The Last Days and a Clue About its Timing

The apostle Peter had a lot to say about the culture of the last days—how society would be thinking, acting, and going about their lives.

In Peter’s day— some two thousand years ago—the early church would have been excited about Jesus’ return. They would have thought, Wow! Jesus is coming! I can hardly wait to see Him again! But clearly, that is not the case today. With spiritual insight, Peter looked ahead to the culture of the day when Jesus was about to return and described a fleshly people who scoffed at the return of Jesus. Truer words were never spoken.

2 Peter 3:1-3 (NKJV)

Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts.

Notice the tone of Peter’s writing. He calls you His beloved in verse 1, which is an intimate description. In the Gospels, Peter instructed us to pray that we might be counted worthy to stand before the Son of Man, but here in 2 Peter, he no longer tells us to pray to be counted worthy. He says we are His beloved because we are in Him. As we read in the Epistles, we are reading about “as He is, so are we in this world” (1 John 4:17).

Then in verses 2 and 3, Peter goes on to talk about the end times and tells us what to expect. He nailed it in the next verse when he quoted what people would be asking.

 2 Peter 3:4 (NLT)

 What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.

In other words, Peter prophesied that in our day—just before Jesus comes—people would be saying, “Enough already. I don’t believe Jesus is coming back. It’s been 2,000 years, and He hasn’t come yet.”

That same thinking has even crept into the Church. I’m sure you have heard Christians flippantly say, “Nah, I’ve heard that Jesus is coming soon all my life.” Well, yes! That’s exactly right. You have heard all your life that Jesus is coming back because He is coming back.

Before I would go to bed at night at as a little kid, my mother would tell me, “The Rapture could happen tonight!” As the lights went out, I would say, “Lord, I love You!” because I didn’t want to miss the Rapture. You also have a choice when you hear the message of Jesus’ return. You can respond haughtily or humbly. You can say, “Yeah, whatever, I’ve heard it all before,” or you can say, “Lord, I love You.”

 The whole purpose of the Tribulation is to catch all those people who are haughty or hardheaded and who don’t know whether to believe in Jesus’ return or not. During the Tribulation, there will be fireworks of every kind going off for seven years—judgments, seals, vials, and undeniable signs that cannot be ignored. The Lord loves people—the whole world past, present, and future—so much that all sorts of events will transpire to turn their hearts to Him that they would be saved from eternal hell.

God tells us through Peter precisely what the cultural climate will be like before the Church leaves this earth in the Rapture.

2 Peter 3:5-7 (NLT)

 They deliberately forget that God made the heavens long ago by the word of his command, and he brought the earth out from the water and surrounded it with water. Then he used the water to destroy the ancient world with a mighty flood. And by the same word, the present heavens and earth have been stored up for fire. They are being kept for the day of judgment, when ungodly people will be destroyed.

Peter says people will have forgotten about the flood that occurred during the days of Noah. Scoffing, they will ask, “Hey, where is the promise of the coming?” They did not realize that change came when no one believed change was coming. Imagine that.

 Can you also imagine what it was like for Noah to be called to preach something no one had ever seen before? That would be kind of a bummer. The Lord told Noah, “Oh, by the way, you’re going to preach about rain.”

 “What’s rain?” Noah asked. Up until then, the earth was watered by the dew.

God explained, and Noah responded, “Oh, great! I get to preach on something people have never heard of and won’t understand.” Sure enough, when Noah began to preach, people mocked him. Hebrews 11:7 (NLT) says:

It was by faith that Noah built a large boat to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him about things that had never happened before. By his faith Noah condemned the rest of the world, and he received the righteousness that comes by faith.

 The word warned in the Greek is the word krimatasio, which means to be divinely instructed. Noah was divinely instructed that the flood was coming, and so he preached. You would think people in Noah’s time would have paid attention to the signs around them, especially after the animals started coming in together. You would think they would have been like, “Hmmm, something is up. As crazy as Noah is, he’s got a pretty good caravan of animals arriving in pairs.” I’m sure they asked themselves a few questions when signs started appearing. Nevertheless, it is amazing that he preached and preached, and people only mocked him.

The truth is, the Bible says the climate today would be just like that. And it is. We encounter scoffing, mocking, and disbelief all around us. At the same time, signs abound, and the day of Jesus’ return quickly approaches.

 It’s weird, but even Hollywood movies sense and convey what’s ahead better than the Church does. There are so many movies about vampires and zombies because even unbelievers feel an ominous change and a resurrection coming, and that’s their way to interpret it. There is a change coming! The Church will depart and seven years later, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords will return to earth with a scepter of righteousness to set up His kingdom. We Christians will be right there with Him riding on white horses. What a view that will be! We who call Jesus Lord will return to planet Earth and see firsthand the brightness of His glory. These events even now are lining up before our eyes.

A Clue about Timing

We are living at a time when the gospel is being preached all over the world, and nations are moving into position for the Tribulation that happens after the Church is raptured. We are privileged to be alive and witness these prophetic events unfold. Look at the clue Peter gives us about timing.

