John Hagee - Seven Signs of His Coming
The first sign of Jesus Christ' coming in the scripture is the sign of the scoffer. 2 Peter 3:3 and 4 says, "Knowing this, that there shall come in the last days", there's that phrase again, "That there shall come in the last days scoffers saying, 'where is the sign of his coming'"? People say, "Pastor Hagee, what difference does it make whether I believe in the rapture or not"? Exactly this.
The Bible says in Hebrews 9:28, "To those that eagerly look for him, he will appear a second time". The point, if you're not eagerly looking for him, you're not going with him. The Bible says, "Watch, and pray that you be counted worthy to escape those things that are coming upon the earth". What does that mean? That means the coming antichrist is going to kill every person on earth who refuses to take his Mark. This means the living hell of the Great Tribulation that will last for seven years with 21 global tragedies that will kill more than 1/3 of the earth's population.
So hello, scoffer. The fact that you do not believe that Jesus Christ is coming back is living proof he's on the way. 1 Thessalonians 4:16, "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout". Why the shout? Because there's a victory over death, hell, and the grave here. "With a voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God". Why the trumpet? Because he is the King of kings and Lord of lords. "And the dead who cry shall rise first. Then we, which are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds of glory to meet the Lord in the air". There's going to be a meeting in the air! Will you be there?
The second sign of Christ' return to earth is the shocking and amazing rebirth of the state of Israel. Isaiah prophesied 740 years before the birth of Jesus Christ. And he wrote these words. "Shall a nation be born in a day"? Isaiah 66:8, "Shall a nation be born in a day"? Yes. That day was may 14, 1948, at the rebirth of the state of Israel, the greatest miracle in the history of the world second only to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This newspaper changed the history of the world, and represented the greatest miracle in our generation. This was given to me by a Jewish organization. Israel was reborn after 2,000 years.
Let me tell you what a shock it was. On that afternoon, a car carrying David Ben-Gurion rushed down Rothschild's boulevard in Tel Aviv and stopped at the art museum. He walked up the steps into a room, where there are a handful of people. At precisely 4 o'clock, he stepped into to podium and read the historic words that gave birth to the state of Israel. Eleven minutes later, president Harry Truman recognized the birth of the state of Israel. This shocked the world. The rebirth of Israel was the death of replacement theology.
Most of you don't know what replacement theology is, but I want some of the pastors to listen to this, because you're still preaching it. Replacement theology is that God has replaced the Jewish people with the church. And as long as there was no organized Jewish people, people accepted that. But now, Israel is reborn. And if Israel is reborn, then God is not through with Israel. And the writings of saint Paul in Romans 9, 10 and 11 are very much in play. The church did not replace Israel. God breathed breath into that valley of dry bones, as Ezekiel's vision saw them rise from the dead and live to become a vibrant nation. Israel lives! Give the Lord praise in the house.
Why is Jerusalem and Israel constantly in the media? It has become one of the most wealthy nations in the world. Israel has a military force second to none. They are presently helping America get our military equipment technologically up to speed. Israel leads the world in technology and inventions. Why? Because God made a promise to Abraham in Genesis 12. "And in you shall all the families of the earth be blessed". All of the families in the earth included the United States of America. If you really want to think about history, America was discovered when Christopher Columbus was sent searching for a homeland for the Jewish people who had been kicked out of Spain by king Ferdinand and queen Isbella at the behest of the Roman Church.
Think about that. This place was discovered to give the Jewish people a homeland. That's a fact of history. Israel is the only nation in the world created by God Almighty with an unconditional covenant to the land of Israel. Since God created the earth, he owns the earth. And as owner, he has rights. And he executed those rights by creating the nation of Israel, and their borders are placed in the scripture. It is their land forever. They don't have that land now, but I assure you they will get every inch of it when Messiah comes.
Think about this. It is a Bible fact that God blesses the Jewish people directly. And he blesses the gentiles through the Jewish people. If that turns your theology upside-down, let it, because think about this. Every word of this book, written by Jewish hands. The Jewish people gave us Jesus Christ. The Jewish people are the apple of God's eye. God blessed them with that, and God gave us this. But we got it through them. God has not replaced the Jewish people.
The third sign of the Lord's coming is the king of the north, which is very clearly Russia. All directions in the Bible are given from Jerusalem. When I say, "Jerusalem is the epicenter of the world," in the mind of God, that's true. 2,500 years ago, Ezekiel predicted that Russia would return to power in the latter days, and would lead a ten-nation invasion of Israel. Ezekiel 38:15-16 records, "And you, the king of the north, shall come out of the north parts and you and many with you, and all of them a great company, and a mighty army. And you shall come up against my people of Israel as a cloud to cover the land. And it shall be in the latter days". End of quote.
