NUMBER ONE: CAN THE WORLD COME TO AN END?

For Jesus' disciples, raised in a first century Jewish context of messianic expectations and apocalyptic prophecies, it was not  a question of "Can?" but "When?" So they asked their teacher, Rabbi Jesus, whom they also believed to be the messianic Redeemer, "What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" (Matthew 24:3). Jesus stated that spiritual deception, false messiahs, war, famine, persecution and death of his followers, an Antichrist figure appearing in the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, and natural catastrophes  would all precede his literal return to earth. So desperate will be conditions on earth, that "no life would have been saved, but for the sake of the  elect [the Christ followers still alive on earth], those days will be cut short" (Matthew 24:22). Jesus refers to these upheavals on earth as "birth pangs" (Matthew 24:). Other Rabbis and scribes of early Judaism refer to the "footsteps of the Messiah" and the "birth pangs of the Messiah" with similar characteristics: religious and social trends that will precede the end of this age.

     Is such teaching just a religious myth? Is it a metaphor without actual fulfillment in history? Or is the question of his disciples and Jesus' response a dire warning to prepare yourself for a future of apocalyptic disasters, and material, social, and ecological decline that has never been experienced on such a complete worldwide scale in human history?  

     Let us respond with several related questions. 1) Is there really a problem? The World Watch Institute, founded by Lester Brown in 1974, states, ".. if we care about our future we have no other choice but to launch a worldwide effort to stabilize our life support systems - soils, fisheries, aquifers, and forests - and the climate system." The Earth Policy Institute, also founded by Brown in 2000, highlights, among other problems, shrinking grain supplies in the Middle East, as growing populations exceed the amount of arable land and water needed for increased demand. Because of multiple environmental crises, the "Doomsday Clock" of the University of Chicago was recently advanced to 5 minutes before midnight to reflect the worsening world situation. Such predictions of world disaster by the "Doomsters" have been opposed by the "Cornucopians" - a group associated with late economist Julian Simon. A "Cornucopian" is, ".. a futurist who believes that continued progress and provision of material items for humankind can be met by continued advances in technology... there is enough matter and energy on the earth to provide for the ever rising population of the world." But such a wonderful picture of the future seems to be fading as the predictions of the "Doomsters" seem to be coming true: increasing famine, climate change leading to drought, exhaustion of large world aquifers by increased water use for irrigation, leading to more famine. So, is the world in jepoardy? Yes, even though there are still voices of denial among some politicians and scientists in the secular world.

     New Testament teaching agrees with the predictions of the most prominent environmentalists: this age is headed toward massive  social and economic disaster; indeed, it has already begun. 2) Can the disaster of the end of this age be prevented by human effort?. Lester Brown, Ehrlich, and many other environmentalists have worked tirelessly to educate, to inform, to warn of the impending crisis, but the response of human governments has often been resistant, sluggish, and not uniform. 

Characteristics of the biblical doctrine of sin are procrastination, and not doing what is right, necessary, and rational. Can the human race and their leaders overcome the inertia of sinful materialism, greed, laziness, war, and disunity that has characterized the human experience through history? Such an advance in human nature seems unlikely as we observe world political conflict fueled by various interest groups and political parties. The teaching of the prophet Daniel seems to be distressingly true: "Even to the  end there will be war; desolations are determined" (Daniel 9:26). Scripture speaks of the Antichrist, a world leader who will unify the world, but who will turn against the people of God, who will not worship him. His efforts to control the world will fail. 3) Is the Judeo-Christian religious tradition responsible for the ecological disaster of our times? I have heard people blame Christians and the Bible for the current crisis based on Genesis 1:26: "Let them [humankind] rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth." This is taken by some as evidence that "rule over" encourages the destruction of the ecosystem. What the critics overlook are the specific commands to the Hebrew people to observe a Sabbatical year every 7 years and a "Jubilee" year every 49 years in order for the land to revive. Also ignored are specific limitations on cutting down trees (compare Leviticus 25; Deuteronomy 20:19). God brought judgement upon the people for not keeping these commands as well as rejecting the moral teaching of his word. As a result, Isaiah's dreadful vision of the future: "The earth is also polluted by its inhabitants, for they transgressed laws, violated statutes, broke the everlasting covenant. Therefore, a curse devours the earth and those who live in it are held guilty... the earth is broken .. it will fall, never to rise again" (Isaiah 24:5-6, 19-20). Human responsibility to "rule over the earth" was really intended to be more of a stewardship or caretaker role rather than an exploitation of resources in modern terms. 4) How should evangelical Christians respond to the impending crisis? They should recycle their waste products, use solar and wind energy, and limit their consumption of resources. Why? Because these practices conserve what God originally created. Because these habits are a discipline of self, which is a biblical virtue. Because restricting my consumption leaves something for someone else who has less - a practice consistent with Christian love and generosity. Of course, a biblical, evangelical Christian cannot worship Gaia, the creation goddess of New Age eco-theology, for in biblical theology,  the God of the Bible, Yahweh, has created all things through Jesus, the eternal Word of God: "all things came into being through  him, and apart from him, nothing came into being (John 1:3). It is humankind, out of a sinful nature, that has trashed the creation, what God originally called "good" (Genesis 1:10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31). The Christian is faced with the same impending crisis as the secularist, but has the advantage of hope: the recreation of a new heavens and new earth by Christ in the age to come after the collapse of this age in eco-disaster and the deception of the Antichrist. The apostle John's vision: ".. and I saw a new heavens and a new earth.. 'Behold, I [Jesus] am making all things new" (Revelation 21:5).

