ESCHATOMANIA:
AN UNHEALTHY PREOCCUPATION WITH END TIMES & SATAN
Definition:
Eschatology is the study of “last things,” or the end of the world or of humanity.
From the Greek "eschatos" meaning "last" and "logia" meaning "study of."
Topics include: The Second Coming of Christ, The Rapture, judgment, and the establishment of the Kingdom of God.
By Brad Ward, Director, Armor of Truth
Satan loves extremes and doesn't care which ditch we fall into as long as he can keep us off the narrow road. False religion is a scourge on the earth and getting the gospel right or wrong is a matter of life and death. In all the world, and in any age, there is nothing more important than getting it right. There is a trend occurring among podcasters, YouTubers, and social media influencers that pleases the Prince of Darkness greatly. It has become quite common online to be so preoccupied with seeing into the darkness that Satan is elevated to the level of God and credited with powers he does not have. As Pastor and author, Erwin W. Lutzer writes,
“Satan's two most effective ploys are: #1 to get people to underestimate him so that he can lure us into a hidden snare and #2 to overestimate him that we may be so intimidated by him that his threatening power paralyzes us.”1
We’ve provided a couple links as examples of this trend. I will state up front that we are not “calling out” these content creators. We want their viewers and anyone seeking truth to know how and where to find the answers to all their questions. Why? Because the world’s only hope for redemption is found in the gospel of Jesus Christ and all relevant truth about God, salvation, the End Times, and the identity and ability of Satan can be known without having to speculate on what may or may not happen next. Being preoccupied with secret knowledge and where the devil is at work is a dangerous trend. Lutzer writes,
“We may not be able to be possessed by him, but we surely can become obsessed with him.”1
Video Links:
KJ’s The Scariest Movie Ever: 2024 Is Going To Be One Hell of A Year
A&Ω Productions: Satan’s Plan To Kill God 2024: The HIdden Agenda Behind CERN, AI, Aliens, and Transhumanism
THE “END-TIMES”
Eschatology is the study of end times. It is a fascinating topic that can lead some toward a better understanding of Scripture, but if you’re a new Christian or just investigating the Faith, the study of the End is not the place to begin. The topic of the End Times is saturated with more opinions and speculations than actual Scriptural evidence. Just about every YouTuber or blogger who addresses the topic has a slightly different idea about what they think will happen. It’s understandable that folks want to know what is going to happen. We have a natural curiosity about the future. Topics included in the study of eschatology are the return of Christ, the Rapture and whether or not it is before, during, or after the tribulation period, the resurrection of the dead, the second coming of Christ, the intermediate state, The Judgment, and the nation of Israel. It is true that in the Bible, God has revealed many things about the world in advance. Good students of God’s word ought to study eschatology, but only after they’ve grasped the core doctrines of the Faith, sin, and redemption being primary.
There are four possible views concerning the timing of prophetic events:
Preterism (past) is the view that most prophetic events have already been fulfilled.
Historicism (present) Historicism equates the current church age with the time of the tribulation; therefore, prophetic events are being fulfilled throughout the church age. Approximately 300 prophecies were fulfilled literally about the first coming of Christ.
Futurism (future) Futurism believes that the remaining prophecies of Christ’s second coming will be fulfilled literally in an eschatological or “End-Times” period.
Idealism (timeless) is the view that the Bible does not specify a time (chronology) for the fulfillment of prophetic events.
Revelation chapter 20 mentions the 1000-year period. It is crucial for the faithful Bible student to remember that the Book of Revelation is a highly symbolic genre of text known as apocalyptic literature. So, the question that finds the most debate among believing Christians is this: Is the Millenium mentioned in Revelation 20 literal or figurative? There are differences of opinion on the nature of the millennium as well.
Amillennialism is the position that the 1000-year reign of Christ is a figurative period of time.
Premillennialism affirms that the 1000-year is literal and that we are presently in the period “pre” or before the Millennium.
