Are We in the Last Days?
"We know that it is the Last Hour."
(1 John 2:18)
by Paul Sumner
Indeed, we are in the Last Days.
What is not often seen in Scripture is that they began when Yeshua of Nazareth was born in Beit-Lehem of the Tribe of Judah, then was executed, raised from the dead, and inaugurated to the right hand of the throne of God as his Lord, King, and Messiah.
This is not a new insight. It's what the New Testament has said for 19 centuries.
"God, after he spoke long ago to the Fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these Last Days has spoken to us in his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the world." (Hebrews 1:1-2)"Messiah…has appeared in these Last Times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory." (1 Peter 1:20-21a)
"Now, once, at the Consummation of the Ages [Messiah] has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself."
(Hebrews 9:26)ת ת ת
The Scripture also tells us the Last Days have continued since Messiah's appearances, and are leading onward to an "end."
"Children, it is the Last Hour. And just as you heard that anti-Christ is coming, even now many anti-Christs have arisen; from this we know that it is the Last Hour." (1 John 2:18)
"These things [in the Jewish Scriptures]…were written for our instruction, upon whom the Ends of the Ages have come."
(1 Corinthians 10:11)
"Do this, knowing The Time, that it is already The Hour for you to awaken." (Romans 13:11)
[Top]
As these Last Times continue, they will bring hardships for Messiah's followers in the form of "apostasy" and the appearance of "the man of lawlessness" (2 Thess 2:3).
"But realize this, that in the Last Days difficult times will come." (2 Tim 3:1)"The Spirit explicitly says that in Later Times some will fall away [apostrepho] from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons."(1 Tim 4:1)
"Know this first of all, that in the Last Days mockers will come with their mocking, following after the own lusts, and saying, 'Where is the promise of [Messiah's] coming?' " (2 Peter 3:3-4a)
ת ת ת [Top]The Hebrew prophets saw beyond the continual hardships of the Last Days, to the times when the Nations will flood toward the Messianic Kingdom.
"In the Last Days,
The mountain of the House of the LORD
Will be established as the chief of the mountains…
And all the Goyim will stream to it." (Isaiah 2:2)"It will come about that in the Last Days that I shall bring you [Gog of the Land of Magog] against my Land, in order that the Goyim may know me when I shall be sanctified through you before their eyes, O Gog." (Ezekiel 38:16)
Perhaps the greatest capstone prophecy of that Era (which is being fulfilled one person at a time, to this hour) is this:
"Afterward the children of Israel will return and seek
the LORD their God and David their king [Messiah];
and they will come trembling to the LORD
and to his Goodness [Messiah?] in the Last Days." (Hosea 3:5)This prophecy refers to the time when the Kingdom of God was publically announced ("came near") in the preaching and person of Yeshua.
"After John [the Immerser] had been taken into custody, Yeshua came into Galilee, preaching the Gospel of God, and saying, 'The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the Gospel'. " (Mark 1:14-15)"The Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them two and two ahead of him to every city and place where he himself was going to come…. 'And whatever city you enter…heal those in it who are sick, and say to them, The Kingdom of God has come near to you'." (Luke 10:1, 8-9)
[Top]
As God's King-Priest over the Kingdom, Yeshua was then inaugurated officially when he was raised from the dead "and sat down at the right hand of God" (Heb 1:3; 8:1; 10:12; 12:2).
From that position, he began to reign "far above all rule and authority and power and dominion." And . . .
"…then comes the End,
When he delivers up the Kingdom to the God and Father,
When he has abolished all rule and all authority and power.
For he must reign until he [God] has put all enemies under his feet." (Eph 1:21)"And when all things are subjected to him,
then the Son himself also will be subjected to the One who
subjected all things to him, that God may be all in all."
(1 Cor 15:24-25, 28)
So Yeshua's followers are told to pray—during these Last Days:
"Our Father who is heaven
Hallowed be your name.
Your Kingdom come,
Your will be done
On earth as it is in Heaven." (Matthew 6:9-10)
[Top]
Also consider The End of the End Times and C.S. Lewis' short essay The World's Last Night [PDF].
Directory | Site Map | Hazak HaYad
The Pre-Trib Rapture: A Devastating Doctrine
hebrew-streams.org