When the coronavirus pandemic spread throughout the world, shutting down businesses, sports, entertainment, dining, and schools, rattling entire economies, curiosity in the end times soared. Many are now asking are we living in the end times? What is going to happen next? Is Jesus returning soon? People want answers to their questions about the end times.
The shaking of 2020 has stirred a renewed interest in eschatology—a fancy word meaning the study of the end times.
Paul exhorted us to “study to” show ourselves “approved unto God . . . rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15, KJV). Jesus instructed us to understand the prophetic writings of Daniel (Matt. 24:15). We are even promised mind-blowing blessings simply by reading the book of Revelation (Rev. 1:3)?
I want to encourage you to take this opportunity created by Covid-19 to become a student of end-time prophecy. By the way, I will start a new teaching on the end times in the next few weeks. If you subscribe to our YouTube channel or email list, you will be notified when a new session is posted.
Anyway . . . if you still need more convincing why you should study the end times, here are seven reasons why eschatology is important.
1. Jesus taught us to know the signs of His return so that we would be prepared.
In Matthew 24, when Jesus taught His disciples about the end times, He listed many different signs of His coming, such as widespread deception, false Christs, wars and rumors of wars, increased lawlessness, earthquakes, and famines. After listing what will happen before He returns, Jesus told the disciples a parable about a fig tree, saying, “Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place” (Matt. 24:32-34).
Jesus specifically instructed them—and us—to know the signs of His return, to pay close attention to these signs, and to use these signs as an indicator of when He will return. The prophet Hosea said we are destroyed by a lack of knowledge (Hos. 4:6). Many in the church will suffer needlessly because they lack knowledge of what the Scriptures plainly teach about the end of the age.
In the times in which we live, understanding the end times is no longer optional. It is essential. Because eschatology was so important to Paul, he devoted much of 1-2 Thessalonians detailing Jesus’ return. Keep in mind these were new believers. Jesus also instructed us to read and understand the book of Daniel (Matt. 24:15). Why? So we would be ready.
Jesus wants us to understand the end times so we will know what will take place and be spiritually, mentally, and physically prepared for it. If we don’t understand the end times, this ignorance could lead to our downfall. It could lead to our falling away. It could lead to a denial of Jesus Christ to avoid persecution. It really is that serious and important.
Jesus rebuked the Pharisees, the religious leaders of his day, because they could not “discern the signs of the times” (Matt. 16:3). I have a hunch He might rebuke a number of respected religious leaders in our day, too. I don’t want to be like the Pharisees, who were blinded to the pivotal moment of history in which they lived. Rather, I want to be like the sons of Issachar—”men who understood the times, with knowledge of what Israel should do” (1 Chron. 12:32).
Let’s be people who understand the days in which we live so we can take wise and godly action.
2. Understanding the end times motivates us to seek the Lord with all of our hearts and live completely for Him.
Proverbs 29:18 states, “Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained” (Prov. 29:18). The Hebrew word for unrestrained means “to let go, to let loose, to ignore, to let loose restraints.” When we don’t have a vision of the prophetic future, especially what the Scriptures teach about the end of the age, we live undisciplined lives.
Conversely, when we understand the future, especially the events that will transpire in the end times, it inspires us to live wholeheartedly for God now. The book of Joel highlights this principle clearly. In Joel 2:1-11, Joel painted a vivid picture of what the Day of the Lord will be like. After eleven intense and graphic verses focused on the end times, Joel prophesied, “’Yet even now,’ declares the LORD, ‘return to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, weeping and mourning; and rend your heart and not your garments’’ (Joel 2:12-13). To Joel, talking about the end times was not an irrelevant or impractical subject. On the contrary, Joel knew it motivated wholehearted living now.
3. Understanding the end times inspires us to repent and overcome.
In the book of Revelation, before we are told what will happen at the end of the age, Jesus first tried to wake up His sleeping church. He urged them—and us—to get our hearts right with God.
In Revelation 2-3, Jesus addressed seven churches, exhorting each of them to overcome. He called the church at Ephesus back to their first love. He exhorted the church at Thyatira to overcome the works of Jezebel. And He chastised the church at Laodicea for being lukewarm and indifferent.
The point: Understanding the end times motivates us to overcome whatever is entangling us. Insight into the end of the age inspires us to surrender our lives to Christ and learn to live by His life. The more clearly we understand where history is headed, the more we will abandon ourselves to God and make Him the priority of our lives today.
4. Understanding the end times guards our hearts from offense at God.
Describing the end times, Jesus said “many will be offended” (Matt. 24:10). Notice He did not say a few or some or only a remnant would be offended. He explicitly said many, which could imply millions of people. Jesus said many would be offended in the end times.
Why will so many be offended? Because God will release judgments, Satan will unleash his wrath, man’s sin will peak, and natural disasters will reach the greatest level of intensity in history.
If we don’t know why these things are taking place, then it will be very easy to become offended at God. Why would a God of love allow so much suffering? If God was good why would allow these wars, plagues, and natural disasters?
If we don’t have insight into why God is allowing so much suffering, then we can easily become bitter and our love can grow cold. Especially if our lives are disrupted by God’s end-time shakings.
It’s important to study the end times now, while there is still time, so we can work through the theological tension of God’s goodness and His justice, of His kindness and severity, of His love and His judgments.
We need to understand the end times so we can rightly interpret the coming crisis instead of being offended at God.
5. Understanding the end times keeps us from deception.
Jesus said, “See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many” (Matt. 24:4-5). Deception was the first thing Jesus mentioned about the end times.
Many have interpreted this verse to mean watch out for imposters of Jesus Christ. Really? Who would honestly believe someone who claimed they were Jesus Christ?
This is obviously not what Jesus was saying. Instead, Jesus warned about Christian preachers, teachers, pastors, prophets, and apostles—those who believe in Christ and preach the Word of God—subtly interjecting false teaching, which would lead believers astray.
Paul described a great falling away from the faith before the Lord returns (2 Thess. 2:3). Multitudes of believers will depart from the faith handed down to us by the apostles because “they did not receive the love of the truth” (2 Thess. 2:10). As a result, the “deception of wickedness” will blind them to the truth (2 Thess. 2:10).
One blinding deception is false teaching related to the end times, such as Preterism, which claims most prophecies were fulfilled in 70 A.D. Another rising eschatological error is Post-Millennialism, which purports Christianity will conquer the nations before Christ returns. These false teachings have been strategically crafted by the evil one to setup a great falling way. That’s why it’s imperative for us to know the truth about the end times.
6. Understanding the end times gives us faith and confidence.
Speaking about the end times, Jesus asked, “When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8). In essence, Jesus also warned of a great end-time apostasy. Because of the intense pressures of the end times, many believers will lose their faith. Embracing man-centered, demon-inspired doctrines, many believers will fornicate with the antichrist’s harlot religion (Rev. 17-18). This painful and sober warning, straight from the lips of Christ, is a stinging wake-up call.
How will this end-time apostasy unfold? One way is through false doctrines about the end times. Many will become disillusioned because their favorite prophet, apostle, or teacher assured them we’re not living in the end times; Jesus isn’t coming soon; a great revival is coming that will transform cities and nations before Christ returns.
Don’t misinterpret what I’m saying. I absolutely believe the Lord will release an unprecedented outpouring of the Spirit, a great awakening, and a revival before the Lord returns. I just don’t believe it will transform cities and nations. Instead, it will transform the heart of the true bride of Christ, preparing her for the marriage supper of the Lamb.
The Lord will soon release a bridal revival, which will awaken the betrothed bride out of slumber, apathy, and lukewarmness, instilling within her a holy passion for Christ. This will purify her of all defilement, idolatry, and self-love, transforming her into the image and likeness of the Lamb, her beloved Bridegroom King.
