"For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.
"Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come." Mat 24:7-14 (ESV)
In light of the above passage, many people have reacted to the recent earthquakes in Haiti and now Chile with a sense of anxiety, excitement, or a mix of the two. For example, the following comments turned up through a quick Google search on "Chile earthquake end times":
"I don't know what to say or what to think. I mean this is absolutely insane. Chili marks the 3rd earthquake to occur this year alone! There was Haiti first (my father's relatives died in this quake), there was China, and now there is Chili. And some aftershocks and tsunami's are under way to hit Asian countries as well. I just don't know anymore. I've been looking at the state of the world and the things that have been happening and the way people have been acting and I am just in total shock. In the back of my mind I am thinking, ok, let's not jump to fanatics and say the world is ending. I mean come on. But honestly, I have no idea anymore. Things I didn't think could happen are happening. Random things like The Hollywood Industry with their illuminati crap and Haitians (my own people) asking help from the devil AGAIN, and people becoming hyper-sexual than ever before, human branding, etc etc. I'm just at a loss of where and how everything went haywire in the world in a little over 10 years."
Source: http://www.city-data.com/forum/christianity/907422-chili-earthquake-if-there-ever-sign.html#ixzz0gsNDq4qC
Some are attempting to predict where the next one will hit:
"People I have been saying all along in all my journals that we are living in the last days. & the bible tells us that b4 Jesus returns that earthquakes would increase in the last days!!
Someone quoted in my last journal I shouldn't put the fear of God in people! Lord knows I'm not but when the media & people of the world can't understand what's going on & asking questions like why is this happening!! They need 2 know the truth! These are the end times & Jesus is trying 2 get our attention!!! California wake up we are next! Did u hear me we are next! Accept Christ 2 day be it's too late!!!"
Source: http://www.medhelp.org/user_journals/show/165855
So how should we respond to these events? Pat Robertson, understandably, has yet to offer an explanation for why this most recent earthquake struck...hopefully he learned from the backlash among Christians after his musing aloud as to the cause of the Haitian quake. However, as the comments above show, many are more than ready to equate the Chilean earthquake with the signs of the End mentioned by Jesus in Matthew 24.
But was Jesus referring to earthquakes that occur in highly active tectonic regions around the world 2,000 years (and counting) after His crucifixion?
Possibly.
However...
It's important to realize that whatever implications Jesus' words may have for our current world situation, MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE, they must be read in light of the situation into which He first spoke them. And when we look at this passage of Scripture in detail, as well as the events which transpired during the period of time Jesus spoke of specifically (that is, His then-current generation), we see that His account was an apocalyptic prophecy regarding the fall of Jerusalem, the destruction of its Temple and the accompanying horrors which would ensue as a result.
[For an in-depth look at this see the 3-part series I wrote on it last year. Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3]
Of course, Hebrew prophecy frequently entails what recapitulation and typology--whereby events accompanying a cataclysmic event in their own day foreshadow the final events seen to happen at the very end of history which will signify the eschatological 'Day of the LORD' (Hebrew: Yom YHWH). Thus, Jerusalem's destruction, according to an apocalyptic view of history, foreshadows and in some way resembles the final judgment of earthly kingdoms by the Sovereign ruler of the cosmos.
So in theory, the recent earthquakes in Haiti, Chile and elsewhere around the world might be precursors to the Day of the LORD, when Jesus returns "to judge the quick and the dead" (as the Apostles' Creed puts it).
However...
The 'signs' given by Jesus in Matthew 24 (and the parallel accounts in Mark and Luke) ALL happened between 30 and 70 AD...and have ALL continued to happen in the two millennia since then. In fact, EVERY major earthquake has been seen as a 'sign' of the End...and thus far, EVERY such prediction has been 100% wrong.
This should give Christians, such as the authors of the above comments online, pause before declaring this current generation the final one. Contrary to so-called 'prophecy experts', the descriptions in Scripture of the Day of the LORD are broad enough to refer to any period in history...thus the continual appeal by the authors of Scripture (and Jesus Himself!) for God's people to remain ready!
Every natural disaster can be seen as an indicator of the need for people to turn to God...as can every act of love and kindness. In other words, repentance is never out-of-season! Rather than trying to speculate as to the chronology of God's Kingdom in relation to historical events (and even worse, attribute specific tragedies to God's intentional judgment!), Scripture calls believers to remain in a state of continual readiness for God's Kingdom to be fully realized, and in the meantime, to work toward expressing His Kingdom in this fallen and hurting world. This is what Jesus meant when He told His followers to pray "Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven."
