DOOMSDAY (MARK 13)
Christians are often confronted with apocalyptic, millennial and eschatological expectations whenever a disaster occurs. On the morning of 9/11, a relative called from overseas, asked if we were alright and eventually ended the call with a sigh and an exclamation: “This is the end of the world!” When gas shot over $2.50 in 2005 I asserted the same thing. Nobody has done more to stroke this state of unease than Hal Lindsey, the popular writer of the 70’s bestseller “The Late Great Planet Earth” who predicted that Christ would return in 1988. San Antonio pastor John Hagee said sensationally, “I believe Word War III actually began September 11, 2001.”
On one occasion, Jesus shockingly predicted the destruction of the Jerusalem temple, which occurred later in A.D. 70, but yet warned the disciples against gossip and guesswork before His return. He revealed that widespread and intense persecution signals His return and that He will return is a great and glorious fashion. Jesus repeated the verb “Watch out” or “Be on guard” four times to drum the thought into them (vv 5, 9, 23, 33). The first thing to guard against is false claims, false Christs and false prophets that will turn the teaching of Jesus’ return to their advantage, make the occasion a media circus, and cause confusion among believers.
What are the signs of Christ’s return? When will it occur? How should we be prepared?
It Will be Weirder Like Never Before
5 Jesus said to them: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 6 Many will come in my name, claiming, ’I am he,’ and will deceive many. 7 When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 8 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.
(Mark 13:5-8)
The interval before Jesus’ return is first of all a sustained period of sensationalism and speculation. Contrary to doomsayers’ prediction, the advance of science, technology and modernity in the new millennium did not, has not and will not signal the death of religion, but progress coincides with the resurgence of religion. However, your father’s old religion will be replaced. The new brand of religion will be increasingly more sensational. Its sensational claims will result in a strong debate on theology, doctrine and orthodoxy. False teachers will be plentiful, their books will be bestsellers and their adherents, converts and supporters will be numerous at the end times. Jesus said, “Watch out that no one deceives you.” (v 5) The obvious target of these charismatic, affable and eloquent false teachers is Christians. Christians are naïve people. They are willing to listen, quick to believe and easy to fool. They easily fall prey to spiritual jargon, pycho- babble and emotional appeal.
The small church I lead has seen its fair share of visitors with cultic personalities, practices and profiles. One claimed the gift of discerning hidden sin and the power to read people’s past, but the catch was that believers have to surrender themselves conditionally to him who has the exclusive power to heal or deliver them. He visited church members one by one to uncover and confront them of their sin. His license credentials, reasonable deductions and emotional care wore down most resistance. Any hint of insubordination to his authority was dealt with mercilessly, any dispute provoked anger in him and any person who challenged him was labeled unspiritual. Technically, he operated like an unlicensed therapist, a fortune teller and a snake-oil salesman.
The supporters of this man were also hard to deal with. They ascribed to him unparalleled powers, elevated him to unknown heights and volunteered unbiblical and unhealthy submission to him. His followers gladly served lunch to his family during church luncheon, a privilege I do not recall having or asking! Worse, the leader did not object to all the attention and fuss.
Watch out for false Christs and prophets, Jesus said. They are predators, wolves, and cobras who cleverly smell and heartlessly strike lonely, neglected, isolated, needy or insecure people. The worst is the divisiveness that can happen to the church. Not only does it consume your time, people’s feelings could get hurt.
A year later, a group of visitors came to church one early Sunday morning, earlier than most Sunday school teachers and students. They passed out flyers in the parking lot. One spoke in Cantonese. She said she was from China’s house church, which immediately aroused my sympathy for her. Next, they started visiting all the classes and distributed CDs and materials. Before classes began they hopped into a van and were gone. Later churches and pastors issued notices that a cult from China known as Eastern Lightning was visiting local churches. The adherents believe that the Messiah has appeared in the East, in China, specifically as a woman.
