Biblical prophecy can at times appear to be overwhelming because it often gives such alarming images of the end of the world. This could cause most people anxiety, but is this what God is communicating to us?
Yes, it’s true, biblical prophecy does often give us images of future cataclysms when human chaos and destruction reaches its climax, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the end. There is a beautiful story of restoration that lays ahead and we get a better idea of what this story is by trying to understand the context of apocalyptic literature. Let’s begin with looking at one of Jesus’ prophetic sayings to explore what it tells us about the events to come.
“But in those days, following that distress, “‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’ “At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.”
(Mark 13:24-27, NIV)
Prior to the opening verse above, Jesus had been in the Temple with his disciples. As He and His students left the Temple that day, what seems like a stray remark about the tremendous size and sturdiness of the Herodian Temple blocks of stone, opens an apocalyptic conversation about what will unfold.
The apocalyptic tone (apocalyptic in the Greek sense of the word αποκαλυπτικός apokalyptikós, meaning the ‘unveiling or revealing of things not previously known prior to the unveiling’) of Jesus’ conversation with his disciples in the Gospel of Mark is not new or unusual. Jewish biblical, and extra-biblical, literature broadly contains six main genres—law, narrative, liturgy, wisdom, prophecy, and apocalyptic. Daniel, Ezekiel, and certain portions of Isaiah and Zechariah as well as other Hebrew texts that are part of the apocryphal tradition, contain literature that is considered to be ‘apocalyptic’, revealing something that is to come or revealing something as it is.
Apocalyptic literature can inspire panic, amongst other things. As we respond to this panic, often, we can switch off to the notion of the ‘end times’ altogether, not wishing to engage in something that we don’t understand, don’t want to understand, or don’t feel is relevant. This kind of literature is not like a multi-layered story or a song or a psalm that registers in our emotions. It can feel like a frightening sea filled with metaphors and imagery that speak about something we don’t actually want to think about at all—the world ending. But recognising its ancient roots can help us better comprehend what is being revealed. Also, recognising recurring themes can help clarify these apparent mysteries.
So why is Jesus giving us creation imagery in a time of coming chaos? Could it be that Jesus is giving us a revelation about a coming new creation?
Regarding the passage above—the ‘four winds’ is an image that should grab our attention. Where have we heard something similar before? In the beginning of beginnings, God planted a garden and named that garden Delight (Eden simply means delight). A river flowed out of Delight, to water that garden and from there it divided to become four rivers. In traditional Jewish thought, this can represent the four ‘corners’ of the earth, all directions. The ‘four winds’ is also an image used in Daniel and Zechariah, as well as later in Revelation, to symbolise something similar. So why is Jesus giving us creation imagery in a time of coming chaos? Could it be that Jesus is giving us a revelation about a coming new creation? Well, that’s not so strange because the Bible begins with God creating the universe out of ‘tohu-va-bohu‘ which can be translated ‘chaos’.
A lot of creation imagery is used in this conversation between Jesus and some of his disciples on the Mount of Olives. It’s important to remember that the word ‘apocalypse’ doesn’t mean the ‘end of the world’ in the zombie sense, but rather a revealing of things as they really are, or a revealing of what is to come. Although the trials and tribulations sometimes described in biblical apocalyptic literature can be terrifying, they are only a brief instance in eternity. A better world is coming, a new creation from the chaos. As John of Patmos wrote in his vision for the future:
“Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also, there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”
(Revelation 21:1-4, NKJV)
So, perhaps ‘in the end, each end, is also a beginning’.[1]
[1] Austrian writer Daniel Glattauer