The
Bible teaches that the "last days" are finished. Many readers will find
this hard to accept as, I did. The reason we are
surprised is that we confuse the last days (plural) of the Jewish nation with the last day
(singular), that glorious day when Jesus will return. The last
days are really the period of time between the ministry of Jesus and
the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.An examination of the Scriptures
shows that there are five references to the last days (Acts 2:17; 2 Tim 3:1; Heb 1:2;
James 5:3; 2 Pet 3:3) and two referring to the last times (1 Pet 1:20; Jude 18). In four
of the seven, the author considered that he was living in the last days. For example,
Heb.1:2 states that Jesus ministry on earth was in the last days. This does not make sense,
if the last days come just before the Second Coming. However, if
the writer of Hebrews is referring to the last
days of the Jewish nation, it makes a great deal of sense. When we remember that
Hebrews, James (1:1), and Peter's letters were written to Jewish Christians and that
Timothy was a Jew this really makes sense; all the references to the last days were in
epistles written to the Jews. They would have understood that they were in the last days
of their nation, at the time when they received these letters.
This means that Scripture references to the last days have already
been fulfilled. They don’t describe a future event, so it is futile to
believe that we are living in the last days.
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The claim that we are in the last days is really quite arrogant
(especially in an age when the church is so flabby). It is saying
that the modern church is going to complete everything that God
has planned for the church in this age. We might be surprised at
what God has got planned for the Church.