|
| |
Past "Predictions" as to the
Return of Our Messiah.
Information provided by Todd Strandberg
| Year |
Prediction |
| 53 AD |
Even before all the books of the
Bible were written, there was talk that Christ's return had already taken
place. The Thessalonians panicked on Paul when they heard a rumor that the
day of the Lord was at hand, and they had missed the rapture. |
| 500 |
A Roman priest living in the
second century predicted Christ would return in 500 AD, based on the
dimensions of Noah's ark. |
1000
|
This year goes down as one of
the most heightened periods of hysteria over the return of Christ. All
members of society seemed affected by the prediction that Jesus was coming
back at the start of the new millennium. None of the events required by
the Bible were transpiring at that time; the magic of the number 1000 was
the sole reason for the expectation. During concluding months of 999 AD,
everyone was on his best behavior; worldly goods were sold and given to
the poor; swarms of pilgrims headed east to meet the Lord at Jerusalem;
buildings went unrepaired; crops were left unplanted; and criminals were
set free from jails. When the year 999 AD turned into 1000 AD, nothing
happened. |
1033
|
This year was cited as the
beginning of the millennium because it marked 1,000 years since Christ's
crucifixion. |
1186
|
The "Letter of Toledo"
warned everyone to hide in the caves and mountains. The world was
reportedly to be destroyed with only a few spared. |
1420
|
The Taborites of Czechoslovakia
predicted every city would be annihilated by fire. Only five mountain
strongholds would be saved. |
1524-1526
|
Muntzer, a leader of German
peasants, announced that the return of Christ was near. After Muntzer and
his men destroyed the high and mighty, the Lord would supposedly return.
This belief led to an uneven battle against government troops. He was
strategically outnumbered. Muntzer claimed to have had a vision from God
in which the Lord promised that He would catch the cannonballs of the
enemy in the sleeves of His cloak. The prediction within the vision turned
out to be false when Muntzer and his followers were mowed down by cannon
fire. |
1534
|
A repeat of the Muntzer affair
occurred a few years later. This time, Jan Matthys took over the city of
Munster. The city was to be the only one spared from destruction. The
inhabitants of Munster, chased out by Matthys and his men, regrouped and
lay siege to the city. Within a year, everyone in the city was dead. |
1650-1660
|
The Fifth Monarchy Men looked
for Jesus to establish a theocracy. They took up arms and tried to seize
England by force. The movement died when the British monarchy was restored
in 1660. |
1666
|
For the citizens of London, 1666
was not a banner year. A bubonic plague outbreak killed 100,000 and the
Great Fire of London struck the same year. The world seemed at an end to
most Londoners. The fact that the year ended with the Beast's
number—666--didn't help matters. |
1809
|
Mary Bateman, who specialized in
fortune telling, had a magic chicken that laid eggs with end-time messages
on them. One message said that Christ was coming. The uproar she created
ended when an unannounced visitor caught her forcing an egg into the hen's
oviduct. Mary later was hanged for poisoning a wealthy client. History
does not record whether the offended chicken attended the hanging. |
1814
|
Spiritualist Joanna Southcott
made the startling claim that she, by virgin birth, would produce the
second Jesus Christ. Her abdomen began to swell and so did the crowds of
people around her. The time for the birth came and passed; she died soon
after. An autopsy revealed she had experienced a false pregnancy. |
1836
|
John Wesley wrote that "the
time, times and half a time" of Revelation 12:14 were 10581836,
"when Christ should come" (A. M. Morris, The Prophecies
Unveiled, p. 361). |
1843-1844
|
William Miller was the founder
of an end-times movement that was so prominent it received its own name,
Millerism. From his studies of the Bible, Miller determined that the
second coming would happen sometime between 1843-1844. A spectacular
meteor shower in 1833 gave the movement a good push forward. The buildup
of anticipation continued until March 21, 1844, when Miller's one-year
timetable ran out. Some followers set another date--Oct 22, 1844. This too
failed, collapsing the movement. One follower described the days after the
failed predictions: "The world made merry over the old Prophet's
predicament. The taunts and jeers of the 'scoffers' were well-nigh
unbearable." |
1859
|
Rev. Thomas Parker, a
Massachusetts minister, looked for the millennium to start about 1859. |
1881
|
Someone called Mother Shipton
had, 400 years earlier, claimed that the world would end in 1881. A
controversy hangs over the Shipton writings as to whether or not
publishers doctored the text. If the date was wrong, should it matter
anyway? |
1910
|
The revisit of Halley's comet
was, for many, an indication of the Lord's second coming. The earth
actually passed through the gaseous tail of the comet. One enterprising
man sold comet pills to people for protection against the effects of the
toxic gases. |
1914
|
Charles Russell, after being
exposed to the teachings of William Miller, founded his own organization
that evolved into the Jehovah's Witnesses. In 1914, Russell predicted the
return of Jesus Christ. |
1918
|
In 1918, new math didn't help
the Witnesses from striking out again. |
1925
|
The Witnesses had no better luck
in 1925. They already possessed the title of “Most Wrong Predictions.”
