The signs of Christ's Second Coming

"Just so, when you see the events I've described beginning to happen, you can know his return is

very near, right at the door." 

2010? 2011? 2012? As the new year begins, many wonder whether this will be the year of Christ’s return. Ever since He ascended to heaven, many throughout the ages have anticipated His return, His Second coming when He will bring salvation to His faithful servants and condemnation to the rest of the world. Despite Christ’s teaching that even He does not know the day or hour of His return—the omniscient Father being the only one possessing this knowledge (Matt. 24:36)—some have dared to predict the time of Christ’s coming using ingenious codes or basing their claim on some kind of cryptic knowledge or allegedly divine communication revealed only to them.

When anticipated arrival failed to happen, they reinterpreted the events complaining that they were misunderstood, or claiming that Christ did in fact come back but in some other esoteric sense. These people have only brought ridicule and scorn upon themselves.

Others cite the fact that almost 2,000 years have passed without the day of Judgment coming as proof that it will never occur. This challenge to the authenticity of the Scripture and Christ’s promise was foretold long ago:

“First, I want to remind you that in the last days there will come scoffers who will do every wrong they can think of, and laugh at the truth. This will be their line of argument: So Jesus promised to come back, did he? Then where is he? He’ll never come! Why, as far back as anyone can remember everything has remained exactly as it was since the first day of creation.” (II Pt. 3:1-4, New International Version)

Others believe that if the end of the world ever comes, it will not be because of God’s act of vengeance, but because of some colossal comet, global disaster, or nuclear holocaust. These people, according to Apostle Peter, have forgotten a basic fact:

“They deliberately ignore this fact, that by the word of God heavens existed long ago, and an earth formed out of water and by means of water, through which the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist have been stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.” (II Pt. 3:5-7, Revised Standard Version)

Therefore, the world will not end by the act of man or nature, but by the word of God. As God destroyed the first civilizations which were wicked in His sight—saving only eight people from the great flood—He will destroy the ungodly with fire on Judgment Day.

The signs of His coming

“How near are we to the end of the world?” This question is often asked and debated about in our present era. Even though the Lord Jesus Christ does not know the date of His return (Mt. 24:36), He gave His signs which would signal that His coming is near:

“Just so, when you see the events I’ve described beginning to happen, you can know his return is very near, right at the door.” (Mt. 24:33, New Living Translation)

What are these events or signs that, when they occur, would herald that the day of Judgment is near?

“You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.” (Mt. 24:6-8, NIV)

Wars and rumors of wars; information explosion

Although many amusedly point out that wars have always occurred during man’s tenure here on earth, we must notice that this was a definitive sign that Christ gave in answer to His disciples’ question concerning the time of His second Coming. An everyday occurrence would not be significant enough for Christ to mention as a sign that the end is near.

Why did Christ specifically mention that this war will be heard and rumored? Because during this time, God had told the prophet Daniel that “travel and education shall be vastly increased!” (Dan. 12:4, Living Bible)

In the last days or “end times” all knowledge will increase to the point that not only people but information will be able to reach far off places at speeds never before imagined.

This increase in knowledge resulted in the ability of people and information to travel to great distances, making the world seem a smaller place. The fastest way to travel during the time of the prophet Daniel was by the aid of certain animals like horses and camels. Though they also traveled by sea, the ships of the past were not as fast as those of today, taking months to traverse the same water routes which today could take only a matter of days. Communication was severely limited, but after the advent of the industrial revolution, there was a transportation and communication explosion—the telegraph, telephone, automobile, and the airplane were all invented within a short span of time:

“The electric telegraph was the product of many minds in many lands, but it became a practical success in the hands of the American, Morse, in 1844. A submarine cable was laid between England and France in 1851 … and telephone entered commerce with the American inventor, Bell, in 1876. The Italian, Marconi, succeeded with wireless telegraphy around 1896. Radio was invented shortly before the First World War… In 1896, when a pace of twenty miles an hour was fast, automobiles were built much like buggies or carriages.” (World History, vol. 2, pp. 543, 544)

First World War: a war unlike any other war

Many of these inventions happened right before the First World War making it a truly unique war:

“The First World War was unlike any war in the past … This was the first war ‘in three dimensions’, the first war in which cities were bombed from the air and winged warriors fought among the clouds. Of course the airplanes of 1914 were not so fast, so formidable, nor so numerous as those of today. They were really more important as scouts (a kind of aerial ‘cavalry’), photographing enemy movements from above, … the soldiers had to turn themselves into beavers and moles and dig deep trenches … the British had invented the tank, or land battleship—an armored automobile which could move on rough ground because it was built like a tractor.” (Ibid., pp. 478-479)

Many are surprised to find out that the Bible long ago foretold that these instruments of destruction—tanks and planes—would be used in this war:

“Behold, he comes up like clouds, his chariots like the whirlwind; his horses are swifter than eagles—woe to us, for we are ruined!

