What about end times?

It’s 2026 and our Theme is “Embrace Transformation.”

During the months of June and July, I am preaching the sermons that you requested. I call it, “Hot Topics.”

This is the last week in the series - the next two weeks you will have guest speakers.

I haven’t given either of them assigned topics, but I’m sure whatever they bring will be a hot topic.

I saved this week’s topic for last - I believe it is the most difficult of all the topics and it is my least favorite subject.

This weeks hot topic is about end times - I have entitled this message -”What about the end times?”

I can summarize my answer in three words that you almost never hear from the pulpit - “I don’t know!”

But it is still a good question and worthy of consideration.

It was a rather lengthy question, so I will summarize - this person was asking about the “Seven Mountains” teaching, Dominion Theology and a reappearance of the Nephilim in the end times.

This person assumes that I am already familiar with these topics - I am to some degree - but I had to brush up a bit.

Just to summarize a bitt more - back in the 1970’s as the Charismatic movement was picking up momentum and certain movies where peaking interest in end times, some leaders began to question the popular view which essentially portrayed Jesus coming back to rescue a church from a world that had grown more and more evil throughout the church age.

They saw a different view in scripture:

Matthew 24:14 ESV

14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

They proposed an alternate scenario - that the church as the Kingdom of God grows and gains world-changing influence which provokes a rivalry from a counterfeit world-system and all this culminates in the return of Christ to rule the already-established Kingdom of God on earth.

This is also what is meant by dominion theology - that the Kingdom of God is fulfilling God’s mandate from the beginning to have dominion on earth.

The seven mountains are seven areas of influence - media, government, education, economy, religion, family and the arts.

Part of this teaching is that the church is supposed to take possession of these mountains in preparation for the Lord’s return.

If you were already aware of these teachings, then you probably also know that there has been much opposition to them as well.

Many of the opposing arguments are simply a case of mixing metaphors and taking the term “dominion” to mean some kind of threatening, power-hungry ambition and seizing control of institutions and governments.

I do not believe that is what was intended, although to hear how some preachers present it, or to observe how they conduct their own lives and ministries, I can see why there is some concern.

For the part about the return of the Nephilim, I will refer you to last weeks message - I didn’t use that term, but that was essentially what I was talking about.

In any case, I think that for many of us who have had one foot in the American Evangelical world - where a very detailed eschatology has emerged and where people are often strongly opinionated about it...

And another foot in the Pentecostal/ Charismatic movement where eschatological language is almost always focused on ushering in the Kingdom of God - and yes, there are military metaphors employed-

it gets rather confusing to merge these two views.

So which is it?

Does the world just get worse and worse until Jesus finally comes back to settle the score?

Or does the church emerge triumphant provoking one final battle ?

I will refer to my previous answer - “I don’t know.”

This could be a very short sermon - except I think It is good to look at the issues from all sides.

I have found that most of the time, when we disagree on things - it is because we are using the same words - but for each of us, those words mean different things.

I want to spend this time focusing on three words - no, not those three words:

Rapture, tribulation and millenium.

These are words that you often hear in discussions of eschatology.

But they mean different things to different people.

And they can be interpreted differently depending on how you understand the scripture.

So for each of these words I ma going to propose two different readings or two different views - these are your fill-in-the-blanks.

You may find yourself on one side or the other - or somewhere in between.

My hope is not to solve the riddle or to give you the answers because “_ ____ _____!’

My hope is simply to bring clarity to the subject and to help us to read and study the scripture with more insight and understanding.

And to let the mystery build anticipation.

Because, regardless of you view on end times, the one thing that all Christians agree on is that Jesus is coming back!

The Rapture

The English word rapture comes from the Latin “Rapio” which literally means to be carried away.

The original word in Greek is “harpazo” which is often used in the context of goods or people being snatched, plundered or stolen.

Most of the usages of this word in the scripture have nothing to do with eschatology -except this one in 1 Thes. 4:17.

1 Thessalonians 4:16–18 ESV

16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

In this letter the Apostle Paul is comforting a church who believes they may have missed the return of Christ.

What we learn from this and other New Testament letters is that the early church believed that the return of Christ was imminent - likely to happen in their life time.

In fact virtually every generation of the church down through the ages has believed the same.

But as we said last week - God has a different view of time than we do.

His return is till very immanent.

So what is the rapture and what does it mean?

Does it mean being supernaturally transported?

Jesus must have instructed his disciples about this - and he may have used this very same word,

because both Paul and Peter refer to his coming as being like a thief

Simply snatching His people away unexpectedly.

The idea is sort of like a mass kidnapping - followers of Jesus are supernaturally transported from where they are to where He is.

Paul talks abut us meeting Him in the clouds.

Because the last time anyone saw Jesus in the flesh, He disappeared into a cloud.

Acts 1:9 ESV

9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.

Paul seems to be saying that the same thing will happen to us who are following Jesus when He returns.

Much of the teaching about the rapture has been influenced by Jewish wedding customs and the metaphor of the church as the bride of Christ.

