Are We In the "Last Days?"

     There's so much happening so fast, in so many places, to so many people it seems like the world's coming to an end. People of faith have always wondered if their generation would be the one that witnessed the return of Christ. There's nothing new about asking that question.
     In this episode, Fran walks us into this question through what he calls, "the side door." Instead of the “ front door” of world events, world leaders, and world economies, Fran explores what the Bible says will characterize Christians in the "last days," rather than what will characterize the world.
     You won't be surprised at where this podcast ends, but hopefully you'll be challenged and perhaps even changed...even if just a little...on the journey.

Transcript

Welcome. Well, we’re about 9 months into the pandemic, and about three weeks into the “election-demic.” As a 70-year old guy, I’m starting to stagger under the cumulative accommodation pressure this year has placed on me. My 97-year old grandmother saw the rise of the radio, the automobile, the television, the space program, mobile technology, and the internet. All in her lifetime. She lived through two world wars, the Korean War, and the Viet Nam War. She had all four of her sons and her son-in-law, my father, fighting in WWII. She was our family’s version of “Saving Private Ryan.” But, I can tell you without hesitation that my grandmother never would have believed we’d ever be where we are as a nation. Things seem to be spinning out of control some days. A lot of folks are skin-covered emotional IED’s right now. And, there’s a question simmering just below the surface in the minds of lots of people—especially people of faith. And that question is, “Is this it? Are we in the last days?”

Hi, I’m Fran Sciacca, the host of this podcast, “The Road to Shalom.” An investigation into what the Hebrew word shalom means and implies—the mutual flourishing between all things. Everything being the way it’s supposed to be. Or in the words of God Himself, all things being “very good.” The problem is…they’re not. “Very good,” that is. This show explores a little bit why they’re not, and what it might take for shalom to be restored.

I titled this episode, “Are We In the Last Days?” partly because I’m getting asked that more and more. So, as long as you’re here, let’s take a shot at providing an answer to that question. And, I get to promise you right at the front end, that if you stay with me to the end, you’ll have an answer. But…if I do my job right, it won't be the answer you were looking for, but it will be the answer you need. Intrigued? I hope so.

Okay, so I’m sitting in my office looking at the cover of a small booklet given to me 32 years ago when I was living in Colorado Springs. I figured it would come in handy someday, so I kept it all these years. It’s printed with bright red lettering on the cover, that is in stark contrast to the rather drab light beige paper. When I tell you the title of this booklet, you’ll know immediately why I kept it for 32 years. Are you ready? The title of the booklet is, “88 Reasons Why The Rapture Will Be In 1988.” And the subtitle is even more intriguing, “The Feast of Trumpets (Rash-Hash-Ana) September 11, 12, 13.” I don’t think I need to say this, but just so we’re on the same page, the event this booklet is about, one that some theologians and Bible teachers call “the Rapture,” did not happen in mid-September, 1988. Despite the fact that this little booklet is full of mathematical computations, testimonies from people in other countries who had visions and dreams, hundreds of Bible verses, and was marinated in passionate sincerity. The author believed he was doing the American Church an enormous service by helping her be ready to meet Jesus. He was convinced beyond conviction. He was willing to be a modern day John the Baptizer, and call the nation back to God. He was never in doubt, but of course…he was mistaken.

People have an insatiable curiosity about the future. Everything from the stock market to college football playoff predictions. We love futuristic movies like Interstellar, Minority Report, even the kid’s animation, “Wall-E.” Add to this, that in the world of those who say they follow Jesus, the topic of the future is a veritable golden goose for books and movies. The 12-volume “Left Behind” series is a great example. Over 6,000 pages of dispensational, pretribulational theology dressed-up as Christian fiction. The first volume emerged 7 years after “88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 1988.” And, it’s still alive. In fact, a 25th anniversary edition of that first book, “Left Behind,” just came out just this year.

