The Return of Jesus

The Return of Jesus - When?

By Robert Lakey

Introduction

"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." (2 Peter 3:8)

If the above verse gives humanity a clue as to when Jesus will return to Earth, would you want to know?Jesus returned from earth into heaven two thousand years ago to prepare a place for His followers.

“…I am going to prepare a place for you…And I am coming again…” (John 14:3)

The Bible gives some details on that return.

“This is how it will happen. Jesus Himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout…then the believers who have died will rise from the dead. At the same time those of us who are still alive will rise with them through the clouds to meet Jesus in the air. After that we will be with Him forever. So, encourage each other with these words." (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18)

In my search for clues about the year Jesus may return I made some assumptions along the way as follows:

First, I assumed that the Bible is Word of God.

Second, I assumed that the Bible discloses a 7,000-year period from the creation of Adam to the destruction of the present earth.

Third, I assumed that the prophecy found in Daniel chapter nine refers to 490 years.

Fourth, I assumed the Masoretic Text to be the most accurate text of Genesis, rather than the LXX.

Fifth, I assume that the biblical year begins on Tishri 1, not January 1.

If my assumptions are true, and I admit I cannot prove them to be so, then I find that the Bible discloses that Jesus will return 2,035 years after His birth. Therefore, I suggest 2035 AD as the year of his return!

Following is the details of how I came to my conclusion.

Chapter One

Years from the Creation of Adam to the Birth of Jesus

The Bible gives us the years from the birth of Jesus back to the creation of Adam. Those years add up to exactly three thousand nine hundred sixty-five years (3,965) as follows.

Jesus’s birth back to end of the Babylonian Captivity 483 years

(Daniel 9:24-25)

Years in captivity 70 years

(Jeremiah 25:11)

End of the reigns of the Kings of Judah back to start of the Temple 419 years

(1 Kings 6:1 through 2 Kings 24:8)

Start of Temple back to the Exodus from Egypt 480 years

(1 Kings 6:1)

Exodus back to Abraham’s entry into Canaan 430 years

Exodus 12:40-41; Acts 7:4)

Entry into Canaan back to beginning of world-wide flood 427 years

(Genesis 5:3-32; 7:6. 11; 11:30)

Flood back to creation of Adam 1,656 years

(Genesis 2:7 through 3:23)

Sum of the years from birth of Jesus birth back to creation of Adam 3,965 years

Adding 2,035 to those 3,965 years brings us to a total of 6,000 years from the creation of Adam to the return of Jesus. We are told in the book of Revelation that after Jesus returns, He will reign on this earth for 1,000 years, 7,000 years from the creation of Adam.

NOTE: All AD/BC dating should begin with the birth of Jesus. His birth is a point on a timeline, and that point has a value of 0. Going back toward the creation of Adam would be one year (the year 1BC) and going forward to the return of Jesus would be year one (the year 1AD). There are two years between the end of 1BC and the end of 1AD. (BC 1< 0 > 1AD). The modern argument that Jesus was born in 4BC or any other year is rejected in this book as a non biblical argument requiring secular writings outside of the Bible to identify those birth dates. Again, my assumption is that the biblical year does not begin on January 1st, but on Tishri 1. Tishri 1is in the fall of a Gregorian Calendar year. Therefore, Jesus was born in the fall of 1BC.

Chapter Two

One Hundred Twenty Jubilees

“Count seven times seven years, a total of forty-nine years. Then, on the tenth day of the seventh month, the Day of Atonement, send someone to blow a trumpet throughout the whole land. In this way you shall set the FIFTIETH year apart and proclaim freedom to all the inhabitants of the land. A Jubilee year shall this one be..." (Leviticus 25:9-11)

"Then the LORD said, "I will not allow humanity to live forever; they are mortal. They will live 120 years." (Genesis 6:3)

The Hebrew word translated "years" is "shanah" and refers to a repeated period of time. It usually refers to years however it could also refer to any repeated period of time.

As I understand the Hebrew word "Jubilee" it refers to a special event repeated on the fiftieth year following a 49 year span of time. The Jubilee for the Jewish people is a special event when every slave is to be set free, all financial debt cancelled, and all their allotted land returned to the original owners, or their heirs.

I think God was telling Noah that he would limit humanity's dominion of the Earth to 120 fifty year Jubilees. If so, 120 Jubilees from Adam's creation to the return of Jesus would be a total of six thousand years (120 X 50 = 6,000) when the reign of Jesus begins and lasts 1,000 years.

Another reason I do not think Genesis 6:3 is a reference to the lifespan of humans is that some humans who lived after God's 120 year declaration lived much longer than 120 years, for example…

“… when Shem was one hundred years old, he had a son, Arpachshad. After that, he lived another five hundred years.” (Genesis 11:10-11)

Coincidence? You decide for yourself.

Chapter Three

Years from the Rejection of Jesus to His Return

"The people say, “Let us return to the LORD! He has hurt us, but He will be sure to heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage our wounds, won't he? After TWO DAYS, DURING THE THIRD DAY he will revive us, and we will live in His presence. Let us try to know the LORD. He will come.” (Hosea 6:1-3)

Israel rejected Jesus as their Messiah when He came the first time, and the Romans crucified Him at Israel’s request. Nevertheless, Jesus forgave them because they did not understand what they were doing.

“Father, forgive them, they do not understand what they are doing." (Luke 23:34)

The crucifixion of Jesus occurred on the preparation day for the Jewish Passover festival which is a celebration of the deliverance of Israel from Egyptian slavery. That Israel would be saved even after rejecting their Messiah was a secret revealed to the Apostle Paul.

