By Meien France
Jupiter is usually called as “the emperor planet”. The arrival of Jupiter was associated with the birth of the Lord Jesus and therefore it was called “the King planet”. According to the astronomers, “the emperor planet” would enter into the womb of the constellation Virgo on November 20, 2016. Jupiter, due its retrograde motion, would spend the next 41 weeks within the womb of Virgo. This length of time corresponded with a woman’s gestation period. After that, Jupiter would exit out of the womb of Virgo on September 9th 2017. Thirteen days after Jupiter is “born”, that is, on September 23rd 2017, the Virgo will perfectly appear as being “clothed with the sun, and with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars” (Revelation 12:1). This amazing phenomenon has never happened since ancient times and also astonishes the astronomers.
Although the entire process will only last for several hours, for every Christian who sincerely looks forward to the Lord’s second coming believes that this is not a coincidence. This is predestined by God which proves the prophecy in the Revelation 12:1-2: “And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.”
The Bible says: “Ask you now, and see whether a man does travail with child? why do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?” (Jeremiah 30:6). “Howl you; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt: And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travails: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames. Behold, the day of the LORD comes, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogance of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.” (Isaiah 13:6-9, 11,13). “All these are the beginning of sorrows.” (Matthew 24:8). In fact, the signs of disasters have been very evident to us: the occurrence of the four blood moons, the abnormal phenomenon among celestial bodies, the realization of the prophecy of a woman’s travailing in birth. All these signs foretell us that the disasters are coming. Currently, there are all kinds of catastrophes everywhere all over the world, including the solar eclipse, plague, typhoon, earthquakes, flood, drought, and wars. What’s more, some are unprecedented and are spreading further and further. These are not only the start of disasters, but even, the scenes of the fulfillment of prophecy about the Lord Jesus’ His second coming. Besides, the churches are desolate, and people have long lost their faith and love. Israel has been restored, the Mount of Olives has split, the signs of the last days and prophecies of the Lord’s return are basically all fulfilled. The Bible says: “… he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.” (Hebrews 10:37). The Lord will not tarry. Since all the prophecies have been fulfilled, the Lord should have returned. However, why do we still not welcome the Lord’s return before the disasters arrive? If we stay in the same way as we do, what will be our end when the disasters come? This is a question that is worth pondering.
If we only focus on one verse what the Lord Jesus said and ignore other more corresponding words of the Lord Jesus in the Bible, we will misunderstand God’s will easily. It must be proved through many verses. Therefore, I explored the prophecies about the Lord’s second coming, and discovered that there are two different ways of the Lord’ return: secret arrival and public arrival. It is possible that the Lord will return in flesh secretly first, and then reveal Himself to the public. The Revelation 3:3 says: “If therefore you shall not watch, I will come on you as a thief, and you shall not know what hour I will come on you.” The Matthew 15:6 says: “And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom comes; go you out to meet him” “Like a thief”, “at midnight” refer to God’s incarnation, because when God come incarnate as the Son of Man like a thief, people are not able to recognize Him, which is a secret thing. In the Revelation 1:7: “Behold, he comes with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him.” This refers to the Lord’s public appearance. Hence, the Lord will possibly return in two ways, just like the Lord Jesus did, secretly descending first and then appearing publicly. When the Lord Jesus came to do His work, He became flesh and secretly descended among man, and after He was crucified and resurrected, He revealed Himself for 40 days and ascended to heaven.
If this is the case, it is not difficult to understand why we haven’t received the Lord when the prophecies about the Lord’s return have basically come true. If we stubbornly hold the view that the Lord will return publicly, we can easily miss the chance to welcome His return. Actually, the most crucial and important thing is to welcome the Lord’s return in secret. Upon the conclusion of God’s work in secret, all the disasters will start appearing. That is, God will unleash disasters to reward the good and punish the evil. Only after all the disasters will the Lord appear to all peoples upon a white cloud.
After understanding all these, I suddenly realize that the frequent occurrence and the fulfillment of the prophecy of a woman travailing in birth are God’s warnings to us. He will appear publicly to all people soon and send down disasters to reward the good and punish the wicked. If we don’t receive God’s second coming in this short period of time, we will only wail and gnash our teeth in the disasters. The Revelation has mentioned many times that “He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit said to the churches” (Revelation 2:7). God also has said: “However, when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come”（John 16:13). “Seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you.” (Luke11:9). From the prophecies, we can see that when the Lord returns, He will speak His words. Only those who seek actively, pay attention to listening to God’s voice and welcome God’s return are wise virgins.
Today, according to the signs of the Lord’s return, the Lord should have returned already. The Lord Jesus has said: “And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom comes; go you out to meet him” (Matthew 25:6). The wise virgin are the ones who actively seek and investigate when they hear the news of the Lord’s return and search for God’s footprints. If people wait for God’s appearance passively instead of seeking the footprints of God actively, it will be impossible to welcome the Lord’s return.
Seeing the great calamities are about to happen, if we still do not seek God’s footprints and appearance actively, we will be very likely to fall into the disasters. Those who seek and accept God’s second coming when they hear God’s voice will go to the feast with the Lord as wise virgins. God will grant the water of the river of life to the wise virgins without asking for anything, which also has fulfilled the Lord Jesus’ prophecy: “And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom comes; go you out to meet him” (Matthew 25:6). “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27). “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” (Revelation 3:20).
