Early Christians claimed that Jesus, as the Messiah (Greek "Christos," Latin "Christus," English "Christ"), the King of Israel, "the Son of Man," was coming back "soon," to sit on a throne, to establish a renewed kingdom of Israel on earth, to judge the nations, and to reward believers and punish all who do not follow the Jewish god Yahweh. How soon? Even within their own lifetimes. Further, they even claimed that Jesus himself told people in his own generation that they would live to see "the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven," and that all expectations would be fulfilled "before the current generation passes away."  

It did not happen. Whether taken literally as Jesus coming back down from the sky, or whether the "Son of Man" figure (including the character of Jesus) should be interpreted according to the way it was used in the book of Daniel, as a symbol for the resurrection and renewal of an independent nation of Israel, either way they were wrong. Christians were were just as misguided then as modern evangelicals who expect Jesus to appear in the sky some day in the near future.

The following biblical passages are most relevant:  Mk 9.1; 13.30; 14.61-62; Matthew 10.23; 16.27-28; 24.30-34; 1 Thess 4.15-17; 1 Corinthians 1.7-8; 7.26, 29; 15.51-52; Romans 13.11-12; 1 Peter 4.7; Revelation 1.1-3;  3.11; 16.15; 22.6, 7, 10, 12, 20; Acts 2.14-17; 2 Peter 3.

The study of the "end times" and when they were expected to occur is called eschatology.  It is from a Greek word, to eschaton, which means "the farthest, uttermost, extreme, last, final [thing/ event/ situation]."  The idea that Jesus the "messiah"/Christ was coming soon is called imminent eschatology (the end times are near). This essay will examine these ideas through a review of relevant passages from the bible, along with commentary on those passages.

Before starting, I would like to note also that I am not asserting mere opinion here. I am pointing out what the Christian writings themselves say. I am quoting the primary sources themselves, which prove the point conclusively. 

Knowledge of this is not new. Hermann Samuel Reimarus, a German philosopher and a writer of the European Enlightenment, is often credited as being the first influential critic to investigate the historical Jesus. Writing in the 1700s, Reimarus came to see that Jesus was a Jewish apocalyptic prophet preaching about a worldly kingdom soon to come. This view is still strongly represented in modern historical scholarship.  For example, New Testament scholar and professor Dr. Bart Ehrman, in his book Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium (1999, Oxford University Press), explains that historical investigation reveals Jesus to have been a first-century Jewish apocalypticist. Jesus expected that the history of the world was about to end, that the Jewish god YHWH was about to intervene in world affairs, overthrow the forces of evil, bring judgement upon the world, destroy much of humanity, abolish existing political and religious institutions, and establish a new order on earth, the "Kingdom of God," rewarding the faithful few while punishing all who failed to worship YHWH and his messiah.   It did not happen. However, rather than face such foundational lies, Christianity simply continued to evolve and grow in power and popularity.  

If there was a historical Jesus behind the gospel portrayals, false apocalypticism appears to have been the real core of his message, as a careful study study of the texts reveals.

 Imminent Eschatology in the Gospel of Mark

The writer of Mark proposed an imminent eschatology:  Jesus as messiah/Christ/"Son of Man" would return soon, before the current generation died, and some of his disciples would even live to see it (Mk 9.1;13.30; 14.61-62).

• Mark 9.1 – “And he said to them, ‘I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power.’”

Context: Mark 8.38-9.1 – “‘If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels.’  And he said to them, ‘I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power.’”

• Mark 13.30 - “At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. ...  I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.”

Context:  Mark 13.26-30 – “But in those days, following that distress, ‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky,[1] and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.'  At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.  And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.  Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near.  Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at the door.  I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until ALL these things have happened.”

Commentary:  see endnote.[i]    Mark 13 in its entirety:  see endnote.[ii]

Note that the Jesus character does not say only some of those things will happen before that generation passes away. No. He says that his current/ contemporary generation would certainly not pass away until ALL of the things listed had happened, including people seeing the "Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory," stars falling from the sky, and the sending of angels to gather Jesus' chosen ones ("his elect").

• Mark 14.61-62 – “Again the high priest asked him, ‘Are you the Christ/Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?’   ‘I am,’ said Jesus. ‘And YOU will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.’ ”

The writer makes his Jesus character imply that the Jewish high priest himself would actually live to see the “Son of Man” return to earth in the clouds of heaven, sitting at the right hand of the Jewish god Yahweh.  But it did not happen.

And as we have just seen, he occasionally was even more specific, saying he was the messiah/king, saying everything would all happen in that very generation, saying some of his hearers would live to see him as messiah, "Son of Man," coming on the clouds of heaven and sitting at the right hand of the Jewish god YHWH.

Even in the very first chapter of Mark, the earliest Christian gospel to be written, right after being baptized by John the Baptist for forgiveness of sins, Jesus went into the desert, and when he came back, he immediately began preaching that the "time was fulfilled" and the "kingdom of God" was "near":

• Mark 1.14-15: "14. ... Jesus went into Galilee and proclaimed the gospel of the kingdom of God. 15. “The time is fulfilled,” He said, “and the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe in the gospel!”

