The End is Not Near!
I. Faulty Assumtions
II. The Time Frame for the END and second coming of Christ was the first century.
III. Historic Fulfillment of Prophecy in the First Century
The End is Not Near because the "end of the age" happened nearly 2000 years ago. For centuries many have believed the end is near because they have based their understanding of Bible prophecy on what appears to be faulty assumptions.
I. Faulty Assumptions:
1. The words "you," "we," and "us" in the New Testament refer to YOU who are reading the passage.To understand the New Testament as Jesus and the disciples understood it, "you " is the person being addressed, and "us " and "we " involves the person speaking and the group being addressed. It can be determined from the context. Besides the gospels and Revelation, the New Testament is a collection of letters from people in the first century to others in the first century. This should be considered to determine who is meant by "you," "us" and "we."
2. The "end" is the end of the world.
The "end" does not mean the end of the world. What is the "end" of? The "end" was defined by Jesus. The disciples asked Jesus about the destruction of the temple building: "when will these things be, what will be the sign of your coming, and the END of the AGE? " (Mt.24:3) Jesus replied, "Such thing must happen, but the END is still to come."(Mt.24:6) "but he who stands firm to the END will be saved."(Mt.24:13) "and then the END will come." Since the question was asked about the end of the AGE, the END in Jesus' response would most reasonably refer to the END in the question. That was the end of the AGE. An AGE is defined as a period of history marked by some major event. The first century certainly qualifies. Jesus and His Apostles understood the "end" to be the end of the AGE in which they lived. (Mt.24:3; 1Cor.10:11; Heb.9:26) Today we live in what they understood as the AGE to come. (Mt.10:29,30; 12:32)
3. The world must come to an "end."
Jesus never said the world would be destroyed. He did say the temple would be torn down(Mt.24:2), Jerusalem would be laid desolate (Lk.21:20) and Judea would suffer great distress. He warned them that when THEY see the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place, those in JUDEA should flee, and when THEY see JERUSALEM surrounded by armies, they would know its desolation is near. Those in JUDEA should flee. (Mt.24:16ff; Mk.13ff; Lk.21:21ff) These things happened during the Jewish Wars which lasted from A.D.66 through A.D.73.
4.The "world" in the Bible means the entire world today in the 20th century.
The "world" in the New Testament does not refer to our 20th century definition of the word today. It does not mean the world as WE know it. It means "world," as those in the first century understood it. Usually the Greek is more accuratedly translated as the "inhabited earth" or "habitable earth," which always meant the known world of the Roman Empire in the first century. So when Caesar Augustus took a census of the "world", he meant the Roman Empire.
5. The gospel must be preached throughout the whole world before the end comes.
This statement is a distortion of biblical intent. Since the "world" in the first century was understood to be the extents of the Roman Empire (habitable earth), the gospel was preached to the whole world in the first century. The Bible remains consistent with this understanding. The gospel was preached throughout the "world" after Paul's missionary journeys. Paul said so. (Ro.1:8, 16:25-27, Col.1:23)
6. Within the parameters set forth in the Bible, the only possible time of the second coming of Christ is in our future.
This is simply not accurate. If Jesus said he would come again after His resurrection, then He could return again any time from His resurrection onward. Precisely, A.D.30 onward.
7. The second coming of Christ has not happened, and by this we know the end has not yet come.
This logic is based on the faulty assumption that all history is known
to us. Tremendous volumes of ancient history were destroyed with the Alexandrian
Library in A.D.391. The official history written by historians in the first
century was only that which was approved by Caesar. The history written
of the decades of the 70's and 80's is missing. If Christ came the second
time in the late first century and gathered up His elect, then none of
those who understood what happened were left to record the event.
II. Time statements indicate a time frame for the end of the age and the second coming.
The last day, the day of visitation, the end, the end of the age, and the last hour are always associated with the second coming of Christ, which the New Testament consistently says would happen in the first century in the generation of the Apostles. These are the "time statements." Though no one knew the day or hour, the disciples did know a time frame. See A Christian Dilemma: time statements for a partial list of the time statements.III. Historic Fulfillment of Prophecy in the First Century
Discover how all prophecy was historically fulfilled in the first century. A.D.79, a Prophecy Paradox presents a literal case for the complete fulfillment of Bible prophecy by the end of the first century. This book is documented from original sources. Every sign Jesus predicted leading to the end of the age and His second coming is historically documented in His generation. This book is unique in that the second coming is shown to be a literal event which occurred in A.D.79 instead of A.D. 70. Read the historic fulfillment of prophecy This site reviews A.D.79, a Prophecy Paradox.A Visible Second Coming: This list of New Testament verses shows consistent biblical intent that first century Christians would live to see both a literal and visible return of Christ to gather His elect.
Creative Christianity: New evidence is turning up that Jesus did indeed return for His elect, in power and glory during the first century. In our attempt to place the second coming of our Lord in OUR future, rather than the generation of the Apostles, are we creatively altering the Bible to suit our own preference?
The Seven Year Tribulation Theory: True or False? A reevaluation of the Seven Year Tribulation Theory: Numerous difficulties pose questions to its credibility.
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