Radisa Antic

July 8, 2005

St. Louis

Is there any deeper meaning or structure in the events of human history or is there a mere cause and effect sequence within the framework of a closed continuum meaning the absence of any supernatural intervention? Moreover, should history be seen as the process of moving towards a future climax, the Second Coming of Christ, or as the cyclical repetition of events based on the seasonal pattern of nature as ancient and oriental civilizations claim?[1]

Some atheistic thinkers claim that there is no meaning in "any one thing, or in everything put together." [2] For them, "the world is absurd, pointless, hopeless"[3] and there is no meaningful future. To be human is to choose that absurdity and to accept the fact that the only meaningful existence is the one which accepts the meaninglessness of the world.[4]

Absurdity of Hope: Epicurus and Sartre

Greek philosopher Epicurus claims that "the gods exist but they did not create nor do they govern the world. . . . The world was formed by the chance and ever changing combination of eternally existing atoms."[5] The worse foes of mental happiness of human beings, Epicurus continues, are dread of the anger of the gods and of death. But, both fears are baseless since death ends all and there is no consciousness remaining. "Where death is, we are not. Where we are, death is not."[6] Thus, according to Epicurus, it is absurd to hope for any kind of existence after death.

Jean-Paul Sartre, one of the most important philosophers of the 20^th century, writes in his philosophical works about pessimism which is the result of the plight of the human beings in the modern world. He claims that any authentic human being knows that his or her acts are ultimately futile in the face of death and the absurdity of existence.[7] Like God, human beings create worlds upon worlds and like Sisyphus they push their boulder daily up the steep incline of existence without complaint since it is their boulder, they created it.[8]

If we make our consciousness the object of reflective study, Sartre continues, we discover that it is "a monstrous, impersonal spontaneity" in which thoughts come and go at their will not ours. We constantly struggle to impose order on that spontaneity, and when we fail, we suffer from psychoses and neuroses. Human beings have been thrown into an absurd, meaningless world without their permission where they discover that nothingness separates them from themselves.[9] There is nothing between us and our past (we are not who we were), and between us and our future (the persons we will be is not who we are). We await ourselves in the future but in anguish we discover that we are not there, that we are not stable, solid entities which last through time but rather a creation which we make and remake from moment to moment.[10] God does not exist, Sartre concludes, and the only meaning of human existence is to accept the fact that there is no meaning and that there is no hope for human beings after death.

Hope in the Midst of Hopelessness

in the Book of Hosea

Biblical writers, on the other hand, argue that human existence is not as hopeless as it seems to be. They profess the existence of God who is giving meaning to the apparently purposeless and hopeless existence of everything. One such example is the prophet Hosea who writes that God and only God is able to transform the Valley of Achor (the "valley of trouble" or "confusion") into the Gateway of Hope (Petah Tiqwah).[11]

Although the actual geographical location of the Valley of Achor is disputed, it is probably the plain leading into the central hill country from the Jordan lowlands southwest of Jericho.[12] It is approximately one half mile wide and one mile long, boarded on its western side by a semicircle of ascending mountains and on its eastern side by slightly hilly country opposite to the Jordan Valley.[13]

For the contemporaries of Hosea as well as for the prophet himself, the word "Achor"was much more important than its geographical location. It was evocative of Achan who "saw in the plunder a beautiful robe from Babylonia, two hundred shekels of silver and a wedge of gold;"[14] who stole it and kept it secretly under his tent. This act of Achan brought the wrath of God upon the people of Israel.

