Discerning the Signs but Looking for the Lord
I do listen. As I get older, I forget more easily, but I do listen to people’s concerns. In the last several years, a number of devoted Christians have asked me some form of the following question: “Are we close to the return of Jesus Christ?” As with any Biblical teaching, we must be careful with this subject. In Matthew 24:36, Jesus said, “Of that day and hour knoweth no man.” Later, in Acts 1:7, He added, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons.” Paul wrote in I Thesssalonians 5:2 that “the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.” Thus, date-setting defies God’s Word and dishonors our Savior. However, in Matthew 16:3, Jesus pointedly asks, “Can ye not discern the signs of the times?” We do not know and cannot know the exact time of Jesus’ Second Coming and the resulting period of the Tribulation, but we are told to seriously study the signs found in Scripture. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
A twenty-first mark of the end is an actual mark – the mark of the Antichrist. Revelation 13:16-18 is unequivocal: to engage in any commerce at that time, people must be numbered. Now, Christians will be in heaven at this time, raptured before the Tribulation and Antichrist’s reign (more about that in a couple of days). However, we can already see how this marking could easily be put into place. Could this kind of system have been constructed 100 years ago, or even 50? Probably not, for our technology was not as advanced and readily available. For example, I can remember when scanners first appeared in stores (and some of you are even older than I am). There are at least three ways that I can think of today in which this prophecy could be fulfilled. First, instead of currency, a governmental card (similar to a credit card and numbered, of course) could be required. Second, a smart phone (also numbered and with GPS) could be a necessity for purchases. In communist China, for example, access to public transportation is via such a phone only. Third, a scannable nanotechnology chip could easily be inserted into each individual. Perhaps all of these together would be required, or perhaps an upgrade of existing technologies will emerge. The point is that we can currently see multiple ways in which Revelation 13:16-18 could quickly be fulfilled. Christians can contrast the loving numbering of our God: “The very hairs of your head are all numbered” (Matthew 10:30). God’s numbering is compassionate rather than controlling.