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REVISED EDITION
POSTED 12 MAY, 2004
The End-Times: What Should We Expect?
by
J.K. McKee
editor@tnnonline.net
When a person becomes a new Believer in Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus
Christ) and embarks into his or her own study of
the Scriptures, the individual has questions and
is searching for answers, especially in regard
to the end-times.
A critical question asked by many who are
searching is: “What should I expect?” One may
confide is his or her friends or Bible teachers
with various questions and inquiries, and in
many cases may accept their views at face value.
But after further examination, though, a Bible
student may find their opinions of Scripture to
be inaccurate or incomplete.
As we tread into the Twenty-First Century, many are expecting
prophetic related events to occur, such as the
rapture or a great evangelistic revival, so the
question “What should we expect?” poses some
legitimate concern in light of what many are
predicting.
What
should you expect?
The answers can be found in the pages of the
Bible. Not surprisingly, the Disciples asked
Yeshua a similar question:
“As He was sitting
on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to
Him privately, saying, ‘Tell us, when will these
things happen, and what will be
the sign
of Your coming, and of the end of the age?’”
(Matthew 24:3; cf. Mark 13:4; Luke 21:7).
Yeshua then proceeded to speak in what is commonly called the
Olivet Discourse. It is recorded for us in
Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21. Matthew 24 is
widely considered the most thorough of all the
chapters, and gives us an excellent outline of
what we should expect concerning the End of the
Age. I will follow the dialogue the Messiah
gives in this text, and provide appropriate
commentary.
Intense Deception
“And
Yeshua answered and said to them, ‘See to it
that no one misleads you. For many will come in
My name, saying, “I am the Messiah,” and will
mislead many’” (Matthew 24:4-5; cf. Mark 13:5-6; Luke 21:8).
In Matthew 24:4-5, Yeshua begins by explaining the need for His
followers not to be misled or deceived. This
sort of deception could be in reference to any
number of issues. It could include Biblical
teachings on salvation, the end-times, general
doctrine, and/or the need to simply be on guard
as to what one hears or studies pertaining to
faith.
Many in today’s generation are deceived, living
perverse or ungodly lifestyles. This
unfortunately includes many who profess to be
born again Believers, yet do not live a life
consistent with the Holy Scriptures and the
example of the Messiah. The Apostle Paul wrote
Timothy, “But
realize this, that in the last days difficult
times will come. For men will be lovers of self,
lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers,
disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,
unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips,
without self-control, brutal, haters of good,
treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of
pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a
form of godliness, although they have denied its
power; avoid such men as these” (2 Timothy 3:1-5). While these things have
been present in the lives of people for
centuries, they are disturbingly growing to a
great degree among people who claim faith in the
Lord.
Another important statement of the Messiah’s to contemplate is
where He says, “For
many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the
Messiah!’ and they will lead many astray” (Matthew 24:5, NRSV). The exact text of the
verse can be cryptic when Yeshua says that many
will come in His name saying “I am the Messiah.”
Does this mean that such individuals are
proclaiming Yeshua to be the Savior? Or are they
saying that they are “the messiah”?
It can be noted that there are many disturbed individuals today
either claiming to be “Jesus Christ
reincarnated” or “the Messiah.” If you go to
Israel on a tour, you may encounter people
claiming to be any number of Biblical characters
from King David to John the Baptist to Elijah
the Tishbite, telling you that the end is at
hand—the so-called phenomenon of Jerusalem
Syndrome.[1]
We must also recognize that there are many
religious figures that come in “the name of
Christ” who are “miniature messiahs” unto
themselves, or to their followers. Such
personalities may have blind followings of those
who do not question or confirm Biblical truth in
their teachings. Anyone claiming the authority
of the Messiah must be tested by Scripture to
see if what he or she says is truly upheld by
the Word. Otherwise, the person may fall into
the category of those claiming the name of the
Messiah that the Lord warns about.
In reference to His First Coming, Yeshua said, “I
have come in My Father's name, and you do not
receive Me; if another comes in his own name,
you will receive him” (John 5:43). Yeshua asserted how He was
acting on the authority of His Father, whereas
another—or others—would come in their own
authority and would be received by the masses.
As it is prophesied of the antimessiah/antichrist,
“he
opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to
blaspheme His name and His tabernacle,
that
is, those who dwell in heaven” (Revelation 13:6). The antimessiah
will come on his own merit and deny the
authority of the Creator God, whereas the true
Messiah came on the authority His Father.
As might also be suggested, those coming in the name of the Lord,
while truly not being of the Lord, are in
violation of the Third Commandment (Exodus
20:7). When religious leaders come in the name
of God claiming “God told me this” or “the Lord
showed me a vision”—and such statements are
blindly followed and have no substantial basis
to them—those making the claims might very well
fall into the category that Yeshua warns about
in Matthew 24:4-5.
It should be the goal of all Believers to be well versed in the
Holy Scriptures and be able to discern what is
happening, especially with those who claim
Yeshua in some way. As James the Just says, “But
prove yourselves doers of the word, and not
merely hearers who delude themselves”
(James 1:22). In “doing” God’s Word, Believers
are required to have discernment![2]
End of sample excerpt.
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J.K. McKee
(B.A., University of Oklahoma; M.A., Asbury
Theological Seminary) is the editor of TNN
Online (www.tnnonline.net) and is a Messianic
apologist.
He is a 2009 recipient of the Zondervan Biblical
Languages Award for Greek.
He
is author of
numerous books, dealing with a wide range of
topics that are important for today’s
Messianic Believers. He has also written many articles on
theological issues,
and is presently focusing his attention on Messianic commentaries
of various books of the Bible.
NOTES
[1]
Some of this is detailed
in Gershom Gorenberg,
The End of
Days: Fundamentalism and the Struggle
for the Temple Mount (New York:
Oxford University Press, 2000).
[2]
Note that one significant
area that requires discernment, where
myriads of people have been found
speaking presumptuously, regards failed
end-time predictions—where people pick
Date X for the Second Coming and then
nothing happens.
Consult the author’s
McHuey Blog post from 06
July, 2008, “The Hastening of
Righteousness,” available for access at
<http://mchuey.wordpress.com>.
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