First Chronicles 12:32 informs us that 200 men of the tribe of Issachar had “understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do,” and that the people did as they directed. Today few leaders have any understanding of the times, but instead are poll-driven in their attempts to hold office. “There they go,” say politicians, as they study the polls, “and we must follow them, for we are their leaders.”
It was not so in the early church, when Christians faced persecution, imprisonment and often death because of their witness. The only light through their dark night was the promise of a new day.
“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?
Dr Albert Schweitzer left Europe for darkest Africa and spent his life ministering to lepers, thinking that Jesus had failed. His decision was humanistic, but at least he was honest. He was unable to reconcile the promise of Christ’s imminent return and the fact that it simply had not happened as promised. But Schweitzer got it wrong because he did not understand the time to which the words of Jesus applied.
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, and in fact has yet to be fulfilled nearly 2000 years after Peter spoke. Moreover, Joel had made no mention of speaking in unknown tongues. So, did Peter get it wrong?
Not at all. Peter saw the Pentecost event as fulfilling the spirit of Joel’s prophecy – and he was right, as we see from later outpourings, the book of Acts records. Spiritual phenomena continued far beyond the close of that narrative, being seen throughout the centuries that followed, as God poured out His Spirit “on all flesh”; that is, on people in the wider world – just as Joel had prophesied and as Peter had preached. The world is yet to see the fullness of Joel’s prophecy, but Peter saw the spirit of it on the Day of Pentecost.
What then of those imminent texts that the disillusioned Schweitzer saw as failures? The answer is that they were fulfilled in the destruction by the Romans of the Jerusalem Temple in AD 70. It is the lack of understanding of the Temple’s importance to the Jews — the assurance of forgiveness through the offerings on its altar — that raises doubt in some readers. “The end” was not afar off but was instead a soon-coming event of which Jesus spoke when he prophesied the end of the Jewish age.
The Bible nowhere says: “The end of the world is nigh.” The King James Version frequently translates the Greek word “aeon” as “world”, but a more accurate translation would be “age”. (The Greek word for “world” is “cosmos”, which in the New Testament defines the world system.) It is the age in which we live and the one we are now about to enter that occupies the prayers of Christians who understand the times.
In former times, people lived in agricultural and industrial societies. Western industries are now “offshore” in Asia, and we are now consumers rather than producers. Alvin Toffler’s book “The Third Wave” correctly predicted these things. But how many saw the coming changes and adjusted themselves to prepare for the era that was “near at hand”?
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 every movement. National and personal security and the demand for greater efficiency, are fast turning the Western World into controlled societies. Seeking security in out-of-the-way places is now so “1984”. But there’s one means of communication the world cannot track – much less control – and that’s the power, presence and guidance of the Spirit of God in the Christian.
If you are not spirit-filled, then you lack these vital elements – and this lack means you will have difficulty in adjusting to the challenges of the era that is just ahead. Moreover, you are vulnerable because you are dependent on externals. One determining factor of vulnerability is a reluctance to move from the redemptive experience found in the Gospels to the powerful dynamic found in the book of Acts; from the external Jesus familiar to the disciples to the internal Christ familiar to the apostles; from “temples made with human hands” to the body as “the temple of the Holy Spirit”; from worship in this or that holy place to worship “in spirit and in truth” in a life that’s holy.
How did the first Christians cope when faced with an imminent end to the age in which they were living, 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 it was that Christians should do.
Paul’s advice was that those who were married should live as though they were not. Not that he was suggesting they should live apart, but rather that neither partner should be so preoccupied with the other that he or she failed to see that the times were changing.
Similarly, 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 in the world should not think they belonged, because they didn’t.
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, to own things without becoming possessive, and to avoid being caught up in the economic system of the 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? Some Christians have said to me, “I have never used a computer.” It’s difficult to keep up with technological developments, but the cashless society is now here, wireless is fast replacing cables, and privacy is pretty much 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 have been as necessary as they are in our time? When personal privacy is at a premium, it is so good to pray and sing to God in the spirit! The thoughts of the heart at such times are between the believer and God, and no form of satanic virus can gain entry.
I have some understanding of the times, mostly from dreams and prophecies, and I know what to do should things go pear-shaped. I have no need to buy online books on personal survival, because I have studied the writings and read the story of history’s greatest survivor – the apostle Paul. Paul understood the times, and he lived through them victoriously.
For the sake of your security and that of your loved ones, I suggest you learn how to do the same.