There are many things I can remember vividly from my upbringing. One of those things was the prominence of a certain book series on the bookshelf in our living room. The series was titled, “Left Behind.” I also remember the movies that came out based on that series. I watched them all. I even owned the movie soundtrack and listened to it all the time.
I was raised with an assumed view of how the future looks for the world and God’s people. Most of that assumed view was based on some combination of the Left Behind franchise, the newspaper headlines, and the popular television preachers of the day.
Every time a new president was elected, a chain email would make its way to our home computer stating why this one really is the Antichrist. I remember sitting in the basement of a family friend’s house on New Year’s Eve of 1999. As the clock drew close to midnight, I felt a high level of fear and anxiety because so many people had said that Y2K may be the event that ushers in the rapture and the tribulation.
I was worried that I might be one of those people the revivalists were constantly talking about. You know, the ones who think they’re saved, but they’re not really saved. Or maybe they are really saved, but are they really, really saved? That kind of stuff worked on me. The thought of missing the rapture and ending up in the tribulation brought debilitating fear to my heart.
For such a long time, I took the validity of all of this for granted. I am embarrassed at how long it took me to actually search the Scriptures concerning these things. But once I did, something amazing happened. I lost my fear and anxiety about where the world is headed and discovered an unshakable hope. I want to share that hope with you.
We are going to go on a journey to find hope in where the world is headed and how this all ends. I trust that the biblical account of these things will help us to spend more time with our eyes on Christ and less time looking for the Antichrist.
Getting Our Bearings in the Old Testament
I want to start in the Old Testament with four passages. These passages will help us to get our bearings. They will help us to have a framework in view for what is coming in the New Testament. I’m only going to make a few brief comments on each passage because we are just doing a flyover of Scripture in these posts. So, this is just to give us a springboard from which to jump into the New Testament.
Psalm 2
“Why are the nations in an uproar and the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, “Let us tear their cords from us!” (Psalm 2:1-3, NASB)
This is quoted in Acts 4 and directly applied to the crucifixion of Christ. David, in Psalm 2, is prophesying the crucifixion as a moment when the nations are in an uproar and plotting the murder of the Lord. Truly, the coalition of nations against Christ occurred at the crucifixion. Both the Gentiles and the Jews - Rome and Israel -entered into an unprecedented unity for the murder of the Son of God.
“He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them. Then He will speak to them in His anger And terrify them in His fury, saying, “But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain.” “I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.’ ” (Psalms 2:4-9, NASB)
This is God’s response to the crucifixion and the unified rage of the nations. He laughs and scoffs. He does not flinch. He declares that the very One they have crucified, He has now installed as King. King over what? Over everything. He is giving Christ the nations as His inheritance. And what is His territory and possession? The very ends of the earth. How is it that He will establish His dominion over the earth? He will break them with a rod of iron and shatter them like earthenware. This is Old Testament imagery for one king or nation conquering another.
“Now therefore, O kings, show discernment; Take warning, O judges of the earth. Worship the Lord with reverence And rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!” (Psalms 2:10-12, NASB)
The King has been crucified. The King now sits on His throne claiming His rightful kingdom, which is “the very ends of the earth.” Now the kings of the earth have an option. They will submit to the King, Jesus Christ. It will either be by way of bowing the knee in worship and obedience to Him or it will be submission by judgment when the Lord pours His wrath upon them. Will they continue to rage against Christ or will they repent and serve their true King?
Psalm 110:1-2
“The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.” The Lord will stretch forth Your strong scepter from Zion, saying, “Rule in the midst of Your enemies.” (Psalms 110:1-2, NASB)
This is another Psalm that is quoted in Acts (2:34-36). It is clear that this is talking about the ascension. When Christ ascended into heaven, He took His place at the right hand of God. The most common application of this truth is that He is there interceding for us to the Father. That is true and thank God that it is! But He is doing something else also. He is ruling and reigning. And He will be at the Father’s right hand in heaven until His enemies are a footstool for His feet. That means He will not return until He has conquered every square inch of this world.
Until then, where is His reign occurring? It is often assumed that Jesus’s reign is strictly over the church, only spiritual, and only in heaven. It's as if Jesus is King over the church, but not the world. The world is Satan’s kingdom. Jesus doesn’t own that. But look at verse 2. Jesus is ruling in the midst of His enemies!
The very ends of the earth are His kingdom and He is ruling in it. But there is still left the vestiges, shadows, and remnants of the dark kingdom He has conquered. And throughout His reign, He will be systematically rooting them out.
Isaiah 2:1-4
“The word which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. Now it will come about that In the last days The mountain of the house of the Lord Will be established as the chief of the mountains, And will be raised above the hills; And all the nations will stream to it. And many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, To the house of the God of Jacob; That He may teach us concerning His ways And that we may walk in His paths.” For the law will go forth from Zion And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And He will judge between the nations, And will render decisions for many peoples; And they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, And never again will they learn war.” (Isaiah 2:1-4, NASB)
Isaiah proclaims that in the last days the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established as the chief of the mountains, and will be raised over the hills, and all the nations will stream to it. The peoples go to the house of God to be taught His ways. And as a result of the law and word of God going out from Jerusalem, the nations give up their weapons of destruction and take up tools for producing. And they will never again learn war.
The last days is not speaking of the end of the world, but of the age of the church. That is why it is plural not singular. It is an age filled with many days (or periods of time). Mountains and hills are typical in the language of the Old Testament in speaking of nations, kingdoms, and peoples. Here, the mountain of the house of the Lord, which is spiritual Israel, the New Jerusalem, and the Church, is established and raised up as the chief of the kingdoms.
All the nations will stream to the church and will be taught the ways of God, as the Word of God goes out from the Church of God. The result of this work throughout the Church age is the realization of a day when nations no longer war with nations, but produce and cultivate according to God’s Word.
Isaiah 42:1-4
“Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry out or raise His voice, Nor make His voice heard in the street. A bruised reed He will not break And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not be disheartened or crushed Until He has established justice in the earth; And the coastlands will wait expectantly for His law.” (Isaiah 42:1-4, NASB)
This text presents Christ who will bring justice to the nations. His justice will be established in the earth. His law will spread over the whole earth until it reaches even the coastlands, which indicates even the furthest reaches of the earth.
Conclusion
These Old Testament passages give us some things that we ought to be expecting in the New Testament. As Augustine famously said, “The Old Testament is the New Testament concealed and the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed.” So, how is the New Testament going to reveal and clarify these grand promises? In the next post we'll take a look at the testimony of the New Testament concerning Christ the King and the activity of His Kingdom on earth.