I have a confession to make. I have been in ministry for approximately 60 years. During most of that time, I adhered to a general orthodox view of Scripture, in as much as I believed that Christ would come again, in what we call ‘the second coming.’ Consequently, I never studied it in detail, as I never made the end times a major subject I taught or preached about. I simply declared Jesus is coming again and left it at that.

Now, that has changed for me as, in recent times, I have taken a more detailed look at the events of the end times. There are several reasons for this change.

THE STATE OF THE WORLD TODAY

I realize that people over 20 centuries have considered their world the ‘world of the end, however, with all that is going downhill in the world today, I believe we are living in the end times. Not everyone will consider this present age as being the one Paul describes in 2 Timothy 3, with the passage that begins, “But know this that in the last days, perilous times will come.” The following verses spell out what those will be like. Check them out, as they certainly sound like today.

JESUS’ COMMENTS ON THE END TIMES

In Matthew 24, Jesus is asked two questions by his disciples regarding the Temple and the end times: ‘When will these things be?'(i.e., the destruction of the Temple) And ‘What will be the sign of the coming of the age?’ Some people would see this as referring to the destruction of the Temple by the Romans in AD 70. Still, while that is a reasonable view, it is possible that it could be a second fulfillment in our age, bearing in mind Jesus is also talking about the ‘end of the age.’

THE SIGN REGARDING ISRAEL

For me, one of the major signs regarding the end of the age and the coming of Jesus relates to Israel in Luke 21, which deals with the signs of the time and the end of the age. In verse 24, Jesus declares, “They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.” This speaks of a time when Jerusalem would be restored to the nation of Israel. This happened when Israel became a nation in 1948 and then when Jerusalem was liberated entirely in 1967 following the Six-Day War. The rebirth of Israel after 2,000 years is, for me, the most convincing evidence that we are in the end time and Jesus is coming soon.

STUDY ON THE BOOK OF REVELATION

Some of my family attend Grace Church, a prominent evangelical church here in the Twin Cities, where the Pastor has begun a series on the book of Revelation. I do not attend the church in person, as I have chosen to stay home with Dorothy, my wife. However, I watch online each Sunday morning to connect with my family. It will be fascinating to follow the Pastor’s messages, as I suspect he has similar views on the end times to what I have.

If you, too, are interested in the end times and the book of Revelation, then I encourage you to pursue it. I realize that it is a controversial subject with many different viewpoints. So, let me summarize the major views on this matter as taken from the Spirit Filled Bible (p 1952 and 1953):

  • PRETERIST INTERPRETATION – The Preterist or ‘Contemporary-historical’ interpretation regards the vision of the book as referring primarily, if not exclusively, to events belonging to the closing of the first century; contemporary with the prophet John. Thus, they see much has already been fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70.
  • CONTINUOUS-HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION – Continuous-historical interpretation states that Revelation contains visions that reveal in advance outstanding moments and events in human history from the days of Rome to the end of this present evil age. Even though it cannot maintain that specific historical events from the second coming to the present are prophesied in Revelation, historical events and world movements do repeatedly illustrate the principles set forth.
  • FUTURIST INTERPRETATION – The Futurist interpretation sees Revelation as primarily a prophecy concerning the history of the church in the world. Beginning in Revelations 8 and 16, the events described lie entirely in the future and will attend the final disposition of God’s will for human history. It teaches that Christ will return to establish a millennium kingdom on earth but that this will not be a Jewish political kingdom.
  • DISPENSATIONAL INTERPRETATION – Dispensational interpretation is the most recent in church history. The dispensational scheme of redemptive history presupposes two different people of God throughout history: Israel and the Church, and therefore, two programs of prophecy. The Seven Letters of the Seven Churches are interpreted ‘prophetically’ as an outline of the seven stages of church history. Interestingly, many Pentecostal-Charismatic traditions interpret Revelation and Daniel from this dispensational viewpoint, even though such an interpretative approach anywhere other in Scripture would dictate a denial of the present manifestation of the gifts of the Spirit.

Sometimes, these viewpoints are described under different names. Also, there are other less common viewpoints.

THE RAPTURE

Those who believe in the rapture of the church usually point to I Thessalonians 4:15-18, “For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.”

The phrase ‘caught up’ is therefore thought of as the rapture. The word rapture does not appear in Scripture any more than the word that we use to describe the Triune God, i.e., the Trinity.

Notice that it is meant for us to comfort one another. Therefore, in a time when the world is getting darker, we are comforted by the knowledge that Jesus is coming back for believers who will be raptured in the air to be with Him forever.

CLOSING THOUGHT

One cannot be too dynamic about the end times; we need to respect others who may interpret things differently from what we believe. We will all be surprised at how these things are worked out.

Years ago, I heard a preacher teaching on the book of Revelation reference Revelation 8:1, which declares, “There was silence in heaven for about half an hour.” The preacher asked, ‘What was the silence for?’ to emphasize that we all see in a mirror densely. He made the comment, ‘Well there is 30 minutes of silence in heaven so the the prophetic teachers can make corrections to their prophecy charts.’ I know this is a joke, but it reminds us to be gracious to other believers who have different viewpoints than us.

And in the midst of it all, remember Jesus is coming coon, and we can comfort each other with the assurance of God’s Word.

Come Lord Jesus.