The End is Near!
Meditation for the week of September 12, 2010
1 Peter 4:7 But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers.
2 Peter 3:3-4 Knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation."
What does Peter mean when he says that the end of all things is near? Is he referring to the end as mentioned in his second epistle when he says, “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up (2nd Peter 3:10)?” Or could he be referring to the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple by the Roman general, Titus, in 70 A.D.? Or is he referring to something else? Whatever event he was referring to, it was sobering and Christians should be driven to our knees because of it. The problem is that doomsdayers have been preaching the end of the world or at least the end of our civilization for years and it hasn’t happened yet? So why be concerned that it will happen?
During the 60’s we were concerned about nuclear war. Nearly every public building had a fall out shelter to protect us from nuclear radiation. We don’t seem to be concerned about nuclear war now, and yet I don’t think the danger is passed. We still do fire drills and tornado drills with our school children but I don’t know of any school that teaches safety in case of a nuclear war.
The current trend is to be worried about global warming. Of course, no one is sure if global warming is part of the natural trends of nature or whether we are killing ourselves off with greenhouse gases. Apparently, the earth has always gone though cycles but some environmentalists think that if we continue producing greenhouse gases, the end is coming. The polar ice caps are going to melt and the ocean is going to rise and storms are going to become vicious. They say that civilization as we know it cannot survive.
There are many other doomsday scenarios that we can be concerned about. But I do believe that the end is near or at hand. However, the end in the Bible that we in this generation need to be concerned about is the end of this age that started with the establishment of the church in Acts 2. The end of this age will usher in a tribulation period that will last for seven years and while the earth won’t be totally destroyed, just about anything that doomsdayers are concerned about will happen. Not only will there be war, there will be pollution, earthquakes and death by unusual diseases. Some of the wars will most likely be nuclear. Dictators will use religion that they themselves do not really believe in to control people much like some types of so-called Christians and some types of Muslims and some types of Hindus are doing today. God has determined that nothing needs happen for that day to be ushered in so it is near in the sense that it is imminent or ready to happen, even though it is not necessarily about to happen immediately.
I believe God when He says that terrible times are coming and that they are even now ready to happen. We don’t need the Bible to see that our increasing population, the rivalry among tribal groups, our intense desire to control one another economically and through religion are all things that will likely lead to catastrophic wars. People will be looking for a man to bring peace to a troubled world, but just as the Jews chose Barabbas to save them, the world will choose an evil dictator who will end up bringing war rather than the peace he promises.
We may not fully understand just how the end that is coming will come. We may not understand how soon it will come even though we know that when the end comes, it will come suddenly. But one thing we do know is that the only place of safety is in Christ. Those who have trusted in Him will be saved from this day of wrath (1 Thessalonians 1:10). Those who ignore their sin and believe that all things are going to continue as they always have are going to be surprised one day to find out that an old archaic book called the Bible really did have the answers. They will find out too late, however, and they will find themselves calling to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand (Revelation6:16-17)?"
Bruce Collins