The Lord’s view regards past, present and future with perfect clarity. He has told us that certain things will happen. We know that the prophetic winds are blowing, shaping the future panorama.

We also know that the Lord is not a mere observer, but is actively determining the events on planet earth. His Spirit covers the earth. As Jesus told Nicodemus, "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit" (John 3:8).

The Apostles wrote that sociopolitical conditions would rapidly worsen in the days before His return, and that a day of great upheaval lies just ahead. In the light of their writings, we struggle to make sense of our times … of time, itself.

Among Christians who believe that the Great Tribulation, Day of the Lord and Kingdom of David lie in the future, the pretribulation rapture of the church is widely taught. It is also taught that this rapture, or catching-away of the church is a signless event that could happen at any moment, without the slightest warning. It is imminent, and has been so regarded since the days of the Apostles. We long for a sign, and are even told at one point, "And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh" (Luke 21:28).

This exhortation, given by Jesus, Himself, is spoken concerning latter-day Israel, and the changes that will accompany its rebirth. We watch Israel and the Middle East. And we do look up, in the knowledge that the rapture will happen without any preceding sign or warning.

However, the doctrine of imminence remains among the most difficult in the Christian faith. The problem is simple: On one hand, believers are urged to be aware of various signs that suggest the end of the church age. To cite the example just given, the rebirth of national Israel and subsequent growing conflict in the Middle East are often seen as indications of the near approach of the rapture. But on the other hand, Christians are cautioned not to set dates on the basis of visible geopolitical developments.

Some theologians have warned against what they call, "newspaper exegesis." This is the tendency to view news developments in Russia, Persia, Israel or the growing global government as signs that Christ’s return for the church is less than say, a decade in the future … perhaps only a year or two away.

The faithful have a challenge. We sometimes feel like a living dichotomy – looking for signs, excited by developments on the world stage, but constantly reminding ourselves that the rapture is a signless event. How are we to view prophetic timing, and still stay within the bounds of proper biblical interpretation?

This riddle of how the eternal now translates into the material timeline is never more challenging than when one attempts to understand the phrase, "the time is at hand." Let’s look at a few examples of how it’s used. The first one we will cite is obvious and easy to understand.

As the time drew near for His final trial and crucifixion, Jesus instructed His disciples on how to secure a place in which they could observe the Passover seder:

That night, in that place, He sat with them as they ate that Last Supper. Then, they went across the Kidron Valley to Gethsemane, where Jesus prayed before being taken into custody.

Earlier in the day, Jesus had said, "My time is at hand." From the Greek of the New Testament, the nearest literal translation of this sentence would be, "My time is near." And indeed, it was near. In fact, it was within a few hours of fulfillment. Here, the phrase, "at hand," turns out to mean, "very near."

Here, the word "time" is a translation of the Greek kairos kairos, which means, a favorable season or an opportune moment. It is never used to indicate a space of time, or a duration or interval between two points along the timeline.

In this case, the meaning of Jesus’ words is literal and understandable: The opportune moment or designated time, had arrived. As we look at the time intervals connected with His final hours, the issue of proximity is clear cut. When Jesus says the time is near, He means it.

On the other hand, the same phrase is used twice in the book of Revelation. The first occurrence of "time" comes at the beginning of the book. It urges the reader to remember that the prophecies of the Revelation are about to be fulfilled:

Here, and in the example to follow, the word used to express "time" is the Greek kairos kairos, which describes an opportune season. In other words, things are right for the fulfillment of the prophecy.

At the opening of the book, the season of the seven churches was "at hand," or quite near. That section of the Revelation was already under fulfillment. At the time of its writing, the seven churches were already functioning, though the full development of their prophetic outcome would (and still will) take some two thousand years. This, we can easily understand.

But at the end of the Revelation, we find another "at hand" that’s not nearly so easy to understand. At this point in his experience, John has seen it all, from the church age through the coming of the New Jerusalem. He stands in the future, taking in the panorama of time from a vantage point of astounding proportions.

Then come the urgent words:

Once again, we see the familiar phrase, "… the time is at hand." Its wording is precisely the same as the two other similar phrases we have seen. In Greek it says, "The time is near," using the word that indicates an opportune moment.

