Are we in the Time of the End?

[Gareth]

Interestingly some on the Forum of all persuasions believe this. How can we tell if this is the case, or not? What does it mean for everyone, Christian or non-Christian alike? Will the earth that the Bible says was created to be inhabited forever really be destroyed completely? What are the tell-tale signs of the end that we should look out for?

Lots of questions I know, but I would like your feelings on the matter. A lot of you really care for others, so how would you answer the above.

 

[psalms 91]

Alot of questions that to answer you need to look at Matthew 24 as a start and the other gospels as to how will we know that we are near the end times? We cannot know the exact time but we are to discern the seasons, we are also able to glimpse what the Tribulation will consist of to some extent and these things will not happen just suddenly, there will be a leading up to them so that is another thing we can watch for. The millenial is another period to look at. As for the earth it will not disappear but the old will pass away and a new heavens and earth so the earth will exist forever, not disappear. To gain great understanding of these things you need to look at the prophets, the gospels, Thesselonians, and Revelation. It is an intense long study. Also look at the Jewish feasts as this will give some insight. To an unbeliever I would simply point out a few things that are happening right now in the world and then shopw them scripture that points to those events.

 

[woman.at.the.well]

Alot of questions that to answer you need to look at Matthew 24 as a start and the other gospels as to how will we know that we are near the end times? We cannot know the exact time but we are to discern the seasons, we are also able to glimpse what the Tribulation will consist of to some extent and these things will not happen just suddenly, there will be a leading up to them so that is another thing we can watch for. The millenial is another period to look at. As for the earth it will not disappear but the old will pass away and a new heavens and earth so the earth will exist forever, not disappear. To gain great understanding of these things you need to look at the prophets, the gospels, Thesselonians, and Revelation. It is an intense long study. Also look at the Jewish feasts as this will give some insight. To an unbeliever I would simply point out a few things that are happening right now in the world and then shopw them scripture that points to those events.

That is exactly where I would point someone to who was asking questions about End Times bill. It's clear as a bell in that portion of Scripture.

 

[MrSnow]

My advice would be to not stress over it (not that you're stressing). I believe that the scriptural message is that we ought to live each moment with the expectation that at any moment we could either die or else experience Christ's return. One of those two will happen to all of us, and we never know when either one will happen.

I take a little issue with pointing to Matt 24 as evidence that the end is any more near than it was in the past. All those signs have been there for the past 2000 years. Someone would respond by saying "but we've never had so many famines, earthquakes, and wars as we do now. They're growing in number and intensity all the time." The problem with that is that Matt 24 says nothing about MORE of anything. Just that there will be famines. There will be earthquakes. There will be wars and rumors of war.

What I believe we can say without any doubt is that we're 500 years closer to Christ's return than we were 500 years ago.

 

[pastortimothy]

"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
-Mark 13:32(NIV)

I have heard arguments from scholars about the above scripture that support it's relevance to the future as well as those that refute the same. But isn't the spirit of the scripture pretty clear? Once again, we are led to the idea of God's sovereignty.

Navigating the labrynth of eschatology can be daunting and frustrating. This is one of the areas of the Christian experience that gets the most heated. For whatever reason, people feel very strongly about their respective positions regarding the end of everything. Unfortunately,It is, many times, the deciding factor in how we regard other believers.

Indeed, there are seemingly as many sub-divisions within the realm of eschatology as there are denominations. I mean, just look at your profile customization. You can choose a variety of eschatological positions; pre-tribulation, post-tribulation, etc.

But, how important is it? True, it is human nature to anticipate things. We all do it. As Christians, we believe the end is coming. But I feel that we fall into the trap of focusing too much time and attention on gleaning the exact moment it will come.

Should we debate the end? Yes. Should we study the book of Revelations? Yes. Should we heed it's message? Yes. Is it appropriate to try to pin down when it will happen? Sure.

Yet, we shouldn't do so at the cost of our Christian sensibilities. Those sensibilities remind us of the many things that needlessly separate us as Christians and that regardless of the details of how and when the end arrives, we are merely sinners saved by grace, who will either be ready to go or not ready to go.

Let's face it...the end is very interesting. It appeals to our sense of epic destiny. And yes, it is a worthy use of study time. I am merely suggesting that the God of the universe wants us not to worry about the details of how and when He decides to end the world but, would rather we worked to affect as many others around us as we can in a way that would help them escape the eventuallity of that destruction.

It's almost as if He is saying "The end is coming but don't worry about it...I got your back. You just keep advancing my Kingdom as best you can. I'll do the rest."

What I believe we can say without any doubt is that we're 500 years closer to Christ's return than we were 500 years ago.

Excellent observation MrSnow.