The sound of victorious trumpets and falling walls of Jericho was still vibrating in the ears of Israelites, telling them that all powerful God, their God, is with them, and that all the obstacles on their way to the Promised Land were going to be removed easily. However, suddenly comes the severe defeat from the inhabitants of the city of Ai, which was almost insignificant from the military point of view. The people of Ai "killed about thirty-six" Israelites and "chased the Israelites from the city gate as far as the stone quarries and struck them down on the slopes."[15] The consequence of this terrible defeat was that "the hearts of the people melted and become like water."[16]

The old desert warrior and experienced military leader, Joshua, does not understand anything. He "tore his clothes and fell facedown to the ground before the ark of the Lord" and sprinkled dust on his head.[17] Then, out of his chest comes the painful shouting cry: "Ah, Sovereign Lord, why?"[18]

There is a great sadness in the valley of Achor; it is surrounded by huge mountains on all its sides. There are dead people everywhere in the Valley of Achor and the hearts of people are melted and filled with anxiety. There is no hope in Valley of Achor since the dense clouds are covering the valley and one cannot see above himself or in front of himself. God seems to be absent from the Valley of Achor and the gods of the city of Ai seem to be more powerful. Apparently there is no logic, no understanding and no future in the Valley of Achor but only confusion and trouble.[19] And probably the greatest tragedy is the fact that the Valley of Achor is found at the entrance to the Promised Land.

Suddenly and unexpectedly God speaks. To the first "why" of Joshua, God now makes his "why" known to the inhabitants of the Valley of Achor.[20] The one who is responsible for the situation in the valley is not God but people of the valley. They have sinned.[21] The vertical "why" becomes horizontal "why."[22] Moreover, this explanation of God is not all what he intends to do. He makes the most important and the most beautiful promise of all other promises that He is willing to "make the Valley of Achor a door of Hope."[23]

Our Present World and

The Valley of Achor

As we look at our present world, it seems possible to compare it to the Valley of Achor. The history of humanity on the planet earth is progressing, in a negative sense, toward self destruction. For the first time in human history, particularly during the last fifty years, the destiny of humanity and all life on this planet is in the hands of the pale and not always mentally balanced human beings. In a number of basements and rooms in different countries of the world there are hidden, small atomic bombs. The streets of many cities of the world are covered with human blood as well as with dead bodies of children and older people. Dead people, dead people and more dead people everywhere. According to some analysts, the third world war has already begun but since its form is different from the previous wars in history it seems as if it will never affects us personally. This is the real tricky character of the war because we do not really see it until it comes to our home. Climate changes and earthquakes are causing floods and consequently devastations as never before and it has become one of the major concerns of the international community. Aids is a menace to the very existence of several ethnic communities in Africa. All this is beyond our comprehension and even logic. We are not allowed to hope in our world.

All this reminds us unmistakably of the words spoken by Ellen G. White more then one hundred years ago:

"We shall see troubles on all sides" (The Signs of the Times, April 21, 1890). "Satan will then plunge the inhabitants of the earth into one great, final trouble. . . The whole world will be involved in ruin more terrible than that which came upon Jerusalem of old" (GC 614: 1--). "There are not many, even among educators and statesman, who comprehend causes that underline the present state of society. Those who hold the reins of government are not able to solve the problem of moral corruption, poverty, pauperism, and increasing crime. They are struggling in vain to place business operations on a more secure basis" (9T 13, 1909). "The present is the time of overwhelming interest to all living. Rulers and statesmen, men who occupy positions of trust and authority, thinking men and women of all classes, have their attention fixed upon the events taking place about us. They are watching the strained, restless relations that exist among the nations. They observe the intensity that is taking possession of every earthly element, and they recognize that something great and decisive is about to take place--that the world is on the verge of a stupendous crisis" (Ed. 179, 180; 1903).

Hope in the Hopeless World

The people of the Seventh-day Adventist Church around the world, in spite of all the hopelessness everywhere around us, dare to hope and to believe that the God of Israel will fulfil his promises and will transform the Valley of Achor into the Gateway of Hope. The name of our church, "Seventh-day Adventists," points to the meaningful beginning of human history ("seventh-day") and to the meaningful end ("Adventists"). If human history has a meaningful beginning and a meaningful end, it therefore, means that the present existence of human beings may also be meaningful. By believing this, do we belong to the group of "fools" of the world and what are the evidences on which we base our firm belief in the promised future of the planet earth?

