Apocalypse of the Church
Rev. Dr. Michael H. Koplitz
Mark 13:14-23
14 “But when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION standing where it should not be (let the reader understand), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. 15 “aThe one who is on the housetop must not go down, or go in to get anything out of his house; 16 and the one who is in the field must not turn back to get his coat. 17 “But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 18 “But pray that it may not happen in the winter. 19 “For those days will be a time of tribulation such as has not occurred since the beginning of the creation which God created until now, and never will. 20 “Unless the Lord had shortened those days, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect, whom He chose, He shortened the days. 21 “And then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ’; or, ‘Behold, He is there’; do not believe him; 22 for false Christs and false prophets will arise, and will show signs and wonders, in order to lead astray, if possible, the elect. 23 “But take heed; behold, I have told you everything in advance.
This passage is considered apocalyptic because the church has said so for two thousand years. This passage is more descriptive of what did happen when the Roman army invaded Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple. Each of the verses, each of the events, describes what happened in the Near East when a city was invaded. Some scholars believe that Mark’s Gospel was a wartime document. If it was written in the mid to late 60s CE, then the war influenced the Gospel. The Temple was destroyed in 70 CE by the Roman invasion. This narrative purpose was added to the Gospel to prove that Jesus predicted the Temple’s destruction. In this way, it was the LORD’s Will.
Now that this information has been shared, it is time to consider what is an apocalyptic moment. The finish of any civilization would be considered an apocalyptic event. Biblically speaking we find three in the Hebrew Scriptures. The first is when Joshua led the Hebrew people to the east side of the Jordan River. The LORD told Abraham that his descendants would one day inherit the land. That land was Canaan. The inheritance became a conquering of the tribes that lived in that land.
In my seminary Old Testament class, the instructor asked us to write a reflection about Joshua’s conquest of the land. My reflection was simple. It had three options for the people who lived in Canaan when Joshua came. They could flee from the land, that is, get out of Dodge. Their second option was to join Israel and become a conquering nation. The third option was to resist and die. From my Hebraic heritage, there was no other option. The LORD told Joshua to conquer the land. That is exactly what Joshua did. Well, almost all of the land was conquered.
The Old Testament instructor was very displeased with my reflection. She expected every student in the class to say that Israel oppressed the people of the land. Shame on those Israelites for what they did. I said to her, “are you kidding?” The LORD said to do it. When the LORD speaks, you listen and then do what you are told. She was more concerned about the oppressed (as she put it) people in the land than following the commandments of the LORD. OK, thinking about it now, sure the people in the land got a raw deal.
Nevertheless, not following a commandment from the LORD does not seem like a good thing to do. Therefore, it was an apocalyptic moment for the people in Canaan who were conquered. Their culture, society, and towns were destroyed.
The second was when the Assyrians took over the Northern Kingdom of Israel. The interesting part here is that history says that the Egyptians were invading the Northern Kingdom. The Egyptians would have conquered the Northern Kingdom except, for one thing, the King asked the Assyrians for help. So, a sizeable Assyrian army came into the Northern Kingdom and defeated the Egyptians. The Assyrians liked the Northern Kingdom land and its connection to the south. They decided to stay. The Northern Kingdom king did not like that option, so they resisted. The Assyrians then destroyed the cities of the Northern Kingdom, exiled the people into the Assyrian empire. They replaced them with people from other parts of their Empire. For those Israelites, the apocalypse occurred. Their culture and society were gone.
The third was when the Babylonians invaded Judea and destroyed the Temple and Jerusalem for the second time. Yes, the Babylonians invaded Judea ten years before their second invasion, which destroyed Jerusalem. Without the Temple, the people had a religious crisis. There is not much information about how Judaism survived during the Exile beyond the belief that the LORD promised that a remnant of the people would survive and return to the Promised Land. For the Jews sent into exile, it was an apocalyptic moment.
Apocalyptic moments are all over history. As shown, it can be anytime a civilization is destroyed. In modern times World War I was considered an apocalyptic moment. The Ottoman and Austria-Hungary empires were destroyed. The people in those empires saw their society destroyed, and a new one started. The Middle East and Africa saw new countries carved out of the British empire and other colonizations. The Spanish flu arriving at the war's end did not help matters.
I can continue with World War II, the Cold War, and more. I think the point is clear. Therefore, Jesus was not necessarily talking about the end of time. The next passage, Mark 13:24-27, is usually added to this passage to enforce the end of time theology of the church. That is also debatable and for another time.
Let us think about small apocalyptic moments in our society. From a sociological point of view, I wondered how the people of a town or city would react if all the churches closed their doors. During the development and growth of towns and cities in the United States, at least one church was established. During the development of the United States, having the LORD with the people was important.
However, that attitude is changing. I once asked a group of kids if they knew what the church was meant for. These kids were not church-educated. They told me that one goes to church for funerals and weddings. I have officiated weddings where the bride and groom clearly were not believers in Christ. However, they had to get married in the church. Why? Because that is the way, it is done.
With this new attitude, and I must note that many weddings and funerals are not being held in churches, how would a town or city people react when that last church closed its doors?
I think that the people will “freak out.” The church has become taken for granted. The people of the town or cities probably believe that the church will always be there and they do not have to worry about it. I pastored a church that was dying. The attitude of the people was that as long as the church stood for their funeral, all was good; unfortunately, for 25 members, that did not happen. The gnashing of teeth occurred because the apocalypse of their church came.
How do we prevent the church from closing? The first order of business is to recognize that there is a definite problem. People tend to look the other way until they are the only people sitting in their pew. The members of the church have to be convinced that they are dying. Then the healing process has to occur. All of the rivalries between the families in the church have to go. Jesus said to beware of false prophets. Today the false prophets are church members who desire power over other members of the church. They are concerned about their own glory then the glory of Christ. They are everywhere in every church big and small. They are sitting on the governing bodies of churches.
The false prophets who are leading churches to their death got to be weeded out. This is a part of the message from Jesus about separating the chaff and wheat. Once this is done then the church has to concentrate on taking the love of Christ out of the walls of the church and into the community. I should also mention that the love of Christ must exist between all members of the church for growth to occur.
The bottom line here is to avoid the apocalypse of the church by first finding the false prophets. Either get them to relinquish their personal glory for Christ and if not, then tell them to leave. Yes, you can ask toxic self-seeking people to leave. Once the false prophets are gone the love of Christ must be shared between every person in the church. Then this love of Christ must be taken out into the community. Then the people of the town or city will see that the members of the church practice what they preach and that the church is a place for the love of Christ to exist. There are plenty of lost souls in every town and city who are looking for Christ. They might not know it yet but they are searching for love and grace. The church is the instrument for the LORD’s love and grace. Let us show the world what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. I know we can do it!
