Jess Whitlock
“But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father” (Mark 13:32). The Lord Jesus taught clearly that no man living can know the exact time of His final return. The Bible emphasizes that mankind must be ready at all times, because Christ will come again (John 5:28-29; 14:1-3; Acts 17:30-31; 1 Cor. 15:51-ff; Jude 7; and 1 Thess. 4:13-18).
The only thing that Christ emphatically taught about His second coming was that no man knows the time of His return. Christ taught that it would be “like” the days of Noah (Matt. 24:37-39). There will be no warnings, no signs, no clues, and life will be proceeding normally. Jesus likens that day to the coming of a thief in the night (Matt. 24:43). The warning to us is to: “Watch therefore…be ye also ready…for ye know neither the day nor the hour…” (Matt. 24:42, 44; 25:13). A man would need at least two PhD’s to misunderstand what the Lord forthrightly taught in those words.
In spite of the clear teaching of God’s Word, there have always been false prophets who have insisted that they know the exact time of the Lord’s return. It began in the first century with two men named Hymenaeus and Philetus. Paul identifies them as being “…who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already, and overthrow the faith of some” (2 Tim. 2:18). From that time to this we have recorded data of literally hundreds and hundreds of false dates, false prophets (time-guessers), who claim they have knowledge that has been withheld from the angels of heaven and the Holy Spirit inspired writers of Scripture. These individuals have their work cut out for them, trying to convince me they have knowledge of that which inspiration tells me has been reserved to God the Father alone!
One cult, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, put forth 70 predictions of the second coming during the 20th century. Every prediction failed miserably. In an effort to get the egg off their face, they came up with a fanciful theory that He did come in 1914 in an “invisible” coming. They forgot the Bible teaches that when Christ does return it will be a visible coming (Rev. 1:7); that He will come in flaming fire (2 Thess.1:7-ff); that Christ will be accompanied by His holy angels (Matt. 25:31); and that the earth and all its elements would be burned up (2 Pet. 3:10). Those events somehow escaped the notice of all news journalists in the year of 1914. Recall some recent false prophets:
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January 1, 2000 ~ Jerry Falwell predicted Y2K would fulfill all prophecy. Many stockpiled water and canned goods to be prepared. Scammers had a field day, the clock struck midnight, and nothing happened.
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May 21 and October 21, 2011 ~ Harold Camping, a California based preacher and president of the Family Radio Network, predicted the so-called rapture would hit at 6:00 p.m. May 21. Oops! He changed to October 21. Wrong again, what do you know?!
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December 21, 2012 ~ We all remember the Mayan Calendar, and the end of the world would end with the calendar’s end on December 21, 2012. It never dawned on folks that the Mayans may have simply run out of paper!
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October 7, 2015 ~ Mormon author, Julie Rowe, was sure that this date in connection with the blood-moon-supermoon, would be the exact date, marking the return of Jesus Christ. By the way that moon is scheduled to come back in 2033, the Lord willing.
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September 23, 2017 ~ David Meade, a “Christian numerologist” (see Jude 37), wrote a strange book, Planet X—the 2017 Arrival. According to Meade’s calculations, planet “X” also known as “Nibiru,” would collide with earth, and that on that day there would be a 33-day eclipse. Since Jesus was on earth for 33 years, that date would mark the end of time. I have known some folks who would like to take whatever he was on at the time he wrote those words.
The test of a “false prophet” is recorded in Deuteronomy 18:20-22. Christ will come again but none of the false prophets or their duped disciples know that date. Their batting average is 1.000 and it is all wrong—100% wrong!
