When the “tectonic plates” moved

Most of us have a few pivotal moments that change the course of our lives: metaphorically, when the “tectonic plates” break free and travel several kilometers in just a few seconds. For me it happened years ago, when as an undergraduate student, I heard of a seminar on the Second Coming of Jesus (eschatology – the science of the last things) at Auckland Park Theological Seminary.  I was studying science at another university and the topic was far removed from my own studies.  As a Christian however, I always knew that the ‘second coming’ or end times, installed fear in me.  I decided that for once I was going to face this fear and attend the seminar. 

I had vague and novice knowledge of two conflicting viewpoints about the end times, namely:

1. that the second coming of Jesus will be at the end of time, after the period of great tribulation, versus
2. the view that Jesus will rapture his church away and only then will the great tribulation come. 

It is not hard to imagine which viewpoint I desperately wanted to be true.  Little did I know that this one seminar would prove to be a decisive moment in my life.  It changed my life’s direction forever.

Dr Möller Sr and his son Prof Möller jointly presented their eschatological viewpoint.  They started by clarifying their hermeneutic model (the way they approach, understand and interpret the Bible).  They work from a Christ-centred perspective and take into account that the Bible books are written in different genres (that is Law, History, Poetry & Wisdom, Prophecy, Gospels, and Letters).  This implies for example that the way you understand poetry, is different from understanding text on the law.

The duo continued to present their eschatological perspective. I was amazed.  It was clear and logical now that I understood the fundamental principle namely that we need to be Christ-centred when working with the Bible.  I had a deep feeling of pride in my church, that so often in the past was discredited as being emotional and not rational.  Dr Möller Sr was the previous president of my church and I thought “wow, this was a solid piece of work”, especially in the context of being a science student at that time.  Yet, at the same time this piece of work squarely challenged the science world that wanted to propose that there is no God, no Jesus – God’s holy son who loved us so much that he died for us and who has gone before us, preparing a place for us.

But I must admit that my overriding emotion was not pride but rather a hope that the advocates of the second eschatological view (that I so desperately wanted to be true) would be able to show me where the Möllers were mistaken in their reasoning.  I was hoping that they would give a plausible explanation to motivate why I might look at it differently.

I was absolutely shocked when a prominent church leader stood up and thanked them for a good presentation but said that he rather chose to believe as the majority of the Pentecostal and charismatic world believes, namely: that the church will not go through the tribulation of the end time but that the rapture of the church will be before the end.  And with that the debate ended…

Novice or not, I instinctively knew we had problems – this could not be the answer even if I so desperately wanted it to be true.

Slowly a new question started to form in the back of my mind.  The Pentecostal and charismatic grouping is the biggest and fastest growing Christian grouping in the world – what will happen if the majority of Christians had a wrong expectation of the end times?  Does it mean that the majority will not be prepared for the final war – the war of all wars?  What will happen to our children? Who will help them? What is more dangerous, being in a war or to be in a war without knowing it?  Once this problem presented itself I could no longer pretend that I did not know.

As a side note: I sometimes wonder about the person of the anti-Christ of whom the Bible said that he will stand in the temple (i.e. the church world), will do great wonders and will be worshiped (2 Thessalonians 2:4-10). Will he come from within the “church”? Leonard Sweet once said when there is darkness we should not blame it on the world who is dark but on the church who’s calling it is, to be light. Paul talks about the evil one coming as an “angel of the light” and Jesus spoke about wolves in sheep’s clothing. Can it be that, if we believe that the church will be taken away (raptured) before the end time, then we might think that the anti-Christ is not our problem and therefor miss, ignore or underestimate the “red flags”? Maybe at a later stage we should think more about this question, but for now, back to my story.

During a previous time of tension between ATS and my church, a pastor of one of the large congregations came to Prof Hattingh and told him that the church will make peace with ATS, but then ATS has to conform to two requests, namely:

• change our view around the Second coming of Jesus and the end times (align it with the rest of the Pentecostal and charismatic world), and
• let go of our requirement that a theological student must study Greek and/or Hebrew in order to obtain a theological degree.

ATS did not meet either of these requests. You see, it is not only a matter of different opinions, it is about what we believe in our heart to be the truth, and standing up for it. There is also an important difference in the end result, depending on which option you believe to be true. If you are waiting for a rapture to come before the great tribulation, it makes psychological sense to pursue “safety first”. To say that if I can only keep myself and my family safe until the rapture, then I have succeeded in my task, versus, if you understand that the greatest battle is yet to come (Jesus’ compared it to something the world has not yet known) and therefore the certainty that you – or then at least your descendants – will experience it.  With such an understanding one may rather have the attitude of “safety last” (see Hoekendijk’s book ‘The Church Inside Out’).

It might sound paradoxical, but history has shown us the danger of having a “safety first” attitude in times of great tribulation. Hannah Arendt (see ‘The Origins of Totalitarianism’) writes that Himmler, who during the Nazi regime was responsible for the recruitment of SS officers – who he organised for the greatest mass crimes ever committed in history – looked for a specific type of personality profile. He looked for men who were dedicated family men (not gangsters or mafia members as we might think) and who had the specific quality, that in the midst of a world that was in great turmoil, he was only concerned about his private security and who therefore was ready to sacrifice everything – belief, honour, dignity – at the slightest sign of provocation.

When we understand the challenges of the end times, it becomes very important to decide each new day to make the morally ethical choice and not necessarily the safe choice. And each new day we do it again and again, and gradually we will become stronger, while at the same time we continue to pray that the Holy Spirit will make us willing and able. In Revelation 12:11 we have the prophetic promise that this is exactly the strategy that will work: “They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death”.

And so, here we are today:

• I have come to understand that the end times is not something to be fearful about.  Jesus described it not as ruin and destruction BUT as the birth pains of the new world.  It is the climax of God’s kingdom and our inheritance.

• If it is the climax of God’s Kingdom, then it stands to reason that we can trust and work for a mighty revival: God’s Holy Spirit on ordinary people making them superlative people.  For the Holy Spirit to break through our rational world and bring the immediate, intimate, and lasting experiences of the risen Christ (refer to ‘Being filled with the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues‘)

• We are called for a time like this, and He is able to keep us! It is exactly our calling that will bring meaning to our lives and make us not to succumb. We will not go underground but will overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony.

• ATS is busy creating different cell group short courses to help prepare Christians to understand the end times and to understand how to live as Christians in the end times.  You can look at:
  • The Eschatology: from the creation Sabbath to the reality of heaven by prof FP Möller. This is a practical workbook and is built on the presentation that I heard as a student.
  • The second coming of Christ: expectations and readiness by Prof WJ Hattingh. (Ook beskikbaar in Afrikaans.) The book helps believers understand how to live as Christians in these unusual end times, before Jesus returns, so that we may be ready, but also to live out our calling in this dynamic time.
  • An alternative view of eschatology: a journey of hope by Pastor Emeritus MAL Hattingh. On this eschatological journey, God gives identity to his people, He creates an intimate relationship, He cares for them and they are involved as collaborators in his eschatological programme.
  • In due time, a compilation by Prof Kobus de Smidt, “God’s new world and its characteristics” will be made available in Afrikaans and English.

P.S. This experience cemented me to ATS years before anybody thought of asking me to become involved on a full-time basis. Often I had to pursue a strategy of “safety last” but I have also always experienced an inner prompting, a whisper, of the Holy Spirit, not to retreat and not to give up.  I have learned that He works in the same manner in all His children – and this to me is a powerful truth with the possibility to change South Africa forever. His Spirit, the Creator Spirit on ordinary people.