The Return of the King - Part 1

Christ Covenant Church

1. Why should we be planning for Jesus’ return in 2033 or 2034?

1.1. According to Jewish tradition and the belief of the early church, the shelf-life of God’s first Creation – before the final return of Christ and the beginning of His second and eternal Creation, would be 6,000 years, a corollary to the six literal creation days of Genesis one.

“Six thousand years the world will exist and for one thousand, [the seventh], it shall be desolate [no longer exist], as it is written, ‘And the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day” (Sanhedrin 97a)

“Six eons for going in and coming out, for war and peace. The seventh eon is entirely Shabbat and rest for life everlasting.” - Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus (2nd century A.D.)

“For the day of the Lord is as a thousand years (2Pe 3:8); and in six days created things were completed; it is evident, therefore, that they will come to an end at the sixth thousandth year.” - Irenaeus[1] (130-202 A.D.)

“Give heed, children, what this means; ‘He ended in six days’ (Gen 1:2): He means this, that in six thousand years the Lord shall bring all things to an end; for the day with Him signifies a thousand years; and this He himself bears me witness, saying; “Behold, the day of the Lord shall be as a thousand years” (2Pe 3:8). Therefore, children, in six days, that is in six thousand years, everything shall come to an end.” - The epistle of Barnabas[2] (75 A.D.)

“And 6,000 years must needs be accomplished, in order that the Sabbath may come, the rest, the holy day on which God rested from all His works. For the Sabbath is the type and emblem of the future kingdom of the saints, when they shall reign with Christ, when He comes from heaven, for ‘a day with the Lord is as a thousand years’ (2Pe 3:8). Since, then, in six days God made all things, it follows that 6,000 years must be fulfilled.” - Hippolytus[3] (170-235 AD)

1.2. Peter confirms this as God’s view (2Pe 3:1-13) = God’s first Creation was never meant to last forever. From the beginning there has been a date “reserved” when all of it will be destroyed by fire. This will be followed by a judgment of humanity to determine who is worthy to enter His new (and eternal) Creation. This day will also fulfill the “promise” of Jesus’ return and can be calculated by viewing each day of His Creation as representing 1,000 years (v8). Just as there were 6 days for man to work, there will be six thousand years allotted to humanity to do the work of God and determine who among them is worthy to enter the “new heavens and earth where righteousness dwells” (v13). Or as the writer of Hebrews refers to it, God’s eternal Sabbath (or seventh day) rest (Heb 4:9).

1.3. Peter’s preaching on Pentecost revealed only 2,000 years left after the ascension of Christ.

(Act 2:17-20) = Peter’s divinely inspired interpretation of Joel 2:28 as “And it shall be in the last days” indicates that the IPO of the indwelling Spirit marks the beginning of the final two millennia before the Sabbath millennium/time of Christ’s return. Why? 1) Peter indicates there will be plural days [or millennia] before the end – or Christ’s return (17, “last days”). 2) At the time of Jesus’ earthly ministry, we were already somewhere in the range of 4,000 years – which means Peter’s reference cannot be three or more.

This puts Jesus’ return somewhere around 2033/34 (or two thousand years after Christian Pentecost which took place in 33/34 A.D.).

2. Why should we be confident that it is exactly two thousand years (versus two thousand and fifty years, etc.,)?

2.1. We serve a God Who – in human terms, is OCD and likes to do history in neat, complete and repeated packages. Which means nothing is arbitrary or imprecise. Everything has meaning and is connected. God’s past acts and intentions always establish patterns and principles that will be followed in the future. God therefore making the number of millennia for Creation’s shelf-life match exactly the number of days He took to create it should come as no surprise. It is what we should expect. Examples of other things where we see such meaningful redundancy: 1) The first verse of the Bible which introduces us to God’s week of Creation (Gen 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”) is seven words (in Hebrew), followed by seven paragraphs which unpack the six days whose end goal is the Sabbath – or the seventh day. 2) There exists no overlap or spill-over with respect to the things assigned to the days of Creation (e.g., all creatures of the water and air on the fifth day only, all creatures of the earth on the sixth day only). 3) God saw to it that Jesus’ genealogy was communicated as three complete sets of 14, the numerical value of the Hebrew letters “dwd” (David) to emphasize (hence the reason for three), His identity as the Messianic son of David (Mat 1:17).

