Hope of Our Calling
Session 2
Estimated reading time: 8 minutes
Hope of Our Calling: Session 2
Keys to Understand the End Times
We’re going to start by looking at seven keys that will help us to understand the End Times.
Ephesians 1:18 KJV:
The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.
The word “know” is translated from the Greek word oida. We get our English word “video” from oida. When we watch a video, we can often see a theme recurring throughout. We can fast-forward to particular spots. We will look at the sequences of the End Times and construct a mental video that we can replay. We can think of a specific place in that video, jump to it, and study it more deeply.
The keys that we will talk about are like the combination of a lock. If you know the combination, you can open the lock.
Key #1: Scripture Buildup
Up until the time of Jesus Christ, the word about the End Times was written in the stars and in the Old Testament prophecies. Perhaps the most detailed, descriptive prophesies are in the Book of Daniel. Daniel’s series of visions that he had in captivity in Babylon were relatively late in Israel’s history.
Prophecies, such as Ezekiel, Obadiah, Joel, Amos, and so on, are sometimes difficult to understand. There are very few time references. The time references that are present are general. Sometimes, they have multiple fulfillments. An example of this is found in Joel.
Joel 2:28–29 KJV:
28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: 29 And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.
Compare that to Acts.
Acts 2:14–18 KJV:
14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: 15 For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. 16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; 17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: 18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
Joel 2:30–32 KJV:
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come. 32 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.
We know that some of those things happened on the day of Pentecost, but I don’t think what was prophesied in verse 31 happened then.
This prophecy from Joel was partially fulfilled on the day of Pentecost. In Acts 23:17, Peter said, “It shall come to pass in the last days.” That’s how prophecy works. We have little pieces about this subject and other pieces about another topic.
Look at the Book of Matthew before the crucifixion when the disciples were with Jesus on the Mount of Olives.
Matthew 24:3 KJV:
And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
Jesus begins here to describe the sequence of the events of the End Times. Jesus puts the Old Testament prophecies together for the disciples (and us). Later, John gets the revelation that became the Book of Revelation, which describes more details that Jesus did not discuss on the Mount of Olives.
We have the Old Testament prophecies, what Jesus described when He was here on earth, and other details in the books of the New Testament, particularly Revelation. That’s scripture buildup!
Key #2: The Mystery was kept hidden
The period we live in now had a beginning point, the day of Pentecost, and will have an ending point, which we call the gathering together.
The time between the beginning and ending point, between Pentecost and the gathering together, was a secret! This period was not in the Old Testament. It was not in the gospels.
People often look around and ask questions like, isn’t what’s going on in the Middle East right now what the Book of Obidiah was talking about? No! What’s going on right now is happening during the period of Grace, of the Mystery. This period was kept secret and was not mentioned in the Old Testament prophecies.
Remember, the period we live in right now was kept secret and not revealed in the Old Testament prophecies or the Gospels.
That’s why one of the keys to understanding the sequence of events of the End Times is to remember that this current time or period of the mystery was kept hidden and not revealed in the Old Testament prophecies or the gospels.
Current events were not prophesied about because what happens during this period of the mystery of the grace of God was kept hidden and not included in the prophecies.
One of the reasons we know that we will not go through the tribulation is because the tribulation was prophesied about—but the time we live in was not!
As for the tribulation, we also have the verses that say we were delivered from the wrath to come. All the things that have to do with the tribulation pertain to Israel, not to us. We’ll be gone before they happen.
Matthew 24:3 KJV:
And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming [parousia], and of the end [sunteleia] of the world?
We have to know that there are two words in Greek for “end.”
The first is sunteleia. It means “end” anywhere up to and including the very end.
The second is telos. This word is like the “tail,” the very end.
It’s almost a misnomer to talk about the “End” Times. When we talk about the End Times, we are talking about the events that occur up until the very end.
In verse 3, they are asking him about the very end. Verse 6 uses the other word.
Matthew 24:6 KJV:
6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. Make sure that you are not alarmed, for this must happen, but the end [telos] is still to come.
In verse 6, the end, telos, tail, the very end, is still to come.
There are also two “comings.” The word “coming” in verse 3, parousia, can also be translated as “arrival.” It always refers to the personal presence of the one spoken of.
The first time He came, His first parousia, He was born, grew up, and lived on the earth.
The second time He comes, there are two parts.
In the first part of His second coming, He doesn’t come all the way to the earth. We meet him in the air. He comes down into Satan’s domain (Satan is the prince of the power of the air), and we are caught up in our new bodies to meet him in the air (Satan’s domain). This is the start of the video of His return. From this point on, we see how Satan will be defeated, and death will be destroyed.
The first part is His coming for the saints. The second part is His coming with the saints.
The gathering together is called “the coming of the Lord.”
1 Thessalonians 4:15–18 KJV:
15 For we tell you this by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will surely not go ahead of those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be suddenly caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
The coming with the saints is called “the coming of the Son of Man.”
Matthew 4:27 KJV:
For just like the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so the coming of the Son of Man will be. 28 Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.
Jesus Christ has different titles, such as Messiah. The title “Son of Man” always concerns judgment and reigning. When we return with Him, during the second part of his coming, He will start judging. He will reign over all the earth.
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