Coming Soon (?)

Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. (Revelation 16:15)

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. (2 Peter 3:10)

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

Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness! (Habakkuk 2:15)

I wonder if we have lost much of our sensitivity to nakedness in our society. Our first parents did not need to be taught that nakedness equates to shameful vulnerability ...I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. 11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked?… (Genesis 3:10-11) Although it is not really the plain reading of the text (at least in the KJV) I think Adam and his wife (who wasn't yet called Eve) were clothed in garments of light. I'm not sure what sort of garments, but I think they could be removed. ...and they shall be one flesh. 25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. (Genesis 2:24-25)
But something has gone wrong and people are revealing more and more of their bodies for public view. I don't know why one bloke would want to look at his neighbour naked, but I know people take improper photos of people at parties and post them on social media websites. So I suppose there is a similarity to this in our society today. To glory in the shame of another who is humiliated by one's own devising is perverse but certainly not unusual. I think things are not so bad elsewhere in the world, but here in Australia men and women often wear very little clothing in Summer. The Bible teaches that our bare flesh is not for public view and that is good enough for me.

I don't think Revelation is talking about literally being undressed when Jesus comes, although I hope that doesn't happen to me. Jesus says in Revelation to his people that we should be active in his service, not simply "having a good time". We need to be vigilant, sober and fully clothed like city guards or police on duty. Jesus will come like a thief in the sense that his coming will be sudden and unexpected. The way I read scripture I suspect that I personally will be surprised when he comes. The key is to be always ready: When you think Jesus is coming soon, be ready. When you think Jesus may not be coming so soon after all, be ready. Jesus will come when you and I least expect it.

This said, I think we can know within the ball park the general time Jesus will return. I think prophecy has been clearly enough fulfilled for us to know that he could return in our lifetimes. This is different from Martin Luther for example who apparently estimated that Jesus would not return for at least a couple more centuries after his time. I wouldn't give this world a couple of centuries. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. (2 Timothy 3:13) Get ready, because Jesus has got to be coming soon.