Lesson 25: Now - When Is Jesus Coming Back? (4)

The greatest calendar we can watch is God’s calendar as He created it through the Jewish feasts as we read in the Bible. Colossians 2:16-17 says they were shadows of the real thing, and were or will be fulfilled by Jesus. The religious year for the Jewish people begins in March/April with the Passover. The symbolism this feast has where Christ is concerned was His death on the cross. The next feast, Unleavened Bread, follows the Passover, and was fulfilled in His sinless life. The Feast of Firstfruits was fulfilled in Christ's resurrection. The Feast of Weeks is also known as Pentecost and fulfillment was seen in the arrival of the Holy Spirit. That leaves three feasts, the Fall feasts to consider. The first of these is the Feast of Trumpets and signifies the first day of the Jewish New Year. Nine days later is Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Five days later begins the Feast of Tabernacles. The Feast of Trumpets is a celebration, Yom Kippur is a day of judgment, and the Feast of Tabernacles represents God who will tabernacle with mankind. If we look at the Feast of Trumpets as a beginning of a new year for the Jewish people, it could very well be seen as the closing of an era for the Gentiles, fulfilled in the Rapture of the Church. The Day of Judgment may well be the fulfillment of Zechariah 12:11-12 when, at the end of the Great Tribulation, Jesus returns and the remaining Jewish people realize this Jesus is their Messiah and their God. Then the Feast of Tabernacles is fulfilled in the Millennial Kingdom.


What is to be our response to all these things? It most certainly should not be fear! We have nothing to fear. Read again John 14:1-6. We have only the certain hope that God will fulfill every single promise He has made to us as well as to all His people, including the Jews. This certain hope should bring us comfort. This hope and knowledge of His soon return purify us (1 John 3:3). We must live our lives as if He is returning the next moment and we must be ready to stand before Him as He judges our works and our motives. Remember, there is no judgment or condemnation of our souls, only of the works that we have done as Christians. Nothing before our salvation is held against us, and nothing after can affect our eternal life with God. We will only lose or gain rewards based on our actions and motives.

We cannot know the day or the hour when Jesus will call us as Christians, but we can read the signs of the times and know the end is very near. We should be, like the virgins in Jesus' parable, prepared at all times for the next step in prophetic history – the Rapture of the Church.

Read the following Scriptures and write down the command for your life from each:
*1 Corinthians 1:7
*Philippians 3:20
*1 Thessalonians 1:10
*Titus 2:13
*Hebrews 9:28