A recent online article urges Seventh-day Adventists to lay aside what the author calls the rhetoric of “fearful urgency” relative to the second coming of Christ, due to the fact that time continues to lengthen and the Lord still hasn’t returned [1]. The author, noting recent retirements at high levels in the denomination, writes, “Every retirement reminds us that the thing we Adventists have built our brand on hasn’t happened” [2].
Drawing on his experience as a multi-generational Adventist growing up in the Midwest, the author recalls a fiercely rigid church member who—according to his recollection—wouldn’t buy a combine to harvest his wheat because Jesus was coming so soon that it would be a waste of money, who condemned friends and neighbors by his high standards, and who forced children and adults in his home to “sit bolt upright . . . while he read them stories of gruesome martyrdom” [3].
Certain that Jesus would return in his lifetime, this man nevertheless retired and passed away. All his sons worked for the church, the youngest of which—a lifelong church administrator—recently died at the age of 97 [4].
The author laments the church’s continuing dilemma as follows:
Why have the leaders and theologians of the Seventh-day Adventist Church refused to reckon with the failure of the founding prophecy? No one can argue that two millennia have passed since the apostles said Jesus was about to return, or that it’s been almost two centuries since Adventists renewed the claim. Yet our leaders trumpet the word “soon” as enthusiastically as they did two centuries ago [5].
“A Cheap Shot at Common Sense”?
The author goes on to claim that an honest assessment of this problem is “met with an angry accusation from 2 Peter 3:3-4” [6], which the author cites followed by a series of hypothetical comments by Christians through the ages who have allegedly wondered why Jesus hasn’t yet come. I quote the author’s words at length, beginning with the above passage from Second Peter, because they make several points which do more to undermine than to sustain the author’s criticism of Adventist expectations regarding Jesus’ return:
Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
That’s regarded by some as an airtight answer. But is it?
No, it’s actually a cheap shot at common sense. Because the person who points out the obvious isn’t a scoffer. He’s an observer.
A man in AD 200 said, “Jesus hasn’t returned, and it’s been 200 years since he came the first time, and I’m starting to wonder if we know when Jesus is coming back.” He was accused by church leaders of being a scoffer, per 2 Peter 3:3.
A man in AD 500 said, “Jesus hasn’t returned, and it’s been 500 years since he came the first time, and I’m starting to wonder if we know when Jesus is coming back.” He was accused by church leaders of being a scoffer, per 2 Peter 3:3.
A man in AD 1000 said, “Jesus hasn’t returned, and it’s been 1,000 years since he came the first time, and I’m starting to wonder if we know when Jesus is coming back.” He was accused by church leaders of being a scoffer, per 2 Peter 3:3.
A man in AD 1844 said, “Jesus hasn’t returned, and it’s been 1,844 years since he came the first time, and I’m starting to wonder if we know when Jesus is coming back.” He was accused by church leaders of being a scoffer, per 2 Peter 3:3.
A man in AD 1950 said, “Jesus hasn’t returned, and it’s been 1,950 years since he came the first time, and I’m starting to wonder if we know when Jesus is coming back.” He was accused by church leaders of being a scoffer, per 2 Peter 3:3.
A man in AD 2021 says, “Jesus hasn’t returned, and it’s been 2,021 years since he came the first time, and I’m starting to wonder if we know when Jesus is coming back.” He is called by church leaders a scoffer, per 2 Peter 3:3 [7].
Thoughtful reflection on the sacred past, however, constrains us to doubt whether “common sense” is truly operative in the expression of the above sentiments. Couldn’t the same have been said during the 120 years of Noah’s proclamation of a soon-coming flood? Couldn’t those who mocked the idea of water from the sky causing a global deluge also be regarded as “observers” rather than scoffers, since no phenomenon of the sort predicted by Noah had yet occurred in the human experience?
Distorting—and Ignoring—History
A major problem with the above hypothetical chronology of wonderment as to the delay of Jesus’ coming is the fact that while certain ones throughout the Christian Era have indeed expected the Lord to come in their respective lifetimes, a significant number of Christian thinkers through the centuries have found a Biblical, prophetic basis for concluding that Jesus would not come in the immediate future. Many of these interpreters held to a prophetic timetable nearly identical to that preached by classic Adventism.
