Shalom everyone,
Some people believe that because Scripture speaks of an “end of days,” there is no point in working for peace or justice in the present age. According to this view, deadly wars and worldwide destruction are inevitable, even divinely intended, and efforts to reduce suffering are at best irrelevant, and at worst an obstacle to God’s plans. In Christian forms of this belief, it is often tied to the expectation that such wars and destruction will usher in the return of ‘Jesus Christ’ as the messiah.
From a Jewish – and specifically Talmidi Jewish – perspective, this view misunderstands both the Hebrew Bible and the teaching of the prophet Yeshua himself. It also leads to a moral stance that is profoundly at odds with God’s values and promises.
This article explains why.
1. Apocalypse and Tribulation Are Not the Same Thing
In popular Paullist Christian theology, “the end times” are often imagined as an apocalypse: that is, a divinely predetermined final destruction of the world, willed by God, and impossible to prevent. In this framework, history is racing towards war, catastrophe and carnage, and no human moral action can alter the outcome.
Talmidis absolutely reject this framework and mindset.
In the Hebrew Bible, the language is not apocalyptic but rather prophetic. That means, the Bible is addressing the issue of, “This is what is happening in society now morally — and this is where it will lead to, if you do not change.” Prophecy is not about predicting the future; rather, it is about warning us that such and such will happen if the nation (or indeed, the world) does not repent and turn back from the brink. If a nation turns back from its destructive path, then God will relent, and the bad things an individual prophet speaks of will no longer take place. This is essential to realise if you wish to understand the purpose of prophecy.
In Jeremiah 18:7–8, God says,
“If at any time I declare concerning a nation… that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, and if that nation turns away from its evil, I will relent.”
In Ezekiel 18:21–23, God says,
“If the wicked turn from all their sins… none of the transgressions shall be remembered.” (that is, “I will take no action against them“).
In the Book of Jonah, God told Jonah to prophesy that Nineveh would be destroyed. However, the citizens of Nineveh repented, and Nineveh was not destroyed. That is what prophecy is for; that is how prophecy works; that is how prophecy should be used.
For centuries, prophecy has been heavily abused by fear-mongers, as if the word ‘prophecy‘ meant ‘prediction‘; it does not. Prophecy is not a horoscope or an almanack – it is not a running commentary on future events. Prophecy is not about saying, ”These things will happen”; prophecy is about saying, ”If you do not repent and change heart, if you continue to ignore the Covenant and My ways that you promised to keep, these are the things that will happen. If, on the other hand, you repent, and follow My commandments, these things will not happen.”
With all that in mind, what the Exile prophets were all talking about, as well as Yochanan the Immerser and Yeshua, was not apocalypse, but rather, Tribulation.
In prophecy, Scripture repeatedly speaks of times of tribulation – periods of upheaval, suffering, and judgement throughout history – but these are not portrayed as inevitable or arbitrary. They are conditional, morally intelligible, and often explicitly preventable.
For example:
“If you amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly act justly one with another… then I will let you dwell in this place.”
(Jeremiah 7:5–7)
Tribulation is not fate. It is a warning, because it can be avoided by national repentance (which is what the biblical prophets – and Yeshua – always called for).
2. Apocalyptic Fatalism Comes from Paul, Not from Yeshua
Much Christian apocalyptic thinking comes not from the Synoptic Gospels, but from Paul’s letters; in them, he interprets history as rushing toward one final cosmic end, in which the present world order is to be swept away completely (e.g. 1 Corinthians 7:29–31).
In contrast, the prophet Yeshua in the Synoptic Gospels speaks not of inevitable apocalypse, but of tribulation – and he speaks of it in thoroughly Jewish, biblically prophetic terms.
For example:
“Nation will rise against nation… there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All this is but the beginning of birth pains.”
(Matthew 24:7–8)
‘Birth pains’ are not the end of life; they are a sign of danger and transition. They demand watchfulness, repentance, and faithfulness to God’s teachings – not meek, actionless resignation.
Yeshua repeatedly calls people to act rightly in the present, precisely because judgment concerns how people behave toward one another:
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.”
(Matthew 5:9)
Any teaching that discourages peace-making (because, ‘apocalypse is inevitable and is God’s only plan’) cannot plausibly claim Yeshua as its source.
