Q. So I Hear From Everyone That Its The End of The World And Everything Like That And I Belive It Then Again I Dont I Belive In God And Stuff But I Donno Its Weird To Think That Its The End But all This Bad Weather And Stuff And MicroChips What Do You Think About this And If You Know Anything about The End Of Time Can You Tell Me ..
A. There are many different theories within Christianity about the end of the world and how it will happen. We have the prophecies in the Bible to guide us, but no one is quite sure on how to interpret those prophecies and so naturally there tends to be some disagreement as to whose theory is the correct one. I have spent many hours studying these different theories and their place in the Scriptures and I have found one thing to be true for all, one sure and solid thing to be agreed upon, one single fact on which we may place our hope: Jesus Christ will return.
Having said that, that is perhaps the only point that all can agree on. The study of the end of the world falls in to a category of theology called eschatology, and there are many different theories and hypotheses concerning what is to come. For the sake of time, I will not go over in great deal each and every theory that has been offered up, but will instead concentrate on the most prevalent and pervasive theories that are in the Church today.
There is a period of 1,000 years described in Revelation 20:1-15 called the Millennium. There are several different views regarding the Millennium including post-millennialism and amillennialism, but for the sake of time, we will focus on a theory that is called pre-millennialism. Simply defined, pre-millennialism is the belief that Jesus will return to earth before the Millennium occurs and that He will reign as king on the earth during that 1,000 years. While it is not a doctrine held exclusively by everyone, pre-millennialism is by far the dominant teaching in the churches, but there are still splits within the doctrine itself.
Within the doctrine of pre-millennialism, it is generally taught that a time of hardship will occur over a period of seven years before Christ begins His thousand year reign. Most often, this time of hardship is called the Tribulation.
Generally, the Tribulation is divided into two segments comprising of three and one half years apiece, with the second half often being referred to as the Great Tribulation. In the Scriptures, the first reference to the Tribulation can be found in Daniel 9:26-27, in which the final seven refers to a period of seven years.
Daniel also speaks of a ruler who will come and who will confirm a covenant with the many for one seven. This ruler who will come is more commonly known as the anti-Christ, a man who has only evil intentions, accompanied by an array of hellish powers and allies. References to this anti-Christ are scattered throughout the Bible. Daniel describes him several times, calling him a stern-faced king, a master of intrigue (Daniel 8:23), the ruler who will come (Daniel 9:26), and a contemptible person, not given the honor of royalty (Daniel 11:21). Jesus himself said that many false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles (Matthew 24:24), the future anti-Christ certain to be among these false imposters. The apostle Paul called the anti-Christ a man of lawlessnessa man doomed to destruction (2 Thessalonians 2:3), and in the book of Revelation, the anti-Christ is represented by a beast that comes out of the sea, which symbolizes humanity (Revelation 13).
It is this anti-Christ who will actually initialize the Tribulation by confirming a covenant of seven years (Daniel 9:27, 11:27-28). We are not told exactly what this covenant will entail or who it will include, but it is generally assumed that it will be a treaty of some sort, possibly including or pertaining to Israel, though that does not necessarily have to be the case. Although not everyone would agree, Daniel 11:21-45 could give us certain information regarding the rise of the anti-Christ and the events leading up to the Tribulation. If, in fact, this passage refers to the anti-Christ, then there will be a war in which he (referred to as the king of the North) battles against another world leader (the king of the South), with the conflict resulting in the covenant that begins the seven years of Tribulation.
Halfway through the Tribulation, the anti-Christ will break the covenant and will set up in the Temple (as an interesting side note, the Temple was destroyed in 70 AD and has not yet been rebuilt, something that must happen before this prophecy is fulfilled) an abomination that causes desolation. What exact form this abomination will take is not absolutely clear, but Revelation 13:14-15 may offer a clue. It may be that it is a statue made in the likeness of the anti-Christ, a statue that is given the power to talk and to kill all who do not worship it.
There are several different events that are prophesied that may occur around the time of the midpoint of the Tribulation. The first event is the coming of age of the anti-Christ. At or around the midpoint, the anti-Christ will come into full power, able to do as he pleases. From this position of power, he will blaspheme God and make war against all who oppose him, specifically the saints of God (Daniel 11:33-39, Revelation 13:5-8). He will also cause people to take a mark on either their right hand or forehead, often called the Mark of the Beast. The second event is the appearance of two witnesses although some may contend that they will appear in the first half of the tribulation. Two men will appear with powers similar to those of the prophets Moses and Elijah; they will be able to turn water to blood, keep it from raining, and bring any plague they wish (Revelation 11:1-14).
There are also other events that occur during the Tribulation, although their exact placement is not certain. Revelation talks about three separate series of events, represented in heaven by the breaking of seven seals on a scroll, the blowing of seven trumpets, and the outpouring of seven bowls. Some interpret the seals, trumpets, and bowls as happening in chronological order the way they are arranged in the book of Revelation, however, I believe that there is evidence that could have them overlap each other to an extent, with the greatest overlap being the seals and the trumpets.
