e id ns kI
ig H
he
hi
r fo
rT
:
16
on
20
fe Li of
fo
s
In
ng
on C
n re fe
ce
D A R E
T O
B E
L U T H E R A N
s
Higher Things
o Lo
d ea Br
Come, Lord Jesus! A Special Topical Issue:
The End Times • The Bridegroom and His Bride • Jesus: The Grave’s Sheol • Teach Us to Number Our Days • New Heavens, New Earth
S P R I N G 2 0 1 6 _
www
.higherthings.org /
spring
/ 2016
1
Š 2016 Concordia Publishing House Printed in the USA 516442_50
Don’t just say it. Be it.
H I G H E R T H I N G S __ 2
cph.org/beinglutheran 800.325.3040 order@cph.org
Being Lutheran 124473 On sale for $12.99. Use promo code YHTA
Contents T A B L E O F
Volume 16/Number 1 • Spring 2016
HigherThings
®
Volume 16/Number 1/Spring 2016 Bible Studies for these articles can be found at: higherthings.org/ magazine/biblestudies.html
The End Times. The Last Day. Judgment Day.
The Second (Final) Coming of Christ. These are all words and phrases that describe the subject of “eschatology,” that is the study of the “end times.” Forty days after His death and resurrection, Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father. The church awaits His final return when He comes again in His glory. Until that time, Christians live and die in Jesus and Jesus still comes to us through the ministry of the Gospel and Sacraments. Christians live in Jesus with the sure and certain hope of the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. In this issue of Higher Things Magazine, we’ll hear the Good News of Christ being present with us in life and in death and in the world to come. We’ll explore all sorts of topics related to eschatology and answer many questions that Christians often have about death. Christ is risen! You will rise, too! Seeing how that all fits together now and through death and the end times into eternal life is what this issue of Higher Things Magazine is all about.
Editor
Katie Hill Art Director
Steve BlaKey Editorial Associates
Rev. GReG almS Rev. Paul BeiSel Rev. BaRt Day Rev. Gaven mize Rev. DR. mattHew RicHaRD Copy Editor
Dana niemi Bible Study Authors
Rev. maRK Buetow Rev. JacoB eHRHaRD Rev. Samuel ScHulDHeiSz Subscriptions Manager
elizaBetH caRlSon IT Assistant
Jon KoHlmeieR ___________
Board of Directors President
Rev. GeoRGe BoRGHaRDt
Special Features 4
6
8
The Bridegroom and His Bride
Rev. George F. Borghardt Rev. Borghardt poignantly illustrates how marriage is a picture of Christ and His Bride, the church and how, on the Last Day, we will finally see ourselves as He does now: pure, blameless and forgiven.
Judgment Day: You’re Ready!
By Rev. Aaron T. Fenker Are you prepared for Judgment Day? That’s the wrong question to ask, according to Rev. Fenker. Find out why Judgment Day is nothing we need to fear.
If You Love the End Times So Much Why Don’t You Marry It?
By Rev. Gaven M. Mize Rev. Mize zeroes in on the blessed gifts of the Sacraments and the Liturgy that sustain us until the end of all things… until we, the church, the Bride of Christ, set our eyes on Jesus, our Bridegroom.
10 The End Times: Still All About Jesus
By Katie Hill What does the Bible really have to say about the end times and what are the keys that help us unlock that knowledge? No, it doesn’t require a decoder ring or some other gadget… just some basic principles, as Katie explains.
12 Millennialitis and Its Rapture Fever
By Rev. Brent W. Kuhlman No need to look at WebMD to see if you suffer from this disease. Just read through Rev. Kuhlman’s article and get the facts and the cure.
14 The Narnian Guide to Surviving the Apocalypse
By Rev. Samuel P. Schuldheisz Rev. Schuldheisz takes us through a magical tour of The Last Battle, bringing courage and comfort for the End Times along the way.
Vice-President
18 Jesus: The Grave’s Sheol
By Rev. Donavon Riley Rev. Riley shines the bright light of Christ onto that rather dark and mysterious word we see in the Scriptures: Sheol.
20 Teach Us to Number Our Days
By Rev. Joel Fritsche What happens when we die? How are we supposed to truly live when we know the Grim Reaper stands ready to pounce? Rev. Fritsche reminds us that in Christ, we live in the light of our new life in Him.
22 New Heavens. New Earth
By Rev. Mark Buetow Eternal life isn’t a floaty existence in a bland whiteness. Instead, Rev. Beutow declares, we’ll be face to face with a flesh and blood Savior, including scars, and live in a paradise that we can tangibly experience and enjoy forever.
Regular Features
28 Catechism: The Fifth Commandment: The Gift of Life
By Rev. William M. Cwirla Rev. Cwirla makes it clear that what makes this commandment so compelling is that it is undergirded by a love for life and a need to preserve it in every sense because that is what Jesus has done for us.