Postmillennialism believes that most of the world will be converted through the Great Commission. Christ’s Kingdom will be achieved as God works through His people who faithfully preach the gospel, teach God’s word, and make disciples of people from all nations.
Unfortunately, many Christians have divided over differing views about what will occur before Christ's return. This is unfortunate because the Bible teaches us not to pass judgment on debatable issues (Romans 14: 1-12). It also tells us that we are to take comfort in the knowledge that Christ will return (1 Thessalonians 4:18), and we should realize and be encouraged (1 Corinthians 15:58), knowing that Christ will return.
The Book of Revelation is probably the Bible's most curious and debated book. The fact that so many well-intentioned and intelligent Christians believe so differently about Revelation 20:1-15 ought to cause us to be extremely careful when we consider criticizing another’s interpretation. Christians ought not divide over differences having to do with “key distinctives,” or beliefs about such things as when Christ will return and exactly what the world will look like when He returns. However, the doctrine of Salvation, and the identity of Christ are examples of where we must be unmovable. In fact these are truths that we must be willing to die for.
Always stand on Scripture as your first rule and guiding principle for any doctrine. In the final analysis, after studying the issue for yourself, if you are still undecided, do not fret or fear, our salvation is not dependent upon Revelation 20. Our redemption is founded on the person and atoning work of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary.
GOD IS IN CONTROL
Critics attack the book of Daniel because it supernaturally predicts the future. Likewise, many Christians mesmerize themselves with the apocalyptic nature of Daniel’s account at the expense of the most important message we receive from Daniel: that God is absolutely sovereign and nothing happens apart from His will. So, the problem we see in the trend to obsess about End Times prophecy and the work of Satan in the world is that, like unbelieving critics of the Bible, many Christians are falling into a confusing ditch that results in their exalting Satan to powers he does not have and therefore denying that God is really in control of everything that is happening.
Every person in the world has a system for interpreting the events we see in the world, and for answering all the big questions about life: Why are we here? How did we get here? Where are we going? and Who is in charge?
The purpose of the Bible is to teach us who God is, who we are (fallen, sinful creatures who bear God’s image), what the problem is (we all deserve God’s righteous judgment and eternal wrath for rebelling against His law), and the solution: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Then verse 17 restates Jesus’s mission, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but so that the world might be saved through him.” Finally, verse 18 clarifies who we are and how a lost soul is saved from God’s wrath, “Whoever believes in [Jesus] is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”
After John’s most famous verse about the Good News (3:16) comes the bad news, the truth about the heart of humanity,
“And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God” (John 3:19-21).
The Gospel of Mark:
“For from within the hearts of men come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, debauchery, envy, slander, arrogance, and foolishness” (7:21-22).
Jeremiah warns,
“The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)
So, the problem is us, and our fallen nature. We naturally want to do things our way rather than God’s way, the first and most common temptation we face is that we all want to be like God (Genesis 3). A crucial lesson in the story of Adam and Eve is always to remember that we are easily deceived by Satan, but first by our own hearts. The Bible teaches us that we must not trust our instincts. If the Bible’s primary purpose is to reveal the One true living God to the world, we must trust what God has said about Himself, the world, and the unseen realm rather than relying on what unbelievers and deceivers say about these things.
Daniel and his three young friends were introduced to the ways of the Babylonians. Nebuchadnezzar assigned the best and brightest of the exiled Hebrews to be trained in the ways of the great Babylonian astrologers and occultists and re-educated into the Babylonian mythologies of the origin of mankind and plurality of gods. The king even gave them new names. Their original Hebrew names given at birth reflected the glory of God; “Daniel” means “God is my judge.” The Babylonian name “Belteshazzar” honors Babylon’s chief deity – Bel; the full name means “protected by Bel.” Their new Babylonian names were given by Nebuchadnezzar as a symbol to constantly remind them that their God was as good as dead.
