Jesus’ Return
The Lord’s second coming is a topic that is especially close to our hearts. We wait and pray for Yeshua (Jesus) to return! We feel honored to live in His beloved city, Jerusalem, and we cannot wait to see Him walk these streets once again.
“Then the Lord will appear…” (Zech 9:14a)
When we arrived in Israel in 1983, a very pretty two story apartment with a small garden awaited us. It was owned by an orthodox rabbi from Canada who saw us “gentiles” as a prophetic sign – that the nations would be coming up to Jerusalem to worship the God of Israel.
We didn’t mind that, as it truly was part of our heart’s desire. We wanted to worship the Lord in this city!
But the rabbi was so convinced that he actually had his lawyer include an interesting clause in our rental contract. It said, “When the Messiah comes, the Hilsdens must vacate the apartment by the end of the month.”
He wasn’t joking.
When he and his wife dropped by to see us, though, we did kid around a little. We said, “No problem, we may be gone by then, and you’ll get all our stuff.”
He countered, “And when He comes, we’ll be sure to ask Him if He’s been here before.”
Expectation of Jesus Coming Back
Jerusalem is a prophetic “epicenter”, as we know from the Bible. And even though my husband (who is a theologian) and I have not really parked on a fixed or detailed eschatological view, still we agree with the Rabbi. We are living in the last days, and we, with him are living in expectation.
There is a blessing on those who read the Book of Revelation (22:7.) The writer John didn’t give us a commentary. Its meaning is still shrouded, even though men have attempted over and over to apply it to contemporary places, events, and people.
There is a stern warning not to add or subtract from the book (22:18, 19). Yet every time something significant happens, we pore over the prophecies to see if we can connect the newspapers to the Bible. Sometimes, we do find eerie correlations however, so I do understand it.
Today’s Jerusalem does seem like the “heavy stone” described in Zechariah 12. The “mark of the beast” does not seem as far-fetched as it did a hundred years ago. The frequent earthquakes and natural disasters do bring to mind Yeshua’s words about “birth pains” in Matthew 24.
How to Wait?
Here is the significant, biblical element that we should keep in mind, as we look to the future. Those who were living in expectation two thousand years ago recognized from prophecy the first coming of Yeshua.
Not just the prophets, but simple people of all walks of life! They carried such love for the Word of God and shared such hunger for His presence that they knew what to look for.
The main thing is that we must live like servants who are expecting their master to walk in the door any second. We must be “pulling people out of the fire” as if we expected the ceiling to fall any second.
The Second Coming of Jesus (Yeshua)
We weren’t told to live in a panic, but be “on the job” and about the business that Yeshua assigned us to do. He told us that we can’t know when. We need to be at peace with that. But He gave us signs to watch for and warned us to be at our post. He asks us to be faithful, wise, and watchful.
Read Matthew 24 (and if you have time, chapter 25 as well). Let the Scriptures speak to you all on their own. How is the Spirit of God preparing you for what is to come?
I want to be ready for the day when Yeshua appears! My prayer today is, “Help me to be at your business, Lord! Keep me from distractions, laziness and self-seeking. Pull me back in when I stray, because I want You to say to me, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant’. Maranatha! Come LORD Yeshua!”
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