It is a
question that many of us still ask today. It is not so curious that we should
want to ask this question. Sometimes, political and social events in the world
take turns that are highly unpredictable and even upsetting. These frightening developments
make us all wonder if they are perhaps harbingers of the end of the age and the
return of Jesus Christ.
The
disciples did not exactly get a straightforward answer to their question. What
they got was instead a series of parables to help them (and us) determine the
social and political atmosphere that will be present in the days leading up to
the end of the age. I am not going to go through all of those parables right
now, for that is a lengthy process and I have done that in other places (see
the book, Watching for the Day).
There are
only two statements of Jesus that I want you to take away with you today. First
of all, in speaking about the social and political atmosphere in the end times,
Jesus said of the initial stages, “All these things are merely the beginnings
of birth pangs” (Matthew 24:8 NAS). The second statement of Jesus is one with
which he concluded two of his parables, “Be on the alert, for you do not know
the day [nor the hour] that your Lord is coming” (Matthew 24:42; 25:13).
A New Word
As you
consider these two statements of Jesus, please now consider a word that has
been introduced into the English language: Brexit.
Although it is a very new word in our English vocabulary, almost everyone
already knows what it means. If you do not, do a quick google search on it.
In fact, if
you are a Christian, and to make your search more interesting, in the search bar
type: “brexit and biblical prophecy.” You will find out not only the meaning of
the word, but a whole host of people who claim to be Bible teachers and who
will tell you exactly how Brexit was predicted in Biblical prophecy and how it
signals that Jesus is coming back very soon. Often there is a postscript saying
something to the order of, “Please send me some money so that I can get this
message out to millions of people!”
Then, after
you have done your internet search, step back and let the words of Jesus return
to your thinking. “All these things are merely the beginnings of birth pangs.
Be on the alert then.”
Despite my
cynicism for some of the people who claim to know exactly how Brexit fits into
Biblical prophecy, I do not deny that I also believe that what is currently
happening in Britain and in Europe is significant in terms of events surrounding
the question that the disciples asked Jesus, “What will be the sign of Your
coming and of the end of the age?” (To continue reading, please click the READ MORE button below)
Europe and the End Times
Especially
in Daniel chapter seven, and Revelation chapter seventeen, visions where given
to Daniel and to John that in very many ways seem to have as their fulfillment
what we now know as the countries of Europe. Since this is the best explanation
of these prophecies that we have at the present, whenever something of major
political development happens in Europe, anyone who is a believer in Christ and
in the Bible should take special notice.
That is why
it was significant in the years of World War II when Adolf Hitler was
attempting to conquer all of Europe and unify the nations under the rule of the
German Third Reich. That is also why it was significant when later in the
twentieth century and the beginning of this century, the nations of Europe
decided to unify themselves into the European Union. These events at the time
did seem to have a certain ring of prophetic fulfillment to them, and in fact,
to a certain degree they did.
“All these
things are merely the beginnings of birth pangs,” Jesus said.
Two Images
For
centuries, people who study the Bible have commonly understood that the fourth
beast of Daniel chapter seven, and the woman sitting on the scarlet beast of
Revelation chapter seventeen as some type revived but corrupted and ungodly
European empire. Because of this, it is no wonder that we, as believers, should
be interested what is happening with the political situation in Europe.
Here is
Daniel’s description of what he saw:
I desired to know the
exact meaning of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others,
exceedingly dreadful, with its teeth of iron and its claws of bronze, and which
devoured, crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet, and the
meaning of the ten horns that were on its head and the other horn which came
up, and before which three of them fell, namely, that horn which had eyes and a
mouth uttering great boasts and which was larger in appearance than its
associates.
I kept looking, and
that horn was waging war with the saints and overpowering them until the
Ancient of Days came and judgment was passed in favor of the saints of the
Highest One, and the time arrived when the saints took possession of the
kingdom.
Thus he said: “The
fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will be different
from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth and tread it down
and crush it. As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings will arise;
and another will arise after them, and he will be different from the previous
ones and will subdue three kings. He will speak out against the Most High and
wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations
in times and in law; and they will be given into his hand for a time, times,
and half a time. But the court will sit for judgment, and his dominion will be
taken away, annihilated and destroyed forever.
Then the sovereignty,
the dominion and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will
be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an
everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him.”
(Daniel 7:19-27)
Now John’s
description of the woman of Revelation seventeen:
And he carried me away
in the Spirit into a wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast,
full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns. The woman was
clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and
pearls, having in her hand a gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean
things of her immorality, and on her forehead a name was written, a mystery,
“BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.”
And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of
the witnesses of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered greatly.
And the angel said to
me, “Why do you wonder? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the
beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns. The beast
that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and go
to destruction. And those who dwell on the earth, whose name has not been
written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will wonder when
they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come.
“Here is the mind which
has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits, and
they are seven kings; five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; and
when he comes, he must remain a little while. The beast which was and is not,
is himself also an eighth and is one of the seven, and he goes to destruction. The
ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but
they receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour. These have one
purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast.” (Revelation 17:3-13)
Europa
Considering
this woman of Revelation seventeen who rides a scarlet beast, it is interesting
to note that the continent of Europe receives its name from Greek Mythology in
which the maiden Europa, a beautiful woman of high lineage from Phoenicia, was
seduced by the god Zeus, who had disguised himself as a bull and persuaded Europa
to climb on his back. Once she had done so, Zeus the bull carried her away over
the sea to the island of Crete.
