I realize that my Bible interpretation of prophecies relies heavily on the “time statements”, such as “near”, “at. hand”, “soon”, mellot (“about to be “), etc. These time statements are made about the kingdom (the kingdom is “at hand” Mark 1:15), the 2nd coming of Jesus (James 5:8 the coming of the Lord is “near”), the “end of all things” is “at hand” (1 Peter 4:7), the events predicted in Revelation that included the coming of Jesus in the clouds in Revelation 1:7; 22:12,20) that will happen “soon” or “near (Revelation 1:1-3; 22:6-11), the 2nd coming that was “about to be” (mello, Matthew 16:27: Jesus even said that some of those listening to him would still be alive when that would happen), the destruction of the temple and the 2nd coming of Jesus would happen within the lifetime of that generation (Matthew 24:15,30-34). Another critical time limiting fulfillment passage is Luke 21:22 where Jesus said that all Old Testament Scripture would be fulfilled within that generation (Luke 21:32).

A common rebuttal is that “soon” could be soon in God’s time frame, which could be thousands of years or more. Often 2 Peter 3:8 “with the Lord a day is like a thousand years” is used to support that rebuttal. Or maybe even someone says, “soon” could be figurative. Of course, if that rebuttal is valid, then all of my interpretations of prophecies is not valid and scholars are free to understand the fulfillment of prophecies to be thousands of years after the first century. So how do I answer that rebuttal?

AI gives 2 very good logical reasons for arguing that the time statements should be taken as imminent in the lifetime of those to whom they were made:

The Audience Expectation or Relevance: Proponents argue that because New Testament authors—such as Paul, John, and Jesus himself—addressed their immediate, contemporary listeners, words denoting time must be read in a plain, human sense rather than as time-delay semantics.
The “This Generation” Debate: This interpretation leans heavily on statements like “this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened” (Matthew 24:34), viewing the prophecies as referring to specific, near-term events like the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in AD 70.”

Audgience Relevance: Passages like 2 Thessalonians 1 promise relief to Jewish Christians at the 2nd coming, and then 2 Thessalonians 2 goes on to say that the 2nd coming will occur within the lifetime of those reading that letter from Paul. What relevance is that promise if it never happened within their lifetime? Revelation 1:3 gives an urgency for the readers to read, hear, and keep the words of the prophecies in the book b/c “the time is near”. What relevance would that warning have to them if “shortly” could be thousands of years later? Mark 1:15 “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is ‘at hand’.” What was the urgency of repenting? B/c the kingdom was at hand. The coming of the church kingdom that began in Acts 2 in 30 AD with the baptism of 3,00. It would continue as the apostles preached the gospel to the entire Roman Empire from 30-70 AD. Those who repented and accepted Jesus as the Messiah during that transition period would receive eternal life, but those who rejected Him would be judged in 70 AD when the Romans killed one million wicked Jews when they destroyed the temple and the city of Jerusalem. That’s why Peter told those listening in Acts 2:40 “Be saved from this perverse generation.” James Stewart Russell in his book The Parousia keeps trying to get readers to examine every passage in light of audience relevance. What did it mean to those reading? What promises or warnings were specifically tied to the context?

This generation (the Greek word genea): Some want to translate this word as the “Jewish race” and say that Matthew 24:34 is just saying that “the Jewish race would not pass away till the predictions in Matthew 24 would be fulfilled”. But Strong’s says that the word genea means either 1) the period of about 30-33 years or 2) the people living together during that 30-33 years. Matthew 1 demonstrates the meaning of “generations” aa there are 42 generations from Abraham to Jesus, which was about 2,000 years. The word genea is used 43 times in the New Testament, and it always means the people living in a 40 year period or a time period of 40 years. Often he spoke of the “evil and perverse generation” of Jews living in the first century. Matthew 23:³⁶ Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.” It is just like we use the word “generation” with the baby boomers, the X, or the Z generations. If that isn’t enough proof, Matthew 16:28 Jesus said that some would still be alive when he came in his kingdom (which would have to be the 70 AD 2nd coming). That fits the idea of His 2nd coming within that next 40 years after he made those predictions.

Why did early Christians expect the 2nd coming to happen within their lifetime? James Stewart Russell said in The Parousia that it is obvious to anyone who reads the New Testament with an open mind that the early Christians expected Jesus to return within their lifetime. “Why did they they expect that? B/c Jesus and the apostles told them to expect that!” If Jesus’ 2nd coming did not happen within their lifetime then Jesus was a false prophet, which is exactly what atheist, Muslims, and unbelieving Jews say about Jesus.

Maybe He did predict an imminent 2nd coming but “delayed” it? That is a common teaching among those who will at least admit that Jesus did predict an imminent 2nd coming, but don’t believe that the 2nd coming fulfilled that in 70 AD. They say that he delayed that predicted imminent 2nd coming. In the late first century and 2nd century many Christians living then still thought that Jesus’ delayed 2nd coming would still happen in their lifetime, but that 2nd century 2nd coming did not happen. But there are no passages suggesting a delay in the fulfillment of the prediction of an imminent first century 2nd coming. To the contrary, Hebrews 10:37 refutes any delay in the 2nd coming: “For yet in a very little while, He who is coming will come, and will not delay.” Others say that His teachings were intentionally ambiguous to foster readiness rather than precise date-setting. But his predictions clearly stated a time limitation for the 2nd coming. He did not give a precise date, such as August, 70 AD, but He did set a limit of one generation or 40 years for that 2nd coming to happen. He obviously did not set a precise date b/c people would try to take advantage of that by continuing to live in sin up until 70 AD and then repent right before the precise date. Others try to use 2 Peter 3 to say that Jesus delayed his predicted imminent 2nd coming to give more time for people to repent. 2 Peter 3:⁹ The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not willing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance.” By about 62 AD when 2 Peter 3 was written, some were mocking the predicted imminent 2nd coming had not happened yet. Peter explained that any slowness to fulfill that prediction was to give more people time to repent, but he never said that the 2nd coming would not be within that generation or that Jesus was delaying his prediction. Jesus’ 2nd coming would be about 8 years later in 70 AD which would still make it within their lifetime.

I have taught a lot of math in times past. Suppose I tell my math students, “You need to do your homework and study hard each night b/c you are going to have a test soon.” Isn’t it obvious that soon would be soon in their time frame or else the warning would have no relevance to them? That same logic would apply to the time statements on predicted prophecies in the New Testament. I hope this article shows why time statements must be taken at face value.