Musing over the future is a favourite pass time for escapists who are either discontent with the present times or are trying to figure out how to make their names appear in a used history book on 21st century Western culture some 250 years from now. These enduring dreamers take great pleasure and pains to consider what the world will look like one day. This takes on a serious consideration of what new technologies will exist, what discoveries will be made about the universe and if we, as humanity, will finally set up our ideal utopia on Mars. Other futurists, on the other hand, simply enjoy keeping things a little closer to home by pondering what the future has in store for them personally especially as they attempt to dream up their ideal hereafter. We have all dreamed of our own idyllic tomorrow trying to imagine what our best life could look like. Those bright expectants can’t wait for the future to unfold since they are persuaded better times are on the way. On the other hand, for the hopeless pessimist type, they can’t help but loath what may come as they stay up late at night disquieted letting their cynical imaginations get the best of them. Based upon these reveries, some who are more endeavouring launch a mission to fulfill this perfect semi-futuristic life. How this takes shape depends on the exertion of their pursuit especially in light of what the end goal looks like. As an example, you may have a more vocationally oriented career junky who might set off on a path that begins with a job in an office with a plan on becoming its CEO. Or perhaps a lawyer may strive to become a judge, a cadet becoming a general or a corrupt politician who fantasizes of becoming their respective nation’s President or Prime Minister. But these timely pursuits are not necessarily always to fulfill an egotistical objective. Some may have a simple desire for a coming time that includes a spouse and family. Take for example, a couple who have fallen in love and decided to become serious about their relationship. They envision a future together and the path that relationship takes will be founded upon whether they can perceive that outcome. The progression of their relationship is closely linked to a dream of a future marriage, purchasing a house and having children. In other words, unless they can ponder a future as a couple, there can be no advance in these other objectives. This is a significant point in that in each of these examples, the vision of the future will create the path and the drive to get there. In other words, the outlook determines the route and the motivation. We need to envision the future and create a path to get there. But the enthusiasm factor is just as significant. If we are setting off to go to war and we know that regardless of our efforts or planning that we will lose the battle, then our inspiration to enter into combat will be seriously lacking. But if we foresee a guaranteed victory then suddenly our impetus is on steroids, and we eagerly get into the fight.
Now let’s take this and apply it to the life of an average believer in Jesus Christ. While many Christians pursue success in their jobs and raising a healthy family, their reflection on the future often takes on an additional element. There is a wider scope in their expectation of the future in terms of thinking about the impending end of this world and thereafter. What drives this expectation is ultimately their biblical worldview. What can we, as Christians, expect in relations to the future of this world? What will the world look like at the end of human history? Based on this viewpoint, how do we get there? The opinions on this end-time visionary are varied and in return, what we should be doing in history as Christians has its fair share of variations. For the most part, believers are largely in agreement that there is a time in history when Jesus Christ will return a second time to the earth, physically and visibly, to resurrect the dead, and usher in a New Heavens & New Earth. This second coming of Jesus the Messiah will include bringing salvation and judgment. This means that we should be prepared for His return at any time since we are agreed that we don’t know the day or the hour that will see His coming again! There is a hope for the future based upon these realities. Where the segregation in thinking begins is when we consider the events that will lead to this 2nd coming, what will the world look like just prior to this Parousia and what will follow Jesus’ return.
Two Prime Sights
The prominent consensus of Christian end-times thinking, especially in the Western World, is largely that of a spiralling moral downfall and an eventual near total societal collapse and corruption. Nations and their institutions will grow morally worse and the churches existing in those days will experience near total degradation and theological inept in semblance to the United Churches or Unitarian Universalists of our day. The remaining faithful will undergo an extraordinary persecution. The outcome of this futuristic perspective is that there is very little to look forward to in this age and we just need to get through this time to usher in a better age at the coming of Jesus. Prior to that Parousia of Jesus, the world will see a devastating time called the Great Tribulation, the most terrible time in human history. The great bride of Christ, the church, will need to be rescued from this tribulation by being removed just prior to the beginning of this chaos in what is called the rapture of the church. In other words, according to this view, there is little hope for this world until the return of Jesus after a 7-year tribulation to usher in His millennial kingdom.
The idea that we are going to present in this series is significantly different than the popular unanimity. Rather than the end of history experiencing a decrescendo, we will argue that it will undergo a sort of revivalistic crescendo. There is hope for this world and the future with that optimism being found in the gospel and the church. There will be a grand increase of the church’s numbers and influence and instead of the world being populated largely by unbelievers, idolaters and corrupt churches, we will argue that, at the end of history, and just prior to the coming of Jesus, the world will be largely filled with Christians and thriving churches. The degree of this expansion of the gospel will affect all nations to the extent that the vast majority will all adhere to the worship of Yahweh and proclaim Jesus as their Lord. The Great Commission left to us by Jesus just prior to His ascension will have full success and the promises of a near global pursuit of God’s salvation and His righteousness will be fulfilled in history prior to the return of Jesus Christ, not afterwards. We will argue that this vision of the future is not only the appropriate biblical option, but it is what best drives our Christian life today so that we can fulfill the mandate that was left to us with confidence. It accords a recognition that all we do in history has a purpose and we participate in the outcome of God’s purpose for the history of this world.
