There have been many occasions that people have claimed to know the exact year that Christ would return or the end of the world. Click here for examples. In fact, there is a new date out now. There are many, some of which are Christian ministers, who believe the world is going to end or have some dramatic event happen in 2012. Click here to see the info on that. If you want to really know one of the big motives behind the predictions, just look at how many items are for sale on that site.

With that list, we may have been tempted to believe that they really knew when Christ was coming that is until that year comes and goes. Should we know exactly when Christ will appear, the exact year, season, or even date? After all, Jesus did say, “You hypocrites! You know how to analyze the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why do you not analyze this present time?” (Luke 12:56). Jesus seems to imply that we should know when His coming is. However, if we pay attention to the subject matter here, then we could see that He is not specifically referring to the second coming. He is probably referring to the Pharisees inability to know that He is the Messiah. Then what does Jesus say about the time of His coming?

Jesus spoke of His coming as being “at an hour that you do not expect” (Luke 12:40). He also said “of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone” (Matthew 24:36). He continues to say that we are to “be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will” (Matthew 24:42-44). Then he adds “Be on alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour” (Matthew 25:13). Not only do we not know when Christ is coming, but also we shouldn’t even try to know, for Jesus said, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority” (Acts 1:7).

We may ask what the big deal is. Well first it is a complete disregard for God’s Word. How can a person claim to be pleasing to God when they blatantly disregard what He says? Also, if a person believes a prediction to be from God, then what happens to their faith when the prediction does not come true? They may just reject the prediction at that point, but what if they begin to question God? For those who think you need to know the year Christ will return to live a holy life, is that godly? Hasn’t Christ done enough to earn our respect to live obedient lives now?

This principle is so sure and so clear that I struggle to understand why so many people continue to make predictions or to believe the people who make the predictions. I’m not sure if it is just excitement, blindness, or a complete disregard for the Word of God. Whatever it is, please do not get caught up in this error. If you will just consult the Bible consistently, then these issues will not affect you. You do not need the opinions of people to know the truth; you should be satisfied only with the Bible.