Warring Eschatologies

At no time since the 1970s has "The End is Near" theological camp been so energized. Advocates of this viewpoint, especially the particular one that advocates a Pre-Tribulation Rapture (a subcategory of the Premillennial/Futurist viewpoint), have been filling up their conferences in recent months. Podcasts, YouTube videos, and many articles are appearing as they are producing lots of content. And many Christians are being influenced. Their books are flying off the shelves and I'm sure a lot of money is being made! The current Russian/Ukraine conflict has them talking a lot about the Gog Magog War mentioned in the Book of Revelation which prompted the Jerusalem Post to post an article at the beginning of March entitled, "Has Biblical Gog and Magog War Begun?" (Source: https://www.jpost.com/christianworld/article-699085). This particular viewpoint believed that the prophecies of Scripture were to be fulfilled at some point in the future (why it is called Futurist) many of them to be fulfilled right before Christ's Return when there would be a 7-year tribulation. There are other Premillennial views as to the timing of the Rapture of the Church - some view it as happening in the middle or towards/at the end of the so-called 'Great Tribulation'. 

There are other eschatologies or End Time viewpoints that Christians hold to.

Another one is a Preterist viewpoint, especially a Partial-Preterist one, which has become quite popular in recent years. It has become popular in Reformed camps as well as in certain Charismatic circles. The Preterist viewpoint believes that most of the prophecies mentioned in the Bible were fulfilled in or around AD70 when the Temple was destroyed. One Partial-Preterist book that has been influencing Charismatics is called Victorious Eschatology by Harold Eberle. A lot of Preterists are Amillennialists, meaning they don't believe in a literal millennial reign of Christ. 

A final Eschatology is known as the Historicist one which believes that the prophecies of Scripture are fulfilled historically throughout Church History. This was the viewpoint taken by the Protestant Reformers such as Martin Luther and John Calvin. I don't know 

I would say there is another perspective that is tempting many Christians and that is one of apathy and disinterest. They just want to get on with life and not think about the "times and the seasons" in which we are living. They will argue that Christians have often thought throughout Church History they were living in the hour when Christ would return and since Christians were always wrong before, they are surely wrong this time as well. 

What we can say without a doubt right now is that some of these viewpoints are currently at war with one another. One camp is sure we are about to see the start of the Tribulation leading up to Christ's Return. Another view doesn't believe we are in that hour or anywhere near to it! One group believes God is going to bring great revival while another group believes that it is all doom and gloom. Christians don't neatly fit into the aforementioned camps - but these different theological positions are definitely influencing the way many Christians are thinking and living at this point in history.

The earliest Christians and I mean those that lived immediately after the Apostles had a definite viewpoint. They did NOT believe that all/most of the prophecies were fulfilled in AD70 - in short, they were NOT Preterists or Partial-Preterists. Some of them were personal disciples of the Apostle John - if AD70 was when most of the critical prophecies were fulfilled, surely they would have gotten the memo. But no such interpretation is to be found in their writings. 

They were NOT Amillennialists either. They ALL believed in a literal millennium wherein Christ would rule and reign after His Return. Funny how the later Church fathers (like Eusebius) wrote mockingly of the naivety of the earliest Church fathers for believing in such 'literal' interpretations.

In short, they all believed that Christ's Return would be preceded by a Great Tribulation. That there would be a coming Anti-Christ. That there would be a great falling away. And unlike the "Left Behind" viewpoint I started this blog post with - ALL of the earliest Christians believed that the Church would be living on the Earth during "the perilous times" (2 Tim 3:1) - Yes, you understood me - they did NOT believe in a Pre-Tribulation Rapture of the Church. Don't get me wrong - I would LOVE for the Pre-Trib Rapture to be true. Who wants to go through hard times? Who doesn't want to get 'air-lifted' out of the most difficult season in all of human history? 

So - in light of all of this, whose side do we pick? You already know whose view I believe to be the right one in terms of the overall scenario. The earliest Christians were futurists who were post-Tribulation Premillennialists. I've been in several camps throughout my Christian life - the Pre-Trib Rapture one, the Amillenialist one, and most recently I've aligned my views with the ones held by the disciples of the Apostles and their descendants (i.e. the views of the 2nd Century Church).

And because I am a betting man, I would exhort people to abandon the Pre-Tribulation Rapture view. Why? Because it doesn't lead people to live their lives prepared to go through troubles! If you think you get lifted off Earth before the problems occur, you won't prepare for battle. You won't be ready to endure. And that is going to be the most tragic consequence of a theological view that originated in the 19th century. 

I would also encourage people to abandon a view that is all doom and gloom with no glory, no harvest. I know that when the perilous times come there will be plenty of evil, but why can't that also be the Church's finest hour? Why can't that be the time when many of the Old Testament prophecies and many of the New Testament ones (i.e. "the greater works) are fulfilled? It doesn't take any faith at all to believe that those things are all going to happen AFTER Christ Returns. It takes faith to believe that God is going to move NOW, that God is going to vindicate His purposes NOW, and that God is going to anoint His Body with power and glory to bring in a great harvest NOW!

Are we close to the end? I don't know. When I read what the Bible describes as "the perilous times", I don't see anything like what the New Testament describes. I mean Covid had a 99.73% survival rate overall and Revelation talks about plagues wherein 1/3rd of the planet will die (Rev. 9:18). We can be dramatic and as bad as our current problems have been, the Bible describes times that are far worse. 

But I believe we should live AS IF we are about to enter that hour. I think we should also believe that God wants to pour out His Spirit upon the Earth. We aren't going to be rebuked when Christ Returns for being prepared and for exercising faith! And if we get rebuked for trusting God for such things, what a rebuke to receive! To be rebuked for having 'too much faith'! Of course, that will never be happening. Jesus is looking for faith and He will reward it when He finds it!

Will the Son of Man find faith on the Earth when He Returns? (Luke 18:8) Will He find us READY living in endurance? Prepared to go through whatever we have to go through before His Return?

If you are a betting man/woman, as I am, then I would exhort you to consider what I've just cast as a vision for how we can be living, how we should be living in this hour! Regardless of what hour it happens to be. 

For such a time as this...