42 Does the Bible Offer Any Clues as to the LORD’s Return? Jan 25, 2024
Certainly, it does not pinpoint the day or the hour per Matthew 24:36. However, 1 Thessalonians 5:2-4 indicates that we will have warning, i.e., we will know the season of His return. In Matthew 24:30, Christ noted He would return to reign. “Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.”
Matthew 24:32, “Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. (The fig tree is a symbol of Israel politically, becoming a nation at midnight May 14-15, 1948. The grape vine is a symbol of Israel spiritually.)
33 “Do you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near—at the doors!”
34 “Assuredly I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.”
I have read that a generation is 20 or 33 or 40 years, but these numbers are too low to fit. According to Noah Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language, one of the definitions of generation is “the people of the same period or living at the same time.” In other words, they must have also have been alive when Israel became a nation in May of 1948. Hence, this would include longevity or life span. So let Scripture interpret Scripture. According to Psalm 90:10, the average life span of a man is seventy years, but by virtue of strength, he may make it to 80. When this first occurred to me, I confidently looked forward to 2018 for the LORD’s return, but this meant the final week of Daniel must begin by 2011 or 2012. Of course, nothing happened then, but no problem. I still had 80 as the outlying number, but this meant the final week of Daniel would start by 2021 or 2022. Again, nothing happened by these dates, and I became quite depressed. Then it occurred to me. Who was the LORD talking to when he offered these predictions? —some of His Jewish disciples. Perhaps, the correct question would be- What is the average life span of a Jewish Israeli today? The average citizen of Israel in 2023 lives to be 83.49 years, according to the internet. If 83.49 years is the number that Christ cannot exceed, then He must return by the end of 2031, or the final week of Daniel must begin by about January of 2025. From the internet, Jews make up 73% of the population of Israel, with Arabs making up 20%. Another source listed 80% of Israel’s population of Jewish heritage, 16% Muslims, and 3% Christian. In another study, Jews, on average, live to be one to two years more than Arabs, so, perhaps, another year or two beyond the end of 2031. Still, if two years more, the limit is the end of 2033 meaning the final week of Daniel would begin by about Jan, 2027.
Psalm 90:4 For a thousand years in Your sight are like yesterday when it is past and like a watch in the night.
2 Peter 3:8 But, beloved, do not forget that with the LORD one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
So, a thousand years are like a day to the LORD, but why a watch in the night? Perhaps from Matthew 25:1-13 where the LORD likens the kingdom of God to ten virgins who went out to meet the bridegroom. Five had oil, and five did not. The bridegroom liked to surprise his bride, and in this parable, the cry arose that he was coming at midnight per verse 6. At the time of Christ, there were four watches in the night: from about 6 PM to 9 PM, from 9 PM to midnight, from midnight to 3 AM, from 3 AM to 6 AM, with Christ walking on the Sea of Galilee in the fourth watch per Matthew 14:25. Hence, from His crucifixion in 32 or 33 AD, we are now about 1,992 or 1, 991 years from that event, or almost 2,000 years or 2 watches in the night. Does the shut door encountered by the five virgins without oil (the Holy Spirit) in Matthew 25:10 indicate the rapture or His return to reign? In Revelation 4:1, the disciple John goes through an open door to heaven, i.e., John is raptured like the church, and the church which is extensively mentioned in Revelation chapters 2 & 3 is not mentioned again save chapters 4 & 5 in heaven and after His return to reign. I suspect the Rapture has occurred and the wedding feast is set. Many will turn to Christ after the rapture of the church per Revelation 7:14, but the church is gone. And adding the approximately seven Biblical years of 360 days/Biblical year to the time since the crucifixion gives us 1,999 (if crucifixion dated to 32 AD)or 1,998 (if crucifixion dated to 33 AD) years since that event, i.e., we approach 2,000 years, but I do not believe it has to be precisely 2,000, though it may be.
In Luke 13:31, Jesus is told to depart because Herod wants to kill Him. 32 And He said to them, “Go, tell that fox. ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.’ 33 “Nevertheless I must journey today, tomorrow, and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside Jerusalem.