And if one reads closely, one can see other threats regarding the soon-coming judgement, such as the notion that any individuals not willing to give up absolutely everything -- even their very lives, egos, desires, identities, etc. -- for the messiah-king and the Jewish god Yahweh would lose their lives and were in effect choosing to forfeit their very own souls, as would be clear at the soon-coming judgement, when the messiah-king will disown and punish any not devoting their entire lives to the cause.

• Mark 8.34-38: 34. Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? 37. Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 38. If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”

 Imminent Eschatology in the Gospel of Matthew

The author of the gospel now attributed to Matthew copied many aspects of Mark's story, including the imminent eschatology, but he also included some unique features.  In the earlier chapters of Matthew, the Jesus character teaches explicitly that he was NOT sent to all people, but only to Israelites: 

• Matthew 15.24: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (And he even called non-Israelites “dogs” 15.26).

Further, Jesus teaches his disciples NOT to take his message to Gentiles/non-Israelites, but to go only to Israelite towns: 

• Matthew 10.5-6:  "5. These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. 6. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. 7. As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ " 

And Jesus told them that any town / people rejecting their message would be harshly treated on the soon-coming “Day of Judgment” (Mt 10.14-15; cf. Mt 25.31-46; also Mt 7.21-23; 11.24; 25.31-46).

Even worse, Jesus told them that the "Son of Man" would come before these disciple even finished taking their message through the towns of Israel, and as if that were not clear enough, the Jesus character says again several chapters later that ALL of those things, including the son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, would happen before the current generation passed away:

• Matthew 10.23:  "Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes."

The Jesus character was telling his own disciples that THEY would not even finish spreading the message through Israel before the "Son of Man" would come in their own lifetimes.

• Matthew 16.27-28:  "27. For the Son of Man will come in His Father's glory with His angels, and then He will repay each one according to what he has done. 28. Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom."

Note the clear teaching that Jesus would appear as the "Son of Man" / messiah-king, in glory and with accompanying angels, to act as judge, rewarding his followers and punishing foes, and that some of the people hearing the message would still be alive to see it all happen!

• Matthew 24.30-34:  30. "Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the tribes of the land will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.  31. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.  ...  34. Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened." 

Notice that this writer imagines the mourning all of the tribes/nations who do not worship Yahweh or acknowledge the messiah/Christ.  Why would they mourn?  Because the messiah and Yahweh were about to bring judgement upon the world.

What did the Jesus character claim was going to happen then, at the coming of the "Son of Man" soon to take place, the coming "end of the age"?  He said he planned to be a king, to sit on a throne, to judge all the nations, and to cast into the fire any people who did not honor his claims and kingship:

• Matthew 25.31-32, 41, 46:  31. "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats." ...  41. “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ...  46. “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

• Matthew 13.24, 41-42, 49-50:  "24. Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable."  ... 36. "Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.” 37. He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. 38. The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one, 39. and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. 40. As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. 41.  The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. 42. They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  ... 49. "This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous 50. and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

  • • • Note the phrase "the end of the age."  If you read these passages carefully, you can understand some of these ideas Christianity inherited from apocalyptic Judaism, including the idea that they were living at the end of an age, and Yahweh was about to intervene in human history to restore the kingdom of Israel, judge the nations of the world, reward Yahweh-followers, and punish everyone else. What would happen to anyone not recognizing Yahweh or Yahweh's messiah?  They would be thrown into a blazing furnace and burned up.

• Matthew 10.14-15:  "14. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet. 15. Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town."

  • • • Again we see the idea of judgement that will soon come upon anyone not accepting the Jewish god Yahweh and his messiah.

• Matthew 10.34-47: "34. Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35. For I have come to turn “ ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—36. a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’ 37. Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38. Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it."

  • • • Note that the Jesus character is represented as coming to earth to bring a sword and to divide people. Only people willing to lose their lives for the sake of Yahweh and his messiah will be worthy.  Verses like these hint at the revolutionary intent of the message, before it was later reinterpreted by the Church, after the failure of such original expectations.

It should be noted that the gospel attributed to Luke contains a similar passage:

• Luke 12.49-51: [the Jesus character speaking] "49. I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50. But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! 51. Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division."

And not only did the Jesus character in Matthew say HE would sit on a throne and judge the nations, he also said his closest followers would sit on thrones and judge the 12 tribes of Israel:

• Matthew 19.28: Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel."

Speculation: Originally, the “Son of Man” imagery may well have been symbolic code for a planned Jewish/Israelite revolt against Rome, alluding to imagery from the book of Daniel. 

[A symbolic interpretation might be as follows:  As a literary character, Jesus / the "Son of Man" spoke only in parables, because revolutionary political language was risking one's life. So it needed to be veiled in stories and parables. The "son of Man" referred to the new kingdom and the king they hoped to set up, the symbolic vision of renewed independence of Israel from the book of Daniel. The "angels"/"messengers" referred to the messianic messengers, believers, supporters, and to revolutionary soldiers. The separation of the sheep from the goats represented a coming war that would separate the sheep from the goats, and only the supporters of the messianic movement would be rewarded. The blazing furnace would be the destruction of the messiah's enemies during the coming revolutionary war against Rome.]  