NUMBER TWO: HAVE WE ENTERED THE TIME OF THE "END OF THE AGE"?

  Most of the preceding section was written about six years ago. But since then (2016) remarkable events and developments from the standpoints of ecological degradation, world health, and political and social departure from Biblical teaching have clearly raised the question; "Is the world accelerating toward a final catastrophic end?" If so, do the present trends correlate with the teaching of Jesus and the apostles found in the New Testament? And if this is true, how can one face this kind of a future?

  To quickly summarize from the ecological standpoint: The acceleration of glacial shrinkage continues at an alarming rate with definite "cascading impacts on downstream systems" (A. Milner, et. al., "Glacial Shrinkage driving global changes in downstream systems" PNAS [37] 9770). In other words, there will be continued destruction of biodiversity and climate "stabilizers" such as the Gulf Stream, continuing "heat domes," bringing death to both humans and animal species, wild fires, and drought with resulting famine. From the world health perspective, COVID is now (July 2021) is surging again, especially among the unvaccinated with the prospect of increasing deaths. The development of COVID variants presents worrisome possibilities. From the standpoint of politics and social trends, great conflict surrounds such movements as that of LGBTQ, replacing any kind of traditional male-female sexuality with the Omnisexual view. Other developments include advocates of "pornographic literacy" of first graders at the Dalton School in New York (Fox News 7/8/21; compare with Washington Post 6/29/21).

  It is remarkable how these trends correlate with the New Testament teaching of Jesus and the apostles. Famine, pandemic, ecological disorder, and abandonment of any kind of biblical morality are both plainly mentioned and portrayed in apocalyptic language in several passages of New Testament teaching. First, Jesus taught, agreeing with other Rabbis of Judaism, that famine and earthquakes will precede his return ("Are Earthquakes Becoming More Frequent? MINT 7/18/21; contested by National Environment Research Council, "Earthquake Seismology" UKRI 2021). John the apostle describes his vision of famine and pestilence in apocalyptic language: ".. behold a black horse; and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand.. 'A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius.. and behold an ashen horse and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following with him. And authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence .." (Revelation 6:5-8). Jesus and Paul both predict the rejection of biblical ethics and morality: ".. because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold" (Matthew 24:12), " .. it [the "Day of the Lord," the final day] will not come unless the apostasy comes first" (2 Thessalonians 2:3). The "apostasy" Paul speaks of is a "falling away from," a "standing away from" [apostasia, literally, to "stand away from"] any kind of Biblical teaching. This would include a rejection of all the Bible teaches on creation as opposed to evolutionary theory, gender distinction as apposed to "omnisexuality" including the LGBTQ movement, the uniqueness of spiritual salvation in Jesus of Nazareth only as opposed to religious pluralism and universal salvation by any spiritual path, spiritual deception and promotion of false Messiah figures including a final "Antichrist" leader. Jesus warned, "When you see the Abomination of Desolation standing in the holy place.. [the Antichrist in the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem]" the end will be near. But this Antichrist is preceded by the Apostasy (Matthew 24:15).

  These three basic trends, ecological degradation, world health crisis, and social departure from Biblical teaching, are coming together as a unified complex. They point clearly and unmistakably to the final "end of the age" of which Jesus spoke: a final terrifying period of "great tribulation" in which no one at all could survive unless those days were shortened by God himself (Matthew 24:21). 

  At this point, Jesus predicted his literal return and a final judgement of the whole world: "And they will see.. the Son of Man ["I" in Jewish Aramaic,  so Jesus is referring to himself] coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory" (Matthew 24:30). Can this really happen? Look at the signs of ecological death, the world health crisis, and world apostasy all around us: these are predicted in the New Testament and are being fulfilled before our eyes.

  How to face this? Turn from the current world views of religious pluralism. Be willing to accept the Biblical world view. Trust yourself to Jesus of Nazareth by faith, a faith based on historical fulfillments. Accept him by faith as the one who made a sacrifice for your wrong doing [what the scriptures refer to as "sin," a failure to follow the ten commandments of loving the one true God, loving your "neighbor as yourself," a failure to not steal, not lie, etc.]. Jesus is the one predicted by the prophet Isaiah as the, "Servant of the Lord", "the righteous [sinless] Servant who make many [people] righteous (Isaiah 53:11)." Test him and see for yourself: if he is the omniscient and omnipresent God the Son, he is able to hear your prayer for help and will enter into your life, begin to transform you, and bring you to final salvation at "the end of the age."