READING TIME: 1-2 MINUTES
December 11, 2019
What’s your opinion on people who set dates for the Lord’s return?
See Matthew 24:36, 42, 44; 25:13; Acts 1:7 to learn what Jesus thought about date-setting (these references refer to the Second Coming, not the Rapture).
Many other examples could be listed. The ones below are sufficient to show the problems with setting dates for the Lord’s return.
Before World War I, Jehovah’s Witnesses predicted Armageddon would occur in 1914. When this did not happen, Charles T. Russell’s followers assumed He had returned secretly, revealing Himself only to Jehovah’s Witnesses, thinking they were the 144,000 faithful witnesses in the book of Revelation. Later on, they predicted Armageddon for September 1975.
Others predicted Christ’s return in 1982 because of the so-called “Jupiter Effect” (at that time the positioning of the planets in relation to the sun was said to cause cosmic disturbances).
Edgar Whisenant specified September 11, 12, or 13, 1988, for the 2nd Coming (In his book, 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 1988).
Harold Camping came out with a book in 1992 called “1994?” In his book, he stated, “the month of September of the year 1994 is to be the time for the end of history” (Page 532; also see Camping’s book, Are You Ready? pp. 314-6). If that was not enough, he more specifically stated September 6 (pp. 516-7), September 15 (pp. 518, 521), September 27 (p. 525), or “any time between September 15 and September 27, 1994” (p. 525). He does say that there was a very remote possibility that he was wrong (page xv in his introduction).
We do not know when Jesus will return, but we are commanded to change our priorities because He could return at any moment (see 1 John 2:28 and 2 Peter 3:10-13.