A woman
riding a bull has long been one of the symbols for the continent of Europe. The
image is presently seen on some of the euro coins, in a large painting in the
EU Parliament building, and as a sculpture outside the Council of Europe
building in Brussels. In fact, the symbol is quite common and instantly
recognized as a symbol of Europe.
And now, in
the recent decades, the countries of Europe have decided to align themselves
under the European Union, giving them a common economy, which is the world’s
largest. Along with this gigantic economy, the EU has also become the world’s
largest trading block.
To be fair,
the EU as we know it now is not entirely motivated by economics. It does have
its more altruistic aspects, as is presently being witnessed by its attempt to
receive millions of political refugees from the Middle East. However, there can
be no doubt that economics is the driving force behind the reasons for the existence
of the EU. Were there no economic benefits for the countries of Europe to be
part of the EU, none would choose to give up any portion of their sovereignty
for the benefit of the entire region. It is the economic strength of the union
that keeps them there.
Why Do You Want to Leave Us?
But now, the
Brits have had enough. They have voted to dismount themselves from the bull and
to leave Europa. In doing so, the other nations on the bull’s back have become troubled,
and some fear that others may do what Britain has done, thus upsetting the
whole ride.
Given the
economic benefits of remaining with the EU, why would Britain decide to do this
in the first place? It is just this fact that I find so interesting and why
this decision is so unusual in our day. It is a decision based not on economics.
In our world
where “follow the money” is the name of the game, this is a highly unusual
move. By this vote, the Brits have made a statement that there are some things
that are more important than money, and to this I say, “Bully for the Brits!”
I do not
know what all of these reasons are. You can read the news reports and
commentaries as well as I, but as I have read them, I have found that I had to
wonder if the reporter himself had some political leanings as to how the story
was presented. How many interviews did he or she have to conduct before they
got the ones that they were looking for? One reporter had people tell her that
their vote was motivated by the EU forcing to the country to take in people who
might be terrorists. Another reporter was told by voters that they were trying
to protect their jobs from cheap, imported labour (notice the English
spelling).
What about the US? (By that I mean “us”)
I understand
that many of us even in the United States may have lost a lot of retirement
savings as a result of the Brexit vote, at least temporarily so. I understand
that the decision for Britain to leave the European Union has caused near panic
in the stock markets of the world. I understand that the economies of the world
and especially Europe will now have to totally rethink many of their trade
agreements and business practices.
Despite
these things that we see as negatives, there is a large part of me that is
cheering this decision by the English people. I know that many of them woke up
the day after the decision with regrets, thinking that, economically speaking this
may have been a wrong move. They may be right in that, at least for the short
term, but it is almost refreshing in these days when people decide to do
something apart from the economic consequences.
However,
none of this has anything to do with my more upbeat assessment of what has
happened. My optimism in this decision has more to do with what I see as a
setback of the prevailing world-view that has been foisted upon the thinking of
the people of the world. This is the thinking that it is best to leave the
decision making in the hands of a few people in bureaucratic positions who
believe that they have a better overall view of what the needs are, and how we
are to address them.
Here in the
United States, for instance, we like to congratulate ourselves, especially in
this time of the year around Independence Day, that we live in a free society. “Our
leaders are not people who have taken their position upon themselves,” we tell
ourselves, “but our leaders are people whom we, as voters, have chosen.” We
like to think that it is we citizens who wield the real power in our country.
Our representatives are our servants.
As you watch
this year’s Independence Day fireworks, ask yourself if this actually the
reality of the situation. Step back a moment from eating your watermelon and
grill-fried hamburgers to assess some of those things not only being allowed in
our nation in these days, but actually being promoted by some of those in the
very top offices of our government. Are these the things that you would choose
for the lives of those in your family?
Bureaucrat or Savior?
True freedom
in this world is really only an illusion. No bureaucrat can lead us to freedom.
Only a Savior can do that. That savior is not the one that will one day emerge
out of the kingdoms of the fourth beast of Daniel’s book, or the woman riding a
beast in John’s vision. The Savior that we need is the Creator of all that
there is.
Jesus said, “If the Son has set you free, you shall be
free indeed” (John 8:36).
We also need to remember that we should not
expect that as the time for the end of the age approaches that life will become
easier. Like the birth pangs of a mother in labor, upsetting events in the
world will become more severe, and they will come at increasingly shorter
intervals.
That is why Jesus said when he was about to
leave this world, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the
world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be
fearful” (John 14:27 NAS).
And remember he said also concerning events
that are moving our world, “Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day
in which the Lord is coming” (Matthew 24:42)
Jesus is coming soon!
ReplyDeleteGod has sovereign control over the entire universe, and all of the promises in His Word give us much hope for the future.
Our redemption through Christ helps us focus on God's coming, glorious kingdom.
In the meantime, we pray for those who are still lost - and we share the Gospel with them - so they, too, can love the Lord and live in His forgiveness.