The last days

David Ewert

The shape of things to come deeply concerns many people in our day, and has given us a rash of books on "eschatology" (the end times). These writings would command more confidence if the writers all came to more or less the same conclusions. Yet, even when they claim to base their insights on the Word of God, the scenarios they sketch are often all over the map. This has given the word "eschatology" a bad name.

Yet the Bible from beginning to end is eschatological. Both the Old Testament and the New look forward to the day when God will intervene in human history in a decisive way and usher in His eternal kingdom. Moreover, most evangelicals agree when it comes to the basic strands of eschatology: the return of Jesus, the resurrection of the dead, the judgement of all humankind and the eternal bliss of the redeemed—quite enough to give our lives purpose, hope and joy.

However, from the early Christian centuries to the present, there have been those who were not content with these fundamental teachings of Scripture and tried to fill in the details. For some strange reason, such detailed maps of end-time events have often interested believers more than the fundamental truths.

Everywhere today one hears it said, "We are in the last days." Yet, when we probe a little deeper, we discover that believers don't always mean the same thing; they don't always mean what the New Testament calls the "last days".

According to the Old Testament prophets, the last days were to begin with the outpouring of the Spirit of God upon all humankind (Isaiah 32:15; 44:3; Ezekiel 36:25-27; Joel 2:28). Peter saw the the "day of redemption" (Ephesians 4:30). It is the day when the last trumpet will sound (I Corinthians 15:52) and the last enemy, death, will be overcome (I Corinthians 15:26).

This last day is also called "the end" (telos). Jesus warned, "When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; such things must happen, but the end is still to come" (Mark 13:7; cf Matthew 24:14).

So, the last days began with Christ's first coming, and will end with the last day. Just when that last day will come, we do not know, and we must not speculate or try to set dates. So far, all those who have done so, have been wrong.

But what, then, do we do with the passages in the New Testament which state that the end is near?

Peter was convinced that "The end of all things is near" (I Peter 4:7), as were Paul (I Corinthians 7:29), James (5:8), the writer of Hebrews (10:25) and John (Revelation 1:3; 22:10). John also stressed that the things which he had seen were to take place "quickly" (Revelation 1:1; 22:20).

Yet, more than 1900 years have passed, and Bible readers have often been puzzled by this emphasis. One way of reading such statements is to say that when God's hour strikes, things will happen quickly—but that doesn't seem to be the natural meaning of these texts. The "nearness" has also been explained as "certainly".

Perhaps a sounder approach is to understand the apostles as saying that in the presence of eternity, time shrinks together. The church lives in the twilight just before the dawn of the eternal kingdom. The church always lives on the borderline between this age and the next, and so the time is always short.

Another difficult saying of Jesus is in Mark 13:30: "This generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened." We aren't sure whether "generation," refers to the human race, the Jewish people, Christians or the "kind of people" living in Jesus' day. Similarly "all these things" could refer to the destruction of Jerusalem, to Christ's death and glorification (Mark 9:1) or to Christ's return.

However, we do violence to the text when we insist that a "generation" means 30-40 years, and then begin counting from 1948, when the modern state of Israel came into being. That view was popular in the 1980's, but we are now in 1999 and we can see this calculation was wrong. Only two verses later in Mark 13, Jesus said, "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. You do not know when that time will come" (32,33).

Some critics have argued that the apostles were wrong when they taught that the end was near.

What is often overlooked is that there are also clear indications in the New Testament that there would be a lengthy interim between the two comings of Jesus. This is implied, for example, in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20); to go into all the world and preach the gospel would take time. Paul recognized that he could die before the coming of the Lord (I Thessalonians 5:10). Moreover, we have many exhortations to be patient during this time of waiting (Romans 8:24; James 5:7).

There were those in the first century who began to mock the Christian hope that Christ would return soon. "Where is this ‘coming’ He promised?" they asked (II Peter 3:4). Peter gave three answers to these critics. First, he reminded them that people made fun of Noah when he prepared for the flood but God's promise was fulfilled (3:5-7). Second, he pointed out that God does not measure time the way we do: "With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day" (3:8). Third, the time of waiting is being extended because God does not want anyone to perish and is extending the opportunity for salvation (3:9). And so while the church prays, "Come, Lord Jesus", it also thanks God for every extra day of grace that He gives to humankind.

If then entire interim between Christ's first and second comings is the "last days", then the signs of the last days are applicable to this entire time of waiting. Because this has not always been recognized, Bible readers have repeatedly been tempted to make predictions about the end, based on political, sociological and moral developments in their time.

In the second century, Montanus tried to establish a date for the end of the world. The New Jerusalem was about to come down from heaven on Asia Minor. Many of his followers abandoned their possessions to prepare for this great event. They were deeply disappointed.

In the 6th century, Gregory the Great declared: "Earthquakes overwhelm countless cities. Pestilence we endure without interruption. It is true that as yet we do not behold signs in the sun and moon and stars; but that these are not far off we may infer from the changes in the atmosphere."

