The disciples asked Jesus, “Tell us, when shall these things be?” And Jesus said, “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.” (Matthew 24: 3,36)
And when the Pharisees demanded an answer to the same question, Jesus said, “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation.” (Luke 17:20)
So my short answer to the question can only be, “How could I possibly know?”
I would say most of my fellow Christians believe that these are, if not the last days themselves, then at least their precursor. It’s not my place to say they’re right or wrong, because I don’t know.
But this fallen world has known other ages that must certainly have convinced people that the end was right around the corner.
*The fall of Rome in A.D. 410 and the ensuing collapse of Roman civilization throughout Western Europe.
*The seemingly irresistible aggressions of Islam during the 7th and 8th centuries, culminating in the fall of Constantinople in 1453.
*The Black Death in the 1300s.
*The Thirty Years’ War, in the 1600s.
*Most of the Twentieth Century, including two world wars, several holocausts (such as Mao’s Great Leap Forward, which forced untimely death on at least 40 million Chinese in just five years), the use of nuclear weapons, and the flowering of most of the toxic, pernicious follies that afflict our 21st century.
Like many of you, I pray every day that the Lord would deliver us out of this evil age, which is more evil, more monstrous, and more insane than anything I could ever have imagined.
We are all enjoined by Our Lord to watch, and be found at our posts when He comes. If He comes tomorrow, we will all rejoice. If He comes a thousand years from now, we’ll have to watch from Heaven, and do our rejoicing there.
If anyone demands of us a date for Christ’s return, they’re only doing it to find an excuse to laugh at us. Let’s not give them one. Let’s watch and be ready, as Our Lord commanded. Do the work He has given us, hope, pray… and love.
I don’t know what else to say.
True, we do not know the day or the hour, but we are commanded to watch and pray and discern the signs of the times. In today’s world, events appear to be happening and prophecy fulfilled at a much more accelerated rate than any time in human history. So, as Christians, we watch, pray and discern the times.
All I can think to do is to put my head down and keep on pulling the plow until my Lord bids me stop.
I’ve had similar discussions on a forum I frequent. My short answer is yes, I believe we are. Other generations may have thought the same thing, but there was one thing missing. So many prophecies are dependent on Israel being back in the land, which wasn’t the case for nearly 2000 years. I also believe the 6000 year theory does have some merit.
Apart from that I do believe we are heard toward something, one of those things being world government. Another distinguishing characteristic of this generation is the increase in knowledge. For the first time in history we have the ability to completely destroy ourselves. Then there are things like the ability to alter our genetic code and trans-humanism which creates some scary possibilities. Judging by the way this world is going, I don’t think we have a few decades left let alone 1,000 years.
I’m sometimes taken to task for not paying enough attention to eschatology. This one foretells that Y2K is going to be the end, the other declares that the Antichrist will be revealed next month. And then it doesn’t happen–and I don’t want to be standing beside them when it doesn’t.
I would love with all my heart for God to intervene, for our Savior to return with His angels and put a stop to all this madness. This evening would be a good time!
The only thing I’m sure of is that, if we were to actually destroy ourselves or destroy the Plaaaanet, or whatever, then Jesus would have gone to an awful lot of trouble for nothing–and I’m positively sure He didn’t.
How about, “AMEN!”
Evelyn