On Sunday, I tried to lay out several different eschatological (end times) viewpoints. Did you realize there were so many? What do you think about such a diversity of perspectives on this?
Of those discussed on Sunday, which perspective are you most familiar with? (maybe you come from a background with a different one than even these!)
Some of these perspectives are very simple, others very complex. (I streamlined all of them down a bit for the presentation, in fact.) Did you realize that level of complexity before?
If you are interested, the diagrams I showed on Sunday are at the bottom of this page.
On Sunday, I used the Cohutta Mountains as an illustration of why the prophets seem to blur distant future events with much more immediate future events. Commentator George Ladd says it much better than me… He puts it this way:
The prophets were little interested in chronology, and the future was always viewed as imminent … the Old Testament prophets blended the near and the distant perspectives so as to form a single canvas. Biblical prophecy is not primarily three-dimensional but two; it has height and breadth but is little concerned about depth, i.e., the chronology of future events … the distant is viewed through the transparency of the immediate. It is true that the early church lived in expectancy of the return of the Lord, and it is the nature of biblical prophecy to make it possible for every generation to live in expectancy of the end.
-George Eldon Ladd, A Commentary On The Revelation Of John, p. 22
Do you think this explanation is helpful? How?
In the following passage, what does Jesus teach about the unexpected timing of His return?
Matthew 24:42-44 NLT
“So you, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know what day your Lord is coming. Understand this: If a homeowner knew exactly when a burglar was coming, he would keep watch and not permit his house to be broken into. You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.”
Why do you think we are not to know the timing of his return?
How should this influence our daily priorities?
Matthew 24:37-39 NLT
“When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat. People didn’t realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes.”
How do the days of Noah compare to today’s culture? Do you think there are parallels between Noah’s time and today?
What does this mean about my spiritual awareness in this world?
1 Thessalonians 5:2-8 NLT PART ONE
For you know quite well that the day of the Lord’s return will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night. When people are saying, “Everything is peaceful and secure,” then disaster will fall on them as suddenly as a pregnant woman’s labor pains begin. And there will be no escape.
But you aren’t in the dark about these things, dear brothers and sisters, and you won’t be surprised when the day of the Lord comes like a thief. For you are all children of the light and of the day; we don’t belong to darkness and night.
How will Christ’s return impact the unbelievers you know?
What is the difference between being “in the light” vs “in the darkness?”
1 Thessalonians 5:2-8 NLT PART TWO
So be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Stay alert and be clearheaded. Night is the time when people sleep and drinkers get drunk. But let us who live in the light be clearheaded, protected by the armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation.
What does it mean for me to “be on guard,” and spiritually awake?
What is a change I can make in my life to live more expectantly?