2.2. Paul communicates that Jesus’ death closed out the prior redemptive epic (Gal 4:4-5 = Jesus’ death marked the end of the OC and ushered in the NC – the time when Gentiles [those not “born under the Law” or OC] could receive “adoption as sons”).

2.3. Jewish tradition also supports this understanding:

“The world will exist for six thousand years: two millennia of waste as the Torah had not been given; Two millennia of Torah (i.e., years under the Old Covenant); and then two millennia of the age of Messiah (i.e., years under the New Covenant which was ratified – or began, at Jesus’ death – Mat 26:28 w/Heb 9:15-16).” - Tractate Avodah Zarah [9a] (3rd century A.D.).

2.4. POINT NOT TO MISS: to bet on 2033/34 as Jesus’ return date is to bet on God based whose past behavior – which has not only been perfectly consistent but committed to repeating previously established principles or patterns. IOW: Our God is a God of redundancy.

3. Why will so many people be caught off guard by Jesus’ return?

3.1. They mistakenly believe they can’t know the year of His return and so don’t attempt to figure it out (Mat 24:32-36 w/42) = “Day and hour” cannot be known, but there will be signs that His return is “near” (i.e., signs related to specific years).

3.2. They will be reading the wrong signs. (Mat 24:37-41) = The actions and events of humanity listed in these verses indicate that humanity at the time of Christ’s return will be under the impression that they had many more years to live on this earth (e.g., marrying and giving in marriage” w/1Co 7:29-31).[4]

4. What should be our gospel witness during the time we have remaining?

We should be bold about telling people that Jesus is returning in 2033 and 34, explaining why we know that to be true and calling them to get right with God before it is too late (along with boldly telling those who think they are right with God yet believe in a false gospel that they are not) followed by sharing how the Bible says we get right and stay right w/God (i.e., we gain it by faith and must maintain it by faithfulness). This form of witnessing is one of the reasons John the Baptist was so successful in his evangelism of the lost (Luk 3:7) = John’s question (“who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”) only makes sense if this was part of his message. IOW: John was preaching (and baptizing) w/respect to a soon approaching Messianic judgment day (i.e., Jesus’ 1st return in 70 A.D. and His divorce from OC Israel; See vv15-18).

5. What should we be doing in the time we have remaining?

4.1. Abstaining from all forms of sexual sin (Rev 14:4).

4.2. Stop practicing those things that weaken our willpower and lead to apostasy (Luk 21:34-36) “have strength to escape all these things” = The things happening in the final days are sure to test the resolve of every person’s willpower – including us (i.e., our commitment to true Jesus and His gospel of gain and maintain). The end for many will be apostasy because a big part of their everyday lives was the practice of those things that weakened their willpower. This is what Jesus is getting at when He warns, “Be on guard (Be training yourself for the battle to come), so that your hearts (i.e., your willpower) will not be weighted down (i.e., weakened) by dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life.” These three represent those things that weaken the human will and make it near impossible to stand firm or be faithful when what you believe is no longer convenient (when you are now suffering because of it). For those persons, the “day” of the Lord’s return and the craziness of the world prior to it will “come on (them) like a trap.” They will be ambushed, overwhelmed and unable to sustain their right standing before Jesus (to “stand before the Son of Man”).

What (then) these three willpower-weakening words or phrases represent (or refer to):

1) “dissipation” = Activity that has no spiritual profit or is worthless for spiritual growth and strengthening (Eph 5:18 w/v17 and 19).

2) “drunkenness” = Escape from pain or reality (Pro 31:6; Luk 14:25-35).

3) “worries of this life” = Knowledge above trust (Gen 22:1-18), status above truth (2Co 13:7-8), safety above loyalty (Heb 10:32-39), pleasure above integrity (Heb 11:24-26). To keep my willpower strong (and endure to the end – Mat 24:13), I need to make sure that none of these things characterize me. Best way to find that out is by asking someone who possesses the necessary discernment and dedication to your well-being to give you an accurate answer.

