The Narrow Path Ministries

Hello. I am new to the forum but been listening to Steve for over 10 years. I wrote the following blog post to www.jeffreyclong.com and posted it to my Facebook and Myspace page and thought I'd post it here too. The purpose is getting people's response to the question "Why are we fascinated by end-times prophecies and speculations?"

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I remember sitting in class at Bible college while my teacher would explain different points on a timeline of the end times. It all seemed so speculative to me, though shared with such an air of certainty. I’ve always been a skeptic regarding end times prophecies, including those that are interpretations of the authority itself, the Bible. Then I happened across the Bible teaching of Steve Gregg and discovered that the current school of Biblical prophecy interpretation popularized by the “Left Behind” books are very different from that of the historical church.

This has left me with the germ of a thought that I would like to research more. Why are we so fascinated by end-times prophecies and speculation? I don’t really know where to go to research the psychology behind it. So I thought I’d ask others. What do end-times prophecies mean to you? What meaning do they give to your life? Why is studying them important to you? Do prophecies help you by making the future more tangible? Do they make you hopeful or afraid?

I hope to hear from you.

Steve has enlightened my mind. The only reason I want to know end times is because it is part of the bible and therefore important for my life.

But I don't dwell in this topic like this is the core of my salvation.

I believe you can be save without knowing eschatology.

i think fascination with end times scenarios distracts Christians from more important things- like advancing the Kingdom NOW.

therefore, i think it can be a tactic of the Enemy to get people fascinated with such things.

TK

Hi, Jeffrey.

Steve has enlightened my mind as well, but I’ll try and answer from a past perspective when I believed the dispensational view of end-times:

Why are we so fascinated by end-time prophecies and speculation?

I should think that a normal human reaction, if we actually believed we will be alive to see the return of Jesus, and witness the end of human history as we know it. I mean, that’s a really huge event!
As for the speculation bit – well, we are a part of the ‘entertain me’ generation; aren’t the different theories/prophecies/speculations all very interesting, even fascinating, when we can watch events unfolding before our very eyes???

What do end-times prophecies mean to you? What meaning do they give to your life? Why is studying them important to you? Do prophecies help you by making the future more tangible?

There are so many conflicting scenarios, it was just interesting to try and discern the correct one; but still sufficiently removed from the immediate future, and so not really overly influencing my life in the now; at least no more so than being a follower of Jesus in general.

Do they make you hopeful or afraid?

I don’t think I was afraid for myself, and I mostly believed in the post-trib rapture. I do recall fearing that my children might be deceived and induced into taking the mark of the beast.

i think fascination with end times scenarios distracts Christians from more important things- like advancing the Kingdom NOW.
therefore, i think it can be a tactic of the Enemy to get people fascinated with such things.

I agree TK, but think the enemy uses this tactic with other doctrinal issues as well, even correct ones.

But I do think there can be a place for eschatology to be used as a spring-board for evangelism, if it is done in a balanced way; if people were made to realise we may be living at the end of history, it may induce them to consider the question of eternity, a bit like someone on their death-bed might.

I think people are fascinated by "end time" prophecy, because they regard Biblical prophecies as "seeing into the future" and having a unique fulfillment.

This is not the way either early Jewish people or early Christian people viewed prophecy. They saw "re-enactment"(for lack of a better word) of prophecies as fulfillment. For example Hosea 11:1 records that God said, "Out of Egypt have I called my son." It is totally clear contextually, that God was speaking of His bringing Israel out of Egypt. Yet, in Matthew 2:15, Matthew states that this prophecy was fulfilled when Jesus returned from Egypt after the death of Herod.