If you are reading the news, as most of us are during this odd season, you will notice the increase in headlines that have some supposed link to apocalyptic prophecy. This week, as often happens with lunar or solar events, multiple news outlets made comments about the “Pink Super Moon” that occurred on April 7th. Other outlets are seeing prophecy in the fact that the pope decided to move his title of “The Vicar of Christ” into a footnote in the directory of the Vatican. Still others use swarms of low-level earthquakes as harbingers of the end of days. And so we wonder, is this the last things? The prophetic version of “Lions, tigers, and bears! Oh my!” seems to ring even louder through our heads. But should it?
Last week, I wrote the introductory post on “The Study of Biblical Eschatology - Finding Solid Ground in a Time of Confusion.” In that blog we discussed three ideas that are important to realize when thinking about “the last things”:
1) Eschatology Is A Secondary Item That No One Can Be Sure About
2) When Christ Returns, We Will Know It
3) Eschatological Knowledge Puffs Up, But Love Builds Up
This week, I want to add four additional thoughts that will continue to set the baseline of our understanding of eschatology, or the study of “last things.” Recognizing these truths will help us weather the storm of apocalyptic paranoia that tends to happen around any traumatic world event, and at the same time, keep our focus on Christ so that when He does return, we are prepared to meet our loving Savior and King.
4) Eschatology Is Not About The “When” Or “How” But About The “Who”
In this time, many of us are scanning the news constantly, even though we know it is completely out of our control. Psychologically, at least one of the reasons we do this is to trick our minds into believing that we have control when we actually don’t. Taking in news that affects what we can control is helpful. But simply reading about events over which we have no control actually results in unnecessary stress, anxiety, and possibly even trauma. I have found over the years that people approach the return of Christ with the same foreboding. It is as if they believe, “If I can know the ‘when’ or the ‘how’ of prophecy, then it won’t be so bad.” I can only assume this is in relation to the times of tribulation that some schools of prophecy equate with the immediate events surrounding the return of Christ. But what we will learn quickly with a cursory look at all of scripture, is that prophecy is given to point us back towards God so that we can find our rest and hope in Him.
In the Old Testament, the prophets worked on two fronts. First, they acted as lawyers on behalf of God, using the Torah, or law of God, to convict God’s people that they need to turn away from their sin, and turn back to God and the mission of being a reflection of His nature to the world. Take for example Isaiah 1:16-17: “Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.” This was the larger priority of the group of people known as the prophets…to call the people back to obedience to the heart and will of God as expressed through His law.
In order to give these men and women credence and authority, they were also given certain messages and visions that gave them the ability to foretell the future in mystical terms. In these prophecies there is always one major purpose: To focus on the Kingdom of God, and the coming King that would remove the oppression of the nations over Israel, and restore shalom throughout the whole world. Take for example another pair of well known Isaiah passage, Isaiah 7:14 and 9:6-7: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.” Both of these focus on the “Who” of prophecy, not on the “how,” or the “when.”
As we look forward to the New Testament view of prophecy, we think of the book of Revelation, and all that it holds in wonderful symbolism. But even in this book that is full of symbolism that many believe points to specific singular events in the future, the author warns us over focusing too heavily on the “when” or “how” of prophecy. The beginning of the book in its original Greek is Ἀποκάλυψις Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. A literal wooden translation is “Apocalypse of Jesus Christ.” In English, we translate this into “the revealing of Jesus Christ” or the “Revelation”…that which was covered is now made manifest. Because the book deals with “the last things,” over the last 2,000 years, the word “apocalypse” has taken on the connotations of being more about the “how” and “when” the world ends, rather than its original meaning of the appearing or manifestation of Jesus, the Anointed One of God. But we can immediately see that this is not the point of the book. The point is to look at Jesus in all His wonderful majesty and glory. The letter was written, not to an audience in 2020 thinking about the end of the world, it was written to first century Christians enduring hardship and persecution across Asia Minor, over which the Roman Empire held a tight grip. It was written to remind those Christians that even in hard times of trial, they can be reminded that Christ will one day fully conquer the enemies of death, sin, and oppression. It was written to remind those Christians that Christ would one day sit fully on the throne of the restored heaven and earth characterized by order and peace. Viewing it as a code book that gives us the “how” and “when” is actually missing the point of the original authors.
