Biblical Prophets: The Office and The Purpose

BIBLICAL PROPHETS

The Office and The Purpose

Over the past year or more we have been studying the Minor Prophets (and we’ll continue to do so). But, today I want to talk with you about Prophets and the biblical office of Prophet in general. I have noticed that the term and understanding of its meaning and nature can be misunderstood or misapplied both to ancient times and to modern times because it does not mean the same thing on each occasion it’s used in the Bible. Biblically, the term prophet is used in a variety of ways as it evolved over Bible history; so, it is not as precise a term as one might imagine. At each stage it meant something different, so not only is it important to discern its intent from a purely Bible study standpoint but also what it means for us when a 21st century person refers to him or herself as a “Prophet”.

From a purely theological viewpoint the term prophet speaks of someone who has a special connection with the divine that is well beyond the ordinary. Sometimes that connection seems as basic as but a good relationship between a human and their god at times when such a relationship is in short supply. Sometimes it can be the prophet used as that divinity’s earthly mouthpiece or as one who carries out certain actions on the divinity’s behalf. At other times it can indicate a teller of the future; a seer. I am presently using the term “divine” and speaking of god as the “little g” god because as anyone who has read the Bible knows, gods other than the God of Israel had their own prophets as well. We hear regularly in the Old Testament about the prophets of Ba’al. Who could forget the colossal clash that Elijah had with the prophets of Ba’al near Mt. Carmel?

Sometimes in order to communicate a complicated concept such as this, it is better for a teacher to devise a term or a phrase to help create a simplified structure to divide hard concepts into more bite-size chunks. With that in mind (and acknowledging that other teachers could no doubt use other and perhaps better terms) I prefer to make the major division of prophets into pre-prophets and prophets. There will be other divisions as our talk continues but this is a good place to start.

What, then, do I mean by pre-prophets? These are people called prophets that are spoken of in the Bible but don’t have Bible books named for them and/or they are prophets from an earlier stage in Israel’s history generally prior to the time of Israel’s first king, King Saul. The lines between pre-prophet and prophet are not only based on the era of history they operated but also in exactly what it is that they did. We must view these lines as somewhat fuzzy and not rigid or well defined. Probably the best way to explain is to take a brisk walk through the Bible to demonstrate the various uses and meanings of the term prophet as applied to certain biblical characters.

The first mention of a prophet in the Bible is ascribed to Abraham in Genesis chapter 20. There we read:

CJB Genesis 20:1-7 Avraham traveled from there toward the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur. While living as an alien in G'rar, 2 Avraham was saying of Sarah his wife, "She is my sister"; so Avimelekh king of G'rar sent and took Sarah. 3 But God came to Avimelekh in a dream one night and said to him, "You are about to die because of the woman you have taken, since she is someone's wife." 4 Now Avimelekh had not come near her; so he said, "Lord, will you kill even an upright nation? 5 Didn't he himself say to me, 'She is my sister'? And even she herself said, 'He is my brother.' In doing this, my heart has been pure and my hands innocent." 6 God said to him in the dream, "Yes, I know that in doing this, your heart has been pure; and I too have kept you from sinning against me. This is why I didn't let you touch her. 7 Therefore, return the man's wife to him now. He is a prophet, and he will pray for you, so that you will live. But if you don't return her, know that you will certainly die- you and all who belong to you."

Here the term prophet indicates Abraham’s close relationship with his God, and therefore that whatever Abraham is doing he and his family will be divinely protected and directed. As we proceed in reading about Abraham we find that he has audible 2-way conversation with God, and that God instructs Abraham to do certain things.

Next (chronologically speaking) we read of Aaron, Moses’s brother, being described as a prophet.

CJB Exodus 7:1-2 But ADONAI said to Moshe, "I have put you in the place of God to Pharaoh, and Aharon your brother will be your prophet. 2 You are to say everything I order you, and Aharon your brother is to speak to Pharaoh and tell him to let the people of Isra'el leave his land

So, at this point (perhaps 500 years after Abraham), Aaron is described as Moses’s prophet and not God’s except by indirect means. Moses has the close divine connection, and not Aaron. Then Moses tells Aaron what to say to the Pharaoh. Moses, as a Mediator, has his own prophet… his brother (well before Aaron became High Priest). What does this prophet do? He simply passes along what Moses tells him to pass along. So, Aaron as prophet is quite different from Abraham.

