'As the days of Noah'

Recently, I have heard some people suggesting we can’t know the day or hour of Jesus’ coming, but we can know the month or year because of signs, or because of Jesus having to come at the time of the feast of trumpets.

I am not convinced of this because the Bible says Jesus is coming as a thief in the night. Can we know what week, month or year a thief is coming to rob us? Can we watch for signs of what week, month or year a thief is coming upon us? Of course not.

Jesus point therefore is we must be prepared always because we do not know when He is coming. In Matthew 24:36, Jesus said the angels don’t know. Only the Father knows. Verse 44 says He is coming at an hour we do not expect. Jesus told His disciples in Acts 1:7 it’s not for them to know the times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5:1 confirms it is not for Christians to know the times and seasons because they know the day of the Lord comes ‘as a thief in the night’ (and I repeat nobody knows what week, month or year a thief is coming). He also didn’t need to write to them about times and seasons because, He says, they are children of light (and therefore safe), not darkness, so the day won’t overtake them as a thief as it will those who are children of darkness. Then he shows their watching is keeping on the armour of God. If we study the scriptures carefully, the call in the scriptures to ‘Watch’ is always a call to be spiritually ready or prepared.

So, what about the pestilence of Corona Virus we are experiencing now? Is this an added sign of the near coming of Christ? In light of the above, the answer must be ‘no’, because you don’t get signs for the week, month or year of a thief coming in the night. The thief’s coming, whenever they come, is typically unexpected. Again, Jesus told the disciples in Matthew 24:44 to be ready because He is coming at a time they do not expect.

But you might ask, well what about the parable of the fig tree in Matthew 24 as a statement about knowable and useful guiding signs for Christ’s coming? Matthew 24, Luke 21 and Mark 13 must obviously deal with two major events: firstly, for that generation, the destruction of the temple/end of the age for Israel and the Old Covenant in AD 70, and secondly the Second Coming and passing away of heaven and earth (Matthew 24:35, 2 Peter 3:7:13). For the first major event there were many signs to help them know the destruction of the temple etc was near, even at the doors. History records (and I can email you the evidence if you want) there were extremely heightened wars, famines, earthquakes, pestiliences, persecutions of Christians leading up to AD 70. The gospel was preached to the known world (Col. 1:23). The sign of Jerusalem being surrounded/the abomination of desolation etc so that Christians knew when to flee Jerusalem before great distress/tribulation (Luke 21:20-24) occurred.

However, for the second major event referred to in Matthew 24, remember it comes as a thief in the night, unexpectedly and unpredictably. “But of that day and hour no one knows …” (Matthew 24:36).

We are in lockdown now in NZ, as are many nations. Building houses is not an essential service. It has stopped. People can’t go to the shop anymore to buy plants to plant. Weddings are postponed. People can’t enjoy eating and drinking at parties. Life is not going on normally as it was in the days of Noah.

For us today, I would also query whether the way the world is right now with this worldwide shut down is ripe for Jesus’ coming. Jesus uses the ‘as in the days of Noah’ phrase as a comparator for the final day of His coming. He uses it to say that when he comes life will be going on normally with eating, drinking, marrying, planting, building etc (Matthew 24:37-39, Luke 17:26-27). That is not a picture of many places in the world right now and things are about to get far worse for a while.

Please therefore don’t be alarmed if prophetic teachers are teaching that this virus/pestilence is a sign of the coming of Christ. But be alarmed because you don’t know when you or your loved ones lives are to end. This virus is deadly for some, particularly the elderly, but not only for them. Please be ready spiritually to meet your maker because we never know the time when we will die or when He will come.

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The Plausibility of Miracles

It’s wonderful how science is making the idea of an all-powerful, all-knowing and omnipresent God so much easier to believe.

Take for example Skype. If we lived only 200 years ago and I said to you one day you could be on the other side of the world and you will be able to see me and talk to me instantaneously, you would probably think I’d gone mad. The thought of God being able to hear our prayers instantly doesn’t seem so strange anymore does it?

And what about the thought of God being able to receive, process and remember millions of incoming prayers all at once, or the thought of God being able to create billions of things in just six days? Well, now we have computers. The world’s most powerful computer can perform billions of calculations and other functions per second.

Need I also mention the x-ray machine that sees through into our inner parts just as God can see what’s going on in our minds? Need I mention the wonders of the internet and surveillance technology that can record all we do and can keep a permanent record of it until the Day of Judgment?

It shouldn’t be too hard then in this age of technological wonders for us to believe in a God who can do these things so much better than us.

Jesus’ various miracles should also be more plausible to us. Why not then take another look at the greatest man whoever walked the earth?

A Dying Saviour - An Oxymoron?

The skeptic may well wonder how a dying saviour can save anyone. Indeed those who passed by Jesus on the cross mocked he saved others, himself he cannot save. Dying saviours, however, are not so unusual.

In London’s Postman’s Park, people who died after saving others are remembered in The Memorial to Heroic Self-sacrifice. For example, one memorial reads, Mary Rogers – Stewardess of the Stella March 30,1899 – self-sacrificed by giving her life belt and voluntarily going down in the sinking ship.

It’s not unusual to have a dying saviour and it should not have given cause for many of Jesus’ fellow Jews to reject Him since their own scriptures predicted the Messiah’s sacrificial death (e.g. Daniel 9:25-26, Isaiah 53 & Psalm 22). What is unusual though is to have a risen Saviour. Of the major religions, only Christianity boasts an empty tomb for their leader.

It’s unique in history to have such a well-attested-to death and resurrection of an individual who was dead for a significant time. The Bible records there were over 500 witnesses who saw Jesus alive from the dead over a period of 40 days after His very public death. Post-resurrection, some even ate and talked at length with Him. Their words can be believed as they would not have been willing to in turn sacrifice themselves for a resurrection lie they’d made up.

It’s not strange to have a Saviour who sacrificed Himself, but it does show we have a very loving and committed Saviour. The great news is – He’s alive!

Be Careful When Your Buttons Are Pushed

Even the best of us sin against God. That’s why we all need the Saviour.

One day in the wilderness the Israelites complained bitterly against Moses. God therefore instructed Moses to get them water from a rock by speaking to it. However, rather than speaking to the rock, Moses said Hear now you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock? He then struck the rock twice, perhaps making it appear he brought water from the rock rather than God. God was so displeased He denied Moses the Promised Land.

Why did Moses sin? Was it his lack of knowledge? No. God had filled Him with wisdom. Was it due to his poor relationship with God? No. His relationship with God was described as a very personal face-to-face relationship. Was it because Moses was prideful and wanted to show off? No. He’s described as the humblest man on Earth. Moses was certainly a most righteous man. What then caused him to sin?

How would you feel if you’d been wholeheartedly serving others and all they did was grumble and rebel? Moses felt angry. Perhaps he also felt betrayed and unappreciated. He may have even had righteous anger at the Israelites disrespecting God.

We must be especially careful whenever our emotions, whether positive or negative ones, are stirred. Even righteous Job sinned because of his emotional need for vindication (Job 40:1-8 &42:6).

Everyone sins against God. That’s why we all need Jesus’ atoning blood. We can’t save ourselves!