Jesus is NOT "Coming Soon!"

"What do you mean, 'Jesus isn't coming soon?' Doesn't the Bible say Jesus is coming soon?"

Yes, the Bible clearly says Jesus was coming soon, and either He came when the Bible said He would come, or the Bible is mistaken and untrustworthy.

There isn't a single verse in the Bible that can be reasonably translated "Jesus is not coming soon, but He will come in about one thousand nine hundred and seventy-five years."

There are at least 101 verses in the New Testament that claim that “Jesus is Coming Soon” –– not exactly those words, but clearly teaching that Christ’s Second Coming is “at hand,” “near,” or ready to happen. These verses are tied with the bold declaration that the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem and consummation of the Old Covenant is just around the corner. This is one of the most important themes in the entire New Testament. It is part of the thinking of all New Testament authors. It must be dealt with. Here’s what happens when we don’t:

Atheist Bertrand Russell, in his book Why I Am Not A Christian, discredits the inspiration of the New Testament based on the failed prediction of Christ and the Apostles:

I am concerned with Christ as He appears in the Gospels . . . and there one does find some things that do not seem to be very wise. For one thing, He certainly thought that His second coming would occur in clouds of glory before the death of all the people who were living at the time. There are a great many texts that prove that. He says, for instance, “Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel till the Son of Man be come.” Then He says, “There are some standing here which shall not taste death till the Son of Man comes into His kingdom”; and there are a lot of places where it is quite clear that He believed that His second coming would happen during the lifetime of many then living. That was the belief of his earlier followers, and it was the basis of a good deal of his moral teaching.
Bertrand Russell, Why I Am Not A Christian (New York: A Touchtone Book by Simon & Schuster, 1957), 16.

Russell is mistaken when he starts with the premise that Christ and the Apostles were predicting the end of the physical world. We’ll see that in a minute.

Russell is correct when he says that much of the New Testament was based on this belief: that the “coming of the Son of Man in His Kingdom” and the “end of the world” were “at hand.”

But if Christ and the Apostles were teaching the imminent destruction of planet earth and the inauguration of the “eternal state” or some kind of "millennial kingdom" like the Jehovah's Witnesses talk about, then the authors of the Bible were clearly mistaken.

The interpretation offered on this website avoids this objection by agreeing that Christ “came” in some sense, and the end of the “world” was really the end of the “age” of the temple and the Old Covenant.

There are two issues in this debate: (1) the timing of the Second Coming and (2) the nature of the Second Coming. The timing verses are clear; conclusions about the nature of the Second Coming come from verses which are not as clear. Preterists interpret the nature verses in light of the timing verses, and not the other way around. The overwhelming testimony of the New Testament is that the Second Coming would occur in the first century A.D., that is, before the death of the generation in which Christ lived.

Ideally, you could read the following verses in their context and see how the idea of the imminent first-century return of Christ and great Day of Judgment thoroughly dominates the pages of the New Testament.

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

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.” (Matthew 16:27; Mark 8:38; Luke 9:26)

10. “Verily I say unto you, 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.” (Matthew 16:28; cf. Mark 9:1; Luke 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.” (Matthew 21:40-41,43,45)

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

13. “Hereafter, 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.” (Matthew 26:64; Mark 14:62; Luke 22:69)

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.” (Mark 12:9,12)

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

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.” (Luke 20:15-16,19)

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

24. “This generation will not pass away until all things take place.” (Luke 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.’” (Luke 23:28-30; Compare Rev. 6:14-17)

26. “We were hoping that He was the One who is about to redeem Israel .” (Luke 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?’” (John 14:18,20,22)

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

29. “This is what was spoken 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.” (Romans 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.” (Romans 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.” ( Romans 13:11-12)

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

40. “Now these things were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.” (I Corinthians 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 Corinthians 15:51-52)

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

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

46. “things which are a shadow of what is about to come.” (Colossians 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 Thessalonians 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 Thessalonians 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 Thessalonians 1:6-7)

