this was a short time – remember these people living 2,000 years ago believed the world was only 4,000 years old at that time. Additionally, if we are to assume that in God’s time 1 x 24 hour day = 1,000 years - to which passages of scripture do these criteria apply? Should we therefore assume that the nine hours of Jesus’ crucifixion were really 375 years? Were God’s six days for the creation actually a metaphor for 6,000 years? Jesus actually confirmed that a day (or daytime) is 12 hours:
John 11:9
Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world
James wrote to the Twelve Tribes of Israel encouraging them to be patient and wait for the coming of the Lord. He was not giving these instructions to us who are living 2,000+ years later. - Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
James 1:1
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.
James 5:6-9
Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you. Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh . Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.
Surely, on the evidence of the writers of the New Testament, it should be obvious to everyone that Jesus said he would return in the lifetime of those who were with him at the time! His disciples all believed that Jesus would return SOON and before they had died. I believe we should therefore conclude that there is absolutely no justification for Christians to apply his promise to return to a future generation some 2,000 or more years later.
So – was Jesus playing games with his followers or deliberately deceiving them? I am convinced that if the words of Jesus as reported in the Bible were true, then he said those things sincerely believing them to be true and that he absolutely believed that he was the ‘Son of God’ and would return to earth in glory at some future date but within the lifetime of those who were with him at the time.
This brings me to the conclusion that he was simply just one of hundreds of similar so-called prophets who were also convinced or deluded in thinking they were the Son of God, God, Messiah, angel, guru, divine being or whatever.
Why do present-day Christians still believe that the second coming of Jesus and that the end of the world will take place sometime soon? At no time did Jesus say or suggest that these events would happen at any time other than within the lives of the generation who were living on the earth at that time.
The answer may be found within the words Jesus is supposed to have said according to:
Matthew 24:15-16
When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
These words again were directed entirely at the people of that generation and in particular those living in Judea. Later, as Christians discovered that Jesus did not return during the lifetime of that generation, rather than admit that Jesus was in fact a false prophet they looked for other explanations.
Possibly, they thought, Jesus had left them with an escape route should he fail to turn up at that time as he had said. Maybe, they surmised that Daniel’s prophecy was for some future time long after Jesus had been crucified and after that generation had all died? This then provided those early Christians the means to explain and to continue with the faith rather than admit that they had
John 11:9
Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world
James wrote to the Twelve Tribes of Israel encouraging them to be patient and wait for the coming of the Lord. He was not giving these instructions to us who are living 2,000+ years later. - Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
James 1:1
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.
James 5:6-9
Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you. Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh . Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.
Surely, on the evidence of the writers of the New Testament, it should be obvious to everyone that Jesus said he would return in the lifetime of those who were with him at the time! His disciples all believed that Jesus would return SOON and before they had died. I believe we should therefore conclude that there is absolutely no justification for Christians to apply his promise to return to a future generation some 2,000 or more years later.
So – was Jesus playing games with his followers or deliberately deceiving them? I am convinced that if the words of Jesus as reported in the Bible were true, then he said those things sincerely believing them to be true and that he absolutely believed that he was the ‘Son of God’ and would return to earth in glory at some future date but within the lifetime of those who were with him at the time.
This brings me to the conclusion that he was simply just one of hundreds of similar so-called prophets who were also convinced or deluded in thinking they were the Son of God, God, Messiah, angel, guru, divine being or whatever.
Why do present-day Christians still believe that the second coming of Jesus and that the end of the world will take place sometime soon? At no time did Jesus say or suggest that these events would happen at any time other than within the lives of the generation who were living on the earth at that time.
The answer may be found within the words Jesus is supposed to have said according to:
Matthew 24:15-16
When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
These words again were directed entirely at the people of that generation and in particular those living in Judea. Later, as Christians discovered that Jesus did not return during the lifetime of that generation, rather than admit that Jesus was in fact a false prophet they looked for other explanations.
Possibly, they thought, Jesus had left them with an escape route should he fail to turn up at that time as he had said. Maybe, they surmised that Daniel’s prophecy was for some future time long after Jesus had been crucified and after that generation had all died? This then provided those early Christians the means to explain and to continue with the faith rather than admit that they had
Similar Books
Scarlet Butterfly
Sandra Chastain
The Gutter and the Grave
Ed McBain
Turn Towards the Sun Book Two: After the Rain
Jennifer Domenico
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole
Sue Townsend
The Hazards of Mistletoe
Alyssa Rose Ivy
Samarkand
Amin Maalouf
Raber Wolf Pack Book Two
Ryan Michele
Dark Swan Bundle
Richelle Mead
My Laird's Love (My Laird's Castle Book 2)
Bess McBride