Here's what Jesus said MORE THAN 1,900 YEARS AGO:
| "When they persecute you in this city, flee to another. For assuredly, I say to you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes." |
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| "For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom." |
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| "Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power." |
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"Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place."
P.S. In the original (Greek), there are TWO negative words — for emphasis — ou mh — it basically says [I'm paraphrasing here], "No way in hell will this generation pass away until all these things have happened." |
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| "Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place." |
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| "So you also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near. Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all things take place." |
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| "And behold, I am coming quickly, and my reward is with me, to give to every one according to his work ... He who testifies to these things says, 'Surely I am coming quickly.'" |
Revelation 22:20 |
For about 200 years, doomsday apocylypse/the end times has been a fad with Christians. Christians have even gone so far as to predict the year that Jesus will return. This is very appealing, because the Bible has a tremendous amount of prophecy about the "end times." In fact, the last book of the Bible is ApocaluyiV — an entire book about the end times.
Every prediction about when the "second coming" will occur has been wrong. 100% wrong 100% of the time.
In response to this, Christians will point out that Jesus said "no one knows the hour or the day" (Matthew 24:36). Many evangelical preachers are now sneering and saying that it's wrong to try to figure out WHEN Jesus will return. They say that we should simply look forward to the second coming and live good lives, like it says in I John 3:1ff.
But it may be important to note that Jesus never said, "Nobody has any idea whatsoever as to when the second coming will be."
The Bible gives a tremendous amount of information about the apocalypse and the end times, all of which, of course, can be interpreted several different ways.
I don't know the hour or the day that I'll die. But wouldn't it be stupid to say that this means that I can't make any prediction at all as to when I'll die?
I know enough about myself to come up with a damn good estimate of how long I'll live, based on the Death Clock.
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"'Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place ... ' — certainly the most embarrassing verse in the Bible. The one exhibition of error and the one confession of ignorance grow side by side. That they stood thus in the mouth of Jesus himself and were not merely placed thus by the reporter, we surely need not doubt ... the facts, then, are these, that Jesus professed himself (in some sense) ignorant, and within a moment showed that he really was so."
— C.S. Lewis in The World's Last Night and Other Essays |
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