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Verse:“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.” —Matthew 24:36
On September 18, 2015, The Jim Bakker Show aired from the United States, featuring Pastor Mark Biltz of El Shaddai Ministries.
The program was about the final blood moon of September 28, 2015, imagined to be the last sign before Christ’s return to establish His supposed millennial kingdom in Jerusalem. Jim Bakker even advertised his urgent survival kit —a bulk, basic eight-year food supply for $2,500; a trifold shovel for $20; a solar energy radio for $65; and a fuel-less generator for $2,500. This is just one example of many similar time-setting propositions throughout the ages. People who suggest the new date of Christ’s return assume that all previous attempts were mistaken and that they have finally discovered the correct one. In 1850, Ellen White warned, “Time has not been a test since 1844, and it will never again be a test.”68 Even so, some Adventists have presumed to set specific years for Christ’s return. Some believed that the 40 years of Israel’s pilgrimage in the wilderness represented the period from 1844 to 1884. Others argued that an end-time fulfillment of the 120 years of Noah’s preaching would extend from 1844 to 1964.
As the nineteenth century turned into the twentieth, some were encouraging Adventist couples to have and adopt as many children as possible so that the 144,000 would be reached and Christ would return.
Still others speculated about a supposed end of the 6,000 years since Creation by 1996 or 1997. Revivals based on time are like a comet that shines brightly for a short while and then disappears on the horizon.
Much excitement precedes the proposed date, but frustration and spiritual lethargy follow. Those who set dates for Christ’s return read into the Bible their own speculative views. Ellen White reminds us, “The more frequently a definite time is set for the second advent, and the more widely it is taught, the better it suits the purposes of Satan.” Knowing our tendency to procrastinate, Christ identified the signs of His soon coming (Matthew 24; Luke 21) without revealing the time when the events would occur.
Therefore, we must “watch” and “be ready” for His coming, for we do not know when He will come (Matthew 24:42, 44). Let’s prepare to meet Him soon!