Matthew 24:26, commentary and pictures

Christ's warning forbids believing reports that He has already come hidden in some remote desert place or inner room, and forbids going out to look for Him there. Such claims must be rejected because His coming will not be secret or confined to one spot, but will be as open and unmistakable everywhere as lightning shining from east to west. The warning guards against false christs and false prophets who will use great signs, apparent miracles, and deceptive power upon the mind to seduce disciples, if possible even the very elect. Near the end Satan himself will personate Christ in majestic appearance as an angel of light, while people point to different places saying He is here and there, and the world will receive the impostor as Lord. His true return will be personal and visible from heaven in the clouds, as He went up at the ascension, so claims of an invisible, merely spiritual coming, or that He comes to each person at death, are deceptions to be firmly resisted.

Setting in Matthew 24

Matthew 24:26 belongs to Christ's discourse about the destruction of Jerusalem and His coming, with those two events described together, and that discourse was given also for those living in the last scenes of earth's history. It teaches about His second advent, not that He came at the time of Jerusalem's destruction, while signs in the heavens and elsewhere show that His coming is near and the world must be warned before it arrives. The destruction of Jerusalem foretold in the chapter serves as a type of the world's final destruction by fire. The warning is joined both to the dangers surrounding Jerusalem's overthrow and to the dangers preceding the second coming, dangers the disciples did not yet understand. It applies to the age in which the gospel is carried to every kingdom before the end comes.

The verse is part of Jesus' prophecy and outline of events to come upon the world, including events preceding the coming of the Son of man. That outline belongs to the perils of the last days and its warning is part of the message Christians are to proclaim to those in darkness. Applied with the chapter as a whole, it is a warning about coming judgments in which impressive city buildings cannot protect those who reject God's messages, calling for careful action and for warning the world that the end is near. The events in the chapter serve as waymarks showing that what was foretold will surely come to pass. The verse in particular marks what will take place at the very end of earth's history, given as a lifted danger signal about dangers that will surely come in the last days.

It belongs to what was foretold about the signs of the times in this age to instruct those who should afterward believe and help them prepare for the great conflict. Those events before the Son of man is revealed in the clouds are given as warnings, so people should watch for those signs rather than ignore them or be misled by false claims about His coming. Their fulfillment should be discerned now and met by reaching a higher standard because of dangers, rousing from lethargy those who know the truth.

Meaning of the Warning

The warning forbids believing any report that Christ has come secretly in the desert or in the secret chambers, whether the claim places Him in a remote place, a hidden room, mountain solitudes, or any particular earthly location. His followers must not go forth to see Him there and must not believe the claim, rather than rushing on blindfolded to receive messages that are not true. It stands as a lifted danger signal for the very end of earth's history, joined both to the dangers surrounding Jerusalem's overthrow and to the dangers preceding the second coming, and applying to the age in which the gospel is carried to every kingdom before the end comes. Before His return thousands go forth into the desert hoping to find Christ, while the call that He is in the secret chambers comes from gatherings professing communion with departed spirits, which is the claim of Spiritualism.

The reason to reject such secret claims is that His coming will not be secret, hidden, or confined to a location. It will be openly visible throughout the world, as public and unmistakable as lightning coming out of the east and shining even to the west. This is part of the solemn warning to take heed that no one be deceived by false Christs and false prophets, who use great signs and wonders to mislead and seek to seduce disciples. The time of His coming is not given to satisfy curiosity; instead His people are to heed His words, prepare themselves for that great event, do their individual duty faithfully, and give His warnings to others.

Such localized appearances belong to deception and can be counterfeit. The true second coming will be openly visible to the whole world like lightning shining across the sky, and cannot be imitated by a hidden or confined manifestation.

False Christs and Deceptions

This warning is part of Christ's solemn charge to take heed that no one be deceived by false Christs and false prophets. Those deceivers work by great signs and wonders and apparent miracles, with impressive displays intended to mislead. Their deception is Satan's power working by falsehood upon minds and imagination to bewitch the senses and lead astray, seeking to seduce disciples and to deceive even the very elect if possible. The warning had a fulfillment before the destruction of Jerusalem, when false prophets and magicians and sorcerers and others claiming miraculous power deceived the people and led great numbers and crowds into the desert and mountain solitudes. Before Christ returns the same pattern returns, with thousands going forth into the desert hoping to find Christ, while the call that He is in the secret chambers comes from gatherings professing communion with departed spirits, which is the claim of Spiritualism.

