On May 14, 1948, the Jewish People's Council declared the formation of
the state of Israel. The original failure of New Testament
prophecy - "Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will
not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom."
(Matthew 16:28) - has been interpreted by many contemporary Christian evangelicals to
mean the Second Coming will, for some reason, occur instead within a
40-year generation of Jerusalem's reclamation by the Jews.
In
1978, Colin Deal published Will Christ Return by 1988? 101 Reasons
Why. Like Hal Lindsey and others, Deal principally argued that Jesus
would return to earth in 1988 because Israel had been formed 40 years
before.
***
Monte Judah is a Baptist preacher who has embraced
kabbalah, declared himself a Hebrew, and formed Lion and Lamb ministries
in Oklahoma. He predicted that the world would end on May 14, 1997.
Though this prophecy failed, Judah maintains a Tribulation Timeline on his website which is no longer attached to a specific date.
