WHAT DOE THE BIBLE MEAN BY THE “LAST DAYS”?

"In the last days YHVH said, I will pour out My Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions and your old men will dream dreams." {Acts 2:17} Peter began his first message after the resurrection of Yeshua Moshiach with a quote from the Old Testament. Not everything mentioned in Joel 2:28-29 was happening that particular morning. But YHVH’s Spirit filling the disciples was unmistakable and needed an explanation. “The last days” is another way of saying “from now on.” All the days between the Moshiach’s first and second comings are included. “That great and glorious Day of Adonai” {2:20} denotes the whole believer’s faith age. Even Moses yearned for Adonai to put His Spirit on everyone {Numbers 11:29}. At Shavuot, the Holy Spirit was released throughout the entire world - to men, women, slaves, Jews, Gentiles. Now everyone can receive the Spirit. This was a revolutionary thought for first-century Jews. Even today, knowing we are living in the last days, this truth should deeply affect the way we live. Non-believers find it hard to believe we are living in the last days. "First, I want to remind you that in the last days there will be scoffers who will laugh at the truth and do every evil thing they desire. This will be their argument: 'Yeshua promised to come back, did He? Then where is He? Why, as far back as anyone can remember, everything has remained exactly the same since the world was first created.'” {2 Peter 3:3-4} "In the last days” scoffers will say that Yeshua is never coming back, but Peter refutes their argument by explaining YHVH’s mastery over time. The “last days” is the time between the Moshiach’s first and second comings; thus we, like Peter, live in the last days. We must do the work to which YHVH has called us and believe that He will return as He promised. By our standards, the last days may be a long period of time. YHVH may have seemed slow to these believers as they faced persecution every day and longed to be delivered. But YHVH is not slow; He just is not on our timetable {Psalm 90:4}. Yeshua is waiting so that more sinners will repent and turn to Him. We must not sit and wait for the Moshiach to return, but we should live with the realization that time is short and that we have important work to do. Be ready to meet the Moshiach any time, even today; yet plan your course of service as though He may not return for many years. The last days will not be an easy time for YHVH's people. "Dear children, the last hour is here. You have heard that the Antichrist is coming and already many such antichrists have appeared. From this we know that the end of the world has come." {1 John 2:18} John is talking about the last days, the time between the Moshiach’s first and second comings. The first-century readers of 1 John lived in the last days and so do we. During this time, antichrists [false teachers who pretend to be believers and who lure weak members away from the Moshiach] will appear. Finally, just before the world ends, one great antichrist will arise {Revelation 13; 19:20; 20:10}. We do not need to fear these evil people. The Holy Spirit shows us their errors, so we will not be deceived. However, we must teach YHVH’s Word clearly and carefully to the peripheral, weak members among us so that they won’t fall prey to these teachers who “come disguised as harmless sheep, but are really wolves that will tear you apart” {Matthew 7:15}.

END TIMES

Expectation is motivation! If students never expected a quiz, many would never study the material with any intensity. When employees stop anticipating the possibility of raises and/or promotions, their productivity tends to level off, if not nose-dive. When we are expecting company, we tend to care a bit more than usual about how the house looks and how recently the toilet has been scrubbed. The expected event might be positive [a visit from a loved one] or negative [a subpoena to appear in court]. Either way, the anticipation of the event tends to motivate us to action in order to be better prepared. And so it is with believers. One of the basic underlying doctrines of the church is that Yeshua will someday return, judge the wicked, reward the righteous and establish His Eternal Kingdom. If believers really believe this is going to happen and perhaps happen soon, they will behave one way. If they don’t believe this or haven’t given the possibility adequate thought, they are less likely to be motivated to be on guard at all times. And while believers have varying beliefs about most of the specifics of their faith, the confusion is perhaps never more intense than when it comes to what’s going to happen during the end times. Even those who agree that certain events are scheduled to take place frequently debate the order of those events. Let me list several of the expected events and provide a few outlooks that attempt to organize and make sense of those events.

MISFORTUNE TELLING

The following elements are all included in discussions about the end times. We will first look at a number of people and events we are told to expect, and then we will try them in a number of different orders to see which, if any, make sense.

