It's The End of the World....Again.

When Will All These Things Happen: Part 2

Wars and rumors of wars, famines, plagues, and earthquakes. These are all biblical signs that Jesus warned about. All of them are realities of Planet Earth each day.

So, is Jesus coming back soon?

Did Jesus provide an exact, predictable scenario as so many modern prophecy writers advocate?

The answer to these questions will shock many and ambush the promulgators of end-times status quo Christianity.

I no longer need be bound by the idol of eschatological tradition that has paralyzed The Church and minimized the impact of Christianity on our world.

Don't be alarmed by what you read, because The Truth will set you free!

Throughout history there have been literally thousands of predictions setting the date of Christ's return. Most recently, October 21, 2011, or the end of 2012. These dates and speculations all have one thing in common.....They have all been wrong!

Daily on Christian radio and television and the the endless stream of prophecy books we get pumped up with even more "evidence" that Jesus is now "at the door." World events are matched with prophecies as definitive proof that the end is near.

Why do we continue to teach and embrace a view of "the end" that cripples The Church, puts fear in the hearts of believers, and encourages them to look at tragic events as a "sign of the times" that are necessary for the return of Jesus?

I'm sorry folks, but it just doesn't make any sense.

Again, we wait and hope. It's a familiar cycle: time nullifies each prediction, our hopes are deflated, and out trust level smashed. The doctrine of 'futurism' is one of the ways Christians lose credibility. Seeking for The AntiChrist, stating that this or that is a beginning of 'birth pangs'...we've been preaching that for 200 years - and it just turns up empty and turns away hearts.

Basing our under standing of Biblical prophecy on speculation of what might happen rather than on what has historically happened (particularly in the 1st century AD) is faulty theology.

I'm not even talking about The Gospel here...I'm talking about The Kingdom and The Church coming into their fullness - here and now on this earth.

I realize, I have deviated from my past "theme" of the end. I apologize. I guess, I got distracted. This is a continuation of my last post (Part 1 - 9/28/10). I would suggest re-reading that post to get acquainted with the preface of this discussion. Particularly, the destruction of Jerusalem.

The Disciples asked Jesus three questions in response to the amazingly graphic imagery He painted in the previous chapter and the beginning of Chapter 24 where He tells them that all of the building around them (in the city of Jerusalem) will be completely destroyed.

The discples ask in 24:3:

• "When will these things happen?"
• "What will be the sign of Your coming?"
• "What about the end of the age (world)?"

He begins to answer them - very straightforward.

The False Messiahs
24:4-5: "See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name, saying, "I am the Christ," and will mislead many."

Christians who have heard only a modern end-time view immediately place these words of Jesus in our future, shortly before the end of the world. They are looking for some evil leader or several leaders to start claiming that they are the Christ.

This is the first mistake we need to correct.

Jesus was answering the question concerning when Jerusalem and the temple would be destroyed. So, sometime around 70 AD, within 40 years of the time in which Jesus said it would happen. Jesus was telling His disciples, soon many people would come claiming to be Me. For Jesus’ words to be fulfilled, these impostors would have to come sometime in the first Century - within the lifetime of His disciples.

So, did that happen historically? Yes. Right after the death of Jesus, many leaders rose capturing the hearts of the Jewish people. That may seem difficult for us to understand today, but we need to keep in mind the culture of the day. The Jewish people were desperately looking for a Messiah, someone to free them from Roman domination.

As we know from some of my other posts, the Messiah that many of the Jews were looking for – even while Jesus was physically on the earth – was a political savior who would rescue them from Roman rule. Their hope and much of their religious system was based on a coming Messiah. When Jesus died, many of His followers gave up believing that He was the Messiah. Other "leaders" quickly arose, drawing large followings.

Historically:

Eusebius
After the Lord was taken up into heaven the demons put forth a number of men who claimed to be gods. (The History of the Church)

St. Jerome
At the time of the Jewish captivity, there were many leaders who declared themselves to be Christ, so that while the Romans were actually besieging them, there were three factions within. (Cited in: Thomas Aquinas’ Golden Chain)

The Venerable Bede
For many came forward, when destruction was hanging over Jerusalem, saying that they were Christs (Cited in: Thomas Aquinas’, Golden Chain)

John Wesley
...And indeed never did so many impostors appear in the world as a few years before the destruction of Jerusalem; undoubtedly because that was the time wherein the Jews in general expected the Messiah. (The Works of John Wesley)

Let us come to realize here that Jesus was warning His disciples that soon they would see and hear many people coming out proclaiming to be the Messiah. Particularly during the next few years when Jerusalem would come under siege and be destroyed by Rome. The Jews would be seeking their Messiah and would not find Him during that time unless they would turn to Jesus. You know how people are in times of great trouble (or tribulation)...they will look for anything that could give them even a glimmer of hope - and people capitalize on that. Certainly, in this time - they did.

