Why we should Never set Dates
By Peter Salemi
The Bible states, “…because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” (1 John 4:1). Yes! “Many” not a few “false prophets” are in the world today trying to figure out the second coming of Jesus Christ. Time and time again we see false ministers, pastors, priests reading themselves into the bible! How many times have you and I been subject to these people on T.V., Radio, and the internet boasting how they are God’s chosen Apostle, prophet, Elijah, one of the two witnesses, and the list goes on and on and how they have it all figured out! They think they are special; they think they have a special relationship with God “you and me Lord.” And they know when Christ is coming back. This has been a plague in the world and also in the church of God!
There are even certain ministers claiming to add books to the Bible. One certain pastor says he wrote the “Little Book” mentioned in Revelation 10! Muhammad claimed the Koran is the word of God. Joseph Smith and his book of Mormon is another. Yet the Bible says plainly that after the disciples of Jesus there is NO MORE BIBLE! The scriptures are clear, “Behold, I and the children whom the LORD hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion.” (Isa 8:18). Isaiah and his disciples were a type of Jesus and his disciples for they were “for signs and for wonders in Israel.”
Then it says, “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” (v.20). The law and the testimony this was a sign of God’s true followers as it says in the book of Revelation, “And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God [The Law], and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” (12:17). God’s true followers follow the Bible as the word of God and nothing else! If they don’t speak “according to” the word of God the Bible “it is because there is no light in them.” They are not enlightened by the spirit of God. Their thoughts are their own and not God’s as the Bible says, “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say thou unto them that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear ye the word of the LORD;
“Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit [mind], and have seen nothing!” (Ezekiel 13:2-3; see also Jer 23:16).
Now notice Isaiah 8:16, “Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.” To “bind” and to “seal” means, “Books were made in the form of rolls, and were often sealed when completed - as we seal a letter... The meaning here is, to secure, to close up - perhaps by passing a cord or string around the volume, and making it secure, denoting that it was finished; see Dan 8:26; Dan 12:4.” (Barnes’s Notes, emphasis added). After the Disciples of Christ wrote scripture, the Bible is then sealed and complete-there is no more Bible! The 66 books are the word of God it is complete! Anyone who claims additional scriptures is just another false prophet!
Knowing the Future?
Does God want us to know the future? Yes! Does God want us to predict the future? Absolutely Not! God says He is the only one who knows the end from the beginning, “Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,
“Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:” (Isaiah 46:9-10).
Again, “Produce your cause, saith the LORD; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob.
“Let them bring them forth, and shew us what shall happen: let them shew the former things, what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare us things for to come.
“Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together.
“Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work of nought: an abomination is he that chooseth you.” (Isaiah 41:21-24). None but the true God can discern the future, and predict what is to occur. To be able to do this is proof of divinity to which God often appeals as a demonstration of his own divine character (see Isa 44:7-8; Isa 45:3-7; Isa 46:9-10).
The prophecies of the Bible are then preached to the world as proof of God, letting the prophecies interpret themselves (the Bible interprets the Bible see 2 Peter 1:20). God gave prophecies not just for nations to be warned and telling them to repent (Ezekiel 33), but also for hope of the future-the coming kingdom of God. They are preached, they are given as warning to the nations-especially Israel, but the prophecies are NOT predicted by anyone; not even the prophets predicted them. Whatever timelines, scenarios, and details were given was given to them by God and then conveyed to the people.
But God gave them prophecies “in part-”just enough information for them to understand-an overview of what was to happen. Specifics were not given and there is a reason for this (see below).
A Date Setter in the book of Jeremiah
In the days of Jeremiah one self-appointed prophet tried to put a date on the return of the vessels of the temple and the breaking of the yoke of the King of Babylon, his name was “Hananiah” and he said, “Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.
“Within two full years will I bring again into this place all the vessels of the LORD’S house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place, and carried them to Babylon:” (Jer 28:2-3). But God did not send him and was rebuked by Jeremiah. Jeremiah told him, “Hear now, Hananiah; The LORD hath not sent thee; but thou makest this people to trust in a lie.
“Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will cast thee from off the face of the earth: this year thou shalt die, because thou hast taught rebellion against the LORD.
“So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month.” (28:15-17). Do these so called self-appointed prophets realize what they are doing when they go contrary to scripture? One cannot set their own dates, God gives the dates and time-lines if he wants us to know them-no man can do that! This man was put to death for teaching “rebellion” and having people “trust in a lie.” This is exactly what these self-appointed prophets are doing and are subjecting themselves to God judgment trying to put a date on the second coming of Christ when Christ specifically says no one knows the date!
We only know in “Part”
The Apostle Paul spoke of Prophecies saying, “For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
“But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
“For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” (1 Cor 13:9-10, 12).
Prophecy about the second coming at the moment we can only see “in part” an overview without specifics as mentioned-the reason being, man would try and bring it about themselves and take the glory away from God.
