Biblical Proof that Jesus is not Coming Again

For almost two thousand years now, certain sects of Christianity have been continuously preaching that Jesus, the rejected messiah, is about to return in all his glory, to rain judgment upon the unbelievers, and institute the millennial kingdom. A very popular "proof text" for this doctrine is the so-called "little apocalypse", found in Mark 13 and in the parallel passages Matthew 24 and Luke 21. This piece of text, also known as the Olivet Discourse, records the lengthy answer of Jesus to the question posed by his disciples: "When shall these things be, and what shall be the sign of your coming?"

Jesus puts forth a series of signs and predictions: wars, earthquakes, famine, false Messiahs, all culminating in the "sign of the Son of Man" in Heaven, followed by his long promised Return (Matthew 24:30).

There have been no shortage of amateur exegetes who have always sought (and, predictably, found) these very same signs in their own generation. Thus assured that the Return of Jesus was just around the corner, a whole slew of silliness has ensued, all the way from William Miller's wretched followers awaiting Jesus on their rooftops, to Miller's modern counterparts, Jack Van Impe, John Hagee, Hal Lindsey, (including Harold Camping) and a whole array of earnest soothsayers, breathlessly exhorting their wide-eyed followers to stand firm, for the hour is now upon us.

What makes this situation even more ironic is that it can be easily shown from this same proof-text that Jesus will not return. This is due to the simple fact that Jesus himself put a time-limit on his predictions. "Verily I say unto you", declares the would-be Messiah, "This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled" (Matthew 24:34).

It hardly needs to be noted that Jesus' generation is very long gone, and with it the deadline for his return. He is now more than 1,900 years overdue, with no end in sight.

Not surprisingly, pre-millennial scholars have been aware of the problem, and have proposed a range of imaginative "solutions" to this minor inconvenience. All of these solutions involve charging that Jesus did not really mean what he plainly said.

There are generally two popular solutions expounded by present-day prophets: first, that Jesus meant to indicate that the Jewish race itself would not cease to exist until the end, or that the phrase "this generation" refers to a far future group of peoples, those who would be alive to see the first Signs of His Coming. As Gleason Archer claims, in a wonderful piece of circular logic:

"Obviously these apocalyptic scenes and earth-shaking events did not take place within the generation of those who heard Christ's Olivet discourse. Therefore Jesus could not have been referring to his immediate audience when He made this prediction, " (Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties, pg 338).

Archer then goes on to propose two possible solutions, as already noted. He claims first that ", genea ('generation') was used as a synonym of genos ('race', 'stock', 'nation' , 'people'). This would then amount to a prediction that the Jewish race would not pass out of existence before the Second Advent." (ibid, pg 338-339) Archer appeals to Herodotus and Plutarch for support, but fails to take into account how the word is used in the New Testament itself. A quick glance through any Greek lexicon or concordance of the New Testament will quickly show that genea is always used in the sense of a generation in a specific point in time. Nowhere is this usage more obvious than in the Gospels themselves.

Matthew, for example, uses the word in 1:17, where he counts "fourteen generations from Abraham to David". The word is again used in Matthew 12;41, where we are told that "The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here." It should be fairly obvious that "this generation", in this context, is the one to which Jesus appeared.

The second solution that Archer proposes to the problem is to claim that "this generation" means (in the face of all common sense) a different, far future generation. "The other possibility is that genea does indeed mean 'generation', in the usual sense of the word, but refers to the generation of observers who witnessed the beginning of the signs and persecutions with which the Tribulation will begin." (ibid, pg 339) To be fair, Archer expresses some doubt about this solution, and with good reason: the context of Mark 13, Matthew 24 and Luke 21 will quickly show that such an interpretation cannot be correct.

We simply need to ask the question" "To whom was Jesus speaking?" in order to ascertain the meaning of "this generation". It will quickly be noted that this discourse was delivered to Jesus' own disciples, whom he directly addresses throughout the text. "And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, " begins Matthew's version of the Discourse. (The other two parallel passages concur). Note how many times Jesus states that his own disciples would be witness to these very signs:

"Take heed that no man deceive you." (Matt 24:4)
", ye shall hear of wars, and rumours of wars, " (Matt 24:6)
"Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, " (Matt 24:9)
"When ye therefore shall see the the abomination of desolation, " (Matt 24:15)
"But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, " (Matt 24:20)
"Behold, I have told you before." (Matt 24:25)

The clincher, of course, is to note that Jesus' statement about "this generation" is actually the tail end of a longer quote. When read in context, there can be no doubt about the import of Jesus' prediction: "So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled." (Matt 24:33-24)

There is no need to twist the words of Jesus in order to get around this problem. We simply need to note that the New Testament itself indicates that there was a widespread belief among the early Church that the return of Jesus was very near.