The seven seals are broken by the Lamb of God in Revelation 5:1-8:1. The first four seals mark the appearance of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, who bring war, famine, and death to the earth. The fifth seal marks the crying out of martyrs for justice against those who have shed their blood. The sixth seal brings a great earthquake and signs in the sky, along with all people trembling in fear of their coming judgment from the Lord. When the seventh seal is broken, there is silence in heaven for a half hour.
The seven trumpets are blown by seven angels and each trumpet also brings about its own course of events in Revelation 8:2-11:19. The first four trumpets result in a third of the earth being burned, a third of the sea turned to blood, a third of sea creatures killed, a third of ships destroyed, a third of the waters turned bitter or poisonous, and a third of the sky turned dark. These are the consequence of having hail and fire mixed with blood being hurled down on the earth, something like a giant mountain thrown in the sea, and a great star named Wormwood being thrown on the waters. The fifth trumpet brings a plague of locusts that have the power to sting like scorpions, a sting which will torture the stung for five months. The sixth trumpet releases four angels who kill a third of mankind through an army of at least two hundred million. The seventh trumpet marks signs in the heavens, an earthquake, and a great hailstorm.
The seven bowls are often called the Bowls of Gods Wrath and they are found in Revelation 15:1-16:21. These are the last plagues, poured out only on the followers of the anti-Christ. The first bowl is a plague of sores on all the worshipers of the beast. The second bowl turns the entire sea to blood and kills all living things within it. The third bowl turns the rest of the water to blood. The fourth bowl causes the sun to scorch people with intense heat. The fifth bowl sends the kingdom of the beast into darkness. The sixth bowl brings the Battle of Armageddon. The seventh bowl brings an earthquake so horrible that it sinks every island and levels every mountain and also a hailstorm with hail weighing one hundred pounds.
There is another event that occurs in the last days that has received much attention, especially in recent years: the Rapture. While the word rapture itself is not found in the Bible, it describes Christs return for His Bride, the Church. I Corinthians 15:51-58 is one passage that talks about this return, saying that it will happen quickly, in the twinkling of an eye. Christ will appear in the sky and send His angels to gather the elect from all over the earth (see Matthew 24:30-31, Mark 13:26-27, Luke 21:27-28).
There is a lot of controversy regarding exactly when the Rapture will occur in relation to the seven-year tribulation. The most popular view in churches today is that the Rapture will occur before the tribulation, a belief called Pre-Tribulationalism. To smaller degrees, there are also those who believe in Mid-Tribulationalism and Post-Tribulationalism. My personal position, however, would best be termed as a belief called Pre-Wrath, that the Rapture will occur after the majority of the seals and trumpets, but before the bowls of wrath, most probably sometime in the second half of the Tribulation.
After the Tribulation, Jesus will conquer the anti-Christ and throw him into the lake of fire along with his false prophet. Jesus will reign for one thousand years, after which Satan will be released for a short time and then defeated forevermore. The last chapters of Revelation describe a new Jerusalem coming out of heaven, wherein there will be no more pain, no more hurt, no more tears, and no more sin. We will live with our God and He will live with us for all time.
So, having said all of that, what do the end times matter? How close are we to the end? When you come right down to it, how does anything related to the end-times help you become a better Christian? Honestly, those questions are very hard to answer. On one hand, I believe that the signs of the times are indicating that we are close to the end. The rise of the European Union, the role the United Nations is playing in the world, the creation of the United Religions, increasing immorality, the bizarre weather that has struck all over the world the last several years, Israel becoming a nation after almost 2000 years, the advent of the Internet and the acceleration of technology; all of these are signs that could point to a very near end. Certainly there are more signs of the end in our generation than in any other since Christ left the earth.
On the other hand, however, there have been people in nearly every generation since Christ who have believed that they were the generation that was going to see Christ come back. Our generation may not be the generation that sees His return. Our struggle in writing Complete Rapture is this: If we arent that generation, what is the point of this book?
More than anything else, my prayer is that Christians to return to their first love of Christ. When you look at the impact of todays church on society, dont you wonder where we have gone wrong? C. S. Lewis, the great Christian author, once wrote that men are mirrors, or carriers of Christ to other men. Sometimes unconscious carriersUsually it is those who know Him that bring Him to others. That is why the Church, the whole body of believers showing Him to one another, is so important.1 We have been failing in our love.
Jesus Himself said that the world will know that we are His disciples by our love (John 13:35). Honestly, we will never win souls into the kingdom by concentrating solely on being doctrinally correct. People arent attracted to that; it doesnt meet their heartfelt needs. Not only will we not be able to win new souls, but we will be unable to comfort old onesnot without love.