But what actually happens is that through a specific kind of suffering, Daniel’s text teaches us that God is sovereign and in charge of all things, even in the worst of times, persecution, punishment, and even in times of God’s individual or collective chastening, which was the case with Israel. It was a firm understanding of God’s absolute control over all events that encouraged the Israelites during the time of the Babylonian captivity and is intended by application today to encourage believers when they see evil rulers and influencers dominating and causing suffering (Hebrews 11).
The Book of Daniel teaches us:
God is sovereign over the universe (Daniel 4:34-35, 37; 7:9,18; Psalm 10:16; 103:19)
Daniel supernaturally predicts the future of Gentile nations in Daniel 2-7 (The Babylonian, Medo/Persian, Greco, and Roman empires, in that order). Jesus, in Luke 21:24 called this “the times of the Gentiles.” God is in control of the Gentile nations.
God is sovereign over rulers (Proverbs 21:1; Daniel 1:1-2)
2nd Chronicles 36 records three times rulers did evil in the sight of the Lord, and God removed them. Nebuchadnezzar’s foreign policy was deportation, which God used to fulfill Jeremiah’s prophecy. The Medo-Persian King Cyrus’ foreign policy was repatriation, fulfilling Jeremiah’s prophecy.
The First Deportation (36:5-7): In 605 B.C., Daniel was taken to Babylon as a teenager (Daniel 1:1-2). For more than 70 years, he served in the Babylonian government as a courageous witness for the Lord until he was about 85 years old.
The Second Deportation (36:8-10): In 597 B.C., approximately 10,000 more Jews were deported from their homeland to Babylon. Daniel, as a prophet, ministered directly to Gentile rulers and officials, while the prophet Ezekiel ministered to the Hebrew captives in Babylon.
The Third Deportation (36:11-21): In 586 B.C., Jerusalem was destroyed, the Temple burned to the ground, and the walls torn down (Daniel 2:21).
The First Return (36:22-23): In 538 B.C., The Medo-Persian, King Cyrus, allowed the first group of captives to return to their homeland and Jerusalem.
God is sovereign over our lives (Romans 8:28; Daniel 3 and 6).
Babylon’s god, Marduk, seemed to have defeated Israel’s God (Daniel 1:1-2). But what Daniel is showing us is that even when it seemed hopeless, God was defeating the Babylonian gods. The same was true in Exodus. There is only one true and living God. When it seemed like things were at their worst, like hope had left the building, God was still defeating the Egyptian gods.
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE SIGNS OF THE END TIMES?2
The signs of the end times will include the presence of false Christs and false prophets, false teaching, war, persecution, apostasy, lawlessness, earthquakes, famine, plagues, increase in selfishness, denial of what is good, mocking of Jesus, an increase in knowledge, rise of spiritism, decay of marriage, ungodly lusts, rebuilding of the Temple, and the arrival of the antichrist. This is the natural result of sin. God teaches Adam,
“But from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die” (Genesis 2:17).
Adam lived for a very long time, by our standards, but the death God was speaking of was separation from God (Isaiah 59:2), which is the ultimate death. 1 Corinthians 15:22 says, “For as in Adam all die…” meaning that ultimately, sin will produce its dark fruit: death. In Matthew 24:22–24, Jesus said, “Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short.”
The ultimate effect of the Fall and the final result of sin is that mankind would destroy itself. But Jesus said, in His mercy, those days will be cut short so that does not happen. But it certainly could happen. If Satan did not exist, mankind's heart alone is corrupt enough to end him.
“As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”
Jesus answers:
“See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many. You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs. Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold” (Matthew 24:3–12).
Jesus’s words regarding the end times are also recorded in Luke’s gospel, where we get even more information.
“Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be great earthquakes, and in various places plagues and famines; and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven” (Luke 21:10–11).
Earthquakes, plagues, and famines are pretty straightforward, but what about “great signs from heaven”? Truly, we don’t know. It could be catastrophic events associated with the sky like meteors or comets. Until that time, we can only speculate and our speculations must be contained within and faithful to the text of Scripture.
