Introduction

Throughout my life as a Christian, I have seen multiple predictions of the end times. One or more people have given dates based on all manner of calculations and numerology. Aside from this, I have been asked at various times when critical world events occur like the pandemic, invasions of one country into another, extreme weather, or geological events whether these are all signs of the end of times. Oft quoted Matthew 24:6 (Mark 13:7), “And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars.” But Jesus had described these as the beginning of “birth pangs.” Context is always important when interpreting a passage. While I am not going to delve deeply into the passages in Matthew and Mark here, we should understand a few points. First, Jesus is responding to a question from the disciples about the destruction of the temple. In their minds, this represents a cataclysmic event synonymous with the end of the age in Jewish thinking of the time. Jesus responds to the question not with an answer as to the timing, but with information that he finds more important. Just read the Gospels to see how normal this is when Jesus is asked questions. Jesus indicates that there will be suffering throughout the period, and we should expect that until his real return. Further, he is indicating that other false messiahs may come offering some alleviation from the suffering, but their accomplishments, no matter how effective they may seem, will pale in comparison to the complete renewal of creation (Rev 21). Thus, suffering is the current way of the world, not a sign of the coming of Jesus. Ultimately, when Jesus speaks about the end of the age, he is ignoring our modern question of “when?” and answering the question that we should be concerned with. Here, we will look at those.

Sidebar on Numerology

Numerology is used within the Bible in several ways. There are numbers that have specific theological meanings — such as 3,7, and 12 — or have metaphorical meanings. There are numbers that are used in the wider culture. For example, one thousand is intended to depict a large number but not an exact count. Further, multiples of numbers combine concepts. For example, 12 x 12 = 144, representing a completed state with emphasis. 12 x 12 x 1000 may represent a large number in a completed state without explicitly indicating a count. Another example might be 1 Kings 6:1. Solomon built the temple 4×120 = 480 years after the exodus, which would be four generations based on the suggested human lifespan (Gen 6:3). Lastly, there is a transposition of letters to numbers, which was done in Greek and Hebrew languages, but not always in consistent ways. Often presented is the 666 (or 667) which appears in Revelation to signify the antichrist. There are multiple methods used in such transpositions making final determinations challenging. Finally, there are the occurrences of terms, this is common in Revelation with different terms being used four, seven, or twelve times to emphasize their importance (Rob Dalrymple, Following the Lamb: A Guide to Reading, Understanding, and Applying the Book of Revelation,1997 in Chapter 5 presents a nice summary of John’s use recurrent phrases). The problem is that modern culture can have a challenging time understanding how these numerological methods are understood by the original ancient authors. Thus, proposed prophecies or predictions should be viewed with a good deal of criticality when they rely largely on numerological methods.

What Jesus Says about the End Times

Jesus does comment on the end times, the final consummation of God’s kingdom, the time of judgment, and his final coming. Of course, he does this on his terms and according to what he believes is best for us as opposed to answering our questions about “when?”. Let’s look at a few in the Gospels.

Matthew 24:36 — Here Jesus is very direct in saying that no one, not even the Son, knows the day and hour. Only the Father knows. Since only the Father knows, there is no message that we would expect Jesus, the Son, to have conveyed that indicates the time. Thus, mining the Gospels and Jesus’ sayings would not yield a date. Further, given the passage in Matthew and Mark, which we briefly looked at earlier, anyone claiming to know this information might be a false prophet at best and an antichrist at worst.

Matthew 24:42–44 (Luke 12:35–40) — Jesus speaks about a thief coming to a house. If the owner of the house knew the date and time the thief was coming, he would have been prepared. First, the idea here is that the thief certainly would not announce to the owner when he was coming. But why would Jesus equate himself with a thief in this manner? What he is saying is built upon the previous passage Matt 24:36. Since he doesn’t know when you should always be preparing yourself for his coming as it will be like that of a thief who does not announce himself. If you are always prepared, the thief will not surprise you. Let’s be real, as humans if we knew the date and time we would slack off until the day or even the hour before. The nature of the human procrastinator.

Matthew 20:1–16 — This one perhaps modifies the previous one above. This is the parable of the workers in the field. Jesus speaks of himself as the field’s owner going out to get workers to tend his vineyard for the day. He hires some in the morning, afternoon, and even the evening as the day is closing. The first workers who toiled all day are upset that the people hired near the end of the day get the same pay. The point is the owner is allowed to do with his resources as he pleases, welcoming those who come early as well as those who come late. One of the ideas here as it pertains to the end times is that all are accepted up to the last moment. This is not to say, “it is never too late,” because for the laborers the sun eventually goes down. You must be ready to work when given the opportunity.

