334 SE Tecumseh Road  P.O. Box 5  Tecumseh, Kansas 66542  (785) 379-5005  Fax - (785) 379-5061

Contact Us: | E-mail | Map & Directions

Apocalypse! Jeremiah 31:27-34  The end is coming, the end is coming! Save me from the wrath to come! Fierce judgment awaits you, sinner! The fires of hell will soon be your final destination! That’s what we may well think of when we hear that word : apocalypse. The book of Revelation has come to be associated with that word, and a great deal of misinformation is distributed that serves to reinforce such interpretations. Many worry about being ‘left behind’ while a select few are chosen for a favored spot, where the fires are not burning. With so many folks spending time and energy worrying about impending doom, other opportunists and false prophets seize on the chance of making a great deal of easy money. They do so by preying on our fears, by making dire predictions supposedly based upon their ‘decoding’ of the mysteries in Revelation. They sell us books, videos and movies which reinforce the very thing we’re worried about in the first place. Let’s face it, we are attracted to things that are painful, convinced of course that the pain will only happen to others and not to ourselves.  A little learning is a dangerous thing, because we may use our limited knowledge in inappropriate ways. With that caution in mind, I share something I just learned in my current class in Hebrew Bible. The instructor offered the following observation: all of the apocalyptic texts are addressed to people who were oppressed, who were in bondage. Think about this for just a moment - the prophets and others who wrote apocalyptic messages intended more than dire predictions of doom and gloom! Just take a look at this passage from Jeremiah. Speaking for God, Jeremiah tells us that while God holds people accountable and pays attention to their sinfulness, this same God will watch over them to build and to plant. (28) The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah .… I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. (31, 33) This is not a message of doom, but a resounding message of hope. The promise is held out by God that one day, one day, we may experience that new covenant, a time when we as mortals will truly be able to live up to and live out the life which God envisions for us and offers to us. This is an apocalyptic vision, a vision of an end time not to be feared but to be anticipated with rejoicing. For they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more. (34) Rejoice. There is the promise of the kingdom in the apocalyptic vision.  - Pastor Piet – October 21, 2007