What do we mean by the Lord’s return being imminent? Is the return of Christ imminent? Could it happen at any time?
Scoffers have noted that those who preached the imminence of Christ’s return 50 years ago have died. They therefore conclude that it is wrong to say Christ is coming soon or even that it could occur at any moment. Yet Jesus gave very specific instruction to His disciples to watch for His coming.
“Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh” (Matt.24:44).
If the coming of the Lord was not imminent (possible at any moment) then what did the Lord mean? Not only did Jesus warn the disciples to be ready but He also warned of solemn consequences for those who say, “my Lord delayeth his coming” (Matt.24:48).
If words mean anything then Christians of all ages should live their lives in the constant expectation that Jesus could come at any moment whether it be the first century or the twenty-first century. And if God would have us do so then, it must be possible for Christ to come at any moment now.
To suggest any specific time for Christ to return would be wrong for Jesus said: “But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is” (Mark 13:32-33).
Several things are obvious from this passage:
1) There is a specific hour to be decided by the Father when Christ will return.
2) No man knows, or can know, when Jesus will come.
3) The time of Christ’s return is unknown to the angels and even to Jesus.
4) The time of Christ’s return is known only to the Father. It would seem that the Father has not yet made that decision which may be contingent upon other events unfolding.
The Bible teaches that it is the Father who determines WHEN future events will occur. This is plainly stated by the Lord in Acts 1:7
“And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.”
It will always be a mystery to mortal men how there is one God yet three persons. Within this Godhead the Father sent the Son to become flesh like us (John 17:18) and the Holy Spirit was sent by the Father to indwell those who believe (John14:26). The Father has “committed all judgment unto the Son” (John 5:22) yet Jesus could say, “I and my Father are one” (John10:30). This means more than just “one in purpose” for Jesus said to Thomas, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father” (John14:9).
Old Testament saints belonged to the Father but when the New Covenant was enacted, based on the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, the Father gave those saints who were still living on earth to the Son (John 17:6), and they are secure in the hand of the Son and the Father (John 10:27-30). This does not mean in any way that the Son is inferior to the Father for Jesus said that “all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father” (John5:23). Within the Godhead there is perfect unity yet it is the Father who determines “the times or the seasons” and thus we can understand that the Son does not know when He will be sent a second time into the world.
The Time of Christ’s First Advent
Similar warnings to watch were NOT given to Old Testament saints about Christ’s FIRST advent because about 538BC the Father revealed the precisely determined time when Messiah would appear as the King of Israel. Any Jew who knew the Scriptures would have been able to calculate 483 prophetic years from the date of the “command to restore and build Jerusalem” (Dan.9:25) in the month Nisan, the twentieth year of Artaxerxes, 445BC, to Palm Sunday when Jesus fulfilled Zech.9:9 and was presented to the nation as the son of David, their King.
Many other prophecies of Christ’s first advent had no time attached. Prophecies of His virgin birth are merged with His second advent in Isa.9:6-7 and descriptions of His sufferings on the cross give no clue as to when this would take place. Bethlehem, is identified as the location of Jesus’ birth but Micah does not indicate when He would be born. The flight to Egypt and the location of Nazareth as the hometown of the Lord are mentioned in prophecy but only Daniel is given a specific time when Messiah the Prince would be presented to the nation after which He would be cut off.
The time of Christ’s birth could not be precisely foreknown for no prophecy told Messiah’s age when He would ride into Jerusalem as the King of Israel. There were prophecies which indicated the time of Christ’s appearing was near for God would send His messenger, John the Baptist, to “prepare the way” before the Lord (Mal.3:1).
As the time for Christ to be born drew near, Zacharias received the message that John would be born to “make ready a people prepared for the Lord” and Simeon was told that Messiah would appear in his lifetime. Anna and a remnant in Jerusalem lived in anticipation of His imminent coming and it would seem they were aware of the prophecies. The preaching of John told the message; “the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (near) (Matt.3:2;4:17;10:7). At Jesus’ birth the shepherd’s “made known abroad the saying that was told them concerning this child” (Luke 2:20) but this was after the event.
