THE LAST DAYS


Anita Clark

"Surely the LORD GOD will do nothing, but He revealeth his secrets unto His servants the prophets. The lion hath roared, who will not fear? The LORD GOD hath spoken, who can but prophesy?" Amos 3:7-8.

God always gave signs to the human race of whatever He was about to do. He has not changed today! He has given His Word which is full of signs of the future of what He is about to do? We need to heed the signs.

THE SIGN TO NOAH - Genesis 9:13-17 - The rainbow was given to Noah as a "sign" of the covenant which God made to never destroy the earth again with water. Each time we see the rainbow in the sky, we know that God’s promise is sure and steadfast. He will always keep His word to us.

THE SIGN TO ABRAHAM - is found in Genesis 18:17, "Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?" This was regarding God’s intention to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, those great sinful cities. Lot, the nephew of Abraham, lived in Sodom. God told Abraham of His purpose in wiping these wicked cities off the face of the earth. This is what God is getting ready to do today to this wicked world. Nahum the prophet spoke by the unction of the Holy Spirit, "God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserveth wrath for His enemies. The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not acquit the wicked." Nahum 1:2-3.

THE SIGNS GIVEN TO MOSES - God gave Moses signs to perform to cause the people of Israel, who were in bondage to the Egyptians to follow him. There were three signs given: Exodus 4 - 1. The rod that became a serpent VS. 2-4, 2. The leprous hand. VS. 6-8. And 3. The river water to turn to blood. VS. 9. Verse 8 says, "And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign." When God gives a sign, He expects mankind to "hearken" (to hear and obey) to the "voice of the sign." The sign speaks to us; it has a voice. The word "sign" in the Old Testament means, "a signal, a beacon, token or evidence."

THE SIGN GIVEN TO HEZEKIAH, KING OF JUDAH - II Kings 20:1-11, Hezekiah became sick, and Isaiah prophesied that he would die. The king prayed to be spared from death, and God spoke through Isaiah again that Hezekiah would live. VS. 6 -7 "I will heal thy tears; behold I will heal thee; ...And I will add unto thy days fifteen years." Hezekiah asked for a "sign" that it was so, which brought about the miracle of the sundial being turned back 15 degrees. The "sign" was fulfilled just exactly in that way.

THE SIGNS OF THE FIRST COMING OF MESSIAH - God made sure that there were plenty of "signs" to let Israel know how to recognize their Messiah. Isaiah 7:11, "Ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above." These are some of the signs which God gave: 1. Isaiah 7:11-14 - "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son and shall call His name Immanuel." 2. Isaiah 11:1-5 - "And there shall come forth a rod (Shoot) out of Jesse and a Branch out of his roots. (Speaking of how Christ would come of the linage of David, Jesse’s son" 3. “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose going forth have been from of old, from everlasting." Jesus was born a direct descendant of King David. There are so many other signs that God gave that had Israel been open hearted, they would have known that Jesus was their Messiah the first time he came. The majority did not "listen to the voice of the sign" speaking to them.

OLD TESTAMENT PROPHETS - were instructed by God to act out various things to speak to Israel of coming judgment. Not many heeded the signs of the prophets, but some did, though Israel and Judah were carried away into captivity. Ezekiel, was a prophet which God asked to "act out" the prophecy he was given. Ezekiel 4:3, He was told to lie on his side and using an iron skillet to pretend to fight against the pan and besiege it, as a sign that God would bring judgment on Israel. Ezekiel 24:24, "Thus Ezekiel is unto you a sign according to all that he hath done shall ye do; and when this cometh, ye shall know that I am the LORD GOD. "

"WHAT SHALL BE THE SIGNS OF THY COMING AND THE END OF THE WORLD (AGE)."- Matthew 24:3. Mankind is without excuse before God. Jesus told of the "signs of His coming," exactly what we are to expect before He returns. These are listed beginning with Matthew 24:4-51. The list goes on: "many deceivers, wars and rumours of wars, famines, pestilences (diseases- such as Ebola, SARS, and HIV), earthquakes, betrayal of one another, iniquity (sinfulness) abounding. II Timothy 3:2-5 gives us another list. Read these items - see if they do or do not fit our world today.

ISIS fighting in Iraq and Hamas fighting Israel are signs to us of the coming tribulation. An event has happened in Israel that shows God’s hand of protection over His chosen people even though the majority of them are not believers in Him. An event reported in several newspapers and from news agencies, "Hand of God prevents rocket from striking its target: "An Israeli Iron Dome operator is claiming that he witnessed ‘the hand of God’ diverting an incoming Hamas rocket into the sea. The commander claims that the divine intervention stopped the death of hundreds of Israeli citizens. The commander had fired twice at the missile and it did not work

and was headed for a highly populated building. He made an emergency call to get people out as quickly as possible. The news account says the commander said, "Suddenly, Iron Dome (which calculates wind speeds, among other things) shows a major wind coming from the east, a strong wind that sends the missile into the Sea. We were all stunned. I stood up and shouted, ‘There is a God!’ God would do these kind of things for the people whom He foreknew as His "Chosen Ones." He wants them to come to a saving knowledge of Him. After the tribulation, those who are left of Israel will look up and seeing their Messiah coming in "power and great glory" will receive Him as their Lord and Saviour.

More and More as events unfold around the world, I am made to feel in my spirit that Jesus Christ is coming at any moment, before the tribulation to remove His dear ones who are watching and waiting for Him. Jesus repeatedly said, "Watch and pray." He promises to the Philadelphia church in Revelation 3:10, that "Because thou hast kept the word of My patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation (tribulation - referring to the seven coming years) which shall come upon the world to try them that dwell upon the earth." Let us be overcomers in our present circumstances. God is faithful and will perform all that He has promised us. Look up, weary pilgrim! "For yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry" (Hebrews 10:37).

Apostle Paul says in Romans 13:12, "The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.”