Maybe like me you have heard someone talk about the end times. Perhaps you have learned about the end times from social media posts or stuff your family members have talked about. If you went to church or church summer camp then you could have heard about the end times. As a kid who grew up going to church I heard about the end times a lot. As a kid hearing about the end times was often scary and weird.
Talk of the end times often tends to start with a look at how bad everything is in society. It then takes all the horrible things happening and uses it to predict a future that will be even worse. The good news about all the bad news is that all of the bad needs to happen because it means Jesus is about to return.
All you have to do is watch any news show and you can quickly learn about all of the horrible things happening in the world. Yet news shows are not out to form and shape anyone into Christlikness. They also tend to completely overlook all the good happening. In other words, talking about the end times or last days is often centered on all things horrible and forecasts a future that is bleak which is supposed to be a kind of sign that Jesus' return is imminent.
When folks get to talking about the end times the book of Revelation often comes up. Many folks who consider themselves Christian or not find Revelation to be scary. It is also assumed that Revelation is full of predictions about what is to happen in the future. Mixed in with all of the horrible news and the book of Revelation are other subjects. A person’s understanding of justice, love, family, what life is all about, one's perception of God and what happens when we die are also at play when talking about the end times. Even if we are reading the Bible by ourselves we are not alone. Our assumptions, prejudices and life experiences are with us as we read.
One question that tends to come up when talking about the end times is are we living in the last days? Here's something interesting about this question. Rarely do people stop and ask the follow-up question which is how does the Bible define the last days? If we're talking about the Bible and we're using terms found in the Bible then why won’t we actually allow the Bible to define its own terms.
Scripture seems to have a different understanding in mind then our popular ideas about the end times. By the way the phrase “last days” or “last times” is only used seven times in the New Testament. By comparison the phrase “do not fear” is used over 300 times in the Bible and the word joy is used over 80 times in the New Testament. Perhaps just by the word count alone the Bible is signaling that our focus on "the last days” might be out of focus.
Let’s take a moment and look at two passages in the New Testament that use the phrase “last days” or “last times”. The first passage, that is super insightful, is Acts 2. In Acts 2, in case you don't know, we read about the moment in which the Holy Spirit arrives. The disciples, on the Day of Pentecost, are in Jerusalem which is jam packed full of people from Jerusalem and other areas of the Roman empire near and far. The Holy Spirit empowers the disciples to speak in all kinds of dialects. Many of the people are amazed at what the disciples are able to do and others are not. In Acts 2:13 we are told that some people have a different explanation for what is happening. Their explanation is that the disciples are drunk.
I don’t know about you but typically the more drunk a person is the less intelligent they become. Yet, Peter decides to address the people who have gathered around them and tell them what is happening. Peter stands up in front of the crowd and offers his explanation about what is happening.
Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. 15 These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! (Acts 2:14-15 NIV)
The ancient world did not have modern day methods to make liquor or wine with high alcohol content. In the ancient world a bottle of wine or alcohol was something like four or five parts water to one or two parts alcohol. For the disciples to be drunk they would have needed to start drinking before sunrise. Peter then offers a different reason as to why the disciples are behaving the way that they are.
16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
17 “‘In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams. (Acts 2:16-17 NIV)
Peter says in verse 17, quoting the prophet Joel, that “the last days” is connected to the time when the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost. Peter is not referring to an event happening in the future. Peter is talking about what is happening in the present moment which is connected to the arrival of the Holy Spirit which came about due to the resurrection of Jesus.
Another passage that is helpful is Hebrews 1:1-2. Hebrews uses similar language that of Acts 2 and will help us further clarify the Bible’s definition of last days.
In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. (Hebrews 1:1-2 NIV)
Hebrews tells us that God has always been trying to speak to us. There has never been a moment in history where God has not been attempting to make a connection with us all. One way God has attempted to speak to us is through prophets. Consider all the ways the prophets in the Old Testament attempted to communicate.
They built altars on Mt Carmel, they ate scrolls, they delivered messages to Kings and common people. The prophets roamed the halls of power as well as neighborhood streets communicating the message God had given them. Yet Hebrews says that in the last days God has been speaking to us through his Son.
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. (Hebrews 1:3 NIV)
The author of Hebrews is not saying “the last days” is something happening in the future. The author is making a clear connection to the original reader's present moment. Hebrews, just like Acts 2, connects “the last days” to the time in which Jesus lived and died and when Jesus rose from the grave and the Holy Spirit arrived. “The last days”, in the Bible, is not a reference to some future event.
