Now let’s look at what Paul said about the 2nd coming. 

Did Paul really say that the resurrection was “about to happen”? 

Acts 24:15 What did Paul say was the “hope of Israel”? ______________

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• Paul said that he was on trial for the “hope of Israel”, I.e. the resurrection of the dead. Where would he get the idea of the resurrection being the hope of Israel? 
• That has to come from Daniel 12:1-2 that predicts a resurrection of the righteous and wicked at the end of the age (i.e. in 70 AD). 
• He also said that there was “about to be (mello)” a resurrection of the dead. Mello always mean about to happen. Is Paul a false prophet when he predicted this?
• That Greek word “mello” appears 110 times in various forms in the NT. Here are more examples: 
• MATTHEW’S GOSPEL
• Matt 2:13 – Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to [Gk: μέλλει : mellei : is about to] search for the child, to destroy him.”
• Matt 20:22 – Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am [Gk: μέλλω : mello : I am about to] to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” 
• MARK’S GOSPEL
• Mark 10:32 – And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was [Gk: μέλλοντα : mellonta : about to] to happen to him 
• LUKE’S GOSPEL
• Luke 7:2 – Now a centurion had a servant1 who was sick and at the point of death [Gk: ἤμελλεν : emellen : was about to], who was highly valued by him.
• Luke 9:31 – who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to [Gk: ἤμελλεν : emellen : was about to] accomplish at Jerusalem.
• Luke 9:44 – “Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is about to [Gk: μέλλει : mellei : is about to] be delivered into the hands of men.”
• Zacchaeus ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Jesus, for he was about to (Gk:ἤμελλεν) pass that way …Luke 19:4
• – CC Image courtesy of Good News Productions International and College Press Publishing … FreeBibleimages.org
• Luke 10:1 – After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to [Gk: ἤμελλεν : emellen : was about to] go.
• Luke 19:4 – So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to [Gk: ἤμελλεν : emellen : was about to] pass that way.
• Luke 22:23 – And they began to question one another, which of them it could be who was going to [Gk: μέλλων : mellon : was about to] do this. 
• JOHN’S GOSPEL
• John 4:47 – When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death [Gk: ἤμελλεν : emellen : was about to].
• We can clearly see from the passages above that certain events were “ABOUT TO” happen… IMMEDIATELY or very SOON after.
• Matthew 2 – King Herod soon searched for the infant Jesus, just as predicted.
• Matthew 20, Mark 10, Luke 9 – The suffering and crucifixion of Jesus did occur within a short time, just as predicted.
• Luke 19 – Jesus did in fact pass the sycamore tree, soon after Zacchaeus climbed up to see him, just as predicted.
• “Mello” means that something is IMMINENT and “ABOUT TO HAPPEN”. It never means “MANY YEARS FROM NOW” or “SOME TIME IN THE FUTURE” or “2000 YEARS FROM NOW”! Yet that is what some Bible translators want us to believe, whenever “mello” is used in a passage about the parousia (Second Coming) of Christ.
• “Mello” means that something is IMMINENT and “ABOUT TO HAPPEN”. It never means “MANY YEARS FROM NOW” or “SOME TIME IN THE FUTURE” or “2000 YEARS FROM NOW”! Yet that is what some Bible translators want us to believe, whenever “mello” is used in a passage about the parousia (Second Coming) of Christ. It is never used to simply mean “certianly will happen” which is the way it is translated in most translations. Why would the translators not translate correctly as “about to happen”? They might translate it “about to happen” in passages that are not eschatological ones, but they would have problems translating the 2nd coming as “about to happen” b/c of almost 2,00 years of church dogma that said that the 2nd coming had not happened yet. A few translations like Young’s Literal Translation translate mello as “about to happen” correctly even in the eschatological passages we have discussed. 
• So Acts 24:15 is a critical verse. Paul said there was about to be a resurrection. If that resurrection did not happen shortly, then he is a false prophet. Daniel 12:1-2 shows us that resurrection did happen at the end of the age in 70 AD. All those OT people, good and bad, were raised in 70 AD and given their final sentencing, either eternal life or eternal punishment.

