Hello all!
Plain and simple and so easy to understand is the following article by Don Preston. It is so very important that anyone searching for the Truth consider looking at what the Bible tells us about the timing of the Second Coming of Christ. Most churches are teaching a falsehood by preaching the end of the world and Jesus coming back in the future. Once one understands the timing of His second Coming the WHOLE of the Bible will take on a clarity that is beyond anything being preached today. The scales will fall from one’s eyes!
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Can God Tell Time?
by Don K. Preston
https://www.preteristarchive.com/Hyper/2001_preston_god-tell-time.html
A Look At the Evidence
1.) Matthew 10:23–Jesus said he would return in the lifetime of his disciples.
2.) Matthew 16:27-28–Jesus said he would return with his angels to judge all men before every one standing there died. Please read it!
3.) Matthew 24:29-34–Jesus said he would return in the clouds with his angels–in that generation!
4.) Acts 3:19ff–Peter said Jesus would return when all the Old Covenant prophets were fulfilled. If the Old Prophets have not been fulfilled the Old Covenant is still in effect, Matthew 5:17-18.
5.) Romans 13:12–Paul said “the day is at hand.”
6.) Romans 16:20–Paul said God “will bruise Satan under your feet shortly.”
7.) I Corinthians 1:4-8–Paul said the Corinthians would have the miraculous gifts until “the end,” the Day of the Lord.
8.) I Corinthians 7:28-31–Paul said “the fashion of this world is passing away,” and “the time is short.”
9.) I Corinthians 15:51f–Paul said not all of them then living would die before the resurrection.
10.) Philippians 3:20-4:5–Paul spoke of the resurrection at Christ’s coming and said “The Lord is at hand.”
11.) I Timothy 6:14–Paul told Timothy to live faithfully “until the appearing of our Lord.”
12.) Hebrews 9:28; 10:37–The writer said Christ would appear a second time for salvation and then asserted “in a very, very little while he that will come will come, and will not tarry.” Isn’t it sad that man says Christ HAS DELAYED, in spite of what this verse says? WHAT DOES INSPIRATION MEAN? DID THE WRITER LIE? WAS HE MISTAKEN?
13.) James 5:7-9–James urged his readers to be faithful “until the coming of the Lord;” he says “The coming of the Lord is at hand:” and “The judge is standing right at the door.”
14.) I Peter 4:5,7,17–Peter said Jesus was then “ready to judge the living and the dead;” “the end of all things is at hand;” and “the time is come for the judgment to begin at the house of God.”
15.) I John 2:15-18–John said the world was passing away and “it is the last hour.”
16.) Revelation–this book says no less than ten times that its predictions “must shortly come to pass,” were “at hand,” were to happen “quickly,” there would be “no more delay,” etc, etc.
Reader, these are not by ANY means all the verses that either directly stated Christ’s return was at hand or indirectly taught it as true. What will you do with these verses in God’s inspired word? Do you realize there is not one verse that uses language of imminence about the coming of the kingdom that is as strong as some of the language about the coming of the Lord? See Hebrews 10:37. Christ never said “in a very, very little while the kingdom will come” BUT THE INSPIRED WRITERS SAID IT ABOUT THE COMING OF JESUS! If, as the amillennialist correctly insists, we must acknowledge the strong language of imminence in regard to the coming of the kingdom, must we not acknowledge the even stronger language that is used in reference to the coming of the Lord? If not, why not?
Yes, But
Someone will respond to the above by saying “Wait, now, Christ has not returned because earth and time continue. Every man did not see him come back, therefore he did not come back.”
The problem here is one of preconceived ideas. The prevailing idea about Christ’s return says he will come back bodily, on an actual cloud, with real angels. Time will end as the physical earth is burned up, and every nation and all the dead are raised out of physical graves to stand before Christ and be judged.
Obviously, from a physical perspective all this has not happened. But is it just possible that this concept of the Day of the Lord is wrong? If you have agreed with our investigation about God’s use of time words you are forced to rethink your concept about the nature of the Day of the Lord; or else call the inspiration of scripture into question! Which will it be?
