What does the Bible say about eschatology?

• Daniel 7, eschatological visions (judgement for the holy ones)
• Daniel 9:20-27, eschatological visions (from the time that the message went out untl the time of an anointed prince, there will be seven weeks)
• Matthew 24:1-14, Jesus on the end times (the end will come, and this is good news)
• Matthew 24:15-28, Jesus on the end times (false messiahs and prophets will come)
• Matthew 24:29-51, Jesus on the end times (no one knows the day or hour)
• Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus on the end times (all the nations will be gathered around when the Son of Man comes)
• Mark 13, Jesus on the end times (God will gather the elect from the ends of the earth)
• 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11, Paul on the end times (the Lord will descend with the sound of God's trumpet)
• Revelation 1, eschatological visions (John testified to what he saw)
• Revelation 4-7, eschatological visions (the throne room of God)
• Revelation 8-11, eschatological visions (seven angels before God)
• Revelation 12-16, eschatological visions (let anyone calculate the exact time with wisdom)
• Revelation 17-19, eschatological visions (another angel)
• Revelation 20-22, eschatological visions (a new heaven and a new earth)

Sermon ideas about eschatology

Apocalypse 

What new perspectives can we share in sermons on eschatology? Frequently, apocalypse is used as a synonym for prophecy. However, they are distinct literary forms rooted in the ancient Near East. The difference between the two can be summarized by repurposing a quotation from author and humorist Finley Peter Dunne. Prophecy is intended to "afflict the comfortable"; apocalypse is intended to "comfort the afflicted." Prophecy calls out sin, cries out for repentance, and longs for the restoration of right relationship with God. Apocalypse raises up the pain and suffering of powerless and marginalized people and craftily subverts the oppressors with a statement of God's ultimate and eternal reign. When we write sermons on apocalyptic texts, we do well to calibrate our preaching toward the original comforting intent of the text. 

In the future? 

People often read apocalyptic texts as future history: This is what will happen someday. However, apocalypse is most often concerned with the pressing present moment of its recipients, with their very real suffering. It is a forth-telling rather than a foretelling, and sermons on eschatology can make this clear. 

What does 'the end' mean? 

New Testament texts like Mark 13 and Matthew 24 show a strong concern with the end of the world. In our culture, this concern is sometimes manifested by people wearing signs or reading books proclaiming that the end of the world is near. The Greek word for end is telos, the root for the English word teleology—the study of the purpose of things. Rather than thinking of The End as two words at the conclusion of the history of the world, we might rather think in terms of the goal or the purpose of the world. 

Rethinking rapture 

A sermon on eschatology can explore the strange scene, not duplicated elsewhere in the New Testament, found in 1 Thessalonians 4. Its most logical scriptural connection is the Old Testament practice of citizens flooding out of the city gates to meet a warrior or army returning from battle, escorting them back into the city in an ancient version of a hero's welcome or a ticker-tape parade. This image flips popular conceptions of the rapture on their head: We are not raptured, teleported away from the world. Rather we are enraptured of the king who is coming to rule among us. 

Empire and kingdom 

Since apocalyptic literature is most often written to afflicted and marginalized people, it is also designed to slip by the censors, as it were. The images of terrifying creatures, the scenes of a world other than our own, read as nonsense to those in power. To those who are oppressed, the images are an inside joke, subverting the empire and proclaiming the kingdom. 

Does it even matter? 

What is at stake in the study of eschatology? Much more than listeners to sermons on eschatology may think: 

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  The character of God — Is God biding time before setting the world on fire? Or is God waiting and working toward the establishment of Christ's kingdom on earth?  
• The creation — Is it all destined for extinction while we "fly away, O glory"? Or is Christ's kingdom going to be established on earth? The answers to these questions impact whether or how we care for the planet.
• Citizenship and power — Does God have anything to say about the violence of corrupt, exploitative nations and entities? Is God on the side of those with power or those without it? Where will we stand as a result of where we understand God to be standing?  
• Vocation — Is it only going to be souls that make it to eternal life, in which case any activity but evangelism is a waste? Or do all things that reflect God's beauty, justice, and compassion last into Christ's kingdom? Do we really believe what we sing at Christmastime: "He comes to make his blessings flow far as the curse is found"? 

Excerpts about eschatology 

Following are sample excerpts from Zeteosearch.org sermon resources about eschatology: 

• "Being a follower of Jesus includes a hopeful vision of the future. In the fullness of the kingdom of God, we will live on a new earth as embodied humans, worshiping and working, married to Christ and in fellowship with sisters and brothers from all nations (Revelation 21-22)." Article about Theology by Charles Self from Missio Alliance  

• "To be an eschatological people, then, is to live a life of faith seeking to be authentic and relevant in the present as instruments of God's relentless love. It is a season that places hope in the immediacy of the times and the manifestation of salvation in the here and now." Scripture Meditation or Sermon by Sunshine Dulnuan from The Episcopal Church  

• "Realized eschatology interprets apocalyptic literature (Daniel, Revelation, etc.) not so much as predicting the future (although that is there too), but as revealing through symbols the way things are, the nature of reality." Realized Eschatology , Revelation and Repentance by Michael Gills from Ancient Faith Ministries