The Final Sign

According to Jesus, the End will not come until the Gospel of the Kingdom of God has been proclaimed to all nations – Matthew 24:14.

When the subject of the Second Coming is raised, the question of what “sign” or “signs” will precede it is asked. Invariably, wars, earthquakes, tsunamis, famines, and similar catastrophes are proposed as the harbingers of that day. Yet Jesus gave us the definitive answer to this question, namely, the completion of the mission of the Church to proclaim his Salvation and Lordship to all the nations of the Earth.

[Photo by Zoritsa Valova on Unsplash]

After his final visit to the Temple, he predicted its destruction. Because Israel had rejected her Messiah, “All these things shall come upon this generation. Behold, your house is left to you desolate. Truly I declare to you, there shall not be left one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down” - (Matthew 23:34-39, 24:1-2).

The disciples then asked two questions. When would the predicted destruction of the Temple occur? Secondly, what would be the “sign” of the coming of the Son of Man and the conclusion of the age?

Christ began by issuing a dire warning - Beware of false messiahs and false prophets who will deceive many. His disciples would hear about wars, earthquakes, international conflicts, and famines. False prophets and other deceivers would point to such events as signs of the rapidly approaching End.

However, calamities of this sort were not indicators of the End. Disasters would occur but the “End is not yet.” False teachers would infiltrate among his followers and point to these very things as “signs” of his imminent return, thus raising false expectations and “deceiving many” - (Matthew 24:4-8, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4).

Human and natural catastrophes occur regularly, therefore, his followers must "not be alarmed" when they inevitably do so. They are not chronological markers by which his Assembly can calculate the timing of the End. At most, they are a “beginning of birth pains,” portends of the inevitable termination of the present age.

Nowhere did Jesus predict that the frequency or intensity of earthquakes, wars, and other natural and manmade disasters would increase as the End drew near.

To the first question, his answer was - Within “this generation.” The generation that was contemporary with him would see the destruction of the Temple, and this happened when a Roman army destroyed it and Jerusalem in A.D. 70, exactly as he predicted - within one generation - (Matthew 3:7, 11:16, 12:34-45, 16:4, 17:17, 23:33-36, 24:34).

THE SIGN

Regarding his “coming on the clouds and the conclusion of the age,” Jesus declared that no man knows that day or hour except God alone. Therefore, his disciples must always be prepared for its unexpected and sudden arrival.

Knowledge of the “times and seasons” belongs to God alone, and any man who claims such knowledge either lies or arrogates to himself information that even the Son of Man did not possess - (Matthew 24:36, Mark 13:33, Acts 1:7-9).

As to the requested “sign,” Jesus gave us one explicit goal that must be achieved before he returns – Namely, the “proclamation of this Gospel of the Kingdom in the whole habitable earth for a testimony to all nations.” Only “then will the end come.”

The message of his Kingdom is Good News for all men who hear and embrace it, and his Assembly must bear witness to it in every corner of the Earth before the “Son of Man arrives… to gather his saints” - (Matthew 24:14).

In the Greek clause, the demonstrative pronoun translated as “this Gospel” or ‘houtos’ is emphatic. It is, “this Gospel of the Kingdom” we must proclaim, presumably, the same message preached by Jesus and his Apostles.

This task he assigned to his followers. They must “Go and teach all nations to observe all things I commanded you; behold, I am with you even unto the end of the age.” We must complete this mission before he returns and consummates God’s kingdom, raises the dead, gathers his elect, and judges the nations - (Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 1:6-8, 1 Corinthians 15:20-28).

How do we know when the task is done? According to Jesus, when the End arrives! The fact that he has not appeared “on the clouds of heaven” proves that our mission remains incomplete.

The human desire to know when Jesus will arrive is understandable. The desire for certainty about the future drives our attempts to discern the “times and seasons” and calculate dates. Nevertheless, all past attempts to do so have failed. Date-setting always results in disappointment and failure.

Until Christ returns, we are called to preach the Gospel even to the most remote parts of the inhabited Earth. Bringing our ‘Great Commission’ to its vital conclusion matters far more than possessing accurate information about signs, “times and seasons,” and prophetic timetables.

This raises and answers the question – Why has his return been “delayed,” supposedly, for 2,000+ years?  The answer is clear. Since the Church has yet to complete its mission, he is waiting for us to proclaim the Kingdom of God to every corner of the globe. Only then will he appear “on the clouds of heaven.”  In this way, we may even “hasten” his return.

Jesus is not late, nor has God “delayed” his return for some reason known only to Him. The Risen Lord is waiting for his Assembly to complete its paramount task.

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SEE ALSO:

• His Witnesses - (The men purchased from every nation by the Lamb become his priestly witnesses who persevere in the Testimony of Jesus)

• The Mission - (The mission of the Assembly of Jesus is to proclaim the Good News of his Kingdom to all Nations until he returns – Matthew 24:14)

• The Message - (Jesus summoned his disciples to proclaim the Good News of his Kingdom to every inhabited corner of the Earth)