When Is Jesus Coming Back?

We don’t know exactly when Jesus Christ will be returning.

The Bible says that no one can know, not even the angels (Matthew 24:36)! That’s why the Bible discourages us from trying to set dates for His return. In the meantime, we’re encouraged to be ready.

However, the Bible does tell us some things that will happen before the Second Coming. These biblical signs don’t indicate a timeline progression of events, but they do indicate the direction the world is headed in.

It’s natural to wonder what happens in the end times and what the signs indicate. Let’s take a closer look at what the Bible says.

Here’s what we’ll talk about:

• Why can’t we know the exact timing of Jesus’ coming?
• What do we know about Jesus’ return?
• What this all means

Let’s start with the reason we can’t know.

Why can’t we know the exact timing of Jesus’ coming?

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Jesus does not tell us when He’s coming back because that’s not the focus. The timing is something we can’t comprehend.

God’s perspective is so much bigger than ours. He sees the big picture of where the earth is headed, and He can tell when Jesus needs to return.

This is illustrated in 2 Peter 3:8. To God, “one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (NKJV).

We can’t see the big picture—we don’t even know what will happen in the next hour! This is why it doesn’t make sense for us to know when Jesus will come.

And that’s why Jesus tells the disciples on the Mount of Olives, in a conversation about His return,

“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only” (Matthew 24:36, NKJV; see also Matthew 24:42, 44; Mark 13:32).

Jesus wants us to focus on the fact that He is returning (John 14:2-3)! This is the hope humankind has had since Jesus ascended into heaven in the first century, and it’s something to look forward to with all our hearts.

Thinking about the timing can distract us from the real goal: to be filled with Christ’s love and share it with others, which prepares us for His second coming. Jesus’ coming is near (Revelation 22:12)—it could happen at any time. In the meantime, we need to believe in Him, accept Him, and hold fast to Him, even when the world is spiraling into chaos in the last days.

Because that will happen. Scripture tells us that sin made Earth the mess it is (Isaiah 59:2, Romans 5:12). And if sin is not stopped, the Earth will destroy itself at some point.

Jesus’ coming will put an end to sin (Revelation 21:4; 1 Corinthians 15:24), which is why Christians look forward to it so deeply.

Jesus gives us signs in the Bible to watch out for, to assure us that they are part of the world’s trajectory. If we are aware of the signs, we won’t have to be afraid or worried when they happen. Instead, we can hold onto Him, knowing His return is soon.¹

Predicting a time or date can distract us from this, and we’ll never be right because there’s no way to know. People have set dates throughout history, only to be disappointed.

For example, the Millerites thought the return of Christ would occur on October 22, 1844.²

And Howard Camping predicted the kingdom of God would come on several different dates in the 1990s and, most notably, May 21, 2011.³

Others thought the end of the Mayan calendar on December 21, 2012 meant the end of the world.⁴

These dates (and their passing) have only distracted people from the real message: Jesus is coming, and we need to be ready!

It’s clear there’s a lot we don’t know about Jesus’ coming, so let’s look at some things we do know.

What do we know about Jesus’ return?

Photo by Doruk Aksel Anıl

The New Testament gives us a lot of insight into what will happen in the world leading up to the Second Coming.

In the Gospels, specifically Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21, Jesus tells His disciples of events that will happen as the world continues in its downward spiral. The events don’t tell us exactly how close we are to Jesus’ return; rather, they describe to us where our dying world is already at.

Sin is destructive (Romans 6:23), and a destructive process allowed to continue indefinitely naturally ends in destruction.

When Jesus told the disciples of these events, He reminded them,

“All these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. … All these are the beginning of sorrows” (Matthew 24:6, 8, NKJV, emphasis added).

These events just mean we’re getting closer to the time, not that Jesus is coming tomorrow. They will get worse as we continue down the path of destruction.

The Bible compares the progression of events to birth pains. Matthew 24:8 in ESV reads, “All these are but the beginning of birth pains.”

And Paul alludes to this in one of his letters: “For when they say, ‘Peace and safety!’ then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman” (1 Thessalonians 5:3, NKJV).

Just as labor intensifies as time goes on and the baby’s birth draws near, so will these signs increase in frequency and intensity the closer we get to the return of Jesus.

And another thing to remember is that with labor, you know it will happen soon, but you still have no idea when until it suddenly begins. We know Jesus will return, but we don’t know exactly when—these signs just tell us it will be at some point.

