Very few people ever think of Jesus Christ as a prophet. Yet He was. He made many predictions about the future, all of which have either come true already, or are beginning to come true now.
Some of His predictions must have sounded utterly improbable at the time He made them. Yet they came true. Take this one, for instance:
"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations."1
When Jesus spoke those words, He had only a handful of followers, and those were mostly uneducated working-class men. He had completely failed to convert His own small nation. The ordinary people were mostly unmoved by His message, and the leaders hated Him like poison. Within a few weeks they would have Him hanging on a cross.
By all the laws of human probability, that should have been the end of it. Those who watched Him die must have thought, "Well, we shant hear any more of Him and His confounded gospel!"
But they were wrong. Within their own lifetime, His gospel was being preached over most of the Roman Empire. Since then it really has been preached to every nation on earth - the only religion that has. The words of Jesus have been translated into more than a thousand different languages.
Bibles by the million are spread abroad each year. They go by ship to the tropics, by air to the arctic, by rail and road and forest trail to the farthest corners of the earth. Brave men and women risk life and liberty smuggling Bibles into the communist countries of Eastern Europe.
Yes, Jesus was a prophet whose words came true. This is a good reason for listening carefully to what He has to say about our own day.
But first, a word of warning. Fashions come and fashions go. Yet facts are stubborn things. Facts remain the same while fashions change and change.
And fashions are not restricted to the way people dress. There are changing fashions in the way people behave and think. There are even fashions in scientific thought and in religious outlook.
So beware of thinking that todays fashion is necessarily right. Remember that tomorrows fashion will probably be quite different. "Everybodys doing it" may be a good excuse for going along with the crowd, but it is a very poor reason.
A hundred years ago it was quite fashionable to believe in the Second Coming of Christ. Today it is fashionable to ridicule the idea of the Second Coming.
But what of it? Dont let the fashion-mongers beguile you. It is only the fashion that has changed. The basic facts are the same as they always were. And such new facts as have come to light in recent years make it easier to believe in the Second Coming, not harder.
The first great fact is that Jesus promised, very plainly and emphatically, that He would come again.
The second great fact is that He described what would be happening in the world at the time of His return.
And the third great fact is that the events He foretold are developing in our world today.
So dont be put off by the force of public opinion. Remember how often in the past public opinion has been proved wrong. The facts are so important that they deserve to be looked at squarely, to see what lies behind them.
Do not be put off, either, because in the past a number of cranks have believed in the Second Coming, and have persuaded some people to do some very foolish things. There have always been plenty of unbalanced people in the world, but their foolish actions are best forgotten.
Quite a lot of lunatics killed themselves trying to fly before aircraft were invented-but that is no reason to dispute the fact of modern aviation. Similarly, quite a number of poor deluded people have been known to dispose of all their possessions and climb a mountain "to wait for Jesus"-but that is no reason to dispute the actual facts about the Second Coming.
We had better face it: the world is in a terrible predicament. While life in our affluent society goes gaily on, the most appalling forces are building up behind the scenes. The world is heading, helter-skelter, for a crisis too horrible to contemplate.
But we must contemplate it for a few moments, however horrible it may be, because there is no other way to get at the facts. Here, then, is a summary of the six great problems facing the world today.
" We must indeed pray that these awful agencies will be made to conduce to peace among the nations, and that instead of wreaking measureless havoc upon the entire globe, they may become a perennial fountain of world prosperity."2
But the bomb that filled Churchill with awe and dread seems like a mere firework compared with the bombs of today. In 1968 Lord Ritchie-Calder did a few sums, and estimated the explosive power of all the atomic weapons existing then. It worked out at the equivalent of 100 tons of old-fashioned explosive (TNT) for every man, woman and child on earth.3
To put it another way, if we assume, that the average street has 200 people living in it, then there was already enough atomic explosive in 1968 to provide one Hiroshima-sized bomb for every street in the world.
But bombs are not all. Nobody knows what horrors are being prepared in the secret germ-warfare laboratories of the great powers. A few years ago a British scientist in one of these labs died from a new germ he had helped to cultivate. "Good job he didnt sneeze before he died," a colleague is reported to have said. "He might have started an epidemic that would have wiped out the human race."
One thing is quite certain. World war would mean world catastrophe. The vital question is: can man preserve world peace?
The danger of all-out war between Russia and China is also much greater than most people realise. In a book with the grim title, The Coming War Between Russia and China,4 a foreign affairs expert reveals the frightening facts. Communists always have quarrelled among themselves, and the two great communist countries are already fully prepared to fight each other with atomic weapons.
It is the poor nations whose populations are growing the fastest.
Every year they grow poorer, while the rich nations grow richer. Sooner or later the cry is bound to come, "Shall we starve-or fight?"
" Just the same as it is in Europe," he replied. "Many people still claim to hold the old Eastern religions, just as England still calls itself a Christian country. But as with you, so with us: the old religions no longer mean anything to most people. We have our permissive society just like yours."
When faith goes, morals are bound to slip. So all the advanced nations have a crime wave, rapidly growing problems of alcoholism, drug addiction and juvenile violence.
One day in 1969 the police in Montreal went on strike for just twelve hours. Yet that was long enough for the city to be terrorised, when thousands of normally law-abiding citizens went berserk. The "civilised" world today is only one step away from a return to the jungle.
"Well, so what?" said my friend Norman one day, when I was telling him about these things. "The worlds in a mess, right enough. But then its often been in a mess. Jesus didnt need to be a prophet to foretell that the world would have a load of trouble. Anybody could have foreseen that. And, anyway, what makes you think it was our particular, twentieth-century, mess that Jesus spoke about?"
There is a very satisfactory answer to Normans question. To appreciate it we must take a close look at what Jesus said, and how He came to say it.
One day, not long before He was crucified, His disciples referred to the magnificent Temple that was Jerusalems pride and joy. Jesus startled them by commenting that it was going to be utterly destroyed.
So they asked Him the obvious question-when? And then they added a second question. They said:
"Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?"5
In reply Jesus talked at great length. He described how there would be a period of trouble for the nation, and of persecution for His disciples. Then, He said, an enemy army would besiege Jerusalem, and terrible events would follow.6 He continued:
"For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled."7
The words in italics are very important. When Jesus spoke of things "written", as He did many times, He always meant "written in the Old Testament". Many Old Testament prophecies about the Jews were quoted in Chapter 2 of this book. Jesus was evidently referring to them, and others like them. He said that all of those things must be fulfilled.
If you refer back to Chapter 2 you will see that those prophecies about the Jews were in three groups: (1) Expulsion, (2) A long period of exile, (3) Return to their homeland. In the next verse but one, Jesus summarised all those Scriptures which "must be fulfilled":
"And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations [that is (1), Expulsion] and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles [that is (2), A period of exile] until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled."8
The key word "until" implies that the Gentiles would not always occupy Jerusalem. This was Christs way of referring to the third group of Old Testament prophecies, which spoke of the Jews eventually returning to their homeland. He spoke another two verses describing the state of the world at that future day, and then made a momentous promise:
"And then shall they see the Son of Man [Himself] coming in a cloud, with power and great glory."9
In other words, Jesus taught that when the Jews went back to their homeland (and Jerusalem in particular) His Second Coming would soon follow.
This is how we know that Jesus was speaking of our day. For about 1800 years the Jews lived in exile. About seventy years ago they began to go home. In 1948 the State of Israel was set up. In 1967 Israel captured the Old City of Jerusalem (they already owned the New City). At last Jerusalem was no longer "trodden down of the Gentiles".
Whether we agree with Israels policy of occupying Arab lands is beside the point. What matters is that Christs words unmistakably give us one vital piece of information. Recent events in the Holy Land have provided a sure sign that Christs return is near.
Do not be surprised if some other great changes have taken place in the land of Israel by the time you read these words. These are to be expected. For example, Ezekiel said that after Gods unworthy people had returned to their land, something miraculous would happen to convert them:
"I will gather you out of all countries and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you and ye shall be clean; from all your filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you."10
How was the ungodly nation of Israel going to be changed so suddenly? Another prophet explains:
"I will save my people from the east country and from the west country, and I will bring them and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem . . . And I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him... And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends."11
So that is how the unbelieving Israelis are to be converted so suddenly. Their Messiah will come to them. If you read the whole of Zechariah 12 you will see that he is to come to save them from a national disaster, which might even involve them in military defeat and a temporary captivity.
This will be the most poignant moment in Israels 4,000-year history. They look at this Messiah who has just delivered them from their misery. They see he bears the marks of crucifixion. At long last the truth dawns upon them. and the Jews finally accept Jesus as their Messiah.
But this has been looking ahead. The return of Jesus is near, but it is still future. Our task at the moment is to see what Jesus says about our day, the time after the Jewish return to Jerusalem (reference 8, above) and before the Second Coming (reference 9). I left out the two verses separating those two passages. They said:
" And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; mens hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth. For the powers of heaven shall he shaken."12
Each phrase here is full of meaning. But it is no use looking at them with twentieth-century European eyes, and guessing at the meaning that seems likely to us. These words were spoken to first-century Jews, men steeped in Old Testament knowledge. We need to ask ourselves, "How would they have understood Christs words?" The answer undoubtedly is, "In the light of the Old Testament passages that Jesus was referring to."
It is therefore necessary to examine each phrase in that light.
First, "Signs in the sun, moon and stars". This language was a familiar Old Testament figure of speech for national disaster. Isaiah used it of the military conquest of Babylon13 and Ezekiel of the military defeat of Egypt.14 But it is the prophet Joel to whose words Jesus is most probably referring. Joel uses similar expressions twice: once of the disaster coming upon Israel15 and again of the disaster coming upon the whole world.16 But in both chapters Joel is speaking of "the day of the Lord", when Israel shall return to their land17 and Messiah shall appear to establish Gods kingdom.18
Evidently by this expression Jesus was saying, "The great world disaster foretold by the Prophets will burst upon the world."