Anything beyond this is speculation. Speculation isn't necessarily a bad thing...but total confidence in one's own subjective interpretation of selective historical events most certainly is!
Contrary to the commenters cited above, society is not any worse than it's always been...particularly when it comes to issues of sexuality! In fact, for every societal evil one can point to, one can find a counterpart among positive advancements made by society.
[For more on this, see my article "Are things getting worse and worse?"]
Is the End near? Every generation since Jesus' has maintained the possibility of His imminent return and the Day of God's judgment. But everyone in every generation who has maintained the certainty of these events has been wrong...without exception.
Rather than adding to the fail rate, the Biblically-literate follower of Jesus would do well to focus on the day-to-day life of discipleship and the spreading of the Gospel to "every tribe, tongue, people and nation" through self-sacrificial love and servanthood.
This isn't nearly as 'sexy' as doomsday predictions and End-Times scenarios concocted by various 'prophecy experts', televangelists and folk-theologian authors...
...but taking up one's cross daily and following Jesus rarely is.
Comments
James-Michael: I agree. Regardless of when the end comes, there are going to be a lot of surprised unsuspecting people on their faces, prostrate before God, at the Great White Throne Judgment.
It is our job to point as many of them to Jesus as we can before then, by loving God and loving our neighbors as ourselves.
Earthquake science has come a long way since the Bible was compiled. No longer do we just say "it is God's Will." These days we can say earthquakes are explainable as the result of plate tectonics, vulcanism, etc., although the more faith-based among us will add "informed by God's Will." To those folks, I recommend "Occam's Razor."
:)
Hugh, this is why you should've paid more attention to your Rabbis. ;) Any student of Torah could tell you that the Hebrew Bible has always acknowledged the role of "natural" processes as means by which God often exhibits His "supernatural" sovereignty. The New Testament, being a collection of Jewish documents as well, shares this view of God and His interaction with the world. This is why religion and science have always been compatible and mutually constructive to many.
In fact, society is better than ever, except in those countries
who don't water down their "holy" books.
yo
Fortunately or, depending on your point of view, unfortunately, my parents didn't send me to Hebrew school until I was nearly 12 and already at the age of reason. Perhaps that's why the indoctrination failed to take, JMS. What's that creepy motto the Jesuits have?
"Give me a child until he is seven and I will give you the man,"
or robot...
I read this in your article "Contrary to the commenters cited above, society is not any worse than it's always been...particularly when it comes to issues of sexuality! In fact, for every societal evil one can point to, one can find a counterpart among positive advancements made by society." I have problem believing this. You seem to say if a society has an evil then it has a corresponding good that off sets it negativity (Generally, tic-for-tac, therefore equal). If this was so Germany’s advancements in science departments counteracted atrocities done in gas chambers making it exactly as immoral as its neighbors.
Judgment seems to be predicated on exactly the opposite way of looking at things. Including, I believe, God’s judgment. Yes we are all sinners, but it seems some societies have warranted harsher judgments than others. I can’t see any reason why, as a part of this judgment, that one society might not have more sexual sin than another.
Painted, I believe James' point was that you cannot make a judgment on the specificity of the End Times based on the moral character of one nation, or humanity in general, in the regard to sexuality. Read up on the medieval kings of France and you will see what I mean. Paul the apostle said to the Corinthian church that someone in their church was practicing a form of sexuality ("a man has his father's wife) that even the unsaved Gentiles did not practice or name in any kind of honor. But he did not point to that practice as as sign of the End Times. He pointed out the sinfulness of it, the pride of the church in not mourning over such sin, and the dangers of such attitudes about sin ("your glorying is not good. do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?"). He also judged the man for it. Genesis 3:15 ought to inform you that the End Times have been happening since the beginning. The matter is closed-ended. Jesus said so on the cross: It is finished.
James, I read your bit on how to study the book of Revelation. I also read your links on the Rapture, and found your arguments persuasive. But that's no matter. Revelation is my intent to focus on, and I wanted to ask this question. If Revelation is to be read as apocalyptic literature, and not literally in a 1:1 correspondence fashion, then what can we take from it besides "Keep the faith. Christ is coming"? God forgive me if I am judging His work, but to borrow a phrase, "it seems an awful waste of space" for just that. And there seems to be far too many details for it to be just a note of encouragement. So what can we clearly take from Revelation and other biblical texts on the so-called End Times? You hinted that the "signs" as some people call them are general enough to have applied to almost any time in history, yet Christ has not returned still. So then is there anything particular we can take from Revelation that has not been said before in other books of the Bible?