Christ’s Second Advent is always Imminent
There was no excuse for Israel’s failure to recognize the time of Messiah’s first Advent but His second advent has no such explicit time and Jesus’ final message in the Olivet Discourse warned Israel to be ready at any time. In other words, His coming would always be imminent! It could occur at any time. The final generation however, would know that His coming was “near, even at the doors” (Matt.24:33).
In the parable of the rich man (Luke 12:16-40) Jesus told the Jews that the Father would give them the kingdom (Luke12:31) and that He would return “after the wedding” (Luke12:36) for the marriage supper. He urged Israel : “Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not” (Luke12:40).
“And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants” (Luke12:38).
There were four 3-hour watches in the night and Jesus was saying that whatever hour He should come they should be expecting Him! The Disciples, however, were not given the exact time of Christ’s second advent and it is not indicated anywhere in Bible prophecy. When the Disciples asked the Lord for the signs of His coming and of the end of the age He made it very clear that there would be a short period of Great Tribulation immediately before He appeared in glory. The whole purpose of the Olivet Discourse was to provide information about events during the seven years prior to His Second Advent so that the readers would THEN know WHEN the coming of the Lord was near, “even at the doors” (Matt.24:33).
Not only does the Olivet Discourse give signs to indicate the nearness of the Lord’s return but it urges the reader to be in a constant state of watchfulness because the Lord could come at any time. Those who are watching will be blessed:
“Blessed is that servant, whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing” (Matt.24:46).
These warnings in the Olivet Discourse, it must be remembered, were given to Jewish disciples in the age of law before the Church was established. Once the Church was established, Israel was put aside and, as the “natural branch” of the olive tree, was plucked off until the end times.
The reader will recall that we quoted Daniel 9:25-26 as evidence that an explicit time was give for Christ’s presentation to the nation as her king. However, that was only part of the prophecy. Verse 27 indicates that there are seven more years determined on Jerusalem and the nation of Israel before the Lord returns to reign. This period is divided into two equal parts of three and a half years. Other Scriptures describe these periods as 1,260 days, 42 months and “a time, times, and an half” or 3 1/2 years.
These prophecies, located in Daniel 7:25; 12:7; Revelation 11:3; 12:6,14; and 13:5, clearly refer to the first and second halves of the last seven years which God has determined upon Israel before they are blessed in Christ’s millennial kingdom. Furthermore, the events of that last seven years are described in great detail in Revelation chapters 6 through to 18 so that once the seven year period begins, all on earth who know their Bible will know precisely when Christ will return! In fact Jesus said that those who see the events of the Tribulation would know His coming was near, “even at the doors”. How then do we explain the words of the Lord that no man knows the day or hour of His return? And how can we believe in imminence if the last seven years is given in great detail?
The coming of the Lord is in two stages. Jesus is coming FOR His Church BEFORE Israel’s last 7 years of prophetic history and will come WITH His saints (Zech.14:5) at the end of Israel’s last 7 years.
Once this is understood the answer is very simple. When Jesus spoke to Israel about watching for His return there was an unknown period of time which was to precede the last seven years. That was the Church age in which God would take out of the Gentiles “a people for His name” (Acts15:14). The Church is referred to as “the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God” but is “now revealed unto his holy apostles” (Eph.3:5,9). God has determined a definite period of 490 years upon the Jews and Jerusalem but nowhere has he indicated the length of the Church age or the “dispensation (administration) of the grace of God” to the Gentiles (Eph.3:2). Only the Father knows how long the Church age will continue. He will decide when “the fulness of the Gentiles” has come in and the Bride of Christ is complete. Only then will the Father say to the Son, Go and get your Bride! Then the Rapture will take place.
Many Bible prophecies may indicate that the Church age is drawing to a close but there is no definite time specified. Thus, nearly 2,000 years ago, Jesus could say, “ye know not what hour your Lord doth come”.
What are the prophesied events which must occur in the gap between Israel’s 69th “seven” of years and her last “seven” of years (the 70th) when Israel’s prophetic history begins again? They are:
1) Messiah must be “cut off”. This happened four days after Jesus rode into Jerusalem to the cry, “Blessed is the King that cometh in the name of the Lord!” 2) The city of Jerusalem must be destroyed by the Romans in fulfilment of Daniel 9:27:
“The people of the prince that shall come (Antichrist) shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.”
