Chapter 2—Signs of Christ’s Soon Return
Our Lord’s Great Prophecy
Christ forewarned His disciples of the destruction of Jerusalem
and the signs to take place prior to the coming of the Son of man.
The whole of the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew is a prophecy
concerning the events to precede this event, and the destruction of
Jerusalem is used to typify the last great destruction of the world by
fire.—Ms 77, 1899.
Christ upon the Mount of Olives rehearsed the fearful judgments
that were to precede His second coming: “Ye shall hear of wars and
rumors of wars: ... Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom
against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and
earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows”
[
Matthew 24:6-8
]. While these prophecies received a partial fulfillment
at the destruction of Jerusalem, they have a more direct application in
the last days.—
Testimonies for the Church 5:753
(1899).
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Signs in the Heavens
At the close of the great papal persecution, Christ declared, the sun
should be darkened, and the moon should not give her light. Next, the
stars should fall from heaven. And He says, “Learn a parable of the fig
tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know
that summer is nigh: so likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things,
know that He is near, even at the doors” (
Matthew 24:32, 33
, margin).
Christ has given signs of His coming. He declares that we may
know when He is near, even at the doors. He says of those who see
these signs, “This generation shall not pass, till all these things be
fulfilled.” These signs have appeared. [
See
The Great Controversy,
306-308, 333, 334
.] Now we know of a surety that the Lord’s coming
is at hand.—
The Desire of Ages, 632
(1898).
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