Tarfoot

He concluded that alert with this timing factor, “For you do not know when your Lord may return.” So what are we to watch for, or how are we to be watching?
He used those cautions in various parables that illustrate that stewardship of responsibilities is to be accountable to Him at His return.
Yet, there was no guideline as to how long He would be gone, and for centuries we have had resounding in our hearing, “no man knows the day or the hour” of His coming. Match this situation with the fact that God has made promises that would have to be fulfilled before He could come and wind up human history as we know it, and as prophecy brings to light. For example, the promise He would return the Jews to their promised land and make of them a new nation:
“’And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the Lord,’ says the Lord God, ‘when I am hallowed in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols” (Ezekiel 36:23-25).
The beginning of that fulfillment was on May 14, 1948, despite the belief of many today who try to tell us that God reje3cted the Jews when they rejected Christ, and those promises now are for the church. Its called Replacement Theology and is an outright slap in the face of God and makes Him out to be a liar!
It looks like He has hallowed His holy name before that crowd also. A god who lies is no god at all, and if Numbers 23:19 is not true, then “We are, of all people, most miserable!” Remember this—memorize it and start every Bible question search with this truth in the front of your quest:
“God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent.
Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?”
In regard to the watching issue, it seems that the first time we are told what to watch for is in Luke 21:28:
“Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.”
What are “these things?”
In the context before that alert, He described the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple that occurred in 70 AD and told of the inhabitants of Jerusalem and Israel being “led away captive into all nations, and [that] Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled” (verse 24). His prophecy leaps ahead, then, to the time when the age of the Gentiles begins to be fulfilled:
“And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory” (Luke 21:25-27).
This picture of Jesus coming in great power and glory seems to be pointing to His Second Coming when He comes to the earth where “earth dwellers” will see Him arrive. He says “they” will see Him, not those looking for Him as it will be for the Rapture that comes seven years earlier.
In verse 24 two events are referenced—the return of the Jews to Israel and the fulfilling of the times of the Gentiles. Earlier I quoted Luke 21:28 and asked, “What are those things that are to begin happening?”
The very next thing told is the parable of the fig tree. You may recall the time Jesus was passing by a fig tree on His way to the temple with the disciples and discovered the tree was all leaves and no fruit, and He cursed it (Mark 11:12-14). Immediately after, He entered the temple and drove out the money-changers and traders. A religion that bears no fruit, no positive eternal results, that was the picture that the disciples saw. The fig tree and the olive tree are used to illustrate Israel in scriptural comparisons.
This parable of the fig tree in Luke 21:29-33 relates to the blossoming of Israel again, just as Ezekiel 37 with the valley of dry bones taking on flesh and reviving again to become one people in one place instead of being scattered throughout all nations as their judgment has been:
“Then He spoke to them a parable: ‘Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. When they are already budding, you see and know for yourselves that summer is now near. So you also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near.Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all things take place.Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away’” (Luke 21:29-33).
It is clearly this current generation now in the 21st century to which He is pointing toward, for that generation has passed away long ago. The “things” that are happening now, today, should also tell us that this generation, not the next one, will be the one to experience them. When He says, “…you see and know for yourselves,” it becomes a very personal and individual issue, not just “those other guys.”
Very appropriately, the next portion of that context, Luke 21:34-36, bears out the subject of this article—watch and be faithful and ready to stand without shame before the Son of Man:
“But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly, for it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

__________________
I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people -- for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:1-4