I Thessalonians 4:15-17 ", For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, "
I Corinthians 15:51,52 ", We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, "
Romans 13:11-12 "And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand, "
James 5:8 "Be ye also patient; establish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh."
I John 2:18 "Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time."
I Peter 4:7 "But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer."
Revelation 22:20 "He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly, "

Obviously, these people were wrong. Jesus did not return for his disciples, nor at anytime since. We can therefore only assume that Jesus made a false prophecy, and he will not be returning for his Church at any time.

By the time that the book called II Peter came to be written, the apostolic fathers had all died, and Jesus' return was nowhere in sight. Pseudo-Peter thus laments ", there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation."

To which we can only add that the "scoffers" have apparently always been correct.

http://www.2think.org/hundredsheep/bible/notcoming.shtml


This is a wonderful piece and calls for reasoning. 2,000 years is long gone. its time we do away with this armageddon and rapture doctrines and make the world a better place.

2000 - In the year 2000, a number of saints from many countries all over the world, went to Israel to the Mount of Olives and they kept vigil, hoping and watching for Jesus to return. They also reckoned that the world was coming to its end and Jesus was coming back

2 Peter 3:3
. . . Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? . . .

The delay is based on Gods patience, giving room for salvation of many.

2 Peter 3:8-10
But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

The delay also gives room for the perfection of the church. He is not coming back for a baby teeth church. But a mature church. That is why deep truths have to be taught to mature the body of christ.

Ephesians 4:13-15
13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: 14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; 15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

This is a wonderful piece and calls for reasoning. 2,000 years is long gone. its time we do away with this armageddon and rapture doctrines and make the world a better place.

. . . . . and how do you think we can make this world a better place? What solutions do you propose to make this world a better place? Which of your efforts have yielded measurable success? What are your plans for those who DO NOT WANT THIS WORLD TO BE A BETTER PLACE?

@pastor joe

By the time that the book called II Peter came to be written, the apostolic fathers had all died, and Jesus' return was nowhere in sight. Pseudo-Peter thus laments ", there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation."

guess you read that part.

The signs of the end times predicted in the bible and their fulilment in our times are enough proof ,HE IS COMING!

Joagbaje:

2 Peter 3:3
. . . Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? . . .

The delay is based on Gods patience, giving room for salvation of many.

2 Peter 3:8-10
But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

The delay also gives room for the perfection of the church. He is not coming back for a baby teeth church. But a mature church. That is why deep truths have to be taught to mature the body of christ.

Ephesians 4:13-15
13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: 14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; 15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

I totally agree with you sir. The author(s) of the article(s) and those who think in that line are all being decieved.

Whether anybody likes it or not, Jesus is coming back sooner than you think.

hehe u xtians r soo confused.

@OP, do not be decieved. Don't let it be u like film trick when He returns

Failed 'coming back' prophecies

About 30 CE: The Christian Scriptures (New Testament), when interpreted literally, appear to record many predictions by Yeshua of Nazareth (Jesus Christ) that God's Kingdom would arrive within a very short period, or was actually in the process of arriving. For example, Jesus is recorded as saying in Matthew 16:28: ", there shall be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom." In Matthew 24:34, Yeshua is recorded as saying: ", This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled." Since the life expectancy in those days was little over 30 years, Jesus appears to have predicted his second coming sometime during the 1st century CE. It didn't happen. More details.

About 60 CE: Interpreting the Epistles of Paul of Tarsus literally, his writings seem to imply that Jesus would return and usher in a rapture during the lifetime of persons who were living in the middle of the 1st century. More details.

About 90 CE: Saint Clement 1 predicted that the world end would occur at any moment.

2nd Century CE: Prophets and Prophetesses of the Montanist movement predicted that Jesus would return sometime during their lifetime and establish the New Jerusalem in the city of Pepuza in Asia Minor.

365 CE: A man by the name of Hilary of Poitiers, announced that the end would happen that year. It didn't.

375 to 400 CE: Saint Martin of Tours, a student of Hilary, was convinced that the end would happen sometime before 400 CE.

