Planet earth is on the brink of what
both Glenn Beck and Hal Lindsey have
stated they believe will be monetary and
societal collapse of unprecedented
magnitude. We also looked previously at
a prophetic declaration by the Creator
of all things, which is--I believe I can
verify--about the generation that will
be alive at the very end of the age.
Specifically, Jesus’ prophecy refers
to one catastrophic moment in this
present dispensation–the Church Age (Age
of Grace)--when all of this world system
will come crashing down.
Again, here’s the prophecy from
Christ himself:
And as it was in the days of Noe, so
shall it be also in the days of the Son
of man. They did eat, they drank, they
married wives, they were given in
marriage, until the day that Noe entered
into the ark, and the flood came, and
destroyed them all. Likewise also as it
was in the days of Lot; they did eat,
they drank, they bought, they sold, they
planted, they builded; But the same day
that Lot went out of Sodom it rained
fire and brimstone from heaven, and
destroyed them all. Even thus shall it
be in the day when the Son of man is
revealed. (Luke 17:26-30)
Are the two cataclysms–the one Beck
and Lindsey talk about on their TV
programs and the one Jesus
foretells--related to each other? If so,
how?
We will now try to answer the
questions about world collapse, whether
persecution for American Christians is
imminent, and how it might all be tied
together prophetically. We will do so by
looking in-depth at the details wrapped
up in Jesus’ forecast for earth’s near
future.
Jesus gave what I am convinced is the
premiere end-of-the-Church-Age prophecy
in Luke 17:26-30. He describes in
considerable detail world conditions and
activities at the moment He breaks in on
things of this present age.
He tells in His prophecy just the
opposite of what Glenn Beck says is on
the brink of happening to the people of
America and the world. That is, the
Lord’s description of how the worldwide
catastrophe will happen differs greatly
from the Fox host’s prediction of the
cause of the calamity he says is just
around the corner.
Remember, Mr. Beck is predicting for
the near future the direst of
socioeconomic collapses. He recommends
that we prepare for, quite likely,
hyper-inflated times to come, at the
very least. He indicates that he fears
that from the collapse will spin
draconian governmental measures to quell
the rioting that will occur when those
millions who are given government
hand-outs no longer receive the largess.
There is more than enough evidence of
unchecked government today to prove
Beck’s fears are well founded. The
phenomenal growth of federal intrusion
into practically every facet of the
citizen’s life today portends grave
consequences for liberty in the months
and years just ahead. For example,
bureaucratic regulation such as the move
of the unelected FCC apparatchiks to
invoke “net neutrality”–a Big
Brother-like regulatory process that
could eventuate in establishing
dictatorial power over Internet
usage--threatens anyone who would
express opinions that run counter to
state-approved language. The current
administration intends to implement this
despite the fact that a federal appeals
court has ruled the administration
doesn’t have the authority to do so.
Hal Lindsey sees the same cataclysm
approaching, basically for the same
reasons. He also recommends that we
prepare for possible food shortages, and
he says he believes Christians in this
country will face severe persecution,
which I infer to mean persecution of the
sort suffered by martyrs for the cause
of Christ. I must add here that I agree
with both of these gentlemen–to some
degree. And I disagree, also, with
both--for differing reasons. But I
reserve my thoughts in that regard for
the biblically based logic I hope will
make itself manifest as I analyze the
words of the greatest of all prophets.
We now are basically familiar with
what Glenn Beck and Hal Lindsey say
about the two questions involving the
probability of American and world
socioeconomic collapse and, in Lindsey’s
case, about Christians in America facing
imminent, severe persecution.
Let’s dissect carefully what Jesus
predicts for the times just ahead. I say
with confidence that Jesus tells the
future from this moment forward, based
upon what I’m convinced His words are
speaking to this generation at this very
hour. He prophesied in the Luke 17:26-30
passages that in the “days” He, the “Son
of man,” is about to break into earth’s
history, mankind will be doing certain
things. It will be a time like the days
of Noah before the Flood and the days of
Lot while he was still in Sodom.
People, the Lord said, will be
eating, drinking, marrying, building,
buying, selling, and planting. Things
will be going along pretty much as
normal for the time. The Lord indicates
no catastrophic, worldwide socioeconomic
breakdown of any sort in this time
immediately before “the Son of man is
revealed” (Luke17:30)–the time He breaks
into human history.
This time cannot be the Second Advent
of Revelation 19:11. At the time the
Lord of Lords and King of Kings breaks
through the planetary darkness of death
and destruction at Armageddon, perhaps
as many as three-fourths of all people
on earth will have died as a result of
wars, pestilence, and geophysical
disasters brought about by God’s
judgment and wrath upon an incorrigibly
wicked, unrepentant world of
earth-dwellers.
In other words, planet earth’s living
conditions at the time of Christ’s
return in power and glory at Armageddon
will not be anything like living
conditions at the time of His
intervention into human affairs as He
describes in the days of Noah, days of
Lot prophecy. At the end of the
seven-year Tribulation period, it will
be anything but business as usual. It
will truly be hell on earth when Jesus
comes to destroy all human government
and the soul-rending carnage it has
produced.
So, Jesus, in the Luke 17 account,
was foretelling the days leading up to
the time when He calls His church to
Himself–"His church" meaning all
born-again believers who have lived and
died during the Church Age (Age of
Grace). This is known as the Rapture. To
learn more about this stupendous event,
read 1 Corinthians 15:51-55, 1
Thessalonians 4:13-18, John 14:1-3, and
Revelation 4:1-2.
To repeat, Jesus was not describing
His coming back to earth in the Luke
17:26-30 prophecy. He was telling about
His coming to above the planet to
receive His people–Christians—to
Himself. Christians–the Church—then will
accompany Him back to the heavenly
places He has prepared for them in the
Father’s house–heaven.
Again, we have reached the limits of
our space for this commentary. We will
next further examine Jesus’ telling us
about–I’m convinced—this very hour in
which you and I inhabit planet earth.
