Rabbi Schneider - The Modern Signs of Christ's Return
I remember when I was in Bible college, I took a class on the Book of Revelation. And I was very confused about the Book of Revelation. It didn’t make sense to me. I couldn’t understand it. It was scary to me. And then I started reading different books on the book of Revelation, and one author said they interpret it this way, another author interpreted it another way, and another another way, etc. I didn’t know what was going on. But at this class that I took at Bible school in the Book of Revelation, I paid attention, and I got an A in the class. But you know what, my friends? When I graduated from that class, I didn’t feel that I understood the Book of Revelation that much more than I did before the class began.
Let’s face it. The Book of Revelation is hard to understand. It can be very confusing. There’s so much imagery we don’t know what to do with. And it’s scary. We read in the Gospels about the love of Jesus. We go to our local congregations, and week after week, we hear about the love of God, His grace, His compassion, His goodness. Then we start reading the Book of Revelation, and we see the judgments of God being poured out upon the earth unrelenting. And sometimes we don’t know what to do.
I remember as a young believer, over 40 years ago, when I started reading the Book of Revelation, it fell to me at the time like I was reading about a different Jesus than the one that I had been reading about in the Gospels and in the writings of Paul and the rest of the New Testament writers. And I didn’t know how to reconcile this Jesus that comes with flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those that do not know God, and the plagues that fall upon mankind and the earth. I didn’t know how to interpret that in light of all that I just got done reading earlier in the New Testament that focused on God’s love and compassion and grace. But beloved, Jesus said, Yeshua said, concerning the Book of Revelation, blessed is the one that studies and heeds the words of this book.
The Book of Revelation is in the Bible because God wants His people to understand what’s coming. God is not only merciful, but He’s just, and He’s coming quickly to deal out, once again, retribution on those that do not yet know Him. In 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6, Paul wrote this: «Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night». We’ve all heard that message preached before, a thief in the night, that the Lord is gonna come when we’re not expecting Him.
When I say «when we’re», I’m speaking about those that are not looking for Him. You and I, as people that are informed, we can see what’s going on right now. And the purpose of us being able to see what’s going on right now and take what we see and compare it to what’s written in the word of the Lord, this wakes us up so that we’re prepared. See, the reason that the scriptures teach us about the signs that will precede the Lord’s coming is so that God’s people will be prepared, that we’ll be ready.
Let’s continue on. «While they are saying, 'Peace and safety! ' then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape». Think about that. They will not escape. Once the Lord starts to descend from heaven, it’s gonna be too late. People will try to hide in caves, they’ll try to bury themselves, but they will not be able to escape. No one will. «But you, brethren, are not in the darkness, that the day of the Lord would overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night or of darkness; so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober».
What’s the point? We’re to recognize the planet that we’re living in right now. We’re looking around, we’re seeing what’s happening on the earth presently. And we’re to wake up and totally recognize the seriousness of the time that we’re in and get ready for Yeshua to come back. Because once He starts to descend, it’s gonna be too late to turn to Him. Yeshua said, when you see these things happening, around you, the things that we’re seeing right now, look up, get ready. I’m coming quickly. It’s gonna be like a thief in the night. Men will be being married, given in marriage.
All these things will be happening that on the one hand, it seems like life is normal. People will be doing the same things that they’ve always done. They’ll be going shopping. They’ll be buying, selling, going to work, making friends, going out, going to parties, going… all these different things will be happening just like they have been. But right in the midst of this parting, Yeshua is going to break in, and the things, beloved, that we are informed of by Scripture that will be taking place on earth when Yeshua does break in are happening right now. And that’s what we’re gonna be talking about in this series called The Book of Revelation Decoded or Revelation Decoded. We’re not in the darkness.
This is the first thing Paul says. We’re not in the darkness as the rest. In other words, if you and I are taking a hold of God’s Word and we’re standing on God’s Word, we’re not in darkness. We’re in light. We can see what’s going on because these things that are going around us are like neon lights. These things that are happening where God’s created order has been abandoned. Beloved, think about the created order of God. His created order of mankind has been abandoned where parents are in jeopardy of losing custody of their children. If a 12-year-old son says that he thinks he’s a woman and he insists that his parents call him «she» rather than «he», and if his parents don’t comply with that absolute… I mean, it’s mind-boggling.
If his parents don’t comply, they can be in jeopardy in some areas of our country right now of losing custody of their child. It’s a course that’s disastrous. It leads to nothing but hurt and pain and more brokenness. And this is all in preparation for the return of the Lord. It’s their neon lights, neon signs pointing us to the fact that the earth has become so crazy that God can’t wait much longer until He breaks in. You see, the reason the Lord has not yet returned is because He’s patiently waiting for more of humankind to repent.
This is what the Gospels tell us. Don’t think that His delay in returning is slowness, but God is patient, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. He’s been patient, waiting for more people to repent because he doesn’t wanna destroy people before He has to. But it’s coming to the place like it was in the days of Noah that God will be able to put up with it no longer. He’ll be grieved, so grieved with what is going on that He can’t hold back His wrath against sin any longer. He will step in and destroy and eradicate sin and sinners from the earth. I mean, think about it. The division and the hatred in the world right now, even in the Western world, in America, the division is so great that it’s irreconcilable.
