Signs of Yeshua's Return

As we've been studying eschatology I once again proclaim the necessity to not become entrenched in a specific theology or doxology concerning the end times.  One thing is for certain, the minute someone says they have it all figured out they are proven wrong.  The key is to rely on God's word and not get set or again, entrenched on how things will unfold, instead, I look for certain biblical signs to come to pass, scripture events that will occur that reveal the time is soon.  I gave a message on signs several years ago that explained what signs are!

What is a sign?  It’s a motion or gesture by which a thought is expressed or a command or wish made known, a mark having a conventional meaning and used in place of words or to represent a complex notion, something material or external that stands for or signifies something spiritual.  Sign in Hebrew is Oth which means signal, an indication that something is happening, God is preparing to intervene in Humanity!!!
 
Signs are extraordinary natural wonders, symbols, or events used by God to instill trust and or demonstrate His authority over Humanity.  Signs are designed to reveal to our earthly senses God’s divine power.  Signs were the method God used to reveal Himself to both Israel and Egypt while Israel was enslaved in Egypt! The 10 plaques were a sign:
 
Psalms 135:9. He sent signs and wonders among you, Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his subjects.
 
Jeremiah 32:20-21.  "You gave signs and performed miracles in the land of Egypt which continue to this day, also in Isra'el and among other people; thus you made yourself the reputation you have today. 21 You brought your people of Isra'el out of the land of Egypt with signs and miracles, with a strong hand and an outstretched arm and with great terror.
We within the body of Messiah should not be fearful of Heavenly signs rather we must be aware of them and understand what's happening as we witness them!  The end of the age is revealed through signs!  We are already into the end of ages.  Unfortunately, most of the body of Messiah is relying on someone else's theology to tell them what will occur vice reading the word themselves.  Remember the prophet’s warning:

Hosea 4:6. My people are destroyed for want of knowledge. Because you rejected knowledge, I will also reject you as cohen for me. Because you forgot the Torah of your God, I will also forget your children.

So, our eschatology, our understanding of the end times must reconcile to scripture. Scripture records certain signs that will preceded Yeshua's return.  What's interesting is that many events have already occurred.  So many believers and followers read scripture from their current teaching or mindset but delve into error.  Such as the following apocalyptic prediction concerning the anti-Messiah:

Daniel 7:25.  He will speak words against the Most High and try to exhaust the holy ones of the Most High. He will attempt to alter the seasons and the law; and [the holy ones] will be handed over to him for a time, times and half a time.

It's with great irony that so many in the body of Messiah are looking for this to come to pass when its already happened.  The Holy Ones have been following altered seasons and altered Scriptures since the council of Nycea in 325 A.D. but it won't last forever.  In fact, the reemergence of the Messianic Community signals the end of this phase! The world will experience a whole scale apostasy from God, His word, His Son, and His Kingdom:
 
Amos 8:11-12. "The time is coming," says Adonai ELOHIM, "when I will send famine over the land, not a famine of bread or a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of ADONAI. 12 People will stagger from sea to sea and from north to east, running back and forth, seeking the word of ADONAI; but they will not find it.

And again in:

II Thessalonians 2:3. Don't let anyone deceive you in any way. For the Day will not come until after the Apostasy has come and the man who separates himself from Torah has been revealed, the one destined for doom.

Multiple passages reveal that the famine has already begun!
 
II Thessalonians 2:7. For already this separating from Torah is at work secretly, but it will be secretly only until he who is restraining is out of the way.

I Timothy 4:1. The Spirit expressly states that in the acharit-hayamim some people will apostatize from the faith by paying attention to deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.

Matthew 24:12. and many people's love will grow cold because of increased distance from Torah.

Religion will replace God's word, watering down both the power and the truth.  
Matthew 15:9. Their worship of me is useless, because they teach man-made rules as if they were doctrines.'"

There will be False prophets in abundance, False Messiah's will abound in this apostasy!  Cults and sects will flourish in conjunction with the apostasy previously mentioned.  This is mentioned by Yeshua Himself!
 
Matthew 24:23-26.  "At that time, if someone says to you, `Look! Here's the Messiah!' or, `There he is!' don't believe him. 24 For there will appear false Messiahs and false prophets performing great miracles -- amazing things! -- so as to fool even the chosen, if possible. 25 There! I have told you in advance! 26 So if people say to you, `Listen! He's out in the desert!' don't go; or, `Look! He's hidden away in a secret room!' don't believe it.
 
