Signs of the Times or just Plain Warnings?

Wow, 2011 has been some year and it’s not half-way through yet.

Natural disasters: tornadoes, cyclones, earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, bushfires

Upheaval in the Arab world including overthrow of entrenched dictators and civil wars.

Death of Osama bin Laden.

Economic upheaval in Europe especially and ongoing economic problems in the US.

No wonder many are wondering, is this the End, especially when Harold Camping says it is?

Certainly such shakings are meant to get our attention and shake us out of our complacency.

But do they signify the imminence of Jesus’ second coming or the end of the world?

I want to draw your attention to a couple of scriptures here.

Matt.24:6-8 warns of wars, rumours of wars, famines and earthquakes. But Jesus specifically tells his audience “the end is not yet” and “this is but the beginning of the birth pangs.” In context, he is probably speaking of events leading to the destruction of the temple (v1-3).  But whatever context this is in, it warns us not to rush into speculation.

Luke 13:1-5 dismisses the idea that disasters come to people because they are worse sinner than others, but states “unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.” In other words, natural disasters, wars, etc do not tell us anything about the timing of the second coming, but do warn us that judgement will come to everyone eventually.

Matt.16:3 speaks of “the signs of the times”. But this means discerning what God is doing now, in this case through Jesus of Nazareth, not working out when the end would come.

Natural disasters and civil disturbances should lead people to repent because they show us that our normal future is not guaranteed, that death can strike at any time, and so can the second coming. But they are not meant to be the basis for eschatological calculation or speculation.