Before this great and terrible day of Jehovah comes, God will pour out His Spirit upon certain ones in Israel. In connection with that event He will show these signs in the physical heavens and on the earth. Among the signs will be the blacking out of the sun--not the blotting out of it, but a temporary blackout of it. As to how long before the Tribulation these signs will begin to occur, the Scriptures are silent. But they are scheduled to occur before the Tribulation. The situation in the material, physical universe will clear up; the blackout will pass away, only to be brought back again in the first part of the Tribulation. Then, again, the situation will clear up, and come in a different form just a little later, before the middle of the Tribulation. Then it clears the third time and recurs with a total blackout in the middle of the second half of the Tribulation. Once again, the blackout clears up, only to return with many signs and wonders at the very end of the Tribulation, after the Tribulation of those days. The sun will be darkened, the moon will not give her light. Then Jesus will come!

Our Lord, in Luke 21, in the section of the Olivet Discourse which we are studying, foretold signs in the sun, moon, and stars, and upon the earth distress of nations in perplexity for the roaring of the seas and the billows. Then He told us that these signs will culminate with the shaking of the powers of the heavens at the end of the Tribulation. Then "shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory," physically and bodily. But, He said, when these signs and these distressing conditions "begin to come to pass, look up, and lift up your heads; because your redemption draweth nigh." We have seen from Joel that these signs in the heavens and on the earth begin before the Tribulation starts. Since they start before the Tribulation begins, those who are alive at that time, and who know what the Scriptures teach, are to look up and lift up their heads because their redemption draws nigh. In view of these facts we know that our redemption--the redemption of the faithful children of God--draws near when these signs throughout the heavens and the distress of nations upon the earth begin to come to pass. Note the word begin. The Lord did not say, after these signs shall have occurred for days, or weeks, or months; but, when they begin to come to pass. It is then that His people are to lift up their heads and look up, because their redemption draws near.

What is meant by the word "redemption"? In this context it can mean only one thing: Deliverance out of the terrible situation which will at that time be starting to develop. How will the Lord deliver His people at that time? This question is answered in I Thessalonians 1:9,10 which reads as follows: "For they themselves report concerning us what manner of entering in we had unto you; and how ye turned unto God from idols, to serve a living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, who delivereth us from the wrath to come." Jesus will descend from heaven "with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God." Then He will raise the dead in Christ and catch up the living saints out of the earth, whose bodies will be transformed and immortalized. Then they will meet the Lord in the air. The Lord will then return to glory. The saints will go along with Him. This is the redemption which is promised by our Saviour, in the words, "But when these things begin to come to pass, look up, and lift up your heads; because your redemption draweth nigh" (21:28).

But when are these signs to begin to come to pass? No one knows. We do not know the day nor the hour. But we do know that, when they begin to come to pass, our redemption draweth nigh! This is sufficient. So far as you and I, dear friends, know, they may begin to occur today; or within five minutes from now; or an hour; maybe next week, or next year. Since we do not know the day nor the hour, let us also be ready?

At this juncture of His discourse our Lord spoke a parable: "Behold the fig tree, and all the trees: 30 when they now shoot forth, ye see it and know of your own selves that the summer is now nigh. 31 Even so ye also, when ye see these things coming to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh. 32 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all things be accomplished. 33 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away" (Luke 21:29-33). In the parallel passage (Matt. 24:32-34) our Lord mentioned only the fig tree. "From the fig tree learn her parable: when her branch is now become tender, and putteth forth its leaves, ye know that the summer is nigh; 33 even so ye also, when ye see all these things, know ye that he is nigh, even at the doors. 34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all these things be accomplished." Some have concluded that the fig tree is here used as being symbolic of the Jewish nation. It is true that, on certain occasions, the fig tree is a symbol of Israel. This fact cannot be disputed. But we are never to say that a thing is used symbolically or figuratively unless the facts of the context indicate a departure from the literal meaning. One will look in vain for such negative evidence here; therefore it is improper to interpret the fig tree of Matthew 24:32-34 as, in this instance, being symbolic of the Jewish nation. The fig tree simply means a fig tree. Jesus said that, whenever the fig tree's buds become tender and it puts forth its leaves, the person observing that natural phenomena can know that summer is near. In a manner analogous to this, whenever a person sees all these things (vs. 33) [a world war, famines, pestilences, and great earthquakes in different places (Matt. 24:8)], he can know that Christ's coming is near, even at the doors. The generation witnessing the sign of the end of the age can know that the rising generation of that period shall in no wise pass away until the whole prophetic program, culminating in the second coming of Christ, will occur. A generation is eighty years in length (Ps. 90:10).

