Posted on 09/17/2017 5:15:40 AM PDT by Kaslin
Yes, it would be wonderful if Jesus returned for His people next week, but it’s not going to happen. Count on it. The Second Coming will not take place this year on September 23.
How can I be so sure? The Bible tells me so, and not in some ambiguous, mysterious language.
Instead, Jesus told His followers what had to take place before He returned, and those things have not yet happened, nor can they happen in just a few days. That’s why I’m quite certain that His return is not scheduled for September 23, 2017.
What, then, do I think about the claims of Christian numerologist David Meade, who argues that “verses in Luke 21:25 to 26 are the sign that recent events, such as the recent solar eclipse and Hurricane Harvey, are signs of the apocalypse”? And what do I think of the alleged correspondence between Revelation 12 and the alignment of Jupiter, the sun, and the moon?
Actually, I don’t think about these things at all, any more than I thought about the claim that Jesus was coming back between September 11-13, 1988, or the claim that Judgment Day was coming on September 6, 1994, or the claim (made by the same author who predicted the 1994 date) that Jesus would return on May 21, 2011.
There was not a shred of scriptural evidence to support these claims, and there was a mountain of evidence against them. Why, then, bother to give them any thought?
“But,” you ask, “didn’t Jesus say that no one who knew the day or hour of His return? If so, how can you be so sure He’s not coming on September 23?”
First, the fact that He says no one knows the day or hour of His return (Matthew 24:36) means that it’s utter foolishness to predict a specific day. If Jesus says no one knows the day, we should quit predicting specific days. Simple.
Second, Jesus said we could not know the specific day or hour when He would return. He never said we could not know when He would not return.
Put another way, if I get on a boat to sail across the Atlantic from New York to London, you might not know the exact time of my arrival. But you can certainly know that I will not be arriving in one or two days. It takes longer than that to cross the ocean by boat.
So, Jesus spoke of great world upheaval that would take place (far greater than anything we have yet witnessed) and of great cosmic signs (again, of unprecedented nature), while Paul wrote of major world events that would transpire before the Lord’s return (see, for example, Luke 21 and 2 Thessalonians 2).
The Old Testament prophets also painted pictures of what we could expect before the end of the age, and it is clear their words have still not come to pass (see, for example, Zechariah 12 and 14).
But this doesn’t mean that we should grow complacent and say, “The Lord delays His coming” (see Luke 12:45). God forbid.
Instead, we should always live with readiness to meet the Lord, and we should labor with all our might to make an impact for Him, since we have only one life to reach our generation. As one of my colleagues once said, “I don’t know if this is the last generation. But it is our last generation.”
As for those who believe that there will be a secret rapture that could happen at any moment, when hundreds of millions of Christians are suddenly and stealthily removed from the earth, that will allegedly happen without any definite signs. In other words, it could happen today as well as any other day, since the timing of it is unpredictable. Why, then, are we bothering to make predictions?
By all means, we should understand the times in which we are living and know what we should do (see 1 Chronicles 12:32). And we must be sober and alert lest we fall asleep in the light.
But let us stop making foolish predictions. Not only do they make us look like fools in the eyes of the world. But they rob us of a multi-generational perspective, since we’re always thinking, “Jesus is coming any moment,” rather than thinking and planning in the long term.
Little wonder, then, that we’ve lost so much moral and cultural ground in recent decades. While our ideological opponents are planning ahead, we’re planning our escape.
In the last few years, I’ve spoken to leaders and believers about the importance of developing a multi-generational mentality, and the impact of those messages has been very deep.
Sadly, this message is foreign to many Christians today, which is why I devoted a whole chapter to the subject in Saving a Sick America: A Prescription for Moral and Cultural Transformation. If America is to be changed for the good, it can only be through multi-generational thinking.
As I look back on my own journey, I came to faith in 1971 at the age of 16, and we were told that Jesus was coming at any moment. The signs of the times were all there! Little did we think that, in 2017, we’d still be here and my wife and I would have a 16-year-old granddaughter.
