In previous articles we have considered how in the last days many will turn from Jesus to seek another “christ,” one who will not condemn their wickedness. They will scoff at the idea that Jesus is still coming back after all this time, since there has been no sign of his return, no judgment poured out on the wicked.

Earlier this week, as I was reading through the book of Matthew, I came across a verse which seemed to relate to this:

Matthew 16:4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.

Jesus described the generation of his time as wicked and adulterous. They came to him seeking a sign that he was the Christ, but the only sign they would receive would be of his death and resurrection after three days. They refused to just believe the word of Christ, the truth of the gospel; therefore Jesus departed from them.

This is exactly what will take place in the latter days. The last generation of the Gentile age will be just like the last generation of the Jews before they were broken off from the olive tree. We have already pointed out many of the similarities in the post about the prophecy of the olive tree. But here we see yet more parallels that expose exactly how branches of the olive tree fall from faith and are broken off—which is what the Bible says will ultimately happen to the Gentile church.

A Wicked Generation #

The scripture makes it abundantly clear that the last generation of “christian” Gentiles will be wicked. In fact, the antichrist, their “savior” that will come from among them, is even given the title of “Wicked”:

2 Thessalonians 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

We have also seen Peter echo this:

2 Peter 3:17 Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.

As indeed does John:

1 John 2:14 I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.

In his epistles John specifically addresses the doctrine of the antichrist, exhorting his hearers unto righteousness, and to stand fast in believing that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies of Messiah. He tells them that they will overcome, because they know the truth of the New Testament scriptures, and that indeed, the word of God abides in them.

This embrace of the New Testament in Jesus Christ is what 2 Thessalonians also points to as the differentiator between those that will be saved through the Spirit and those that will be damned through delusion:

2 Thessalonians 2:10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

The contrast is between those who believe and love the truth, and those who did not receive the love of it, and believed it not, but had pleasure in unrighteousness—that is, the wicked, who follow that Wicked one.

Returning to the Jews at the time of Christ, this is fitting description of them. They did not love the truth of the Old Testament scriptures, but instead they turned to traditions of men, which as Christ pointed out, allowed for wickedness. As a result, they would not accept Jesus as Messiah, because they would not embrace God’s standard of truth and righteousness. They rejected him—just as the Gentile “christians” will ultimately do.

But before rejecting Jesus, the Jews pretended to give him a chance, by demanding a sign, which when they saw they said they would believe. They did this because they were wicked—they weren’t willing to accept the truth that Jesus was speaking just because it was so true and good. So they gave an excuse.

At the end of the Gentile age the same thing will happen—a wicked generation, they will demand a sign. But just as the Jews received only the sign of Jonah from Jesus, so the Gentiles will receive no other sign. The proof of Jesus’s Messiahship is, and always only ever would be, the fact that he died and rose again, in fulfillment of the Old Testament scriptures. Those who refuse this sign will receive no other from Christ.

But then consider what else 2 Thessalonians has to say:

2 Thessalonians 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

Those wicked men who seek for a sign will indeed receive what they want—but from the antichrist. He will deceive them will all signs, and all deceivableness of unrighteousness—because they preferred darkness to light, unrighteousness to the truth of the gospel.

An affliction which, as we saw in our study on the gospel of John, plagued the generation of the Jews at the time of Christ.

An Adulterous Generation #

Going further, we see that one piece of wickedness which Jesus specifically pointed to in the Jews was adultery. And the New Testament scriptures make it abundantly clear that sexual wickedness will be the chief of the sins of these wicked people at the time of the end.

Indeed, the whole of 2 Peter 2 addresses this aspect of their wickedness specifically, describing the wicked men who will lead the “church” astray this way:

2 Peter 2:14 Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children:

Likewise, it is the central theme of Jude’s exhortation in his epistle:

Jude 3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
5 I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.
6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
8 Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.

Jude warns that these wicked and adulterous men will turn men unto another faith, other than that which was once delivered unto the saints. But he exhorts them to contend for that faith in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and not to follow these wicked men, who will be condemned.

This giving over to lust and adultery is again exactly the state which Christ said causes men to seek after a sign—and to such he said that no sign would be given, but that of the empty tomb.

This Generation? #

If these descriptions sound a lot like this generation, they should. They sounded a lot like the generations at the time of the apostles as well. And they sound more-or-less like most every generation that has walked this earth. As Paul testifies:

2 Thessalonians 2:7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

Paul tells us that every generation is ready to be deceived by the antichrist. They are all wicked and adulterous, and searching for a sign. But the reason that the antichrist does not appear and deceive them, is not because his work is not ready to take effect, but because the work of God’s Spirit is not yet done. It is only when he that now letteth is taken out of the way that that Wicked shall be revealed, and deceive those who have always been ready for his deception.

In fact, Paul’s purpose of writing to the Thessalonians is to correct their mistaken thinking that the wickedness around them meant that the day of the Lord (Christ’s glorious return to set up his kingdom) was at hand. That day cannot come until the falling away and the revealing of the antichrist, which in turn cannot happen until the Spirit of God in his church is taken out of the way at the rapture. The mystery of iniquity already works, but the judgment will come at the appointed time—without sign or warning, that the wicked might be destroyed.

Summary #

Jesus said that it is a wicked and adulterous generation that seeks after a sign, and that it will receive none. We see from the New Testament that at the end there will indeed be a wicked and adulterous and sign-seeking generation within the Gentile “faith”. But they will receive no sign from Christ other than the power of his resurrection and the truth of his gospel—truth which they reject, choosing the lust of the flesh over the righteousness from the Spirit. As a result, God will finally remove his Spirit from among them, by removing those of the true faith in which his Spirit dwells, thus making way for the coming of another “christ.” This wicked man will offer that generation exactly what they, and indeed, every generation from Jesus’s time onward, are looking for: signs, and permission for wickedness. So like the Jews at the time of Jesus, they will reject the Lord, in favor of this other messiah. And just as the Jews, they will be lopped off—judged and destroyed by Jesus Christ at his return.