Eschatology

Eschatology is the study of the End Times, and something I have a mild interest in. I mention it only because the next couple of days of reading will contain some verses that End Times scholars consider to be vitally important, which leads me to a dilemma that I'll lay out.

Let's use Daniel's dreams of Daniel 7 for our example. Many End Time scholars will state that the four beasts (the lion, bear, leopard and the ten-horned beast) represent many different things--it could be specific kingdoms (you might recall how I discussed this about a month ago on Sunday and suggested these beasts could correspond to the empires of Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome), but what good is that to us today? Those empires have come and gone. These same scholars will tell you that there were/are/will be modern equivalents of these four kingdoms that either have arrived/are here now/will arise in the future.

This is my dilemma. I'm pretty comfortable with my description of those four kingdoms, but what of the future? I have absolutely no idea if these kingdoms have modern-day equivalents, and NEITHER DOES ANYONE ELSE! When it comes to eschatology, it's all conjecture and guesswork. If you think about it (and I believe I've mentioned it before), what's the point of us being prepared if all we have to do is wait for the signs and then get busy when the appointed time arrives? How many of you spent today getting your snowblower ready? You didn't, because you'll do it when it gets cooler and closer to winter. 

The end times won't work that way. We have to be prepared at all times for Christ's return precisely because we don't know when it will occur. Granted, there are plenty of places in the Bible where we're told what signs to look for, and on some other occasion, I'll mention the 11 signs of the End Times. I know what some commentators and scholars have to say on the subject, and it can be interesting, but WE DON'T KNOW. As such, I'm torn between describing some people's views of how things might turn out (i.e., the Left Behind book series) or just ignoring it altogether.

I anticipate having a forum sometime in the future where I might describe some of these things in greater detail, but for now, I'm going to stick with my favorite refrain when it comes to some of the Bible's more vivid imagery--"I don't know what it means." There probably will be times where I will go into more detail (I'll probably comment some on the Mark of the Beast, but by then it will be December 29th and you'll have stopped reading this blog anyway), but even when I get around to describing the signs of the End Times, you'll end up saying to yourself "But that's happening TODAY!"--and you'd be correct.

When you read some of this stuff (and tomorrow contains the ultimate in Daniel 9:24-27), my advice is to see if it resonates with you, and if it doesn't, just leave it alone. Some things we were meant to know, some we weren't, and we don't need to know everything in order to be prepared. Resolve to keep yourself prepared at all times for Christ's return and you'll be ready for whatever happens.

Scott