Are We In the End Times?

Why We Speculate

“It’s a sign!”
“We’re definitely in the end times.”
“Jesus will be coming soon.”

Jesus told his disciples that he would return to earth to collect those who have chosen to follow him (John 14:1-4). Most Christians understand Revelation to be a prophecy of what will happen in heaven and on earth before Jesus returns, as well as many other passages located throughout the rest of the Bible. I've come across a few that seem to fit the description in the epistles, the gospels, the prophets, and Daniel. So it makes sense that Christians will scour these passages and attempt to connect biblical prophecies with modern events.

We do this for two reasons. Reason #1: We are longing for our true home, the perfect place Jesus has been preparing for us where there will be no more tears. Frankly, we’re tired of tears! Reason #2: We genuinely care about the people who have not chosen to follow God, and if their time is running out, we want them to know the situation is urgent.

Reason #1 ostensibly benefits the believer. Indeed, if a Christian looks at current events and becomes convinced that Jesus will be coming very soon, they will feel a greater sense of anticipation than they would if they thought he was returning in, for example, two thousand years. For this Christian, especially the one who has been faithful to God for decades, it often feels the journey has been arduous, and a long trek still to go. How wonderful it would be if Jesus saved them from the earthly pain they have yet to endure! Of course, they realize this is a bit self-serving, and they are happy to do God’s will even until death if that is what he requires, but there is nothing wrong with acknowledging that we were not created for an imperfect world and longing for “new heavens and a new earth” (Isaiah 65:17). This Christian eagerly says, "Amen. Come, Lord Jesus" (Revelation 22:20).

Reason #2 for trying to connect current events with biblical prophecies is meant to benefit the unbeliever. And this can work. The idea is that if we can convince the unbeliever that the “end times” are happening right now, there is not a moment to lose! Maybe a decade ago they could have dawdled without risk, but they no longer have that luxury. The signs are clear. It’s one way of interpreting Jesus’ message, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near” (Matthew 4:17).

How Near is "Near"?

Interestingly, Christians have interpreted "the kingdom of heaven is near" to mean “Jesus’ second coming will happen within our personal lifetimes” ever since Jesus spoke said this approximately two thousand years ago. Even the members of the early church - some of whom had been alive at the time that Jesus died, was raised from the dead, and ascended into heaven - interpreted “near” to mean “before we die.” We can’t fault them for this, since Jesus did cryptically say, “Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened” (Matthew 24:34). The church has been waiting on this promise for centuries, yet many Western Christians still apply Jesus’ words to us personally: “Well, the kingdom of heaven wasn’t as near back then, but it’s really near now!”

If the early church incorrectly thought Jesus’ return was just a few years away, why do we claim his coming is imminent now?

Because of all the signs happening today! I won’t go into them because they constantly change. National and world leaders come and go; events and disasters happen and are forgotten, and every time, there is someone to claim that it’s a fulfillment of a biblical prophecy and a sign that “the kingdom of heaven is near - really near this time, I mean it.”

It's worth mentioning 2 Peter 3:8, which, when speaking of the timing of Jesus' return, says, "With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like a day." (Sometimes this verse is used to reconcile seven days of creation with the millions of years required by the evolutionary theory of existence.) But in context, one could interpret this to mean that in the two thousand human years that have occurred since Jesus said he was coming soon, it has only been two literal days to him! Obviously this verse isn't meant to be taken literally, but it reminds us that "soon" and "near" are not indicators of human time measurement. Rather, they are words to indicate urgency and motivate behavior.

If No One Knows, What About the Signs?

Jesus' disciples ask him outright in Matthew 24,

"When will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?"

Jesus answers with a lot of descriptions of things that will happen. But then he hits verse 36 which many Christians are familiar with:

"But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only."

So on one hand, Jesus says, “Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (Matthew 24:44). He uses many illustrations for people who thought they had time and were not ready, including the homeowner who slept while the thief robbed his home, the faithless steward who was discovered abusing his position as caregiver when his master unexpectedly returned from a journey, and the virgins tasked with carrying lamps for the groom, but who did not bring enough oil to keep them lit until he came (Matthew 24:36-50, Matthew 25:1-30). It's like he's repeatedly driving home the point that there's no way to know when he'll show up.

