How close is it?

“But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. ‭‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭5:4‬ ‭KJV‬‬

“Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you.” ‭‭Revelation‬ ‭3:3‬ ‭NKJV

After Jesus’ ascension, two angels appeared to the disciples while they were still looking upward. They promised that Jesus would return, and that He would come back in likewise manner. That He would indeed, at some future date, appear again in a manner resembling his departure.(Acts 1:11) As Jesus ascended into the clouds, so will He return, on the clouds of heaven. The first time he came humbly, as a baby to poor parents. This time He will return as King and Judge. That He will come again is sure, much of the accumulated prophetic hope is focused on this one event. But when is this return? Are we even supposed to know approximately when Jesus’ second coming is likely to be?

Most discussions or questions regarding the timing of the end-times invariably result in a vague response to the question. Most commonly, we conclude that we are not supposed to know when Jesus comes again.  Matthew 25:13 is quoted: “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.” -Mat.25:13 NKJV.   This normally puts an end to the entire conversation.

A fresh look at the two statements in the verse above, ‘watching’ and ‘not knowing’, may lead one to conclude that they are contradictory, but they are not. First is the instruction for us to be watchful. Secondly, the reason for watchfulness: “the day or hour can’t be known”. Many will separate these two statements. They will say or argue that there is no point talking about the end times because Jesus seems to instruct us not to try and work it out.

Should we leave the discussion there? “

No, Jesus himself instructed us to do the exactly the opposite: to actively watch for events in preparation for the trying times to come. Nowhere does Jesus tell us to disengage from end time study.

Should we not make use of the guidance scriptures offer us on coming events? Or do we think God placed it there for no particular reason? Jesus says in Luke 21:29-31: “Look at the fig tree and all its leaves. When they have already come out [like this], you can see for yourselves by examining it that summer is near. So also when you see that all things [of verses 5-28] have come to pass, know that the Kingdom of God is near.

Not investigating end times because “the day or hour can’t be known” is not what Jesus is saying in the first passage. To ‘write off’ end times study on the basis of just one half of this passage is wrong. To interpret this passage as a restriction or even a ban on end times study is also illogical. What we need to understand is that He has a purpose with this passage.

On Guard.

What does the passage say? It is the same instruction that one would give to a guard. “Be vigilant, because one can’t know when the challenge will come and we need to be alert and ready for action. Keep your eyes and ears open. Be ready for what you know is going to come sometime soon so you are not overwhelmed by it.”

There is no point for a watchman to try to calculate the day and the hour. This cannot be fully pre-determined, as Jesus warns us, both in this passage and elsewhere in the gospels. Many have mistakenly ignored the warning and nevertheless attempted to calculate this in the past, and failed. We do not wish to be obviously disobedient and foolish to calculate a day or an hour.

On the contrary, we do wish to be obedient and vigilant so we can withstand the enemy and usher in the coming King!

The ‘thief in the night.’

The second passage quoted to discourage attempts to establish the ‘season’ of Jesus’ coming is 1Thessalonians 5:2-5 : For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. (NKJV)

This passage tells us that the thief analogy clearly does not apply to believers. It applies to unbelievers. Unbelievers will be caught by surprise. Believers are not left in the dark, believers who are watchful will not be surprised by Jesus’ second coming. Which are you? According to this passage, if you are of the light, are you going to be overtaken by surprise? The answer is an obvious no, and Paul continues to instructs us on how to be sober watchful in the remainder of this passage.

Does being watchful mean that each of us should study the end time prophecies? How important is this?  If we walk closely with Christ and are tuned into the voice of the Holy Spirit, do we need to know these things? This is a valid question and yes, it is true that these prophecies are not a primary matter, a matter of salvation. The state of our hearts towards Jesus will always be of primary importance to God.

