Just how soon is "soon"?

[Neostarwcc]

Okay so Jesus over 2,000 years ago promised his disciples that he would return "soon" and that the end of the age is nigh. But how soon is soon? It's been over 2,000 years already. You would think a statement of soon would be about a period of 500 years or less. To me That's soon. Not 2k+ years. Honestly? I think it'll be another century or so before Jesus comes back. And even with me "setting a date" I'm wrong. So what? We have to wait 5,000 + years for Jesus to come back? What good is that? I mean think about it. The apostles have been waiting for the return of Christ for over 2,000 years now. That's a LONG time. If they have to wait 5,000+ years I can see why the multitude in Revelation were so eager for Christ's return. Especially if they have to wait 5,000 years for it. I mean is Jesus even coming back at all? *sigh*.

 

[CodyFaith]

My opinion? As soon as the gospel reaches every tribe and nation.

That is the reason in my opinion Christianity has spread like wildfire... faster and more noticeable then any other religion or philosophy ever has. In other words, quickly.

Know many places the gospel hasn't reached yet? Neither do I. They are very few. So it is in my opinion we are approaching end times rapidly.

Matthew 24:14
And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

 

[New Birth]

There will be a resurrection my friend. God is giving this world an amazing time of grace, we should be eagerly awaiting the last trump of God to sound and we should be working until it occurs. This is the hope of the Church those asleep and those of us that a alive that there will assuredly will be that great and notable day of the Lord. It is normal to want his appearing to come sooner than later but lets try to save the lost while they still have time.

 

[SeventyOne]

Okay so Jesus over 2,000 years ago promised his disciples that he would return "soon" and that the end of the age is nigh. But how soon is soon? It's been over 2,000 years already. You would think a statement of soon would be about a period of 500 years or less. To me That's soon. Not 2k+ years. Honestly? I think it'll be another century or so before Jesus comes back. And even with me "setting a date" I'm wrong. So what? We have to wait 5,000 + years for Jesus to come back? What good is that? I mean think about it. The apostles have been waiting for the return of Christ for over 2,000 years now. That's a LONG time. If they have to wait 5,000+ years I can see why the multitude in Revelation were so eager for Christ's return. Especially if they have to wait 5,000 years for it. I mean is Jesus even coming back at all? *sigh*.

Hosea 6:1-2 Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him.

The 2nd day is almost over, and I'm waiting somewhat patiently.

 

[LittleLambofJesus]

Okay so Jesus over 2,000 years ago promised his disciples that he would return "soon" and that the end of the age is nigh. But how soon is soon? It's been over 2,000 years already. You would think a statement of soon would be about a period of 500 years or less. To me That's soon. Not 2k+ years. Honestly? I think it'll be another century or so before Jesus comes back. And even with me "setting a date" I'm wrong. So what? We have to wait 5,000 + years for Jesus to come back? What good is that? I mean think about it. The apostles have been waiting for the return of Christ for over 2,000 years now. That's a LONG time. If they have to wait 5,000+ years I can see why the multitude in Revelation were so eager for Christ's return. Especially if they have to wait 5,000 years for it. I mean is Jesus even coming back at all? *sigh*.

Yeah I agree.
I imagine the Jews of today must be wondering the same thing.

"THE TIME IS NIGH AT HAND" AND "COMING IN SWIFTNESS" REVELATION PROPHECY

Strong's Greek: 1451. ἐγγύς (eggus) -- near (in place or time)
1451. eggus from a primary verb agcho
(to squeeze or throttle; akin to the base of 43);
near (literally or figuratively, of place or time):--from , at hand, near, nigh (at hand, unto), ready.

Revelation 1:3
Blessed/happy the one reading, and the ones hearing, the Words of the Prophecy, and the keepings in it having been Written/gegrammena <1125> (5772),
for the Time is NIGH AT HAND/egguV <1451>.
Revelation 22:10
And he is saying to me "no thou should be sealing the Words of the Prophecy of this Scroll,
For the Time Is NIGH AT HAND/egguV <1451>

Strong's Greek: 5034. τάχος (tachos) -- speed
5034. tachos from the same as 5036;
a brief space (of time), i.e.
(with 1722 prefixed) in haste:--+ quickly, + shortly, + speedily.

