The word “apocalypse” is used a lot in our culture today, especially in books and movies. Francis Coppola wrote and directed a movie entitled “Apocalypse Now.” Mel Gibson directed and produced a bloodied little movie entitled “Apocalypto.” Tim LaHaye wrote an apocalyptic fiction series about his interpretation of Revelations entitled “Left Behind.” Movies and books abound around a subject that all too few know anything about, either from a Biblical perspective or a historical perspective. What I’d like to do this morning is educate myself and you about the kind of literature know as “apocalyptic.”
          First, what does “apocalyptic” mean (see your handout)?  The word comes from one Greek word “from” and another Greek word meaning “covering.” So, an apocalypse is an uncovering of something that has been hidden. And, as your handout says, it is also a title given to a type of literature that claims to disclose or reveal hidden details about the end of history and the destiny of human kind.
          Like all kinds of literature, it has times when it is more popular than others. Such times are usually times of crisis. Look at number 7 on your handout: In ancient Jewish history, such times of crisis were the destruction of the first temple and the exile to Babylon in 580 B.C. Another very difficult time in Jewish history, that we don’t hear much about, was in the 2nd century when Jews were being persecuted by the Syrian King Antiochus IV, and then the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, consequently, the death of over 1.1 million Jews in 70 A.D. Look. It is just human nature that when we get in trouble we look for help, be it our family, our doctors, our government, or finally, our God.
          Apocalyptic literature is usually the result of everything failing to help, until there is a deep, deep, longing for God to help. The trick is to seek God first before everything gets so bad that you find yourself in despair or in deadly peril. Let’s look at some scripture about the end times and how they believed that God would rescue them.
          In the book of Joel, a devastating drought and a plague of locusts provide an occasion for the prophet Joel to describe the terrible and horrible day of the Lord in which invading armies would be like a plague of locusts over-ruling Israel. The day of the Lord is metaphor for God’s judgment. Sometimes for Israel, but in this case, Israel’s judgment has passed and “the Lord will take pity on his people.” God will restore what He has taken away and will pour out his Spirit on all people, “your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions…I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.”
          Another apocalyptic writing, that is not in our scriptures that speaks of this terrible day of the Lord, is 4 Ezra: “Concerning the signs, however: Behold the days come when the inhabitants of earth shall be seized with great panic, and the way of truth shall be hidden and the land barren of faith, and iniquity shall be increased…Then shall the sun suddenly shine forth by night and the moon by day: and blood shall trickle forth from wood, and the stone utter its voice: the people shall be in commotion, the outgoings of the stars shall change.” In other words, when the final and great day of the Lord will come, people will know it. There will be wonders in heaven and on earth. There will be cosmic upheaval, and terrible ordeals that will bring mankind to its knees. Many will believe and call on the name of the Lord, they shall be saved but others will ignore the warnings and prepare to resist. Look, if you will, at the book of Revelation Chapter 16. Again, pay attention to the cosmic upheaval (Read Revelation 16:1-16).
          The times are strange and very difficult, but with the terrible tribulation there will follow a new age. Joel sees it when he says: “And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved; for on Mt Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the Lord has said, among the survivors whom the Lord calls.” Revelation sees a similar thing when it reads: “After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues,…” (Read Revelation 7: 9-17)
          Not everyone will heed the signs and wonders. Not everyone will call upon the name of the Lord, there always have been people who resist the Word of God and there will always be those who will resist. Why some people never see how destructive and sinful their ways are, we will never know. They are just blind and apart from the grace of God they will remain blind. Look again at Revelation 16, this time focus on verse 13 through 16: “And I saw coming out the mouth of the dragon (dragon is symbolic of Satan) and out the mouth of the beast (symbolic of Satan’s second in command) and out of the mouth of the false prophet (another cohort of Satan), three unclean spirits like frogs (plagues of lies for deceiving the nations) for they are spirits of demons, performing signs (contrary to God’s sign), and they go out to kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of the Lord.” Together and united they shall wage a war against the Lamb. (Read Revelation 17:14).