Creation of the World

First, our faith in the Second Coming of Jesus is based on the biblical teaching of the creation of the world. The only definition of faith in the Bible is found in Hebrews 11: 1 saying that "faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." The first sentence in this verse, "the assurance of things hoped for," clearly points to one element of faith which is the hope in the future kingdom of Christ. The second part of this sentence, "the conviction of things not seen," points to the past, that is, to the creation of the world. Namely, the word blepomenon (being seen) is used in vs. 1 to define the phenomenon of faith, and again in vs. 3 it is used in relation to creation. It means that the essential element of Christian faith is the faith in creation. To have faith it means to acknowledge that beyond this visible world exists God, the Creator of this world. What we see, what our hands touch, what we taste did not always exist. There is the beginning of everything.

One event which occurred this year deserves our attention. A legendary British philosopher and atheist, Anthony Flew, who has been an icon and champion for unbelievers for decades has changed his mind and accepted the existence of God.[24] Flew stated that developments in modern science had led him to accept the action of an Intelligent Mind in the creation of the world. In "Has Science Discovered God" Flew states that he was influenced by developments in DNA research: "What I think the DNA material has done is to show that intelligence must have been involved in getting these extraordinary diverse elements together."[25] Over the decades, Flew authored 28 books and edited 12 others. At least 10 of his books were critique of belief in God.

Not only DNA, but many other structures in a wonderfully made human body contain mutually dependent parts which could not have appeared by any conceivable series of chance. The principle of irreducible complexity is present everywhere. The principle of survival coming from the theory of evolution cannot explain the reason why a fragile, extravagantly beautiful, complex and exquisitely delicate orchid should continue to exist in a harsh jungle environment. Why are the tail feathers of a peacock not just colourful enough to attract the mate but extravagantly gorgeous? Why this excess?[26]

Therefore, it is clear that this planet did not always exist. There is God whose intelligence is beyond our understanding. We know about Him what he has revealed to us. He exists and He speaks. He tells us in His Word that this world has its beginning but also its end. Human history, according to the Bible, is linear and not cyclical as many oriental philosophies claim. He has promised that the day is coming when he will transform the Valley of Achor into the Gateway of Hope.

The Resurrection of Jesus

For centuries the event of the resurrection of Jesus has been under fierce criticism. For instance, Scottish sceptic David Hume and Jewish pantheistic writer Benedict Spinoza claim that the universe is run by universal, unchanging laws. The resurrection of Jesus, for them, is a miracle and a miracle means the change of the unchanging laws of nature. It is impossible to change the unchangeable laws and thus, Jesus has never come out of the grave. However, they did not take into consideration the fact that for God miracles do not exist since he is the efficient cause of all the laws of nature. The miracles exist only for us, limited human beings. In addition to this, we are faced with many miracles in the world in which we live and we cannot explain them by only applying the laws of nature that we are acquainted with.

In my knowledge, there is no one singe event of ancient history which has been supported by so many textual evidences and by so many witnesses as is the resurrection of Jesus. Because of that, it is difficult to deny the historicity of the resurrection of Jesus, since its denial would necessitate the denunciation of the very principles used in the science of history as such. The resurrection of Jesus is proclaimed in the New Testament times with such firm conviction, assurance, certainty and sincerity, that the majority of citizens of the vast Roman Empire have been conquered for Jesus in only three centuries. At the time of the crucifixion of Jesus, his disciples had been disoriented, extremely discouraged and confused to the point of being ready to go back to their boats and nets. One of them committed suicide. However, after the encounter with the resurrected Lord, everything had changed. They had witnessed his death and now they have become witnesses of life. Because of that, they will constantly repeat in their writings and in their sermons the following message:

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched--this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.[27]

The Roman empire was not conquered for Christ by presenting his message of love for enemies or by the principle "do to others what you would have them do to you,"[28] but by proclaiming the breaking news to the world, that the cure was found for the most devastating problem of humans, that is, death. The firmness of the apostles was so absolute that most of them have given their lives for the truth of resurrection. It is almost impossible to imagine that it would be likely for normal human beings, such as the apostles were, to nurture within their psyche and within their soul the lie of resurrection if Jesus has never risen from the dead. Instead, they went across the world and have filled it with the message of hope.

