Armageddon will arrive when God chooses it to. But we do have some hints about it in the Bible.
1) The Bible does suggest that Christians expecting the end will think it is "delayed" for some reason. Meaning many chosen to be in the kingdom will have to wait for a while.
2) The Bible says, even though it might seem to be delaying, it will not be late! Hab. 2:3 " 3 For [the] vision is yet for the appointed time, and it keeps panting on to the end, and it will not tell a lie. Even if it should delay, keep in expectation of it; for it will without fail come true. It will not be late."
The above context alone suggest the "short period" of time from Satan's being kicked out of heaven until Armageddon will not be immediate but seem a bit "delayed" and lingering to the last minute.
The fact is, though, while some may consider the delay as God's slowness, it is actually his patience. Because every day Armageddon is delayed there are potentially more than will be saved.
CHRONOLOGY CHECK/ARMAGEDDON LIMITS: But even though we don't know the day nor hour, it is important, I think to understand the chronology involved, if only to confirm we are still "on schedule." That is, ultimately Armageddon must occur at least 1000 years before the end of the 7th Creative Day. So that's one limiting factor. In that regard, based upon corrected chronology, if Adam were 30 years old when Eve was created then the last 1000 years would begin in 2131 AD. So we are no where near the 6030 year date as far as the absolute date for the millennium.
However, the above is flexible since it seems apparent that after the millennium, Satan's last stint to mislead mankind, after he is let out of the abyss, seems to occur before the beginning of the 8th Creative Day. Likewise, Jugdment Day, which follows Satan's destruction and involves the second resurrection would be a factor as well since that too would happen best before the 8th Creative Day. That is, everything is restored by Jesus when he hands everything back over to the Creator at the end of the 7th Creative Day. But to allow for Satan's last temptation and Judgment Day on this side of the 8th Creative Day, the 2131 AD absolute date that begins the last 1000 years does not really represent the Armageddon date. If we allow 40 years for Satan's last test, and 80 years for Judgment Day, then 2131 AD is reduced by 120 years, in which case we are looking at 2011 as a potential date that would begin the millennium.
So while some say Armgeddon is "near" or "around the corner" others see potentially the chronology indication as running out in a more specific manner.
Besides that, the Bible does say that Jehovah would not do anything without telling his servants first and you have a few people coming up with 2011 AD, so that would qualify as "prior notice."
OTHER RELATED EVENTS: Finally, Armageddon is cleared in relation to other events. That is, like the second coming (1992), the 12th hour of paying the vineyard workers (1991-1998), etc. The only thing we are waiting for is the destruction of Babylon the Great which leads right into Armageddon. So things are good.
One of the contexts of Armageddon occuring is an economic crisis linked with BTG, which some are predicting is occurring right now. Certainly, if the US government is giving away money to "stimulate the economy" the world economic situation is dire. So the political and economic climate is very "ripe" for Armageddon.
JC
