Interesting Times

Philippians 4:6 — do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Have you heard the Chinese curse that says, “May you live in interesting times”? Notice it’s not a proverb but a curse. And what is meant by “interesting”? That sounds rather ominous. Not that it matters, but while it’s popularly called a Chinese curse, it turns out that it actually originated in the US. Doesn’t matter, the point of this article is the same.

What’s Going On

So has anything “interesting” been going on lately? Here is a small sampling of interesting things.

• Continued mass shootings in the US.
• ISIS and Hamas continue to blatantly terrorize their part of the world.
• Disrespect and disregard for our laws, law enforcement personnel, and the Constitution.
• An assassination attempt on a presidential candidate.
• Division in our country as we have not seen since the civil war.
• Mockery of Jesus and Christianity at our World Olympics.

What’s the Cause?

What is the cause of these ‘interesting’ events?

Some say it’s because we kicked God out of our schools and ultimately our country. It’s a bit presumptuous and prideful to think we have the ability to kick God out of anything.

Maybe Isiah 53:6a sheds some light on the cause of these events. It says “All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way;…”

Jesus says in John 14:30–31 “I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming…” He is of course referring to Satan being the prince of this world and he is coming. That explains a lot.

Paul confirms what Jesus said in Ephesians 2:1–2 when he says “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.”

The sons of disobedience were certainly out in full force after the death of George Floyd considering all the burning, pillaging, plundering, looting, stealing, killing, marching, trashing, railing against our government and police forces culminating in 19 deaths and 1–2 billion dollars of property damage.

Since Paul & Jesus point to Satan as the cause of all these events, I will accept that explanation.

So how should I then feel about these events swirling around me and Satan being the prince of this world?

All will be Well

‘Dr Who’ is a British TV series that started in 1963 and is still running today. It’s kind of the British equivalent to Star Trek. It’s about two time travelers, Doctor Who, a British-looking alien that never dies, and his temporary time-traveling companion Rose from London, England. In one episode, they travel back in time to the London bombings of WW2. Rose finds a girl who is frightened and afraid that her world and life are ending. Rose tells her that she is from the future and assures the girl that Germany will lose the war and everything will be well for the girl.

The Apostle John tells us the same thing in Revelation 21, that everything will be well for us believers in the end when a new earth is created. Just as Rose, the time traveler, knew the end of the story, or war, we are told the end of the story, or war, in Revelation 21. Alternately, Revelation 20:11–15 tells us that the sons of disobedience are thrown into the lake of fire.

Assurances of Peace

Jesus offers us peace in these times of trouble when He says in John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful”, and in John 20:21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be to you; just as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”’

So we have Jesus clearly saying to us to have peace even though Satan is the prince of this world.

The Point of This

Our world is going to hell in a handbasket. We may or may not be around to see it in our lifetime. Our response amid all this evil and turmoil can be and should be, “I am at peace.” But wait, there is more. We may be closer to these End Times than we traditionally have thought.

Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream

Babylon at one time was the world’s greatest and most powerful empire. The king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, had a troubling dream. He called in his soothsayers, priests, conjurers, sorcerers, and Chaldeans to interpret his dream. But he distrusted them, so he tested them by requiring them to first tell him the dream. They couldn’t do that so Nebuchadnezzar had them all killed.

In walks Daniel, a Jew who was brought to Babylon during the first wave of exiles from Jerusalem that Nebuchadnezzar had sacked in 597 BC. Daniel correctly describes the dream to Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 2:31–33. It was a vision of a single great statue which was large and of extraordinary radiance and awesome appearance. The head was made of fine gold, its chest and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, and its feet partly of iron and partly of clay that will not adhere to one another.

Now that he has Nebuchadnezzar’s trust, Daniel interprets that dream t as described in Daniel 2:36–43 by saying the head of gold was Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon. The chest and arms of silver were the Medes and Persians (Greece) conquering Babylon in 539 BC. The belly and thighs (Hips) of brass/bronze was Alexander the Great conquering the Medes & Persians (Greece) in 323 BC. The legs of iron was Rome conquering Greece in 146 BC. Of course, he did not have the dates as I have added to his prophecy since for us, its ancient history…except for one last thing, the feet of potters’ clay and iron that will not adhere to one another. This has not occurred yet…or has it…or is it?

The European Union and End Times

The European Union is the political joining of 27 European countries, to date, like the feet in Nebuchadnezzar’s statue made of lumps of iron and clay mixed together but do not adhere to one another. This union is to give the smaller European countries more economic power in the world to compete against the US.

But there is trouble amongst the players. You may have heard about Brexit. That’s the term for Britain pulling out from the Union. It happened in 2020. Politics is a risky thing to second guess, but there is talk of France, Italy, and Greece possibly being the next countries to leave the Union.

Are the feet of iron and clay crumbling? Are we seeing the prophecy coming true in our lifetime? Maybe it’s not an instantaneous event as some think but rather a slow progression kind of thing. Like what is happening now. Slowly the union is crumbling. The Bible does not say anything about how slow or fast the crumbling occurs.

The Trumpet Judgements

Another tell as to where we may be in the end times is climate change. We can discuss the reasons for it all day, but it’s definitely getting hotter. Revelation describes three sets of seven judgments. These are the seven seals, then the seven trumpets, and then the seven bowls. We could be living in Revelation’s end times first trumpet judgment as described in Revelation 8:6–7 where a third of the earth is burned up, and a third of the trees are burned up, and all the green grass is burned up.

Again, the Bible does not say whether the trumpet judgments or any of the judgments, are instantaneous or over a long time period. Remember that to ‘the Lord one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day.’

Living in the Beginning of the End

So maybe, just maybe, we may be living in the beginning of the end times. These days could be the Chinese “interesting times.” And these times could be our times.

But hang on…we are told in Philippians 4:6–7 to “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

So what can we say in these evil, tumultuous, cursed, end times? “I have peace.”

Have peace, my brothers and sisters in Christ.

Salvation — Eternal Life in Less Than 150 Words

Author — Paul Johnson | BCWorldview.org