The End of the Age

 IS IT ALL COMING TO AN END    (Dave Van Inwegen)

Is it all coming to a conclusion? Has the “old serpent, the Devil, Satan been loosed a little season” (Rev 20:3) I read a Facebook meme the other day, it said: “I used to wonder how the Devil could deceive entire nations like the Bible said he could; I don’t wonder any more.”  So many nations today seem to be infected with the same “woke” disease. The deception is worldwide. One wokster has listed 107 genders in 2023. Is there coming a finality to the reality as we know it. The direct answer to this question (according to Sacred Scripture) is yes, but...then we may ask why or maybe even...when?  How long is Satan's “ little season” as mentioned in Rev Chap 20?

At the outset the Book of Genesis tells us that “in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”. (Gen 1:1) At the end the Book of The Revelation tells us God creates a “new heaven and a new earth”. (Rev 21:1) There is much comfort in the catechism that states: “God, from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass: yet so, as thereby neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence (coercion) offered to the will of the creatures; nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established.” (WCF Chap 3) God is in control of His creation. “.....he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?” (Dan 4:35) Yet when we ask the “when” or the “why” question or wonder if Satan is on the loose...in a sense we are asking of God, since we know He is in control,... “What are You Doing”?

Now we “live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28) sometime between the Book of Genesis (1:1) and the new heavens and earth of the Book of The Revelation (21:1).  When will this “new” be? Are we close? Remember, even Jesus’ disciples asked when in response to His prediction of the fall of Israel/Jerusalem: ) Lu 21:6 As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. “And they asked him, saying, Master, but when shall these things be?” (Luke 21:7  He truly stated: “This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.”(Luke 21:32) So, it is not out of order to wonder or ponder when shall these things (the new) be.

So, we shall ponder when will this new thing be? What things or events according to sacred scripture must take place prior to the creation of the “new heavens and earth”?  Some would say that the gospel must be preached in all the world...before the end according to Matthew 24:14.  The use of the Greek word “oikoumene” in the verse would indicate a localized world such as the then Roman Empire. If the entire world were in view the word that should be used is “kosmos”.(as in God so loved the world...) The gospel had been preached in the Roman Empire by the time of John’s death. What does end of the age then mean as stated by Jesus in Luke 24:3, New King James? (see here for an explanation of the term “age”) https://shorturl.at/vwDRV  Dr.Sproul states correctly, in my opinion, that the Jewish age would end in AD 70 with the destruction of Jerusalem as Jesus predicted and the Gentile age would then begin. We are now in the Gentile Age.

Are there any prophecies that must be fulfilled before the new heavens and earth are created or re-created? Yes, three! (1) The Lord’s 2nd coming, (2) the resurrection of the body, and (3) the final judgement. Since no man knows when the Lord will be returning....no speculation can be in order for the other two.  So, it seems we’ve come full circle...back to the beginning. Are things coming to a conclusion? Yes...each day brings us closer to that day of our Lord’s triumphant return. All we can do is pray with St John...”even so, come, Lord Jesus” (Rev 22:20)

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