In the pre-prophet era, we find the title not limited to males because later in Exodus we read:

CJB Exodus 15:20-21 20 Also Miryam the prophet, sister of Aharon, took a tambourine in her hand; and all the women went out after her with tambourines, dancing, 21 as Miryam sang to them: "Sing to ADONAI, for he is highly exalted! The horse and its rider he threw in the sea!"

So now Moses’s sister, Miriam, is also called prophet. What is her role? It seems that she leads women in worshipping God in the ways customary to her time. There is no evidence that she has direct connection in a 2-way communication with the divine. It is more that she is somehow moved in her spirit to worship God and to lead the Israelite women in such worship… a worship that is acceptable to God. And yet there is an incident where God seems to have spoken to her directly, but only in rebuke.

CJB Numbers 12:4-8 4 Suddenly ADONAI told Moshe, Aharon and Miryam, "Come out, you three, to the tent of meeting." The three of them went out. 5 ADONAI came down in a column of cloud and stood at the entrance to the tent. He summoned Aharon and Miryam, and they both went forward. 6 He said, "Listen to what I say: when there is a prophet among you, I, ADONAI, make myself known to him in a vision, I speak with him in a dream. 7 But it isn't that way with my servant Moshe. He is the only one who is faithful in my entire household. 8 With him I speak face to face and clearly, not in riddles; he sees the image of ADONAI. So why weren't you afraid to criticize my servant Moshe?"

So, we see yet another use of the title prophet, but obviously there are divisions and levels in the way God works with prophets, what authority they have, and what He wants of them. A prophet that tries to attain an unauthorized higher level or greater authority than is bestowed can expect God’s fury to be unleashed upon them.

Next (again, chronologically) we read in Deuteronomy a general instruction from God through Moses about prophets. So, the implication is that prophets of all kinds are going to begin to play an increasing role in the lives of God’s people, Israel.

CJB Deuteronomy 13:2-4 2 "If a prophet or someone who gets messages while dreaming arises among you and he gives you a sign or wonder, 3 and the sign or wonder comes about as he predicted when he said, 'Let's follow other gods, which you have not known; and let us serve them,' 4 you are not to listen to what that prophet or dreamer says. For ADONAI your God is testing you, in order to find out whether you really do love ADONAI your God with all your heart and being.

We find something most important to remember not only as a means to help better understand biblical prophets, but also how to determine the right kind of prophet that God’s people ought to follow even in modern times. It is that a person who declares themselves a prophet just might be. But that doesn’t mean that the god they say (or might even think) they are representing is Yehoveh, God of Israel. In fact, as concerns Israel a person may say (and mean) that while they still worship Yehoveh, they also worship other gods and so think Israel ought to worship other gods as well. Thus, a person claiming to worship Yehoveh, but also says we should follow other gods are idolators or dreamers. That is, they are deceiving themselves into thinking they are getting divine messages but probably are not. And, Yehoveh God will allow this in order that we are tested to see if we are truly loyal to Him alone.

So, while we might be tempted to call such people False Prophets, we have to be cautious to be sure we understand what a False Prophet is. A False Prophet doesn’t mean that they don’t have prophetic ability. It means that they don’t speak God’s truth. Their prophetic influence comes from another spiritual force.

And finally, we are told that Moses was a prophet and that he would in some way be connected to another prophet that would come later.

CJB Deut. 18:15 15 "ADONAI will raise up for you a prophet like me from among yourselves, from your own kinsmen. You are to pay attention to him,

Moses was set apart from all other prophets because he was also God’s mediator of Redemption. So, the office of Mediator must be added to the selection of various tasks and duties that God assigns to specific prophets.

After their time of escape from Egypt and 40 years in the wilderness, and they had settled in Canaan, we find another female being called a prophet.

CJB Judges 4:1-5 But after Ehud had died, the people of Isra'el again did what was evil from ADONAI's perspective. 2 So ADONAI handed them over to Yavin king of Kena'an. He ruled from Hatzor; and the commander of his army was Sisra, who lived in Haroshet-HaGoyim. 3 The people of Isra'el cried out to ADONAI, because he had 900 iron chariots, and for twenty years he cruelly oppressed the people of Isra'el. 4 Now D'vorah, a woman and a prophet, the wife of Lapidot, was judging Isra'el at that time. 5 She used to sit under D'vorah's Palm between Ramah and Beit-El, in the hills of Efrayim; and the people of Isra'el would come to her for judgment.

