Life After Armageddon

by Frank Daniels

As preterists have noted for many years, the possibility of an imminent doomsday has captured the imaginations of Christians for centuries. Whether you have seen films with titles related to that doomsday (e.g., Apocalypse Now, Armageddon) or whether you noticed concern about being “Left Behind,” that obsession with an angry deity destroying the earth in flames has created a overwhelming quantity of fables, myths, and speculations. Since the Universal Product Code came out in 1974, people were worrying that the government was going to start stamping people with bar codes containing an encrypted number 666. Every time a war crops up (particularly in the Middle East), people fear that the end of the world is near. When governments are at odds, it means that the end is coming; when governments cooperate, it means that we’re edging closer to the “one world government” that futurists fear.

Now that full preterism has burst the bubble of fear, Christians might be wondering what is left on which to fixate. Indeed, human beings enjoy fixation, don’t we? Christianity has not been immune from trends, fads, and shared obsessions. Some Christians define their ministries around certain issues – which they believe hold paramount importance. These issues include referring to one or two percent of the American population as a “powerful lobby” and making a concerted effort to reduce their influence. Others bemoan the deaths of fetuses worldwide. Some are focused on ending world hunger. Still other Christians focus their efforts on trying to compel various levels of government to accept Christianity; they are particularly concerned about how science is taught in school. There are others who make a great deal about the influence of “paganism” or “secularism.” A few decades ago, it was the worldwide spread of Communism that caused so many books to be written. Fringe movements include those Christians who are convinced that a conspiracy kept certain books out of the Bible, and that perhaps there are secret codes concealed within its pages.

Now it appears that preterists are publishing material that will take away one of Christendom’s favorite obsessions, but what will we replace it with? Concern about space aliens or blind watchmakers, perhaps? No. Maybe we need to write hundreds of pages speculating about what the afterlife might be like? No. The Biblical focus of the teachings of Jesus was always more practical than that. Rather than create fad obsessions for his followers, our Lord taught them how to live their lives. Do we need an obsession?

"Therefore, don't be anxious, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we be dressed in?'. These are all things that the gentile is hunting. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all of these things. But you seek first his kingdom and what is right, and all of these things will be added to you. So do not be anxious about the next day, for the next day will be anxious about itself. One day's trouble is enough."

Rather than worry about even those things that were considered to be “life’s essentials,” Jesus quietly noted that his followers should trust God. Then they would live without anxiety, worry, or stress. Having stress-free lives – now that’s something for Christians to seek! But how do we get there? If it’s not about spreading the message of impending doom, what is life all about?

Now when the Perushim heard that he had muzzled the Zadokites, they gathered at the same place.[1] And one of them, a lawyer, asked, testing him, "Teacher, what precept in the Torah is greatest?" Now he said to them, ""You will love Yahweh your God with the whole of your heart, and with the whole of your soul, and with the whole of your mind." This is the greatest and foremost precept. Now the second is similar: "You will love your neighbor as yourself." The whole Torah and the Prophets are hung by these two precepts."

That last sentence is both powerful and difficult to grasp. Many modern Jewish people believe that there are over six hundred precepts (“commandments”) in the Torah – a number that was and is the subject of historical debates. Yet Jesus boiled the whole Torah down to just two of them. The principle of love for God (Dt 6:5) is part of the “Shema Yisrael,” the passage that begins with “Hear, oh Israel, Yahweh is our God; Yahweh is one.[2]” This is a statement of great importance in Judaism, and it is that great pronouncement that Jesus cited as one of the greatest points made in the Torah.

The other one indeed is similar, for Lv 19:18 focuses on love for others. People are tempted to put themselves first, or their families first. God had had Moses tell the Israelites that they were not to treat one another unjustly, nor were they to hate one another or carry grudges; instead, it was necessary for all of God’s people to love one another. To many Jews and Christians these are familiar words.

If you love someone else, you won’t steal from them, rape them, murder them, or commit another offense against them. Thus, the central teachings of the Torah flow out of the principle of Love. If someone focuses on living a life of love, then they’ll keep the guiding principle that directed God to give the Torah to his people. Jesus’ followers applied this teaching in several ways.

And yet I am showing you a way according to excellence: If I speak with the tongues of people and of messengers but do not have love, I have become a clanging gong or crashing cymbal. And if I have prophecy and know all secrets and all knowledge, and even if I have all trust (so as to remove mountains), but if I don't have love, I am nothing. And if I hand out all that is mine, and even if I offer up my body so that I may boast, but if I don't have love, it profits me nothing.

