I often think about the people who lived in ages past and wonder what they understood about their place in the flow of His story.
For those who lived between the Testaments, it meant experiencing a famine of the Word. And yet, there were individuals who remained confident that God would remember His ancient promises and fulfill them in His good time.
Similarly, following the fervor of the Apostles and the evangelistic urgency of the Church Fathers, the Church has waited almost 2,000 years for the promise of the Rapture and Jesus’ subsequent return. As the years turned into decades and then centuries, some Christians began to wonder (and wander). Instead of asking, “How long, O Lord?” they began to doubt, either actively or passively, the promise of His coming— just as Peter warned would happen (2 Peter 3:3-4).
But there has always been a faithful remnant who remained excited about Jesus’ promise and loved His appearing. Like Paul, they were confident that a crown of righteousness was laid up for them (2 Timothy 4:8).
Faith of the Fathers
There can be no doubt that the Apostles expected Jesus to come again. Prior even to His crucifixion, death, and resurrection, they were asking, “What will be the sign of Your coming?” (Matthew 24:3). They didn’t even understand the nature of His “going,” but they knew already that He would be coming again.
The Early Church Fathers shared that anticipation. The earliest of them were disciples of the original Apostles. For example, Polycarp and Ignatius followed after John, and Irenaeus was taught by Polycarp. There were not many degrees of separation between many Early Church leaders and the original Apostles. And, while they had to fight against threats of heresy in the Church, they also shared an expectation that Jesus would come again—imminently and suddenly.
Down through what we refer to as the Dark Ages, unwavering faith was handed down from one generation to another, kept alive by the breath of the Holy Spirit. As a glowing ember holds heat, that core faith was ready to burst into flame—and did so with the advent of the Reformation.
Although Protestants during the Reformation era were denounced as heretics for daring to read the Bible for themselves (and even, shockingly, to translate it into different languages so that common people could access God’s Word), the plain reading of what God had chosen to reveal stoked the understanding that human history would culminate in the return of Jesus— first for His Church and then in glory to reign on the earth for 1,000 years.
The Catholic Church had long since ascribed to a symbolic, Amillennial interpretation. But at the turn of the 17th Century, a Jesuit by the name of Luis de Alcázar offered an alternate viewpoint now called Preterism. According to de Alcázar and vocal proponents of Preterism still today, every prophecy regarding the return of Christ was fulfilled in AD 70 when Jerusalem was sacked by the Romans. Makes you wonder what we’re still doing here today and why wickedness continues to multiply on the Earth.
Freedom in Christ
Coming as a direct repudiation of Catholic resistance to widespread Bible reading and comprehension, a new wave of understanding was unleashed when people began to read God’s Word for themselves—and accept a plain-sense understanding of what He revealed through prophecy.
The leading men of the “Enlightenment” almost universally credited their blossoming knowledge to God’s Word and their belief that He revealed Himself and certain mysteries in order that they might be understood.
Throughout the Middle Ages, leading scholars and what are now categorized as scientists found both inspiration and understanding in the Word of God. And many of them lived expectantly, looking for Jesus to return.
Where Are We in God’s Prophetic Timeline?
For almost 20 centuries, the Holy Spirit has ensured that God’s powerful and effective Word—including His prophetic Word—will not return void (Isaiah 55:8-11).
Obviously, every jot and tittle of Scripture will be completely and manifestly fulfilled, because it is God’s will. But God’s will will come to pass, whether He reveals it to us in advance or not. So there must be a reason God has chosen to reveal His Will and His designs for the future to us.
As we sit astride 2025, watching the Signs of the Times converge all around us and prophetic happenings accelerate day by day, we should thank God that we have the privilege to live in such a time as this. Prophets of old and faithful Christians throughout the Church Age longed to witness what is transpiring before our eyes. Yet, instead of yearning, many professing followers of Christ are yawning. Lulled to sleep by the misconception that “all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation,” (2 Peter 3:4), they become the very mockers Peter warned would arise in the Last Days.
Whether you or I realize it or not, time is speeding toward the terminus God has ordained. All the signs indicate that could be very soon. If He tarries, it is only because He doesn’t wish that any would perish, but would come to repentance and salvation in Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:9).
Either way, our mission is clear and urgent: warn every person we can to flee from the wrath to come and into the loving arms of our Savior. We can encourage one another, and all the more as we see the day drawing near, confident that He who called us—and revealed His prophetic Word to us—is faithful. And He is coming soon.
