End of the Age Archives — truthmission.net

The End of the Age: Part 5–The Trouble with Tribulation

For those will be days of tribulation, the kind that hasn’t been from the beginning of the world, which God created, until now and never will be again! (Mark 13:19 HCSB)

Time to step on some more toes. A common theology in the modern Church is a pre-tribulation “Rapture,” the concept being that Christians don’t have to worry about any of this scary stuff, because before it all begins, we’re all going to get whooshed up to heaven and sit out the Tribulation.

Sounds great to me! Just one problem. The word “rapture” does not appear anywhere in the Bible. Neither is there any prophecy that specifically describes such an event. There are a few bits and pieces that have been strung together out of context, along with the odd mistranslation, upon which many people have constructed this wishful thinking. However, if the Rapture were something that we could be certain of, the Bible would have said so plainly.

And it doesn’t. Not anywhere.

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For the sake of the elect

Remember the very first thing that Jesus said when he started this speech to His inner circle? “Watch out that no one deceives you.”

(Now, “no one” includes me, so I’m not asking you to take my word for any of this. Anyone reading these words has access to a Bible. Look it up yourself and ask God to explain it to you. He may give you a different answer. I could be totally wrong about this. I hope I am, actually, because the Rapture is a much better deal than the one it appears we have coming.)

In Mark 13:20, Jesus speaks of the Tribulation:

If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them. (NIV)

Now, if the elect (i.e., followers of Christ) have already been tractor beamed up to heaven before the Tribulation starts, then why would it matter to us if the days were shortened or not? If we’re already with Jesus enjoying our eternal life, we wouldn’t need to worry about surviving.

Yet, that’s the word Jesus uses, echoing Daniel 12:12, “Blessed is the one who waits for and reaches the end of the 1,335 days.” (NIV) Patience, perseverance and endurance are fruits of the Holy Spirit that all true Christians display. Scripture is clearly stating that we will need these qualities all the way to the end of the Tribulation.

Jesus goes on in verses 21-23 to warn his disciples that there will be false messiahs and false prophets in the end times who will do fake miracles that will appear convincing enough even to deceive the elect. Again, how can we be potentially deceived if we are not still on earth?

Next, Jesus goes full-on apocalyptic, quoting Isaiah regarding signs and wonders in the sky:

As Isaiah said in the days after that great suffering,
The sun will refuse to shine,
and the moon will hold back its light.
The stars in heaven will fall,
and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. (Mark 13:24-25 VOICE)

This is the verse that causes false prophets in our current age to blow a nut every time there’s a solar eclipse. But Judgment Day is a whole lot more than a natural astronomical phenomenon. ALL light will be blocked out—no sun, no moon, and no stars. This is the part where God lays the final smack down on His enemies.

This prophecy is reiterated later in Revelation 6:

I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. (Rev 6:12-14 NIV)

Heck of a day. I’m not looking forward to that. I get that the elect will have their victory and live and reign with Jesus forever and ever, but THAT day. . .I really don’t want to be around for that one. Can you blame people for coming up with the concept of a Rapture? Sure beats unprecedented natural disaster any day of the week!

At that time…

Back to Mark now. As Jesus quotes these prophecies, He then says (emphasis mine):

At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens. (Mark 13:26-27 NIV)

At. That. Time. Not before. The elect will not be gathered until Judgment Day itself, which happens at the END of the Tribulation, not the beginning.

So, how do we balance our awareness of The End of the Age with our mission and calling in the present? Well fortunately, Jesus gave us instructions for that too, in verses 34-37:

It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch. Therefore, keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: “Watch!” (NIV)

We are not to be lazy or complacent about Christ’s return. Yes, it has been 2000 years, but what of that? God is eternal. He doesn’t mark time like we do. Maybe He’s waiting for us to reach the whole world, or maybe He has a day marked on His celestial calendar that we haven’t arrived at yet. It’s enough to know that He is coming back, and He expects to find us ready to meet Him when He does.

Even so, Jesus’ illustration also mentions that the servants were left in charge, each with an assigned task. We are charged with taking care of this world and everyone in it until Christ returns. We can no more be slack about that duty than we can about watching for His return.

