The End is Near

If you are the sort of person who likes to read the last chapter of a mystery first to see how it all turns out in the end, then Revelation is your book. The last of the 66 books of the Bible, it is, for many, the most perplexing. Revelation gives John’s apocalyptic vision of the end of time, recently popularized through the Left Behind series, which relies on prophecies from Revelation together with other biblical prophesies.

Revelation was the book that kept me up at night as a preteen as I felt I had to understand the end time prophecies found there to get a better grip on what was happening then in the mid-1970s. What I read in Revelation read more like a nightmare of a vision than a road map for the future and I was left dazed and confused.

Let me stop and assure you that I have not broken the code. I have no secret key to unlock the Apocalypse and explain every word in detail relating it to people and events today. Bless those who have the gift for divining end times events from Revelation, Daniel and Ezekiel, I would not want to say a word against their ministries, but that is not my gift. However, I still think we can benefit from the book without that ability at discernment.

In the mid to late 60s, by which I mean the year 62 A.D. to 70 A.D. Most everyone was convinced that the code number 666 referred to Nero Caesar. At the turn of the first millennium, from the year 999 to the year 1,000, there was a general fear that crept through the church, which made anything Y2K served up look tame. Everyone was convinced that the thousand year mark was sure to bring Armageddon. Then in the 1500s, reformers including Martin Luther and John Calvin came to think the Pope was the antichrist. How could Christians living in Europe during the 1930s not see the rise of Hitler as being the beast of Revelation coming in to power. And on it goes.

There are many examples of how Revelation has been conformed to world events and interpreted as giving the date, time, and place of Jesus return in glory. The only thing I can say with certainty about the time of Jesus return is that I don’t know when it will happen, for scripture tells us that no one knows the hour or the day and our Lord will return like a thief in the night. I don’t know, because I am not supposed to know. So why not ignore this difficult to understand book of the Bible?

The gift of end-times scripture is that it keeps us mindful that our lives may end at any time. It could come through Jesus’ triumphant return with a shout and blast of a trumpet, or it could be through something more mundane. In the centuries since Jesus’ resurrection, Christians have faced their own end times in sickness, war, accidents, and old age.

The apocalyptic language of Revelation has nurtured generations of Christians with two important concepts. First, the future is in God’s hands and in the end good will win out over evil. Second, each of us must remain prepared for the end of times at all times, which is a way of saying “live every day as if it were your last.” There’s a story I heard which emphasizes this second advantage in end times scripture.

Years ago a farmer owned land along the Atlantic seacoast. He constantly advertised for hired hands. Most people were reluctant to work on farms along the Atlantic. They dreaded the awful storms that raged across the Atlantic, wreaking havoc on the buildings and crops.

As the farmer interviewed applicants for the job, he received a steady stream of refusals. Finally, a short, thin man, well past middle age, approached the farmer. "Are you a good farmhand?" the farmer asked him."

"Well, I can sleep when the wind blows," answered the little man.

Although puzzled by this answer, the farmer, desperate for help, hired him. The little man worked well around the farm, busy from dawn to dusk, and the farmer felt satisfied with the man's work.

Then one night the wind howled loudly in from offshore. Jumping out of bed, the farmer grabbed a lantern and rushed next door to the hired hand's sleeping quarters. He shook the little man and yelled, "Get up! A storm is coming! Tie things down before they blow away!"

The little man rolled over in bed and said firmly, "No sir. I told you, I can sleep when the wind blows."

Enraged by the old man's response, the farmer was tempted to fire him on the spot. Instead, he hurried outside to prepare for the storm.

To his amazement, he discovered that all of the haystacks had been covered with tarpaulins. The cows were in the barn, the chickens were in the coops, and the doors were barred. The shutters were tightly secured. Everything was tied down. Nothing could blow away. The farmer then understood what his hired hand meant, so he returned to his bed to also sleep while the wind blew.

The hired hand in the story was able to sleep because he had secured the farm against the storm. We secure ourselves against the storms of life by grounding ourselves firmly in the Word of God and in our relationship with his son Jesus. Knowing to take care of things now so that you will be ready when the storms of life hit is the real gift of John’s Revelation.

(The Rev. Frank Logue is pastor of King of Peace Episcopal Church in Kingsland.) 

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