"I KNOW WHEN JESUS WILL RETURN"?

 

Can Anyone Really Know?

 

I write this on May 20, 2011 - the day before a radio preacher says we, the Christians, will all be raptured on May 21, 2011.

 

Frankly, the calculations that this radio preacher used to predict the rapture are based on symbolism and not Bible prophecy. Add in a little magical numbers and viola! you have a date that the Church will be raptured. As you can tell, I do not believe even for half a second that there will be a rapture May 21, 2011. But that does bring to the table a question that many people wrestle with, "Can anyone really know when the Lord will return?" I believe yes....and no.

People often quote Bible verses that talk about not knowing the day or hour and then throw up their hands and say, "See, we cannot know anything about when Jesus will return!" Hold on. How do you go from not knowing the "day nor hour" to absolute ignorance of anything concerning the timing of His return? A day or hour is a very minute amount of time. I believe without question we can know with some certainly when the Lord will return but just as the Lord said we cannot know the exact day or exact hour. Just by the fact that He made that statement implies that someone will know the season...maybe even the year or month...or week.

Maybe I know when Jesus will return (barring the day or hour). I have a Bible prophecy that is a good predictor of His return and only a handful of Christians are even talking about it. (It is an actual Bible prophecy that I interpret literally; not types and symbols which can be interpreted however men please.) Or maybe you'll throw me into the same category as the May-21-radio-preacher and turn me off before I explain it in this article.

First, should we give up on discovering the timing of the Lord's return? No.

Mat 24:42 KJVR  Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

Many are quick to point out what we are not to know, the day nor hour, but they often miss the first part of these verses...."Watch". We ARE to be watching for His return. So those that say we are not to know anything ignored the first half of these verses. He goes on to tell them how they can know when it is near:

Mat 24:32-33 KJVR  Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:  (33)  So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.

So when we see "these things" we can know that it is near. What things? What He just said prior to verse 32! Therefore, we can know in a general way the timing of His return. When we see the events He mentioned in Matthew 24 happening exactly as He described in that exact order, we can know He is near - even at the door.

People say, "Christians cannot know when He will return because He will come like a thief in the night." Really? That's not what the Bible says:

1Th 5:1-6 KJV But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. (2) For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. (3) For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon THEM, as travail upon a woman with child; and THEY shall not escape. (4) BUT YE BRETHREN, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. (5) Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. (6) Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.

So Paul is clearly talking about the subject of the "times and seasons", i.e. the timing of the Day of the Lord. The Thessalonians didn't need for Paul to teach them again on this subject because they were already fully aware of what Paul was about to say (I wish more Christians were today). He says Jesus is coming like a thief in the night. That much is true! But notice to whom He is coming like a thief...He is coming to "them" and "they" as a thief. Who are the "them" and "they" in this verse? They are the children of darkness, the children of the night, those that are spiritually drunken and not awake. In other words, He comes as a thief in the night ONLY TO THOSE WHO ARE NOT CHRISTIANS. This is clear by the contrast of "But ye bretheren are not in darkness". To the believing Christians, the timing of the Lord's coming is not to take us by surprise like a thief in the night.

Some may see the verse in Acts 1 which talks about not even knowing the season and think that is proof we are not to know:

Act 1:6-7 KJV When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? (7) And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.

However, the disciples asked Him a specific question about a specific event which was when the Kingdom would be restored to Israel. This is not talking about the Lord's coming, the rapture, or the Day of the Lord. This is just talking about when the Kingdom is restored to Israel. This verse has no bearing on the timing of the Lord's return.

Luk 12:56 KJV Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not discern this time?

Here Jesus rebukes the Jews for not being aware of the time. That word "time" in this verse is the exact same word as "seasons" in Acts 1:7 (Gr. Kairos). It is talking about a set time or event like an apppointment on a calendar. Jesus sharply rebuked the Jews for not being aware of Jesus' first coming. Why would He want us to be completely ignorant of the timing of His second coming? The wise men knew and traveled from a far land to see the baby Jesus. They knew the time or season. But those who were the closest, the Jews, did not know the time - the appointment. They were blinded to it. Will it be the same today for the Christians? Have the teachings of some so warped the meaning of the Bible to so many?