Acts 17:31 What did Paul tell the Athenians was about to happen?

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• Paul told the Athenians that God was about to (mello) judge the world through Jesus. So the judgment that people says will happen in our future had to happen shortly after Paul said this. So it must refer to the judgment in 70 AD.

Acts 24:25 

Paul told Felix the judgement was about to happen (mello)

Is God going to restore the earth to pristine conditions when Jesus returns in our future? 

Romans 8:18, 37 

• 8:18 “The sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory about to be (mello) revealed in us”. 
• He then discusses the creation being released from its curse. That creation could be used figuratively to refer to the actual earth that was cursed after the fall or it could refer to the curse put on men (people being the creation) due to sin, but whatever it refers to, the creation being freed from the curse here had to be something that was about to happen (mello in 8:18). 
• It cannot refer to God destroying the old earth and making a restored earth back to the Garden of Eden perfection at some time in our future today because that was not “about to happen” when Paul wrote 8:18 and did not happen any time after Paul wrote. 
• This is the same “glory about to be revealed” in 1 Peter 5:1.

Romans 13:12

The night is almost gone and the day is almost here, I.e. the day of Christ’s return (Amplified Bible). 

A critical chapter on the resurrection. Did Paul predict that the resurrection was going to occur while some Corinthians were still alive? 

1 Corinthians 15 Read this chapter. 

• Paul discusses the 2nd coming at the end of the Jewish Age (70 AD). 
• Jesus must first conquer all enemies, the last enemy being death. 
• Paul then discusses the nature of the believer’s resurrection. Some in Corinth were confused or questioning the teaching of the resurrection of believers. 
• Now remember, Paul had said in Acts 24:15 that there was about to be (mello) the resurrection of the dead (the one predicted in Daniel 12:1-2 to occur at the end of the Jewish age). 
• Paul then says that believers will get an immortal, incorruptible, spiritual body at their resurrection. “Flesh and blood cannot enter the kingdom” so there will be no resurrection of physical bodies from the graves.

But the critical statement is 15:51. 

• “We (Paul and those he is writing to in Corinth) shall not all sleep (i.e. be dead) when this resurrection occurs”. 
• He is not saying that some people will be alive and some dead when Jesus returns. That is obvious. 
• He is saying that some of the Corinthian Christians will still be alive at Jesus’ 2nd coming and the resurrection, which corresponds with his other statements in Acts 24:15. 
• But whether dead or alive, all will receive immortality, that immortal, incorruptible, spiritual body at the resurrection in 70 AD when he returns. 
• In 70 AD he conquered death, which came through the Law (15:54-57) by destroying the temple, the Law, and the ability of the Law to condemn believers in Jesus (Romans 8:1-4).
• This passage shows that the resurrection had to occur while some of those Corinthians were still alive. It was a spiritual thing. There were no physical bodies coming out of the graves as is often depicted.

Spiritual death has been conquered, as of 70 AD.

• Jesus said in John 11:24,25 that believers would live even if they died, that they would never die. 
• It is interesting that evangelicals say that death has not been conquered yet since they think Jesus has not returned yet. They are still waiting for the plan of redemption to be completed. 
• Not me. As of 70 AD all believers have their immortal resurrected bodies and will go straight to heaven to be with Jesus forever when they die. 
• No waiting place as in the Old Testament and the story of the rich man and Lazarus. 
• After 70 AD and death is defeated, believers have eternal life spiritual bodies that keep on living and go to some spiritual heavenly realm after physical death to live forever. Most preachers believe that deceased believers do go immediately to be with Jesus forever. If so, why would they need to leave heaven and the presence of Jesus to come back to earth some day and be judged and have their body in their coffin be raised. If they are in heaven with Jesus after death, they have all the spiritual body they need to be with Jesus forever.
• Of course, premillenneals believe that the bodies of bellievers will be resurrected at Jesus’ 2nd coming to live in a physical kingdom that he will establish. 3 problems with that. 1) The 2nd coming was at 70 AD, not in our future (see blog article 2nd Coming of Jesus (parts 1 and 2). 2) Jesus established a spiritual kingdom, the church. John 18:36 My kingdom is not of this world.3) This view contradicts Acts 24:15 that the resurrection was about to happen in Paul’s day. Also 1 Cor 15 some would still be alive at the resurrection, so it had to be imminent.

