“that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords” (1 Timothy 6:14-15).
The time and date of Jesus’ return is a subject that has engaged the interest of untold numbers of people over the years. For instance, one Pastoral author addressed this topic with the following observation…
“When is Jesus coming? Many are asking that question these days. Are we in the ‘last days’? Is the ‘man of sin’ about to appear on the earth? Are we facing the great tribulation? Is the antichrist at hand? Are we in the last season?” (1)
The paragraph above would fit well within a modern-day internet web site devoted to an analysis of current events and their potential relationship to the end-times. Therefore, it might be surprising to learn that it was actually written in 1981. Then there were others within that era who went beyond mere speculation concerning Jesus’ return…
“…we have shown that sunset 20 September 1988 (the start of the Day of Atonement 1988) is the end of this present Church Age. Thus sunset 20 September 1988 is also the end of times of the Gentiles, while Armageddon (the Day of Atonement) on 4 October 1995 is the end of the fulfillment of the times of the Gentiles (Luke 21:24). And the times of the restitution of all things is 4 October 1995, when Jesus arrives on earth (Acts 3:21) at the Mount of Olives (Zech. 14:4).” (2)
Another author made a similar prediction in the 1990’s…
“Last Day and return of Christ some on or between: September 15, 1994: Beginning of 1994 Jubilee year, and September 27, 1994: Last Day of Feast of Tabernacles.” (3)
This same author predicted Jesus’ return in the post 2000-era as well. In responding to a question concerning his belief that Jesus would return to rapture His church on May 11, 2011, that author responded by saying…
“It. Is. Going. To. Happen. Because I trust the Bible implicitly, the Bible is God’s word — it’s not from a man, it’s not from an organization of some kind where there’s plenty of room for error.” (4)
When current events seem to indicate that Jesus will return soon, we would be wise to remember the words of 1 Timothy 6:14 concerning “…our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing which He will manifest in His own time.” We would also do well to remember Jesus’ counsel from Mark 13:33: “Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come” (ESV).
See related studies here and here
(1) Excerpted with permission from O Man of God! © 1988 by Ray Stedman Ministries. All rights reserved. Visit www.RayStedman.org for the complete library of Ray Stedman material. Please direct any questions to webmaster@RayStedman.org
(2) Edgar C. Whisenant 88 Reasons Why The Rapture Will Be In 1988 [pg. 42] https://ia601303.us.archive.org/19/items/ReasonsWhyTheRaptureWillBeIn1988PDF/14080011-88-Reasons-Why-The-Rapture-Will-Be-in-1988.pdf
(3) Camping, Harold, 1994? New York: Vantage Press [pg. 531] https://archive.org/details/19940000camp
(4) Intelligencer magazine, A Conversation With Harold Camping, Prophesier of Judgment Day https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2011/05/a_conversation_with_harold_cam.html Retrieved 06 April 2021. To Mr. Camping’s credit, he later repented for what he characterized as an “incorrect and sinful statement” concerning this prediction. See Harold Camping says May 21 prediction was ‘incorrect and sinful’ (religionnews.com)