Christians seem drawn to the study of “last things,” or the “end times.” Or, as it’s known among scholars, eschatology. And that makes perfect sense. It not only deals with human history, but is also centered on the return of Jesus Christ, what the Bible calls our “blessed hope.” Unfortunately for some, the journey from eschatology to a sort of Christian astrology, is a short one. It becomes a portal into the future, which provides the same benefit as classical astrology—power over my destiny. It also, intentionally or unintentionally, creates two types of people: those who “know” and those who don’t. Those who are really in touch with what’s going on. Those who really know how to read the news, and those who don’t. Those who see “signs of the end” that others don’t, because they have the secret insights from the Bible.

Fifty years ago—1970—the year I came to faith, a book exploded on the scene called, “The Late Great Planet Earth.” It painted a very grim, and rapidly approaching prediction about the future of humanity. It was a best seller. That same decade, a couple of other books came out on the topic. One painted Richard Nixon’s Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger as the Anti-Christ. Another claimed that the Universal Product Code—you’d know it as the bar code on every product from avocados to hard drives—was the Mark of the Beast. The so-called evidence was that every UPC contained three “6’s” or “666” embedded in the barcode. One at the front, one in the middle, and one at the end. If you look at any barcode, you’ll see three pairs of longer, thinner lines in it. One at the front, one at the end, and one in the middle. Unfortunately, though not surprisingly, the three “guard bars” that are said to be “6’s” aren’t. You can check that for yourself if there’s a real “6” in the number below the code, and compare. But truth has never been an obstacle for some people. And that group among Christians is apparently growing. The idea is still alive, and some Christians are connecting it to barcodes related to the COVID-19 vaccine release. 

I share all these things at the front end because I want you to know that American Evangelicalism has a very UN-illustrious history of getting nearly everything related to the “end times”… wrong. And, this shouldn’t surprise us. Did you know every time Jesus was asked a question about the “end times” or the “last days,” his response was the same. He never answered the question. At least not right away. Do you know what he said, instead? Every time? “Take care that no one leads you astray.” And the word “astray” here is the same in all the Gospels. It means to wander away from the path. To get lost…slowly. You know what this means? It means that we have a propensity to get this wrong. AND, that there will be tons of people to help us to lose our way. And, as someone who’s been watching the Church for 40 years, I’m here to tell you we really don’t need any help in this. area. We seem to miss the point fine, all by ourselves. 

So, I’m going to suggest that if we’re going to talk about whether or not we’re IN the “last days,” that we don't walk in the large front doors that many people of faith seem to enter by. World events, key world leaders, economic indicators, etc. If you’ve been around me at all, it won’t surprise you to discover that I’m going to take us into this convoluted question through the side door, not the front door. Instead of following the classic formula of examining the world out there to find the clues for our answer, we’re going to start someplace else. You might be surprised where I’M going to begin…unless you know me…then you won’t be the least bit surprised.

So…back to our question, the title of this episode, “Are we in the ‘last days’?” If you’re in a hurry, or you’re parked in your driveway and realize that you’ve got to choose whether to turn off the car, and miss the answer, or stay in the car and miss dinner, well, let me just give you the short answer. Yes, we are in the “last days.” But…don’t quote me on that unless you listen to the rest of this episode.

How can I SAY that we’re in the “last days”? Well, I don’t really have an option, because God said it. I’m just re-posting something that was said in the A.D. 60’s in an anonymous letter WE call the Book of Hebrews in our New Testament. Here’s how the letter opens, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.” Did you hear that? “In these last days, God has spoken to us by his Son…” The writer of Hebrews lays it right out there…the “last days” began with the coming of Yeshua. So, yes, we ARE in the “last days.” Now, you’re probably thinking, “that’s a cop-out.” No it’s not. The larger truth here is that with the arrival of God in skin—the incarnation—Yahweh taking on flesh—we stepped into the final chapter of God’s plan for the fullness of time. The “last days” began. Oh we still are waiting for the return of the King, but it’s not anything like the people in the Old Testament who had to get past David and about 20 other kings, and then wait for the first and second arrival of the Messiah. We’re way past where they were in history. We’re in the “last days.” They were waiting for our day. Now, having said that, the Scriptures also make it clear that this “last days” that we're officially “in” is a little like a thermometer. It’s going to get more and more intense as the end of human history approaches. In other words, the “last days” that Jesus initiated aren’t static. They’re in motion because they’re rooted in time, and time for us is always moving…forward. So, in a very real sense, there’ll come a time when we’re actually in the “last days” of the “last days.” In fact, that’s really what we mean when we banter back and forth about the “end times.” But, there also will come, what the Bible calls, “that day.” That day when the curtains close on “this life,” and we’ll be ushered into what the Bible calls, “the life to come.” With me? Okay, now let’s come in that side door and talk a little bit about the “last days” that we’re in right now.

