Signs of The Times
What Are They?
As we approach this next week in our study of eschatology, we are going to be getting into the symbolism and events of the last days and really dive into what we need to be on the lookout for in regard to the last days. Now before I go further, it must be noted that Jesus Himself tells us in Matthew 24:36 “But about that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.” It is quite obvious that no matter how much research we do and how thoroughly we search the scriptures, we will not find an absolute date and time of when Christ will return. However, this doesn’t mean that God hasn’t given us signs and warnings in order to decipher when these times are coming near, because that’s what a vast majority of Revelation is all about. As Wayne Grudem so beautifully puts it, “Although we cannot know everything about the future, God knows everything about the future and He has in Scripture told us about the major events yet to come in the history of the universe. About these events occurring we can have absolute confidence because God is never wrong and never lies.” With this in mind, let’s look at some of the top signs and events we can expect in the last days.
A Series of 7’s
To start, let’s look at what we’re going to call the series of 7’s. This series of 7’s is what takes up a vast majority of Revelation and is found right in the middle of this book. In chapter 5 of Revelation, we see a scroll with 7 seals, then in chapter 8 we see 7 trumpets, and then in chapter 16, we see 7 bowls of wrath. Each of these 7’s in this story introduces the next 7. In other words, when the seventh seal is opened, the 7 trumpets are introduced. And when the seventh trumpet is sounded, the 7 bowls are introduced. But what are they all for? What do they all mean? We will dive more into what each aspect represents next week, but for now, we’ll give a brief overview. Revelation 5:4-5 gives us a solid foundation for how this all begins. “Then I began to weep greatly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. And one of the elders *said to me, “Stop weeping; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to be able to open the scroll and its seven seals.” This scroll seems to contain the final events that ultimately lead to the second coming of Christ here on this earth, and yet, there is no one who can open this scroll and start the beginning of the series of 7’s. No one of course, except Christ Himself. When Christ opens the scroll and its seven seals, we see horsemen who represent suffering that is about to come on this earth from war and martyrdom. When the seven trumpets are sounded, we see multiple natural disasters consume the world of all sorts. And when the seven bowls of wrath are poured out, we see God’s punishment revealed on all of mankind in a very similar way He poured His wrath out on Pharaoh and the Egyptians when they refused to let His people go. This series of 7’s has many many events going on when we read them, but for now, it is important to note that it all began in a scroll that revealed the details of the second coming of Christ. A scroll that only our Lord and Savior could open.
Two Witnesses & Three Beasts
Furthermore, we see actual living figures that come into play in the end times and play a pretty major role. Two of these huge figures are the two witnesses we see in Revelation 11. Now unlike the series of 7’s, the two witnesses are great news for those who belong to Christ (or will eventually belong to Him) who are still on this earth. Revelation 11:3 says, “And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” This is obviously great news because this means for the 1,260 days, the witnessing of these two will bring some of the lost people still on this earth back to Christ before it is ultimately too late. However, we see things flip after these 1,260 days. Revelation 11:7 tells us, “When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, and overcome them and kill them.” But wait, there’s another counter…Revelation 11:11 “And after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God came into them, and they stood on their feet; and great fear fell upon those who were watching them.” God always has the final say, even when it comes to death. And when death itself can't even stop God from achieving what He wants, the whole world takes notice. Speaking of this beast that is mentioned, he leads us to the final signs we’ll be looking at today. Those signs are the 3 beasts.
The 3 beasts we see mentioned here are the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet. Again, we will dive deeper into what these all mean in our next post, but for now, we will just give a brief overview of these beasts. The dragon in this story is Satan himself, while the two other beasts are described as the beast of the sea and the beast of the earth. The beast of the sea is who plays the false prophet in this story and the beast of the earth references Babylon and plays the role of leading all others to worship the beast of the sea. Revelation 13:11-12 shows all 3 of these beasts in play and what they aspire to accomplish. “Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke as a dragon. He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence. And he makes the earth and those who live on it worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed.” These beasts clearly live in opposition to the two witnesses and more largely, God and His plan for the world. I know this is a lot to take in for one post, but this is why we will be breaking down these signs and events next week as well. Until then, I hope you will follow along and study Revelation with us as we seek to better understand the end times that our Lord has planned out for us.
Sources
[1] Blue Letter Bible. (n.d.). Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/
[2] Grudem, W. A. (1994). Systematic Theology : An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine. https://ci.nii.ac.jp/ncid/BA79455700
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