 2 Peter 3:8

 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

If you do the math, your 80-year life is like a two-hour movie to the Lord. So, squeeze in all you can! There are 2,000 years from Adam to Abraham, 2,000 years from Abraham to Jesus’ coming, and 2,000 years from the First Coming to the Second Coming. That totals 6,000 years, and everything you and I do revolves around that format. Our week follows that format. We have six days in our week, on the seventh day we rest, and then we start over again. The Earth itself follows the same pattern. Peter’s point to believers by the Holy Ghost is that there is only a small window of time before Jesus returns.

The Bible gives us many more time clues. For example, Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:27-35. Most Christians enjoy the parable as a lesson about helping those who are down and out, but in this simple parable, Jesus also paints a dispensational picture about the timing of His return. After caring for the injured man, the Good Samaritan took him to a local inn. Luke 10:35 says, “And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.” The amount of two pence is significant.

In Matthew 20:1-16, we are told that a pence, or a penny, was a full day’s wage. That means the Good Samaritan—representing Jesus—gave the host enough money for two days. Jesus was giving us insight about the timing of the Church Age.

 In Luke 13:31, Jesus gives us another clue. We read how Jesus was teaching along and certain Pharisees told him to get out of town before Herod heard about Him and killed Him. Jesus said, “Go tell that fox that I will keep on casting out demons and healing people today and tomorrow; and the third day I will accomplish my purpose” (Luke 13:32 NLT). Jesus is still casting out demons and healing people today through His body, and on the third day He will accomplish His purpose and return.

There are several more examples in the Bible of Jesus talking of His own return, but here’s the bottom line. We are at the end of 6,000 years of human history, and change is coming. Planet Earth itself has been getting ready in the past 100 years. Even today’s technology has surpassed all expectations. Everything has sped up to get the message out that Jesus is alive and well and coming soon.

A Fall from Steadfastness

A few verses further on in 2 Peter 3, the Lord tells us to beware as we recognize the hour we’re in. He says there’s something important we must do! Peter already prepared us that we would live in a time of scoffing and mocking. He prepared us that we would be surrounded by people who were lovers of self and not paying attention to Jesus’ return. He realized that even Christians would become callous, so what advice did Peter give?

2 Peter 3:17 (NKJV)

You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked.

Peter cautions us to beware when we see signs of Jesus’ return. Anytime you see beware in the Bible or anywhere else for that matter, you need to pay attention. Peter said beware or watch out that you’re not led away by the error of the wicked and fall from your own steadfastness. What is the “error of the wicked”? Their error is that they think life will just keep right on going as it always has. But beware! Change is coming— big change.

 Some 2,000 years ago—beforehand—God inspired Peter to warn us that if we don’t watch it, the error of the wicked will creep into the Church. How right on was that message?

In these last days, the Church needs to think like an athletic team with a two-minute warning. When you are playing sports— football, soccer, basketball, or whatever—you know when the clock is ticking down. You don’t think, Hey, let’s chill! You think, I’ve got to work harder! I’ve got to do whatever it takes to score and do it fast! Everything changes when you’re running out of time.

At the two-minute mark in American football, teams have special plays they have rehearsed so the quarterback can come to the huddle or to the line to call audibles. At that point, the team members don’t worry about how tired they are. There’s no complaining or murmuring. Could you imagine a team needing to score a goal in the final seconds of a game and one of the guys saying, “Can we slow down a little? My knees hurt!”

The rest of the team would say, “Hello? Seriously? Quit whining about your knees! We’ve only got seconds left to score!”

An athlete’s mentality changes when he or she is trying to cross the finish line and running out of time. The thought pattern becomes all about making every second count to finish and win.

Church, it’s time to watch the clock.

“Where is the clock and how do we read it?” somebody might ask.

Israel is the timepiece, and the clock is ticking down!

That’s why Peter said not to “fall from your own steadfastness.” Think about it. A person cannot fall from something if he or she was not already there in the first place. You have been steadfast because you are in the body of Christ, and you know who you are in Him.

That’s why the teaching revival of the past 45 to 50 years has taught the Church the message of faith, so we’re not moved by how we feel in these last days. God has sown the Word so strong in our generation that we are not moved by anything.

You’ve no doubt heard 20th-century apostle of faith Smith Wigglesworth quoted saying, “I’m not moved by what I see. I’m not moved by what I feel. I’m moved by the Word of God that’s real.” That has been deposited in you and me, and that is the steadfastness Peter told us about. That is how strong and solid Peter said we need to be as we walk out these last of the last days.

Six times in the Bible we are told the condition we need to be in before the Rapture:

1 Corinthians 15:58 (NKJV)

My beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

Why is that a big deal? Noah was preacher of righteousness, and in righteousness you will be established or made to stand. That’s why, right before the Rapture of the Church, Peter instructed us to be steadfast and immovable. He was saying that as you live in the time all these verses are coming to pass, don’t you dare be casual about the will of God.

We all know people who say, “Jesus is coming soon? Yeah, whatever. I’ve heard it all before.” Forcibly reject that sort of thinking! We must say, “No! I am steadfast. My King is coming back.” The Bible admonishes us to preach to one and another about Jesus’ return because we are warned that in the very climate people don’t believe, Jesus will return!