Beloved, it’s pretty easy to demonize the world right now. It’s happening a lot. Some people seem to see it as a career, and are always eager to franchise their anger and criticism to anyone wanting to open up a shop of their own. And tragically a lot of the demonization is coming from the keyboards and mouths of evangelicals. That’s another episode, but I do have three words I’d like to say about it before we move on: God have mercy.

Okay, So, what I want to do, rather than do a moral audit of the world around us to determine whether we’re moving towards the last days of the last days, I want to look at us. The Church. The people of God…or at least the group of us who claim kinship to Yahweh and Yeshua. Rather than looking at so-called evidence drawn from the moral decline of the culture—which by the way is easy to spot, and even easier to condemn—we’re going to dive into what the Bible says has happened or will be happening among God’s people—among us—as the end approaches. What sort of things actually characterized God’s people in the past, or what sorts of things were predicted to characterize God’s people in the “last days”? I’m absolutely convinced this is the proper approach because of how many times we’ve gotten this wrong, looking at the world instead of ourselves. Remember “88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will be in 1988”?That’s why were not coming in the front door, where we present our Sunday best to the world. Or the back door, where we hide our Monday worst from the world. But, the side door. The one we hardly ever use. The door we don't expect anyone to come through.

So, what DOES the Bible say characterized our spiritual ancestors in their “last days,” and what will characterize US as the end approaches? I’m going to spend our time doing that. I’ll leave it up to you to decide if you know how far along the “last days” thermometer you think we are, or might be. And…which direction you are moving the mercury. So, let’s take a look at some “last days” that already happened, and see what God’s people looked like back then. Who knows, there might be some similarities.

In our Old Testament, the guys who had the unfortunate and highly unPOPULAR task of telling God’s people the truth about themselves, when they were drifting somewhere between losing the plot and losing their minds, were the prophets. And the two times in the history of God’s people when their “last days” in fact showed up, were at the end of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, and the end of the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Like I said, we’re not following the classic model. We’re not going to talk about Assyrian paganism and cruelty, or Babylonian idolatry. Remember, we’re not looking to the world for our clues. We’re looking to the family of God. We’re looking into our family album. Then we’ll look in the family mirror. The prophets tasked with assessing the condition of God’s people during their “last days” were Amos and Hosea for the Northern Kingdom, and Jeremiah, Micah, and Ezekiel for the Southern Kingdom. You don’t need to know all these names. This podcast isn’t a quiz. But…there IS a test. God’s testing His people right now. And it’s  Pass-Fail, in fact.

So, what can Amos and Hosea tells us about what God’s people looked like when THEIR “last days” were approaching? Well, there’s some “heavy weight” sins like human trafficking, and sexual looseness. But, there were also some things that were less visible, and therefore more easily dismissed. Things that would easily go unnoticed, or worse, would simply be incorporated into the fabric of spiritual life, and become part of the worldview of God’s people, because more and more of them thought that way. Sort of the ancient version of modern social media news feeds that are tailored to reinforce what you already think, rather than inform you so you know how to think.