The apostle Paul talked about the end times, too.
“But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth” (1 Timothy 4:1–3).
“But realize this, that in the last days, difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these” (2 Timothy 3:1–5).
“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths” (2 Timothy 4:3–4).
The apostle Peter also spoke of the last days,
“Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation” (2 Peter 3:3–4).
Mockery of Jesus’ name is everywhere today: in movies, TV, magazines, the Internet, and sadly, even many Christians.
Jude also spoke of the “Last Time,”
“But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, that they were saying to you, “In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts.” These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit” (Jude 17–19).
Daniel’s prophecies talk about “the end of time” when people will travel great distances and knowledge will increase:
“But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the book until the end of time; many will go back and forth, and knowledge will increase” (Daniel 12:4).
It is possible that this verse refers to the present day. We have certainly experienced an incredible explosion of information. Satan is the deceiver.
“Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God” (2 Thessalonians 2:3–4).
“And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given him to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who had the wound of the sword and has come to life. And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed. And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name” (Revelation 13:14–17).
The Antichrist, that man of lawlessness, will have control over large portions of the earth, and people will not be able to buy or sell without a mark that he will require.
List of signs indicating the End Times:
Presence of false Christs and false prophets (Matt. 24:5, 11)
War, (Matt. 24:6-7; Luke 21:10)
Persecution of the faithful (Matt. 24:9)
Apostasy, (Matt. 24:10; 1 Tim. 4:1)
Lawlessness increases, and love grows cold (Matt. 24:12)
Earthquakes, famine, and plague (Luke 21:11)
Increase in selfishness (2 Tim. 2:2)
Lovers of self, money, and pleasure. Arrogant, disobedient, ungrateful, and unholy. They will be haters of good, conceited, appearing godly but are not (2 Tim. 3:2-5)
Mocking of Jesus, (2 Peter 3:3-4; Jude 17-19)
Increase in knowledge (Daniel 12:4)
Rise of spiritism, (1 Tim. 4:1)
Decay of marriage, (1 Tim. 4:1)
False teaching, (2 Tim. 4:3–4)
The gospel will be preached to the whole world (Matt. 24:14)
Signs in the heavens (Luke 21:11)
Sun and Moon will be darkened (Matt. 24:29)
The sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky (Matt. 24:30)
Abuse and destruction of the earth and its resources (Rev. 11:18)
All the nations of the earth will gather against Israel (Zech. 12:3)
Rebuilding of the Temple (2 Thess. 2:3–4)
Arrival of the Antichrist (2 Thess. 2:3–4; Rev. 13:14–17)
Enforcement of the mark of the Beast (Rev. 13:17)
Repentance of Israel and the Jews coming to faith in Christ (Rom. 11:25-26)
At all times, especially when it seems like evil is dominating, our hope must be found in Jesus and not in speculations. We must not treat the headlines like prophetic revelations. We must look only to Jesus. Hope will not be found anywhere else. Most assuredly, hope will not be found in seeking to become expert in hidden knowledge of the occult and obsessing over where Satan might be at work.
SATAN IS GOD’S DEVIL
Christians must remember the words of Martin Luther, “Even the devil is God’s devil.” We must boldly affirm, as Lutzer writes,
“Whatever mischief Satan is allowed to do, it is always appointed by God for the ultimate service of and benefit to the saints… We have forgotten that only when we know who Gods can we know who the devil is. Blessed are those who are convinced that the prince of this world has become the slave of the Prince of Peace.”
Dualism is the idea that good and evil are equal and eternal forces. This is debunked sharply in Scripture. The first words of the Bible are,
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1).
The words “heavens” and “earth” are a synonym for “all things.” In the beginning, God created all things; this includes the Devil. Though He created the Devil, God is not in any way culpable for evil. Like everything else, Satan was originally “very good” (v. 31), and how Satan could fall when there was no evil present in creation is a great mystery. Still, we know our Creator cannot be tempted with evil, nor can He ever tempt anyone (James 1:13).