Christ, in speaking of the fig tree in the Luke passage, also mentioned "all the trees." The fact that He included all the trees shows that He was not using the fig tree as a symbol of the Jewish nation, but just simply used it in its natural meaning.

According to Luke 21:31 Jesus said: "Even so ye also, when ye see these things coming to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh." And He added; "32 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all things be accomplished."

Those Christians who know the truth spoken by our Lord, who are here upon earth, and see the signs beginning in the sun, moon, and stars, and the distress of nations upon the earth caused by the roaring of the sea and the billows--those seeing these things beginning to come to pass--can know of a certainty that the kingdom of God is soon to be established upon the earth. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but the words of the Lord Jesus shall not pass away.

In Luke 21:34-36 our Lord gives a most solemn warning to His disciples: "But take heed to yourselves, lest haply your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that day come on you suddenly as a snare: 35 for so shall it come upon all them that dwell on the face of all the earth. 36 But watch ye at every season, making supplication, that ye may prevail to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man."

Evidently the Lord realized the necessity of throwing out the warning contained in this quotation for His people. It is an easy matter for Christians to let down in their spiritual life and to fall into the tempo of the times in which they live. In fact, it is indeed hard not to conform to the environment in which we are living. People naturally like to have their appetites satisfied. Jesus shows that it would be possible for even born-again people to contract the drink habit and to become drunkards. Moreover, the cares of life, that is, the daily responsibility of meeting the obligations of life, can be so very subtle and gripping that they tend to cause one to follow the Lord afar off--as fear caused Peter to follow Him afar off when He went to trial. If a person fails to heed the admonitions of the Lord Jesus Christ and falls into the tempo of his day and time, the day when these signs begin to come to pass--announcing the fact that our redemption draweth nigh--will slip upon him as a snare, just as it will come upon all those (the unsaved) who dwell upon the face of the earth. The people of God, the saved, are earnestly urged by the Lord to be on the lookout: "But watch ye at every season, making supplication, that ye may prevail to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man" (vs. 36). How can one prevail to "escape all these things that shall come to pass"? Evidently the things that are to come to pass are the trials and the distresses that are involved in the signs that will be in the heavens and the roaring of the sea and the billows here upon earth. These are the things about which He is talking, and which will occur upon the earth just before the rapture.

Should these things occur in my time, I would not like for a mighty tidal wave, hundreds of feet high, to come rolling over Los Angeles and to dash me with myriads of others into eternity. I do not want to go out of this life in any such manner. No normal people want to be taken out of the world under such conditions. If they do not wish to depart this life that way, Jesus said that they should make supplication that they prevail in prayer to escape all these things. God can providentially change the course of one's life and cause him to go from the danger zone before such a calamity as the one supposed. If I pray earnestly that the Lord not let me go out that way, He could take me out of the world in some other way. He could take me by some peaceful means, and I could thus pass into the presence of the Lord. Or, He could cause me to leave the city and go somewhere on business and not be in the danger zone when the crash comes. When the signs in the heavens above should become apparent, I would see those things and could look up, knowing that the rapture is to take place at any second after that. Prayer indeed changes things. Prayer brings victory. If we will only pray--should these things come in our time--that we may prevail to escape, we have every reason to believe that God will answer our petition on that point, as well as on others.

I am hoping that, if it be God's will, Jesus may come in my own natural lifetime, and that I can engage in the work of the Lord up to the very moment of the rapture. At that time "the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first; 17 then we that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words" (I Thess. 4:16-18).