They would expand upon it in the years to come. |
1941
|
Once again, Jehovah's Witnesses
believed that Armageddon was due. Before the end of 1941, the end of all
things was predicted. |
1967
|
When the city of Jerusalem was
reclaimed by the Jews in 1967, prophecy watchers declared that the
"Time of the Gentiles" had come to an end. |
1970
|
The True Light Church of Christ
made its claim to fame by incorrectly forecasting the return of Jesus. A
number of church members had quit their livelihoods ahead of the promised
advent. |
1973
|
A comet that turned out to be a
visual disappointment nonetheless compelled one preacher to announce that
it would be a sign of the Lord's return. |
1975
|
The Jehovah's Witnesses were
back at it in 1975. The failure of the forecast did not affect the growth
of the movement. The Watchtower magazine, a major Witness
periodical, has over 13 million subscribers. |
1977
|
We all remember the killer bee
scare of the late 1970's. One prophecy prognosticator linked the bees to
Revelation 9:3-12. After 20 years of progression, the bees are still in
Texas. I'm beginning to think of them as the killer snails. |
1981
|
One author boldly declared that
the rapture would occur before December 31, 1981, based on Christian
prophecy, astronomy, and a dash of ecological fatalism. He pegged the date
to Jesus' promised return to earth a generation after Israel's rebirth. He
also made references to the "Jupiter Effect," a planetary
alignment occurring every 179 years that supposedly could lead to
earthquakes and nuclear plant meltdowns. |
1982
|
It was all going to end in 1982,
when the planets lined up and created magnetic forces that would bring
Armageddon to the earth.
A group called the Tara Centers placed
full-page advertisements in many major newspapers for the weekend of April
24-25, 1982, announcing: "The Christ is Now Here!" They
predicted that He was to make himself known "within the next two
months." After the date passed, they said that the delay was only
because the "consciousness of the human race was not quite
right..." Boy, all these years and we're still not ready. |
1984
|
The Jehovah's Witnesses made
sure, in 1984, that no one else would be able to top their record of most
wrong doomsday predictions. The Witnesses' record currently holds at nine.
The years are: 1874, 1878, 1881, 1910, 1914, 1918, 1925, 1975, and 1984.
Lately, the JWs are claiming they're out of the prediction business, but
it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks. They'll be back. |
1987
|
The Harmonic Convergence was
planned for August 16-17, 1987, and several New Age events were also to
occur at that time. The second coming of the serpent god of peace and the
Hopi dance awakening were two examples. |
1988
|
The book, 88 Reasons Why the
Rapture is in 1988, came out only a few months before the event was to
take place. What little time the book had, it used effectively. By the
time the predicted dates, September 11-13, rolled around, whole churches
were caught up in the excitement the book generated. I personally had
friends who were measuring themselves for wings. In the dorm where we
lived, my friends were also openly confronting all of the unsaved. It
became my job to defuse situations. In one case, an accosted sinner was
contemplating dispensary action against my now-distant friends. Finally,
the days of destiny dawned and then set. No Jesus. The environment was not
the same as Miller's 1844 failure. To my surprise, the taunting by the
unsaved was very brief. I took it that people have very little
understanding of the Bible, so they had nothing to taunt my friends with.
I made one other interesting observation. Although the time for the
rapture had been predicted to fall within a three-day window, September
11-13, my friends gave up hope on the morning of the 12th. I pointed out
that they still had two days left, but they had been spooked, nonetheless |
1989
|
After the passing of the
deadline in 88 Reasons, the author, Edgar Whisenant, came out with a new
book called 89 Reasons Why the Rapture is in 1989. This book sold only a
fraction of the number of copies his prior release had sold. |
1991
|
A group in Australia predicted
Jesus would return through the Sydney Harbor at 9 a.m., March 31, 1991.
Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan
proclaimed the Gulf War would be "the War of Armageddon ... the final
War."
Menachem Schneerson, a Russian-born rabbi,
called for the Messiah to come by September 9, 1991, the start of the
Jewish New Year. |
1992
|
A Korean group called Mission
for the Coming Days had the Korea Church an uproar in the fall of 1992.
They foresaw October 28, 1992 as the date for the rapture. Numerology was
the basis for the date. Several camera shots that left ghostly images on
pictures were thought to be a supernatural confirmation of the date. |
1993
|
If the year 2000 is the end of
the 6,000-year cycle, then the rapture must take place in 1993, because
you would need seven years of the tribulation. This was the thinking of a
number of prophecy writers. |
1994
|
In the book, 1994: The Year
of Destiny , F. M. Riley foretold of God's plan to rapture His people.
The name of his ministry is “The Last Call,” and he operates out of
Missouri.
Pastor John Hinkle of Christ Church in Los
Angeles caused quite a stir when he announced he had received a vision
from God that warned of apocalyptic event on June 9, 1994. Hinkle, quoting
God, said, "On Thursday June the 9th, I will rip the evil out of this
world." At the time, I knew Hinkle's vision didn't match up with
Scripture. From a proper reading of Bible prophecy, the only thing that
God could possibly rip from the earth would be the Christian Church, and I
don't think God would refer to the Church as "evil." Some people
tried to interpret Hinkle's unscriptural vision to mean that God would the
rip evil out of our hearts when He raptured us. Well, the date came and
went with no heart surgery or rapture.
Harold Camping, in his book Are You
Ready?, predicted the Lord would return in September 1994. The book
was full of numerology that added up to 1994 as the date of Christ's
return.
After promising they would not make anymore
end time predictions, the Jehovah's Witnesses fell off the wagon and
proclaimed 1994 as the conclusion of an 80-year generation; the year 1914
was the starting point. |
1996
|
This year had a special month,
according to one author who foresaw September as the time for our Lord's
return. The Church Age will last 2,000 years from the time of Christ's
birth in 4 BC.
California psychic Sheldon Nidle predicted
the end would come with the convergence of 16 million space ships and a
host of angels upon the earth on December 17, 1996. Nidle explained the
passing of the date by claiming the angels placed us in a holographic
projection to preserve us and give us a second chance. |
1997
|
In regard to 1997, I received
several e-mail messages that pointed to this as the year when Jesus would
return for His church. Two of the more widely known time frames were Monte
Judah's prediction that the tribulation would begin in February/March and
another prediction based on numerology and the Psalms that targeted May 14
as the date of the rapture.
When Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat signed
their peace pact on the White House lawn on September 13, 1993, some saw
the events as the beginning of tribulation. With the signing of the peace
agreement, Daniel's 1,260-day countdown was underway. By adding 1,260 days
to September 1993, you arrive at February 24, 1997.
Stan Johnson of the Prophecy Club saw a
"90 percent" chance that the tribulation would start September
12, 1997. He based his conclusion on several end-time signs: that would be
Jesus' 2,000th birthday and it would also be the Day of Atonement,
although it wouldn’t be what is currently the Jewish Day of Atonement.
Further supporting evidence came from Romanian pastor Dumitru Duduman. In
several heavenly visions, Dumitru claimed to have seen the Book of Life.
In one of his earlier visions, there were several pages yet to be
completed. In his last vision, he noticed the Book of Life only had one
page left. Doing some rough calculating, Johnson and friends figured the
latest time frame for the completion of the book would have to be
September 1997. |
1998
|
Numerology: Because 666 times
three equals 1998, some people point to this year as being prophetically
significant. Someone called me long distance just so he could pass on to
me this earth-shattering news.
A Taiwanese cult operating out of Garland,
Texas predicted Christ would return on March 31 of 1998. The group's
leader, Heng-ming Chen, announced God would return and then invite the
cult members aboard a UFO. The group abandoned their prediction when
a precursor event failed to take place. The cult's leader had said that
God would appear on every channel 18 of every TV in the world. Maybe God
realized at the last minute, the Playboy Network was channel 18 on several
cable systems, and He didn't want to have Christians watching a porn
channel.
On April 30, 1998, Israel was to turn 50
and many believed this birthday would mark the beginning of the
tribulation. The reasoning behind this date has to do with God's age
requirement for the priesthood, which is between 30-50.
