Your Writtings

[loveroftruth]

This is directed at whoever wrote your writtings on this website.

These were great! Thank you for them as it confirmed what the Lord ad been showing me.

I do have one question — because the Lord has us in agreement in the Trinity and your other topics – I wonder why you dont believe that most of Rev was fullfilled ibefore AD 70?

It just seems to be so clear – I wonder why you dont agree with that?

I am not trying to bring you to that – just wondering why you dont believe it?
Thank you

[MrBob]

The person who wrote the writings on the site is t8, who runs the site.

Why don't you share with us why you believe that?

God Bless

[loveroftruth]

Hi MrBob,
Thanks for the reply – I will try and email t3.

I believe in most fullfillment before AD 70 because it is so clear – I will post this, but its not debate I am looking for since there already seems to be enough to go around. I was just wondering if two people hear from the Lord the same thing on several issues – should they not hear the same on the others?

Anyways – bless you all – please dont take this as a challage for debate, but if you desire to place down why it couldnt be – that is more then welcomed.

CAN GOD TELL TIME?  By Don K. Preston

    Almost two thousand years ago John the Baptizer said “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” Matthew 3:2. Jesus, Son of God, echoed those words “the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” Matthew 4:17. The Prince of Peace sent his disciples out to preach the same message, Luke 10. Jesus clearly said the kingdom, and other events as we shall see below, were at hand.

    A common response to these Biblical statements of the imminence of the kingdom in the first century is this: “Well, yes, the Bible said the kingdom was coming soon, but remember, 'One day is with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years is as a day.' God doesn't see time as man does; He is above time.”

    Is there anything wrong with these statements? Well, if God cannot tell time there isn't! But if God can read a calendar, and if God truly meant to communicate with man there is something drastically wrong! Essentially, what these statements say is that while God said the kingdom was “at hand,” God cannot tell time, therefore the “at hand” time statements mean nothing at all!

    This little tract is about several things. It is about the inspiration of the scriptures; it is about the faithfulness of God; it is about God's ability to communicate with mankind; it is about the kingdom of the Lord and other prophecy; it is about changing our preconceived ideas to bring them into harmony with God's word.

    Inspiration
    The Bible says it is inspired, II Timothy 3:16. The original word translated “inspired” literally means “God breathed.” The thought of the Bible being from God suggests that since God is perfect or infallible, if the Bible is from Him it ought to be infallible as well. Specifically, if the Bible made a promise that something would happen within a specified time frame, if that event did not happen when and as promised the Bible's claim to inspiration falls.

    Note: There ARE conditional promises in the Bible. In other words God said “If you will do this, I will do this.” When and if man failed to keep his part of the bargain God was no longer bound to fulfill his promise. This does not prove a failed prophecy; it demonstrates just the opposite. He was keeping the negative provisions of the prophecy, see Jeremiah 18:1-6.

    The promises we are studying in this tract were not conditional promises! As a matter of fact, premillennialists very often insist that the promises of the kingdom were not conditional. We agree!

    The amillennialist observes that God promised to establish the kingdom in the days of the Roman empire, Daniel 2. The premillennialist says that was not done. The amillennialist points out that if this is true then one part of God's promise failed. This is a valid and true statement.

    If God does not keep the WHEN part of his promises, he has not kept his promise! The inspiration of the scriptures demands complete fulfillment of every aspect of God's promises. So-called prophets of today like to point to some of their predictions that seemed to come true, at least partially. To them, if any part of their prediction came true they claim victory! This is not the Bible standard of determining the validity of a prophet! Partial fulfillment means complete failure! It is Jehovah himself that gave the criteria for determining whether a prophet was true or false; if a prophet's prediction did not come true he was a false prophet, Deuteronomy 18:15ff.

    God's Words-Vs-Man's Words
    It seems to have escaped the notice of many that the Bible was written in the common languages of their respective authors. The Old Covenant was not written in some mystical form of Hebrew. It was written in the language spoken in the homes, in the markets, in the fields and work places of the Jewish people.