The End of the Age: Part 4–Stand Firm

“Everyone will hate you because of my name. But whoever stands firm until the end will be saved.” (Mark 13:13 CEB)

The world can be a depressing place. It can seem to us that God isn’t actively involved in our situation. We might even begin to wonder if He’s even real, or if He is, does He even care about us? Jesus saw this coming, of course. This is why He admonishes us, “All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.”

The notion of “standing firm” reminds me of a statue or rock that can not be moved, no matter what happens around it. It should be noted, however, that in this case, “standing firm” does not mean “standing still.”

Rather, this is more a picture of perseverance. It is more about being undeterred than being unmoved. It is about steadily plodding toward a goal in the face of opposition. Doing this requires laser focus on that goal. Again, as we said before, the goal is to spread the Gospel to the whole world, not to monitor the signs of the times so that we can set our Apple watches for the apocalypse.

Jesus also mentions that the reward for standing firm to the end is salvation. Now theologically speaking, we are “saved” when we first put our trust in Christ. However, we “work out our salvation” by obediently doing the work that Jesus planned for us in the building of His kingdom. Standing firm to the end is the evidence that our faith is, and always has been, genuine. This is what ensures our salvation. Those who fall away because of shallow faith have always had shallow faith, although they may have denied it.

The Abomination of Desolation

Jesus gets more specific about the end when He starts quoting Daniel in verse 14:

“But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where it should not be” (let the reader understand), “then those in Judea must flee to the mountains. (Mark 13:14 NET)

Mark even cuts in on Jesus with a “let the reader understand.” Both Jesus and Mark wanted us to be very sure to understand that he was referring to the “abomination of desolation” Daniel wrote of in 538 BC:

He will make a firm covenant with many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and offering. And the abomination of desolation will be on a wing of the temple until the decreed destruction is poured out on the desolator.” (Daniel 9:27 HCSB)

So, what is that exactly?

Well, simply put, we don’t know. This may have been a specific warning to Jews 2000 years ago, but its meaning has been lost to history. Also, the trouble with mystical prophecies like this is that they don’t make sense until they’re fulfilled. Then you can look back on the events and say, “Oh, yeah. I see it now.”

Even so, Mark was careful to interject “let the reader understand,” so I’m going to do my best here. The Hebrew can be broken down several different ways. My best paraphrase would be, “An idolatry will spread that will be so abominable that it will leave us horrified and speechless.” One theory that seems reasonable is that this abomination is an idol of some sort raised in, or on top of, the temple. It is unclear if the word “wing” is literal or figurative in this verse. However, in Daniel 11:31, it appears that this abomination is going to be literally set up in the temple as a sign of desecration.

One thing is a bit perplexing regarding the timing, though. Daniel repeatedly states that the abomination will be set up at the same time the daily sacrifice is abolished at the temple. There hasn’t been a daily sacrifice going on since 70AD when Rome destroyed Jerusalem and the temple. So, is this really a prophecy of the end times, or is this something that has already happened?

Or could it be both?

The Antichrist

And the beast was given a mouth (the power of speech), uttering great things and arrogant and blasphemous words, and he was given freedom and authority to act and to do as he pleased for forty-two months (three and a half years). And he opened his mouth to speak blasphemies (abusive speech, slander) against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, and those who live in heaven. (Revelation 13:5-6 AMP)

Both Daniel 9:27 and this passage in Revelation clearly reference the Antichrist, that is, the one who will come in the last days to oppose God and His people. Daniel speaks of “weeks,” which we commonly understand to be a period of seven years. The final “week” Daniel references is often referred to as “the Tribulation.” This is the seven-year period in which the Antichrist will reign on earth. The “abomination of desolation” is to be established in the temple when the sacrifices are abolished, halfway through the seven years. Then, according to Daniel 12:11, the tribulation will last 1,290 more days. These are the 42 months that Revelation 13 references.

So, when were these days supposed to start?

Prophecies or cycles?

If you apply Daniel’s prophecy to his own time, then the events of this prophecy line up with the rise of Antiochus IV. Antiochus persecuted the Jews and desecrated the temple by sacrificing a pig on the altar. He was put down in the revolt of Judas Maccabaeus in 164 BC. This account makes the prophecy more literal. And yet. . .

Those events happened nearly two centuries before Jesus spoke this prophecy to Peter, John, James, and Andrew. And Jesus was speaking about the future. So, it appears that with prophecy everything old becomes new again.

