Are the End Times Behind Us?

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Are the End Times Behind Us?
Author with local ties claims the final days already have occurred

By MARY G. JOHNSON,
Times-Mail Staff Writer

People who believe we are living in the final days might be surprised to hear John Noe contend that the end times took place 19 centuries ago.

Noe, a former Bedford resident, is in demand for interviews on his latest book, "Beyond The End Times The Rest of ... The Greatest Story Ever Told."

"We are living on the other side of history from the end times," Noe said. "The end times are behind us, not ahead of us. They are past not future. They occurred exactly as and when Jesus said they would and as and when every New Testament writer was led to believe they would, in the first century."

A proliferation of other end time books contend these are the final days, that the apocalypse is about to happen.

"They associate that with the turn of the millennium," Noe said. "All this stuff happened, all these end time events occurred exactly as and when Jesus said they would and as and when every inspired New Testament writer expected them to occur ... We don't have to make excuses, we don't have to go back and change the meaning of normally used words back then. All these were pinpointed to occur in that time."

And to those wondering when the Antichrist arrived, Noe contends there is no one single person who was the Antichrist, but that there are many Antichrists.

He cited First John Chapter 2 verse 18:

"Dear little children this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many Antichrists have come."

And verse 22:

"Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the Antichrist -- he denies the Father and the Son."

"It (the Antichrist) is not a person, but any person that fits the description John (gave) in his Epistle," Noe said. "Most Christians do not understand that at all," he said.

This is called the preterist view meaning "past in fulfillment" and it is one of four schools of end time Bible prophecy within the historic church, he said.

"It is the one that is least known, but it is the most Christ honoring and scripture authenticating of all of them. It confirms that Jesus said what he meant and meant what he said when he time-restricted his return and the fulfillment of all things within the generation of his hearers."

Noe contends "His return was a coming in the clouds in a day of the Lord in judgment in the destruction of the old covenant Judaic system. This was in keeping with the long history of fulfillment and many comings of a day of the Lord in judgment in Old Testament times."

And that's a big part of what his book is all about -- describing how all that happened, Biblically and historically.

He quotes the book of Daniel, Chapter 12, verse 7, as saying that the end would come "when the power of the holy people has finally been broken everything will be accomplished."

"The holy people -- both in Daniel's time and in Jesus' time -- were the Jews and their power was the greatest power that any people could ever possibly have here on planet Earth -- their exclusive relationship with God as manifested by their Temple complex.

"That's why Jesus shocked the socks off his disciples in the first century when he told them that the temple was coming down in their generation. Exactly 40 years after he told them -- one Biblical generation -- all the things including his return occurred. That was the historical setting. It happened in 70 A.D. He said it in 30 A.D. It happened 40 years later.

"That's why we are living beyond the end times, and believe me it is as the subtitle says: the rest of the greatest story ever told."

Jesus is here today, Noe contends. "Sometimes He is visible to some people."

Noe, president of the Prophecy Reformation Institute, Indianapolis, has written three other books:

n "Peak Performance Principles for High Achievers" in 1984.

n "People Power" in 1986,

n "Apocalypse Conspiracy" in 1991.

His newest book was released in July.

He has been featured on numerous national and local TV and radio programs including CNN's Larry King Live and Newsnight and CBN's The 700 Club.

Noe moved to Bedford with his parents, Dr. William E. and Eileen Noe from Indianapolis in 1952.

He graduated from Bedford High School in 1963 and was a starting guard on the Stonecutters basketball team that won the sectional that year.

"Damon Bailey broke all my records. ... About 200 other guys did too," Noe quipped.

He earned his bachelor's degree from Wabash College, served with the U.S. Air Force in Vietnam, returned to Bedford and worked as a reporter for the Times-Mail briefly before returning to graduate school.

He is a layman, but he has been studying under the auspices of Dr. James Earl Massey, dean emeritus of the School of Theology of Anderson University.

Noe and his wife, Cindy, live in Indianapolis.

They have two grown and married children and three grandchildren.

Editor's Note: The new book is available from http://www.Armageddon-books.com/ or by calling the publisher at (888) 257-7023.

For more information about the Prophecy Reformation Institute the address is: http://www.prophecyrefi.org

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