Latter days? That's right now. The prophet Daniel identifies the ruler who would lead the attack against Israel in the latter days as the king of the north, in Daniel 11:15 through 35. Ezekiel prophesied that the invading armies will come to Israel, quote, "From the far north," Ezekiel 38:6 and 15. The only nation that is in the far north from Israel is Russia. According to Ezekiel, Russia will lead these nations, Iran, now, in the Bible it's called Persia. But it was Persia until about 100 years ago. It's now Iran, turkey, Sudan, Germany, and several Islamic nations are going to invade Israel after the rapture of the church.
Why will Russia lead this invasion? This is not my opinion. This is from people I know who are familiar with the situation. There are two reasons. Ezekiel 38:4, God says, "I'm going to put a hook in your jaw, king of the north, and I'm going to drag you to the hills of Israel". What's the attraction? Attraction one is to gain a warm water port for Russia's navy, which is frozen in place for months on end in Russia. You cannot be a global military power with your navy out of commission frozen up in ice. You need a warm water port. Israel has the only warm water port on that side of the globe.
The second hook in Russia's jaw that will cause them to invade, because several years ago Israel discovered a huge treasure trove of oil that, according to "The Wall Street Journal," has the potential to supply an abundance of oil for Israel for the next 100 years. That's lots of oil. With Israel's oil, listen, Russia can control Europe and have an absolute source to fulfill their military ambitions to become a global superpower.
The point? Ezekiel's prophecy, in chapters 38, 39, given over 2,500 years ago, is happening right now on the front pages of your newspaper and the telecast. This Russian-Iran invasion of Israel will be resolved by a treaty with the antichrist that will be broken in three and a half years. But here's the point. Before the antichrist even gets here, the church of Jesus Christ is gone!
The fourth sign of Christ' coming is the preaching of the gospel around the world. This is called "Global evangelism". Ever hear of that? Matthew 24, Jesus presents the spine of prophecy to his 12 disciples on the Mount of Olives for his final meeting with them prior to his crucifixion. Matthew 24 is the masterpiece of prophecy. Jesus, a Jewish rabbi, is talking to his Jewish followers about what's going to happen to the Jewish people from then until the end of time. Has nothing to do with the church.
The Bible records: now, as they sat on the Mount of Olives, with the disciples, they came to him privately, asking these three things. One, "Tell us when these things shall be". Two, "What will be the sign of your coming"? Three, "What will be the sign of the end of the age"? Jesus answers in Matthew 24:14 these shocking words. "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world as a witness to the nations, and then the end will come". "And then the end will come". That's called "Global evangelism". The battle is drawing to an end. The last tear has been shed. The last burden may have been carried. Perhaps the last soul will be saved today. Goodbye world. Goodbye. Hallelujah to the Lamb of God. Give the Lord a shout of praise!
The fifth sign of the Lord's coming is the knowledge explosion. Daniel writes in chapter 12:4, he wrote this 2,600 years ago. "But you, Daniel, shut up the words of the book of Daniel, and seal the book until the end of time:" that phrase is critical. "Until the end of time:" that's right now. "When many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be greatly increased". Now, that was really kind of a mystery until my father's generation came along. From the Garden of Eden until the 19th century, not a lot changed. But the invention of the automobile was a dramatic increase of knowledge that changed the world at the end of time. Listen to the prophet Nahum, chapter two, verses three and four, describe the invention of an automobile.
Now, get this in your mind. You're a prophet. Your transportation is a camel or a donkey. High speed for you is about three miles an hour. And God gives you a vision of cars running up and down the highway. This is a quote from the prophet. It's in your Bible, by the way. "The chariots," that will be cars, "Shall be with flaming torches," that would be headlights, "In the day of the Lord's coming". When? "In the day of the Lord's coming". The chariot shall rage in the street. "They will jostle against one another in the broad way:" wrecks. "And they shall seem like torches as they run like lightning".
A car moving at 70 miles an hour with headlights is like lightning. It's not an over-exaggeration of verbiage. It's telling what you see. The most important phrase in the phrase is this. This is going to happen in the days of his coming. Meaning in the day when the Lord is preparing his church for the rapture. The invention of the airplane is in the Bible. The Wright Brothers made their first flight in December 3, 1903. Today we have Jet aircraft that can fly 600 miles an hour, go halfway around the world with hundreds of people.
That men would fly someday is foreseen in Isaiah's writings in 31:5. Isaiah writes. Listen. "As birds flying". You've never seen a plane before. It's in the air. It's flying. "As birds fly, so shall the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem. Defending also, he will deliver it". Listen. "And passing over it, he will preserve it". That was an absolute mystery until my father's generation. Knowledge has exploded. We are that generation that will see Christ come in the clouds of heaven for the church victorious. The only question is, are you ready?
