God has written His plan for man in The Holy Bible, and this plan draws to its conclusion as proven by daily news reports.

NOTE THIS: In Jesus' teaching of the Parable of the Fig Tree (see Matthew 24:32-35; Mark 13:28-31; Luke 21:29-33), He said that the generation which sees all of the things He mentioned in His prophetic teaching (the Olivet Discourse— Matthew, chapter 24; Mark, chapter 13; and Luke, chapter 21) occurring at the same time will not pass away (will not die) until His return. Most Bible scholars believe the countdown for His return began some time during the interval between 1948 (the Jews' return to Israel) and 1967 (the Jews' re-capture of God's Holy City, Jerusalem). The countdown for the end of the age (Age of Grace, Church Age) could not begin until the Jews returned the final time (May, 1948) to the land promised to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jesus promised to return during the lifetime of at least some of the people who witnessed these events. We are members of the generation to whom Jesus spoke! Jesus could return any time!

Jesus' prophetic parable involves more than an agricultural lesson on growing figs. Two trees symbolized Israel— the olive tree and the fig tree. Both trees were used in the New Testament to symbolize Jews and Christians. The fig tree of Israel budded in May, 1948, when Jews returned to Israel from all parts of the world after nearly 1900 years in worldwide dispersal (the Diaspora). God's fig tree budded with His sons and daughters to re-establish the nation of Israel. Since summer is the season of harvest, the springtime budding of the fig tree of Israel would soon be followed by the harvest of summer— not figs, but the harvest of souls gained by the spread of the Gospel and other evangelical efforts of the Christian Church. This harvest will occur at the Resurrection/ Rapture, when Jesus returns in the clouds to gather the saints of His church to be with Him forever in New Jerusalem (Heaven). Then, the dormant natural branches (the Jews) will be grafted back into the tree of Israel, so that "all Zion will be saved." See Romans, chapter 11 for Paul's eloquent description of the natural and wild branches in God's olive tree of Israel.

All prophecy that must be fulfilled before Jesus' return has been sufficiently fulfilled for the Resurrection/ Rapture to occur. Jesus may return for His believers at any moment— possibly even today.

Are you ready to face God? Are your family and friends ready to face God? Are your sins forgiven? Do you need to work harder for God's Kingdom? Do you need to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? Today is a good day to start preparing yourself to meet God. You may not have a tomorrow.

PRESENT AND FUTURE HISTORY OF MANKIND: In the remaining sections, I will give a brief future of the present and the future, as prophesied in the Bible.

PRESENT TIME: This time period extends from this moment until the time when Jesus appears in the clouds, with the sound of the trumpet of God and the command, "Come up here!" (see 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17). In that "twinkling of an eye," those who believe in and follow Jesus as Savior will rise from death (the resurrection) or be translated, or snatched away (the rapture), so that all may meet Him to begin an eternal life of joy and reward in Heaven.

Only those who have accepted God's grace— through belief in Jesus as Savior, acceptance of His blood sacrifice for their sins, and whose sins have been forgiven— will be resurrected or raptured. These believers, who have their names written in the Lamb's Book of Life, need not worry about the future. Their futures are secure in beauty and peace beyond anything we can imagine.

Tell others about God's grace. According to Jesus' Parable of the Fig Tree (mentioned above), the time for salvation and repentance may be drawing near. There is no time to lose. Work to take family and friends with you to Heaven, by sharing the Gospel.

BELIEVERS' RESURRECTION AND RAPTURE: Jesus will return in the sky in the clouds. (Could the "clouds" be made of many white-robed angels, rather than water vapor?). In "the twinkling of an eye," those who have died believing in Him as Savior will be resurrected to life, and those who are living and believe in Him will be snatched away (raptured) to meet Him in the sky. Both groups will then accompany Jesus to Paradise to await admittance to and eternal life in Heaven (New Jerusalem). All persons will be given immortal bodies— bodies which will never age, harbor disease, or remember any sad memories.

