord speaking 2,000 years ago? Well, they have already gone. Do you mean he's speaking about the Jewish people since 1948? Well, it's not possible because one generation have already gone. He's speaking about the generation of the tribulation period. The Jewish people who will live during the tribulation period, who will see the abomination of desolation spoken by Daniel the prophet, they are warned to realize the Messiah is soon to come. The Messiah is at hand. So this generation, verse 30 of Mark 13, is the generation who will live during the tribulation period. When you're going to see that these things are happening, know that things are at the door.

The Messiah is soon to come. Verily, verily, I say unto you, this generation shall not pass away until these things shall be done. It will not take too long before the Messiah will come and he will ultimately be revealed in his glory. You will see it, he's saying to them, when the abomination of desolation will be sitting there claiming to be God. You will know that the Messiah is soon to come. He's even at the door. Soon he's going to come and he will establish his messianic kingdom. Notice in verse 31, Heaven and earth shall pass away, Yeshua said, but my words shall not pass away.

I'm telling you, whatever I say, he's saying to them, it's surely going to come to pass. Every word that I say is surely come to pass. And then in verse 32 of Mark 13, he said, Of that day and of that hour no man knows, nor the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son but the Father. It's amazing. Over the years, since I'm a believer for over 40-something years, how many times I hear people on television, on the internet, he says, well, Yeshua, Jesus is coming on that date. For some reason, they seem to know when Jesus, the Messiah, is coming. And the Messiah himself, he says no one knows.

If he says no one knows, how come they know? Well, the fact of the matter, beloved brothers and sisters, But of that day and of that hour knoweth no man. No, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, only the Father. Now, I was carefully reading the text. He said, not even the Son. In other words, he's saying about himself, even not I know. Now, if you will look around in all the four Gospels, This verse is quoted, I think, twice in Mark 13 and in Matthew 24. Not in Luke and not in John. You will notice that in Matthew chapter 24, the word not even the son, not mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew if you have the King James Version.

Other versions, Ed, not even the son. which actually tells us that in some manuscripts, in Matthew 24, that expression, not even the Son, is not mentioned at all in some manuscript. For some reason, some edited to include it, as Mark mentioned it here. And I wonder, why does only Mark mention that not even the Son knows? And it's amazing, because it really takes the character of the whole Gospel of Mark. Mark represents Jesus the Messiah as a servant. A servant come to do nothing except to serve. He doesn't try to get informed of all the past and the future. His business is to serve God. And this is exactly what Yeshua the Messiah has done.

He's presented in the Gospel of Mark as a servant. As a humble servant. who in obedience to God came to accomplish his work. But even though he's a servant, he's also the eternal son of God. And I can assure you that he knows when he's coming again. He knows the date. He knows the hour because he's God the son. But one thing, it's what Mark presented before us, that as a servant here, In a sense, he's submitting himself to the authority of the Father. And whenever the Father will tell him, this is the time to come, he will come in obedience to the Father. That's why it seemed to me, to my understanding, that a word neither the Son mentioned only in the Gospel of Mark, it takes character of the way he's presented here in this Gospel, as the servant of the Lord.

And so, beloved brothers and sisters, the parable of the fig tree, verse 28, 29, 30, and 31, and 32, he gives an illustration. You see the fig tree, you see it's blossoming, you know the summer is coming. In the same way, you see the sign of the abomination of desolation, you know that the Messiah is soon at the door to come to have his rightful place and restore the nation of Israel. And now he's going to conclude here with verse 33 to verse 37. He gives a second parable. And the second parable, beloved brothers and sisters, he is the parable that is warning everyone to watch and to be careful and not to be sleeping.

In other words, to stay awake and not to fall asleep, as it were. Sometimes people are falling asleep at our meetings. But he is speaking about the necessity of spiritually to stay alert and not fall asleep. And notice what he says in verse 33 to verse 37. Take ye heed, watch and pray, for ye know not when the time is. For the Son of Man is as a man taking a far journey who left his house and gave authority to his servants and to every man his work. And he commanded the potter to watch. Watch ye therefore, for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at evening, at midnight, or at the cock rowing, or even at the morning, lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.

And what I say unto you, I say unto all, watch. In other words, beloved brothers and sisters, stay awake. He's saying to them in their days and even in the future day of the tribulation period, stay awake. For you and I, he will say the same thing today as believers in Yeshua the Messiah. We also are to watch and pray. How many a times we haven't watched and we haven't prayed and we haven't humbled ourselves and waited on the Lord to guide us. The Lord wants us to be ready. He may come at any time to take the church to be with Him in glory.

And then after that, He will come at the end of the tribulation to restore the world to Himself and Israel back to Himself. He shall come at any time, beloved brothers and sisters. And therefore, this expression here, watch, is mentioned in verse 33, watch. Verse 34, watch. Verse 35, watch. Verse 37, watch. In other words, beloved brothers and sisters, be awakened. Recognize that the Lord might come at any time. And if He's going to come, wouldn't it be wonderful for us to be living in such a way that we will honor him, we will give him the glory, the honor that he deserves, we will serve him and not be careless in our lives as believers.

The encouragement here that Yeshua gave to them, the disciples, and to you and I as well today, is watch, number one, and pray, number two, in order that when he comes, he will find us awake and ready for his appearing. May the Lord keep us watching and help us to pray until He's going to come again to take us to be with Him. Can we say amen to that?