We lack most of the details concerning the actual working out of the fulfillment of any prophecy but, “when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away” God has purposely made prophecy ambiguous so that only he can work out his plan as he sees fit. Even the Apostle Paul said he sees “in part” but then “shall I know” and this is God’s intention, when the day of fulfillment comes-we see HOW God fulfills his prophecies to the letter! Then our faith in scripture strengthens for we then know that the Bible IS God’s word, we can have faith in it, and that God rules over the affairs of men and only He brings about his prophecies and only He fills in the details! God will fulfill his word his way. It is done this way to prove that the Bible was written by God not Men!
That is why human interpretations, additions, charts, graphs, timelines, or detailed applications of Bible prophecies can only lead to mistaken results and wrongly directed zeal. Those are human prophecies-which have failed and will continue to fail because God will only let us see in “part,” and overview not in great detail. The Bible is not the problem, men are! God IS IN CHARGE OF IT NOT MAN!
No Man knows
We all want to know the future and God has put this desire in all of us to know the future because we want hope that a brighter future is coming and it is! God has assured us that it will come. But to know the day, the hour, no one has that knowledge, “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only” (Matthew 24:36). Why? As mentioned above, God will fill in the details and show us how he does it-to demonstrate that the Bible is his word, and that only HE brings his word to pass, and no man can take the credit, or glory-only God will be glorified “only the LORD establish his word” (1 Sam 1:23). To contradict scripture and trying to put dates on the second coming is doing exactly what Hananiah did in his day.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 is an interesting scripture that has been greatly mistranslated by the King James scholars. It says, “He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.”
Let’s break this down:
“He hath made every thing beautiful in his time:”-God is in control of all creation. The Pulpit commentary states, “ ‘Everything:’ (eth hacol) does not refer so much to the original creation which God made very good (Gen 1:31), as to the travail and business mentioned in Ecc 3:10. All parts of this have, in God’s design, a beauty and a harmony, their own season for appearance and development, their work to do in carrying on the majestic march of Providence.” (Emphasis theirs and mine). Everything is under God control “divine providence” and care, this includes the coming Kingdom of God and the second coming, and this is all done “in his time.” It’s when the Father decides! In Mark 13:32 it is added that neither does the Son of God-Jesus knows!
“also he hath set the world in their heart”- This part of the verse has been greatly mistranslated and misunderstood. The same source writes, “ ‘The world;’ eth-haolam, placed (as hacol above) before the verb, with eth, to emphasize the relation. There is some uncertainty in the translation of this word. The LXX. has, Σύμπαντα τὸν αἰῶνα; Vulgate, Mundum tradidit disputationi eorum. The original meaning is ‘the hidden,’ and it is used generally in the Old Testament of the remote past, and sometimes of the future, as Da 3:33, so that the idea conveyed is of unknown duration, whether the glance looks backward or forward, which is equivalent to our word ‘eternity.’ It is only in later Hebrew that the word obtained the signification of ‘age’ (αἰών), or ‘world’ in its relation to time.” (ibid., emphasis theirs and mine). The word “world” meant “hidden” meaning the hidden future. It is later that it meant “eternity.”
The Cambridge Bible says the same, “The Hebrew for ‘world’ (primarily, ‘the hidden’)… the end or beginning of which is hidden from us… In post-Biblical Hebrew it passes into the sense of the Greek αἰῶν, for the age, or the world considered in its relation to time” (emphasis theirs and mine).
The Good news Bible translates it, “He has given us a desire to know the future” But it is “hidden” and only what God reveals is what can be known. The latter end of the verse says, “so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.” Notice, “from the beginning to the end” This is the same expression God uses when he says that no one knows the future but him in Isaiah 46:10. God reveals the future to a certain extant but how he brings it about, “no man can find out the work that God maketh…” Leave the unrevealed details to God, he will bring about his word in “his time” and only God will get the glory.
So people should stop trying to predict future events, only God can do it, and the future can only be found in his word. And if his word says, “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only” then the date of the second coming is NOT revealed so these self-appointed prophets are going against scripture and should stop trying because they are never going to figure it out! It is “hidden” and “no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.”
Always be ready
You know the apostles thought they were living in the time of the end-and it was for them! The people of the Reformation, Luther, Calvin, Hus, Tyndale, and Wycliffe all thought they were living in the time of the end and it was for them. The church of God in the late 19th and 20th centuries all thought they were living in the time of the end. And it was-for them, why?
Notice what Jesus said in Matthew 24 when he was speaking of the time when he would return to set up the Kingdom of God-after he said no one knows the day or the hour:
“But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
“For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
“And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” (vv.37-39). What happened during that time? The “ark was a preparing,” and “Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house” (1 Peter 3:20; Hebrews 11:7). Noah believed God and was preparing himself and his family for the judgment of God on the world. Also during that time, he was “a preacher of Righteousness” and “by the which he condemned the world,” (2 Peter 2:5; Heb 11:7). Noah was preaching to the world God’s law and repentance yet people did not prepare and repent, they were not ready, they did not believe Noah!