Good will be called evil and evil good.  The moral fabric will be turned upside down and what was unacceptable a generation ago becomes normal and mainstream.
 
Isaiah 5:20. Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who change darkness into light and light into darkness, who change bitter into sweet and sweet into bitter!
A profound prophetic sign will be that Israel is restored as a nation:

Isaiah 66:8.  Who ever heard of such a thing? Who has ever seen such things? Is a country born in one day? Is a nation brought forth all at once? For as soon as Tziyon went into labor, she brought forth her children.

There will be earthquakes, floods, famines, plagues and diseases such as the world has never seen.  As we read the words of Yeshua in Luke it's a fascinating read done much like Isaiah.  Yeshua starts with the current generation and time then gently transitions to our time today.
 
Luke 21:20-28.  "However, when you see Yerushalayim surrounded by armies, then you are to understand that she is about to be destroyed. 21 Those in Y'hudah must escape to the hills, those inside the city must get out, and those in the country must not enter it. 22 For these are the days of vengeance, when everything that has been written in the Tanakh will come true. 23 What a terrible time it will be for pregnant women and nursing mothers! For there will be great distress in the Land and judgment on the people. 24 Some will fall by the edge of the sword, others will be carried into all the countries of the Goyim, and Yerushalayim will be trampled down by the Goyim until the age of the Goyim has run its course. 25 "There will appear signs in the sun, moon and stars; and on earth, nations will be in anxiety and bewilderment at the sound and surge of the sea, 26 as people faint with fear at the prospect of what is overtaking the world; for the powers in heaven will be shaken. 27 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with tremendous power and glory. 28 When these things start to happen, stand up and hold your heads high; because you are about to be liberated!"

Verse 24 is the Rosetta stone verse, the key that tells us Yeshua has been talking about 2,000 years ago-now Yeshua transitions to our day today. These famines and plaques will also include Global Shalom, world Peace being removed from the earth.  Wars, violence, antisemitism, and hared of Israel will increase throughout the world with war on every land

Revelation 6:5-8.  When he broke the third seal, I heard the third living being say, "Go!" I looked, and there in front of me was a black horse, and its rider held in his hand a pair of scales. 6 Then I heard what sounded like a voice from among the four living beings say, "Two pounds of wheat for a day's wages! Six pounds of barley for the same price! But don't damage the oil or the wine!" 7 When he broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living being say, "Go!" 8 I looked, and there in front of me was a pallid, sickly-looking horse. Its rider's name was Death, and Sh'ol followed behind him. They were given authority to kill one-quarter of the world by war, by famine, by plagues and with the wild animals of the earth.

Some type of a new world order is established:
 
Revelation 13:16-18.  Also it forces everyone - great and small, rich and poor, free and slave - to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead 17 preventing anyone from buying or selling unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. 18 This is where wisdom is needed; those who understand should count the number of the beast, for it is the number of a person, and its number is 666.
 
It's interesting that 666 in the Gematria spells "hidden"!  I believe we are on the cusp of a worldwide economic collapse.  
 
Another sign is that there will be an increase of belief and worship of the occult.

Isaiah 47:8-13.  Now hear this, you lover of luxuries, lolling at ease and saying to yourself, 'I am important, and no one else! I will never be a widow or know the loss of children.' 9 But both will come over you in an instant, in a single day loss of children and widowhood; they will utterly overwhelm you, despite your many occult practices and powerful spells to prevent it." 10 You were at ease in your wickedness, you thought, "No one sees me." Your "wisdom" and "knowledge" perverted you, as you thought to yourself, "I am important, and no one else." 11 Yet disaster will befall you, and you won't know how to charm it away; calamity will come upon you, and you won't be able to turn it aside; ruin will overcome you, suddenly, before you know it. 12 So for now, keep on with your powerful spells and your many occult practices; from childhood you have been working at them; maybe they will do you some good, maybe you will inspire terror! 13 You are worn out with all your consultations - so let the astrologers and stargazers, the monthly horoscope-makers, come forward now and save you from the things that will come upon you!

This sets the stage for false fire and false miracles, deceiving believers who are not firm in God's word. This is why I'm so hard on the body regarding holidays and worship style!  False worship and false religion paves the way for the Anti-Messiah to deceive believers.

