A Brief Note on the End-Times

Typically, eschatology is taught as the doctrine of end times, encompassing final things such as death, judgment, and humanity’s ultimate destiny. I had an unease with this subject and avoided it for a long time. In hindsight, I can think of reasons I did not care enough about it. First, I always had a visceral rejection of the idea of some Christians predicting when the world would end. It seems to me that even with a perfect understanding of everything the Bible says on the eschaton, we still would not be able to map out the future with precision. One reason is that if humans can figure out such things, so would devils and angels. But the Bible seems to suggest that God has not revealed such things to humans. It seems like the end will be just like the first advent:

1 Peter 1:10-12 ESV
[10] Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, [11] inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. [12] It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.

Continue Reading