If you believe a future revival will take away evil in the nations, remove wickedness, transform cities and nations, and Christianize the world, you have already bought into the deception. I will explain more about this in my end-time teaching.
Back to my main point. The faith of many will be wavering at the end of the age. I’m convinced one reason is because God’s people don’t know what the Scriptures teach about the end times. Lacking this vital knowledge, they will become disillusioned when the earth is shaken to its foundations by God’s judgments and Satan’s rage.
Conversely, speaking from personal experience, nothing has caused my faith to soar like seeing the pieces of the prophetic puzzle fit together perfectly. It shows God is truly sovereign, in control, and the author of Scripture. It is humanly impossible for authors living in drastically different time periods, cultures, and nations, spanning a roughly 1,500-year-time period, to co-author a book that fits together perfectly. Only God could perform this miracle. Only God could masterfully weave together promise after promise, prophecy after prophecy, into a marvelous, beautiful tapestry, a work of art depicting in precise detail how His ultimate intention will be accomplished at the end of the age.
You see, the prophetic Scriptures are like a 10,000-piece-jigsaw puzzle. There are border pieces and interior pieces. You can’t force a piece to fit. Each piece of the puzzle, scattered in the prophetic writings of Isaiah, Daniel, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the book of Revelation, fit together perfectly. As I have minded for gold and gathered precious pearls from over two decades of diligent study, I am stunned to see how perfectly the pieces of God’s end-time puzzle fit together. This alone has given me confidence and faith in God’s sovereign plan and how He masterfully executes this in the nations.
Studying the end times gives us unshakeable confidence and faith in God’s wisdom, power, and providence.
7. Understanding the end times equips us to be a prophetic voice and intercessor.
Before explaining this point, let me state I am Charismatic in my beliefs and have over 25 years of experience ministering in the gifts of the Spirit. This is why I care so much about the growing deception I see in the Prophetic Movement.
When I hear some of the words coming from the modern-day Prophetic Movement, I have to wonder if they even read their Bibles. Many of the so-called prophetic words contradict the clear teaching of the end times in Scripture. Sadly, it appears a deceiving spirit has infiltrated the modern-day Prophetic Movement.
Personally, I don’t give much credence to so-called prophets and apostles who are misguided about eschatology, especially when it comes to what God is saying at a national or international level. When it comes to personal prophecy, end-time beliefs don’t matter as much. But our view of the end of the age matters greatly when we speak prophetic words related to nations, politics, revival, and years into the future.
Daniel is the perfect example of a prophetic voice and intercessor. In Daniel 9, we see Daniel studying the prophecies of Jeremiah. Daniel wanted to know what the Lord had already said because he knew the Lord would not contradict Himself with new revelation. Please take note, all you so-called prophets, who are presently contradicting the Scriptures with your confusing prophetic words.
Anyway . . . after studying Jeremiah’s prophecy about 70 years of captivity in Babylon, Daniel received what most scholars refer to as the backbone of all end-time prophecy. Known today as Daniel’s Seventy Week Prophecy (Dan. 9:24-27). Not only did Jeremiah’s prophecy inspire Daniel’s prophetic revelation; it also fueled his intercession.
Here’s my point. We can’t be an accurate prophetic voice or an effective intercessor apart from diligently studying what the Old and New Testament prophets have already said. We must immerse ourselves in what Isaiah, Daniel, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Malachi, Paul, and John wrote about the end times before we can be a reliable, accurate, truthful messenger of the Lord. We must know God’s plan for the end of the age intimately if we are to pray in alignment with God’s will.
Eschatology is vital to every messenger and intercessor. A distorted view of the end times injects error into the messages we deliver in God’s name and will lead to soulish prayers. Grounding ourselves in end-time teaching will prevent us from being a false prophet and flaky intercessor. This is certainly needed in this hour!
In closing, if you would like to learn more about the end times, I will be teaching an in-depth course called Understanding the End Times starting in the next few weeks. This is a free online course. If you are interested, just subscribe to our YouTube channel or email list.
