Jesus made it clear that no man knows the day or the hour of his return, not even him, only the Father in Heaven. Jesus says his coming will be, "like a thief in the night". It think in my 45+ years in the Church I have heard maybe 100 such predictions, from some crackpot, come and go. I don't really like to hear that someone else has made the same mistake. Such foolishness degrades the integrity of Christianity and the message of truth, that is the Gospel.
MT 24:36 "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.
MT 24:42 "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
There have been may non-Christian speculators surrounding the Aztec calender ending in 2012. I think it is awesome that God has waited beyond 2005 for the Rapture. If the Rapture is pre-tribulation, as I think it to be, then there are at least 7 years left before Armageddon. That destroys the myth of the Aztec 2012 world ending.
We do know that he is coming soon. In the scripture just preceding the one I gave above Jesus says,"MT 24:32 "Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33 Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. 34 I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
The "Fig Tree" is Israel. It spread its branches in 1948. "This Generation" that saw Israel reborn as a nation is listed in the obituary every day. Time is indeed running out quickly!
Further evidence of his coming can be found in the increasing frequency and magnitude of natural disasters, wars, persecution of the Church, and Christian revival in places such as China, North Korea, and Russia.
Again from Jesus in Matthew: " MT 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?"
MT 24:4 Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, `I am the Christ, ' and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.
MT 24:9 "Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
Jesus uses the words "birth pains" They get closer together and more intense. It seems now as though there is almost no separation between groups of bad news. What did we have just in the past two weeks. Travelers trapped in London, France and N.Y., earthquakes in Chile, mudslides in California, tornadoes in the south, snow in the Australian summer, North Korea threatening the South with war and nukes, Christians slaughtered in Iraq and Egypt... tsunami in Japan, floods and tornado outbreaks in the U.S.... !
Finally, another ominous sign is the cornering of Israel. Israel is being backed into a corner all alone. They will come out fighting, but with the entire world against them they will have to rely on supernatural help.
The sequence as I see it unfolding is 1)the supernatural destruction of the forces of the King of the North, but not before major devastation in Israel. 2) A protection Treaty with the AntiChrist though they will not know who he is. 3)God's deliverance at Armageddon.
This week our on U.S. President kicked Israel to the curb and joined their list of enemies. Remember, God has said the throne will be in Jerusalem for a millennium. Satan is saying, "no"! The Real fight is over the worship of the Jews and the city of Jerusalem. Now our President says to Israel, "give it back" to the 1967 borders. That includes "old" Jerusalem and the Temple mount where Christ's throne will be. America will pay a heavy price for this turning away, "unblessing", "cursing" of Israel!
There are not many grains of sand left in the hour glass!
