Signs of the Times
The recent solar eclipse taught me something about the American Christian. We are primed and ready to be deceived. In our lust for the supernatural, we find ourselves often times looking to dramatics to determine the seasons of life. We are so hungry for supernatural theatrics that we chase anything that scratches that itch. And so, we find ourselves in a similar place as the religious elite of Jesus’s day; needing such theatrics to guide our faith.
Matthew 16:1-4 (NLT) 1 One day the Pharisees and Sadducees came to test Jesus, demanding that he show them a miraculous sign from heaven to prove his authority. 2 He replied, “You know the saying, ‘Red sky at night means fair weather tomorrow; 3 red sky in the morning means foul weather all day.’ You know how to interpret the weather signs in the sky, but you don’t know how to interpret the signs of the times! 4 Only an evil, adulterous generation would demand a miraculous sign, but the only sign I will give them is the sign of the prophet Jonah.” Then Jesus left them and went away.
The religious leaders of Jesus day were skeptical people. Jesus’s lack of orthodoxy and accountability, His miracles and large crowds, left these leaders feeling threatened. They couldn’t control Him, so they created opportunities to sow doubt into the crowds that followed him.
One such a moment was this demand to perform a miraculous sign from heaven to prove his authority. Perhaps, they were looking for something like making the sun go backwards, or the stars become visible during daylight. Or maybe raining fire down from heaven! That’s always cool! Something that would cause them to believe he had divine power flowing through him.
Perhaps like other prophets before them, like Elijah who called fire down on wicked soldiers trying to arrest him (2 Kings 1). Or Moses who seemed to have commanded the plagues over Egypt; when they would come and go (Exodus 5-12). But Jesus said that a demand for such theatrics was a sign of a corrupt people. A people who lacked genuine faith or spiritual discernment to conclude and accept Jesus as the Messiah.
But before we begin to wag our figures at these religious leaders, let’s examine ourselves first! Let’s look at the Elect of God.
Even the Elect
While teaching His disciples about the end of this age, Jesus brings their attention to false saviors.
Matthew 24:23-28 (NLT) 23 “Then if anyone tells you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah,’ or ‘There he is,’ don’t believe it. 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform great signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God’s chosen ones. 25 See, I have warned you about this ahead of time.26 “So if someone tells you, ‘Look, the Messiah is out in the desert,’ don’t bother to go and look. Or, ‘Look, he is hiding here,’ don’t believe it! 27 For as the lightning flashes in the east and shines to the west, so it will be when the Son of Man comes.
Deception is the greatest weapon of our enemy, the satan. He typically employs this weapon through the twisting of words. We see this in its simplest form with Eve:
Genesis 3:1 (NLT) The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?”
God’s command was a prohibition against eating of the fruit of only one tree. The serpent sowed doubt by first misstating the command, twisting the words of God. Since it worked so well on Eve, alongside the first Adam, he went on to try it on Jesus, the Last Adam, which failed miserably! Cf. Matthew 4:1-11.
Yet, this enemy still tries, and will one day do very well as he is given way and calls on signs from the heavens to fall.
Signs from Heaven
And so it will be in the end of the world, the Last Age; or better known as our time. The enemy will employ great tricks to pretend to have power. And all those who look to the sky for signs will be drawn into the snare.
Revelation 13:11-15 (NLT) 11 Then I saw another beast come up out of the earth. He had two horns like those of a lamb, but he spoke with the voice of a dragon. 12 He exercised all the authority of the first beast. And he required all the earth and its people to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. 13 He did astounding miracles, even making fire flash down to earth from the sky while everyone was watching. 14 And with all the miracles he was allowed to perform on behalf of the first beast, he deceived all the people who belong to this world. He ordered the people to make a great statue of the first beast, who was fatally wounded and then came back to life. 15 He was then permitted to give life to this statue so that it could speak. Then the statue of the beast commanded that anyone refusing to worship it must die.
Seems familiar... at least it should! We read of a character like this back in Matthew 24, performing signs that would possibly deceive even the Church. The power displayed by this character is what the religious elite demanded Jesus to do.
Demanding miracles to help our belief is backwards. It’s in the words of our Savior and King that we find true order.
Mark 16:15-18 (NLT) 15 And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone. 16 Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned. 17 These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe: They will cast out demons in my name, and they will speak in new languages. 18 They will be able to handle snakes with safety, and if they drink anything poisonous, it won’t hurt them. They will be able to place their hands on the sick, and they will be healed.”
Jesus keeps the order correct and gives us the context in which miraculous power would manifest. It would “accompany” or follow after those who believe. Meaning, faith must be established first. And such things would happen in and through those who would be about the Father’s work of preaching the gospel to the lost!
But we are desperate for spiritual theatrics to satisfy our senses. Which leads to a rebellion of our attention.
Rebellion of Attention
We are divided in our attention. When we ought to be preaching the Gospel, we’re instead fitting our tin-foil hats on our heads, telling people things like the eclipse is a sign of God’s judgment. There were literally pastors telling people Jesus would return on April 8th. Even more upsetting, there were plenty of people believing it! Why!? Biblical illiteracy is likely a root cause. But a deeper root is a rebellious nature that rejects the commands of God.
2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 (NLT) 1 Now, dear brothers and sisters, let us clarify some things about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and how we will be gathered to meet him. 2 Don’t be so easily shaken or alarmed by those who say that the day of the Lord has already begun. Don’t believe them, even if they claim to have had a spiritual vision, a revelation, or a letter supposedly from us. 3 Don’t be fooled by what they say. For that day will not come until there is a great rebellion against God and the man of lawlessness is revealed—the one who brings destruction. 4 He will exalt himself and defy everything that people call god and every object of worship. He will even sit in the temple of God, claiming that he himself is God.
A rebellion will happen in the last days of this last age. That rebellion is clearly gearing up. It’s sad that we Christians will be the ones to usher it in. Either by our complacency or outright rejection of God’s truth, the Church will be a player in ushering in this end of days prophecy Paul relays.
Why do I say that? Read that passage again, but think differently about the idea of the Temple of God. The temple Paul speaks of is often understood as a third temple that’s yet to be built. Perhaps a third Jewish temple will be built, but is that really what Paul is alluding to?
Why I question that assessment and offer a different one is that we are clearly told by this same author, under the same inspiration of Holy Spirit, that WE are this temple.
1 Corinthians 3:16-17 (NLT) 16 Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you? 17 God will destroy anyone who destroys this temple. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.
So, is it possible that this man of lawlessness will come to the Church to be revealed and revered? I believe so! And we will embrace him as God.
Should we be so desperate for the supernatural experience that we ignore the clear warnings from the Scriptures? Warnings that demand we look for those very things as coming from the evil one? Let’s not be so easily shaken or alarmed by people who would come saying the Day of the Lord has begun. If you have to be told, it’s a deception folks. Jesus made clear that His next arrival would be obvious. “For as the lightning flashes in the east and shines to the west, so it will be when the Son of Man comes.” (Matt. 24:17)
And so, we are being tempted to stray our focus from the One. Let us instead holdfast, resolute in our faith, trusting in Jesus, obeying His command to stay focused on the mission. Then, we will not be so easily led into deception.
