“Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. But he answered them, ‘You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.’
“As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, ‘Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?’ And Jesus answered them, ‘See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, “I am the Christ,” and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.
“‘Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.’” [1]
WHEN IN DANGER, WHEN IN DOUBT,
RUN IN CIRCLES, SCREAM AND SHOUT!
Drill instructors offered this sarcastic advice to young men during the early days of training to become Marines. If the palpable fear that appears to be gripping society at the present time is any indication, this advice was disseminated more widely than any of us training at Quantico so many years ago could have imagined. This particular advice appears to prevail among the general populace, as becomes evident during the present coronavirus crisis. News accounts breathlessly trumpet how the virus will destroy civilisation if we don’t make sacrifices; we are told that we must surrender freedoms now. Those who are out of work, those who have seen their lives disrupted to an unprecedented degree, and those who have lost what little they had set aside for their future, would surely argue that their lives have been turned topsy-turvy. Some appear to believe they will never recover, and hope appears to be swiftly draining from their lives.
It is nearly impossible for most of us to separate the hype from reality. The COVID-19 virus is aggressively virulent, and it is quite deadly. Moreover, the virus’ devastation is amplified through the terror it induces, leading to economic disaster and to social upset. It is sometimes said that the cure is worse than the disease, and in light of political dicta emanating from government leaders, the cure may well be worse than the disease. Economic devastation has already ravished the land, and it isn’t obvious that much has been gained through such acts. What is apparent is that politicians see an opportunity to seize even more control than before the pandemic was announced.
As governments move to exercise control over people gathering for various activities, we hear of major cities, and even some states, ordering churches closed and cancelling all religious gatherings. The justification for decisions such as these is that government must act swiftly to protect the populace. Some jurisdictions are imposing heavy fines for those who fail to practise mandated social distancing.
Consequently, some have questioned whether I believe these are the last days. Some people wonder whether the present crisis presages the return of our Master; or, if He is not coming immediately, are we witnessing a plague of biblical proportions as an act of divine judgement? These are serious suggestions that demand a biblical answer, and no answer should be given that is not grounded in the Word of God. What, then, do we know from God’s Word concerning the return of our Saviour, Jesus Christ?
THE RAPTURE IS IMMINENT — I understand why some might wonder whether the end of the world is upon us. Christians are under more intense persecution than ever before in the history of the Faith. Headlines in the past decade have screamed out news of the intense persecution of the humble followers of the Son of God—schoolgirls beheaded in Indonesia, followers of the Christ crucified by ISIS rebels in Syrian cities, Christians beheaded in Libya, Syria and Iraq, churches burned and pastors hacked to death in Nigeria, Christian girls kidnapped and forced to convert to Islam in the African sub-Sahel, Christian women in Pakistan kidnapped by sex traffickers and forced into prostitution in China, and Christian women sold as slaves in Sudan. The growing persecution of Christians certainly appears to support a sense of being forsaken by God.
Earthquakes, tsunamis, wildfires, and famines add to the sense of dread many Christians feel. One recent headline proclaimed that swarms of locusts sweeping across Africa are the “Most Devastating Plague” in memory. [2] Reports of multiplied little wars and conflicts fill the news feeds each day. We witness prominent preachers declaring that they have a word from the Lord, and they will reveal the secrets of God for a “love offering” of twenty dollars. They will send you a prayer cloth cut from the evangelist’s sweat-soaked jacket or a bottle of water from the Jordan River they have blessed. Given these disturbing reports about the coronavirus pandemic and the response of governments around the world, it begins to feel as if we are surely facing the end of the world.
Let me say quite boldly that the return of Jesus is imminent—and His return has been imminent since the days of the Apostles! Paul wrote that “the day of the Lord,” the day in which He begins to judge the earth as prophesied during the Great Tribulation, would not be something that people were expecting. You remember that he has written, “Concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, ‘There is peace and security,’ then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness” [1 THESSALONIANS 5:1-5]. Paul lived in anticipation of the imminent return of the Lord, as did each of the writers of the New Testament.
