The church cannot set dates for the Lord's return because Scripture provides no prophetic time frame for the church.
Les Feldick teaches that all true biblical prophecy centers on Israel and usually comes with a time frame, such as Daniel's 490 years. The church age, by contrast, has no prophetic utterance connected to it and no time frame. Therefore, anyone who sets a date for Christ's return for the church is a false teacher.
Daniel 9:24 — Les cites Daniel's 490 years as an example of Israel-centered prophecy with a set time frame, showing the kind of date-specific prophecy the church does not have.
The Bible attaches specific prophetic time frames to Israel rather than to the church. In Daniel 9:24 the angel tells Daniel, "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy." This is a measured period determined for Daniel's people, Israel. The biblical text gives no comparable prophetic countdown to the church, and therefore no date can be calculated from Scripture for Christ's return for the church.
Les Feldick teaches that no prophetic utterance is connected with the church age. When someone announces a specific day for the Lord's return, Les says that person should be marked as a false teacher, because there is nothing in Scripture that helps us set a date for Christ's return for the church. He explains that all true prophecy centers on the nation of Israel and usually places events within a time frame. Daniel 9's 490 years is an example of such a time-specific prophecy. The church age, however, has nothing like that; there is no prophecy concerning the church. Once Israel was dispersed and lost her temple, God's prophetic time clock stopped, and the church age became an undetermined period of time; no one knows when Christ will return, only that His coming is imminent. Les also stresses that the church was a secret hidden in the mind of God, so the rapture and church doctrine are not found in the Old Testament or the Gospel accounts.
Les says yes, but that time-specific prophecy centers on Israel. All true prophecy centers on the nation of Israel, and usually it is placed in a time frame. He points to Daniel 9, where God says 490 years are determined upon the nation of Israel, and then gives details that fill in that period. The church age, he says, has nothing like that whatsoever.
Because God's prophetic time clock pertains to Israel. Les explains that when Israel lost her temple, national state, and sovereign government and was dispersed, God's time clock stopped. What followed is the church age, or age of grace, with no time frame. No one knows when Christ will return; it is only imminent. The church age is an undetermined period of time that no one knows the end of.
Les is explicit: when someone sets a date, mark them off as a false teacher from day one, because there is nothing in Scripture that can help us set a date for the return of Christ for the church. Never subscribe to someone who says the Lord will return on such and such a day.
Crossing the Jordan on Dry Ground — What Most People Miss
her covenant relationship with Jehovah, which, of course, had been demanded from day one to Abraham was this circumcision. First things first. Even at the doorstep of a mortal enemy, the city of Jericho, God literally lays the nation of Israel in a useless position. Now, we think that's foolishness, don't we? To think that He would incapacitate the whole nation at the doorsteps of the enemy.
Date-setters are false teachers
Les teaches that anyone who sets a date for the Lord's return should be recognized as a false teacher, since Scripture gives no ability to set a date.
The church age has no time frame
Les explains that God's time clock stopped when Israel was dispersed, so the church age has no time frame and Christ's return is only imminent.
No prophecy for the church age
Les says there is no prophetic utterance connected with the church age; date-setters are false, and prophecy with a time frame resumes only in the tribulation.
Daniel's Dream, the Antichrist & the Mark of the Beast
But for the most part, there is no prophetic utterance connected with the church age. Always remember that. When these people come up and say, oh, on such and such a day the Lord's coming, well, you just mark them off as false from day one, because there is nothing in Scripture that can help us set a date for the return of Christ for the church.
Israel-centered prophecy with time frames
Les cites Daniel 9 as Israel-centered prophecy with a set time frame (490 years), in contrast to the church age which has no such prophecy.
Daniel's Dream, the Antichrist & the Mark of the Beast
Now you want to remember that I stressed it last week, and I'll keep stressing it over and over, that all true prophecy centers on the nation of Israel, and usually, not always, but usually within a time frame. God will put the details out there, and he'll put it in time, like we're going to see if not in the next half hour or two, somewhere in the next few weeks, when we get to chapter 9, he's go…
The church age was a hidden secret
Les teaches that the church age was a secret held in God's mind, with an undetermined length, so no one knows when it ends or when Christ will return.
Daniel 9:24: Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
This verse is the time-specific prophecy Les references to show that God gives Israel a measured prophetic period, which the church does not have.
Yes. Les teaches that when someone sets a date, you should mark that person off as a false teacher, because there is nothing in Scripture that helps us set a date for the return of Christ for the church.
No. All true prophecy centers on Israel and usually has a time frame like Daniel's 490 years. The church age has no prophetic utterance and no time frame; no one knows when it will end.
No. The church age is an undetermined period hidden in God's mind. Christ's coming is imminent—He may come before the day is over, or it may be years away.
Watch the Teaching: Crossing the Jordan on Dry Ground — What Most People Miss