Expert: Rev. Robert Woods - 8/15/2008

Question
When will Lord Christ come ?

within 50 years ?

Answer
Blessings and thank you for your question.

Short answer:  No one knows when the Lord will return. In fact, Jesus said that only the Father in Heaven knows when. However, if read through the signs of the coming, you will see that almost all of those scriptures have been fulfilled.  There are three that most certainly still to come:  Nations of the earth turning against Israel, Israel signing a peace agreement with the world, and the rebuilding of the Jewish temple on the Holy Mount.  There are many who believe that these 3 signs will take place after the rapture.  

My gut tells me that we don't have long to go.  That things are getting closer and world events are moving us in that direction.  But, almost every generation in history has believed that Jesus would come back in thier generation.

Long Answer:
 There are certain events that are clear and almost universally accepted by all Christians:  the visible and bodily return of Jesus Christ (called rapture by some);  the judgement of all people in the world (Matt 25:31-46); and the creation of the new heavens and the new earth where all the righteous will remain forever (Rev.. 21-22).

There are many different views, however on what order these events are to take place.  They occur because of the idea of the rapture.  Paul speaks of Christians being taken up into the air to meet Jesus Christ at his second coming.  They call this the rapture.  The word rapture is found no where in the Bible.  Many scholars argue over when this rapture will take place in the order of Revelation.:


A.  Christ's return:  there are many different views on when Christ will return.
  1.  Dispensationalists:  made popular by Dr. Scholfield and found in the Scholfield reference Bible, this view believes that there periods of time under which members of the human race are answerable to God for how they obeyed or disobeyed the divine relations they received.  They divide history into several dispensations (periods of time), and believe al history has been pointing toward the second coming of Christ, when salvation will be made complete.  They have seven periods of time:
        a.  Innocence:  from creation to the fall of man
        b.  Conscience:  the covenant with Adam, ending in the Flood
        c.  Human government:  from Noah to Abraham
        d.  Promise:  from Abraham's call to Moses
        e.  Law: from the giving of the law to Moses until the death of Jesus
        f.  Grace:  from the death and resurrection of Christ to the rapture (second                coming)
        g.  Kingdom:  the establishment of God's kingdom on earth and the                   millennium (1,000 year reign of Christ over the nations)
  
  2.  Pre-tribulationists:  Along with Dispensationalists, this group believes that the return of Christ will occur before the tribulation which is marked by the pouring out of the divine wrath upon a Christ-rejecting society, which is not intended for the church and is utterly unsuited to her, however much she may profit by the experience of tribulation in the general sense.
     Advocates of this view believe that God has promised to exempt the church from this period of trouble and judgement that is coming upon the world.  The Rapture is God' way of fulfilling his purpose.
  
  3.  Mid-tribulationists:  they hold that it is improper to speak of the great Tribulation as coextensive with the 70th week of Daniel 9:24, for both there and in the Revelation the period is conceived as divided.  Only the latter half is to be marked by Tribulation. It will be preceded by a period of peace and safety.  Since the saints will be spared the ordeal of the tribulation, the second coming will occur at the midway point.  In substance, this view does not differ from Pre-tribulationists, for both maintain the exemption of the church from the tribulation era.

  4.  Post-tribulationists:  they maintain that the church will remain on the earth during the predicted time of the trouble and wrath, and will experience tribulation but not wrath.  God's wrath comes upon humanity and troubles, testing, and tribulation upon God's people.  Yet God will protect his own when his wrath is manifested.  For Post-tribulationists, no interval will occur between the rapture and the second coming.  In 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10 where the effect of the coming upon both believers and unbelievers is sketched, there is no suggestion that the return has two phases.  

Prophecies Concerning the Last Days
Increase of wars and rumors of war Joel 3:9-10; Matt. 24:6-7
Extreme Materialism   2 Tim 3:1-2; Rev 3:14-19
Lawlessness          Ps 78:8; Proverbs 30:11-14; 2 Tim 3:2-
Population Explosion   Genesis 6:1
Increase in speed and knowledge    Dan 12:4
Departure from Christian Faith    2 Thess 2:3; 1 Tim 4:1-4; 2 Tim 3:5, 4:3-4; 2 Peter 3:3-4
Intense Demonic Activity  Gen 6:1-4; 1 Tim 4:1-3
Unification of the world's religious, political, and economic system Rev 13:4-8, 16-17; 17:1-18, 18:1-24
Universal Drug Usage (the word sorceries can refer to drugs) Rev 9:21
Immoral & Abnormal Sexual Activity Rom 1:17-32; 2 Pet. 2:10, 14, 3:3; Jude 18
Widespread Violence  Gen 6:11-13; Rev 9:21
Rejection of God's word  2 Tim 4:3-4, 2 Pet. 3:3-4, 16
Rejection of God Ps 2:1-3
Blasphemy    2 Tim 3:2, 2 Pet. 3:3; Jude 18
Self-seeking and pleasure seeking   2 Tim 3:2-4
People minus a Conscience           1 Tim 4:2
Religious Hucksters                   2 Pet. 2:3
Devil Worshipers                   Rev 9:20, 13:11-14
Rise of false prophets and Antichrists     Matt 24:5, 11; 2 Pet. 2:1-2
False claims of Peace                   1 Thess. 5:1-3
Great political and religious upheavals   in the promise land Matt 24:32-34
Rebuilding of the temple  Matthew 24:15, II Thessalonians 2:4, Revelation 11:1
Formal organization of the harlot church           1 Tim. 4:1-3; 2 Tim. 3:1-5; Rev. 17
Appearance of the Antichrist and his prophet       Rev. 13
Revival of the Roman Empire                        Dan. 2:41; 7:7; Rev. 13:1; 17:12
The Antichrist's seven-year covenant with Israel   Isa. 28:18; Dan. 9:27
Pouring out of the first six seals                 Matt. 24:4-8; Rev. 6
Mass return of the Jews to Palestine   Isa. 43:5-6; Ezek. 34:11-13; 36:24; 37:1-14
Conversion and call of the 144,000  Matt. 24:14; Rev. 7:1-4   
Abomination of desolation  Dan. 9:27; 12:11; Matt. 24:15; 2 Thess. 2:4; Rev. 11:2
Ministry of the two witnesses    Rev. 11:3-13
Gog and Magog invade Palestine   Ezek. 38-39
Martyrdom of the two witnesses   Rev. 11:7
Martyrdom of the 144,000         Rev.14:1-5
The casting out of Satan from heaven Rev.12:3-15
The destruction of the false church  Rev.17:16
The full manifestation of Antichrist Rev. 13:16-18
Worldwide persecution of Israel      Dan.12:1, Zech. 11:16; Matt. 24:21; Rev. 12:13
Pouring out of the last seal judgment Rev. 8-9; 11:15-19
The messages of three special angels  Rev. 14:6-12
The pouring out of the seven vials of judgment      Rev. 16
The sudden destruction of economic and political Babylon   Rev. 18
The battle of Armageddon    Ps. 2:1-5, 9, Isa. 34:1-6, 63:3-4, 6;
Joel 3:2, 9-16; Zech. 12:2; 14:2-3,12; Rev. 14:14-20;16.16; 19:11-21
  