To fully emphasize this fact, the author of Revelation, most likely John the Apostle, makes a wonderful discovery in chapter 19. There, John is witnessing the consummation of the restoration of God’s people in full oneness with Christ during what is known as “The Marriage Supper of the Lamb.” John is so overwhelmed with joy and thanksgiving that this is an assurance of redemption to come that he falls down at the feet of the angel that is guiding him through the vision. The angel quickly responds though in rebuke. “Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” His point is that the events of Revelation themselves pale in comparison with the main focus of Revelation, the beauty and wonder of King Jesus. Maybe Jesus knew that we would get to focused on the “when” and would miss the point of the “Who” and that is why he said, ““He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.” (Acts 1:7)
If we focus on the “Who,” then we will invest our time and energy into displaying His goodness and grace through our actions, attitudes, and words regardless of the events happening at the time. This is what will draw others to a desire to know Christ. Declaring timelines and events might cause fear and trepidation temporarily in one listening, but it will never fully draw them to the “Who” that prophecy is pointing toward.
5) Statements Many View As “Prophetic” Were Actually “Pastoral.”
When confronted with potential discomfort, pain, trauma, and death, it is the natural human response to desire escape from these possibilities. In other words, it is totally normal that mankind wants to escape and run from any trial or tribulation that is foretold to come our way. This desire, I believe, has caused many to contort scripture to say things that it actually does not say. Core to this idea of “escaping” the “apocalypse” to come is the event that has come to be known as “The Rapture.” This view of “last things” was made popular in the late 1990s and early 2000s through the book series commonly called “The Left Behind Series.” This is the idea that the church will be “caught up” into “heaven” with God directly preceding a seven-year period of trial and tribulation on the earth in which every manner of evil befalls mankind, until the battle of Armageddon and Christ’s physical return to earth. While the vast majority of schools and views of prophecy agree that Christ will physically return to rule and reign, and this is what we teach at Mission Fellowship, there is vast divergence in opinion as to the timeline and whether there will even be such an event as the rapture.
For sake of brevity, we will not delve into the historical origins of this idea of a “rapture.” What one does find in summary though, is that the idea of escaping trial and tribulation is largely foreign to the New Testament church up until the Plymouth Brethren, a Christian offshoot group in the mid to late 1800s, popularized the idea. But we will save the historical study for another time. This begs the question, then, of what Paul was talking about, and what his point was in two of the passages that are used by proponents of “The Rapture” to back their opinion?
The first passage is found in 1 Thessalonians 4:17: “Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.” The words “caught up” are ἁρπάζω or harpazō in the Greek and rapiemur in the Latin, from which the derivative “rapture” is achieved. This verse is focused on and used as the basis of the belief in an escape from a time of final tribulation called “The Rapture.” But as we have learned over the last few years, one of the most important tools in reading scripture is to look at its context, context, context. It is true that both letters to the church at Thessalonica have an air of prophetic and eschatological significance. But is it really Paul’s point to teach eschatology? It was obviously a major point of teaching and discussion in that church. In 1:10, Paul references the fact that part of the obedience of the saints in that church was that they were waiting for Jesus to come from heaven. But then in 1 Thessalonians 2:14-3:4, Paul is encouraging the readers of the letter as they exist in trial and suffering. In fact, he says that he sent Timothy to encourage them in their trials: “and we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s coworker in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith, that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this. For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass, and just as you know.” (1 Thessalonians 3:2–4, ESV)
It seems as though the point of Paul’s epistle to this church is to encourage them in the midst of their endurance of suffering, not to give them a false hope that they might escape suffering. Timothy, Paul’s disciple, then reported back to Paul regarding how the church was doing. Paul’s words from 3:6 overflow with pastoral care and concern, that the members of that church would hold fast in obedience to the gospel, and in the love of one another, living lives pleasing to God so that Christ might find them so doing when He returns. It is in this pastoral concern that the topic is addressed in 1 Thessalonians 4:13 of those brothers and sisters who have already died. It seems that the remaining church members were concerned that their dearly departed brethren would not be taken in the resurrection when Christ returns. That they, the dead in Christ, would not see the Lord’s return. Paul’s response is not one of logistical focus, giving prophecy watchers a timeline of events, but rather one of pastoral focus, easing the hurting hearts of the people, letting them know that Christ would not forget the dead in Christ when he returns. The main point is that when Christ returns (whenever and however that happens), He will beckon both the living and the dead in Christ to be with him forever. He follows up in 5:9-10: “For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.” This is the point of 1 Thessalonians 4…brothers and sisters, be encouraged that whenever, and however Jesus returns, those who are His will be His forever. Nothing can stop that, not even death.