In The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, Leroy Froom gives evidence that the apostolic fathers—Christian leaders living close to the time of the original apostles—believed they were living in the time of the fourth beast of Daniel 7 (pagan Rome), that erelong Rome would be partitioned into ten kingdoms out of which would arise the little horn power, followed by the second coming of Christ [8]. Irenaeus, a later church scholar, even equates Daniel’s little horn with the man of sin in 2 Thessalonians 2 and the beast of Revelation 13 [9]. Tertullian, another early church leader, clearly held that pagan Rome’s dominance of world affairs was delaying the march of final prophetic events [10]. Secular historian Stephen Williams, in his biography of the Roman emperor Diocletian, notes another church leader at that time (Hippolytus) as holding similar views [11].
In later centuries Martin Luther placed the timing of the last judgment a full three hundred years from his day [12]. One is amazed how close he came to hitting the mark!
So the notion that Christians in every age have nurtured identical expectations regarding the imminence of Jesus’ second coming is what one could call a half-truth that conveys the effect of an untruth. The historical record bears witness to the fact that many Christians across the centuries understood that Jesus was not coming right away, and not because this conclusion was forced on them through the lengthening and lingering of time. Rather, they recognized this delay as anticipated by the sweep of Bible prophecy and the pending rise and fall of those political and religious powers that would attend and impact the experience of God’s people.
But what is perhaps most remarkable—and tragic—about the musings of “progressive” Adventists regarding the alleged irrelevance of fearful urgency relative to the church’s anticipation of Jesus’ return, is the amazing disconnect between these musings and the reality of today’s world. The article in question speaks disdainfully, for example, of the “generally pessimistic view of the world” held by the Adventist farmer whose story we noted earlier [13]. One can’t help asking how anyone surveying the saga of history that has unfolded since the dawn of the Advent movement could hold anything other than a “pessimistic view of the world.” One need not believe in the doctrinal, prophetic, or behavioral tenets of classic Adventism to acknowledge the unparalleled record during the past hundred-plus years of war, genocide, political slaughter, global terror, mass shootings, man-made climate change, rampant world hunger, and lethal pandemics—not to mention the greater capacity for evil made possible by modern science, technology, and the networked world of our day.
As I write this article, the United States has reported at least 50 mass shootings within the past month alone [14]. Reading such headlines, who can’t help but recall the statement in Genesis that before Noah’s Flood, “the earth was filled with violence” (Gen. 6:11), together with Jesus’ corresponding prediction that “as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man” (Luke 17:26)? Ellen White makes a similar prophecy regarding rampant violence before Jesus returns. Speaking of Noah’s day, she writes:
The land was filled with violence. War, crime, murder, was the order of the day. Just so it will be before Christ’s second coming [15].
A number of years ago, Discover magazine reported that “natural disasters have increased fourfold since the 1950s,” with scientists still unsure as to the reasons why [16].
And that’s just the beginning. Previous generations may have each had their respective “signs of the times,” but who can honestly, objectively deny that today’s signs are infinitely more compelling?
The Ultimate Determiner: The Character Calendar
But what articles like the one in question totally ignore is the Biblical fact that ultimately, no matter how evil and calamitous world conditions may become, God isn’t waiting on such factors in order for Jesus to return. Rather, He is waiting on the one ingredient yet to be developed—the character of Christ perfectly reproduced in His people.
Contrary to the assumption of those who believe this concept to be based solely on a few Ellen White statements, allegedly wrenched from context by a fringe clique of conservative Adventists, it is the Bible itself that underscores the determining role of what I call the “character calendar” in the timing of the second Advent. Revelation chapter 7 spells out this teaching in the following verses:
And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the winds should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.
And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God, and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,
Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads (Rev. 7:1-3).
Elsewhere in Scripture this sealing imagery is linked with the Holy Spirit’s presence in the heart as the guarantee, or earnest, of His work in us (see II Cor. 1:22; Eph. 1:13; 4:30). We also read that the Spirit’s inward presence enables us to be “filled with all the fullness of God” (Eph. 3:19). No wonder Ellen White declares:
Those who receive the seal of the living God, and are protected in the time of trouble, must reflect the image of Jesus fully [17].
