ISIS And The End Times: 79 Percent Of Christians View Middle East Violence As Revelation-Like


The horrific violence enacted by ISIS recently both in the U.S. and abroad has Christian believers seeking a different and deeper perspective. According to the Christian Post, a new survey showed that 79 percent of Christians viewed the violence in the Middle East as an indication that the end times mentioned in the Bible are approaching.

Conducted by the Brookings Institution, the survey from the Center for Middle East Policy that was founded in 2002 uncovered that while only 43 percent of non-Christians relate terrorism in the Middle East to signs of the end times, at least 79 percent of Christians do. Those who’ve studied the riveting Book of Revelation point to similarities in the ISIS-inspired times of 2015 and the future events foretold in the last book of the Bible. Such studies reveal that commonly held definitions of words like “apocalypse” — largely assumed to mean the end of the world in modern times — meant something altogether different in the original Greek meaning of the word.

“An apocalypse (Ancient Greek: ?????????? apokálypsis, from ??? and ??????? meaning ‘uncovering’), translated literally from Greek, is a disclosure of knowledge, i.e., a lifting of the veil or revelation.”

The revelation spoken of could very well be the insight that certain believers in Christ are linking to the words spoken by Jesus in the several books of the Bible, such as predictions about earthquakes. However, biblical scholars may have long assumed that the increase in earthquake would be attributed to natural disasters, and not man-made melee that is self-inflicted. As reported by Tulsa World, a huge spate of earthquakes in Oklahoma caused the U.S. Geological Survey to link the increased earthquakes to the proliferation of waste-water disposal injection wells — also known as fracking.

“When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.”

Other signs pointing toward the so-dubbed end of days, or the “great day of the Lord” as spoken of in Scripture, include an interpretation of the ISIS-like terror witnessed in 2015. Fresh off the heels of an ISIS-inspired attack in San Bernardino that left 14 people dead, and a London Tube station stabbing that found a knife-wielding man screaming he stabbed three people for Syria, the words of Revelation 6:4 become more poignant, and seem to not reside within an old relic, but a living and breathing representation of the fear folks in terrorist attacks feel.

“Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make people kill each other. To him was given a large sword.”

The theology behind the end of days varies, based on the interpretation of the readers. Even within Christian circles, there isn’t one clear-cut single-minded thought process when it comes to whether the rapture will occur previous to the great tribulation described in the Bible, during it, or after the tribulation has devastated much of the Earth. Christians have dubbed these varying theologies “pre-trib” and “post-trib,” with the central focus of the faith resting mainly on John 14:6.

Although the Brookings Institution survey revealed that nearly 80 percent of those Christians surveyed looked toward the “wars and rumors of wars” as signs that the end times were approaching, Bible-believing Christians know that doesn’t mean the end of the world is around the corner. The oft-repeated edict that with the Lord a “day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day” proves that a human timetable doesn’t equal a heavenly timetable — and no human being knows an exact date that the world will end, despite those who claim they do.

“See, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who remains alert and doesn’t lose his clothes. He will not have to go naked and let others see his shame.”

John Hagee predicted a world-shaking event, as reported by CNN, with his four blood moons theory.

[Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images]

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