The End Times

We have been living in the last days...the end times if you will...since the day Christ ascended into heaven with His promise to return. There have been many perilous events in history that have occurred since that time 2000 years ago, but Jesus has still not returned. Empires and Kingdoms have come and gone. Great and infamous leaders leaders of men and women have stood for and against the Church, but still Jesus has not returned.

In one of his epistles, the apostle, Peter, said that to God, 1000 years was like a day and a day like 1000 years. By that reckoning, it's only been a couple of days since Christ left. He will probably be back by the end of the 3rd day...that's a guess. You see, as Jesus said, no man knows the day or hour except His Father.

Which brings me to this. I am tired of all the endless speculation about eschatology within God's church. I am particularly worn out by the premillenialists that rattle on about the alleged new temple in Jerusalem, Israel, the rapture, the 7 years of tribulation and the 1000 year kingdom of God on earth. It just amazes me how Christians get embroiled in these distractions to the detriment of the Church's mission on earth - seek and save the lost! Love God and love your neighbor.

Eschatology is interesting. There is much in scripture and most of it, I believe, is symbolic. No one agrees on how it will all pan out. Even the premil camp has major disagreements about timing and whether the church will be pulled out before or after the tribulation begins.

None of it really matters except for the fact that....WE WIN!

Having said that, I will give you my brief take on how it is playing out. As I said, we have been in the end times since Christ left the earth. Immediately after that, on the first Pentecost after His resurrection, His apostles laid the foundation for the Church. This, my friends, was to be and is the new and 3rd temple of God on earth. It is a spiritual edifice.

The last Jewish temple and the last legitimate Jewish state was destroyed by Titus and the Romans in AD 70. This completed the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies and Mathew 24. Judaism was and is officially done; the current illegitimate state of Israel notwithstanding. (Most of them are European Jews that do not have any Semitic heritage in any way and are either agnostic or atheist in their spiritual outlook.) Today, the Jews can get in to God's Kingdom in the same way we do. They must turn to the Messiah and repent; become part of His Church. Their one time privilege as God's chosen has been revoked. Jesus said as much. Their status before God is the same as that of the unconverted Gentiles. (Is everyone pissed off now? The truth will do that. So will opinions)

Anyway, for my money, as the saying goes, the new temple is the church. The beast is already ruling both inside and outside of God's temple - The Church. He is and has been actively worshiped since the time of Christ. The abomination that causes desolation is in God's temple, The Church. This is not a new development. He is there because he has lost many due to the blood of Christ. We have to try to keep him out without destroying the purpose of the Church - to seek and save the lost. It is a continual battle. He always seeks to divide. One of those divisions is eschatology.

Christian, we need to let it go. We need to get to what Christ commanded. We need to love God, love our neighbors and preach the Gospel. Let the rest of it play out as God wills. No man knows the day or hour. Instead, let us live everyday like Christ will be back in 30 minutes. There's a sobering thought. What would change if we knew that was the case?

World events may well be shaping up for His return. I do not know, but I will be glad to welcome Him when He arrives. But friends, please drop the obsession. Live your life in faith and obedience. When He does come back, you will be ready. Do not be deceived by false teachers and books by alleged messianic Jews that think they know something or seek to renew their Judaizing behavior by pointing to the Talmud or the Mishnah or, heaven forbid, Kabbalah. Do not be tricked. Keep the faith. Be patient. He will return on His Father's time table and the promise will be ours in fact. We will be victorious. The King is coming! It will be a glorious day.