`He shall send His angels with a trumpet and a great voice (a Hebraism possibly, but suggestive of 1 Thess.

4:16), and shall gather together (episunago) His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other'

(Matt. 24:31 Author's translation).

None need be deceived. Look at the difference between some pettifogging, `Behold, He is in the desert' or

`Behold, He is in the secret chambers', and the world-wide, open, and manifest shining `from the east even unto the

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west'. Or again, the actual gathering together of the elect `from one end of heaven to the other'. Russellism has

deceived its followers by saying that the Millennium has already dawned, and that Christ has already come in secret.

The very sign of the times! There will be no true possibility of saying, `Lo, here' or `Lo, there', for neither the beast

nor the false prophet can cause the sun to be darkened, nor the moon to cease to give her light, neither can they

cause the stars to fall from heaven nor the powers of the heaven to be shaken. And these things are the immediate

forerunners of the Lord, `And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven' (Matt. 24:30).

The structure of the second answer concerning the `sign of His coming' may be set out as follows:

A 24:24.

The false signs.

B 24:26,27. Not `in the secret place', but like the lightning, etc.

C 24:28.

The gathering. Eagles, carcase.

Sun, moon, stars.

The sign of the Son of man.

The gathering. Angels, elect.

As one considers the warnings given in this passage, one wonders what will be the outcome of much that goes by

the name of Pentecostalism today. Believing men and women are agonising in prayer for `signs and wonders'.

What will they do when the signs suddenly appear? It is blessed to know that the very elect will not be finally

deceived, but some will come perilously near to it.

The close of the answer to the question concerning the `sign' merges into the third answer, which deals with the

question: `When shall these things be'? We say, the Second Coming is dated, yet we would not be misunderstood.

We feel called upon to repudiate all attempts to fix a date for the coming of the Lord, whether by computations of

dates from Scripture, the year-day theory, or from the so-called Divine chronology of the Great Pyramid:

`But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only' (Matt. 24:36).

`It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power' (Acts 1:7).

Such definite statements of Scripture are sufficient. Yet we can say, in one sense, that the coming of Christ is

dated. This the passage in Matthew 24:29 does for us: `Immediately after the tribulation of those days'. Those who

`wait for God's Son from heaven', who wait for `the Lord Himself to descend from heaven with a shout, voice and

trumpet' (1 Thess. 1:10; 4:16, with Matt. 24:31, margin), who wait `the gathering together unto Him' (episunago,

2 Thess. 2:1,2 with Matt. 24:31) cannot scripturally contemplate escaping the Great Tribulation if they should be

`alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord'. For in Matthew 24 and in 1 and 2 Thessalonians the same coming

(parousia) is in view, with all its accompaniments.

A further hint as to time is given by the Lord in verses 32 and 33:

`Now 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 it (or He) is near, even at the doors'

(Matt. 24:32,33).

While we may not attempt to forecast the day and the hour, we should learn the parable of the fig tree. The fig

stands for Israel in one of its aspects, as the vine and the olive in others. The key to prophecy has always been Israel

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Now The JehovahØs Witness Movement. Ed.