FATE OF NON-BELIEVERS: Persons who have rejected God's grace (who have rejected Jesus as Savior and rejected His sacrifice for their sins) will remain on earth. They will face various wars, deprivations, death, persecution, and other horrors of a seven-year period— the Tribulation— which Jesus warned will be the worst period in the history of the earth.

END-TIME WARS: The Bible foretells several horrific end-time wars. Near the time of the Rapture will probably come two events: the destruction of Damascus (see Isaiah, chapter 17) and the Battle of Gog and Magog (see Ezekiel, chapter 38 and 39). In the Battle of Gog and Magog, Russia (Magog) and her Arab-Muslim confederates will invade Israel in overwhelming force. All nations desert Israel. (Do you see this pattern developing now?) Israel would surely be defeated, in man's eyes, except that God will deliver His nation from defeat. During the Tribulation, nations will wage war against each other (represented by the Second Seal Judgment of Revelation, chapter 6, with its horseman who rides on a fiery red horse, armed with a large sword [nuclear weapons] by which hundreds of millions of people are killed). Armed forces of the world will invade Israel in great force. In the Middle East and throughout the world, horrific wars will rage, culminating in the Battle of Armageddon, which Jesus, as King of kings and Lord of lords, will stop with His Second Coming.

THE TRIBULATION: The Tribulation will last exactly seven prophetic years (7 x 360 = 2,520 days). The Tribulation will commence after the Rapture and end at the Second Coming of Jesus.

FATE OF SAVED PERSONS DURING THE TRIBULATION: Saved persons (saints) will be in Paradise with Jesus. They will participate in two events:
• The Bema Judgment: Each believer will appear before the Bema (the Judgment Seat) of Christ, to be judged for his or her service to others during life on earth. At this judgment, the believer will receive rewards for "good fruit" (good works, deeds) or no rewards for "bad fruit" (bad or absent works, deeds). Believers will place crowns they have earned in life before Jesus in praise, adoration, and thanksgiving. Since we can take no material possessions to the afterlife, we can take only the recorded deeds we performed for the Kingdonm of God.
• Marriage to the Lamb, Marriage Supper of the Lamb: Each believer's will wear a robe, when he/ she marries the Bridegroom Jesus. Each person's robe is now stained with sins of life, it will be washed in the blood of Jesus the Christ. Then, each believer will have a robe of purest, whitest, spotless linen suitable for a bride ready to be married to the Bridegroom Jesus the Christ. Jesus' "bride" is the Body of believers in Him (the Christian Church). Patterned after the First Century Jewish wedding, our Bridegroom (Jesus) will consummate the marriage by drinking wine with His bride (the Church) at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. From this moment, believers will be joined spiritually with Jesus, as though married, for eternity. Jesus did not drink the fourth cup at the last Passover meal (Seder) He observed with His disciples, stating He would not drink again from the fruit of the vine until He drank it with us in His Father's house. We should observe Communion ("the Lord's Supper," in some churches), as commanded by Jesus, but our communion with Jesus will not be complete until we drink the fourth (last) cup of the fruit of the vine with Him in Paradise. Jesus died for three reasons, as prophesied in Isaiah, chapter 53. He died to heal the mind, to heal the body, and to heal the spirit (soul) of every believer. Because illness and sin continued after His crucifixion, His sacrifice has been incomplete on Earth, but it will be completed in Heaven because mental illness, physical illness, and sin will be forever abolished in an eternal Heaven.