    We are NOT suggesting much of this language was not figurative, and apocalyptic. On the contrary, much of the prophetic literature is just that. What we are saying however, is that even figurative portions of scripture used types of language the people knew. The Jews of old were familiar with apocalyptic language. They studied it every Sabbath. We today need to be far more familiar with this apocalyptic form of language and stop thinking so literally when we read about the passing of “heaven and earth,” see Isaiah 34 for instance. In regard to time however we need to see that while much language was figurative, it is unusual for time words to be so used.

    The New Covenant is the same. The New Testament Greek is known as the “koine,” meaning “common,” Greek of the day. The New Testament Greek, just as the Old Covenant Hebrew, was the language of fisherman, carpenters, tent-makers, husbands and wives. What is our point?

    Our point is that the Bible is not a book that used words normally meaning at hand to mean a long time! When God said something was NOT near, it really was not near! We shall fully demonstrate this below; but the very nature of the languages of the Bible should make one very cautious before insisting God cannot tell time!

    God, Time, and Communication
    Are we saying God is not above time? Are we saying God is bound to time like man? Not at all! God's years are endless; “from everlasting to everlasting thou art God” Psalms 90:2. Isaiah calls Jehovah “the Father of eternity” 9:6-9. But the fact that God is above time is irrelevant to this discussion!

    Now, if God was talking to God when he said certain events were “at hand” we would be justified in saying that mankind would have no way of telling what “soon” or “quickly” meant. But in the Bible God spoke to MAN! The time statements about the kingdom's establishment were made to MAN! The time statements in the Bible were spoken to man to encourage or to warn man. If God did not mean TIME when he used time words what did he mean? Since man thinks in time when “a long time” or “at hand” is used would it not have been misleading on God's part to say something was not going to happen for a long time when in fact it was imminent? Conversely, would it not have been misleading for God to say something was at hand when it was really not to happen for centuries?

    The question here is one of communication. Can God communicate with his creation in an understandable way; or does Jehovah speak in purposely ambiguous ways? Does the Lord hold out a carrot stick of imminent blessings to his hurting creation while knowing all the time he is not REALLY going to bring the promises soon? Did God constantly threaten nations with imminent judgment and not punish them for centuries? Where then is the reality of the threat to the wicked? Does God's transcendence over time prevent him from speaking to man in words that convey genuine nearness?

    Here is a question to consider: if God is in the practice of saying something is imminent when in reality it may not transpire for centuries, why is there not one single Old Covenant prophecy of the kingdom that said it was “at hand?” Daniel said the kingdom would be established in the days of the Roman empire; he called it “the last days,” 2:28. From Daniel's perspective it was several hundred years away. From God's perspective of course, it was only a moment; but that is not the issue. Go
d was speaking to Daniel about things to happen in man's world–not in timeless eternity. This is why God did not cause Daniel to say the kingdom was “near,” “at hand,” “right at the door,” or coming “very, very soon.”

    It was not until John the Baptizer came that the message “the kingdom of heaven is at hand” was preached; and the kingdom was established in the very generation that heard John say it was at hand! In other words, God did not allow his prophets to say the kingdom was at hand until it was REALLY AT HAND! It would have been something less than honest if God had said the kingdom was imminent when it was really hundreds of years away!

    Why did Isaiah, who wrote over 600 years before the birth of the Messiah, never say his coming was at hand? Would it not have been terribly distressing for the Jews to have heard a constant message of the imminence of the kingdom and their savior yet hundreds of years roll on and on without fulfillment? The writer of Proverbs correctly noted mankind's attitude toward waiting for fulfillment of promises “Hope that is deferred makes the heart sick” 13:12.

    It is one thing for God to promise something and not give any indication as to when he would fulfill the promise, for then man has no indication of when to expect fulfillment. It is an entirely different thing for God to indicate a time frame for fulfillment and not bring the promise to fulfillment in that indicated time frame! This involves a basic attribute of the nature of God.

    God Is Faithful
    In II Peter 3:8 we find the statement about “one day being as a thousand years,” etc. [By the way please note the verse does not say one day IS a thousand years with the Lord. Some millennarians insist earth will only stand for six thousand years followed by a thousand years of utopia. This is based on a mistaken association with the days of creation and II Peter 3.] In verse 9 we find a “forgotten statement:” “The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some count slowness” [NASV]. The word translated “slow” [Greek “braduno”] means just that. Compare Paul's usage of the term in I Timothy 3:15. Peter's point is that if God sets a time for fulfillment he fulfills on time! He is not slow; God can tell time and knows how to keep his promises on time! This verse asserts in no uncertain terms that God is a God who keeps his promises! Now notice the inherent contradiction between this inspired statement and the claims of men today.

