The End is Near(er)

Isaiah 65:17-25
Revelation 2:8-11
Luke 21:5-19


I am not a fan of “end times” theology or doomsday prophecy, and the reason I have such disdain for these is because there is surely more to it than any one human person could possibly comprehend, let alone properly interpret, in order to make it useful for Christians. I never read any of the popular “Left Behind” series of books, and I saw only the first of several of the movies. Still, I enjoyed the movie because I thought it was well played, but I also watched the movie with a cynic’s heart not because I don’t believe but because I questioned the writers’ sense of theology. It was purely entertainment and I don’t know that the “Left Behind” people make any sort of authoritative claims, but I also believe that such prophecies – express or implied - must be handled very carefully, if at all.

I read a couple of news items recently that I also found very disturbing, both of which are related to the “Left Behind” series. One story is about a “Left Behind” video game in which critics maintain that the game encourages violence against non-Christians. In the game, apparently these Christian “warriors” take prayer breaks and “praise the Lord”. In today’s post-9/11 world and considering certain militant groups involved in “jihad” against infidels (non-believers), that just strikes a little too close to the heart and is, in my opinion, in extremely bad taste. The LB people say that the critics are making too much of it, but is perception not reality whether it is actually true or not, at least to those who perceive?

Another news story recently was about a church group play-acting the LB concepts by locking young children into dark rooms with end-of-the-world sound effects. I can only imagine the noise, but some children were traumatized by the event. In another similar event by the same group, some of the children were quietly ushered from the dark room to simulate the so-called Rapture in which true believers would be spirited away while non-believers would be “left behind”.

I’m certainly in no position to determine whether any of this is right or wrong, but of this much I am certain: such concepts of End Times in the realm of the Lord are not meant to terrorize or traumatize children, and those who are involved in such nonsense ought to be ashamed of themselves. As for the video game, if it is connected to Christianity in any way, shape, or form, it ought not to involve or suggest violent behavior on the part of Christians … PERIOD. This is not Christ and if the Gospels are any indication, this I am absolutely right about.

In Luke 21, the disciples are admiring the Temple and its fine adornments as a permanent testimony to the glory and the presence of God, and Jesus points out to them that even the Temple itself is as temporary as any other man-made thing and will one day fall. Jesus is then questioned as to what this period will actually look like, but notice the tone of the question. Because the Temple itself represents the Lord God and His Presence, the destruction of this Temple must surely signify The End as best as man can conceive of it. After all, if the very representation of the Lord God can be brought down, The End must surely be in its wake.

So Jesus begins to paint a portrait to give His followers an idea of what The End may come to look like. In verse 21:8 Jesus answers: “Beware that you are not led astray, for many will come in My name and say, ‘I am He!’ and ‘The Time is Near’. Do not go after them.”

When we read such statements, what comes to mind almost immediately are those persons who have made such messianic claims as Jim Jones, Sun Myung-Moon, David Koresh, and Marshall Applewhite of Heaven’s Gate. These are men who managed to convince others, including themselves perhaps, that they were “the” messiah and were leading others to salvation. I’m sure there are many others out there who have not yet made headlines, but this does not mean they are not at least as dangerous especially to those who have such a void in their lives that they are willing to believe almost any charismatic person who makes such promises that convince these poor, lost souls that they have what is so sorely needed. And for some, it obviously does not take much to lead others astray.

But is Jesus speaking of such literal claims of messianic authority, or is there more to what He is saying? By the English translations, He seems to be quite literal in that we should probably be able to make a distinction between those who claim to be speaking in Jesus’ behalf and those who claim to be THE messiah. To the degree in which we would serve as faithful witnesses to the One, True, Living God who made One, True, Living Covenant with mankind through Christ, I suppose we all possess a certain level of authority to be faithful to what Christ has taught us. As the common calling goes, we can indeed “be the hands and feet” of Christ and we can act and love and work in Christ’s name, but we cannot be Christ Himself. There can only be One Christ (messiah), or there is no ONE true God.

Jesus still lines out for them the signs of what The End will look like, but He also admonishes them not to be concerned with what they see. To me, it sounds as if Jesus is acknowledging the limitations of our human capacity to fully understand these signs, at least to the point of usefulness. I might also add that I think Jesus is also suggesting to His followers that we should not so focused on the End Time that we lose sight of the Present Time. That is to say, we cannot control what happens THEN but we do have some control over what happens NOW. When the End comes, it will be by the Hand of the Lord God Himself. It will be the time of His choosing, so it will be entirely up to Him, and I doubt He will have a need to consult any one of us.

Jesus’ lesson does not end with natural disasters and wars, however. There is much more to what is going to have to take place, but notice the spiritual hand-holding. Even if the END is upon us, there is still the NOW with which we will have to contend and we will still have a certain level of control over what happens. We will also still, because it will be Present Time for us, have choices to make. And when we are questioned, our choice must be to “let go, and let God”, as they say, even as we are given “…an opportunity to testify” (Luke 21:13).

What does Jesus offer next? Relief. We will not be expected to do much of anything at this point except to “let go”. Why? Because the “opportunity” Jesus speaks of will not be ours. It will not be our testimony that will need to be heard. Why? Because at this point we would be equipped to do nothing more than to offer our OPINION, the same OPINION that could likely do more harm than good because our human, limited capacity to comprehend will likely still not be able to take in and interpret all that is happening around us. Those who would choose to persecute and prosecute us based on our faith will be answering to our faith-provider.

THE option afforded to us at this point will be submission, total dependence on the One who will see us through to the End. “Make up your mind NOT to prepare…” for this moment when it will certainly be a time when our faith will be challenged, but the Word that will be spoken must necessarily come from the Lord Himself, the Word “that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict.” Since the End Time is surely and exclusively in the hands of the Lord God, so must Final Words also come from Him. It is His moment to make Himself known beyond any human doubt.

It does not matter when this moment will be. I still don’t see that Jesus is suggesting to His followers that we must necessarily be focused on THAT time more than we must pay attention to THIS time, but this is also the time in which we must learn to listen to His voice by studying Scripture and learning the sound of His voice because there will always be those who will try to mislead us. We must always remember that the Christ is Life, and His voice is distinct.

Learn to listen now so that there will be no doubts later. AMEN.