The authors of the New Testament consistently refer to "the last days" in the same way that the book of Acts and Hebrews do. The last days started with the resurrection of Jesus and has carried into our present time. The last days are happening in the lives of early Christians and has been ongoing ever since.
Based on the New Testament’s definition of “the last days” we have all been living in the last days for about 2,000 plus years. Are we living in the last days? Yes because “the last days” is the time period between Jesus’ resurrection and his return.
Another question that comes up when talking about the end times is what is prophecy? For most people prophecy equals making predictions about the future. For many people to talk about prophecy is to do something like what NFL Sunday commentators do. Every week during the NFL season, kind of energy and effort goes into making predictions about how various teams will do. Which team will be the winner and which team will be the loser.
Talk of the end times often tends to start with a look at how bad everything is in society. It then takes all the horrible things happening and uses it to predict a future that will be even worse. The good news about all the bad news is that all of the bad needs to happen because it means Jesus is about to return.
All you have to do is watch any news show and you can quickly learn about all of the horrible things happening in the world. Yet news shows are not out to form and shape anyone into Christlikness. They also tend to completely overlook all the good happening. In other words, talking about the end times or last days is often centered on all things horrible and forecasts a future that is bleak which is supposed to be a kind of sign that Jesus' return is imminent.
When folks get to talking about the end times the book of Revelation often comes up. Many folks who consider themselves Christian or not find Revelation to be scary. It is also assumed that Revelation is full of predictions about what is to happen in the future. Mixed in with all of the horrible news and the book of Revelation are other subjects. A person’s understanding of justice, love, family, what life is all about, one's perception of God and what happens when we die are also at play when talking about the end times. Even if we are reading the Bible by ourselves we are not alone. Our assumptions, prejudices and life experiences are with us as we read.
One question that tends to come up when talking about the end times is are we living in the last days? Here's something interesting about this question. Rarely do people stop and ask the follow-up question which is how does the Bible define the last days? If we're talking about the Bible and we're using terms found in the Bible then why won’t we actually allow the Bible to define its own terms.
Scripture seems to have a different understanding in mind then our popular ideas about the end times. By the way the phrase “last days” or “last times” is only used seven times in the New Testament. By comparison the phrase “do not fear” is used over 300 times in the Bible and the word joy is used over 80 times in the New Testament. Perhaps just by the word count alone the Bible is signaling that our focus on "the last days” might be out of focus.
Let’s take a moment and look at two passages in the New Testament that use the phrase “last days” or “last times”. The first passage, that is super insightful, is Acts 2. In Acts 2, in case you don't know, we read about the moment in which the Holy Spirit arrives. The disciples, on the Day of Pentecost, are in Jerusalem which is jam packed full of people from Jerusalem and other areas of the Roman empire near and far. The Holy Spirit empowers the disciples to speak in all kinds of dialects. Many of the people are amazed at what the disciples are able to do and others are not. In Acts 2:13 we are told that some people have a different explanation for what is happening. Their explanation is that the disciples are drunk.
I don’t know about you but typically the more drunk a person is the less intelligent they become. Yet, Peter decides to address the people who have gathered around them and tell them what is happening. Peter stands up in front of the crowd and offers his explanation about what is happening.
Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. 15 These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! (Acts 2:14-15 NIV)
The ancient world did not have modern day methods to make liquor or wine with high alcohol content. In the ancient world a bottle of wine or alcohol was something like four or five parts water to one or two parts alcohol. For the disciples to be drunk they would have needed to start drinking before sunrise. Peter then offers a different reason as to why the disciples are behaving the way that they are.
16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
17 “‘In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams. (Acts 2:16-17 NIV)
Peter says in verse 17, quoting the prophet Joel, that “the last days” is connected to the time when the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost. Peter is not referring to an event happening in the future. Peter is talking about what is happening in the present moment which is connected to the arrival of the Holy Spirit which came about due to the resurrection of Jesus.
Another passage that is helpful is Hebrews 1:1-2. Hebrews uses similar language that of Acts 2 and will help us further clarify the Bible’s definition of last days.
In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. (Hebrews 1:1-2 NIV)
Hebrews tells us that God has always been trying to speak to us. There has never been a moment in history where God has not been attempting to make a connection with us all. One way God has attempted to speak to us is through prophets. Consider all the ways the prophets in the Old Testament attempted to communicate.
They built altars on Mt Carmel, they ate scrolls, they delivered messages to Kings and common people. The prophets roamed the halls of power as well as neighborhood streets communicating the message God had given them. Yet Hebrews says that in the last days God has been speaking to us through his Son.
