The Second Coming
For centuries, people have looked to the words of Jesus, as found at Matthew Chapter Twenty-four, Mark Chapter Thirteen, and Luke Chapter Twenty-one, searching for the fulfillments of the signs that he gave in that particular prophecy, which would lead up to his Second Coming and the Battle of Armageddon. However, the times that are indicated in these accounts appear to be unclear, and this has created the Great Preterist Debate.
The thing that led up to the prophecy that Jesus gave, started with him telling his Apostles that the great Temple in Jerusalem would be destroyed. And their natural question to him was: 'When will this happen and what will the signs be when it is about to happen?' However, in Matthew's account it is recorded that they asked a much more complicated and illogical question, which we believe to be a spurious addition to the text. For more information, see the linked document, Presence, Coming, or Nearness?.
The reason why this prophecy has sparked quite a debate, has to do with the fact that Jesus started his discussion by answering his Apostles' question about the signs that would lead up to the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple (which history tells us happened in the year 70-C.E.), but which many Adventist religions have taught are really signs of things that either haven't happened yet or have started being fulfilled during their own lifetimes.
On the other hand, there is the Preterist view that all Bible prophecies have been fulfilled, so Jesus was just talking about things that happened back in the First Century. And of course, those who still look for Jesus' Second Coming view this opinion as cynical and faithless. So, let us consider some of the signs that Jesus gave as recorded in each of the three Gospels.
Matthew's Account
What Matthew is said to have told us (we believe, on the basis of much research, that the words of this Gospel are the most suspect) is as follows:
á Verse
5 – Many will come in his name, saying that they are the Anointed.
á Verse
6 – They will hear of wars and reports about wars.
á Verse
7 – Nation will rise against nation and kingdom [will rise] against kingdom,
and there'll be famines and shakings in many places, which will be 'just the
beginnings of the birth pains.'
á Verse
9 – Christians will be persecuted, hated, put on trial, and killed.
á Verse
10 – Christians will be stumbled, betray each other, and dislike each
other.
á Verse
11 – Many will be stumbled, they'll hand each other over for arrest and
trial, they'll even dislike each other, and false prophets will arise among
them.
á Verse
12 – Lawlessness will increase and the love that Christians have for each
other will cool.
á Verse
14 – The good news of the Kingdom will be preachedÉ and then the end will
come.
á Verse
15 – The 'Disgusting Destroyer' that the Prophet Daniel spoke of will be
standing in 'the Holy Place,' and then,
á Verse
16 – Those who in Judea should flee to the mountains.
á Verse 23 – 'False Anointed' and 'False Prophets' will arise, and they'll 'perform great omens and signs to mislead (if possible) even the elected!'
It is at this point (starting in Verse 29) that the conflict begins. For Jesus went on to say (in verses 29-31):
'Immediately
after that difficult time:
á The sun grows dark,
á The moon no longer gives out its light,
á The stars fall from the sky,
á The powers of the heavens are shaken,
á The Son of Man's sign appears in the sky,
á All the tribes of the earth beat themselves in grief when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with great power and glory,
á Then he sends his messengers [blowing] loud trumpets, and collects his elected from the four winds.
Where is the conflict? Well, this is the point (verse 29) where Adventists believe that Jesus stopped talking about the destruction of Jerusalem and started talking about his future 'coming.' However, if this happened IMMEDIATELY AFTER the destruction of Jerusalem, which Matthew's account indicates, then his 'coming' happened almost two-thousand years agoÉ thus the dilemma. For, where are all the signs that he foretold to come in verses 29-31?
Mark's Account
á Verse
6 – Many will come in Jesus' name, saying, I am [he], and will mislead many.
á Verse
7 – There will be wars and reports of wars, but there will be no reason
for fear, for such things must happenÉ but that isn't the end.
á Verse
8 – Nation will war against nation and kingdom against kingdom, there
will be rumblings in one place after another, and
there will be food shortages; but these things are just the beginnings of the
birth pains.
á Verse 9 – Christians will be
betrayed to local courts and be whipped in synagogues, then be put on the stand
before governors and kings.
á Verse 10 – The good
news has to be preached among all the nations.
á Verse 12
– Brothers will betray brothers for death, as will fathers their own
children; and children will stand against their parents and have them put to
death.
á Verse 13
– Everyone will hate Christians over the name of Jesus.
á Verse 14 – The disgusting destroyer
is found standing where it shouldn't, so those in Judea should flee to the
mountains.
á Verse 19 – There
will come a time of difficulty such as hasn't happened since the earliest creation by
God.
á Verse 22
– False anointed and false prophets will arise and they will give signs and
omens to mislead, if possible, even the elected.
á Verse 24 & 25 –
Then Mark wrote that: In the days that follow those difficult times, the sun will be darkened,
the moon won't shine, stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens
will shake.