Ephesians 1:21 

The age about to come (mello). 

• That would be the Messianic Age which began in Acts 2 in 30 AD and was finalized in 70 AD. 

Philippians 3:20 

We (Paul and those he is writing to at Philippi) eagerly await the coming of Jesus

• Doesn’t that imply an imminent coming in their lifetime?. 

Philippians 4:5 

The Lord is near. Is this his presence is near or his 2nd coming is near (eggus: Near, close, at hand)?

Colossians 2:17 

A shadow of the things about to come (mello). 

• The new covenant blessings would only be fully realized in 70 AD. Hebrews 8:13 says that the old covenant was ready (eggus) to disappear. That was written about 62 AD and must refer to 70 AD. Some say the old covenant ended at the cross in 30 AD, but Heb 8:13 rejects that view. The old covenant was perpetual till the end of the age in 70 AD. Even the Jewish Christians kept the Law till 70 AD, even while they kept the new covenant. They knew the old covenant could not save them, but it was the law of God for them until God removed it in 70 AD by sending the Romans to destroy the temple and kill one million Jews (according to Josephus).

1 Thessalonians 1:10 

To wait for the coming of Jesus from heaven to rescue us from the coming wrath. 

• What wrath? 2:16 will explain that wrath, i.e. on the Jews in 70 AD. 1 Thess 2:For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews,^[h] 15 who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and oppose all mankind ¹⁶ by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved—so as always to fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them at last!. That wrath to come must be God’s wrath poured out on the Jews in 70 AD.
• John the Baptist predicted the same thing. Mt 3:⁷ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come (mello about to come)? ⁸ Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. ⁹ And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. ¹⁰ Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.¹¹ “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹² His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” This was obviously wrath to come on the Jews in 70 AD b/c it was a wrath (mello) about to come, imminent.
• Malachi had predicted this same wrath on the Jews. Mal 4:⁵ “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. ⁶ And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.” That awesome day of the Lord was a judgment day on the Jews in 70 AD.
• That was the same day as Acts 2:¹⁹ And I will show wonders in the heavens above
      and signs on the earth below,
      blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;
  ²⁰ the sun shall be turned to darkness
      and the moon to blood,
      before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. This was a fulfillment of Joel 2.
• That led Peter to tell the Jews in Acts 2:⁴⁰ And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” There’s that idea of judgment on that generation of Jews living at that time, the same one that Jesus kept saying was evil and going to be judged in 70 AD.
  

1 Thessalonians 2:14-16 

• God’s wrath has come upon them (the non Christian Jews who were persecuting the Christian Jews, as Paul did) at last! 
• This has to be 70 AD judgment on the Jews in which one million died, 200,000 captives (according to Josephus). 
• John the Baptist said that this wrath on the Jews was about to come (mello, Mt 3:7)

1 Thessalonians 2:19 

The Thessalonians Christians would be Paul’s joy and crown at Jesus’ coming

1 Thessalonians 3:13 

Paul wanted them to be blameless at the coming of Jesus

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 

• This is one of the most misunderstood eschatological passages. The rapture theory comes from this passage, although the Greek word is believers being “caught up”. The word rapture comes from the Latin Vulgate translation of “caught up”. 

• The only other passage used to teach the rapture theory is Mt 24: 40,41 where one is taken (raptured) and one left. 
• The false assumption is that this taking up occurs at a coming of Jesus that will happen in our future, but the context of Mt 24 is AD 70 2nd coming all the way through the chapter. 24:34 everything up to that verse must happen within that generation (genea). But many say that it changes to a future 2nd coming in 24:35 and that the flood analogy refers to the rapture of the righteous at Jesus’ 2nd coming in our future.
• But notice, in the days of Noah and the flood, who was taken? The righteous or the wicked? Who was left after the flood?
• It was the wicked who were taken (Amplied Bible adds “for judgment), and the righteous were left on earth (Noah and his family). 
• That is just the opposite of what the rapture theory teaches (and the wrong coming of Jesus as they teach). They say in the rapture the righteous will be taken, but in the flood the wicked were taken. Just the opposite. The whole chapter Mt 24 is about the 2nd coming in 70 AD.

