What Is The Time Of The End? ( 8)

The  end time in the New Testament

Jesus' longest prophecy about the end time is found in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21 in what is commonly called the Olivet Prophecy. On this occasion, during the week leading up to His crucifixion, Jesus and His disciples left the temple grounds and climbed the Mount of Olives (or Mount Olivet) to enjoy a spectacular view of the city and the temple gleaming with its white stones and sparkling gold ­ornamentation. "Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked Him privately, 'Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign when all these things will be ­fulfilled?'" (Mark:13:3-4
).

Christ then revealed to them the conditions on earth leading up to His return. He said it would be a time of increasing troubles and turmoil. He warned that during this time mankind would have the capacity to annihilate human life from the face of the earth. "It will be a time of great distress, such as there has never been before since the beginning of the world, and will never be again. If that time of troubles were not cut short, no living thing could survive; but for the sake of God's chosen it will be cut short" (Matthew:24:21-22
, REB).

Mighty as the Roman Empire was in those days, its legions didn't come close to having the armaments to wipe mankind from the face of the earth. This condition would only become a real possibility in the 20th century with the development and deployment of weapons of mass destruction—nuclear, chemical and biological—in a worldwide arsenal with the capacity to kill every man, woman and child many times over.

Signs of an approaching end

Jesus described in a brief outline form the conditions that would indicate the end time was nearing. He warned His disciples: "Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many" (Matthew:24:4-5
, KJV).

Jesus first prophesied it would be common to use His name to win over followers. This suggests that many outwardly Christian churches, denominations and organizations would exist at the time of the end, and many would be deceived into believing their leaders represented Christ. Yet the Church that truly follows Christ would be faithfully obeying God's Word and His commandments. Jesus warned, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven" (Matthew:7:21).

Next He described political, military and environmental trends before His second coming. "And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows" (Matthew:24:6-8

).

An analogy of labor pains

Many assume the constant reports of wars, violence, uprisings, famine, epidemics, earthquakes and natural disasters in our headlines are sure signs we are in the end time. Certainly Jesus Christ and other biblical prophets made it clear such tragedies will shake the earth as the time of the end approaches.

But Jesus Christ Himself explained that these factors, by themselves, do not reveal we are in the end time, because there would be many such catastrophes before He returns. These tragedies, Jesus said, set the stage for the greater turmoil and sorrow of the end time. Horrifying and deadly as they are, these disasters are only "the beginning of sorrows." The worst is yet to come.

The New Revised Standard Version of the Bible translates Christ's words in Matthew:24:8as "all this is but the beginning of the birth pangs." Jesus was using an analogy of a woman in labor. As The Bible Knowledge Commentary explains: "These things, Jesus said, will be the beginning of birth pains. As a pregnant woman's birth pains indicate that her child will soon be born, so these universal conflicts and catastrophes will mean the end of this interadvent Age is near" (1997, comment on Matthew:24:8).

So Christ was not referring to the periodic catastrophes such as wars, famines, disease epidemics and earthquakes that occasionally strike, but to a unique time when such events would steadily worsen. Just as labor contractions get stronger and closer together before birth, so would these events markedly increase in frequency and intensity before Christ's return.

We should consider three important questions when analyzing whether events are the signs of the end time Jesus Christ described. First, could they simply be part of the normal ebb and flow of disasters people have experienced throughout history? Second, are all the signs Jesus mentioned in place? Third, is there solid evidence the prophesied trends and conditions are inexorably increasing and intensifying?

Many well-meaning people have erred when interpreting dramatic world events as sure signs of the end time—only to see them fail to develop as anticipated and pass quietly into history. Had they exercised a little more caution, they could have seen that not everything Jesus spoke about was in place at that time. We can see that in hindsight.

Today, more than ever in history, we can see most aspects of the signs Jesus Christ gave present in our world. Yet a few crucial signs of the "time of the end" are still missing. The puzzle remains a little short of some essential pieces.

To be cont'd. 

God bless you.