The idea of the dying and rising savior who would bring about a major revolution and a new kingdom may have been used by messianic Jewish recruiters to establish an empire-wide network of people who would support the Jewish god Yahweh and the Jewish messianic movement. This network would have channeled funds back to Jerusalem to support revolution.

However, the “son of man coming in the clouds” / Jewish Revolution did not succeed as hoped. The Jews did try, but failed, to reestablish a kingdom. Rome crushed their attempted revolts in (1) the Jewish War of 66-73 CE in Judea and Galilee, (2) the Kitos War of 115–117, and (3) the Bar Kokhba revolt of 132–136 CE.  After the destruction of Jerusalem, along with its version of Christianity that still promoted keeping the Law of Moses, provincial Christianity evolved to become increasingly more Gentile-dominated than Jewish, and many influential believers reinterpreted and rewrote lots of ideas.

EITHER WAY, whether the "coming of the Son of Man in the clouds of heaven" was to be taken at face value as a literal man/Jesus in the sky or whether it was code for a successful revolt and a renewed kingdom of Israel, IT DID NOT HAPPEN. The authors of Mark and Matthew were wrong. Their Jesus character they created and/or embellished was wrong. And if their Jesus character was based on things a real, historical Jesus said, then he was wrong. The end did not come before that generation passed away. The “son of man” did not “come in the clouds.”  All such ideas would eventually be reinterpreted by the Church, which would try to cover up such failures of "prophecy" and put a different "spiritualized" spin on things.

Imminent Eschatology in Acts

Some passages hint indirectly that the author expected "the last days" were at hand in his own day.  For example, in Acts 2.14-17, the writer has Peter give a speech in which he claims that an old prophecy from Joel had just been fulfilled, "In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh."  If the Peter character in the story is claiming that this prophecy of "the last days" was just fulfilled, that would mean that the author thought he and his fellow believers were living "in the last days."  

But it is also obvious that Christian writers were beginning to modify the message, reinterpret their timelines to delay the end, and either make more cautious or vague predictions:

• Acts 1.6-7:  "6. Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”  7. He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority."

We may note, however, that even though this passage offers a revision, reinterpreting the old idea of it all happening "before this generation passes away," in order to say no one really knows when, the passage still contains a confession of the original intent: to restore the kingdom to Israel.  The original political nature of the movement is visible if one reads carefully.

Still, authors wanted people to remain expectant of a second coming of Jesus / the Son of Man:

• Acts 1.8-11:  "You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the land.”  9. After he [Jesus] said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. 10. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11.“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

Imminent Eschatology in the Epistles

The New Testament is divided into 3 main kinds of documents: the gospels, the Acts, and a set of letters called "epistles" (from the Greek word for a letter). The epistles also bear many marks of imminent eschatology, an expectation that Jesus / the messiah would return soon, even within their own generation.

• 1 Corinthians 15.51-52 – “Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.”

Note the contrast between "the dead" and "we."  Paul, or the writer, seems to think that Jesus will come in his own generation.  Cf. 1 Thess 4.15-17, below.  For 1 Corinthians 15 in its entirety: see endnote.[iii]

• 1 Thessalonians 4.13-18:  “Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.  For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.  After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.  Therefore encourage each other with these words.”

In 1 Thess 4.15 and 1 Cor 15.51-52, Paul apparently expects to be one of the "we" who will be alive when the Messiah/Christ returns.  Later, he may consider the possibility of death before that, in 2 Cor 5.1-5 and Phil 1.20-23 (see endnote [iv]).

The Greek word translated as “coming” is parousia, a technical term for a ruler’s state visit. The Jesus of Matthew, remember, teaches that the "Son of Man" coming in the clouds will be coming as a ruler, will have a throne, and will judge everyone as a king, judging his subjects.

Aside from the passage in chapter 4, there is frequent mention of the second coming in Thessalonians:

• 1 Thessalonians 2.18-20:  For we wanted to come to you—certainly I, Paul, did, again and again—but Satan stopped us. For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory and joy.

• 1 Thessalonians 3.13:  May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.

• 1 Thessalonians 5.23:  May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians also had other passages emphasizing the imminent end, claiming that there was only a short time left, because the world was passing away.

• 1 Corinthians 7. 25-31:  25. Now about virgins: I have no command from the Lord, but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy. 26. Because of the impending/present crisis[2], I think that it is good for you to remain as you are. 27. Are you married? Do not seek a divorce. Are you unmarried? Do not look for a wife. 28. But if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this.  29. What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; 30. those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; 31. those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.

  • • • kairos – "the appointed time, the season."

      • ho kairos sunestalmenos estin – "the appointed time is having been shortened."

      • “from now on” = to loipon = in the time we have left.

In 1 Cor 7, Paul has urged people to remain celibate (unmarried) if they can, but that they may marry if they cannot control their lust (7.8-9).  When he says they can marry, it is “by way of concession, not of command” (7.6); “I wish that all were as I myself am” (7.7).  And why does he urge celibacy?  So that people can devote themselves more fully to religious work, because he believed the remaining time was short.  Here is a writer so into the idea that the messiah was coming back soon, that he did not even want people to get married, because there was not much time left!

