Many people are attracted to the sensational things going on in the world today because we long for more than a mundane life. But in reality the eternal truth of YHVH is more sensational than anything that’s been seen or heard or even imagined.
As I read the book of Revelation I see many very sensational events happening to those who love Him as well as those who don’t love Him.
In Acts chapter 5 we see the goodness and severity of YHVH. Ananais and Saphira were struck dead for lying to the Holy Spirit, then following that we read about the apostles performing many miraculous signs and wonders. To the amazement of the people gathered at the temple they saw people healed of various diseases and set free from demonic oppression. After the apostles were arrested they were promptly released from jail by an angel at night and went straight back to the temple to teach, preach and set people free. These sensational signs followed the believers wherever they went. So much so that a great number of the Jewish priests were obedient to the faith. But today a visit to Jerusalem might see a 10,000 man “pride march” as the city is being “trodden down by the Gentiles.” Today unlike the days of the apostles, there is a minuscule number of faithful followers of Yahshua in the holy city.
So, what happened anyway? Did the days of miracles cease? Are we now stuck with a circus show of humanly devised sensationalism? Actually we were told what would happen very plainly. Evil men would creep in secretly and change the definition of grace into a license to sin. People would depart from the faith and give in to deceiving spirits and doctrines of devils, forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from meats which are created to be eaten. Many false prophets would arise and deceive many and the love of many would grow cold. Then there would be a falling away from the truth and the power that comes with the truth.
So when did that happen? The apostle Paul said the mystery of iniquity was already at work in his day, and after his departure grievous wolves would arise who would not spare the flock. Things began to deteriorate very quickly. In 70 AD the city of Jerusalem was completely destroyed by the Romans with hundreds of thousands of Jewish casualties. There were many reasons that led up to this divine judgment, but from this point on things progressively got worse.
By the fourth century in the time of the emperor Constantine the “faith” was a horse of a different color. By this time the “church” was compromised, helenized, paganized, militarized, monetized, institutionalized, and politicized. The Roman empire, a former source of persecution now developed a pseudo version of the true faith. For the sake of convenience, for monetary gain and for political advantage, many changes were made. Former pagan statues were now used to represent biblical historical figures. Now wars were fought in the name of the Lord. Constantine went into battle with a “Christian” banner after he had a vision and a dream by which he was assured victory in his pursuits. Along with the Greek language of the day came the seduction of Greek culture and philosophy. One issue was the doctrine of the immortal soul which was passed down from Socrates and became part and parcel of the evolving faith. Another new development was the importance of cash flow. The church and state now had a symbiotic relationship as they used each other. Tax exemptions for the approved church took a burden off the people as Constantine stopped the persecution of Christians except for the small number of those who held on to the observance of the Sabbath and Holy Days in the manner which was perceived to be Jewish.
Some people are expecting a “falling away” to happen sometime in the future. For that to happen it would first require a tremendous revival like no one has ever seen so we could be close enough to the truth to fall away from it.