Many smart and devoted followers of Jesus believe that He will return any day now—that nothing else prophetic needs to happen first—and they would be wrong. Stick with me and I’ll show you how the Bible gives us a very clear indication of when Jesus will return, and that it is NOT imminent.
“Imminent” means that it could happen at any time. In terms of Bible prophecy, it means that no other prophecy needs to be fulfilled before the “imminent” thing happens.
I have been utterly shocked at who some of the adherents of the “imminent return” of Jesus are. If I were to mention some of them, you would probably agree that they are heavy hitters in the biblical prophecy world. And not just biblical prophecy, but in anything biblical. This is why it boggles the mind how they have overlooked the very plain and simple prophecies that completely refute any idea of Christ’s return being capable of happening at any time.
First, how do they come to the conclusion that Jesus could return at any time? Let me give you the gist of what a few of them have said (in fact, this may be the only reason that they all give). It has to do with a compilation of Bible verses that seem to give us the idea that the Bible writers themselves had that impression. Here are some of the verses that are given to support their position: Matthew 24:42-44, 36-39, 50; 25:13; Mark 13:32-37; Luke 12:40.
Let’s read a classic example of the verses just mentioned:
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. (Matthew 24:42-44, NLT)
I have to say, not knowing the day or hour is very different from saying that it could happen at any time. Being ready is not the same as expecting it any day. His coming being “when least expected” is not to say that it must be the very next prophetic event to happen.
But let’s back up in the chapter of Matthew 24 and consider a bit more of what the Lord told His closest disciples about this. From the beginning of His teaching to them, in response to their questioning of the end of the age, He started giving them a long list of things that must take place before His return. And after listing a lot of very complex events (which I won’t list here), He then added this:
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.”
(Don’t let it fool you that Jesus said “his return”, as if speaking of someone else. He often referred to Himself in the third person.)
In this statement, Jesus is saying that we will know the approximate time of His arrival, just like we can tell when summer arrives. Also, by saying “this generation will not pass from the scene until all these things take place”, He means that the events He told them of will not take a very long time to be fulfilled once they begin to happen. In fact, I think we are looking at the events lasting about 8 years, give or take a couple of months.
He then went on to say, 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.” (Not all manuscripts include the Son.)
This has always been an intriguing statement to me. How could Jesus, Who is omniscient (all-knowing) not know when He will return? There are a couple of responses to this: 1) At the time that Jesus said that, He had chosen not to use His omniscience. That’s right, Jesus had the power to not know something while in mortal flesh—by choice. (2) The phrasing of His statement seems to be in the present tense. This means that we could interpret His words to only apply to the time He walked the earth during His First Advent. I, for one, do not believe that Jesus still does not know the timing of His return after returning to the Father and again taking up His full powers of deity.
Be that as it may, notice that Jesus said, specifically, “no one knows the day or hour“. Narrowing the timing down to a single day or even a single hour is very different from what He already said, that we will know the approximate time. And it’s true, nobody does know the day or hour of His return. And given the circumstances of His return, I can see how it would be totally impossible to make such a determination at the time.
And as to our discussion at hand, the statements of Jesus in the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24-25, Mark 13, and Luke 21) do not (I repeat, do NOT) signal an imminent return when compared to His prophecies given elsewhere. He is merely giving the listeners (and by extension, the readers) a sense of eager expectation.
Speaking of eager expectation, there are many verses used by the imminent return crowd to support their claim. Philippians 3:20; 1 Thessalonians 5:2; Titus 2:12-13; Hebrews 10:25; James 5:7-9; 1 Peter 4:7; 2 Peter 3:10; Revelation 1:3; Revelation 22:7, 12, & 20 all speak of being eager for His arrival. And rightly we should. It is good for us to be in eager expectation, even if the event won’t happen for another 2,000 years! When we read of the apostles’ eagerness to see Him again at His return it tugs at the heart strings of the reader. It fires us up and gives us hope in a dirty, dismal, depressing world. Just don’t forget that those words were penned about 2,000 years ago.
But here’s the kicker. There are verses that show a definite timing of the Lord’s return. For starters, let’s look again at the Olivet Discourse. In Matthew 24:29-30 Jesus says the following:
“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 heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” (ESV)
Here we are, in the 21st century, waiting for something to happen that was foretold 20 centuries ago. In all of that time, we have not seen the moon not give its light (other than briefly, as usual), the stars fall from heaven (other than the occasional meteor shower, which still leaves millions of stars in the sky), or the powers of the heavens shaken (whatever that really means, I won’t discuss it now). But notice that He said, “Immediately AFTER the tribulation”. I would argue that we have not seen the tribulation yet. And I think that the adherents of the imminent return position would do the same. So if His return is to be AFTER the tribulation, how can we say that it is imminent”? (Some argue that the return is before the tribulation, but they are not reading the text correctly if they say that.)
There is another passage of scripture that also flies in the face of the imminent return position. Here it is:
5:1 Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. 2 For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4 But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. (1 Thessalonians 5:1-4, ESV)
Paul just clarified for us the previous statement of Jesus that He will come as a thief. He says, we are not in the darkness; that it will not surprise us like a thief—so long as we are remaining in Christ.
And lastly, Paul gives us a premonition about the return of Jesus in his second letter to the church in Thessalonica.
Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. (2 Thessalonians 2:1-4, ESV)
If you aren’t up on this, Paul is talking about the antichrist going into the temple in Jerusalem and proclaiming himself to be god. Obviously, for him to go into the temple it must first be rebuilt. This prophecy makes the return a far cry from being “imminent”.
On the one hand, we have a number of verses that speak to the Lord’s return being something that we should look for and expect and eagerly await (look forward to). On the other hand, we have prophecies from Jesus and Paul that squarely and definitively state that His return will only be after other events. The many verses are about a state of mind; a condition of the heart. The few verses are specific and clear.
We need to abandon the idea of Jesus’ return being imminent, while still clinging to the expectancy and eagerness that Jesus and the apostles suggest.
In the end, this is great news for us who believe. For those of us who do not trust in Jesus for our renewal and reconciliation with God, it is only foreboding. Either way, the Lord WILL return to Earth. But when He comes, it will be as prophesied. As God told us through Amos, “Indeed, the Sovereign Lord never does anything until he reveals his plans to his servants the prophets.” (Amos 3:7, NLT)
Be eager. Be expectant. Be awake and looking. But watch for the temple to be built in Jerusalem first. Then watch for the man of lawlessness (the son of destruction) to violate it. THEN, and only then, look to the sky for the sign of the Lord’s return.
In Him,
Gary
For a more in-depth look at this (but still short), you can order my book, End Times Made Easy, available on Amazon.
