code: public static Date convertDate(Object target, String dateTimeFormat) {
          if (target instanceof JsonNode) {
              return convertDate((JsonNode) target, dateTimeFormat);
          }
          return target instanceof Number ? new Date(((Number) target).longValue())
                  : (target instanceof String
                          ? DateFormatUtils.fromString(target.toString(), dateTimeFormat)
                          : (target instanceof Date ? (Date) target : null));
      }
docs: Convert a target object to {@link Date}. If the target object is a string, parse it as a
  {@link Date} using the specified date-time format.
  
  @param target
  @param dateTimeFormat
  @return
  @since 0.6.3.1