Yes and no.
Lest you think I've fallen into neo-orthodoxy and paradoxical theology, let me explain that.
In one sense, everything that takes place after the ascension of Christ is in the end
times.
The end times started in the New Testament.
We're still in the end times.
Now, I presume that what you're asking me is are we at the end of the end times.
So that we are coming close to the return of Jesus as it was set forth in the Book of
Revelation.
Now one of the big questions in understanding the Book of Revelation and interpreting the
Book of Revelation is tied to when it was written.
The majority report of the dating of the writing of the book of Revelation is that it took
place in the decade of the nineties of the first century.
There has been some significant scholarly work in recent years that argues, and I believe
persuasively, that the Book of Revelation was written before the fall of Jerusalem in
the sixties, during the time of Nero, when Nero's most famous nickname throughout the
empire was "the beast."
And so the question is, if we could know for sure when the Book of Revelation was written,
we would have a better handle on what period of history it was describing.
Now I'm in a minority report here but in the Olivet Discourse in Matthew's Gospel, as well
as in Luke and Mark, is when Jesus talks about the signs of the times, and He talks about
these at the destruction of the Temple and the destruction of Jerusalem.
And He said, "This generation will not pass away till all of these things are fulfilled."
Now that phrase has been one of the most hotly debated statements ever to come from Jesus.
I went to a liberal seminary, and I heard…it seems to me, I didn't actually, but it seemed
that I heard every day in class that Jesus taught that He was coming back within forty
years, and He failed to keep His promise.
And that's one of the reasons why we can't believe that the Bible is the inspired Word
of God.
And so, in terms of higher critical assaults on the trustworthiness of Scripture and the
trustworthiness of Jesus, the point of attack is on Jesus' predictions about the nearness
of the coming of the fulfillment of His prophecies there in the Olivet Discourse.
Notice also the timeframe references that are throughout the Book of Revelation, where
it talks about those things that are near at hand.
And so, the ultimate question is this, were the things that Jesus was talking about on
the Olivet Discourse and in the Book of Revelation, were those principally pointing to events
that were going to take place in the first century, culminating in the destruction of
Jerusalem and of the exile of the Jews?
That's one view.
The other view is that all of these things refer to distant future times, and some people
say to both.
There was a primary and a secondary there.
So this becomes very complicated in piecing it all together.
But, in any case, however we understand Revelation and when it was written and what it was referring
to, or the Olivet Discourse, we're still looking forward to the return of Jesus.
And He hasn't come yet.
And as I take great hope and optimism in this is that every day that passes, He's that much
closer.
And when I see what's going on around us today, I have every reason to think we're getting
closer and closer and closer.
But of course, a lot of that is my hope.
And I also realize it could be another two thousand years before He comes.
I'm not into making projections…predictions of dates and days of the hours of that sort
of thing, but we should certainly be vigilant today, and we should be looking for the coming
of Christ.