According to this teaching, the church is betrothed to Christ who has purchased us with his own blood.

Like a first century Jewish bridegroom, he then goes to prepare a place for his bride to live with him.

When everything is prepared, he returns to take his bride as his wife, to live with him from that time on.

According to the custom - an expectant bride upon hearing that the groom is coming, would go out to meet him and proceed with him into the village and the feast that is prepared for them - essentially the parable of the virgins in Matthew 25.

I could spend the whole sermon unpacking the parallels, but I want to present another view as well.

Or is it simply that we are instantly transformed.

1 Thessalonians 4:15 ESV

15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.

The Greek word for “coming” is “paraousia” is refers to a person being present

The image that is invoked, rather than that of a bridegroom to his bride

Is a king making a royal appearance and being present in person as opposed to simply having others act and speak on their behalf.

The root word “ousia” in Greek is very significant theologically because it is also the root word in “exousia” which means power or authority.

Ousia appears in the Apostles Creed as describing the substance of Divinity.

The word “paraousia” has led many to reflect on the rapture as a complete transformation more than just a change in location.

Elsewhere, Paul alludes to a moment in time when believers in Christ experience a fundamental change of substance.

1 Corinthians 15:51–53 ESV

51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.

The trumpet and the resurrection language signal that this is all happening in connection with the snatching away and the return of Christ.

Down through the ages, most of the church has viewed all of these references as being a single event, though it is not specified over what period of time this is happening.

John Nelson Darby in the 19th century popularized the view that the rapture and second coming of Christ is a two-stage event.

Darby influenced Cyrus Scofield who included Darby’s notes in his reference study bible which was published in 1909.

Scofield's Bible grew in popularity through the first half of the twentieth century - people were reading and studying the Bible like never before- fueled by the seemingly apocalyptic events surrounding them through a the great depression an two world wars.

And they were using Scofield's Bible

And that leads us to our second word - tribulation.

The Tribulation

Tribulation or The Great Tribulation is often mentioned in connection with end times.

Except how this word is used may be different depending on where you come from.

If you grew up as an American Evangelical in to 1960’, 70’s or 80’s - which describes most of us in this room today - the word “tribulation” is connected to a specific event or set of events.

You probably had or have a study Bible with charts and timelines depicting the rise of the antichrist, the desecration of the third temple (which has yet to be rebuilt) and the rapture of the church.

The big question has alway been, does the church get raptured out before, after or during the tribulation?

I was surprised to learn that as I traveled the world and studied with believers from other parts of the church, not everyone thinks about end time events in that way.

Tribulation is alway part of the conversation, but not in the same way.

Some people see it as a particular event and some see it as a more general expectation that will escalate as the end draws near.

Then there is a third category of people who see no connection to end times whatsoever -

tribulation and the great tribulation for them refer to events happening at the time the New Testament was being written

culminating in the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD, and event which paralleled the end of the world for Jews.

And it forever changed the concept of what is means to be a follower of Christ from being a subset of Judaism to being a mostly Gentile religion.

But for our purposes today, I will mostly focus on the first two ideas.

Is it a general expectation of suffering?

Matthew 24:9 ESV

9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake.

One of the problems with thinking of the tribulation as a particular event is that any given time, Christians somewhere in the world are suffering persecution for the cause of Christ.

Do they relate what they are experiencing to what the Bible describes as tribulation?

Are they perceiving that their suffering is a fulfillment of last days predictions?

Are they crying out “come Lord Jesus” even as the Early Church did when it faced persecution?

Do you see the problem?

Which persecution counts as the great tribulation?

Where will it occur?

And who is to say that it isn't already occuring somewhere in the world?

The fact is that Jesus told His followers that they could expect opposition and suffering because of their identification with Him.

John 15:18–19 NLT

18 “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. 19 The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.

Remember, I said last week that the Biblical story of redemption takes place against the backdrop of a cosmic spiritual rebellion.

Followers of Jesus Christ have taken a side in that battle and that can and usually does result in some backlash from those who identify with the other side.

The other reason for Christian suffering is that Jesus voluntarily suffered to fully relate to the whole human experience.

Christians can expect suffering when we voluntarily do what Jesus did and relate to others who are suffering.

That is the irony of Jesus teaching on tribulation.

He did not present it as something that is necessarily to be avoided.

He was telling his followers to expect it, even to prepare for it.

And that is something that Christians around the world have taken inspiration from, even if what they have gone through or are going through is simply a foreshadowing of something yet to come.

Or is it a specific event marked by extraordinary suffering?

Matthew 24:21 ESV

21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.

Most of the eschatology teaching that I have heard treats Matthew 24 and sometimes als Matthew 25 as indicating a timeline of end-time events.

When read that way, each mention of tribulation becomes and indicator of a period of time related to an event called “the great tribulation.”

Another characteristic of teachings that focus on a timeline of events is that they look at the seventy sevens prophesied by Daniel and merge that text with the sevens in the book of Revelation.

