Imminence
Church doctrine often includes a statement concerning the imminent return of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because this is a theological term and not a Biblical term it is important that we examine the validity of this statement and what it means. If it were a Biblical term we could examine the teachings in the Scripture and Scripture would define its meaning. But it is not.
“35 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words shall not pass away. 36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.” (Mt 24:35-36 NAS)
“Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.” (Mt 24:42 NAS)
“For this reason you be ready too; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think [He will.]” (Mt 24:44 NAS)
“Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.” (Mt 25:13 NAS)
Two things stand out in these verses; we should be ready and alert for our Lord’s return, and we do not know the day or the hour of His return. Judging from the volume of scripture that is focused on our being ready for our Lord’s return, we can come only to one conclusion. It is a very serious important matter and that we should remain sober and alert awaiting our Lord’s return. To do otherwise would leave us open to our own destruction.
“But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.” (Mt 24:43 NAS)
“2 For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. 3 While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like birth pangs upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.” (1Th 5:2-3 NAS)
“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.” (2Pe 3:10 NAS)
“’Remember therefore what you have received and heard; and keep [it,] and repent. If therefore you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come upon you.” (Re 3:3 NAS)
We are taught in Scripture not only that we don’t know the day or the hour, but also that for those who are not watching it will come upon them with sudden surprise, like a thief in the night. It was on the focus on these two points that theologians developed the doctrine of the imminent return of our Lord. “Imminent” is a theological term, you won’t find it in the Bible. But you will find that most evangelicals will agree that Christ’s return is imminent. The problem is that there are different concepts or definitions of what the word imminent means. There would be no problem if it were simply defined by what the Scripture declares, that we don’t know the day or the hour, and if we are not ready and watching it will overtake us as a thief.
But the pre-tribers have taken it to a higher level. They declare that there is nothing left unfulfilled in prophesy that would prevent the rapture from taking place at any moment without notice. Their logic then follows this course; If you are a Christian you believe in Christ’s imminent return. Therefore you are required to accept a pre-trib viewpoint because if the tribulation takes place before the rapture then Christ’s return would not be imminent, for if the great tribulation would take place first we would be looking for it first and then we would be able to count seven years ahead and know the day in which Christ would return.
It seems as if they are so focused on the declaration that we don’t know the day or the hour that they have missed the most important part of this teaching. Most importantly we should be ready and watching for our Lord’s return so that it does not overtake us as a thief. For it is very clear in the Scripture that the surprise and suddenness of His coming (like a thief in the night) is the effect His coming has on the unbeliever and those who are disobedient and not ready and watching. But for those who take these warnings to heart His coming will not be like a thief.
“But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief;” (1Th 5:4 NAS)
“Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his garments, lest he walk about naked and men see his shame.” (Re 16:15 NAS)
Literally if we stay awake and live in righteousness we will not be caught with our pants down.
““5 for you are all sons of light and sons of day. we are not of night nor of darkness; 6 ¶ so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober. 7 for those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night. 8 but since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. 9 for god has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with him.” (1Th 5:5-10 NAS)
So is Christ’s return imminent as church doctrine declares? The thesaurus gives us these synonyms for the word imminent: about to happen, coming up, looming, pending, impending, etc. Yes I think that according to the dictionary and thesaurus His return is imminent. But many have narrowed this definition to give the pre-trib theory more weight. They claim that Christ coming could happen at any moment, that there is nothing that hasn’t happened already that has to happen before His return.
I will agree that if we take their claim seriously we should be living like we should. I also agree that fear of being caught unaware should keep us living soberly, and godly, expectantly awaiting His return. If that is where you are I don’t want you to relax from this position. But this is not exactly what the Scriptures teaches. Prophesy has to unfold exactly as the Scriptures declare. Not one jot or tittle will be missing or out of place.
Now there were those who had upset the Christians at Thessalonica.
“1 ¶ Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to Him, 2 that you may not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.” (2Th 2:1-2 NAS)
But Paul assured them that they would know when that day came because there were certain things that had to be fulfilled first.
“3 ¶ Let no one in any way deceive you, for [it will not come] unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.” (2Th 2:3-4 NAS)
Not knowing the day or the hour does not preclude us from recognizing that day when it gets here. It does not even preclude us from recognizing as that day approaches. In fact the Scripture teaches us that that day will not overtake us a thief if we are ready and watching. Jesus clearly gave us signs and prophesies so that we would know the times in which we live. He gave us enough detail so that we would be able to lift up our eyes when our salvation was near, even at the door.
