Since there have been approx. 2000 years since Paul’s revelation of the rapture one can conclude it was never “imminent” until now ( post 1948 or 1967 ). Also, God is patient and doesn’t want anyone to perish. Jerusalem seems to be center of the the world to Daniel’s 70th week. Can’t it be possible God didn’t start the clock ticking on the last generation until 1967? Fits the bill to God’s nature that he would give as much time as possible. I have read your article “why the rebirth of Israel is a sign of the end times” but Is Israel really Israel without Jerusalem? I can see the foot steps but I can’t hear them. Guess I’m still gun shy from the 1980’s when my dad fell for Hal Lindsey’s “imminent” rapture alert.
It’s the 2nd Coming that couldn’t happen until after the rebirth of Israel. The rapture of the Church is dependent only on reaching its “full number” (Romans 11:25). Because no one has ever known what that number is or how close we are to reaching it, the rapture has always been, and still is, an any moment event. The only relationship that exists between the rapture and Israel is that the Church has to be gone before Israel’s last seven years can begin.
The reason you’re “gun shy” is not because Hal Lindsey was wrong, because he wasn’t. It’s because the rapture hasn’t happened as quickly as you think it should have. But like the rest of us you have no way of knowing when it will happen, so your guess wasn’t based on any hard evidence. You can’t blame Hal for that.
In Luke 21:24 Jesus said Jerusalem would be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the gentiles are fulfilled. Many people think that prophecy was fulfilled in 1967. But in Rev. 11:2 John was told the Gentiles would trample on the Holy City for 42 months. In the chronology of the book, Rev. 11 is placed just before the beginning of the Great Tribulation which will last for the same 42 months. Therefore the Lord’s prophecy in Luke 21:24 won’t be fulfilled until the 2nd Coming. In my opinion this eliminates 1967 as a potential start date for end times prophecies.