GUEST ARTICLE
Are
There “Signs” of
the Second Coming of Christ?
[The interpretation of Matthew 24 has been
a matter of debate for centuries. We
encourage you to consider Jackson’s views expressed below. Personally,
this continues to be a matter of study for me and I don’t
have all of the answers. RH]
Church history is replete with
examples of sensational “prophets” who have attracted public
attention with the claim of knowing the time of the Lord’s
return.
William Miller, founder of
the Adventist movement, announced that Christ would come
in 1843; when that prediction failed, a revision was made
and 1844 was set. That “prophecy” also has proved to be
somewhat short of the mark.
Joseph Smith, of Mormon fame,
taught that Christ would come no later than 1891, but he
missed it too.
C. T. Russell, founder of the
Watchtower organization, declared that the Second Coming
would occur in 1914.
One of the more recent prognosticators
is Hal Lindsey, author of the popular book, The Late
Great Planet Earth, who has argued that the “signs” of
Matthew twenty-four indicate that Jesus will return to
earth by about 1988.
Lindsey arrives at this conclusion
by suggesting that the “generation” which witnessed the
rebirth of Israel 1948 would
also witness the Lord’s return. Since a generation is supposed
to be about forty years, Lindsey surmises that Christ will
return to effect the “rapture” (a notion without biblical
support) by about 1988. He further concludes that since
the rapture will be followed by a seven year “tribulation” period,
Jesus will visibly appear by about 1995 to win the “Battle
of Armageddon” and to thus commence his earthly millennial
reign.
The alleged proof for the view
that the Lord would return by 1995 or so was said to be
found, as we mentioned above, in Matthew, chapter twenty-four.
As the Lord departed from Jerusalem
(Matt. 24:1,2), his disciples called his attention to the
temple buildings. The Lord then asked: “Do you not see
all of these things? Truly I say to you, there shall not
be here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown
down.” Obviously, the Savior spoke of that awesome destruction
of Jerusalem, which would be accomplished some forty years
later.
As they sat on the mount of
Olives, the disciples asked the Lord when “these things” would
be and what would be the “sign” of his coming and the end
of the world. They likely assumed that the destruction
of the temple and the end of the world would occur at the
same time. Christ, in the discourse to follow, sought to
correct their misconception.
The Olivet Sermon is divided
into two major sections: first, Jesus dealt with the impending
destruction of Jerusalem, and the “signs” that would herald
that event (4-34); second, he spoke of his final return,
and the lack of signs that would characterize that occasion
(35ff) .
It is certainly a sad tragedy
that hysterical speculators on Bible prophecy would take
those “signs” that have to do solely with the destruction
of ancient Jerusalem, and attempt to give them a modern
application in the context of a nuclear Armageddon!
The Signs
The signs which the Lord mentioned
are found in Matthew 24:4-14. We will not take the time
to discuss these in this article, but it is sufficient
to say that every single one of them was fulfilled within
the forty year span between the time of the Lord’s discourse
and the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Let us recommend
three good sources of material in this connection:
J. Marcellus Kik, Matthew
XXIV, Presbyterian & Reformed, 1948.
Roy Deaver, “Matthew 24” in Premillennialism – True Or False?, Wendell
Winkler, Ed. , 1978, pp. 105ff.
Cecil May, “Matthew 24,” The Biblical Doctrine of Last Things, David
Lipe, Ed. , 1984, pp. 115ff.
These are excellent study materials
of this theme.
In the balance of this article
I simply want to conclusively show that the “signs” of
Matthew 24:4-14 could not find their fulfillment in the
final return of Christ.
There are four strong arguments
which show that the signs of Matthew 24:4ff relate to the
destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.
First, in that great verse
which marks the “continental divide” of the chapter, Jesus
plainly said: “Verily I say unto you, this generation shall
not pass away, till all these things be accomplished” (34).
The expression “all these things” refers to the signs that
the Lord had given. And “all these things” – the signs – were
to be accomplished before “this generation” passed away.
The question is – what is the
meaning of “this generation”? Dispensationalists are fond
of saying that “generation” has reference to “race,” hence,
it is merely an allusion to the Jewish race; and so, the
Lord was indicating that these signs would be fulfilled
while the Jewish race was being preserved (cf. The Scofield
Reference Bible).