However, no one should imagine that they can predict when Christ will return for His people. Jesus Himself dashes the thought that anyone can know the timing of His return. No one—not this preacher, not any supposed prophet, not any purported Bible teacher— NO ONE can say when the Master will return. That particular information lies in the imponderables of the Lord God Himself. The Master cautioned His disciples, “Concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” [MATTHEW 24:36-44].
Did you notice the emphasis Jesus gave to this pronouncement? Jesus caution, “You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” [MATTHEW 24: 44]. So, the return of Christ is promised, and His return has been pending since the day He was taken up into Heaven. His return may be momentary, but we cannot know the timing of that return. We can prepare for His return, living in the light of His promise, but we cannot know when that event will be. Those who are looking for the signs of His coming are looking for the wrong thing; looking for signs, they render themselves susceptible to deception. Christians are to look for the Son, not for the signs. If you remember nothing else today, remember this—Jesus is coming, signs or no signs!
The return of Jesus will be sudden, without warning. In fact, when Jesus has gathered His people to Himself, the antichrist will be compelled to fabricate a story to account for what has happened. It will be evident that people are suddenly missing, and government leaders will have to offer an explanation. Paul wrote the Thessalonians, “Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness” [2 THESSALONIANS 2:1-12].
Allow me to stress this comforting truth yet again—Jesus is coming again, just as He promised. At His return He will gather to Himself the redeemed, just as is promised. “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words” [1 THESSALONIANS 4:13-18].
Christians must receive the multiplied promises of the Word as the comfort God intended them to be. When Paul reminded the saints in Salonica about what he had taught concerning the day of the Lord, he quickly transitioned to a promise that God had given to protect His people from judgement. The Apostle wrote, “Let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him” [1 THESSALONIANS 5:6-10]. God hasn’t appointed us to wrath, wrath that will be poured out during the day of the Lord—God has appointed His people to salvation!
The promise delivered to the Philadelphian congregation, the Church representing the era immediately preceding the Laodicean era, received a wonderful promise which I have frequently reviewed as a source of comfort. Jesus promised, “Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth. I am coming soon” [REVELATION 3:10-11]. What else could the Risen Saviour have meant other than His people will not pass through the Great Tribulation! In times of uncertainty, surely this is a most comforting promise for the one who follows the Saviour.
THE QUESTION — “The disciples came to [Jesus] privately, saying, ‘Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age’” [MATTHEW 24:3]? The disciples had just been admiring Herod’s Temple, and Jesus responded to their admiring comments that the Temple would be razed, utterly destroyed so that not even one stone would be left atop another. His statement astonished these men, and they asked two questions: When would the destruction of the Temple happen and what would be the sign of Jesus’ coming.
The disciples were asking two things. Though the immediate concern of the disciples was the destruction of the Temple, this first question was less important than the second question. The first question addressed an event that would be a blip in the history of mankind. I’m not saying that the destruction of the Temple and the conquest of Judah was unimportant, only that it was not of supreme importance. The second question was far more significant, because it impinged on the return of the Master to judge the earth and to reign over all the world.
If Matthew’s account was the only account available, the initial question wouldn’t even be answered. Doctor Luke, however, did provide Jesus’ answer. According to Luke, the Master taught disciples, “When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near” [LUKE 21:20]. Herod’s Temple was destroyed in 70 AD. Following the conquest of Jerusalem as the Roman army under the leadership of Titus, at last swept aside the Jewish resistance and entered into the Temple precincts to remove the final combatants, an unnamed soldier set the tapestry on fire. The fire spread rapidly throughout the Temple, destroying the interior and even melting the gold that had adorned the walls of the building. As the gold overlay melted, soldiers pried apart the stones to retrieve the gold, thus ensuring that not one stone remained atop another. [3]
Fortunately for those of us who live in anticipation of the return of the Master, the second question the disciples asked did receive full attention from the Master. Jesus pointed us forward to a day immediately preceding His return. With the FOURTH VERSE, the Master began to describe observable events that would transpire leading up to His return. He focused especially on the signs that would immediately precede His return. The events He described are those that take place during the first half of the Tribulation.
