A RISE IN APOSTASY

Apostasy is essentially the abandonment of one’s personal religious faith. More specifically, the biblical references to the falling away of faith tend to be in regard to denying the Trinity of YHVH or the belief that Yeshua was both human and divine {1 John 2:22-23}. And Scripture consistently warns of an increase of apostasy in the last days. [The “last days” can be technically defined as anytime after the life of Yeshua {Hebrews 1:2}, but the term is more frequently equated with the end times.] We are told: “For the [coming again of our Adonai Yeshua Moshiach] will not come until there is a great rebellion against YHVH and the man of lawlessness is revealed - the one who brings destruction” {2 Thessalonians 2:3}. YHVH is being patient with humanity, hoping that as many as possible will respond to His gracious offer of salvation, so He postpones the final deadline for our benefit {2 Peter 3:8-9}. But the longer Yeshua waits to return, the more likely certain people are to use the delay as evidence that He’s not coming back at all {2 Peter 3:3-4}. Most of today’s believers have dealt with apostasy of peers or family members. And as time goes by, apostasy is likely to spread.

A RUN OF THE MILLENIUM THEORIES

The Bible indicates quite clearly that all these events are to take place. Yet nowhere does it provide us with a timetable or even a definite sequence of events. Indeed, teachings about the last days are scattered throughout Scripture. The book of Revelation centers around that theme, but it uses many symbols and analogies that can be interpreted various ways. In addition, the information in Revelation is better understood when supported by valuable clues found in Daniel, Zephaniah, the teachings of Yeshua and Paul and other places. So it should not seem strange that when different Bible scholars study the bulk of material about the last days, they come up with divergent views of what to expect. Let’s start by taking a look at three traditional ways of interpreting the available information.

THE POSTMILLENIUM VIEWPOINT

“Postmillennial” refers to the perception that the second coming of Yeshua will take place after [“post”] the 1000-year period spoken of in Revelation. And many post-millennialists suggest the thousand years is a generalization rather than a literal millennium - it might indeed be a much longer period of time. The thinking is that as the gospel continues to spread, the world should become a much better place. At some point [which some people suggest was the first coming of Yeshua and others believe is yet in the future], the “millennium” will officially begin. During this time, the world will undergo a remarkable period of intense peace and righteousness. And after a thousand years [or so] of such vast improvement, then Yeshua returns, at which time judgment and resurrection will take place. From the postmillennial viewpoint, sin is not completely done away with during the millennium but is evident to a much lesser degree than in times past.

THE A-MILLENIUM VIEWPOINT

The “a-” prefix indicates “against,” such as in the words amoral or atypical. So the amillennial viewpoint is one that doesn’t really endorse the millennium as a literal span of time. Amillennialists believe that both good and evil will continue to develop simultaneously until Yeshua returns at the end of the world. At that time, we can expect judgment and resurrection. The biblical passages referring to the millennium are said to refer either to the current age where the church has a certain level of influence in the world or to believers who have gone to heaven. But amillennialists are not expecting a specific thousand years or so when Yeshua will rule on earth. The beliefs of a-millennialism are formulated by taking a less literal view of many key biblical passages - particularly prophecies which cannot be interpreted with absolute certainty. One of history’s best-known amillennialists was Augustine. In his famous work, City of YHVH, he wrote that the millennium would be the time between the first and second comings of the Moshiach. That was thought to be the time when Satan was bound and the saints would reign with Yeshua. Of course, Augustine lived from 354 until 430, so his theory could not be proved or disproved for over 500 years after he died. And indeed, there was considerable end-times speculation connected with the year 1000. But when Yeshua didn’t return at that time, a-millennialists adopted a less literal interpretation of the 1,000-year length of time connected with the millennium.

THE PRE-MILLENIUM VIEWPOINT

The premillennial view of the end times is based on a more literal interpretation of Scripture and therefore can be a bit more complicated to understand and/or explain. The basic thinking is that the return of Yeshua will take place prior to the millennium, and He will rule on earth for 1,000 years. Many proponents of premillennialism believe the great tribulation will be a seven-year period preceding the return of Yeshua and His millennial Kingdom. But they disagree more frequently about the rapture of the church. Some people strongly believe that believers will suffer through the entire tribulation along with the rest of the world. Others believe just as strongly that YHVH will remove believers before the worst comes to pass. Arguments can be made that the rapture of the church might occur:

(1) prior to the beginning of the great tribulation;
(2) at the midpoint of the tribulation; or
(3) at the end of the tribulation.