According to Apostle Paul "Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep." Because Jesus, who has eternally pre-existed before he was born in Bethlehem, came to this planet, lived here, died on the cross and resurrected from the dead, we have hope that, according to His promise, He will come again to give life to all His friends.

The Prophecies of the End

in the Book of Daniel

The Book of Daniel, more than any other book in the Bible, is strongly concerned with the "time of the end."[29] At the beginning of the Book of Daniel we find a catastrophe, the end of the people of Israel which has been taken into the Babylonian captivity,[30] and the book closes with the absolute end of the world.[31] The fact that the Hebrew word qes (end) occurs in the Book of Daniel fourteen times out of the thirty-two times in the whole Bible, demonstrates that the Book of Daniel is the most eschatological book of the Old Testament.[32]

In the Book of Daniel in chapter 8, the prophecy of 2300 evenings and mornings is found and we are informed that this time period will go until the beginning of the time of the end. This time of the end, according to the calculations based on the elements given in the prophecy, starts in 1844. The event predicted in this prophecy was going to take place in heaven and will be beyond any human control.[33] However,

in Hebrew thinking, truth is not just a spiritual or a philosophical message design only to nurture our souls and our minds. Instead, biblical truth is essentially historical. God speaks in history. And whatever explanation or whatever degree of emphasis we may want to give the date fulfilling this prophecy, we should not be surprised that biblical prophecy takes this risk of entering the flesh of history, even our modern history.[34]

Thus, parallel to the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, the biblical prophets indicate corresponding events on earth: first, it is going to be the time when mankind, led by a movement, rejects the idea of creation; and second, another movement is going to remind humanity of Creation and will announce the beginning of judgment.[35] The 19^th century flawlessly fits this prophetic description.

In addition to these elements of the prophecy, it must be indicated that the "Industrial Revolution," which started in the middle of the 19^th century, has changed our planet permanently and irreversibly. When we look analytically at the history of humanity, we may conclude that for centuries the rivers have been clean, the air was unpolluted, the food was natural and healthy, but suddenly, beginning with the middle of the 19^th century, as the prophecy predicted, everything changed. The products of the "Industrial Revolution," such as, cars, airplanes, trains, factories, etc., have brought humanity on the verge of catastrophe. And, for the first time in human history, human beings are able to destroy themselves. This piece of information makes our time different from all other times in human history.

In his book Hegemony or Survival Chomsky writes:

. . . the answer can only be that humans were a kind of 'biological error,' using their allotted 100 000 years to destroy themselves and, in the process, much else. The species has surely developed the capacity to do just that, and a hypothetical extraterrestrial observer might well conclude that humans have demonstrated that capacity throughout their history, dramatically in the past few hundred years, with an assault on the environment that sustains life, on the diversity of more complex organisms, and with cold and calculated savagery, on each other as well.[36]

Although Chomsky writes from an atheistic perspective, he expresses the same idea of the progressive self destruction of humanity.

According to biblical revelation, sin is an active suicidal power opposed to the principle of creation. God has wrought, created something out of nothing. Sin, on the other hand, transforms something, that is, God's creation, into nothing. Probably the greatest contradiction of sin is that in the process of destroying the world it destroys also itself and when it finishes destroying itself, it dies. Sin has no ontological reality; it does not exist as a noun but only as a verb because it exists only when a morally free human being is committing it. This is the biggest contradiction of sin. Because of that sin cannot be compared to anything else, it is reality suis generis.