But on the other hand, he gives a lot of specific information about what is going to happen before the end - not to mention that this information is repeated in various places throughout the Bible, written at various times by different people who didn't even know each other but were all inspired by God.

So which is it, Jesus? Are you "coming at an hour we do not expect?" Or will we expect it, because of the signs you promised?

Speculating: Gloriously Futile

My best way to reconcile these statements is to look at the way Jesus fulfilled prophecies on earth.

Consider the Israelites, who received prophecies about their coming deliverer. They were told what to look for, yet when the signs came, they did not recognize them because the signs were not what they were expecting. Not only that, but the very definition of "deliverer" was not what they were expecting. They wanted deliverance from human oppressors - first Babylon, then Rome. How much more glorious a "deliverer" did God have in mind than they did!

Here's another example: In front of his disciples, Jesus predicted the destruction and rebuilding of the temple in three days. Considering he said those words while he was standing in the actual temple court, it seemed logical to his followers that he was talking about a physical building. How could they know otherwise? But the text continues:

“But the temple he had spoken of was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scriptures and the words that Jesus had spoken” (John 2:19-22).

It was okay that the disciples interpreted the prophecy incorrectly. Never in a million years could they have guessed what Jesus actually meant. It only became clear when it was fulfilled. And I would argue that it was more clear and more meaningful this way, even more than it would have been if he said, "I am like this temple, because God's presence lives in me, a human body. I am going to tear down this temple, or this body, in the form of death, for three days, but then I will raise it up again in the form of life."

Is it so farfetched that we might not completely understand or interpret the signs we're given? Isn’t it possible that we might think we know what we’re looking for in the end times, but God will completely turn our expectations on our heads and give us something in a completely different dimension?

I'm okay with that.

Speculating: Possibly Counterproductive

William Miller was an American Baptist preacher who predicted that Jesus would return "sometime between March 21, 1843, and March 21, 1844." The time period passed without incident, and he revised the prediction based on typology findings in Daniel to October 22, 1844. Tens of thousands of people - Wikipedia says estimates range between 50,000 and 500,000 - experienced "The Great Disappointment" when Jesus failed to return that night. So what were the results, besides a bunch of brokenhearted people? Some of the followers started a new movement that became today's Seventh Day Adventists.

Harold Camping was a more recent public figure who predicted Jesus' return. His predicted dates were:

September 6, 1994
September 29, 1994
October 2, 1994
May 21,2011

Despite Camping's three failed prior predictions, some believers spent their entire savings before May 21,2011 in attempts to advertise the end of the world and reach the lost. After his 2011 date failed, Camping published a letter admitting that it had been wrong for him and his organization to predict and state a date for Jesus' return. "We have learned the very painful lesson that all of creation is in God's hands and He will end time in His time, not ours!...We tremble before God as we humbly ask Him for forgiveness for making that sinful statement."

David Meade is the pen name for one of today's Christian (?) end times theorists. Like Camping, he has several failed dates for the end of the world under his belt - but some other interesting predictions also have not come to pass; for example, his prediction that in October 2017, Donald Trump and Mike Pence would levitate in the sky and Barack Obama would be elected president for an illegal third term. Despite his failures, he's still going strong. He's also written books about fraud prevention, surviving EMP attacks, and Hitler's escape to Argentina.

(If you're interested, here's a list of predictions of the end of the world arranged by dates past to future, from 1st century CE to 3x1041 st  century. These may be based on religion, science, astrology, myth, a vision, or some combination.)

These are three extreme examples of people who interpreted modern events and the Bible in a way that, to them, revealed that they were unmistakably "in the end times" - and not only that, but that they were experiencing The Day, all multiple times! The impact these people had on Christian influence through their predictions is interesting.

Miller, as I said before, unintentionally founded the Seventh Day Adventists when his doomsday prediction failed. Camping made his Christian followers appear foolish. And Meade sounds like a delusional conspiracy theorist. By trying to predict the end of the world, these people thwarted the mission of Christianity.

