In another short study (When did Jesus say he would come?) I have listed some sections of Scripture where Jesus spoke about when he would come. In this study, I want to point out a number of other NT scriptures which also have references to the time of the coming of the Lord. Did the NT writers, who wrote a few years after Christ spoke, perhaps say something different from what Jesus had said? Or do their writings confirm the statements of Jesus that his coming and return would still be in "this generation"?
We have writings of the apostles Paul, Peter and John, in which they affirm when they were expecting the coming of the Lord to take place, and the epistle of James also contains a reference which points to a rather imminent return of the Lord Jesus. These men obviously expected the coming of the Lord to happen during their lifetime or at least within their generation, when some of the believers to whom they were writing would still be alive. The epistles of the apostles were written between about 50 AD and 67 AD, which places them about 25-35 years after Jesus had made his statements.
The apostles of course knew what Jesus had prophesied, and it is no wonder that they expected his coming in their generation and possibly during their own lifetime. Their writings show that they expected his return shortly after the writing of their epistles. I will give a few sections from NT writings which clearly show this expectation of the apostles.
In his epistle to the Romans (written ca. 57 AD), Paul wrote the following which shows that the coming of Christ was expected very shortly afterwards
Romans 13:11-12
And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our
salvation nearer than when we believed.
The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness,
and let us put on the armour of light.
This statement shows that Paul did not think of the day of salvation as being sometime in the far away future, nor that he regarded it as a "possible maybe" in the nearer future. No, Paul's understanding was that "now it is high time" to awake and that "the night is far spent and the day is at hand"! And yet, how many Christians read these verses and they completely miss that this is not just a nice idea about an "expectation of an imminent return" (which later proved to be wrong), but that the apostle Paul, as inspired by God, shows with conviction and certainty that this day of salvation was not very far at all. Now, if that indeed is the case, how can we today be of the opinion that this day even after 2000 years still has not come?
Romans 16:20
And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.
When will God bruise Satan under their feet? "Shortly" !! Here again, we see that the victory over Satan is not just at some undetermined far away future time, but that God will give the believers that victory shortly. Again, the words of Paul are sure and certain and clear.
In 1 Corinthians, we find more passages which contain truths about the time and timing of the day of the Lord and the revelation of Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 1:7-8
So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ:
Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We need to put ourselves into the position of the Corinthians and think of being in an assembly at Corinth in the mid 50ies of the first century AD, when one evening this epistle of the apostle Paul is read to the believers present. To whom was Paul writing? To us, the believers at Corinth in the 1st century AD or was he writing to believers that had not even been born and that would live 500. 1200 or 2000 years later in some other place?
Who should not come behind in any gift and who was waiting for the revelation of the lord Jesus Christ? The Corinthians at that time! Who was to stand fast and be confirmed unto the end? The Corinthians at that time! Of which end is Paul speaking? The next phrase provides further insight -- the day of the Lord Jesus, that day when he would be revealed. How was this to apply to the Corinthians if this day even now almost 2000 years later has not happened? How can we claim that Paul was telling the truth as he was inspired by God if that day, which he obviously thought to be in the near future from the viewpoint of the Corinthians, did not even come? Did he make a mistake? Did Paul perhaps not write as he was inspired by God but wrote his own (false) ideas?
There are some more passages in 1 Corinthians which also contain time elements and which provide valuable information for an accurate understanding of the coming of the Lord.
1 Corinthians 7:29-31
But this I say, brethren, the time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have
wives be as though they had none;
And they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they
rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not;
And they that use this world, as not abusing it: for the fashion of this world passeth away.
Which "world" and which "passing away" was Paul writing about to the Corinthians? The time is short, and it is apparent that Paul is still writing within the overall context of the soon coming of the day of Christ and that at that time the then existing world would pass away. The world which was in existence then, during the lifetime of the apostle Paul and the believers then, would pass away shortly. And due to that fact, Paul advises believers to live in a certain way in light of the soon coming day of Christ. Paul is quite obviously NOT writing in general, that the time for every man is short and that the end of the planet earth and the cosmos is to be expected at any moment.
1 Corinthians 10:11
Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition,
upon whom the ends of the world are come.
