202 Matthew 24 The NonSigns of the Second Coming

In Matthew 24 Jesus responds to the disciples who want him to notice the beauty of the temple buildings and he responds with the news that all these buildings will soon be completely demolished. He then sites many things that will happen before the destruction of Jerusalem and/or His Second Coming. We have mistakenly taken these signs to urge his followers to be faithful because his return is close at hand. But Jesus gives only one sign to depend upon and that is the spread of the Good News of the Kingdom to all the world. He leaves no doubt that the coming is unexpected and known only to the Father.

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Matthew 24—The Sign of the Second Coming

Every time there is a significant catastrophe on earth some Christians can see the end of the world at hand. When Matthew lists the signs, Jesus gave the following verses which are often ignored.

36—no will know the day or the hour,

42—you don't know what day your Lord is coming,

44—the Son of Man will come when least expected,

50—the master will return unannounced and unexpected.

Paul’s admonition is also disregarded.

1 Thessalonians 5:2 NLT For you know quite well that the day of the Lord’s return will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night.

I remember my father betting my atheistic uncle Jesus would come within ten years when I was 8 years old. It was not a smart bet because if Jesus came money would be worthless, if Jesus did not come he was out of pocket. Dad was devout and sincere but sincerely wrong. So was William Miller and 100,000 fellow believers in 1844. We don't learn much from our history, so we repeat it.

The Jews during the Holocaust believed that Messiah would coming to deliver them from the Nazi's. He did not and most of them decided “God was dead.” They believed he would come because this was what they wanted, deliverance. The Adventist Tutsis in Rwanda during the genocide believed this was the end of the world, because they were desperate for redemption. As Christians get older they tend to believe the Second Coming is imminent so they can escape death.

We have bigger fish to fry than being sensationalists about the Second Coming. We have the good news of what God has done and is doing and the future he has planned in his time.

Many Believers think that being nice people is what Christianity is about. That is Humanism. We are Believers. Believers know they are the apple of God's eye. They know God knows them by name.

Believers know that God is going to bring them safely home to an eternity of deepest intimacy with himself and others. Believers know they must be patient because there is no coercion in God's government and the attraction of love takes time. They also know that compassion and mercy are characteristics of their God and their Saviour.

There have been many dates set for the Second Coming in the last 200 years.

1843 William Miller

1844 Samuel Snow (April and then 22 October of 1844)

1988 Edgar Whisenant, a retired NASA engineer, sold several million copies of a book called “Eighty Eight Reasons Why the Rapture Will be in 1988.”

1994 Harold Camping (Radio preacher) predicts the Second Coming will be in September 1994.

1998 Larry Wilson, a Seventh-day Adventist using calculations predicts the Second Coming in 1998.

2000 Many Christians believe that the roll over of the century will bring the Second Coming.

2022 Harold Camping again predicts that the Second Coming will be in 2022.Public-opinion polls consistently find that 30-40 percent of Americans believe that Bible

prophecies offer a specific timetable of End Time events, including the Battle of Armageddon between the forces of righteousness and evil. America's free market of religious movements and high level of literalist biblical belief, coupled with our modern mass communications systems, provide fertile soil for such beliefs. Further, prophecy belief offers a satisfying sense of access to secret knowledge, infuses human history with ultimate meaning and an exciting dramatic aura, and holds out hope that after the terrors of the Tribulation will come the Millennium (Revelation, chapters 20-21),

Christ's thousand-year reign of justice and peace, so different from

the present age. (Paul Boyer)

With the above in mind, we now read the chapter.

24 As Jesus was leaving the Temple grounds, his disciples pointed out to him the various Temple buildings. 2 But he responded, “Do you see all these buildings? I tell you the truth, they will be completely demolished. Not one stone will be left on top of another!”

This happened less than 40 years later in 70 C.E. when the Romans demolished the temple and the city. This was the second temple built by Ezra and Nehemiah 500 years previously and renovated and recently embellished by Herod the Great over 46 years.

3 Later, Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives. His disciples came to him privately and said, “Tell us, when will all this happen? What sign will signal your return and the end of the world?”

This is one instance of the disciples grasping that Jesus was going away and would return. At this point they did not realize that he would be tortured and executed and resurrected before he went away. The disciples understand that the Second Coming and the End of the World occur at the same time. This is their understanding and is not suggested by Jesus.

4 Jesus told them, “Don’t let anyone mislead you,

Read that statement by Jesus again. Many preachers and evangelists are misled and read this chapter as if it was the signs Jesus gave of his coming. Jesus only gives one sign for his return.

5 for many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah.’ They will deceive many. 6 And you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won’t follow immediately. 7 Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. 8 But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come.

Jesus lists the four Old Testament curses for disobedience (Ezekiel 14:21) which are also represented by the four apocalyptic horsemen of Revelation 6. These curses or consequences are false messiahs/wild beasts, wars, famines, and earthquakes. The earthquakes are representative of all natural disasters such as floods, lightning strikes, hurricanes, disease, and death.

This is the first warning that the Second Coming will not be after the first of false messiahs, wars, famines and earthquakes.

9 “Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because you are my followers. 10 And many will turn away from me and betray and hate eachother. 11 And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people. 12 Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14 And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come.