One caveat: Can God use anything to bring people to him? Did people come to Christ because of, for example, Camping's campaign? Yes. I don't know if they all remained true after the failed date, but at least some people were willing to encounter Christ because they felt a sense of urgency. Camping said of his prediction in the same letter I linked to above,

"Yet this incorrect and sinful statement allowed God to get the attention of a great many people who otherwise would not have paid attention. Even as God used sinful Balaam to accomplish His purposes, so He used our sin to accomplish His purpose of making the whole world acquainted with the Bible. However, even so, that does not excuse us."

I would argue, and if Camping were alive today I think he would agree, that any success of his method was by God's grace, and that there were also many people who were turned off to Christ because of his actions.

So what about Christians who do take to heart Jesus' words about "not knowing the day or the hour," but still believe they know the general time - which is now-ish, or sometime in the next few decades?

I already explained why I feel this is futile. But I also believe even this can be counterproductive.

I see two potential problems with speculating about end times Scripture and modern events.

1. We may not be as ready as we say we are.

If we scour the Scriptures and try to interpret the signs before his coming, and try to connect them with modern events, we will believe that he is not going to come until those events have been fulfilled. This is a problem, because it relies on our interpretations of the prophecies. It also ignores the whole point of the main "I am coming soon" passage, which is "be ready at any time." If I'm waiting for the prelude, I'm not going to expect the main event to happen right away.

2. We may spend our energy looking for signs instead of doing Jesus' work.

When Jesus said "be ready," I don't think he just meant that it was important to be saved at the time of his return. I think it meant that we should be busy (See Matthew 24:44-47). As one pastor says at the church I attend, "Focus on doing the work, not watching the clock." We're waiting for the end of a long work day. How well do we wait? Do we stare off in the distance and imagine what is waiting for us when work is over? Or do we engross ourselves in our work because time is running out?

(I once spent fifteen minutes of company time calculating how much money I was earning per second in hopes that time would feel more worthwhile. I won't say which company, but the result was pretty depressing and it did not help, especially after income tax.)

To wait well is to work. And the work of a Christian is the same as the work of God: to show people the way of Jesus. It's the whole purpose of being a Christian, according to Peter:

"But you are a chosen people...that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light...Live such good lives among the pagans [unbelievers] that...they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us" (1 Peter 2:9,12, emphasis mine)


Things might be signs, or they might not be. It doesn't matter for the Christian, whose way of living does not change, however the world around them does.

The Purpose of Waiting

I'm annoyingly like Calvin's father in the Calvin & Hobbes comics by Bill Watterson. Every time Calvin complained about something, his father said, "It builds character." Hopefully I don't actually say such a dismissive thing when people share their woes, but it's a principle I'm trying to build in myself. Stuck in bed day after day? It builds character. Stuck behind a Prius with a driver who won't get off their cell phone? It builds character. At least, it can build character when I choose to see it as an opportunity to become a little more like Jesus.

It's a trite thing to say, and James says it better:

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." (James 1:2-4)

So that's one benefit to me being stuck on this old earth in this old body: I have the opportunity to build character. It's not fun, but James says it will make me mature, and I've always wanted to be mature.

But that's just a side benefit, a way I can take advantage of the time to become more like Jesus.

The real purpose that Jesus delays his coming should make us overjoyed that he has waited so long:

"Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, 'Where is this "coming" he has promised?'...[T]he present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:3-9, emphasis mine)

As much as I would like Jesus to return and whisk me up to heaven right now, I would much rather suffer for a little more on earth so that other people have the same chance I did to spend eternity in God's presence as well. In my mind, it's kind of like we're all in a cold ocean. Most people are drowning, but I have a life vest. I'm miserable, but I'm safe. When the rescue boat comes around with shelter and blankets and warmth, I'll tell them to come back for me after they've already saved everyone else who is literally dying. My immediate comfort is less important than their lives.

I'm sure this is a terrible metaphor. Sorry about that. But that's the real purpose of Jesus waiting, and that's why I'm okay with waiting too, even when earth life sucks.

