Loving Christ’s Appearing: But Not Counting The Days

Loving Christ’s return means occupying ourselves in faithful service until he comes. So don’t count the days, instead live ready.

We should keep in mind two fundamental principles when considering the coming of Christ and the establishment of the Kingdom of God. They are epitomized by the two passages above:

• If we earnestly believe in the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ and see it as the center and focus of our hope, then we will certainly love [agape] that appearing, which means we will also long for it, and wish that it might come soon, as soon as possible.
• At the same time, however, we will heed the words of Jesus who said, not once but at least half a dozen times, that, for all our yearning, and even for all our careful study, we cannot know the day of our Lord’s coming.

Loving Christ’s Appearing

It is practically impossible to say too much about Paul’s earnest desire for the return of his Lord from heaven. Even in this dark and often dangerous world, there are moments of light from time to time, when the hopeful believer might catch a glimpse, as through a glass darkly, of the future Kingdom. When individuals or nations stretch out helping hands to care for the sick, to feed the hungry and clothe the naked, to educate and uplift minds and encourage “the better angels of our natures,” there, we think, are small snapshots of a better world. I must say that the longer I live, and the more I see of this evil world, the greater is my desire for the time when:

They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. (Micah 4:3).

The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them… They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. (Isaiah 11:6, 9).

[God himself] will wipe every tear from [men’s] eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. (Revelation 21:4).

I long for the return of Christ. However, an eager, single-minded, and even desperate desire for Christ to come immediately may have a detrimental effect on believers. For example, I should not sell what I own and retire to a mountaintop, where I watch the heavens, or even listen to the news, looking for a sign that Christ is about to return. I should not stop working at whatever I need to do for my family and myself, while relying on the kindness of others to support me. Nevertheless, some believers in their enthusiasm have acted just that way. Paul wrote to them:

For even when we were with you [the Thessalonians], we gave you this rule: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.” We hear that some among you are idle and disruptive. They are not busy; they are busybodies. Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the food they eat. (2 Thessalonians 3:10-12).

Why were they idle? Although Paul makes no direct connection between the two ideas, it appears that the Thessalonians’ expectation of Christ’s return and an attitude of laziness were in fact related. Possibly, some believers were reluctant to work, and the prevailing belief that Christ could appear at any moment led them further down the path toward idleness and unruliness:

Concerning the coming of our Lord… we ask you, brothers and sisters, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter—asserting that the day of the Lord has already come. Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way. (2 Thessalonians 2:1-3).

Here is the problem: if some believers took this view of things, then they might conclude there was little or no need for them to provide for the future. Against this misguided philosophy, Paul argued that Christ’s return was not necessarily quite so near as they supposed, and that they should work, if possible, to support themselves and not be a burden to others.

But Not Counting the Days!

This second principle should serve as a common-sense balance to our eagerness for the coming of Christ. Our wish to see that day should be held in check, to some extent, by our knowledge that, while we are waiting for our Savior to come, and for all the wonderful changes in this troubled world which he will bring, we must not neglect the essential things we need to do, here and now.

The Mount Olivet prophecy, which our Lord gave his disciples in his last days with them, told them that, before that glorious day could come, they should expect to see nations in perplexity, men’s hearts failing them for fear, wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes, famines, and pestilence. He told them especially to expect to see Jerusalem surrounded by her enemies, and also that at that time (but not before?) they should expect to see: “The Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” (Luke 21:27-28).

Having given such a glorious vision of the future, however, Jesus scarcely finished his great prophecy before he proceeded to add a mitigating factor—a stern warning backed up with the threat of eternal condemnation. And he didn’t do it once; he did it several times!

• The homeowner and the thief (Matthew 24:42-44; Mark 13:32-37; Luke 12:39-40): The owner of the house did not know when the thief was coming. If he had known, he would not have lost all that he had. The lesson is that the Son of Man will come when you least expect him, so be ready all the time.
• The wicked servant who thought he could deceive his master (Matthew 24:45-51): The fatal mistake of the chief servant was thinking he could live his life to satisfy himself, beating his fellow servants with impunity while feasting on his master’s food and drink, and still manage to conceal his indiscretions by the time his master returned. In his self-importance and greed, the wicked servant forgot that his master could “come on a day when he did not expect him.” (v. 50). His punishment was quick and severe: “Assign him a place with the hypocrites.” (v. 51).
• The wise and foolish virgins (Matthew 25:1-13): While waiting for the bridegroom to come, the wise virgins kept their lamps filled with oil, but the foolish virgins allowed their lamps to burn down and flicker out. When the warning came at midnight, “Here’s the bridegroom!” they had no time to prepare themselves, and they were shut out of the wedding banquet (v. 10). “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.” (v. 13).

