See the Day Approaching: How You Can Know That Jesus Christ Is Coming Soon

By Jeffrey Horton

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me" (Rev. 3:20). Wouldn't it be great if you could open the door, invite Jesus into your home, and ask Him when He's coming back? All the confusion about the events surrounding Christ's return would vanish as He explains the Scriptures to you. You would have your own "Emmaus Road journey." Like the apostles and first-century disciples, you could say that He opened the eyes of your understanding. That's exactly what this series does by unfolding in an easy-to-follow manner what God's Word shows us and what Jesus taught. Each of the three books focuses on three critical end-time revelations that open the door of our understanding surrounding the events of Christ's return. The New Testament apostles received these keys from Jesus Himself. Over the centuries, these revelations were lost or watered down, leaving us flustered and even fearful. That's not God's will. It's time to let the Word speak for itself with a message of comfort, hope, and victory. See the Day Approaching begins the Emmaus Road journey with the "one thing" God's Word says you need to know about God's timetable. It not only shows you how you can know that Jesus is coming soon, but why it is so vital that you know how to number the Days. Your eyes will be opened to the timing of the rapture, the signs of the end of this age, and even a "sneak peek" at what lies ahead. Despite what you may have heard, we are meant to know. It's in God's Word!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jun 15, 2017
• ISBN: 9781635753868

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See the Day

Approaching

How You Can Know that Jesus Christ Is Coming Soon

Jeffrey R. Horton

ISBN 978-1-63575-385-1 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-63575-386-8 (Digital)

Copyright © 2017 by Jeffrey R. Horton

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

296 Chestnut Street

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

All scripture references are taken from the New King James Version unless otherwise stated.

Printed in the United States of America

And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

—Hebrews 10:24–25

Section 1

The Mystery

of Prophetic Time

1

See What Day?

The passage I have selected for both the title and theme of this book comes from Hebrews 10:25. It reads in part, And so much the more as you see the Day approaching. Since all Scripture is inspired by the Holy Spirit, the significance of this statement becomes clear once we realize just what Day the Spirit of God is talking about.

We can begin to identify the Day in question by considering what the apostle Paul was inspired to write to the believers in Thessalonica:

When He [Jesus Christ] comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed.¹

We can say then that the approaching Day somehow marks the approximate time of Christ’s return—the time when He will be glorified in His saints and admired by all who believe in Him.

Notice that the opening text in Hebrews does not merely say that the Day is approaching, but that we can see the Day approaching. It is one thing to acknowledge that the Day is surely coming. There are many who would agree with that. It is quite another thing altogether to say that we can see it coming as well.

So if you have ever wondered, When will Jesus return?

The short answer is, He will come in that Day. In light of today’s teachings, you might not think that such an answer really tells us anything about the general time frame for Christ’s return, but it spoke volumes to the New Testament apostles. This is because they understood the full prophetic implications of the expression in that Day.

There are many of us today who believe that Jesus is coming soon, and I am one of them. But if you were to ask most believers why they believe that, their response would probably be, Because we see so many signs.

Even though signs are extremely valuable to our end-time awareness, there is something else to see that is just as important. It allows us to monitor the progress of this approaching Day and discern whether it is near or far. I am writing this book to let you know that it is very near.

So aside from the signs of the times, what else enables us to see the Day approaching? The key to answering this question comes from two familiar witnesses. The first is Moses, one of the most respected voices from the Old Testament. In Psalm 90:4, he wrote, For a thousand years in Your sight are like yesterday when it is past.

The key is that, for prophetic purposes, God views a thousand years of our time as being one prophetic Day in His sight. When we count a thousand years, He counts one Day. While we see a thousand years go by, He merely marks off one Day from His prophetic calendar for mankind.

The second witness comes from the apostle Peter, one of the leading voices of the New Testament. Since every word must be established by the testimony of at least two witnesses, Peter confirmed this principle by writing, But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one Day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one Day.²

Why is this key so important? Why did God choose these two important witnesses to establish it? Were these statements meant to dismiss the importance of time or to mark time instead?

To say it another way, are we meant to disregard the passage of time as it relates to Christ’s return, or was God giving us the key to His times and seasons such that we can see a specific prophetic Day approaching?