          In apocalyptic literature, the unrighteous, those who oppose God and the Lamb, will be judge and punished; the righteous saved. A non-biblical apocalyptic writing called 2 Baruch (24:1) says: “For behold! The days come and the books shall be opened in which are written the sins of those who have sinned, and again also the treasures in which the righteousness of all those who have been righteous in creation is gathered.”  Again, the book of Revelation echoes that understanding when it says: “And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which was the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.” (Revelation 20:11)
          Most, but not all, Jewish apocalyptic writings mention the coming of the Messiah and many declare the rule of God’s anointed one. For example, the Psalms of Solomon reads: “And he shall be a righteous king, taught of God, over them, and there shall be no unrighteousness in his days in their midst, for all shall be holy and their king the anointed Messiah of the Lord…He will bless the people of the Lord with wisdom and gladness, and he himself will be pure from sin, so that he may rule a great people. And he will rebuke rulers, and remove sinners by the might of his word… God will make him mighty by means of His Holy Spirit, and wise by means of the Spirit of understanding, with strength and righteousness.” Revelation 20:4 speaks of the rule of the Messiah when it says: “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given to them. And saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not received the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.”
          The reign of Christ for a thousand years is only found in this chapter in the Bible and just three times at that, but in interpreting the book of Revelation, the millennium is at the heart of most Christian’s understanding of the end of time. According to the Book of Revelation, after this 1000 years is up, “Satan will be released from his prison,” he will once again deceive the world and nations upon nations will be deceived into fighting the mother of all wars. They are defeated; Satan is thrown into the lake of fire, along with the beast and the false prophet, where “they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” (Revelation 20: 7-10)
          Confused and frustrated? Don’t be frustrated, at least.  Smarter people than us have tried and failed to make sense of apocalyptic literature.  Just remember, the main theme of all apocalyptic literature is that justice and righteousness will ultimately prevail and God is in control. Perhaps that God is in control is the hardest lesson that you and I will ever learn.

Week of: June 10, 2007
Series: Prophecy and Prophets
Title: Part 9 ~ Down The Road               Study Notes (click)
Scripture: Revelation 20:1-10

          If life is defined as a journey down a road with ups and downs, and different turns, then certainly one’s study of the end-times might be described as such – because journeying through the different end-time positions and interpretations is like going down a road that continually turns and forks. We don’t always know where to turn. For example, in journeying through the Book of Revelation, the first thing you’re going to have to decide, when you come an event in the book itself, is do you take the fork of literalism or symbolism. A good example might be to ask yourself if John actually believed that the beast he describes in Revelation 13: 1-8 is a literal dragon that looks similar to the one in your handout.

Note: A reproduction of Albrecht Dürer’s (1471-1528) The Woman Clothed with the Sun and the Dragon with Seven Heads (circa 1511; a Woodcut, 15-3/8 x 11 inches; currently in Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris) was referenced on the original handout. It is a depiction of the artist’s understanding of the following: “And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.” {Revelation 12:14} The reproduction is not included in the on-line study notes.

          In Revelation 19:15, John sees that a sharp sword will come out of Jesus’ mouth when He returns, a sword He will use to strike down the nations. It is really doubtful that John means a piece of steel literally comes from the mouth of Jesus. Instead, the sword is seen by most as a symbol of the Word of God. One that might be a no-brainer for us is: “Is Heaven real or is it just symbolic?” And if it is real, is John’s description of Heaven meant to be taken as it is literally given? I think Revelation has both, things that are meant to be literal and things that are highly symbolic. The trick is to know the difference.
          Another fork of the road, that we come to as we read and study apocalyptic material, is has it happened yet?
          Preterists believe that much of the prophecies of the Bible have already been fulfilled. In fact, they believe that many of the Bible’s predictions regarding the Second Coming were fulfilled during the first century.