Revelation 1:1
An-un-covering-revealing of Jesus Christ, which gives to Him, the GOD, to show to the bond-servants of Him,
which-things is binding to be becoming In/en <1722> Swiftness/tacei <5034>.
Revelation 22:6
And said to me: "These, the Words Faithful and True.
And Lord, the GOD of the spirits of the holy Prophets, commissions the messenger of Him to show to the bond-servents of Him
which-things is binding to be becoming In/en <1722> Swiftness/tacei <5034>

Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke's Temple/Jerusalem Discourses harmonized

Matthew 24:3
Yet of Him sitting on the Mount of the Olives, the Disciples came toward to Him according to own saying "be telling! to us,
when? shall these be,and what? the sign of Thy parousia<3952>,
and the full End<5055> of the Age.
====================
1 Peter 4:7
Of all-things yet the End<5056> Has drawn nigh<1448>
be sane then, and be sober into the prayers,

James 5:8
be patient! and stand-fast! the hearts of ye,
that the Parousia<3952> of the Lord has drawn nigh<1448>

 

[Neostarwcc]

My opinion? As soon as the gospel reaches every tribe and nation.

That is the reason in my opinion Christianity has spread like wildfire... faster and more noticeable then any other religion or philosophy ever has. In other words, quickly.

Know many places the gospel hasn't reached yet? Neither do I. They are very few. So it is in my opinion we are approaching end times rapidly.

Matthew 24:14
And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

Yeah but people ha e thought the return of Christ was within their lifetime ever since Christ rose from the dead. I mean obviously Christ has to wait for every single person who he foreknows will accept the gospel to accept the gospel. Because if he did come 500 years after he said soon none of us would have been born or saved. There are still many more saved people that need to be born for Christ to come back. But... How soon is soon? Is soon to Christ like 5,000 years? Idk about you but I'd hate to wait that long. Unless heaven really has some wonderful entertainment or something to keep me occupied for another 3,000 years. You know?

 

[devin553344]

Okay so Jesus over 2,000 years ago promised his disciples that he would return "soon" and that the end of the age is nigh. But how soon is soon? It's been over 2,000 years already. You would think a statement of soon would be about a period of 500 years or less. To me That's soon. Not 2k+ years. Honestly? I think it'll be another century or so before Jesus comes back. And even with me "setting a date" I'm wrong. So what? We have to wait 5,000 + years for Jesus to come back? What good is that? I mean think about it. The apostles have been waiting for the return of Christ for over 2,000 years now. That's a LONG time. If they have to wait 5,000+ years I can see why the multitude in Revelation were so eager for Christ's return. Especially if they have to wait 5,000 years for it. I mean is Jesus even coming back at all? *sigh*.

Yeah maybe we all have thought the same thing about the Lords return But I think it's soon

 

[Neostarwcc]

There will be a resurrection my friend. God is giving this world an amazing time of grace, we should be eagerly awaiting the last trump of God to sound and we should be working until it occurs. This is the hope of the Church those asleep and those of us that a alive that there will assuredly will be that great and notable day of the Lord. It is normal to want his appearing to come sooner than later but lets try to save the lost while they still have time.

That is very true. Well put.

 

[FatalFantasy]

Okay so Jesus over 2,000 years ago promised his disciples that he would return "soon" and that the end of the age is nigh. But how soon is soon? It's been over 2,000 years already. You would think a statement of soon would be about a period of 500 years or less. To me That's soon. Not 2k+ years. Honestly? I think it'll be another century or so before Jesus comes back. And even with me "setting a date" I'm wrong. So what? We have to wait 5,000 + years for Jesus to come back? What good is that? I mean think about it. The apostles have been waiting for the return of Christ for over 2,000 years now. That's a LONG time. If they have to wait 5,000+ years I can see why the multitude in Revelation were so eager for Christ's return. Especially if they have to wait 5,000 years for it. I mean is Jesus even coming back at all? *sigh*.

Jesus is among us now, so the question really is how will he return if he's here already.

 

[Neostarwcc]

Yeah I agree.
I imagine the Jews of today must be wondering the same thing.

"THE TIME IS NIGH AT HAND" AND "COMING IN SWIFTNESS" REVELATION PROPHECY

Strong's Greek: 1451. ἐγγύς (eggus) -- near (in place or time)
1451. eggus from a primary verb agcho
(to squeeze or throttle; akin to the base of 43);
near (literally or figuratively, of place or time):--from , at hand, near, nigh (at hand, unto), ready.

Revelation 1:3
Blessed/happy the one reading, and the ones hearing, the Words of the Prophecy, and the keepings in it having been Written/gegrammena <1125> (5772),
for the Time is NIGH AT HAND/egguV <1451>.
Revelation 22:10
And he is saying to me "no thou should be sealing the Words of the Prophecy of this Scroll,
For the Time Is NIGH AT HAND/egguV <1451>

Strong's Greek: 5034. τάχος (tachos) -- speed
5034. tachos from the same as 5036;
a brief space (of time), i.e.
(with 1722 prefixed) in haste:--+ quickly, + shortly, + speedily.