Does 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 teach there will be a future rapture and resurrection?

In 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 What does it sound like was a concern of the Thessalonians concerning the imminent 2nd coming?

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 Paul is addressing a concern of the Thessalonians Christians that Timothy had relayed to him after visiting them. 

• They thought Jesus’ 2nd coming was in their lifetime (because Paul taught them that), but what if one of their fellow believers died before then? Would they be left out of the glory of the 2nd coming that they had been told was imminent within their lifetime? 
• Paul told them not to worry. Jesus would come in the clouds bringing with him those Christians who died during the transition period from AD 30-70 (some of them martyrs). Thus “the dead in Christ would rise first”. 
• This is the 1st resurrection of Rev 20:1-4 (more later). Apparently those believers who died during the transition period did not go to hades as al the Old Testament people did. Instead, they went to be with the Lord. This answer would have relieved the Thessalonians of their concern.

• He adds that the living believers would then be “caught up” to meet the Lord and be with him always. 
• Typically, many say this means a rapture to meet Jesus at his 2nd coming, after which the believers will then go to heaven to be with Jesus (often they add for 7 years or tribulation on earth followed by another coming of Jesus to establish an earthly kingdom and do a final judgment). 
• But not so. In the Roman world, a dignitary or king would visit a town. The people would go out to meet him and then return with him back into their town to enjoy his presence with them.
• That is what 1 Thess 4:13-18 is picturing in some figurative language.
• .Jesus would come in the clouds. Living believers would figuratively meet him in the air (where the clouds are) and then the believers and Jesus would come back to earth so that his presence would be with the believers on earth forever. 
• He does not take them back to heaven. The word for his 2nd coming is parousia, and means coming or presence, i.e. when you come to someone, you make your presence with them. 
• As of 70 AD. Jesus has made his presence among believers in the tabernacle of God, the sanctuary, the church. 
• He dwells in believers’ hearts through faith (Eph 3:17) spiritually, figuratively, not physically. 
• Paul also says “we who are alive”, implying that some of those (maybe including himself) will still be alive when the the events of 4:13-18 occur. 

This idea is John 14:3,23. What did Jesus say he was going to do?

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• Jesus promises the apostles that he will come to them and make his dwelling place with them (14:3). This is not the parousia word for “come” to them, and is fulfilled in coming to them by giving them the Holy Spirit (14:18,25,26) which occurred in Acts 2 with their baptism in the Holy Spirit. 
• Many use 14:1-3 to say that Jesus will come and take believers off the earth to a mansion in heaven prepared for them, but not so. 
• 14:23 is the same Greek word for “dwelling place” as in 14:3 and it it means that he will come to them and make his dwelling in them through the Holy Spirit on earth from AD 30-70. 
• He prepares a mansion for them but brings it down with him to earth where he can dwell in them in a dwelling place mansion on earth, not in heaven. So the song “I’ve got a mansion just over the hilltop….” that makes the mansion of John 14 to be heaven might not be correct! Jesus’ dwelling place or mansion is with us Christians on earth.

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 

• This follows up on the 2nd coming, saying that it will be like a thief in the night. 
• Some have trouble reconciling this idea with the fact that Jesus gave signs of his 2nd coming to look for. 
• But even if you read the signs correctly, you would get prepared by being a faithful servant (Mt 24:42-51) but you still would not know the exact hour, so you better be prepared at all times. 
• BTW 5:1-11 he tells them to stay ready at all times for the 2nd coming. It does appear that he is saying that some of them will be alive at that coming, or else this warning would not mean much to them.

