I had a conversation a few weeks ago with my best friend. I hadn’t seen him in a while and we were going to be meeting up. We went down the trail of thought that we would see each other “Good Lord willing and the creek don’t rise.” In other words, James 4:13-15
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.
Then he mentioned something about the Lord coming back before we met up and I said, won’t happen this week so no worries.” He responded, “date setting? No man knows the day or the hour?”
“No, not setting a date, but Jesus did say we would know the season and this isn’t it.”
I’ve been thinking about that conversation for a while which has prompted this blog. What is the truth about date setting, “not knowing the day or the hour” and watching for the signs to know the season? Let’s examine.
In Matthew 24, the disciples ask Jesus in verse 3, “What will be the sign of Your coming and of the close of the age?” Jesus responds with a list of things that will happen before He comes back. The list is:
Matthew 24:5 – False Christs (Sign #1)
Matthew 24:6 – Wars and rumors of wars (Sign #2)
Matthew 24:7 – Famines and earthquakes (Sign #3)
Matthew 24:8 – After this third one, Jesus said, “All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.” (Not coming back yet!)
Then in Matthew 24:9-13 He goes on to say that Christians will be put to death, others will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. He further adds that the love of many will grow cold. (Signs #4, 5) This is a biggie as you will see.
Finally, in Matthew 24:14 He says that the gospel must be proclaimed throughout the whole world and THEN the end will come (Sign #6).
This statement seems to tie His coming with the end of the world as we know it. But the disciples already knew that the two events were the same because that’s the way they asked the question.
So, Jesus gave us a list of signs. Then He described what would be happening during those sign times in Matthew 24:15-26. It will be a terrible time for humanity, but in particular, Christians.
However, in verses 27-31, He does come back and gathers His elect from the four corners of the earth. It’s His coming! And the end of the age or as we also call it, the end of the “time of the gentiles.” That’s another blog. 🙂
So, we see the signs and then we see Him coming to gather His Church. Ok, got it.
In Matthew 24:32-35, Jesus told us we will know the season of His coming. He said that it will be as easy to understand as knowing that spring is coming by the fact that trees are sprouting leaves. He said, “when you see all these things, you know that He is near, at the very gates.”
So, when we see the signs listed, ALL OF THE SIGNS, we should know that Jesus is about to come back.
In Matthew 24:36, He told us that only God the Father knows the day or the hour, so that part is also very easy to understand. We don’t know exactly WHEN Jesus will come back, but we CAN know the season.
So, the season when Jesus will return, gather His church and put an end to this present age is something we can easily understand, even though we can’t know the exact day or hour. Simple.
THIS ISN’T THE SEASON!
While some of the signs are happening across the world at any given time and even increasing in their frequency and intensity, e.g. False Christs, wars, famine, earthquakes and even the killing of Christians, it still isn’t the season. Jesus wasn’t speaking about the day to day events that have transpired throughout history or even this uptick in numbers concerning Christians dying. He was speaking of an increase that would be easy for us to understand that the season of His return was nearing.
But lest we be confused, Paul gave us a clear understanding of what the season would look like that includes TWO specific signs before the rapture. 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, Paul wrote
Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him (RAPTURE), we ask you, brothers and sisters, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter—asserting that the day of the Lord has already come. Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until 1. The rebellion occurs and 2. The man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God. Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things?
Do you see it? He said that the day when Jesus comes to gather us to Himself will not come until: 1. The Rebellion and 2. The man of Apostasy is revealed. Let’s look at both.
Paul doesn’t elaborate on point 1 but Jesus gave us great descriptions of the rebellion which is when many who call themselves Christians will fall away from the faith and choose to follow the Antichrist and popular opinion of that troubling time.
Matthew 24:10, 11 – At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold
Mark 13:12, 13 – “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. Everyone will hate you because of me
This is the rebellion that Paul wrote about.
Paul does go on to tell us that the way the man of lawlessness is revealed is that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God. Jesus also said that event would happen BEFORE He gathers His saints. Matthew 24:15-31 says
So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand—then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.
If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you ahead of time.
So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.
Immediately after the distress of those days “ ‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.
Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
So the season truly begins with two signs that are as easy to understand as leaves budding on a tree: 1. Persecution of Christians which will lead to many rebelling against the faith and 2. The Antichrist sets himself up in the temple proclaiming himself to be God.
Are we in that season? NO! We might be in the beginning of birth pains. I don’t believe so, but that is yet to be proven.
So what do you do with this information?
Draw closer to Jesus, work on your sanctification by learning more about Him and being more like Him in your day to day life.
Hide God’s word in your heart so that you will recognize the season and be able to prepare others as well.
Trust in the Lord – His timing is perfect.
We may be called upon to endure through much persecution, or that may be years in the future. But we do know this, “the one who endures to the end will be saved!”
For now, take heart, this isn’t the season. Worship freely, love generously and encourage boldly.
~RevKev