One was getting angry with their preachers if they preached anything about what was wrong with them. What was wrong among God’s people. The people simply weren’t having it. Don’t talk to us about us. Preach and prophesy against “them.” Now, don’t get me wrong. They continued with all their worship services, their tithing, and their singing. They wanted church life to go on as before. They also wanted to live their lives of personal leisure and political safety, but the prophets called them out for leaving Yahweh out of their thinking. How did the prophets know they had wandered from the truth? Well, they neglected the poor in their midst. Okay, I’m guessing that for some of you, your “liberal theology light” is flashing amber right now. Let me clarify a couple of things about the “poor and needy” in the Old Testament. God expressed profound anger towards His people when they neglected the poor, the widow, the orphan, and the refugee. Why? Was it because God was a socialist? Was it because God was a Democrat? It was because neglecting these people was evidence of unfaithfulness to Him. Caring for the poor was God’s barometer for covenant faithfulness. Their neglect of those four people groups—widows, orphans, refugees, and the poor—demonstrated to God that they were not interested in following Him, knowing Him, loving Him, or obeying Him. How can I possibly say this? Because all the things they weren't doing, and all the people they WERE neglecting, God had given clear instructions about in the Law. The fact that they weren't doing those things proved that either they weren't familiar with God’s Word, or worse, were choosing to ignore Him. What was God’s description of His own people as they approached their last days? He accused them of resembling the people outside His covenant family more than Him. Do you know God was never worried that His people would become Canaanites? He wasn’t. His concern was that they’d become “Canaanite Jews.” That they’d become like the people around them, but still go through all the motions that made them look and sound like His people. Yahweh tells us what that looks like at the end of the Northern Kingdom. Listen to His description of what happened to His people:

“Even while these people were worshiping the LORD, they were serving their idols. To this day their children and grandchildren continue to do as their ancestors did.” 

Did you hear that? This is profound, beloved. It means that God isn’t as concerned about who we worship, or say we worship. He’s concerned about who we are serving. Who has our allegiance. Who has our hearts. Oh, their worship was moving right along as usual, but as Yahweh saw it differently, “this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me…” 

They had, in the words of the Apostle Paul, “the appearance of godliness.” And beloved, let me throw this out right here. I don’t think this particular concern of God’s about His people has changed. I think He’s still concerned about the same thing…for US. God is concerned that we'll become like our culture more than our savior. That we’ll slowly become American Christians, rather than Christians who happen to live in America. People who are more shaped by WallStreet and the flag than the Scriptures. Beloved, the pull of culture never ceases. In fact, what happens is it becomes less noisy and visible. It becomes ambient and transparent. For God’s people in the Old Testament era, rather than being distinct within the surrounding culture, the surrounding culture’s values slowly became their own, all the while thinking they were enjoying God’s blessing. And because we tend to chase what we value, and become like what we chase, they became Canaanite Jews. 

Another thing they did that angered God was that they rejected Him as their King. Not publicly, of course. But there was a genuine transfer of trust from Yahweh to political power. From the unseen God to very visible men. They pursued political choices that allowed them to continue their lives as Canaanite Jews. Lives of personal peace and affluent freedom. They trusted in the power of politics to protect them. And Yahweh called them out: “And now what do you gain by going to Egypt to drink the waters of the Nile? Or what do you gain by going to Assyria to drink the waters of the Euphrates?…How much you go about, changing your way! You shall be put to shame by Egypt as you were put to shame by Assyria.” 

They also supported the kinds of people to rule over them who would keep their lives comfortable, rather than lead them back to Yahweh. God calls them out on this too, through his servant Hosea: “They made kings, but not through me. They set up princes, but I knew it not.” Just before Israel in the North’s last days, their economy was the strongest in its history. They had become intoxicated by a booming economy. And God tried to warn them, to no avail, about the destructive power of affluence and ease, when he said to them through Hosea, “When I fed them, they were satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud; then they forgot me.” Those were the “last days” of the Northern Kingdom. Any similarity to our own?

The “last days” of Jerusalem were 150 years after the “last days” of the Northern Kingdom.  But, they were very similar. This time, Jeremiah and Ezekiel were tasked with confronting God’s people to examine their own hearts, instead of being distracted by the upheavals on the global political stage. Babylon had come to power, and was coming to town. One thing God highlighted about His people during this second version of the “last days,” had to do with where they got their information. Who they were listening to. How they were deciding how and what to think, and what to do. Here’s what Yahweh told Jeremiah, “And you shall say to them, ‘This is the nation that did not obey the voice of the LORD their God, and did not accept discipline; truth has perished; it is cut off from their lips.” Truth became distasteful. Then it became disposable. And finally, it became disassociated and marketable. Whoever was the loudest and the most flamboyant garnered the largest following. Listen to the heart of Yahweh in this regard: “Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands far away; for truth has stumbled in the public squares, and uprightness cannot enter. Truth is lacking, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. The LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice.” 

