Apocalyptic speculation generally created enormous confusion in the early church, even as it does today.

Beware of the end-of-time date setters

With the upcoming turn of the century, the media is waist-deep in stories about end-of-the-world mania. A recent Time cover featured the intriguing question: The End of the World!?! And The New York Times recently ran a story headlined "Israel Arrests 8 U.S. Cultists Who Expect Apocalypse."

Apparently members of a U.S.-based cult, erroneously called "Concerned Christians," were incarcerated because "they planned to carry out violent and extreme acts in the streets of Jerusalem at the end of 1999 to start the process of bringing Jesus back," the story stated. How ridiculous and how thoroughly unbiblical!

There are several critical issues to address as we see "millennium madness" and "date-setting delusions" mount with the approach of the year 2000.

First--let's quote Jesus directly--of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only (Matthew 24:36, NKJV)--Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming (Matthew 25:13, NKJV). The thrust of Jesus' comments instructs us clearly against speculating about the time of His return. While some would argue that He is warning only against setting specific dates for His return, it is obvious from the context of the letters to the Thessalonians, that apocalyptic speculation generally created enormous confusion in the early church, even as it does today. The specifics regarding the time of Christ's coming are left to God, who sets His own calendar. It is both immutable and inscrutable, and He has chosen not to send us humans a copy. So the next time someone predicts when Jesus is coming, pay them no attention, because you can be certain of one thing--no one knows when Christ will return.

The recent past instructs us as well that date setting creates confusion. In the 1840s William Miller, a Baptist preacher, forecast the Second Coming for 1844. His followers sold their goods and gathered for Christ's appearance. (I never understood why people sell their property. Why not buy--extend your credit line--and not worry about the payoff?) When Christ did not reappear, Miller's followers explained that He did come in secret judgment and is present with the Church in a new fashion. From that extra-biblical notion sprang the Seventh-day Adventist Church and, in part, eventually the Jehovah's Witnesses.

Is the year 2000 the 2000th anniversary of Jesus' birth? And can we claim that some apocalyptic event can be expected? Not at all. The Bible is silent about history closing at the start of the third millennium. Also, history reveals that Jesus was born in 5 or 6 B.C. Herod the Great, it is known, died in 4 B.C. So--all of you millennial second-coming speculators--it is later than you think!

Should Christians watch and be expectant of Christ's coming? Of course. But the biblical concept of expectancy is to be expressed in obedience--obedience to evangelizing the world. In fact, Jesus promised that the gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world … then the end will come" (Matthew 24:14; Mark 13:10, NKJV). Further, Jesus stated it will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns (Matthew 24:46, NIV). Expectant disciples are energized disciples--doing the work of the gospel.

Phil Roberts is director of Interfaith Witness Evangelism, North American Mission Board.