          Futurists tend to believe that most of the prophecies dealing with the Second Coming have not been fulfilled. Most popular writers about the Book of Revelation today are futurist—believing that most of the Bible’s prophecies about the future are yet to be fulfilled. But, most also believe that they are very close to being fulfilled. For example, John Hagee’s book “Beginning of the End” has a chapter entitled “Are we the terminal generation?” He believes we are, and gives 10 reasons why:
1. knowledge explosion
2. Zechariah 14:12 of the Plague in the Middle East
3. rebirth of Israel
4. Jews returning home
5. Israel no longer under Gentile rule
6. instant international communication
7. days of deception
8. famines and pestilence
9. earthquakes
10. increased wickedness

          With the exception of Israel becoming an independent nation, these reasons could be said about most any generation since the death of Christ. Knowledge has been on the increase since the Age of Enlightenment, wickedness increases and decreases, anyone who reads history knows of terrible famines, pestilence, earthquakes, and we really haven’t seen anything yet of how instant communications will one day be.
          Every generation since Christ has believed they were the last. It is not that the time is not getting closer, because it is. It is just that no one knows just how close it is. Another way of saying it is, “yes we are getting warmer” and for some folks that are Christians (especially in parts of the world that Christianity is outlawed) they are getting very hot. It is getting hot with wickedness, pestilence, famine and persecution, but overall I don’t believe that it is anywhere as hot as God will allow it to get before the Second Coming. Tribulation and persecution are very important questions in discerning Jesus’ coming according to Matthew 24:21. If Jesus didn’t come with the early church’s level of persecution by Rome, how hot does it have to get with us? In many ways, things are just too comfortable for most Christians that Christ should come now.
          The next fork of the road is how do we interpret the 1000 year reign mentioned in our scripture this morning? Is it a literal 1000 year reign, possibly to the day? Or, again, does it just symbolize a long period of time that Christ will reign on earth? If so, could it have already begun?
An individual by the name of Russell Chandler once wrote a book entitled, “Doomsday: the End of the World—A View Through Time,” in which he said that panic gripped Europe when the calendar went from 999 to 1000 AD. Why? Because some believed that the reference to the 1000 years of Christ’s reign began at His birth and was ending at 1000 AD. In other words, the world was coming to an end.
          Another way that this 1000 year reign has effected people’s thinking is reflected in a writing called the Epistle of Barnabas. Most of our earliest copies of our New Testament scriptures come to us in pieces or in books or epistles. However, the earliest complete copy of the New Testament has been named “Codex Sinaiticus.” It was named so because a 19th century scholar found this copy of the New Testament in St. Catherine’s monastery located on Mount Sinai. The find was incredible because it dated back to the 4th century and it had all of our present day books of the Bible, plus two. One of the two was the Epistle of Barnabas. When scholars read the book, they quickly picked up on something that dated this writing somewhere between 70 AD and 132 AD. Anyway, here is a late first or early second century writing that was supposedly written by Barnabas that was part of someone’s collection of scripture around 450 AD. However, the book never made it into our cannon, and good thing too because it is terribly anti-Jewish. One thing this Barnabas believed was that the Jews got the understanding of the Sabbath wrong. Six days of work and one day of rest was silly to Barnabas; instead he believed that one day was like a thousand days to the Lord, therefore, the earth was six thousand years old and the seventh day was meant to be the reign of the millennial. So everything that God created was to be over in seven thousand years.
          An Anglican Archbishop by the name of James Ussher, who lived in the early to mid-sixteenth century, was best known for calculating when the world began using the dates and times of various dates in the Bible. According to his calculations, the world was created October 23 the year 4004 BC. Some people took the theory of the Epistle of Barnabas and the date of John Ussher and maintained that the millennium would then begin October 23, 1997. If that is so, we’ve been in the 1000 year reign of Christ for almost 10 years and we’ve, somehow, missed His Second Coming.