The Psalm of Moses teaches us to view time from two different perspectives—our time and God’s time. In verse 5, the length of our lives is measured according to prophetic Days in God’s sight:

We vanish as quickly as a dream. We are like grass that is green in the morning, but mowed down and withered before the evening shadows fall.³

Likewise, in Isaiah 40:6, the prophet was told to cry out, All flesh is grass. The meaning is clear. In terms of prophetic time, our entire life is spent in one Day before God. We grow up in the morning and are withered before the evening shadows fall.

In proof of this, Genesis 5:27 records that Methuselah lived a total of nine hundred and sixty-nine years. He was the oldest living patriarch. Yet even he died thirty-one years short of a thousand. Like the grass, he also withered before the Day was done.

In the garden of Eden, God warned Adam and Eve not to partake of the fruit from a particular tree, saying, For in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.⁴ Is it merely a coincidence that no human being has ever outlived a Day in God’s sight? Apparently, there are no exceptions, for all flesh is grass.

On the other hand, the Psalm of Moses also provides the length of our lives in our time. Verse 10 states,

The days of our years—there are seventy of them, and if there is great strength, eighty years—yet their best involves toil and grief; for it is soon gone, and we vanish. (TBV)

Both statements appear in the same Psalm. Both examples measure our time here on the earth in terms of days. In the first example, our life is limited to one Day. In the second example, the days of our years measure some seventy or eighty years.

Therefore, the precedent has been set. The length of a day in a given passage of Scripture depends on whose perspective is being considered. A day can either mean our time or His prophetic time.

The key, then, teaches us that there are times when God uses the word day to mean a thousand years rather than twenty-four hours. God didn’t say that thousands and thousands of years are but a Day in His sight. That would imply an unspecified and unknown period of time. That’s how most people have been taught to understand the statements of Moses and Peter. Instead, His two witnesses limited a Day in His sight by a specific number—a thousand years.

It is as if God is saying, "Here is the key. You have common days and great Days. The context determines which measure I am using. So when you find a passage in the Bible that contains the word day, it doesn’t always mean a 24-hour day. Sometimes it means a thousand-year Day."

On those occasions, you must make the ‘your time’ to ‘My time’ conversion. Read the passage to mean a thousand years instead. (As you may have noticed, I prefer to use a lowercase d for common days and an uppercase D for great Days.)

Most passages will not make any sense when you insert a great Day. As an example, the second chapter of Acts tells us that Peter stood up to address the crowd on the Day of Pentecost. It is obvious that he did not speak for a thousand years. I’ve heard my share of long sermons before, but nothing like that!

On the other hand, there are also passages wherein a common day doesn’t make any sense. An example of this can be found in the fourteenth chapter of Zechariah. The chapter refers over and over again to the coming Day of the Lord. Verse 8 states, "In that Day living waters shall flow from Jerusalem… in both summer and winter it shall occur."

Obviously, a common day could not span both summer and winter. A great Day, on the other hand, can have up to a thousand summers and winters. The Day of the Lord is always a great Day in scripture.

But how does this key enable us to see the Day approaching? Once again, the Psalm of Moses provides another valuable clue, for the contrast between our days and prophetic Days was intentional. It was a Divine set up, for the Psalm concludes in verse 12 by saying:

So teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Why would it be important for us to number, count, or consider the length of our days? Are we to count our days or His Days? Or could it be both?

In terms of common days, the passage speaks to each of us individually. Your days in this life are numbered—better make the best of them.

But what if on another level, great Days are in view? Could God be warning mankind that, as a whole, our great Days are also numbered? Could it be that God’s plan to redeem mankind, reclaim the earth, and defeat Lucifer was predetermined to occupy a limited number of thousand-year Days? And if so, how many Days have we been allotted? Can He teach us to number these Days as well? If so, it would mean that God wants us to know how many Days mankind has been allotted, and how many are left!

In John 6:40, Jesus said, "And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last Day." Does this explain how we can see the Day approaching?

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¹ 2 Thessalonians 1:10

² 2 Peter 3:8

³ Psalm 90:4-6 (TLB).

⁴ Genesis 2:17

2

Controversy Concerning the Last Days

And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh.⁵

In order to learn the