Instead the world was “eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,” (Matthew 24:38) meaning life just went on as usually not preparing for the coming judgment of God. They were not ready because they did not believe! It was only when the flood came that they “knew” but by that time it was too late it “took them all away.”
The world then believed as the world does today, “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
“And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.” (2 Peter 3:3-4).
Christ then warned his people, “Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.” (v.42). Interesting, that Jesus said this. This means that people who think they can put a date on the second coming of Jesus Christ and create a neat little time table-are contradicting Christ. Jesus said the exact opposite! It’s actually a time when, “for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.” (v.44; Luke 12:40)-so time table will do no one any good! He told his own disciples that “ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.” We don’t know when Jesus will come, only the Father knows-so he told them to “Watch.”
Mark 13:32-33 says the same thing, “But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.
“Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.” Jesus doesn’t even know the time of his coming it’s when the FATHER DECIDES! And again he says “for ye know not when the time is.”
The word for “time” here is “Kairos” (Strong’s # 2540) meaning “1) due measure
2) a measure of time, a larger or smaller portion of time, hence:
2a) a fixed and definite time…” (Thayer’s, emphasis added). No chart, timetable, or dates worked out will ever tell us when the coming of Christ is. The scriptures are beating us over the head with this message that no one knows the date of the second coming-so when a false prophet comes out and says “he knows” we should not believe anyone who thinks they have figured it out! Remember the warning about false prophets, “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” (Isa 8:20).
Now Jesus said that since we do not know-we should “Watch.” This is what all the Reformers and the church of God have been doing, they were watching all their lives, preparing and being ready always-so for them it was “the time of the end,” “anticipating and requiring the diffusion of His teaching by them among all His disciples, and its perpetuation through all time.” (JFB Commentary, emphasis added).
“Watch”
Jesus said to “Watch” “And what I say unto you I say unto All, Watch.” (Mark 13:37). The Greek word is “grēgoreō” (Strong’s #1127). This word does mean to “observe.” But looking at the context it means, “The Son of man may come at any moment, and we should therefore be ready.” (Barnes Notes, emphasis added).
Like Noah, he was preparing and being ready for the coming judgment of God. Jesus is saying the same for us in this end time. Readiness means to continue in the words of God and be righteous not falling into the trap of this world and her ways of sin. Jesus told his church, “Be watchful [grēgoreō], and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.” (Rev 3:2). Their “works” were not perfect and Jesus told them to be “watchful” meaning “vigilant” in keeping the laws of God. Peter said to be, “Be sober, be vigilant [grēgoreō]; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:” (1Peter 5:8).
Jesus again said to his people, “Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth [grēgoreō], and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.” (Rev 16:15). Spiritually we must be ready always because we do not know when the day or the hour comes!
The Apostle Paul wrote, “But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.” (1 Thess 5:1). Notice that Paul said of the times and seasons there was no “need” to write to them about it. Gill writes, “…to write to them about the time of these things would be trifling and unnecessary, would be an idle speculation, and an indulging a vain curiosity; and, besides, was impracticable: for of that day and hour knows no man; the times and seasons the Father hath put in his own power;… The Vulgate Latin and Arabic versions read, ‘ye have no need that we write unto you’; the reason follows;” (emphasis added)
Then he says, “For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night…But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.” (1 Thess 5:2, 4). It has been taught from this passage that believers would have to know the timing of “the day” (i.e., “the day of the Lord,” v.2) in order to not be “overtaken” by it. But this date-setting interpretation “attaches the wrong sense to Paul’s teaching. Paul is saying that they will not be overtaken because they are prepared by virtue of the fact that they are believers. All believers will be taken care of by the Lord…so that unlike the unbeliever who will be unprepared and caught off guard [see v.3], the believer is prepared.” (Article: “Why the Bible Still Prohibits Date Setting Thomas D. Ice, p.2, emphasis added).
Jesus gives an example of readiness, “But know this, that if the Goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
“Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.” (Matthew 24:43-44).
Jesus said, “know this, that if the Goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.” Jesus is not saying that like the “Goodman” we should know the date of the second coming; Jesus just told us no one knows the day or hour, and that “for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.” The point he is making is to be “ready.” “Therefore be ye also [like the Goodman] ready” A thief is not going to announce when he is going to come. In the case of the “Goodman” it should read as it is in the Greek, “ ‘about the hour,’ when a robber would come, he would be ready for him.” (Barnes Notes, emphasis added). Everyone knows that when a thief comes he comes most of the time late in the night. Like prophecy we know “in part” but not the details so we should always be “ready” and that is Jesus’ main point-to be ready, not the date! “ ‘Though the day and hour be uncertain, continue always in a state of watchfulness, that he may not come upon you unawares.’ Wakefield.” (Clarke’s Commentary).
Let’s heed the words of Christ, let’s always be “ready” with our garments clean and white and, “Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.” (Rev 3:3)-Stay Vigilant!
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