Is Christ Coming Soon?

The headline of a recent advertisement in the newspaper promises no less than eight compelling reasons why Christ is coming very, very soon. Boldly stating "the evidence for the soon return of Jesus Christ is overwhelming . . . one scholar lists 167 converging clues just in the last few years of this millennium" it urges all to be ready. Many are convinced that Jesus must come before the year 2000, or shortly thereafter. Can we really discern signs that say Jesus' coming is "very, very soon?"

Exhibit number one for those who believe Jesus will return soon is the rebirth of the nation of Israel on May 14, 1948. Hal Lindsey talks about how this restarted "God's prophetic clock." This is a crucial event for end-time predictors because they believe that it is the Lord's intent to set up a physical kingdom upon this earth. Israel, with the twin promises of being a nation and having the land of Palestine made so long ago to Abraham, is viewed as the natural beginning point of that physical kingdom. Thus, Jesus came to set up this physical kingdom in the first century, but was rejected and killed. Undaunted by His failure, God set up the church as a stopgap measure but will send His Son to try and set up this kingdom again in the future. It is widely believed that Israel's rebirth as a physical nation begins the countdown for that attempt. Hal Lindsey and others like him taught frantically in the late 1980's that it would happen before 1988, because that would be forty years (or one generation) since Israel was reborn. What went wrong?

There are several problems with the idea of God setting up a physical kingdom. The Bible is clear that God completely fulfilled the Abrahamic promises to Israel. Joshua 21:43, 45 specifically states "So the Lord gave to Israel all the land of which He had sworn to give to their fathers . . . not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass" (see also Joshua 23:14). Israel's status today as a nation is simply not the focus of any Bible prophecy because God has already done all for physical Israel He promised He would. God's interest now is the spiritual kingdom His Son built, the church. Jesus never intended to build any kind of earthly kingdom, and so told Pilate "My kingdom is not of this world" (Jn. 18:36). Jesus promised His apostles they would see the kingdom and be part of it before they died (Mark 9:1). The apostles wrote of the kingdom's existence as present, not future (Col. 1:13; Rev. 1:9). The very thinking that Jesus could come here and be defeated or fail to accomplish the divine plan is outrageous. God cannot fail (Ps. 89:33). If He had intended to build a physical kingdom in the first century such would have happened. Instead, a spiritual kingdom was built, beginning on Pentecost in Acts 2. Realizing this, it becomes apparent that the physical nation of Israel plays no part in God's plan now to save man from sin and add him to the spiritual kingdom, the church. That is God's intent and purpose now. What happens in downtown Jerusalem is simply no longer important in God's schemes. Israel's rebirth as a physical nation is, therefore, of no significance whatsoever and does not stand as a predictor or sign of Christ's imminent return.

Those who believe Jesus will soon return often make use of a second exhibit: supposed parallels in today's events and the prophecy of Matthew 24. The advertisement cited above points to the increase in famines, violence, wars, and earthquakes, quoting Matthew 24:6-8. The supposed concentration of world financial and political powers is also mentioned, and Matthew 24:15 is noted.

What do we make of this? A careful study of Matthew 24 (and its parallels in Luke 21 and Mark 13) reveals that this is not a discussion of Jesus' second coming. Matthew 24:1-2 records the disciples showing Jesus the temple and its wonders. Jesus responds by telling them "not one stone shall be left here upon another that shall not be thrown down." The disciples then ask "Tell us, when will these things be?" (v. 3). It is apparent they are asking about the destruction of the Temple, an event so cataclysmic to the Jewish mind that the disciples ask about "the end of the age" (v. 3). To the disciples if the Temple was destroyed that had to be the end of all things. Please remember that the apostles had a very poor understanding of the spiritual nature of Christ's kingdom, and did not even understand that He would be leaving them. What makes anyone think they would be inquiring about the second coming of Christ when they didn't even realize He would be leaving them (note Acts 1:6)? Matthew 24 goes on to contain Jesus' prophecy of Jerusalem's destruction. It is couched in the metaphors of Old Testament prophecy, but Luke makes the point of the discussion clear: "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains . . . " (Luke 21:20-21). Jesus further promises that these events will all take place before the generation then alive would pass from this earth (Luke 21:32).

Matthew 24 is not an easy passage by any means (due to its heavy use of figurative language) but its application is simply not to the end of the world. Why would Jesus tell His apostles they needed to be watchful, carefully noting signs so they would know when to flee, if this was all about the second coming that was hundreds of years future? Further, what good does fleeing to the mountains do when Jesus comes again? It is clear that this material is about the impending destruction of Jerusalem, accomplished in AD 70 by Roman armies. Warnings and admonitions about that event would be entirely appropriate for Jesus' disciples: they would see it happen! Yet it is simply an improper use of scripture to take what was foretold for Jesus' generation, and promised to occur before that generation passed away, and somehow try to apply it to our times. In short, the earthquakes, wars, and violence mentioned in Matthew 24 are not markers of Christ's second coming.

People have been confidently predicting the Lord's return for hundreds of years. Such prognosticating becomes particularly popular whenever a new century or new millennium rolls around. Let us be content with what scripture says: "the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night" (1 Thess.5:2). No one can know when the Lord will come - soon or otherwise!