The Nature of the Tribulation

Unbelievably bloody wars  Matt. 24:6-7; Rev. 6:2-4; 14:20
Drunkenness  Matt. 24:38; Luke 17:27
Illicit sex  Matt. 24:38; Luke 17:27; Rev. 9:21
Gross materialism Luke 17:28; Rev. 18:12-14
Rise of false messiahs and prophets  Matt. 24:5,11-24
Horrible persecution of believers    Matt. 24:10; Rev. 16:6; 17:6
People hiding in the caves of the rocks in fear of God  Isa. 2:19-21; Rev. 6:15-17
The pangs and sorrows of death similar to those of women in labor, to seize people          Isa. 13:8; Jer. 30:6               
Terrible worldwide famines Rev. 6:5-6, 8
Humans to be slaughtered by predatory wild beasts     Rev. 6:8
Disastrous earthquakes     Rev. 6:12; 11:13; 16:18
Fearful heavenly signs and disturbances Luke 21:25; Rev. 6:12-13; 8:12  
Universal tidal waves and ocean disasters Luke 21 :25; Rev. 8:8-9; 16:3
The stars, moon, and sun to be darkened   Isa. 13:10; Joel 2:10, 30-31; 3:15
The moon to be turned into blood             Joel 2:31; Rev. 6:12
The heavens to be rolled together like a scroll Isa. 34:4; Rev. 6:14
Massive hailstones composed of fire and blood to fall upon the earth  Rev. 8:7; 16:21
Huge meteorites to fall upon the earth Rev. 8:8-11
Stars to fall upon the earth   Rev. 6:13
Salt waters and fresh waters to become totally polluted Rev. 8:8-11; 11 :6; 16:3-4
Universal disaster of land ecology                  Rev. 8:7
Events to steadily go from bad to worse             Amos 5:19
A time of thick darkness and utter depression       Joel 2:2
No period in history to compare to it   Jer. 30:7; Dan. 12:1; Matt. 24:21-22
A time of famine of the word of God          Amos 8:11-12
A time of absolutely no escape from God's fierce judgment  Amos 9:2-3
Worldwide drug usage                                Rev. 9:21
Universal idolatry and devil worship                Rev. 9:20; 13:11-17
Murderous demonic invasions                         Rev. 9:3-20
Subterranean eruptions                              Rev. 9:1-2
Scorching solar heat                                Rev. 16:8-9
Terrifying periods of total darkness                Rev. 16:10
Unchecked citywide fires                            Rev.18:8-9,18
A plague of cancerous sores                         Rev. 16:2
The total destruction of the earth's religious,
political, and economic systems                     Rev.17-18
A universal dictatorial rule by the Antichrist      Rev.13
An all-out, no-holds-barred attempt
to destroy Israel                                   Rev.12
Survivors of this period to be more rare than gold  Isa. 13:12
Human blood to be poured out like dust and
their flesh like dung                               Zeph. 1:17
The slain to remain unburied and the mountains
to be covered with their blood                      Isa. 34:3; 66:24
The earth to be removed out of its orbit            Isa. 13:13
The earth to be turned upside down                  Isa. 24:1, 19
The earth to reel to and fro like a drunkard        Isa.24:20
The most frightful physical plague in all history   Zech. 14:12
A 200 mile river of human blood to flow             Rev. 14:20
Scavenger birds to eat the rotted flesh of entire armies
Matt. 24:28, Rev. 19:17-19


SCRIPTURE ON 2nd Coming

Matthew 24
Acts 1:11 - This same Jesus
John 14:1-6 - If I go away
2 Thessalonians 1:7-12 - To you who are troubled
Titus 2:12-15 - Looking for that blessed hope
Hebrews 9:27-29 - He shall appear 2nd time
2 Peter 3:8-13 - ""Day of Lord"" will come
1 John 3:1-2 - When he shall appear, we shall be like
Rev. 1:7 - Every eye shall see Him
Rev. 22:20 - Amen, even so come, Lord Jesus
Philippians 3:2O,21 - Who shall change this body
1 Thessalonians 1:10 - Wait for His Son;
4:13-18 - Caught up to meet the Lord