“I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you will not be conceited: A hardening in part has come to Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come from Zion; He will remove godlessness from Jacob. And this is My covenant with them when I take away their sins.” (Romans 11:25-27)

Israel has been punished for rejecting Jesus for almost two thousand years. It is interesting that the prophet Hosea told Israel that after “two days” their Savior would come to heal them - and Jesus is their Savior! If one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, Hosea could have been telling Israel that their Messiah and Savior would return and heal Israel 2,000 years after they had crucified Him. That healing would then take place during the third day, the 1,000 year reign of Jesus following His return. Jesus told His followers they should watch for His return.

“At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to happen, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near…So keep watch at all times, and pray that you may have the strength to escape all that is about to happen and to stand before the Son of Man.” (Luke 21:27-28, 36)

Coincidence? You decide for yourself.

Chapter Four

The Day Jesus Was Crucified

"...He went out, carrying His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which in Hebrew is called, Golgotha. There they crucified Him." (John 19:17-18)

The Jewish festival of Unleavened Bread begins on Passover. It is a multi-day holiday season celebrating Israel’s exodus from Egypt.

"Then the Jews, because it was the day of preparation, so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a HIGH DAY), asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away." (John 19:31)

In addition to the weekly sabbath, there are two “high” sabbath days during the festival of Unleavened Bread. The two “high” days are known as Passover and Firstfruits. The day before each of the three sabbaths is a "day of preparation". On the first day of preparation the Jewish people prepare to eat the Passover meal after sunset. The Passover "high day" begins at sunset following the day of preparation when the Passover meal was eaten beginning the first of the seven days of the festival of Unleavened Bread. The second "high day" of that week is called Firstfruits. It begins at the sunset ending the weekly sabbath of the seven-day festival.

Jesus told the Jewish leaders that the only miracle they would be given to prove He was the Messiah was that He would die and remain entombed for three days and three nights.

"The only miracle you will be given is the miracle of the prophet Jonah. In the same way that Jonah spent three days and nights in the big fish, so will the Son of Man spend three days and nights in the depths of the earth. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." (Matthew 12:39-40)

Again, there are three sabbath days during the seven-day festival of Unleavened Bread and a preparation day preceding each. It is clear to me that the events occurred as follows:

Jesus ate the Passover meal with His disciples after sundown on what we would now call Tuesday night.

He was crucified the next day (what we now call Wednesday) at about noon of the day of preparation for the high sabbath called Passover. He died at 3:00 and was entombed just before sunset (Wednesday).

He was in the tomb for three nights (Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday) and three days (Thursday, Friday and Saturday).

He was raised from death following the weekly Sabbath day (what we now call Saturday) at sundown. After sundown began the first day of the week - the high sabbath day of Firstfruits.

At sunrise (what we call Sunday morning) the women came to the tomb and was told Jesus had been raised to life.

Only the above scenario fulfills all the biblical accounts I find in the scripture about His crucifixion, entombment, and resurrection.

The bible uses a lunar calendar and does not recognize the names of the days of the week we currently use which were invented by the Romans. Therefore, the Roman day during the events of the festival of Unleavened Bread changes from year to year. For Jesus to have been crucified in 35 AD the festival had to began on what we now call Wednesday. See the following Hebrew Calendar website and the day of the week calculator websites.

http://www.cgsf.org/dbeattie/calendar/?roman=35

http://www.searchforancestors.com/utility/dayofweek.html

These websites show that in 35 AD, Passover was on Wednesday, April 11.

If I am correct, then Jesus was crucified in 35 AD. If Jesus is to return 2,000 years after His crucifixion it will be during the year 2035 AD - 6,000 years from the creation of Adam.

So, will Jesus return in AD 2035 to begin the Millennium or is all of the above just a coincidence?

Again, you decide for yourself.

Chapter Five

The Year of the Resurrection and Removal of Believers

If Jesus returns in AD 2035 it will also be the year in which the Millennium starts. However, the Bible teaches that Jesus will return for believers in the body of Christ before that time. They will be called up into the air to meet Him. It will occur before a period of time when the wrath of God falls from heaven upon the world government of that time, and its leader, called the wild beast (Antichrist).

Following are Bible verses that indicate to me that the removal of believers (Rapture) is before 2034 AD.

"For the LORD has a day of vengeance, a year of retribution for the cause of Zion." (Isaiah 34:8)

"Be strong, do not fear; your God will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you." (Isaiah 35:3-4)

"...to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn..." (Isaiah 61:2)

"For the day of vengeance was in my heart, the year of my redemption has come." (Isaiah 63:4)

The book of Revelation gives details of this one year period of wrath. It starts sometime after the opening of the seventh seal, probably at the blowing of the last of seven trumpets.

"And when he opens the seventh seal, a hush occurred in heaven for half an hour. And I perceived the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them." (Revelation 8:1-2)

In order to not be a part of God's wrath, believers must be taken up to meet Jesus before the final seventh trumpet sounds bringing the wrath of God. The Apostle Paul assures us that believers will not go through that period of the wrath of God.

"For God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain deliverance by our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Thessalonians 5:9)

Although the exact day and hour of the removal of believers cannot be known, I feel certain that it must occur no later than the fall of 2034 AD, one year before the return of Jesus to earth - again, that is IF my five assumptions that I set out in the introduction are true.