3. The Hebrew Bible Commands Resistance to Injustice, Not Passive Acceptance
The idea that believers should accept suffering and catastrophe as inevitable, because “it is part of God’s plan“ is explicitly contradicted by the Hebrew Bible.
The prophets do not tell Israel to endure injustice quietly and just accept it. They tell Israel to actively oppose it, precisely because God opposes it:
“Seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.”
(Isaiah 1:17)
“Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”
(Amos 5:24)
If tribulation were simply God’s unalterable plan, then logically speaking, all prophetic protest would be pointless – and yet it is the very heart of biblical faith. Prophetic discourses are about, “Such and such trials will happen, if you do not repent and change“; the message of prophets was never, “The world is coming to an end, so just sit back and accept it“.
From a Talmidi perspective, to work for peace is not to resist God, but to align precisely with God.
4. Tribulation Arises from Widespread Moral Collapse, Not Divine Capriciousness
It is not God’s Will to send tribulation regardless of anything that human beings do. In the Hebrew Bible, tribulation occurs when societies abandon all God’s values – justice, compassion, mercy, restraint, social values, religious ideals, and the dignity of human life.
“Because they have forsaken my teaching… I will scatter them.”
(Jeremiah 9:13–16)
Importantly, this is not portrayed as God delighting in destruction:
“Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked?” says Sovereign YHVH, “and not rather that they turn from their [wicked] ways and live?”
(Ezekiel 18:23)
Tribulation is a consequence of widespread moral failure in society, not an eager goal to be welcomed. To refuse to work for peace is therefore, ironically, to help create the very conditions God warns against in Scripture.
5. God alone chooses the Messiah When God Is Ready
The Israelite faith does not teach that humans can force the arrival of the messiah through catastrophe, nor that God is bound to one predetermined individual.
The Hebrew Bible is clear that:
- God acts in God’s own good time (Ecclesiastes 3:1)
- God raises leaders according to God’s righteous purpose, not as a result of human insistence (1 Samuel 16:7)
- Redemption follows repentance and justice; God’s plan is not war and destruction for its own sake
From a Talmidi standpoint, the messiah comes when humanity is ready to receive one – and more importantly, when God chooses to send one. Working for peace is part of that readiness and preparation, not an obstacle to it (or even a necessary precursor to it).
6. Opposing God’s chosen Messiah Because He Is Not ‘Jesus Christ’ Is Theologically Dangerous
Finally, the claim that any messiah other than ‘Jesus Christ’ must be opposed as satanic is deeply problematic from a Jewish perspective.
First, Talmidis do not accept the concept of Satan as an independent cosmic adversary; YHVH is absolute Sovereign over all (Isaiah 45:7); YHVH has no equal or opposite (Isa 40:25, 45:5-7, 46:9, Dt 32:39).
Second, the Hebrew Bible repeatedly warns against opposing God’s Work simply because it does not match prior human expectations:
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says YHVH.”
(Isaiah 55:8)
To declare in advance that God’s future act of redemption must be rejected if it does not conform to a particular Christian framework of expectation is, from a Jewish standpoint, not faithfulness – but presumption.
Conclusion: Why the Talmidi Ideal is to Work for Peace
Talmidis encourage working for peace, not because we deny suffering, judgement, or upheaval, but because:
- Scripture treats tribulation as a warning to repent and do better, not an inevitable destiny
- God commands resistance to injustice
- Yeshua himself blesses peace-makers
- Moral action matters precisely because the future is not fixed
- God’s kingdom is meant to be realised and fulfilled on earth, not something to be welcomed only through wars, death and destruction
To abandon peacemaking in the name of faith is not trust in God. It is a refusal of our God-given responsibility.
Working for peace is not opposition to God’s plan. It is active participation in it.
God hears the prayers of the righteous, so that any tribulation will be cut short (Mk 13:20), and its severity lessened. If everyone repents, then the tribulation will not happen at all. Our God is not a capricious God, who imposes war and calamity on the human race whether we like it or not. The Biblical ideal is for universal peace (Isa 2:4), not universal or even cosmic war. Paul’s vision is universal destruction; God’s vision is universal peace.