Welcome back friends, and thanks for joining me as we anxiously await the Blessed Hope (Titus 2:13).

I’ve been thinking about the time in which we live.  I am reminded that no one knows the day or the hour of Jesus’s return (Matthew 24:36, Mark 13:32), but we are to know and understand the season.

And He was also saying to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming,’ and so it turns out. And when you see a south wind blowing, you say, ‘It will be a hot day,’ and it turns out that way. You hypocrites! You know how to analyze the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why do you not analyze this present time?

(Luke 12:54-56)

So, let’s analyze this present time!  I think the Bible gives us clues about the season, and it seems to me that we are living in the “in between.”  Take a look at these passages:

• Daniel 9:24-27. This is perhaps the most critical passage in all of Scripture if we are to understand God’s prophetic timeline.  The passage also provides a clue about the season in which we live today.  When we unpack the passage, we find that the prophet Daniel predicted the cutting off of the Messiah to the exact day.  However, the Jewish Messiah has not completed His plan for the Jews.  There is one remaining 7-year period in which He will fulfill the prophecy of Daniel 9:24-27.  Sixty-nine weeks of years have been fulfilled, but we are living during the “pause” between the 69^th and 70^th  (If this passage is new, or is not clearly understandable to you, please take time for The Seventy Weeks of Daniel 9.  It is critical to understanding prophecy!)
• Ezekiel 36-39. Another Old Testament prophet, Ezekiel, prophesied about another critical end time event.  Ezekiel 36-37 very accurately predicted the re-birth of Israel.  Jews were dispersed all over the world following the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, and they ceased to exist as a nation.  However, in Ezekiel’s vision from God, he saw a valley of dry bones that suddenly came to life.  Ezekiel 37:11 clearly identifies the bones as the whole house of Israel and, indeed, on May 14, 1948, the nation of Israel was re-born.  This prophetic fulfillment is the key to those that follow.  So, what’s next?  Ezekiel 38-39 describe an invasion of Israel from the north that will happen either just before or just after the rapture of the church.  Today, we see the invading people groups…Russia, Iran, Turkey, Sudan, Libya and others…forming alliances and intensifying in hatred toward Israel.  We are living in between Ezekiel 37 and Ezekiel 38!
• Revelation 3-4. The apostle John authored the Revelation, the very last book of the Bible, and provided a chronological framework in which to understand earthly and heavenly things during the end times.  Revelation is exactly what its name implies…the revelation of Jesus Christ through a vision given to John.  He wrote about the things of his day in letters to 7 churches in Revelation 2-3.  However, the vision switches to a heavenly scene in Revelation 4, and the church is not spoken of again until its return to earth with Jesus during the Second Coming.  Why does the church suddenly disappear after chapter 3?  Because the church age is concluded at the end of Revelation 3 when it is raptured!  We are living in anticipation of the rapture…the very next event on the prophetic calendar!

The events prophesied in Daniel 9:24-27, Ezekiel 36-39, and Revelation 3-4 very closely correlate, and they clearly tell us of the season in which we live!  So, let me repeat our passage from Luke 12:54-56 from The Message:

Then He [Jesus] turned to the crowd: “When you see clouds coming in from the west, you say, ‘Storm’s coming’ – and you’re right.  And when the wind comes out of the south, you say, ‘This’ll be a hot one’ – and you’re right.  Frauds!  You know how to tell a change in the weather, so don’t tell me you can’t tell a change in the season, the God-season we’re in right now.  You don’t have to be a genius to understand these things.  Just use your common sense.”

Common sense says that Jesus is coming back soon!  Are you ready?