But is this so weird? All throughout scripture, God shows his people on earth copies of things in heaven to give them a taste. The tabernacle was a copy of the tabernacle in heaven. Jerusalem was a forerunner of the Holy City in Revelation. Jesus’ resurrection foreshadowed our own.

The purpose of prophecy, then, seems to be not so much to tell us exactly what is going to happen and when. It’s more to give us enough faith to realize that more is going on in the world than we can even comprehend, much less control. When it does come to pass, it will all end well.

Daniel himself did not understand what the prophecies meant when he wrote them down. He was over 90 years old when he received this final prophecy. Even then, he still didn’t understand exactly what it meant or when it would be fulfilled. God simply gave him the vision to pass on, then said to him:

“As for you, go your way till the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance.” (Daniel 12:13 NIV)

In other words, God gave Daniel the message and told him to pass it on. It’s not for him to worry about what it all means or when the deal will finally go down. He has just the one mission—record the prophecy. Or to be more general, to obey in faith.

God’s instructions to us are the same. He gives us each work to do in and for His kingdom. He also equips us with the spiritual gifts we need to complete that work. We have access to Daniel’s prophecies along with all the others. Rather than worrying over which of these prophecies might occur in our lifetimes, we should instead focus on what we are supposed to do with our lives. Whatever our individual calling may be, interpreting scripture to try to calculate the end of days is not it.

Even Jesus didn’t know when these events would take place. In Mark 13:18, he says, “Pray that this will not take place in winter,” which implies that even Jesus isn’t sure. He actually confirms this later in verse 32, saying, “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”

Bottom line—if Jesus didn’t know, you and I aren’t going to be the ones to figure it out.

(To be concluded in Part 5: The Trouble with Tribulation)

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The End of the Age: Part 3–On Your Guard

Be on your guard! For they will repeatedly hand you over to the ruling councils, and you will be beaten in public gatherings. And you will stand trial before kings and high-ranking governmental leaders as an opportunity to testify to them on my behalf. But prior to the end of the age, the hope of the gospel must first be preached to all nations. (Mark 13:9-10 TPT)

In verse 9, Jesus gives another warning, this one more personal. “Be on your guard!” He then tells His inner circle of the personal persecutions they will face in His name, and the purposes thereof.

But He is not warning them to be on guard against their persecutors. He is warning them against looking for big-picture signs of The End. This practice would take their focus from their individual missions. They need to be ready to witness to the authorities before whom they will be brought. They will need to remember the Great Commission that Jesus will give them to preach the Gospel to all nations. Most of all, they need to prepare their spirits to receive wisdom and comfort from the Holy Spirit amid their persecution. It is their faith that will see them through what is coming, not their ability to read the signs of the times.

This warning is for us as well. Most of us Americans have not faced the danger of arrest or public beatings for professing our faith, but this does happen daily in many areas of the world. I doubt that many of the people who are persecuted find themselves in that situation for interpreting the signs of the times. They are jailed, tortured, and martyred for the Name of Jesus.

But since, as Americans we have not previously faced these troubles, we tend to get spiritually lazy. We lose our sense of urgency about preaching the gospel and instead turn our attentions to the news, fake or otherwise, about the state of our nation. We look at the spreading degeneracy of our culture, in our media, our schools, our government, etc., and say something religious-sounding like, “Come Lord Jesus.” But what are we doing to prepare for that coming?

More importantly, what are we saying or doing to get the world ready?

Until the Whole World Hears

In verse 10, Jesus says that the Gospel must first be preached to all nations before The End comes. I have often wondered if that’s why it has been 2000 years and we’re still waiting? I can’t know this for certain, but it seems to make sense for this reason. (I’m going to lose some of the Calvinists on this one.)

God offers salvation from Sin and Death as a free gift. The way to receive this gift is to believe that Jesus is who the Bible says He is, did what the Bible says He did, and to trust and rely completely on that Truth, following Christ in obedience. In other words, a person must exercise a conscious and deliberate act of the will.

But a choice can not be made where there is no awareness of the choice that needs to be made. This is what the preaching is for:

For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How are they to call on one they have not believed in? And how are they to believe in one they have not heard of? And how are they to hear without someone preaching to them? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How timely is the arrival of those who proclaim the good news.” But not all have obeyed the good news, for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?” Consequently, faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the preached word of Christ. (Romans 10:13-17 NET)

For this reason, I do not believe that anyone who has never heard of Jesus could be condemned for not choosing Him. Some theologians would disagree with me on that, but it’s the story I’m going with, because if God would send some lost African tribe to hell because they didn’t make a decision for Christ, then all those who die in infancy would go along with them. Therefore, I call shenanigans on that theology.