500 CE: This was the first year-with-a-nice-round-number-panic. The antipope Hippolytus and an earlier Christian academic Sextus Julius Africanus had predicted Armageddon at about this year.

968 CE: An eclipse was interpreted as a prelude to the end of the world by the army of the German emperor Otto III.

992: Good Friday coincided with the Feast of the Annunciation; this had long been believed to be the event that would bring forth the Antichrist, and thus the end-times events foretold in the book of Revelation. Records from Germany report that a new sun rose in the north and that as many as 3 suns and 3 moons were fighting. There does not appear to be independent verification of this remarkable event.

1000-JAN-1: Many Christians in Europe had predicted the end of the world on this date. As the date approached, Christian armies waged war against some of the Pagan countries in Northern Europe. The motivation was to convert them all to Christianity, by force if necessary, before Christ returned in the year 1000. Meanwhile, some Christians had given their possessions to the Church in anticipation of the end. Fortunately, the level of education was so low that many citizens were unaware of the year. They did not know enough to be afraid. Otherwise, the panic might have been far worse than it was. Unfortunately, when Jesus did not appear, the church did not return the gifts. Serious criticism of the Church followed. The Church reacted by exterminating some heretics. Agitation settled down quickly, as it later did in the year 2000.

1000-MAY: The body of Charlemagne was disinterred on Pentecost. A legend had arisen that an emperor would rise from his sleep to fight the Antichrist.

1005-1006: A terrible famine throughout Europe was seen as a sign of the nearness of the end.

1033: Some believed this to be the 1000th anniversary of the death and resurrection of Jesus. His second coming was anticipated. Jesus' actual date of execution is unknown, but is believed to be in the range of 27 to 33 CE.

1147: Gerard of Poehlde decided that the millennium had actually started in 306 CE during Constantine's reign. Thus, the world end was expected in 1306 CE.

1179: John of Toledo predicted the end of the world during 1186. This estimate was based on the alignment of many planets.

1205: Joachim of Fiore predicted in 1190 that the Antichrist was already in the world, and that King Richard of England would defeat him. The Millennium would then begin, sometime before 1205.

1284: Pope Innocent III computed this date by adding 666 years onto the date the Islam was founded.

1346 and later: The black plague spread across Europe, killing one third of the population. This was seen as the prelude to an immediate end of the world. Unfortunately, the Christians had previously killed a many of the cats, fearing that they might be familiars of Witches. The fewer the cats, the more the rats. It was the rat fleas that spread the black plague.

1496: This was approximately 1500 years after the birth of Jesus. Some mystics in the 15th century predicted that the millennium would begin during this year.

1524: Many astrologers predicted the imminent end of the world due to a world wide flood. They obviously had not read the Genesis story of the rainbow.

1533: Melchior Hoffman predicted that Jesus' return would happen a millennium and a half after the nominal date of his execution, in 1533. The New Jerusalem was expected to be established in Strasbourg, Germany. He was arrested and died in a Strasbourg jail.

1669: The Old Believers in Russia believed that the end of the world would occur in this year. 20 thousand burned themselves to death between 1669 and 1690 to protect themselves from the Antichrist.

1689: Benjamin Keach, a 17th century Baptist, predicted the end of the world for this year.

1736: British theologian and mathematician William Whitson predicted a great flood similar to Noah's for OCT-13 of this year.

1783: On JUN-08, a volcanic eruption in southern Iceland started. It pumped massive amounts of toxic dust, sulphur dioxide and fluorine into the atmosphere. Cattle died, crops failed, and about one quarter of the island's population died of starvation. By the end of June, poisonous clouds had reached England and much of Europe. Boats had to stay in harbor because they could not navigate. There was massive loss of life in England, particularly among farm workers. Many predicted that the end of the world was imminent.

1792: This was the date of the end of the world calculated by some believers in the Shaker movement.

1794: Charles Wesley, one of the founders of Methodism, thought that Doomsday would occur in this year.

1830: Margaret McDonald, a Christian prophetess, predicted that Robert Owen would be the Antichrist. Owen helped found New Harmony, IN.