• 1 Corinthians 1.7-8:  4. I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5. For in him you have been enriched in every way—in all your speaking and in all your knowledge— 6. because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. 7. Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8. He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 Would they be waiting "eagerly" if what they were waiting for was not to happen for thousands of years to come?  No.  The eagerness implies imminence. 

Paul's letter to the Romans also contains some imminent eschatology:

• Romans 13.11-14:  11. And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12.  The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 

Paul, or the writer, may have been thinking in terms similar to Luke 17.26:  "And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man."  He thinks he is in the last days, and that except for himself and a few true believers, everyone is living in gross sin and ignorance and is about to be wiped out unexpectedly as humanity supposedly was during Noah’s day. 

Compare 1 Peter 4.7:

• 1 Peter 4.7 – “The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear-minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.”

1 Peter 4.7 has other features resembling the Romans 13 passage.  It, too, is warning against drunkenness, orgies, debauchery (4.3), and the imminent approach of destruction and judgement, and it, too, brings up associations with the flood of Noah.  The end of 1 Peter 3, verses 20-21, brought up the flood, and 4.4 alludes to it through subtle language – “tēn autēn tēs asōtias anakhusin” – the same outpouring (punning on the flood) of dissipation – which NIV perceptively translates as “flood of dissipation.”  An “anakhusis” (ανάχῠσις, εως, ἡ) is an expansion, effusion, excess, expanse of water, or inundation/flood [from the verb “anakheô” – to pour forth, cause to overflow].

The author of Hebrews likewise thought he was living "at the end of the ages."

• Hebrews 9.26: "But now He [Christ/Messiah] has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself."

The writer believed the coming of the messiah had already marked "the end of the ages." In other words, he was living in what Jewish apocalypticism called "the last days."

The epistle attributed to James also bears a sense of urgency and promotes the notion that Jesus would be coming soon.

• James 5.8: "You, too, be patient and strengthen your hearts, because the Lord's coming is near."

The author of the epistle of 1 John likewise believes he is living in "the final hour."

• 1 John 2.18: “Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.”

Was he really living "in the last hour"?  No. He was a delusional cult member, trying to keep others trapped in the same delusion.

Imminent Eschatology in the Revelation

The imminent eschatology in Revelation seems perhaps even more striking and emphatic.

• Revelation 1.1-3 – 1. The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2. who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. 3. Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.

Notice that the very introduction of the book explains that it is intended to reveal what will "soon" take place.  In other words, the scroll of revelation was NEVER intended for some distant future, but for the writer's own generation.

• Rev 2.25 -  [To the church at Thyatira:] "Only hold on to what you have until I come."

The message specifically to the church at Thyatira, above, also implies that Jesus will be coming to them soon.

• Revelation 3.11 – “I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”

  • Context: Revelation 3.10-12 – 10. "Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth. 11. I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. 12. Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name."

The writer of this “revelation” claims that Jesus wants to tell the church at Philadelphia, in Asia minor (modern Turkey) around 81-96 ce, that he is coming within their lifetime and that they should be ready. 

3.10 – “hour of trial” – period of distress and suffering, sometimes called “the great tribulation,” prior to God’s eschatological triumph (Rev 7.14; 13.5-10; Dan 12.1; Mt 24.21; Mk 13.7-20; 1 Cor 7.26; Hermas Visions 2.2.7).

• Rev 6.9-11 -  9. When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. 10. They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” 11. Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed.

• Rev 16.15 – 15. "See, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is he who stays awake and is clothed, not going around naked and exposed to shame."

• Rev 22.6, 7, 10, 12, 20 –

6. The angel said to me, "These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must SOON take place."

22.7 –  "Behold, I am coming SOON! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy in this book."

10. Then he told me, "Do NOT seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, because the time is NEAR."

12. "Behold, I am coming SOON! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done.

20. He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming soon."  Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

It is quite clear, then, that the writer of Revelation claimed that Jesus was coming soon and claimed that Jesus himself was saying so.  It may be possible that the original writer was using the Jesus character as a kind of symbolic code for some kind of planned revolt against Rome, which the writer expected to happen soon. Even if that was the case, either way, the author was wrong.

 Another aspect of the book of Revelation should be clear to readers who pay attention:  The Book of Revelation was never intended to apply to the lives of people living 2,000 years later.  Rev 22.10 is clear: "Do NOT seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, because the time is NEAR."  It was not a book for the distant future, but for his own generation.

When Hopes Were Disappointed

Another passage shows that Christians were already being ridiculed for expecting Jesus' imminent return. Why would messianic Jews/Christians be ridiculed for believing in the imminent return of a messiah?  Because the Jews actually tried it in 66-70 CE, and they were crushed by Roman military forces.  Also, the generation that depicted Jesus as claiming that the messiah would return to sit on a throne and judge the world before that generation passed away was already dead. And the triumphant "coming of the Son of Man in the clouds" had not happened.   So influential messianic/ Christian leaders were already beginning to reinterpret the older prophecies of the imminent return of Jesus within that generation.  The writer of 2 Peter addresses "scoffers" (those ridiculing messianic/Christian belief) and wants to combat their skepticism and mockery.  2 Peter was traditionally said to have been written by the apostle Peter, although most scholars now believe it was written later (80-90 ce) in Peter's name, i.e. pseudepigraphically.[3]  [Tradition placed Peter's death in the 60's ce, under Nero.]