By way of review:

In the first case, the Lord used the expression to indicate His readiness to take the last Passover.

In the second, it spoke of the things that would shortly come to pass. In particular, it seems to refer to the seven churches and their combined prophecy of the church age.

In this final instance, words written nearly two thousand years ago urgently remind us that the season of Revelation’s fulfillment is near. How are we to take these words? In other words, what does the Bible mean when it says that something of consequence is "at hand," or "near"?

This is not a new problem. The patient wait for Christ’s return began in the first century. For literally the last 1,950 years or so, clear Bible teaching has stated that Christ could return to this planet at any moment to claim His called-out body of believers.

The Apostle Paul, in his first epistle to the Thessalonians, writes to Hellenistic Jews and Gentiles who are recognized for their steadfastness in faith and love in the Lord. Paul compliments them on their, "… work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ" (I Thes. 1:3).

Their patience in the context of hope is a direct reference to the central subject of the letter. In it, Paul gives explicit details of Christ’s return for the church and the phenomenon of the rapture. As we think of his amazing exposition of a reality that had never before been taught, we try to imagine how those early believers must have reacted to his words. Most of the Thessalonians were Gentiles, who had lived under the fierce reign of the Caesars, and its cultic belief that they were gods.

Furthermore, the Greek culture revolved around such revolting pagan practices as the oracles of vestal virgins and the worship of Diana, the fertility goddess. Mystery cults and superstition ruled their daily lives.

Having seen the fruit of paganism, many Greeks had turned to the ethical and moral stability of Judaism, and the worship of the one God. But they had never heard about His Son, or been enlightened as to prophetic truth.

The date of this letter is about A.D. 51. Claudius was the Roman Caesar, and in his efforts to expand the Empire, he began to persecute the Jews. Only a few years later, Nero came to power. He ruled from A.D. 54 through 68. During that time, Christians became public enemy number one. Considering them merely another sect of Judaism, Nero expanded programs of arrest, torture and execution.

Throughout his reign, the Jerusalem Temple continued to function, and Judaism thrived, still continuing to teach that the Messiah would come to destroy the Roman overlords and establish the Kingdom.

Paul was teaching something entirely different … that the resurrected Jesus was the Messiah who had been rejected by His people. Furthermore, He would return for the living body of believers … and that it could happen at any moment!

It was on the basis of their acceptance of his teaching that he commended them so profusely. Several times, he expresses this sentiment:

Here, Paul praises the Thessalonian believers as his literal "crown of rejoicing." He longs for their presence with Christ at His return. Later in the letter, of course, he details the coming and what we have come to call the "rapture of the church." The most striking thing about the above statement is Paul’s assurance that these believers, living in A.D. 51, could reasonably expect the Lord’s return during their lifetimes. A few verses later, he repeats this assertion:

Again, Paul suggests that these living Thessalonians could very well expect to meet the Lord at His coming, accompanied by saints who had gone on before. He speaks of the Lord’s coming as a real event that could be realistically expected by believers then alive.

Of course, Paul’s most striking assertion is his widely quoted statement consoling believers whose relatives had since passed on.

Paul answers a question that must have plagued the Thessalonians: "Will our believing friends and relatives who have died, experience the joy of the Lord’s coming?"

There can be no doubt that if you were among the believers of the early church, you would have received these words with joyous excitement and anticipation. Paul is assuring the living body of Christ that their deceased friends would not be relegated to second place at the time of the resurrection.

This disclosure must have had the effect of emphasizing the nearness of the rapture. To the Thessalonians, it strongly asserted that their relatives would be resurrected with them. Doubtless, they took this to mean that the great event would come while they were still alive. This must have been the buzz of the community!

Surely, they must have endlessly digested and recounted the words of this letter, telling all their friends that they were the generation destined to meet the Lord in the air. In I Thessalonians 4:17, the word "air" is from the Greek , meaning "atmosphere." Thus, these believers were being told that the Lord would descend bodily into their physical realm, where He would appear in the sky. He was coming back … physically!

The immediacy and reality of this description must have had a very dramatic effect upon the readers of Paul’s epistle. Surely they knew of the incident related by Luke at the beginning of Acts, where Jesus’ departure was described in the same terms:

When Paul told them that they would be, "… caught up together with them in the clouds," their first thought must have been that the Lord would return in the same way that He had departed. That is, by making a physical appearance in the region of the atmospheric heavens.