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

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

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 what 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 Galatians 4:19; Ephesians 2:21-22; 3:17; 4:13)

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

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

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

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

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

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

69. “Speak and so act, as those who are about to be judged by the law of liberty.” (James 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!” (James 5:1,3)

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

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

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” (II 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 John 2:8)

86. “Even now many antichrists have arisen; from this we know that it is the last hour.” (I John 2:18; Compare Matthew 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 John 4:3; Compare II Thessalonians 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.” (Revelation 1:1)

93. “I also will keep you from the hour of testing which is about to come upon the whole land.” (Revelation 3:10; cf. Matthew 2:6,20,21)

95. “And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is about to rule all the nations with a rod of iron.” (Revelation 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.” (Revelation 18:24; Compare Matthew 23:35-36; Luke 11:50-51)

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

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

All of these verses concerned those who lived in the first century, not those who would live thousands of years later (though we can certainly learn some general principles from every verse of Scripture, even ones that weren't intended directly for us). The imminent destruction of the temple and judgment of those who rejected the Messiah is a dominant theme of the New Testament, and was a top priority in the minds of Christians in those days.

It is important to see the many verses above that are talking about the destruction of the temple. This was the subject of Jesus’ important “Olivet Discourse,” a major prophecy. Please read Matthew chapters 23-24 to review this subject. Note especially Matthew 23:34-36. Chapter 24 is an elaboration on this prophetic curse, which Jesus places on those anti-christs (cf. 1 John 2:22; Acts 2:36). We’ll examine Matthew 24 below.

“The End of the World”

1. Matthew 13:39 The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the ~~world~~ age; and the reapers are the angels.

2. Matthew 13:40 As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this ~~world~~ age.

3. Matthew 13:49 So shall it be at the end of the ~~world~~ age: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just,

4. Matthew 24:3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the ~~world~~ age?

5. Matthew 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the ~~world~~ age. Amen.

6. 1 Corinthians 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ~~world~~ age are come.

7. Hebrews 9:26 For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world [Gk: kosmos]: but now once in the end of the ~~world~~ age hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

8. Extra credit: Ephesians 3:21 (cf. Isa. 45:17)
Unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. (Lit., “to all the generations of the age of the ages”)

These verses signify the end of the Old Covenant, not the destruction of the planet. A proper understanding of Christ’s “Olivet Discourse” (Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21) will aid our understanding of the “end of the age.” Christ predicted the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, which happened 40 years later, in A.D. 70.

After making this prediction, His disciples asked for signs of this event, so they would know when it would happen.

Jesus then proceeds to spell out the signs that would precede His coming and “the end of the world,” which, as we’ve seen, really means the end of the Old Testament age. Let’s read Luke’s account of Jesus spelling out the signs of His coming and the “end of the age,” as it brings out the immediacy of Christ’s coming in judgment against Jerusalem:

Verse 27 takes us back to one of the critical “any moment” verses we began with:

This is clearly an event that was about to happen to that generation, and did in fact happen: Jerusalem was laid waste. It was a time of tribulation greater than any Israel had ever experienced, and greater than any that Israel would ever experience again.

Let’s connect the context of the “New Heavens/New Earth” in 2 Peter 3 with the heavenly terminology found in Matthew 24:[1]

The Preterist says Matthew 24 –– the entire chapter –– was fulfilled in the first century. The “Great Tribulation” was the complex of events that occurred prior to and during the siege of Jerusalem, culminating in its destruction in A.D. 70. Jesus seems to be saying that the Second Coming will occur immediately after the Tribulation. Did the Second Coming occur in A.D. 70? Have we missed it?

First, let us be clear about one thing at the outset: there is just no getting around that word immediately. It means immediately. Acknowledging that the tribulation took place during the then-living generation, we must also face the clear teaching of Scripture that whatever Jesus is talking about in these verses happened immediately afterward. In other words, these verses describe what is to take place at the end of the Tribulation—what forms its climax.

