A Rare Tune

If you are new in studying the End-Times, be braced that the Jesus seen in many End-Time Scriptures is very different from the Jesus that some think of when they picture Him.  Jesus is not a heavenly Santa Claus committed to making life easy in this age.  He is a zealous Bridegroom King coming to establish His Father’s glory and to vindicate His persecuted Bride.  He will dash nations to pieces that refuse His leadership.  It is important that we are loyal to what Scripture says and not to our Christian traditions or religious sentiments.

The most controversial stand I take is found in my conviction that the Church will go through the Tribulation.  This differs from the popular pre-tribulation rapture view that teaches the Church will be raptured at any minute and will therefore miss the great End-Time revival and crisis.  The Bible teaches that the Church will be raptured.  The issue is one of timing.  The Church will be raptured at the end of the Tribulation rather than at its beginning.

Again, I am not asking that you quickly accept all I say without searching the Bible yourself for divine revelation.  If you cannot clearly see in Scripture what I propose, then let’s talk about it.  Please understand that I honor the godliness and wisdom of many who hold the pre-tribulation Rapture view, but I see it as a serious mistake that will leave many unprepared and even offended at Jesus in the coming time of worldwide pressure and revival.

So, all that to say, I believe that the following is very small list of:
common lies related to the End-Times and End-Time prophecy:

•  A common lie is that End-Time prophecy is not relevant, but is just for the curious.  Studying information about the End-Times is one of the keys to preparing the Church to be victorious in the most extreme glory and pressure in history.  It provides us with a compass in the storm.

•  A common lie is that End-Times prophecy is to be interpreted symbolically instead of taken literally.  The events and numbers in Revelation are taken in their plain meaning (literal) unless specifically indicated as symbolic by the Scripture (Rev. 1:20; 5:6; 11:8; 12:1,3,9; 17:7,9).

•  A common lie is that End-Time prophecies are impossible to understand except only by scholars.  The Scriptures on the End-Times were written to be understood by all.  The majority of people throughout history have been uneducated peasants.

•  A common lie regarding End-Time prophecy is that the Church in every generation believed they were the final generation.  While it is true that small numbers of many generations thought they were at the end, only in the generation of the early apostles was there a universal sense among the majority of God’s people that they would see the return of Jesus.

Next post: How serious is the problem… and what about the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord…

We, as God’s beloved Church, are to study the Scriptures.

…they received the Word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. (Acts 17:11)

In these posts, I will speak about my views, and I am not asking that you quickly accept all I say without searching the Bible yourself for divine revelation.  If you cannot clearly see in Scripture what I propose, then let’s talk about it.  But please understand, I am not looking for hot or cruel debate.  I only seek the truth.

There are many reasons to study the End-Times.  It is a very relevant issue for the Church today… The Great and Terrible Day of the Lord is a very real day… an unavoidable Truth that we, the Bride of Christ, must prepare to endure.  Studying the End-Times will provoke the Body of Christ to prayer and fasting. We want to be able to rightly understand the coming Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord so that we will not be offended at the crisis that will cover the Earth.  As we seek the Lord for understanding, He will root us in His Truth and stir our hearts to desire intimacy with Him.  In the process of seeking revelation of His heart, He will strengthen our confidence in His sovereignty.

As we study Eschatology, Jesus will reveal His heart to us.  As we seek Him by His Spirit, He will allow us to understand things that before we have not known. The book of Revelation is called the revelation of Jesus because it reveals His heart, His power, and His perfect leadership.

The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants the things which must soon take place. (Revelation 1:1)

Our efforts to discover the reality of Jesus’ perfect leadership and His desire to be with us is the study of the End-Times.  Studying the End-Times means discovering the way Jesus is planning, moving, stirring, calling, praying, and waiting patiently.  Though the Church in general has been passive about this event, the Second Coming of Jesus has always been at the top of the  agenda in the courts of Heaven.

The End-Times are written about in over 150 chapters of the Bible.  Scripture gives significant divine information about what will happen in the last days.  Why do you think this is so?  To prepare the Bride (His Church) to be prepared… to be victorious in love and not offended at the judgments of God.  It is His plan for His Bride to be wholehearted lovers of Him, without offense at the coming of Christ.  Unless we seek now the wisdom of God, there is no way that we can be prepared for the dramatic events that will soon take place.

As we study the last days, we will gain understanding, through God’s Word and by His divine revelation to our spirit.  We are to pray for wisdom and understanding.

 …that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him… (Ephesians 1:17)

So why must we understand the End-Times?