The church of today simply does not have the pull that the early church did on those around it. We have gotten so caught up into the eternal aspect of the gospel that we have forgotten that we still live here on earth and that people have real needs to meet. How many people would ask if they could, Where was your eternal life when I needed food? When all I needed was someone to listen?
John Eldredge asks a very relevant question in his book, The Journey of Desire:
When was the last time someone stopped you to inquire about the reason for the hope that lies within you? Youre at the market, say, in the frozen food section. A friend you havent seen for some time comes up to you, grasps you by both shoulders, and pleads, Please, youve got to tell me. Be honest now. How can you live with such hope? Where does it come from? I must know the reason.To be blunt, nothing about our lives is worth asking about. Theres nothing intriguing about our hopes, nothing to make anyone curiousSanctified resignation has become the new abiding place of contemporary Christians. No wonder nobody asks. Do you want the life of any Christian you know?2
The greatest commandment of Jesus was not, Go and become doctrinally correct and find the exact truth for every situation but it was Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, mind, soul, and strength and love your neighbor as yourself. The reason that no one ever asks about the hope that we have is because it simply doesnt show in our faces, it doesnt become evident in the way we live and in the way we relate to the people around us. The reason that it doesnt show is because we have lost our love.
The type of love that we are talking about is the kind that comes from a close, intimate, constant relationship with the Creator God who wants to become the Lover of our souls. The Lord wants us to be in such a communion with Him that His love pours out through us and changes the lives of the people around us in such a way that they will never, ever be the same. The only way that we can affect our friends and family is if we are held in complete rapture by Jesus. Even then, it is only the reflection of perfect and pure love that is poured out from the God of Love that changes them.
The reason that the Love of God changes lives is because it seeps past the defenses that people put up around themselves, it penetrates past the mind, and it connects at the level of the heart and soul. People yearn for an intimacy with someone who will not harm or betray them. When they feel the Love of God pouring out through our lives, they experience intimacy, for the briefest instant, with a Being whose very essence is love, and they are changed.
Intimacy with God always brings about radical change. Pauls meeting with Jesus on the road to Damascus resulted in the complete and radical change of his lifestyle and view of God. The disciples left their families, their boats, and their lives after a word from Jesus. Moses, after being in the presence of God had to put a veil over his face because his face actually radiated the glory of the Almighty. The Scriptures are replete with encounters with the Lord, glimpses of an intimacy that changed the lives of those people forever.
Its easy to go on and on about how we need to let the Love of God reflect in our lives so that it will change people, but its much harder to do it. In order to affect others, we ourselves need to be affected, and perhaps infected, by the absolute Love of Christ. How do we do that?
The Lord gives us a promise in Jeremiah 29:13 that we will find Him when we seek Him with all of our heart. God is always standing, with His arms held open wide, waiting for us. He is like the father of the prodigal son. He waits for us, scanning the horizon, hoping that we will soon appear and start running toward Him. At the first glimpse of us, He starts running forward, ready to embrace us and to forgive and forget the wrongs of the past. His joy knows no bounds and His love is endless.
What is holding us back? The choice is ours! The calling is there, but we need to throw off the shackles in our lives that are holding us back and pursue God with a reckless abandon. We need to make God the number one priority in our lives, in more than just speech, but also in practice.
Our relationship with God is like a marriage; indeed, we are called the bride of Christ. A marriage is filled with love and fiery passion, but it also takes commitment. Daily, we need to get down on our knees and enter the presence of the Almighty God. Daily, we need to worship without fear of what others will think. Daily, we need to search and meditate on the Scriptures, the living, breathing Word of the Living God. Daily, we need to step out of our comfort zones and start exercising our faith. In doing so, we will develop a greater love and passion for our Creator-God, and it will show, in everything we do, and our lives will never, ever be the same!
We need to realize that we have a hope while we are here on earth, as well as an eternal hope. That hope comes from the intimacy and love of a relationship with the Most High God. When we have that hope, it will show and people will ask.
Its time to answer the question asked earlier, What about learning more about the end times helps you become a better Christian? The answer is that the end times point us to Christ, just as all of creation does. Whether we die before the return of our Lord or are raptured, we will all have to stand and give an account to Him about the way that we lived our lives. To some, He will say, Well done, good and faithful servant, and to others He will say, Away from Me, I never knew you.
We need to heed the calling, through the message of the end times, through the evidence of all creation, and through longing in our own hearts. He wants you to live on a day-to-day basis with Him, seeking and following after His will and His commandments. He wants to teach how to love; how to love Him, how to love others, and how to love yourself. He also wants to teach you how to live. He is calling for a heart, purified and refined, that seeks only after Him. He wants to hold you in complete rapture.
Notes:
1. Lewis, C. S. Mere Christianity (Macmillan Publishing Company, 1980), p. 164.
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