![]() ![]() That said, there can be no doubt that Jesus’ account, as recorded in Matthew, and the book of Revelation have direct application to the final end times, since they address the events of Christ’s triumphant return, the final destruction of Satan and the end times judgement of humanity. ![]() They may be considered simultaneously applicable to events in the period in which they are spoken, the near future (of those listeners) as well as the final end times.Īpocalyptic writers of Jewish and Christian tradition were focussed on motivating believers in their present day (hence the sense of urgency in the letters to the churches in Revelation 1-3), rather than thinking that they were providing a road map for future generations who would live in the actual end times. This highlights a particular difficulty in interpreting scriptural references to the end times. In the face of such a bleak outlook for the world and humanity, should Christians adopt an end of days mindset and, if so, what might this look like? Past, present and futureĪ detailed account of what the end of days will entail is given by Jesus himself in Matthew 24 and 25, where Jesus begins by prophesying the destruction of the Jewish temple (which occurred in 70AD, when the Romans laid siege to Jerusalem). While the devastating earthquakes that have affected Turkey and Syria have served only to heighten the sense of apocalyptic foreboding for many. We might add to these existential threats the detrimental effects of the widespread pollution of the world’s rivers and oceans, as well as the possibility of more deadly global pandemics and also the phenomenon of antibiotic drug resistance, which threatens to undermine many of the medical advances of the 20th century. The gospel of Jesus Christ is and always will be God’s plan A, and it is sufficient for the rescue of humanity There are growing tensions between China and the US over Taiwan and, if this situation were to escalate into an actual conflict, it would dwarf the current Ukraine crisis in its global impact. Other headlines have noted the frightening rates of extinction of animal species (69 per cent have been lost since 1970 according to the WWF) and the increasing pace of global deforestation.Īlong with this, the world is also living once again with the spectre of nuclear war, with Poland distributing iodine tablets in the face of President Putin’s increasing belligerent rhetoric over Ukraine. ![]() In fact, the world is tracking towards 2.5C warming which, according to the UN, will result in “ catastrophic climate breakdown”. God helped me forgive AND seek justiceĪ recent headline in The Guardian newspaper stated simply: “No way back?” thereby encapsulating the frightening UN conclusion that there is “no credible way” to achieve the 1.5C climate target set at the 2015 Paris climate accord.
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