In Revelation 10, verse 7, we read, “But in the days of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished.” The following chapter informs us that the sounding of the seventh angel takes place when “the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ, and He shall reign for ever and ever” (Rev. 11:15). In other words, the sounding of the seventh angel takes place when Jesus is about to come back. And during this time, it is declared, “the mystery of God shall be finished” (Rev. 10:7). The New Testament defines this mystery as “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:26-27).
What Revelation is telling us, in essence, is that that the failure of God’s last-day people to allow the full accomplishment of the Spirit’s sanctifying work is ultimately responsible for the delay of Jesus’ coming.
The harvest principle behind the delayed Advent is more fully explained by Jesus in Mark, chapter 4:
And He said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground:
And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how.
For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself: first the blade, then the ear, and after that the full corn in the ear.
But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come (Mark 4:26-29).
John was shown this principle in action in the fourteenth chapter of Revelation:
And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle.
And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in Thy sickle, and reap; for the come is come for Thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.
And He that sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped (Rev. 14:14-16).
Elsewhere in the New Testament total sanctification is upheld as a prerequisite for the coming of Jesus:
And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (I Thess. 5:23).
Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? . . .
Wherefore, brethren, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye be found of Him in peace, without spot, and blameless (II Peter 3:11-12,14).
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
And every man that hath this hope in Him purifieth himself, even as He is pure (I John 3:2-3).
Speaking of God’s last-day church, the prophet Zephaniah wrote: “The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies, neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth; for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid” (Zeph. 3:13). John the Revelator obviously borrowed this theme when writing of the 144,000 translated saints: “And in their mouth was found no guile, for they are without fault before the throne of God” (Rev. 14:5). These words call to mind another Bible passage:
Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that we should follow in His steps.
Who did not sin, neither was guile found in His mouth (I Peter 2:21-22; see also Isa. 53:9).
Ellen White thus marches in lockstep with the Holy Bible when she declares: “When the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced in His people, then He will come to claim them as His own” [18]. Once this condition is met, the other promise made by our Lord concerning the timing of the Advent can also be fulfilled: “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world, for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come” (Matt. 24:14). Only when the witness of the church becomes fully and finally credible—when at last the two l’s, life and lip, are matched—can the preaching of the gospel bring at last the world’s conscience to the judgment bar of God.
Ellen White speaks of how the perfection and proclamation of the last-generation saints will blend together:
The last rays of merciful light, the last message of mercy to be given to the world, is a revelation of His character of love. The children of God are to manifest His glory. In their own life and character they are to reveal what the grace of God has done for them.
The light of the Sun of Righteousness is to shine forth in good works—in words of truth and deeds of holiness [19].
Whether many realize it or not, what has come in recent years to be called Last Generation Theology holds the ultimate and most conclusive answer to the question of why Jesus hasn’t yet returned. Sadly, too many who wonder so passionately as to why the Advent has been delayed, and who urge the church to reconsider its message of urgency on account of the delay, tend to overlook the very clear inspired summons to Spirit-empowered Christian victory as the ultimate means whereby the Lord’s coming has been delayed—and whereby it is to be hastened.
The article in question is correct in saying that our task while waiting for the second coming is to be “living for Jesus every day, trying to be like Him, and trusting His power to save” [20]. Whether the author knows it or not, that is definitional Last Generation Theology. And when the church experiences true revival and reformation, attended by a wholehearted return to the doctrinal and moral imperatives of the Advent message, God will find a sufficient number to comprise a credible demonstration of vanquished sin and Christlike holiness.
The article in question offers the following disparaging observation, bordering on mockery:
Meanwhile we keep hiring, retiring, and consigning to the grave generation after generation of people who believed with all their hearts that Jesus was hiding behind the next cloud to appear in the east half the size of a man’s hand. We keep building buildings. Our leaders travel the world. Our assets keep accumulating [21].
