STAND FIRM: The Election, an Assassination Attempt and the End of the World
Spoiler alert — this article wasn’t written to say the results of the upcoming election or the recent assassination attempt on Donald Trump is a sign we’re approaching the end of the age or are in the end times. Instead, I’m saying the opposite.
Empires have risen and fallen, superpower nations have fallen, politicians have been corrupted, tyrants have risen and trampled on their citizens, taxes have become unbearable, economies have crumpled, wars have raged and societies have sunk into the depths of perversions throughout history. This has always been part of the reality of the world and will continue to the end. I have been sitting on this article for a while and thought the week following an assassination attempt on a former president and current presidential candidate was as good a time as any to write it.
As we look out at our world (the craziness, the evil, the sin, the injustice, the difficulties and all that’s bad), we must realize that not all things are end-time things. I can say this because the Bible gives specific events that will happen at the end of the age. We’re not left to our own devices and creativity, but it is spelled out in the Word.
On the flip side of this, Jesus said there would be end-time-looking events that would occur, but we should realize they do not mean it is the end. Then, after clarifying that, Jesus gave a list of the specific things that would happen and, I believe, even the order in which they would happen. We find these words of Jesus in Matthew 24. They’re familiar, but be sure to pay attention to the verse highlighted in bold: “Jesus answered: ‘Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, “I am the Messiah,” and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains’” (Matt. 24:4-8 NIV).
Did you catch what Jesus said? He said you will see things such as deception, false Messiah, wars, rumors of wars, division, fighting, famines and earthquakes, but these things are not the end. Then, in the remainder of the passage, He walks through the events that are the end times.
These events include persecution, many turning away, the completion of the Great Commission and specific events occurring in Jerusalem. The Antichrist will commit an abomination in the temple. He will turn against Israel, and they will face the greatest tribulation they have ever faced. Someone will perform false miracles and deceive many. I will stop there, but Jesus continued with more details.
From Matthew 24, we see terrible events that will arise, especially wars. There will end time wars, but the Bible gives the locations and the parties involved. There are world events that have or will set the stage for specific end-time events. With the prominence of the United States as a chief superpower in the world, the direction of our nation impacts the world and plays a part in setting the stage.
Along with Jesus directly saying these types of events will occur but that doesn’t mean it is the end, we also see other principles in Scripture. There are many verses about how God raises nations and allows them to be destroyed. All of Scripture tells us we’re in a sinful world where evil will occur. Scripture also tells of an evil spiritual enemy that continually corrupts the world. In Romans 1, we’re given the formula for a nation’s demise due to turning from the one true God and diving deep into immorality.
We must realize evil is happening all throughout history and mostly what we’re witnessing in America is the continual result of sin and doesn’t have to be the end of the age. Even if a president was to be assassinated does not mean it is the end times. It has happened before. Elections can be stolen due to sin, and it still not be the end times. I’m sure it happened in the early democracies and republics like Greece and Rome.
I can’t imagine what is ahead for our nation leading up to this election and afterward. We all know there’s no hope unless there is a major intervention of God. And by that, I believe the intervention would be revolutionizing us believers to walk with the Lord as the first followers of Jesus did.
I hope this article can come as a pause for us and remind us that the problem is sin, not politics. The corruption and division in our nation aren’t necessarily end-time things, but God is turning us over to our sins. Since the problem is living apart from God, the answer begins on our knees, not a fiery political radio episode or even the results of an election.
— Jake is a state missionary and would love to share about the work in Northwest Arkansas and encourage your church to stand firm. (standfirmministries.com)
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Jake McCandless
Jake McCandless authors a weekly column titled, Stand Firm and Live Epic, through which he seeks to encourage the modern church to not just survive, but thrive in current times. He also addresses many end-times topics.
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