I agree that his point is: you cannot make a judgment on the specificity of the End Times based on moral character (he also seems to include on the basis of natural disasters). But why should we think we cannot make such judgments? From the article I believe he has two reasons. One, abuses. Two, equality of experience (every generation is equally immoral). I agree there are abuses, but disagree that all experience is equal. Though it would be incredible hard to determine which generation is most immoral, it is not necessarily impossible. Nor does God leave us only with the extremely difficult, there are other markers: earthquakes, wars, famines, which are far more quantifiable. If I take JM’s argument to be true have not signs lost their ability to clue is in to anything? That is, would it not have been equally as valuable in JM’s case for God to have said “in the end people will love?” If the signs were worthless why did God use them opposed to saying ‘there will be an end”?
Painted, I am glad we agree on that first point. I don't think you can argue that one generation is more or less immoral than the next. How do you measure the collective morality of a generation? Who do you count in that? What kind of behavior gets what kind of rating? The process is fraught with questions like that, and the answers subjective at best, particularly since the living are judging the dead who get no say in it. Earthquakes, wars, and famines fall into the same trap as the supposed hypothesis of increasing tornadoes. We just have better reporting these days. Our population is also greater now than at any time in history; however, an argument based on that alone is hardly credible. We don't need "signs" to tell us when the End Times are. God made it quite clear in the cross and the resurrection. Just because He does not operate on scales within human comprehension does not make that less true. The point was never that we should know when the End is, but who He is.
My old painted roomie,
What I was intending to communicate is the fact that our current society has never had a so-called "good ol' days", nor is it any worse now that it ever has been. For instance, sure violence and sex in the media are rampant...but my black friends don't have to use separate drinking fountains or have their families sold to work in the cotton fields. That's just one example, but it argues my point that on a large scale, both good and evil will rise and spread throughout the world, as the Kingdom of God spreads, and evil opposes it. I believe this fits well with Jesus' description of the field of wheat and weeds (though I admit that this isn't the thrust of that parable specifically).
As for "signs"...I would say that the signs that could be determined and recognized beforehand, which Jesus told His first followers about in 33 AD all happened, and were recognized as having happened by them, within that generation as the Temple was destroyed in 70 AD. The events surrounding that cataclysmic judgment serve as a type and point toward the final judgment, just as OT prophecies of the fall of Babylon, for instance, served as a type (Jesus even using them to point toward Jerusalem's destruction) and foreshadow the final judgment as well. I believe Scripture talks about the final judgment, but does not provide any specific signs that can be pinpointed by the final generation before Christ's return; rather, it could occur at any moment, so we must be ready.
Bobby Lane, I believe Revelation's overall message is that simple, but as apocalypse, it reveals what's going on "behind the curtain", particularly regarding the nature of evil and how it can seduce God's people.
8.8 is extremely strong I wonder the european fault ( Mediterranean fault) of the earth have been in silence for over 100 years there are lot of countries that have built without regulations, very old buildings, Japan and Chile, san francisco, san Diego, are prepare for even 10 Richter scale but us we are very vulnerable with millions of people dying even with a 6.5 of 2 minutes. God Reign!!! Bless be his name
I am a Chilean, this country has around 30% evangelicals, every chilean almost has 3 major earthquake in their life time, but I am not surprise why they are so many Christians our position in in the belt of fire, makes us most of us humble and to have fear of God, but now we are globalized and God is the judge of nations, you Americans you are seeing with you very eyes what happened in haiti and chile and you will have to give account to God about your wealth, to live in the Kingdom of God is not about materials things, because Christ came with nothing and left so before give an opinion put your hand in your pockets help Haiti help Chile , support latin Missionaries would love to give their lives in the muslim world , hypocrites with a very academic theology shame on you!!! Love from Chile
Tectonic plate movement is relentless, as long as the earth has a molten core that is, they will move and create earthquakes, nothing more than a normal cycle. There is nothing special about the time we are living in with respect to geologic time. I am continually amazed as to the sheer ignorance of the general public.
What I find troubling about this whole conversation is that it’s taking place without a simple scientific fact. The Universe has been in the process of evolution for fourteen billion years, our own Earth is 4.5 billion years old. We as a species are only about 500,000 years old, depending on how you date them. Earth has been hit by comets, meteorites and planets, and it still continues its yearly rotation around the sun. The bottom line, as the Universe continues to expand outward away from the Big Bang, the Earth will remain. The real question is: “Will we as a species still be riding this ball of molten rock or will we have gone the way of the dinosaur?” The problem with Bible prophecy is it doesn’t account for those facts.