You know, Yeshua spoke about His return and He said in Matthew 24:7 that before His return, we’ll know that it’s time for his return because he said, «Nation will rise against nation». The Greek word there for «nation» is ethnos. And it doesn’t just mean a country. It doesn’t just mean like the United States of America versus, you know, the former Soviet Union, the Russia. No, it doesn’t just necessarily mean a physical country. It can be a people group. Ethnos. People groups.
And so when Yeshua said, Nation will rise against nation, one of the valid interpretations of that verse is that one people group will arise against another people group, that there’ll be such friction, such factions in society, one side fighting another side, the rights and the lefts, the liberals, and those that are more conservative in values, the religious and those that stand for biblical morality against those that wanna stand for anything goes, they wanna be a law unto themselves. Isn’t that the world that we’re living in right now? Isn’t that the country for those of us that live in America that we’re living in right now?
And for those that are watching now that are from the rest of the world, what is happening in America, which is known as the big brother of the world because of the superpower status that we’ve had as a nation for so long, those of you that are watching in Africa and other parts of the world, you know, as America goes, so go the nations. This is what we’re dealing with. And you know what? As I said a second ago, beloved, it’s not gonna correct itself.
What we’re dealing with now, it’s irreconcilable. We’re not gonna be able to bridge the left and the right. We’re not gonna be able to bridge those that are taking a stand for strong biblical morality, that those that want abortion, those that want transgenderism. We’re not gonna be able to come together and agree. It’s impossible. It will not happen. It’s just gonna keep blowing up. It’s like a boiling pot that we’re in right now that’s getting ready to explode. Some people think that things are like a pendulum, that things go this far in one direction, and then when the pendulum goes this far in this direction, then it will correct itself, that it will swing back to the center.
But beloved, that’s not what’s gonna happen. When you look at the breakdown of the family, the increase of divorce, the increase of adultery, the increase of immorality, this trajectory cannot be brought back to the center, because when you come from this type of an environment of brokenness, outside of the saving grace of Messiah Jesus, you just continue to produce more brokenness in your life. In other words, for those that have not been restored and healed and transformed through the relationship with Messiah Yeshua, the chances are that if you come from a divorced home, you’re gonna get divorced. If you come from brokenness, you’re just gonna produce more brokenness.
And so there’s so much brokenness right now that the anticipation is that the brokenness is just gonna produce more brokenness. And things will continue, beloved, to go on a trajectory downward at an even quicker pace than it’s been. In other words, as quickly as things have changed in the last 10 years, that change, the rapidity of change, the escalation, and the intensity of the change, it’s gonna be happening even more quickly in the next 10 years. Think about the way technology is affecting the world right now and how technology is causing the world to change so quickly. In other words, years ago, if there was a big news story, it will remain a big news story for some length of time.
Now something’s becomes a big news story and in just a very short amount of time, that story is forgotten about and it’s replaced by something else. Things are moving so quickly, things are happening so quickly and it’s gonna continue to happen this way. Who would have imagined, which one of us, who among us could have imagined 10 years ago the AI culture that we’re living in in real-time right now? Who would have imagined 10 years ago that people are developing friends with chatbots? Some are even so deluded that they’re developing romantic relationships with chatbots. Total craziness.
Who would have believed that this was gonna happen just a few years ago? And the way that AI is changing the culture is beyond anything beloved that you and I can imagine right now. In fact, those that are most familiar with AI, those that are involved in the creation of it, they’re the ones that are most afraid because they realize the incredible danger that it poses. And what they’re telling us is, yeah, that’s why we need to educate ourselves about it. Yes, it’s more dangerous than anything we’ve entered into before and that’s why it’s important that we talk about it. But what a farce.
Is talking about it gonna change anything? Is talking about it gonna slow it down? No, beloved. We’re in a whirlwind down into the pits of hell. But praise God for those of us that know Him, we look up because our redemption draweth nigh. And Yeshua said, beloved, «When you see these things happening, do not be afraid». And so I have to remind myself and I’m encouraging those of us that are on the same page together right now. We have to remind ourselves that Yeshua said not to be afraid because we’re surrounded by so many things that in a natural cause the human heart to tremble, that cause us in our humanity in the flesh to tremble. The wars.
I was in Israel when the war broke out on October 7th. We all watch the news together and see what’s going on in the world, whether it’s Russia just making a pact with North Korea to defend each other. With all the things that are happening right now, the craziness, it’s mashugana. When we see this, Yeshua said, Look up, your redemption draweth nigh and do not be afraid.
You see today, beloved, I come to you, the church, my beloved brothers and sisters, not with the word of fluff, not telling you how to live your best life today, although praise God, we should make every day a great day in Him. But beloved, we need to understand that we’re not here to vacation on the planet Earth right now. We’re here to overcome. We’re here to get prepared. We’re here to get ready. And the word that I come to us now with, beloved, is this: we need to continue daily to repent.
Every day we need to pick up our cross, bring our soul’s impulses under the subjection of the blade of God’s word and of the Holy Spirit so that we become more and more like Jesus, so that we become more and more recreated in His image, so that we become more and more devoted, leading separate lives unto Him. Because Yeshua’s last words to us in the book of Revelation were these: Behold I come quickly, and My reward is with me to give to each one, every one of us, you and I, according to what we have done. Do we have a choice today? We can try to get everything we can from the world right now, or we can get ready to meet Him. It’s your choice, and it’s my choice. Let’s, beloved one, get ready.