The sixth sign of his coming is nuclear warfare. From the birth of nuclear warfare, there was a body of prophetic scripture that was an absolute mystery. They are tragically clear as we race toward the Battle of Armageddon. Zechariah 14:12 says, "And this is the plague that the Lord shall send on all who come to fight Jerusalem". Listen. "Their flesh shall consume while they stand on their feet," meaning their flesh will literally be burned off. "And their eyes shall be consumed away in their holes. And their tongues shall consume in their mouths".
How can that happen? Then came the invention of the hydrogen bomb that can produce heat of 150 million degrees Fahrenheit in one-millionth of a second. That's how your tongue can be melted in your mouth before your body can hit the ground. For years, only America and Russia had these nuclear weapons, and we felt secure because we had something called "Mutually-assured destruction," but not so today. Never has a weapon of war failed to be used in warfare that was ever invented. The Bible describes this happening, but the church is not going to be here.
The seventh sign of the Lord's coming is what the Bible calls "The king of the east," and that would be China. Forty years ago when I said that China would become a superpower in the future, people laughed. They're not laughing now. China is a military superpower, and they intend to take America down. Why are they sending the spy craft over America for seven days? Seeking sensitive intelligence data and sending it back to China in real-time. China now knows where every nuclear silo in America is located. They have sensitive information concerning every military base in America.
"The Wall Street Journal" carried a story of a two-star general in the U.S. military who was commissioned to compare America's military ability versus China's military ability. After a two-year study, the decision was clear. If America engaged China in a military conflict, America would lose. Our military leadership came to that conclusion. China not has military information, they have purchased our control, approximately 400,000 acres of America's farmland. That means they can control food production. They're not trying to do this. They've already done it. China has enormous influence over America's colleges and universities. They spend $12 billion per year for Chinese scholarships. They're giving invitations for children in America's schools, elementary school, junior school, high school, to go to China.
The Bible presents the king of the east who will come marching with a 200-million-person army in the future to the Battle of Armageddon, which is in Israel. This is going to be the mother of all wars. Let's say that before we leave this building the trump of God sounds, and the rapture happens. We're gone. In the twinkling of an eye, we're just simply not here. We stand before God the Father, and we give an account of our lives. And based on the account of our lives determines what we wear as a crown and what our robe looks like. The Bible says the robe represents the righteous acts of the saints. At the end of seven years, the second coming will happen.
Jesus Christ and all of the body of Christ will leave the balconies of heaven and come to Jerusalem, mounted on white horses. There will be the Battle of Armageddon, a battlefield that Napoleon said is the greatest battlefield in the history of the world. Jesus Christ is going to sweep over that battlefield and to annihilate that army of 200 million people. "The blood will flow to the bridle of a horse". Then Jesus will go to Petra and release the Jewish people who have been liberated from the antichrist. He will set up his kingdom in Jerusalem. The antichrist takes a deep breath, and he receives terrifying news that a marching army is marching down the Euphrates.
By an act of God, the mighty Euphrates river has dried up, and that marching army of 200 million is walking across the dry riverbed to fight the antichrist for global control. Just about that time, the antichrist and his army is about to attack Israel and Jerusalem. The massive 200-million-men army invades. As these two military armies come together, there's another invasion. Not from the north, the south, the east, or the west, but from heaven. Jesus Christ, the King of kings, the Lord of lords leads his army, the church triumphant, to annihilate those who've desired to attack Israel. It's going to happen just like that.
The Bible says, "He that keepeth Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps". God's promise to Abraham still lives. "I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse those who curse you". The future of America and the world looks dark right now. So be it. The light of the world is about to come. Is about to come. Don't be disturbed by the signs you're seeing on the telecasts. The television is generally the source of bad news. This is the good news. The good news says the king is coming. He's coming in the twinkling of an eye.
There are simply two groups of people in this audience right now, and those watching by television. Those who have received Jesus Christ, and those who have not. If you have not received the Lord Jesus Christ, if you are a scoffer, if you are someone mocking the fact that Jesus is coming, you will be here when this lunatic anti-semitic, God-hating antichrist rules the earth. You will either be a servant of Jesus Christ or slaves to sin and satan. I have chosen to be a servant of Jesus Christ. How about you?
Can we stand? Can we stand? Listen to what I'm saying. If Jesus Christ returns for his church today, are you ready? If you know you are not ready, if you know there's unconfessed sin in your life, I want to have a prayer with you right where you stand to help you find Jesus Christ. Don't touch that dial in your house. You are a heartbeat from heaven or a heartbeat from the graveyard. I'm not asking you for church membership or a dime of your money. I am telling you the reality that's about to happen that will change the world forever. You're not prepared to meet the Lord. I want you to slip your hand up. I want to have prayer with you. Just slip it up. Confess, "Father, I need you". God bless you and God bless you. Those of you watching by television, I want you to pray this prayer with me.
Heavenly Father, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I ask you to forgive me of all of my sin. Cleanse me that I may be clean before the Lord. I want you to write my name in the lamb's book of life. And I will serve you all the days of my life, in Jesus' name. Amen.