{"id":14647,"date":"2019-05-27T17:10:46","date_gmt":"2019-05-28T00:10:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hoshanarabbah.org\/blog\/?p=14647"},"modified":"2019-05-11T17:13:10","modified_gmt":"2019-05-12T00:13:10","slug":"did-the-apostles-in-the-eminent-return-of-messiah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hoshanarabbah.org\/blog\/2019\/05\/27\/did-the-apostles-in-the-eminent-return-of-messiah\/","title":{"rendered":"Did the Apostles believe in the eminent return of Messiah?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>1 John 2:18, <em>It is the last hour.<\/em> <\/strong>This scripture passage along with others by Paul, James and John clearly indicates that the apostolic writers when writing these passages (i.e. prior to AD 70, the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple) viewed the second coming of Yeshua as imminent, and was not far off in the future. After all, the last question they asked Yeshua before his ascension to heaven was the matter that was the most pressing on their minds: \u201cWill you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel\u201d (Acts 1:6). This proves what they were thinking; namely, that Yeshua was (hopefully) about to defeat the Romans and restore Israel to self rule. Of course, Yeshua didn\u2019t give them a definitive time frame as to when he would fulfill biblical prophecy in this regard. So they were still left with the hope that his coming would be imminent, and that his kingdom would be established on earth. With his miraculous victory over death, their hopes would have been renewed in this regard. (On the apostles belief in the imminent return of Yeshua, see also 1 Cor 15:52; 1 Thess 4:14\u201315; Rom 13:11; 16:20; cp. Jas 5:7\u20139; 1 John 2:18; Acts 1:6; 1 Cor 10:11; Rev 1:1.)&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The imminence of Yeshua\u2019s second coming may have been based on a misunderstanding of Yeshua\u2019s own words in his Olivet Discourse where he talks about the events announcing his second coming falling on \u201cthis generation\u201d (Matt 24:34, 36). From this passage, it\u2019s not readily understood to which generation he is referring\u2014that one, or another off in the future, or both. It appears that the apostles applied his words to their generation and, hence, their view that his return was imminent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The apostles likely initially believed that Yeshua\u2019s return was immediately imminent. After a few years when he hadn\u2019t returned, they likely focused on what Yeshua meant by the term \u201cthis generation\u201d (Matt 24:34, 36). The writer of Hebrews gives us a clue as to what a generation may have meant to them, namely, forty years (as in the wanderings of the children of Israel en route to the Promised Land, which was a prophetic picture of what the disciples were hoping for in Yeshua\u2019s established kingdom rule on earth. So forty years from Yeshua\u2019s crucifixion in AD 30 takes us to AD 70 when, in the disciples\u2019 minds, Yeshua\u2019s prophecies regarding the destruction of the temple were to occur. \u201cSince the prophet Daniel spoke of a period of seven years to complete the events leading up to the coming of the Messiah, and Jesus himself referred to Daniel\u2019s prophecy as a gauge to measure those events, the counting backwards seven years from 70 C.E. brings us to the crucial year of 63 C.E. for those events to begin happening (<em>Beyond Acts<\/em>, p. 58, by Paul Finch; also see <em>ibid. <\/em>pp. 54\u201361 and <em>Restoring the Original Bible<\/em>, pp. 223\u2013281, by Ernest Martin).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Beast (Rev 13:4)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The abomination that causes desolation (Matt 24:15)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The desolator (Dan 9:27)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The man of sin (or lawlessness), the son of perdition (2 Thess 2:3)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The little horn (Dan 7:8)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Assyrian (Mic 5:5; Isa 10:5; 14:25)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>Many antichrists. <\/em><\/strong>How does John define the spirit of antichrist? From 1 John 2:18\u201319, 22; 4:3; 2 John 7 we learn that the Antichrist and all spirits of antichrist have come out of the first century apostolic faith of the Jewish Christian community. From these passages we also learn that the spirit of antichrist denies that Yeshua is the Messiah (Savior and Redeemer of man), denies that Yeshua is part of the \u201cGodhead,\u201d that he is deity and is the Son of Elohim, and denies the incarnation of Yeshua. This is how the Bible defines the spirit of antichrist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What should be our reaction when we encounter this demonic spirit of antichrist? The wise counsel of John in his second epistle sums up our firm conviction on this matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Messiah does not have Elohim. He who abides in the doctrine of Messiah has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds. (2\u2009John 9\u201311)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What additionally can we learn about the person of the Antichrist and the spirit of antichrist from the four passages where antichrist is mentioned in John\u2019s epistles?