I had always taken the third day as His resurrection in verse 32. I now believe it is a double prophecy referring also to his return following His resurrection after 2,000 years, but is it His return to reign or rapture? The complete third day or its bulk is His millennium.
Daniel was given the 70 weeks prophecy circa 539 BC. It is broken into 69 weeks and the final or 70th week of Daniel. In Daniel 9:25 we are told that from the time that the order goes out to rebuild the city of Jerusalem, not the Temple, until Messiah the prince there shall be 69 weeks. The order to rebuild the city of Jerusalem went out in the month of Nisan in the 20th year of Artaxerxes per Nehemiah 2:1. If the specific day of the month is not given, it is presumed to be the first day of Nisan, the beginning of the religious year for the Jew. There is an argument over whether the 20th year of Artaxerxes began in 445 or 444 BC. In 445 BC, Nisan 1 was on 14 March; in 444 BC, Nisan 1 was on 5 March. 69 weeks or 483 years later would be 39 or 40 AD. Remember there is no year zero; one goes from 1 BC to 1 AD. I believe the Jews fully expected their Messiah to come in one of these years and free them from Rome, but who was the miracle worker who came circa 29 to 30 AD, but without an army or any real military power? True, he could raise the dead, give sight to the blind, heal diseases, multiply bread, and cast out demons, but could this stand up to the Roman legions?
Daniel 7:25 and 12:7 tell of the Great Tribulation lasting time, times, and half a time. The word times is not indefinite plural but two times or a total of three and one-half. Time, times, and half a time is repeated in Revelation 12:14 as a reference to the time Israel is protected from the anti-Christ in the wilderness, again the Great Tribulation. In Revelation 12:6 this same period is said to be 1,260 days, also noted as 42 months (42 X 30 = 1260 days) per Revelation 13:5, when the anti-Christ reigns. Then there appear to be two other time periods of the same length, but not referring to the Great Tribulation. Revelation 11:2 notes the Gentiles will tread the Holy City (Jerusalem) underfoot for 42 months, again 1260 days. Finally, in Revelation 11:3 the two witnesses will prophecy 1260 days.
A time appears to be 360 days, the ancient length of a Creation year with 12 Creation months of 30 days each equaling a Creation year of 360 days. Presently, the moon revolves around the earth in 29.53 days, so there has been change from the original 30 days of Creation. We have ancient calendars from all over the earth- from Japan, China, India, Babylon, Assyria, Egypt, Rome, Greece, and the Mayan culture. They all had 360-day years with 12 months of 30 days each. A circle has 360 degrees, and this likely date back to the original calendar of Creation. Circa 630 AD, Mohammed took Mecca and burned the 360 idols that surrounded the Black Stone, Ka’Bah. Before then, I suspect the idols worked like this example: say it is the 60th day of the year. Pray to idol #60, for the best results.
Compare these verses in Genesis:
7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the 17th day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were broken.
7:24 And the waters prevailed on the earth 150 days.
8:3 And the waters receded continually from the earth. At the end of 150 days, the waters decreased.
8:4 Then the ark rested in the 7th month, the 17th day of the month, in the mountains of Ararat.
This was 150 days later or 5 months of 30 days each. Curiously, the LORD was crucified on the 14th of Nisan, which became Passover, and resurrected 3 days later on the 17th day of Nisan, which became First Fruits. Nisan was originally the 7th month before God changed the first month Tishri to the seventh month, and the seventh month to the first month on the religious calendar per Exodus 12:2.
I recall reading as a child that Julius Caesar, when he came to power in Rome, added a day to July which was named after him, giving it a total of thirty-one days, and Augustus Caesar, when he came to power, did likewise to August, named after him. When did the years change? I don’t know, but there are three candidates to me: the Flood circa 1656 AC (After Creation); Joshua’s long day, when the sun and the moon stood still circa 1406 BC, per Joshua 10:13; and, finally, during the days of Hezekiah, circa 701 BC when Isaiah had the sun dial go backward 10 degrees per 2 Kings 20:11. I favor the latter.