This segment begins one of the most famous and powerful statements about love in history: the thirteenth chapter of Paul’s first letter to the Christians at Corinth. The Corinthians were pursuing all sorts of things – things that they believed to be godly and spiritual. Paul spent the time re-focusing them on what was really important, for even if someone had everything that they were seeking, she would have nothing without love. In this life, he writes later in the chapter, there are many things that point to God. Most of these are just partial glimpses into God’s nature, but love is complete. As John elsewhere writes, “God is love.” So, of the things that remain – trust, hope, and love – the greatest among them is love. Therefore, it is most important to live a loving life. But how?

If anything I say has deep feelings and compassions, then make my joy complete, so that you would have the same attitude, having the same love, having united souls, having this one thing in mind: to do nothing out of bigotry or worthless conceit. On the contrary, with a humble attitude regard one another as being superior to yourselves. Each person should not look after his own interests, but also the interests of others. For you should have this attitude in you that was also in Anointed Jesus….

In this letter to the Christians at Philippi, Paul explains how to be loving. Loving another person involves making him or her a priority in your life. It does not mean giving them whatever they desire, but it does mean looking out for their needs – even ahead of your own! “Worthless conceit” is the “me-first” attitude, and bigotry is an “us-first” attitude. Paul tells his readers to adopt a “you-first” attitude toward their Christians friends, and the attitude of Jesus that he goes on to describe is the attitude of caring for one another to the point of dying for them. Strengthening the teachings of Epicurus, Jesus himself had said, “No one has greater love than this: that one should lay down his life on behalf of his friends.” John, describing that love, writes, “In this way, we have known love: because he laid down his life on our behalf. And we are bound to lay down our lives on behalf of the brothers. But whoever has the material things of creation, and who observes his brother having a need, and who shuts up his compassions from him, how can God's love remain in him? Children, let us not love in word or with the tongue but in deed and truth.”

Loving others includes caring for their needs while we are here on earth, even dying for them if that is necessary. More importantly, the duty and purpose of every follower of Jesus is focused not on the afterlife, nor on politics, nor on secret codes, but on his fellow Christians. Christianity is about being friends with one another. The author of Hebrews focused that letter on the upcoming destruction of Jerusalem. What should Jesus’ followers do about the social persecution they were facing? They should wait patiently for God to judge their opponents. Immediately after reminding them that the Mosaic covenant was about to be removed in the upcoming judgment, the author admonishes every reader about what they should do: “Let brotherly affection continue. Do not neglect the affection toward strangers, for through this some have escaped, having entertained messengers….” Instead of worrying about the future, Christians should love. The First Revolt and destruction of the temple are behind us today, but love still remains.

Likewise, immediately after taking note of reasons for the judgment during the First Revolt, Paul informs the Christians at Colossae to focus on love most of all: “Therefore, beloved holy ones, be clothed as God's chosen people, with deep feelings of compassion, gentleness, a humble attitude, meekness, longsuffering. Bear with one another, and forgive one another if someone has something to complain about. Just as also the Lord forgave you, you also do likewise. Now on top of all of these things is love, which is a bond of completeness. And let the peace of the Anointed One arbitrate in your hearts. You were also called for this in the body. Also become thankful.”

During the middle of the First Century, the followers of Jesus looked ahead to “the great and majestic day of Yahweh,” when God would destroy ritual religion. Isaiah had described the new state of affairs as a “new heaven and new earth.” Joel referred to it as a time of peace. This was not a time when all the governments on earth would stop having wars, nor were they referring to a time when no one would commit any crimes. Even after the “new Jerusalem” (i.e., Jesus’ followers) was planted in place of the old one, there are still evil people on earth – but they are outside of the city: “Outside are the dogs, and the alchemists, and the sexual sinners, and the murderers, and the idolaters, and everyone who is affectionate to and who does falsehood” (Rv 22:15). Evil still exists in the world, even after the Messiah’s return in judgment. However, the followers of Jesus are those who practice the principles of Love and Trust; among them there are peace, and thankfulness, and kindness, and the fruit of the spirit.

Therefore, if we must obsess about anything at all, let us be fixated on those things. Let’s practice trust and love toward God and one another, so that others will recognize the godly examples that we set. The students of Jesus are not the people who label themselves as “Christian” but are the ones who practice his teachings. Therefore, let’s take the knowledge that the judgment in Revelation has come, and let’s use it wisely – applying the practical teachings about friendship and stress to our lives, and helping others around us to do the same. The life after Armageddon is not a war with futurists, or idealists, or historicists, or partial preterists; the life we share is the free and beautiful way that Jesus promised…if we keep his principles. Love one another.

[1] A perush (pl. perushim) was careful about details. The group seems to have evolved from Jewish loyalists who acknowledged earthly powers. Zadokite Judaism was the hereditary religion of the priesthood. The terms “pharisee” and “sadducee” are corruptions of these words.