Can We Really Know When Jesus Is Coming?

Can we know when Jesus is coming? 
What does the Bible say? 

Now we have barely begun this post and I am sure many of you are jumping up and down on the inside screaming.... "Day nor Hour", we CAN'T know the Day or Hour!! (Matt 24:36)

To those of you I say this....just take a look at Rev 3:3 and the other verses below.  This whole subject may not be as cut and dry as you think it is.  We know the Bible cannot contradict itself, so if on the surface there seems to be something contradictory, well that is a clue to dig deeper...  So come now... let's do some digging!

Introduction

Take a moment and visualize the triumphal entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem.  He was riding on a donkey...  A crowd was there to meet him...  They recognized that He was the prophesied King.  Now notice this... Luke 19:37 tells us the these believers were in place ready to greet him before He arrived. They were prepared as they saw him approach.  The had seen the signs (John 12:17-18) proving His power and read the prophecies (Daniel 9:26) which pointed to the exact day The Messiah was to enter into town.  Because of this they knew the King was coming (Luke 19:38) and they made sure they were out ready to meet Him (Mark 11:9).

Fast forward to the year 2017.   Most people are way more likely to line up in front of an Apple store for the latest phone than investigate a sign of Christ's soon return (2 Tim 3:1-2).  Instead of palm branches in our hands, it is a phone in our palm.   Perhaps if we stepped outside long enough to let our minds settle and eyes adjust more of us would begin to see all that is happening around us pointing to the soon return of Christ.  Perhaps part of the problem is that many of those who are watching simply repeat the mantra that there is no way we can know anything about when He is coming even though this contradicts scripture.

So with that in mind, lets look 7 Bible verses that imply that we should be able to see that day coming and how we should handle that fact.  My prayer is that this will cause those who totally disregard the Rev 12 Sign because of the "Day or Hour" stumbling block to take a more thoughtful look.

1.  Jesus Expects People to Recognize The SIGNS of the Times.

Mathew 16:3
And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.

We see here that the religious leaders of the day were rebuked by Jesus for not correctly recognizing and interpreting the signs of the times.  I find it to be an amazing parallel that Christ used signs in the sky to make this point...  Now we see even more specific and detailed signs in the heavens pointing to the signs of the times!  Are we watching for the signs or mostly just watching TV or our phone?  Christ rebuked them for not watching and correctly interpreting the signs, so clearly that is something we should be doing!

2. We Should Be Able to SEE The DAY Drawing Near.

Hebrews 10:24-27
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.

According to the Bible we can "see the Day drawing near."  We will be able to SEE it approaching.  Just as those people on Palm Sunday saw Christ coming down the mountain (Luke 19:37).  They knew the scriptures, they recognized the signs, they were watching and they were ready for Him.   We should surely be doing the same with all the scriptural evidence and signs surrounding us at this point in time.

3. The Book Of Revelation Was Given To Show Us What Is To Come.

Revelation 1:1
The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place.

Here in the very first verse of Revelation we learn the purpose of the book.  It is to show us the things what must soon take place.  Therefore it makes much more sense to place Rev 12:1-6 in the future, than in the past.  Christ's birth and ascension had already taken place at the time of the John's writing... what was future was the "birth/ rapture" of Christ's Body (Us), the harpazo of the Church (Rev 12:5).  The event is to complete the mystical union of Christ and His "Body" in Heaven together completely and for all time.

4. Jesus Clearly Implies We CAN When Know If We are Awake.

Revelation 3:1-3
And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you.

Rev 3:3 clearly implies that if we do WAKE UP, we can KNOW when Christ will come.  In this verse Jesus is writing a letter to a church and the lessons and rebuke in this letter can be applied to many of us today, just as it did to those church members back then.  Most Christians must "Wake up".  We must remember what we have received (prophecy), keep it, and repent.  If we do not do this, not only will we not know at what hour Christ will come, but worse yet, we are in danger of Him coming AGAINST us!  But if we do wake up, then this verse seems to surely imply that we can have a pretty good idea of the timing.

5. We Will NOT Be Surprised...  We are NOT in darkness!

1 Thessalonians 5:1-6
Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people [others] 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. But you [believers / us] are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief.  For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.

Paul had just finished re-explaining the rapture to this church in 1 Thes 4:16-18.  Now he is reiterating when it will happen.  He is drawing a distinction between the people of the world who will be surprised, and the those of us in Christ who are not in darkness as to be surprised.   There for if we keep watch and stay sober then it seems we should be able to recognize the general time of His coming and not be surprised.  If I know a thief is coming, then I can be ready... just like Kevin in the movie Home Alone preparing for the thieves to arrive!  We are watching, we are ready... we have a general idea at the very least.

6. If We Watch the Day Will NOT Surprise Us Like a Trap.

Luke 21:34-36
“But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

Once again, if we are not watching for the signs but instead weighed down with the cares of this life then it is likely that the day of the Lord's return will be a very sudden, shocking and unexpected event to someone (like a trap).  But if that is true, then the implication is that if we DO watch, then we will not step into that trap because we will see it coming and be stepping very cautiously as to avoid stumbling at such a critical time.  Imagine if your wife puts out a mouse trap in the kitchen.... she says, watch out for those traps.  Well the next morning as you stumble for coffee you step on the trap and you are very surprised...  You weren't watching!

7.  We Are To Watch, Recognize and WARN.

Ezekiel 33:1-6
The word of the Lord came to me:  “Son of man, speak to your people and say to them, If I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and make him their watchman, and if he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows the trumpet and warns the people, then if anyone who hears the sound of the trumpet does not take warning, and the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet and did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But if he had taken warning, he would have saved his life. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any one of them, that person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman's hand.

God has given us warnings just like He gave warnings to Noah (Heb 11:7, Matt 24:38).  It is our duty to recognize those warnings and transfer that into the message of the Gospel with greater urgency than ever.  Yes, the verse above is talking about the prophet Ezekiel when he was set over Israel as a watchman.  But has not God set each of us as a watchman for our own families and friends whom we love?  If you know the truth of the Gospel yet stay silent when those people are in eternal danger, what sort of love is that?  Do you love them enough to have that talk, especially now with all that we see coming together?  What is more compassionate, letting someone comfortably live in their sins apart of Christ, or doing your best to reach them with words and prayer with whatever influence God has given you in their lives?  God is the one who saves...but I believe that we are called to participate in this most amazing miracle of salvation by at the bare minimum sharing these things with the people we care about.  At the very least send a letter, share a post, or bring it up in a conversation.  Just plant a seed and trust that God can make it grow.

Conclusion

It's a sad fact that most Christians are asleep to the lateness of the hour.  The study of prophecy and end times signs is ignored in the vast majority of churches today... and anyone who is interested in those things often feels very alone among their congregations. 

Worse yet, many of our asleep siblings are very quick to pounce on those of us who are awake to the signs of the times.  If we happen to point out or share a specific sounding sign such as the Revelation 12 Sign, we are often times attacked or mocked or called date setters.  Once and for all, please realize that God set the date of this sign.  Man had zero influence in the matter. 

September 23rd is surely the date of the sign, but could it also be the date of the rapture?  I certainly wouldn't rule it out at this point!  I certainly wouldn't mock it.  There is enough evidence pointing that direction to take it seriously, and the above verses seem to imply at the very least we can have some idea of when Christ will return. We shall wait eagerly and see.  Until then, please... Share the Gospel!

Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.  Romans 13:11