Wars and Rumors of Wars
24:6-7: "You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom…"

Approximately 2,000 years ago when Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives with His disciples, He prophesied of coming wars. Interestingly, at the time when Jesus prophesied this there were no signs of "wars and rumors of wars". The power of Rome seemed to be stable, strong, irresistible and permanent. Historically, the period was referred to as Pax Romana, that is, Roman Peace. This was about 27 BC to 180 AD during which time Rome saw a period of relative peace and minimal expansion by military force. The enemies of Rome, however, would not have spoken of the time so graciously, but Rome definitely was established in the region. It was at that time that Jesus prophesied of coming wars.

Did the prophecy of Jesus come true within that generation? Indeed, wars began to break out all over the empire. The Jews lived in constant fear, with 50,000 Jews being slain in Seleucia and 20,000 in Caesaria. Then in 66 AD, 50,000 Jews were killed in Alexandria. Within a period of 18 months, four emperors in Rome were murdered violently. Civil war broke out in the city of Rome. It was a time of great turmoil and there were constant rumors of new rebellions.

Famines
24:7: "...in various places there will be famines..."

Did famines and earthquakes occur during the generation of the disciples?

In Acts 11 we are told about the "great famine."

…Agabus stood up and began to indicate by the Spirit that there would certainly be a great famine all over the world. And this took place in the reign of Claudius. (Acts 11:28)

That famine was so severe in the region of Judah that we can read two places in the New Testament where Christians took offerings to collect money for believers suffering there (Acts 11:29-30; I Cor. 16:1-3).

The historian Josephus wrote about the devastation of that period.

But the famine was too hard for all other passions, and it is destructive to nothing so much as to modesty…insomuch that children pulled the very morsels that their fathers were eating out of their very mouths, and what still more to be pitied, so did the mothers do to their infants; and when those that were most dear were perishing under their hands, they were not ashamed to take from them the very last drops that might preserve their lives…but the seditious everywhere came upon them immediately, and snatched away from them what they had gotten from others; for when they saw any house shut up, this was to them a signal that the people within had gotten some food; whereupon they broke open the doors, and ran in and took pieces of what they were eating, almost up out of their very throats, and this by force; the old men, who held their food fast, were beaten; and if the women hid what they had within their hands, their hair was torn for so doing; nor was there any commiseration shown either to the aged or to the infants, but they lifted up children from the ground as they hung upon the morsels they had gotten, and shook them down upon the floor.

Eusebius:
Under (Claudius) the world was visited with a famine, which writers that are entire strangers to our religion have recorded in their histories. ( Ecclesiastical History, ll:8)

Knowing about this famine and the destruction of Jerusalem to follow, it makes sense then why Jesus said to the women of Jerusalem:

"Daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming when they will say, "Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed!" (Luke 23:28-29)

This wasn't a warning to the women in our future who may be nursing or pregnant during "the end". It was a warning (motivated by grief) to the women in the First Century Church. For, if there was no food - nursing a new born baby would be virtually impossible.

Earthquakes
24:7:"…in various places there will be…earthquakes."

Are these earthquakes that we have been seeing recently in Japan a sign that the world is ending and that Jesus is Coming Soon? Let's not forget the tragic earthquakes in Haiti and Chile last year. Could these all be a pre-cursor to "the end"? Well, No.

Not only did the Earth quake when Jesus died on the cross (Matt.27:51-52) and again when He rose from the dead (Matt.28:2), but also history shows us that a few years just prior to the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD was a time of unusually high quake activity. The most famous earthquake was the destruction of Pompeii in 63 AD. The historians of this period also tell us about earthquakes at Crete, Smyrna, Miletus, Laodicea, Heirapolis, Colosae, Rome, Judea and many other regions.

Birth Pangs
24:8 "But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs."

It is common today for people trained in the popular endtime view to look at present-day natural disasters and claim that they are signs of the imminent return of Jesus, yet that is not what Jesus said. He was very clear that these signs would happen within that generation, and that they would not be signs of the end of the world but "merely the beginnings of birth pangs."

