A ministry supporter in Washington State a few years ago sent me a flyer that was handed out in his church. It is more mocking. The flyer asks if folks have met “End-Times Eddie” in the church. It denigrates “Eddie” and suggests he is so focused on end times that he has missed all the present opportunities and people in front of him.

“Eddie” is gloom and doom. Why isn’t he looking for Jesus to bring Heaven to earth right now, they ask?

Then, the flyer suggests some questions for the church’s small groups. Here are a few samples:

• What are your emotions when you encounter “End-Times Eddie”?
• Is the last days’ message one of hope or fear?
• Jesus told us to pray for “your will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven. “What does Heaven on Earth look like today?
• Who in your life needs Heaven to come to earth right now?

Two things stand out to me:

1) Here is just one more church preaching, “Come, Lord Jesus, but not too soon.”

2) They have embraced the false teaching promoted heavily by the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) that we can have Heaven on earth now. This is called Kingdom Now or Dominion Theology.

Show me just one square mile of this planet that can demonstrate a Garden of Eden-like Heaven on Earth. You will find only chaos. And the church trying to perfect the world for the next one million years won’t fix it.

Those of us who have promoted the important message that the King is coming are painfully aware that young believers no longer uphold Bible prophecy as a key component of the faith. They would rather focus on social justice, the green agenda, and Christian Palestinianism.

When I was a teenager in my church, we had regular prophecy conferences, and I never once heard that Israel was “occupying” her God-given country. I never would have heard the denigrating title of “End-Times Eddie.”

I was never taught that we had to “save the planet” because I learned that it was hopelessly lost until Christ’s return. I was never given the delusional teaching that, in time, my church would be able to “save the planet” by seizing the Genesis mandate of dominion — which is about dominion over animals and not mankind.

Kingdom Now or Dominion Theology tries to humanize God and deify man. Sadly, the world will continue to deteriorate and spiral into chaos, forcing man to consider the hope of Heaven and abandon thoughts of a glorified earth. Only when Jesus Christ returns at the Second Coming will all things be made new!

The church is not in the business of taking anything away from Satan but the souls of men. The world is a sinking Titanic ripe for judgment, not Garden of Eden perfection. Jesus will take dominion of the cleansed earth. For men to speak of doing that before the judgment of this earth is spiritually arrogant.

Yet “End-Times Eddie” is the one with unsound theology according to the Washington church, not those preaching this unsound theology that the church can perfect the world.

One of my conference attendees wrote me recently. He had been tagged an “End-Times Eddie.” He writes, “I no longer feel safe talking about the issues you deal with in your ministry. I am scorned and ridiculed by friends, family, and co-workers if I talk about the Lord’s imminent return or any prominent headline. To suggest that life as we know it may end soon is simply the ultimate in lunacy to all of these folks. I feel so alone.”

David Barnhart once wrote in his magazine Vine and Branches, “God’s prophetic clock is counting down to the appointed hour. If you don’t believe it, listen to the latest news reports or read the paper. Scriptures are replete with signs, prophecies, and promises of Christ’s return.”

He continues, “The signs are everywhere, yet the silence of the churches is deafening when it comes to proclaiming this vital truth of Scripture. Slumbering preachers and sleeping saints need to wake up to the reality that the King is coming, and His coming may be sooner than any of us realize.”

Bible prophecy is given as a light shining in a dark place (2 Peter 1:19). Talking about it should not instill fear in the Christian; rather, provide confirmation that the “blessed hope” is ever nearer and the time ever shorter to snatch people from the fire.

There are many “End-Time Eddies” around. May their numbers increase. May our pulpits grow bolder and talk about things that really matter. Our message is hardly doom and gloom. It may be about the only good news left. The supposed ‘good news’ that we’re taking the planet back to the Garden of Eden isn’t the truth — it’s an end-time delusion.

I’m honored to be among the “End-Times Eddie” crowd. I’ve got the best news there is. This world isn’t it. God believed the topic of eschatology was so important that He devoted one book exclusively to it: Revelation. Almost 30% of the Bible is prophecy-focused.

This message, when coupled with warnings, encourages evangelism and repentance like no other. So, I’m looking up because the King is coming, perhaps even today.