FATE OF UNSAVED PERSONS DURING THE TRIBULATION: Non-believers will live in "hell on Earth" during the Tribulation. They will partipiate in the following:
Evil governments: The Unholy Trinity— Satan, the Antichrist, and the False Prophet— will rule much of the earth. Persecution (especially of Jews and newly converted Christians) will flourish. Citizens will be required to take the "mark of the Beast." Any citizen refusing this mark will be excluded from all benefits of society (buying or selling anything, for example) and possibly will be executed. However, any citizen who takes the mark will be doomed to eternity in Hell.
Evangelism: God will never leave mankind without hope. He will raise up 144,000 Jewish evangelists and will send back Two Witnesses from ancient times (surely Elijah and possibly Enoch). Their efforts will result in millions of persons accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, but these Tribulation-converted saints will be beheaded as soon as they are identified by the Antichrist's government.
God's judgments: God will unleash twenty-one (seven Seal, seven Trumpet, and seven Bowl) judgments on earth to attempt to bring sinful man to Him.
Wars: Armies from the four corners of the earth will engage in worldwide war, marching into Israel for the final battle (Armageddon). A large proportion of the earth's population will die from the wars and judgments they must endure. One of the armies (led by the Kings of the East) will field a 200-million man army.

THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS THE CHRIST: Jesus' First Coming was approximately two-thousand years ago, when He came as the meek, suffering Messiah to become our sacrificial Lamb. Jesus' Second Coming will occur after the Rapture (seven prophetic years— 2,520 days— after the Tribulation commences). Jesus will come, then, as Ruler, Judge, and King— the roaring Lion of Judah.

Triumph of good, defeat of evil: Jesus' followers (those who believed in and followed Him on earth) and angels will form a mighty army, descending on the Mount of Olives at Jerusalem to participate in His victory over Satan. The Antichrist and the False Prophet will be captured and cast alive into the Lake of Fire (Hell). Satan will be bound and thrown into the Abyss, an inescapable pit between Hades and Paradise. The armies which meet at Armageddon and attempt to prevent Jesus' return will also be cast alive into the Lake of Fire (Hell).

Judgment of the nations: Jesus will judge the nations (the people of the nations) to separate "goats" (evil persons who mistreated Jews and Christians during the Tribulation) from "sheep" (good persons who did not mistreat Jews and Christians). The "goats" will be thrown into Hell, whereas the "sheep" will be allowed to enter the Millennial Kingdom.

THE MILLENNIAL KINGDOM: Jesus the Christ will rule the world for one-thousand years. With Satan bound in the Abyss, this millennium will be a time when earth's residents enjoy unprecedented peace and long life.

Resurrected/ raptured believers will assist Jesus in the rule of the Millennial Kingdom. These believers will not marry and reproduce because they have transformed, eternal bodies and will have no need to reproduce.

Those found worthy at the judgment of nations (the "sheep" in Jesus' Parable of the Sheep and Goats) will marry and reproduce. They will enjoy a "near-Heaven" life, but they will be subjected to Satan's final temptation.

At the end of the Millennial Kingdom, Satan will be loosed and allowed to leave the Abyss to enter Earth "for a short time" to tempt man one last time. Incredibly, millions of men and women who have known the peace of the Millennial Kingdom under Jesus' rule will succumb to Satan's temptation. This uprising is the Second Battle of Gog and Magog (not to be confused with Ezekiel's War of Gog and Magog). They will be punished for eternity in Hell because of their rebellion. Those who do not sin under Satan's temptation will be admitted to Heaven.

THE GREAT WHITE THRONE JUDGMENT OF GOD: This judgment, which occurs at the end of the Millennial Kingdom, is reserved for sinners of all time who have not accepted Jesus as their Savior and who have not repented of their sins. No one who has accepted Jesus— that is, no person who has his or her name written in the Lamb's Book of Life— will appear at this judgment. There is only one verdict of this judgment— guilty. There is only one sentence: eternal torment in the Lake of Fire (Hell).

IMPORTANT NOTE: God does not decide whether a person spends eternity in Heaven or Hell. Each person makes his or her own decision in life by whether he or she accepts or rejects God's offer of eternal life in Heaven (accepts or rejects God's grace: salvation through belief in Jesus as Savior and His sacrifice for forgiveness of sin). If you have not made the decision to spend eternity in Heaven, you still have time. You can make that decision today. Come home to the Father. He is waiting for you.