53 The Olivet Discourse Part 4

Those who have attempted to date the rapture or the Second Coming of the Messiah have often misused this section. The fig tree is often taken to mean the re-establishment of The State of Israel in 1948. Then, within a generation, that is forty years or so from 1948 the Second Coming must occur. This would place the Second Coming in 1988. Because the Rapture precedes the Second Coming by at least seven years, it would place the Rapture by 1981. This is simply date setting; something the Scriptures clearly forbid. Nevertheless, date-setters continue to revise their 1988 “prophecy” year after year. Since 1988 has now come and gone, the new focus is to start the forty years with Six-Day war in 1967. So now, some are predicting the return of the Lord around 2006-2007.