Twenty Prophetic Imminence Passages in the New Testament
1. You shall not finish going through the cities of Israel, until the Son of Man comes. (Matthew 10:23)
2. The Son of Man is about to come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and will then recompense every man according to his deeds. (Matthew 16:27, YLT)
3. There are some of those who are standing here who shall not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom. (Matthew 16:28; cf. Mark 9:1; Luke 9:27)
4. This generation will not pass away until all these things take place. (Matthew 24:34; Mark 13:30; Luke 21:32)
5. From now on, you [Caiaphas, the chief priests, the scribes, the elders, the whole Sanhedrin] will be seeing the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming on the clouds of heaven. (Matthew 26:64; Mark 14:62; Luke 22:69)
6. These are days of vengeance, in order that all things which are written may be fulfilled. (Luke 21:22)
7. If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? (John 21:22)
8. For these men are not drunk, as you suppose. . . But this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel: “And it shall be in the last days. . .” (Acts 2:15-17)
9. It is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. The night is almost gone, and the day is at hand. (Romans 13:11-12)
10. The appointed time has grown very short. (1 Corinthians 7:29)
11. The present form of this world is passing away. (1 Corinthians 7:31)
12. Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. (1 Corinthians 10:11)
13. God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son. (Hebrews 1:1-2)
14. For yet in a very, very little while, He who is coming will come, and will not delay. (Hebrews 10:37)
15. You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. (James 5:8)
16. He . . . has appeared in these last times for the sake of you. (1 Peter 1:20)
17. The end of all things is at hand; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer. (1 Peter 4:7)
18. It is the last hour. (1 John 2:18)
19. to show to His bond servants, the things which must shortly take place (Revelation 1:1; 22:6)
20. The time is near. (Revelation 1:3; 22:10 compare Daniel 8:26; 12:4)
QUESTION: WHY DO CHRISTIANS ROUTINELY IGNORE OR ATTEMPT TO EXPLAIN AWAY THESE PASSAGES?
It is clear that Jesus and the writers of the New Testament taught that THEY were living in the “last days,” and that Jesus would return while some of them were still alive. Where did they get this idea?―from Jesus, of course. Were they wrong? If so, neither the New Testament writers nor Jesus could be inspired—and Christianity falls.
For more about the preterist view, including the rapture theory, check out my website:
https://prophecyquestions.com/
Here is what happened when Titus took Jerusalem in 70 ad:
The siege and attack lasted five months.
It was a typical starve-and-crash assault, which the Romans did wherever they attacked.
The attack was local, involving only Judea.
The Romans crashed the gates, burned the city and crucified just about every last Judean.
No other nations got involved, not even Judea’s neighbors.
There were no heavenly signs.
The world and the reign of men did not come to an end.
After they sacked the city, Titus marched away and life went on for everyone.
Titus eventually became Caesar.
Now, compare this little historical moment in 70 ad to the scope and ending described in apocalyptic scripture.
So many incorrect assumptions in one post.
Congrats!
Preterism
What follows is excerpted from a paper entitled
A Case for the Futurist Interpretation of the Book of Revelation
by Dr. Andrew Woods
“Revelation’s ‘Time Texts’
“The argument most relied upon by preterists to contend for a first century fulfillment is Revelation’s so called ‘time texts.’
“Because Revelation makes use of the words ‘shortly’ or ‘quickly’ or tavcos (Rev 1:1; 2:16; 3:11; 11:14; 22:6, 7, 12, 20), ‘near’ or ‘at hand’ or ejgguvs (Rev 1:3; 22:10), and ‘about to’ or mevllw (1:19; 3:10), preterists believe that they have the literary license to locate the fulfillment of most of John’s prophecies in A.D. 70.
“However, the preterist errs in assuming that these words are technical expressions that always have the same definition every time they are used.
In fact, each of these terms has a broad semantic range and therefore its meaning must be determined by its context rather than through the imposition of an artificial ‘one size fits all’ grid.
“For example, besides always understanding these words chronologically indicating when Christ will return, it is also possible to understand them adverbially or qualitatively indicating the manner of Christ’s return.
“In other words, when the action comes it will come suddenly or with great rapidity. The New Testament allows for such a usage. For example, while it is true that Scripture often uses ‘shortly’ or ‘quickly’ (tacos) in a chronological sense to indicate ‘when’ (1 Timothy 3:14), Scripture also uses the same word in a qualitative sense to indicate ‘how.’
“For instance, Acts 22:18 uses tacos to indicate manner when it says, ‘Make haste, and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’
“The LXX also displays an adverbial use of these expressions by using them in prophetic contexts that would not be fulfilled for hundreds and sometimes thousands of years or more into the future (Isa 13:22; 51:5; Zeph 1:7, 14; Obad 15; cf. Isa 5:26; 13:6; 58:8; Joel 1:15; 2:1; 3:14).
“Given the broad semantic range of these terms, ‘context is king’ in determining whether the chronological or adverbial meaning is applicable.
“Because the context of Revelation involves global events that have not yet come to pass, an adverbial rather than a chronological meaning should be assigned to these words.
“While Revelation’s ‘timing texts’ pose no obstacle to the futurist interpretation, these texts pose considerable problems for the preterist interpreter.
“Partial preterist interpretive problems are created by the fact that Revelation’s ‘timing texts’ are found at the end of the Book of Revelation as well as the beginning (Rev 22:6, 7, 10, 12, 20).
“The partial preterist system still wants to hold to a future bodily appearing and final judgment (Rev 20:7-15).
However,the use of tavcos and ejgguvs in Revelation 22 is injurious to the partial preterist system, because the existence of these words at the end of the book logically leads to the conclusion that the entire Book of Revelation was fulfilled in A.D. 70 rather than just most of it.
“If the use of tavcos and ejgguvs in the early chapters of Revelation lead partial preterists to conclude that most of the book’s prophecies were fulfilled in A.D. 70, then surely these identical words found at the end of the book should also lead to the conclusion that the entire book was fulfilled in A.D. 70...”
https://www.pre-trib.org/articles/all-articles/message/a-case-for-the-futurist-interpretation-of-the-book-of-revelation/read
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Here are additional resources debunking the false teachings of Preterism and partial Preterism:
Has Bible Prophecy Already Been Fulfilled?
by Dr. Thomas Ice
https://www.pre-trib.org/articles/all-articles/message/has-bible-prophecy-already-been-fulfilled/read
Preterism
by Dr. Randall Price
https://www.raptureready.com/2015/08/07/preterism-by-randall-price-pdf/
Gary Demar’s End Times Fiction
by Dr. Thomas Ice
https://www.pre-trib.org/dr-thomas-ice/message/gary-demar-s-end-times-fiction/read
A Review of Hank Hanegraaff’s The Apocalypse Code
by Dr. Thomas Ice
https://www.pre-trib.org/articles/all-articles/message/a-review-of-hank-hanegraaff-s-the-apocalypse-code/read
An Assessment of Kenneth L. Gentry’s Internal Evidence for Dating Revelation
by Dr. Robert Thomas
https://pre-trib.org/dr-robert-thomas/message/an-assessment-of-kenneth-l-gentry-s-internal-evidence-for-dating-revelation/read