Jesus even gave two whole parables after Matt. 24, the chapter about the Lord's coming, in Matt. 25 to teach that we are to be ready for His return. Remember the parable of the Ten Virgins and the parable of the Talents? They both teach we ARE to be knowledgeable and ready for our Lord's return. There was even another parable in Mark 13 about being ready for His return. I think Jesus was trying to get a message over to His Church...like watch because your redemption is drawing near when certain signs start to happen.

Personally, I believe Christians are waking up all around the world. I believe that there are revelations which God is pouring out in these lasts days that will destroy the shackles previous Bible prophecy teachers have, with good intentions but very little revelation, bound the Church with in the last 100 years.

The following verse is absolutely true; we are seeing new revelation now in the area of Bible prophecy like never before because we are in the last of the last days:

Dan 12:8-9 KJV And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? (9) And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.

The revelation has been sealed until the time of the end. Therefore, those that have made dogmatic predictions up until this time have simply not had all the revelation of it. When God hasn't revealed it to you, then you are only using your intellect to interpret spiritual things. Then confusion comes because the natural mind cannot understand spiritual things. That is why we see so much confusion today in the area of Bible prophecy. I am about to reveal to you a prophecy straight out of the Bible which tells us when He will return.

 

Jesus Will Likely Return in The Year...

 

Are you ready to have your mind blown by a prophecy that was there all along but no one saw its meaning until just recently? Take a look:

Dan 9:24-25 KJV Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. (25) Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.

Okay. As Ricky said to Lucy, "You've got some 'splainin' to do!" I have some explaining to do. How can this verse tell us when Jesus will return? All Bible prophecy folks know this passage as Daniel's Seventy Weeks for Israel. Without going into detail, which you can find on almost any end-time website anyway, the Jewish people have had seventy weeks appointed to them. Verse twenty five tells the Jews exactly to the day when the Messiah, Jesus, would come the first time. My suggestion is that it tells us exactly when Jesus will return the second time as well!

So let's start with how it predicted when Jesus would come the first time. Verse twety five says:

Dan 9:25 KJV Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.

Sir Robert Anderson wrote a book called "The Coming Prince" in 1895. In it he proved that this prophecy in Daniel came to pass exactly to the day from when the command went out to rebuild & restore Jerusalem until Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey! It goes something like this. The verse says from when the command went forth to rebuild Jerusalem, which was documented to be March 14th, 445 B.C. issued by Artaxerxes to Nehemiah, until the Messiah's arrival would be seven weeks and sixty two weeks. A week is seven years. So a total of sixty nine seven years periods would occur (483 prophetic years) until the Messiah would showed up. Jesus came into Jerusalem exactly to the day 483 years later! Amazing!

Anderson wrote:

"The Julian date of that 10th Nisan was Sunday the 6th April, A.D. 32. What then was the length of the period intervening between the issuing of the decree to rebuild Jerusalem and the public advent of 'Messiah the Prince,' -- between the 14th March, B.C. 445, and the 6th April, A.D. 32? THE INTERVAL CONTAINED EXACTLY AND TO THE VERY DAY 173,880 DAYS, OR SEVEN TIMES SIXTY-NINE PROPHETIC YEARS OF 360 DAYS, the first sixty-nine weeks of Gabriel's prophecy."

But what is interesting is that no one understood why the sixty nine weeks was divided up in a seven plus a sixty two...until now. A theologian named Joshua Elsom discovered that this same prophecy which predicted the timing of Jesus' first coming could also be used to discover the timing of His second coming. I found his revelation a few times on the internet and only a hand-full of people have even paid attention to it. Like Sir Robert Anderson, all you have to do is figure out when the command went forth to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem - again. Then add the 483 prophetic years and see where it takes you.