Those who support one of the first two options must make allowances for more than one period of divine judgment and resurrection of the dead. If existing believers are instantly “raptured” [and therefore judged/rewarded] at one point, the nonbelievers therefore will not be judged until later. And assuming that some people will become believers during the great tribulation [even though it is likely to be a difficult choice to make under the circumstances], their rewards and resurrections will necessarily be later than the first batch of raptured believers.

IS THERE NO END TO END-TIME SPECULATIONS?

So the variables continue to multiply. Does Yeshua come back before or after the millennium? Will there even be a literal 1,000-years? And if so, how does the great tribulation fit into the picture? Will the “rapture” of the church occur in time to prevent believers from suffering the horrendous ordeals described in Revelation or will they have to endure the worst persecution in history? Believers have all sorts of speculations and expectations when it comes to the end times and just because they tend to disagree doesn’t mean one group is necessarily more spiritual than another. To further complicate matters, many scholars go to great lengths to try to figure out how YHVH will fulfill many of the promises He has made throughout Scripture. The Old Testament is filled with promises to the Jewish people - especially when it comes to specific covenants with Abraham, David and others. Many promises are also made to New Testament believers. As the wick of time burns down to the last remaining days on Planet Earth, those believing in the inerrancy of Scripture assume that all of YHVH’s promises will be fulfilled. So they search the Bible to find promises and then try to work them into the big puzzle of what’s going to happen during the end times. And the more biblical references we compile about the last days, the less this puzzle seems like a jigsaw and the more it seems like a Rubik’s cube. But if we can learn to work on the puzzle regularly, without getting overly frustrated when we can’t solve it right away, perhaps much of the confusion will clear up. If you have an interest in this area of Bible study, perhaps you should read a lot of varying opinions. See how each author stacks his or her presuppositions against what Scripture has to say. You aren’t likely to completely agree with [or even understand] any single scholar. But you are likely to discover yourself thinking, "That makes sense in some cases and, that can’t be right in others."

A SURE THING

In the meantime, don’t get flustered if you don’t understand it all. No one does! And just because we can’t soak it all in and make sense of it, we shouldn’t ignore it all, either. The book of Revelation, the record of all the end-times events John witnessed, was recorded to be sent out to various churches in order to encourage them and provide them with hope! For all the doom and gloom involved, the primary message is that YHVH is always in control and will one day put a final end to all the sin and evil in the world. He will even put an end to the world, but only because He has something incredibly better in store for those who put their faith in Him. As some people look into the future, all they see is Doomsday, so they respond with terror or overcompensate by shifting into party mode: Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die. But believers see beyond the doom of the end times. For them, it is the final chapter in a history of sin and suffering. It’s the turning point that reunites them with YHVH the way YHVH intended things to be from the beginning. We should certainly enjoy all the good things of the world while we can. Sure, we will face some down times. We will suffer because of the evil around us. We will have physical hurts and emotional scars. But YHVH never deserts us and He gives us the strength we need to overcome. And for those who overcome, incomprehensible wonders lie ahead. As we struggle with all the confusing aspects of the end times, a few things should remain clear. First of all, the assurance of life after death keeps coming through. For those who belong to YHVH, this is nothing but good news. And if we really believe this, then we can even learn to have a different perspective on life when things don’t go as we wish. Our pains - even chronic, life-long pains - are only temporary! {2 Corinthians 4:16-18} In spite of such things, we can maintain a measure of hope and joy. And realizing that judgment and reward lie ahead, we are also motivated to hold fast to the instructions of Scripture. The expectation of standing before YHVH someday should encourage us to righteousness and purity. The theme of believers should be, “REJOICE and be HOLY, for tomorrow we live forever.” If we downplay the importance of end-times teachings, we might miss out on some realities that should inspire us throughout our lifetimes. But if we continue to struggle with understanding such things - muddled though our thinking might be - we will eventually come to some rewarding insights.