Last Days?

Yep, we are in the Last Days. However, according to a clear and simple reading of Scripture, "these last days" began when Christ ascended to Heaven.

Standing up with the eleven, Peter raised his voice and said to them, "Men of Judea, and all who dwell in Jerusalem, try to understand this, and listen to what I say. For these are not drunks, as you seem to think -- it's only 9AM! What you see here was spoken by the prophet Joel: 'And it shall come to pass in the Last Days, says God, that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh...'" (Acts 1:14-17)

God spoke in from time to time in past, in various ways, to our forefathers by the prophets. In these Last Days, He has spoken to us by His Son... (Hebrews 1:1-2)

It's also referred to repeatedly by Jesus and Paul as "this current age" as opposed to "the age to come." There are certain distinct differences between the two ages. In this age:

• "homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, fields and persecutions" (Mark 10:30)


• "the people of this age marry and are given in marriage" (Luke 20:34)


• secular and religious rulers dominate without comprehending the will of God (1 Corinthians 2:6-8)


• ungodliness and worldly lusts are typical (Titus 2:12)

These things will all change when Christ returns. The coming age:

• persecution will end, and all normal human relations will be completely changed (Mark 10:30)


• "no forgiveness for blasphemy against the Holy Spirit" will be forgiven (Mt. 12:32)


• lives will be eternal in the fullest sense (Mark 10:30; 1 Timothy 6:19))


• no marriages, no childbirth (Luke 20:34-36)

It's been the "Last Days" for the past 2000 years. If you are going to use biblical terms, make sure you have those terms properly defined. It gets altogether tiring to have every new bad guy -- Stalin, Gorbachev, Hussein, Ahmadinejad, etc. -- assigned the title of Antichrist and fresh cries of "we are in the Last Days!" Of course we are, but it has nothing to do with current events. The newspaper does not interpret Scripture. People who write up news stories are seldom Bible believers.

(Special thanks to Dr. Kim Riddlebarger whose Amillenial Lecture was a primary source for this post.)