Ben,
I think you may be expecting something from Bible prophecy that it never intended to speak to. It's understandable, as many people have skewed notions of what "prophecy" is supposed to consist of. However, Biblical prophecy was always meant to speak the truth that God wanted people to know in order to better live out their relationship with Him. To see a lack of detail regarding astrophysics as a 'problem' with Biblical prophecy is to place an improper expectation on the genre.
The end times prophecies actually stated in motion, when Isreal became a nation, about 60 years ago (only a generation to go till the end of the age of grace)
Re-read Matt:Ch 24.....we are missing only one last sign.......world wide persecution of christians.
We are guarded in the U.S. that such persecution will probably not get too physically dangerous,
but already our Satanic controled CBS, CNN, NBC, and ABC are deciding that right wing christian groups are all lunatics,
and need to be CIA or FBI investigated.
Whether this current administration knows it or not ( I doubt they belive in end times prophechies)..
...they are certainly tools of Satan and part of Gods end times like it or not...
.. a case of the wrong place at the wrong time I suspect
JimiB,
Where do you get the idea that a generation is 60 years? For decades Dispensationalists said it was 40 years (thus all the hype around 1988 and 2007 as being the end of the age based on Israel's founding and the Six Day War respectively). Also, where do you get the idea that what Jesus was referring to in the Olivet Discourse was talking about generations after His first disciples' generation? All the signs He gave there were signs pointing toward the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple.
I'm afraid your assertions about anti-Right-wing media bias are completely culturally-bound and are not found in Scripture. Hal Lindsay and others have made a fortune off of this approach to God & Politics & Prophecy...but again, in such scenarios it is the Bible itself that gets 'left behind' unfortunately.
James your post is simply confusing. You state what Jesus said on the bible and then follow it up with comment about everyone in every generation have been wrong.
Has there ever been another time where more earthquakes occured? Famines, murders of mother against child, child against parent? Before you post something like this, you need to get on your knees and ask God for further insight.
Gloria,
Has there ever been a time where these things took place, you ask? Yes. Yes there has. The time of the first century, when Jesus spoke about these things. Please read this article:
www.examiner.com/examiner/x-8276-Methodist-Examiner~y2009m8d14-Jesus-prediction-of-the-Temples-destructionfrom-an-eyewitness-account-Part-3
I will continue to seek the Lord in prayer, thank you for encouraging me to do so. I ask you do the same, as well as seek to understand what the passages are teaching in their original context. In this way we remain faithful to the God who Inspired them without falling victim to sensational teachings and the imaginations of creative teachers.
James in response to your message, clearly the bible gives us what to look for as sign in Jesus's return. Example: Mat 24:7-14
There are further passages in Revelations that indicate to us Christians that Jesus is right at the door. If you have a closeness to God, then you can have a clear understand of what his message was.
Gloria, did you even read the article I posted? Be honest. :) Matt.24 is not about the End of the World. Read the passage. Jesus' Disciples are asking Him about the destruction of the Temple and His coming into power as King, not about His "2nd Coming". Please prayerfully reread the link I posted above in my response.
Also, there is no book of "Revelations". ;)
1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 This explains the rapture to us clearly: For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. In Matthew 24:3 the disciples are asking him about the end for the world. And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? Notice the disciples said world. Not temple. Jesus then listed what are the beginning of sorrows. And he continues to clearly state what is the end.
But I am sure you'll find you believe it's something else. So at this point James, all I can say is God Bless you and I hope he can open your mind and heart as well as mine.
Gloria, I too pray that God guides us both into His truth.
"Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."
Yes, we will meet Him when He returns as victorious King, bringing with Him the Final Judgment and Resurrection of the Body. We will be with Him forever in the New Creation. But no "pre-trib rapture" is mentioned at all.
"the disciples are asking him about the end for the world. Notice the disciples said world. Not temple"
Actually, they DON'T use the word "world" (kosmos). They ask when will the predicted destruction of the Temple take place (which Jesus just spoke about) and what would be the signs of the end of their "age" (aionos). In other words, when would the new "age", the Messianic age, begin and how would they know for sure. They would know for sure because God would utterly judge the Temple and the city that rejected His Messiah once and for all.
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