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Marty Solomon makes some bold statements in the 2nd episode of Season 5 of the BEMA Podcast (Episode 192, Telling a Story) (starting about 20 minutes in). He says the early Christians were not wrong to believe the return of Christ was imminent. He believes Christ’s return actually was imminent (and still is) – if only the time was right

Solomon basically believes that Jesus might have returned within a generation or two of his death if the right things developed. He believes that the date was not and is not fixed. This is not how I have viewed it nor how I believe most people view the return of Jesus.

I have always assumed that God has fixed a date for the return of Jesus. It seems to me that this is what is generally taught or assumed. This is why we struggle with Jesus saying no one knows the hour or day of his return – not even Jesus. This is why we wrestle with the message of the imminent return of Jesus that bleeds through the New Testament.

Jesus didn’t return, so can it be possible that they were wrong about that? If they were wrong about that, what else are they wrong about?

Marty Solomon says they were not wrong about the potential, imminent return of Jesus. It could have happened, if only the time was right, if only the right things happened, if only the circumstances were such that his return was appropriate.

This is a radically different view than what I have assumed, but I was intrigued by the thought of it. As I mulled it over, I began to see some some things, and that inspires my writing today.

Solomon summarizes the eschatology Jesus taught as a three-part eschatology: this age, the transition period of this age fading out and the age to come fading in, and the age to come. He didn’t elaborate on this three-part eschatology, and I have not dug into it, but the of a transitional period does resonate with some things Jesus said.

Jesus announced that the kingdom of God is here now, in our midst. (Luke 17:21) Yet, he said the kingdom of God is like the mustard seed, small and unassuming, that grows into a large tree. (Matthew 13:31-32) In similar fashion, Jesus said God’s kingdom is like yeast: just a little yeast kneaded and worked into a large batch of flour causes the flour to rise into the fullness of bread. (Matthew 13:33)

These analogies suggest the kingdom of God is a process. It takes time for the kingdom of God to develop into the fullness for which it is intended.

I am reminded, also, that God entered the world initially (in human flesh, the incarnation) as Jesus “in the fullness of time”:

“But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.”

Galatians 4:4-5

The Greek word translated “fullness” is pléróma (πλήρωμα), which means repletion or completion, what fills, what is filled, and the Greek word translated “time” is chronos (χρόνος), which means a space of time or interval, opportunity, delay.

Chronos is, interestingly, distinguished from two other Greek words that have similar meaning, but those words, kairos (καιρός) and aión (αἰών), carry the idea of a fixed occasion and a particular period or interval, respectively. Thus, the “fullness of time” suggests the progression and development over time to maturity or ripeness; it is not a fixed or predetermined time.

We might call the “fullness of time” the perfect timing or when the time is right. It is something that must be waited for. It is like the ripening of grain or fruit to be harvested. It is like the leavening process of bread, or the growing of a small seed into a large tree.

These things suggest that Christ will return when the time is right – in the fullness of time – just like he came into the world almost two thousand years ago.

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In Isaiah 30, the prophet is talking about how the obstinate children of God carried out plans that were not His plans and formed alliances that were “not by my Spirit.” (Is. 30:1) They did not consult Him; they aligned with Egypt, and they sought Pharaoh’s protection. (Is. 3:2-5) They were rebellious and deceitful and deviated from God’s path and instruction. (Is. 30:9-11) They relied on oppression and deceit (Is. 30:12-14), and they trusted in their horses (their own strength). (Is. 30:15-17)

Isaiah said their trust in Egypt would be useless and unprofitable. (v. 5-7) Isaiah said their sin would become “like a high wall, cracked and bulging, that collapses suddenly, in an instant” (v. 13) like pottery that shatters and is not good for anything. (v. 14)

Even though the people refused to repent and trust God (v. 15-17), God waited to be merciful to them.

So the Lord must wait for you to come to him
    so he can show you his love and compassion.
For the Lord is a faithful God.
    Blessed are those who wait for his help.

Isaiah 30:18 (NLT)

God holds back His love and compassion, waiting for the right timing. God lets them go down their abstinent path until their “high wall” of sin cracks, bulges, and collapses and shatters into pieces like fragile pottery. God waits for them to repent and return to them to be merciful. His plan all along was to be merciful, but He had to wait for the right timing.

God entered the world in human form, and he gave himself up to death on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins and the sins of the whole world in the fullness of time – when the timing was right. (Gal. 4:4-5) Peter said that we are redeemed “with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect,” who “was chosen before the creation of the world….” (1 Peter 1:19-20) Paul spoke of “God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.” (1 Corinthians 2:7) God planned these things from the beginning, but He came only in the fullness of time – when the time was right.

