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the fig tree; when bis branch is yet
tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye
know that summer is nigh:
So /ike–
wise ye,
when ye shall see
al/
these
things, know tbat it [my returo] is
near [answer to the first part of the
disciples' question], even at the
doors.... This generation [age] shall
not pass, till all these things be ful–
filled [answer to the last part of the
disciples' question]" (Matt. 24:32-
34).
The significance of this lesson is
this:
al/
of the things Jesus men–
tioned in His answer must be vis–
ible, and
then
we will know that the
"end" is near. Let's look at all those
points (and surprisingly we'll see
Jesus said sorne were not to be taken
too seriously all by themselves) and,
most important of all, let's see the
one
point missed by most that fills
out the "all" and so strongly in–
dicates that
this
is indeed the gener–
ation of the time of the signs.
Deception, false Christs, preach–
ing in Jesus' name but not preach–
ing His doctrine is the first thing He
mentions. Wars, national and
worldwide, and rumors of them
form the next point. But surpris–
ingly here Jesus says, "The end is
not yet." Then He wams about fam–
ines, plagues and earthquakes and
says, "But all this will be only the
beginning of the horrors to come."
Next He predicts terrible per–
secution for His true followers ,
rampant sin everywhere, then more
warnings on false prophets. The
good news being carried to the en-
. tire world is another point.
Then comes the
one
prerequisite
most important to us, in fact not
even understandable until this gen–
eration: " ... except those days
should be shortened,
there should no
jlesh be saved [alive] .... " That
was
not possible until just a few decades
ago! Nuclear annihilation is a
greater and greater threat with each
passing year.
Then comes the "great tribula–
tion," more warning on fa lse proph–
ets, grossly disturbing signs in the
very fabric of the universe itself
("heavenly signs"), Christ's actual
retum and hence "the end."
More Horrors to Come
In this brief overview Christ gave to
His disciples, He mentioned more
26
"1wlll ralse them up
a Prophet from among
their brethren, llke
unto thee [Moses], and
will pul my words In
hls mouth; and he
shall speak unto
them all that 1shall
command hlm"
(Deuteronomy
18:18).
"And he shall send
Jesus Chrlst
...
For
Moses truly sald unto
the fathers, A prophet
shall the Lord your God
ralse up unto you of
your brethren, llke unto
me; hlm shall ye hear
in all thlngs whatsoever
he shall say unto you"
(Acts 3:20,22).
"For had ye believed
Moses, ye would
have believed me:
for he wrote of me.
But lf ye believe not
hls wrltlngs, how shall ye
believe my words?"
(John 5:46-47)
" horrors to come." Later He granted
the apostle John a more thorough
preview of those " horrors," and
John wrote them faithfully in a
book often called "The Revelation
of St. John the Divine," but which
John himself in the first words of the
book calls "The Revelation of Jesus
Christ"!
It
is also called the
~'Apoca
lypse," which is its Greek title.
1suggest you read the entire book
in a good modero translation. It's
not very long, yet it encapsulates the
terrifying events yet to happen on
this poor earth before ."the end."
Here is a short summary of sorne of
the more significant things it says.
War, famine and disease will be
responsible for the deaths of 25 per–
cent of mankind; currently that rep–
resents
one billion people.
(Forecasts
by military men and think-tank fu–
turists predict more of a percentage.
ofkill than the Bible does.)
A 200-million-man army of Asia
is foreseen by John as destroying
another third of mankind:
one bil–
/ion more!
He states that the means
of the destruction is "smoke, fi re
and brimstone"- as accurate a de–
scription of the horror of modero
weapons anyone living two thou–
sand years ago could be expected to
give. More modero observers simply
state: "War is hell!"
The sun itself, in an unstable con–
dition, will increase its radiation
seven times. The result is the bum–
ing of all grasses (that's wheat, rice,
barley, food grains of all sorts, not
just wild grass!) and forest tires ulti–
mately destroying 33 percent of all
the trees on earth.
All waterbome life will die, in the
oceans and in the fresh water, and
the water itself will bear resem–
blance to blood! (One-third of the
world's food supply comes from the
sea.)
After
all
these things, the armies
of the earth are set to press that
"Armageddon button" and destroy
what's left of ft esh on earth- but
Christ intervenes and saves what's
left alive!
And
that
is "the end"!
But that's
good news:
God is not
going to allow mankind to commit
suicide: cosmocide!
In short, before "the end," at
Christ's intervention, this poor
planet
will
be reeling from unprece-
The
PLAIN TRUTH August-September 1977