30 Bible Study: New Heavens. New Earth.
Be sure to check out this sample of one of our student Bible studies which links up with Rev. Buetow’s article on P. 22.
Rev. DR. caRl FicKenScHeR Treasurer
cHRiS loemKeR Secretary
Rev. Joel FRitScHe Rev. Duane BamScH eRic maiwalD Sue PelleGRini matt PHilliPS Rev. cHRiS RoSeBRouGH ___________
Executive Council Deputy Executive/Media
Rev. maRK Buetow Conference and Retreats Executive
SanDRa oStaPowicH Business Executive
connie BRammeieR Technology Executive
Stan lemon
Higher Things® Magazine ISSN 1539-8455 is published quarterly by Higher Things, Inc., PO Box 156, Sheridan, WY 82801. No portion of this publication may be reproduced without the written consent of the executive editor of Higher Things Magazine. Copyright 2016. Higher Things® is registered trademarks of Higher Things Inc.; All Rights Reserved. Printed in the United States. Postage paid at St. Louis, Missouri. For subscription information and questions, call 1-888-4826630, then press 4, or e-mail subscriptions@higherthings.org. (This phone number is only used for subscription queries.) For letters to the editor, write letters@higher things.org. Writers may submit manuscripts to: submissions@ higherthings.org. Please check higherthings.org/magazine/ writers.html for writers’ guidelines and theme lists.
S P R I N G 2 0 1 6 _ 3
Hans HansMemling, Memling,Last Last Judgement, Judgement, latelate 1460s, 1460s, National National Museum, Museum, Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland Poland
Judgment day:
You’re Ready ByRev. Rev.Aaron AaronT.Fenker By Fenker
Judgment DAY day is coming. It is! You can’t escape it. JUDGMENT H I G H E R T H I N G S __ 14 6
What everwill willyou you One day it will be here, and then what? Whatever do? What will you hear? How can you stand? What will the Judge say when you stand before Him on that day? You know, don’t you? What you’ve done, haven’t done; said, haven’t said; even what you’ve thought. All of it condemns you. There’s no escaping it. There’s no putting your head in likeif there’s no Last if notifthinking about the sand as there were no Day—as Last Day—as not thinking it means it won’tit come. it will. inevitable. about it means won’t But come. But It’s it will. It’s inevitable.
Yes, there is a Last Day—a day when not all good things come to an end, but a day when all evil, wicked, and sinful things, and when all sinners will come to an end. That end is the second death—eternity in hell. When will that day be? “Of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” (Mark 13:32 NKJV) So what will you do? How can you prepare for something that’s coming at an unknown time—a time even Jesus doesn’t know? Well, that’s the rub, isn’t it? What to do? People out in the world—and we do it, too—think that if there’s a Last Day coming when all people will be judged, then they need to have some good to balance out the bad. If we’re kind enough, then God might be merciful, which might mean He’ll give us a pass on our misdeeds. This sort of thinking pops up when we think, “Well, I’m not that bad of a person.”“I’m not as bad as she is.”“At least I don’t do what he’s doing.” We treat God on Judgment Day as if He were a bear: You don’t have to outrun the bear, just run faster than the other guy! “I don’t have to be perfect. I just need to be better than you, and thank God I am!” But no one else will be there with you when you stand before God’s throne. Each person will face the Judgment Seat of God. So what are you doing to prepare? Repent of such a thought! That’s not how Judgment Day works at all! You don’t get yourself ready for Judgment Day. Jesus gets you ready for that Last and Final Day. What else is there for you to do for Judgment Day that Jesus hasn’t already done? Answer: Nothing! That’s right. Nothing. Zip. Nada. Zilch. Jesus’ Word from Calvary rings true, not only then, but now, and even forever and ever. “Tetelestai! It is finished!” The holy, precious blood and the innocent suffering and death of Christ cleanses us from all sins. There isn’t a single sin that He hasn’t paid for. Jesus finished it all. He drank the cup of the Father’s wrath for sin and every sinner down to the dregs. There’s nothing unfinished. That’s why Jesus said, “It is finished!” Yes, it’s all finished. Good Friday became Judgment Day—God’s wrath satisfied. Jesus’ work is finished and complete, but now He’s about the business of delivering it. In delivering it, Jesus gets you ready for Judgment Day. How can you stand on that great day? You can boldly stand “on that great day, Cleansed and redeemed, no debt to pay.” (“Jesus, Thy Blood and Righteousness” LSB 563:2) Jesus gave you this in the waters of your Baptism. He washed your sins away that day. His death and resurrection are yours. You’re justified,“declared innocent” in Him. That’s what your Holy Baptism delivers as Paul says,“He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us generously
