Well (no surprise), the Mayan apocalypse didn’t happen, but let’s talk about the real one. I heard a prominent minister say with great conviction--that with all the wickedness in the world, the breakdown of society, natural disasters, and the turmoil in the Middle East--Jesus is undeniably returning soon; it’s a matter of a few years at the most. This wasn’t some self-proclaimed prophet, some fringe lunatic, but a trusted minister. This urgent warning I heard was given…in 1969. All the signs were there, yet we’re still waiting.
I believe in the immanent return of our Savior, but saying He could return at any time is not the same as saying He is returning soon. It seems like every generation we have a dogmatic proclamation of the soon approaching Second Coming. We need to be watching and ready…but also prepared to wait. It may not be “soon”.
However, in our next “I AM” statement Jesus says just that: “I am coming quickly.” One explanation is that God’s sense of timing differs from ours, and that a thousand years to the eternal God are but a day…meanwhile we grow impatient and our faith is tested.
There is another explanation. Jesus did return soon--with the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. The armies of Rome came and demolished the city. According to the Jewish historian Josephus, over a million people were “hewn down in indiscriminate carnage.” Rome did exactly what Babylon did years before; they came as God’s instrument of judgment. Jesus came to His own people, who rejected His kingly rule, and the destruction He warned about took place.
Our Lord’s sermon in Matthew 24, the Olivet Discourse, appears to be describing an imminent military invasion. Israel’s age was drawing to a close. The earthly Temple was destroyed; it was no longer needed. Christ’s atonement removes the need for Temple sacrifice. The Book of Hebrews describes in great detail how Jesus is the new, true Temple, in which God dwells fully.
This does not mean Jesus is not coming back at the end of time--He is, and all Christians believe this. But some of His warnings have been mistaken for end-times events. Jesus insisted that His generation would see God’s wrath and judgment, and they did. The catastrophic fulfillment of His prophetic warnings took place. His disciples did live to see it. Christ’s return appears in two stages. Another judgment is coming, and it seems there’s something embedded in the human conscience that knows there’s a day of reckoning.
This devastation of 70 A.D. is still mourned annually as the Jewish fast Tisha B'Av. It is not a popular observance among Jews, because it brings to mind the termination of Temple worship. For 3 weeks before this time of mourning there are no celebrations or weddings; then for 9 days after it they’re not to eat meat or drink wine. The synagogue readings are from Lamentations and Isaiah, reflecting despair and warning of more judgment if God’s people continue their unfaithfulness. The synagogue is lit by a single candle and people sit on low stools or on the floor. Since Jews do not wear prayer shawls when they are in mourning, none are worn on Tisha B’Av. But at the end of the service, the worshippers put their shawls on, as if to say “We can still hope and pray for something better.” (Harvey Cox)
There are Jews and Christians who want to rebuild the Temple, but for different reasons. Obviously our Jewish friends hope to restore Israel’s glory by reinstituting Temple worship. There is a school in Jerusalem where men are trained in the techniques of animal sacrifice, and there’s a workshop devoted to manufacturing the priestly garments and implements that would be needed if such rituals were resumed. Israel intends to be ready. A rabbi said, “God will do His part, and we will do ours.”
Christians who want to see the Temple rebuilt believe this will hasten Christ’s return. They see this as essential for the return of Christ and are working with Zionists to restore what has been called “the most disputed 35 acres on the planet.” Does the Temple really have to be rebuilt before Jesus returns? I spoke with a Jewish friend about this and we agree on one thing: Nothing needs to happen for Messiah to appear.
Surprisingly, Adnan Oktar, a prominent Turkish Muslim leader and author, has publicly called for Jews, Christians, and Muslims to work together to rebuild the Temple as an sign of world peace. Most Muslims do not share his charitable views. It is an unlikely pipedream.
When it comes to studying the end times, we think of the book of Revelation. This prophetic book was written prior to 70 AD, and cautiously speaks of Rome in coded language, using the substitute “Babylon”, which to Jewish readers was clearly the Roman Empire, the ruling, pagan power in opposition to the true God. Some details of this apocalyptic book have already occurred, and much is yet to come. John was writing to encourage the persecuted church, to prepare them for God’s wrath upon sin…and for Jesus’ eventual return at the end of days to establish His earthly Kingdom.
Many scholars believe that when John speaks of the antichrist, he is referring to Nero, who demanded worship and was known as the Beast. According to both Hebrew and Greek numerology, his name has the numerical value of 666. If there is another antichrist to come prior to Christ’s return, we can assume that the devil does not know the time of this event, and so in every generation he has to raise up an antichrist, a candidate to serve as the embodiment of evil. This seems true when you study history. Christians over the centuries have suggested many individuals for this infamous role. John mentions in his first Epistle, “You have heard that the Antichrist is coming, and already many such antichrists have appeared” (2:18). According to Bible scholar R.C. Sproul, the “Antichrist is a description of both the system of apostasy and individual apostates.” They are with us, and one will appear at the end of history as a counterfeit messiah.
Karl Barth, one of the most renown scholars of the last century admitted, “We can’t fathom the Second Advent of Jesus Christ, and we stammer when we try to speak of it.” I doubt if anyone is 100% correct in their understanding of the Second Coming. Good Christians differ as to how things will play out, and we must respect their different views. What we believe about the return of Christ will not affect our eternal destiny. Our denomination (unlike many) allows churches to differ on the 2nd Coming. When someone has a different understanding of this doctrine, it does not mean they respect Scripture less; it is a matter of interpretation. Apocalyptic literature is filled with imagery and it is not possible to take all images literally.
After the tragic events in Connecticut we surely want to pray, “Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus.” Every decade someone declares that things couldn’t possibly get worse, that it seems obvious that we are living in the last days. On one level, that’s true. The author of the Book of Hebrews opens his epistle by declaring that, “in these last days God has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed the heir of all things” (1:2). We’ve been living in the “last days” for over 2,000 years. We live in the blessed hope of our Lord’s return, when “all the ills of the Fall will be righted and redeemed” (Madeline L’Engle). “Until the return of Christ, we are a people in tension, living in a broken world. Regardless of where we call “home,” our true city is the new Jerusalem…Christians live in the light of the End” (D.A. Carson).
Can we do anything to hasten the return of our Lord? We need to continue to work and pray, trusting in God’s providential timing. He determines the future, not us. He will use us to fulfill His purpose, but we can’t change His plans. We should live as though Jesus is returning this approaching New Year, yet ready to wait some more.
