People in Jesus times feared that they lived in the “end time”.
People in these times fear that the end of times is at hand.

The Truth Is

There will be no “end times”, no “rapture”; all is well don’t worry any more.

Jesus was not talking to you. He was talking to the Children of Israel and warning them that the end would come IN THEIR LIFETIME.

Don’t believe it?  Read on

What Jesus Himself says about the End of the World

The end will come within the lifetime of Jesus’ listeners.

 “Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.”
Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
But of that day and that hour, knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.— Matthew 24:34

NOTE:

JESUS says “this generation shall not pass”. We d0n’t know the DAY or the HOUR!
Jesus uses units of days and hours. NOT years, decades, centuries, or millenniums.
NO ONE hearing Jesus could have imagined He meant that it would be 2000+ years before He returned.
Jesus has already said how long it would be – it would be within his lifetime! We just don’t know the day or the hour.

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.” 2Peter 3:8.
Yes, yes, we know, but Jesus didn’t say that. He said it would be within his lifetime.  See below

WAIT! There’s more…

“Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.” — Matthew16:28

 “But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God.” — Luke 9:27

 “Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.” — Matthew 23:36

“Nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.” — Matthew 26:64

 “Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.” — Mark 9:1

“Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done.“– Mark 13:30

 “And ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.” — Mark 14:62

 “Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.” — Luke 21:32

Can there be any doubt that Jesus meant that he would return within the life time of his audience?

The end will come within the lifetime of the the New Testament authors.

Paul believed and preached that the end would come within the lifetime of those to whom he preached. He interpreted the death of Jesus to mark the beginning of end times. Paul wrote years before the synoptic gospels were written. Once the words of Jesus (above) were made available, Paul’s preachings were confirmed by Jesus’ words.

For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord  Thessalonians 4:15-17 ”

We which are alive” can mean nothing but those who are standing before and hearing Paul; they will be caught up together….

“But this I say, brethren, the time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none.” — 1 Corinthians 7:29

 “That ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ. — Philippians 1:10

 “Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son….” — Hebrews 1:2

 “But now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” — Hebrews 9:26

 “Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.” — 1 Peter 1:20
“You” meant the people hearing Peter; it didn’t mean you who are reading this right now!

“But the end of all things is at hand.” — 1 Peter 4:7

Review those key phrases again: “it is the last time”, “time is short”,  “these last days”, “now once in the end of the world”, “these last times for you”, “end is at hand”
Any question about the meaning of those words?

The end will come soon.

 “The Lord is at hand.” — Philippians 4:5

 “For the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.” — James 5:8

“For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.” — Hebrews 10:37

“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass. — Revelation 1:1

 “The time is at hand.” — Revelation 1:3

 “Behold, I come quickly.” — Revelation 3:11, 22:7, 22:12

 “Surely I come quickly.” — Revelation 22:20

Every one of the above passages was written by Jews to Jews for Jews of that time period. There is no way an unbiased reader could read any of those passages and not think the author meant the end would occur within the lifetime of those to whom the words were spoken. Certainly those who heard those words had no reason to believe otherwise.

The author of 2Peter certainly took those words to mean in the lifetime of those who heard the words. He knew that Jesus was supposed to have already returned but didn’t. He knew “believers” were beginning to question what had been promised to them. What better way to “explain” away the contradiction between faith and reality but to make up the excuse believers have been using for the last 2000 years.

“… one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day“

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.” 2Peter 3:8.

Among true biblical scholars (those who don’t have a preconceived idea they want to prove) the authorship and time of writing of 2Peter is in question. Most are certain it was not written by Peter the Apostle. Many argue for a date of 150 BCE, which would be long after the death of Peter the apostle. Check out the research yourself. Even in early times there was controversy over its authorship, and 2 Peter was often not included in the Biblical Canon; it was only in the 4th century that it gained a firm foothold in the New Testament, in a series of synods. Note the issue is with 2Peter; 1Peter is questionable too but that author doesn’t make excuses for the faith/reality chasm.

The Point? The phrase “one day … ” was inserted long after it was clear that “the end” did not occur in the lifetime of Jesus. It allows Christians to dismiss truth with a wave of the hand. To cling to this insertion of “Peter” as the truth negates all the words directly from Jesus. One phrase from a possible disciple, 70++ years after the fact cannot invalidate the 9 direct statements of Jesus.

The Truth Is…

Jesus said he would return within the lifetime of his audience – he did not. Now What?

A Question

Do you think that anyone who heard any of those words of Jesus or his disciples, interpreted them to mean “more than 2000 years from now”?

What would you have thought?