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Eschatology review online
By Ron McRay
March 11, 2002
[We have a guest writer again for this online issue. Hope you enjoy and
profit from it. ~editor~]
The "End Times" Myth
By Ray Lobb
Admittedly, this may raise more questions than it answers, both for those
who have never considered the "end times" concept and for those who have
come to believe it in one form or another. The Christian Religion is
being bad-mouthed by the mainstream media (because it is not politically
correct). That includes everything – Newspapers, TV, Magazines, Text
Books and Book Publishers. It is being bad-mouthed chiefly by the elite
and their sheep on the left, socialists and national socialists, as being
mean, superstitious, reactionary and the source of all kinds of the
world’s problems, especially when Christians let their faith inform their
political views.
There is one thing about these "dangerous tyrants" (Christians) that the
"elite" bunch love to promote and can’t quite get enough of, because it
offers them a chance to corral a bunch of deluded puppets (The Churches)
on the end of the string. Here I am referring to the "end times"
prophecies that so many subscribe to. The "omnipotent" ones (bureaucrats
and corporate giants) say, "We will bat those churches down that oppose
our greed, violence and lies, but we shall use any slight deviation from
the truth of the Bible that they may have fallen for, and we will
commandeer them into our camp if it enhances our cause." Since these are
the guys in control of the media, they have most of the witless public
going along with them. If that isn’t a kettle of "Strumming" – sp. (The
Swedes know what I am talking about.)
The point is to show you how an erroneous belief held by a large number
of people of the world has been used by the Cultural Communists to
promote their own ends.
QUESTION: Why do most Christians think that the world is coming to an end
sometime in the future?
ANSWER: Try as I may, there is just no short answer, and I will also have
to use some quotes from the Bible to make a point.
Remember that most Church members nowadays think that Christ is going to
come in the future. They are termed "Futurists."
Do you ever wonder why the first century Christians expected Jesus to
come in their lifetime, and where they got this expectation? When did
Christ and the apostles say He would return? Take a look at the extreme
sense of immanency in these passages. You should be able to get the gist
of what the people of the first century expected by reading just two or
three of the verse hereafter quoted.
TIME PASSAGES
For the Son of Man is about to come in the glory of His Father
with His angels; and will then recompense every man according to his
deeds. Truly I say to you, there are some of those standing here
who shall not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His
kingdom [Matt. 16:27,28].
Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all
these things take place [Matt. 24:34].
The end of all things is at hand; therefore, be of sound judgment
and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer [1 Pet. 4:7].
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His
bond-servants, the things which must shortly take place …
Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy,
and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near
[Rev. 1:1,3].
And behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who heeds the
words of the prophecy of this book [Rev. 22:6,7].
And he said to me, "Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this
book, for the time is near [Rev. 22:10].
Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render
to every man according to what he has done [Rev. 22:12].
He who testifies of these things says, "Yes, I am coming quickly."
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus [Rev. 22:20].
The problem with the Christians in the first century and the futurist’s
Churches of today is that they were not, and have not been, able to tell
the difference between what is material (physical) and what is Spiritual
(not seen). The physical is seen and is temporary. The Spiritual is
unseen and eternal.
Well, it just so happens that Christ’s return was spiritual. It was not
seen physically and the bulk of the Christians of that time were
looking for something physical. After all, in spite of the fact that
Christ said, "My kingdom is not of this earth" [Jn. 18:36], they
had not been able to get away from the teachings of the Jews victory and
domination over the world around them. No way were they going to settle
for anything less. Even many of the Christians of that day believed in a
physical return. Remember, they were all devout Jews to begin with and
taught by the priests in the Temple, who, contrary to the scripture in
the "old testament," believed the Messiah would take the helm of the
Jewish state and subdue all Nations under them. Oh! How difficult it is
to relinquish the teachings and beliefs of our youth.
It also so happens that in AD 70, the Roman armies annihilated Jerusalem,
the Temple, the genealogies (birth records), put an end to the
sacrifices, killed off most of its inhabitants and scattered the rest;
thus putting an end to the Jewish Age (referred to in the Bible in some
places as the "end of the age," and in others as "the end of the world"),
that was to occur soon. These are all seen things with spiritual
counterparts in the spiritual kingdom of God. The books of the Bible had
all been written prior to this event. Of course, there would be no
mention of the end having happened, because at that time it hadn't
happened, only that it was going to happen. The noted Jewish historian (a
Roman beneficiary) by the name of Josephus, did indeed cover the events
in his The Jewish Wars from 67 to 70 AD in detail, confirming the
prophecies of Jesus and the apostles.
In the meantime, near the beginning of those hostilities, the Christians
fled Jerusalem to Pella as they had been warned to do in Matthew 24 and
Revelation. Even they as a group were locked into a belief that a
physical event would occur that would be obvious to all. This event would
then make the promises regarding the return of Christ, the Judgment, and
the establishment of the New Jerusalem (God’s Kingdom on earth as well as
in heaven) something that would be physically experienced. Dismissed was
the fact that what was happening was indeed obvious to all in that day,
certainly to those who were "spiritually appraised." Since we all lack
perfection, hardly can we pass judgment on the Christians of that day who
seemed not to be altogether "spiritually appraised."