Daniel 9:24 ESV

24 “Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place.

If the sevens (or weeks) each represents a period of seven years.

Sixty nine sevens (483 years) takes us to the time of Christ.

There is a week missing - a seven year period.

Scholars who follow this tradition relate the “sevens” mentioned in the book of Revelation as descriptive of this seven year period.

That is where you get all the charts - overlaying the seven trumpets, seven seals and seven bowls with events alluded to by Jesus in Matthew 24.

Many people have found this to be a fascinating study.

There’s only one problem - it’s too complicated.

William Occam , a philosopher from the Middle ages is famous for stating the principle (Occam’s Razor) that if two possibilities exist, one simple and the other more complicated, go with the simple solution.

Bible scholars have a similar principle, if a text has more than one possible reading, the simplest one is usually correct.

If you have to read multiple verses in just the right order and in a particular translation to arrive at your conclusion - you might sell books on TV, but real scholars aren’t going to buy it.

I’m sure that when Jesus comes back they will draw a circle around whatever happened in the last seven years and draw a bullseye on it saying that was the tribulation.

I think it’s good to be aware of current events and to know that it all points to a culmination and Christ’s coming.

But that has been true for thousands of years.

Christians in the first century thought the tribulation of their time couldn’t get any worse.

As did Christians who suffered under a great persecution shorty before Constantine converted the entire Roman Empire.

Anyone who has studied the holocaust has probably wondered, “is the great tribulation going to be worse that this?

Once again, I don’t know the answers - I just want to hold it all very loosely and consider the perspectives of Christians around the world as I do.

The Millennium

Let’s stand and read this last scripture together.

Revelation 20:1–6 ESV

1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. 2 And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, 3 and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while. 4 Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.

The Millennium is generally understood as a foreshadowing of the eternal reign of Christ.

For some it is a literal thousand year reign which happens between Christ's return and the final judgement.

On the other side of the spectrum are those who believe that what John may have seen in his vision is the entire church age.

Which would put us in the millenium now - I know, a bit disappointing for those of us who are really looking forward to it.

I talked a little bit about literal versus figurative Bible translation when I addressed the flat earth question.

That is really the big question when it comes to what John refers to as the millenium in Revelation.

Is it a literal thousand-year period?

So before you get all excited - if you followed the passage in Revelation 20 closely and you interpret it literally, like a timeline - then it is only those who are martyred in the great tribulation who will reign with Christ in the millenium.

So if you want to participate in the millennial reign, be prepared to get in the line for beheading.

Suddenly the figurative view is looking much more attractive.

I have had numerous conversation with people who ask the question, “If Jesus is going to reign for eternity, what is the purpose of the thousand year reign?”

The answer seems to have to do with the the fulfillment of specific promises to Israel and the reversal of the rejection of his first coming.

Some of the other answers I have found have more to do with the transition from history into eternity, that the millennial reign of Christ is the overlapping period between history and eternity.

I have joked with people that so much of history has been rewritten that it will take a thousand years of investigation to set the record straight.

Or is it figurative language pointing to Christ’s eventual reign?

This is where dominion theologist would argue that “setting things straight” is what the church is supposed to be doing now.

That is how people in the seven mountains camp understand ushering in the Kingdom.

That the church age is the rightful transition time between history and eternity.

And that Jesus is in fact ruling and reigning now through His people and through the church.

And that is where thing become unclear again - because the church has historically seen itself as being destined to fulfill Christ’s mandate,

but it hasn’t always gone well.

In fact, at times it has gone horribly wrong with Popes acting like kings and kings assuming the authority of popes.

governments have conquered and oppressed people in the name of the church.

Even our American freedom story has a tinge of Divine conquest narrative parts of which can be a bit embarrassing for us as Christian as we look back on them -

like how we treated the Indians as savages believing that they were not really fully human.

or how slaves were brought to America and sold as animals.

Some scholars that I know are afraid of a repeat of that kind of history if Christians continue to pursue political influence as an eschatological mandate.

I get it - learn from history - don’t confuse religious institutions or even governments with the Kingdom of God.

But those I know and have learned from are not pursuing political power.

They describe the Kingdom more as an influence which transcends institutions, governments and even nationality.

Once again - it is a misunderstanding over language and what is intended by it.

I think a study of eschatology should not be so much about how our story ends - because it doesn’t end. It is about how we transition to the next chapter in Christ’s story.

How do we transition from history into eternity?

And how do we live in light of eternity now?

Questions for reflection:

As you think about Christ’s return how do you feel? Are you scared? Excited? a little bit of both? When Jesus comes back, will it be important enough to drop whatever you are doing and go with Him?

When you hear tribulation, is your immediate reaction, “no thanks!” Are you hoping to avoid it? What about those around the world who are already experiencing it in some form? Why would Jesus prepare us for something if it is to be avoided?

Do you enjoy trying to figure out end times with charts and timelines? When Jesus comes again, which is more important, that you know and recognize what is happening or that you know and recognize Him? Does your study of eschatology draw you closer to Jesus?