Jeff Carter
Eschatology: from the Greek ‘eschatos’ — meaning “last things”
This has surely not always been the case. Why is it that the church fathers said relatively little about the issue? Why did the reformers not deal with the ‘last things’ in any substantive way? It seems as if the answer lies in the fact that every generation deals with the specific theological issues ‘the time’ calls for. Every generation finds itself within a specific context and at a specific place in the unfolding of God’s revelation of His eternal plan to mankind. In that context, every generation has their own theological issues that are of utmost importance and urgency to them.
These shifts in theological focus; these new phases in theological discussion were almost universally preceded and prompted by some sort of crisis that caused the widespread interest in and urgent exploration of the topic. For the early church the main issues facing them were chiefly foundational—which makes sense, as they were laying the groundwork upon which the doctrine for the rest of the church would rest. So, in the early church councils, they dealt with the deity of Christ, the Trinity, the nature of man, and how Christ’s two natures were related. These were all bedrock issues the church needed to hammer out, specifically because there were major heretics teaching otherwise and leading people astray. This was the crisis they faced. The whole trajectory of future theological discussion, as well as the entire church’s understanding rightly the Word of God, depended on the foundation being laid straight and true.
Later, in the time of the Reformation, the church wrestled with the nature of justification, authority in the church, and the role of the sacraments–all because of major abuses that were being committed by an apostate Roman church which was leading people astray. This was the crisis they faced. Eschatology has never been studied in depth before a few generations ago, because there was never a compelling need to. As its name (“last things”) requires, it has not become a burning issue until every other major theological issue has had its day.
So the question remains, “why now?” Well, the ‘crisis’ that prompted much of the current eschatological discussion saw its beginnings in the Zionist movement at the end of the 19th century and early in the 20th, but then was most fully realized in the shocking rebirth of the nation of Israel in 1948. Throughout the history of the church, the question as to whether or not there was to be a future for the nation of Israel was not, for the most part, even addressed. There did not seem to be a need to. The traditional answer over the last two millennia to the question of whether or not God had a future plan for the literal descendants of Jacob, as an ethnic, cultural, and national entity, was an emphatic “no”.
What is so monumental in the history of prophetic interpretation is that Israel is now back in the land after being in exile for nearly 2,000 years. Very few biblical scholars really understood this, or more precisely, foresaw that this would happen, prior to the late 1800’s. The reality of the diaspora—the fact that Israel was not in the land for some 2,000 years—was one of the strongest apologetics for the allegorical method of interpretation.
Truth be told, if you were a Bible scholar in the 1600’s, and you saw that there was no such thing as Israel—that they had been long-ago scattered across the known world— it would be easy to resort to some form of allegory when dealing with such passages (especially since the vast majority of church authority fiercely held to that hermeneutic). Thus, it took real courage for those faithful exegetes to stand up for literal prophetic interpretation and insist that even though it seemed impossible, God would indeed reconstruct and rebuild His people seemingly ex-nihilo. This is why the events of 1948 sent shock waves through biblical scholarship. One of the strongest pillars supporting the allegorical methodology finally fell—namely the non-existence of the nation of Israel.
So, what exactly triggered the widespread interest we now see? Clearly, it was the return of Israel to the land in 1948 that opened the eyes of a lot of people who didn’t take prophecy seriously—until they saw a major fulfillment take place before their very eyes. One could also argue that after that monumental prophetic domino fell, every major theme of end-times prophecy in the Bible is well on its way to fulfillment.
So it’s no wonder why the widespread interest today–all one has to do is pick up the morning paper and read about how the stage is being set for Christ’s return. Jesus chided the Pharisees that they were able to discern the signs in the sky but unable to discern the signs of the times. Some have called the days we’re living in the times of the signs—in which the beginnings of the end have started to unfold before us.
So in 1948, in fulfillment of prophecy, Israel became a nation once again. But, as it indicates in Ezekiel 36-37, they would be regathered in unbelief—for the purpose of judgment. But this regathering sets the stage for the coming tribulation period—also known as “the time of Jacob’s trouble”—where God will allow Israel to go through a time of tribulation “…such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will” (Matt 24:51). Which means it will be worse than the Holocaust. But at the end of this period, Israel will “acknowledge their guilt and seek my face”—according to Hosea 5:15ff… “I will go away and return to my place until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face. In their affliction they will earnestly seek me. Come let us return to the Lord. For He has torn us, but He will heal us. He has wounded us, but He will bandage us. He will revive us after two days. He will raise us up on the third day.” Then Romans 11:26 will be fulfilled, which says, “and thus all Israel will be saved.” When Israel acknowledges their sin of rejecting Messiah and petitions His return, this will usher in the second coming. All of this was set in motion by the remarkable events in 1948 which was the culmination, and at the same time, the impetus for the First Regathering of Israel to the land, and was the very crisis which opened the eyes of the world to the fact that God is once again on the move in Israel.
– Jeff