What a comfort it must have been for them to think that, at any moment, He would appear to take them home! Indeed, this was Paul’s motive as he wrote to them. A few verses later, he tells them exactly why he has written them:

Here, the "salvation" mentioned by Paul is not the believer’s initial redemptive experience, but the deliverance promised to all believers, prior to the Day of the Lord. We shall be "caught up," taken away from the scene of the Lord’s judgment. Nothing could be more comforting to them (and to us) than the assurance that they would be taken from the earth before the prophesied convulsions of the Tribulation.

This second letter is also dated to sometime in A.D. 51. As Paul writes it, the Jerusalem Temple is still in full daily operation. Christ’s resurrection is over twenty years in the past.

In one sense, Judaism is at a high point in its history at this time. It is politically recognized within the Roman Empire and ensconced in the beautiful and wealthy environs of the Herodian complex of palaces and fortresses. In fact, the Temple complex is still under construction during Paul’s second missionary journey, having been begun about seventy years earlier. It would not be considered complete until A.D. 69. Then, it will be completely destroyed a year later, in A.D. 70.

Since the letter prophesies the revelation of the "man of sin," who will be revealed in the Temple, they would be carefully cognizant of the latest news from Jerusalem. With the Temple in its full glory, this might happen at any time. They would be watching for signs that the evil man was on the verge of revealing himself.

For at least the last four decades, it has been common for pastors to proclaim from the pulpit that, "Jesus is coming soon!" Without a doubt, Bible-believing audiences who hear these words receive them with the implied expectation that the rapture will come very, very soon.

These words imply that Jesus’ coming is only a few years away … a few decades, at the most. They are uttered on the basis that the prophetic arena is now set with the necessary backdrops and political prerequisites indicated in Scripture. Israel is a nation once again. Russia and Persia are a strengthening nuclear front. Islamic terrorism has increasingly destabilized the geopolitics of the Promised Land.

Like those earlier believers in Paul’s time, we are excited about the probability that Jesus coming is, "at hand." In other words, it is near.

In fact, it’s fair to say that just as we watch for the first signs of the approaching Tribulation Temple, the believers of the first century were watching for signs that the regime of the man of sin was near.

Sadly, their zeal and patient attentiveness did not carry forward to succeeding generations. The immediacy of Paul’s epistles was replaced by a different theology that emphasized political power. We shall now take a quick trip through the age of the church to illustrate the rise and fall of watchfulness.

What first-century believers did not — and could not — know, was that the "nearness" of Christ’s return was couched in eternal terminology. A brief history of the church age begins with their anticipation. They patiently waited, and they waited … and they waited.

After Paul’s converts witnessed the passage of two decades, the Romans laid siege to Jerusalem. Jews who didn’t leave town were slaughtered. The Temple was sacked. Jews and Christians alike were hunted down and killed.

A little over half a century later, under the false messiahship of Simeon Bar Kochba, the Jews lost everything in a crushing defeat. They retreated to every corner of the world. Jerusalem became Aelia Capitolina. Israel became Palestine.

Christians struggled to maintain the momentum of the first-century church. In the second and third centuries, Roman persecution cooled, and the early fathers of the faith gradually replaced the imminent expectation of Christ’s return with various pragmatic theologies. These were designed to stimulate moral and ethical living. They were often laden with bizarre allegorical interpretations designed to add dramatic effect to existing Scripture.

During this time, heresies rose and fell in succession. Finally in A.D. 312, under the guidance of the Roman Emperor Constantine, church councils codified the New Testament canon of Scripture. At the same time, church and empire became one. The expectant waiting for Christ’s return was a thing of the past. The centuries rolled by, and the state church grew stronger. Its standard for salvation became less spiritual and more political. Darkness veiled the Western world.

As A.D. 1000 drew near, there was a brief "millennial fever," producing fervent speculation about Christ’s return. Then came A.D. 1001, and the church returned to its former ecclesiastical gloom.

As time approached our era, the Reformation and Missionary eras brought the church into dramatic ferment, with competing theologies and politics. Some of these came to intersect Israel in the nineteenth century, as men like John Nelson Darby and later, William Heschler, began to teach that prophecy called for the reestablishment of latter-day national Israel.