In response to a recent book, written by Balyeat, who talks about two
comings, research has been done showing that four noted historians
pinpointed the middle of the second century as the time when a paradigm
shift in eschatological concepts occurred. This point in time was
described by Aland as decisive and significant for the development of the
church as "all other great turning points, including the Reformation."
Strong words for someone who knows a "decisive turning point" when he
sees one.
To be more specific, in the middle of the second century (AD 150
approx.), doubt existed about the imminence of the Lord’s return. A
writer, called the Shepherd of Hermas, thought he had found a solution
and expressed it with great thoroughness and emphasis –
"The Lord’s return – has been postponed for the sake of Christians
themselves … it is only ‘temporarily’ [parenthesis and
emphasis mine] suspended. Therefore … and this is the warning of
the Shepherd of Hermas … do good works for your purification, for if
you delay too long, … you will not be included…"
That was soon echoed by his contemporaries, Justin Martyr and 2 Clement.
We see glimpses of it reappearing throughout the second, third and fourth
centuries in Athanasius, Eusebius and many others. Unfortunately, it
occurred before the creeds were developed, so this misunderstanding was
incorporated into them.
The thought never seemed to occur to them that their concept of the
nature of fulfillment was a problem, instead of the time of
fulfillment. Rather than shift to a spiritual nature of fulfillment, they
instead tampered with the time statements.
Since the turn of the 20th Century, the futurist concept was
limited and emphasized by small factions of the faith around the world.
It has become a reigning, almost universal, doctrine of the Churches. The
prime impetus for this was, it appears, is The Scofield Reference
Bible with its comments by the nefarious C.I. Scofield. (In 1906,
influenced by certain elites, it was published by the prestigious Oxford
Press in England.)
Scofield made extensive footnotes on the hundreds of verses alluding to
Christ’s future return as well as other topics. At best, most casual
readers of the Bible, without further study, already confused and in need
of help, tend to put their trust in these comments, rather than study and
refute what was said by Scofield about the text. This was reasonable,
especially because the Scofield Bible was promoted by the seminaries and
theologians whom they trusted, but were equally confused. The result was
that a relative minor fringe movement became a dominant doctrine
infecting virtually all denominations in the 20th Century.
In the middle of the second century, people looked at it as only a brief
postponement, clearly expressed by Shepherd of Hermas. When the end of
the world was perceived not to have occurred as predicted, and it was
predicted by men "of the cloth" and others, time after time through the
centuries, and still failed to occur – this is today’s situation –
nothing but the thought of a postponement exists in people’s
consciousness. The elitists have glommed onto this idiosyncrasy of the
modern church, perverting and promoting it, for their own materialistic
ends.
To review and summarize: Did Jesus keep His promise to come in that
generation? Were the apostles correct in saying that Christ would return
soon in their lifetime?
The so called "time passages" noted above have always troubled Bible
students, and are used by liberal theologians to attack the inspiration
of the Scripture. They say these passages were not fulfilled when they
were supposed to be (in that generation), hence Jesus and the "new
testament" writers failed in their predictions and therefore their
writings are not inspired; that the church was given us to hold us till
Christ should return. In other words, God and Christ failed. We can’t be
saved till later when Christ returns. That was over 2000 years ago and
still counting.
The time passages above point to the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD. They
point to Christ’s coming with the fall of Jerusalem, the destruction of
the Temple, and the end of the Jewish sacrifices. Those final events of
the redemptive drama came to pass in the first century just as He said,
so there is no need to try to explain away the seeming non-fulfillment of
these passages. All the things promised are present and abiding benefits,
not pie-in-the-sky- by-and-by. The book of Revelation has been fulfilled
and relates to the existing Kingdom of God.
People have set dates for His return, such as in 1000 AD and many times
before and since. Most Christians have been mistakenly encouraged to give
up any resistance or further understanding. Why fight it? Why not
hasten things along? Christ is going to return and take me home with him
anyway, besides everything is as it should be.
Recent History: In 1948, the so-called "Jews," by means of terror and
violence, stole a portion of modern day Palestine and Jerusalem, and with
the help of deluded Churches world-wide, have spread the rumor that
Christ will return and rule the world from Jerusalem for a literal 1000
years and "all Israel will be saved" [Romans 11:26]. So, you had
better not cross the "Jews" or you are in for trouble. Clearly, the Bible
states in Galatians and elsewhere that the Israel spoken of in the book
of Romans was the spiritual Israel; those who followed God, instead of
the earthly, temporal, Jewish nation and leaders, both then and now.
[Editor’s note: I have had many inquiries as to my age. So, today, 67
years ago I was born, or so I was told. I guess I should know that, since
I was there J . Thank each of you who
wished me a happy birthday. God bless all of you.]
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