By Pastor Greg
In autumn, the Indians asked their Chief if it was going to be a cold winter. Not really knowing an answer, the Chief replied that the winter was going to be cold, and that the members of the village were to collect wood to be prepared. Later, He called the National Weather Service and asked, "Is this winter to be cold?" The man on the phone responded, "This winter is going to be quite cold indeed." So the Chief went back to tell his people to be prepared and collect even more wood. A week later he called the National Weather Service again asking, "Is it going to be a very cold winter?" "Yes," the man replied, "it's going to be a very cold winter." So the Chief goes back to his people and orders them to gather every scrap of wood they can find. After two more weeks he calls the National Weather Service again asking, "Are you absolutely sure that the winter is going to be *very* cold?" "Absolutely" the man replies, "the Indians are collecting wood like crazy." It sounds like no one knows how cold it will be. And I thought predicting weather was a science.
If predicting the future was as easy as some claim, then why don’t we hear about the local psychic winning the lottery? I mean, I’m just saying that’s what you would expect, yet it never seems to happen. Kind of like these preachers that go around announcing the “End of the World”. After a while you just stop believing that they really know what they are talking about. Sure, we know that Jesus will return someday, “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone” (Matthew 24:26). Because many people know this verse, even the un-churched, many have developed a bit of cynicism toward Christians who start predicting the end of time.
Most people feel this way especially when someone comes along predicting when the Lord will come. And I can understand why. People have been doing it for over a thousand years, and yet Christ still remains in Heaven. Well, in thinking about the Christmas season and the First Advent of Christ, I started wondering if people had the same attitude before Jesus was born. It seems they did. And I’m not sure why, considering all the signs and the prophecies given long before His birth.
Unlike the second advent of Jesus (His Second coming), His first advent was clearly spelled out in scripture. But somehow I get the feeling that people were not watching or waiting for the day. Matthew indicates several prophecies were fulfilled by the birth of Jesus. Jeremiah says that the Messiah would be a descendant of King David. “For the time is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will raise up a righteous descendant from King David’s line. He will be a King who rules with wisdom. He will do what is just and right throughout the land. (Jeremiah 23:5). Isaiah 7:14 says, “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.” And it was not by chance that the Wise Men came to the little town of Bethlehem to visit the King. Micah, the prophet, had announced, “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel will come from you, one whose origins are from the distant past” (Micah 5:2).
Long before Jesus was born, God spoke of how it would happen (through a virgin), through whom it would happen (a descendant of David), where it would happen (in Bethlehem), and even when it would happen. Yes, that’s right. God even indicated when the birth of Jesus would take place. In Daniel 9, God lays out a time-table for when the Messiah would appear.
“Now listen and understand! Seven sets of seven plus sixty-two sets of seven will pass from the time the command is given to rebuild Jerusalem until a ruler—the Anointed One—comes. Jerusalem will be rebuilt with streets and strong defenses, despite the perilous times. (Daniel 9:25)
This time of counting would begin once a decree is given to rebuild Jerusalem. After that, a period of 49 years and 434 years would go by, and then the Messiah would come. Incidentally, the decree to rebuild came in 444 BC (see Nehemiah 2:1-8). So to a Jew who was alert and paying attention, they would have realized that the appearance of the Messiah was imminent; that it could happen at any moment. So God gave the how, who, what, and when, long before Christ was born. Yet it almost seems that many were not even paying attention. It seems they were focused on other things.
Christ’s Second Advent will not be the same. Jesus says that, “When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. 38 In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat. 39 People didn’t realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes.” (Matthew 24:37-39). No one knows the day, so a believer is to be prepared. A believer should be expectantly waiting.
I suspect you and I know this. But it sure seems that the people of this world do not. As a matter of fact many people seem to have their eyes fixed upon something else. On any given night the media is talking either about how to survive the apocalypse, or talking about doomsday (and I don’t mean the cartoon). People are obsessed with the Mayan calendar that ends on midnight, December 21st, 2012. That, they surmise, means an end (probably just the end of a calendar. Their local insurance agent can provide them with a new one). Isn’t it strange that these same people who believe that the Mayan’s could predict the end of the world scoff at Christians who try and do the same?
The world was distracted by other things when the flood came in Noah’s time. The world was distracted by other things when Christ was born in Bethlehem, even though God had spoken so precisely. Are things any different today? Hardly. So what should a Christian do about this? How should a Christian respond to a world distracted by a rising national debt, by killer asteroids from outer space, or ancient calendars from a lost civilization? Jesus says we should serve. He says we should care and love and be the source of hope to those who have none. He calls His Church to faithfully serve in love until that day He returns (compare Matthew 24:46).
Since no one knows when, the Church must face each day with the reality that Christ’s return is imminent; it could happen at any moment. The Church must be expectantly anticipating the Master’s return. The Church must believe that He is coming at any moment. And at times I wonder if we really do believe this, because if we did we would be ministering with a great sense of urgency.
Almost the entire world missed His first coming. But if the Church is truly faithful, we can prepare as many as we can for the time He comes again.
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