    The premillennialist admits Jehovah promised to establish the kingdom in the days of the Roman empire; and that Jesus said the kingdom was at hand, Matthew 4:17. Unfortunately however, God was unable to complete his promise due to the unbelief of the Jews. Therefore God postponed the kingdom to a later date. But wait. What has happened to Peter's inspired statement that God is not slow about fulfilling his promises? What about the faithfulness of God that the Hebrew writer asserts, Hebrews 6:18? That writer insists “God cannot lie.” Well, if he cannot lie, can he fail, or alter his promises?

    If the premillennialist is right and the appointed time for fulfillment has come and gone yet God has not fulfilled the promise, has God not been EXTREMELY SLOW in fulfilling his kingdom promises? Has the FAITHFULNESS OF GOD not been seriously called into question? Reader, if God is as slow as the premillennial doctrine implies how can we be assured of ANY of his promises?

    We maintain that the faithfulness of God demands we believe he keep his word not only in the way he promised BUT WHEN HE PROMISED TO KEEP IT AS WELL. The TIME-FRAME for fulfillment is as important as the HOW of fulfillment!

    God and Time
    In spite of the issue of the faithfulness of God some writers insist we must believe in what they call the “elasticity of prophetic chronology;” and that “time, in connection with prophecy, is an exceedingly relative matter.” We are told that prophetic time may INDICATE imminence when in fact hundreds of years are involved. In order to demonstrate the utter falsity of this concept let us see how God has dealt with time statements in scripture.

    In Numbers 24:17-18 Balaam the prophet made a prediction of Christ's coming: “I see him but not now, I behold him but not near.” Notice he said Christ's coming was NOT NEAR; IT WAS NOT AT HAND. Why did he say this? Because Christ's coming was over 1400 years away, and 1400 years really is a long time! Here is a concrete example where God referred to a long time as just that.

    In Daniel 10-12 is a vision encompassing a period of time from 536 BC to the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD; about 600 years. Two times in this text Daniel was told “the appointed time is long” and “the vision refers to many days to come” (10:1,14). Remember, this vision was relayed to Daniel from God. While God is not bound by time, he was communicating to man who is bound to time. God called this 600 year period of time “long;” he said it involved “many days.” God can most assuredly tell time and read a calendar!

    Daniel contains another important example of how God used time words. Chapter 8 contains a prophecy that extends from 530 BC to about 165-164 BC and the death of Antiochus Epiphanes. The time covered is about 365 years. How did God express the prophecy? Did he say it was at hand? Did he say SOME of it was at hand while some of it was for a long time off? No! God viewed the prophecy as a whole. He said the vision “refers to many days in the future” (8:26). Here is a prophecy that covers 365 years and God called it “a long time.” Friends, if God called 365 years a long time, how can man say that time, when God is speaking to man, means nothing?

    This is an important question in light of the traditional interpretations of Revelation. Daniel was told to seal up his vision because the time for its fulfillment was a long time away–365 years. John was specifically told NOT TO SEAL UP HIS VISION BECAUSE WHAT HE SAW WAS AT HAND! John is told his vision, not part of his vision, was “at hand” and “must shortly come to pass!” Reader, did God call the 365 years for the fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy a “long time” and call the fulfillment of Revelation, which most commentators say has not been fulfilled after 2000 years so far, “at hand?” To say the least, this would hardly be consistent!

    In Jeremiah 29:10 Jehovah told his prophet the Babylonian captivity would last for seventy years. In verse 28 the people complained that Jeremiah had told them “The exile will be long….” Here is an example of a prophet specifying a period of time, seventy years, and the people said the prophet, and remember the prophet was inspired of God, said the captivity would be “long.” Why was seventy years called a long time by Jeremiah? Because to man seventy years IS A LONG TIME! Thus, God used time words as man would normally understand them. God can tell time when speaking to man!