During this period, there will be false messiahs [VERSE 5], wars and rumours of wars as nations wage war against one another [VERSES 6-7], and unprecedented natural disasters such as famines and earthquakes [VERSE 7]. These phenomena will be unlike anything we have experienced to date. However, the conflicts and the phenomena are “but the beginning of birth pains” [VERSE 8].
Jesus introduces a time element as the NINTH VERSE begins—“Then.” This word focuses attention on the mid-point of the seven-year Tribulation period. At this time, Israel will begin to experience distress [VERSE 9]. Familiarity with the news of the past seventy years or so would cause you to wonder what sort of distress could be worse than what Israel has already experienced. A world ruler, identified as the Antichrist, will have made a treaty with Israel. He will have agreed to protect the nation, only to break his treaty at the mid-point of the Tribulation period. He will even establish his own centre of worship in a Temple which will have been rebuilt in Jerusalem. Jewish believers will be betrayed by unbelievers and deceptive false prophets will lead many astray [VERSES 10-11]. Wickedness will increase throughout the earth, and many who are thought to follow the Lord will drop away from even pretending to love Him [VERSE 12].
During this period, the Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached throughout the entire world as a testimony to all peoples [VERSE 14]. It will be a time of unprecedented persecution, and yet, the Master will have faithful servants fulfilling what He has assigned throughout this period. What seems apparent is that those proclaiming the message during this period will be unusually effective.
THE APPLICATION — “Jesus answered them, ‘See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, “I am the Christ,” and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.
“‘Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come’” [MATTHEW 24:4-14].
What especially disturbs people is the unknown. Most of us are able to weather any storm once we are in the storm. It is uncertainty, not knowing what will happen next, that distresses us the most. Not knowing what will happen next leaves us off-balance, unprepared to respond to what is coming. If we know beforehand what is going to happen, we will be able to prepare for that eventuality and ride out the storm. Preparation for what lies ahead is essential to our mental well-being and to our ability to withstand trials.
Jesus informed His followers what to expect so that they would not be led astray. This is the reason Jesus cautioned His disciples, “See that no one leads you astray” [MATTHEW 24:4b]. The people of God would not be easily stampeded because they would be looking for the Son, rather than focusing on the events swirling about them. The point is important to our understanding why Jesus provided us with the teaching concerning what lies ahead—He is equipping His people to stand in the hour of trial.
Because they are His sheep, Christ’s followers will not follow a hired hand. Remember what Jesus has said about who His people follow. The Master has told us, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” [JOHN 10:27]. His sheep hear His voice because His Spirit lives in them and because He has told them what to expect. While others are being led astray, Christ’s sheep will follow Him. Jesus’ own will not follow a hired hand because they are listening for His voice.
You likely have experienced those times when you were discomforted as you listened to a supposed man of God declaring that Christians should flee because the end of all things is upon us. Something, however, nagged at your mind. Your Spidey Sense was tingling; the message didn’t sound right, and you were just a bit reluctant to commit yourself to that message. That was the Spirit of God warning you against going astray. That was the knowledge of the Word that recognised that something didn’t align with what Christ has revealed. He is guiding you because you are His child.
Not only did Jesus inform His disciples against straying, but He did not want His people to be alarmed. Christ does not want His people to live in fear. When we are persecuted in this world, and we will be persecuted, we are not frightened because we know that we belong to Him. We are confident that nothing comes into the life of His child without His permission. Whether we live or whether we die, we belong to the Lord, and He is pledged to receive us. We don’t fear the future because Christ has told us what to expect. Stand firm in Him. Amen.
[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Crossway Bibles, Wheaton, IL 2016)
[2] Rick Moran, “Swarms of Locusts Sweep Across Africa: ‘Most Devastating Plague’ in Memory,” PJ Media, February 11, 2020, https://pjmedia.com/trending/swarms-of-locusts-sweep-across-africa-most-devastating-plague-in-memory/, accessed 31 March 31 2020
[3] See Flavius Josephus and William Whiston, The Words of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged (Hendrickson, Peabody, MA 1987) 739-740
