One of the most misunderstood words around today must be ‘Apocalyptic’, writes Rev Sydney Maitland. It has been fashionable for some years now. The film about the war in Vietnam, ‘Apocalypse Now’ dealt with a dysfunctional mission to deal with a rogue officer. There is a full genre of fiction dealing with a ‘post-apocalyptic’ world bereft of civilization, where force overrules law, and the structures of society have generally collapsed.
Yet the term refers to a genre of visions in the Old and New Testaments, concerning the ‘end times’. These are set out in the gospels (Matthew 24, and the parables of chapter 25; Mark 13 and Luke 21) and St Paul discusses it in his letters to the Thessalonians (1 Th 4-5, 2 Th 1-2) and of course it is there in the Book of Revelation, also known as the ‘Apocalypse’.
Looking at these there are perhaps two main points. One is that the judgment of God will come upon the world for its rebellion against His law and love. But secondly, it is a judgment that will be just and proportionate, yet also tinged with mercy and limited in scope. There is no sense in which the world as a whole will be destroyed and reduced to primeval chaos. Indeed, we are told of the return of Jesus to the world, ‘He will come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven’ (Acts 1:11). I do not believe that Jesus is coming back to an irradiated chaos, bereft of water or vegetation and incapable of supporting life.
And this is the second point: the judgment of God will not eradicate all human life from the world and in every stage of the judgments of the Book of Revelation, it is always limited and a remnant is always left. In this sense, the book stresses that whatever happens on the earth is controlled and limited by the action of heaven. It does not follow that what was written to encourage a 1st century church under persecution by Rome cannot have further application for the more distant future as well.
Human history has its full record of wars and massacres, pestilences and famines. These have been severe and yet there have been survivors to carry on the work of the church and the sharing of the gospel with the world as a whole. And, yes people lived in fear of the times and wondered what the future would hold.
I think that there are two sets of responses to these issues. One is that God has indeed entrusted the earth to humanity, to have dominion over it but also to care for it. This does not mean to despoil it or bring it to ruin. It does mean to tend it, restore what is exploited and where possible, remedy what is deficient to human needs.
But the other is to continue to love God and serve Him in all things, trusting Him especially when our own imagination and resources are no longer enough. It involves our relationship with God as the starting point and not an afterthought, and so coming before Him in the manner He has given us, in Jesus Christ. It then spreads into our relationships with one another and with our community as a whole. To expect to restore the world using ideologies that ignore or isolate God can never be expected to prosper.
So, yes there may indeed be threats to our way of life from the environment and from regimes that seek to dominate us. There may also be threats to our freedom to worship from regimes that wish to present themselves as supreme in all things. Our task is to work to meet the issues of our day. But I am no fortune teller and it is not for me to say when the much-hoped for and expected Day of the Lord will dawn. It will come but our preparation must surely consist of preparing in quietness of spirit and activity of mind, of peace in our relationships and justice in our dealings.
Every blessing,
Sydney Maitland
