On the Friday morning of the day the Rugby World Cup started, I
met at 6am as usual with our men’s group at McDonalds. One of the men had requested a couple of weeks before if he could
share something that had been on his heart for a few years starting in October
2008. This date is personally significant for me because it’s the date I broke
my leg playing soccer! He then proceeded through a number of dates through
2009-2011 which were also very significant to me so I was very interested in
what he was saying. He felt that God wanted him to share these things with us
even though he himself thought it might be the wrong time as we would be
distracted by the Rugby World Cup. These things concerned the future as laid
out in the Bible regarding the End of the World, Jesus coming again, the
resurrection of the dead, Israel, the new heavens and earth to come. Big Topic!
Ironically here I am on the day of the World Cup Final with
the opportunity to speak about these things! I am not distracted but I must say
Go All Blacks! Let’s hope it’s not going to feel like the End of the World
tomorrow!
We were watching the film 2012 recently, the theme if you’ve
seen it is the end of the world. The name of the film comes from the date the
Ancient Mayan people predicted the world would end, of course now next year. In
the film Woody Harrelson plays a crazy radio DJ whose only broadcast topic is
the conspiracies around the US government covering up that the world is about
to end. Of course he is right and meets a fitting end flattened by volcanic
rocks crying out “I wish you could be here with me people…you heard it first
from me!”
The end of the world conjures up in the mind the picture of
a crazy old man with a long grey beard standing by the road, with a sign saying
“The end is nigh”. To talk about it is to risk all credibility but here goes!
Because the Bible says quite a lot about the future, I want
to focus on one main event and period, Christ coming again to reign here on the
Earth for 1000 years as described in Revelation 19-20. The topic today is what
the Bible describes as the End of the Age rather
than the End of the World (which comes later!)
To do this we need to look back to what was said in the Old
Testament before Christ, what Christ said, and what John saw and heard from
Jesus after Jesus had returned to heaven, as described in the New Testament.
The passages are;
- Daniel 2 (604BC)
- Matthew 24 (30AD)
- Revelation 19-20 (70-90AD)
All of us are naturally very interested in the future. Some
people read horoscopes and have their fortunes read just because they are
curious or more sincerely, to find direction for their lives. It is very
important though to find an accurate forecaster. Your life could depend on it!
I recommend the Bible to you. The Bible has accurately forecast specific
events-in detail-many years, sometimes centuries, before they occur.
Approximately 2500 prophecies appear in the Bible, about 2000 of which already
have been fulfilled to the letter—no errors. (The remaining 500 or so reach
into the future and may be seen unfolding as days go by.)
A number of years ago, 2 scientists worked out the odds of
any one man in all of history fulfilling even only eight of the 60 major
prophecies fulfilled by the life of Christ. The probability that Jesus of
Nazareth could have fulfilled even eight such prophecies would be 1 in
100,000,000,000,000,000. The authors stated that this would be as many US
silver dollars as would cover the state of Texas two feet deep. Texas is 2.5
times the size of New Zealand. A silver dollar is about the same size as our $2
coin. Only God could pick out one specifically marked hidden coin out of all
those coins on His first attempt.
Ive written about this before you can read about Daniel 2 here. The prophecy from Daniel is very much a political prophecy about the future history of the government of the world. It was given to the King. So in keeping with the tone of the prophecy, the Rock that is coming to smash the great statue to pieces is God’s government which will be established on the earth when Christ comes again.
The second prophecy I’d like to talk about was spoken by
Jesus not long before he was crucified. The charge against Jesus, the reason he
was crucified was for claiming to be the Son of God, the Jewish Messiah. Jesus had said “Destroy this temple and inthree days I will raise it up”. This outraged the religious leaders because
only God could have rebuilt the Jerusalem Temple in 3 days and in saying this,
Jesus was claiming to be God. But Jesus was talking about his body not the
Jerusalem Temple!
As Jesus was leaving the Jerusalem Temple grounds, his
disciples offered to take him on a tour. Jesus wasn’t interested! He told them
that that the temple was going to be knocked down! This time he was not just
talking about his body! We know this from the way Jesus answered their next
questions.
The disciples then asked Jesus 3 questions “When will this
happen? What events will signal your return, and the end of the World?” Jesus
answered with an extended reply, describing a time of pain as like child birth.
There would be sudden and terrible pain before the end of the age and Jesus
coming again.
However he doesn’t give any further clues on the date when
the Temple will be destroyed in Matthew 24. You can read a bit more on this in
Luke 21, but most scholars agree that this event was fulfilled in AD70 when the
Romans destroyed both Jerusalem and the Temple.
The theme of the period before the beginning of the
end of the age is “Localisation”. The first thing Jesus says is not to
be too bothered when false messiahs arrive and wars break out, because the end
“is not yet”. Jesus was historically the first person to claim to be the
Messiah (a very brave claim!), but since then there have been many others. Secondly, the wars Jesus described were more
local wars, not World War.
In verse 7 the emphasis changes to a more global scale and
this marks the “beginning of birth pains”. The term “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom” describes the involvement of many countries which happened
in World War 1 followed by World War 2. This is the event that signals the end
of the age beginning. There are also famines and earthquakes in many
places, suggesting the more global nature of what is happening. From this point
on the intensity and turmoil on the earth is increasing. There is persecution
of Christians all over the world, a falling away from the faith, Christians
turning against each other, false prophets no doubt saying “all is well”
despite sin being rampant everywhere and love turning cold. The Good News of
the Gospel is preached throughout the World then finally the “end will come”.