Far from representing a logical disconnect from the rhetoric of urgency, such conduct on the church’s part represents consummate wisdom. While we urge our members to watch the multiplying signs that Jesus is ready to come, while we summon them in the light of these signs—by precept and hopefully by example—to the attainment of Christlike consistency in word and deed, we nevertheless recognize that such warnings may not be heeded, and that we must therefore prepare ourselves and the Lord’s laborers for the temporal consequences that the delayed Advent brings.
Moreover, Last Generation Theology is the ultimate answer to the excesses of those conservative church members for whom conspiracy theories, time-setting, and sensational speculation have come to dominate their perspective on the coming crisis. While most of these folks have not theoretically abandoned the imperative of reproducing Jesus’ character as the means of hastening His return, they fail to recognize its decisive role in the eschatological calendar. It is never wise to preach the imminence of catastrophic events without simultaneously acknowledging God as the absolute Lord of history, that He will not—as Revelation says—permit the world’s final dissolution until His striving faithful are ready (Rev. 7:1-3). Failure to maintain this balance in emphasis has too often brought discredit on the preaching of end-time events in the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Conclusion: Two Poles of Tension
In our eschatological focus, there must always be two poles of tension—the readiness of the world and the readiness of the church. Tragically, the world has always been readier than the church. World conditions have always been in distress, though objective reality constrains any honest witness to recognize that such conditions today are vastly worse than when the pioneers of the Advent movement first proclaimed the coming of Jesus. Putting the lie to the popular allegations of fearmongering so often voiced against the preaching of these topics, Jesus declared that increased calamity in the world was to be a cause of rejoicing among His waiting saints:
And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh (Luke 21:28).
A godly fear must indeed characterize the urgency of our Advent proclamation, a fear enjoined in the initial summons of the first angel’s message (Rev. 14:7). However, as Jesus noted in the above verse, this urgency is to be joyful as well as fearful for the Lord’s watching saints. But in the end, a looming thunderstorm doesn’t mean it’s time for a farmer to pick his corn. The corn has to be ripe first. It is that ripening for which our loving Lord waits, and whose delay has held up the Advent. The final hastening of that ripening process must become the absorbing focus and consuming passion of the Seventh-day Adventist message and mission.
REFERENCES
1. Loren Seibold, “The End of Fearful Urgency,” Adventist Today, April 9, 2021 https://atoday.org/why-we-can-no-longer-defend-a-fearful-urgency-about-jesus-return/
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid.
7. Ibid.
8. Leroy E. Froom, The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 1 (Washington, D.C: Review and Herald Publishing Assn, 1950), pp. 216-217.
9. Ibid, pp. 246-247.
10. Ibid, pp. 257-258.
11. Stephen Williams, Diocletian and the Roman Recovery (New York: Methuen Inc, 1985), p. 165.
12. Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, pp. 303,356.
13. Seibold, “The End of Fearful Urgency,” Adventist Today, April 9, 2021 https://atoday.org/why-we-can-no-longer-defend-a-fearful-urgency-about-jesus-return/
14. Madeline Holcombe and Dakin Andone, “The U.S. has reported at least 50 mass shootings since the Atlanta spa shootings,” CNN, April 20, 2021 https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/18/us/mass-shootings-since-march-16/index.html
15. White, SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 1, p. 1090.
16. Joseph D’Agenese, “Why Has Our Weather Gone Wild?” Discover, June 2000, p. 76.
17. White, Early Writings, p. 71.
18. ----Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 69.
19. Ibid, pp. 415-416.
20. Seibold, “The End of Fearful Urgency,” Adventist Today, April 9, 2021 https://atoday.org/why-we-can-no-longer-defend-a-fearful-urgency-about-jesus-return/
21. Ibid.
Pastor Kevin Paulson holds a Bachelor’s degree in theology from Pacific Union College, a Master of Arts in systematic theology from Loma Linda University, and a Master of Divinity from the SDA Theological Seminary at Andrews University. He served the Greater New York Conference of Seventh-day Adventists for ten years as a Bible instructor, evangelist, and local pastor. He writes regularly for Liberty magazine and does script writing for various evangelistic ministries within the denomination. He continues to hold evangelistic and revival meetings throughout the North American Division and beyond, and is a sought-after seminar speaker relative to current issues in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He presently resides in Berrien Springs, Michigan