 

[Nadiine]

I think we are in the end times, but nobody knows how long this can still continue on?

It may take another 40 years to culminate the rising hatred against Israel to raise enemies up to go to war against her...
so while I say yes we're very close, it can still mean lots of years that it still takes to set everything up according to God's plan.
I personally think things have to get worse - where more and more people ignore truth and God so they'll be more set up for the lie that will decieve them.

I agree with the previous post too that we should study these prophecys and care about this issue - but not to the point of dividing, or being paranoid and looking for the antichrist to appear.

 

[IamRedeemed]

Believe it or not, even the unbelievers know something is up and even children who have no scholarly knowledge do as well. The unbelievers of course think it is going to be a global catastrophy of some sort etc...they do not have prophecy to look to, as they currently reject the Word of God, but yet they still know it in their hearts, that something catastrophic is going to occur, and they believe it could be soon, and they are right, they just don't know why they are right.

To those that say we will not know when the time of the end is, the Word says no such thing. It only says we will not know the day nor the hour, but Jesus makes it clear that we will know the signs of the times, that we will indeed know the seasons, and there are specific details given in the Word in that regard.

I agree with Bill in that a good place to start a study would be chapter 24 of Matthew. Of course there is much more Scripture available regarding end times prophecy that I encourage any one who will so, to study it.

Only those who are not looking for His coming in hopeful expectation will be caught unawares as though he is a thief in the night.

See the parable of the ten virgins. 5 of them are foolish naysaying His arrival, and not having their lamps full, and yet it is apparent that they are "believers" but yet they are not ready. (Matthew 25:1-13)

 

[IamRedeemed]

Actually all of the signs have not ALL been "there" until this generation. And there is more to the prophetic revelations than what we find in Matthew 24-25 and in the Book of Revelations itself.
Several other books of the Bible, prophetic and otherwise play a roll in the revelations of the end times. Including but not limited to Ezekiel, Daniel, Zechariah, Thessalonians etc., ,

The olive branch (Israel) only sprung forth its tender branch in 1948.
Jerusalem only became the Capitol of Israel in 1967.

The Sanhedrin has not existed in 2000 years and now they do. I could go on and on,
and list much much much more, as there is tons more I could share with you, but
for the sake of brevity, this should at least be enough to cause someone to care
to study it, rather than just listen to people's opinions.

My advice would be to not stress over it (not that you're stressing). I believe that the scriptural message is that we ought to live each moment with the expectation that at any moment we could either die or else experience Christ's return. One of those two will happen to all of us, and we never know when either one will happen.

I take a little issue with pointing to Matt 24 as evidence that the end is any more near than it was in the past. All those signs have been there for the past 2000 years. Someone would respond by saying "but we've never had so many famines, earthquakes, and wars as we do now. They're growing in number and intensity all the time." The problem with that is that Matt 24 says nothing about MORE of anything. Just that there will be famines. There will be earthquakes. There will be wars and rumors of war.

What I believe we can say without any doubt is that we're 500 years closer to Christ's return than we were 500 years ago.

 

[Drakester]

Christ is Risen!
Yes, Matthew 24 is one place to start, along with the other passages concerning the same things in the other Gospels.
The Church has been in the last days since AD 33. However, we don't know how long this will last. Our Lord warns us that what should occupy is that we're ready when he returns.
You know a lot of what Christ teaches in the Gospels is not just our being ready, but how we treat and love others before our own lives end.
Ancient Father, St. John Chrysostom teaches that to do unto others as we would like others to do to us, is not necessarily just putting ourselves in the place of others, but rather by the way we treat people with love, mercy, compassion, good deeds, etc, we begin to see the image of God that is in all people and then we begin to see who we truly are.
The reason why I add this in this thread is that after Matthew 24 our Lord goes in to many teachings about how we are to live our lives while waiting for his return and then ends with the judgment in Matt. 25. He then explains that we will be judged according to how we treated others.

Good post.

 

[Admiral Kirk]

I do believe we are in the End Times, or at least, very close. It's already Israel's 60th anniversary today, so it may be soon. Mark my words though, the Antichrist will be worse than Hitler ever was. And even worse? People will actually like him.

 

[Psalms34]

Well Matthew 24 is a good read, but you need to keep in mind that the chapter is speaking of three distinct times. 1. First century destruction of the Temple(v.1-2) which has been fulfilled. 2. The time before tribulation starts at the end of the age(v.32-51) which is being fulfilled, and 3. During the tribulation(v.3-28) which has yet to be fulfilled. Though the message was primarily fashioned for the Jews, the Church benefits from the first and second part, but is not involved in the third part which is specifically for the Jews.