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. (Hebrews 1:3 NIV)
The author of Hebrews is not saying “the last days” is something happening in the future. The author is making a clear connection to the original reader's present moment. Hebrews, just like Acts 2, connects “the last days” to the time in which Jesus lived and died and when Jesus rose from the grave and the Holy Spirit arrived. “The last days”, in the Bible, is not a reference to some future event.
The authors of the New Testament consistently refer to "the last days" in the same way that the book of Acts and Hebrews do. The last days started with the resurrection of Jesus and has carried into our present time. The last days are happening in the lives of early Christians and has been ongoing ever since.
Based on the New Testament’s definition of “the last days” we have all been living in the last days for about 2,000 plus years. Are we living in the last days? Yes because “the last days” is the time period between Jesus’ resurrection and his return.
Another question that comes up when talking about the end times is what is prophecy? For most people prophecy equals making predictions about the future. For many people to talk about prophecy is to do something like what NFL Sunday commentators do. Every week during the NFL season, kind of energy and effort goes into making predictions about how various teams will do. Which team will be the winner and which team will be the loser.
Similarly, our culture makes all kinds of predictions about the stock market. Predictions are made about which stocks are about to make gains or about to fall. The US tests its grade school children to make predictions about how well they are retaining information and what educational issues need to be addressed in the future.
The big problem is that scripture does not seem to share our common understanding of prophecy and prediction making. When you look up the words prophecy, prophesy or the phrase to prophesy in the Bible you discover that about 17% of the time a connection is made, in context, to a future prediction. This means that 83% of the time prophecy, in the BIble, is not about future predictions. If prophecy, in the Bible, is not about a future prediction then what is it?
Prophets in the Old Testament such as Isaiah, Daniel, Ezekiel and Amos arrive in history at a time either before or during the exile. The prophets in the Old Testament are often concerned about the people of God not behaving like the people of God. The prophets spend the majority of their energy and words dealing with whatever the present situation was not on predicting the future.
“The task of prophetic ministry is to nurture, nourish, and evoke a consciousness and perception alternative to the consciousness and perception of the dominant culture around us.” ― Walter Brueggemann, The Prophetic Imagination
In other words the prophecies in the Old Testament are less about predicting the future and more about changing the present. All of the prophets in the Old Testament make a connection that the people of God often seem to neglect. Following God's ways has social implications. An example of this can be found in Isaiah 10:1-2 (1). This text reflects issues that all of the Old Testament prophets bring up over and over again. Isaiah sees that society is not functioning in a God honoring way because the poor as well as orphans and widows are not being treated fairly. Isaiah sees that those with power have used it to oppress those without power. If the powerful have money, food and clothing and laws that work for them then why worry about the needs of others.
Isaiah says that God desires a society in which the poor and disenfranchised are treated fairly which includes reconsidering how laws are applied. This is part of what it means to be the people of God.
Jeremiah brings up the same issues as that of Isaiah.
This is what the Lord says: “Go down to the palace of the king of Judah and proclaim this message there: ‘Hear the word of the Lord to you, king of Judah, you who sit on David’s throne—you, your officials and your people who come through these gates. This is what the Lord says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place. For if you are careful to carry out these commands, then kings who sit on David’s throne will come through the gates of this palace, riding in chariots and on horses, accompanied by their officials and their people. But if you do not obey these commands, declares the Lord, I swear by myself that this palace will become a ruin.’" (Jeremiah 22:1-5 (NIV)
The prophets often pointed out that the nation of Israel was living in denial. As a nation the people claimed to be God's people. Yet their behavior as individuals and the way the laws of the nation were applied revealed a different story. Instead of a society that was shaped and formed around what God desired, the people were following their own ways. They were out of step with being the kind of people that God desired.
They believed that they were God’s people yet their actions proved otherwise. The prophets wanted the people of God to imagine new ways of living. Imagine a society that desired to honor God with how its laws and rules were applied. Imagine a society in which those in power considered themselves servants to those without power. The prophets wanted the people and the powerful to stop living in denial, to grieve what they had done and to live into new and hope filled ways.
Often prophecy, in the scriptures, does two things. It prosecutes rebellious people and it persuades them to change by imagining a new way forward. The prophets wanted the people to know that they were off target and needed to repent. Similarly the book of Revelation is not a book about the future. It is a prophetic book because it expects the people reading it to reimagine their lives.
Revelation 14:9-13 is a passage (2) that wants its readers to consider where their allegiances lie. Are you on team beast or team Jesus. According to Revelation it should be as clear as a mark on your hand or forehead if you follow Jesus or the beast. The passage is not focused on the future but on the present.
The author of Revelation wants its readers, even though times are difficult, to remain faithful to Jesus. Just like the Old Testament prophets, Revelation is all about the present moment being faced by the original readers. Don't give into to the ways of the beast and remain faithful to King Jesus.