• So we will have the knowledge of certainty of victory and we will remain confident in God’s sovereignty, knowing that He is in control and that He will prepare us to be victorious in love and power during the most dramatic time in history.
•  Direction… having a compass in a storm at sea is an issue of life and death.  The Church will be the light of truth in the darkest hour of human history.
• Urgency in our prayer life.  Intercession will break out in the Body of Christ and spiritual depth will be cultivated as we live fasted lifestyles and go deeper into the revelation of Jesus.
• So that we will be braced (girded) for the future including victory and hardship.  Through the knowledge of things to come, He will prepare us to endure the coming storm.  We make right choices now because we have a right vision for life during the last days.
• Courage… by understanding rightly End-Time prophecy, we will discern their fulfillment before our eyes.  This will encourage us that God is in control and that He cares for us.  This will give us courage to proclaim to others without the fear of man or of suffering consequences.
• So that we will be warned of things to come and have discernment of what seductions to avoid.  The evil one is crafty.  Without God, who can stand?

A common lie related to the End-Times is that they are difficult to understand.  This is not true.  The Lord wrote His Word so that we can gain insight and understanding from it and through Him.  The Scriptures on the End-Times were written to be understood by all.  Satan’s strategy from the beginning of Church history has been to use any means necessary to deny people access to the Bible. He attempts to convince the Church that much of the Bible is too symbolic or too complex to be understood by most people.

In my next post I will cover a few of the common lies related to Eschatology and End-Time prophecy.  Until then, may love abound in your hearts…

Grace and peace,
Allison

…or I could say, “End-Times for Dummies” but I liked the alliteration in “Eschatology for Everybody.”  It sounds smart.  Ironic, huh?

This is the first post in what will be a long series of me - the “everybody” - breaking down a most relevant and urgent issue: The Church and the End-Times.  Eschatology is a subject that many people either fear because they don’t understand it, or fear because it involves… well - the end of things, or they just don’t care because sadly, they don’t think it pertains at all to today.   There was a time not very long ago that I fell into each one of these categories. But today, I am not afraid.  I realize that it does matter.  Perhaps the most comforting reward I have gained in my studies is that the Bible is very clear on these things… much clearer than I once believed.

Understanding Eschatology is for everybody.  It will take you no time whatsoever to realize where I stand in my beliefs.  The question that stirs me is, “Where do you stand?”  For it is how we believe that compels us in our yearning to see Jesus return.  Are you desperate to see Him split the skies?  I am.  So the question remains… what must happen before that great, and terrible, day?

So let us begin with the basics.  If we’re going to dig deep, we need to understand the place from where everybody is coming.  The study of end-times is one of the most controversial subjects on Earth.  In the Christian Church, of which I am a part, it is perhaps one of the most dividing issues of all.

This is a very general overview of different eschatological beliefs, and by no means a complete list.  I said this was End-Times for dummies, so we will keep it very basic.  But before we can be scholars, we must start at chapter one.  So this is my chapter one… who believes what and what do they call themselves?  Keep in mind that each group is divided within itself, and many differences exist therein.

Views Interpreting Prophecy and its Fulfillment:

•  Preterism: the belief that some or all of the prophetic passages of the Bible have already been fulfilled in the past.
  • Partial Preterism
  • Full Preterism
• Futurism: the belief that Biblical prophecies concerning the End-Times have yet to be fulfilled, and they will be real events that take place when Jesus returns to Earth to finally and completely establish the Kingdom of God.
• Historicism:  the belief that eschatological prophecies have found and are finding literal fulfillment through the history of the Church age (Church history culminating in the return of Jesus to Earth).
• Idealism: the belief that all Scriptural prophecies concerning the End-Times are non-literal symbols which are perpetually fulfilled between the Kingdom of God and Satan.

Views on The Millennium:

• Premillennialism: believes that the millennium is a literal 1000 year period which takes place after the culmination of specific prophetic events and ending with the return of Jesus. This view is further broken down into two schools of thought:
  • Dispensational Premillennialism: believes in a rapture of the Church before the Great Tribulation and before the second coming of Jesus.
  • Historic Premillennialism: believes that the Church will be on Earth for the Great Tribulation up until the return of Christ, where the saints will then be caught up in the sky with Jesus and will then return to Earth with Him to reign in the Millennial Kingdom.
• Postmillennialism:believes that Jesus will return after the 1000 years, which will be ushered in by the Church in righteousness.
• Amillennialism: believe in a non-literal, symbolic 1ooo year reign which takes place between the first and second comings of Jesus.

So, I think that’s enough for our first jaunt into the wilds of End-Time study.  This is a very basic overview of the different schools of thought in understanding the Last Days.  I will not do any more overviews, nor will I compare the different beliefs… unless I feel that it helps make a point clear.  From here on I will most likely just talk about the way I understand Scripture to teach on these awesome things.  I hope this excites you as it excites me… and feel free to comment or post questions… I believe in digging deep into the Word with marvelous comrades in Christ.

Grace and peace to you…

Allison