On the Signs of the Times

Regarding the events of the End, as described in the Apocalypse, someone once asked St. Paisios, Elder, how soon will these events take place?

His reply is very informative, and shows a fundamental difference from how so many think about "the signs of the times". He replied,

They are delayed because of you and because of me, so we may be able to acquire a good spiritual state. God is being patient, because if they were to occur now you and I would be lost.

(Note that this is a direct reflection of St. Peter's words, that God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance, which were also given in answer to a similar question, "Where are the signs of his coming?")

The Elder continued,

"Nowhere in the teaching of Christ is there a specific reference to time. However, Sacred Scripture does say that the signs of the times will warn us of their coming. We must always be ready and shall see them when the time nears.

The difference in paradigm here is found in the way the signs are understood. In most modern people's view, the signs are merely specific historic events that either have already happened (preterist, historicist) or are going to happen (futurist). These events have been, according to this paradigm, described in an obscure manner either because they were seen obscurely by the prophet(s), or else because the prophet(s) wished to obscure them for whatever reason. But obscure or not, the descriptions refer only to specific events.

However, there is a different way of seeing this. Namely, that the signs are described in such language not merely to obscure them, but rather because they are being described in truth according to their pattern. They are _symptoms_, which appear manifestly through various events that fit the pattern whenever time begins to constrict towards an end. Time begins to constrict toward an end when faith wanes, prayer begins to cease from the earth, and love begins to grow cold. The cure is repentance. Whenever there is no more repentance, then the end will arrive in full, because time is held open by these things.

Therefore, just as when the body becomes ill and approaches death, the signs of this impending end may manifest in different specific ways, but can be generally described: various coughs, difficulties in breathing and digestion, weaknesses, loss of appetite and vision, etc., so with the times, the "signs" of which are not so much specific events as they are the overall condition of things. Thus Jesus says, You hypocrites; you can discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times? That is, they know how to "read" the patterns they see with their physical eyes, but their mental and spiritual eyes are blind to the patterns of the invisible world.

Just like sickness that left unchecked can often be reversed with proper care, so the constriction of time towards its end can be reversed or at least staved off (pun intended) by proper care for the soul of the world, starting with one's self, by repentance unto faith, constancy in prayer driven by hope, warming the heart to love the world as God does (that is, the creation and especially the image of God in man, not the "world system", which we are commanded "love not").

This explains the phenomenon noticeable since the Apostles, wherein Christians constantly see and some even say in every generation that "the end is near!". Because the end _is_ near, in every generation. Whether it comes or not depends on each generation, whether any will repent. And so ironically, the street corner preacher with the sandwich board saying, "Repent for the end is near" is 100% correct, and yet often ignored because,

Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.

To this kind of mind, those preachers are laughable because they have been "proven incorrect". But this proof is not that they are incorrect per se, but rather that some have heeded their message and found repentance, and so the world has lumbered on a bit further.