JESUS WILL COME IN THE NIGHT
The Second Coming of Jesus is more certain than our convictions, arguments, or questions (be they learned or unlearned). Speaking bluntly but frankly, our view matters not. In the archives of Heaven and Earth, God had justifiably meted out different kinds of judgments - Lucifer and his cohorts in Heaven; Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden; Noah’s era; and the Sodom and Gomorrah’s raining fire episode. Our world is the next!
Predictions as to the exact time of Jesus’s coming have occupied the spaces of the various centuries of the last 2,011 years, after the departure of Jesus from the face of this Earth. All the various predictions have failed woefully. The latest failed balloon prophecy predicted 11/11/11 as the actual time. 2011 has ended yet Jesus has not come. Certainly He will come but when? It appears that Jesus will come in the night. This may sound awkward to you but it is a true saying. Which night? (You may wisely ask or interject!). This night is my simple answer.
Every day comprises day and night. The day time is usually lively and is also usually full of light. We are much conscious or awake during the day. We thus go about our various activities during the day. The day takes half of our limited 24 hours. The night takes the rest of the hours. The night is usually a period of inactivity or less activity. It is a general time for relaxation, or rest, or sleep. Matthew 25 gives an account on the ten virgins who were waiting for the arrival of a bridegroom at a wedding ceremony. The verse 14 says, “While the bridegroom (Jesus) tarried, they all slumbered and slept”.
Similarly, a lot of people today are slumbering because they think Jesus has taken too long a time to come. Five of the virgins were described as foolish because they kept on slumbering without keeping extra oil hence they could not adequately prepare for the Bridegroom. When He arrived at midnight their lamps had gone out. Lamp represents the Word of God (Psalm 119:105). Their lamps went out because their oil finished. This means that we must have both the lamp and oil at all times. “Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh”. Watching means burning the lamp. We however need oil to burn the lamp. The oil includes prayers, godly fellowshipping, and constant meditation on the Word of God. The five foolish virgins had lamps but the door was shut before them because they lacked oil. They were carefree or sleeping believers. Which kind of person are you?
We need light during the night or while in a dark environment. A person may easily fall asleep in a dark environment. To stay awake in the night, one needs to burn the lamp. Night or darkness denote deception, wars and rumours of wars, famines, pestilences, earthquakes, sorrows, afflictions, betrayals, abominations (including loose morality), persecutions, and tribulations. These dark situations are commonplace today. Jesus will come after these situations. Matthew 24:29-30(KJV) reads, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven…And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory”.
From the scripture text above, we noticed that Jesus’s coming is among others preceded by dark situations. What we do not know is the exact day and hour of the darkness. “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only” – Matthew 24:36. However verses 37-39 give some clue: “But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be” (Emphasis is mine).
Therefore merrymaking is another strong pointer. This is also commonplace today. Eating, drinking, marrying and giving in marriage are the core things people do each day. At least we all eat and drink during the hours of the day depending on our geographical location or daily schedules. Thus, Jesus was in effect saying that it is impossible to predict the precise date and time of the Second Coming. Therefore, if you say Jesus will come during the day or during the night, you are right in either case. Jesus will come in a particular day - a day comprises day and night. It takes 12 hours a day and 12 hours a night to make 24 hours - a full day. What is not predictable is the precise date and hour of that particular day. It is like pregnant women who generally know that they will be in labour within the ninth month of their pregnancy; although they can never predict the exact date and time of that ninth month. It is, however, worth noting that how we calculate time on Earth is different from that of Heaven. A day, for instance, is like a thousand years unto God and vice versa. No wonder the ways of God are unfathomable by especially carnal or natural minds.
It has been said that it is good that we do not know exactly when Jesus Christ will return. The reason is that if we knew the precise date we might be tempted to be lazy (sleeping) in our work for Jesus. Besides, we might plan to keep sinning and turn to God right at the end. That act will indeed produce superficial believers. But superficial believers have no place in Heaven. Theirs is Hell Fire, where there shall be perpetual wailing and gnashing of teeth. The qualification to Heaven is fully following Jesus at all times, 24 hours a day; 7days a week. We must thus keep working until death or until Jesus returns. What is important is to always burn our lamp lest we fall asleep in this night. Jesus will come like a thief so be prepared to meet Him at any time!
Richard Obeng Mensah, co-author of 37 Benefits of Reading.
richardobengmensah@gmail.com/www.richard-obeng-mensah.blogspot.com
richardobengmensah@gmail.com/www.richard-obeng-mensah.blogspot.com