We learn that Paul regarded his generation as that generation upon whom the ends of the world (age) had come. The "end of the world (age" is connected in a number of other scriptures to the time of the coming of the Lord and the judgment he will then execute. Paul wrote that this end had come upon them and was near.
1 Corinthians 15:51
Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
In this passage, Paul is writing about the resurrection of the dead which also is connected to the last day, the end of the age. Here, Paul mentions a truth which had previously been a mystery: Not all of the Corinthians would die before this end, prior to the coming of the Lord and then be in the resurrection. All however, both those who had died prior to that time and those who would be alive at that time, would be "changed". From these words we can clearly see that Paul was expecting the coming of the Lord, the resurrection and judgementto happen fairly soon, even before all of the fellow believers at Corinth would have fallen asleep.
Philippians 1:10
That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ;
"That YE may approve ... that YE may be sincere and without ofence till the day of Christ" ... again, we see that Paul repeatedly places the day of Christ and coming of the Lord in the then near future and during the possible lifetime of the believers then.
Philippians 3:20
For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
Philippians 4:5
Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.
Paul plainly and unmistakably points out that "we" (that is, he and the believers then) expected the coming of the Lord during their lifetime! This is not just a general statement which can by projected on believers at any time, because Paul states plainly that "the Lord is at hand"! It is clear, that we in the year 2005 cannot now claim that the Lord is now at hand and at the same time Paul be correct by saying that the Lord was already at hand about 2000 years ago.
1 Thessalonians 4:15-17
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.
Paul had written in his epistles to the Corinthians that not all of them would have died before the coming of the Lord and that all would be changed in order to enter the kingdom of God (cp 1Co 15). Several years before that, Paul already had written what we read here in his epistle to the Thessalonians. It is evident that Paul is sure and writes with absolute certainty and conviction that not all of the believers at Thessalonich would die before the coming of the Lord. Some of them would be alive and remain, but they would not have an advantage over those who would have died in regards to being with the Lord. The return of the Lord is clearly placed by Paul in the lifetime of some of the believers then.
Approxiamtely around the middle of the the 60ies AD, Paul writes his epistles to Timothy, and in those epistles he also writes concerning the coming of the Lord.
1 Timothy 6:13-14
I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before
Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession;
That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing
of our Lord Jesus Christ:
How was Timothy to "keep this commandment ... until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ" if this appearing did not even happen during his lifetime? From this statement, we can also see that Paul regarded the coming of the Lord as more and more imminent as time progressed. This appearing of the Lord was not just as "perhaps sometime and possibly also shortly" ... No! It was a generally recognized and well known and believed truth that the appearing of the Lord was to happen soon, and the early church believed it!
1 Timothy 4:1
Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from
the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
2 Timothy 3:1
This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2 Timothy 4:1
I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick
and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;
Paul warns Timothy that in the last days prior to the appearing of the Lord Jesus and his kingdom, evil and terrible things were to take place, and those things would also affect Timothy so that he (!) was to conduct himself in a certain way and to take care of himself and hold fast to what he knew to be true. These are not just some general warnings for "someone in the distant future", these were serious words which concerned Timothy at that time.
An interesting detail concerning the timing is a little lost in the translation of the expression "shall judge ... at his appearing" in 2Ti 4:1. In the Greek, we find the word mello in connection with "judge", and a more accurate translation would be "is about to judge ... at his appearing". The Lord Jesus was about to judge, that is, his appearing was very near and about to happen. The coming of the lord with his judgment of the living and the dead was imminent.
There are some more sections in the epistle to the Hebrews which also point to a rather imminent return of the Lord Jesus.
Hebrews 8:13
In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which
decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.
The writer of Hebrews declares that the end of the old covenant was near in that the "old is ready to vanish away" because it now was decaying and had waxed old. The old was close to vanishing, ready to vanish away. A few sections later, we read the following:
Hebrews 10:25
Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but
exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
The exhortation to the believers among the Hebrews is plan and clear: The day of the appearing and return of the Lord Jesus was nigh and "approaching". This is even further confirmed in verse 37 of the same chapter.
Hebrews 10:37
For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.
