Krsto
Well-known member
Every generation of believers has and should expect His return. The rapture could happen at any time. If Israel would not have rejected their Messiah, history would be different than it is. The visible Second Coming 7 years later is preceded by signs. Their expectations were reasonable and God's right to pull the plug when He wants to is also upheld. God may have intended to establish His kingdom in the first century, but contingencies resulted in a changed mind (35x Scripture says that God changes His mind, contrary to classical theology). A believer's wrong expectations or God delaying (the Church Age was indeterminate mystery, not fixed revelation) does not mean they were all unreasonably wrong. We should not set dates for His coming, but we should know He is coming and occupy until He comes. He does tell us to watch, so He could decide to come sooner or later (2 Peter 3:9 reason why He delayed). The future is open, not settled, so there is room for possible scenarios depending no changing contingencies.
So the omniscient Holy Spirit who knew it wasn't going to work out in the 1st Century went ahead and inspired Jesus and the apostles to tell them it was going to be in their generation anyhow to get them to lead godly lives because they wouldn't have if they had known it was hundreds of years later? Sounds like deception to me.