The Sign of Jesus’ Second Coming

Two thousand years ago, Almighty God came to the earth as foretold in the Old Testament. God was born in the flesh as a baby; He was Jesus Christ. Those who believed in the prophecies of the Bible were able to identify Jesus as the savior. These people were able to receive salvation.

John 1:45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

Similarly, the Bible also tells us the sign by which we can recognise Jesus when He comes a second time.

Jesus’ Second Coming

However, after Jesus’ Ascension, the teachings of the New Covenant that He preached began to be changed and distorted— in AD 325, the truth of the Passover Jesus taught was completely abolished in the Council of Nicaea (For more information, please refer to article Weeds and Wheat). For this reason, the Bible prophesied that Jesus will come a second time to restore all the teachings He taught at His first coming and restore the truth to bring salvation.

Hebrews 9:28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

How can we know the time of Jesus second coming? Jesus gave His disciples a specific sign to recognise His second coming.

The Sign of Jesus’ Second Coming

Matthew 24:3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

Matthew 24:32-33 (NLT) Now learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branches bud and its leaves begin to sprout, you know that summer is near. In the same way, when you see all these things, you can know his return is very near, right at the door.

When Jesus’s disciples asked about His second coming, Jesus taught His disciples to learn the lesson from the fig tree. When the fig tree blossoms, Jesus’ return is right at the door. This is the sign for us to recognise the time when He comes again. As fig trees blossom every year and there are so many fig trees in different places, the fig tree that Jesus referred to does not refer to physical fig trees. Its important to understand what the fig tree stands for because it is a sign to recognise Jesus’ coming again.

The Fig Tree Represents Israel

Jeremiah 24:5 This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Like these good figs, I regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I sent away from this place to the land of the Babylonians.

Judah was a place in Israel. God regarded the exiles from Judah as good figs. The fig tree represents the nation of Israel. Jesus also explained this through a parable.

Luke 13:6-7 Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’

The man in the parable was Jesus Himself. Just as the man looked for fruit on the fig tree for three years, Jesus too preached the gospel in Israel for three years. However, He did not find any fruit and said to cut down the fig tree. Jesus told a fact by using a parable. Biblically, the fig tree symbolizes Israel.

The Fall of Israel

As Israel rejected the gospel Jesus preached, Jesus told His disciples to cut it down. This was a prophecy about the fall of Israel. In another parable, Jesus directly prophesied about the fall of Israel.

Luke 21:20-24 When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near.Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country not enter the city. For this is the time of punishment in fulfillment of all that has been written. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! There will be great distress in the land and wrath against this people. They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

The Great Revolt, also known as the First Jewish-Roman War began in A.D. 66.¹⁾ This was one of the major rebellions held by the Jews against the Roman Empire. Due to the Roman and Jewish ethnic and religious differences, tensions between the two groups often lead to small revolts. This crisis escalated due to anti-taxation protests and Jewish attacks on Roman Citizens. In response, then Emperor Nero dispatched an army under the general Vespasian to restore order in A.D. 68.²⁾ His son Titus was appointed as the second-in-command of the army. However, Emperor Nero died shortly after and Vespasian was appointed as the new emperor. Emperor Vespasian then appointed his son, Titus, to lead the army in the assault on Jerusalem once more. In A.D.70, Titus besieged and conquered the city of Jerusalem.³⁾ Josephus, a Jewish Historian, claims that 1.1 million Jews were killed, with 97,000 Jews enslaved. Israel lost its sovereignty from then on. The Romans began to occupy Israel until A.D. 390, followed by Byzantine Rule (390-1099), Caliphates (634-1099), Crusades and Mongols (1099-1291), Mamluk rule (1291-1517), Ottoman rule (1517-1917), and British Mandate of Palestine (1920-1948).⁴⁾

The Restoration of Israel

Luke 21:24 They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

Jesus said “until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled”, implying that the time for the Gentiles (Gentiles refer to people who are not Israelites) would come to an end. According to this prophecy, the Israelites who had been wandering all over the world for about 1,900 years, returned and reclaimed their homeland. After World War II ended, Israel miraculously gained independence in 1948. The first Prime Minister of Israel, David Ben-Gurion, officially declared Israel an independent state in May 1948.

Believing in the prophecy written in the Bible (Jeremiah 30:7), the Jews who were scattered in the world began an organized religious and political movement. This was known as the Zionism movement, which began in the late 19th and early 20th century in Central and Eastern Europe.⁵⁾ Theodor Herzl, the ideological father of Zionism, believed that only a separation could allow Jews to escape persecution and Antisemitism as Jews lived as minorities across Europe at that time. Their goal and purpose was to reestablish a Jewish homeland in Palestine (the previous location of Israel). In 1917, the British Government issued the Balfour Declaration, an announcement which promised British support for a creation of a Jewish national home in Palestine.⁶⁾ Over the years, Jews began to migrate to the ancient holy land and built settlements. By 1933, the Jewish population in Palestine was estimated to be around 238,000. After World War II ended, the growth was exponential and finally Zionism achieved its aim of establishing a Jewish state in Palestine in 1948.

However, Jesus already foretold that the fig tree will blossom again. More importantly, Jesus said that the restoration of Israel was a sign and proclamation that His return was already at the door.

Matthew 24:32-33 Now learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branches bud and its leaves begin to sprout, you know that summer is near.In the same way, when you see all these things, you can know his return is very near, right at the door.

“At the Door”

Jesus explained what we should do when He is at the door.

Revelation 3:20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.

When Jesus is at the door, the Bible explains that we should open the door of our hearts and be ready to receive Him again. From the time Israel was restored in 1948, everyone who wants to receive salvation should open the door of their hearts and be ready to receive Jesus again.

Christ Ahnsahnghong was baptized in 1948—the same year when Israel gained independence. He started to preach the gospel of the New Covenant and restored all the teachings that Jesus taught 2,000 years ago.

He restored the truth which leads to eternal life to bring salvation as prophesied in the Bible—the Passover of the New Covenant! (For more information, please refer to articles on the Passover). Finally, He established the World Mission Society Church of God which keeps the teachings of the New Covenant.

Please receive salvation by opening the door of your heart and be ready to receive Jesus again by studying the prophecies of the Bible in the World Mission Society Church of God!

1. R. G. Grant (24 October 2017). 1001 Battles That Changed the Course of History. Book Sales. pp. 85–. ISBN 978-0-7858-3553-0.
2. The Romans Destroy the Temple at Jerusalem, 70 AD. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/jewishtemple.htm.
3. Cornfield, Gaalya ed., Josephus, The Jewish War (1982); Duruy, Victor, History of Rome vol. V (1883).
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Israel
5. Israel. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.history.com/topics/middle-east/history-of-israel
6. Britannica, T. E. (2016, July 18). Zionism. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/topic/Zionism