analyses and avoid drawing quick conclusions. If one makes a mistake, one should own up to it and correct it, not double down and compound the error. People are watching and can be harmed by bad teaching. What’s more, God is watching and will not bless poor, sloppy, or false teaching.
Additional Evidence
Overreachers, false teachers, poor teachers, cynics, and mockers notwithstanding, we are living in the last days. Of this we need have no doubt.
The apostle Peter told us back in the first century that the church began living in the “last days” on the Day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit enabled the apostles to begin preaching the gospel in languages they did not know. “This is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel,” Peter explained. “‘And it shall be in the last days,’ God says, ‘that I will pour forth of My Spirit on all mankind; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams’” (Acts 2:16-17).
The apostle John, likewise, told us we were living in the “last hour” back in the days when he wrote his first epistle and so many false teachers and false prophets and opponents of Jesus Christ were appearing on the world scene. “Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour” (1 John 2:18).
What’s more, precisely because in recent decades we have seen so many other signs of the last days come true, we can be additionally certain that we are living in the last days. One by one we have seen the signs foretold by the Bible come to pass in our lifetimes. Events and trends that Jesus said would be the “birth pangs”—evidence that a dramatic delivery is increasingly close at hand—are being seen and felt all around us.
We don’t know when the Rapture will happen or when the Tribulation will begin. Nor can we know precisely when the Second Coming will actually occur. Nor should we speculate. To do so is not biblical.
The Scriptures teach us that the Lord will only come when everyone on earth has had the opportunity to hear the gospel and choose to accept Christ or reject him. We are supposed to live with the sense that Jesus could come at any moment. But the Lord will delay until he is satisfied that everyone has had a chance to repent and be born again. Yes, “in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming?’” the apostle Peter told us well in advance. “But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:3, 8-9).
Have you ever heard of the sons of Issachar? The Bible tells us that Issachar was one of the sons of the Hebrew patriarch Jacob. Issachar’s descendants became one of the twelve tribes of Israel. At one point in the ancient history of the Hebrew people, the sons of Issachar were singled out in the Scriptures for being exceedingly observant and insightful about the dangerous and treacherous events that were unfolding all around them, and for being impressively wise about how their country should navigate through troubled waters. We read in 1 Chronicles 12:32 (NIV) that the sons of Issachar were “men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do.” I pray that we find more sons (and daughters) of Issachar in our day, men and women who truly understand the times and know what the United States of America should do before it is too late.
Bottom Line
The Lord Jesus told us that rather than speculate on exactly when he is coming, we should analyze the times in which we live, be aware of the signs, and then be ready, be on
Additional Evidence
Overreachers, false teachers, poor teachers, cynics, and mockers notwithstanding, we are living in the last days. Of this we need have no doubt.
The apostle Peter told us back in the first century that the church began living in the “last days” on the Day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit enabled the apostles to begin preaching the gospel in languages they did not know. “This is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel,” Peter explained. “‘And it shall be in the last days,’ God says, ‘that I will pour forth of My Spirit on all mankind; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams’” (Acts 2:16-17).
The apostle John, likewise, told us we were living in the “last hour” back in the days when he wrote his first epistle and so many false teachers and false prophets and opponents of Jesus Christ were appearing on the world scene. “Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour” (1 John 2:18).
What’s more, precisely because in recent decades we have seen so many other signs of the last days come true, we can be additionally certain that we are living in the last days. One by one we have seen the signs foretold by the Bible come to pass in our lifetimes. Events and trends that Jesus said would be the “birth pangs”—evidence that a dramatic delivery is increasingly close at hand—are being seen and felt all around us.
We don’t know when the Rapture will happen or when the Tribulation will begin. Nor can we know precisely when the Second Coming will actually occur. Nor should we speculate. To do so is not biblical.
The Scriptures teach us that the Lord will only come when everyone on earth has had the opportunity to hear the gospel and choose to accept Christ or reject him. We are supposed to live with the sense that Jesus could come at any moment. But the Lord will delay until he is satisfied that everyone has had a chance to repent and be born again. Yes, “in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming?’” the apostle Peter told us well in advance. “But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:3, 8-9).
Have you ever heard of the sons of Issachar? The Bible tells us that Issachar was one of the sons of the Hebrew patriarch Jacob. Issachar’s descendants became one of the twelve tribes of Israel. At one point in the ancient history of the Hebrew people, the sons of Issachar were singled out in the Scriptures for being exceedingly observant and insightful about the dangerous and treacherous events that were unfolding all around them, and for being impressively wise about how their country should navigate through troubled waters. We read in 1 Chronicles 12:32 (NIV) that the sons of Issachar were “men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do.” I pray that we find more sons (and daughters) of Issachar in our day, men and women who truly understand the times and know what the United States of America should do before it is too late.
Bottom Line
The Lord Jesus told us that rather than speculate on exactly when he is coming, we should analyze the times in which we live, be aware of the signs, and then be ready, be on
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