The Coming of Messiah in 70 A.D.
What did Jesus and His Apostles say?
There are thousands, perhaps millions, of people who, after reading the Bible, have come to the same conclusion to which one of the most famous atheists, Bertrand Russell, came.
He felt Jesus couldn't be Who He said He was because the things He and His apostles said would happen in their time, didn't happen.
Below are listed a few of the many passages they would point to and say these things were not fulfilled according to the plain reading of the English text.
This list comes from scripture alone and we encourage you to read them for yourself.
Matthew. 10:23 - Jesus said He would return in the lifetime of His disciples.
Matthew 16:27-28 - Jesus said He would return with His angels to judge all men before everyone standing there died.
Matthew 24:29-34 - Jesus said He would return in the clouds with His angels in that generation.
Acts 3:19 - Peter said Jesus would return when all the Old Covenant prophecies were fulfilled. Please note: If the Old Prophesies have not been fulfilled, the Old Covenant is still in effect. Matthew 5:17-18
Romans 13:12 - Paul said, “the day is at hand.” That was said over 2000 years ago!
1 Corinthians 7:28-31 - Paul said, “the fashion of this world is passing away,” and “the time is short”. Again, this was stated over 2000 years ago to that generation.
Hebrews 9:28, 10:37 The writer said Christ would appear a second time for salvation and then asserted "in a very, very little while He that will come, and will not tarry." Is 2000+ years a "little while?"
James 5:7-9 - James urged his readers to be faithful “until the coming of the Lord,” he says, “The coming of the Lord is at hand,” and “The judge is standing right at the door.”
1 John 2:15-18 - John said the world was passing away and “it is the last hour.” Again, the last hour was 2000 + years ago!
Revelation 1:1,3,22:6,7,12,20- this book says many times that its predictions “must shortly come to pass, ” were “at hand, ” were to happen “quickly,” there would be “no more delay,” etc., etc.
Millions of people have read the Bible and said:
“No more delay,”
“Shortly, ”
“Quickly, ”
“Day is at hand,” and
“It is the last hour, ”
Cannot refer to thousands of years!
For more in-depth articles Please see:
• The Greek Word 'Eggus' (Near,Nigh etc)
• The Biblical Timetable of the Return of Jesus - The Greek Word (mello)
• Behold, I Come Quickly - The Greek Word (tachos)
These people have also had problems with Bible teachers taking scriptures like Daniel's 70 weeks and chopping the last 7 years of the prophecy and separating it by thousands of years from the first 69 weeks!
They say if one does this with these kinds of scriptures, then one can turn the Bible into whatever they want!
As a result of Bible teachers twisting scriptures like the ones above and relegating them to our time, many sincere seekers have abandoned Christianity as an institution which declares truth.
They have come to the conclusion that since the church teaches that Christ has not yet come back in His second coming, then Jesus and His apostles were false prophets.
Therefore, they cannot put their faith and hope in Christianity. In many articles on our website, we are going to look at all these scriptures and many more to see if, in fact, they were not fulfilled exactly as stated in the very generation to which Jesus was speaking.
We are going to see, Jesus did return to that generation and fulfil everything He and His apostles said was "right at the door."
This world needs light. Many have abandoned any hope in Christianity, not because Jesus Christ missed it, not because his Apostles missed it or the early believers missed it, but because many Bible teachers and preachers have missed it, big time!
Now may we point out that most if not all preachers and teachers have only continued in what they have had handed down to them in the way of doctrine. They may not be aware that what they have been teaching is not correct!
For those of you reading this are going to have so much joy seeing the Bible come together like it has never been seen before.
We are indeed a blessed people, and we are going to be a blessing to the world.
This study and many more may be lengthy and cannot be completely discussed in one or two articles.
We suggest those who want to study this out completely to do the following:
1. Get a copy of Josephus. Many Christian publishers have produced this work. I recommend trying to find an out-of-print version produced by Zondervan publishing edited by Cornfeld. It may be difficult to locate a copy, but it will be worth it if you find it. Most good seminaries will have more than one version of Josephus. He was a Jewish Priest and military commander who was captured by the Romans just prior to the destruction of the Jewish Temple in 70 A.D.
2. Read the section entitled War of the Jews. You will be amazed!
In 70 A.D. when the Jews were trapped in Jerusalem by the Roman Army, a prophet prophesied that God was going to deliver them. He told them to come to the Temple, the House of God and their God was going to "catch them away." There they waited to be "raptured away" by the God of Israel.
Read and see their fate as narrated by Josephus:
"A false prophet was the occasion of these people's destruction, who had made a public proclamation in the city that very day, that God commanded them to get up upon the temple, and that there they should receive miraculous signs of their deliverance. Now, there was then a great number of false prophets suborned by the tyrants to impose upon the people, who denounced this to them, that they should wait for deliverance from God; and this was in order to keep them from deserting, and that they might be buoyed up above fear and care by such hopes.
Now, a man that is in adversity does easily comply with such promises; for when such a seducer makes him believe that he shall be delivered from those miseries which oppress him, then it is that the patient is full of hopes of such deliverance. Thus were the miserable people persuaded by these deceivers, and such as belied God himself; while they did not attend, nor give credit, to the signs that were so evident, and did so plainly foretell their future desolation; but like men infatuated, without either eyes to see or minds to consider, did not regard the denunciations that God made to them."
Josephus then gave a list of many supernatural signs that God gave Israel, which they twisted to their own destruction. It is interesting to note those who were deceived into thinking God was going to rapture them were burned in their "House of God" which was full of their riches. Josephus writes:
"They also burnt down the treasury-chambers, in which was immense quantities of money, and an immense number of garments, and other precious goods, there reposited; and, to all in a few words, there it was that the entire riches of the Jews were heaped up together, while the rich people had there built themselves chambers, (to contain such furniture). Their riches and their bodies were burned to ashes and blown away by the wind”.
Please see: The War of the Jews which is a free online copy.
I suppose the ashes of their bodies being blown away by the wind could qualify for the term "rapture," or "caught up to meet the Lord in the air, " but I don't think those who believe in a "any day now rapture" have this in mind.
Who knows, perhaps the escapist mentality of today will meet the same fate. Many modern churches are certainly the richest institutions materially today in the entire world. There are certainly many false teachers and preachers in the world today who are predicting a “rapture” from the tribulations that are to come upon the world.
Today, modern churches have used many trickeries to get people to put their money into their churches. Great similarities are seen between the spiritual state of Israel at the end of its age and the present time which many people seem to feel is the end of the “church age”.
Conclusion
The key question seems to be the ability to read the signs.
Before AD 70, the majority of the Jews read the signs wrong which brought about their destruction.
There were some that read them correctly and fled the city before the Roman siege began thus escaping the great tribulation. These escaped the destruction and made the transition from Law to Grace.
History tells us that some of these who fled Jerusalem went to Pella in Syria. They were the ones God used to begin the process of setting up His True Kingdom.
We are so excited about the things that God is revealing to us.
We are thankful to be alive in such a day as today. Truly, we can be messengers of glad tidings of great joy. While many modern-day churches still cling to buildings, land, and material wealth, we are free to give to the world spiritual riches in Christ Jesus. Rejoice, ye new heavens and earth!
