You may not want to read this article because of its disturbing nature. Let me preface it, however, by saying that Jesus called us all to watch for the signs leading up to His return. If we believe He is coming soon we are instructed in the Bible to continue with our lives but to focus on Him more and more as we see the day approaching. Isaiah 26:3 in the context of the Tribulation says: “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.”
People are asking if this is the Time of the End that the Bible describes because of all the turmoil in this world, specifically in the Middle East. In chapter 8 of my book, When the Perfect Comes, I describe the biblical signs occurring just before Christ returns to earth and what early church and Jewish writings say. When evaluating all of this information, I would say beyond a reasonable doubt that Jesus’s coming is very soon – within the next decade. As always, it is up to you to decide for yourself. This article will summarize why I believe this. I encourage you to send this article to all of your contacts so we can be prepared for what is coming.
Jesus said that no one would know the precise day or hour of His return but He and the Bible gave us a multitude of signs to know the approximate time frame “Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door..” We also have been given what the Apostles passed down to the early church.
Daniel chapter 8 in the Bible describes how Iran will start a Middle Eastern war just before the Tribulation. Daniel says that his vision is about the “Time of the End.” In Daniel’s 8:4, Iran represents a ram that moves west, south, and north. Iran through its proxies has already moved west into Iraq, south into Yemen, Syria, Lebanon, and Israel. Iran is also threatening Azerbaijan to the north. Interestingly east of Iran is Afghanistan which they are not threatening.
The early church believed in chiliasm, which states that Christ would come back six thousand years after Adam and reign one thousand years on earth and was an inseparable part of the early church’s eschatology. One of the reasons they believed this timing is that in Genesis, God created for six days and rested on the seventh. If following God’s word, “A day is as a thousand years” (2 Peter 3:8, Psalm 90:12), God will wrestle with man for six thousand years and rest on the seventh when the kingdom of God is set up (the millennium). This idea was suggested in the Bible and early church fathers believed it. There will be six thousand years from Adam until Christ’s return to earth. We are approaching this six-thousand-year period.
An interesting aspect of this six-thousand-year period is that there were four thousand years from Adam to the death of Christ; so we would expect that the millennium will happen two thousand years from the time of Christ’s crucifixion.
Other ancient literature confirms this timing of the final kingdom of God. The apocryphal book of Enoch, although not part of the canon, is quoted in the New Testament in the book of Jude. He says that there will be seven thousand years of history and that the beginning of the eight thousandth year will mark the start of the Eternal State. The Talmud, Jewish literature before Christ, also teaches a six-thousand-year period from creation culminating in their Messiah’s coming, followed by a sabbath rest of one thousand years. The eternal state follows the thousand-year millennium, so there will be six thousand years from the time of Adam to the beginning of the millennium.
Early church father Irenaeus, who traces his discipleship through Polycarp to the Apostle John, believed that the millennium/kingdom of God is the hallowed seventh day, that day of rest for Christians.
The book of Hosea in the Bible reads:
Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence. Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth. (Hosea 6:1–3)
Verse One says that Israel will be torn to pieces by the Lord in the Tribulation, but He will heal them at the Second Coming. Jesus will appear “as surely as the sun rises.” After “two days” (two thousand years from Christ’s death), He will “revive” Christians via the Rapture of the living and resurrection of the dead and we receive our immortal bodies. We then immediately return to earth and fight the battle of Armageddon with Jesus (this day is called the Day of the Lord).
Then right after this Day of the Lord, “on the third day,” the thousand-year millennium begins when Christ restores us to “live in his presence.” In short, six thousand years after Adam and two thousand years from the death of Christ, God will revive us with the resurrection and Rapture. Then, at the beginning of the sabbath (seventh) day, the start of the seven-thousandth year, He will restore us to live in His presence during the millennium. Following these thousand years, He will create a new heaven and new earth where we will spend eternity with the Father and Jesus.
Scholars believe that the death of Jesus occurred around AD 30 to 33. Therefore, if I am correct if Jesus returns in two thousand years after His death, this would occur between the years 2030 and 2033, with the Tribulation occurring during 2023 and 2026.
The book of Revelation says that “the bride [the church] has made herself ready” for Christ’s return. I discuss how to be ready in chapter 14 of my book When the Perfect Comes.
Check out my website, whentheperfectcomes.com for more end-time articles and to purchase the book.
