The Lord’s coming is always the proper hope of the believer in this dispensation. The Lord had said to His disciples while He was still on earth, “I will come again, and receive you unto Myself” (John 14:3). Paul gave further details as to this wonderful event in 1 Thessalonians 4, and he fully expected that he and others at that time would hear the shout and be caught up to be with the Lord.
Sad to say, after the apostles were taken home, the church very quickly settled down into a worldly existence and lost the hope of the Lord’s coming, first of all as a present hope and then as a doctrine. For many centuries, the ten virgins in Matthew 25:1-13, who are a type of believers who wait for their Lord, “all slumbered and slept” (vs. 5). But then God in His grace raised up those who revived the precious truth of the Lord’s coming for His church, as a present, living hope. The “midnight cry” went out, “Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him” (vs. 6). Historically this happened back in the early part of the nineteenth century, and this precious truth gradually spread among fundamental believers. Many were awakened and encouraged to look for the Lord to come.
Adverse Effects
But there were adverse effects of the recovery of this truth, for Satan is ever active, seeking to spoil and destroy the present work of God in the Spirit. One of the ways in which he sought to do this was by persuading men to try and set a definite date for the Lord’s coming for His own. Nowhere in Scripture does the Lord even hint as to when His coming for us might be, nor does He give any signs that might enable man to pinpoint the time. In fact, the Lord Jesus expressly said to His own, “Of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father” (Mark 13:32). It might be argued that this is a reference to the Lord’s coming in judgment rather than to His coming for His church, but what follows in the next few verses clearly shows us that the truth of His words and the warnings attached to them are intended for the church as well as the godly remnant of Israel. But even believers, wanting to avoid the uncertainty of when the Lord might come, have tried to set a definite date for Christ’s return.
Historical Predictions
We need not go into all the details of those who have predicted the date of the Lord’s coming for His church and the subsequent events of judgment. Probably one of the first was a Roman priest in the second century A.D., who predicted, based on the dimensions of Noah’s ark, that Christ would return in the year 500 A.D. But this was only the beginning.
Possibly the most spectacular and hysterical prediction occurred in the year 999 A.D., as the superstitious world of that day settled on the year 1000 A.D., as the date when Christ would return. It was widely preached by the clergy of the Roman Catholic church, and most of Europe was persuaded to believe it. They did not expect the Lord to come for His saints, as that precious hope had long since been lost, but they did expect the final judgments that would end the world. As a result, people started to behave better, and many sold their goods in order to help the poor. Buildings and homes were not repaired, and no one planted crops. Pilgrims flocked to Palestine, hoping to meet the Lord when He came to Jerusalem. Even criminals were freed from prisons. When the year 1000 A.D. came and the Lord did not come, there had to be a wild scramble to get everything back in order.
Modern-Day Predictions
Later the false cult of the Jehovah Witnesses made similar forecasts many times, dating from 1914, and going on until very recently. Many others since that time have made wild predictions supposedly based on certain calculations, the most well-known in our day being Harold Camping, who settled on a date as recently as 2011. He had decided on other dates as far back as 1994, but, of course, none came to pass.
A Present, Living Hope
What can we make of all this? First of all, God intends the return of His beloved Son to be a present, living hope. Any knowledge of the definite date would surely destroy this, and possibly result in activities similar to those in the year 999. It would probably also result in a flurry of evangelical activity. But the Lord wants us to treat every day as if it were our last down here, and to use every available opportunity.
No Man Knows
Second, God is not going to be mocked and allow man to arrive at the date of the coming of the Lord, when He has said, “Of that day ... knoweth no man.” He will have the glory, and the day of His grace will continue until His purposes are fulfilled. The iniquity of this world must be full, but the long-suffering of our Lord must be realized too. None but the Lord can balance these things, and no man-made calculations can penetrate the divine mind. We must be content to leave the matter with the One who “worketh all things after the counsel of His own will” (Eph. 1:11). Rather, we should be occupied with that which is ours to enjoy — the love of God and all that we have in Christ. There is plenty that we do know with which we can be engaged, rather than filling our minds with useless speculation about that which God has not told us.
W. J. Prost