The Last Days: Signs or Guesswork?

Whenever you talk about Jesus and the time of the end, inevitably someone suggests that we are not to know when the time will be. They always quote the passage in Matthew 24:36, " But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of Heaven, but my Father only.", as "proof" that we will not know when the end will be. History is full of so-called "prophets" who claimed to know the day of the end of the age, and were wrong.

 It is true that no one will know the day or the hour, but what is ignored in such arguments is the fact that Jesus gave us 38 verses of what to look for  when the time is "near". Was His message to not look for the time or to ignore the signs.  Why would He give us the signs if He wanted us to ignore them? Whenever someone says "We are not supposed to know when the time is near", I think to myself, "Why did Jesus waste all those verses if he did not want us to be aware of when it is happening." True, many of the verses tell us to be aware of many deceptions and false predictions, and what to avoid in thinking when the time is near, but He did say "Watch therefore: for you know not what hour your Lord doth come".

 He was very specific about some signs that will suggest when  the time is near, such as earthquakes, famines, and pestilences, and calls them the beginning of sorrows. These have all happened to some degree throughout history and for Him to mention them here seems to suggest that intensity will be the difference.

 The parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25 has the message that the bride, (the church) should always be ready for the return of Jesus as if it were today, and that is the message many Christians live by. To live as if every day is the day of His coming is not to say that we should not be aware of signs around us that suggest the time is near. After all he did say that we would not know the day or the hour, but did suggest that we would, (and should), know the season, and watch for it. I don't see anywhere in His message where He says we should not know when it was near or that we should not watch for it. What would be wrong would be for Christians to live as if they DID know when that time would occur. It is one thing to look for the time that Jesus spoke of, and another to live as if you know when that time will be.

There are many signs today that suggest that such a time is near, and there are many prophets saying so, but Jesus said to be watchful and not deceived by them.  The only true signs we can depend on are those prophesied by Jesus Himself. He wouldn't have told us to be "watchful" if He didn't want us to know when that time was near. While I look at the many prophesies that have been fulfilled lately, I know that any attempt to pinpoint the exact day or hour is an exercise in futility. That still doesn't keep me from looking, as He commanded, for more of the signs that He predicted, which I will continue to do, so that I will know when it is "NEAR".