Yahweh told His people that when truth stumbles in the public square, uprightness is barred from entering, and injustice begins to flourish. This is what happens when the truth of God is not valued, taught, and obeyed among God’s people. It’s one of the characteristics of conditions before the “last days” of God’s people in the past. Beloved, make no mistake, truth is foundational to life. Both private and corporate. And for those of us in God’s family album, truth is found in His Word. I’m not talking about isolated verses here and there in the Bible. I’m talking about the redemptive narrative of Scripture. God’s plan for the fullness of time to unite all things in heaven and earth in His Son. When God’s people lose the plot, they lose their way. And when they lose their way, they follow the crowd because it at least APPEARS it’s going somewhere. And if that many people are all headed in the same direction, it must be the right way to go.

Okay, so it looks like God’s family—our spiritual ancestors—had a little difficulty finding their spiritual and moral compass. And, their “last days” came and went. So did their Kings and their kingdoms. But, that’s the past. Do we have any insight about what WE might look like, in our modern era, if our OWN “last days” might be approaching? Well, in fact we do. The apostle Paul, writing in the last quarter of the first century, spoke of a future “last days” and gave us a very clear description of what would characterize believers in those “last days” of the “last days.” Now, disclaimer here at this point. I am not giving you “Twenty-One Reasons Jesus Will Return in 2021.” But I am laying before you God’s description of what will characterize His people—at least a bunch of them—in the “last days.” Where these “last days” fall on our “last days thermometer,” I have no idea. But…it’s a whole lot sooner than it was when Paul wrote it. And even more important, because we have our ancient cousins to learn from, it seems pretty stupid of us to make the same mistake. Don’t you agree? Okay, let’s listen to Paul. Or rather, let’s listen to Yahweh:

“But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.” 

That’s Yahweh’s description of the character of many who have the “appearance of godliness” in the “last days” that hadn’t yet arrived during the days of Paul. These “last days” were still in the future. And, to be clear, I’m not trying to nail down when Jesus is returning. But I am trying to lay open what God has told us in advance will characterize people within the faith community in the “last days.” I’m not interested in a calendar event here. I’m concerned about the condition of the American Church. Something I’ve been speaking and writing about for forty years. So, let’s step into this.

Paul—or rather, God—by the force of the verb here, tells us that this “understand this” thing is something we’re supposed to do…all the time. It’s a command with no end. In other words, we have to keep on getting this right. It’s not an insight. It’s an outlook. And it starts with the realization and perhaps even reminder for us believers, that the the “last days” aren’t going to be a Carnival Cruise. In fact, I sort of get a kick out of the way the translators for the ESV rendered the Greek word, chalopos, in Paul’s comment. They tell us there will come “times of difficulty” The NIV gets a little closer translating chalopos this way, “there will be terrible times in the last days.” Another translation puts it as “perilous.” But, “difficult”? Really? Did you know that this is the same word used to described the demon-possessed man running naked through a graveyard in Matthew’s Gospel? There’s it’s translated, “violent.” Can you imagine this guy on a talk show, being interviewed about what it was like to be demon-possessed and cutting yourself with stones and breaking chains all the time? And the guy responds, “Oh…it was difficult.” Beloved, the “last days” are going to be times of fierceness, times of great stress. They’re not just a little “difficult,” okay? And Paul says, keep telling yourself this. Keep reminding yourself this. Fierce times are ahead. But…what do you think Paul’s talking about here? The economy? The environment? The incompetence of national leaders? Well, he tells us, because the very next word is an explanatory, “for.” Here’s the reason times are going to be fierce. Here’s what you should be remembering to look out for. And the reason is the next word, “people.” It’s a generic Greek word for people, but the reason things are going to be difficult in the last days is because of people. What kind of people? Well, thankfully, Paul seems to be anticipating that question, because he spends the next four verses describing them. I want to jump to the end, and then come back and sprint through the specifics. Near the end of his list of twenty characteristics, he says this, “having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.” Did you hear that? Did it have a little Old Testament echo to it? I’m not going to die for this next statement, but it has enough truth to it to cause us to pause. The word “appearance” refers to the outward life, the profession, the image projected. “Godliness” speaks of religion, or piety, or religion in general. In short, these are not secular people. And the word “power” here is a broad word that encompasses everything from authority to miracle. These are religious people. These are people professing piety and connection to God. But, these are also people who have cut themselves completely off from the power and authority of God. These are modern versions of Canaanite Jews. These are religious people whose lives are more defined by their surroundings that by God. And, Paul ends this section by telling this young pastor, Timothy, to teach his church folks to avoid people like this. Why? What in the world are these people like, that would cause Paul to say this? I’m glad you asked, because he lists twenty characteristics, so that we’d know. 

