This is the sixth chapter in the series My List: Believe the Bible? Read why I started this list in About Me.
Jesus and his apostles made numerous prophesies regarding Jesus’ return to judge the earth and establish his kingdom. The Bible is clear in the fact that Jesus would return shortly after his death. It is nearly impossible to read any different meaning from the texts. Somehow Christians continue to find ways to justify why Jesus has not yet returned.
Jesus’ false prophesy:
1. Jesus promised his followers that he would return to judge the earth and establish his kingdom within their lifetime.
“At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.” “I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.“ (Matthew 24:30-35, Luke 21:32)
“For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.” (Matthew 16:27-28, Mark 9:1, Luke 9:27)
Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.” (John 21:22)
When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. I tell you the truth, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes. (Matthew 10:23)
2. Jesus warns his followers to keep watch because his return would be very soon and without warning.
“Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come.” “If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’” (Mark 13:33, 33:36-37)
“At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” (Luke 21:27-28)
3. Jesus also proclaimed to the high priest Caiphas that he would live to see his return.
Jesus warns him that he will see him “coming on the clouds of heaven”. (Matthew 26:64, Mark 14:62)
The Apostles’ false prophesy:
John
1. John claims Jesus’ return “must soon take place,” and “the time is near”. (Revelation 1:1-3)
2. John points to a current sign of the end times, “every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.” (1 John 4:3)
3. John warns that he “knows” it is “the last hour” because there are many antichrists among them. (1 John 2:18)
4. John tells us that Jesus is coming quickly. (Revelation 3:11, Revelation 22:7)
Paul
1. Paul claims, “For in just a very little while, ‘He who is coming will come and will not delay.’” (Hebrews 10:37)
2. Paul teaches, “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)
James
James states, “You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. (James 5:8)
Peter
Peter proclaims, “The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.” (1 Peter 4:7)
Christians today contend that Jesus was speaking to future generations. I view this as an impossible conclusion when you read these texts.
Arguments can be made for the meaning of the words, “this generation”, but the Bible is much more specific in most cases. Statements like: “some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming”, “you will not finish going through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes”, “stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near”, “this is the last hour”, “will not delay”, and “the end of things is near”.
Christians will continue rationalizing why Jesus has not yet returned. But I’d have to disagree with Paul and call 2,000 years much more than a small “delay”.
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Tags: Apocalypse, Apocalyptic, Armageddon, Bible, Jesus, Judgement, Prophesy
March 19, 2009 at 11:29 pm |
Another 1,000 years from now Christians will still be rationalizing the fact that Jesus has not returned. That is, if there are still Christians 1,000 years from now. One can always hope a little…
March 19, 2009 at 11:45 pm |
[...] admin posted a noteworthy aricle today onHere’s a small snippetJesus and his apostles made numerous prophesies regarding Jesus’ return to judge the earth and establish his kingdom. The Bible is clear in the fact that Jesus would return shortly after his death. It is nearly impossible to read any … [...]
March 20, 2009 at 1:52 pm |
Maybe this was the world’s first software project? Delivery is always “Real Soon Now” and remains that way.
Anyway, assuming it’s Real Soon Now, here’s my 2 cents worth: a free e-book on the Second Coming, just a short time from now. Read Walkabout: The History of a Brief Century. There’s something on both gays and pastors in it, too.
March 23, 2009 at 4:13 pm |
Peter’s true prophesy:
“…knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation…
… But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”
2 Peter 3:3-4 & 8-9
March 23, 2009 at 7:37 pm |
I’m surprised it took this long for someone to quote this verse. It is the verse all Christians point to when they try to explain why Jesus has not yet returned.
A few points of question:
“First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.”
People have scoffed at Christians and followed evil desires for 2,000 years. Hardly a sign of the “last days”.
Secondly, historical and literary critics have almost almost unanimously concluded that Peter was not the author of this letter. Read more here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Epistle_of_Peter
March 24, 2009 at 5:56 am |
“People have scoffed at Christians and followed evil desires for 2,000 years. Hardly a sign of the “last days”.”
