THE SECOND COMING

There is a growing sense that prophecy in the Bible regarding 'end of days' is being fulfilled in our time, in this era. But we have to remember that even Christ declared "But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." (Mathew 24:36 NIV). Christ himself discusses events of the last days leading to his second coming in chapter 24 in the book of Mathew, not the exact day of his coming but the events surrounding that time. The first four books of the Bible Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John are the four gospel books and biography of Christ seen from  different perspectives. The book of Mark chapter 13, and Luke chapter 17 and 21 also discusses 'end of days' but not in the Book of John. Please note that these phrases "end of days", "end of times", "end of the age", and "end of the world" found in a different translation of the Bible has the same meaning.

THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM

I've chosen the book of Mathew chapter 24 to discuss the "end of days" scenario in the future. And as Christ himself said, "no one knows" about the exact date of the prophecy, but gave us signs and similar events to be able to determine the impending day when it's going to happen. At first, he foretold a prophecy about the destruction of Jerusalem: "Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; everyone will be thrown down" (Mathew 24:1-2 NIV, referring to the destruction of the temple of Jerusalem that materialized in 70 AD, 40 years after it was foretold by Christ). Then the account jumped to "end of the age"  (NIV) prophecy. Christ intentionally connected the fall of Jerusalem to the 'end of the age' issue, for it was Jerusalem that holds the sanctity of all Israel throughout history, but it will be the same city, capital of Israel, who will reject Jesus Christ when he was executed, not by the Romans, but by the bidding of his own fellow Jews.

When the city of Jerusalem fell from the revolt of Jews against the Roman army, all the remaining Jews fled Jerusalem and all of Israel, hence they were scattered throughout the earth as foretold in Hebrew scripture (old testament, particularly in the book of Daniel- 9:27; 11:31; 12:11), and by Christ himself. Many perished in that tragedy, but for the newly established community of Christians, or followers of Christ, who heeded the warning, fled into the mountains and outside Israel and many were saved. Christ cited in Mathew 24: 15 the book of Daniel in relation to 'the abomination that causes desolation' (read Daniel 11:31) referring to the massive Roman army organizing themselves in camps outside Jerusalem as a sign for his believers to flee away from Israel.

That event happened in Jerusalem in 70 AD has similar repercussion to "end of times" prophecy that awaits fulfillment. Christ uses a lot of parables and figures of speech in his teaching, and it's the same in Mathew chapter 24, but part of it has a literal meaning (please read the whole chapter of Mathew 24). There are reasons why Christ connected the prophecy in the destruction of Jerusalem to the prophecy of "the end of times". Christ is fully aware that Jerusalem will fall in the near future and ascribed himself into the prophecy of Daniel, and by affirming the prophecy in front of his followers, he is not only affirming himself as the son of God who performs miracle but a prophet of God. For the first time, he foretells events that will be revealed before a greater prophecy will attain its fulfillment - "the end of times" prophecy.

CHRONOLOGY OF THE LITTLE BOOKS

We have to understand that the new testament was called little books written overtime by many authors within 50 years span approximately. The first one is the book of James written around 50 AD, 20 years after the death and resurrection of Christ, and the last one is the book of John written around 97 AD. These are estimates considered to be the closes (see: http://www.biblestudytools.com/resources/guide-to-bible-study/order-books-new-testament.html ). Interestingly, the book of Mathew was written around 67 AD, 3 years before the fulfillment of prophecy in the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, an ample time for the book to be circulated to provide warning amongst Christians for them to flee the city. During that time, nobody knows if such prophecy will be fulfilled in their lifetime, but many take heed to the words of prophet Daniel and Christ regarding "the abomination that causes desolation" which is taking shape in front of them, and in first century AD, the only fearful thing amongst the people is the Roman Empire and its destructive army gathering outside Jerusalem, hence taking heed, Christians fled and survive the carnage in that event in 70 AD. Halfway through from the death and resurrection of Christ to the prophesied demise of Jerusalem, Christian spirit was spurred to write these little books to strengthen their faith and organization, unaware of the impending destruction of Jerusalem and their exile to different parts of the world, along with it the spread of Christianity. The last book 'Revelation' was written around 97 AD by apostle John in Patmos, Greece, completing the account of these small books the 'new testament' in a hundred years history, from the birth of Christ to the last days of apostle John, and the context of that last book 'The Apocalypse' (Greek) is "the end of times".

