End Time Insights

According to Moses, “ When the prophet speaks in the name of Yahweh and the word does not come to pass, that is the word Yahweh has NOT spoken .” If this guideline remains applicable, many churches have embraced an interpretive school of prophecy that does not represent what the Bible says, namely, Dispensationalism, and this is demonstrated by its long history of failed predictions, speculations, and expectations.

Jesus compared the final years before his return to the days leading up to the Great Flood. “ Just as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be ” when the “ Son of Man ” returns. Some commentators take this as a prediction of the return of the same conditions existing in Noah’s day, the repetition of the moral anarchy and violence that prompted God to send the floodwaters.

From the beginning, the activity of the Spirit dominated the life, words, and deeds of Jesus of Nazareth. He was “ Jesus, the one called Christ ,” the “ Anointed One ” and the long-awaited Messiah of Israel. When an angel informed Joseph that Mary carried a child “ conceived of the Holy Spirit ,” it indicated that something far more than a miraculous birth was about to unfold. He was and is the true Man of the Spirit.

The death of Jesus inaugurated the messianic age with consequent changes in the status of God’s people . In his epistle to the Assembly in Galatia, Paul declares that his apostleship originated from the same God who raised Jesus from the dead, the Messiah of Israel who gave his life to “ deliver us from this evil age .” His declaration anticipates his proposition in the body of the Letter that the arrival of Jesus changed the status of the Law for the people of God, the “ children of Abraham .”

An angel commanded Daniel “ to close the words and seal the Scroll until the season of the end ” after the last of his visions. In contrast, the Scroll is open in the  Book of Revelation , and its contents are unveiled. Daniel was told to “ seal the Scroll ,” but the angel commanded John  NOT  to seal the Scroll. The verbal parallels are deliberate, and  Revelation  informs us that the time of fulfillment has arrived, and the Book is open.

The last book of the New Testament begins with the phrase, “ Revelation of Jesus Christ .” It is a message for his “ servants ,” namely, the “ Seven Assemblies of Asia .” It concerns “ what things must come to pass soon ,” information that is vital since the “ SEASON IS AT HAND .” Because of its importance, the Book pronounces the man who “ reads it, and they who heed the words of the prophecy, BLESSED ” – (Revelation 1:1-3).

Popular preaching often claims that Jesus commanded his disciples to “discern the times and the seasons” so they may know when the end of the age draws near. They must know and understand the “signs” so they can be prepared to meet Jesus on his return. Though we may assume this is an established fact, Jesus never stated anything to this effect. At no place in the New Testament does he command his followers to know all the times, signs, and seasons. He taught them something rather different.

In the  Book of Acts , the application of Joel’s prophecy to the events in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost links the initial outpouring of the Spirit to the start of the “ Last Days .” The activity of the Spirit beginning on the Day of Pentecost and continuing thereafter is essential for understanding the rapid spread of the Gospel from Jerusalem to the  center of the Roman Empire, a process that must continue until the “ arrival ” or ‘ Parousia ’ of Jesus at the end of the age.

Paul links the start of the “ Last Days ” with the death and resurrection of Jesus. The time of fulfillment arrived, and all God’s promises now find their “ Yea and Amen ” in the risen Savior. Similarly, the Letter to the Hebrews declares that “ in these last days ,” God has “ spoken ” His definitive “ Word ” in His Son who now sits at the “ right hand of the Majesty on High .” History reached its pivotal point in the life, death, and resurrection of the Son of God.

The Book of Revelation ’s first paragraph declares its purpose is to show God’s servants “ what things must come to pass ,” and it specifies the timing of those “ things ,” namely, “ soon ” and the “ season is near .” The “ things ” referred to are detailed in John’s visions, including information about Satan’s war against Jesus and his “ saints ” that is waged through his earthly agents, the “ Beast ,” the “ False Prophet ,” and “ Babylon, the Great Whore .”

The Assembly of God is the battlefield where the final war is being waged between the Lamb and the Ancient Serpent, the Devil . The Book of Revelation is addressed to seven first-century congregations in the Roman province of Asia. It deals with their real-life situations and trials. In the process, it presents messages relevant to all the assemblies of God throughout the present age, the period known as the “ Last Days ” which began following Calvary. The daily struggles of the Asian churches provide a microcosm of the great cosmic battle that is being waged between Jesus and the Devil.

Because the timing of the end is known only to God, the disciple of Jesus must be prepared every moment for his sudden arrival . Moreover, Jesus did not command his followers to know the timing of his return and the “ end of the age ,” nor did he provide them with keys and “signs” by which they can decipher the time of his “ arrival ” or ‘ parousia .’ Instead, he exhorted them to be prepared every day since his return will come just “ like a thief in the night .” Only his Father possesses this knowledge.

Paul claimed that the source of his apostleship was the same God who raised His Son from “ among dead ones ” (literal rendering). This same Messiah died and was raised from the dead to “ deliver us from this evil age .” In  Galatians , The Apostle was responding to certain “ men from Jerusalem ” who were operating in the Assembly as if the old era was still in effect, insisting that Gentiles must be circumcised and keep the Jewish calendar, and challenging Paul’s Apostolic authority and credentials.

The New Testament promises that Jesus will return to the earth at the “ end ” of the present age. His glorious “ arrival…on the clouds ” will result in the judgment of the ungodly, the resurrection and vindication of the righteous, the arrival of the New Creation, and the termination of death. Thus, it will be an event of great finality.

In his first epistle, John declares it is the  Last Hour , a period elsewhere in the New Testament called the “ Last Days .” As evidence of this, he points to the presence of false teachers who are disrupting the congregations under his care. These deceivers are the products and instruments of the “ Spirit of Antichrist ” that is active already in the world, and these very same men are forerunners of the final “ Antichrist ” who is yet to come.

Paul argued that adopting the rite of circumcision would constitute regression to something rudimentary, and an earlier stage in the redemptive history of God’s people. If Gentile believers did so, they would be obligated to keep the whole Law, and they could easily find themselves “ severed from Christ ” - (Galatians 5:1-4).

The use of Joel’s prophecy by Peter on the Day of Pentecost links the arrival of the Spirit to the start of History's final era. With the Spirit’s outpouring, the “ Last Days ” began in earnest.  The Gift of the Spirit is the “ Promise of Father ,” and an integral part of the  New Covenant  prophesied in the books of  Jeremiah  and  Ezekiel . Its arrival pointed to a fundamental change of eras - The time of fulfillment had commenced  - (Joel 2:28-32, Acts 2:17-21).

Fifty years ago, I was influenced greatly by the bestseller, ‘The Late Great Planet Earth.’ In it, I read how last-day prophecies were being fulfilled before our eyes in the daily news headlines. All the “signs” indicated that I was a member of the “last generation” that would live before the return of Jesus. The Antichrist, Armageddon, and the Millennium were just around the corner.