The ship's officers on the Titanic were reassigned just before the maiden voyage. A new officer was brought in....the next few officers in line were bumped down a notch....and the lowest officer was bumped off of the voyage altogether. It was brought up in the many inquiries....and there is no certainty on what happened....but that last officer either took with him the keys to the crows nest locker containing binoculars....or the binoculars were his and he took them in the haste of reassignments. Either way it was determined that it was an important fact in the sinking that the lookouts in the crows nest had no binoculars.
Had those lookouts possessed the binoculars needed for their job.....the iceberg might very well have been spotted sooner. I gave our son a powerful monocular as a Christmas present last year....for he likes to travel the world....and he is a duck hunter. I like to take binoculars on vacations to Virginia Beach because of the constant flow of ships out of Norfolk....both cargo and military....and military jets coming in just above the beach. I also like to use binoculars on cosmic events such as Blood Moons and various eclipses and the rare planetary alignment such as occurred this past July.
In all of this we are referring to seeing something that is far away....clearer....because of the aid of an instrument of some kind. So how might you perceive the return of Jesus? You are certain of His coming back.....but as to when....well there is no sight of him right now. Friends....brothers and sisters in Christ....you do not need a telescope to see Him....nor even a powerful set of binoculars....you only need a Bible....but you do need a Bible.
Mary Magdalene did not recognize Jesus until He revealed himself to her....nor did the disciples on the road to Emmaus. Jesus gave them the vision to recognize him....when He wanted them to recognize Him. Peter and the other disciples did not recognize Jesus from the boat when they were fishing. Maybe it was too far....but when the boat could not contain the huge catch....they knew that it was the resurrected Jesus on the shore. In like manner....when Israel miraculously came into being in May of 1948....the boat lurched under the load....and we can see who is on the shore directing us.
God's prophetic Word has always been there....but at various times in history....others had finally recognized what the words meant....and what the meaning was. That is still the way that it is. Daniel will become clear when we are meant to see it clearly.....as will Revelation.....as will Ezekiel....as will the prophecy in the Psalms....as will the Olivet Discourse....as will everything in God's Word of this nature....but if you don't even look into the Bible....if you have no desire to see.....no desire to know.....or no real hope for Jesus to return....you will never see anything but words.
Addendum: Charles Lightoller was the second officer on the Titanic....who stayed on the ship until there was nothing more to be done....and barely escaped in the water. I listened to a interview with him recorded later in life....and one anecdote stood out. He said that he had heard the Lord's Prayer recited throughout his life.....but as he and some others stood on an overturned lifeboat....and after they had watched the Titanic slide into the depths of the sea....the men together said that Lord's Prayer....but as Lightoller described it...."never with such intense earnestness as the surroundings lent to it." May we see in advance that iceberg today....and thus utter all of our prayers....both supplications and praises....with that same...."intense earnestness."
