The Last Days

 

         

          References to the “last days” do not give signs or conditions to indicate to people of our generation that the end of the world is near, the term "last days" refers to the Christian era. Compare Joel 2:28-32 & Acts 2:16-21: “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.” (Joel 2:28-32) “But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Acts 2:16-21)

          The Old Testament served as the “days of old” and “former years” that gave way to the “last days” that started at the First Coming of Christ. “Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years.” (Malachi 3:4)

Christ was upon the earth during the “last days.” “And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days. … The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.” (Genesis 49:1 & 10) “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds.” (Hebrews 1:1-2) “For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” (Hebrews 9:26)

“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.” (2 Timothy 3:1-5) The instruction "from such turn away" indicates that the previously described conditions in chapter three of Second Timothy existed at the time this epistle was written. (2 Timothy 3:5)

If 2 Timothy 3:2-5 is a list of signs or conditions prior to the rapture, then how many times has the rapture occurred over the last two thousand years?

If God wanted 2 Timothy 3 to be a warning or reminder that the advance of Christianity would be accompanied by efforts of enemies of the Gospel to thwart the Lord’s work, through persecution from without and corruption from within, and a warning of perilous times resulting from conditions that have been characteristic of the world in greater and lesser degrees throughout Christian history, how would he have changed the wording of II Timothy 3?

Old Testament prophecies foretold that during the “last days,” the age between the First and Second Advents, the Christian era, God’s holy law, standards of righteousness, will go forth from the church of Jesus Christ, along with the word of the Lord (an obvious reference to the whole Bible), and there will be a Golden Age of Christian dominance and prosperity and worldwide peace prior to the Second Advent. “And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” (Isaiah 2:2-4) “But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” (Micah 4:1-3) In the New Testament the church of Jesus Christ is Mount Sion {Zion} and heavenly Jerusalem, and while in the New Testament a church normally means a local body of Christians, the redeemed are also collectively referred to as the church. “But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect.” (Hebrews 12:22-23)