"The Day and Hour Unknown"

  I'm not going to pretend that I'm an expert on prophetic/apocalyptic literature from the Bible, so take all that I am about to say with a grain of salt (or with a prayer). To be honest, I would rather avoid it all. The dramatic and at times violent language is pretty frightening, especially when I'm someone who already leans towards being afraid of everything. I also want to avoid the natural inclination to slot current events into what the biblical writer is talking about, as if I am the only one in history who can put all of the pieces together accurately. People have been claiming that "the end is near" for thousands of years. Paul even spoke of salvation being nearer when he was encouraging his listeners to stand firm in their faith (although I'm sure verses 11-14 in Romans 13 could be interpreted more than one way, which is another tricky part of reading prophecy, especially apocalyptic prophecy). Martin Luther, Hal Lindsey, and many more have been so sure that "so and so" was the Anti-Christ and therefore Jesus' second coming was going to happen in their own lifetime. While I don't fault them at all for wanting Jesus to return, I really don't want to fall into the sometimes paranoid habit of trying to figure out the day and hour Jesus is coming back, and therefore miss what God might be teaching me about Himself in the meantime or what good works He might have prepared for me to do while I'm living in this present evil age. (Oh but Lord Jesus, please come back soon!) 

   It also seems that too many people end up overlooking the actual context of prophecy and apocalyptic literature in the Bible, what it meant to the original listeners, in trying to make it applicable to today. Well, okay, some people study the whole Bible that way. I definitely used to look at the Bible as only a means to figure out what God was saying to me as an individual until I was taught by my parents that every situation in the Bible is there primarily for us to see who God is, and learn as much as we can about His character, His love, His wrath, His wisdom, how He has dealt with humanity, the kind of relationship with us that He desires, etc. Then in approaching the Bible that way, our worldview is formed, and knowing God/Jesus/the Holy Spirit affects our choices and how we view the world and current events and what is our place in it all. 

 As I was reading the Gospel of Mark this morning, I did come upon a bit of information that cleared some things up for me. I've been a bit confused for awhile about how we should both be on guard as Jesus instructs in Mark 13:23, and realize that "no one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father" (Mark 13:32). How do we try to acknowledge the signs, but at the same time try not to trick ourselves into believing that we know exactly when everything is going to happen, or worse, follow leaders who act like they do know? Because Jesus also warns that there will be false Christs and false prophets, that they will even perform signs and miracles to deceive. 

 I read this in the IVP Bible Background New Testament commentary: 

 "13:7-8.  Ancient Jewish prophecy teachers usually listed these events among the signs of the end; the end was often portrayed as preceded by great sufferings or a final war, and was sometimes compared with birth pangs. Jesus says that instead these events characterize normal life until the end; history until the final time is only the beginning  of birth pangs." pg 171

 To me, this explains why so many people trying to predict Jesus' second coming could think they were correct. It also made me think about the fact that every reader of the Bible in every country could read events in their own countries into the prophecies. Who will actually be correct? I guess time will tell. I don't want to tell you not to be aware of the times, but I would be wary of declaring your own lifetime as definitely being THE time. And in the meantime, we need to seek God about why He has us here, who we are supposed to preach the Gospel to, how we are supposed to live out His Kingdom in this in-between time. Be discerning, be prayerful, and don't avoid learning about every part of Scripture.