THE FLOOD IN NOAH'S TIME

Christ cited also the great flood during Noah's time "As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man" (Mathew 24:37) referring to himself. A Son of God in heaven who was sent to the world, borne out of the womb of a woman and become the 'Son of Man', his first coming. Jesus used the account of the flood, not to instill fear among his followers, but to emphasize the importance of being aware, alert, and informed about his manifestation in the 'end of days'.

During the time of Noah, God concluded that mankind became evil, "The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time." (Genesis 6:5 NIV), hence God instructed Noah to build an Ark to prepare for the great flood. The Ark was completed approximately within a 50-year span of time, or within a human lifetime, considering that Noah bore his 3 children when he was 500 years old and received God's instruction to build the Ark, and it was completed when Noah was 600 years old (Gen 5:32, 7:11). During that time, he was said to be walking in righteousness among the people and hence, throughout those years of building a massive Ark, he had been announcing about the destruction of the world, but no one is listening, nobody is heeding. As Jesus indicated, people are living their ordinary lives before the flood came, unaware, "...people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage...[then] the flood came." (Mat 24:38).

THE SIGNS OF HIS SECOND COMING

As indicated, all the signs written in Mathew chapter 24 are literal, and self-explanatory, and can be enumerated in the following:
1. False messiahs, prophets, (verse 4,5)
2. Wars and 'rumors' (threat) of wars
     (verse 6)
3. World war (verse 7)
4. Famines (verse 7)
5. Earthquakes (verse 7)
6. Christian persecutions and death
    (verse 9)
7. Love will disappear because of
     wickedness (verse 12)
8. The world will learn about the good
      news of salvation before the end
      comes.

But someone might conclude that all these events had been happening since the beginning of civilization. And quite right, these events are not particular, they had been a constant part of human history, but the difference is their severity of impact in a single generation, in a short span of time that these are happening at the same time, and that the level of human "evil" had reached to an unpardonable state. The desecration of God's grace in the human soul by killing, mutilation, violence, and abuse - similar to Noah's time. As concluded by Jesus himself: "Truly, I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away" (Mat 24:34,35).

So in a sense, we can ask ourselves, when is the time that these foretold signs had started to manifest? For me, I think, during the second world war where a massive genocide against the Jews had been committed - reflective of the 'abomination that causes destruction' cited in the book of Daniel. And that this generation, children who witnessed the war, still had been witnessing the history of these 'signs', the evil of humans, and nature's destructive phenomena. As told by Christ, all these events shall have its manifestation first before the end will come.

CONCLUSION

Chapter 24 of Mathew had extensively discussed issues regarding the "end of the age", it's not an excerpt in the Bible to be afraid of, but an expression of love through admonition, warning, informing and giving a sense of urgency to believers. The citation of Jerusalem's destruction and Noah's flood is not to instill fear but to admonish everybody to heed his word, to be always prepared, like keeping an eye to the "abomination that causes desolation" that had been manifested and had been increasing in its intensity, in the middle east, Africa, and other parts of the world.

Christians are admonished to become "faithful servant" (Mat. 24:45), who is always prepared to serve "food" in its proper time. Fulfilling our role of telling the world about Christ, not about him, but the love of God through him for man's salvation, as foretold that the message (gospel) of salvation shall be told the whole world before the end comes.

There is this danger about fear, and if left unchecked, it will eat into everyone's faith and create a 'domino' effect. Sense of despair will seep into everyone's consciousness if a Christian will dwell into the destructive and negative understanding about the "end of the age", or "end of days" event. Christ foretells about the cooling off of love in the last days as an effect of wickedness, Christians should stand his ground against this evil, it is only this way, by keeping love in our heart, "who stand firm to the end..." are the ones who will be saved (Mat.24:13). It is not about staying away from "darkness", but standing in front of them, and become a "light", like Jesus who came to the world during the dark history of conquest and war by the Roman empire. Jesus didn't come to this world to destroy, he came bearing good news, to make an offer, and many accepted the offer, and he is coming back to fulfill his contract. As apostle Paul expressed himself about Jesus and Man: "the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.” (Romans 8.21)

                               ~end~