If the 69 weeks began in 14 March, 445 BC, then 69 weeks of 7 years each equals 483 years X 360 days/year = 173,880 days. The Messiah should ride the donkey’s colt into Jerusalem (Zechariah 9:9) proclaiming Himself the Messiah on 6 April, 32 AD or if it began on 5 March, 444 BC, then it ended on 30 March, 33 AD. Both of these months and days have been said to be on 10 Nisan (Exodus 12:3-6) when the lamb was taken out of the flock to be sure it was perfect for Passover on 14 Nisan.
Luke 19:41 Now as He drew near, He saw the city (Jerusalem) and wept over it, 42 saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, 44 and level you and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another because you did not know the time of your visitation.” Apparently, Jesus expected the Jews to know prophecy. And what does that say about us?
What is the interval between the end of Daniel’s 69 weeks and the beginning of the 70th week? Christ rode the donkey’s colt into Jerusalem on 10 Nisan ending the 69 weeks prophecy. He was crucified on 14 Nisan on Passover and resurrected on First Fruits, the day after the regular Jewish Sabbath (Friday sunset to Saturday sunset) within the one week Feast of Unleavened Bread on 15 Nisan to 21 Nisan per Leviticus 23:10-11. 50 days later was the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost, when the church was empowered by the Holy Spirit per Acts 2. The 70th week of Daniel begins when the anti-Christ confirms a covenant with many for one week. It appears the true church will be raptured just before or just after Daniel’s final week begins, so we are presently at about 1,992 or 1,991 years since the church was born. The final or seventieth week of Daniel is seven Biblical years of 360 days each, or seven calendar years less 36 or 37 days, depending on the number of leap years during the seven. Adding the final week of Daniel to the time since the crucifixion gives us a number approaching 2000. This is the age of the church.
The parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:29-37 suggests the LORD’s return in 2,000 years after His crucifixion. First, a little history. Circa 931 – 930 BC, the northern kingdom of Israel separated from Judah on the death of King Solomon. Not wishing for his subjects to worship in the Jerusalem Temple, the new king of Israel set up golden calves in the north (Dan) and south (Bethel) of his new kingdom. He also made priests of those who were not Levites (1 Kings 12:31), and changed the LORD’s fall feast days, His Appointed Times, to the eighth month instead of the seventh month (1 Kings 12:33). Hence, the northern kingdom disdained the God of David, from its beginning, though God’s prophet, Abijah, had prophesied to Jeroboam, who would be the first king of the northern kingdom of Israel, that he would be given ten tribes of Israel per 1 Kings 11:26-40. However, when the new king of Israel made priests of those who were not Levites, the Levites who were dispersed throughout the northern kingdom went south per 2 Chronicles 11:13,14 reducing Israel to nine tribes.
About 200 years later, God’s patience had reached its limit. In 732 BC, the Assyrian army swept into the northern kingdom of Israel and deported the two tribes east of the Jordan River and the half-tribe of Manasseh as well as most of the northern tribes of Israel, leaving only Ephraim and the other half-tribe of Manasseh, plus refugees from the rest of the tribes. It was at this point that Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria said in pride and arrogance of heart: The bricks have fallen down, but we will rebuild with hewn stones; the sycamores are cut down, but we will replace them with cedars (Isaiah 9:10). Of course, this was what America said after 9/11 quoted by the US Senate Majority Leader, Tom Daschle, the day after 9/11 (The Harbinger, 2011, Jonathan Cahn). He did not realize that ancient Israel was saying they did not need their ancient God, the God of the Bible. They could handle the situation by themselves, even after losing seven and one-half tribes. And America did likewise after 9/11. It is also noteworthy that Genesis 49:26 and Deuteronomy 33:16 note Joseph (Ephraim and Manasseh) will be separate from his brothers. This was the mechanism for that.