The Day of The Lord
Space forbids a full discussion of the nature of the Day of the Lord. May we recommend you obtain a copy of our other works listed in the cover of this tract. Briefly however, we will give a brief definition of “the coming of the Lord.”
Just as the restoration of the kingdom of Israel was a spiritual, not a physical restoration, Acts 1:6; 2:29ff; 3:19ff; 15:14ff, etc; the return of Christ was a spiritual, not a physical, event as well.
In the Old Covenant the Coming of the Lord was when Jehovah acted by “instrumental means” to judge a nation or people. The language used to describe the event sounds like the end of creation; but was only the end of the “world” under consideration. God was said to ride a cloud into Egypt in judgment. He did not bodily ride a cloud into Egypt; the Assyrians destroyed Egypt. But since God used the Assyrians he was said to come with the clouds, Isaiah 19-20.
God predicted Edom’s destruction at the hands of the Babylonians, Isaiah 34, in what sounds like the end of material creation. Earth was to burn and melt, the stars would fall. This did not happen literally of course. Edom was destroyed, Malachi 1:2-3. It was the Day of the Lord. God acted, therefore he came.
In Psalms 18 David described in graphic detail how God had delivered him from his enemies. He said God descended on the clouds, the earth was shaken, all creation was moved. This did not literally happen but is highly symbolic language to describe God’s actions. The technical term for this language is “apocalyptic language.”
Apocalyptic language was never intended to be taken literally and leads to direct contradictions when literalized. When Jesus promised to return with the clouds and angels he was using standard apocalyptic language to describe the time when he would put a full end to the Old World of Judaism. When Peter, II Peter 3, described the Day of the Lord when “heaven and earth” would perish he was using Old Covenant apocalyptic language to predict the very same day Jesus spoke of. This was when Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 AD.
In 70 AD Jesus destroyed the Old World of Judaism that had stood for over 1500 years. The temple was the only place on earth where sacrifices could be offered; and only genealogically confirmed Levites could offer those sacrifices. National Israel had been God’s chosen people to bring Messiah and his word. That purpose was now accomplished and Israel had rejected her own Messiah and kingdom. Concurrently, God was establishing a New Covenant and a New People. When that New Covenant was fully delivered and confirmed, and when the Old Covenant people had fully rejected it, Christ came in judgment. He took that Old Nation out of the way. When Jerusalem was destroyed Jesus’ claims were fully vindicated by the fulfillment of all prophecy, Luke 21:22. He was “seen” to be true when his predictions came to pass. He was revealed to be at the right hand of power on high when his prediction of Jerusalem’s fall came to pass. This was the coming of the Lord. In short, Jesus never predicted to bodily return to this earth.
This extremely simplified explanation will hopefully cause you to want to study more. You may not be familiar with these ideas but we hope we have piqued your curiosity.
This one fact remains. Jesus promised to return in the generation of his disciples. Language could not be clearer. We have demonstrated above that when God used time words he meant what the words suggest. “At hand” means “at hand;” a “long time” means a “long time.” This being true one must acknowledge 1.) Jesus lied, 2.) he failed, 3.) He was mistaken, 4.) or he came! The Bible is either inspired or it is not–I believe it is inspired. I believe Jesus also did not lie, fail, or make a mistake. This is why I have changed my mind about the nature of the coming of the Lord.
God truly can tell time; he can read a calendar. In the clearest language possible he predicted the time, not the day or hour, but the generation of Christ’s return. That was the first century generation. The only way to maintain a belief in the inspiration of the scriptures and Jesus is to be willing to believe he kept his words; this means a change in your beliefs about the nature of the coming. Are you willing to change?
What do YOU think ?
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Wonderful! I hope you are seeking and doing so to find out for yourself!
JESUS IS ALL AND EVERYTHING!!!
TRUTH VERSES RELIGION 