This was fulfilled in A.D.70 by the Roman armies led by Titus, 38 years after the presentation of Messiah the Prince to the nation on Palm Sunday. 3) After Israel rejected Messiah God turned to the Gentiles to take out of them “a people for His name” and this Church of Jesus Christ would issue a genuine call to Israel to repent. Jesus told the Disciples just 10 days before Pentecost that they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit and that they were to witness, first at “Jerusalem, then in all Judaea, and in Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts1:8). The Gentile Church was the “other sheep”, which were not of the fold of Israel, whom Jesus said He must bring (John 10:16). The Church was formed on the day of Pentecost but her first message was to Israel and so Peter preached to the Jews:
“Repent ye (of killing the Prince of life) therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive UNTIL the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began” (Acts 3:19-21).
The last chapter of Acts describes Israel’s rejection of the Gospel presented by the Church and so Paul says:
“The heart of this people is waxed gross (calloused), and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it” (Acts 28:27-28).
To the Church at Rome Paul wrote that the Gospel was the power of God unto salvation “to the Jews first, and also to the Greek” (Rom.1:16). The Church fulfilled its testimony to Israel in the lifetime of Paul.
In the parable of the marriage supper for the king’s son (Matt.22:1-14) the guests were invited three times. The parable teaches three calls for Israel to come to the marriage supper of the Lamb which takes place after Christ returns to the earth.
The first invitation was given by the Lord during His earthly ministry but “they would not come”. Jesus said:
“How oft would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not” (Matt.23:37). The second invitation was issued by the early Church but they “spitefully entreated” the Christians and “slew them.” Had Israel accepted the invitation to the marriage supper of the Lamb at the second call then Christ would have come to establish His kingdom but they rejected the testimony of the Church (Acts 3:19-21).
The third invitation will be given by 144,000 Jewish witnesses who will preach “the Gospel of the kingdom in all the world for a witness” during the first half of the 7-year Tribulation. At this time, “All Israel shall be saved” (Ezek.39:22; Rom.11:26)
The unknown factor in God’s program is the commencement of the last 7 years before Christ returns to reign so we need to ask, What event brings the Church age to a close and introduces Israel’s final 7 years of prophetic history? In Paul’s epistle to the Romans chapters 9 to 11 we have described the relationship of Israel to the Church in this age. In this age there is a remnant of Israel being saved but the Church is “neither Jew nor Greek (Gentile)...for ye are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal.3:28).
Israel is described as a “natural olive branch” which has been broken off and the Gentile believers are described as a “wild olive branch” graffed into the olive tree in her place. But this will only continue “UNTIL the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved” (Rom.11:25-26).
Acts 15 explains what the term, “the fulness of the Gentiles” means. This is the Church of Jesus Christ which God is taking out of the Gentiles “for the name” of the Lord Jesus (Acts15:14). “The fulness of the Gentiles” therefore means the completion of that number which make up the predominantly Gentile Church. That number is either not yet determined by the Father or the time when it will occur awaits the response to the Gospel. Jesus was perfectly right to say that no man knows the day or the hour when He would return.
Once the Rapture of the Church has occurred, then Israel’s prophetic clock will begin to tick and the last 7 years of history before Christ returns to reign will run its course.
The Parable of the 10 Virgins
Jesus gave a parable of 5 wise and 5 foolish virgins. He told this parable to the Jews. It applies to Israel and not the Church.
The marriage supper of the Lamb occurs AFTER Christ returns in glory and the parable is addressed to Israel warning them to be ready for Christ’s return at the end of the Tribulation. Foolish virgins will not enter the kingdom or be at the marriage supper of the Lamb!
Israel will heed this warning because in the Tribulation, all ungodly Jews will perish and “all (surviving) Israel shall be saved” at the time of the Russian invasion in the first half of the Tribulation (Rom.11:26; Ezek.39:22-29; Jer.31:34).
