Understanding the End Times - Introduction

For 2,000 years, Christians have been expecting the “the last days,” “the end of days,” and “the end of the age.” Even Christ’s own disciples lingered on the Mount of Olives for awhile after his ascension, as if expecting him to turn around and come right back. Since that time, every new war, outbreak of disease, upheaval in the church, an unprecedented social trend, has brought with it a renewed flood of speculation about the end.

I grew up in the heyday of the imminent pretribulation rapture movement, when books like The Great Late Planet Earth and speakers like Jerry Falwell and Hal Lindsey had many believers thinking that the end of the world was right around the corner. I remember some pastors teaching that, at virtually any time, the United States would be taken over by a communist dictatorship and Christians would be herded off to concentration camps. I was an anxious kid, and my mind often turned to end-time scenarios as preachers and Bible teachers I heard commented on items in the news. I also struggled with assurance of salvation issues, and our church taught that if you weren’t taken in the rapture you had forfeited your chance for salvation. As you might imagine, these two elements made for an interesting mental mixture at times.

I remember an occasion when my parents went out and were several hours later coming back than they had said they would be (remember that this was the era before cell phones). Meanwhile, a terrible thunderstorm broke out, turning the sky an ugly yellow color. I was filled with a very real dread that the rapture may have happened and I had been left behind. Close to a state of panic, I called my pastor (who I was reasonably sure was a saved person, if anyone was), just to see whether he would answer the phone. He did, and my blood pressure slowly returned to normal. Meanwhile, I’m sure he was confused as to why a kid who had been attending the church longer than he had would suddenly call and ask to verify the Wednesday night service time…

It’s interesting now to look back on all of the failed rapture/second coming/end time predictions now (anyone remember 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 1988? – check out the reviews on Amazon for some interesting commentary). Prophecy teachers who thought they had everything figured out turned out to be totally wrong. For instance, none of them predicted the collapse of the Soviet Union. Undaunted by this miserable track record, however, more prophecy teachers have since arisen with brand new theories or tweaked variations on the old ones, and more embarrassments have resulted (the Harold Camping/Family Radio debacle in 2011 being a particularly prominent and unfortunate one).

The newest end-time theory I’ve seen relies on a teaching that was common in the early church, namely that the six creation days of Genesis represent six successive 1,000-year ages of human history, with the seventh day representing the Millennial Reign of Christ. According to this theory, 2032 will mark the end of the sixth age and the beginning of the seventh, as it is generally believed that Christ died in AD 32. Pretribulationists who hold to this theory are now speculating that the rapture will take place in the fall of 2025, likely coinciding with the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah. Further, they speculate that the near-earth asteroid Apophis (scheduled to make a close flyby of the earth in 2029) is the “Wormwood” object referenced in Revelation. This Wormwood connection is fueled, not only by the fact that 2029 is midway between 2025 and 2032, but also by the fact that Apophis is the Greek name for the Egyptian serpent demon Apep, who was seen as a god of chaos and destruction. Pretribulationists are not the only ones looking at these dates, however. I also know of one posttribulationist group that is also interested in this timeline, as they place a heavy emphasis on the teachings of the early church fathers.

So…what about it? What do we really know about the biblical End of Days?

This has been an area of interest and study for me for quite some time. I’ve written articles and made videos on various aspects of the subject, and used to frequently discuss and debate it online. My intention here is to write a series of posts touching on various aspects of the End Times question, with the goal of passing along what I’ve learned. I don’t pretend to have everything figured out, by any means, but I do believe I have a much clearer understanding of biblical eschatology (End Times studies) than I used to. Further, I have found that these understandings dovetail nicely with the broader tapestry of biblical teaching.

I pray that at least some of you will find these studies of use, and that the Lord will receive glory as I try to share what I believe he has taught me.