Is that as far as you got? The first line? The point here is obviously the specific scoff made, and that it was understood by the apostles that a significant amount of time would pass before Christ’s next coming. Thousands of years is clearly implied. You had implied that the apostles believed it would be in or around their lifetime. This passage shows that not to be true.
“historical and literary critics have almost almost unanimously concluded that Peter was not the author of this letter”
Half true. It is most commonly believed that Jude wrote this epistle, but that he was conveying the message of Peter.
Are you going to make a habit of quoting from wikipedia? Seriously!
March 24, 2009 at 7:28 am |
Your entire argument is from one short book that is highly contested for authorship and authenticity? I’ve listed numerous verses that say the exact opposite of 2 Peter. Why would you believe this questionable book trumps the words of Jesus and his other apostles?
Even Peter believed “the end of all things was near”, only further backing the belief that 2 Peter is nothing more than the words of a Gnostic.
March 25, 2009 at 12:09 pm |
“I’ve listed numerous verses that say the exact opposite of 2 Peter.”
Not really. They all indicate that Christ’s return was considered unknown and ‘imminent,’ which supports the recurring theme of “Be ready!” found throughout most of the New Testament and still widely believed today. It gives no indication or implication to a specific amount of time.
Also, one of the verses you did list was John 21:22, which points out a misconception of something Jesus had said. The very next verse clarifies that misconception.
21:22
Jesus said to him, “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me.”
21:23
Then this saying went out among the brethren that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you?”
March 27, 2009 at 4:31 pm |
You seem to know something about the bible so maybe you can answer this question that’s been bothering me.
Here’s what doesn’t make sense. The words attributed to Jesus about this generation not passing away until all these things have happened were actually written a full generation AFTER he spoke them. Why would the writer of the gospels record that Jesus said something that clearly didn’t come true?
If the gospels were written in 35 AD I could understand the mistake. But they were written around 80 A.D. (at the earliest) — a full generation after his death. Why would the gospel writer put a LIE (or false prophecy) into the gospel?
March 27, 2009 at 9:19 pm |
It had only been 50 years and not 2,000 years. So “this generation” would make sense for the time it was written.
The better question would be why they waited 50+ years to document what Jesus said and did. How could any testimony be considered accurate or credible after that amount of time had passed? Not to mention the life expectancy was only 30 years at this time.
March 29, 2009 at 6:41 pm |
I agree with you that 50 years is a long time to wait, and I would venture to say that there is a lot of myth and legend in the gospel accounts; probably only a fraction of them can be considered reliable history.
However, you didn’t answer the question. At the time that scholars have speculated Mark’s gospel to have been written, a full generation had passed — at least 50 years. As you said, life expectancy was only 30 years. So the quote was obsolete when Mark wrote it.
So why would the writer of Mark’s gospel (and the other writers, too) include a quote from Jesus that blatantly appears to be a false prophecy? Why would they record that “some will not taste death” when all of them who were supposedly present were already dead at the time those words were written?
I can see only two possibilities. One, the gospels were actually written much earlier than people claim, perhaps as early 40 AD. This would explain the false prophecy, but it creates a host of other problems.
Or two, the quotes from Jesus were not intended to be interpreted as the hard-liners have interpreted them.
If you can see a third possibility, I would be interested in hearing it.
May 14, 2009 at 12:11 pm |
M Taylor –
Certainly there are earlier texts (or perhaps even a single text – Quelle?) that was being used by those who wrote the works that eventually became the canonical Gospels – particularly Mark (Luke and Matthew having used Mark as a source). In this sense, I believe that it is near universally thought that there were, of course, earlier oral traditions and even written documents that have been lost to us that existed before the Gospels were written.
Incidentally, that the Gospel writers used earlier texts to build their stories is explicitly referred to in Luke (see Luke 1:1). Having said that – as the sayings of Christ were written down from earlier works, it is certain that the “false prophesy” of the promised return was included. The meaning is clear: ““I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.“ (Matthew 24:30-35, Luke 21:32) – this will happen within the lifetime of the earlier followers. That it did not happen has been the bane of Christians ever since – how to explain it? Even Paul thought the return would happen in his time (here I won’t cite the verses, I sure many will split hairs as to their meaning as well to allow for an endtime that is at some vague point in the future).