• 2 Peter 3:  The Day of the Lord:

1. Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. 2. I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.

3. First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4. They will say, "Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation." 5. But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water.[4] 6. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed.[5] 7. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

8. 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. 9. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

10. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire[6], and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.[7]

11. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12. as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.[8]  That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.

14. So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15. Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.

17. Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position. 18. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.

How does the writer get around the disappointment caused when Jesus did not return by the end of that generation?  He suggests a reinterpretation of previous teachings!  He makes excuses.

"With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."

The interesting thing is that he still claims that he and his readers are living "in the last days," he takes mockery to be a sign that he was living in "the last days," and he wanted his audience to think that the fact that people were ridiculing their beliefs was but a further sign that Jesus really was about to return soon.

Notice also that he specifically mentions "Paul's letters" and "other scriptures" containing confusing ideas that "ignorant and unstable" people distort. Why would he say this?  Because messianic/Christian expectations and "prophecies" had failed, utterly. If the messianic cults were going to maintain their movement, they would be forced to reinterpret those failures, to claim, "Oh, no, that's not what he actually meant. God works in mysterious ways. God just wants to give people more time to repent, allowing more people to be saved from his wrath."  But despite the reinterpretation and the attempts to make excuses, he still insists that they're living "in the last days."

The writer of John 21.23 also seems to have been dealing with the issue of disappointment over people dying before the second coming of the messiah. 

• John 21.23.  – "the rumor spread among the brothers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?”

Now you and I know that authors did depict Jesus as saying some people standing with him would not die before ALL of the things in his list had happened, including the Son of Man coming with the clouds and angels and great glory.  You can go back and review the passages we have covered saying precisely that.  We know that Christian stories portrayed Jesus as claiming some of his hearers would still be alive to see him coming in great glory, etc..  So of course there was confusion when it did not happen.  This kind of situation has happened in many cults when a major "prophecy" has failed to come to pass.  In order to preserve the cult and ease the minds of members, leaders must make excuses, add some new authoritative teachings to explain the old ideas in a different way, or otherwise reinterpret teachings or claim that people were wrongly confused about what was originally intended. If it sounds like gaslighting, that's because it is.

This author has "solved" the issue by suggesting that certain expectations of an imminent eschatology were merely a rumor and had resulted from a misunderstanding of Jesus' actual words.  He claims to be giving Jesus' actual words to set the record straight.  And to lend authority to his claim, he is saying that his version of events comes from the very disciple whom Jesus loved.  

CONCLUSIONS:

Many early Christian writers and preachers were going around telling people that "the Son of Man," Yeshua/ Joshua / Jesus, the messiah, had appeared, died, risen from the dead, gone up into the clouds, and would be returning again SOON to established a promised kingdom, "restore the kingdom to Israel."  They were even saying it would happen before their own generation passed away, and some of those passages are still preserved in the Bible.  If these passages are interpreted literally, the messianic believers making such claims were dead wrong, and they misled countless gullible, uneducated people across the Roman empire and created false traditions that would continue to plague humanity up to the modern era.  

It is possible that such claims of a messianic return "before this generation passes away" were not originally to be interpreted literally, but were originally code for the hoped-for success of a Jewish uprising against Rome.  After all, the "Son of Man" title used for Jesus was likely an allusion to a dream figure in the Book of Daniel that actually represented the nation of Israel as a whole in the context of the original work, in which dream figures were used to represent whole nations.  The Jews did, indeed, try to oust the Romans and restore their own kingdom, which would have metaphorically been equivalent to the symbol of "the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven." On three especially noteworthy occasions, messianic movements tried in an organized manner to stage a revolt:

• The First Jewish–Roman War (66–73 CE): Rebel/nationalist Jews in Roman Judea and Galilee rose up in revolt against Rome and attempted to reinstate an independent kingdom, but they were defeated by Rome. Romans besieged and conquered Jerusalem in 70 CE, destroying the Jewish Temple of Yahweh. Roman victory at the siege of Masada in 73–74 ended the war.

• The Kitos War (115–117): Rebel/nationalist Jews in Cyrenaica, Cyprus, and Egypt rose up against Roman garrisons and Roman citizens. These Jewish rebellions were eventually crushed by Roman legions.

•  The Bar Kokhba revolt (132–136 CE): Rebel/ nationalist Jews in Roman Judea, led by Simon bar Kokhba, revolted against the Roman Empire.  They were defeated.

However, when all Jewish (and possibly the earliest Christians') attempts at revolt against Rome and the re-establishment of a Kingdom of Israel failed miserably, such early symbolic meanings would have eventually been reinterpreted, transformed, or abandoned by most.  Yet one way or another, literalists eventually had lots of people convinced that a flesh-and-blood human/prophet and/or incarnation of God actually died and rose again bodily and went up into the sky and would be coming back down in the clouds, in great glory and accompanied by angels.