“even so you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, [right] at the door.” (Mt 24:33 NAS)
If we seriously look at Bible prophesy and its fulfillment we will see that the events are not arbitrary. None of them just happen at any time. We are not given God’s timetable, but sometimes we are given the events and their sequence. The exact timing has already been established from the foundation of the World. The time of Jesus’ birth and death and resurrection were written in the heavens from long ago. Moses was given the pattern of Jesus death and resurrection through the celebration of God’s appointed times. Jesus was crucified on Passover, was buried during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and He arose from the dead on the feast of First Fruits. Fifty days later on Pentecost the Spirit was poured out and the Church was born.
God is preparing His people for a day and an hour. Those who are doing what they should be doing will not be caught unawares. Wise men in the East arose and journeyed to a small village in Israel to worship the King of Kings because they were watching. Simeon and Anna recognized their Messiah even while He was a little baby, because they were watching. The disciples were together and in one accord because they were following Scripture and were obedient to their Lord. And when the Spirit fell on Pentecost, none of them was missing.
The Spring Feasts were fulfilled with Christ’s first coming exactly on their dates. The Fall Feasts have not yet been fulfilled. They are the depiction of Christ’s return. They will be fulfilled when He returns. Does this mean we know the day and the hour? I don’t think so. They have been celebrated for over 3500 times already. We need to be watching and ready so that day does not overtake us as a thief.
“34 “Be on guard, that your hearts may not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day come on you suddenly like a trap; 35 for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth. 36 “But keep on the alert at all times, praying in order that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”” (Lu 21:34-36 NAS)
God did not give us a date of His return, so we know that that is not our focus. We are to focus on being about our fathers business and to be ready and watching. If we are obedient to His commands and have studied the Scripture His return will not catch us off guard. Just because He said we don’t know the day or the hour doesn’t mean we won’t know the day and the hour when it is upon us. In fact He said we would know, and that we should look up when our redemption draws close.
Although I have just shown you that the concept of an any moment pre-trib rapture is not Scriptural, I don’t think we should abandon the concept of imminence, for although Christ has equipped us with His Word so that we will recognize the signs of the time and the return of our Lord, He hasn’t given each of us a prophetic sequence of our individual lives. Most of us do not know if we will live until Christ returns, or if we will die tomorrow. I say most because Peter was told the manner in which he would die, so I suppose he could have conjectured that he would not live until Christ returned. I personally haven’t been given that insight. James teaches us that we must be careful of how we speak, so I should say that if the Lord wills I will live and do this or that tomorrow.
Several years ago I was working out of a small community. The business district was comprised of one building, which served as a general store, post office, and gas station. In the window of the store was a sign that someone had made that said, “Jesus is Coming Soon”. It was by no means a professionally done sign and I thought that it probably was made by a child. On Sunday as I visited the local Church I learned the story behind the sign.
The sign had actually been made by the husband of the woman that ran the store. He had had Parkinson’s disease and had since passed away. But in spite of his physical limitations he had carefully crafted that sign that was displayed in the store window. I remember thinking at the time that for him Jesus had come very soon and for the rest of us it could be any day. We need to live every day as if we will meet our Lord that day. At the same time we need to be aware that God has a plan that will be fulfilled in its entirety. Jesus will come back when all things are fulfilled, and not before, as the Apostle Paul pointed out to the Thessalonians.
Let us not forget though that unless we are ready and watching we will not recognize prophesy as it is being fulfilled. Jesus coming will overtake most people as a thief in the night. For them it will be too late before they know it.
“37 “For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. 38 “For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, they were marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so shall the coming of the Son of Man be.” (Mt 24:37-39 NAS)
They did not understand, but Noah did. Noah knew when the ark was ready, he knew when it was loaded, and he knew when to enter. Noah was a preacher of righteousness, but nobody was listening. So shall the coming of the Son of Man be.
So the pre-triber’s concept of imminence does not match all of scripture when we consider that the Lords coming should not overtake us as a thief. Their logic also is somewhat flawed, thinking that if the tribulation occurs before the rapture we will know the day and the hour. To start with the scripture does not teach that the tribulation is exactly seven years long. And then how will we know exactly when the tribulation starts? Do they really think it will be that distinct, that one day we will wake up and recognize that it is the first day of the great tribulation?
“4 but you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief; 5 for you are all sons of light and sons of day. we are not of night nor of darkness; 6 ¶ so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober. 7 for those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night. 8 but since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.” (1Th 5:4-8 NAS)