View From the Manse 2.0 - November 2023

 Many of us are troubled by the hostilities between Israel and Hamas entrenched in the Gaza strip. This war on top of the events of the Ukraine- Russia war, genocides in Armenia by Azerbaijan, earthquakes and hurricanes have left many of us asking questions like, “Are we in the end times?” This is a good question to ask. We are meant to hold our Bibles in one hand and our newspapers in the other. We are called to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves as we discern the times and seasons. And we are meant to look expectantly, hoping for the return of Jesus.

          In 2 Peter 3 we read, “Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.”

          In one sense; Yes, we are living in the last days. According to Peter, Paul, and John we have been living in the last days since the Ascension of Christ. In this season we are to live holy and godly lives. We are to call our friends and neighbors to repent while there is still time (2 Peter 3:9).

          But are things worse now than they were before? Are these tribulations and troubles more numerous and intense than they have been in the past? I don’t know. That’s hard to measure. We have more news coverage and faster updates than ever before. So, is there more bad news or do we just hear about it? What about the bad news that still gets passed over? Despite what you see on Youtube or hear on the radio, I do not think that there is anything particular about these days that the Bible points to directly as a marker of the final moments.

          We are certainly one day closer to heaven. And there is nothing that needs to happen before Jesus can return. He could return at any moment, but none of us know when that will be.

          And lastly, what of the Jewish people? Are we to side with them? While Paul makes it clear in Romans that the Gentiles have been grafted in (Romans 11) and that we are children of Abraham by faith (Galatians 3), it also appears that God still has plans for his chosen people. This is the way the Church has long understood it. John Owen wrote, “We pray that the promised conversion of His ancient people of the Jews may be hastened.” And J. C. Ryle said, “I believe that the Jews shall ultimately be gathered again as a separate nation, restored to their own land, and converted to the faith of Christ.”

          While I was in Israel, I went to the holocaust museum. They have a room with the names of every Jew murdered in the holocaust of the Second World War. And there are empty shelves in that room. Our tour guide explained that the Jewish people expect more persecution and death and so they have left room for more names in that hall of remembrance.

And while I was in Israel, I was taken into Bethlehem (in Gaza) and had dinner with a Palestinian Christian family. Over dinner, the father of the family said to me, “We want Americans to know that not all Palestinians are terrorists.” I believe that I am united to this man by the Holy Spirit. We have brothers and sisters in Gaza and in Jerusalem.

How do we pray for them? We pray against collateral damage and that the innocents in this conflict would be spared. We pray against terror, evil, fear, and the devil. We pray for the peace of Jerusalem. And we pray that Jesus would come quickly.

Bryan Fitzgerald, Pastor

                                               (bryan@argylepresbyterian.org)