End-Time Mix-up
One might read the previous two views and wonder why there are so many deviations in this Christian vision of history. Why is there so much disagreement? How on earth can Christians have such opposing views on the future? To answer this question, we will simply say that it is a matter of accentuation. When examining the biblical vision of the future, we all place emphasis on certain passages and concepts, while placing less on others. We are all guilty to this to some extent. But some are more guilty than others. Some, rather than look at the bigger picture, attempt to break up the biblical witness into small pieces then try to associate them (or isolate them) with one another. In other words, we are consumed with a handful of events that God is going to unleash just prior to that great day of the end, but little importance is given to what God is doing right now and how it impacts that end. In most churches today, there is a spotlight placed upon the imminent coming of Jesus in the form of the rapture. As we just noted, Christians are awaiting a divine rescue mission to be removed from the earth to meet the Lord in the air just prior to the pouring out of tribulation on this world followed by the coming of the antichrist, and the eventual return of Jesus to set up a millennial kingdom. There is especially a strong emphasis upon the fulfillment of Old Testament promises to the nation of Israel for those subscribing to this view of eschatology[1]. A common take that I’ve heard repeatedly in my 25 years as a Christian is how the rapture must be right around the corner, the antichrist is alive in our time, or that if I want to see God moving in fulfilling bible prophecy that I simply need to look at Israel. Along with these three accentuations, there is an obsession with certain signs of the end-times, those of Jewish descent returning to the land of Israel and the building of a 3rd temple on the temple mount and of course, the moral decay of our society in the West. Certainly, this is a significant focus for good reason. The scriptures do speak of a time when believers will meet the Lord in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17) and the Old Testament continuously hints about God’s restorative promises to the nation of Israel.
While we must address this emphasis, we must also consider other focuses that are glaringly apparent in scripture. People are so obsessed with Israel that they miss something much more significant. While the question of God’s promises to Israel is often given a worthy examination of the texts of the Old and New Testaments, what receives far less attention are the promises to the nations and how they are fulfilled. What does the bible have to say about the non-Jewish nations and their role in history? Has God made promises to the nations? If so, what do these pledges entail? Has He already fulfilled all His promises to the Nations or is there something more, something grander in store for them in the future? How do these promises to the nations relate to Israel? In this study, we will explore these questions and just how the promises and future of the nations impacts the overall picture of the end of history and how they relate to the 2nd coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Secondary Issues
Prior to continuing, I’d like to pause for a moment to recognize that, while we are responsible to attempt to understand what the biblical writers communicated about events leading to the end of history, they are not as clear as we’d like them to be. We are often dealing with complex portions of the bible saturated in symbolism, an ancient culture and language that is not necessarily easy to comprehend. This is why it is important to note that even though eschatology is important, it shouldn’t lead to factions within a church. There shouldn’t be hostility or anathemas tossed around like the Popes of old just because we differ about the vision of the end of history and beyond. There is a general agreement about the physical 2nd coming of Christ to gather his people and judge His enemies as well as the ushering in of eternity in this world through the renewal of all things in Christ. This should be our focus, and we should relish in those things that unite us rather than divide.
An Interpretive Grid
Attempting to understand the end-times is trying simply because of all the various explanations and timelines offered by interpreters. While there are entire volumes of books written on the topic of hermeneutics, the science of bible interpretation, we won’t delve too deeply into it here. Suffice it to say that there are generally two categories or approaches; those who render all prophecies literally and those who tend to spiritualize. The fascinating thing to note is that all interpreters claim to utilize the literal, historical, grammatical approach but some claim to do so more consistently than others. There are those however who take it to the extreme where they attempt to use language meant to be interpreted in a symbolic way with wooden literalness while others swing the pendulum all the way to the other side by over-spiritualizing the scriptures where the original words lose their meaning especially if they were a 1st century Jewish Christian living in Palestine. The challenge to interpret the scriptures on this topic is lessened when we apply the same standard that we apply to the identity of the Messiah. So, when we want to establish that Jesus was the promised Messiah, we examined Old Testament passages that describe the Messiah and interpret them in light of the New Testament. We look to the promise of His coming and relate it to the fulfillment. The former being a shadow or a type that finds an even greater and clearer fulfillment in the New. We hope to consistently utilize this same standard when approaching the question of the future of the nations. What was divulged to us in the Old Testament about the promises to the nations, and how exactly were they fulfilled or are being fulfilled?
Defining Nations
At the offset, if we are going to write about the future of the nations, it might be a good idea to establish what we mean by “nations”. The term “nations” in scripture generally refers to various tribes, clans or ethnic groups who have a relationship to each other. We read much of the Midianites, Jebusites, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Romans and so forth who are related by their ethnic or religious origins. What we don’t want to miss is that these are in contrast to the nation of Israel and the religion of the Jews. When the bible utilizes terms such as “Gentiles”, “Peoples” or in some instances “world”, it is contrasting these people with those of Jewish descent.
This Study
While the scriptures have much to say regarding the nations, we will limit our examination to a few key items. We will pay special attention to the relationship of the nations with the covenant of Abraham specifically focusing our attention upon its promises of blessing. We will also look at the state of the nations in the Old Testament and at the outset of the New Testament. The study will subsequently examine the statements regarding how these blessings might be distributed to various nations and through whom they may be conveyed. We will at the same time establish how the New Testament envisions the fulfillment of these promises to the nations and what we can expect at the end of history just prior to the 2nd coming of Jesus while keeping these promises and fulfillments in mind. Finally, we will explore the gradual growth of the Kingdom of God from its inception to its consummation.
The format of this study will be to break down the content into small manageable chunks of information. Our desire is to assure that the reader doesn’t get bogged down by an overload of information.
[1] Eschatology = The study of the end
The Moncton Herald 