You'll Know It When You See It
Growing up in suburban New Jersey, I can remember when my dad took the family to New York City for the first time. He told us that we would pass through a huge tunnel under the Hudson River called “The Lincoln Tunnel”. I was so excited. I couldn’t wait to see this great tunnel. I imagined going deep underground with the river above our heads. Would it be dark? How long is it? How will I know when we get there?
As we approached the helix on route 3, there was a series of large overpasses we passed under. I asked, “Dad, was THAT the Lincoln Tunnel?” His reply, of course, was no. Then another overpass came and I asked, “Is THAT it?!”. He replied, “Jeffrey, you will know it when you see it.” In other words, if I had to ask, then that couldn’t possibly be it.
Naturally, as we spiraled down the helix into the toll booths I marveled at those 3 great looming archways leading into darkness. It was very clear to me then: THIS was the Lincoln Tunnel!
I am relating this story to those who think (or fear) that we have entered into the Tribulation, which is described in the Bible (namely Matthew chapter 24, and the books of Daniel and Revelation). My answer is the same as my Dad’s was regarding the Lincoln Tunnel: “No. You will know it when you see it.”
This coronavirus pandemic is merely an overpass. It is NOTHING compared to what is to come. But I believe it is a sign that we are nearly there. We are approaching the Helix. And the blessed hope we are expecting from 1Corinthians 15:51-58 and 1Thessalonians 4:13-18 is close at hand.
I believe God is using this pandemic to get the world’s attention. I also believe that all believers in Christ will escape the Tribulation to come - in the same way that Noah and his family escaped the Flood, by their faith. Put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and Him alone. Accept HIS plan for your salvation, not your own good works, and you will be delivered from the coming judgment.
"For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. 17 Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever" (1Thessalonians 4:16–17, NLT).
"For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood" (Romans 3:25, NLT).
Did You Remember to Lock the Door?
When Denny's decided to close all but six of its 1,221 restaurants for Christmas in 1988, they ran into an unexpected problem—many of their locations didn't have locks on their doors because they had never needed to close before. As a result, the company had to install locks in more than 700 restaurants just so they could shut down for the holiday2.
It was a historic moment for the chain, which had always prided itself on being open 24/7, 365 days a year. The closure was meant to be a gift to employees, allowing them to spend Christmas with their families, even though it cost the company millions in lost revenue.
Imagine working at a place for years and never needing to lock the doors—then suddenly having to figure out how to close up shop! Quite the logistical challenge.
Like Denny's, you may want the door of your heart to be open 24/7. But there is inherent danger in doing so. You never know what unsavory or ill intentioned enemy might jiggle the doorknob and creep on in.
We want our hearts always to be "ready" to welcome the Lord ... and His people! Ready to receive all the Lord has for us! Ready for His return! Ready for opportunites to serve and care for the needs of others! Ready to serve up a "grand slam" of Christian hospitality or ministry.
But vigilence is key. Lock the doors, but be listening for the knock of His return or the knock of opportunity to minister and serve.
35 “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, 36 like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. 37 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. 38 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak. 39 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” (Luke 12, ESV).
"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly" (John 10:10, ESV).
Old Testament Martial Arts
In a really insightful Facebook Reel, Bible teacher Mike Winger evokes memories of the famous "wax on, wax off" scenes from the 80s cult classic movie The Karate Kid to help illustrate how the development and study of the Old Testament helps prepare us in understanding the New.
When Mr. Miyagi asked Daniel-son to wax on and wax off and to paint the fence he makes him do it in a specific way, right? You can’t just wax on, wax off. No, no. You have to do it like this [Miyagi shows Daniel-son the exact motion]. … Then one day he just flips out, and ahhh, I hate this, this is the dumbest thing … ta da … Mr. Miyagi just starts attacking him. And so Daniel-son responds, doing his what? Wax on, wax off! And all of a sudden he realizes, like, oh, these are like blocks and stuff, like I’m, I learned how to fight karate!
But I think that what we have to do is look at the Old Testament, as our first time through it, as … like you’re just learning how to, like, paint the fence, wax on, wax off. And you may not fully get the reasoning of all that yet, but you get it in you so that [when] you come to the New Testament you can just explode with understanding of both the New and the Old.
Click here to watch the clip
He conclues,
Think about it this way. If there had been no Old Testament, no Passover, no prophecies, [and] Jesus shows up, dies on the cross … Nobody gets it! There needed to be this period of revelation to prepare people for Jesus Christ, to make sense of who He was.
"For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me" (John 5:46, ESV).
"And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself" (Luke 24:27, ESV).