“The day is at hand,” wrote Paul in Romans 13:12. “The end of the age has come upon us,” he wrote in 1 Corinthians 10:11. “The Lord is at hand,” he assured the faithful at Philippi (Philippians 4:5). The apostle Peter wrote, “The end of all things is at hand.” (1 Peter 4:7) The apostle James was even more specific, warning, “The judge stands at the door.” (James 5:9) What are we to make of these assurances of an old era ending and a new day dawning? Why was it that the judgement the apostles saw as imminent seems not to have happened?
The apostle Peter stood up on the Day of Pentecost and quoted Joel’s prophecy to prove to his countrymen that the phenomenon of tongues was part of a prophetic package. “This is that…” he said, quoting the prophet Joel. But “this” wasn’t “that” in the fullest sense because the phenomenon did not take place in the context of Joel’s prophecy, which has yet to be fulfilled almost 2000 years later. Joel had made no mention of speaking in unknown tongues. So, did Peter get it wrong?
No, he did not. Peter saw the Pentecost event as fulfilling the spirit of Joel’s prophecy – and he was right, as we know from later outpourings, recorded in the book of Acts. Spiritual phenomena continued far beyond the close of that narrative, and were seen during the centuries that followed. God did pour out His Spirit “on all flesh” — on people in the wider world – just as Joel had prophesied and Peter preached. The world is yet to see the fullness of Joel’s prophecy, but Peter saw elements of the spirit of it on the Day of Pentecost.
What, then, of those promises of a new era? The answer is that they were fulfilled in the destruction by the Romans of the Jerusalem Temple in AD 70, which introduced a new era for Christians (since their main persecutors had been the Jews). Christians today have little understanding of the damage the destruction of the Temple had on Judaism; it tore the heart out of their religion by ending their sacrificial system. Thereafter, they met in synagogues on the Sabbath to read and to discuss the Torah — led by a rabbi but without functioning priests. Since then, Jews have been scattered among the nations, and will be until “the times of the Gentiles” are fulfilled — which, I believe, is at hand.
“The end” that Jesus and the apostles spoke of was not one far off in the distant future but one “near at hand” — an event that would mark the end of the Jewish era. It should never be confused with events preceding Christ’s Second Coming, but instead regarded as an historical event related to the Jews: one of heartfelt physical and spiritual pain.
Nowhere does the Bible state: “The end of the world is nigh.” The King James Version frequently translates the Greek word “aeon” as “world”, but a more accurate translation is “age”, as in a period of time. (The NT Greek word for “world” is “cosmos”, which defines the world system.)
In former times, people lived in agricultural and industrial societies. As Western industries went “offshore” in Asia, we have become consumers rather than producers. Alvin Toffler’s book “The Third Wave” correctly predicted these things. Yet how many saw the coming changes he envisaged and adjusted themselves to prepare for an era that was “near at hand” in the 1980s?
Technological societies have now become Informational societies, and the present era has seen the introduction of CCTV cameras and microchips in hand-held devices that track our movements. National and personal security and the demand for greater efficiency are fast turning the Western World into controlled societies.
If you are not Holy Spirit-filled, you will find it difficult to adjust to the challenges of the era that is now very much upon us. Moreover, you’ll be vulnerable because you’ll be dependent on external events rather than internal guidance. A determining factor in personal vulnerability is a reluctance to move from the redemptive experience of the Gospels to the powerful dynamic of the book of Acts. The Twelve had to adjust their mindset from the external Jesus, once so familiar to them, to the internal Christ, who now indwelt them by the Spirit of God. The physical temple had become a spiritual one, and in it worship no longer had to be in this or that holy place, but anywhere — “in spirit and in truth”.
How did the first Christians cope when faced with an imminent end to the age in which they lived, that is, the end of the Jewish era? In 1 Corinthians 7:26-31, the apostle Paul writes of “the present distress”; that “the time is short”, and that the “fashion” or form of the world of their time was passing away. Paul understood the times and knew what believers in Christ ought to do.
“The time [of opportunity] is short” [winding up] writes Paul. The overlap between the old era and the new era was about to end. The New Testament book of Hebrews was written to urge Christ’s Jewish followers to move from the old to the new. They had to be prepared to leave things behind and to move ahead. The forty-year period that followed the crucifixion of Jesus ended in AD 70 with the destruction of the Temple.
The Apostle Paul advised those who were married to live as though they were not. He was not suggesting that they should separate, but rather that neither partner should be so preoccupied with the other that they failed to see that the times were changing and a new era was dawning.
Likewise, those who wept and those who rejoiced should be as though they did not, since emotional extremes might blind them to the changes that were taking place around them. Nor should those who bought things become overly possessive of them, and those doing business in the world should not think of themselves as belonging, because as citizens of heaven they did not — and nor do we.
The first apostles understood that the times were changing and that the Jewish age was about to end. Peter saw the spirit of Joel’s prophecy in the Pentecost event. Paul advised Christians to avoid preoccupation and emotional extremes, and in owning things, not to become possessive. They should avoid being caught up in the economic system of their time.
Do you have an understanding of the times? Are you aware of the spirit of the present age? Do you understand what God is doing in your nation, your city, your village, your suburb? A number of Christians have said to me, “I have never used a computer.” It’s difficult to keep up with technological developments, but we should do our best. The cashless society is now here, wireless is fast replacing cables, and personal privacy is a thing of the past.
Has there ever been a time when the personal leading of the Holy Spirit and the spontaneous use of spiritual gifts were as necessary to the individual as they are today? With privacy at a premium, it is so good to pray and sing to God in the spirit spontaneously! The thoughts of the heart at such times are between the believer and God – in a dimension where no form of satanic virus can gain entry.
I have some understanding of the times, mostly from dreams and prophecies, and know what I’ll do when things go pear-shaped. I have no need to buy online books on personal survival. Why not? I have studied the writings and know well the story of history’s greatest survivor – the Apostle Paul — a Christian who understood the times and knew how to live through them as they changed.
The New Testament books of Hebrews, James, 1 & 2 Peter, 1, 2, & 3 John, Jude, and Revelation were written especially to Jewish followers of Jesus, who were under pressure to incorporate legal aspects of Judaism into the Christian Faith, and so are referred to by scholars as “The Jewish Epistles”. They are for all Christians, of course, but were written to keep Jews in the Faith during the darkening time prior to the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem.
For the sake of your security, and that of your loved ones, I suggest that you open your New Testament to the book of Acts and Paul’s epistles — especially 1 Corinthians 7:26-31 — and learn how to live as those Christians did.