The big problem is that scripture does not seem to share our common understanding of prophecy and prediction making. When you look up the words prophecy, prophesy or the phrase to prophesy in the Bible you discover that about 17% of the time a connection is made, in context, to a future prediction. This means that 83% of the time prophecy, in the BIble, is not about future predictions. If prophecy, in the Bible, is not about a future prediction then what is it?
Prophets in the Old Testament such as Isaiah, Daniel, Ezekiel and Amos arrive in history at a time either before or during the exile. The prophets in the Old Testament are often concerned about the people of God not behaving like the people of God. The prophets spend the majority of their energy and words dealing with whatever the present situation was not on predicting the future.
“The task of prophetic ministry is to nurture, nourish, and evoke a consciousness and perception alternative to the consciousness and perception of the dominant culture around us.” ― Walter Brueggemann, The Prophetic Imagination
In other words the prophecies in the Old Testament are less about predicting the future and more about changing the present. All of the prophets in the Old Testament make a connection that the people of God often seem to neglect. Following God's ways has social implications. An example of this can be found in Isaiah 10:1-2 (1). This text reflects issues that all of the Old Testament prophets bring up over and over again. Isaiah sees that society is not functioning in a God honoring way because the poor as well as orphans and widows are not being treated fairly. Isaiah sees that those with power have used it to oppress those without power. If the powerful have money, food and clothing and laws that work for them then why worry about the needs of others.
Isaiah says that God desires a society in which the poor and disenfranchised are treated fairly which includes reconsidering how laws are applied. This is part of what it means to be the people of God.
Jeremiah brings up the same issues as that of Isaiah.
This is what the Lord says: “Go down to the palace of the king of Judah and proclaim this message there: ‘Hear the word of the Lord to you, king of Judah, you who sit on David’s throne—you, your officials and your people who come through these gates. This is what the Lord says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place. For if you are careful to carry out these commands, then kings who sit on David’s throne will come through the gates of this palace, riding in chariots and on horses, accompanied by their officials and their people. But if you do not obey these commands, declares the Lord, I swear by myself that this palace will become a ruin.’" (Jeremiah 22:1-5 (NIV)
The prophets often pointed out that the nation of Israel was living in denial. As a nation the people claimed to be God's people. Yet their behavior as individuals and the way the laws of the nation were applied revealed a different story. Instead of a society that was shaped and formed around what God desired, the people were following their own ways. They were out of step with being the kind of people that God desired.
They believed that they were God’s people yet their actions proved otherwise. The prophets wanted the people of God to imagine new ways of living. Imagine a society that desired to honor God with how its laws and rules were applied. Imagine a society in which those in power considered themselves servants to those without power. The prophets wanted the people and the powerful to stop living in denial, to grieve what they had done and to live into new and hope filled ways.
Often prophecy, in the scriptures, does two things. It prosecutes rebellious people and it persuades them to change by imagining a new way forward. The prophets wanted the people to know that they were off target and needed to repent. Similarly the book of Revelation is not a book about the future. It is a prophetic book because it expects the people reading it to reimagine their lives.
Revelation 14:9-13 is a passage (2) that wants its readers to consider where their allegiances lie. Are you on team beast or team Jesus. According to Revelation it should be as clear as a mark on your hand or forehead if you follow Jesus or the beast. The passage is not focused on the future but on the present.
The author of Revelation wants its readers, even though times are difficult, to remain faithful to Jesus. Just like the Old Testament prophets, Revelation is all about the present moment being faced by the original readers. Don't give into to the ways of the beast and remain faithful to King Jesus.
Living in the last days is not about a bunch of doom and gloom. It is not about attempting to identify how soon the return of Jesus might be. Living in the last days is all about reconsidering our lives. In light of Jesus' resurrection, what kind of life are we living right now. Are we living in a way that God desires or are we living in denial?
1 Isaiah 10:1-2
Woe to those who make unjust laws,
to those who issue oppressive decrees,
2 to deprive the poor of their rights
and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people,
making widows their prey
and robbing the fatherless.
2 Rev. 14:9-13 A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand, 10 they, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.” 12 This calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God who keep his commands and remain faithful to Jesus. 13 Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.”
1 Isaiah 10:1-2
Woe to those who make unjust laws,
to those who issue oppressive decrees,
2 to deprive the poor of their rights
and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people,
making widows their prey
and robbing the fatherless.
2 Rev. 14:9-13 A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand, 10 they, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.” 12 This calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God who keep his commands and remain faithful to Jesus. 13 Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.”
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