Acts 1:6–8 — This is the ascension of Jesus. Just before he goes the disciples ask the same question we have “When?” Even in his resurrected state, Jesus has the same response, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority” (Acts 1:7). Come on, Jesus how about a hint? Nothin’ doin’. Instead, he focuses the disciples’ attention, and ours, on what we should be doing in the meantime, drinking in the Holy Spirit and witnessing to the world.

At every turn Jesus has told us what is going to be happening while we wait. He has told us to be prepared. He told us how to prepare. What hasn’t he told us, when, and has gone as far as to say that he won’t be telling us and why he won’t tell his procrastinating humans. So, why would we think his disciples, Paul, Peter, or John, know any more than him?

What the Disciplines Say about the End Times

We have pointed out that Jesus refused to provide the date and times, or really any significant clues to his return. But do the apostles say something different…nope.

Romans 16:20 — This is Paul’s consistent stock answer to when Jesus is coming back, “soon.”

Romans 13:11–14 — Paul teases us a bit here saying, “Besides this, you know the time…” (13:11). “We do?” Of course, it is “nearer to us now than when we first believed” (13:11b). Oh yeah, its “sooner than we think.” Same answer different phrase. We can see that Paul is consistent with Christ in the metaphor about the thief sneaking into the house, we do not know so we should be preparing now.

But what about Thessalonians, there must be end-times clues there. Yes, but you are going to be disappointed again.

1 Thessalonians 5:1–10 — Paul is directly addressing the questions of the end times assumed to have been asked by the people of Thessalonica. However, we get the same answer again as Jesus provided. “For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night” (Thess 5:2). Further, he refers to the birthing pains analogy, 5:3. The rest of the chapter is much like Jesus’ speech, be prepared.

2 Thessalonians 2:1–11 — Here Paul talks about the rebellion and the lawless one. But, reading carefully, we see that there is no indication of time. We are not expected to know the lawless one except that he is released at the coming of Christ for his ultimate destruction. The understanding is that the event coincides very closely with the coming. Here also, the sense that the lawless one is already at work indicates he is restrained but not completely absent from the world. Further, 2:8 indicates he will be revealed when Christ returns to ultimately kill the lawless one. Being revealed means that we will not recognize the lawless one until Christ does the revealing. Therefore, this is not an indication or sign of the coming but a description of what happens once Christ returns.

Okay, so Paul is no help. What about Peter, he always seemed to speak out of turn in the Gospels.

2 Peter 3:8–13 — in 2 Peter the apostle talks a lot about preparation and behavior of Christians in anticipation of Christ’s return. However, he provides us with the same answer as Jesus, “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed” (2 Pe 3:10). One additional interesting observation by Peter, however, appears in 2:12, where he indicates “what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God.” This is the only place in Scripture where the idea is that our own efforts and behavior might affect the return of Christ. The implication is that God has set a task before us, and he may just be waiting for us to finish what he asked us to do. Spreading the word may certainly be on the list, although we should be careful to understand it is the task of the Holy Spirit to convert people’s hearts. Forcing the conversion isn’t even what Christ did — he didn’t offer salvation to the thieves on the cross to his right and left until one of them asked for it. Perhaps, we should think about that a little more.

What About Revelation

Okay, now there is the book of Revelation. This one everyone is waiting to see how you avoid the date time prediction here. You would think that I would have to write a whole article just on that, but Revelation is essentially an enactment of everything Jesus already said up to this point. The first three chapters echo Jesus in that they all speak of preparation for the coming, which is “soon”. There is no indication of the events or clues that are coming. The rest of Revelation, not to gloss over this wonderful book of imagery, is based on what happens in the coming. There is an indication of human suffering which we have heard before. There is the witnessing of the church (Rev 11), which we had been told several times was our lifelong objective. There are recounting of historical events (Rev 12), which is the original birth of Christ (Aune, David E. Revelation 6–16. Vol. 52B of Word Biblical Commentary. Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1998 is a good source for this). There are various warnings of antichrists, which Jesus and his disciples have warned us would appear throughout time. A clue to the understanding of Revelation is to recall that the book started with letters to the churches describing how to be prepared. The rest appears to be what they are preparing for or the consequences of not preparing. As far as predictions go, Revelation reminds us of much that Jesus had already said, albeit in much more graphical terms. But what does it tell us about the end times that is new? First, when it comes there will be no guesswork. Revelation 19:11–16 makes this very clear, there will be no mistaking the real Christ and the real event. Second, Revelation is about Christ, not the Antichrist. Many readers and popular articles focus on the beast, Babylon, and the antichrist are characters who are not even suitable villains as they are destroyed by God’s simple spoken word. Lastly, the completion of God’s work (Rev 21–22), which started back in Genesis 1–3. To sum it up: