A popular religious past time of every generation is discerning “the times and the seasons” in an attempt to ascertain the date of the Lord’s coming.
Hal Lindsey was a big time author in the 1970’s and 1980’s writing books like, “The Late Great Planet Earth”, “There’s a New World Coming”, and “The 1980’s: Countdown to Armageddon”. His reputation was built upon interpreting the socio-political climate of the day, so as to determine when the Lord would come.
Date setters have been common in the last few centuries. The Jehovah Witnesses set dates of 1874, 1914 and 1975 in seeking to predict the second coming of the Lord.
William Miller, a founder of the Seventh Day Adventist movement, claimed the Lord would come in March of 1884, and then October of 1884.
Herbert W. Armstrong, founder of the Worldwide Church of God, predicted in 1956 that the Lord would come in 1975. As a part of his prediction, he said that one third of the United States population would die of famine and disease by the middle of the 1970’s.
Those are just the big names. It seems that every few years someone comes out of the woodwork with a predication based upon current events, or some peculiar interpretation of Biblical prophecy.
Of course, there have been time setters from the very beginning. Paul addressed the problem in his letter to the Thessalonians. Read his words:
“But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, ‘Peace and safety!’ then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober” (1 Thessalonians 5:1-6).
Consider the truths that are established by Paul in this text. First, we can’t predict when the second coming will happen. If people say “Peace and safety!” They don’t know. Some do that today. We have time. Don’t worry about it. 2,000 years have passed, He either is not coming or won’t in our lifetime. If people say, “He is coming in our generation”, they don’t know. It could happen, but it won’t be because they are right.
Second, Paul shows clearly how we can be sure the day does not come with us unprepared. We don’t prepare by interpreting “the time and the seasons.” We prepare for His coming by living righteously! This is how we “watch.” By being “sober.”
A teacher leaves the room. The students appoint a “lookout”, and start misbehaving. If the lookout doesn’t do his job, or the teacher returns from a different direction, the students get caught.
Another teacher leaves another room. The students continue in their tasks. They are quiet, industrious, diligent. There is no need for a lookout because no matter when the teacher returns, the students are working quietly.
Paul says that Christians are to put on the “breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation” (vs. 8). We are to “comfort each other and edify one another” (vs. 11). If we are doing what is right, we are ready for the Lord’s coming.
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