THE GREAT TRIBULATION

The prophet Daniel wrote of a visit from the angel Gabriel who foretold a time of unprecedented war and rebellion. Among other things, he tells us: "A period of seventy sets of seven has been decreed for your people and your holy city to put down rebellion, to bring an end to sin, to atone for guilt, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to confirm the prophetic vision and to anoint the Most Holy Place. Now listen and understand! Seven sets of seven plus sixty-two sets of seven will pass from the time the command is given to rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One comes. Jerusalem will be rebuilt with streets and strong defenses, despite the perilous times. After this period of sixty-two sets of seven, the Anointed One will be killed, appearing to have accomplished nothing and a ruler will arise whose armies will destroy the city and the temple. The end will come with a flood and war and its miseries are decreed from that time to the very end. He will make a treaty with the people for a period of one set of seven, but after half this time, he will put an end to the sacrifices and offerings. Then as a climax to all his terrible deeds, he will set up a sacrilegious object that causes desecration, until the end that has been decreed is poured out on this defiler." {Daniel 9:24-27} This can be confusing prophecy and it is interpreted in various ways, yet it should not be overlooked. Yeshua later made a reference to this prophecy and added that what Daniel was describing would be “a time of greater horror than anything the world has ever seen or will ever see again” {Matthew 24:15-22}. The phrase “great tribulation” was designated by John in Revelation 7:14. Some people feel the great tribulation includes all the bad stuff that has happened to believers throughout the centuries since Yeshua lived. It has been said that more believers died for their faith in the 20th century than in all the previous centuries combined. However, other people feel that “the great tribulation” refers to a specific, designated time still in the future.

THE JUDGEMENT OF YHVH

The book of Revelation goes into considerable detail in describing a sequence of events that YHVH will inflict upon a world filled with rebellious and wicked people. This is where we find the biblical reference to what have become known as the four horsemen of the Apocalypse {Revelation 6:1-8}. But that’s just the beginning of the terrible things yet to come. The apostle John describes Yeshua breaking seals on a scroll, each of which unleashes nasty stuff upon the earth. Later a series of angels sound shofars [trumpets] {Revelation 8–11} and another group pour out “bowls of YHVH’s wrath” {Revelation 16}, each of which triggers a horribly destructive event. The repeated emphasis is that these plagues and sufferings are YHVH’s judgments on evil people who simply refuse to repent.

ARMAGEDDON

One of the “bowl judgments” triggers international hostility that will escalate into the bloodiest war of all time. It will also be the final war in earth’s history. Located near the mountain and city named Meggido, the identification of Armageddon {Revelation 16:16} is assumed by some to be a specific geographic location. Others feel it is more of a general reference not confined to a particular place. Armageddon is mentioned only once in Scripture, yet has become well-known as a place of finality and doom.

THE SECOND COMING OF YESHUA

The New Testament refers to the return of Yeshua more than 300 times. Yeshua promised that He would return {John 14:3} and angels confirmed the fact {Acts 1:11}. The Second Coming is foundational to several key teachings, as well as the subject of a number of Yeshua’ parables. Believers are regularly reminded of this coming event to encourage them to maintain hope and perseverance throughout hard times.

THE MILLENIUM

After all the Y2K hubbub, most people today are aware that millennium means “1,000 years.” From a biblical perspective, the Millennium refers to an event mentioned in Revelation {20:1-15}. In the apostle John’s description, it is a time during which Satan will be bound and a specific group of martyrs will come back to life and reign with Yeshua. Some believers believe that Yeshua will establish a Kingdom on earth during this time.

THE RAPTURE

The word “rapture” isn’t found in Scripture. The term derives from the Latin word for “caught up,” rapturo, which was used in the Latin translation of 1 Thessalonians 4:17: “Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet Adonai in the air and remain with Him forever.” So the “rapture” refers to the “snatching up” of believers - an express passage from earth directly to heaven without the usual annoying necessity of dying. This event follows a resurrection of believers who have died {1 Thessalonians 4:16}, thereby uniting all believers in heaven. The popular Left Behind series of books begins with the Rapture and then speculates about what might take place during the end times. Yeshua also made what many interpret to be a reference to this event. In telling His disciples what to expect in regard to His return, He spoke of a time when “two people will be asleep in one bed; one will be taken away and the other will be left. Two women will be grinding flour together at the mill; one will be taken, the other left” {Luke 17:34-35}. In other words, the Rapture will be sudden and unexpected.

THE ANTI-CHRIST

While the world in general will oppose YHVH in the last days, the head of the resistance is someone who has come to be referred to as the Antichrist. [The more common reference to him in Revelation is “the beast.”] In one sense, anyone who stands against the work, teachings and ministry of Yeshua is considered an “antichrist” by this definition {1 John 2:18}. However, many people expect this end-times personality to be a powerful, Satan-inspired figure who rallies people to oppose Yeshua and the few who live for Him. At one point, anyone who refuses to pledge loyalty to the Antichrist and receive his mark on his or her body will be denied the right to buy or sell anything. The Antichrist will have an equally devious sidekick, commonly referred to as the “false prophet.” The two will work in tandem to deceive and destroy everyone they can in the last days of the final countdown of humanity.