Intro to the End Times is a series exploring some of the key themes of the story of Jesus’ return from a historic premillennial perspective, with special focus on knowing His heart as we partner with God through the most dramatic chapter of human history.
New Series – Intro to the End Times
Welcome to the first installment of my new series! I’ve been studying the end times for almost 8 years now (though not super intensely in every season), and I’ve fallen so much more in love with Jesus through understanding more of His heart for the climax of history. I’m excited to share this series with you!
I believe we’re right on the brink of a massive transition in history, really THE most massive transition ever–the return of Jesus to the planet to personally establish His kingdom forever. The Bible promises a series of earth-shaking events leading up to that moment, and right now, we’re beginning to realize that COVID-19 might be part of that escalating trend. What better time to dig into the Word and get wisdom to understand the season we’re living in?
Are We Even Supposed to Understand?
A friend of mine used to call herself an “eschatological agnostic,” saying, “Everyone was wrong about the first coming, so we’ll probably all be wrong about the second coming!” However, that perspective is flawed because 1) not everyone was wrong, and 2) those who were got rebuked for it!
Amos 3:7 says, “For the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets.” How could we even imagine that God would do something as massive as the end time judgments and the second coming of Jesus and NOT want His people to understand?
God wants us to know what He’s doing. That includes the end times.
The Bible says a lot about God’s desire for us to understand these things. Let’s look at a few of the key verses (this isn’t an exhaustive list, but it’s a good start):
1. The Fig Tree
“From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.”
(Matthew 24:32-35)
Matthew 24 and 25, together with the parallels in Mark 13 and Luke 21, are known as the “Olivet Discourse,” the time when Jesus taught on the end times from the Mount of Olives. These passages are among the clearest descriptions in Scripture of what to expect, straight from Jesus’ own mouth. If you don’t know where to start in studying the end times, make these chapters your bread and butter!
Here, Jesus uses the natural example of a fig tree; the people were very familiar with how to recognize the changing of the leaves and know that the season was changing. Jesus is saying that the signs of His coming will be THAT clear–but we are commanded to “learn” this lesson so that we pay attention and don’t miss them! Then “this generation” (the generation that sees the signs) will see all of the events unfold and Jesus Himself return.
2. Interpret the Signs
“And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. He answered them, ‘When it is evening, you say, “It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.” And in the morning, “It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.” You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.’ So he left them and departed.”
(Matthew 16:1-4)
In Jesus’ day, the religious leaders were looking for a sign to test Jesus. They weren’t searching the Scriptures and genuinely trying to recognize the Messiah; they were saying in essence, “Where’s the neon sign? It’s not so obvious to us!” and Jesus was responding, “All the signs are already happening all around you! What more do you want? You know well enough how to recognize weather patterns; why are you so blind to the signs of God moving in your own generation?”
Describing the end times, Peter tells us that “scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say ‘Where is the promise of his coming?…'” (1 Peter 3:3-4) The Pharisees were essentially doing the same thing, deliberately oblivious to the signs because they didn’t want to see them. God makes the signs clear to the hungry and humble, but the arrogant are guaranteed to miss them.
Jesus’ harsh rebuke to the Pharisees serves as a warning for us today: don’t be arrogant against the signs that God is already giving. God wants interpreting the signs to be as normal to us as interpreting natural weather patterns.
3. Suddenly Like a Trap
“But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
(Luke 21:34-36)
Here, Jesus warns that if we do NOT stay awake and watchful, the day of the Lord will come “suddenly like a trap.” For those who are busy living their own lives, unaware of the storyline, this will be their perspective– it came out of nowhere and now they’re caught in this trap of God’s judgments completely unprepared! By contrast, for those who are staying awake, the events of the end times won’t be a sudden surprise; they will be fully aware of what’s happening as the signs begin to unfold.
Jesus is giving us the prescription to avoid being surprised and caught in the trap: keep alert, and don’t be weighed down by the distractions of this life. By doing these things, our hearts will be strengthened to “escape” the trap of being caught by surprise.
4. It Won’t Come Unless
“Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?
(2 Thessalonians 2:1-5)
1 and 2 Thessalonians are a gold mine of teaching on the end times. In this passage, Paul tells the church that the day of the Lord (here referring to the specific event of Jesus’ coming and the rapture, verse 1) cannot possibly sneak up on the church without us realizing what is happening (“has already come”). The events leading up to it will be very clear and recognizable. That day will not come unless several things happen first: the rebellion (the great falling away, in which many leave the faith), the revelation of the antichrist, and the moment when the antichrist sits down in the temple in Jerusalem and proclaims himself to be God (the abomination of desolation–Matthew 24:15, Daniel 11:31). These are clear signs that we are expected to study and recognize.
Paul even said that he taught them about these things while he was with them. This is especially fascinating because according to Acts 17, Paul was only in Thessalonica for three weeks. During that time, he taught in the synagogue, some people got saved, and they became a church plant which Paul taught as much as he could in that short time before getting kicked out of the city.
If the end times was something Paul considered essential theology to cover in his discipleship class while he was planting a new church… that should really tell us something about the importance of these subjects for the church today!
5. Keep What is Written
“The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.”
(Revelation 1:1-3)
In the first few verses of Revelation, it says that the purpose is “to show His servants the things that must soon take place.” God wants us to see and to know! He wants to show us and to bring us into the story.
Furthermore, there is a special blessing promised for those who:
- read it aloud — in John’s day, this letter would have been read aloud to the church that received it, so the reader wasn’t only reading privately but was in fact proclaiming it.
- hear it — which surely means more than simply hearing the words but also humble, attentive listening.
- keep it — i.e., hide it in their in hearts and live in active response to it.
Let’s be those who read, hear, and keep Jesus’ word to us!
But Didn’t Jesus Say “No One Knows”?
“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only… Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
(Matthew 24:36, 42-44)
These verses are often used to tell us that since “no one knows”, we might as well check out and not focus on it. However, we must be careful that we don’t let one verse cause us to overlook all the other verses that paint a larger picture. Many passages clearly say we can and should know the season–the general timeframe if not the exact day or hour–and therefore must KEEP AWAKE. Not knowing exactly should be motivation to pay close attention and keep watch, so that we can recognize the season when it comes.
Not even the Son knows? We must remember that Jesus was speaking as a man on earth at this point. The exact nature of how Jesus’ omniscience played out during His earthly life is a larger topic, but it may be possible that He didn’t know the details at that moment, but He does now, as the glorified, ascended Son sitting at the right hand of the Father!
Thief In the Night
I remember a song that said, “Like a thief in the night/Like a runaway train…/I’m ready now/but somehow I know you’ll take me by surprise.” It was an exciting song, but this is not the testimony of Scripture! The idea of Jesus coming as a “thief in the night” is not intended to tell us that everyone will be surprised no matter what we do.
What clinched it for me was a passage in 1 Thessalonians 5 that directly addresses this exact argument.
“For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, ‘There is peace and security,’ then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.”
(1 Thessalonians 5:2-6)
This is Paul’s commentary on the Olivet Discourse passages in question. Look at the clear distinction he is making.
“While people [the unbelieving/sleeping world] are saying, ‘There is peace and safety’ [the temporary, false peace that precedes the antichrist and the most intense judgments], then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape [the trap that Luke 21 describes].”
Is it for the church to be so caught off guard? NO! We are not in darkness for that day to surprise us like a thief!
Paul’s prescription is to stay awake. Be aware. Watch and pray. We must study, pray, fast, and give ourselves to a lifestyle that will set us up to be ready and awake when He comes.
