Nobody knows when God will come again, but do we technically know when He will not come?

We do have the statement by Paul that "the day of the Lord" will not come "unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and sets himself against [all forms of worship]" (2 Thessalonians ch2 vv3-4, RSV).

This looks like a summary of the central issue of the book of Revelation, viz. a crisis of hostility against God and his worshippers. much more extreme than anything we've seen so far. The Revelation narrative is that Christ returns as the final answer to this crisis, which certainly implies that he won't come before the crisis has started.

One compelling view of prophecy proposed by some is that it is fractal. The same patterns occur at shorter and longer time frames. In this way, God disguises when the final instance of the pattern will be impressed upon history.

For example, take the opening of the seven seals of the scroll of Revelation. The first four seals are the four hors*m*n of the apocalypse (war, civil war, pestilence and death), followed by the fifth, a great persecution. Byzantium was devastated by attacks from the east. Then it went through two centuries of civil war. Then the early fourteenth century had a terrible famine, followed by the even worse Black Death. The plague returned dozens of times over the next century. Then Constantinople fell to the Ottomans and millions of Christians died or were forced to convert to Islam in a massive persecution. This all followed the pattern of Revelation, but the end did not come. The pattern faded and the remaining signs did not happen.

The same pattern afflicted the Roman Catholic Church, but it started later and lasted longer. The war was the fall of Constantinople, serving as the starting point not the end of the cycle. The civil war was the Protestant Reformation and subsequent General Crisis of the 17th Century. The pestilence and rising prices for food were the Industrial Revolution and rise of Capitalism. The death was WW1, Influenza epidemic, Communism, Nazism, WW2, Great Leap Forward, and other calamities of the 20th century. If this pattern continues, we can expect a great persecution of Christians later in this century. Will it be the final example? Or will the next afflict not the church, but the whole world?

I believe that each repetition of the cycle will match more prophetic details than the one before it. However, each will include crises so terrifying that many Christians will believe that the end is almost here. It is by bending history to frequently resemble the last days that God will conceal his ultimate timetable.

The preceding only deals with the seven seals. Another pattern of judgment is based on the Ten Plagues on Egypt and the Ten Commandments. I have discovered historical parallels that show God also judges civilizations according to the Ten Commandments with Plagues similar in goals (though different in details) to the plagues on Egypt. The same pattern repeats. The template is Egypt, where the plagues lasted from one month to one year. You can also see that they apply to a series of ten empires (Babel, Egypt, Israel, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, Islam, and a future empire) with each being judged for breaking the next commandment in sequence.

I also divided the history of Israel from Joshua entering the Promised Land to the birth of Christ into ten eras of equal duration, 150 years. Each era saw a judgment that matches the corresponding Plague/Commandment. The same applies to the Church, from the birth of Christ to the present and into the future, with each era running for 240 years. The church was judged by analogous judgments. (For example, the plague of boils matches the time of the Black Death, which presented as boils, and the commandment against murder.)

Most of the plagues on Egypt show up in Revelation. Thus any civilization, as it falls under God’s judgment, will meet its end in a sequence that bears some comparison to what befell Egypt long ago. When people spot such concordance, they will assume that the end of the world is near. It may be the end of their world, but for others history will continue - until one day it doesn’t.

(This analysis of the Ten Commandments, Ten plagues on Egypt and the rise and fall of civilizations is the subject of an upcoming book I am writing.)

Many organizations and individuals have published lists that describe prophecies that are expected to be fulfilled before Christ will return.

One example is this 42 page booklet, Fourteen Signs Announcing Christ's Return (Living Church of God), which lists:

1. Wars, Violence, and Lawlessness
2. Drought and Famine
3. Earthquakes and Other Natural Catastrophes
4. Disease Epidemics
5. The Rise of an Aggressive, Fundamentalist Islamic Power
6. An Ascendant European Union Seeks Global Primacy
7. A Powerful Religious Figure Leads a Religious Revival
8. The Gospel of the Kingdom of God Preached to All Nations
9. Faith Again Becomes a Matter of Life or Death
10. A Crisis Strikes Jerusalem
11. The Abomination of Desolation
12. The Great Tribulation — The Collapse of the English-Speaking Nations
13. Heavenly Signs and the Day of the Lord
14. The Seven Last Plagues

Other lists will differ, but will be similar.

The key prophecy though is Matthew 24, and in particular, verse 22:

And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.

It's not until that last moment just before mankind totally destroys itself, that Christ will return to prevent it.

There are two important things to consider though.

As we have seen in recent world events, the time lapse between good times and catastrophe can be quite short; when the end comes it will be sudden, despite one's already knowing that it will happen.

And even if nothing happens for decades or centuries, people can still experience their own personal "end of the world".

Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.

One can die at any moment. Without warning, one can be living a normal life, and an eye-blink later be part of the resurrection at Christ's return. One should continuously be prepared for this eventuality, rather than worrying about when the big event will happen; for you, it might be today.

Nobody knows when God will come again, but do we technically know when He will not come?

Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction. - 2 Thessalonians 2:3

The ”man of lawlessness” in 2 Thessalonians 2:1–12 is obviously the Antichrist who will come on the world scene at the beginning of the Day of the Lord.

The two witnesses must also appear, before that Day of the Lord, as mentioned in the Book of Revelation.

And I will grant my two witnesses authority to prophesy for one thousand two hundred sixty days, wearing sackcloth.” - Revelation 11:3