However, history shows that our vulnerability as Christians to distraction or deception is great. We can easily misinterpret Gods word and get it wrong, or be distracted by other issues requiring our attention. The learned Jews of the day got it wrong. When the days of great importance came for the Jews they were not watching for Him. But thirty years before this the Magi out in Persia had been reading Daniel’s prophecy. They had done some calculations and had determined approximately when the Messiah would be born. That set them to watching, hoping for a sign. God honoured their diligence in their study of His sacred Word. The star appeared and they knew this was what they had been waiting for. The star led them to Jesus in Bethlehem.

Wise men

Wise men still seek Him, even today. But not only the wise men, but also the shepherds were also honoured at the birth of Christ. They too were prepared in their hearts, willing to leave their flocks by night. So did the godly Simeon and Anna the prophetess. They were watchful, recognized Jesus by the Spirit and rejoiced when they held baby Jesus in their arms. Yet, as the 69 weeks of Daniel 9’s Messianic prophecy ended, of which the studious Pharisees should have been well aware, they were unprepared and too busy with their own interests to recognize the time of the appearing of their Messiah, the promised Lamb of God.

Hopefully we, in the privileged western church with access to all the electronic information to help us search the scriptures, will do a better job this time. And let us pray that we show more interest in knowing the season of Messiah’s second coming than the Pharisees showed for identifying the season of His first coming. Let us make sure that we do our homework, and once we’ve done that, watch patiently for the signs as did the Magi.

In the following sections we will be looking more closely at the time of the end. We will keep in mind the balance required between the two instructions in Matt 25:13. At no stage will we set a date or a time for the end times to start. But, as introduced in section 3.7, there is good evidence that this may commence approximately 2000 years after Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross for all mankind. His sin offering on the cross marks the end of the ‘time of Israel’ and the start of the ‘time of the gentiles’. Like the Magi at Jesus’ first coming we will study scripture and come up with a range of possible seasons for his second coming. As they did, we will then be obedient and watchful. Not with the intention to try and prolong our lives during the tribulation of the last seven years, but to be prepared for them spiritually. Not for material self-preservation but so that we can stand firm in the day of evil.

Example of Jesus’ first coming

Let’s look a bit closer at the example of the Magi, to see if there is a lesson for us. How is it that they were ready to undertake a long and dangerous journey? They had definitely not been given a particular day for Jesus’ birth. They probably had Daniel’s writings and perhaps those of some other prophets. How then would they have interpreted these prophecies? Daniel was, besides the Persian emperor, probably the most well-known executive and academic in the world of his time, spanning three emperors and two empires, while maintaining his executive position. His work may even have been in the libraries of learning. In addition, some of the exiled Jews who had not returned to Jerusalem will have maintained his writings. In addition to Daniel’s prophecies, we may also consider that Daniel had most likely made his own notes.

The Magi had worked out from Daniel’s prophecy that they were living close to the prophesied event of the “…Anointed One, the ruler”(Dan 9), coming. They had determined the approximate time of the Messiah’s coming as a ruler, and his ‘cutting off’, his death. They then realized that the 450 year old prophecy was about to be fulfilled! They were about to witness the most significant event in all of history! They had an opportunity to be part of this! This would have raised their level of excitement and filled them with an inextinguishable determination to be part of it.

But why were they interested in his birth date and not his anointing and crowning as king?  Perhaps, after the initial excitement, they realized they would be too old to witness the prophesied main event.(his rulership and death). But then gladly settled for an opportunity to honour his birth.

Now the interesting part for us… They would not have found a prophecy for his birth date. But they decided they were going to estimate it. As one option, they could have estimated Jesus’ age as He rode into Jerusalem on that prophesied donkey. They could have guessed that Jesus would probably be between 25 and 45 years of age.

Hence they could work backward and estimate a range of dates to determine the ‘season’ of His birth. They set their hope on being able to witness the King of the Universe’s arrival on planet earth. They were determined to be ready and be part of this crucial event. And then they waited for the sign.

So can we, for His next coming. We have much more to go on than the Magi did. We also have the benefit of Jesus Himself having entreated us to watch, to be on the lookout. Will we be ready?