Each genuine follower of the Lord Jesus is expecting Him to come back soon so that his wish for years could be realized. And he can receive the Lord’s promise and enjoy His blessings. Especially in the end-time, our heart of longing for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ becomes more eager. It is written in Acts 1:11, “this same Jesus … shall so come in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven.” And it says in John 14:3, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” Therefore, the brothers and sisters firmly believe that the Lord Jesus will come again. Then, in what manner will the Lord Jesus come? Will He really come on a cloud as we imagine? Will the prophecies be fulfilled in the same way as we think? In what manner should we welcome His return? This is a question that each of us who follow the Lord Jesus must consider seriously. If we are careless, we’ll probably lose His salvation.
Referring to “prophecy,” we should first know this clearly: Prophecies are what will occur in the future. Before they come true, none of us knows what they really mean. In prophecies, there are God’s wonderfulness and wisdom as well as mysteries. Man can neither fathom nor understand how they will come true. Why can’t man fathom it? Because God’s thoughts shall always be higher than man’s thoughts. The gulf between heaven and earth is like that between the thoughts of God and man. Just as it is written in Romans 11:33-34, “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who has known the mind of the Lord? or who has been his counselor?” And it says in 2 Corinthians 3:6, “…for the letter kills, but the spirit gives life.” So, the fulfillment of prophecies is not as simple as we imagine, much less will it occur according to the words of the Bible. Why do we say so? Let’s look back to how the prophecies about the Messiah’s coming were fulfilled. Then, we shall see that prophecies don’t come true according to the letters of the scriptures or man’s imagination. The Israelites at that time all expected the Messiah to come earlier. Especially in the later period of the Age of Law, their heart of longing was even more eager. However, when the Messiah did come, they did not recognize Him but resisted and forsook Him. Why was it so? It was clearly written in the Bible, “…a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son….” (Isaiah 7:14) But in their eyes, Marry had a husband. How could the prophecy that “a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son” be fulfilled on her? Although the Lord Jesus was actually born by virgin Marry, how many people believed this fact? Obviously, what people saw was discordant with the fact.
Let us read another prophecy in Isaiah 9:6-7, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given: and the government shall be on his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, on the throne of David, and on his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from now on even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.” According to this prophecy, the Israelites gave the rein to their lively imagination, thinking that the Messiah who would take power must be born in a palace. He must be majestic-looking and have an impressive appearance, and would lead them to overthrow the rule of the Roman government. What was the result then? When the prophecy came true, Jesus was not born in a palace, but in a manger. He was not majestic-looking like a king in their imagination but was a very common carpenter. He did not lead the army to overthrow the rule of the Roman government, but instead taught man to be tolerant and patient, love enemies, and forgive others until seventy times seven. None of these conformed to the imagination of the Israelites. From what is stated above, we see that man’s imagination completely contradicts the fulfillment of the prophecies. Pharisees eagerly looked forward to the coming of the Messiah, but at the same time forsook and resisted His coming. Why was that? Because they were full of the illusions about the coming of the Messiah. They were filled with imaginations and notions about the fulfillment of the prophecies. Therefore, when the prophecies came true in a way not conforming to their notions and imaginations, they resisted and condemned Jesus to the utmost. This fully showed their nature of stubbornness, arrogance, and not seeking the truth, which was the cause of their failure. Pharisees held onto the prophecies in the Old Testament, but they resisted the coming of the Messiah. Were the prophecies wrong? Certainly not. It was simply because they paid too much attention to the letters of the scriptures but neglected the substance of the fulfillment of the prophecies. These prophecies didn’t enable them to recognize and accept the Messiah. Instead, they became the cause of their resistance to the Messiah and the foundation for them to forsake Him. In the end, they nailed the merciful Lord Jesus onto the cross, committing a monstrous sin, which led to the destruction of their nation. Now it is already the end time. How should we deal with the prophecies about the Lord’s return? If the Lord returns in a way that is discordant with our expectation and imagination, how shall we face it? Shall we hold on to the letters of the scriptures and welcome the return of the Lord according to our imagination, or be a humble man who seeks the truth? Will we shut the door against the returned Lord Jesus like the Pharisees? Don’t we need to think it over?