Modern Prophets

My last word concerns modern prophecies. If someone claims to have "a word from the Lord" regarding the end times, should we automatically disown them as a Miller or a Camping? Or could God actually be speaking through them?

This is a topic of debate among Christians, so let’s look at some definitions of the word “prophecy".

There is a definition which restricts the word “prophecy” to “prediction” (Easton’s Bible Dictionary), and that is how we often think of it today: a message from God about something in the future. But the word can be used in a broader sense, as we see in the International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia’s discussion about the gift of prophecy in the New Testament church:

“Ordinarily, [the prophet’s] message was one of ‘edification, and exhortation, and consolation’ (1 Corinthians 14:3). Occasionally he was empowered to make an authoritative announcement of the divine will in a particular case (Acts 13:1). In rare instances we find him uttering a prediction of a future event (Acts 11:28, 21:10).” (International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia)

Given these parameters, a modern prophet could arguably be anyone who conveys God’s existing word to people for the sake of edifying the church. But today, when someone says, “I have a word from the Lord,” they’re usually not talking about the Bible, which contains plenty of words from the Lord that we already have. They’re usually claiming that they individually received from the Holy Spirit, possibly through a dream, a vision, or a very strong feeling, one of the latter two instances described above: an authoritative announcement of the divine will or a prediction of a future event.

A claim could be as absurd as, “God told me that when Jesus returns, we should be on the lookout for flying buffalo.”  Or it could be as harmful as, “God told me that you should jump off this cliff. Don’t worry, he also told me his angels will catch you.” Or it could be as innocuous as, “God told me to tell you that he is your rock.” (Keep in mind that for this last one, if we expand our definition to include someone who conveys God’s existing word, it would even be a prophecy to exhort someone with the truth, “God is your rock,” and leave off the “God told me to tell you” part.)

So how do we respond to "special revelation" prophecies outside of the Bible, such as “God told me to tell you…”?

The one thing you can't say is, “But did he really?” because that makes you appear to doubt God’s ability to speak to an individual, and that would make you a bad Christian. But you also can’t blindly accept every reported message, because there are people who mistakenly believe they received a special message, and people who deliberately make false claims in order to control and influence people.

To avoid being led astray, we pray for a spirit of discernment (1 Corinthians 12:10) and test them (1 Thessalonians 5:19-22). But this isn’t a foolproof method to finding out the truth, because many people who think they are discerning end up deceived. 

Next to the original special revelation, the Bible, prophetic dreams are of less value. God says through Jeremiah,

"Let the prophet who has a dream recount the dream, but let the one who has my word speak it faithfully. For what has straw to do with grain?" declares the LORD. "Is not my word like fire," declares the LORD, "and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?" (Jeremiah 23:28-29)

For my part, I believe God can communicate whatever message he wants to any person, through any means. So I can’t judge another person’s claim of special revelation. But I also know that false prophets aren’t revealed right away, as we’ve seen in end-time predictions and in the Bible itself. So I have a right - even a responsibility - to be skeptical.

I think this is okay. For the Christian who trusts that the Bible is God’s complete inspired message, any visions and dreams and “strong feelings” are subject to the existing word. God said in Revelation through the prophet John, “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll” (Revelation 22:18).

Even Harold Camping said after his 2011 doomsday prediction failed, “In this time of confusion and turmoil, God’s Word remains the only truth in which we can trust. God has shown us again the truth that He alone is true. In Romans 3:4 God declares, ‘Let God be true but every man a liar.’ Events within the last year have proven that no man can be fully trusted. Even the most sincere and zealous of us can be mistaken.”

In Conclusion

In conclusion,  I don’t know if the end times are “upon us” in the immediate sense that some Christians believe. Maybe these modern events really are the signs that are prophesied throughout the Bible, or maybe these events are different versions of the same things that have been happening for thousands of years.

But if I spend my energy interpreting current events, my focus leaves his actual words, “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come” (Matthew 24:6).

Maybe the end is coming in a decade. Maybe it's coming in an hour. Maybe it's not for two million more years.

But the end is still to come.

So let's be the church and focus on our job, not the clock.