Critically Reading The Signs Of The Times In The Last Days Series

CRITICALLY READING THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES IN THE LAST DAYS

This is an important posting. Please do not tune out and ignore what is happening now at increasing speed. We need to be able to read the signs of the time and that is biblical, from the Lord Himself – {{Matthew 16:3 “and in the morning, ‘There will be a storm today for the sky is red and threatening.’ Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky but cannot discern the signs of the times?”}} The Lord chastised the people for being able to do all manner of things, but they were not able to read the signs of the times.

We live in critical times and dangerous times. Surely you must be concerned about your nation and what is happening in the world? Do things seem to be spinning out of control?

There is such an advance of evil in our times. In fact wickedness advances on steroids. In the free world changes are being implemented at such a rate, it is astounding. Any honest thinking person must ask, “Where is all this going to end?”

WHAT DOES THE TERM “IN THE LAST DAYS” MEAN?

Before we go any further there are a couple of things that need to be addressed. The first of these is the term “IN THE LAST DAYS”. What does this tern mean?

THERE ARE TWO USES OF THIS TERM. The first one applies to all that concerns Israel. For example in this verse – {{Ezekiel 38:16 “and you will come up against My people Israel like a cloud to cover the land. It will come about IN THE LAST DAYS that I shall bring you against My land, in order that the nations may know Me when I shall be sanctified through you before their eyes, O Gog.”}} – the armies of Gog/Magog (Russia, Iran, Libya, Ethiopia and all the nations to the remote north of Israel), will invade Israel.

Every single one of the Old Testament references to the last days – and there are so many of them - are prophetic and concern Israel. They speak of trial, blessing and the coming of the Lord to the nation Israel. Every single one of these references remains in the future and CAN NOT HAPPEN while the Church is still on earth.

Many of them are connected with “the end of the age”. For example, the disciples asked Jesus in Matthew 24 verse 1 what the signs of His coming would be, and when would be the end of the age. The end of the age regarding Israel is when the Lord returns at the Second Coming.

The second use of the term “In the last days” is more New Testament and applies to the last days of the Church age. This verse relates to that time – {{2Timothy 3:1-2 “Realise this, that in the last days difficult times will come, for men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,”}} (etc.)

Let us make that very clear. There are two ways the term “In the last days” or just “last days” is used in scripture. The first use is to the last days of the Jewish age and for the world society. That ends at the Second Coming. It means the end of the age for the whole world and that will end after the Tribulation at the Second Coming when Jesus returns to establish His kingdom on earth.

The second use – usually found in the New Testament references is the last days or the time before the Rapture, when the Lord returns in the air to catch up His believing people as we have in these verses – {{1Thessalonians 4:16-17 “for the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord.”}}

Where are we today? We are living in the Church Age, actually right at the end of the Church Age. This is why it is so important to understand that; we are right at the end. This is not a time to be slack in our Christian witness and living for the Lord. The time is short – very short! Students of bible prophecy know that to be the case.

CHURCHES HAVE FAILED IN BIBLICAL PROPHECY

It is a very sad thing that so many churches neglect the study of biblical prophecy and relegate it to the unimportant. That attitude dishonours God, and Christians who go along with that ought to be ashamed. Those churches have no expectation of the Lord’s return or the redemption of the believers at the Rapture.