Did Jesus Use Time Statements to Keep All Generations on the Tiptoes of Expectation?
The New Testament is filled with timing indicators saying the Second Coming would happen soon. Here are five examples:
“The coming of the Lord is at hand…Behold, the Judge is standing by the door” (James 5:8-9).
“For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and not tarry” (Heb. 10:37).
“The end of all things is at hand” (1 Pet. 4:7).
“It is the last hour” (1 John 2:18).
“Behold, I am coming quickly” (Rev. 22:7, 12, 20).
These kinds of time statements can be found on just about every page of the New Testament. And one way futurists[1] try to explain them (away) is by claiming that Jesus and the apostles merely said such things to keep all generations on the tiptoes of expectation.
But does that explanation ring true? It sure doesn’t to me!
First, imagine a guy telling his girlfriend that he will marry her soon, yet all the while never intending to marry her at all in her lifetime. Further, imagine this guy trying to justify it by saying, “I merely told her that in order to keep her on the tiptoes of expectation, so that she would not leave me.” What would we think of such a man? Nothing good!
So why should we think any differently of Jesus, had he done something like that? The Bible portrays the Second Coming as the marriage between Jesus and his bride/the church (Isa. 62:5; Matt. 22:1–13, 25:1-13; Rev. 21:2–3); and Jesus promised it would happen soon (Rev. 22:7, 12, 20)! So if it didn’t happen within the stated time period, then Jesus would be no different than the guy in the example above.
Second, the Old Testament prophets never felt they had to use “soon statements” to keep people on the tiptoes of expectation, so why would Jesus and the apostles? When an Old Testament prophecy was not expected to happen for a long time, that’s exactly what the prophet said. For example, in a prophecy about the coming Messiah, which would not happen for 1,500 years, the prophet said:
“I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not near” (Num. 24:17, italics mine).
Likewise, in a prophecy about “the time of the end,” which would not happen for many centuries, the angel told Daniel:
“Shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end…Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end” (Dan. 12:4, 9).
The Old Testament prophets obviously didn’t think they had to use “soon statements” keep people on the tiptoes of expectation…so why would Jesus and the apostles?
Third, Jesus warned his disciples about false prophets declaring prematurely that the end was near:
“Take heed that you not be deceived. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and, ‘The time has drawn near’…Do not go after them” (Luke 21:8–9, italics mine).
As this passage shows, Jesus warned his disciples not to go after people declaring prematurely that the end was near. So were Jesus and the apostles guilty of doing the very thing Jesus warned against?
Fourth, even if those “soon statements” could be explained away with the “tiptoes of expectation” argument—and they can’t, at least not without turning the Bible into relativistic mush—that still would not account for the many other Second Coming passages that give a specific fulfillment timing. For example, Jesus specifically said he’d come within the lifetimes of his first-century audiences:
“For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. Assuredly, I [Jesus] say to you [Jesus’s first-century audience], there are some standing here who shall not taste death [die] till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom” (Matt. 16:27-28).
At another time, Jesus specifically said he’d come before his apostles finished preaching throughout the cities of Israel, a country about the size of New Jersey:
“But whenever they persecute you [first-century apostles] in one city, flee to the next; for truly I [Jesus] say to you, you will not finish going through [preaching throughout] the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes” (Matt. 10:23).
At another time, Jesus specifically said he’d come within his generation:
“Assuredly, I [Jesus] say to you [first-century disciples], not one stone [of the temple] shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down…They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory…Assuredly, I say to you [first-century disciples], this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place” (Matt. 24:2, 30, 34).
So even if those “soon statements” could be explained (away) with the “tiptoes of expectation” argument, that still would not account for these specific timing indicators.
It’s time Christians admit the Second Coming happened in AD 70!
For more information about the Second Coming, please see my articles “What is a Coming of the Lord?” and “The Reason for the Second Coming.”
Or, for more detailed discussion of the Second Coming and the related events such as the Resurrection, the passing of heaven and earth, and the Great White Throne Judgment, please see my book The End Is Here: How the New Testament Prophecies Were Fulfilled, available NOW on Amazon!
By Alex Polyak, Director of The Bible Fulfilled, 8/1/25.
[1] Futurists believe these five passage (listed in this article) still must be fulfilled, while preterists believe they were fulfilled at Jesus’ coming in judgment in AD 70.