    Many do not realize the Bible gives an example of man attempting to change the meaning of time words used by God; and God's response.

    In Ezekiel 7, God through Ezekiel said the Day of the Lord was at hand. The Day of the Lord in this context was when God used Babylon to punish Israel for her sin. This is the concept of the Day of the Lord; it is not an “end of time” idea. It is when God used a nation to punish another as it related to his chosen people.

    In chapter 11 Israel responded to the threat of coming judgment. They insisted that although Ezekiel said it was at hand it was really not. It was time to build houses, not worry about judgment. One can almost hear some of those people: “Well, yes, Ezekiel has said the Day of the Lord is at hand, but after all, 'one day is with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years is as a day,' Psalms 90:4”

    When Israel “elasticized” God's words of imminence into relativit
y, ambiguity and meaning-less-ness, God responded. In Ezekiel 12:21ff, [Please, take the time to get your Bible and read it for yourself!] Adonai told Ezekiel to tell Israel that her days of changing the time for his predictions were over. He had said judgment was at hand; Israel said it was not at hand. Jehovah would not tolerate it.

    Ezekiel was instructed to tell Israel that in that generation judgment would fall just as Jehovah had indicated when he said it was at hand. [Have you read those verses for yourself yet? If not, why not do it right now and see for yourself that what we are saying is true?] What we have then, is an example of man saying that while God had said something was imminent it really was not; it was for a long time off. We have God's response; when God said “at hand” he meant “at hand!” He did not mean hundreds or thousands of years; he meant “soon!”

    Another example of man changing the meaning of God's time words is in Amos 6:3. God warned Israel the time had come for her to be judged, 8:2, Hosea 1:4. In spite of the warnings Israel “put far off the evil day.” Isaiah 56:12 shows they were saying “tomorrow shall be as today.” In spite of God's warning that judgment was at hand they insisted “All things continue as they were,” cf. II Peter 3:3-4! They refused to believe God meant “near” when he said “at hand!” As a result God said “Woe” to them!

    Reader, what is the practical difference between Israel of Old denying “at hand” meant “soon,” and Bible students today who read the New Testament time statements and say they did not mean “soon?” What is the difference between those in Isaiah's day who denied the warnings of imminent judgment, saying life was going to go on as usual, and those today who read the time statements made in the first century and say the predicted events were not truly imminent? Those who deny the first century application of the at hand time statements of the New Testament are doing the same thing as the Israelites of Old–denying that “at hand” meant “soon!”

    Upon what basis can one acknowledge that God condemned Israel for changing “at hand” into a “long time” and then think it is justifiable for modern man to do so when studying the New Testament? Israel of old apparently argued that time doesn't mean anything to God. By the way, they had Psalms 90:4 when Amos and Ezekiel was written; were they appealing to this as justification for saying “at hand” did not mean soon? When they so argued, God condemned such rationalization. What has changed with God to allow modern man to go to New Covenant promises that certain events were “at hand” and change those statements of imminence to make them say they have not been fulfilled after two thousand years so far?

    Has God changed his vocabulary? Is it true that “at hand” once DID mean “at hand” but now it can mean “a long time?” If so, where is the evidence for the change? Surely, the honest student can clearly see there has been no such change in God's vocabulary. God can tell time; God can read a calendar. When God says something is at hand it is near. For man to argue otherwise is to reject the inspiration of the scriptures; it is to impugn the faithfulness of God; it is to impugn the ability of God to communicate; it is to do the very thing Israel of old did and for which they were condemned! This is a very serious matter indeed!

    Making An Application
    Chances are, if you are an amillennialist you have pretty much agreed with this tract so far. If you are a premillennialist, hopefully you have seen the power of the language of imminence in the Bible. That language is very powerful and significant. We wish to demonstrate in the remainder of this tract that the issues we have raised have serious implications for both amillennialists and premillennialists.

    If the time statements of the Bible are to be understood as truly communicating what the words themselves normally mean, and we believe we have sufficiently demonstrated that they do, then the traditional views of eschatology are presented with some insurmountable problems. In other words, if “a long time” really meant a long time in man's concept of time, and if “at hand” truly meant nearness and imminence then the traditional eschatological interpretations are false.

