Over the decades, I’ve known people who were determined to assemble all the biblical prophecies about the latter days and “figure out” exactly when Jesus Christ would return. However, everyone or every church that has tried to do this has been left with egg on their faces. From a ministry which predicted “88 Reasons why Jesus would Return in 1988” to a church which predicted his return would be in 1975, and regarding the many other preachers of all kinds who have predicted Jesus Christ’s return: they all have one thing in common: they have been wrong. There is now a weariness, I think, in the Christian churches regarding those who specifically predict when Jesus will return. Some churches and teachers now predict that the Second Coming will occur at a time far into the future.
This post is to examine what Jesus Christ himself advised us in the matter of when his return will occur. This post will not set any dates about Jesus’ return. Indeed, I have never done so. There are three scriptural prophecies by Jesus Christ himself which give us at least some guidance on when he will return. I’d like to pass on these scriptures to readers as they have a common theme, and they do give us some generic guidance at this point in history.
There was a time when the disciples of Christ asked him specifically about when he would return. In Matthew 24:3, the disciples asked: “…what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” This is from the King James Version, and it is a little too apocalyptic in its translation. The “end of the world” language implies the earth itself is going to be ended when Jesus returns. Some explanation is called for. The word “world” is translated from the Greek world “aion” which does not actually mean the earth itself. My Young’s Concordance shows it literally means an “age, indefinite time or dispensation.” In other words it refers to a period of time, not the physical earth itself. When Jesus comes, he is coming to save mankind and the earth from destruction, not destroy them. We derive the English word “eon” from the Greek word “aion.” The disciples were asking about when the end of this current “age” would occur. When Jesus Christ returns, it will end the age of mankind’s self-government and it will begin the 1,000 year reign of Jesus Christ and his saints (Revelation 20:1-6).
Jesus’ answer to the disciples’ question includes the entire discourse in Matthew 24-25. Jesus actually answers the disciples’ question in three different, but consistent, ways. In Matthew 24:21-22, Jesus warns that a “great tribulation” will occur on the earth just prior to his coming. Verse 22 says: “except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved, but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.” Notice the words “no flesh” would be saved unless the allotted prophetic time (the “days”) was shortened. This tells us there are allotted prophetic periods of “days” in the latter days which will not be allowed to actually happen. There are periods of “days” mentioned in the Bible for the latter day period of time in Daniel 12:11-12 (1260, 1290 and 1335 days) and in Revelation 11:3 (1260 days). Revelation 13:5 mentions the reign of a “beast” leader will be 42 months (which is almost exactly 1260 days). The phrase “time, times and half a time” is mentioned in Revelation 12:14, and if we understand a “time” to be a year and “times” to mean two years, then this works out to about 42 months or 1260 days again. Jesus is referring to these periods of “days” in his answer about the “prophetic “days” being shortened in order to save”all flesh” on earth from extinction.
If we read through the book of Revelation, which includes intervals of prophetic “days” and “times,” some of the events depicted in its prophecies are very grim, indeed. Matthew 24:21-22 give us hope (and confidence) that the prophesied sequence of terrible and destructive events will not all come to pass. Jesus will come early in the timetable of “days,” and that is encouraging news. Matthew 24:22 does not say they might be shortened, it assures us these days of woe shall be shortened. Days being shortened is a plural number of days, but that could mean as few as two days or it may mean 1,000 days of prophetic time at the end of our age. I think it means a lot more than two days; the next paragraph explains why.
Jesus gave his famous parable about the “ten virgins” in Matthew 25:1-13. The theme of the parable is clearly the state of believers at the end of the age when Jesus’ return is imminent. Jesus is “the bridegroom” and the ten virgins are Christian believers. Notice that the ten virgins have all retired for the night and they are “sleeping” when a sudden realization strikes that the “bridegroom” is coming quickly at around “midnight” and will not wait till the morning hours to come. This clearly shows that Jesus Christ will return at a time when his followers do not expect him. Some of the “virgins” have sufficient “oil” (symbolic of the Holy Spirit) in their lives to be allowed entry into the wedding supper with the bridegroom, but five have insufficient oil and miss out on the “wedding supper” of the the Lamb. With all the apocalyptic woes contained in the Bible about latter-day afflictions to come on the earth, one would think every believer would be attuned to every nuance of the global traumas which are prophesied to occur before Jesus returns. But notice, none of the virgins think there will be anything momentous about the night their “sleep” is disturbed; they do not believe Jesus’ return is imminent. This argues that either the severe, end-time sequences of events have not yet started or that there is a pause in their occurrences. However, God can see something hidden which is about to destroy all life on earth that the believers do not see. Therefore, Jesus is sent to begin his kingdom well ahead of the prophesied schedule. I think that is terrific news! It means some if not a lot of the plagues of Revelation will not happen because Jesus will have to return considerably early on the latter-day schedules to make sure humanity is not annihilated before his scheduled return. What could trigger his return? We know only that it will be an “extinction level event.” It may be the testing of an anti-matter weapon that goes wrong, a major catastrophe with the Hadron Super-Collider which threatens to immolate the earth itself, an unseen meteor about to hit the earth or something else. This crisis is going to be an imminent stealth event of some kind due to the profound lack of alarm on the part of the “virgins”–they are unaware of the imminent danger. They see the danger only at the last moment just before Christ returns, but there is no more time to prepare for his coming.
To give added emphasis to his message that he will come suddenly and unexpectedly, Jesus replies in Matthew 24:42-44 to his disciples’ question with a warning: “Watch therefore: for you know not what hour your Lord doth come…therefore, be ye also ready: for in such an hour that you think not the Son of man cometh.”
All three answers given by Jesus regarding the time of his return leave us with the assurance that his return will be unexpected, and that it will be earlier in the latter-day prophetic time schedule than anyone thinks possible. We are told to “watch” events closely and to “be ready” for his return. As long as we are (spiritually) ready, it doesn’t matter when he returns. We will be allowed into his “wedding supper of the Lamb” and into participation in the next age on earth (the 1,000 year reign of Jesus Christ and his saints). Clearly, it is more important to be “ready” than to figure out when he will return.