Can we Say Christ’s Return is Near?
The coming of the Lord to reign will always be at least 7 years away because there must be 7 years of Great Tribulation called, the Day of the Lord, immediately preceding it. Jesus said His coming to reign would be “immediately after the tribulation of those days” (Matt.24:29). The Rapture of the Church however, precedes the Tribulation and it is this event which triggers the final 7 years of Israel’s history as determined in Daniel 9:27.
Paul wrote of the Day of the Lord and told the Christians, “Ye are not in darkness, that that day (the Tribulation) should overtake you as a thief…for God hath not appointed us to wrath” (1Thess.5:4,9).
During Israel’s last 7 years of history and before the kingdom is established, there are certain political, economic and environmental events described and these will occur quickly. Preparation for these events will no doubt begin prior to the 7 year period. Some of these are as follows:
- i) Israel must already be re-established in the land before the last 7 years begins because a Roman prince will make a 7-year treaty with Israel at its commencement. Israel became a nation on 14 May 1948.
- ii) The last 7 years of Israel’s history begins with a treaty signed by a Roman prince whose people destroyed the city of Jerusalem and other Scriptures (Dan.2 and 7) indicate that the Roman Empire, the fourth kingdom on earth, is to be revived just before Jesus returns.
The union of European states under the banner of the EU is undoubtedly a revival of the Roman Empire. In 2024 the EU has 27 member countries and a population approaching 500 million. After the Lisbon Treaty in December 2009 a President and a Foreign Minister were appointed. The President will ultimately have power like that of the US President. Foreign policy will be administered by the EU Foreign Minister. The Bible teaches that the Revived Roman Empire will be led by the Beast (Antichrist) and his False Prophet.
iii) Halfway through the 7 years the Roman prince will cause the Jewish Temple sacrifices to cease. This requires the Jewish Temple to be rebuilt. There has been no Temple for nearly 2,000 years and any move by the Jews to rebuild or to refurnish the Temple must therefore be an indication that Israel’s last 7 years before the return of Christ must be approaching.
The Temple mount was captured from the Jordanians in 1967 and there are a number of Jewish organizations actively preparing for and promoting the reconstruction of the 3rd Temple. Since 1998 Jews have been minting and selling the “holy half-shekel” and accumulating funds for the maintenance of the 3rd Temple.
- iv) During the first half of the 7 years Israel will be invaded by a “northern army” led by Russia. At this time Israel will turn to the Lord (Ezek.29:22). This army will be drawn from Iran, Turkey, Libya and Sudan (Ezek.38:1-7). In 2011 these Islamic countries began forging economic and military ties with Russia, and Iran is threatening to destroy Israel.
- v) Daniel foretold that at the time of the end “many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased” (Dan.12:4). In the 20th Century millions of people began traversing the globe daily and there has been an explosion of scientific knowledge. This prophecy is being fulfilled.
- vi) The Great Tribulation will be a time of unprecedented global warfare and we see many nations in possession of nuclear weapons or in the process of acquiring them. Vast sums of money are expended on armaments and preparations are being made for warfare on a scale described in the Bible for the last seven years before Christ returns.
vii) During the Tribulation, apostasy will reach its zenith with one global religion set up by the Antichrist halfway through the Tribulation and centred in Jerusalem. The world’s religions will be overthrown and “all the world” will wonder after the Beast (Rev.13:3). The ecumenical movement made massive strides during the 20th Century and dialogue is continually being encouraged between all religions. Within Christendom many have departed from the Truth and deny the Word of God. The Charismatic movement is practicing signs and wonders, the very thing that will characterize Antichrist’s religion (Rev.13:13-15; 2Thess.2:9; Matt.7:22-23). The present theological climate is preparing for the apostasy of the Great Tribulation.
With all of these events enacted before us it would be foolish of us to deny that we are in the last days or that the Rapture must be drawing near. How long? We do not know. But if ever the Church needed to be watching in holiness and giving a strong Gospel testimony it is in this 21st Century. It certainly is not an exaggeration to say that the Lord’s coming is imminent and that His coming for His Church could be at any time!
by John R Ecob