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Every tribe, tongue and nation…

So, about those lost African tribes (or wherever they may be). I believe that Jesus hasn’t come back yet because we haven’t reached everyone with the Gospel yet. Whether it’s because the Church has been lazy about missions, or the world’s population is simply growing at a rate that the Church can’t keep up with, they haven’t all had a chance to make their choice yet.

Therefore, the point is to stop looking at the sky and to start looking for opportunities to share the Good News, both near and far, until the whole world hears. Because until we reach the whole world with the Gospel, it doesn’t matter what ELSE is going on in the world.

(To be continued in Part 4—Stand Firm)

The End of the Age: Part 2–What Sign?

As he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple area, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, “Tell us, when will this happen, and what sign will there be when all these things are about to come to an end?” (Mark 13:3-4 NABRE)

This scene immediately follows Jesus’ public prediction that the temple would be destroyed. Jesus’ inner circle is trying to get the inside scoop on what’s coming next.

We’re all kind of like that, aren’t we? We like to be the first ones to know. Sometimes it’s just for the knowledge itself. Sometimes it’s for the attention we get in the short term. Or it might be about having the reputation for being a source of reliable information.

But there is a warning that comes along with this thirst for knowledge. The sense of pride that comes from being first to know can overwhelm the significance of the actual knowledge that you are conveying. To avoid succumbing to that, check your motivation for obtaining the knowledge in the first place. Is it to help others, to help yourself, or just to be first?

Fake News

I don’t need to remind anybody in this age of disinformation how much garbage there is on the interwebs masquerading as knowledge. Any post or clickbait that triggers somebody’s offense mechanism has the potential to go viral before a single fact has been checked. And now, social media itself, under the guise of “fact checking,” is censoring voices that dissent with its political agenda, making even the real news look like fake news.

But our urge to be able to say, “You heard it here first” is so strong that people have gone so far as to create new social media networks, just so they can have an outlet to forward the latest “breaking news” without fear of recrimination by the “tech lords.” So, under the guise of free speech, all we have done is relocated and refined our echo chamber.

Another thing to be wary of with a thirst for knowledge is that sometimes when you ask questions, you might get more than you bargained for with the answer. Consider how Jesus responded in Mark 13:5-31 to the question posed by His inner circle at the top of this post.

He begins with a warning. “Watch out that no one deceives you.” Fake news was a thing even 2000 years ago. Jesus knows the hearts of His disciples, so He knows their motivation for asking. Although we can’t really tell from the context, Jesus’ warning is useful regardless. He wants them to have correct information from the Source, both for their own knowledge and to share with others who might ask.

Getting the Scoop

There is also a sort of secondhand knowledge that people thirst for. If you aren’t in the “you heard it here first” club, then maybe at least you can be the first to report a sign predicted by those who were. Jesus knows that even though He is telling his inner circle directly about the signs of the end, since these signs will be unprecedented, they could easily be misinterpreted.

What I mean is that our individual perceptions color our worldview. When we see a war, a certain political alliance or a natural or humanitarian disaster, we might be tempted to point and say, “See? The end is near!” But Jesus specifically said this 2000 years ago:

When you hear of wars and reports of wars, don’t be alarmed. These things must happen, but this isn’t the end yet. Nations and kingdoms will fight against each other, and there will be earthquakes and famines in all sorts of places. These things are just the beginning of the sufferings associated with the end. (Mark 13:7-8 CEB)

To a woman going through childbirth for the first time, labor pains are an unprecedented calamity. There is no pain quite like it (so I have been told). But the labor pains themselves are not the main event. They are the prelude to a birth.

Likewise, these signs of worldwide calamities, which have been going on throughout the ages, are not the main event themselves. It might be accurate to call them “the beginning of The End,” but since we don’t know when The End will be, we also have no idea how long the Beginning of The End will be. It seems kind of pointless to even try to measure such a thing as it is happening. Perhaps this is also a symptom of our wanting either to know more or to at least make sense of the knowledge we have.

(To be continued in Part 3: On Your Guard)