Don’t Fear The End Times

 

Don’t fear the end times, and don’t fear the rise of evil. Because the rise of evil is a sure sign that God is at work and judging evil, and eventually this will happen for the final time, and the dragon will be slain. This is an excerpt from something I am writing, hopefully this will encourage you, and also give you a biblical reason not to the fear the end of days,

“Many nations and empires have fallen into decadence and rotted from within and then fallen to enemies from without. Evil is a spiritual cancer, and like cancer it consumes incessantly until it kills its host. This exact dynamic is seen when the world turns on Babylon.

As evil as Babylon was, we also read that it was the source of great wealth and a high standard of living for the kings of the world. The effects of its fall are devastating for all who relied on its trade and resources, and this marks the beginning of the end for the world system. Look at this cry from Revelation 18:

“1 After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was made bright with his glory. 2 And he called out with a mighty voice,

“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!
    She has become a dwelling place for demons,
a haunt for every unclean spirit,
    a haunt for every unclean bird,
    a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast.
3 For all nations have drunk
    the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality,
and the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her,
    and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living” (Rev. 18:1-3).

What we will see in this chapter is how the kings of the earth hasten their own decline and destruction by their attack on the source of their power and wealth. It is obvious that they recognized the great power that Babylon affords to them but also that they resent it and want it gone. But you can’t have your cake and eat it too, as they say. It is God who puts in their hearts to destroy the harlot,

“15 And the angel said to me, “The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages. 16 And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire, 17 for God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. 18 And the woman that you saw is the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth” (Rev. 17:15-28).

One of the most consistent things we see evil do throughout history is attempt to unite humanity under one banner, with one or a few evil powers in the control. This is the impetus behind empire, this is the impetus behind business monopolies, this is the impetus behind even religious monopolies and often behind denominational battles; the desire for one power to rule them all, as in the Lord of the Rings where Sauron’s plan is to have one ring to rule all rings and secure for himself complete dominion across Middle Earth.

And in a great final irony evil will be granted this power in its final days on this earth, “17 for God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.” We also know that this power will be short, one hour (Rev. 17:12) according to John. God will give evil everything it wants, complete and total control over the world and its system, and this grant of power will hasten the destruction of evil, because to give over evil to what it wants is to give it over to its own self-destructive tendencies. Cancer has to eventually consume its host.”

For the life of me I cannot fathom how people can read the book of Revelation and find it depressing. It should fill us with incredible hope, because it shows us how the final battle goes. We are not left to wonder, we are not left to worry, we are told in no uncertain terms that the Lord beats everything evil has to throw at him. The best evil has, Jesus has it covered. And it shows us the self-destructive nature of evil, which should really encourage us when we lose out on things in this world for the sake of doing the right thing, because we are not losing when we do this, we are separating ourselves from things which could destroy us if we focused on them instead of the things of the Lord.

Don’t fear the end times, evil should fear the end. For in the end the light overcomes the darkness, and praise be to God, we will see this happen again and again in this world, and then once and for all on the final day.

Evil might be a terrifying dragon, but Jesus is a dragon slayer.