Signs Of The Times

by HICKLING, P.L. | Category: N/a | Feb 2009

My grandfather knew a man who went and stood on a barrel at the end of his garden in 1914, because he believed that Christ was going to come for him then, and he wanted to be ready to be taken away. He had the courage of his convictions, but they weren't well-founded ones. Should Christians be looking for Christ's return? And can they have any idea about when it is going to happen? The subject interests a lot of people; search for 'return of Christ in Google, and you will get 29,700,000 hits!

On the first point, we can definitely say 'Yes'. The Lord Himself promised, '... if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself' (John 14:3), and the Lord's return was prominent in the teaching of the apostles, both as to His calling believers to Himself (e.g. 1 Thes. 4:14-17) and as to His coming as judge (e.g. Acts 17:31). Some of the early disciples even thought that they might not die (John 21:23). Jesus said, 'Watch yourselves', so that they would be ready for His coming (Luke 21:34).

When? The straight answer is: 'We don't know'. After Jesus' resurrection, His disciples wanted to know how quickly He would set up His kingdom, and asked Him, 'Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?' He said to them, 'It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth' (Acts 1:6-7). Nonetheless, this has not prevented a number of people from giving dates, many of which are now past - see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second Coming for a list. However, there are prerequisites about the state of things on earth, and this is what ties in with current events. The Lord listed in Matthew 24:3-14 some of the signs of His coming, and although you might say that some of them have always been present to some degree, it is easy to recognise them today. One outstanding thing is the presence and position of Israel. Various conquerors controlled the land of Israel until it fell into the hands of the Mamluk Sultanate in 1260, then it was under the Ottoman Empire until the 20th century. Although there was a continuous Jewish presence, no-one could have expected that there would be a strong sovereign state of Israel. We cannot here trace its history fully, but following the Balfour Declaration and the British Mandate, Israel declared independence on May 14, 1948, fulfilling Ezekiel 37:1-14 and the promise, 'I will restore the fortunes of my people, Israel and Judah, says the LORD, and I will bring them back to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall take possession of it' (Jer. 30:3). Ever since, there have been declared and guerrilla wars with Israel's Arab neighbours, and today there is an uneasy ceasefire between Israeli forces and Hamas in Gaza. So the stage is set for the final chapters of God's dealings with men. The Lord Jesus will take away His own, then Jerusalem will see the reestablishment of the Holy Place and its subsequent desecration, with fierce persecution of those who stand up to an all-powerful dictatorship (Mat. 24:15). These things have to happen before Christ's final coming to reign (vv.29-31).

If we do believe that Christ is coming back for us what should we do? Give up our everyday work, and spend all our time in evangelizing? A few people are called to this, and God provides for them through the support of others, but for most of us our calling is to 'honest work' (Eph. 4:28). Scripture says, 'Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord...You are serving the Lord Christ' (Col. 3:23-24). We work, knowing that the one who approves or disapproves it is coming, and so we watch, witness and pray.

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HICKLING, P.L. | Feb 2009
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