So a good place to start is at 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 which is the removal of the Church between the 2nd and 3rd distinct time period as mentioned above. Now to more specifically know that time/season, look at Matthew 24:32-35 which is referring to Ezekiel 36. Ezekiel 36 is the rebirth of Israel, that once was scattered through the world (many nations rather than one), which happened at the end of the 1st distinct time in Matthew 24. By this we see Matthew 24:32-35 being fulfilled in that Israel is again put forth its leaves from the tender branch, it is nearing the end of the age, and the start of the third part as mentioned of Matt 24. Not simply that Ezekiel will be fulfilled, but we witnessed it’s fulfillment in this generation, and soon too Ezekiel 37 and 38 will be fulfilled.

And yes, it’s a world without end, going on forever and ever, with a face lift of course. It’s the world order that will end, the 1000 year reign of Christ on this world physically will never end but be eternal, and the land of Israel will be the inheritance of the Jews forever, never to be taken away. God’s nonconditional promises are forever, for His name sake. For the Church, the New Jerusalem will be our home, the one that comes down from heaven as John wrote about in the book of Revelation.

How long until it happens? Don’t know exactly, but it will happen in this generation, however long that may be. It’s been 60 years since Israel was reestablished as a nation, many of those coming out from the holocaust and still living today. Some say when they captured Jerusalem during the six-day war is when the clock started ticking (so to speak). “This generation” does not necessarily mean a time-frame, but a people that will not pass away (not all die), and many people are living into their 80’s now. It could have happened day one, or it can happen on the last possible moment that the Lord decides to tarry, it’s up to Him. Highly doubt it’ll be another 40 years, not unless they manage to extend life dramatically over this decade or so, which has already been extended some.

 

[MrSnow]

I'd like to share an observation:

The two most significant events in the history of God's workings with His people, in my opinion, were the Exodus and the coming of Christ, who has given us our exodus from sin and the power of Satan. And both of them had something in common. That commonality was that they were preceded by the mass destruction of babies' lives. What I find interesting is that we are currently living in a time of mass destruction of the lives of babies.

Is that significant? Time shall tell.

 

[RefrusRevlis]

...and have been for over 1900 years:

Hebrews 1:1-2
God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;

The "church age" as it is called will be the last age of the world. But of the exact day, no one knows.

Well Matthew 24 is a good read, but you need to keep in mind that the chapter is speaking of three distinct times. 1. First century destruction of the Temple(v.1-2) which has been fulfilled. 2. The time before tribulation starts at the end of the age(v.32-51) which is being fulfilled, and 3. During the tribulation(v.3-28) which has yet to be fulfilled.

Matthew 24:1-34 talks of the destruction of Jerusalem in AD70- which as you say, included the destruction of the temple. The end of the Jewish age was also AD70. The great tribulation was the trouble up to and including the destruction of Jerusalem (1.1 Million people killed in a small space in a short time).
Matthew 24:34 tells us: 34 Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.http://christianforums.com/#_ftn2
All of the things recorded in Matthew 24:1-33 were to occur during the generation of those listening to Jesus. Matthew 24:35 and on start to talk about the end of the world.

Refrus

 

[IisJustMe]

We've been in the last days since Jesus gave up His human spirit on the cross. Still, things are coming to a culmination, I believe. We may have as little as four years left before the rapture.

 

[psalms 91]

Most definitely we are in the last days.

 

[thecherb]

As IisJustMe obviously accepts as a possibility, the end being in 2012 seems to be popular among many people. Myself included. I have to say I am becoming anxious.

 

[Psalms34]

Yep, that is the correct terminology, the last days are the Church age. The birth pangs started probably in the first century, and as birth pangs go, they increase in frequency and intensity over time. Notice in Matthew 24:3 they asked "end of the age". That is what we are moving into, the end of the age of the last days. But most are unaware of that but I usually understand their meaning when they ask.

 

[thistle1963]

i think we are entering the last days. just about everything thats going on in the news is stuff that was mentioned in revelation.

 

[jive4005]

I read the bible to say we are already in the end times... but I note our time and God's time are not the same. So, we wait for completion of His plan...

rev

 

[Nadiine]

We've been in the last days since Jesus gave up His human spirit on the cross. Still, things are coming to a culmination, I believe. We may have as little as four years left before the rapture.

I believe there is a rapture too - those Jewish Wedding analogies are powerful evidence along w/ scripture in Isaiah.

Anyways, yep, the "end times" officially started at Christ's first coming.

I think now these food prices and extreme weather destroying crops are just the beginning of where it's going to eventually lead.
I think God lets His people see just enough of the signs to know and have deeper rooted faith in Him as the TRUE GOD - only God could have forseen what we see today to have it written out in our bibles.

I do not believe we're in a 'food shortage' yet, but I do think that will be coming along the way in the near future.