Russia-Ukraine war: Some pastors wonder about ‘end of days’

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(AP) — Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has prompted some of America’s most prominent evangelical leaders to raise a provocative question — asking if the world is now in the biblically prophesied “end of days” that might culminate with the apocalypse and the second coming of Christ.

There’s no consensus on the answer, nor on any possible timetable.

Megachurch pastor Robert Jeffress, addressing his congregation at First Baptist Dallas, said many Christians are wondering, in the face of carnage in Ukraine, “Why does God permit evil like this to continue? …. Are we near Armageddon and the end of the world?”

“We are living in the last days,” Jeffress said, “We’ve been living in the last days for the last 2000 years. We don’t know, is this the end? Is this the beginning of the end, or the end of the beginning?”

The curators of raptureready.com — which shares commentary about “end of days” prophesies – suggest things could move quickly. Their “Rapture Index,” — on which any reading above 160 means “Fasten your seatbelts” — was raised this week to 187, close to its record high of 189 in 2016.

One of the most detailed alerts came from televangelist Pat Robertson, who came out of retirement on February 28 to assert on “The 700 Club” that Russian President Vladimir Putin was “compelled by God” to invade Ukraine as a prelude to an eventual climactic battle in Israel. Robertson said verses of the Old Testament Book of Ezekiel support this scenario.

“You can say, well, Putin’s out of his mind. Yes, maybe so,” Robertson said. “But at the same time, he’s being compelled by God. He went into the Ukraine, but that wasn’t his goal. His goal was to move against Israel, ultimately.”

“It’s all there,” added Robertson, referring to Ezekiel. “And God is getting ready to do something amazing and that will be fulfilled.”

Also evoking Ezekiel – and a possible attack on Israel — was Greg Laurie, senior pastor at a California megachurch whose books and radio programs have a wide following.

“I believe we’re living in the last days. I believe Christ could come back at any moment,” Laurie said in a video posted on YouTube.

Citing the war in Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic, he said biblical prophesies “are being fulfilled in our lifetime.”

“We are seeing more things happen in real time, closer together, as the scriptures said they would be,” Laurie said. “So what should we do? We should look up. We should remember that God is in control.”

The suggestion that God is somehow using the Russia-Ukraine war to fulfill biblical prophesies troubles some Christian scholars, such as the Reverend Rodney Kennedy, a Baptist pastor in Schenectady, New York, and author of numerous books.

“This evangelical insistence of involving the sovereignty of God in the evil of Putin borders on the absurd,” Kennedy wrote recently in Baptist News.

“Rapture believers fail to understand that if they assist in bringing about world war, there will be no Superman Jesus appearing to ‘snatch’ all true believers into the safety of the clouds,” Kennedy wrote. “The rapture is an illusion; the rupture caused by Putin is a deadly reality.”

Russell Moore, public theologian at the evangelical magazine Christianity Today, said it’s wrong to try to connect world events to end-times prophecy, noting that Jesus himself said his second coming would be unexpected and unconnected with “wars and rumors of wars.”

“It’s not consistent with the Bible and it’s harmful to the witness of the church,” said Moore, noting that the world has outlived many episodes of end-times speculation.

Moore said most Christians he’s talked with are more concerned about Ukraine’s well-being.

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17 COMMENTS

  1. END TIMES?
    I personally doubt it.
    By JUNE or there about, things will improve quickly but we’ll have to go through some rough times first before it gets better.

  2. Remember, Matthew 24: 24 states:

    “For there shall arise false Christs, ✝️ and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect”.

    DISCERNMENT, TRULY IS A WONDERFUL GIFT – CONTINUE TO USE IT …

  4. The pastors are clueless….if you dont know who the people of the book are, you will never understand prophesy. The negro are the true hebrew ISRAELITES and The Most High is coming for his children that he cursed in captivity on ships in Duetoronomy chapter 28. All these pandemics, wars, pestilence and plagues are solely for the redemption of His people to take us back to the land (in Africa the true Yahrusalem) and the Judgement of the nations(Babylon) that abused us in captivity. Yet these silly pastors are still preaching rapture and being one with our enemies.

    Judgement is here and now….Repent and call on the name of Yahusha now to be truly “saved”

  5. – “We’ve been living in the last days for the last 2000 years. – Correct. Last days started on the day of Pentecost – Acts 2:17
    – Putin is being compelled by himself. It’s called free will. God gave it to all of us. God knows what is going to happen and he gives prophecy so we can be prepared. Ultimately, there is no better preparation than being born again (Acts 2:38)
    – Yes Russia is among the countries that will invade Israel at armageddon (Ezekiel 38:6)
    – “I believe we’re living in the last days. I believe Christ could come back at any moment,” – Yes and no. Christ comes back at the last trump, the 7th trumpet. The 6th trumpet (WW3 ) hasn’t sounded yet. What we are seeing now is not WW3. That starts at the Eurphrates river (Rev 9:15)
    – Some say Jesus is coming down. Others say we are going up. BOTH are correct – We will meet him in the air – 1 Thes 4:16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will be the first to rise. 17After that, we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord.
    – Don’t know how this conflict will end, but Revelation is clear. The beast which represents the endtime world govt has the feet of the (Russian??) bear – Rev 13:2
    – Some say Jesus is coming as thief in the night. Others say every eye will see him – BOTH are correct. He will come as a thief in the night, but there’ll be a lot of noise when he actually touches down. He will definitely draw attention 2 Peter 3:10, 1 Thess 5:2,4

  6. Many pastors have stopped teaching the so-called secret rapture doctrine, which was not taught by the early church. In the 1830s it all began and was popularized by the Plymouth Brethren/Gospel Hall people. The great evacuation (secret rapture before the tribulation) was not taught by the early Christians and multitudes are seeing how false that teaching is, including many evangelical pastors and millions of born again believers. It’s a false hope.

  7. Pastors if you so concerned about end of days, then go over to Ukraine and Russia and tell them your god go bang dem for being bad.

  8. Megachurch pastors are worried.
    Worried that they might not have enough cash to buy the sized planes and superyachts, so give now, give often

    • Give them nothing. A good kick in the ass is what they deserve. I am not talking about the real and genuine. I am talking about those fake religious leaders who are in it for the $$$, and deceive many. Some are right here in Antigua.

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