Are We Living in the Last Days?
| (Image courtesy of davidjeremiah.blog). |
“Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons…” (1 Timothy 4:1).When I was a senior in high school, I went to an FCA football camp at Taylor University. My parents dropped me off; I didn’t know a single person, although the camp was filled with a couple hundred boys my age. The unique part of the experience is that I was one of maybe a handful of light-skinned folks. The rest of my fellow campers were from Chicago public school systems; someone had paid their way to attend. Many didn’t know the Lord, but it was a great opportunity for them – and for me.
One day my roommate and I woke up to prepare for the day. His skin was much darker than mine (which isn’t saying much). I put on my sunscreen and he put on his. I was surprised. My presupposition already being tested, I asked him: “Do you get sun-burned?” He graciously smiled and said, “Yeah. It just doesn’t show as much as yours does.”
I have found myself a minority several other times in my life. In western Christianity today, I am in the minority when it comes to views of the End Times (Eschatology).
Many Christians are looking at the news today and thinking the day of the Lord’s return is imminent. Some have even labeled their anti-Christ figure as either Trump or Biden (or Obama). I don’t believe these sorts of things are beneficial. Of course, Christ is alive in heaven and will come again. But the hermeneutic of some of these over-enthusiastic Christians needs to be curbed. It seems to create only giddiness and anxiety based mainly on a poor reading of the text. (The Left Behind movies have sensationalized this trend even more in recent decades.)
Take the “Great Apostasy” of 1 Timothy 4:1, for instance. Paul is not writing this personal letter to Timothy to tell him of future events that will happen 2,000 or more years later and that have no relation to him personally. The entire letter is personal, and while some things have eternal application (i.e., chapter 3), some do not. 1 Timothy 5:23 is not used as a principle for all ailments, for instance; it is merely personal wisdom passed on to Timothy.
Previously in the letter, Paul has already alerted Timothy to false teachings, false teachers, and those who have had shipwrecked their faith (1 Timothy 1:3-7, 18-20), so the apostasy was already present in Timothy’s day. Blood moons, eclipses, and the rise in persecutions of Christians in the west (which is already present in other parts of the world) ought not to frighten us.
Furthermore, the biblical concept of “The Last Days” always means the days between Christ’s first advent and his second advent; his first coming in Bethlehem and his second coming in glory. We have been in the Last Days since Christ’s advent over 2,000 years ago.
Frankly, I’m weary of American Christians promoting the idea that what is happening in American politics and society is the central fulfillment of biblical prophecy. The Church has endured persecution and false teachers since Christ’s time on earth, and she will continue to endure them until he comes again. Let us be faithful to him, eagerly waiting for his return, but let us not grow anxious or too confident in our end time’s predictions. Jesus himself says, “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only” (Matthew 24:36).
I have found myself a minority several other times in my life. In western Christianity today, I am in the minority when it comes to views of the End Times (Eschatology).
Many Christians are looking at the news today and thinking the day of the Lord’s return is imminent. Some have even labeled their anti-Christ figure as either Trump or Biden (or Obama). I don’t believe these sorts of things are beneficial. Of course, Christ is alive in heaven and will come again. But the hermeneutic of some of these over-enthusiastic Christians needs to be curbed. It seems to create only giddiness and anxiety based mainly on a poor reading of the text. (The Left Behind movies have sensationalized this trend even more in recent decades.)
Take the “Great Apostasy” of 1 Timothy 4:1, for instance. Paul is not writing this personal letter to Timothy to tell him of future events that will happen 2,000 or more years later and that have no relation to him personally. The entire letter is personal, and while some things have eternal application (i.e., chapter 3), some do not. 1 Timothy 5:23 is not used as a principle for all ailments, for instance; it is merely personal wisdom passed on to Timothy.
Previously in the letter, Paul has already alerted Timothy to false teachings, false teachers, and those who have had shipwrecked their faith (1 Timothy 1:3-7, 18-20), so the apostasy was already present in Timothy’s day. Blood moons, eclipses, and the rise in persecutions of Christians in the west (which is already present in other parts of the world) ought not to frighten us.
Furthermore, the biblical concept of “The Last Days” always means the days between Christ’s first advent and his second advent; his first coming in Bethlehem and his second coming in glory. We have been in the Last Days since Christ’s advent over 2,000 years ago.
Frankly, I’m weary of American Christians promoting the idea that what is happening in American politics and society is the central fulfillment of biblical prophecy. The Church has endured persecution and false teachers since Christ’s time on earth, and she will continue to endure them until he comes again. Let us be faithful to him, eagerly waiting for his return, but let us not grow anxious or too confident in our end time’s predictions. Jesus himself says, “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only” (Matthew 24:36).
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