2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
For as long as I can remember, I have been interested in the end of the world. How will it end? War? Hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes and volcanoes? And when? Jesus said there will be wars and rumors of wars. Well, that's already happened. Kingdom will rise against kingdom? Check. Brother against brother? Check. Could the end be here now? Is it tomorrow?
The first answer is that it doesn't really matter. In Matthew 24 Jesus tells us that nobody knows the day. Not even Him. But that instead of trying to predict when our Messiah will return in His full splendor we really need to just be ready. In a parable Jesus says that if the owner of a house had known when the thief would break in, the owner would have been there to stop it. But we don't know. We don't know when He is coming back so be ready now.
With that being said, it sure is fascinating to read about and think about. For me, the thing I find most interesting is all of the times that people have predicted very precise dates, claiming that they were tipped off by God. Guess what? They are believing a lie. The Father did not even give this information to His only son, He isn't giving it to us either. Instead, He gives us His word that is filled with answers.
Let's look at some examples. How about the Mayans? Around 1800 years ago they created a calendar. It ended on Dec 21, 2012. That's about 20 weeks from now so I guess that Temple should be completed soon? Or Harold Camping? In 1992 he claimed that the world would end on September 6, 1994. Due to a mathematical error, he claimed, the end did not come. But fear not!! Because he had corrected the mistake and provided a new time frame. May 21, 2011 would begin catastrophic events that would conclude with the evaporation of Earth by a giant fireball on October 21, 2011. Funny how after that day, I remember exactly what I was doing on Halloween 2011. The most interesting part is that this retired civil engineer has taken his message across the globe and has been given millions of dollars of donations because of his incorrect predictions.
But unsheathed isn't about the end of the world. It's about identifying lies and finding truth. The Bible is filled with the answers to every question anybody could ever have. Sometimes it's difficult to find. Sometimes its pretty easy. Sometimes it's clouded in prophetic language and parables and other times it's spelled out as clear as day. In our example of end times Jesus speaks of signs and times and His vague language is as clear as mud. But later, in 2 Thessalonians 2, Paul spells it out. Before the end of the world the Antichrist will stand in the Temple of God and declare himself Lord. Have you seen a Jewish Temple in Jerusalem? The second one was destroyed in 70AD. Before the end, a third Temple must be built. After that, then it could be any second.
My point? Ask questions. And find the answers in the Word of the One who does not change. Ever.
The first answer is that it doesn't really matter. In Matthew 24 Jesus tells us that nobody knows the day. Not even Him. But that instead of trying to predict when our Messiah will return in His full splendor we really need to just be ready. In a parable Jesus says that if the owner of a house had known when the thief would break in, the owner would have been there to stop it. But we don't know. We don't know when He is coming back so be ready now.
With that being said, it sure is fascinating to read about and think about. For me, the thing I find most interesting is all of the times that people have predicted very precise dates, claiming that they were tipped off by God. Guess what? They are believing a lie. The Father did not even give this information to His only son, He isn't giving it to us either. Instead, He gives us His word that is filled with answers.
Let's look at some examples. How about the Mayans? Around 1800 years ago they created a calendar. It ended on Dec 21, 2012. That's about 20 weeks from now so I guess that Temple should be completed soon? Or Harold Camping? In 1992 he claimed that the world would end on September 6, 1994. Due to a mathematical error, he claimed, the end did not come. But fear not!! Because he had corrected the mistake and provided a new time frame. May 21, 2011 would begin catastrophic events that would conclude with the evaporation of Earth by a giant fireball on October 21, 2011. Funny how after that day, I remember exactly what I was doing on Halloween 2011. The most interesting part is that this retired civil engineer has taken his message across the globe and has been given millions of dollars of donations because of his incorrect predictions.
But unsheathed isn't about the end of the world. It's about identifying lies and finding truth. The Bible is filled with the answers to every question anybody could ever have. Sometimes it's difficult to find. Sometimes its pretty easy. Sometimes it's clouded in prophetic language and parables and other times it's spelled out as clear as day. In our example of end times Jesus speaks of signs and times and His vague language is as clear as mud. But later, in 2 Thessalonians 2, Paul spells it out. Before the end of the world the Antichrist will stand in the Temple of God and declare himself Lord. Have you seen a Jewish Temple in Jerusalem? The second one was destroyed in 70AD. Before the end, a third Temple must be built. After that, then it could be any second.
My point? Ask questions. And find the answers in the Word of the One who does not change. Ever.