There Was An Earthquake, Does That Mean Jesus Is Coming?

I hadn't planned to write this blog installment, but thought I might just in case someone fails to get my previous comments in context and I become the newest person to be branded a heretic.

As a pastor, I get questions often after a world-class disaster, Japan being the most recent, if this signals the end of the world. Many people somehow think that because there is an earthquake, a war, a tsunami, something bad, etc., that this somehow signals that Jesus is coming. Well, a little bit yes, but mostly no. Yes, Jesus is coming, no doubt about that. But listen to what Jesus has to say about this:

Matthew 24:6 (NKJV)
And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

Did you get the last line of that verse? Seems many overlook it. The truth is, there has always been earthquakes and tsunamis and wars and famine and Hitlers and on and on. I am sure in the darkest days of WWII it felt like the end of the world and Hitler was surely the Antichrist. Nope. It wasn't it. My hunch is, Japan is a bad situation, but doesn't necessarily mean it launches the Great Tribulation.

Quite to the contrary, Jesus described the world just before his coming and it looks quite different:

Matthew 24:37-39 (NKJV)
But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. [38] For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, [39] and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.

It sounds to me like just before the coming of Jesus things are going to be pretty good. Reread all of the parables Jesus told describing his return, they all agree that his servants get lax and lazy because times are easy and it seems "he delays his coming."

Why do we think Jesus is coming when things are bad? Let me assure you, things will get bad AFTER Jesus comes for his church.

Matthew 24:44 (NKJV)
Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

When do we expect Jesus to come? Generally right after the latest tsunami, when the national debt finally implodes and the price of gas is $10 a gallon. I suspect it won't be so.

I am not making light of the situation in Japan. That situation is serious and the Japanese people deserve our prayers and our help. Case in point to have created enough margin in your life to help them out.

I am anticipating Jesus' sudden return, any day, any time. But I do suspect that it won't be an earthquake that makes him come. He'll come when the Father says, "it's time."