Let’s not repeat the same mistake today.
Instead, let’s live with readiness, with urgency, with focus, with purpose, and with a long-term, multi-generational plan. And if the Lord chooses to interrupt our plans along the way with His return, that would be a welcome prospect.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus! We long to see Your return. Until then, we’ll stay busy and pass the torch to the generations to come.
The Rapture and the Second Coming are not the same thing. At the Rapture Jesus will meet us in the clouds. The Second Coming will happen at the end of the Tribulation when Jesus sets foot on the Mount of Olives. The Rapture may or may not happen on September 23rd, but it is possible that Isiah 17 may be fulfilled that day. Or not.
As for myself as I've studied biblical prophecy for many years I take that sign in the skies on that date to be a marker for a huge geo-political alignment that will alter everything that currently now exists and will be touching on several major items.
It may even be the Miry Clay of Daniel 2 making their public appearance (aka the long awaited UFO disclosure) as their presence is needed for the end-times persecution of the saints and the NWO religion. The Church is not prepared to handle it if it was to happen and there are less than a handful of good biblical teachers who have a good grasp of the subject. Chuck Missler is the best teacher that has a thorough understand of it and he explains it very well.
I’ve always wanted to ride out on a chariot of fire in a whirlwind. Dont tell me it cant happen.
Sept 23 is the feast of the trumps and its a jubilee year. The temple has not been rebuilt, the man of perdition (the false witness) has not appeared. So no Jesus is not returning on the 23rd. A very complicated set of events must occur in advance of the coming of Yesua. Which is not to say it couldn’t happen fairly quickly.
“Michael Rood
Cultist. First, as a leader with The Way International.
Now, his own cult.
Dresses like a fake rabbi.
Yes, I read that too. He still is very interesting. The SPLC probably doesn’t like him either.
Yes, I think it’s a very bad idea to set dates. We are certainly in a season though.. Lotsa stuff pointing to the things we see in Scripture.
I find the U.N.’s upcoming day remarkable, but I cannot say that anything happens that particular day. The world seems quite obsessed with dividing Israel for “peace” thinking somehow that’s going to solve everything.
In reality, it will be landmark day regarding the End of this Age when the Man of Sin confirms that 7-year peace plan. The final countdown clock to the Second Coming will begin. While I’m still pre-trib, some portion of the world will reject that “political” man (Antichrist), seeing as how they refuse the Mark of the Beast by the “religious” False Prophet. So, we continue to tell the world; even if they laugh now.
Same song 100th verse
Example from the 1988...
http://www.equip.org/article/88-reasons-what-went-wrong/
“He still is very interesting.
Interesting and believable are always traits of con-men like Rood.
I would not blaspheme if I were you. Attempts at making fun of the LORD usually ends up with one having egg, or worse, on ones face. IF everyone thinks Christ is returning on the 23d, then He is not returning on that date. The Scriptures do not give us the date. Christ said no man knows the date, thus the 23d cannot be the date. He will return when He returns. We simply look up for our Blessed Hope, the appearing of the Great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
yep
Scoffers are definitely in abundance.
Now that one was funny; I’ll give ya that. ;_)
yes
It’s easy to dismiss out of hand, but have you looked into the fact that the first four Jewish feast days were fulfilled? In fact the Passover was fulfilled by Christ to the very hour — 3:00pm
Have you looked into that phrase “no man knoweth the day nor the hour” and seen that this was a common idiom for the next scheduled feast day, Yom Teruah?
Did you know that the “Last Trump” spoken of by Paul is the 100th trumpet blast of Yom Teruah?
Paul refers to the twinkling of an eye, did you know that this was also a Hebraism?
>>>But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.
>>Scoffers are definitely in abundance.<<
But now these children of Belial are professing believers!
waiting for some one to post his actual schedule
Not many understand that. Nor the danger in confusing the two. Oh well.
As prophesied, too.
It takes courage to back up what you believe to be a prophesy.
No matter what happens this month, God bless you.
FRegards ....
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