Does the End of the World Crack You Up?
I read an interesting headline, “The End of the World Cracks Me Up”. Naturally, curious, I wanted to see what it was about the end of the world, that was so humorous. However, my curiosity went unrewarded. There was no message.
So, I take a guess based on my experience with others who have come to a similar conclusion. Many have come to believe that the end of the world is a subject for crackpots. This can be attributed largely to people who do not understand the language of the Bible. English readers are not aware (in many cases) that the Bible uses several different words, all of which are sometimes translated world.
However, they have different meanings.
For example: cosmos: means an orderly system or arrangement, also can be the created world depending on the context. oikoumene: (inhabited earth or land) ge (land implying geography) aion (age)
Getting to the End of the End of the World
Now, often times, when the Bible speaks of the end of the world as found in an English translation, English readers naturally assume it is speaking of the end of the “created universe”.
This is grossly incorrect. For example, let’s take a look at a very common text. “When shall these things be, what shall be the sign of your coming (presence) and the end of the world [aion]? You see, the Greek word in that text is not a word which means the universe at all. Rather, it is the end of “the age”. When the N.T. speaks of “the age” or “this age” as in Matthew 13:39, 40, 24:3, 28:19, Heb. 9:26, the subject is not the universe. It is the end of the current age in which Jesus and his apostles and in which much of the O.T. event occurred. It was the Jewish age. It is that age which the disciples asked about coming to an end. They were living in the last days of the Jewish age and naturally wanted to know when it would end. Jesus had just spoken about the destruction of the temple in the previous chapter, –“Your house is left to you desolate”–and the disciples wanted to know when such a monumental “world changing event would occur. The world it would change was the Jewish world. Jesus told them it would occur after the gospel had been published in all the “inhabited earth” [oikoumene} Matt. 24:14), and then the end would come. N.T. writers, affirm and confirm that the gospel was preached world-wide, in their generation, during their lifetime. See Rom. 10:18; Col. 1:5-6, 23, to name a few. He also said, that his generation, i.e. the first century generation would not pass away until all were fulfilled, (Matt. 24:34). Therefore, the end of the age came within the first century generation. Failure to understand that fact leads many into wild and strange speculative theories in the Bible about something it never taught in the first place. As a matter of fact, the Bible teaches the very opposite that many theologians and Christians teach about the end of the universe. It actually says the universe will never end. The created world as we know it will never cease to exist. There are also many passages on this point for those willing to look for it. Here’s one. The 89th Psalm teaches that the throne of [prophetic] David (meaning Christ) would endure forever as the sun and be established like the moon. “His seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before Me; It shall be established like the moon, even like the faithful witness in the sky. Psa. 89:36-37. Christ’s throne is said to be an everlasting kingdom which can never be destroyed, Dan. 2:45, Heb. 12:28. Above its duration is likened to that of the sun and moon. If the sun and moon can cease, then so will the kingdom or throne of Christ. Thus, while the Bible teaches the end of the age, it no where teaches the end of the universe. So if one is cracked up over the end of the world, it is not because of what the Bible teaches but because of what many have said it teaches but does not.