Revelation 1:1
An-un-covering-revealing of Jesus Christ, which gives to Him, the GOD, to show to the bond-servants of Him,
which-things is binding to be becoming In/en <1722> Swiftness/tacei <5034>.
Revelation 22:6
And said to me: "These, the Words Faithful and True.
And Lord, the GOD of the spirits of the holy Prophets, commissions the messenger of Him to show to the bond-servents of Him
which-things is binding to be becoming In/en <1722> Swiftness/tacei <5034>

Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke's Temple/Jerusalem Discourses harmonized

Matthew 24:3
Yet of Him sitting on the Mount of the Olives, the Disciples came toward to Him according to own saying "be telling! to us,
when? shall these be,and what? the sign of Thy parousia<3952>,
and the full End<5055> of the Age.
====================
1 Peter 4:7
Of all-things yet the End<5056> Has drawn nigh<1448>
be sane then, and be sober into the prayers,

James 5:8
be patient! and stand-fast! the hearts of ye,
that the Parousia<3952> of the Lord has drawn nigh<1448>

Like I said in one of my posts. Jesus has his reasons obviously. Because had he have come at the time the apostles originally expected than none of us would have been born or saved. Christ has to wait for every person to be born and saved. Then his return is probably a short while after that. *shrug* we can only guess when it is. But I find the waiting hard. I posted a thread a while back about this too. Waiting just sucks.

 

[Neostarwcc]

Jesus is among us now, so the question really is how will he return if he's here already.

What do you mean that he's among us now? Do you mean he's in heaven with God the Father?

 

[CodyFaith]

Yeah but people ha e thought the return of Christ was within their lifetime ever since Christ rose from the dead. I mean obviously Christ has to wait for every single person who he foreknows will accept the gospel to accept the gospel. Because if he did come 500 years after he said soon none of us would have been born or saved. There are still many more saved people that need to be born for Christ to come back. But... How soon is soon? Is soon to Christ like 5,000 years? Idk about you but I'd hate to wait that long. Unless heaven really has some wonderful entertainment or something to keep me occupied for another 3,000 years. You know?

I do not believe it will take 5000 years for Christianity to reach every nation. I don't believe it will take 500. It may not be in our lifetime, but in my opinion it very well could be.

In either case, all the saints from years ago who have died are now sleeping waiting for Christ to return. To them, it won't be like waiting thousands of years, but like how you sleep and awake seemingly the next moment, and yet refreshed from your rest. So even if all we have to wait is our own life time... that is not long friend. Life passes us before we know it. Keep yourself busy, do God's will... he will come, it is a guarantee.

 

[LittleLambofJesus]

Yeah but people ha e thought the return of Christ was within their lifetime ever since Christ rose from the dead. I mean obviously Christ has to wait for every single person who he foreknows will accept the gospel to accept the gospel. Because if he did come 500 years after he said soon none of us would have been born or saved. There are still many more saved people that need to be born for Christ to come back. But... How soon is soon? Is soon to Christ like 5,000 years? Idk about you but I'd hate to wait that long. Unless heaven really has some wonderful entertainment or something to keep me occupied for another 3,000 years. You know?

The Jews shown in Revelation 6:10 have been crying out day and night for about 2000yrs now, so what is another 2000yrs........

"DAYS OF VENGEANCE" Isaiah 61:2 and Luke 21:22 Revelation

Isaiah 61:2
To proclaim the year of the good pleasure of Yahweh,
And the day of vengeance<5359> of our 'Elohim, To comfort all mourners.

Luke 4:
17 the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. Unrolling it, He found the place where it was written:
21 and He began by saying,
“Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Luke 21:
22 That days of vengeance<1557> these are, of the to be fulfilled all the having been written

Luke 18:7
Won't God be doing the avenging of his Chosen ones, who are crying out to him day and night,
and yet he exercises patience with them?

Revelation 6:
10 They cried with a loud voice, saying, "How long, Master, the holy and true, until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?"
11 A long white robe was given to each of them. They were told that they should rest yet for a while, until their fellow servants and their brothers, who would also be killed even as they were, should complete their course.

 

[Mike7251]

Well there is an upper limit on soon. We can tell from the decay rate of the earth's magnetic field that we have roughly 2,000 years left before it becomes too weak to be effective. So you would expect soon to be sometime before then.

 

[LittleLambofJesus]

Like I said in one of my posts. Jesus has his reasons obviously. Because had he have come at the time the apostles originally expected than none of us would have been born or saved. Christ has to wait for every person to be born and saved. Then his return is probably a short while after that. *shrug* we can only guess when it is. But I find the waiting hard. I posted a thread a while back about this too. Waiting just sucks.

Yeah. That would include 1 billion Muslims and 1 billion Chinese/Asians........
Probably about another 10,000 yrs, give or take a few 1000, I would think at the rate it is going today.

