The Coming of Christ in 70 A.D.

There are thousands, perhaps millions, of people who, after reading the Bible, have come to the same conclusion to which one of the most famous atheists, Bertrand Russell, came . He felt Jesus couldn't be Who He said He was because the things He and His apostles said would happen in their time, didn't happen. Below are listed a few of the many passages they would point to and say these things were not fulfilled according to the plain reading of the English text. This list comes from a little booklet entitled, "Can God Tell Time," by Don Preston.

• Matt. 10:23--Jesus said He would return in the lifetime of His disciples.
• Matt. 16:27-28--Jesus said He would return with His angels to judge all men before every one standing there died.
• Matt. 24:29-34--Jesus said He would return in the clouds with His angels--in that generation.
• Acts 3:19--Peter said Jesus would return when all the Old Covenant prophecies were fulfilled. If the Old Prophesies have not been fulfilled, the Old Covenant is still in effect. (Matthew 5:17-18)
• Romans 13:12--Paul said "the day is at hand." That was said 1900 years ago!
• 1 Cor. 7:28-31--Paul said "the fashion of this world is passing away," and "the time is short." Again, this was stated 1900 years ago to that generation.
• Hebrews 9:28, 10:37--The writer said Christ would appear a second time for salvation and then asserted "in a very, very little while He that will come, and will not tarry." Is 1900 years a "little while?"
• James 5:7-9--James urged his readers to be faithful "until the coming of the Lord," he says "The coming of the Lord is at hand," and "The judge is standing right at the door."
• 1 John 2:15-18--John said the world was passing away and "it is the last hour." Again, the last hour was 1900 years ago!
• Revelation--this book says no less than ten times that its predictions "must shortly come to pass," were "at hand," were to happen "quickly," there would be "no more delay," etc., etc.

Millions of people have read the Bible and said, "no more delay," "shortly," "quickly," "day is at hand," and "it is the last hour," cannot refer to thousands of years! These people have also had problems with Bible teachers taking scriptures like Daniel's 70 weeks and chopping the last 7 years of the prophecy and separating it by thousands of years from the first 69 weeks! They say if one does this with these kinds of scriptures, then one can turn the Bible into whatever they want.

As a result of Bible teachers twisting scriptures like the ones above and relegating them to our time, many sincere seekers have abandoned Christianity as an institution which declares truth. They have come to the conclusion that since the church teaches that Christ has not yet come back in His second coming, then Jesus and His apostles were false prophets. Therefore, they cannot put their faith and hope in Christianity. In the days ahead, we are going to look at all these scriptures and many more to see if, in fact, they were not fulfilled exactly as stated in the very generation to which Jesus was speaking. We are going to see, Jesus did return to that generation and fulfill everything He and His apostles said was "right at the door."

This world needs light. Many have abandoned any hope in Christianity, not because Jesus Christ missed it, but because many Bible teachers and preachers have missed it, big time! People, you are going to have so much joy seeing the Bible come together like it has never been seen before. We are indeed a blessed people and we are going to be a blessing to the world.

This study will be lengthy and cannot be completely discussed in Dew. The magazine is not designed to do this. We suggest those who want to study this out completely to do the following: 1. Get a copy of Josephus. Many Christian publishers have produced this work. I recommend trying to find an out-of-print version produced by Zondervan publishing edited by Cornfeld. It may be difficult to locate a copy, but it will be worth it if you find it. Most good seminaries will have more than one version of Josephus. He was a Jewish Priest and military commander who was captured by the Romans just prior to the destruction of the Jewish Temple in 70 A.D. 2. Read the section entitled War of the Jews. You will be amazed! 3. Order the tapes produced by Tentmaker entitled The Rapture of 70 A.D.. These tapes capture the history of Israel and Rome from approximately 30 A.D. to 73 A.D. and connect them with the sayings of Jesus and the apostles while tying Josephus into it. 4. Read future sections of Dew that will deal with the subject.

Just a little side remark on the tapes The Rapture of 70 A.D.. We do not teach the "rapture." This title was selected to attract those who do believe in the "any day now rapture." In 70 A.D. when the Jews were trapped in Jerusalem by the Roman Army, a prophet prophesied that God was going to deliver them. He told them to come to the Temple, the House of God and there God was going to "catch them away." There they waited to be "raptured away" by the God of Israel. Read and see their fate as narrated by Josephus:

"A false prophet was the occasion of these people's destruction, who had made a public proclamation in the city that very day, that God commanded them to get up upon the temple, and that there they should receive miraculous signs of their deliverance. Now, there was then a great number of false prophets suborned by the tyrants to impose upon the people, who denounced this to them, that they should wait for deliverance from God; and this was in order to keep them from deserting, and that they might be buoyed up above fear and care by such hopes. Now, a man that is in adversity does easily comply with such promises; for when such a seducer makes him believe that he shall be delivered from those miseries which oppress him, then it is that the patient is full of hopes of such deliverance.

Thus were the miserable people persuaded by these deceivers, and such as belied God himself; while they did not attend, nor give credit, to the signs that were so evident, and did so plainly foretell their future desolation; but like men infatuated, without either eyes to see or minds to consider, did not regard the denunciations that God made to them."

Josephus then gave a list of many supernatural signs that God gave Israel, which they twisted to their own destruction. It is interesting to note those who were deceived into thinking God was going to rapture them were burned in their "House of God" which was full of their riches. Josephus writes:

"They also burnt down the treasury-chambers, in which was immense quantities of money, and an immense number of garments, and other precious goods, there reposited; and, to all in a few words, there it was that the entire riches of the Jews were heaped up together, while the rich people had there built themselves chambers, (to contain such furniture). Their riches and their bodies were burned to ashes and blown away by the wind. I suppose the ashes of their bodies being blown away by the wind could qualify for the term "rapture," or "caught up to meet the Lord in the air," but I don't think those who believe in a "any day now rapture" have this in mind. Who knows, perhaps the escapist mentality of today will meet the same fate. The church is certainly the richest institution materially in the entire world and there are certainly many prophets in the land predicting a "rapture" from the tribulations that are to come upon the world. It has used may trickeries to get people to put their money into the church. I see great similarities between the spiritual state of Israel at the end of its age and the present time which many people seem to feel is the end of the "church age." The key question seems to be the ability to read the signs. The majority of the Jews read the signs wrong, which produced their destruction. There was a small group who read them right. They escaped the destruction and were allowed to enter into a new period of time. The Old had indeed, passed away. They were allowed to make that transition from law to grace. They were the ones who God would use to begin the process of setting up His True kingdom. They left Israel behind and went to the Gentiles. They went to a place named Pella in Syria. They were believers in the Messiah. The above mentioned tape series tells how they escaped.

I am so excited about the things our Father is unveiling for us. We should be grateful to be alive in such a day as this. Truly, we can be messengers of glad tidings. While "church" clings to its buildings, land, and material wealth, you are free to give to the world your spiritual riches in Christ Jesus. Rejoice, ye new heavens and earth!