In the time of the Judges (the period leading up to first king of Israel), a woman named Deborah had been raised up to lead some of the Israelite tribes that had settled in the northern part of Canaan. She herself was a Judge (this did not mean like a judge in a courtroom but rather it was an office of leadership). So, what exactly her role as prophet was is hard to tell except that she was very successful in rescuing her tribal people from adversaries. We don’t see any direct or even indirect communication between Deborah and God. Being called prophet was probably to indicate a good relationship with God and to acknowledge that it was His will that Deborah had become elevated to the position of Judge.

Now as Bible history leads us to the person who would transition Israel from the time of Judges to the time of the kings, Samuel is introduced. Raised by a priest, and at times operating like one, we read this about Samuel:

CJB 1 Samuel 3:20-21 20 All Isra'el from Dan to Be'er-Sheva became aware that Sh'mu'el had been confirmed as a prophet of ADONAI. 21 ADONAI continued appearing in Shiloh, for ADONAI revealed himself to Sh'mu'el in Shiloh by the word of ADONAI.

Samuel’s role is a strange hybrid of priest and prophet. Not quite a mediator, but much more than a strange new group of men that had sprung up called the Nevi’im. Nevi’im (which is Hebrew that is usually translated as prophets) were men whose roles in Israelite society are hard to pin down. They weren’t prophets like Samuel, there’s no actual mention of direct communication between them and God, nor are they like Hosea, Isaiah, Jeremiah or the more familiar prophets that would come later. They tended to operate in groups, and their main calling card was to go into trances or speak ecstatically (that is, speaking in very mystical ways in a state of high emotion). They were considered the holy men of the time, living in communes and they were respected by the people. What authority they carried isn’t clear, and how someone was selected and accepted into the community of Nevi’im isn’t clear either.

CJB 1 Sam. 10:5-8 5 After that, you will come to Giv'ah of God, where the P'lishtim are garrisoned. On arrival at the city there, you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place, preceded by lutes, tambourines, flutes and lyres; and they will be prophesying. 6 Then the Spirit of ADONAI will fall on you; you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man! 7 When these signs come over you, just do whatever you feel like doing, because God is with you. 8 Then you are to go down ahead of me to Gilgal, and there I will come down to you to offer burnt offerings and present sacrifices as peace offerings. Wait there seven days, until I come to you and tell you what to do."

Whatever the purpose and function of these bands of Nevi’im were, clearly at least some of them were doing the will of God and had some type of relationship with Him. At the time of David these Nevi’im seemed to play an increasing role in worship, spiritual discernment, and in bringing the word of truth to Israel’s leaders.

CJB 1 Sam. 19:20-24 20 Sha'ul sent messengers to capture David. But when they saw the group of prophets prophesying, with Sh'mu'el standing and leading them, the Spirit of God fell on Sha'ul's messengers; and they too began prophesying. 21 When Sha'ul was told, he sent other messengers; but they too began prophesying. Sha'ul sent messengers a third time, and they also prophesied. 22 Then he himself went to Ramah. When he arrived at the big cistern in Sekhu, he asked, "Where are Sh'mu'el and David?" Someone answered, "They're at the prophets' dormitory in Ramah." 23 While on his way to the prophets' dormitory in Ramah, the Spirit of God fell on him too; and he went on, prophesying, until he arrived at the prophets' dormitory in Ramah. 24 He also stripped off his clothes, prophesied in Sh'mu'el's presence and lay there naked all that day and all that night. Hence it continues to be an expression, "Is Sha'ul a prophet, too?"

All these references to prophets were to the Nevi’im who clearly were in tune with the Spirit of God. Yet in the performance of their duties their behavior could be quite bizarre (at least bizarre to us). But a new class of prophet was about to arise. A specific man called Prophet was assigned by God to an Israelite king to be used as a source of divine wisdom. Nathan was David’s prophet. Nathan had direct communication with God (although it seemed to be one way only), and the communication was intended for David as his use alone. So, God spoke to Nathan who passed it along to King David, but that’s all Nathan did.