If you have received Jesus and have been born again, then you should be happy and blessed.......

Jesus sought to comfort the Apostles on the night in the Garden when Judas betrayed Him into the hands of the murderous Judean rulers......
I think John chapts 14-17 may be the longest discourse by Jesus in the NT.
[I have a thread on that if you and/

The ruler of this world coming, judged, cast out

John 14
1"Don't let your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me.
2 In my Father's house are many homes. If it weren't so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you.
3 If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and will receive you to myself;
that where I am, you may be there also. 4 Where I go, you know, and you know the way."

John 14:30
Not much longer I shall be speaking to ye, for is coming/ercetai ἔρχεται<2064> the ruler/chief of the world and in Me not he having nothing

Luke 22:3
Then Satan entered Judas, surnamed Iscariot, who was numbered among the twelve.

John 18:
3 Judas, therefore, having taken the band and officers out of the Chief priests and Pharisees, doth come/ercetai ἔρχεται<2064> thither with torches and lamps, and weapons;
Mat 23:33
'Serpents! brood of vipers!
how may ye escape from the judgment of the gehenna?

Psalms 41:9
Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted,
Who ate my bread,
Has lifted up his heel against me.

 

[Jonaitis]

May 2 Peter 3:1-13 be of great encouragement to you. Remember a thousand years are as one day and one day as a thousand years with the Lord (v. 8). We read that he is bringing in all of his elect until the last one comes in (v. 9), and that last one is worth the wait.

May it encourage you too that between Abraham to Jesus' first advent, this was a period of about 2,000 years (acc. Masoretic). That's practically Israel's existence, is it of no coincidence for the Church age to be somewhere around 2,000 years? Have you noticed that things are looking strange, almost as signs of the times, that the concluding of all things are near. Things dramatically changed and shifted in every area of the common life within the last 200 years, strange. But even if we must wait another thousand years, at least our lifetime is short and we only have to wait that long before entering his presence.

 

[Roidecoeur78]

"However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" Luke 18:7-8

 

[exitstageright]

Okay so Jesus over 2,000 years ago promised his disciples that he would return "soon" and that the end of the age is nigh. But how soon is soon? It's been over 2,000 years already. You would think a statement of soon would be about a period of 500 years or less. To me That's soon. Not 2k+ years. Honestly? I think it'll be another century or so before Jesus comes back. And even with me "setting a date" I'm wrong. So what? We have to wait 5,000 + years for Jesus to come back? What good is that? I mean think about it. The apostles have been waiting for the return of Christ for over 2,000 years now. That's a LONG time. If they have to wait 5,000+ years I can see why the multitude in Revelation were so eager for Christ's return. Especially if they have to wait 5,000 years for it. I mean is Jesus even coming back at all? *sigh*.

Well...time is relative. For example, I remember going to the church that I grew in. It was from 1962 to 1972.I was eight years old until 18 years old. At the time, that seemed like a very long time. Now,at 64 years old, from 2009 to 2019,is still the same amount of time, ten years. But 2009 does not seem that long ago. In other words ,as we get older, the same unit of time seems to go by quickly. As I became older, when I was working, a 15 minute break seemed to get shorter every year. So, there would be times that I would take a 20 or a 25 minute break instead. I wonder how many workers can identify with me on that?
Therefore, since Jesus is older than all of us,he is also known as "The Ancient of Days".Two Thousand years is a short time for him. 2 Peter 3:8 says,
2 Peter 3:8 8 " But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the LORD a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day."
In other words, God is timeless.

 

[Blade]

Hey Neo...I look at it like this.. a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. So.. to GOD Christ has only risen a tad over 2 days ago. So SOON is REALLY soon. Israel becoming a nation and we saw that and all the bad things going on with the earth.. storms earthquakes.. the oceans.. not just here and there but ALL going on the same time.

So for ME the generation that sees this.. will not pass away ...till Christ COMES!

 

[Neostarwcc]

Hey Neo...I look at it like this.. a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. So.. to GOD Christ has only risen a tad over 2 days ago. So SOON is REALLY soon. Israel becoming a nation and we saw that and all the bad things going on with the earth.. storms earthquakes.. the oceans.. not just here and there but ALL going on the same time.

So for ME the generation that sees this.. will not pass away ...till Christ COMES!

That makes sense. Regardless if you believe Adam an d Eve walked in the garden 6-10k years ago or billions of years ago that time still must seem very short to God who is in himself immortal. I mean billions of years to him must pass in the blink of an eye. Or 6-10,000 years ..etc. And it was 2,500 years or so between the time of Abraham and when Christ came the first time. But the apostles are not God. Surely the 2,000+ years that they've had to wait so far has been really long to them?