Biblical passages promoting imminent eschatology (the coming of Jesus / the messiah "soon") disturb every new generation of individuals who actually read the biblical texts and believe them.  They disturbed me as a teenager.  As a devout believer, I thought, 

"But wait!  I don't understand.  How could Jesus and Paul and the writer of Revelation say such things, when Jesus did not come back 'before' that 'generation' passed away (Mk 9.1; 13.30; 14.61-62), did not come back  'soon' as was predicted (Rev 1.1, 3; 3.11; 6.11; 22.6, 7, 10, 12, 20), and the time was not really 'short' as Paul said (2 Cor 7.29, etc.), and the 'end of all things' was not actually so 'near' after all (1 Pt 4.7)?"  

My own grandfather thought it would happen before he died. My uncle was afraid of it.  I and others I knew had dreams about it. It was a regular topic of conversation in the Christian circles to which I belonged. And preachers still do back flips trying to invent excuses and explain away the clear words of the problematic texts, just as the writer of 2 Peter 3 had to invent excuses to pacify confused and doubting believers in his day when more logical individuals pointed out the lies.

It is time for us to save future generations of young people from having to wrestle psychologically with such doomsday nonsense.  It is time to grow beyond such superstitious garbage through education about the historical, textual, and logical faults within the bible, the mythological nature of many of its stories, and the shameful political history of the church.  

The Bible was and is wrong.  Any historical Jesus that might have lived is long dead and decayed, not hiding up in the clouds, hovering over Jerusalem, just waiting for his daddy to say it is a good day to come down again to send unbelievers to be tortured while the credulous get eternal rewards!  Jesus, King Arthur, and Elvis are not coming back. Time to move on.

It is also possible that some messianic believers held to a more mystical/ philosophical/ gnostic notion that the death and resurrection of the symbolic / metaphorical messiah/Christ represented but one's own death to self (the illusion of self-ish separation from All-Encompassing), death to small-minded thinking, and rebirth as identifying with the Whole and/or living for/in/as something larger than one's lower-case ego.  However, such a view did not predominate in the Church. And such a view may actually have been but another way to reinterpret the failure of expectations.

In modern times, the "Son of Man" that represents the regained independence of the Jewish state is an obsolete metaphor. Thankfully, most sensible modern Jews are no longer looking for a Davidic king or a return to the "Law of Moses"! 

So please help educate believers, so that they need not be afraid of what sectarian preachers and fear-mongers say about the "end of the world," the "mark of the beast," or the "return of Jesus" to judge, etc.  And when you see people promoting such filth, please speak up or send them a link to this page.

• For a detailed analysis of the book of Revelation, see my text of that book with footnotes, attached at the bottom of this page. The helpful information is in the footnotes. Nobody who understands the history behind Revelation can continue to be afraid of it.

NOTED COMMENTS:

[1] The writer alludes to Isaiah 13.10 and 34.4.

• Isaiah 13:10 – “The stars of heaven and their constellations / will not show their light. / The rising sun will be darkened / and the moon will not give its light.” 

• Isaiah 34:4 – “All the stars of the heavens will be dissolved / and the sky rolled up like a scroll; / all the starry host will fall / like withered leaves from the vine, / like shriveled figs from the fig tree.”

The entire story of the fig tree and its association with “the end” may well have been built upon Isaiah 34.4. These ancient writers did not know that stars do not really fall from the sky/heaven; that discovery would not come until much later in human history.  They believed that the stars were fastened to a giant dome (the "firmament") that revolved around the Earth. For an observant person, these should be yet more signs that the Bible is human fabrication, not "the infallible Word of God."

[2] 1 Cor 7.26 “dia tēn enestōsan anagkēn” - can be translated “impending crisis/ necessity/ compulsion” as a reference to the expected “tribulation” (cf. 7.31), or “present crisis/necessity/compulsion” as a reference to daily troubles.

[3] See the introduction to the Second Letter of Peter in The Harper Collins Study Bible, NRSV, New Annotated Edition by the Society of Biblical Literature, Wayne A. Meeks, Editor, 1993, p. 2286.

[4] "the earth was formed out of water and by water":  Not a scientifically acceptable statement, but a popular view at times in the ancient world.  Genesis 1.2 speaks of "the face of the deep" and the wind/ruach/spirit of Elohim sweeping over the "face of the waters."  Divine mastery of primordial waters was a common motif in ancient creation myths.  Even later in the first millennium bce, the Greek philosopher Thales (600's-500's bce) theorized that water was the primary element, the first principle.

[5] This writer, along with so many other Jews and Christians, accepted the traditional story of Noah's flood as if it were historical, whereas modern historians and scholars do not. 

[6] There was a relatively common idea circulating in the Mediterranean world at the time, saying that the world would be destroyed by fire.

[7] 2 Peter 3.10. Some manuscripts: "be burned up."

[8] 2 Peter 3.12. Or, "as you wait eagerly for the day of God to come."

ENDNOTES:

[i] What is meant by the “Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven” (Mark 13.26)? 

This concept is derived from Daniel 7.13-14:

"In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.”

