Aunty, I’m still terrified when I hear of “the time of Jacob’s trouble”!
14 October 2024 |
Dear Aunty,
I’m a fourth-generation Adventist who spent 16 years in our educational system. I’ve been on a 50-year journey to get “deprogrammed” from the disinformation and fear I was exposed to.
However, I find I can still be “triggered” by certain phrases, and one of those is “the time of Jacob’s trouble.” We were taught that just before Jesus comes, God will withdraw his presence to test our faith. We’ll suffer terrible doubts, and have to live without a mediator. Is this a real thing?
Signed, Still Scared
Dear Scared:
There is nothing that makes Aunty as angry as the way our church has terrified believers with bad eschatology, founded on absolutely nothing. The Bible says that Jesus will return someday, at a time when we don’t expect him. No one knows precisely when, and (to the point here) no one knows precisely what will precede it.
The “time of Jacob’s trouble,” when supposedly we will have to live without a mediator, is unbiblical. Never will Jesus cease to plead with and for sinners. He said: “Lo, I am with you always, even to the very end.”
This mythical event joins the close of probation and the unpardonable sin as ways that evangelists and church leaders have terrified people into remaining in the church. Those who teach such things are false shepherds. They had better read Matthew 18, where Jesus warns that those who hurt and mislead the innocent—and that surely must include traumatizing people about events of which we know nothing—will be punished.
Quit it, Adventists. There are enough real things to fear in life without adding imaginary ones.
Aunt Sevvy
Aunt Sevvy has collected her answers into a book! You can get it from Amazon by clicking here.
You can write to Aunt Sevvy at DearAuntSevvy@gmail.com. Your real identity will never be revealed.