Are we living in the last days?

Question: Do you think we are living in the last days? I do, but some people don’t. I had dinner last night with girlfriends and one of them said she did not believe it at all, that people have always said that. I did not say anything, just that I think we are.

Answer: Your friend is correct, that there have been Christians in nearly every era of the church who suspected that the end was near. However, our own era has seen some events that seem singularly unusual. For example, we have seen the resurrection of the Jewish state of Israel. This is very important to the fulfilling of prophecies surrounding the last days. Daniel 9, if I understand it correctly, depicts the antichrist making a treaty between Israel and her neighbors that allows her to live in peace and rebuild the temple. This assumes that she has her own state again. The other thing that is unusual about our era is our ability to communicate globally. Revelation 11 indicates that the whole world will see the death and then resuscitation of the two witnesses who previously could not be harmed. Our satellite communication makes this literally possible only in our era.

However, it is also true that God can unmake all these conditions and remake them again a hundred years from now or whenever He chooses. He is not limiting Himself by the present conditions of the world. When He deems that it is time to bring it to an end, that is, the present world order, He will do so. Our job in the meantime is to be ready and watching, as Jesus instructed, and serving our Master with all our hearts.

 

One reader’s response: Hello, would you be interested to know that the ancient writings “Revelation of Jesus Christ” and “Daniel” have been opened and reveal that the LORD returns in October 2011? If this is not important to you then please disregard the friendly memo. http://3woes.wordpress.com/

My reply: It is important to me, but I must protest that these books were never closed, and they do not indeed give us a date for the return of Christ. I hope it is in October of 2011, but I will not put my trust in any date. Matthew 24:36 should not be understood as allowing that we can know the month and not the day or hour. That interpretation would be going against the intention of the Lord to declare that his coming time will remain a mystery. (Not surprisingly, the reader’s webpage is no longer available)