Is There Any Evidence that Christ's Return is Imminent?
| by | Wayne Jackson, M.A. |
Q.
A major advertisement has appeared recently in newspapers around the country. It is titled: “Christ Is Coming ‘Very, Very Soon.’ ” The piece begins: “The evidence for the soon return of Christ is overwhelming.” Several “clues” are then offered whereby one may calculate that Jesus’ return is near. Would you comment on this?A.
I have the advertisement before me. I will review the so-called “clues” as to the time of Christ’s return.-
It is alleged that the nation of Israel was “miraculously reborn on
May 14, 1948,” and that this is “God’s time clock” indicating that the
end is near. Amazingly, not one passage of scripture is cited to prove
this baseless assertion—the reason being, there is none.
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It is argued that 2 Timothy 3:1ff.,which describes a “plummeting
morality,” reveals that Jesus’ return is imminent. First, there is not a
word in this context about the Lord’s second coming. Second, the verb
in verse 5, “turn away,” is, in the original language, a present,
middle, imperative form. The imperative mood reveals that it is a
command to Timothy. The middle voice suggests that Timothy is to
personally turn himself away from the evil persons thus described. The
present tense “be turning away,” reveals that Paul’s young companion was
living in the time of this corruption, the “last days” (vs. 1), at that
very moment. The expression does not focus, therefore, on an age 2,000
years in the future.
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It is contended that the “signs” of Matthew 24:6-8 (e.g., famines,
wars, and earthquakes) indicate that Jesus is coming “very, very soon.”
But the “signs” of Matthew 24:6ff. had to do with the fall of Jerusalem
in A.D. 70, not this modern era. Christ plainly
taught that “this generation” (vs. 34)—i.e., the generation contemporary
with Him (Arndt, 1967, p. 153)—would witness these signs. There is
historical evidence aplenty to document the presence of such events in
the forty-year interval between the time of Christ’s death and the fall
of Jerusalem. There were conflicts in the administrations of Caligula,
Claudius, and Nero (Josephus, Antiquities, 20.1.6). Josephus penned a work designated, The Wars of the Jews.
The title itself is a commentary on these tumultuous times. It is well
known that famines were frequent during these four decades (cf. Acts
11:28). Suetonius, a Roman historian, described the administration of
Claudius as characterized by “continual scarcity” (Claud., c.18). As for earthquakes, they were devastating during this era. They are recorded by historians Josephus (Wars, 4.4), Tacitus (Annales
xii.58; xiv.27; xv.22), and Seneca (Epistle 91). It is thus futile to
apply the predictions of Matthew 24 to this current period of history
(see Jackson, 1998). Is it not strange that Christ, Who gave these
signs, did not know when the “end” would be (Matthew 24:36), but modern
“prophets” can read them and provide us with the precise schedule?
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It is suggested that Daniel 12:4 prophesies an increase in travel and
education at the end of time, and that such is clearly characteristic of
our age. This passage is quite ambiguous, and various views are
entertained by good scholars—e.g., that “run to and fro” really means to
“read thoroughly,” and thus encourages a careful study of this inspired
book (Rose and Fuller, 1981, 6:392). At any rate, there is nothing in
the passage that can identify a particular age. The fact is,
transportation and knowledge have accelerated in every period of human
history, and will continue to do so until the end of time. That is the
nature of human genius. It is useless to cite Daniel 12:4 as a clue to
the end of Earth’s history.
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The advertisement under review alleges that the current explosion of
“cults and the occult” is detailed in biblical literature; we therefore
can know that the end is near on this basis. Two passages are cited as
proof-texts—Matthew 24:24 and 1 Timothy 4:1. Again, though, Matthew
24:24—a prediction of false Christs, prophets, etc.—has to do with that
period prior to Jerusalem’s demise (cf. 34). Josephus recorded that the
administration of Felix, a Roman procurator in Judea (A.D. 52-60), was known for its “impostors (Antiquities
20.8.5). Justin Martyr, an early Christian apologist, said that Simon
Magnus went to Rome, where he deceived many with his magic and was
honored as deity. He cited an inscription that bore these words: “To
Simon the holy God” (Apology, I.26).
The reference in 1 Timothy 4:1ff. is a general allusion to the apostasy that would defect from the apostolic faith throughout the Christian age. The expression “latter times” likely is equivalent to “latter days” (cf. 2 Timothy 3:1), i.e., the final dispensation of time, the Christian era. Though Paul intended to warn regarding the future, he nonetheless saw the apostasy as already in operation (cf. White, 1956, 4:120). In fact, this point is made quite clear in 2 Thessalonians 2:7 where the “mystery of lawlessness” is “already at work.” This context contains no clue as to the end of time.
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It is asserted that the Bible predicts the rise of a “new world order”
involving a “centralization of world financial and political power” in
the end times, and that these conditions are current. Daniel 7 and
Revelation 13 are cited vaguely as proofs. The truth is, both of these
contexts have to do with developments out of the ancient Roman empire
(see Jackson, 1995, pp. 48-71). They do not refer to America!
- Finally, it is claimed that just as angels announced Christ’s first coming (Luke 1:26), even so, angels recently have visited a number of folks, reporting that the end is near. This testimony is about as reliable as those who declare that they have been abducted by space aliens. There is no evidence whatever that angels are appearing to, or communicating with, people today.
REFERENCES
Jackson, Wayne (1995), Select Studies in the Book of Revelation (Stockton, CA: Courier Publications).
Jackson, Wayne (1998), At His Coming, ed. David Lipe (Henderson, TN: Freed-Hardeman University), in press.
Rose, H.J., and J.M. Fuller (1981), The Bible Commentary, ed. F.C. Cook (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker).
White, N.J.D. (1956), The Expositor’s Greek Testament, ed. W. Robertson Nicoll (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans).