But "when shall these things be?" This is an important question. Christ had pointed to the wondrous buildings of the temple and said:
"See you not all these things? Verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down." (Matthew 24:2)
The disciples connected this catastrophe with the end of all things, and came to him privately, saying:
"Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the world?" (Matthew 24:3)
There are some who tell us that we have no business to in quire anything about the time of Christ's coming. If that were so, what a good opportunity Jesus had to emphasize the fact, so that his disciples should never forget it, when they asked him the question just quoted. Did he say to them,
"Don't bother your heads with such questions; you'll know when it comes?"
Not at all. Not a word of censure or reproof did he utter, but simply said,
"...Take heed that no man deceive you." (Matthew 24:4)
And then he proceeded to give them certain infallible signs by which they might know when his coming should be near, and so avoid being imposed upon.
It is true that further on in this twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew, the Saviour said:
"But of that day and hour knows no man, no, not the angels of Heaven, but my Father only." (Matthew 24:36)
Yet just before that he had said that when certain signs had come to pass, they should know that his coming was near,
"...even at the doors." (Matthew 24:33)
Therefore we conclude that while it is impossible for anybody to tell the day of Christ's coming, it is our duty to know when it is near. So Paul writes to the Thessalonian brethren, saying,
"But of the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I write unto you." (1 Thessalonians 5:1)
What times and seasons were the Thessalonians so familiar with? Why, the times and the seasons of the coming of the Lord to raise the righteous dead and translate the living saints, which was the event then under consideration (see 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18).
"But," says one, "Paul goes right on to say that the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night."
So he does; but to whom? Why, to those who are dwelling at ease, saying,
"...Peace and safety." (1 Thessalonians 5:3)
He immediately adds:
"But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. You are all the children of the light, and the children of the day; we are not of the night, nor of darkness." (1 Thessalonians 5:4-5)
It is only the children of the night, and of the darkness, therefore, to whom the day of the Lord will come as a thief.
The same idea is expressed by the Saviour in Luke 21:
"And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come upon all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth." (Luke 21:34-35)
Christians are not "dwellers" on this earth, but only sojourners (see 1 Peter 1:17; 2:11; Hebrews 11:13; Psalm 39:12). Those who have no thought or care but to live on this earth, whose "inward thought is, that their houses shall continue forever, and their dwelling-places to all generations" (Psalm 49:11), will be immersed in the cares of this life, and will of course be surprised by the coming of the day of the Lord.
But our Saviour very plainly teaches that those who take heed to themselves, and do not become overcharged with surfeiting, drunkenness, and cares of this life, will not be overtaken as by a thief, when the day of the Lord shall come.
Therefore we are not only warranted in looking for the coming of our Lord, and studying the signs which betoken its near approach, but we are in duty bound to do so.
The dream which was given to Nebuchadnezzar, and which Daniel explained, was given him in order that he might know
"...what shall be in the latter days." (Daniel 2:28)
And in our brief study of the prophecies of the book of Daniel we have seen that they are all way-marks, indicating the time of the end.
Thus, by the second chapter we are brought down definitely to the year 476 A.D., the time of the complete division of the Roman Empire; and the next thing mentioned is the setting up of God's everlasting kingdom.
In the seventh chapter we are brought down still closer to the day of the Lord, to the close of papal supremacy, in 1798; and the next great event is the time when the saints shall possess the kingdom.