After the reigns of Kings David and Solomon, and the immediate civil war that followed Solomon’s death, Israel was split apart into 2 Kingdoms. The Northern Kingdom was called Israel (although it was more often called Ephraim), and the Southern Kingdom was called Judah. The Northern Kingdom consisted of 10 of the 12 Israelite tribes, the Southern Kingdom the remaining 2. It is at this time, during the reigns of Kings Ahab and Ahaziah, that the very strange and enigmatic Elijah appeared. Elijah was also called prophet.

Elijah was quite different from any preceding person called prophet. He was not assigned to be a source of Godly wisdom to an Israelite king. He also wasn’t at all like the mystical Nevi’im. He didn’t perform priest-like duties or go into trances. Elijah’s job was to tell Israel that God was very unhappy with them because they had forsaken Him and were worshipping Canaanite gods; particularly Ba’al. To understand Elijah’s role, one must first understand that up to this point in Israelite history they fully believed in the existence and influence of many gods. For Israel Yehoveh was only their national god. Every nation of people was thought to have their own national god. Israel saw no inconsistency in believing in Yehoveh as their national god, but also in Ashtoreth as the goddess of fertility and in other gods as gods of the weather, of war, and so on… just as their Canaanite neighbors did. So, they made sacrifices to them, often had idols of these gods in their homes, and so on. There didn’t seem to be much effort on God’s part up to now to dissuade them of this very ancient view of all mankind. Elijah would change all that.

Monotheism as we think of it (there is only one God in all existence) didn’t exist within Israel or in any god-system in Elijah’s day or in any era before him. Israel in Elijah’s time might actually have claimed to be monotheistic because Yehoveh was their one and only national god. But that doesn’t mean that they didn’t look to other gods for other purposes and function. Gods that controlled when the rain came; or gods that influenced if their wives would have fruitful wombs; or gods that would help them fend off marauders. Elijah brought with him a huge reformation of Hebrew religious thought that of course didn’t go over well with Israel’s people. The thought was that there weren’t many individual national gods, at least one for each nation: if fact there was only a grand total of one, His name was Yehoveh, and He stood over all nations. There also were not various gods for various functions of nature; there was just this one god… the same one who stood atop all the nations of the earth. Thus, proclaims Elijah, Ba’al wasn’t real; Ba’al’s prophets were serving a figment of their imaginations. Elijah even set up a demonstration at Mt. Carmel to prove it.

CJB 1 Kings 18:19-29 19 Now order all Isra'el to assemble before me on Mount Karmel, along with the 450 prophets of Ba'al and the 400 prophets of the asherah who eat at Izevel's table." 20 Ach'av sent word to all the people of Isra'el and assembled the prophets together on Mount Karmel. 21 Eliyahu stepped forward before all the people and said, "How long are you going to jump back and forth between two positions? If ADONAI is God, follow him; but if it's Ba'al, follow him!" The people answered him not a word. 22 Then Eliyahu said to the people, "I, I alone, am the only prophet of ADONAI who is left, while Ba'al's prophets number 450. 23 Let them give us two young bulls, and they can choose the bull they want for themselves. Then let them cut it in pieces and lay it on the wood but put no fire under it. I will prepare the other bull, lay it on the wood and put no fire under it. 24 Then, you, call on the name of your god; and I will call on the name of ADONAI; and the God who answers with fire, let him be God!" All the people answered, "Good idea! Agreed!" 25 Then Eliyahu said to the prophets of Ba'al, "Choose one bull for yourselves, and prepare it first; because there are many of you. Then call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it." 26 They took the bull that was given to them, prepared it and called on the name of Ba'al from morning till noon- "Ba'al! Answer us!" But no voice was heard; and no one answered, as they jumped around on the altar they had made. 27 Around noon Eliyahu began ridiculing them: "Shout louder! After all, he's a god, isn't he? Maybe he's daydreaming, or he's on the potty, or he's away on a trip. Maybe he's asleep, and you have to wake him up." 28 So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and knives, as their custom was, until blood gushed out all over them. 29 By now it was afternoon, and they went on ranting and raving until it was time for the evening offering. But no voice came, no one answered, no one paid any attention.

