We recently spoke with a lady whose response to life and its encounters is typically positive. She has, on occasion, evidenced a certain sensitivity to matters of spiritual import as well. Given such, we were interested in hearing her calm description of a growing sense of foreboding relative to today's world and its present trends. Along with others, we would identify ourselves as being of similar mindset.
This is not to imply an absence of perpetual "gloom and doom" proponents throughout the years. The observant need little be reminded of the "far afield" prognostications sometimes attendant past claims of end time imminence. Within many evangelical/fundamentalist circles this has tended primarily to reflect an unquestioned commitment to the eschatological (i.e., end time related) understandings of the late C. I. Scofield of Scofield Reference Bible fame. Within this frame of reference, Christ's return, accompanied by a "Pre-tribulation Rapture" of the Church, was deemed momentarily imminent (a philosophy, interestingly, first promulgated some two hundred and fifty years ago).
One can little avoid being impressed by a growing hesitation on the part of more than a few evangelical believers relative to various aspects of such viewpoint - and, we believe, with justifiable cause. This is not to imply that one's eschatological persuasion represents the litmus text of faith. It does not. Indeed, one might here note God's own affirmation that various aspects of the prophet Jeremiah's inspired pronouncements would be clearly understood only within the context of fulfillment (Jer. 23:20; 30:24; cf. I John 3:2). The following will clarify much here.
Having shared with the Twelves concerning the Jerusalem temple's ultimate destruction, Jesus was asked a two-fold question: "What will be the sign (singular) of your coming and of the end of the age?" (Matt. 24:3). Jesus, in reply, first detailed the "signs (plural) of the times" relative to the time of his coming (vv. 4-28). Only after establishing the general tenor of that time does he then address the Disciples' question as to "the sign" of his return:
"Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then 'the sign' (again singular) of the Son of Man' will appear will appear in the sky..." (vv. 29-30).
What then will be "the sign" of Christ's coming? Our Lord's reply is straightforward and to the point: "He [Christ] will send forth his angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other" (vs. 31).
This accords with Jesus' confirming Parable of the Virgins in which, upon the bridegroom's approach, the "sign" of his coming is the heralded cry: "Behold, the bridegroom comes; go out to meet him" (Matt. 25:6). Hence the corresponding heralding of Christ's coming as manifested in the angelic trumpet call to which he here refers (see also I Cor. 15:52; I Thess. 4:16).
Why then our Lord's lengthy detailing of the "signs of the times?" Answer lies in the fact that "when you see all these things (false "christs," widespread deception, political violence and warfare, ecological disaster, universal hatred of believers, replicated "days of Noah," the "abomination of desolation," etc.), know that He (Christ) is near; right at the door" (Matt. 24:33). One is considerably pressed to find scriptural support for the "easy escapism" long promoted in some settings.
In light of that which yet lies ahead we shall, as believers, need to be strong, sensitive, spiritually alert and biblically grounded.
Are we approaching that time of which Jesus here spoke? Time, of course, will tell. In our opinion, however, quite possibly so.
Burl Ratzsch