I see a similar pattern in Romans 8, where Paul is talking to those who live according to the Spirit, and not the flesh: those who have their minds set on the Spirit of God, and not the flesh. (Ro. 8:5-11) They are the children of God: people who live as co-heirs with Christ: people who share in His suffering. (Ro. 8:14-17) Paul says the whole of “creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.” (Ro. 8:19)

Not just God, but the whole of creation waits, and we wait, for this hope. God has subjected creation to frustration/futility (Ro. 8:20), and “the whole creation” groans “as in the pains of childbirth” (Ro. 8:20) as God, the creation, and we wait for our adoption as children and the redemption of our bodies. (Ro. 8:23) God waits for the right timing, and we who have our minds set on the Spirit wait for this to happen at the right time, which only God determines.

God waits, as Isaiah says, to show mercy, which He desires and longs to do, just as He waited for the fullness of time to enter the world in human flesh. Marty Solomon picks up this thread of God waiting for the right timing when he notes that Peter makes the following statement that is rooted in a particular pharisaical school of eschatology:

“You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire and the elements will melt in heat. But, in keeping with His promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth  where righteousness dwells.”

2 Peter 3:11-13

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Marty finds support for this view in Peter saying that we should live holy and godly lives and, in doing so, speed the coming of the day of God. This is what Paul implies in Romans 8 when he says the creation (and we) are groaning as in the pains of childbirth.

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Both Peter and Paul suggest the timing has something to do with us. Paul urges us to set our minds on the Spirit (Paul), and Peter urges us to live holy and godly lives to speed the coming of the day of the Lord (Peter). They are pulling on the thread of God waiting for the “fullness of time”, like the progression of childbirth, like waiting to be merciful, before God acts and brings His plans to conclusion.

Indeed, Jesus said, no one knows the day and the hour when the Son of Man will come, not the angels and not even Jesus at that time. (Matthew 24:36; Mark 12:32) Only the Father knows, but He waits for the right timing.

God is sovereign, but He waits for the right timing as His creation waits, as we wait, for the fullness of time. He waits for us to get with His program and stop pursuing our plans and stop doing it our way. He waits for us to repent and things His way.

God waits for us to engage and partner and align with His plans for the redemption of the world. We do this by setting our minds not on the flesh, but on the Spirit according to Paul. We do this by living holy and godly lives according to Peter.

God waits for us to stop doing things our way, to stop aligning with the powers of this world (Egypt), to stop trusting in our military might (horses), and to stop relying on oppression and deceit, according to Isaiah. God is waiting for our repentance, for us to rest in His salvation, and for us to rely in quietness on our trust in God.

Marty observes that if our holy and godly living will speed the coming of the day of the Lord, as Peter says, that the day of the Lord is not fixed. It is not a date certain. I find the same thread in Romans 8, in which Paul says the creation is groaning in anticipation of the Spirit being revealed in us. (Ro. 8:19) God will do what He says, but the timing stands in relation to us. Our obedience somehow is involved in the coming of the day of the Lord.

Marty says that the commitment and radical obedience of the early believers in the first few centuries was working! The most powerful empire of the world (Rome) was crumbling. The dragon and the beast John saw in Revelation was ready to be thrown to be thrown into the fire. The coming was speedily approaching, “but then something happened,” says Solomon. “We seem to have lost the plot.”

I see that, myself, in Church history. We began to align with “Egypt” as our spiritual fathers adopted the ways of the Roman Empire and began to rely on the might of the State. This is our history, the history of the western world.

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Not now. Not ever.

And, our ways will not accomplish the purposes of God.

Szent Istvan, as Stephen is known to Hungarians, is not alone in his use of might to spread Christianity. The tactics of “empire” were used for this purpose at least from the days of Charlemagne in the 9th Century, but we find their roots as early as the 4th Century when Constantine marched for war under the symbol of the cross.

Perhaps, Marty is right. The day of the Lord is on hold. We wait for God. Creation waits. God waits for the faithful remnant to repent, to cry for the Lord’s help, to set our minds on the Spirit, and to live holy and godly lives to speed the coming of the day of the Lord. I dare say that nothing less (and nothing more) will speed the coming of the day of God but our faithful obedience to the ways of God – which Jesus showed us and Paul affirms come with sharing in his suffering until God does what He said He would and what He intends to do in the fullness of time.