One of his letters, written around 1830 marks a revolutionary change. In it, Darby said, "The coming of the Lord was the other truth which was brought to my mind from the Word, as that which, if sitting in heavenly places in Christ, was alone to be waited for, that I might sit in heavenly places with Him. Isaiah 32 brought me to the earthly consequences of the same truth, though other passages might seem perhaps more striking to me now; but I saw an evident change of dispensation in that chapter, when the Spirit would be poured out in the Jewish nation, and a king reign in righteousness."

How amazing! Some 1,750 years after Paul had elucidated the truth of the dispensations, Israel’s partial blindness and the details of the rapture, these truths began to see the light of day once again.

Heschler came into contact with the Jewish Zionist Theodore Herzl. From that time forward, the two struggled to bring the World Zionist Organization to birth. In 1897, the First Zionist Congress met in Basle, Switzerland. Its goal was to bring a Jewish state to reality. Simultaneously, the Bible study movement and the dispensational teaching of Scripture became the foundation of the American evangelical movement.

Fifty years later, in 1947, after two world wars, Hitler and a Holocaust, the United Nations declared Israel’s right to self-determination. It also published a Partition Plan that gave Israel a right to declare statehood. The next year, national Israel became a reality: May 14th, 1948.

But would Israel stand against an onslaught of practically global proportions? Several wars answered this question in the affirmative … particularly the Six-Day War of June, 1967, when Israel secured Jerusalem and the Temple Mount.

The preceding brief history is marked by one salient point. The followers of the first century Apostles were active prophecy-watchers. Their zeal died and did not come to life again until the twentieth century, when it began again to be taught that Jesus is coming soon.

This brings us back, full circle, to the teaching of the Apostle Paul, who regarded the events of the Tribulation as direct and personal. Like the Thessalonians of the first century, we see that Paul’s comforting words apply directly to our lives, as we look for the Savior’s coming in the clouds.

So, in a strange way, first-century Christians are our closest brethren. For centuries, their excitement about the Lord’s imminent return was an artifact of the past. Now, it has returned, more vigorous than ever. Looking back, we can sympathize with the frustration they must have felt as the Roman state became more and more anti-Christian, even as they patiently waited for the Lord.

Like them, we live in a state of tension, sensing that the times tell us that He will come in the next moment, but knowing that He may not come for some time. We are tempted to set a date. Some have ... and they have been condemned when their enthusiasm got out of control. We remember that cults and heresies have formed out of such false hope. Still, we watch, as Scripture says we should.

Are we really living in the "last days"? Certainly, if the Holy Spirit has caused all those pastors to cry out that, "Jesus is coming soon," we are. But this term cannot be used to designate a particular time. A good example of its biblical use is found in Paul’s second epistle to Timothy:

"For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,

"Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away" (II Tim. 3:1-5).

Paul carefully instructs Timothy that days of apostasy will cloud his future, and by extension, the future of the church. In one sense, we can say that Timothy, himself, was involved with the type of people mentioned here. Such people characterized the fierce days of the Roman Empire.

On the other hand, Paul seems to be warning about a future societal breakdown that will mark the conditions just prior to Christ’s return for believers. Are we seeing such a breakdown today? Certainly, we are. Are these the "last days"? Yes, but the last days seem to encompass the entire church age.

Peter used the same term in his second epistle:

"And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation" (II Peter 3:1-4).

The Apostle John – bishop of the Ephesian church – presents much the same view of the prophecy, as viewed in the Spirit of the Lord:

"They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us" (I John 2:18,19).

Peter uses the same term in his first letter, obviously referring to events of the first century, in speaking of Christ, "Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you" (I Peter 1:20).

Clearly, both of these references are descriptive of the first century. But the context in which they are written brings them into our era. John speaks of the Antichrist, both as a spirit, and as a person.

In his second epistle, Peter uses the term "last days," in the context of His coming:

"And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation" (II Peter 3:3,4).

Writing some time later, Jude recalls Peter’s words, as he uses the term as a warning to his contemporaries when he writes, "How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts" (Jude 18).