His next phrase: "Upon the earth, distress of nations, with perplexity." Again He refers to the Old Testament prophecies about His Second Coming, such as one in Daniel that says it would be accompanied by:
" A time of trouble such as never was, since there was a nation to that same time."19
A standard authority on the Greek language20 says that Christs word "perplexity" means, in the Greek New Testament, "a state of not knowing which way to turn". This describes exactly the position of the worlds governments today. They know the problems threatening the human race with extinction. But they do not know which way to turn to solve them.
H. G. Wells spoke for many of his fellow unbelievers, when he wrote in his last book:
"This world is at the end of its tether. The end of everything we call life is close at hand and cannot be evaded - . - there is no way out, or round, or through the impasse. It is the end."21
If he had not been an unbeliever, you might almost think that Wells was deliberately echoing Jesus - "not knowing which way to turn".
The next words of Jesus are puzzling to many Western minds: "The sea and the waves roaring". To the careful Bible reader they present no difficulty. Behind them lies the figurative language of Isaiah, who likened the behaviour of masses of wicked people to the raging of a restless sea.22 If world catastrophe occurs, and law and order breaks down, it is not difficult to visualise the "roaring waves" of mob violence that will follow.
No wonder that Jesus continues, "Mens hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth." It only needs one newspaper headline, such as, "American Ultimatum to Russia Expires at Midnight!" for those words to start coming true.
The verses quoted conclude, "for the powers of the heavens shall be shaken". This also is well-established Old Testament language, used to describe governments crashing under the impact of war.23
What does all this add up to? That Jesus foretold, in language that was perfectly clear to the Jews who first heard Him, and that can be equally clear to us if we trouble to get acquainted with the figures of speech used in the Old Testament, a world just like ours.
He said, in effect, that in the days when the Jews went back to the Land of Israel, the world would be facing frightful problems. World catastrophe would be looming up, but men would not know how to prevent it. When disaster came, governments would fall, law and order would go, mob violence would take its place. And then - thank God - He would return "to destroy them which destroy the earth" (to quote a phrase used in another New Testament book).24
How did Jesus manage to foretell so clearly the problem facing our world?
This is the explanation He gave Himself:
"The word which ye hear is not Mine, but the Fathers which sent me."25
Can you think of another explanation that fits the facts so well?
The right hand man of Jesus was His apostle, Peter. After Jesus left the scene, Peter became a leader of the Christian church. He wrote two books of the New Testament, and in one of them he enlarged on the Masters prophecy about our age. He said:
"In the last days mockers shall come with mockery walking after their own lusts and saying, Where is the promise of His coming, for from the day that the fathers fell asleep all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they wilfully forget, that by the Word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water, whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished. But the heavens and the earth which are now, by the same Word, are kept in store reserved unto fire against the Day of Judgment - . The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat".26
The words printed in italics show that Peter foresaw four distinct features about our age.
Only a scientist could be expected to recognise this as a remarkable prophecy. But it is. As Col. Merson Davies, a scientist of some distinction (he was awarded two doctorates for research in geology) has pointed Out, Peters words exactly describe the modern scientific principle of "uniformitarianism" (or "uniformity", if you prefer short words to long ones).27
" Uniformity" is the foundation upon which the science of geology, and much else besides, is built. It leads directly to the popular philosophy, "Evolution has explained everything-therefore we neednt believe in God any more. Hooray!"
" Uniformity" is very much a modern invention. It was totally opposed to the thinking of the world in which Peter lived. Yet Peter foresaw its uprise, many centuries beforehand.
First, firearms; then incendiary bombs; then napalm; finally, The Bomb. These have entirely changed the image of war. Now, more than anything else, we associate war with fire. How did Peter know that modern weapons would make "the elements melt with fervent heat"?
Once again the decision is up to you. This book can only put the facts before you. You are the one who must weigh them in your mind, and try to reach a decision.
Is there some other explanation for these facts?
Or did Jesus, and Peter, and the prophets of the Old Testament, really foresee the frightful predicament of our generation? And if so, cant we trust them as true prophets, and believe that God who foresaw our problems will solve them for us as He promised-by sending Jesus back to put the world right?
2 White Paper, Statements Relating to the Atomic Bomb. H.M.S.O., London, 1945
3 Presidential Address to the Conservation Society, London, 1968
4 H. E. Salisbury, Pan Books, London, 1969
11 Zech. 8:7, 8; 12:10, 11; 13:6
20Grimm and Thayer, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament
21 H. G. Wells, Mind at the End of its Tether. Heinemann, London, 1945
27 L. M. Davies, The Bible and Modern Science. Constable, Edinburgh, 4th edn. 1953