In 722 BC, the Assyrians returned and besieged Samaria, the capital of what was left of Israel. The Assyrians liked to separate people, so these two removals were unlikely to be reunited. And thus, the lost tribes were lost, not to be found until Elijah restores all things per Matthew 17:11. It has been reported that the tribe of Manasseh has been found in eastern India near Bangladesh, but I suspect this is the half-tribe initially removed in 732 BC to the east of the Jordan River and the Sea of Galilee.
The land became known as Samaria after its destroyed capital. The poorest of the tribes were left behind. The custom of the Assyrians was to bring in other people to inhabit the land of Israel per 2 Kings 17:24 and to intermarry with those left behind. When the Jews returned from Babylon, intermarriage was noted in Ezra 9 & 10 and Nehemiah 13:23-31, where the Jews were told to separate from these other peoples, their spouses, and their children. Many of these part Jewish people went to Samaria and built their own temple to God. They were despised by the Jews of Jesus’ time. As the woman at the well in John 4:5-43 (Christ proclaimed Himself to be the Messiah in verse 26) noted at the end of verse 9 “…For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.”
Even the parable of the Good Samaritan suggests the return of Christ 2,000 years after His crucifixion. Luke 10:29 But he (the lawyer seeking eternal life, who had been told one must also love his neighbor as himself), wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 Then Jesus answered and said: “ A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
31 “Now by chance a certain priest came down that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 “Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place and looked; and passed by him on the other side.
33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion.
34 “So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
35 “On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’
36 “So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?”
37 And he said, “He who showed mercy on him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
A simple story about a man from an ethnic group despised by the Jews, showing mercy and going way out of his way to take care of someone he did not know whereas the Levite and priest did not. Granted the priests officiated in the Temple for two weeks yearly and during the Feasts, “God’s Appointed Times” for Israel. If they touched a dead body, they were considered unclean for a week per Numbers 19:11,12. Perhaps, they were on their way to perform their duties in Jerusalem and thought the victim was dead. The road from Jerusalem, a holy city to God, went from above sea level, down to Jericho, a very worldly city, below sea level. The road was infested with thieves, hence a parable for our times.
However, I read somewhere there is a much deeper story. You will note in the story, there is a certain man, a certain priest, a certain Samaritan, but the Levite is not designated certain. The certain man was Adam who went down from Eden (Jerusalem) to the world (Jericho). He was accosted by Satan who stripped him of his clothing and left him half dead, as he could no longer commune with God as before. The certain priest was Moses, who gave Israel the Ten Commandments, but could not restore the man. The Levite represented all the Levites whose blood sacrifices could also not restore him.
The certain Samaritan was Christ, though fully man and fully God, was nevertheless, believed by some to be the illegitimate child of Mary, half-Jew and half-whatever, Roman? This is noted in David’s Psalm 69, particularly verses 4-12. Verse 21, noting they gave him gall for food and vinegar to drink for his thirst makes this psalm Messianic (see Matthew 27:34, 48, with vinegar being sour wine). In Mark 6:3, Christ is said to be the son of Mary. We would think nothing of this, but in the Jewish patriarchal society of the time, it would denote his father was unknown. The rumor of his mother being pregnant before she came together with Joseph followed Him to Jerusalem. In John 8:19, the Pharisees sarcastically, ask, “Where is your Father?” Christ then explains their parentage to which they sneer, “We were not born of fornication,” with like you the clear implication. Christ further explains their parentage from their father, the devil.
The good Samaritan poured oil, representing the Holy Spirit, and wine, representing the blood of Christ into the certain man’s wounds. He then put him on his animal, which we presume was a donkey. The word donkey was not used because the animal represented the animal sacrifices which Israel used to restore themselves to God. The animal got the wounded man to the inn, which represented the church, and the innkeeper, the preacher, who was told to take care of him until He returned. Then the good Samaritan gave him two denarii. In Christ’s parable of the vineyard in Matthew 20:1-16 a denarius was a day’s wages. Likewise, I have read that per Revelation 6:6 that “a quart of wheat for a denarius”, or a loaf of bread, was the average daily amount of food required for one man, but left nothing for his family. Christ said in Psalm 90:4 and 2 Peter 3:8 that a thousand years was like a day to the LORD, implying He would return in 2,000 years, i.e., when the two days were up.