    Everyone admits there are numerous New Testament passages that say “The coming of the Lord is at hand;” or in other ways indicate Christ's return was imminent–and that was almost two thousand years ago! One of the ways men have dealt with the problem is to say “Yes, the Bible said the coming of the Lord was 'at hand' in the first century, but time doesn't mean anything to God therefore 'at hand' didn't really mean it was imminent.”

    Do you see the problem? The problem is real and has troubled honest Bible students for centuries. The question is “Can God tell time?” As we have seen, when God uses time words he does not have a special hidden meaning unknowable to man! Prophetic time statements are NOT so “elastic” that the words “near” and “at hand” can encompass hundreds, or even thousands of years! At hand means at hand whether it referred to the coming of the kingdom or the coming of the Lord!

    If, as the amillennialist insists, it is dangerous to deny the time for the coming of the kingdom, why is it not equally dangerous to deny the time-frame for the coming of the Lord? It is clear to this scribe that to deny either the fact or the time for the coming of the Lord is to deny the inspiration of the scriptures. This is a serious matter indeed. How clearly does the New Testament affirm the imminence of the coming of the Lord?

    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 pred
ictions “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?

The Dependability of Biblical, Inspired Time Statements

Following this brief article are 101 biblical, preterist “time-indicators.” (Hence the title.) There are many more than 101 to be found in Scripture, but these are probably the most blunt and obvious of them all. If we were to include every preterist time-indicator in Scripture, the number would possibly be in the hundreds. My purpose in displaying these passages (with some cross references) is to lay out in a concise, easy-to-read format the overwhelming testimony that our Lord actually fulfilled the Law and the Prophets, as He said He would. (Matt. 5:17)

Now it seems to me that there are only two ways to “get around” these 101 Scriptures and remain a futurist. One of those ways is to dismiss the spirit of imminence that saturates the New Testament and to say that it only indicates things that are “soon in God's sight.”

There are some major problems with that approach. If the imminence saturating the New Testament was only an “in-God's-sight” imminence, then why was the Old Testament not also saturated with an “in-God's-sight” imminence? Why did God not tell Adam and Eve, “The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand?” Why did He not tell Abraham, “The Son of Man is about to come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and will then recompense every man according to his deeds?” Why did He not say to Malachi, “This generation will not pass away until all these things take place?”

Why is it that a Second Coming in the 21st century was “imminent” in the 1st century, but was not imminent before the 1st century? There is no substantive defense against this objection. The fact is that what God said was near to the Apostles, He said was not near to the earlier prophets. Perhaps the clearest illustration of this truth is found in a comp
arison of Dan. 8:26 and Rev. 22:10:

6th century B.C: “Seal up the vision; for it shall be for many days.” (Dan. 8:26)

1st century A.D.: “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.” (Rev. 22:10)

What God said was far away in Daniel's time, He said was imminent in the Apostles' time. The implication is inescapable: The imminence in the New Testament was real.

It is biblically unreasonable to interpret every statement of eschatological imminence throughout the New Testament as meaning “2,000 years later.” If we are going to claim scriptural support for such a hermeneutical approach, the only option is to make II Peter 3:8 (“With the Lord a day is like a thousand years”) a “Code Key” that unlocks the “secret” meaning of the Spirit. But not only is that method Gnostic-like, it makes eschatology (and ultimately, soteriology) utterly impossible to understand correctly without the mystical elucidation of II Peter 3:8 (and Ps. 90:4).

The second technique that is employed to “get around” the New Testament declarations of imminence is to dichotomize the spirit of imminence (and therefore the unified eschatological theme of Scripture), and to say that some or most New Testament imminence Scriptures do indeed indicate nearness in time (such as in references to the Great Tribulation in A.D. 66-70 and to a “coming” in judgment in A.D. 70.) but that other imminence Scriptures are in reality not statements of imminence at all. (In this approach, all references to the Second Coming, the Resurrection of the Dead and the “final Judgment” are said to contain no indications of imminence whatsoever.)

