"THE TIME OF THE END"

Are We In The Last Days?

INTRODUCTION
  1. In our previous study, we illustrated the diversity of views related to the end of time...
    1. Dispensational premillennialism
    2. Historic premillennialism
    3. Postmillennialism
    4. Amillennialism
  2. Perhaps some of the confusion is due to misunderstanding phrases like "last days"...
    1. Many people wonder if we are living in the "last days"
    2. If we are, doesn't that suggest the time of the end is at hand, within our lifetime?

[It is important that we understand and apply Bible terms in Bible ways. How then do the Scriptures use eschatological expressions such as the "last days"? Let's first take a look at a few...]

  1. THE LAST DAYS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
    1. USAGE OF THE PHRASE "LAST DAYS"...
      1. By Jacob, telling his sons of things to come - Gen 49:1
      2. By Moses, speaking to Israel in the wilderness - Num 24:14; Deu 4:30; 31:29
      3. By Isaiah, to foretell the establishment of the Lord's House - Isa 2:2
      4. By Jeremiah, in reference to Judah, Moab, and Elam - Jer 23:20; 30:24: 48:47; 49:39
      5. By Ezekiel in reference to Gog and Magog - Ezek 38:8,16
      6. In the book of Daniel, in regards to Persia, Greece, and others - Dan 10:14
      7. By Hosea, in reference to Israel - Hos 3:5
      8. By Micah, likewise prophesying of the Lord's House - Mic 4:1
    2. MEANING OF THE PHRASE "LAST DAYS"...
      1. The Hebrew is akharit hayyamim
      2. Variously translated as latter days, days to come, in the future
      3. It may refer to the end of the age, the eschaton, or to the distant future - NET
      4. In prophetic language denoted, not the future generally, but the last future, the Messianic age of consummation...But we must not restrict "the end of the days" to the extreme point of the time of completion of the Messianic kingdom; it embraces "the whole history of the completion which underlies the present period of growth" - Delitzsch
    3. OBSERVATIONS REGARDING THE PHRASE "LAST DAYS"...
      1. It was used to describe events prior to the coming of Christ - e.g., Dan 10:14
      2. Though it could simply mean "in the future", it often had Messianic connotations
      3. It described events at the beginning of the Christian age - Isa 2:2; cf. Lk 24:46-47
      4. The phrase therefore encompassed the entire age of the Messiah, not just the end

      [In the Old Testament, the expression "last days" often looked forward to a period of time beginning with the first coming of Christ. This is confirmed as we now look at...]

  2. THE LAST DAYS IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
    1. OCCURRENCE OF THE PHRASE "LAST DAYS"...
      1. Peter's quotation of Joel's prophecy - Ac 2:16-21; cf. Joel 2:28-32
      2. Paul wrote of things to come in the "last days" - 2Ti 3:1
      3. The writer of Hebrews tells how God now speaks to us in "these last days" - He 1:2
      4. James wrote as one living in the "last days" - Jam 5:3
      5. Peter wrote of scoffers to come "in the last days" - 2Pe 3:3-4
    2. PHRASES SIMILAR TO THE "LAST DAYS"...
      1. "The ends of the ages" - 1Co 10:11; He 9:26
      2. "The last hour" - 1Jn 2:18
    3. OBSERVATIONS CONCERNING THE "LAST DAYS"...
      1. It is clear that we are now living in the "last days" - Ac 2:16-17; He 1:2
      2. The "ends of the ages" has come upon us - 1Co 10:11
      3. It began with the first coming of Christ - He 9:26
      4. The apostles spoke of things yet to come in the "last days" - 2Ti 3:1; 2Pe 3:3-4
      5. Even so, we are also living in "the last hour" - 1Jn 2:18
      6. We have been living in the "last days" since the first coming of Christ!
CONCLUSION
  1. From the New Testament we learn that...
    1. We are now living in the "last days", the "ends of the ages"
    2. Even though the "last days" have encompassed almost two thousands years
  2. This does not discourage the informed Christian...
    1. A thousand years is as a day to the Lord, and vice versa - 2Pe 3:8-9
    2. The "last days" could end tomorrow, or another thousand years from now, if the Lord wills
  3. In faith and hope we still look forward to...
    1. The "last day"
    2. The "end of the age"
    3. The "day of the Lord"
    -- Phrases we shall consider in another study
  4. In which great events will occur...
    1. The coming of the Lord
    2. The resurrection of the dead
    3. The judgment of all mankind
    4. The "new heaven and a new earth"
    -- Events we shall examine in a later study

Will we be ready for the events of the "last day"? It all depends on how we are living in "the last days"...