1832?: Joseph Smith (1805-1844) was the founder of the Church of Christ, which became the Restorationist movement after many schisms. It now includes The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- a.k.a. the Mormons, and about a hundred other denominations and sects. He heard a voice while praying. He wrote, in Doctrines and Covenants section 130:

14: "I was once praying very earnestly to know the time of the coming of the Son of Man, when I heard a voice repeat the following:"

15: "Joseph, my son, if thou livest until thou art eighty-five years old, thou shalt see the face of the Son of Man; therefore let this suffice, and trouble me no more on this matter."

16: "I was left thus, without being able to decide whether this coming referred to the beginning of the millennium or to some previous appearing, or whether I should die and thus see his face."

17: "I believe the coming of the Son of Man will not be any sooner than that time." 14

The year in which this event occurred is not recorded. However, one commentator suggested 1832 or earlier. 16 Smith is later recorded as having said:

"I prophesy in the name of the Lord God, and let it be written--the Son of Man will not come in the clouds of heaven till I am eighty-five years old." 17

Smith would have reached the age of 85 during 1890. Unfortunately, by that year, Smith had been dead for almost a half century, having been assassinated by a mob.


1843-MAR-21: William Miller, founder of the Millerite movement, predicted that Jesus would come on this date. A very large number of Christians accepted his prophecy.

1844-OCT-22: When Jesus did not return, Miller predicted this new date. In an event which is now called "The Great Disappointment," many Christians sold their property and possessions, quit their jobs and prepared themselves for the second coming. Nothing happened; the day came and went without incident.

1850: Ellen White, founder of the Seven Day Adventists movement, made many predictions of the timing of the end of the world. All failed. On 1850-JUN-27 she prophesied that only a few months remained before the end. She wrote: "My accompanying angel said, 'Time is almost finished. Get ready, get ready, get ready.' , now time is almost finished, and what we have been years learning, they will have to learn in a few months." 10

1856 or later: At Ellen White's last prediction, she said that she was shown in a vision the fate of believers who attended the 1856 SDA conference. She wrote "I was shown the company present at the Conference. Said the angel: 'Some food for worms, some subjects of the seven last plagues, some will be alive and remain upon the earth to be translated at the coming of Jesus." 11 That is, some of the attendees would die of normal diseases; some would die from plagues at the last days, others would still be alive when Jesus came. "By the early 1900s all those who attended the conference had passed away, leaving the Church with the dilemma of trying to figure out how to explain away such a prominent prophetic failure." 12

1881: Mother Shipton, (1488 - 1561), a 16th century mystic predicted the end of the world: ", The world to an end shall come; in eighteen hundred and eighty-one."

1891 or before: On 1835-FEB-14, Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon church, attended a meeting of church leaders. He said that the meeting had been called because God had commanded it. He announced that Jesus would return within 56 years -- i.e. before 1891-FEB-15. (History of the Church 2:182)

1914 was one of the more important estimates of the start of the war of Armageddon by the Jehovah's Witnesses (Watchtower Bible and Tract Society). They based their prophecy of 1914 from prophecy in the book of Daniel, Chapter 4. The writings referred to "seven times". The WTS interpreted each "time" as equal to 360 days, giving a total of 2520 days. This was further interpreted as representing 2520 years, measured from the starting date of 607 BCE. This gave 1914 as the target date. When 1914 passed, they changed their prediction; 1914 became the year that Jesus invisibly began his rule.

1914, 1915, 1918, 1920, 1925, 1941, 1975 and 1994, etc. were other dates that the Watchtower Society (WTS) or its members predicted.

Since late in the 19th century, they had taught that the "battle of the Great Day of God Almighty" (Armageddon) would happen in 1914 CE. It didn't.

The next major estimate was 1925. Watchtower magazine predicted: "The year 1925 is a date definitely and clearly marked in the Scriptures, even more clearly than that of 1914; but it would be presumptuous on the part of any faithful follower of the Lord to assume just what the Lord is going to do during that year." 6

The Watchtower Society selected 1975 as its next main prediction. This was based on the estimate "according to reliable Bible chronology Adam was created in the year 4026 BCE, likely in the autumn of the year, at the end of the sixth day of creation." 8 They believed that the year 1975 a promising date for the end of the world, as it was the 6,000th anniversary of Adam's creation. Exactly 1,000 years was to pass for each day of the creation week. This prophecy also failed.

The current estimate is that the end of the world as we know it will happen precisely 6000 years after the creation of Eve. 9 There is no way of knowing when this happened.


1919: Meteorologist Albert Porta predicted that the conjunction of 6 planets would generate a magnetic current that would cause the sun to explode and engulf the earth on DEC-17.