Bottom line: the Bible is rubbish – mythologies of iron aged peoples. They are not divinely inspired and are full of errors about how the world works, was created and what will happen. Rational people know this – its for the Christians to cobble together, as best they can, ways to interpret events that have been foretold yet have not come to pass. I pity them, its a task they’ll never complete.
June 2, 2009 at 9:49 am |
Great post — keep on seeking the Truth.
There’s a lot of background to this topic to fully understand it — it’s not something most Christians are aware of or have been taught, so it’s confusing when not properly understood.
Here’s a quick list of topics to be understood for these verses to make more sense:
– Administrations in the Bible — What Jesus Christ knew about His role in salvation and the next administration after His. Which administration was Jesus in? Which administration did Jesus believe was following His? Which administration were the Apostles in at the time they were writing?
– The “mystery” or “sacred secret” — Did Jesus Christ know about Jews and Gentiles being fellow-heirs of God?
– The Return of Jesus Christ — Does the Bible mention a time-period between Jesus Christ’s ascension and His return? When does the Bible start mentioning time periods regarding the “end times”?
Just some things to ponder. Good question though.
June 30, 2009 at 10:47 pm |
@semper infidelis: Always unfaithful? Well, at least you’ve kept an open mind about things…
@rich: I like the cut of your jib.
@yjoeyh: You can’t reason with the blog-owner, because faith doesn’t require reason nor logic; nor does logic, nor reason require faith. He’s set in his/her ways, and as a side; I’d imagine you’ve been censored.
I can’t quote scripture, because I’ve drank too much to remember much of it, so I wont try. I can say this though: the spark of my life doesn’t feel, on a logical level, like it should exist. The beauty of creation that I have seen, from cloud formations, to human emotion, leads me to believe that something exists beyond the plane of logic.
While I believe Man’s hands to be fallible, and so the Bible to be corruptible, I feel that Christianity is the closest label to my belief system.
Love, forgiveness, and sacrifice.
July 4, 2009 at 12:27 am |
There are several possibilities or interpretations that can work, I don’t guarantee that these are going to be acceptable to everyone but it’s the best I can do.
1) Jesus saying he would return ‘soon’ is tricky in that if we take the idea that Jesus is the words made flesh, that he did ascent to Heaven to rule, etc. then we are looking at the idea of ‘soon’ from a being that is functionally immortal, or at least outside the ramifications of time, soon for them might be billions of years for humanity. (yes I know this can be interpreted as a handwave)
2) Each disciple was told something different, this might explain some of the discrepancies but also it might have been to make sure that each of them would show certain common traits or themes in their accounts. IE the idea of grace, forgiveness, humility, love for your enemies in each case the goal was to let the doctrines and gospels shine through but through many different prisms, in case one or more of them was unable to do it properly.
3) The end times coming any day was also a way to say, “Straigten up, fly right, don’t do bad things because the time of ultimate judgement can be at any time!” The idea here is that maybe it means that people ponder their actions more, are more self reflective when they do things wondering what would happen if God called them up for judgement at that exact moment.
4) the idea of saying not taste death might be the idea of eternal life through salvation. (yes, I might be argued to be splitting hairs here)
5) Seeing his return could be seen as the rise of his beliefs and doctrines spreading far and wide. I understand that ultimately religion requires faith. Faith can’t be tested, can’t be analyzed, faith can make people do stupid and evil things. I don’t deny this, however I have also felt God. Maybe what I felt was a massive endorphin rush, maybe it was pure elation at overcoming some sort of deep mental block, maybe all that I felt was psychosomatic, but maybe it was something divine. I can’t have you feel that, I can’t put you in my exact shoes and mental sense. I can only tell you what I felt, and hope that you might one day feel something similar.
July 21, 2009 at 10:45 pm |
I just want to know if we are living in the end of times and will it take place within the next ten years.Also did Jesus make the statement I promise 1000 years no more than 2000 years.Thank You