Over the years, there have been many people who have tried to predict when the Lord is going to return. While there are too many names and predictions to mention, in this article we will look at a few.
1836 (John Wesley)
Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church, foresaw the Millennium beginning this year. He wrote that Revelation 12:14 referred to the years 1058–1836, “when Christ should come”. [1]:37[11]:269
1874 (Charles Taze Russell)
The first president of what is now the Watchtower Society of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, calculated 1874 to be the year of Christ’s Second Coming, and until his death taught that Christ was invisibly present, and ruling from the heavens from that date prophesied.[16][17][18][19] Russell proclaimed Christ’s invisible return in 1874,[19]:175 the resurrection of the saints in 1875,[19]:104–108 and predicted the end of the “harvest” and a rapture of the saints to heaven for 1878,[19]:68, 89–93, 124–126, 143 and the final end of “the day of wrath” in 1914.[19]:189 1874 was considered the end of 6,000 years of human history and the beginning of judgment by Christ.[20]
1901 (Catholic Apostolic Church)
This church, founded in 1831, claimed that Jesus would return by the time the last of its 12 founding members died. The last member died in 1901. [23]:87
2011 Sep 29, 2012 May 27, 2013 May 18 (Ronald Weinland)
Weinland predicted Jesus would return on September 29, 2011.[31][32][33] When his prediction failed to come true, he moved the date of Jesus’ return to May 27, 2012.[34] When that prediction failed, he then moved the date to May 18, 2013, claiming that “a day with God is as a year,” giving himself another year for his prophecy to take place. Weinland was convicted of tax evasion in 2012 and sentenced to 3 1/2 years in federal prison.
Friends, the earliest prediction concerning Christ’s date of return was proclaimed in 500 A.D. The latest recorded prediction was made with the date of 2057 as the time of the great return of Jesus Christ.
We cannot be swept away by man’s predictions, but rather we should trust in the Holy Scriptures. This is what has been recorded for our learning.
Matthew 24:36 – “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only”.
1 Thessalonians 5:2-3 – 2 “For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. 3 For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape”.
Matthew 24:37-39 – 37 “But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be”.
Matthew 25:13 – 13 “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour [a]in which the Son of Man is coming
Luke 12:40 – 40 “Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
Some religious people today are not satisfied with the proclamations of the Word of God in their fulness. The Biblical teaching is clear. Man can try with all his might to predict when Jesus Christ will return. He will labor to no avail.
In my studies concerning the second coming of Christ, it has long been my conclusion that man will never be right concerning the date of Christ’s return. God will be right every time. God will choose the date. God will set the time, and we will never know when it will be.
If Jesus Himself said “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only”, then no one will know.
For fun let’s imagine that by some chance one can predict the date and have it right. I believe God would set the return for the next day! For no one knows when that day will be.
Let us maintain our Christianity, let us stay unspotted from the world, let us keep sin out of our lives, let us keep the church pure, and let us stay the perfect bride for the Christ, that when he returns we will be ready receive Him.
Revelation 22:20 – 20 “He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.” Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!”