One of the more interesting references to two thousand years is Hosea 6:1 Come, and let us return to the LORD; for He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. 2 After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight.
This seems to refer to the return of the Jews to Israel. In 70 AD, Jerusalem and its Temple were destroyed. In May of 1948, Israel was re-established as a nation, a period of 1,878 years, which is close to 2,000 years. However, the Romans under Pompey took Jerusalem in 63 BC, meaning the independent nation was re-established in a little over 2,000 years. This seems a fitting interpretation, but there is a problem. Hosea was a prophet to the northern kingdom of Israel, that split from Judah at Solomon’s death. It seems this prophecy should fit them also.
The northern kingdom of Israel separated from Judah in about 931-930 BC. About a millennium later in 70 AD, the Temple was destroyed. But I am looking for a date circa 1070 AD to correspond to the second thousand years. I believe the date is 1066 AD, the last successful invasion of Britain by the Normans, of Viking origin who subsequently settled in Normandy, France, and then captured England. The Anglo-Saxons are the lost tribes of Joseph, Ephraim (England), whose descendants became a multitude of nations per the British Empire per Genesis 48:19, to be followed by Manasseh (the great nation of the USA) per the next verse. See also Genesis 35:11. Before the Normans took over, England had little to do with the affairs of Europe. Thereafter, it became an important player in Europe, and subsequently, the premier nation in the world for a time. The Anglo-Saxon age at least began in 1763 with the Treaty of Paris, when England gained priority in India, the jewel in the crown, and also received Canada from France. When Britain lost her empire after World War II, America was in the wings ready to take over, a period encompassing over a quarter millennium thus far. So Hosea 6:1-2 seems to be a double prophecy, but recently it occurred to me that it is probably a triple prophecy.
Christ was crucified in 32 or 33 AD with the Holy Spirit given on Pentecost in one of those years. The Romans persecuted the Christians from the time of Nero in 64 AD till 313 AD when Constantine legalized the religion within the Roman Empire. Christians have for most of the last two thousand years been marginalized and persecuted by their rulers, whether in Europe, or by Islam, etc. Great Britain, though nominally Christian, became a truly Christian nation under the ministries of the Wesley Brothers and George Whitefield in the 1700s, followed by the efforts of William Wilberforce in Parliament in the late 1790s to 1830s. Circa 1830, Charles Lyell a Scots lawyer, who hated Christianity, began an assault on the religion by the so-called vast ages of geology. The attack continued with Charles Darwin’s evolutionary theories popularized by The Origin of Species published in 1859, and decades later, Britain lost her empire. America, for the most part, avoided this assault, until Sputnik was launched by the Soviets in 1957. It was said that Americans were deficient in science, and evolution was introduced widely into American K12 schools. The movie version of the Scopes monkey trial in 1925, Inherit the Wind, came out circa 1960. Though the play, which came out a few years earlier, related it was not history, there was no such notice in the movie. The movie was mostly propaganda, but very good propaganda for the evolutionary side. Its view of the Scopes trial was very inaccurate historically. We still hear the question from skeptics- "Where did Cain get his wife?" Genesis 5:4 notes Adam had sons and daughters. The Ancient Book of Jasher is noted in Joshua 10:13 and 2 Samuel 1:18. In its first chapter is written ... and Adam knew his wife Eve and she bore two sons and three daughters. By Jewish tradition, he had 33 sons and 23 daughters. So, Cain married his sister.
The removal of Christianity in America seems well along, and Christians seem to be attacked all over the world at present. The stick of Judah and the stick of Ephraim must become one per Ezekiel 37:16-17. Will the LORD return circa 2032 to begin His reign, about 2,000 years after the giving of the Holy Spirit to His church?
-Gentry
