God's Plan or Human Manipulation? - Part 1 : Context & Prophecies Fulfilled

And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet.

Matthew 24:6 ESV

When is the end of the world? When will we see Jesus? Will there be a one world government? Does supporting the wrong political party mean I'm supporting the antichrist?

You may have heard or asked yourself some of these questions about the end times. This is normal, however there is a growing trend with churches and believers that are using these questions and using them for evil purposes. This trend that I’m talking about is conspiracy theory eschatology, we'll nickname it CTE.

Eschatology: a branch of theology (study of God) concerned with the final events in the history of the world or of humankind (Merriam-Webster)

Now that we have that definition let me clarify. I am talking about those who use scriptures from Daniel, Revelation and other prophetic books of the Bible to push their own agenda. We have to understand that as we read the Bible, it was written in a different time. The time period in which it was written was different from today and each book was written in different time periods from one another. We have to understand that each book that we read in scripture was created for a certain audience. For those of you who are learning to read the Bible or those of you who have read for years, this is called reading the Bible in context.

Context: the situation in which something happens : the group of conditions that exist where and when something happens. (Merriam-Webster)

We learn in Luke 21:35-36, that we must be aware of signs of the end times to be strengthened in our faith. However, there are those who use CTE as an excuse to ask for money, gain influence over people, or to bring division within churches to become leaders.

So what does context have to do with CTE? Glad you asked, we understand that although someone uses verses from the Bible, it doesn't mean that they always have the best intentions. We know that Jesus was tempted in the wilderness by Satan with the scriptures (Matthew 4:1-11), the Pharisees used the scriptures to create religiosity (Mark 7:1-13), and demons quote the Bible too (Acts 16:16-12). We should not be ignorant to think that the same doesn’t happen today within churches.

The point is to recognize that we must be careful when we are reading or listening to explanations about apocalyptic writings by using the context of scripture. People use scripture out of context to justify their actions and theories about the end times very often. Everything we hear or read must be tested according to the context of the Bible and prayer (1 Corinthians 14:9).

Another thing we must do when dealing with CTE, is to understand which prophecies have been fulfilled and which haven’t been fulfilled. If something has been fulfilled we must not worry about it anymore and look at the biblical context. Many biblical prophecies have already been fulfilled through Jesus himself or through the actions of others throughout history. If a prophecy hasn’t been fulfilled, then they will be fulfilled sooner or later. We do not know exactly when but we can try and see the warning signs before they happen, the Bible calls these; signs of the times.

These signs are exciting and can be somewhat frightening at times. However, we must not allow ourselves to be overwhelmed with fear from them. The signs are good news! They are letting us know that Jesus is coming back soon and we will be together with Him forever.

However, it should not be our primary focus as believers to obsess over signs of the times. Rather the signs of the times are warning signals for us, just like a check engine light on your car for danger. Signs of growing persecutions, growing revival, or apocalyptic events are warnings to provide an urgency to believers. An urgency to get right with God, love people like Jesus, and share the gospel with as many people as possible.

This urgency gives us more motivation to live more like Jesus! It's a reminder that all the pain and grief we have on earth is going to come to an end soon. This urgency should produce hope, not fear.

If our purpose in learning about revelation and prophetic literature is to grow political parties, manipulate others, or put fear into people, we have missed the purpose of what the scripture is for. Scripture was created for teaching, edifying and bringing love to one another (2 Timothy 3:16). If a teaching is not edifying and growing people closer to Jesus it should be abandoned. Once we abandon it, we must return to its original intent and see the power of God displayed in our lives.

As old and new believers, we must choose to fight against this toxic trend. Remember, just because you may have misunderstandings about the Bible, doesn't mean everything you know is bad. Check yourself according to the word, by using context and seeing if what you heard was going to happen, has already happened. God's got you on this journey, you're not alone!

Takeaways:

1. Read apocalyptic and prophetic scriptures in Context- Learn about the context of the time by looking up when it was written, who wrote it, and who it was for.

2. Learn which prophecies have already been fulfilled. - Look in the old and new testaments where they were already fulfilled or search online.

Adrian Espinosa is the leader and founder of Lighthouse Ministries, and has worked within a variety of ministry positions for 10 years. He has led evangelism teams, served in homeless ministries, and led anti human/drug trafficking outreaches to at-risk youth in Dallas. He has a bachelor in Secondary Social Studies Education, and has been theologically trained at Southwestern Assemblies of God University. Originally from California, he now resides in McKinney, Texas.