The End of Time

January 1991. President George Bush announces that the United States is at war with Iraq in the Persian Gulf. Within days, religious bookstores are filled with books explaining how these events are tied to the end of the world. Most of these volumes use the book of Revelation as their "jumping off" point, with some even being so bold as to name Saddam Hussein as the beast of chapter 13, explaining how the letters in his name "add up" to 666. A few even offer "prophecy" stating that the end of the world is imminent. Small groups of overly zealous believers in these prophecies begin to quit their jobs and transfer their families to a central location to "wait on the Lord."

September 1996. Despite the fact that none of these "Persian Gulf Prophecies" came true, despite the fact that those waiting on the Lord eventually returned to their normal lives, and especially despite the fact that the Lord did not come in 1991, many of these so-called end of the world experts are still consulted every time there is movement in the Middle East, every time there is any seeming threat to world safety. As this goes to print, those eyes are again focusing on Iraq, as the United States retaliates for Hussein's disobedience of the United Nation's "no-fly" zone. Again, Revelation and Daniel will be used as the favorite hobby horse of anyone who can get a publisher or television news microphone to listen.

What should our response be to these kinds of things? What does the Bible teach about the end of the world and the end of time? How should the apocalyptic books, like Revelation, that so many think hold the secret to future events be interpreted?

In this special issue of Abundant Life we have several important objectives. First, we want to examine the biblical view of the end of time and this world. Second, we want to strip away the emotional pull of "wars and rumors of wars" (ironically, something Jesus said was not a sign, see Matt. 24:6). Third, we want to set forth very clearly the major deficiencies, flaws and fallacies in some of the most prevalent false ideas about the end time (particularly premillenialism). Finally, we want to directly discuss what the Bible says about how our world will end, and particularly, about how we should prepare for it. Open your Bible and study carefully. Few subjects are more interesting, exciting, fraught with false doctrine, and as important as the end times. May Abundant Life help you better understand God's truth about these critical matters.