Date Setting and It may happen more than you think!
This past September 23, 2017, was one of those date setting times. Though most if not all said that they were not setting dates they did it in a covert way. Over my lifetime I know of five major date setting events of the rapture and each was led with a lot of anticipation and a huge letdown. Some even sold everything or went into debt because they thought the Lord would return.
I believe there has been a much larger date setting disaster in Christendom. I know I am going to lose most readers at this point because it goes against a common thinking, but if you are at least a little bit open to a different thought read on.
Jesus could come at any time
Those who have, including myself, made the statement that Jesus could come at any time has caused the same effect as those who set dates. I will explain myself.
First as far as I know the Scripture really does not support Jesus coming at any time. Yes, Jesus said no man knows the day or the hour. That is true, but we also know that Jesus said, in Matthew chapter twenty-four, that many things would happen before His coming. These are not your average events or they would be meaningless to mention. Second, we understood that the nation of Israel would be gathered. Last and most important Jesus said the Gospel would be preached in all the world. That would take time! Jesus told us to watch, but if there is nothing that we can see before His coming then what are we to watch for?
From my experience, this saying that Jesus could come at any time is an attempt to get Christians ready for His coming. Despite good of intentions that some have had, not staying true to the scripture will never work out.
Here is where I am going with this. A new Christian maybe excited to hear that Jesus could come at any time, but after ten years of hearing it almost becomes meaningless, because one day is as good as the next. However what I have seen is an even worst effect. Here is what Christians do with this mindset. When some tragedy takes place in the world or their lives they hope Jesus will come the next day and save them from all their problems. Right now America is in a bad place and Christians are just hanging on by hoping Jesus will come tomorrow and save them.
The sobering thought that we might be here awhile
This is totally fictitious but I am trying to illustrate a point. Imagine tonight that every Christian in the world had a dream that Jesus met them and told them that He would return in exactly 20 years from that dream. As Christians woke from this dream and realize that we all had it we would believe it to be true. But here is the effect it would have. We would all realize that we have at least 20 years. We have to make a real difference in our world or we are going to suffer greatly under persecution. We would realize how important budgeting and trusting in God would be. Now what we do just hope for the rapture tomorrow.
I believe God wants us to live as if we are going to be here a hundred years. However, wouldn’t that be a little discouraging if we could not anticipate His coming? I don’t think God wants that. He gave His people feast days, seven of them. Four are spring feasts and three are fall feasts. Jesus death burial and resurrection fulfilled three of the spring feasts.
Let us look at the evidence.
And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
Genesis 1:14
God made the sun, moon, and stars for signs, seasons, days and years. That is important information to remember.
Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
Colossians 2:16-17
Here we are told that the holy days and sabbaths which are designated by the moon are days that hide the things to come. In other words, it these days that contain the hidden secrets of God. The Passover was the crucifixion which hid Christ death until God’s appointed time.
Take the lead from the first-century church
Here something else we need to think about, when the fourth feast day came the disciples were all in one place. I believe this was because they knew what was going on. The feast days were now being fulfilled. Sure enough, as they gathered together on Pentecost the Holy Spirit came and the Church began.
I believe we should follow the first-century church in that when these fall feast days come we gather together with great anticipation. Hoping that God might do something to reveal the completion of His redemptive plan. This is not date setting because no one is claiming Jesus is coming. It is just an event of anticipation of what might happen. No one knows for sure the Feast of the Trumpets/Rosh Hannah is the rapture. We should be certain it represents something on God’s timeline.
What I believe this will do is give Christians a tangible moment in which the Lord could come. Something to wait and watch for. If nothing does happen it will sober us as we realize we will face another year that we must do his work with diligence.
The church needs to stop waiting around for Christ to come and start making a difference in the world in which we live. We are called to pray for our leaders and if we called to pray we then are also called to act. Paul felt that if he could see Caesar he could help Christianity to spread. From beginning to the end God was always placing his prophets before Kings and rulers.
Here is a thought that I am weighing in on and it fits this well. The people of the United States are rightfully concern about healthcare. As it becomes so unaffordable, I believe by design, that people are going to accept a government health care plan. We saw how under one of our leader tax-exempt status was delayed for conservative groups. If we have government healthcare this could happen with health care also. This has led me to an option that I am about to undertake and that is Christian medical sharing programs. There are around four of them. If Christians would ban together and take care of one another like in the early church we would not be held captive by the government. These are the kinds of solutions Christians need if the Lord delays His coming. However, I believe that most Christians will just keep going with the flow hoping that tomorrow the Lord will come because tomorrow is just as good as the next day if the Lord could come at any time.