through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by His grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:5–7 NIV). What will you hear on that day? You will hear Jesus say what He’s been saying your whole life and what He said from the cross on Good Friday: Not only “It is finished!” but also,“Father, forgive them.” And Jesus doesn’t just say this from His cross. He says this to you, too. He says,“I forgive you all your sins.” He has sent His preachers, His pastors, to say that very thing. He said to them,“As the Father has sent me, I am sending you…Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you retain them, they are retained.” (John 20:21–23 NKJV) What your pastor says to you, you will hear again. How can you not? The very one who will be your Judge on that Day is the one who was crucified and raised, who sent your pastor to say,“Your sins are all forgiven you.” What will you do on that day? Well, Judgment Day isn’t a scary day for you, dear Christian. No, not one bit! It’s party day! It’s the wedding party of the Lamb which has no end. You’ve feasted on the flesh and blood of that Lamb in His Supper. Through giving those to you to eat and drink, Jesus is getting you ready for the eternal party by forgiving your sins, giving you new life, and awarding eternal salvation. All of that is yours. He dwells in you and you in Him by the eating and the drinking of His Body and Blood. Now that you’re in Him, you won’t be locked out of the party. You’ll get to celebrate with Jesus forever. Judgment Day is coming. It is! You can’t escape it. Yes, there is a Last Day—a day when all good things will continue and begin for you, dear Christian. There’s nothing that you can do. Jesus has already done it all. “Tetelestai! It is finished!” He delivers the benefits to you of His cross and empty tomb. So? Well, that means you receive the benefits of Judgment Day beforehand! You have a clean garment for Judgment Day, with Christ’s righteousness splashed over your forehead at the font. You’ve already had the judgment ring in your ears—“I forgive you all your sins.” You’re ready for Party Day. You’ve already feasted on Jesus’ Body and Blood! Eternal life awaits you on the Last Day because of Jesus—what He’s done and delivered to you. You’re ready. You have to be! Jesus, your Judge, your Savior made sure of that on Good Friday and every day thereafter! Rev. Aaron T. Fenker is Pastor of Bethlehem and Immanuel Lutheran Churches in Bremen, Kansas, and the Conference Catechist for Higher Things.
S P R I N G 2 0 1 6 _ 7
Jesus
The End Times:
Still All About
By Katie Hill
“ Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.” Revelation 20:6 (ESV)
“I’m a panmillennialist,” a friend confided in me once. When he saw my questioning look he didn’t wait for me to ask. “It means I believe everything will pan out in the end.” I had to laugh at that. From a certain point of view, he was right. After all, we believe in a God who promises to work all things for our good, so of course everything has to work out because it will through His Son, Jesus.
H I G H E R T H I N G S __ 10
However, we live in an era where there is a great deal of fascination with the end of the world…and not only in our churches. Consider the level of engagement with dystopian literature in our culture: Hunger Games, the Divergent series, etc. And of course, while not dystopian, the apocalyptically focused Left Behind series has experienced amazing success, burgeoned into a kids’ series, several movies, as well as the Bible study market. My own experience with the Left Behind series was that, while I generally enjoyed reading through some of the novels, I knew going in that the doctrinal foundation of the books’ premise was weak at best. And yet many of our evangelical brethren see books and movies like that as sort of a roadmap for the days to come. So what does the Bible have to say about the thousand years referenced
in Revelation 20? Let’s take a very general look at the major views of the ends times or more specifically, this “millennium.” Summary of the Four Views Probably the most popular view today is called dispensational premillennialism (DP). Formulated officially in the late 19th century, DP asserts that throughout history, God tests the obedience of His people within seven different dispensations or administrations. Right now we are under the dispensation of grace, whereas the nation of Israel was under the dispensation of law. According to DP, the people of Israel will always be God’s true chosen people and His end goal is to physically set up His kingdom on earth for His people. Prophecies in the Scriptures are to be taken literally, including those in Revelation. There
will be a secret rapture of all of God’s people (views differ as to when this specifically happens in relation to the Tribulation—a 7-year period of particular suffering on the earth during which the Antichrist rules) but all agree that it is before a literal thousand-year reign of Christ on earth wherein Satan is bound and there is an era of peace. The temple will be rebuilt in Jerusalem and the sacrificial system reinstated. Eventually Satan will be released for a time, leading to Armageddon (the war to end all wars), followed by the final judgment and finally the new heavens and new earth. Two less common views are historic premillennialism and postmillennialism. Historic premillennialism is similar to DP, but there is no separate rapture. Postmillennialism does not present a literal thousand-year reign or even a visible reign of Christ but claims there will be a golden age of sorts before Christ comes again, during which knowledge of Jesus increases and evil decreases. And now we come to amillennialism, which has been the historical view of the church and is currently embraced by Lutherans, Catholics, Anglicans and many Reformed denominations. It is also the Biblical view because
