Albert Einstein defined
insanity as “doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” Over
the past five generations, since at least 1830, American prophecy preachers
have pointed to earthquakes, wars, famines, increased speed of travel, and vast
increases in human knowledge as evidence that the “last generation” to exist
before the return of Jesus was underway.
Despite these claims made with a
seemingly impressive amount of evidence, Jesus has not returned, the battle
of Armageddon has not been fought, the
Antichrist has not appeared, “Gog and Magog” have not attacked Israel
from the north, the Roman empire has not risen again, the false prophet and his
new world religion are nowhere to be found, the great tribulation has yet to
commence, California has not fallen into the sea, and there has been no
“rapture” despite the passage of over two “generations” since the founding of
modern Israel (1948). This would seem to fit Professor Einstein’s definition.
Preachers tell us that Jesus
and the Apostle Paul told us that we are to know the “times and seasons” so we will
recognize the “signs” that indicate the proximity of the “end” and the return
of Jesus in glory. But did Paul ever teach such a thing?
The Apostle referred often to
the future “coming” of Jesus; it is foundational to the Christian hope and Paul’s
gospel. Our salvation will remain
incomplete until Jesus returns and raises us from the dead. Paul did a time or
two describe key events that will coincide with the return of Jesus, including
the resurrection, the consummation of the kingdom, the cessation of death, and
the judgment of the wicked (1 Corinthians 15:20-28, 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10).
But Paul’s list of “signs” that
will precede the coming of Jesus is quite brief. His description of sin and deceivers waxing worse and worse is too general to pin to any
specific event or even generation; every era of Church history has been plagued
with false teachers and apostasy (1 Timothy 4:1-2).
The closest
Paul came to a list of recognizable “signs” that will precede the Second Coming
is found in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4; however, in that passage, he referred
to two things that had not yet occurred as evidence that the “day of the
Lord has not yet set in,” not as evidence of its proximity. That day could
not possibly commence since neither the “man of lawlessness” nor the “apostasy”
had yet appeared (Interestingly, this “man of lawlessness” will be
characterized by his “lying signs and wonders”). How long after these
two events before the day of the Lord arrives Paul did not say.
In only one
passage does the Apostle Paul discuss the “signs and seasons,” in 1
Thessalonians 5:1-3 (“But concerning the times and the seasons
you have no need that anything be written to you, for you yourselves know accurately
that the day of the Lord is coming like a thief in the night”). This statement
follows a paragraph in which Paul provided further explanation on the “coming”
or Parousia of Jesus, which demonstrates that the Thessalonians did not
possess a detailed and accurate knowledge of final events (1 Thessalonians
4:13-18).
Paul’s point is there is no
need to provide the Thessalonians with details about the “times and seasons”
because, as they already knew “accurately,” the day of the Lord
is coming like a thief in the night, echoing a parable of Jesus. The point of the analogy is to always be
ready precisely because no one can know where and when a thief will strike (cp.
Luke 12:37-40).
Paul expresses his assurance
that the Thessalonians will not be taken by surprise, not because they know all
the signs for which to watch, but because they are children of the light and
live righteous lives. They remain ready for that day’s sudden arrival because
of their right relationship with God, therefore, it will not overtake them “like
a thief in the night.”
As for the wicked, they will declare
“peace and safety,” living as if nothing untoward will ever occur until
“sudden destruction overtakes them.” The analogy of Jesus comparing the
years prior to his return with the “days of Noah and of Lot” are echoed
in this statement. Christ’s point was not that life just before his return would
replicate the conditions before the flood; rather, that men and women would go
about their daily routines until the day of the Son of Man arrived suddenly and
overtook them.
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