The theme of the period immediately before the end is “Globalisation”. I would suggest strongly that this is the
period we are in right now.
There is then a specific event that Jesus refers to that
kicks off the “Final Countdown”. Jesus refers to Daniel 12:11-12 which says 11
“From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that
causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days. 12 Blessed is
the one who waits for and reaches the end of the 1,335 days.” This final period
has a specific time set of 3.5 years and will be exact. At this point it will
be possible to know the day when Jesus will return!
This final brief period is the most terrible of all with
persecution worse than any period in history, worse than the Holocaust of World
War 2 or any other time. There will be False Christ’s everywhere doing miracles
that will deceive almost everyone. Then
immediately after the persecution the sun and moon will be darkened, the stars
will seem to fall from the sky, darkness everywhere and the earth will be in
convulsion, a very frightening time to be alive on Planet Earth. Suddenly there
will be the signal of light and Christ appearing in the clouds in great glory.
At last Jesus will return!
What I’ve been describing is scary but you cannot walk
around the words Jesus said. We tend to think of this as the end of the story but
actually if we understand Daniel 2 and Revelation 19-20 you will see it is only
the beginning of Christ coming to reign on the Earth! The End of the Age has
arrived but a New Age of peace begins.
When you read Revelation you can imagine the difficulty John
had in seeing the future at least 2000 years ahead. Can you imagine describing
the world 2000 years from now? Can you imagine describing heaven which has
things in it that no-one has ever seen? You would use the things that you have
seen or heard of to describe the indescribable! The book of Revelation is
filled with images describing the most amazing things that are to come, it is a
wonderful book, so interesting, but it has been interpreted quite differently
by many Christians. It’s good to listen to one other because Jesus promised
that the Holy Spirit will lead us into all truth and each Christian has the
Holy Spirit within them! So I want to always be open to what others think on
what is contained in Revelation.
From Revelation 19 we begin to read of the New Age to come.
The 2nd coming of Jesus is described picking up the story from where
Matthew 24 left us. Jesus arrives with a sharp sword in his mouth to strike
down the nations, ruling with an iron grip, defeating his enemies whether great
or small, slave or free. The picture of Jesus is quite different to how we know
him from the Gospels – humble, servant, suffering. In Revelation he arrives as
the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and anyone who opposes him is killed. Satan
is bound in chains and thrown in a bottomless pit for 1000 years. Temptation
and Evil are removed from the World.
The people who are left in the World are those that have not
opposed Jesus and welcomed him as King. There is also the amazing event of the First
Resurrection where believers come back to life to reign with Christ for
1000 years. It is incredible to think that those famous Bible characters we
have heard of, not to mention some of our loved ones who have died, will be
alive again and reigning with Christ here on the Earth. Daniel for example was
told that he would rise again and have his full share in those last days.
Jesus will restore and renovate the Earth to how it should
be. Although the Earth is restored, the people that remain alive still have
their sinful nature and there is death in the 1000 years, though I would think not
for those who have been resurrected. There is a beautiful passage in the Old
Testament in Isaiah 65 which reads 17 “See, I will create new
heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will
they come to mind. 18 But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will
create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy. 19 I will rejoice over Jerusalem
and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard
in it no more. 20 Never again will there be in it an infant
who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years;
the one who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere child; the one who
fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed. 21 They will
build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 22
No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and others
eat. For as the days of a tree, so will be the days of my people; my chosen
ones will long enjoy the work of their hands. 23 They will not
labour in vain, nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune; for they will
be a people blessed by the LORD, they and their descendants with them. 24
Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear. 25
The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the
ox, and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will neither harm nor destroy on
all my holy mountain, says the LORD.”
There are many more wonderful descriptions describing peace
and prosperity when Jesus is reigning on the Earth that can be found in in the
Old Testament for example Micah 4:1-5 and Isaiah 11:6-9.
Revelation 20 tells us that after the 1000 years have ended,
Satan is let loose again and goes out once more to briefly deceive the World. Why
God would allow that I don’t know. What is hard to understand though is why
anyone, after having 1000 years of peace and prosperity under Christ, would
rebel and follow Satan but I guess that shows how bad mankind’s sinful nature
is. What follows is the final battle and defeat of Satan, the resurrection and final
Judgement of unbelievers, then Satan, Death, Hades and all unbelievers are
thrown in the Lake of Fire.
As described above, the Isaiah 65 passage indicates death in
the Messianic Kingdom. However, once Death and Hades have been thrown in the
Lake of Fire, death is of course no more. Revelation 21 reads quite similarly to
Isaiah 65 but with one key difference 1 “Then I saw a new heaven and
a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and
there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new
Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully
dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne
saying, Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell
with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be
their God. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no
more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has
passed away.” Revelation 21 reveals that the Messianic Age gives way to a
completely new heavens and new earth for all Eternity.
There you have a brief snapshot of the future described by
the Bible. There has been so much written on this subject that I would
encourage you to get out some books and read. You may not agree with every
author’s point of view, you may not agree with mine but I think it’s very
important to talk about it. We often look back and talk on what Jesus did on
the Cross for us and that is good and right that we do. But we should equally
talk and look forward to the fact that Jesus is coming again in what may well
be the very near future. One thing for sure, it’s a lot closer now than it was
2000 years ago!
