End Times Noise

HOLDING STEADY WHEN THE NOISE GETS LOUD !  

Pastor TD Hale 

The Clockmaker’s Lesson

In a quiet village, there was an old clockmaker whose tiny shop was filled with ticking and chiming timepieces. Each clock had its own rhythm, yet none ever struck the exact same note at the same second. People would come in and complain, “Master, your clocks are not in perfect harmony!”

The old man would smile and say, “Ah, but they are not bound to each other. They are set to a greater truth, each is governed by the sun. The sun rises and sets without fail, and no matter how many ticks go wrong inside this shop, the sun never changes.”

One day a young man entered, discouraged because he had heard another false prediction about Christ’s return. “I am weary of all these failed words,” he sighed. “It makes people laugh at us.”

The clockmaker placed a small timepiece in the young man’s hand. “You see this? It may run fast, or it may run slow, but the sun still rises at its appointed time. Do not measure eternity by the errors of men. Fix your eyes on the One who set the sun, the moon, and the stars in their courses. He is never early, never late. He will come.”

The young man left with hope, the ticking clock in his hand reminding him that though men miscalculate, God’s timing is perfect.

.....  .....  .....

I waited for most of the day before posting this. I considered it, then felt I should. There will be some, today, who are disappointed that the, “Rapture” did not happen when they were told it would. 

There will be others who are sure THEY know when it will happen.

Honestly, I'm not even sure how this all got started.  I want to remind you that one person’s false word does not cancel the truth of God’s Word. Do not put every child of God in the same lump. The Body of Christ is not built on dates, guesses, or fads, but on Christ Himself, the Rock that never moves.

Throughout history, there have been predictions and disappointments. In 1844, a group known as the Millerites sold their possessions and gathered on hillsides, waiting for the Lord’s return. When the day passed, the world mocked them, and their movement was called ,“The Great Disappointment.” 

Yet from that heartbreak, many believers pressed deeper into Scripture, and finally came to realize that no man can set the clock for God. The lesson was clear: we walk and work by faith, not by timetables. 

Fads come and go. Men rise and fall. But the true Church keeps its eyes on Jesus. Do not let mockers or scoffers rob you of your hope. Do not let false alarms make you forget the real trumpet that will sound. If some laugh, let them laugh. If some walk away, let them walk. But you keep the faith.

The Bible tells us, “For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry” (Hebrews 10:37). God does not need a calendar to remind Him. His timing is perfect. Here are reminders of past/failed events:

FAILED DATE-SET PROPHECIES ABOUT CHRIST’S RETURN

1. Montanists (2nd century)  Claimed Christ’s return was imminent in their lifetime.

2. Hippolytus of Rome (d. 235)  Calculated Christ would return in the year 500.

3. Pope Sylvester II (999–1000 A.D.) Panic spread in Europe at the turn of the first millennium; the Lord did not return.

4. Joachim of Fiore (1135–1202) Predicted the end around 1260.

5. Martin Luther (1483–1546) Claimed the end was likely by 1600.

6. William Miller (1782–1849) Predicted March 21, 1843, then October 22, 1844. This failure became known as The Great Disappointment.

7. Jehovah’s Witnesses predicted several dates including 1914, 1918, 1925, and 1975. None were fulfilled.

8. Herbert W. Armstrong (1892–1986) Predicted Christ’s return between 1972–1975.

9. Chuck Smith (founder of Calvary Chapel) Suggested Jesus would return by 1981.

10.  Hal Lindsey (author of The Late Great Planet Earth) – Interpreted 1948 as Israel’s budding fig tree, teaching a generation (40 years) would not pass before Christ’s return. Many expected the 1980s to be the decade.

11. Edgar C. Whisenant (1932–2001) Published 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 1988. He then revised his predictions for 1989, 1993, and 1994.

12.  Noah Hutchings and David Webber (Southwest Radio Church) reveresed the usual order and predicted the Tribulation would begin in 1987 and THEN the Rapture around 1988.

13.  Harold Camping (Family Radio) Predicted September 6, 1994, then later May 21, 2011. When nothing happened, he moved the date to October 21, 2011. All failed.

14.  Jerry Falwell Sr. Suggested in the 1990s that Christ’s return might be within 10 years.

15.  Nostradamus enthusiasts Pointed to July 1999 as the end. Nothing occurred.

16.  Leland Jensen (Bahá’í offshoot)  Predicted nuclear Armageddon in 1980, later revised to 1987.

17.  Pat Robertson Claimed in his book The New Millennium that the world would end by 1982, then later suggested 2007. Neither happened.

18. Various YouTube/Internet Prophets even now, after all these examples, still set dates for 2017 (the “Revelation 12 Sign”), 2020, 2021, and beyond. None were (or will be) fulfilled.

These failed predictions stand as reminders that man’s calendar can never control God’s clock. The Lord does not bow to charts, timelines, or guesses, for His Word is clear: “Of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only” (Matthew 24:36). Every false alarm may bring reproach and ridicule, yet they cannot cancel the blessed hope of the believer. Scoffers may laugh, critics may point, but the promise still stands. Christ is coming, not on man’s timetable, but on God’s.

So let the world mock, let the fads fade, and let the false prophets fall silent. Keep your eyes on the sky, your feet on the path, and your heart in the Word. For while men fail in their predictions, God never fails in His promises. The trumpet will sound, the dead in Christ shall rise, and those who remain faithful will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. Until then, do not be discouraged, be diligent, be watchful, and be found faithful. And, don’t be mad at me, I’m just trying to encourage. He will Come in the Hour You Think Not. But, who am I? Just a guy with a Bible. 

Every false alarm only proves one thing: the true trumpet has not yet sounded. But it will. The calendar of man crumbles, but the covenant of God stands forever. Keep Looking Up! 

Shalom

(NOTE - the above article was written by an Evangelist Protestant pastor. I posted it here because too many Catholics are deceived too easily about various end time events, especially about the second coming. 

Please remember, Catholics don't believe in the so-called, "Rapture." There is no need to. That is a fabrication that didn't appear until the 1830's. It was first the dream of a teenage girl, which was then massaged into a theology by a preacher named Darby..... and it is as spurious as all the failed predictions given here. 

There is only the one Second Coming, The Parasouia, which Christ spoke of.
There isn’t a secret,  "preliminary" coming, in advance of the REAL Coming, where only a select few will be snatched up ...before Jesus gets here. 
So relax. Jesus will return, yes... He said so.
The Church teaches, in fact, that we are already in the last days - they started with the Ascension of Christ. 

The exact day and hour of His coming, however, are unknown and so we are called to vigilantly watch and pray and be prepared - but not to guess or calculate dates and times predicting when Jesus will return. Don't be bothered by that kind of hype, hysteria and sensationalism.