The second passage often used to describe “The Rapture” is in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52: “Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.” This one is even easier to understand with given context. A simple cursory reading of 1 Corinthians 15:1-50 is dealing with one thing: the good news of God is that because of the salvation brought about by Jesus’ sacrifice, we who follow Him as Lord and Savior will see the resurrection of the dead. Our human, mortal bodies will fail, but we will be resurrected in new bodies that are eternal. Paul’s point in this section is to encourage them in the midst of current fear that the resurrection would not happen (see 1 Cor. 15:12). His point was pastoral in caring for the understanding of the people. If Paul were speaking to us today, I think his recommendation would be to focus on Christ, focus on caring for one another, and not worry about the events themselves.
6) Rather Than Concern Yourself With The Unknowns, Focus On The Knowns
The angst surrounding prophecy has more to do with FOMO (Fear of missing out) than it does of anything else. It’s as if the popularity and focus on the rapture and apocalyptic events over the last 50 years has made it a requirement of salvation that one know the pre-millenial, pre-tribulation prophetic timeline in order to be acceptable to God. But dear friend, let me ask you this, if a person spends their entire life serving Christ, obedient to His commands, repentant at sins that hurt Christ’s heart, and loving both God and man, do you think God will even care if that person knows a certain school of eschatological thought? Fear of impending doom is not what brings hearts to Christ, it is Christ’s love and kindness that draws men to repentance.
The various schools of thought around eschatology are simply theoretical. So as I said at the beginning of this post, shouldn’t we focus on those things we can control, rather than worrying about the things we cannot? Here is what we know for sure, regardless of eschatological opinion:
1) Christ will return physically to this earth to rule and reign.
2) We will be given new bodies in which our eternal souls can take up residence.
3) This will either happen through death, or an immediate transition at His return.
4) We will be with him forever.
5) We can be encouraged by these truths.
In our simple cursory look over a few New Testament verses, we know that these are expected truths. What can you do about these now? Make sure that you are in relationship with God through the salvation provided by Jesus’ atoning sacrifice on the cross of Calvary in which He paid the price for your sins and mine. Accept His sacrifice as Savior. Then pledge your allegiance to Jesus as King by repenting from all that you worshipped and served in the past, including yourself and your own need for self-protection, and give your life over to Him in obedience. Allow the Holy Spirit to lead you in the love of God and love of His people.
This Holy Week of 2020, recommit your life to Christ, give thanks on Good Friday for His sacrifice, and realize on Easter Sunday that Christ has made you new so that you might no longer serve yourself, but serve others in reflection of His loving character, so that others might be drawn by His kindness in practical form. “Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.” (Philippians 3:17–21)
7) This Should Give Us Great Hope
Just as Paul pointed out in his letters to the churches for which he was responsible, it is my heart’s desire to point you to Christ and His goodness. Paul’s epistles and John’s epistles, including Revelation, were written to Christians already existing in trial and tribulation, already suffering persecution on behalf of Christ, some even to the point of death. Their words gave unbelievable hope though…not hope in regards to escape, but hope in regards to the fact that Christ is acquainted with our sorrows and griefs. Hope in regards to the fact that nothing, not persecution, not sickness, not sadness, not even death, can part us from Christ and one another as we dwell within the fellowship of the Spirit as citizens of heaven. Our hope is not in escape, our hope is in Christ and Him crucified and resurrected. Our hope is in His salvation given to wretches like you and I that did not, do not, and will never deserve it. In spite of our sinfulness, we serve a God and King whose immense love and forgiveness overpower even the darkest of our hearts, and even the most horrific of our earthly struggles. This Holy Week especially, as we are cut off from one another in physical proximity, let us remember a God that did not desire to escape trial, but underwent it in spite of the anxiety He felt in the Garden of Gethsemane, so that we could all be joined to Him in eternal union. For regardless of the “how” or “when,” the “Who” of prophecy has overcome all things: sin, death, the enemy, and Hell itself. He is our hope…
“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.” (Titus 2:11–15)