“My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain! Oh, the walls of my heart! My heart is beating wildly; I cannot keep silent; for I hear the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.” (Jer. 4:13, 19, RSV)

The First World War was so much different from the wars preceeding it that it was known as the “Great War.” Not only was it a war that used planes (horses swifter than eagles) and tanks (chariots like whirlwind), but it was the first war which involved the whole world:

“The first terrible war, which involved the whole world and caused so much death and destruction, was World War I.” (World History In An Oriental Setting, p. 850)

God had foretold this event:

“Come here and listen, O nations of the earth. Let the world and everything in it hear my words. For the LORD is enraged against the nations. His fury is against all their armies. He will completely destroy them, bringing about their slaughter.” (Is. 34:1-2, NLT)

The whole world took notice when Word War I ignited for it was broadcast all over the world. This war was forever chiseled into the history books as a major turning point. Even the political landscape of many nations had changed in the aftermath of this war. This is the reason this war fulfills Christ’s prophecy as the beginning of the end times or the “end of the earth”—a wake up call to all that His coming is fast approaching.

We know, moreover, from hindsight that the First World War was not the war to end all wars. The Lord Jesus Christ proved this also when he said that “the end is not yet”. There would be other wars including another war wherein nations would rise against nations and kingdoms against kingdoms. This was fulfilled with the advent of the Second World War in September 1939.

And there will be famines

The occurrence of famines in various places is another sign that Christ’s Second Coming is near. Many newspapers report that many countries are facing food emergency situations. One major reason often cited was the El Niño and La Niña related droughts and floods. This, coupled with the Asian financial crisis which has now become a world economic crisis, is having significant adverse impacts on the food security of many countries.

Another reason for the lack of food is that the diet of the most third world countries consists mainly of fish, but according to National Geographic in an article entitled, Diminishing Returns: Exploiting the Ocean’s Bounty, fewer and fewer fish are being caught:

“The wealth of oceans, once deemed inexhaustible, has proven finite, and fish, once dubbed ‘the poor man’s protein’, have become a resource coveted—and fought over—by nations.”

Although technology has helped quadruple the word’s catch of seafood since 1950, “in many places fish stocks are being damaged by pollution by destruction of wetlands that serve as nurseries and provide food, by the waste of unprofitable fish (called ‘bycatch’), and above all, simply by overfishing. As a result of these changes, some fish rocks have collapsed, and many important groups of fish are fished either to the sustainable capacity or beyond it” (Ibid., p. 9).

This scarcity of food is only being exacerbated by the evergrowing world population. With less food and more people, the famine is only getting worse.

Earthquakes in many parts of the world

While it is indeed true that the earthquakes have occurred ever since the world was first created, Christ said that there will be great earthquakes everywhere when His Second Coming is near (Lk. 21:11). In this century, major earthquakes are neither special nor rare. But what was once so infrequent—perhaps, only a few times per century—now seems to be monthly event. In fact, toward the end of 1999, major earthquakes in rapid succession devastated the countries of Turkey, Greece, Mexico, Indonesia, and Taiwan, leaving thousands dead and causing billions in damages.

Reading the headlines today can make one depressed: “Poverty rate shockingly high,” “414 lose their jobs everyday,” “Another savings bank goes under,” “eight women are being raped every 24 hours.” “With calamities, an ever increasing crime rate, despicable acts of terrorism, new and deadlier forms of viruses springing up, gang wars, and a global economy gone haywire, is there a country unaffected by all these things?

Many have even noticed how much deeper countries are affecting one another through television and the mass media; children are imitating the promiscuous and untempered practices of other nations even adopting their attire, vices, and slang. More and more children are unruly, disrespecting their parents and other figures of authority. Hedonism is on the rise as people reason out that as long as it feels good and satisfies their base natural desires, it must be alright, What does this disintegration of culture indicate? Apostle Paul, in his second letter to Timothy wrote that:

“In the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control; they will be cruel and have no interest in what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. They will act as if they are religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. You must stay away from people like that.” (II Tim. 3:1-5, NLT)

With the fulfillment of all these signs—the world wars, earthquakes, famines, sorrows, increase of knowledge, evil of mankind—there can be no doubt that we are heading toward the final chapter, the climax of human existence as we know it.

Those who will be saved

Fortunately, not everyone will be destroyed by fire on the day of Judgment:

“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the call of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, all the Christians who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and remain with him forever.” (I Thess. 4:16-17, Ibid.)

Christians who are alive during Christ’s return, together with those who have died in Christ, will be saved. However, not all those who claim to be Christian are true Christians, but only those who obey the commandments of the Lord Jesus Christ (Lk. 6:46)

What was Christ’s command which must be obeyed for one to be a true Christian? The Savior said:

“I am the door; anyone who comes into the fold through me shall be safe.” (Jn. 10:9, New English Bible)

The fold or the flock is the Church of Christ:

“Take heed therefore to yourselves and to all the flock over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you overseers, to feed the church of Christ which he has purchased with his blood.” (Acts 20:28, Lamsa Translation)

Therefore, to be a true Christian, one must become a member of the true Church of Christ. This is the only way to be saved from destruction on Judgment Day.

All signs have been fulfilled! Enter in Christ before it’s too late.