Is it not strange that many Christians today speak about waiting today for the coming of the Lord and living with this hope, because at this time "the Lord still tarries"? What is this "as long as the Lord tarries" talk about when we read here rather plainly that he who is to come "will NOT tarry"?! Already then, we are told, he "will not tarry". Only a short while, a little while, and the one who is to come will come and not tarry! We see, that from the time of writing of Hebrews it would only be a short while, a little while. And then we read emphatically that "he that shall come will come"! And as if that was not enough, we then are assured that he "will NOT tarry"!
James 5:8-9
Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.
Once again, we read that the coming of the Lord is or draweth nigh. With an illustration we are told how nigh it already was: The judge was already standing at the door! If someone comes from afar and is travelling for some time, how long will it take until he arrives if he is already standing at the door? Can anyone seriously think that the judge has been standing at the door for almost 2000 years? Such a thought indeed is ridiculous.
1 Peter 4:7,17
But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.
...´
For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin
at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
Not only Paul and James write about the coming of the Lord being near or nigh and that the judgment was about to happen; the apostle Peter as well writes that the end of all things is "at hand" and that the time for the judgement had come and would begin first at the houes of God.
The apostle John also mentions in his epistles that the darkness, the night is almost past and the time for the true light to be revealed is nigh ...
1 John 2:8.17-18
Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you:
because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.
And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now
are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.
It was not only "the last time", it was the time that the darkness was past and the true light was already shining! From the writings of John and the other writers of the NT scriptures it is evident that they expected the coming of the Lord, the end of all things, the end of the age, the judgment and the resurrection and the coming of the kingdom of God to happen in their near future and even during their lifetime. The apostles did not teach that the lord would be coming at some uncertain time and perhaps in the near future ... no! The wrote and taught an absolutely sure and nigh return of the Lord.
It was exactly this firm conviction of a return of the Lord which was to happen soon and even during their lifetime and in their generation which gave reason to some who were scoffing. Peter writes about them in one of his epistles.
2 Peter 3:3-4
Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers,
walking after their own lusts,
And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep,
all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
Those scoffers of course did not show up in the early years after the ascension, but they began to show up in "the last days". When this generation slowly but surely was nearing its end, during the 60ies AD, and when nothing was happening as of yet, some began to think they could scoff and declare all the talk about "the coming of the Lord" as silly talk and nonsense since nothing had happened in almost 40 years. These lacking "facts" seemed proof that there was to be no coming of the Lord. But, the time of this generation had not come to its end ... and Peter showed that God's reason for waiting had nothing to do with a lack of ability on God's part but with His tremendous patience to give especially the unbelievers some more time to repent. However, this time for repentance for His people which already had lasted centuries was about to run out and the judgement was about to begin.
When almost all Christians today speak about the Lord tarrying and waiting, it is - just from the facts - not that much different from what those scoffers mentioned by Peter were doing. How can Christians now in our day and time claim that the Lord is still tarrying and that his coming is now finally close and imminent, when the apostles wrote already about 1950 years ago, that Jesus was already then standing at the door and would NOT tarry?! Generations of Christians have been taught that the Lord supposedly was near and would come soon ... and yet, nothing happened during all those centuries!!
It should be obvious and very clear that something is not quite right with this type of traditional teaching about the imminent yet constantly delayed return of the Lord. Whom do we want to believe? Do we want to believe the apostles who unmistakably set forth in their writings that the coming of the Lord was close in their day and time? Or do we want to believe those who today want to tell us that it has not happened even after almost 2000 years? Additionally, the teachers of today still cannot confirm with certainty that it will be really close (even though they talk about "the signs of the times (such as founding of the state of Israel, return of the Jews into the land, etc) which confirm it" ? what are we to do?
My suggestion is this: We should determine the clear and precisse statements by the biblical writers and recognize what they have actually written. Then we should consider any passages which are not as clear and should see how these can be understood in light of the clear verses so as to not cause contradictions but be in harmony with the clear scriptures.
May this study with its main goal of simply setting forth some of the statements in the NT scriptures which have reference to the time of the coming of the Lord be of help to all readers as they try and gain a better understanding of this topic. I have not commented all that much about the quoted sections of Scriptures but rather tried to let them speak for themselves as much as possible. I do not provide a "finished interpretation" and do not give "a final word" concerning my understanding of the coming of the Lord and related events. I let the readers participate in my search and will gladly read your comments and questions, which would can send by mail to the BibelCenter editor e-mail address.