“Look, I am coming soon!” (Revelation 22:12) This is a promise whose fulfilment has been awaited by generations of believers who have pinned all their hopes on Jesus’s return in glory. But what does “soon” mean? And what should we do to avoid being so preoccupied with the signs that we neglect other essential aspects of our preparation?
It has been said, and rightly so, that the waiting for the return of Jesus never lasts longer than a human lifetime, since from the point of view of the departed, only a moment elapses between their last heartbeat and their resurrection. For Christians, this explanation makes sense, but it is hard to imagine that the enthusiasm and missionary zeal of Christians throughout the ages would have remained undiminished if they had known that the return of Jesus would not take place in their generation, or even in the generation of their grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
As Christian author Marvin Moore notes, the pioneers of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, a church built on the message of Jesus’ return, would have been shocked to learn that the world would continue for another century and a half, even though they preached and believed wholeheartedly that “the time is short.”[1]
In fact, even the disciples of Jesus waited for the return of the One they loved in their lifetime, and this hope sustained them as they spread the Gospel and faced persecution and hostile times. “The end of all things is at hand,”[2] wrote Peter, while James, to emphasise the imminence of Jesus’ return, declared that “the Judge is standing at the door!”[3]
Perhaps the feeling generated by this unimaginably long wait was best captured by the title of an editorial by the Pastor Loren Seibold: “It’s too late for Jesus to come soon.”
How do we make sense of the signs that point to the return of Jesus?
The challenge in understanding the signs is that history has provided many moments when these signs seemed to be fulfilled before the eyes of those expecting them, and this is all the more evident today, writes Professor Clarence Haynes.
Believers in every generation have been convinced that they are living in the last days of the earth, so it is not surprising that various events (of greater or lesser magnitude) have been interpreted as certain signs of the return of Jesus. “The signs that fired the pioneers seem like relics in a museum of antiquities,” observed a Christian writer in a 1990 article listing new signs that history is moving forward.
As a Seventh-day Adventist, you may be suffering from a certain “signs of the times” fatigue, writes Pastor Shawn Brace, who has heard and preached on the subject of Jesus’s imminent return countless times. Indeed, it has become commonplace for every major crisis to be interpreted as a sign of the end (the two world wars, the Great Depression, the moon landing, the 9/11 attacks, etc.), and critics have not missed an opportunity to ridicule this warning frenzy. Brace emphasises the tension between the awareness of a period of unprecedented upheaval and the unfulfilled expectations of those who were convinced they were living the signs of the end.
Pastor John Nixon, for his part, notes the contradiction between two eschatological principles and argues that the mission of believers is not to explain the delay in the fulfilment of biblical prophecy, but to live by faith in expectation of it. The first eschatological principle is the certainty that the second coming of Jesus will take place (and will be preceded by the foreshadowing signs announced by Jesus himself in chapter 24 of the Gospel of Matthew): “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door” (Matthew 24:32-33).
As surely as we know that summer is knocking at the door by the changes in the fig tree, we understand that Jesus’s second coming is near when we see the signs that Jesus prophesied unfolding.
The second eschatological principle is that of uncertainty: “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Matthew 24:36). Christians are called to live in this tension between the certainty of the expected event, whose fulfilment is guaranteed by the One who cannot lie, and the uncertainty of the time when it will happen, Nixon concludes: “And just as the certainty stands up against our doubts, so the uncertainty resists our investigations”.
In an article written almost four decades ago, Pastor Neal C. Wilsom expressed his concern about two extremes to which some of the preachers of his day were slipping. On the one hand, some were becoming very quiet on the subject of the second coming of Jesus. On the other hand, others became obsessed with the signs of the end, informing their listeners not only of the changes they considered relevant, but also of speculations about them. This incessant exercise in alarming (if not horrifying) others does a disservice to the gospel, Nixon explains, because it is not the fulfilment of the signs, but the encounter with Jesus, to be with Him always, that is the essence of the biblical message of the second coming.
Since we can be sure that Jesus is coming, but we cannot determine the exact time of His return, living in expectation is the only way to resolve the contradictions inherent in this cosmic event. Jesus Himself tried to direct the disciples’ attention from the signs of His coming to the preparation for the encounter with Him: “So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him” (Matthew 24:44).
Caring for others is part of preparing for Jesus’s return
We should never talk about the signs of the second coming of Jesus described in Matthew 24 without also focusing on the message of Matthew 25 about how to prepare for this event, says Pastor Willie Hucks. Analysing the parables that Jesus presents in the context of preparation for the Bridegroom’s coming (the parable of the ten virgins, which points to the role of the Holy Spirit in preparing Christians; the parable of the talents, which emphasises the importance of using the gifts we have received; and the parable of the sheep and the goats, which emphasises responsibility to our fellow human beings), Hucks concludes: “In other words, Jesus is coming back for those who walk with Him and others—including ‘the least of these brothers of mine’ (Matthew 25:40).”
A poll conducted by the Pew Research Center in 2022 showed that a large number of Americans believe that Jesus will return either sooner or later. Nearly 4 in 10 respondents said we are living in the end times, while 55% are convinced that Jesus will return one day, with 10% believing the event will happen in their lifetime. Surprisingly, 29% of those belonging to non-Christian religions and 23% of those with no religious affiliation also believe that the times in which they live are the end times.
Jesus concludes His account of the signs of the end by declaring that those who will inherit eternal life are those who have loved His most ignored brothers and sisters.
We do not know what role the events of turbulent 2022 have played in shaping opinions about the imminent end of the world, but beyond observing the visible signs of the planet’s deteriorating political, economic or ecological balance, “being Second Coming people” means pursuing the healing mission Jesus outlined as a way of life. As Pastor Shawn Brace points out, it is fascinating that Jesus concludes His presentation of the signs of the end by declaring that those who will inherit eternal life are those who have treated with love His most ignored brothers and sisters—the stranger, the imprisoned, the hungry. In fact, Brace writes, this was the last teaching Jesus gave before going to the cross.
Is there any way to avoid being unpleasantly surprised by His return, having missed the opportunity to go home, where a place and a feast have already been prepared for us? If we want to know what God is doing, if we want to be on the same wavelength as His plans, the only solution is to walk with Him daily, Pastor Nixon emphasises, noting that while His ways may be mysterious, His character is no longer a mystery to those who know Him.
In the end, the return of Jesus is less like a difficult equation to be solved and more like an emotional reunion with a loved one from whom we have been separated for a long time. That is why the greatest loss (or the greatest punishment, in the words of the apostle Paul) suffered by those who are caught unprepared for this event will be to be “shut out from the presence of the Lord” (2 Thessalonians 1:9). Since no loss can compare to being separated from the One who loved us as no one ever will, let us allow the mission we have received from Him to shape our expectations[4] and the lenses through which we view the signs of the times.
Carmen Lăiu is an editor of Signs of the Times Romania and ST Network.