I have no idea what I'm going to say when this devotional blog gets to the book of Revelations. I really don't know what most of it means and therefore have very few thoughts on the matter. The only thing I come close to certainty on is that what I hear most teachers on the "end times" say is probably wrong.
With that in mind, we come to the second half of chapter 4 and the second half of chapter 5, where Paul gives his readers a glimpse into what is to come. Those who are already dead will rise when the Lord returns and those alive will meet them in the air. When this happens seems to be unknown as it will "come as a thief in the night". But we should not live as if we are in the night, but should be aware of what is going on as one who lives in the day.
Does this mean, since we are in the day, that we will clearly be able to tell when the end has come? Based on my reading of church history and hearing too much Christian talk radio over the past thirty years, I sort of doubt it will be that obvious. How many times have we heard predictions that the end was right around the corner? The following are a list of "anti-Christs" I have heard in my relatively short lifetime: Reagan, Gorbachev, G.H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, three different popes, Saddam Hussein, Ayatollah...and the list just keeps going. My impression is that we really don't know what's going on.
Is it possible that when the end actually comes that it will truly be obvious to most Christians? Maybe. But I tend to think that living in the day is meant to motivate us to live as if the end might be near because, frankly, we don't know. So, what does it mean to live as if the end is near? That is a good question and is worthy of some intense thought.
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