Jesus is Coming Soon — godly living

“I am coming soon” are the words that Jesus Himself spoke to the apostle John (Revelation 22:12-13). This seems to indicate that His return to earth is almost at hand, as James & Peter would state (James 5:8, 1 Peter 4:7).

Now, approximately 2000 years later, Jesus has not returned… what is going on?

It’s important to remember that “with the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day” (2 Peter 3:8). Taking this perspective and doing some quick math it seems the Church has been waiting about 2 days for Jesus to return - which is not that long. The point being made here is that our concept of soon and God’s concept of soon are different.

How can we know that Jesus is coming soon? We can examine some of the prophecies and look at what has already happened, is happening, & what is going to happen. There are lots of prophecies about the last days and in some cases it is said that there are 101 different endtime prophecies [1]. The following are some prophecies that indicate towards the end time approaching:

1. The nation of Israel would be restored (Luke 21:24-33, Ezekiel 37:21-22; 38:8).
May 14 1948, the nation of Israel was restored and recognized as a nation by other countries [2].

2. Nations will be against Israel (Luke 21:20-24).
Since the nation of Israel was restored, the surrounding countries have attacked Israel at least 5 times on a scale that could be considered a war. There have been other additional skirmishes and conflicts [3].

3. The Gospel will be preached to all nations (Matthew 24:14, Mark 13:10, Revelation 14:6-7).
A ministry called the Joshua Project has put in effort to track unreached nations and people groups. Currently, out of 17,440 people groups there are 2,285 groups that are considered no exposure and are not an Islamic group. However, it is likely most of those groups have had some form of gospel exposure since Jesus left earth [4]. It is estimated that there are only about 100 completely uncontacted groups in the world. [5].

4. Increase in wars, pestilences, and earthquakes (Mark 13:7-8, Matthew 24:6-8).
Since 1900 there has been an increase in the number of natural disasters that have occurred in the world [6]. There also has been an increase in wars and the number of infectious diseases in recent times [7,8].

5. Israelites would remain blind to Jesus until near the end (Romans 11:25-26, Luke 13:34-35).
More and more Israelites are turning to Jesus as their Messiah. Organizations such as One for Israel have been witnessing to Israelis about Jesus in recent times [9].

6. People will not adhere to the truth (2 Peter 3:3-8, Matthew 7:22-23).
People deciding what is true and what is not, fake news, and a general disregard for truth as presented in scripture are all prevalent in today's world [10].

7. Increase in false teachers and prophets (Matthew 24:24, 2 Timothy 4:3-4).
More and more people are teaching stuff that does not focus on Jesus and what He has done. Additionally many people are focusing on signs & wonders and not focusing on who God is and the work of the Holy Spirit. There are many churches today with bad teachings and practices.

As most of these prophecies are in progress or have been fulfilled it would seem like Jesus is coming back very soon. However, no one will know the day or the time (Matthew 24:36). Do we the Church live in a way that facilitates this by bringing the Good News to those who have not heard? Do we long and rejoice for the day?

Jesus is coming back very soon!