2 Thessalonians 1:5-12 In what way did Paul tell them that the 2nd coming would bring relief to them? Relief from what?

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• Paul says that when Jesus is revealed at his 2nd coming in his glory to glorify his saints that he will deal out vengeance on those who are causing the Jewish Christians to suffer, I.e. the Jewish non Christians (1 Thess 2:14-16, like Saul who killed Jewish Christians). 
• The persecution that caused the Jewish Christians to scatter from Jerusalem in Acts 8 would be from Jewish non Christians in Jerusalem. 
• This promise of relief from suffering at his 2nd coming would not mean much if his 2nd coming did not occur in their lifetime, would it?

Who is the “man of sin” in 2 Thessalonians 2? Is he still to come?

2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 What had they heard about the 2nd coming?

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• After Timothy delivered the 1 Thessalonians letter to them, he came back with this issue about the 2nd coming. 
• Some were saying the 2nd coming had already happened. 
• BTW if Paul had taught them that there would be a physical resurrection of bodies from the graves at the 2nd coming, then he could have just said, “But did anyone observe that happening”.
• So this shows that he was not teaching a physical resurrection of bodies out of the graves at Jesus’ 2nd coming! 

The “man of sin” was Titus who destroyed the temple. 

• Paul then goes on to say several things were yet to happen before the 2nd coming: an apostasy, the Man of Sin (some call this the Antichrist) must appear claiming to be God and taking his seat in the temple of God.
• BTW only the emperor Titus fits this description of the man of sin. He claimed to be God and he entered the temple in 70 AD when he destroyed it and received sacrifices to himself as God. Many have thought the man of sin to be Nero, but Nero never took his seat in the temple.
• But Paul says that at the time of writing the 2nd letter, someone was restraining Titus and that person had to be removed first before Titus would do his thing. 
• Paul said in 2:7 that all this was “already at work” at the time he wrote this letter. 
• In other words, all this would occur in their lifetime. 
• Not some Antichrist that comes in our future (numerous guesses have been made as to who the Antichrist was or will be, all of them wrong guesses. 
• The coming of the Man of Sin would be accompanied by false wonders and deceptive signs. 
• Indeed, the earth beast of Rev 13 is the false Jewish prophets who persuaded Jewish non Christians to worship the Roman sea beast (more later). 
• BTW Christ would slay the man of sin at his coming, but did Christ slay Titus physically? 
• No. But he did destroy all earthly powers when he came in 70 AD, and become king of kings over all the kingdoms of the world (Rev 11:15). He also destroyed all the demonic princes, one of which would have been behind the evil Roman Empire. Daniel 9 talks about evil princes of different kingdoms.

2 Timothy 4:1 What did Paul say that Jesus was about to do? 

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• Jesus is about to (mello) judge the living and the dead by his appearing and his kingdom. Is this not clear that the judgment and his 2nd coming was about to happen?

Conclusion

It is obvious that the Christians living in the transition period from AD 30-70 expected an imminent, within their generation, in their lifetime, 2nd coming of Jesus. 

• As James Stewart Russell said, “Why would they think that? Because Jesus and the apostles told them that”. 

• Some say that the apostles are simply saying that the 2nd coming could be at any time, but that is not what they said.

• Some say that the apostles thought the 2nd coming was imminent but that they were just mistaken. 
• Wrong. The apostles wrote by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and their statements were error free. 
• If not, how would you know if any of their other teachings were mistaken.

• Some say that even Jesus could be wrong about the timing of the 2nd coming being imminent. 
• They base that on his comment that even the Son of Man did not know the exact hour of his coming. 
• C.S.Lewis took this position when he said that Mt 10:23 was the most embarrassing verse in the Bible because in it Jesus predicted his 2nd coming within the lifetime of the apostles and yet that did not come true. 
• C.S.Lewis just shirks that off saying, “Even Jesus could be mistaken at times”. 
• Wrong again
• . Jesus might not have known the exact hour of his 2nd coming, but he clearly states that the 2nd coming will be in that generation, or else he is a false prophet. 

Titus 2:11-13

• Awaiting and confidently expecting the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus.