03.05. The First Signs of the End of the Age
The First Signs of the End of the Age
While many people focus on the “antichrist”, “mark of the beast”, the “666”, the false prophet or what the identity of the identity of the nation (i.e., the revived Roman empire or Babylon) is, there is much that will happen prior to that. Other then the 144,000 Israelites that are sealed at the opening of the sixth seal, no believers from the present age will be around for all those events. We really need to focus on the present time period to the time of the rapture. So, what are the first signs that will appear? The first sign would likely be the re-establishing of the Jewish nation. This really is a pre-requisite for much that follows. You cannot have the 70th week until you have the Jewish nation re-established and the 3rd temple built. The establishment of the Jewish state happened in 1948. The second could be that the Gospel has been proclaimed throughout all nations, or virtually all nations. The third is the one that we should really focus on. As just mentioned, the “apostacy” has to come first. Apostacy refers to the falling away from and or rebelling. Is this apostacy the world or the Church or the man of lawlessness? In conjunction with this, Jesus said:
“And at that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. (Mat 24:10 LSB)
John MacArthur believes that it refers to the man of lawlessnessix. It is somewhat interesting to look at his argument. He first establishes that “apostacy” means:
Thus, the word marks a deliberate defection from a formerly held religious positionx.
He then goes on to identify the apostacy with the man of lawlessness. The apostle identified the apostasy by naming the key character connected with it: the man of lawlessness. Understanding who that key person is, is a prerequisite to identifying the apostasy event. Anomia (lawlessness) literally means “without law”xi he will drop all pretense and the previously hidden wickedness of his character will be fully disclosed. God and the Lord Jesus will not have appeared as his enemies until the time he is revealed.xii Antichrist will lead the world astray into destruction (Rev 13:5-8).
After initially posing as the friend of religion (cf. Rev 17:13), Antichrist will suddenly reveal his true nature when he commits blasphemy against God and opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worshipxiii
Since apostacy is a “deliberate defection from a formerly held religious position” then how do you apply this to the “man lawlessness”, since it is unlikely that he ever held to the true position of accepting God? Since this “man of lawlessness” seems to be identified with the beast in Revelation, and this beast was empowered by Satan, it seems unlikely that he held a godly view at any time. Thus, the only option for this view is to suggest that he was deceptive and made himself out to be godly, but does that really fit with the definition of apostasy? In this view, the apostasy would really have to apply to those who are deceived by the man of lawlessness and desert the faith. He was given power to make war with the saints and overcome them in Rev 13:7. In this larger passage, it does not seem to say that the believers were deceived as the saints are called to persevere in this persecution. The ones that were deceived are those that dwell on the earth. This seems to refer more to the unbelievers than those that believed. Rev 13:13-14.
William Macdonald in the Believers Bible Commentary puts it after the rapture.
Now the apostle explains why they could not be in that Day. Certain events must take place first. After the Rapture, these events will begin to happen.
First of all there will be the falling away, or the apostasy. What does this mean? We can only surmise that it refers to a wholesale abandonment of Christianity, a positive rejection of the Christian faith.xiv
He is likely right in that it is a wholesale abandonment of Christianity, but does it fit after the rapture? After the rapture, there will only be the 144,000 Israelites and then the 2 witnesses. I would suspect that those that come to Christ in that time period will likely be quite committed Christians as they are going through the judgments of God and have turned to God during those circumstances.
Michael Martin in the New American Commentary series makes the following observations: The temporal relationship between the rebellion and the man of lawlessness is not certain.xv Paul’s comments here are simply not detailed enough to make a certain determination on this point.xvi
Neither did Paul elaborate on the nature of “the rebellion” (apostasia), which therefore must already have been a well-defined concept for the Thessalonians. Apostasia indicates an act of abandoning or moving away from a position formerly held.
Religiously it means to desert one’s faith.xvii
Thus it seems likely that the apostasy Paul had in mind expanded on Jewish apocalyptic expectations and envisioned a dramatic and climactic falling away from the worship of the true God (by both Jews and some portion of the Christian church) as a part of the complex of events at the end of the age.xix Thomas Constable in the Bible Knowledge commentary states:
One major event is the rebellion (lit., “the falling away,” ῾η ἀποστασία, from whence comes the English word “apostasy”). This is a revolt, a departure, an abandoning of a position once held. This rebellion, which will take place within the professing church, will be a departure from the truth that God has revealed in His Word. True, apostasy has characterized the church almost from its inception, but Paul referred to a specific distinguishable apostasy that will come in the futurexx Knute Larson in the Holman Bible Commentary states:
Before that great day comes, Paul declared, the rebellion must occur. The word used here is apostasia, or apostasy. Before the day of the Lord, there will be a great denial, a deliberate turning away by those who profess to belong to Christ. It will be a rebellion. Having once allied themselves with Christ, they will abandon him. Within the recognized church there will come a time when people will forsake their faith. Throughout history there have been defections from the faith. But the apostasy about which he wrote to the Thessalonians would be of greater magnitude and would signal the coming of the end.xxi In “The coming Apostasy” Mark Hitchcock and Jeff Kinley state: The definite article appears before the word “apostasy” signaling that this is not just any departure from the faith but one that is unique and that the readers apparently knew about. It is the apostasy. This final apostasy will entail a large-scale, widespread falling away on the part of those who profess to know Godxxii G. K. Beale in his commentary states:
Such a meaning is apparent because of the immediate context of false teaching (2:1–2, 9–12) and the clear allusions to Daniel’s prediction of an end-time opponent who will bring about a large-scale compromise of faith among God’s people. The apostasy will not occur primarily in the non-Christian world but rather within the covenant community, as is clear from four observations. (1) A “falling away” assumes some sort of prior turning to God. (2) This is consistent with the above-noted usage of apostasia in the Old Testament. (3) It is also consistent with the immediate context of deception within the church. (4) It is supported by the closest verbal parallel to this passage, namely, Martyrdom of Isa 2:4-5, where “the angel of iniquity” empowers evil Manasseh “in causing apostasy [apostasia], and in the lawlessness [anomia] that was disseminated in Jerusalem,” that is, among God’s people.xxiii
So, likely, we are looking for a general and widespread falling away from and rebelling against God by the Church that will be noticeably different from anything in the past. It is best though, not to be dogmatic about this point, as the main thrust of Paul was that it was prior to the second coming of Jesus.
Note also Paul’s statement to Timothy. But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by the hypocrisy of liars, who have been seared in their own conscience, …(1Ti 4:1-2 LSB) But know this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, without gentleness, without love for good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, but having denied its power. Keep away from such men as these. For among them are those who enter into households and take captive weak women weighed down with sins, being led on by various desires, always learning and never able to come to the full knowledge of the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, disqualified in regard to the faith. But they will not make further progress, for their folly will be obvious to all, just as theirs was also. But you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance, persecutions, and sufferings, such as happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium and at Lystra. What persecutions I endured, and out of them all the Lord rescued me! Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. (2Ti 3:1-13 LSB) Peter states the following: knowing this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.” (2Pe 3:3-4 LSB)
Jude also writes in a similar way. This type of thing was already happening in the early Church, but this apostacy of the end times will be much more widespread and engulf virtually the whole Church. So, what would that look like? What types of things should we be looking for? In the early Church there were apostles, teachers and other Church leaders that would speak against the false teachings and practices with authority and generally, the true doctrine was established. The end times would likely reflect a refusal to accept God’s Word and truth by Church leaders, Seminaries, Bible Colleges and Christians in general. Jesus says that
“Many false prophets will arise and will deceive many. “And because lawlessness is multiplied, most people’s love will grow cold. (Mat 24:11-12 LSB)
If there is any doubt that the religious leaders would become apostate, we just need to look back in history. Jeremiah talks about the prophet and priest being polluted. (Jer 23:11). Jesus addressed the false teachings and practices of the religious leaders of His day. The New Testament writers address false teachings and teachers and warn about future false teachers in the church. The early Church fathers wrote against heresies and the reformers confronted the false teachings of the Catholic Church. More information is in this article. As we look at these verses, we find some common themes. The first is false teaching. Here we find that:
Many Church leaders, Seminaries, Bible Colleges and parishioners no longer hold that the Bible is the inspired, inerrant Holy Word of God. They generally do not accept the plain, obvious meaning of the text. While they may claim that they accept it they deny:
Genesis is an accurate, historical account of the supernatural creation by God in six literal, 24-hour days from nothing through His Word.
The flood of Noah’s time was a worldwide flood.
The chronology established in Genesis means that the world is less than 8000 years old.
Israel was in Egypt for 430 years from approximately 1876 BC to 1446 BC.
God performed miracles in Egypt so that Pharaoh would let the Israelites go.
Israel went through the Red Sea on dry ground as water was on either side of them.
The miracles in the desert.
The conquest of Jericho in about 1406 BC.
The conquest of the land in the following years.
The reign of David and Solomon and the size and type of kingdom they governed.
Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible.
Various miracles throughout the Old Testament period.
The Virgin birth.
The death and resurrection of Jesus as the atoning sacrifice for sin.
The deity of Jesus.
The Trinity.
The miracles of the New Testament.
A literal heaven for the believers and a literal hell where the unbelievers will be punished for eternity.
They say you cannot understand the Old Testament unless you know other ancient near eastern literature and understand it.
They state that the Israelite religion “evolved”.
There are numerous other Scriptural truths that are denied or twisted.
When you deny the accuracy and authority of the Scriptures, you make Jesus and the New Testament writers out to be deceived and lying. This takes away the Deity of Christ and makes them an “antichrist”.
We also find that the Scriptures are not considered authoritative any more. The general thought is that people can interpret the Scriptures any way that they want, and everyone can have their own interpretation. The Reformation cry was “Scripture alone is authoritative”.
Paul says:
All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, (2Ti 3:16 LSB) Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. (2Ti 2:15 LSB) in all things show yourself to be a model of good works, with purity in doctrine, dignified, (Tit 2:7 LSB)
Peter says:
Know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes by one’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever made by the will of man, but men being moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. (2Pe 1:20-21 LSB)
Another telling sign is the focus on self. While we can expect that the unbelieving portion of society would be focussed on self, an increasing number of those within the Church are also focussed on self.
The Church and even the translations of the Bible are moving toward being politically correct. It is getting to be difficult to tell the difference between the Church and society in general.
Paul tells Timothy: For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. (2Ti 4:3-4 LSB)
While Peter is speaking in a somewhat different context, the principle seems to apply. Judgement starts with the Church. So, we should likely expect a judgement from God on the Church at the time of the apostacy referenced in Thessalonians. For it is time for judgment to begin with the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? (1Pe 4:17 LSB)
Thankfully, we still have some Pastors, Churches, Seminaries, Bible Colleges and Believers that hold fast to the Word of God and proclaim it accurately and faithfully.