When I first came to Christ, the group I hung with talked a lot about the return of Jesus Christ. We used to pass out fake newspapers with the headline "Christ Returns!" We were sure the event known as "the Rapture" (where Jesus returns to snatch away His followers) was close-certainly within the next year or two.

That was a little over thirty-five years ago.

But last-days prophecy stuff is fascinating and extremely motivating. Thinking about the possible imminent return of Jesus produces amazing commitment and devotion. The apostle John said a person who thinks about it "purifies himself, just as he is pure" (1 John 3:3). The whole idea that we are going to see Jesus is very cool. No longer living by faith-we're really going to see Him!

But there are problems.

As far back as you care to go historically, you can find preachers with a penchant for interpreting Bible prophecy by holding the daily news in one hand and the Bible in the other. Using obscure texts and arbitrary methods, many have tried to prove the identity of the Antichrist or discern which country is the nation known as "Magog" in Scripture (a nation important in last-days prophecy).

Back in the 1950s, many last-days pundits claimed Magog was the Soviet Union, but in the 1980s the Union collapsed. Then new revelations began to come as to the identity of "true" Magog (many now say Magog is Islam).

What confuses me is how the last-days experts talk with such confidence and authority. They don't "suggest" this or that may happen or that a verse might mean this or that-it is a done deal; their interpretation is absolute truth. And something is always happening in the Middle East or elsewhere that serves as another indication that the return of Jesus is just around the corner.

The other day I heard a well-meaning Bible-prophecy radio minister trying to use a very cryptic Bible text to prove that a recent series of terrorist attacks in Israel were specifically predicted in Scripture! These guys read the New York Times and the Jerusalem Post the way a psychic reads tea leaves. And with a rising fever in the air, you get the feeling you need to stay close and stay tuned to hear the latest from their prophetic perspective. You want to make sure you are ready.

But then, when what they say doesn't happen or the interpretation they have been espousing demands adjustment, they do so as unapologetically and frequently as the local meteorologist. But are Bible prophecies supposed to be approached like weather forecasts, or should we just be a little more tentative about our interpretations to begin with?

KNOCK, KNOCK; WHO KNOWS?
If you want to take a trip to a foreign country, just start reading the Bible passages that describe the last days, which you find in Bible books like Ezekiel, Daniel, Zechariah, and Isaiah-but especially in the book of Revelation. You run into angels, trumpets, earthquakes, biting locusts, beasts, dragons, and bottomless pits. Alice's Wonderland looks tame by comparison.

Why is there so much room for arbitrary interpretation in the arena of Bible prophecy? Primarily because most of it is written in a style that isn't found anywhere else in modern literature, and we have a hard time trying to decipher and interpret it. It's called apocalyptic literature.

In Bible days there were dozens of apocalypses that were popular with Jews and Christians (not all were considered canonical, of course). Apocalyptic literature is just that, a genre of literature. Just as stories, parables, and psalms have specific literary characteristics, so does an apocalypse.

Imagine being part of an archaeological team one million years from now that uncovers a few "knock, knock" jokes from our century. Let's say you have no counterpart in your culture-no "knock, knock" jokes exist.

You translate the text:
Knock, knock.
Whose there?
Duane.
Duane who?
Duane the bathtub, I think I'm duowning.

As you try to interpret the writing, someone suggests, "Perhaps the word knock has some kind of special meaning. Notice they said it twice."

Someone else pipes in and says, "Yes, and apparently Duane is the name of a bathing device-it reads, ‘Duane the bathtub.'"

Yet another remarks, "And what do you think ‘duowning' is?"

"Perhaps it has something to do with the double ‘knock,'" you reply.

You all miss the point.

You might come up with half a dozen equally ridiculous interpretations simply because you don't get the fact that this was a joke. Jokes have characteristics that must be understood in order for the joke to make sense. The same kind of thing is true when we are reading apocalyptic literature. Apocalyptic literature has certain characteristics that must be mastered for this kind of literature to make any sense to us.

Characteristics of apocalyptic literature include heavy themes of judgment and salvation; they come jammed with visions and dreams, and the language is cryptic and symbolic; the images within an apocalypse are often forms of fantasy rather than reality; and time and events are neatly divided and carefully ordered with a great fondness for the symbolic use of numbers.

When you take a book like Revelation that is populated with visions, dreams, cryptic and symbolic language, fantasy, some general epistle or letter material, along with a huge chunk of specific prophecy elements, you have the makings of a right gnarly piece of literature.

