Mark 13: Stay Awake

Opening prayer: Thank You Lord for the opportunity of time and the luxury of Your grace to actually be able to do this Bible Study. Speak as we look through the End Times. We rest in You, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Scripture: Mark 13

Analysis: “As He came out of the temple”…Jesus had been teaching in the temple, successfully rebutting those who questioned His theology. On His way out, His disciples saw the building of stunning gold and glitter, and went along the lines of “This is awesome!” Yet, Jesus told them there and then: None of these will remain. History shows us just that: Jerusalem fell in the hands of the Romans in 70 AD, and her temple went down in Rome’s wake.

Jesus then talks about future events, that is, the end times. What is interesting to note here is the close parallel between Jesus’ explanation here and John’s account in the Book of Revelation. It begins with deception. People call themselves Messiahs, and in Revelation 6, the rider on the white horse was given a crown, symbolising a counterfeit of the real Christ who wears many crowns.

Following the deception is a time of war and combat, that is, the red horse, and a time of natural disasters, diseases and lack. The man on the black horse declares: A loaf of wheat bread or three loaves of bare will cost a day’s pay. Rise in demand and fall in supply of bread will cause prices to skyrocket. The economy will suffer big time. And yet, we haven’t entered the main part of the end-time tribulation.

Then persecution of the believers ensue. We see that in the Middle East with the Islamic State systematically slaughtering Christians for refusing to give up their faith, but chances are Jesus would be talking about believers worldwide being persecuted to an extent like never before. During these moments, there won’t be any half-past-six Christians; either they are in or they are not. And those who are in will face trials, responding as how the Holy Spirit leads them to. Those who are in would be the very ones despised and ate by the rest of the world, but having survived all the persecution to the end of the Tribulation, their flesh shall remain.

Families will be torn apart by the very ones who make them up. Even children rebel against their parents, perhaps due to conflicting ideologies that they hear in school that would otherwise juxtapose with their parents’ point of view. Perhaps the atheistic–materialistic worldview that runs rampant in academia does not reconcile a Judeo–Christian worldview and students would err on the side of professionalism. Whatever the case, even children would rebel parents, label them as law-breakers of human rights by standing up for their faith and throw them into jail.

These are the beginning of the end times. Just the birth pangs. For all intents and purposes, the real tribulation has not yet been manifested at the full level.

When you see the abomination of desolation…that was talked about in Daniel 9:27: And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. One week in Jewish prophetic scripture normally represents 7 years of time. For seven years there will be a covenant with many, but halfway, he will halt the daily sacrifice. This implies two things that may happen by the institution of the tribulation: EITHER the daily sacrifice of the temple has been restored and hence will be halted in 3.5 years, which implies a reconstruction of the Temple on Jerusalem OR the daily sacrifice of believers, that is, the Holy Communion, where we remember Jesus’ once-and-for-all sacrifice for us, would be halted as an religious custom.

This is the sign to flee. The Tribulation is about to get much worse. Flee and do not return. For those living in Judea, run to the mountains. Get out of Jerusalem; it would soon be overtaken by the enemy, whose goal would, inferentially, be to wipe Israel off the face of the earth. Do not be concerned with material possession; survive! Survive, even though you would have a much harder time if you are pregnant, as with your kid, or when it is in winter time.

This tribulation would be the worse of the worse, and if God did not shorten this time of extreme tribulation, further detailed in Revelation 6, no one can survive. Yet, for the sake of His people, He shortened this season of judgement. This way, people can survive. And yet, among those who do indeed survive, there will still be deceivers who will claim that Christ has returned, when the Scripture clearly talks about Jesus coming from the clouds as He had previously ascended, and on a horse with eyes of fire according to Revelation 19. Following that will be the destruction of celestial bodies; the sun darkens, hence causing the moon to lose its light, and stars fall onto earth out of their proper place in orbit. Similar to the description in Revelation 6, God’s awesome power is being displayed. THEN, JESUS RETURNS ON THE CLOUDS! Revelation 6 adds on that the peoples all over the world tremble at His return, but in Paul’s letters, we, the Church will be rejoicing at His Second Coming.

Yet, no one knows the precise time which Jesus returns. This does not imply paranoia at His return but faithful stewardship of each person’s work. Jesus likens it to a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. Each servant will be faithfully doing his own work and can expect commendation from the master when he returns, while the doorkeeper’s job is to keep watch, and does his job faithfully by keeping watch.

There are signs to look out for; it is not entirely unpredictable. Our job is to steward our current roles as students, teachers or workers well and eagerly wait for his return. Not worried but excited and ready to go when He calls.

Closing prayer: Thank You Lord for a blessed hope that You are returning. The future is not bright, and we won’t be here for long, but until You bring us home, work through us here on Earth, to honour You in whatever capacity You have given each one of us. We rest in You and fear nothing, for You are with us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.