Of Course he’s walking in the midst of the ecclesias and is well aware of our daily lives Many have a saying m their homes “Christ is the head of this house, the unseen guest at every meal, the silent listener to every conversation” All we say or do is known to the Lord.
We are ever thankful for this for he knows our loneliness, our grief, our struggles against sin — all of our needs — and m his empathetic compassion, he is our comforter, mightily helping m our daily lives And we worry that he also sees our unbelief and compromise.
In this sense, ever since his exaltation to the right hand of the Father, the Lord has been with all the believers Yet we want morel We want the resurrection and the kingdom We want our Lord back so we can see him and talk to him face to face.
We expected him by now
Everything seemed in place for 1988 Israel existed as a nation, Jerusalem was under Jewish control indicating the “times of the Gentiles” were fulfilled, the USSR was a huge northern confederacy hostile to Israel and aligned with Ethiopia, Libya and Persia (Iran), Egypt and Arab states had aligned with the West placing Britain and allies as the “king of the south” The king of the north and king of the south were in place with Israel in between, oil was the great magnet attracting all to the region, Israel had been a nation 40 years (surely a “generation”) Then things began to unravel The USSR disintegrated and the 1980s came and went.
Iraq raised hopes of many
Hopes were raised again when Iraq invaded Kuwait and fired missiles at Israel Here was a new candidate for “king of the north” and those expecting Israel’s neighbors to conquer her thrilled that Christ must surely come Yet we all know what happened The West’s new war technology achieved overwhelming victory, decimating the “king of the north” and striking fear into the hearts of potential enemies of Israel.
The confusing peace process
Then began a most amazing cycle of peace negotiations between arch enemies Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization Could this be the “peace cry” many had looked for?
The assassination of Israeli Prime Munster Yitshak Rabin by a Jewish extremist and the continued suicide bombings by Arab fanatics have stalled the peace negotiations and appear to have ruined hopes in this direction Efforts persist to revive progress, but present hopes are dim at best
6,000 years and the great Jubilee?
To those studying Bible time periods, perhaps the greatest anticipation has been aroused by the end of the millennium and the completion of jubilee cycles m 1996-97 As many have noted from the dates in their Bible margins, our dating seems to be off by four years so that 1996 marked the end of 6,000 years since creation Surely this would mean the return of Christ to begin the Millennium Obviously, that has not happened.
Now Rosh Hashanah 1997 (the biblical day of atonement when every 50 years the year of jubilee begins) has come and gone In his book Time and Seasons, W H Carter presents in great detail the evidence which leads to the climactic comments “Add 49 years for the seventieth jubilee cycle, at the close of which Israel’s probation ends They are then established to ‘move no more’ [We then have the] Dawn Of The Millennial Reign OF Christ And His Glorified Saints A D 1996/7” (p 285).
While it hasn’t happened, we should not be dismayed, for the Lord himself said “But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son but the Father” (Mk 13 32) In the days of his mortality, the Lord Jesus was the most spiritually-minded and most brilliant Bible student who ever lived If he couldn’t interpret the scripture time periods to know the date, then it’s certain no one else can do it.
Is something causing a delay?
While we may debate various interpretations of prophecy, there isn’t one of us who feels our own view is ironclad If the Soviet Union had invaded the Middle East, or if they had conspired with the Catholic Church for a united front against Israel, or if Iraq had turned out to be the king of the north, or if Israel does make peace with her neighbors, we’d all see how the prophecies fit together
In fact, one almost feels that the circumstances have been in place several times yet the return has been delayed Peter’s words come to mind “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (II Peter 3 9) And we think of what Christ said “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come” (Matt 24.14)
Both verses suggest a variable rather than fixed time for the return In fact they intimate we can be doing something to hasten the Lord.
Can we hasten the return?
Since the collapse of the iron cur-tam, there has been a most remarkable opportunity for the gospel to be preached m Eastern Europe and Asia Twenty years ago there was one Christadelphian in India, now there are 400 This past year we have been publishing news notes about activities in China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam The CBMA news has been tracking growing ecclesias m Central America and initial efforts in South America Following the work of one pioneering brother, the gospel has spread to one African country after another so that now, 35 years later, there are thousands of believers there.
Is this what the Lord has been waiting for? Is there more we should be doing?
Some brethren feel a faithful remnant is required in Israel Zechariah suggests as much (13 9) While there is a sizeable number of “Messianic Jews” in Israel and a few Christadelphians, a campaign is scheduled in March for the Land The driving impetus behind that effort is a conviction the true gospel must be preached to those in the land before the end comes We can help (see the note under “Preaching the Truth”)
Other brethren feel the divided state of the brotherhood greatly grieves the Lord and may be a factor m his delay Being so caught up in our own local concerns, we can easily underestimate how important to the Lord is a united community of believers (no matter where they might be in the world) Hear him “Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd” (John 10 16) The Lord must bring them to the one fold, he would not settle for a Jewish brotherhood of believers and a Gentile one They must be one.
Hear him again “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word, that they all may be one, as thou, Father, art m me, and I m thee, that they also may be one in us the glory which thou gavest me I have given them, that they may be one, even as we are I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect m one ” (John 17 20-23) In four verses about future believers, Christ repeats the same point four times Obviously the unity of believers is of enormous concern to the Lord Is he delaying his return because of continued division?
Interestingly, significant movement has occurred in this regard as much greater ecclesial unity now exists throughout Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Africa, Australia and western North America than was true ten years ago Must more be done?
There is another point to consider The prophet urged “Ye that make mention of the LORD, keep not silence, and give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth” (Isa 62 6-7) If there is a fixed date for the return, our prayers won’t change it But this passage suggests our own heartfelt desires could make a difference That could be a problem If our spiritual condition is weak and our material condition is comfortable, we may prefer the Lord delay his coming Our prayers would lack fervor In any case, fixed date or not, we need to be ready for the coming at any time and a weak spiritual condition should be urgently corrected.
He is coming, we know that; and, perhaps, we may be able to hasten that day: by helping to spread the gospel, especially to Israel; by working for the unity of the believers and by fervently praying, “Lord Jesus, come quickly.”
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One