Here, Peter is talking about those people who would be alive at the time of Christ’s coming. They are not the people of Peter’s own era, though there were scoffers at that time. Peter could hardly have guessed at how far into the future his words would reach. These scoffers are those who will be alive at the coming of the Day of the Lord, which Peter says will come "as a thief in the night" (II Peter 3:10).

Clearly, "last times," or "last days" are used to indicate the events of the entire church age.

Looking at days, times, eras and epochs, we arrive at two great truths. The first is the biblical view of date setting. Our Lord spoke with great plainness to those who were about to carry the Gospel abroad to the whole earth:

Christ’s words absolutely exclude the setting of a prophetic date. But as we have already noted, he also urged watchfulness to those who would be alive at the time of Israel’s latter-day struggle: "And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up…" (Luke 21:28).

This brings us to the second great truth. Biblical timing is given to Israel, not the church. The prophets of the Old Testament link dozens of truths, forming a concise chain of events that will be played out as Israel assumes headship in the earthly Kingdom.

The church is without such a prophesied chain of events. The Great Commission is never illustrated by possession of geography or government. It is a spiritual body, whose head is in heaven. Certainly, Jesus instructed His followers to carry the Gospel to, "Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1:8). This has been done many times over.

Missionaries have carried the faith to virtually every square foot of the earth. And where they have not walked, they have witnessed by book, pamphlet, satellite television, radio, tape, CD, DVD and movie. Most pointedly, the great missionary movements have not sought to possess territory; the Great Commission is to evangelize, not politicize.

Nor is there a verse in the Bible telling us that when every last soul has heard the Gospel, the age of the church will end with the rapture. Instead, we find that when people, "… say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape" (I Thes. 5:3). In other words, the age of the church will end with a surprise. As Christians are taken home, global institutions will fall, in an unprecedented series of cataclysms.

For Israel, there are definite times and seasons. Furthermore, they are interconnected in a delicate balance of history and geopolitics, as in Psalm 102:

This statement is made concerning a beleaguered Israel, surrounded by enemies, and almost devoid of all recourse. If there is a hotly-contested spot on earth, it is Zion, the ancient City of David and the Temple Mount.

The conditions of this prophecy mark the Lord’s return at the "set time." A time is appointed, but we have no idea what it is. We never forget that while the Lord was on earth, He told His followers that only His Father knew it. Nevertheless, for Israel, there is a set time when the Lord will come to the rescue of Zion.

In Revelation, a curious reference to time is shown in conjunction with this very event. An angel makes a declaration concerning time and Israel:

This, then, is the excitement among the faithful. The church age is an open-ended opportunity to serve, to follow the leading of His Spirit and to spread the Word of the Gospel, while the opportunity exists.

To the Lord, time is a necessary structure. Upon that structure, He is building a Kingdom. What we view as an unfolding series of events, He views as completed architecture. We see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, David and the Kingdom; He sees Himself, seated upon David’s throne. We view the process; He sees the completed project.

For Gentiles, there is the prophetic procession of four kingdoms. Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome march by in a grotesque procession. The memory of their passing lingers like so many ghosts and ramshackle mansions … a trail of broken bodies and shattered spirits.

In our era, the spirit of Rome thrives today, in a burgeoning globalism that we see in the lengthening shadows of its growing edifices. It is the fourth kingdom, prophesied to cover the earth with an unprecedented spiritual darkness.

The day is coming, when the bright light of the Lord will expose its evils. But this has nothing to do with the church, the body of Christ. Paul makes that more than clear:

And what is it we watch for? Quite simply, we are to look for the hopeful rise of the fifth kingdom — Israel. As we have seen, that hope lay dormant for centuries. Then, in the nineteenth century, the dawn broke and the Lord regathered His people. Israel has been called "God’s Timepiece." Nothing could be more true.

We of the church already live in eternal realms. We are neither time-limited nor time-connected. We live with men like Enoch, Elijah, Paul and John. He has given us eternal life, "And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:6). We serve the Lord, the Master of time and eternity.

Israel will inherit the thousand-year Kingdom that includes a geographical and political destiny. At the same time, Christians will be living in a body of light. In a very real sense, the times and seasons have nothing to do with us. Nevertheless, we watch, but not for ourselves, and not for developments within the church.

Living in that blessed hope, we are watching Israel, the prophesied object of the Lord’s reconciliation.