There is a key in understanding when its false-idol worship:

Revelation 13:11-14. Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth. It had two horns like those of a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon. 12 It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence; and it makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, the one whose fatal wound had been healed. 13 It performs great miracles, even causing fire to come down from heaven onto the earth as people watch. 14 It deceives the people living on earth by the miracles it is allowed to perform in the presence of the beast, and it tells them to make an image honoring the beast that was struck by the sword but came alive again.

The next sign is that people will not believe God's signs, just like the days of Noah because of their apostasy:
 
Matthew 24:37-44.  For the Son of Man's coming will be just as it was in the days of Noach. 38 Back then, before the Flood, people went on eating and drinking, taking wives and becoming wives, right up till the day Noach entered the ark; 39 and they didn't know what was happening until the Flood came and swept them all away. It will be just like that when the Son of Man comes. 40 Then there will be two men in a field -- one will be taken and the other left behind. 41 There will be two women grinding flour at the mill -- one will be taken and the other left behind. 42 So stay alert, because you don't know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But you do know this: had the owner of the house known when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not allowed his house to be broken into. 44 Therefore you too must always be ready, for the Son of Man will come when you are not expecting him.

The next sign of Yeshua’s return is that there will be manifested Signs and Wonders in heaven:

Mark 13:24-25.  In those days, after that trouble, the sun will grow dark, the moon will stop shining, 25 the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers in heaven will be shaken
And of course the biggest and most important sign is Israel, Jerusalem, and the Jewish people.  They are restored, revived, and become the center of the universe where Yeshua will reign as King when he returns:
 
Amos 9:14-15. I will restore the fortunes of my people Isra'el; they will rebuild and inhabit the ruined cities; they will plant vineyards and drink their wine, cultivate gardens and eat their fruit. 15 I will plant them on their own soil, no more to be uprooted from their land, which I gave them," says ADONAI your God.
Jerusalem will be in contention:

Zechariah 12:3. When that day comes, I will make Yerushalayim a heavy stone for all the peoples. All who try to lift it will hurt themselves, and all the earth's nations will be massed against her.

This fighting and tribulation will turn the last of Israel to receive Yeshua:

Zechariah 12:10. and I will pour out on the house of David and on those living in Yerushalayim a spirit of grace and prayer; and they will look to me, whom they pierced." They will mourn for him as one mourns for an only son; they will be in bitterness on his behalf like the bitterness for a firstborn son.

Israel will cry out to Yeshua for Him to return and reign:

Matthew 23:37-39. “"Yerushalayim! Yerushalayim! You kill the prophets! You stone those who are sent to you! How often I wanted to gather your children, just as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, but you refused! 38 Look! God is abandoning your house to you, leaving it desolate. 39 For I tell you, from now on, you will not see me again until you say, `Blessed is he who comes in the name of ADONAI.'"

All the world will turn toward Israel and our people to seek the God of Israel:

Zechariah 8:20-23. "ADONAI-Tzva'ot says, 'In the future, peoples and inhabitants of many cities will come; 21 the inhabitants of one city will travel to another and say, "We must go to ask ADONAI's favor and consult ADONAI-Tzva'ot. I'll go too." 22 Yes, many peoples and powerful nations will come to consult ADONAI-Tzva'ot in Yerushalayim and to ask ADONAI's favor.' 23 ADONAI-Tzva'ot says, 'When that time comes, ten men will take hold - speaking all the languages of the nations - will grab hold of the cloak of a Jew and say, "We want to go with you, because we have heard that God is with you."'
 
Aliya, the return of our Jewish people to the land of Israel will be a sign (banner):
 
Isaiah 11:10-12. “On that day the root of Yishai, which stands as a banner for the peoples - the Goyim will seek him out, and the place where he rests will be glorious. 11 On that day Adonai will raise his hand again, a second time, to reclaim the remnant of his people who remain from Ashur, Egypt, Patros, Ethiopia, 'Eilam, Shin'ar, Hamat and the islands in the sea. 12 He will hoist a banner for the Goyim, assemble the dispersed of Isra'el, and gather the scattered of Y'hudah from the four corners of the earth.”

As we walk through this we must be engaged in salvations while we witness these events unfold before us:

II Peter 3:13. as you wait for the Day of God and work to hasten (Spuedo: That which was to come latter to come now, to urge on, hasten, or make haste) its coming. That Day will bring on the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt from the heat;

We are to be about our father’s business and bring salvation to both Jew and Gentile alike, to the Jew first (Romans 1:16). When we do so Israel will be saved and call Yeshua back!!
 
Blessings and Shalom!
 
 
Rabbi Eric S Carlson