Therefore, God through His prophet Daniel has predicted seven centuries BC the beginning of the time of the end. He "does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets."[37] We are witnesses of the fulfilment of these prophecies and because of that we may live a meaningful existence at the present time, but also have firm confidence in God who is able to transform this valley of trouble and confusion into the door of hope.

The Promise of Christ

In addition to the event of creation, the resurrection of Jesus and the prophecies in the Book of Daniel, the certainty of the hope in the Second Coming of Jesus is established in the New Testament primarily on the clear promise of Christ himself, and repeated constantly by other apostles. For example, Jesus states:

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. . . I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.[38]

The apostle Peter writes: "But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness."[39] In the New Testament the promise of the Second Coming of the Son of Man is mentioned 319 times and it means that every twenty fifth verse proclaims this glorious truth.

In his eschatological discourses Jesus also speaks about the signs which will make it easier for the people of God to recognize the time of the end. Although we do not know the day of the Second Coming, we can recognize the closeness of the end of this world's history. Some of the signs of the end that Jesus spoke about are: first, signs in the human society such as "wars and rumours of wars,"[40] famines and illnesses, [41] anxiety and depression related to the future,[42] the false feeling of peace and security;[43] second, signs in nature such as earthquakes;[44] third, signs in the field of ethics such as materialistic ways of thinking and living;[45] and fourth, signs in the field of religion such as formality in Christian religion in the end of time,[46] false religious movements,[47] the understanding of biblical prophecies will increase,[48] and the gospel will be preached to the entire world.[49]

According to Jesus himself, His Second Coming will be, first, cataclysmic.

Since God wants to establish "a new heaven and a new earth,"[50] the end of this world is going to be a catastrophic, worldwide phenomenon. As the Flood had destroyed the antediluvian world, so the Second Coming of Christ will cause the earth to be burned.[51] Second, the Second Coming of Christ will be audible and visible since all nations of world will see Him.[52] Any attempt to diminish the Second Coming of Jesus to a mysterious and invisible event is contrary to the New Testament teaching.[53]

Third, the Second Coming will be personal because angels announce to the upset disciples that this Jesus will come back in the same way He had gone to heaven.[54] Fourth, the coming of Jesus will be sudden since no one knows the moment of his coming, neither angels nor the Son of Man,[55] but only the Father. Fifth, the Second Coming of Christ will be glorious and triumphant since Jesus will return as King of king's and Lord of lords.[56]

Sanctifying Hope of the Second Coming

The hope in the Second Coming has an impact on those who are waiting for its realization. Each passing day is a time of grace and the Lord expects from its followers to show specific ethical characteristics, such as holiness, humility, and love.[57] Hope makes anxiety, fear of the future, worry and anguish fade away.[58] While waiting for the Master, God's servants are invited to bear fruits, to be salt of the earth and the light of the world.[59] Moreover, the hope in the Second Coming inspires us to develop a sense of social justice and values because we cannot be insensitive to the world's matters.[60] The waiting time before the Second Coming belongs to the Holy Spirit who works on the minds and hearts of people, thus preparing them and establishing the eschatological community for the Coming of the Lord. The followers of Christ will take part in God's plan for the salvation of the world and they will work with God in the preparation of the human race for that glorious event.[61]

Therefore, in this time "of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations" we dare to hope, on the basis of the event of creation of the world, Christ's resurrection, prophecies of end in the Book of Daniel and the promise of Jesus himself, that God is able and will transform this Valley of Achor, the valley of trouble and confusion into the Gateway of Hope. We, like the old desert warrior Joshua, are invited to fall facedown to the ground and to recognize that everything is dust, but, by doing that we are going to express our faith that there is God who is able to transform that dust into the life. When everything in our world is being transformed into the dust, we must be firm in our conviction that "the life appeared"[62] and that when He comes for the second time "he will wipe every tear from (our) eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."[63]