What Does the Bible Say about the Last Days?
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Over the centuries, many have come and gone who have attempted to predict the coming of the Lord. All of these predictions have come to naught.
There is a certain fascination about the end of the world. We have seen it in the media, through movies and television – even cartoon characters threatening to destroy the world or take it over in some form or fashion. The fear has always been that with the escalation of so called “weapons of mass destruction” that the world powers that be will eventually blow each other up. And while wars and rumors of wars are a definite sign of the times, there are many other things which signal the last days.
What Does the Bible Say about the Last Days?
From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible speaks volumes concerning the last days. But first, I believe it is necessary to clarify the term “last days.” When speaking of them, are we speaking of the last twenty years, or fifty years, or even the last one hundred years? Or are the last days more recent, say, in the last five to ten years?
While it is true that we are presently living in the last days, the beginning of the last days goes much further back. Christians living through the first and second world wars no doubt thought they were living in the last days. I’m sure that Christians living through the Civil War thought that they were living in the days. Each generation of Christians down through the millennia who knew the Word of God concerning these things have wondered if they would see the return of the Lord, or else the end of the world.
In truth, the last days began at the close of Christ’s ministry on earth, and will continue until His second coming. And while each day brings us closer to His return, we are not to fear or be troubled by the things that we see taking place around the world.
“Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door” (Matthew 24:33).
In the book of 1 Thessalonians, the apostle Paul tells us of a glorious day in which Christ will come for His own:
“According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:15-18).
Have the Last Days Already Passed?
While these powerful words from Paul were meant to bring comfort and hope to the Thessalonian Christians, many misunderstood his teaching, believing that judgment had already come, or that since He was coming back, there was nothing for them to do but wait. Paul then wrote a second letter where he clarified his words in his first letter with these words:
“Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter—asserting that the day of the Lord has already come. Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God” (2 Thessalonians 2:1-4).
When we speak of the last days, we are speaking of worldwide events that will progressively escalate as time marches on. As Jesus taught His disciples on the mount of Olives, they asked Him pointedly, “…what shall be the sign of your coming, and the end of the world?” Because they were also concerned about the last days, Jesus responded to them with these words:
“Jesus answered: ‘Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains’” (Matthew 24:4-8).
You will notice two things that Jesus says: He first states that “the end is not yet.” He then says that “all these are the beginning of sorrows.” The fact is that there have always been wars, and rumors of wars; nations have always risen against other nations (the word for “nations” here is the Greek word, ethnos which means “race,” and may be a reference to ethnicities); kingdoms have always risen against kingdoms in a lust for power. We’ve always had famines, and pestilences, a word that means disease or plagues—many far worse than what many of us have experienced. Earthquakes have also always been a part of life here on earth, depending upon where you live.
But why do we believe that we are living in the last of the last days? It is because of the rapid escalation of things.
What Will Happen on or Near the Last Days?
The apostle Paul once again gives us a preview of the last days as he wrote to young Timothy:
“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people” (2 Timothy 3:1-5).
These verses tell us conclusively about the conditions in the world at the time prior to the Lord’s coming. And just as in the case of Matthew chapter twenty-four, all of these elements of the last days will become worse with time.
Concerning the character of those in the last days, Jesus also made this statement, also in Matthew twenty-four:
“For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man” (Matthew 24:38-39).
We see that in these last days that there will be an aloofness, and a distaste for things spiritual. We must not be like the five foolish virgins in Jesus’ parable who went out to meet the Bridegroom, but had no oil in their lamps. In the words of the apostle Paul we must always be “looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ.”
So, as we see all these things come to pass here in these last days, remember the words of Jesus:
“When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:28).
Praise the Lord! He’s coming soon!
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