Two of the chief books on end time prophecy are Danial and Revelations within the Bible (which is a collection of inspired books and writings). One very important concept to keep in mind when reading these two books is that Daniel was instructed to seal up the words of the prophecy as the time was far off. Though within the book of Revelations, John was instructed not to seal up the words of the prophecy as the time was at hand. It is my understanding that Daniel’s ‘seal’ has now been opened, as the angel said to seal up until the time of the end, which according to the angel communicating to John, the end was at hand. Two thousand plus years seems a long time off since Revelations was delivered; but let’s face it, the Lord has been harvesting a great crop from the earth’s vine since the days of Pentecost. The longer he delays His return, the more souls are being gathered into his kingdom; so we should not be selfish in this regard if he doesn’t return during our lifetime.

There are endless interpretations and explanations of Jesus’ 2^nd coming. Many diagrams and timelines have been developed. Many have predicted exact days in the past, to no avail. I’m of the strong belief that just like the Pharisees in the days of Christ, many scholars and bible teachers have/will totally miss the signs that are expounded in the scriptures on this subject. For example, the Pharisees said that Jesus could not be the Christ because Elijah had to return first, according to the scripture. To confuse them even more, when they asked John the Baptist if he was Elijah that was prophesied to return, he said no. Christ however reveals that John the Baptist came in the spirit of Elijah and thereby fulfilled that scripture. The Pharisees understanding was totally wrong in this regard of Christ’s first coming (in that Elijah himself did not appear at all as they were expecting). Therefore, how wrong could our present understanding be of the leadup to His second coming?

Personally, I believe that a child of a reasonable age and comprehension can understand the end time prophecies if they prayerfully read and re-read them with no preconceived timelines or diagrams in their mind. Remember, a little leaven affects the whole lump (meaning a little false teaching tucked in here and there greatly affects our faith). For example, Daniel’s vision reveals four kingdoms, and Christ’s kingdom being setup during the reign of the 4^th – which destroys all four kingdoms. Revelations reveal one kingdom in this context. Therefore, it stands to reason that the single kingdom in Revelations is the fourth kingdom mentioned in Daniel. That fourth kingdom aligns to the Roman empire (as Greece is mentioned by name as the 3rd kingdom). During the time of the 4th kingdom, the Roman Empire, the kingdom of God was setup with Christ’s birth, death and resurrection. The Roman Empire fell (was broken) as was expounded to happen in Daniel. Although something we totally miss; a casual reading of history from those days until around the 1600’s, the ruling world power was still based in Rome, however not to the extent of the power that the Roman emperors exercised – but partly strong, partly broken.

I propose that one major flaw in much end time prophecy expounded by many, is the waiting for and the expectancy of the antichrist to appear sometime in the future as a trigger to the count-down of Christ’s imminent return. It doesn’t take much searching in history to see the wholesale destruction and persecution of the God’s people from the early church until recent history (a war on the saints); many things mentioned in Revelations being playing out in the history books. One such book is of immense importance in this regard, called Foxe’s Book of Martyrs. Women and children, preachers and lay people, being violently executed by the ruling powers of the day for not bowing down to various religious beliefs. To show the immense darkness forced on the populations in those days, in England, for example, during the 1500’s people were put to death if they were found with an English translation of the bible by the ruling religious leaders of the day (calling themselves the representation of Christ on earth). Today Christians are commonly persecuted and mocked in our modern world in various nations. Not so prominently communicated today is the killing of converts to Christianity by family members of some major religious groups. This is the ongoing fulfilment of what John saw in the book of Revelations regarding the actions of antichrist, which many are still waiting to be revealed sometime in the future, according to various end-time diagrams and charts. Put simply, antichrist was alive and well during Christ’s time, not to mention ours. Also, the riddle of 666 – remember all riddles are written to side-step our thinking to miss the central meaning, otherwise they are not a riddle. The ‘side-step’ in the 666 riddle is that is says it’s the number of a man. The riddle doesn’t say that antichrist is a man.

With each church generation hoping for the immediate return of Christ, which could happen any day, as no one knows of that day or hour, we forget the central purpose of this planet and the human race. The Lord sits as a vine-dresser, watering each day and night to keep it safe, and gleaning fruit until the end comes (the fruit being a percentage of 160,000 plus who die each day). Once the end time arrives, the vine will be discarded but the fruit will abide forever. He is in the process of creating His bride; which is taking thousands of years, not just a matter of days as in the first creation. This is the central purpose of the human race’s existence, and all end time prophecy should be read with this perspective in mind. Do give God space to enlighten His Word as you read, rather than quickly turning to modern day Pharisees for their interpretation.

First published 12 Oct 2023