á Verse 26
– They will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with much power and
glory.
á Verse 27 – Then he sends the messengers off to gather his elected ones from the four windsÉ from the ends of the earth to the ends of the sky!
So, as you can see, Mark doesn't say that the signs in the sky happen 'immediately after.'
Luke's Account
á Verse
9 – They will hear of wars and disorders, but the end doesn't come right
away.
á Verse
10 – Nation is roused against nation and kingdom against kingdom.
á Verse
11 – There are great natural disasters, famines, and plagues in
many places, as well as fearful sights and great signs in the sky.
á Verse
12 – Before that day comes, people will grab Christians and persecute
them. They'll take them before religious courts, to prisons, before kings and
governorsÉ and this will serve as their sign!
á Verse
16 – Their parents, brothers, families, and friends will betray themÉ and
even kill some of them.
á Verse
20 – Then armies will camp around JeruSalem
before her destruction.
á Verse
21 – Christians in Judea are told to escape to the mountains.
á Verse 24 – Then the people in JeruSalem are cut down with swords or carried to the nations as captives. Then NOTE:
JeruSalem will be trampled by the nations, until the times of the nations
are filled.
á Verse
25 & 26 – It is then we read that there will be signs in the sun,
moon, and stars; of the nations being under pressure; of men fainting
out of fear; and of the powers of the skies (or heavens) being shaken.
á Verse
27 – And thereafter, the Son of Man is seen coming in a cloud with great
power and glory.
Notice that here in Luke's account, there is 'the trampling of JeruSalem,' until 'the times of the nations are fulfilled.' So it indicates that there could possibly be a long period of time (not 'immediately after') before the coming of Jesus. So, which account should we believe?
The Problem With Matthew's Account
Understand that where the Gospels of Mark and Luke differ significantly from the words of the book of Matthew, we have reason to question the authenticity of Matthew. Why is that? Well, we are familiar with all the commentaries and viewpoints that have been written about the dates of Matthew's writing, the language it was written in, and which of the Gospel writers wrote first. However, our conclusions about such things come, not from doctrines or conclusions about the meaning of historical references, but from our experience with the words as translators. We do accept what ancient Christian writers say; that Matthew was originally penned in Hebrew (not Aramaic or Greek), that it was the first of the four Gospels (see the link: Who Was Mark?), and that it was created before 50-C.E. (see the Note Caesarea Philippi).
So, what does all the above have to do with the accuracy of the Book of Matthew? The fact that it was written in Hebrew (Mark and Luke were written in Greek) and often translated into Greek has clearly resulted in translation errors. We also know that portions of it were changed centuries later to promote false church doctrines (see the Note: Matthew 28:19).
Therefore, since the words found at Matthew 24:29 (that the coming of Jesus happened immediately after the destruction of JeruSalem) do not appear to have proven true, and the account fails to mention 'the times of the nations' (which Luke tells us that Jesus spoke of), we must defer to the words of Luke, and allow that there is a period between the destruction of JeruSalem and Jesus' Second Coming. However, we realize that virtually all Christian religions prefer the Matthew account and reject the accounts of Mark and Luke as incompleteÉ but then, we feel that it is our job to question traditional doctrine, because it is so often proven unreliable.
What Are 'The Times of the Nations?'
We realize that we are opening a can of worms here, but we aren't the ones who mentioned this period, it was Jesus; and he clearly spoke of such a period. Well, other religious writers have in the past suggested that Jesus was speaking of a set period during which 'the nations' or, those who are not in a covenant relationship with God, would dominate His people IsraEl. And this period of Gentile domination (during which there was no IsraElite king sitting on the throne of David) did in fact start at the time of JeruSalem's destruction by the Babylonians (be that 607-B.C.E. or 587-B.C.E.). And this leads us back to the Armageddon Theory Date #4, as found in our linked document, 'Armageddon – When?' However, it could also lead us back to the Armageddon Theory Date #3, 'Daniel's Prophecy About the Rebuilt Temple.'
A reader suggested that we also consider what is said at Romans 11:25, 26, for there Paul wrote, 'I don't want you to ignore this mystery, brothers, so you don't become too wise in your own eyes: IsraEl was allowed to become calloused until the fullness of people of the nations came inÉ and yet, this is how all IsraEl is going to be saved.' So, could the times of the nations refer to a period of ethnic conversions before God turns His attention to natural IsraEl once again? We think not, but we will keep an open mind.
Then, does this proposed conclusion lead us to believe that we are wrong about our wording of Matthew 24:3? No, for there isn't any good reason to believe that Jesus' Apostles expected him to be present prior to his coming.
But if 2,520 years is the period of 'the times of the nations,' then what happened when that period ended?