Such a view of “generation,” however,
is at variance with the use of that word in the New Testament.
In their Greek Lexicon, Arndt & Gingrich comment
that genea [“generation”] refers basically to “the
sum total of those born at the same time, expanded to include
all those living at a given time generation, contemporaries” (p.
153). A survey of several passages in Matthew’s gospel
will quickly confirm this (cf. 11:16; 12:39,41,42,45; 16:4;
17:17; 23:36). Clearly then, the signs of the Olivet lesson
were confined to the first century.
Second, though Lindsey and
others contend that the descriptions of Matthew 24 suggest
a 20th century, international nuclear conflict. Contextual
considerations reveal that the Lord clearly had reference
to an ancient and local situation.
Consider the following factors:
(1) Christ plainly specified
that the coming destruction would involve the ancient temple
area [“the holy place” – 24:15] and the city of Jerusalem
(cf. Lk. 21:20).
(2) The disciples of Judea
were warned to “flee unto the mountains” (16) – instructions
that would hardly seem valid in a time of atomic attack!
However, according to the testimony of the historian Eusebius,
Christians, prior to Jerusalem’s invasion, fled to Pella
east of the Jordan River and so were spared the fate of
the Jews.
(3) The Lord warned: “Let him
that is on the housetop not go down to take out the things
that are in his house” (17). Again, such instruction would
scarcely make sense if the Savior had been speaking of
a modern nuclear assault. But it made perfect sense in
view of the fact that the houses of old Jerusalem were
flat-roofed and adjacent to one another. Accordingly, Christians
might proceed, via “the road of roofs,” to the edge of
the city and escape (cf. Edersheim, Sketches of Jewish
Social Life, p. 93).
(4) The admonition, “Pray ye
that your flight be not in the winter” (20) anticipates
primitive conditions when travel would be difficult, and:
(5) “Pray ye that your flight
be … neither on the sabbath” takes into account the fact
that the gates of the ancient city would be closed on the
sabbath (cf. Neh. 13:19) a fact, of course, which did not
obtain after the destruction of the city.
Third, the illustrations introduced
by Jesus to insure preparedness for his Second Coming preclude
the possibility of signs being given to determine the time
of that event.
In a number of vivid historical
illustrations, the Lord declared that no time-indicators
would be given to signal his Return; rather, the Judgment
Day would catch men unawares.
Note:
(1) As the people of Noah’s
day continued business as normal “until the day” that the
flood came, “so shall be the coming of the Son of man” (38,39).
(2) The people of ancient Sodom
were unaware of the impending disaster until “the day that
Lot went out from Sodom,” even so “after the same manner
shall it be in the day that the Son of man is revealed” (Lk.
17:28-30).
(3) Christ declared that he
would come at an unexpected time, even as a thief does. “If
the master of the house had known in what watch the thief
was coming, he would have watched, and would not have suffered
his house to be broken through. Therefore be ye also ready;
for in an hour that ye think not the Son of man cometh” (43,44;
cf. 1 Thes. 5:2; 2 Pet. 3:10).
(4) The parable of the virgins
in Matthew 25 surely teaches the lesson of constant preparation,
for the bridegroom will come at the most unexpected time
[the midnight hour – a most surprising time for a wedding!].
There is nothing in Matthew
24 that lends support to the theory that Christ gave some
signs that would herald the end of the world.
Fourth, one of the most persuasive
points demonstrating that the Lord gave no signs by which
the end of time could be calculated is the affirmation
of verse 36. “But of that day and hour knoweth no one,
not even the angels of heaven, neither the Son, but the
Father only.”
The argument is devastating:
though Jesus gave the signs of Matthew 24:4-14, not even
he knew when the time of his Second Coming would occur.
It must therefore be obvious to anyone (save those totally
deceived) that the signs of Matthew 24 can in no way be
employed to figure the time of the Lord’s Return!
Does it not seem odd that modern “prophets” can
read Matthew 24 and predict the time of the end of the
world; yet not even he who spoke the message was able to
so decipher it?!
There are no signs concerning
the time of the end of this age. Let us strive, therefore,
to be always prepared for the Lord’s Return, or death,
whichever comes first.
--Wayne Jackson
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