1998 Marilyn Agee, in her book, The End of
the Age, had her sights set on May 31, 1998. This date was to conclude
the 6,000-year cycle from the time of Adam. Agee looked for the rapture to
take place on Pentecost, which is also known as “the Feast of Weeks.”
Another indicator of this date was the fact that the Holy Spirit did not
descend upon the apostles until 50 days after Christ's resurrection.
Israel was born in 1948; add the 50 days as years and you come up with.
After her May 31 rapture date failed, Agee, unable to face up to her
error, continued her date setting by using various Scripture references to
point to June 7, 14, 21 and about 10 other dates. |
1999
|
Well, you can't call Marilyn
Agee a quitter. After bombing out badly several time in 1998, Marilyn set
a new date for the rapture: May 21 or 22 of this year.
TV newscaster-turned-psychic Charles
Criswell King had said in 1968 that the world as we know it would cease to
exist on August 18, 1999.
Philip Berg, a rabbi at the Kabbalah
Learning Center in New York, proclaimed that the end might arrive on
September 11, 1999, when "a ball of fire will descend . . .
destroying almost all of mankind, all vegetation, all forms of life." |
2000
|
Numerology: If you divide 2,000
by 3, you will get the devil's number: 666.66666666666667.
The names of the people and organizations
that called for the return of Christ at the turn of the century is too
long to be listed here. I would say that if there were a day on which
Christ could not return, it must have been January 1, 2000. To come at an
unknown time means to come at an unknown time. I think January 2, 2000
would have been a more likely day for Him to call His Church home--right
after the big let down.
On May 5, 2000, all of the planets were
supposed to have been in alignment. This was said to cause the earth to
suffer earthquakes, volcanic eruption, and various other nasty stuff. A
similar alignment occurred in 1982 and nothing happened. People failed to
realize that the other nine planets only exert a very tiny gravitational
pull on the earth. If you were to add up the gravitational force from the
rest of the planets, the total would only amount to a fraction of the tug
the moon has on the earth.
According to Michael Rood, the end times
have a prophetically complicated connection to Israel's spring barley
harvest. The Day of the Lord began on May 5, 2000. Rood's fall feast
calendar called for the Russian Gog-Magog invasion of Israel to take place
at sundown on October 28, 2000. |
2000-2001
|
Dr. Dale SumburËru looked for
March 22, 1997 to be "the date when all the dramatic events leading
through the tribulation to the return of Christ should begin" The
actual date of Christ's return could be somewhere between July 2000 and
March 2001. Dr. SumburËru is more general about the timing of Christ's
second coming than most writers. He states, "The day the Lord returns
is currently unknown because He said [Jesus] these days are cut short and
it is not yet clear by how much and in what manner they are cut short. If
the above assumptions are not correct, my margin of error would be in
weeks, or perhaps months." |
| 2002 |
Priests from Cuba's
Afro-Caribbean Yoruba religion predicted a dramatic year of tragedy and
crisis for the world in 2002, ranging from coups and war to disease and
flooding. |
2004
|
This date for Jesus' return is
based upon psalmology, numerology, the biblical 360 days per year, Jewish
holidays, and "biblical astronomy." To figure out this date,
you'll need a calculator, a slide rule, and plenty of scratch paper. |
2011-2018
|
For the past several decades,
Jack Van Impe has hinted at nearly every year as being the time for the
rapture. Normally, he has only gone out one or two years from the current
calendar year. However, Jack's latest projection for the rapture goes out
several years. His new math uses 51 years as the length of a generation.
If you add 51 years to 1967, the year Israel recaptured Jerusalem, you get
2018. Once you subtract the seven-year tribulation period, you arrive at
2011. |
2012
|
New Age writers cite Mayan and
Aztec calendars that predict the end of the age on December 21, 2012. |
| 2060 |
Sir Isaac Newton, Britain's greatest
scientist, spent 50 years and wrote 4,500 pages trying to predict when the
end of the world was coming. The most definitive date he set for the
apocalypse, which he scribbled on a scrap of paper, was 2060. |
Permission has been granted to
Jewish Heritage Revival for the use of Scripture quotations in its
articles, taken from the Complete Jewish Bible, copyright 1998 by
David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament
Publications, Inc., 6120 Day Long Lane, Clarksville,
Maryland 21029. www.messianicjewish.net/jntp
Copyright © 2010,
Jewish Heritage Revival All rights reserved. With our blessing, please use what
is presented.
|
