I have to admit that eschotolligy the study of the end of time has never been a popular topic with me, nor am I the person you want teaching about it on Sunday. I have no charts, no graphs, no timelines…and I wouldn’t trust them if I did.
I’m sure some of my aversion goes back to when I was a kid. I was raised on pre-tribulation rapture theology, coupled with my own brand of self-imposed legalism, because I had a tormenting sense of conscience…which meant I spent much of my “tween” years fearful of missing the rapture by some sin I might commit that might disqualify me moments before it happened. (I’m sure watching those cheesy “Thief in the Night” films they were showing in church in those days didn’t help much. Those movies scared me snotless.)
But as I grew up, got healed, and the fear subsided…I also realized that there are just about as many interpretations of end-time prophecy as there are people interpreting it. Obviously, they can’t all be right. So which one is?
My point is–and I’m not making a doctrinal statement here, but a personal observation of where I’m at–I think we must be looking at the apocolyptic Scriptures the wrong way if we are drawing so many different conclusions from them.
One thing that’s clued me in to this possibility is the simple fact that throughout history, God has never showed up the way man expected Him to…and yet He consistently fulfills everything He predicts. Take, for example, the first coming of Christ. Jesus fulfilled so many of the Messianic prophecies in Scripture that it is statistically impossible for Him not to be the Messiah. And yet, when He showed up, the religious types could not recognize Him for who He was. He fulfilled Scripture, yet bypassed just about everyone’s interpretations of what those Scriptures meant.
If we were so messed up about Jesus’ first coming, why do we think we’re doing any better figuring out His second coming? For that matter…why do we imagine we’re going to figure God out at all?
Oh, and don’t give me the “Well, now in the New Covenant we have the Holy Spirit to show us” argument. Yes, I know that Jesus said the Holy Spirit whom He sent would guide us into all truth and reveal things to us. I believe this, and I trust in the Spirit of God myself. But let’s face facts…even with the Holy Spirit indwelling us, we Christians still have more end-time interpretations than we can count…and lots of the folks out there teaching this stuff are claiming the Holy Spirit showed them that interpretation. Again…they can’t all be right. The Holy Spirit is not schizophrenic.
So…either we are really, really bad at listening to the Holy Spirit…
…or we are putting words in God’s mouth to back up our own opinions and desires about this…
…or maybe, just maybe, the Holy Spirit is not really revealing details about this to us now, and we need to learn to be okay with that, and trust Him to navigate us through the end times.
And that’s kind of where I’ve been at for a number of years now. It isn’t that I don’t think those Scriptures are there for a reason. It’s that I think if we have such a poor track record of figuring out how God does things, we ought not to trust in our intepretations…that we need to let God be God of His own word and not put our own scientific approach (or even a mystical approach) upon its interpretation in these matters.
I think if we have a relationship with Christ, and trust the Holy Spirit, and walk with Him…He’ll show us what things mean when we need to know them. Jesus said He would not leave us as orphans…but He did not say He’d download us a chart. Just sayin’. 🙂
Wayward Son
Musician. Composer. Recovering perfectionist. Minister-in-transition. Lover of puns. Hijacker of rock song references. Questioner of the status quo.
I'm not really a rebel. Just a sincere Christ-follower with a thirst for significance that gets me into trouble. My quest has taken me over the fence of institutional Christianity. Here are some of my random thoughts along the way. Read along, join in the conversation. Just be nice.
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I grew up with the pre-trib charts and timelines, and could even "prove" from the Bible that it was true. Now my beliefs about last things (notice how I avoided the "e word") have been distilled down to – Jesus is coming back, in his time and in his way.
Nicely put Jeff.
Jeff,
You made some really good points. I've had a problem with the pat answers concerning the "rapture theology" for a while now.
It just seems like evangelicals have it all figured out just like clock work. I think most will be shocked and amazed when it doesn't come off like it has been taught by some of these big names.
Blessings,
Gary
Jeff,
I completely agree with your post here. Indeed, we are to simply live in the present. I think that when/if Papa does come in our lifetimes here on Earth, He will stir in our hearts a clarity, a "knowing" that something is going to happen soon. Honestly, I haven't felt anything purely clear.
In any event, we are meant to live in the Reality that we are ALREADY living in the Kingdom of God, most beautifully ushered in by Jesus when He came as a human on this Earth 2000+ years ago.
Yes, we are not experiencing the fullness (in the physical) of the Kingdom, yet, but we certainly can live and enjoy the fruits of the Kingdom in our hearts, spirit and mind now! This is what I desire to do, every day.
Blessings,
~Amy 🙂
Just discovered your blog a few weeks ago and look forward to each new post.
You just described my childhood. I was obsessed with eschatology. As I got older, I started to look at other interpretations. Now I just care that He is coming back someday.
Co-heir,
I am now a "pan-trib". It will all pan out in the end. 🙂
Thanks, Jonathan.
Gary,
I think that is really my problem–that every camp has it all figured out. That in itself ought to be a signal to us.
Amy,
As I'll elaborate on in future posts…I think we *are* supposed to live with an anticipation of His imminent return. The Scriptures warn us not to be complacent but to keep watch. But when that's *all* we're doing, we miss the kingdom in the moment while waiting for the kingdom to come.
James,
Good to have you as a reader. I'm with you in that I, too, have gone back to basics on this. He's coming back. I want to be ready, whatever it's going to look like.
I think that Paul's and John's writtings were not penned to engender fear in our lives but rather to encourage His Beloved that Jesus is looking forward to a wedding feast with His bride. The details are there to remind us that Our Father is in control of time, history and all the details.