Date setting

The other day a well-meaning fellow sent a message out on the Internet critical of date setters. I wholeheartedly agree. Date-setting is a detestable practice, and those who practice such should be banned from the Internet, castigated and shunned by believers everywhere!

The only problem is that I do not know of any date setters! All reasonable people admit that only God can set dates. No human can do so. The best anyone can do is try to discover what God chooses to reveal about His "appointed times," or close to it. There have been numerous attempts at that, seemingly unsuccessful so far but the jury is still out on speculation about the beginning of the final seven years. Also, it does not logically follow that past failures guarantee future failure, if the seeker is on solid scriptural ground (see below). This is demonstrated by Thomas Edison's repeated errors before finally discovering the light bulb.

Everyone I am familiar with did not set a date but merely said that such was what they thought MAY happen according to their understanding. Based on the information below, that is certainly a legitimate and scriptural endeavor, humble and honest. And they may not have been far off in their understandings. Many testify that their alerting has awakened them and been a great blessing.

In most Christian circles today, in discussing end-time events, just the question "when?" causes some Christians to scoff and criticize. They quickly point out that Jesus said, "But of that day and hour knoweth no man" (Matthew 24:36 KJV). They may also mention Paul's words that the day of the Lord will come like "a thief in the night" (1 Thessalonians 5:2). But most believers have so misunderstood these verses that they are oblivious to the times, not watching for the Lord as He commanded, and are often absorbed by the cares of this world and their own agendas, a major tragedy of the modern church.

As to Matthew 24:36, some scholars point out that Jesus' words here are in the present tense, addressed to His hearers at the time, and not to those alive at the end of the age when Israel would be regathered and Daniel's vision unsealed (Daniel 12:9). This would be similar to Matthew 16:20: "Then he warned His disciples not to tell anyone that He was the Christ"(NIV). As evidence, many other Scriptures reveal to us that God will reveal at least the approximate time. If the "day and hour" restriction is literally valid today, it may be because the earth is in 24 time zones and always in two different days. Also, the modern Jewish calendar is claimed to be inaccurate, possibly corrupted from the days of the Babylonian captivity, and the Gregorian calendar is also probably inaccurate.

Here are some thoughts:

1. It is clear that Jesus will not come as a "thief in the night" for watchful believers, because in the very same passage, verse 4, Paul tells us, "But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this DAY should surprise YOU like a thief." If we are trusting in Christ and looking for His coming, Paul said that even the very DAY does not have to surprise us! In fact, Jesus exhorted, "If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief" (Revelation 3:3, KJV), saying He will come as a thief ONLY TO THOSE NOT WATCHING!

2. Jesus rebuked those who did not understand the signs of the times in His day: "O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky, but can ye not discern the signs of the times" (Matthew 16:3).

3. Of the end of the age, Jesus said, "And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh"(Luke 21:28). He said we would know when it is near!

4. God said, "Surely the sovereign Lord does NOTHING without REVEALING it to His servants the prophets" (Amos 3:7, NIV). God said "nothing," and He did not exclude Christ's return. I take Him at His word.

5. God not only knows the end from the beginning, He tells us that He makes it known! "I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come." (Isaiah 46:10). He has already made it known! I personally believe it has been hidden in His Word all along, to be unlocked in His timing to whom he chooses.

6. God said, "I have even from the beginning declared it to thee; before it came to pass I shewed it thee" (Isaiah 48:5, KJV).

7. Jesus said the Holy Spirit "will teach you ALL things" (John 14:26). He said "all things." Did Jesus make a mistake, forgetting to exclude when He will return? I don't think so.

There are other such passages. God clearly promised that we would know at least approximately when Christ will return, and even "the day" will not surprise us, as the Holy Spirit reveals through Paul!

In addition, there is ample precedent for God revealing specific times in advance. (1) He gave Noah notice of when the flood would be (Genesis 6,7). (2) He told Abraham how long the Israelites would be in Egypt (Genesis 15:13). (3) He revealed to many the very day of Elijah's rapture (2 Kings 2). (4) He told Jeremiah how long the Babylonian exile would be (Jeremiah 29:10). (5) He told Daniel exactly when Messiah would come the first time (Daniel 9:25-26). (6) Some, including the brilliant Sir Isaac Newton, believe this same passage holds the key to the timing of His return. (7) There is evidence that the Bible reveals the exact number of years of "the times of the Gentiles" and the exact span of time to Israel's rebirth in 1948 and the recapture of Jerusalem in 1967.

Leaving us clueless now would violate God's own established pattern!

Finally, faulty speculation before the latter part of the 20th century was doomed to failure because a major biblical clue was tragically ignored -- that is, end-time events could not occur until Israel was regathered and back in the land. Such failure was no doubt due at least in part to the error of replacement theology and anti-Semitism. Now, we not only have a reestablished Israel as of 1948 but as of 1967 she is now in control of Jerusalem again. Further, we have the end of the six millennial days since Adam and two millennial days since Jesus' birth, all of which places us in a historically unique time frame of convergences. There are numerous other signs.

I join in the condemnation of date setters, if they exist, who might dare usurp the role of the Almighty Himself. However, I salute those noble, diligent souls who "watch," study and labor to unlock the secrets of His timing that God has promised to reveal, at least approximately, and, like Patrick Henry (paraphrasing), to declare to those in villages and cities around the world that "Jesus is coming!" I am persuaded that such seeking and bold proclamation please Him.

ONE MAN AWAKE
One man awake awakens another.
The second awakens his next-door neighbor.
And three awake can rouse the town,
And turn the whole place upside down.
And many awake can raise such a fuss
That it finally awakens the rest of us.
One man up with dawn in his eyes, multiplies.

(Author unknown. From Bob Schlenker's Christian Research Ministries Web site at http://users.cwnet.com/crm-bob.)