Is This The End?

“Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. But he answered them, ‘You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.’

“As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, ‘Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?’ And Jesus answered them, ‘See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, “I am the Christ,” and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.

“‘Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.’” [1]

WHEN IN DANGER, WHEN IN DOUBT,

RUN IN CIRCLES, SCREAM AND SHOUT!

Drill instructors offered this sarcastic advice to young men during the early days of training to become Marines. If the palpable fear that appears to be gripping society at the present time is any indication, this advice was disseminated more widely than any of us training at Quantico so many years ago could have imagined. This particular advice appears to prevail among the general populace, as becomes evident during the present coronavirus crisis. News accounts breathlessly trumpet how the virus will destroy civilisation if we don’t make sacrifices; we are told that we must surrender freedoms now. Those who are out of work, those who have seen their lives disrupted to an unprecedented degree, and those who have lost what little they had set aside for their future, would surely argue that their lives have been turned topsy-turvy. Some appear to believe they will never recover, and hope appears to be swiftly draining from their lives.

It is nearly impossible for most of us to separate the hype from reality. The COVID-19 virus is aggressively virulent, and it is quite deadly. Moreover, the virus’ devastation is amplified through the terror it induces, leading to economic disaster and to social upset. It is sometimes said that the cure is worse than the disease, and in light of political dicta emanating from government leaders, the cure may well be worse than the disease. Economic devastation has already ravished the land, and it isn’t obvious that much has been gained through such acts. What is apparent is that politicians see an opportunity to seize even more control than before the pandemic was announced.

As governments move to exercise control over people gathering for various activities, we hear of major cities, and even some states, ordering churches closed and cancelling all religious gatherings. The justification for decisions such as these is that government must act swiftly to protect the populace. Some jurisdictions are imposing heavy fines for those who fail to practise mandated social distancing.

Consequently, some have questioned whether I believe these are the last days. Some people wonder whether the present crisis presages the return of our Master; or, if He is not coming immediately, are we witnessing a plague of biblical proportions as an act of divine judgement? These are serious suggestions that demand a biblical answer, and no answer should be given that is not grounded in the Word of God. What, then, do we know from God’s Word concerning the return of our Saviour, Jesus Christ?

THE RAPTURE IS IMMINENT — I understand why some might wonder whether the end of the world is upon us. Christians are under more intense persecution than ever before in the history of the Faith. Headlines in the past decade have screamed out news of the intense persecution of the humble followers of the Son of God—schoolgirls beheaded in Indonesia, followers of the Christ crucified by ISIS rebels in Syrian cities, Christians beheaded in Libya, Syria and Iraq, churches burned and pastors hacked to death in Nigeria, Christian girls kidnapped and forced to convert to Islam in the African sub-Sahel, Christian women in Pakistan kidnapped by sex traffickers and forced into prostitution in China, and Christian women sold as slaves in Sudan. The growing persecution of Christians certainly appears to support a sense of being forsaken by God.