In order to understand the meaning of Jesus’ expressions in this passage, we need to understand the Old Testament much more than most people do today. Jesus was speaking to an audience that was intimately familiar with the most obscure details of Old Testament literature. They had heard the Old Testament read and expounded countless times throughout their lives, and had memorized lengthy passages. Biblical imagery and forms of expression had formed their culture, environment, and vocabulary from earliest infancy, and this had been true for generations. There was no Oprah, no Fox News, no ESPN, no Britney Spears. (Recall, for a modern parallel, the influence of the Puritan Pulpit in colonial America.[2])

The fact is that when Jesus spoke to His disciples about the fall of Jerusalem, He used prophetic (Biblical) vocabulary. There was a “language” of prophecy, instantly recognizable to those familiar with the Old Testament. As Jesus foretold the complete end of the Old Covenant system—which was, in a sense, the end of a whole world—He spoke of it as any of the prophets would have, in the stirring language of covenantal judgment. We will consider each element in the prophecy, seeing how its previous use in the Old Testament prophets determined its meaning in the context of Jesus’ discourse on the fall of Jerusalem. Remember that our ultimate standard of truth is the Bible, and the Bible alone.

The Sun, Moon, and Stars

At the end of the Tribulation, Jesus said, the universe will collapse: the light of the sun and the moon will be extinguished, the stars will fall, the powers of the heavens will be shaken. The basis for this symbolism is in Genesis 1:14-16, where the sun, moon, and stars (“the powers of the heavens”) are spoken of as “signs” which “govern” the world. Later in Scripture, these heavenly lights are used to speak of earthly authorities and governors; and when God threatens to come against them in judgment, the same collapsing-universe terminology is used to describe it. Prophesying the fall of Babylon to the Medes in 539 B.C., Isaiah wrote:

Significantly, Isaiah later prophesied the fall of Edom in terms of de-creation:

Isaiah’s contemporary, the prophet Amos, foretold the doom of Samaria (722 B.C.) in much the same way:

Another example is from the prophet Ezekiel, who predicted the destruction of Egypt. God said this through Ezekiel:

It must be stressed that none of these astronomical events literally took place. God did not intend anyone to place a literalist construction on these statements. Poetically, however, all these things did happen: as far as these wicked nations were concerned, “the lights went out.” This is simply figurative language, which would not surprise us at all if we were more familiar with the Bible and appreciative of its literary character.

What Jesus is saying in Matthew 24, therefore, in prophetic terminology immediately recognizable by his disciples, is that the light of Israel is going to be extinguished; the covenant nation will cease to exist. When the Tribulation is over, old Israel––the old heavens and earth –– will be gone.

Why Does it Matter?

Last year in America, over 10,000 people were murdered. We all agree this is a bad thing.
During the 20th century, around the world, about that same number were murdered each and every single day. Even more astonishing, these murders were all "legal." In fact, they were all carried out by various governments around the world. This number does not include abortions, legal or otherwise. Last year around the world, there were about 135,000 abortions each and every single day.

These murders are not necessary. There are about 200,000,000 Americans who call themselves Christians. These are, by and large, the most powerful people in the world. They have enough money to end poverty and illiteracy around the world simply by tithing 10% of their income to groups committed to Christian Reconstruction. But 200,000,000 Christians are not investing in the future of the planet because they believe "Jesus is coming soon."

These murders are not necessary because the governments that perpetrated them are not necessary.

If you're ready to study the Bible and find out what the future really holds, there are several places to go from here.

The message of Christmas -- the first coming of Christ -- is a message of Global Theocracy. This "good news" began at the first Christmas. It does not wait around for a second incarnation of Christ.

For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given,
and the government shall be upon His shoulders.
Isaiah 9:6

Notes

[1] Much of the following is taken from David Chilton, Paradise Restored, Tyler, Texas: Dominion Press, 1985.

[2] Harry Stout, The New England Soul: Preaching and Religious Culture in Colonial New England, Oxford University Press, 1986.