The problem with this method is simply this: Denial. The Bible says it. They deny it. They have thereby been forced to construct a duplicitous, theological system of “Yes” and “No.” They have created a kind of twilight land of both “shadow” and “substance.” (the land of partial preterism and historicism) They are rather like Saul of Tarsus, a man who sincerely and ignorantly “kicked against the goads” of the plain declarations of Scripture.

Many who have found themselves in this predicament recognize that they are in abject exegetical poverty, and so they end up appealing strictly and only to the authority of “the historic Church and her creeds.” Not unrelated to this sad phenomenon is the defection of many protestants to the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Denial is a complicated and destructive thing indeed. Like deception, it becomes a tangled web. The incredible eschatological confusion that has plagued the Christian world since the days of the Reformation is a testimony to that fact.

But in contrast to the chaos of futurism, the Scriptures (below) have a straightforward teaching, which is this: The fulfillment of all prophecy was “at hand,” “near,” “soon,” “about to be,” etc. when the New Testament was written, and it was all to be fulfilled by the time the old covenant vanished and its temple was destroyed (in A.D. 70).

The prophetic message is so simple, yet it is so profound. In a way it is not surprising that we missed it for so long.

Now a final note. The Apostle Peter was referring to eschatology when he said the following:

“…in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.” (II Peter 3:16)

Be careful what you do with the truth. Being in possession of a true, biblical proposition is by no means an evidence of being wise, no matter how wonderful the proposition is. There is no denying that some preterists are “untaught and unstable,” and have used preterism to “distort” the Scriptures. (They are Universalists, Arians, Neo-Gnostics, etc.) They despise the collected teachings of the historic Church as being little more than the tricks of jugglers, and have blasphemed virtually every pillar of the Faith. They imagine themselves to be pioneers, but they are revilers in the tradition of II Peter and Jude. Do not follow them. Avoid them at all cost. Please see my Q&A #33.

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101 Preterist Time-Indicators for the Second Coming of Christ

1. “The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” (Matt. 3:2)

2. “Who warned you to flee from the wrath about to come?” (Matt. 3:7)

3. “The axe is already laid at the root of the trees.” (Matt. 3:10)

4. “His winnowing fork is in His hand.” (Matt. 3:12)

5. “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matt. 4:17)

6. “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matt. 10:7)

7. “You shall not finish going through the cities of Israel, until the Son of Man comes.” (Matt. 10:23)

8. “…the age about to come.” (Matt. 12:32)

9. “The Son of Man is about to come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and will then recompense every man according to his deeds.” (Matt. 16:27)

10. “There are some of those who are standing here who shall not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.” (Matt. 16:28; cf. Mk. 9:1; Lk. 9:27)

11. “'When the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers?' '…He will bring those wretches to a wretched end, and will rent out the vineyard to other vine-growers, who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons.' '…Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you, and be given to a nation producing the fruit of it.' …When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them.” (Matt. 21:40-41,43,45)

12. “This generation will not pass away until all these things take place.” (Matt. 24:34)

13. “From now on, you [Caiaphas, the chief priests, the scribes, the elders, the whole Sanhedrin] shall be seeing the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.” (Matt. 26:64; Mk. 14:62; Lk. 22:69)

14. “The kingdom of God is at hand.” (Mk. 1:15)

15. “What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vine-growers, and will give the vineyard to others. …They [the chief priests, scribes and elders] understood that He spoke the parable against them.” (Mk. 12:9,12)

16. “This generation will not pass away until all these things take place.” (Mk. 13:30)

17. “Who warned you to flee from the wrath about to come?” (Lk. 3:7)

18. “The axe is already laid at the root of the trees.” (Lk. 3:9)

19. “His winnowing fork is in His hand…” (Lk. 3:17)

20. “The kingdom of God has come near to you.” (Lk. 10:9)

21. “The kingdom of God has come near.” (Lk. 10:11)

22. “What, therefore, will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy these vine-growers and will give the vineyard to others.” …The scribes and the chief priests…understood that He spoke this parable against them.” (Lk. 20:15-16,19)

23. “These are days of vengeance, in order that all things which are written may be fulfilled.” (Lk. 21:22)

24. “This generation will not pass away until all things take place.” (Lk. 21:32)