          Revelation 19:11-21 tells us of Jesus’ Second Coming and the following chapter tells us about the reign of Christ for 1000 years. Well, what is the 1000 years of Christ’s reign anyway? The millennium is the earthly and limited reign of Christ on this earth. It is characterized by a time of peace upon the earth, a time that evil and the devil have been chained and casted into a bottomless pit that allows the world the freedom to not be deceived by them. Imagine a world in which the “father of lies,” Satan himself, would be gagged and be no longer allowed to whisper his lies to our hearts. And then, as to cast out all doubt who this Jesus is and the kind of reign that He will have, there will be limited resurrection. John calls it the first resurrection. It is a resurrection of the souls who had been killed because they refused to worship the beast, and had not received the mark of the beast upon their forehead or hand. Revelation sees a time before the millennium, before Jesus Christ’s Second Coming, that to buy food, clothing, or the necessities of life, you would have to have a mark identifying you with the beast. It would be like saying that to get food or clothing you’d have to show that you were a card-carrying democrat or republican. And, anyone who refused to have the mark couldn’t get the necessities of life and could possibly be killed. Anyway, these people who refused the mark and where martyred are to be resurrected first and allowed to reign with Christ for this 1000 years. Could it be then that we have been in the millennium for 10 years so far? Have we missed the Second Coming? Nada!!
          Again, what should we get from this study? God is in control, and no matter what generation you are a part of, be ready!

Week of: June 17, 2007
Series: Prophecy
Title: Part 10 ~ Left Behind?
Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

          Let me see a show of hands: Who is an Amillennialist? A Postmillennialist? A Premillennialist? Well, maybe you’ll know a little more of what you are and what you are not before our time is over today. Remember, most people who give serious thought to their belief in the Bible and their understanding of the Book of Revelations organize their thinking around the concept of the millennium. The millennium is the earthly and limited reign of Christ on this earth. It is characterized by a time of peace on the earth made possible by the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and the binding of Satan into a bottomless pit. (Revelation 19 & 20) It will be a time on earth when “every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, sing: To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, forever and ever.” (Revelation 5:13) Of course, the question becomes how literal or symbolic do we take a 1000 year reign of Christ and how does this fit into the timeline that John foresees in Revelations? How you see these issues will go a long way in deciding what kind of millennialist you are, if any.
          The word “Amillennialist” has the prefix “a” in front of it which means “no millennium” (see #1 on handout). The people who characterize themselves in this group don’t believe in a literal 1000 year reign but interpret it symbolically, saying that Christ’s reign started when He rose from the dead and will continue until He someday returns. Many believe that the binding of Satan occurred at the First Coming of Jesus Christ with the death and resurrection of Jesus. They believe many of the prophecies have already been fulfilled (preterists), but still look forward to Jesus’ bodily return.
          Postmillennialism literally means “after the millennium.” It essentially says Jesus will return after the 1000 year reign that you and I and other Christians have established by our hard work here on earth. While some postmillennialists take the 1000 years very literally, most interpret it symbolically to mean a very long time. In Matthew 16:18 Jesus says: “I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.” The postmillennial people believe not only will the powers of hell not conquer the church, but the opposite will take place. The church will “whoop up on” the forces of evil and prepare the world for Jesus’ coming. The Civil War song “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” expressed the postmillennial hope that God will accomplish His purposes through the Yankee armies. Post-mills have a kind of optimism that says: “We just need to work harder and try hard as a church and the world will be a fit place for Jesus to Come.”