Bro. Harry Tennant wrote:

We must seek to match our profession with a life that speaks of Christ. In the parable, it was the foolish virgins who cried, “Lord, Lord, open to us,” but they had failed in daily life to fully prepare for the Lord’s coming. We scan the signs of the times in vain, if we do not… truly know the Lord whom we have professed to serve.²

It is plain from Bro. Tennant’s comments, as it is from the context of Christ’s other Olivet parables, that “keep watch” means much more than “scan” (study) the “signs of the times.” It also, and especially, means: “Keep watch over yourself and your conduct,” and “Keep watch over those for whom you should care—family, brothers and sisters, neighbors.” That is the best way to prepare for Christ’s coming!

Christ’s Ascension (Acts 1:6-12)

Not so long after his Olivet prophecy, when Jesus had been raised from the dead, he took his leave from his disciples as they stood once again on the Mount of Olives (Acts 1:12). His previous prophecy about the Last Days, spoken in the same place, coupled with his glorification, emboldened them to ask: “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” (v. 6). His answer echoed his previous words of warning in the Olivet parables: “It is not for you to know the times or dates that the Father has set by his own authority.” (v. 7).

Then the Lord did one other thing, quite meaningful in this context. He gave them a great commission: “You will be my witnesses… to the ends of the earth.” (v. 8). It was as if Jesus were telling them: “Don’t worry about counting the days; don’t try to figure out the times and the seasons. You have important work to do, and the best thing you can do is get busy doing it as soon as possible. Don’t worry about when the Kingdom will come; just leave that to me.”

“Occupy Till I Come.”

In what is called the parable of the talents (Greek, minas), Luke gives us Christ’s reason for telling this parable: “[Jesus] went on to tell them a parable, because… the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once.” (Luke 19:11).

For us today, this is a familiar feeling. The more we “love his appearing,” the more we tell ourselves that the Kingdom of God will appear any day, perhaps this very moment. I hasten to add: there is nothing wrong with this desire. We should yearn for and love the idea of Christ returning very, very soon! But the Lord’s warning is abundantly clear in the parable: “A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return. So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. ‘Put this money to work [KJV: occupy],’ he said, ‘until I come back.’” (Luke 19:13).

The NIV’s “Put… to work” translates the Greek pragmateuo, which means to do something practical or useful with whatever assets you possess, whether money, time or abilities, or all three. The English word “pragmatic” comes from the same word.

In this instance, I prefer the simple KJV: “Occupy.” Perhaps this is because it reminds me of my parents, who might tell my brother and me at any time, “Stop playing around, and do something useful.” (They didn’t do this all the time, you understand, but only when we had been “wasting” our time for half a day or so). If we were foolish enough to reply, “We can’t think of anything useful to do,” then we left ourselves wide open: “Come with us; we’ll find something to occupy your time.”

It shouldn’t be that hard to find something useful, should it? Bible study, prayers, cleaning the hall, keeping up its maintenance, taking people to doctor’s appointments, visiting the sick or the shut-ins, running errands for those who can’t, visiting with brothers and sisters, talking with your neighbors or friends about the Bible, teaching Sunday School, reading Bible stories to children, delivering meals to folks who need them. “Occupy!” If you check off that list and still can’t find anything to occupy yourself productively, you can always find someone else who is busy doing something good and ask if you can help.

Yes, “Occupy till I come” just sounds right: brothers and sisters, don’t sit around guessing when Christ will come. It won’t make the day arrive any sooner.

A Practical Example of “Occupying”

An extraordinary event occurred on May 19, 1780, and was witnessed by many people in the Canadian province of Ontario, as well as New England. There was an unusual darkening of the sky in the daytime, a darkness that swept down from the north, lingered for a day or a day and a half, and then continued toward the south until it dissipated in New York and New Jersey. This event is remembered in New England as “The Day of Darkness.”

For a couple of days before the phenomenon, the sun appeared red, and the sky had a yellowish hue. Rain fell, mixed with ash and soot. When the sun set and the moon rose, it was red also. The darkness at the height of the event was so complete that candles were needed during the day. Animals behaved erratically, roosters crowed at the wrong time, and nocturnal creatures roamed about in the middle of the day.