^^^^^LOL
Jesus is coming back. Yep, any millennium now we will be hearing those divine trumpets as people get scooped up to heaven.

On a more serious note, you bring up an excellent illustration of how long this "any moment now rapture" business has been proceeding. Not only that, but Christianity for a good bulk of the time was limited to Europe and the Near East so Africans, Far East Asians, and the native peoples of the Americas/Australia/Pacific would have been thoroughly screwed.

Idehn:

^^^^^LOL
Jesus is coming back. Yep, any millennium now we will be hearing those divine trumpets as people get scooped up to heaven.

On a more serious note, you bring up an excellent illustration of how long this "any moment now rapture" business has been proceeding. Not only that, but Christianity for a good bulk of the time was limited to Europe and the Near East so Africans, Far East Asians, and the native peoples of the Americas/Australia/Pacific would have been thoroughly screwed.

true. all the above mentioned people r alwayz d losers as a resut of christianity. stick to ur true religions my fellow tribal brothers!!!!!!!!!!! or else ull meet d same fate as d rest.

Idehn:

^^^^^LOL
Jesus is coming back. Yep, any millennium now we will be hearing those divine trumpets as people get scooped up to heaven.

On a more serious note, you bring up an excellent illustration of how long this "any moment now rapture" business has been proceeding. Not only that, but Christianity for a good bulk of the time was limited to Europe and the Near East so Africans, Far East Asians, and the native peoples of the Americas/Australia/Pacific would have been thoroughly screwed.

You're too generous. I'm pretty sure that its only the Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879 Christians that will go to heaven. The rest of them are screwed.

@ dilluminati,
Nice analysis of how man have been deceiving themselves for as long as we can remember on this rapture business. Its a pity people will still come and disprove all the facts you pointed out because they blindly believe something they have no proof about

We should not be perturbed by the errors of this who try to forecast dates for end of the world,judgement day etc. There. May be logical reasons. But their foundations are wrong and once the foundation is wrong ,the outcome will be wrong too.

The first mistake many make is confusing 3 or 4 different events in the bible as one . The rapture, second coming, judgement day, end of the world, all these futuristic  events are to happen at different times, and there are gaps of years between them.  But most predictors see all these events as one. And once that foundation is wrong ,definitely the outcome will be wong. So that's why they come with dates for end of the world which never come to pass.

But the fact that they got things wrong doesn't nullify the fulfilment of prophecy.  The rapture will take place. It's just like  in the days of Noa. When he told them flood was coming and rain was going to fall from heaven . Many didn't believe because they never saw rain before. The rain didn't come for many years ,they mocked Noa.

Matthew 24:37-39
But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. . . .

Joagbaje:

We should not be perturbed by the errors of this who try to forecast dates for end of the world,judgement day etc. There. May be logical reasons. But their foundations are wrong and once the foundation is wrong ,the outcome will be wrong too.

The first mistake many make is confusing 3 or 4 different events in the bible as one . The rapture, second coming, judgement day, end of the world, all these futuristic  events are to happen at different times, and there are gaps of years between them.  But most predictors see all these events as one. And once that foundation is wrong ,definitely the outcome will be wong. So that's why they come with dates for end of the world which never come to pass.

But the fact that they got things wrong doesn't nullify the fulfilment of prophecy.  The rapture will take place. It's just like  in the days of Noa. When he told them flood was coming and rain was going to fall from heaven . Many didn't believe because they never saw rain before. The rain didn't come for many years ,they mocked Noa.

Many people had never seen rainfall before noah's flood.
Biblical history is awesome.

@ all ya anti rapture

Ok if u believe and are convinced that some d.u.m.b brain predicted that at so so time He(YHVH) will come and we are still here, pls kindly proffer good answers to seyi brown statement. . .

. . . . . and how do you think we can make this world a better place? What solutions do you propose to make this world a better place? Which of your efforts have yielded measurable success? What are your plans for those who DO NOT WANT THIS WORLD TO BE A BETTER PLACE?

seyibrown:

. . . . . and how do you think we can make this world a better place? What solutions do you propose to make this world a better place? Which of your efforts have yielded measurable success? What are your plans for those who DO NOT WANT THIS WORLD TO BE A BETTER PLACE?

well we are trying our best

JESUS IS COMING AND HE IS COMING PRETTY SOON,