On January 1, 1988, a book was published with the title “88 Reasons Why The Rapture Will Be In 1988.” The author was Edgar C. Whisenant. He predicted that Christ would return in September of 1988 and would rapture His church at that time. Whisenant claimed to have discovered secret codes and clues in the Bible that led him to this precise date. The book sold well in the months between January and September of that year. After that...not so much.
Followers of Jesus have wondered about the timing of His return for centuries. In fact, this was a common topic in many of the letters of the new testament. In Acts 1:11, immediately after Jesus' ascension into heaven, the angels said this: “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” Christ’s disciples asked about His return in Matthew 24:3: “As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. ‘Tell us,’ they said, ‘when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?’”
This question is not new. In the past 50 years or so, there has developed a cottage industry around biblical prophecy. Many books have been written on the topic of the “end times.” People are often told that Christ’s return is soon and that the events taking place on the world stage point to this. Wars, famine, natural disasters, unrest in the Middle East - all of these are “signs” that Christ is coming back. And we are also told that the astute biblical scholar can interpret these events in light of biblical prophecy to gain hidden insight. But, the predictions about end times events are often grim and troubling. The “end of the world” is something that causes fear and anxiety for many Christians. I’ve talked to numerous Christians in the past two years who are quite literally terrified of current events and the “pending” apocalypse.
This sort of thinking isn’t helpful for the believer. Nor is it biblical. Christ’s return isn’t meant to bring about worry. Rather, it should be a source of hope. Revelation 21:3-4 tells us that when Jesus comes back He will bring about this reality:
“God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” This is something to look forward to. This is reason to be excited.
As far as predicting the timing of Christ’s return, the Bible says quite plainly that it is impossible to know when Christ will return. Jesus himself said so in Matthew 24:36, “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”
Christian, look ahead with hope to Christ’s return, stop worrying about things you can’t change, and perhaps don’t buy books predicting Christ’s return that have second editions.