it understands the millennium in the light of Christ. Amillennialism asserts that although God has worked through various covenants, they had the purpose of pointing to Christ. The nation of Israel pointed toward what we know as the church, so all Christians are God’s chosen people—the seed of Abraham. The Jew/Gentile distinction is done away with. The thousand years is figurative, and began with Christ’s ascension and continues to the end of the age, coming to fruition with Christ’s Final Coming, which will be unmistakable. There will be no secret rapture. When He comes, those who have died in Christ will be resurrected first and we who remain will follow, then comes final judgment and the new heavens/new earth. So why the divergent views on the end times? What it really boils down to is hermeneutics—the keys we use to interpret the Scriptures. These are very important when reading the whole of Scripture, let alone those seemingly bizarre passages in parts of Daniel, Ezekiel and certainly Revelation. We will just be scratching the surface here but let’s very briefly look at some basic hermeneutics. Read the text in the sense in which it was intended. History is to be read as history, poetry as poetry, etc. Poetry is often filled with lots of rich and symbolic language. The same goes with apocalyptic passages (those focused on impending destruction) like parts of Daniel, Ezekiel and Revelation. For example, when we read in Amos 9:13 that “wine will pour out of the mountains” we understand that to mean fruitfulness, not a literal wine fountain. For the Hebrews, numbers were very important and symbolic of something deeper, such as the number 1000 meaning “completion.” The glorious descriptions of the New Jerusalem in Revelation, using precious metal and jewels, are word pictures to help us grasp what Paradise will be like. The examples are endless. Prophecies are often doubly fulfilled. Many prophecies have an immediate
context and a future context. Amos 9:11-12 tells us that David’s kingdom will be rebuilt. This was partially fulfilled when the Israelites returned to their land after the Babylonian captivity, but St. James tells us in Acts 15:13-18 that God including the Gentiles as His people is a fulfillment of Amos 9 as well. Matthew 24, filled with warnings by Jesus about terrible times to come, saw its immediate fulfillment in the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., yet it clearly points ahead to a future time as well. Acknowledge historical context. It’s important to not make Scripture say something it doesn’t. St. John wrote the Book of Revelation around 95 AD when he was in exile on the island of Patmos. His immediate readers at the time were the seven churches to which he addresses the book, in order to encourage, exhort and warn them as they were enduring severe hardships and trials. Revelation is not some secret code-filled fantasy book into which we are to read our modern understanding of the symbolism. St. John’s letter is meant to encourage, exhort and warn us, too, since we are a part of the same Christian church. Scripture interprets Scripture. We call this the analogy of faith. The clearer passages of Scripture often help us understand the less clear passages. Many New Testament (NT) passages shed light on Old Testament (OT) passages. The book of Hebrews is a helpful place to see where this comes into play. It frequently uses OT passages to explain God’s plan of redemption through His Son. In Hebrews 1, the writer quotes from the Psalms, 2 Samuel, 1 Chronicles and Deuteronomy, when declaring Christ’s superiority over the angels. St. Augustine is credited with summing this up well, “The new (NT) in the old (OT) concealed, the old in the new revealed.” Remember the principle of type and shadow. A type or shadow points ahead to things that have not yet come to pass. And while the OT is packed
with types, there are plenty to be found in the NT as well. Key takeaway: The fulfillment of the type is always greater than the type itself. Why is this important? Because we never want to let the type eclipse what it is pointing toward. Ezekiel 40-46, talks about the rebuilding of the temple, clearly pointing ahead to Matthew 12:6, John 2:19-22 and other passages that explain that Jesus is the temple—where God dwells. This is why the idea of rebuilding a physical temple in Jerusalem and reinstating animal sacrifices is just wrong. And there are NT types, too. The Lord’s Supper is an example, for it reminds us that there is a greater, eternal feast to come. How Then Shall We Live? We live in that “thousand years” right now—the time frame between Christ’s ascension and His Second coming. It’s okay to look for signs but not focus on them. Listen for your pastor to talk about the “consummation,” when we get to enjoy that eternal heavenly feast with our Savior in Paradise. It communicates that all has not been fulfilled yet. Yes, Jesus already has saved us and His kingdom is now, yet there is a final sealing of the deal yet to come. It’s an already/not yet tension written across the entirety of the Bible. If we get too caught up in looking for the signs of His return, we can miss out on the comforts of the Gospel through His Word and Sacraments that He provides for the here and now. Inevitably, we will wonder about the end of all things every now and then. Remember that for us, the Day of the Lord, or Judgment Day, is good news because the Judge is Christ and His righteousness is ours so He will not be a condemning judge. What do we know definitively? Jesus is coming. We will be raised. We will dwell with Him forever in Paradise. Indeed, it will all pan out in the end. Katie Hill is the editor of Higher Things Magazine. She can be reached at katie.hill@higherthings.org
S P R I N G 2 0 1 6 _ 11