Then if anyone says to you [during the great tribulation], ‘Look! Here is the Christ,’ or ‘There He is,’ do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and they will provide great signs and wonders, so as to deceive, if possible, even the elect (God’s chosen ones). Listen carefully, I have told you in advance. So if they say to you, ‘Look! He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out there, or, ‘Look! He is in the inner rooms [of a house],’ do not believe it. For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming [in glory] of the Son of Man [everyone will see Him clearly]. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will flock together. [Job 39:30]
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT PROVIDE ITS LIGHT, AND THE STARS WILL FALL from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. [Is 13:10; 34:4; Joel 2:10, 11; Zeph 1:15] And at that time the sign of the Son of Man [coming in His glory] will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth [and especially Israel] will mourn [regretting their rebellion and rejection of the Messiah], and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN with power and great glory [in brilliance and splendor]. [Dan 7:13; Rev 1:7] And He will send His angels with A LOUD TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER His elect (God’s chosen ones) from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other. [Is 27:13; Zech 9:14]
“Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its young shoots become tender and it puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near; [Mark 13:28, 29; Luke 21:29-31] so you, too, when you see all these things [taking place], know for certain that He is near, right at the door. I assure you and most solemnly say to you, this generation [the people living when these signs and events begin] will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth [as now known] will pass away, but My words will not pass away.
“But of that [exact] day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son [in His humanity], but the Father alone. For the coming of the Son of Man (the Messiah) will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the [very] day when Noah entered the ark, and they did not know or understand until the flood came and swept them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be [unexpected judgment]. [Gen 6:5-8; 7:6-24] At that time two men will be in the field; one will be taken [for judgment] and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken [for judgment] and one will be left.
“So be alert [give strict attention, be cautious and active in faith], for you do not know which day [whether near or far] your Lord is coming. But understand this: If the head of the house had known what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. [Luke 12:39, 40] Therefore, you [who follow Me] must also be ready; because the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not expect Him.
“Who then is the faithful and wise servant whom his master has put in charge of his household to give the others [in the house] their food and supplies at the proper time? [Luke 12:42-46] Blessed is that [faithful] servant when his master returns and finds him doing so. I assure you and most solemnly say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But if that servant is evil and says in his heart, ‘My master is taking his time [he will not return for a long while],’ and begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards; the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour of which he is not aware, and will cut him in two and put him with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping [over sorrow and pain] and grinding of teeth [over distress and anger].
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