There Shall Be Signs by Abdiel

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · May 29, 1907

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 33, No. 22.

"There Shall Be Signs"

By Abdiel

CHRIST is coming again. Of that we are abundantly assured. The "same Jesus" who walked upon this earth, who taught and healed and saved, is coming again; literally, personally, visibly, He is coming; coming as He went away, in clouds of angels; coming in all the transcendent, outshining glory of the Godhead.

When will He come? It has been a question of the last two millenniums among His devout people. Jesus gave birth to the longing taught by His promise: "I will come again, and will receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." What more blessed thing than to dwell with "Him that loveth us and loosed us from our sins by His own blood"? Jesus perpetuated the longing by teaching the prayer of the ages, "Thy kingdom come;" and every time it is uttered, it is in the Master's sense, a prayer for His coming; for then shall come His kingdom. 2 Tim. 4:1; Matt. 25:31.

May we know just when His coming, the event of the ages, shall occur? Our Lord has settled this question forever; for "of that day and hour knoweth no one, not even the angels of heaven, neither the Son, but the Father only." Matt. 24:36. Whether we understand the verb "knoweth" in the sense of "maketh known," as some interpret (see 1 Cor. 2:2), it matters not. Known or not known, it shall not be made known till the voice of God, finding response thruout all creation, shall say,

"It Is Done."

And whosoever shall claim to present a definite time for Christ's coming is in conflict with the Bible and in grievous error.

But does this mean that we are to know nothing of the time when Christ shall come? —Assuredly not; for it is the same infallible Teacher who declares, in the words at the head of this article,

"There Shall Be Signs"

and when these signs are in evidence, He declares, "When ye see all these things, KNOW ye that He is NIGH, even at the doors." Matt. 24:33.

What gave rise to these answers? What led Jesus so definitely to declare that while we know not the day of His coming, we are to know when He is nigh? The reply is found in one of His great discourses outlined in Matthew 24; Mark 13, and Luke 21. All, then, must be studied together to obtain clear information, and these must be compared with other prophecies applicable at the same period of the world's history. A statement of Christ gave rise to the question. After visiting the temple at Jerusalem on one occasion with His disciples, and viewing the great stones which entered into its construction, Jesus declared, "There shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down." Matt. 24:2. A little later four of His disciples asked Him, "When shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world [age]?"

The divine answer is found in these three chapters and in other concomitant prophecies.

1. Jesus did not discourage the question. He did not say that it was not a matter for them to inquire into. He encouraged inquiry.

2. He knows the importance of His coming, and what it means to His people and to the world. He knows also that the enemy will put forth every effort to deceive the hearts longing for His return. Therefore the instruction: "Take heed that no man lead you astray. For many shall come in My name, saying, I am the Christ; and shall lead many astray." And the false Christs, who have deceived their dupes by the thousands number upward of twoscore. These were not to be special signs of His coming, no more than wars and rumors of war, no more than famines, or earthquakes, or persecution.

3. But, on the other hand, "There shall be signs" in the sun and moon and stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, in perplexity

for the roaring of the sea and the billows; men fainting for fear, and for expectation of the things which are coming on the world; for the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” Luke 21:25-27.

4. Everywhere these signs are to be seen—in the heavens, in the physical world, in the social world, in the religious world; God in every way will forewarn the world of the great crisis.

5. The answer may be largely found in Matthew 24. Verses 4 to 14 name various progressive events which bring us down to the consummation of the Gospel age, when “this Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a testimony unto all the nations; and then shall the end come.” Thus our Lord answers the last part of the question first.

Then—verses 15 to 31—beginning with their own times, He leads down the centuries, thru the great tribulation, foretold by Daniel, down to the special signs of Christ’s coming.

6. The greater part of this prophecy applies to the last days, to the times immediately preceding the coming of Christ. It was given by Him whose Spirit inspired all the prophets. 1 Peter 1:10, 11. He foreknew that when this literal prophecy of Matthew 24 and parallel chapters in Mark and Luke were fulfilling, there would be many other predictions of earlier and later prophets fulfilling. He knew that the great symbolic prophecies of Daniel and the Revelation would be reaching their focal point in the coming of Christ. He knew that numerous other signs—a score or more—would be in process of fulfilment, and that the minds which were startled by them and the hearts which wanted to know their meaning, and to find a refuge from their terrors, would not have in their field of vision the events of His discourse upon that occasion alone, but all the other occurring phenomena divinely foretold. Therefore, while He spoke to His disciples then and there, in His divine providence, what He said was written for the larger field and the larger view of that people before whose eyes and in whose times the culmination of all these events should occur. Therefore we must conclude that the expression, “When ye see all these things,”—see them in the light of the “more sure word of prophecy,” fulfilled and fulfilling—includes all the signs of Christ’s coming.

7. Therefore the “all” things includes the signs in the heavens, sun, moon, and stars, signs in the physical earth, signs in the political, social, and religious spheres of life, signs everywhere. Some of these signs will be presented in this and the next issue.