Chapter 1
A countdown that terminates
Forty-seven time stamps in the manuscript. A selection is arranged here as the clock the biblical authors actually wrote — from centuries away, to this generation, to the last hour.
Old Testament — centuries away
~835 BC
Joel 2:28-31
Afterward I will pour out My Spirit… before the great and dreadful Day
~905 yrs
~536 BC
Daniel 2:44
In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom
~606 yrs
~536 BC
Daniel 9:24
Seventy weeks are determined for your people and your holy city
~606 yrs
~430 BC
Malachi 3:1
The Lord you seek will suddenly come to His temple
~500 yrs
Jesus speaking — this generation
~AD 30
Mark 1:15
The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand
~40 yrs
~AD 30
Matt 10:23
You will not finish going through the cities of Israel
~40 yrs
~AD 30
Matt 16:28
Some standing here will not taste death
~40 yrs
~AD 30
Matt 24:34
This generation will not pass away until all these things take place
~40 yrs
Early epistles
~AD 48
James 5:8
The coming of the Lord is at hand
~22 yrs
~AD 50
Acts 2:17
In the last days, God says, I will pour out My Spirit
~20 yrs
~AD 51
1 Thess 4:15
We who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord
~19 yrs
~AD 55
1 Cor 7:29
The time is short
~15 yrs
~AD 55
1 Cor 10:11
The ends of the ages have come upon us
~15 yrs
Approaching
~AD 57
Rom 13:12
The night is nearly over; the day is almost here
~13 yrs
~AD 57
Rom 16:20
The God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly
~13 yrs
~AD 61
Phil 4:5
The Lord is near
~9 yrs
~AD 61
Col 1:23
The gospel has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven
~9 yrs
Very close
~AD 64
Heb 9:26
He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages
~6 yrs
~AD 64
Heb 10:25
All the more as you see the Day approaching
~6 yrs
~AD 64
Heb 10:37
In just a little while, He who is coming will come and will not delay
~6 yrs
~AD 64
1 Pet 4:7
The end of all things is at hand
~6 yrs
~AD 65
Rev 1:1
Things which must shortly take place
~5 yrs
~AD 65
Rev 1:3
The time is near
~5 yrs
~AD 65
Rev 22:20
Surely I am coming quickly
~5 yrs
The last hour
~AD 68
1 John 2:18
Children, it is the last hour
~2 yrs
“If Jesus arrived at the end of the age (Hebrews 9:26), and the Spirit was poured out in the last days (Acts 2:17), and John wrote that it was the last hour (1 John 2:18), then how are we, nearly two thousand years later, still in the last days? How long can an hour last before the word loses all meaning?”