With this in mind, here are some of the events Jesus talks about the first time He came, indicating we’re on our way to the Second Coming:

• People will claim to be Jesus and false prophets (Matthew 24:5, 11, 24; Mark 13:6, 22; Luke 21:8)
• Wars and rumors of wars (Matthew 24:6; Mark 13:7; Luke 21:9)
• Disasters like famines, epidemics, and earthquakes (Matthew 24:7; Mark 13:8; Luke 21:11)
• Societal upheaval (Matthew 24:9-10; Mark 13:8-9, 11-13; Luke 21:12, 16)
• Natural phenomena (Matthew 24:29-30; Mark 13:24-25; Luke 21:25)

The apostle Peter also talks about people who won’t believe Jesus is returning, forgetting about Creation and Noah and the Flood (2 Peter 3:3-6).

And the apostle Paul warns Timothy (2 Timothy 3:1-5) that people will be

• Selfish
• Greedy and pleasure-seeking
• Boastful
• Proud and haughty
• Blasphemous and having a false godliness
• Disobedient and lawless
• Unthankful
• Unholy
• Unloving
• Unforgiving
• Lacking self-control
• Brutal

Peter and Paul’s descriptions describe people who have existed and even more today. The world isn’t getting any better—it will only continue to go downhill.

The book of Revelation records a vision given to the apostle John about the final events of Earth. It mentions the beast and the mark of the beast (Revelation 13), which represents an inward choice people will make to follow a religious-political power instead of God.

Bible prophecy also talks about the antichrist (1 John 2:18, 22, 4:3). This is a religious power attempting to take Jesus’ place, claiming to be like Him (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4).⁵

Some people also believe that a secret rapture will occur before the Second Coming of Christ, but we don’t see anything in the Bible that talks about this.

There are a lot of signs the Bible talks about. How can we apply everything we’ve learned to our own situation right now?

What this all means

The important takeaway from this discussion is that Jesus is coming—soon! And the signs He gave us are reminders that we’re headed in the right direction.

We can see the signs are everywhere. We don’t have to keep our eyes glued to the news and worry about missing one. The main thing is to be aware of them, so that when we see them, we aren’t scared or anxious.

The coming of the Lord is the good news we can look forward to as the world spirals into chaos.

We don’t need to worry about the exact timing of Jesus’ return.

We need to worry about being ready.

“Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober” (1 Thessalonians 5:6, NKJV).

 

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

This doesn’t necessarily mean we have to stock up on canned food or become fanatical. It means we need to think about where our hearts are.⁶ Is our faith in Jesus? Are we loyal to Him instead of the world? Will we trust Him to take care of us when the world is falling apart? Are we impassioned by His unconditional love? Are we openly sharing it with others?

That’s what Jesus wants us to focus on: putting our faith in Him, so that we’ll lean on Him when things get really difficult on earth. If we’ve accepted Him, then the timing doesn’t really matter.

Just like the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25, we have to be mindful and pay attention. Or, in the words of Mark Finley, pastor and evangelist: “The only way to be ready is to get ready, and stay ready.”⁷

Put your faith and loyalty in Jesus now.

In the meantime, we can go about our days as usual (Luke 19:13), without obsessing over every sign we might see, trusting in the Holy Spirit to guide us. We can work on building our own relationship with Jesus so we might be ready when He returns in great glory. And we can live out our relationship with Him and show His love to others, so that they might be ready as well.

What happens after the Second Coming of Jesus?

1. Mukuka, Christopher Kabwe, MA. “Discerning signs of the times in the context of Matthew 16:2-3,” Ministry Magazine, February 2024. [↵]
2. “United for Mission: One Hundred and Fifty Years,” General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. [↵]
3. “Harold Camping, radio host who predicted world’s end, dead at 92,” CBS News, December 17, 2013. [↵]
4. Vance, Erik. “Neither the Maya Calendar—nor the World—Ends on December 21, 2012,” Scientific American, July 6, 2012. [↵]
5. “An Introduction to End-Time Prophecies in the Bible,” General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. [↵]
6. Nichol, F. D. The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, notes to 1 Thessalonians 5:6. [↵]
7. Finley, Mark. “End Time Events Before the Second Coming of Christ,” HopeLives365. [↵]

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