 Daniel, in its finished form, was written most likely between 167 and 164 BCE.  While chapters 1-6 may have been written and/or edited in the 300’s and 200’s BCE, the more important sections of the work deal with the persecution of traditionally-minded Jews by the Greek ruler of Seleucid Syria, King Antiochus IV Epiphanes, which began in 167 BCE. The purpose of the work was to encourage and console Jews facing persecution under Antiochus.  The writer(s) placed political “prophecies” for the 160’s BCE into the mouth of a character, Daniel, who was supposed to have lived back in the sixth century BCE.  During the political turmoil of the 160’s, some Jews had already adopted Greek culture, but other Jews held to tradition, and when violence erupted, the Yahweh-worshipers could not imagine why their god Yahweh was allowing them to be destroyed by King Antiochus.  The writer(s) of Daniel wanted to convey messages:  1. that Yahweh was still in control, despite the apparent death and destruction all around, 2. that all the dreadful turmoil must be signifying the end of history, the end of the age, and 3. that traditionally-minded Jews who cherished their "law of Moses" should not give up, but should be willing to die for the cause, since there would soon be a physical resurrection, and Yahweh would reward all his faithful and punish the wicked.  Descriptions of the political fight between Antiochus’ forces and the Jews are fairly detailed and accurate, but the description of the end of his reign and his death go astray, revealing that the writer was speculating about the end and had composed the work at a certain point between the beginning of the war and Antiochus’ death, 167-164. 

Despite the “abomination of desolation” set up by Antiochus in the Jewish temple, the world did not end and there was no resurrection of all the dead as the writer of Daniel had predicted.  However, Jews did lead a successful rebellion.  They won independence under the Maccabees/Hasmoneans, and Seleucid Syria was facing political pressure from elsewhere.  Before too long, however, Judaea would once again be subject to foreign domination – this time, under Rome.  “Daniel” was not discarded, but remained a part of the collection of important texts among a percentage of the Jewish population.  The visions would be continually reinterpreted to match current events by later generations of Jews hoping for political liberation from Rome.  Thus, a segment of the Jewish population was still looking for a new kingdom of Israel. 

In the original context, the “dream” of chapter seven depicted the Jewish god (as the "Ancient of Days") and five symbolic images.  The first four images were four beasts symbolizing four kingdoms:  the Babylonian Empire, the Median Empire, the Persian Empire, the Greco-Macedonian Empire of Alexander the Great.  The fifth image was a human, which is all that the phrase “son of man” originally signified, also symbolizing a kingdom, that of Israel.  Each living creature was a collective, representing an entire kingdom/real/empire.  Wild beasts were used to represent foreign kingdoms, and the human figure represented the Jewish kingdom.  The interpretation of the dream, also in chapter seven, explains how the “son of man” figure is corporate.

• Daniel 7.13-14: 13. “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, a coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. 14. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed."

The interpretation of the dream is actually provided just a few verses later:

• Daniel 7.15: “I, Daniel, was troubled in spirit, and the visions that passed through my mind disturbed me. 16. I approached one of those standing there and asked him the meaning of all this. So he told me and gave me the interpretation of these things: 17. ‘The four great beasts are four kingdoms that will rise from the earth. 18. But the holy people of the Most High will receive the kingdom and will possess it forever—yes, for ever and ever.’"

• Daniel 7.21-22: “As I watched, this horn was waging war against the saints and defeating them, until the Ancient of Days came and pronounced judgment in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came when they possessed the kingdom.”

• Daniel 7.23-27 – "23.  He gave me this explanation: 'The fourth beast is a fourth kingdom that will appear on earth. It will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth, trampling it down and crushing it.  24. The ten horns are ten kings who will come from this kingdom. After them another king will arise, different from the earlier ones; he will subdue three kings. 25. He will speak against the Most High and oppress his saints and try to change the set times and the laws. The saints will be handed over to him for a time, times and half a time (3.5 years).   26.  But the court will sit, and his power will be taken away and completely destroyed forever.  27. Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be handed over to the saints, the people of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey him.' "

o    4th beast = The Greeks under Alexander the Great

o    10 horns = 10 kings of the Seleucid dynasty who ruled Syria after Alexander’s death. 

o    Seleucid rulers issued coins with figures of horns impressed on them, symbolizing divine power. 

o    The horn as a symbol of power or kingship was not new. 

Psalm 132.17 – “17. Here I will make a horn grow for David and set up a lamp for my anointed one.” 

Psalm 18.2 – “2. Yahweh is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.  He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”)

o    7.24 – “After them another king will arise, different from the earlier ones; he will subdue three kings.”  - Antiochus IV was the next king.  For a time, he appeared to be the most powerful ruler in the eastern Mediterranean. 

o    7.25 – “He will speak against the Most High and oppress his saints and try to change the set times and the laws.”  –  Because of political trouble from conservative Jews, Antiochus began to persecute them in favor of those Jews who were willing to adopt Greek customs.  Antiochus forbade the Jews to observe the Sabbath in their traditional manner, and he banned feast days (1 Maccabees 1.41-53).

o    7.25b – “The saints will be handed over to him for a time, times and half a time (3.5 years).”  This message was meant to comfort and encourage suffering Jews, telling them that Yahweh knew the persecution would take place, but that he would bring it all to an end.

See my explanation of Daniel in its historical context, or my notes on the book of Daniel, for more detailed analysis of that book.