Near the end Satan himself will personate Christ, declaring that he is the Son of God. He will appear in majestic royal clothing and in every respect as an angel of light, using deceptive power and great wonders and outward resemblance, yet his appearance does not make him Christ. Meanwhile people will point to different places saying Christ is here and Christ is there and He is somewhere else in some hidden or particular earthly location, and the world, especially those who rejected truth, will receive the impostor as Lord and King, mistaking the counterfeit for the second coming. This counterfeit coming belongs to the time when transgression has almost reached its limit, confusion fills the world, great terror is soon to come upon human beings, and the end is very near, working with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in those binding themselves together in secret societies and confederations that work out the enemy's plans. False cries that Christ is here or there will increase as impostures and delusions amid the struggle before the man of sin is disclosed, calling God's people to stand boldly with Christ rather than be drawn into deception. After the truth has been proclaimed as a witness to all nations, every power of evil is set in operation and minds are confused by many voices crying here is Christ and there He is, claiming to have truth and to have the message from God and to be sent from God with great light, while landmarks are removed and pillars of faith are torn down. That confusion leads to a more decided effort to exalt the false sabbath and cast contempt on God by supplanting the day He blessed and sanctified, with the false sabbath enforced by an oppressive law, while Satan and his angels work with lying wonders through human agencies to wipe out and obliterate the knowledge of God, and that working marks the time to proclaim the fall of Babylon and call God's people to forsake her.

Testing Claims by Truth

Prophecy about the coming must be measured by the plain declaration given at the ascension that this same Jesus will come in like manner as He went into heaven, so any prophesying that contradicts that positive teaching must be rejected. Claims of a hidden Christ in the desert or in a localized place must not be believed or followed because they contradict that declaration. All true prophesying on that point recognizes His visible coming from heaven in the clouds. The command is to disbelieve these particular false claims rather than to reject all prophesying, showing that true prophets continue alongside false prophets in the last days.

The claim that the second advent occurs individually when each person dies is a deception that diverts minds from His personal coming in the clouds of heaven. Accepting that deception has led many souls astray. The verse likewise rejects the idea of an invisible second coming in which the saints are taken without anyone knowing. It warns against the deception that His coming is a merely spiritual or hidden event, a false view that ensnares people and must be firmly resisted.

A claim that Christ is present is false when those making it trample God's commandments, for loyalty to Christ cannot be separated from honoring the law. Claims locating Him in a particular place, whether in the desert or hidden in secret chambers, must not be believed. Amid competing cries of Lo here and Lo there, confidence must remain unshaken in God's Word.

Urgency and Obedience

The predictions of Matthew 24 must be studied again and again and brought to the attention of all, both believers and unbelievers. Ministers and teachers must present them, leaving matters of lesser consequence, because their truth decides the eternal destiny of souls. Today is the time when they are being fulfilled, and their unmistakable fulfilment shows that Christ's coming is at hand and calls the church to arouse.

The time of Christ's coming is not given to satisfy curiosity. Instead His people are to heed His words, prepare themselves for that great event, do their individual duty faithfully, and give His warnings to others. That warning is part of the message Christians are to proclaim to those in darkness, that signs in the heavens and elsewhere show His coming is near and the world must be warned before it arrives. It belongs also to the warning of coming judgments in which impressive buildings cannot protect those who reject God's messages, and it calls for careful action and for warning the world that the end is near.

God's people are commanded not to go forth and not to believe claims that Christ is in the desert or in the secret chambers, so they will not rush on blindfolded receiving messages that are not true. Such claims that Christ is in a particular place, hidden or otherwise, must not be followed after or believed, but must be examined carefully rather than accepted without question. They are part of the deception foretold, so people must watch carefully and test teachings rather than accept every message or voice claiming to offer Christ or truth or to come from God.

The command to believe it not was given beforehand against every fiction and devising of Satan to bewitch the senses and lead persons astray, including cries of Lo, here is Christ or there is Christ, with false christs and false prophets showing great signs and wonders that would deceive even the very elect if possible. It applies to the day-line theory, which is a snare devised by Satan through his agents to confuse minds about when the Sabbath comes, discourage God's people, and undermine fifty-five years of Sabbath history. That theory stands set against God's positive plain word on the Seventh-day Sabbath.