Matthew chapter
24 is quite clear on the subject of
Jesus’ Second Coming, when He is
going to return to
gather all those who have received Him as their Savior and take
them with Him back to Heaven
—an event commonly referred to as
“the Rapture.”
The rest of the Bible is
also clear on when this happens. That’s why for nearly 1,800years
practically
every Christian believed Jesus would come
back after the period He refers to as “Great Tribulation”—three
and a half years of intense persecution.
It’s only in the last couple of hundred years that people like
C.I. Scofield (1843–1921) came along with the false doctrine
that Jesus would come before the Tribulation.
From my experience, many
Christians who say they believe in the pre-Tribulation Rapture
just don’t want to have to go through the Tribulation and aren’t
the least bit prepared for it, so they come up with their own
interpretation of the Scriptures or latch onto someone else’s
false teaching. But the Bible specifically says not to do that.
“No prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation”
(2 Peter 1:20).
I don’t care what other
religious groups or other Christians say; what does the Bible
say?
In Matthew 24, Jesus’ disciples ask Him what will be the sign of
His return, and Jesus answers with not one but a number of
signs—wars, famines, pestilences, earthquakes, persecution of
Christians, a proliferation of false prophets, lawlessness, a
pervading lack of love, and the Gospel being preached in every
nation.
“Then,” He says,
“the end will come” (Matthew 24:4–14).
Beginning with the next verse, Jesus tells us what we can expect
during the Great Tribulation—the last three and a half years
leading up to His return, which is also the last half of the
Antichrist’s reign. Jesus also tells us what specific sign to
watch for, so we’ll know exactly when that period is beginning.
“When you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by
Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place … then there will
be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning
of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be” (Matthew
24:15,21).
We find out in the book
of Revelation that this “abomination of desolation” is an
image of the Antichrist, or Beast (Revelation 13:14–15).
Both Daniel and Revelation tell us that this image will be set
up in the holy place at exactly the middle of the Antichrist’s
seven-year reign (Daniel 9:27; 12:11; Matthew 24:15–21;
Revelation 13:5).
When does Jesus come back
for us?—That’s also plain as
day: “Immediately after the tribulation of those days” Jesus returns (Matthew 24:29). Jesus doesn’t say that when we see
the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place
He’s about to rescue us out of this world, away from the
Antichrist and the trouble to come. He warns us to head for
the hills (Matthew 24:16). In other words, we will still be
here.
And why did the Lord and the prophets go to so much
trouble to tell us exactly how long the Great Tribulation
would last—the exact time in terms of days, months, and
years—if we didn’t need to know these things, if we won’t
be here, counting the days and the weeks? (Daniel 7:25;
12:11; Revelation 13:5).
Jesus told us these specifics because
He wants us to be able to take heart in knowing that the
Tribulation isn’t going to last forever, and that every passing
day is bringing us closer to the glorious end.
During the Tribulation, things will get so bad that many
people will think it’s time for Jesus to come, especially
Christians who were taught that He was supposed to come
before the Tribulation. They’re going to expect Him to come
any day. But Jesus warns us not to expect Him sooner than as been foretold. He also warns us to not be deceived by
either false christs who will try to deceive us into thinking
that they are Christ, or by false prophets who will try to tell
us that Christ’s coming is imminent or that He’s already here somewhere (Matthew 24:23–26). He tells us to not believe
any of them, because when He comes, we will know it!