          Pre-millennialism or Pre-mills believe that Jesus will come before the millennium, to establish a literal 1000 year reign. A-mills see the 1000 year reign as symbolically already taking place, Post-mills see it as gradually getting here, after hard work by the church. Pre-mills believe that it will come cataclysmically, with global upheaval and suffering like the world has never known – a Great Tribulation (Revelation 7:14). (See time line)
          I personally believe that while the pre-mill position is the most pessimistic, it does fit the Book of Revelation position the best. However, I don’t agree with Hal Lindsey, Tim LaHaye, Kenneth Copland, Rex Humbard, John Hagee, and a gentleman by the name of John Walvoord. They are pre-mills but they are also dispensationalist pre-mills. They are called dispensationalist because they generally follow the Scofield Reference Bible of 1909/17 which says that human history is divided into seven dispensations or ages: the age of innocence (garden of Eden), conscience (Adam to Noah), human government (Noah to Abraham), promise (Abraham to Moses), Law (Moses to Christ), church age (from Christ’s first to Second Coming), and then the millennium.
          Scofield’s ages are neat and nice but I see no scriptural evidence that suggests that there are seven ages. In fact, there are only two ages mentioned in the Bible, the present age and the age to come. If you’ll remember our discussions of the Holy Spirit, we are in the between times, in which the present age is winding down and the age to come is coming in and someday will be consummated at the Second Coming.  I do believe there is scriptural evidence for a “great tribulation” and in that Tim LaHaye, Hal Lindsey, John Hagee, and I do have in common. However, I don’t believe that 7 years of tribulation has to be a literal 7 years. Again, I think it is the Bible’s way of talking about a time of trouble and tribulation directed against God’s people that the world has never seen, nor will ever see like it again. In this worst case scenario, Christians all over the word will be martyred and imprisoned because of Christ. There will be no place in which God’s people can hide from the dragon, the beasts, the false prophets.
          Did you notice that I said: “Christians all over the world will be martyred and imprisoned for Christ?” This is where I, and others like me, disagree the most with Tim LaHaye and John Hagee and other dispensationalists. I do not believe that the church (you and I if we are still alive) will be spared the Great Tribulation once it begins. Listen, I know that God in his infinite wisdom and mercy does sometimes spare His people from the worst in life. However, God’s people do suffer. They have always suffered in history and they will continue to suffer until Jesus comes. We don’t like to believe it and admit it. I used to sit and listen to my preacher talk about the horrors of the Great Tribulation and he could make it sound so bad. But then he would always say: “Don’t be frightened. God will spare His church because we will be raptured out.” Then I’d sit back and breathe a sigh of relief.
          Well, the Bible does talk about a rapture, or as our scripture this morning states, “being caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air.” In fact, there is hymn about this that we sing. “One glad morning when this life is over I’ll fly away. I’ll fly away sweet Jesus, I’ll fly away, to a land on God’s celestial shores, I’ll fly away.” This hymn and this scripture talk about Jesus bringing the dead with Him and those alive in Christ will be caught up to meet them. It is at His Second Coming that the dead in Christ will come and those alive will meet them. There is no evidence that a rapture will take place before the Great Tribulation — but only at the Second Coming. The Second Coming follows the tribulation in the Book of Revelation, followed by the chaining of Satan and the 1000 year reign.
          Now there are those that say there are two Second Comings. One is partial, with Jesus coming at the beginning of the Tribulation and then the full Second Coming after the Tribulation. If you ask when is this first and partial Second Coming in which the Church is raptured up, they say between chapter 3 and chapter 4 of the Book of Revelation? Turn with me to that part of your Bible. What is between 3 and 4? Nothing! I could just as easily say there is going to be a 3rd Second Coming between chapters 4 and 5, and so on. To which you might be thinking, why are we even talking about this? What does it matter? Maybe in the end when everything plays out, and we inherit our heavenly home it won’t, but there are so many people who don’t know what to believe and they will believe anything.

          I was talking to someone the other day that was reading Tim LaHaye’s Left Behind series and they said: “Preacher this is great stuff and it’s Bible.” It may or may not be great stuff, but it is not Bible, or least it is not all Bible. I am personally glad that people are reading it, because it gets people discussing the Bible, but I believe there are other Biblical alternatives.