It is now generally believed that the primary cause of the darkness was a combination of smoke from forest fires, a thick fog, and cloud cover. Researchers examining extensive scar damage on tracts of old trees in northern Ontario and estimating the date of the fire by studying tree rings, attribute the Dark Day to a large fire in the area now known as Algonquin Provincial Park in northeast Ontario.

At the time, many religious people saw the Day of Darkness as a fulfillment of Bible prophecy, quoting passages such as Revelation 6:12,13: “The sun became black as sackcloth… and the moon became as blood; and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth.” (KJV).

In Connecticut, members of the Governor’s Council (renamed the State Senate a few years later) were troubled. Some assumed the coming of Christ was upon them and suggested the council be adjourned so that everyone could go home and prepare for the end.

But their concerns were eased by the wise words of one member, Abraham Davenport: “Gentlemen,” he said, “I am against adjournment. The Day of Judgment is either fast approaching or it is not. If it is not, there is no cause to adjourn. If it is, then I choose to be found doing my duty. Let us bring in candles and continue. It is better to be found doing something than doing nothing!”

The Implications

If we believe the words of Jesus quoted earlier, which we surely do, then we must ask: What are the implications of not knowing when Christ will return?

First, a simple observation: It is good to hold our cherished personal interpretations about the Last Days prophecy with a gentle grip. If we cling to such non-essential opinions as though they were life itself, then it will become all the harder, maybe even impossible, to let them go if and when something different happens.

In short, we need an open mind when we read our Bibles and try to look into the future. Many good Bible students have been mistaken in the past when they attempted to predict exact or even approximate dates for specific events to occur. Some students have compiled lists of 30 or 40 or 50 things, as if to say: “I know that all of these events will happen in just this order, and I will use my list as a fixed program to guide all my thinking.” To this and similar efforts, the great Bible student Isaac Newton offered words of advice centuries ago:

[God] gave… the prophecies… not to gratify men’s curiosities by enabling them to know things beforehand, but rather that after they were fulfilled they might be interpreted by the event; and God’s own providence—not the interpreter’s wisdom—might then be manifested to the world.³

We should be sincere and dedicated Bible students while remembering that we are not prophets. How can we rely on our own cleverness and ingenuity when Jesus, the greatest prophet of all, tells us: “You do not know on what day I will come,” or “I will come on a day when you do not expect me”?

Of course, it is always possible that our own personal views on prophecy may prove right (or mostly right), but that is just the point: if we may be right, then we may just as easily be wrong also. Either way, our ultimate standing at Christ’s Judgment Seat will not depend on how well we have envisioned the future, but on how well we have acted. To paraphrase our Lord in his parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-46):

Inasmuch as ye have fed the hungry, given water to the thirsty, clothed the naked, and cared for the sick—that is, inasmuch as you have helped the least of my brethren—you have helped me… Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you. (vv. 34-40).

We cannot help but notice that, when pronouncing judgment upon those who come before him on that great Day, Jesus says nothing about our understanding of Daniel and Revelation, but everything about our conduct.

We don’t guard against being caught unprepared when Christ returns by spending our time working out the best scenario for prophetic fulfillments. But we do guard against being caught unprepared by doing the good and helpful things described in Matthew 25 and elsewhere.

What I Believe

I was baptized more than 60 years ago, and I’ve been paying some attention ever since to the “signs of the times.” Like others, I have had my own opinions about how to interpret prophecy. Some I have held quite strongly, only to realize after some years that they didn’t work out quite as I expected. Over time, I have learned something constructive: not to overestimate my own powers of interpretation, particularly when they relate to the future.

Like most believers, and especially as I get older, I wonder if I will be alive when that day comes. I hope I will. But if not, I firmly believe my Savior will remember my burial place and will send his angel there to awaken me. And I believe that, when that day comes, whether it is very soon or a bit further along, we who are saved by the grace of God will no longer be concerned about minor differences of Bible interpretation. Nor will we be inclined to criticize or ostracize those who disagree with us on such matters.

I believe that, when that day comes, we will joyfully disavow any wrong, confused and imperfect ideas we have held. I believe that, when that day comes, all of us will gather like little children at the feet of Jesus, and we will all rejoice to listen to him and to feel the warmth of his love embracing us.

And I believe that all the silliness of the past, all the rivalries, all the unseemly complaints and antagonisms, among ourselves and other brothers and sisters, will be swept away in one wonderful flood of love and joy and peace.

For these reasons, and with the above comments in mind, I do confess that I truly “love the appearing” of the Lord, even while I try to remember that I do not know on what day he will return.

I can also confess that I do not know what the future holds, but I do know who holds the future.

George Booker,
Austin Leander Ecclesia, TX