When the first millennium came to an end (1000 AD), there was feverish expectation that the end would come.

Martin Luther held to what is known as a world week, since a thousand years with the Lord are like a day. Since human history began about 4000 BC and it was now about 1500 AD, only another 500 years were left before the great sabbath rest would begin. But, because God would "shorten" the days (Matthew 24:22), the end could not be very far off.

C.I. Scofield, through whose marginal notes in the Bible the teachings of John Darby were popularized in North America, believed the First World War would mark the end of the world. Similar speculations were made when World War II broke out.

All such attempts at predicting the end were proven wrong. So, then, what do we make of the signs of the times of which Jesus spoke? In answer to a question of the disciples about the end, Jesus gave them a number of signs (Mark 13, Matthew 24, Luke 21):

1. Deception. The disciples were warned not to be led astray by false Christs and false prophets (Mark 13:5,6,22; cf I Timothy 4:1,2; II Peter 2:1,2). Yet, false teachers were already present in the first century and have been present throughout the long time of waiting. Today we are surrounded by heretical teachings, but it is quite impossible on the basis of their number to determine how close we are to the end.

2. War. "When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed, such things must happen, but the end is still to come" (Mark 13:7). The disciples were not to think that when war broke out (as it did in AD 66, leading to the destruction of Jerusalem), the end of the world was near. The entire interim before Christ's second coming was to be marked by war.

In Revelation 6, John pictured four riders riding across the pages of human history, bringing war, famine, death and sickness. God's children seek to make peace wherever they can, but they must be prepared to live in a war-torn world. There are those who believe that a third world war would be Armageddon (Revelation 16:16), but we do not know how many wars this world will yet witness before Christ appears with the armies of heaven to make an end to all rebellion against God.

3. Earthquakes (Mark 13:8). Earthquakes occurred in the first century and have occurred throughout the centuries. Some think that they have increased in frequency, but that may be due to better measuring instruments and the fact that an earthquake in one part of the world can now be witnessed on television all over the world.

We do not know how many earthquakes we will yet witness before Jesus comes, but every tremor is a reminder that our existence here on earth is insecure, and every quake is a call to humankind to turn to God before the day comes when He will shake not only the earth, but also the heavens (Hebrews 12:26).

4. Famine (Mark 13:8). Famine is often caused by natural catastrophes, such as drought. However, much of the hunger in our world today is due to human mismanagement of nature's gifts, the depletion of natural resources, bad economic systems, etc. Whatever the causes, famine is a sign of the last days, from the days of Agabus, who predicted a famine in the days of the early church (Acts 11:28), until Jesus returns and people shall hunger and thirst no more. And so we continue to pray "Give us this day our daily bread", and we continue to feed the hungry.

5. Persecution (Mark 13:9,11-13). The early church suffered at the hands of unbelieving Jews, then under some of the Caesars (whom Revelation portrays as beasts). One can also mention the Anabaptist martyrs, the labour camps of Siberia, the martyrs of Uganda and the Sudan and many others. There has never been an age when Christians have not suffered somewhere. We are grateful for every country in which freedom of religion is granted, but we know that even in free countries followers of Jesus are often subject to discrimination and oppression.

6. Mission. Another sign is the preaching of the gospel to all nations (Mark 13:10). That verse stands between two verses that speak of persecution, for it is precisely because of the church's witness that it has had to suffer throughout the centuries. What is significant about this sign is that the end will not come until the mission of the church is complete. When that will be, we do not know. Statistics of conversions or the number of missionaries or the size of missions budgets cannot establish the nearness of Christ's return.

These six signs are not like road signs which read, "Winnipeg 30 km". They are rather like warning signs which remind us to slow down, or point out dangers. The signs are to remind us that this earth is not our final resting place as they have done for the last 2000 years.

On one occasion, Jesus accused his adversaries: "You cannot interpret the signs of the times" (Matthew 16:3). Surrounded by evidence that God's kingdom was breaking into this world in the person of Jesus, they were still looking for signs.

It is dangerously easy to get caught up in an attempt to interpret the signs and not discern the times at all. Could the rash of books on the end times also fall under this criticism of Jesus? Can these not easily become a convenient instrument in the hand of Satan to sidetrack us from our true purpose? If war is a sign of the times, should we then stop working for peace? If love is to grow cold in the last days, should we then do nothing to rekindle its flames?

Richard Kyle, a professor at Tabor College, recently published a book entitled The Last Days Are Here Again. He says: "The last days began in the first century AD. Christians were called then and are called now to focus on Christ, not the signs of the times. Still, they must be prepared for Christ's second coming. This preparation includes obeying the call to holiness, right living, and evangelism as well as combating evil. Christians know what the future holds the triumphant return of Christ and the universal rule of God and they are to live in the present with that in mind."