Jesus was bluntly critical of His Jewish brethren for not recognizing the time of His first coming. He castigated them for their lack of spiritual discernment. “Whenever you see a cloud rising out of the west, immediately you say, ‘a shower is coming’: and so, it is. And when you see the south wind blow, you say, ‘there will be hot weather’: and there is. Hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern this time?” (Luke 12:54-56). In fact, their failure to know the time of His coming resulted in the ultimate destruction of Jerusalem and the Holy temple in 70 AD. “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.” (Luke 19:42-44).
Unquestionably, they had plenty information at their disposal to verify the advent of their Messiah. Consider the following:
The angelic visitation to the shepherds around Jerusalem announcing the Messiah’s birth.
The public prophecies of Zacharias, Simeon, and Anna around the time of Jesus’s birth.
The visit of the Magi from Babylon who saw the star of Jacob in Babylon, indication of the birth of the Jewish Messiah. Their arrival caused a public stir in Jerusalem coming to the attention of the religious leaders, and even Herod.
The public ministry of John the Baptist who was revered as a prophet and witnessed to all about the One coming after him.
The precise prophecy in Daniel that Messiah would come 69 “weeks” after the going forth of the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. (Daniel 9:25). This would have been very easy for the scholars of that time to determine.
All of the above and more, not to mention the 3+ years of ministry from Jesus Himself.
No doubt, they should have known, and were judged for not determining that time. This begs the question-are we able and even required to discern the time of His second coming? The answer, though it may seem contradictory to much modern teaching, is a resounding yes, definitely! Scripture is very clear. We need to study prophetic scripture, watch for the clear signs given us by Jesus and the prophets, and allow the Holy Spirit to teach us about things to come. (John 16:13). Jesus Himself directed us to read and understand the prophecies in the Book of Daniel (Matthew 24:15), gave us the Book of Revelation, and commanded us to watch: “And what I say to you I say to all: Watch!“(Mark 13:37).
It’s apparent to me from my study of the prophetic scriptures that we are given and will be given much more information related to the timing of His second coming then the Jews had for His first coming. We have, in addition to what they had, the New Testament, broad infilling of the Holy Spirit, and soon coming ministries of messengers from God such as the two witnesses of Revelation 11. We are now in a position to determine the “season” of His return and will soon be able to determine a precise date once certain prophecies such as the “Abomination of Desolation” are fulfilled. For more information about discerning the time scroll down to the permanently linked article “Discerning the Time of Jesus’s Second Coming.”
Don’t cause Jesus to think of you as a hypocrite! Study the prophetic scriptures to show yourselves approved and to prepare for what’s just ahead. And watch as Jesus commanded.
Maranatha, Jim