In doing this Elijah had set himself not so much against the Canaanite gods as against the monarch of Israel at that time, King Ahab, who worshipped them. The King’s wife, Jezebel, worshipped the goddess Ashteroth (Ba’al’s consort) who was the goddess of the fertility cult. King Ahab was fully on board with worshipping Ba’al because it was popular and usual for the times. Elijah determined at God’s command to show to Ahab and Jezebel that there were no such things as Ba’al and Ashtoreth, and to the prophets of those 2 phony gods that they were worshipping figments of their imaginations. We just read what happened. In a public display Elijah proved that those 2 pagan gods weren’t real but that Yehoveh was. Elijah ushered in an entire new thought process for Israel of true monotheism and neither the monarchy of Israel nor Israel’s citizens were any too happy about it, nor did they believe it. He was run out of town and threatened with his life for his efforts to bring forth the truth.

Following Elijah was his hand-picked successor as a prophet: Elisha. Elisha in a sense became involved in the politics of Israel and had a direct hand in a revolution. Omri’s dynasty was put onto the throne of Israel as a result and the cult of Ba’al was destroyed.

CJB 1 Kings 19:15-17 15 ADONAI said to him, "Go back by way of the Dammesek Desert. When you get there, anoint Haza'el to be king over Aram. 16 Also anoint Yehu the son of Nimshi to be king over Isra'el, and anoint Elisha the son of Shafat of Avel-M'cholah to be prophet after you. 17 Yehu will kill whoever escapes the sword of Haza'el, and Elisha will kill whoever escapes the sword of Yehu.

So, Elisha (at God’s command) became the prophet to succeed Elijah and then was given the task of forcefully removing one government over Israel and replacing it with another. He was involved in mass killing, even more than Elijah.

We’ll pause this line of illustration and exploration of the earliest prophets and of how the definitions and roles of a prophet changed and evolved over time in order to introduce another aspect. It concerns the division of what we call the writing prophets from all the others. That is, a writing prophet is one who wrote down what he did and saved it for posterity. The writing prophets are the ones we see in the Bible with books named after them. This group of writing prophets is sub-divided into what our Bible Table of Contents’ typically say are the minor and the major prophets.

A minor prophet was never called so biblically. It has nothing to do with their importance, message, or even who the author is. Rather it refers solely to the length of his writings. Was it a long book or a short book? So, books like Hosea, Amos, and Jonah (among others that were relatively short in length) were given the label of minor prophets. The more voluminous books that take-up many more pages in our Bible like Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel were called major prophets.

Perhaps the chief feature shared by these writing prophets is that they see the future (as given to them by God). They speak almost exclusively about how Israel is going to be punished through all manner of disasters for their repeated offenses against God, and then how afterward they can expect to be rescued and restored to God’s good graces. Sometimes the future they speak about is not very distant; the disasters coming almost immediately in fact. At other times the warning is meant for a time far into the future: the End of Days. The Apocalypse. Just as often it concerns both. Some of these prophets are concerned only with a certain portion of Israel’s society such as the 10 tribes of the Northern Kingdom (as with Hosea), or only the 2 tribes of the Southern Kingdom (as with Amos).

Some of them speak primarily of the impending doom, always brought about by God’s wrath. Some of them focus more on Israel’s restoration in its relationship with God after God has exiled and punished them. Isaiah and Jeremiah incorporate this and more, including a strong allusion to the means of redemption of a different kind than being rescued from a gentile nation’s occupation and oppression. It speaks of redemption not from human suffering but from their sins, and this by a future divine Messiah. Ezekiel goes so far as to explain what happens after the End of Days when God’s wrath comes to an end and the world enters a new era of peace and shalom as the Kingdom of Heaven arrives at its fullest reality. That is, Ezekiel speaks about what is commonly called the Millennial period or what Christians call the 1000 year reign of Christ. And what Jerusalem will look like when it is restored… new Temple, new Levite priesthood, and all.

But what of New Testament prophets?

CJB Mark 6:4 4 But Yeshua said to them. "The only place people don't respect a prophet is in his home town, among his own relatives, and in his own house.