And today, we celebrate #76 for Israel – her re-birth 76 years ago today [May 14]. She’s not the miracle of the 21st Century. She’s the miracle of all time! If God says He will do it, He does! He’s a covenant keeper.

www.olivetreeviews.org

What are we really calling for when we entreat people to stand with the people, nation, and land of Israel?

We’ve been pondering that question during this period of unprecedented, frightful, and downright dangerous antisemitism—the worst that the world has witnessed since the dreadful days of the Holocaust.

We began last time by considering some of the major concepts that I am not intending to convey when I talk about standing with Israel. Now we turn our attention to how we should positively approach this objective.

At the core of this issue of standing with Israel must be—in Biblical terminology—our desire to be a blessing to the people of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

When God first called Abram and made an unconditional covenant with him, He guaranteed him a future including land, descendants, and untold blessings (see Gen. 12:1-3). He included this promise which would govern the relationship between Abram’s posterity and the rest of humanity for all of time:

“I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you” (Gen. 12:3).

At the moment when God stipulated these provisions of the covenant, however, the reasons to bless the Jewish people were not nearly as apparent as they are today.

The first such reason that is evident to us is because we have “the Holy Scriptures” (Rom. 1:2)—and the Bible is a Jewish book (see Rom. 3:2; 9:4; Eph. 2:12). I say that, referring not just to the Hebrew Bible, but to the whole Bible. The New Testament, though written in the Greek language, came (humanly speaking) from the hearts and minds of Jewish men. Of course, Luke’s background is debated—but, in either case, he was thoroughly influenced by the Apostle Paul (see 2 Tim. 4:11).

My seminary language professor, Dr. John Hartog III, made Hebrew come alive for me and impressed me with the importance of understanding that the entirety of Scripture comes to us out of a Jewish mentality and worldview. Not only that, but God has used the Jewish people to carry His Word, as well as the knowledge of the Biblical world and its languages, wherever they have gone—even in the midst of persecution.

The second reason that we desire to bless the Jewish people is because we have the Savior—and He is a Jewish man (see Rom. 9:5).

Thus, it is very strange that a true Christian would ever be antisemitic! What could Christians possibly be thinking when they show animosity toward the people of Israel?

Martin Luther infamously made some appalling and vile statements about the Jewish people in the latter years of his life. But were you aware that previously, in 1523, he penned such eloquent words as these?

When we are inclined to boast of our position, we should remember that we are but Gentiles, while the Jews are of the lineage of Christ. We are aliens and in-laws; they are blood relatives, cousins, and brothers of our Lord. Therefore, if one is to boast of flesh and blood, the Jews are actually nearer to Christ than we are…. God has also demonstrated this by his acts, for to no nation among the Gentiles has he granted so high an honor as he has to the Jews. [i]

The third reason that we as believers in the Messiah should want to bless the Jewish people is because we await life in Jesus’ kingdom—and that will indeed be centered in the Jewish nation (see Matt. 19:28; Acts 1:6).

Does your hope for the future include the possibility of “[living] and [reigning] with Christ for a thousand years” (Rev. 20:4)? Well, start getting ready to be part of an Israelite kingdom because, in that day, the undisputable center of power for the globe will be none other than Jerusalem (see Zech. 6:12-13).

Israel is distinct from all the other nations in the history of the world (see Ps. 147:19-20). This remains true even in her times of disobedience (see Num. 23:8)—even during her dispersion, in light of all that God has planned for her in the future (see Ezek. 36:24-28). Satan hates all of these things and desires to destroy the Jewish people (see Rev. 12:13-17)—as he has since the beginning (see Gen. 3:15).

Therefore, when we implore people to stand with Israel, we are really inviting them to bless the Jewish people and thank God for all that He has accomplished through them—to bring blessings to the entire world.

What are some practical ways in which we can bless the Jewish people—next door or halfway around this Earth? We’ll work on compiling that list in the next installment.

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Paul J. Scharf (M.A., M.Div., Faith Baptist Theological Seminary) is a church ministries representative for The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, based in Columbus, WI, and serving in the Midwest. For more information on his ministry, visit sermonaudio.com/pscharf or foi.org/scharf, or email pscharf@foi.org.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version.

[i] Martin Luther; “‘That Jesus Christ Was Born a Jew’ (1523) – excerpts;” Council of Centers on Jewish-Christian Relations; https://ccjr.us/dialogika-resources/primary-texts-from-the-history-of-the-relationship/luther-1523; Internet; accessed 8 May 2024.