People just do not learn. Jesus warned, “Watch out that no one deceives you.” The word deceive means feed error (Mt 22:29), mistakes (Mark 12:27) or inaccuracies. The word “he” is not in verse 6 of the Greek text. Consequently, false teachers do not claim “I am he” (“I am she” nowadays). They claim Jesus’ great “I AM” name. Cult leaders or false teachers are usually control freaks who claim power that is not theirs and draw people to themselves and not God. They do a lot of damage in Jesus’ name and in the guise of Christianity. They are usually unlicensed, unordained and unchurched. Often, they have no, little, poor or unfinished seminary training, and they have a history of problems attending, serving, or pastoring a church. The sad state of affairs in Christianity is that too many church leaders are licensed and ordained not by a denomination, which has stricter policies, but by independent, obscure groups and leaders. The mushrooming of seminary mills does not help either.
Jesus later warned that the false Christs and false prophets will even extend their influence into the tribulation period: “At that time if anyone says to you, ’Look, here is the Christ!’ or, ’Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect-if that were possible.” (Mk 13:21-22)
Counterfeit religious leaders deceive by three things: the cloak of superiority, the excuse of ministry and the force of their personality. A stronger and more intense word for deceive in Greek is in verse 22 – the word “seduce,” which is more negative than the word “deceive.” These latter-day signs and wonders workers will stop at nothing to seduce believers. They dismiss the church, the bring divisions among brothers and sisters and disrupt the ministry eventually if they are not stopped.
A pastor friend told me how he dealt with a group of members who claimed to have the gift of prophecy and often disrupted church services to offer a word from God to the members. Eventually, a thought struck him: he told them to write what they had to say on a piece of paper. Lo and behold, their impulse to speak disappeared when they had to write it down. Later they left the church, unfortunately, for another!
Another thing Jesus warned against is speculation. Wars and rumors of wars, extensive earthquakes and widespread famine are not sufficient evidence for “end days.” Nostradamus, the Vision of Fatima, the Bible Code, chain letters and other scares are all nothing but smoke screens and human imagination. Do you remember the food, water and cash you reserved at home for Y2K? The sky did not fall. The world did not end. False alarms are what they are: birth pangs, the delivery is months away.
It Will be Worse Than You Think
9 “You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them. 10 And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. 11 Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit. 12 “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. 13 All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 “When you see ’the abomination that causes desolation’ standing where it does not belong-let the reader understand-then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 15 Let no one on the roof of his house go down or enter the house to take anything out. 16 Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak. 17 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 18 Pray that this will not take place in winter, 19 because those will be days of distress unequaled from the beginning, when God created the world, until now-and never to be equaled again. 20 If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them. (Mark 13:9-20)
However, the true sign of Jesus’ imminent return is the widespread, vicious and irreversible persecution of Christians and Jews. The tribulation is a time of intense and widespread persecution. It is a crisis - an age of danger and opportunity. The dramatic and escalating contempt for Christians, Jews and orthodoxy will climax shortly before Jesus returns. Believers will experience state-sponsored persecution, betrayal at home and hatred from all sides. Christians, specifically, will experience blatant discrimination, bear blame for intolerance and suffer intense persecution. The affliction or tribulation (v 19) is unbelievable, unprovoked and unequaled.
Surprisingly, the persecution is an opportunity for witness. Verse 11 says the Holy Spirit is present during this tribulation crisis. Therefore conversion of souls will still be possible then. Christians living at that time need not fear what to expect, what to say and what to do during the tribulation crisis due the Spirit’s presence, guidance, and utterance.
God works in our worst nightmare. 9-11 demonstrates how God works when a nation is wounded, grieving but awaken. A lot of people were stirred to consider or accept Christ, return to church and rethink their priorities. In May 2001, four months before the attacks, the percentage of Americans who told the Gallup Poll that they had attended church or synagogue the previous week was 41 percent. In the ten days after September 11, it climbed to 47 percent (New York Times 11/26/01). Though 9-11 alone was not enough to change a person, it was nevertheless a wake-up call.
USA Today (11/20/01) had an article two and a half months after 9/11 about how the events of 9/11 have shaken or affected people’s lives. David Townsend, who left his job in waste management to work in social services, said, “September 11 enforced in me the need to live a life that matters. Let’s roll up our sleeves and give these people some hope. Let’s get rid of the stench of despair.” Frequent flier Debra Levin said. “I used to cut it at the airport really close to my time in the airport. Now I get up hours earlier, and if I hang out there for a couple of hours, for my own safety, that is fine.” Shopper Joseph Lewis said, “Once, my wife went grocery shopping, and she picked a regular brand of ice cream. We had been eating low-fat. Before, that would have bothered me. Now it doesn’t matter. We attend church on a much more regular basis now.” Psychologist Lisa Olsen said, “I’m still doing the same thing, but I am enjoying it more. Now I say that the work is for me, and I don’t let the extended hours bother me.” New Yorker Lisa Cohen said, “Now I put my career below family and relationships. I spend more time at dinner with friends and more time on the phone with my family.” Even a few famous Hollywood directors see the need to reduce sex, violence, and obscenities in the movies immediately after 911.