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">From 1 John 2:18\u201319, 22; 4:3; 2 John 7 we learn that the Antichrist and all spirits of antichrist have come out of the first century apostolic faith of the Jewish Christian community. This eliminates some of the world\u2019s large religions (e.g. Hinduism, Buddhism) as being contenders for the end times religious system of the Antichrist. That leaves paganized mainstream Christianity and Islam. From these passages we also learn that the spirit of antichrist denies that Yeshua is the Messiah (Savior and Redeemer of man), denies that Yeshua is part of the \u201cGodhead,\u201d is deity and is the Son of Elohim, and denies the incarnation of Yeshua. Only Islam fits this biblical description of an antichrist religion.<\/p>\n<div class=\"evernoteSiteMemory\"><a href=\"javascript:\" onclick=\"Evernote.doClip({title: 'Did the Apostles believe in the eminent return of Messiah?',url: 'https:\/\/hoshanarabbah.org\/blog\/2019\/05\/27\/did-the-apostles-in-the-eminent-return-of-messiah\/',contentID: 'post-14647',suggestTags: 'The Second Coming',providerName: 'Hoshana Rabbah Blog',styling: 'text' });return false\" class=\"evernoteSiteMemoryLink\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.evernote.com\/article-clipper.png\" \nclass=\"evernoteSiteMemoryButton\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\t\t\t\t<div class=\"evernoteSiteMemoryClear\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>1 John 2:18, It is the last hour. This scripture passage along with others by Paul, James and John clearly indicates that the apostolic writers when writing these passages (i.e. prior to AD 70, the fall of Jerusalem and the &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hoshanarabbah.org\/blog\/2019\/05\/27\/did-the-apostles-in-the-eminent-return-of-messiah\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[8],"tags":[163],"class_list":["post-14647","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-scripture","tag-the-second-coming"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Did the Apostles believe in the eminent return of Messiah? | Hoshana Rabbah Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hoshanarabbah.org\/blog\/2019\/05\/27\/did-the-apostles-in-the-eminent-return-of-messiah\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Did the Apostles believe in the eminent return of Messiah? | Hoshana Rabbah Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"1 John 2:18, It is the last hour. This scripture passage along with others by Paul, James and John clearly indicates that the apostolic writers when writing these passages (i.e. prior to AD 70, the fall of Jerusalem and the &hellip; Continue reading &rarr;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/hoshanarabbah.org\/blog\/2019\/05\/27\/did-the-apostles-in-the-eminent-return-of-messiah\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Hoshana Rabbah Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-05-28T00:10:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Natan Lawrence\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Natan Lawrence\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hoshanarabbah.org\\\/blog\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/27\\\/did-the-apostles-in-the-eminent-return-of-messiah\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hoshanarabbah.org\\\/blog\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/27\\\/did-the-apostles-in-the-eminent-return-of-messiah\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Natan Lawrence\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hoshanarabbah.org\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3ed5c40cd99881c4176aa291f72109df\"},\"headline\":\"Did the Apostles believe in the eminent return of Messiah?\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-05-28T00:10:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hoshanarabbah.org\\\/blog\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/27\\\/did-the-apostles-in-the-eminent-return-of-messiah\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":846,\"commentCount\":2,\"keywords\":[\"The Second Coming\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Scripture\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/hoshanarabbah.org\\\/blog\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/27\\\/did-the-apostles-in-the-eminent-return-of-messiah\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hoshanarabbah.org\\\/blog\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/27\\\/did-the-apostles-in-the-eminent-return-of-messiah\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hoshanarabbah.org\\\/blog\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/27\\\/did-the-apostles-in-the-eminent-return-of-messiah\\\/\",\"name\":\"Did the Apostles believe in the eminent return of Messiah? 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