These birth pangs preceded the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple.

Persecution and Tribulation
24:9 "Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name."

I think this verse is one of the favorites of Christians. We have been trained to prepare ourselves for the great and horrible day of tribulation. There are even songs by Christian bands that speak of how horrible it will be for us on those days. And, somehow, this offers hope to the non-believer.

Can I take a step out of the apocalyptic box for a moment and say, things are looking much better today than they were even a century ago (even more so 2000 years ago when Jesus said this).

In one of the darkest periods in history, Jesus had the audacity to teach His followers a prayer so shocking that to this day it defies reason. Jesus instructed His tattered brigade of spiritual warriors, "Pray that My Father's kingdom would come and His will would be done on Earth, just as it is in Heaven."

Are the words of this prayer a pie-in-the-sky mantra He coined to ease suffering? What does this prayer, given by Jesus some 2 thousand years ago, have to do with our world today....with its mounting crises and calamities? Is it possible that Jesus taught us to pray this way to in fact bring His Kingdom and His Will to this earth today, here and now?

Let me present this scenario:

• Are we healthier today than we were 200 years ago?
• Are more people fed in the world today than 200 years ago?
• Are women more free today?
• Are blacks more free today?
• Is it legal to be a Christian today?

Certainly, there are instances of calamity. There are moments of strife. There are obviously regions and people groups that are rising against another. And, yes, I know that there are attacks on Christianity in America....you do realize however that the number of Churches and Christians in countries like China, India, Africa, Egypt, Iran & Iraq is growing exponentially on a daily basis. Contrary to what you might think or hear in "the news", today Christians are the fastest growing people group, and are gaining positions of authority the world around....that...Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end.

Let us look at History:
First came the persecution of the Christians in the first century instigated by the Jewish religious leaders. Saul was among those leaders who oversaw the men who were putting Christians to death. The book of Acts describes that persecution saying:

And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. (Acts 8:1b)

That "great persecution" continued to spread and soon the Roman government officials such as King Herod got involved (Acts 12:1).

The persecution became even more intense in the year 64 AD....the year when over one-third of the city of Rome burned to the ground. People today have difficulty understanding the significance of this event.

If I could compare the burning of Rome with the destruction of the Twin Towers in New York, I would have to say that the fire in Rome was far more devastating.

Rome was considered the center of the civilized world during the first Century and over one-third of the city was destroyed. Nero, who was the Emperor at the time, blamed Christians for that terrible fire, and then he began what Church historians call "The Great Persecution." Not only were thousands of Christians tortured, but Nero actually, (among many other brutal means of torture and humiliation) had Christians covered in tar and set on fire so their burning bodies would light up his gardens while he entertained guests at his extravagant evening parties.

Certainly, there have been atrocities carried out against Christians and Jews since this time. But, including the Holocaust during WWII, none compare to the gruesome, horrific, & tragic brutality against the Christians and Jews during this time.

Why did this happen? It is the Roman and Greek governing thought. I am not saying government, but their thinking. They believed each emperor to be divine. That's right, their emperors were considered to be gods, worthy of worship. And, as you can assume, the Christians and the Jews would not bow their knee and acknowledge Nero (or any other emperor) as god. And, therefore, meet their fate.

I will discuss Emperor Nero in a later post.

Apostasy and False Prophets
24:10-13 At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. Many false prophets will arise and mislead many. Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end. He will be saved.

And, here it is...The Great Falling Away.
Our contemporary teaching assures us that before Christ returns there will be a great many people walking away or abandoning their faith. This doesn't make any sense. Why would Jesus come back for His Bride that more than half of Her members have left the body? Why would Jesus say that this must happen if His Kingdom (His Bride) will be the 'rock that knocked the statue down became a great mountain that covered the whole earth' (Daniel 2:35)?

Soon after the death of Jesus, false prophets and teachers began appearing on the scene. (They are not new to The Church today). Several times Paul warned his followers to watch out for the false prophets. John explained that during his lifetime "many false prophets have gone out into the world" (I John 4:1). Similarly Peter warned that there were already false prophets in Israel who introduce destructive ideas... (ll Peter 2:1).

The first group of these false teachers are the Judaizers. These are a group of men and women who taught that the Gentiles had to become Jewish proselytes. They taught that all Christians had to adhere to the Law of Moses as well as have faith in Christ to find favor with God and receive salvation. And, we all know that it is only by Grace we are saved, and not by anything we do. This is why Paul had such a hard time with this group of people.