CJB Acts 3:17-23 17 "Now, brothers, I know that you did not understand the significance of what you were doing; neither did your leaders. 18 But this is how God fulfilled what he had announced in advance, when he spoke through all the prophets, namely, that his Messiah was to die. 19 "Therefore, repent and turn to God, so that your sins may be erased; 20 so that times of refreshing may come from the Lord's presence; and he may send the Messiah appointed in advance for you, that is, Yeshua. 21 He has to remain in heaven until the time comes for restoring everything, as God said long ago, when he spoke through the holy prophets. 22 For Moshe himself said, 'ADONAI will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You are to listen to everything he tells you. 23 Everyone who fails to listen to that prophet will be removed from the people and destroyed.'

So, Jesus is here identified as the “prophet like me” that Moses spoke of. What’s the common feature and purpose between Moses and Yeshua as prophets? They are Mediators between God and mankind. Further Moses established God’s covenential Law and Jesus reaffirmed it.

As we move through the New Testament other prophets are highlighted, once again involving both males and females.

CJB Luke 2:36-38 36 There was also a prophet named Hannah Bat-P'nu'el, of the tribe of Asher. She was a very old woman- she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage 37 and had remained a widow ever since; now she was eighty-four. She never left the Temple grounds but worshipped there night and day, fasting and praying. 38 She came by at that moment and began thanking God and speaking about the child to everyone who was waiting for Yerushalayim to be liberated.

CJB 1 Cor. 14:27-33 27 If the gift of tongues is exercised, let it be by two or at most three, and each in turn; and let someone interpret. 28 And if there is no one present who can interpret, let the people who speak in tongues keep silent when the congregation meets- they can speak to themselves and to God. 29 Let two or three prophets speak, while the others weigh what is said. 30 And if something is revealed to a prophet who is sitting down, let the first one be silent. 31 For you can all prophesy one by one, with the result that all will learn something and all will be encouraged. 32 Also, the prophets' spirits are under the prophets' control; 33 for God is not a God of unruliness but of shalom.

CJB Revelation 2:20 20 But I have this against you: you continue to tolerate that Izevel woman, the one who claims to be a prophet, but is teaching and deceiving my servants to commit sexual sin and eat food that has been sacrificed to idols.

Paul does not claim himself a prophet, but he does prophesy. These mentions of prophets and prophesying have a variation of meaning, but not so greatly varied as we found in the Old Testament. Certainly, a special divine connection is intended, but it now is more akin to what Judeo-Christianity would call divine inspiration. That is, it is not direct communication with God that is (or very nearly is) audible as Abraham and Moses, and generally not God giving them a long speech or extensive vision of the future as given to earlier prophets, but rather it is usually something that is much less overt. It is subtle. It is God, through a supernatural force, causing a creative desire in a person. But New Testament prophets also share something else (and this is critical to our understanding); they are teachers and interpreters of the existing written Scriptures (what we call the Old Testament) and not the creators of new ones because of brand new divine messages. This perfectly explains Paul. The one exception to this might be John the Revelator because God has given him a revelation of the future that combines what has already been given to prophets like Ezekiel and Isaiah, along with new insights.

So, now we’ve taken a walk through the garden of biblical Prophets and what we discover is that we can no longer simply apply a common label or task or purpose to them all. However, what about those since the Bible (Old and New Testaments) has been closed up who call themselves, or allow others to call them, prophets? Do you think yourself a prophet? Do you think you know someone who is a prophet who can see future events or gets direct messages from God?

Without question there will be, if there are not already, true prophets walking this earth.

CJB Acts 2:17 17 'ADONAI says: "In the Last Days, I will pour out from my Spirit upon everyone. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.

All this comes with a warning however. That FALSE prophets will also appear in order counter balance true prophets. And here’s how we’ll know the difference: if they teach us to worship other gods. If they teach us that any part of the Holy Scriptures are no longer relevant, and are replaced with doctrines of men. And… and this is the most important…. what they publicly proclaim as a word of God does NOT come true, then they are False Prophets and should NEVER be listened to again. It doesn’t matter how inconsequential or expansive their prophecies. A word from God never fails.

When a person… nearly always a self-proclaimed Christian… who holds themselves up as a Prophet of God and they prophecy or predict and it doesn’t happen, then we are to recognize that this person is deluded in a most dangerous way. This, we are warned, will only increase as we near the End of Days.