It turns out that a command did go forth to rebuild the walls (because they were destroyed again in 70A.D.). The edict was made by a Muslim called Suleiman the Great to rebuild the walls. You can look it up through Google or wikipedia. So if we discover the date of Suleiman's edict we can simply add the 483 years and come up with a date. But the bad news is that no one knows the exact date Suleiman made the order. I've researched it and the sources put it anywhere from 1535A.D. to 1542A.D. That would put the return of Jesus somewhere between the years of 2011 to 2018. Hmmm interesting. And that would seem to confirm that no one would know the day or hour...but look at it again. When He speaks of the not knowing the day or hour, He is speaking of not knowing when the Day of the Lord would begin (The Day of the Lord starts with the Rapture of the Church). The Day of the Lord/Rapture happens some time before the Lord returns to touch down on the Mount of Olives which this prophecy is referring to. So it is impossible to know exactly when the Day of the Lord or Rapture starts but this prophecy in Daniel 9:25 may tell us exactly when Jesus will touch down on the Mount of Olives to enter into Jerusalem just like it did on His first coming!

Did I mention that Joshua Elsom discovered why Daniel's prophecy was divided in to seven weeks plus sixty two weeks instead of just saying sixty nine weeks? I'm sure I did but I did not explain it. As you can tell I'm leaving the best for last. My explanation will give you the exact date that the Lord may touch down on the Mount of Olives (His Second Coming) - NOT the date of the Day of the Lord or the Rapture just like the Bible says. No one can know the day or hour of that.

Here we go... Joshua worked backwards from the date that the Jews captured Jerusalem: June 7, 1967. If you subtract the sixty two sevens from that you get 1539! A very likely year for the edict of Suleiman to rebuild the walls. Oh how I wish the exact date was recorded in history. I'll bet you it was August 20, 1539 exactly 434 prophetic years (sixty two sevens) before. But unfortunately, we just don't know for sure. Anyway, what about the seven sevens that are left of the 483 year prophecy? Instead of subtracting it from June 7, 1967, add it to complete the 483 prophetic years and you land on the possible date of the Lord's touch down on the Mount of Olives...September 23, 2015. This is also the date of the Jewish Feast Yom Kippur!

Some more interesting things about this date is that there are four blood moons leading up to this date (see Isa 13:10-13; Joel 2:10, 31; 3:16; Act 2:20; Rev 6:12). But these are not just any old blood moons. These four blood moons land on the same dates as four separate Jewish Feast days! What are the chances! I give credit to Pastor Mark Biltz for that discovery. But wait, it gets better! There were also four blood moons THAT AGAIN HAPPENED ON FOUR SEPARATE FEAST DAYS around the time of the rebirth of the nation of Israel in 1948 and AGAIN when the Jews captured Jerusalem in 1967! I'm not saying that Jesus is definitely touching down on September 23, 2015 but I'm sure something big is going to happen and I'm going to be watching.

Note: Someone may say that it leaves a week left of the 70 weeks since this only fulfills 69 weeks. But another way of seeing this is that 69 weeks have already been fulfilled with Jesus' first coming and one week is left for His second coming. So the 69th week (from this Suleiman Edict perspective) IS actually the 70th week. Wow, you talk about a double-fulfillment!

Someone else may say, "Then the 7 year tribulation started in 2008." No, the last seven years (Daniel's Seventieth week) did start in 2008, if this is true, but there is no such thing as 7 years of tribulation; there are only 3.5 years of Great Tribulation. See my other end-time articles for a better explanation...or the Bible (which NEVER said there would be seven 7 of tribulation). So the Great Tribulation will possibly, if this is true, start April 11, 2012.

 

Thank you Sir Robert Anderson and thank you Joshua Elsom and thank you Pastor Mark Biltz! Most importantly, thank You Holy Spirit for revealing these things, for breaking this seal, so that we can see and be ready!

 

 

 

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