Krysallis

Biblical eschatalogical literature deals with the "end times". We make a mistake when we assume the Bible foretells the future. Eschatalogical literature is a reflection on and projection of the present reality in light of the justice and love of God.

Daniel, in reflecting on the reality of the times he lived in the Old Testament, and Mark, recounting the life and meaning of the Christ, both spoke of cataclysmic events. I recently saw a bumper sticker that reads “nature bats last”. With the abuse of our natural environment to our selfish purposes, global disaster is a very real outcome. As we heedlessly pave over habitats that for generations had evolved delicate ecological balances, we court a breakdown of the broader ecology on which we all depend.

But eschatalogical literature is not all gloom and doom, despite what many believers perceive. Eschatalogical literature contains a clear message of vindication and consolation.

We often are impressed by the power of evil to seduce and prevail. We see the misery of the oppressed and the suffering of the good. Yet, in the whole of the history of salvation, sacred writers have recognized the ultimate vindication of good.

And they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory, and then he will send out his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of the sky.