4.3. Don’t grow weary in doing good (1Co 15:58; Gal 6:9 w/Eze 18:24; Mat 10:22 and 24:13).

4.4. Increase in our love/loyalty for one another/the church family (Gal 6:10; 1Th 3:12-13; 1Pe 4:8). Why increasing in our love/loyalty to the church is so important? B/C:

1) it is impossible to love/be loyal to God w/o loving/being loyal to His church. Hence why Jesus says the second greatest commandment is “Iike” the first (Mat 22:37-39) – b/c it is thru faithfulness to the second (love/loyalty to the church) that we fulfill the first (love/loyalty to God).

2) Satan has employed measures meant to cause apostasy in many whose love/loyalty in this area is weak (Mat 24:10-12) = Apostasy wb the result of covenant community betrayal (“hate [for] one another”… “love [growing] cold”) fostered by the satanic influence of false teachers preaching “lawlessness” (i.e., your salvation requires no obligation of loyalty to the covenant community).

4.5. Gain and/or strengthen your conviction about what you believe – especially as it relates to the gospel. BTW: if you can’t biblically defend what you believe or sufficiently explain it to someone else, then you do not possess personal conviction about what you believe. Why? B/C conviction is only produced through comprehension and critical analysis (Tit 1:9 [“hold firm” = possess conviction about what he believes which comes from - and leads to, the ability to explain it and defend it -i.e., comprehension and critical analysis]; 1Th 5:21; 1Ti 4:7-8; 2Pe 3:17 w/18; Col 2:6-7 w/8; Eph 4:13 w/14; 1Pe 4:7 “sound judgment” [impossible w/ comprehension and critical analysis]).

An example to demonstrate the importance of comprehension and critical analysis to possessing conviction w/respect to biblical gospel of gain and maintain: Lack of comprehension and critical analysis of the OT - or more specifically, the distinction that must be made between sacrifice for atonement (to clean what is unclean not necessarily due to sin – e.g., things related to death such as bodily discharges) and punishment for sin (to restore justice) is one of the main reasons all current branches of Christendom hold such strong convictions regarding penal substitution and the false gospel of Faith Alone[5].

4.6. Trust and obey your pastors - especially when things get crazy: 1) only they possess the keys for binding in justice and loosing in forgiveness (and binding must happen if there is to be loosing) (Mat 18:18). IOW: you are not getting to heaven w/o them (Psa 132:15; Heb 13:17; ). 2) only they possess absolute authority (and if you are just, you want that) (Mat 16:19; Joh 20:22-23). 3) only thru them will God lead His people in the way of truth. IOW: they will be the ones possessing God’s special discernment during the difficult times/for identifying what is false and what is true (Mat 18:20; Eph 4:11-14). FOOD FOR THOUGHT: you will never meet a person in heaven who distrusted and disobeyed Jesus’ pastors (w/o biblical due process).

4.7. Be aware of what has come and what is still coming (“knowing is half the battle” – G.I. Joe; 1Th 3:1-4; See Diagram).

CLOSING CONTEMPLATION: What significant role might the red heifers play in the events leading up to Jesus’ return? [VIDEO: https://youtu.be/8Co3C7gXWGA?si=3VZgORpTI-QZYIPN]

[1] Early Church Father and disciple of Polycarp who was a direct disciple of the apostle John.

[2] Early Church Fathers Clement of Alexandria (150-215 A.D.) and Origen (184-253 A.D.) attributed the epistle of Barnabas to the apostle and travelling companion of Paul mentioned in the book of Acts (Act 14:14). The epistle of Barnabas was considered so important to early Christianity that it was included as an addendum in the back of early bibles until the 4th century – e.g. Codex Sinaiticus [Sinai Bible]).

[3] Early Church Father and Bishop of Rome.

[4] Though Paul’s original audience was thousands of years away from Jesus’ final return, they were less than two decades away from His first return (70 A.D.). Scholars place the writing of the first letter to the Corinthians between the years 53-55 A.D.

[5] In the final analysis, the FAG is the gospel of the Roman Catholics also since all whose possess it eventually get to heaven.