That Satan is a creature means he is subject to the Lord, who uses him to fulfill His good purposes (Romans 8:28). The devil never operates outside the Lord’s decree.
John Calvin tells us, God’s decree of evil is not “bare permission — as if God sat in a watchtower, awaiting chance events, and his judgments thus depended upon human will” (Institutes 1.18.1).
That God rules over Satan without Himself being guilty of sin is a hard truth, but it is also comforting. It tells us that what we suffer from the Devil, his demons, and all evil is not purposeless but will lead to our good and God’s glory.3
God has absolute sovereignty in His universe, including over all evil. Even evil is a part of the redemptive plan God has ordained. That is not to say that God is the author of evil or that He approves of it. God is utterly unique in His being. God is the one and only Creator and Sustainer of the universe. God’s will is both prescriptive (that which God directly causes) and permissive (all evil actions by evil persons will ultimately work out for the good of God’s people. Lutzer says that “unless we grasp how the devil fits into God's scheme of things, we will find it more difficult to stand against his agenda and conspiracy within our culture. How we perceive our enemy will largely determine how we fight against him… The greater our God, the smaller our devil.”
God is winning now just as He was winning while the children of Israel were enslaved to Pharaoh and to the Babylonian kings. Satan was defeated the moment he chose to sin against the almighty, sovereign God. Even though Lucifer rebelled against God, in the ultimate twist of fate, Satan is still God’s servant, as are all the kings, rulers, potentates, Freemasons and Illuminati elites. None of them operate apart from God’s prescriptive and permissive will. Lutzer recounts,
“Many years ago the title of a popular book by J. B. Phillips reminded us that Your God Is Too Small. Perhaps in our time, another book should be written titled Your Devil Is Too Big. Our devil is too big if we are fascinated with him; our devil is too big if we think we have to fulfill a vow to him; our devil is too big if we are victims of a curse that has been put upon us. Our devil is too big if we live in fear that our future is in his hands.”1
In this life, Satan can deceive us into believing that he is as big as God. “Satan gets more power as we give it to him!”1 Satan is only as powerful as we believe him to be. God uses trials and suffering to develop spiritual maturity in His children. Satan just might want to keep you from certain suffering to prevent the kind of conflict that would develop godly character. Struggles provide an opportunity for our faith to be tested, a chance to learn about the deceitfulness and ugliness of sin and the loving correction of our good God and Father.
“God could have banished Satan to another planet or cast him immediately into the lake of fire. But He chose to use the devil, to give him a role to play in the divine drama. God knows that we must fight before we can celebrate. We must learn before we are approved. God permits Satan's temporary reign, the Puritans used to say, ‘to increase the saints' eternal joy.’ God would not throw us into the conflict if He did not also give us the resources needed to stand against the enemy.”1
We all find failure at times in our battles with the Prince of Darkness. But these failures are our responsibility because we have been given the Truth. All believers share such a responsibility to serve, edify, and correct other believers who are part of the same body of Christ.
Our prayer is that the concept of "spiritual warfare" would be seen fresh by our readers and viewers, that we would grow to easily recognize Satan's schemes against us, especially when Satan might be tempting us by giving us what we want. We must realize and celebrate with great confidence that this war is winnable. Better yet, this war has already been won. Satan is a created being with all the limitations of a creature. Only regular study of God’s word, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and a life of constant personal and intercessory prayer in the safe haven of God’s New Testament church can equip us to see rightly and see through the worldly ideas and designs of Satan that have been popularized by Dante, Milton, and Goethe.
Faith Is Resistance!
Sources:
Lutzer, E. W. (2015). God’s devil. the incredible story of how satan’s rebellion serves god’s purposes. Moody Publishers.
Credit: Matt Slick | CARM: Christian Apologetics Research Ministry https://carm.org/questions/about-end-times/
Credit: Ligonier. https://www.ligonier.org/learn/devotionals/gods-devil
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