Now, I’m not going through all twenty. You heard me read them a minute ago, but let’s look at them again. Let me throw a few on the table. Lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, swollen with conceit, heartless, and treacherous. We don’t have time to do justice to this, but let me just tell you that of the twenty descriptors Paul uses, nearly half of them are words describing something that is missing from the person. For instance, “heartless” is a word that means “without natural love for people.” The word, “brutal” is a word that means “without civility or tameness.” It implies a savageness and fierceness. These people are unloving and uncivil in their dealings with others.

But, the family of words that dominate this list have to do with arrogance, pride, and conceit. An attitude of superiority, and inflated view of self-importance. The words behind our English words point to a loud boasting, a projection of being “above” others, and living in a cloud of self-importance. And beloved, the real danger here is not that it’s wrong, even though it is. The real danger—a sobering danger—is that this attitude of arrogant, boastful, verbal pride causes God to be against us! He opposes us. I’m not sure what you think about God having “sides,” but I can tell you without doubt or hesitation, that God has settled this issue once and for all. Both James and Peter affirm this when they tell us, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” God is against the proud. He’s not merely not on their “side,” He’s against them. And beloved, this is true whether you’re a plumber, a preacher, a physician, or a President. 

Beloved, when you look around right now, how would you describe the popular expression of Christianity that America is seeing? If you’re on social media, how would you characterize the posts, reposts, tweets, and retweets made by Christians? Would you say what you’re seeing is characterized by the things God’s says He cares about? Is what you’re reading and hearing known for its Truth? Is it known for pledging its allegiance to the Kingdom of God? Is it known for its care for the widow, the fatherless, the refugee, and the poor? Is it known for its civility? Is it known for its humility? Is it known for its beauty? Is it known for its ability to listen?

Or is what you read and hear known for its hostility? Its conspiracy? Its allegiance to a political party? Its love of self, its love of financial security? Its boasting? Its excess passion and absence of truth?

And finally, and perhaps most importantly, which of these two groups are you a part of? Which of these two groups are you making your contribution to? How much of what God values is at the center of what you say and write? What portrait of God are you painting before the watching and reading world?

Are the characteristics of the “last days” of God’s people in the past visible in our current hour. Unfortunately, yes. Are the characteristics Paul told us to look for in the “last days” present in our current hour? Unfortunately, yes. Make no mistake, the “last days” are coming. They have been on their way since the first Christmas. Are they here now? I have no idea. But as someone who has reluctantly wore the mantle of prophet longer than I have wished, I will not shrink from saying that the behavior of God’s people that characterized the last days of Israel and Judah, and that Paul predicted would characterize the “last days” that are more “last” than those previous, is surely in our midst. To deny it is to be asleep. To say nothing, is to be unfaithful. To contribute to it, is unconscionable. I suspect this episode didn’t help your eschatology. But perhaps it helped clarify your fealty. If it did that…even a little…I am grateful. Shalom.