Bible Study Seattle

One of the great things about prophecy is that no one ever got it 100% right.  Not Noah, Moses, Isaiah, Daniel, David, Peter, Paul, and… even Jesus!  Yes, even Jesus couldn’t see the future 100%!  “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.   As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.”  Matthew 24:36-37

If Jesus did know, but said he didn’t, he’d be a liar, and all Christianity would be a fraud.  So when you see someone say May 21, 2012 is the end of the world, watch out!  They’re a fraud.  Not only do they probably have the date wrong, they probably have the wrong idea about the second coming, just as most did at the first coming.

Jesus will reveal himself to different people at different times and ways just as he did at his first appearance.  First Mary was told by an angel that she would have a special baby conceived of the Holy Spirit.  Then Joseph was told in a dream.  Then Mary visited her sister Elizabeth who was informed.  Finally the baby was born in a very out of the way place, and angels revealed it to night shift shepherds.  A while later, Magi from the east learned of it.  Then Herod heard and became alarmed.  After Herod died, not much happened for 28 years!  Until Jesus was baptized by his cousin John the Baptist.  Then, gradually Jesus’ public ministry grew until at his death everyone around Jerusalem knew who he was.

Thus it will be at his second earthly visit.  He will first come secretly and very few will find out.  Gradually he will reveal himself to more people.  Sometime in the next century (possibly) he will reveal himself to the entire nation of Israel.  And from there gradually everyone who was ever born will know until, “every knee will bow.”  His first coming lasted 33.5 years.  The second will last 1000 years!