As I mentioned in my first post on this subject, there is a lot of talk about the end times and specifically, of the antichrist. The problem with the talk about the anitchrist is that it is entirely premature, not to mention misunderstood. As understood by most evangelicals, the antichrist will not be a figure that comes clear in our lifetime; that’s if the evangelical understanding of the rapture is correct. Regardless though, the more relevant question is in fact the larger question. Is there actually going to be an end times and why would I believe so? Again, I do believe in an end times (as per the Bible), and now it is time to talk about why.
First and foremost, the idea of the end times hinges on the very gospel itself. If the gospel is true, then the end times is also true out of necessity. Now, as Christians we have disagreed on many aspects of the end times, but I am not aware of anyone within Christianity who disagrees that there will be an end. I am sure there may be some, but they are on the fringe. Nearly all accepted doctrines on the end times do in fact include some scenario whereby this creation does actually end.
And so the Bible is a narrative that ends with God reconciling his creation. That narrative says that “the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.” (Romans 8:22)
So when will this happen? After all, people have said this stuff before and yet, things keep going on. The Bible answers this question in 2 Peter 3:4-9 where we read:
2 Peter 3:4-9 (New International Version)
4 They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” 5 But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
Now these verses do answer why I believe in an end times in one sense. That is to say that given the reliability of other aspects of the Bible it is only natural that I accept this aspect as well. That being said, I do want to delve into some topics that I believe reinforce the notion that we are moving towards that cataclysmic end. As I alluded to in Part I of this discussion, much of this conversation hinges on prophesies that for the first time in the last one hundred years have begun to be fulfilled.
In the next section, I am going to discuss some of the events the Bible predicts of the end, but I am going to do so in a narrative fashion. I will provide the Biblical references at the end for further research.
The End Times Narrative
One of the key predictors of the end is the status of Israel. What is amazing about Israel is that the Bible promised that she would regain control of her land, which was to some, a long forgotten prophesy. Who could blame them, right? After all, Israel had been removed from control for thousands of years. How could it possibly be reestablished? Surely the Bible was either wrong, or our understanding was wrong. And then suddenly, on May 14th, 1948, the State of Israel was once again established. To anyone who has even a cursory understanding of the Biblical promises to Israel, this was a tremendous event. Israel, a scattered people who should have been a forgotten people, was once again an established state.
(Consider: Isaiah 66:8, Micah 5:3, Ezekiel 38:8)
Once God returned Israel to her land, some believe the time clock had begun to count down towards the end. What is interesting, whether or not you accept this time clock, is how precisely the world has followed the Biblical narrative. Since the culmination of World War I and the reestablishment of Israel, a number of descriptors of our modern day society have taken hold that are consistent with what the Bible said would happen. As a whole, we have become more and more an atheistic society, which has resulted in an increasingly aggressive hostility towards God. The world has continued to push towards a global society; a society that again being atheistic, has naturally been destructive towards the moral values of the Bible. Even more specific, the Bible teaches of a 10 member alliance of countries that would be integral in the end times. The foundation of which could be easily recognized in the European Union. And just in case a thought enters your head about conspiracies here, you needn’t bother. There is no conspiracy. This is simply a description of plain facts. The question is whether the Bible predicting these facts has relevance? As man has ousted God, we have seen the ensuing decay of man. Even our children are lost, as evidenced by the many school shootings — even just the other day, an eight year old was arrested for murder.
The global atheistic society that is in moral decay is a key descriptor of the end times.
(Consider: 2 Timothy 3:1-5, Luke 17, 1 Timothy 4:1-2; on the globalization movement and 10 country alliance, read the prophesies of Daniel 2)
The above prophesies are but a taste of what the Bible has given us on the end times and but a microcosm of what the Bible has predicted overall that has already come true. What resonates most to me is how accurately the Bible describes the depraved actions of man. God has laid out before us in the Bible the condition of man. He has dissected our every action, has shown us our faults, and has given us our prescription. At every step, God has declared His glory. In these times that are so troubling, with economic uncertainty, political upheaval, and the declining morality of man, we must recognize how accurately the Bible has described these times. Now, I do not know what’s in store for the immediate future. We may see revival and hence, recovery. That is of course the pattern consistent with the labor pains analogy given for the end times. The state of man declines, returns to God by revival, declines even worse, returns to God again, and so on. Rest assured though, the pattern is there and it continues to move towards that time when God will reconcile His creation.
The message is not one that we Christians should salivate over, but should accept with a sober understanding of what will ensue. We should poclaim the gospel and warn of the coming wrath. And finally, we should look beyond the very end of this world to the hope that is found just on the other side in God’s new creation, both in our renewed selves and the renewed world we will find ourselves in.
With all that is going on in the world, I have been drawn to the Olivet Discourse. This was a conversation between Jesus and his disciples found in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21. The topic of conversation was the end of the age. In other words, Jesus was advising us on the end of the world. What I find most interesting about what Jesus stated was that it was utterly void of the kind of sensationalism found in most modern day doom and gloom discussions of the end times. Of course, we should take Jesus words very seriously, but as you read the Olivet Discourse (I prefer Matthew 24), notice how it implores the believer to hold fast to the truth.