Jesus is predicting the lack of love and prevalence of hatred in the world and the church. This has happened repeatedly in the last 2000 years. The Dark Ages were dark because of the lack of mercy and compassion between people and people groups. War is a revelation of this internecine hatred between people and groups. The 20 million deaths in WWI and 50 million deaths in WWII are examples of the consequences of hatred generated by greed.

15 “The day is coming when you will see what Daniel the prophet spoke about—the sacrilegious object that causes desecration standing in the Holy Place.” (Reader, pay attention!) (Daniel 9:27; 11:31; 12:11) 16 “Then those in Judea must flee to the hills. 17 A person out on the deck of a roof must not go down into the house to pack. 18 A person out in the field must not return even to get a coat. 19 How terrible it will be for pregnant women and for nursing mothers in those days. 20 And pray that your flight will not be in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For there will be greater anguish than at any time since the world began. And it will never be so great again. 22 In fact, unless that time of calamity is shortened, not a single person will survive. But it will be shortened for the sake of God’s chosen ones.

Praying that their flight will not be in winter is understandable. Praying for expectant and nursing mothers is understandable. Why the concern about flight on the Sabbath?

There was an area around the city wall of Jerusalem referred to as “the holy place” and when the Romans armies gathered here to attack the city the Christians left when they had an opportunity. There is another fulfillment. The holy place of humanity is the mind. When the mind is occupied by anti-Christ it is time to leave organizations or empires which foster this invasion by evil.

23 “Then if anyone tells you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah,’ or ‘There he is,’ don’t believe it. 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform great signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God’s chosen ones. 25 See, I have warned you about this ahead of time.

This is the second prediction that messiah will return unexpectedly. The phenomena of supernatural signs and wonders being used by false messiahs is warned against in 2 Thessalonians 2 and Revelation 13. Both these passages predict the use of marvelous signs to authenticate the credibility of false Christ’s or the False Christ who will masquerade as Jesus Christ.

26 “So if someone tells you, ‘Look, the Messiah is out in the desert,’ don’t bother to go and look. Or, ‘Look, he is hiding here,’ don’t believe it! 27 For as the lightning flashes in the east and shines to the west, so it will be when the Son of Man comes. 28 Just as the gathering of vultures shows there is a carcass nearby, so these signs indicate that the end is near.

29 “Immediately after the anguish of those days,

the sun will be darkened, the moon will give no light,the stars will fall from the sky,

and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. (Isaiah 13:10; 34:4; Joel 2:10.)

30 And then at last, the sign that the Son of Man is coming will appear in the heavens, and there will be deep mourning among all the peoples of the earth. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

This mourning is described in Revelation 6:15-17. The sign that Jesus is coming are the clouds of angels that accompany him. Compare Daniel 7:13.

31 And he will send out his angels with the mighty blast of a trumpet, and they will gather his chosen ones from all over the world—from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven.

32 “Now learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branches bud and its leaves begin to sprout, you know that summer is near. 33 In the same way, when you see all these things, you can know his return is very near, right at the door. 34 I tell you the truth, this generation will not pass from the scene until all these things take place. 35 Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear.

“all these things” cannot refer to false messiah’s, war, disease and earthquakes which are ongoing. It must refer to specifically to the gospel being preached to all the world as predicted in Revelation (18:1) and to the coming of the Son of Man.

36 “However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows.

37 “When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. 38 In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat. 39 People didn’t realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes.

40 “Two men will be working together in the field; one will be taken, the other left. 41 Two

women will be grinding flour at the mill; one will be taken, the other left.

These verses emphasize for the third time the unexpectedness of the Lord’s return. Business is as usual as it was before the flood. The end comes dramatically when least expected. Most Adventists have not noticed this paragraph about the unexpectedness of the coming.

42 “So you, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know what day your Lord is coming.

43 Understand this: If a homeowner knew exactly when a burglar was coming, he would keep watch and not permit his house to be broken into. 44 You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.

Jesus keeps making it clear that his coming will be unexpected by all. This is his fourth warning.

45 “A faithful, sensible servant is one to whom the master can give the responsibility of managing his other household servants and feeding them. 46 If the master returns and finds that the servant has done a good job, there will be a reward. 47 I tell you the truth, the master will put that servant in charge of all he owns. 48 But what if the servant is evil and thinks, ‘My masterwon’t be back for a while,’ 49 and he begins beating the other servants, partying, and getting drunk? 50 The master will return unannounced and unexpected,

This is as clear as it can possibly be made. The return will be “unannounced and unexpected.” This is the fifth warning of the unexpectedness of the coming.

51 and he will cut the servant to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

These verses, from 37 to the end of the chapter, are warnings not to set times for the Second Coming.

It is interesting to think about how much time was expected until the Second Coming after reading these words of Jesus. In hindsight we know that almost 2000 years have passed since the destruction of the temple and the city of Jerusalem and the carrying away of the people of Judah and Benjamin. It might be that this catastrophe and the Second Coming could have been only months or a few years apart.

Paul has to write to the Thessalonians and tell them the Second Coming has not taken place.

Ian Hartley, March 2025.