The coming persecution will separate the sheep from the goats, those who profess Christ and those who confess Christ and those who are parishioners and those who are disciples. Our task is to stand firm to the end, not by ourselves but with the Spirit’s help.
The Jews will not be spared either. The abomination of desolation in verse 14 has often been interpreted as the forcible slaughter of a pig on the altar or the installment of an idol in the Jewish temple.
It Will Be Worth it After All
23 So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time. 24 “But in those days, following that distress, “’the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; 25 the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’ 26 “At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens. (Mark 13:23-27)
Three persons arrived at the Pearly Gates at the same time. St. Peter came
but said he had some pressing business and would they please wait? He was
gone a long time, but finally he came back and called one of the new arrivals in and asked if she had minded waiting. “No,” she said, “I’ve looked forward to this for so long. I love God and I can’t wait to meet Jesus. I don’t mind at all.” St. Peter then said, “Well, I have one more question. How do you spell ’God’?” She said, “Capital-G-o-d.” St. Peter said, “Go right on in.” He went outside and met another new arrival, told him to come on inside, and said, “Did you mind waiting?” The man said, “Oh, no. I have been a Christian for fifty years, and I’ll spend eternity here. I didn’t mind at all.” So St. Peter said, “Just one more thing. How do you spell ’God’?” He said, “G-o-d. No, I mean capital-G.” St. Peter said that was good and sent him into heaven.
St. Peter went back out and invited the third person in and asked her if she had minded waiting. “As a matter of fact, I did,” she replied. “I’ve had to stand in line all my life - at the supermarket, when I went to school, when I registered my children for school, when I went to the movies - everywhere - and I resent having to wait in line for heaven now!” St. Peter said, “Well, that’s all right for you to feel that way. It won’t be held against you, but there is just one more question. How do you spell ’Czechoslovakia’?”
At the climax of persecution, Jesus will return in a blaze of glory. His return will mark and signify the end and renewal of all things. The sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from the sky and the heavenly bodies will be shaken. The Lord’s return is manifest in the skies. Matt 24:27 says, “For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.” All men will see him coming in clouds with great power and glory. The phrase “great power and glory” is unique to the return of Christ. The apostles witnessed with “great power” to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus (Acts 4:33), because only the Lord’s return will be characterized by “great power and glory.” This is the glory Jesus had with the Father before the world began (John 17:4, 24). The Messiah will sit on his glorious throne at the renewal of all things (Matt 19:28). He will shun those who were ashamed of Him in life (Mark 8:38, Lk 9:26).
Jesus’ return is scarier than any weapon of mass destruction, any chemical or biological weapons and any army on the earth. He would call to reckoning not just your body but your soul. Matt 10:28 says, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”
The end is really the renewal of all things. Jesus said that He will renew all things when He sits on his glorious throne (Matt 19:28). That means the restoration of Israel, the regeneration of the earth and the reign of the Messiah for a millennium or a thousand years reign. At His return, the nations will be judged for the way they treat Israel, Israel will be judged for their acceptance and rejection of the Messiah and Christians will be judged by the quality of their life and work. However, Satan (Rev 20:7), his fallen angels and the unsaved will be judged after the millennium (Rev 20:11-15).
Conclusion: Are you a victim to or a perpetrator of false teaching, bad theology or wild rumors? The most common reason why good Christians make bad judgment is they do not know or study the Scriptures for themselves (Mark 12:24). Do you have a systematic way of studying God’s word? Are you more afraid of what men will do to you than how the Holy Spirit will help you? C. S. Lewis was once asked the question, “Why should the righteous suffer?” He replied, “Why not? They’re the only ones that can handle it.” Finally, are you patient until the Lord’s coming (James 5:7)? Will He say to you, “Welcome, good and faithful servant,” or will he say, “Depart from me: I do not know you?” Will you run to Him or run from Him?
Victor Yap
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