Then we have the Gnostics. The very teach of Gnosticism is anti-Christ. Gnosticism is a worldview in which the spiritual world is separated from the natural world. According to Gnostcism, the spiritual world was considered good and the natural world was thought to be corrupt and evil. As some leaders attempted to merge this view with Christianity, they determined that God could not have become flesh nor could He have come into this evil world as Jesus. This led to several false teachings about the very nature of Jesus. (John was responding directly to this problem in the church his letters).

Gnosticism literally means to have or practice secret knowledge. They taught that, since God is spirit and man is flesh, we need be very spirit-conscience to be a good Christian. Therefor, they developed mystical understandings and taught that a person must have secret knowledge to know God.

Gnosticism took many forms. One of the most influential groups rejected the Old Testament. They taught that the God of the Old Testament was the devil and that Jesus had come to reveal an "unknown Father" to us. Other Gnostics taught that the Old Testament rituals were still valid for Christians. Some were hyper-ascetic (renouncing material comforts), taught vegetarianism and were opposed to any sexual expression even within marriage, while others taught "freedom" from all laws and held orgies as part of their religious rituals.

History tells us that by the year 150 AD, about one-third of all Christians were involved in Gnosticism in one way or another. Imagine how it would be today if one- third of all Christians in your own community or church were taken in by a certain heretical teaching. What impact would this have on your church family or The Body as a whole? That is exactly what happened during those early days when the church was struggling to survive. It was against such teachings that Paul was battling in Acts 20:29-30.

There is a lot more about Gnosticism that is relevant to our understanding of Scripture and in understanding the problems of the First-Century Church. It is certainly worth taking a moment to explain. Perhaps in a later post.

So, the end of the world is here...again.

At every calendar milestone or catastrophic weather pattern, self-proclaimed modern-day prophets arise to stir up a furor rivaled only by the impending apocalypse they predict.

This doom-and-gloom prognostication is not only spread by a few fanatics, but millions of Christians, including some of the most recognized names in mainstream Christianity who are caught up in the latest "last days" frenzy.

Seduced by the popular craze, they are driven not to action, but to radical inactivity, ineffectiveness, and lethargy while waiting for the easy-out "end" be that pre, post, or mid-tribulation...('cause there isn't going to be a tribulation!)

I'm sorry folks, but it's much better than that. All those things that we have grown in faith to be afraid of have happened already. So, if you're looking for the great tribulation...I'm sorry, you missed it. Things are looking up folks. The world is becoming a better and safer place. Christianity is growing at a rapid pace with great power and authority.

Jesus tells us that there are two things that must happen before He returns.

1. I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father.

Sure, there are some miracles happening here and there throughout the world. People who are blind can now see, the lame can walk. And, yes...people have been brought back from the dead. But, can I just remind you...Jesus did that too. In my human mind, I can not comprehend a greater work than that - but until we see greater works than what Jesus Himself did, He is not coming back.

2. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

World-wide missions has exploded over the last century and even more so in the last 2 decades with the advent of the computer and the internet. YWAM has bases in every country in the world. The Kingdom has reached "the four corners", but we have not yet seen discipled Nations. This in reality would fulfill Daniel 2:35 in that the rock [The Kingdom] that knocked the statue [the Kingdoms of this world] down became a great mountain that covered the whole earth.

So here, I suggest to you....the next time you hear of a cataclysmic event, an apparent evil ruler coming into a position of power, or worse, someone rejecting or attacking Christianity - respond not with "oh, it's a sign of the times"...but rather, LORD...LET YOUR KINGDOM COME AND YOUR WILL BE DONE, HERE ON EARTH JUST LIKE IT IS IN HEAVEN!

And, wait watch and be amazed as the Lord does something so amazing in your day that you might not believe it even if someone told you about it.

I know, perhaps this post leaves more questions than answers. But, I do hope that it helps reveal some truth. I would like to address other questions in later posts such as "the mark of the Beast", the "Antichrist" and other scare-tactics in popular end-times theology....

For now, Be blessed. Take courage in knowing - YOUR GOD REIGNS!



Related Posts:

• 8 Core Values of Eschatology
• Matthew 24...is it the end...or History?
• His Kingdom is without end.
• When Will All These Things Happen? Part 1