“WHEN the Lord shall build up Zion,
he shall appear in his glory.”
Psalm 102:15

The appearance of the Lord in his glory is tied to the generation that sees the signal, that sees the Lord building up Zion, a Biblical name for Israel.

Since the year 70 AD the nation of Israel was in judgment, banished from their ancient homeland as God had warned so many times before. They were scattered across the whole earth. But the end of her long diaspora came in 1948.

On the 14th of May, 1948, Israel became a nation again after 2,000 years of being cut off from the land of their fathers, the land given to them by covenant from God. And since 1948 God has been restoring the Jews to Israel and has been rebuilding their land, as he promised them. Every kind of threat and interference from hell has tried to stop it, but Israel remains – because it is God who is restoring her. Make no bones about it – the Lord is very aware that he is placing them in the land that is surrounded by large Arab nations who hate her. God is not biting his fingernails over the threats from Iran who is behind Hezbollah in the north, Hamas in the south, or from the “Palestinians” all around her. He hasn’t yet had a panic attack over the threats from Iran and Russia to drive her into the sea.

The Great Sign

In this Psalm, as in other places in the Bible, we see that WHEN THIS HAPPENS, the restoration of Israel, it signals the generation in which the Lord shall appear. This is what believers are eagerly watching for now, the appearance of our Savior. For believers, the Rapture. For Israel, the Tribulation – which will break their pride and bring them to seeing their Messiah.

It is in this generation that understanding has been given on this subject. Many things that were not understood in past generations have been revealed in this one, because the signal had not been given in past generations, Israel was still scattered, but it HAS been in this one. Israel is back! Sir Isaac Newton prophesied:

“About the time of the end, a body of men will be raised up
who will turn their attention to the prophecies,
and insist upon their literal interpretation,
in the midst of much clamor and opposition.”   
-Sir Issac Newton

vs 18:
This will be written FOR THE LAST GENERATION,
that a people yet to be created may praise the Lord.

Hear the prophecy of the last days given to the prophet Daniel:

“But you, Daniel, shut up the words,
and seal the book until the time of the end;
many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.”
Daniel 12:4

How aptly did the Lord signal the generation in which this was to happen, the generation characterized by much TRAVEL everywhere (running to and fro) and a great increase in KNOWLEDGE. A hundred years ago they traveled by horse and buggy. In this generation they’ve gone to the moon! In this generation our whole lives have been changed by the increase of knowledge and technology, as no generation ever before us.

It amazes believers that the world CAN’T see it – that the wicked don’t understand it, while it makes perfect sense even to the youngest in the Lord. That prophecy is happening right before our eyes

vs 9-10
“Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up
and sealed UNTIL THE TIME OF THE END.
Many shall be purified, made white, and refined,
but the wicked shall do wickedly,
AND NONE OF THE WICKED SHALL UNDERSTAND,
but the wise shall understand.”

And so we do understand, even though no other generation before us was given to understand these things. Only in this generation have the prophecies of Daniel and the other prophets been revealed concerning “the last days.” For believers it is the time of  “the blessed hope.” As we watch the world heading so obviously toward the great Tribulation, we anticipate the trumpet sound for believers – when Jesus Christ will take us out of this world to be with him forever. Then will begin the time when he will pour out his wrath upon the Christ-rejecting world – during the time the Bible calls the “great Tribulation. The signs of it are all here.

Even so, COME, Lord Jesus!

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