Watching it Approach
Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching (Hebrews 10:25).
This verse gives counsel to people living in this present Age of the Church. It is telling God’s people to be diligent in church attendance and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. It means the end of the age will come, and before that happens we will see it approaching. Whether we understand the reference to the day as speaking of the future Kingdom Age or the prophetic term, the Day of the Lord the conclusion is the same. We will be able to recognize the approach of the end of this age.
We need to be informed about these things. The end of this age is the beginning of the events foretold in the Book of the Revelation. That English title is the translation of the word Apocalypse. The events foretold in that book are the basis for the term apocalyptic. Those are the things that are approaching. It is profound to realize the events cast a shadow before them and they can be seen coming.
The Apostle Paul made it plain that the end times crisis had not yet come in his time but would be proceeded by certain things. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition (II Thessalonians 2:3). There would first be a falling away. Paul taught us to expect a gradual decline from Christian beliefs and practice, a falling away, apostasy. The piece-by-piece takeover of evil in this world that we can see now is at the same time the approach of the end.
Most things in the material world and in the spiritual have a gradual change which leads up to a critical failure and ruin. Solomon gives an example of this in poor money management. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man (Proverbs 6:10-11). There is first the gradual approach of poverty by overspending, laziness, neglect of budgeting. If the undisciplined spender had been watchful, he would have seen the ruin coming like a traveler drawing close to his home step-by-step.
Then the traveler arrives. There is a total collapse into poverty that it is impossible to withstand. It turns out that the approaching traveler is like an armed man that you cannot resist. He takes everything. The bank forecloses on the mortgage, the car is repossessed, there is no money for food, and everything is lost.
The step-by-step departure of this world from God and from His Word has brought with it an avalanche of evil that we could not have imagined fifty years ago. Anyone with their eyes open has been able to see the approach of the last days by the steady increase of unrestrained immorality, encroachments on our liberties, hatred of good, corrupt laws, and the promotion of globalism.
Bible prophecy warns us that what is approaching in these relentless increments of evil is a Satanic globalist order. It will be a system of unbridled wickedness, totalitarian control, worship of the devil, and horrific global catastrophes and depopulation. We are in that time now of seeing its near approach. Those who are born again Christians are given the promise of escape from the coming antichrist, but are warned to keep themselves from the evil influence as it approaches.
The lesson for the people of the world is to take God’s way of escape through His Son. Jesus Christ has died on the cross to pay for our sins. He then rose from the dead to make a way of salvation and life for those who turn from their sins and receive Him as Lord and Saviour by personal faith. The signs of the coming day of world troubling are all about us now. The Bible message is to flee, to seek the Lord while He may be found. We could not overstate the urgency. God allows us to recognize the approach of Satan’s hour so we will realize its arrival is near, and we can prepare ourselves. Through Christ there is salvation from sin, escape from the antichrist’s coming kingdom of evil, and assurance that in eternity there will be a home in heaven instead of hell. These are the plain facts of the Bible’s message for those who have ears to hear. There is no need to have eternal regrets when we have warnings now.
By Ian Kurylyk