{"id":26662,"date":"2011-03-08T21:18:00","date_gmt":"2011-03-09T03:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=26662"},"modified":"2020-11-02T21:27:22","modified_gmt":"2020-11-03T03:27:22","slug":"where-does-the-bible-say-jesus-will-return-a-third-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/where-does-the-bible-say-jesus-will-return-a-third-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Where does the Bible say Jesus will return a third time?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t<h2>Question:<\/h2>\n<p>I&#8217;ve been a fan of\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/bible.ca\/\">Bible.ca<\/a> for along time. One question that haunts me is this: With Matthew 24 fulfilled (I do believe this) where does God&#8217;s word tell us Christ will come a third time? ( 1. birth &#8211; 2. A.D. 70 -3. ?) and what about passages like Ecclesiastes 1:4 &#8220;[One] generation passeth away, and [another] generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever&#8221;?<\/p>\n\t<h2>Answer:<\/h2>\n<p>I disagree that all of Matthew 24 is referring to the destruction of Jerusalem. What is being described and how Christians are to behave are quite different before verse 36 than from verse 36 to the end of Matthew 25. For details see:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/the-gospel-accounts-a-chronological-harmony\/the-fall-of-jerusalem\/\">The Fall of Jerusalem<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/the-gospel-accounts-a-chronological-harmony\/the-second-coming-of-the-lord\/\">The Second Coming of the Lord<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In regards to Ecclesiastes 1:4, the Hebrew usage of &#8220;forever&#8221; is not exactly the same as the English usage of &#8220;forever.&#8221; We tend to use &#8220;forever&#8221; to mean without end. They used it to mean a long time without a foreseeable endpoint. You can see this in the same chapter because Ecclesiastes 1:10 says it was forever since the Creation, but there was a definite start to the world. See:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-the-word-forever-in-ecclesiastes-14-mean-everlasting\/\">Does the word &#8220;forever&#8221; in Ecclesiastes 1:4 mean &#8220;everlasting?&#8221;<\/a>\u00a0for details.<\/p>\n<p>What you are advocating is typically called Preterism. I have several good articles on this belief system, but\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/has-the-second-coming-of-jesus-already-occurred\/\">Has the Second Coming of Jesus Already Occurred?<\/a> is a good introduction. For more details on why Preterism is false, see\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/tag\/preterism\/\">Preterism<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Question: I&#8217;ve been a fan of\u00a0Bible.ca for along time. One question that haunts me is this: With Matthew 24 fulfilled (I do believe this) where does God&#8217;s word tell us Christ will come a third time? ( 1. birth &#8211; 2. A.D. 70 -3. ?) and what about passages like Ecclesiastes 1:4 &#8220;[One] generation passeth&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[73,744,339],"class_list":["post-26662","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-jesus","tag-preterism","tag-second-coming"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6999,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/understanding-matthew-24\/","url_meta":{"origin":26662,"position":0},"title":"Understanding Matthew 24","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 1, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton The teachings of Jesus recorded in Matthew 24 are commonly misapplied by people in the denominational world. People want to know what will happen in the future. They don't enjoy having secrets kept from them. This is true whether we are talking about our jobs lasting\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":97398,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/matthew-24\/","url_meta":{"origin":26662,"position":1},"title":"Matthew 24","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 18, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Billy Boyd Matthew 24 may be the most difficult chapter in the book. Jesus tells his disciples what will come to pass, and his language is sometimes figurative, exaggerated, and apocalyptic. Many wise and respected commentators have struggled with this chapter and differed over its particulars, so do not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":42197,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/gods-timing\/","url_meta":{"origin":26662,"position":2},"title":"God&#8217;s Timing","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 20, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton \"But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day\" (II\u00a0Peter 3:8). \"Where is the promise of His coming?\" (II Peter 3:4) is the question Peter has been addressing. The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":60790,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-think-its-bizarre-that-people-do-not-think-prophecy-has-been-fulfilled\/","url_meta":{"origin":26662,"position":3},"title":"I think it&#8217;s bizarre that people do NOT think prophecy has been fulfilled","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 10, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Just read your article on AD 70 Doctrine. I think it's bizarre that people do not think prophecy has been fulfilled. I mean, our Lord clearly said \"this generation\" will not pass until \"all\" is fulfilled. I do not understand why people can't accept this. The Bible nowhere teaches\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25052,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/could-there-be-some-event-that-god-is-waiting-for-to-trigger-the-second-coming-of-christ\/","url_meta":{"origin":26662,"position":4},"title":"Could there be some &#8220;event&#8221; that God is waiting for to trigger the second coming of Christ?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 27, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I know the Bible says no one knows when Jesus' second return will be. However, those who are called are watching out for it, so, therefore, it won\u2019t be such a surprise to them. Is that correct? Why does it seem to me and others that things in the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":50832,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-jesus-be-coming-soon-when-it-has-been-2000-years\/","url_meta":{"origin":26662,"position":5},"title":"How can Jesus be coming soon when it has been 2,000 years?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 26, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Didn't Jesus say that he would return soon? In this case, Jesus said something would happen shortly, but it hasn't happened for over 2,000 years. What would be the difference between these two statements? Answer: In a discussion related to the destruction of Jerusalem, Jesus did promise that he\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26662","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26662"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26662\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}