25. “Daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming when they will say, 'Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.' Then they will begin to say to the mountains, 'Fall on us,' and to the hills, 'Cover us.'” (Lk. 23:28-30; Compare Rev. 6:14-17)

26. “We were hoping that He was the One who is about to redeem Israel.” (Lk. 24:21)

27. “I will come to you. …In that Day you shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.' …'Lord, what then has happened that You are about to disclose Yourself to us, and not to the world?'” (Jn. 14:18,20,22)

28. “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?” (Jn. 21:22)

29. “This is what was spo
ken of through the prophet Joel: 'And it shall be in the last days…'” (Acts 2:16-17)

30. “He has fixed a day in which He is about to judge the world in righteousness…” (Acts 17:31)

31. “There is about to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.” (Acts 24:15)

32. “As he was discussing righteousness, self-control and the judgment about to come…” (Acts 24:25)

33. “Not for [Abraham's] sake only was it written, that [faith] was reckoned to him [as righteousness], but for our sake also, to whom it is about to be reckoned.” (Rom. 4:23-24)

34. “If you are living according to the flesh, you are about to die.” (Rom. 8:13)

35. “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is about to be revealed to us.” (Rom. 8:18)

36. “It is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. The night is almost gone, and the day is at hand.” (Rom. 13:11-12)

37. “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” (Rom. 16:20)

38. “The time has been shortened.” (I Cor. 7:29)

39. “The form of this world is passing away.” (I Cor. 7:31)

40. “Now these things …were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.” (I Cor. 10:11)

41. “We shall not all fall sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.” (I Cor. 15:51-52)

42. “Maranatha!” [The Lord comes!] (I Cor. 16:22)

43. “…not only in this age, but also in the one about to come.” (Eph. 1:21)

44. “The Lord is near.” (Phil. 4:5)

45. “The gospel …was proclaimed in all creation under heaven.” (Col. 1:23; Compare Matt. 24:14; Rom. 10:18; 16:26; Col. 1:5-6; II Tim. 4:17; Rev. 14:6-7; cf. I Clement 5,7)

46. “…things which are a shadow of what is about to come.” (Col. 2:16-17)

47. “…we who are alive, and remain until the coming of the Lord… We who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds… …You, brethren, are not in darkness, that the Day should overtake you like a thief.” (I Thess. 4:15,17; 5:4)

48. “May your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (I Thess. 5:23)

49. “It is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire.” (II Thess. 1:6-7)

50. “Godliness …holds promise for the present life and that which is about to come.” (I Tim. 4:8)

51. “I charge you …that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (I Tim. 6:14)

52. “…storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for that which is about to come, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed.” (I Tim. 6:19)

53. “In the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self… …Avoid these men. For of these are those who enter into households and captivate weak women… …These also oppose the truth… …But they will not make further progress; for their folly will be obvious to all…” (II Tim. 3:1-2,5-6,8-9)

54. “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is about to judge the living and the dead…” (II Tim. 4:1)

55. “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son.” (Heb. 1:1-2)

56. “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who are about to inherit salvation?” (Heb. 1:14)

57. “He did not subject to angels the world about to come.” (Heb. 2:5)

58. “…and have tasted …the powers of the age about to come.” (Heb. 6:5)

59. “For ground that drinks the rain which often falls upon it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near a curse, and it's end is for burning.” (Heb. 6:7-8)

60. “When He said, 'A new covenant,' He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.” (Heb. 8:13)

61. “The Holy Spirit is signifying this, that the way of the [heavenly] Holy Places has not yet been revealed, while the outer tabernacle is still standing, which is a symbol for the present time. Accordingly both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make the worshiper perfect in conscience, since they relate only to food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until a time of reformation.” (Heb. 9:8-10; Compare Gal. 4:19; Eph. 2:21-22; 3:17; 4:13)

62. “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things about to come…” (Heb. 9:11)

63. “Now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin.” (Heb. 9:26)

64. “For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things about to come…” (Heb. 10:1)

65. “…as you see the Day drawing near.” (Heb. 10:25)

66. “…the fury of a fire which is about to consume the adversaries.” (Heb. 10:27)

67. “For yet in a very little while, He who is coming will come, and will not delay.” (Heb. 10:37)

68. “For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the one that is about to come.” (Heb. 13:14)

69. “Speak and so act, as those who are about to be judged by the law of liberty.” (Jms. 2:12)

70. “Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. …It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure!” (Jms. 5:1,3)

71. “Be patient, therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord.” (Jms. 5:7)

72. “You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.” (Jms. 5:8)

73. “…salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” (I Peter 1:6)

74. “He …has appeared in these last times for the sake of you.” (I Peter 1:20)

75. “They shall give account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.” (I Peter 4:5)

76. “The end of all things is at hand; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer.” (I Peter 4:7)

77. “For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God.” (I Peter 4:17)

78. “…as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is about to be revealed.” (I Peter 5:1)

79. “We have the prophetic word …which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the Day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.” (II Peter 1:19)

80. “Their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.” (II Peter 2:3)

81. “In the last days mockers will come. …For this they willingly are ignorant of…” (I Peter 3:3,5)

82. “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God.” (II Peter 3:10-12)

83. “The darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining.” (I Jn. 2:8)

84. “The world is passing away, and its desires.” (I Jn. 2:17)

85. “It is the last hour.” (I Jn. 2:18)

86. “Even now many antichrists have arisen; from this we know that it is the last hour.” (I Jn. 2:18; Compare Matt. 24:23-34)

87. “This is that of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is
coming, and now it is already in the world.” (I Jn. 4:3; Compare II Thess. 2:7)

88. “For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation. …About these also Enoch …prophesied, saying, 'Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly…'” (Jude 1:4,14-15)

89. “But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, that they were saying to you, 'In the last time there shall be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts.' These are the ones who cause divisions…” (Jude 1:17-19)

90. “…to show to His bond-servants, the things which must shortly take place.” (Rev. 1:1)

91. “The time is near.” (Rev. 1:3)

92. “Nevertheless what you have, hold fast until I come.” (Rev. 2:25)

93. “I also will keep you from the hour of testing which is about to come upon the whole world.” (Rev. 3:10)

94. “I am coming quickly.” (Rev. 3:11)

95. “And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is about to rule all the nations with a rod of iron.” (Rev. 12:5)

96. “And in her [the Great City Babylon] was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all who have been slain on the earth.” (Rev. 18:24; Compare Matt. 23:35-36; Lk. 11:50-51)

97. “…to show to His bond-servants the things which must shortly take place.” (Rev. 22:6)

98. “Behold, I am coming quickly.” (Rev. 22:7)

99. “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.” (Rev. 22:10; Compare Dan. 8:26)

100. “Behold, I am coming quickly.” (Rev. 22:12)

101. “Yes, I am coming quickly.” (Rev. 22:20) Can God Tell Time?

[NickHassan]

Hi,
The complete fulfillment of the kingdom prophecies are at the return of Jesus for the Millenial Kingdom. He came first as servant but he was already the appointed King.
Mt 21.5
“…Behold your King is coming to you, gentle and mounted on a donkey”

But the kingdom is to be populated by bondservants chosen from each generation since he preached the gospel.

Lk 16.16
” ..since that time the gospel of the kingdom has been preached and everyone is forcing his way into it”

Those he called he equipped with the pledge of the Spirit and, except for those awake when he returns, they sleep till his return.

Those who have obeyed the King are already within that kingdom.They already serve the true King.

Coll 1.13
” For he rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption,the forgiveness of sins”

“The kingdom of God is among you”

We are expected not to be ignorant about times and seasons and not to be surprised when Jesus does return as the rest of the world will be. That means we cannot know the exact date or hour but we should have reasonable expectations of the season of that return. I think, however, that scripture also makes it plain that it will be a little later than best predictions may indicate. The bridesmaids fell asleep because the bridegromm was delayed etc. He still came to the wedding on the day though.

[Proclaimer]

Hi loveroftruth,

Thank you for your comments.

I believe that some things were fulfilled earlier on such as the great falling away, but many others will happen in the last days, just preceeding the coming of the Lord.

I don't mind engaging in a discussion about what has been fulfilled and what is yet to be fulfilled. I am also open to learning new things.

[Author]

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