a full moon

Chapter Two

SETTING THE STAGE

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As students of the Bible observe proper interpretation principles, they are becoming increasingly aware of a remarkable correspondence between the obvious trend of world events and what the Bible predicted centuries ago.

 —JOHN F. WALVOORD, ARMAGEDDON, OIL, AND THE MIDDLE EAST CRISIS[11]

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SOME SIGNS ARE easier to read than others. If you have ever traveled to a foreign country, you know that all too well. Meaning quickly gets lost in translation. Consider these translated signs in other countries:

Most of us have experienced miscommunication like this. Some signs are simple, straightforward, and easy to read, while others are a bit more difficult. The same is true when it comes to signs of the times. They are often misunderstood and misapplied.

Many today present the blood moons prophecy as a significant sign of the times —an omen of coming events. For this reason, before we delve into the details related to the four blood moons and their alleged significance as signs of the end times, I want to give a very brief definition and discussion of what prophetic signs of the times are to make sure we all know what we’re talking about.

SIGN ME UP

What are prophetic signs of the times? Are they important? Should we be looking for them? How do they relate to what’s coming? Simply stated, prophetic signs of the times are current events that foreshadow future events predicted in the Bible. Signs of the times are like signs on the highway: they point toward or herald what’s ahead. They indicate what’s coming. Signs of the times are not fulfillments of prophecy per se but are events that indicate the future fulfillment of prophecy. When it comes to understanding or discerning signs of the times, there are three basic approaches.

Approach #1: Skepticism

Many today believe it’s foolish and speculative to even consider signs of the times. They argue it’s a colossal waste of time and energy and an unnecessary distraction since no one knows the time of the Lord’s coming. They grow weary and even cynical of talk of the end times. The apocalypse has been predicted for millennia, yet we’re still here. Skeptics also correctly point out times in the past when extremists have set dates for end-times events or made other reckless predictions that never materialized. (I’ll discuss this later, in chapter 9.) Skepticism seriously questions or even outright rejects any notion of signs of the end times. Many Christians today fall into this category.

Those who belong to this camp often accuse those who believe in signs of practicing “newspaper exegesis,” which Thomas Ice and Timothy Demy explain as “human ideas, not the Bible, [being] the true source of such beliefs, such that they arise from a search of newspaper headlines rather than from exegesis (i.e., proper interpretation) of the biblical text.”[13] Certainly, skeptics are correct that some of this occurs, but I don’t believe all signs of the times should be discounted because of a few reckless teachers.

Approach #2: Sensationalism

At the other end of the spectrum, some view almost everything as a stirring sign of the times. Richard Swenson writes, “Hysteria brings fire to the eyes and acid to the stomach. Hype brings notoriety. Sensationalism brings a tabloid kind of success.”[14] Sensationalists are like that old song: “Sign, sign, everywhere a sign.” Every earthquake, natural disaster, crime wave, war, new advance in technology, or rumble in the Middle East is touted as an earth-shattering sign that Jesus is coming soon. For sensationalists, signs are everywhere and almost everything. In some circles, wild speculation is far too common and most often is not based on sound principles of biblical interpretation.[15]

While there are several problems with a sensational approach to signs of the times, one practical problem is that when almost everything becomes a sign, then nothing is a sign. If everything is a sign, then the entire notion of signs becomes meaningless. Extreme, unfounded prophetic speculation often discredits the Bible, gives biblical prophecy a black eye, and should be denounced by all responsible, thoughtful believers.

Approach #3: Stage-Setting

The mediating view that I adopt is often called stage-setting. This view maintains that the events of the end times cannot occur in a vacuum. There has to be some buildup, setting of the stage, or paving the way before end-times events unfold. We look at future events predicted in the Bible, and when current events dramatically correspond to or strikingly point toward the biblical template, these stage-setting events serve as discernible signs of the times. We don’t read the Bible in light of the headlines, but we do read headlines in light of Bible prophecy.

Using this guideline, we can track general trends in preparation for the end times.

In the time before the first coming of Christ, God arranged the world for His Advent. The world was prepared religiously, linguistically, and politically for the birth of Jesus. Galatians 4:4 says, “When the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law.” Dr. John Walvoord says, “Just as history was prepared for Christ’s first coming, in a similar way history is preparing for the events leading up to His Second Coming. . . . If this is the case, it leads to the inevitable conclusion that the Rapture may be excitingly near.”[16]

Another way to understand signs of the times is that we can observe the end-times scenario in Scripture and reverse engineer it to the events that must precede that scene and pave the way for its arrival. Thomas Ice and Timothy Demy say,

The Bible provides detailed prophecy about the seven-year tribulation. In fact, Revelation 4–19 gives a detailed, sequential outline of the major players and events. Using Revelation as a framework, a Bible student is able to harmonize the hundreds of other biblical passages that speak of the seven-year tribulation into a clear model of the next time period for planet earth. With such a template to guide us, we can see that already God is preparing or setting the stage of the world in which the great drama of the tribulation will unfold.[17]

Ice also says, “Just as many people set their clothes out the night before they wear them the following day, so in the same sense is God preparing the world for the certain fulfillment of prophecy in a future time.”[18]

Another key to understanding and confirming stage-setting as an approach to signs of the times is the current convergence of so many signs in a short period of time. Skeptics often point out that there have always been events touted as signs of the times. So what’s different today? Are we just repeating the overreaction and shortsightedness of previous generations who thought they saw signs of the Lord’s coming in their time? I don’t think so. The convergence and acceleration of so many events is what leads me to believe that the end-times stage is being set today. Since the rebirth of Israel in 1948, and even more in the last twenty years, things in our world seem to be on fast-forward. With 24-7 worldwide news coverage and global means of communication, events in our world have immediate, almost exponential impact. So many events are converging in such a brief window that I cannot ignore them and pass off the convergence as coincidence. Richard Swenson highlights the “generational shift” our world is experiencing, which I believe is driving the setting of the world stage:

The fundamentals have changed. Life pace and change are escalating wildly. Without our permission, history has picked up speed, turbo-charged by progress. Add in the powerful cofactors of technology and information, mix it with abundant economic “gunpowder,” and you have cooked up a nice cocktail of exponential explosiveness. The locomotive guiding history jumped the tracks, and instead of traveling down the local-stop commuter spur, it switched to supersonic status. Instead of chugging, it now explodes out of the station, breaking the sound barrier before it even leaves the gate.[19]

Dr. John Walvoord echoes such a belief concerning current stage-setting in preparation for prophetic fulfillment: “More prophecies have either been fulfilled or prepared for fulfillment in our day than in all the previous centuries since the first of our era. . . . The preparation for the final drama is being carried on before our eyes.”[20]

One final point I want to emphasize as strongly as I can is that stage-setting is not date setting. I believe that no one knows the time of any end-times event, not the decade, the year, the month, or the day. No one knows how long it will take for God to get things ready, but the convergence and acceleration of signs should stir a sense of urgency in our lives.

JESUS AND SIGNS OF THE TIMES

Jesus Himself spoke of signs of the times. In Matthew 16:2-3 Jesus answers the request of the Pharisees and Sadducees for a sign from heaven: “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ And in the morning, ‘There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times?” Jesus was speaking in these verses of the signs of His first coming as Israel’s Messiah. Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies about the coming of the Messiah and chided the people in His day for failing to discern the signs of the times.

Later, Jesus shifts from the focus on His first coming and gives a long list of specific signs of His second coming (see Matthew 24:4-29). Luke 21:25 records the words of Jesus Himself saying that cosmic signs will portend His return to earth. Clearly, Jesus believed in signs of the times —signs for His first coming and signs of His return.

Hebrews 10:24-25 also seems to support the notion of signs of the times: “Let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.” The “day drawing near” in the context of the book of Hebrews is the day of the Lord’s coming. If we cannot see the day drawing near, then this verse makes no sense. Signs of the times point toward the coming of Christ. Of course, no one knows how long the buildup or stage-setting will last until our Lord returns. It could be days, months, or years —maybe even many years.

One important distinction to keep in mind is that signs of the times relate to the second coming of Christ, not the Rapture. We will talk more about these two events in the next chapter, but I believe the Rapture is the next event on God’s prophetic calendar. It can happen at any moment. The second coming of Christ to earth will occur at the end of the seven-year Tribulation and will be signaled by numerous signs, as Jesus said in Matthew 24. If we can already see the signs of the Second Coming, but the Rapture (which precedes it) hasn’t happened yet, then the Rapture could be very soon. One way to understand how signs relate to the Lord’s coming is to think of Christmas and Thanksgiving. Signs of Christmas are everywhere in the fall, sometimes beginning as soon as September or early October. You can’t miss the signs for Christmas. The Second Coming is like Christmas. Thanksgiving is another matter. There really aren’t any clear signs of Thanksgiving. The Rapture is like Thanksgiving —it’s a signless event. Yet if you can see the signs of Christmas, and Thanksgiving hasn’t arrived, you can be sure that Thanksgiving is near. In the same way, if we can already see the buildup for the Second Coming today, then we can know the Rapture could be very soon. It could be today. Christ can come to rapture us to heaven at any time.

THREE MAIN VIEWS OF SIGNS OF THE TIMES

Skepticism: There are no signs of the times.

Sensationalism: Almost everything is a sign.

Stage-Setting: Some major developments in our world today are discernible signs of the end times.

The setting of the world stage for future, end-times events can be illustrated by picturing a theater where preparations are made for a production.[21] Suppose a seasoned drama critic enters a theater one evening not knowing which of Shakespeare’s masterpieces is to be presented. Before the curtain goes up, he is taken behind the scenes. Onstage is a castle with fortifications looking out over a wooded countryside. At once he knows that he will not see Othello, which is set in Venice, or Julius Caesar, which begins with a street scene in Rome. He knows he will not see Macbeth because although there is a castle scene in Macbeth, the play opens not with the castle but with witches gathered around their cauldron. Finally, our drama critic notices two soldiers with shields bearing the arms of the king of Denmark. He sees two other actors dressed as a king and a queen. There is an actor who is supposed to be a ghost. No one has to tell the critic what he will see. Based on his knowledge of Shakespeare and the clues he has seen, he knows it will be Hamlet.

In the same way today, God’s people sit in the theater of world events awaiting the curtain call of God’s apocalyptic drama. We don’t know when the play will begin, but like the drama critic, we know much more about it than most. Many stare at the future as at a huge curtain. For them the future is veiled because they have no idea of the plan of God. And they can’t see behind the curtain where act one is being set. For believers, however, we see behind the scenes. While it is true that we don’t know the moment when the play will begin, we do know the play itself —the main characters and events —and can sense it beginning as we see the actors starting to take their places on the great world stage.[22]

In 1974, John Walvoord, in his bestselling book Armageddon, Oil, and the Middle East Crisis, wrote these classic words that are more relevant today than when he wrote them:

Our present world is well prepared for the beginning of the prophetic drama that will lead to Armageddon. Since the stage is being set for this dramatic climax of the age, it must mean that Christ’s coming for His own is very near. If there ever was an hour when men should consider their personal relationship to Jesus Christ, it is today. God is saying to this generation: “Prepare for the coming of the Lord.”[23]

That’s the key message for our day.