So, the original message was that 4 foreign kingdoms (symbolized by wild beasts) had made trouble for Judah/Israel, but that Yahweh would destroy the power of the foreign kingdoms (the wild beasts) and would restore political freedom to the followers of Yahweh, represented by "one like a son of man" (a human being a more noble image than uncivilized 'wild beasts'). The human in the sky was merely a symbolic part of a vision.  It was over two hundred years later that the symbol came to be interpreted more literally by so many who thought it referred to an actual man coming in the clouds (Mark, Matthew, Luke, Acts, Rev 1.7, unless these also were inspired by stories originally developed to symbolize revolutionary hopes, but that intent failed as subsequent generations of converts were allowed to understand it literally?).   

It is noteworthy that in the original story, the "Son of Man" was a single image, like all the images were, but each single image represented a collective group or empire, and this one represented collectively "the holy people of the Most High," in other words the conservative Yahweh worshipers as a group, NOT a single man or a real human or being coming in the sky.  While Daniel contained no individual messiah, shortly after its composition many Jews interpreted the dream of a "son of man" in the clouds of heaven as referring to the same awaited messiah/king mentioned in other literature. In the period in which Daniel was written, the messiah/king and the restoration of the kingdom of Israel were associated with the end of time, the climactic culmination of world history.

So when the New Testament gospels present Jesus as claiming to be the messiah, the Christ, the "Son of Man," and when it says that contemporary people would see the "Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven" before that generation passed away, it was a clear indication that the creators of the stories intended there to be a Jewish revolution against Rome. If there was a historical Jesus claiming to be the "Son of Man" and claiming he would be coming in the clouds soon to judge the nations in that very generation, of course such an individual would be crucified. 

• If there was not a real historical Jesus, then the story of the messiah's resurrection was originally a parable for the resurrection of Israel.  And this imagery was originally intended as a story to inspire Yahweh worshipers and converts to Yahweh worship that the end was coming soon, and that they would soon succeed in defeating Rome and reestablishing an independent Israel, controlled by Yahweh-worshipers.

So by using the title "Son of Man," the Jesus character in the gospels is claiming to be the messiah, and he is telling people they will live to see him, as the messiah, the "Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven," establish a kingdom of Yahweh, regain Israel's independence, and rule/judge the nations. 

[ii] Mark 13.1-36 in its entirety:

 1. As he was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, "Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!"   2. "Do you see all these great buildings?" replied Jesus. "Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down." 

3. As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked him privately, 4. "Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?"  5. Jesus said to them: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 6. Many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am he,' and will deceive many. 7. When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 8. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.  9. You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them. 10. And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. 11. Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.  12. Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. 13. All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved."

14. "When you see 'the abomination that causes desolation' standing where it does not belong—let the reader understand—then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 15. Let no one on the roof of his house go down or enter the house to take anything out. 16. Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak. 17. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 18. Pray that this will not take place in winter, 19. because those will be days of distress unequaled from the beginning, when God created the world, until now—and never to be equaled again. 20. If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them. 21. At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'Look, there he is!' do not believe it. 22. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect—if that were possible. 23. So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time.   24. But in those days, following that distress, 'the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light;  25. the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.'  26. At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27. And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.

 28. "Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 29. Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at the door. 30. I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 31. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.   32. "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33. Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. 34. It's like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.   35. "Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. 36. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. 37. What I say to you, I say to everyone: 'Watch!'"

[iii] 1 Corinthians 15  (NIV) in its entirety:

The Resurrection of Christ

1. Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.   3. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4. that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5. and that he appeared to Cephas [Peter], and then to the Twelve. 6. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8. and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.   9. For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 11. Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.

The Resurrection of the Dead

12. But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13. If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. 16. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.   20. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23. But each in his own turn: Christ, the first fruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. 24. Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. 25. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27. For he "has put everything under his feet." [quoting Psalm 8.6]  Now when it says that "everything" has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. 28. When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.

 29. Now if there is no resurrection, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them? 30. And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour? 31. I die every day—I mean that, brothers—just as surely as I glory over you in Christ Jesus our Lord. 32. If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for merely human reasons, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die." [quoting Isaiah 22.13]  33. Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character." 34. Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God—I say this to your shame.

The Resurrection Body

35. But someone may ask, "How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?" 36. How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37. When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. 38. But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. 39. All flesh is not the same: Men have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. 40. There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. 41. The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.   42. So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43. it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44. it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.  If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45. So it is written: "The first man Adam became a living being" [Gen. 2.7]; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47. The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. 48. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49. And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we [or, so let us] bear the likeness of the man from heaven.

50. I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52. in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."[Isaiah 25.8]    55. "Where, O death, is your victory?  Where, O death, is your sting?" [Hosea 13.14]

56. The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  58. Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

[iv] Whereas in 1 Thess 4.15 and 1 Cor 15.51-52, Paul apparently expects to be alive when Christ returns (or when the revolt happens), later, he may consider the possibility of death, as in these two passages:

2 Corinthians 5.1-10 (NIV):  Our Heavenly Dwelling:   1. Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, 3. because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5. Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.  6. Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7. We live by faith, not by sight. 8. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

Philippians 1.18-26 (NIV):  18.  ... Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, 19. for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. 20. I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. 21. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! 23. I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; 24. but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. 25. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, 26. so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me.