But most of us ignore all that and approach prophetic texts with an open heart and prayer. It sounds good-spiritual even. But is it? Go ahead and put one hundred people in a room and ask them to run at this kind of material prayerfully, with an open heart, and you will end up with one hundred thousand different interpretations.

Not all Scripture is easy to understand. And we are kidding ourselves if we think our interpretations are not being influenced by our theological heritage, ecclesiastical traditions, cultural norms, and life experiences. This should make us very suspicious of our understanding as we read Scriptures. This is especially true when reading prophetic segments.

For example, if you think God directed Bible prophecy toward Americans more than Libyans, Afghans, or Sudanese, then end-times verses will read differently to you. Europeans and Americans tend to hold the Bible in one hand and Western newspapers in the other to discern where we are on the prophetic "tick-tock."

But if you are a brother or sister in Christ from the Sudan (many who are currently having their property seized and their children taken from them), you may think the Great Tribulation is taking place now, and you have already met the armies of the Antichrist.

We need to be more wary of our last-days interpretations.

MOTIVATED TO SERVE
Something about the return of Jesus Christ gets people motivated to serve. But I would suggest the motivation is not good when we get people excited about the return of Christ based on current events that are interpreted hastily and inappropriately.

In 1988 a book came out titled something like 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Is in 1988. Tens of thousands of believers bought that little book and made it a central issue in their lives. People I knew were passing the books out to relatives, friends, coworkers, and neighbors. It created quite a stir. I had been around the block a couple of times by 1988, so I wasn't nearly as taken with the idea.

I remember sharing with those I pastored at the time, "Don't get too excited, folks. Jesus said no one would know the exact time or hour of His return! I hate to pop your end-times bubble, but I have some plans for 1989."

When Jesus didn't come back, the author came out with another work with a title to the tune of 89 Reasons Why the Rapture Is in 1989. It didn't sell nearly as well.

People who got all jacked up from that book were disappointed and embarrassed after Jesus didn't return in 1988. Some even slipped away from the Lord. Why? I think talking about Jesus' return the way Chicken Little did when he said, "The sky is falling," always yields less-than-favorable results. It's weird. Last-days fever is contagious. Chicken Little always seems to meet up with Henny Penny, Cocky Locky and Goosey Poosey, and then you really have a mess. It turns into a whole last-days movement.

Trying to motivate people to serve God by using fabricated timelines on Rapture dates and presenting them like a salesperson's "last-chance" sale always produces a short-term yield. This kind of motivation is like a flu bug-you get hit hard, but it only lasts a little while. And when it's over, you feel worn out.

A HEALTHY ESCHATOLOGY
When you read the New Testament, you get the idea that they expected Jesus to return at any moment-and that was 2,000 years ago! Why would they talk about the return of Jesus in a way that suggested it could happen at any moment? I think the answer is found in Paul's comment that God rewards those "who have longed for his appearing" (2 Tim. 4:8). God wants us to think about, dream about, and long for the return of Jesus Christ.

Honestly, until very recently I never did that. I never consciously fostered a longing for the appearing of Jesus. When I first came to Him and heard the end-times message, I got excited and was motivated by it-but Jesus never came. And because many of the events that were used to prove that His return was imminent proved no such thing, I got a tad jaded.

Today, I don't believe our "longing" for the return of Jesus should be based on forcing obscure texts into modern news stories. I think it should be based on the fact that earth isn't home. Jesus told us before He left, "Do not let your hearts be troubled" (John 14:1). He said, "I am going . . . to prepare a place for you" (v. 2). Then He said, "I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am" (v. 3).

This planet is not home for us. At best, it is a hotel room. Our longing for the return of Jesus needs to rest on the footing that He has made a home for us and is coming to get us-not based on some prophecy expert's dubious revelation. It is said of the saints of old, "they were longing for a better country-a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them" (Heb. 11:16).

Next time you feel a little out of sorts and that life is less than you had hoped, look up and smile. This is not your home. This is not heaven. But heaven is coming to get you. And instead of running to something inappropriate (viz, sin) to quench the inner cry that only Jesus can satisfy, tell the Lord, "I am so achy for heaven. I am longing for Jesus to come and get me out of here-Jesus, I long for Your appearing. Though there is good here, nothing completely satisfies-nothing but You. If You don't come physically right now, at least come to me spiritually and nourish my weary heart!" This simple prayer can help you keep your heart pure and bring you to a whole new level spiritually.

This is last-days thinking...and it's sweet.