Part Two
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DIVINE ENCOUNTER (RENEWAL FELLOWSHIP) 

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TOPIC: THE SIGNS OF THE LAST DAYS TEXT: 2TIM. 3:1

PART 2  

SO THEN WHAT DO WE MEAN `IN THE LAST DAYS'?  

            "And it shall come to pass in the last days..."Acts 2:17 . As we now progress into a more detailed consideration of the phrase "the last days" or "later times" as it appears in certain portions of the Scriptures, we need to gain a better understanding of the fact that, this word cannot be applied to just a future occurrence alone of perhaps our days or that which is yet future. It is pertinent for us to remind ourselves that, as touching the parousia - presence of Christ, as He rules and reigns in the affairs of men, it is not a matter of His supposed second coming that will enthrone Him as a King. For in His reply to the high Priest's question " - with the living God looking on, you must tell the truth. Tell us, are you the Messiah, the Son of God"? Math.26:63 CEV. Jesus said, "the words are your own ...moreover, I tell you that from this time onward you wil I see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven" (Vs.64) Jb. See also Lk.22:69. Mind you, the Jews were expecting the Messiah to come and establish the Kingdom of God as opposed to other ruling Kingdoms, such as the Romans even in the days of Christ. Again, notice that the word "Son of God" is one of the titles used for the Kings of Israel. So here we found that Jesus admitted to the fact that He is the long prophesied Messiah (compare Mk.1:34, Math. 16:16 ) and that His rulership starts from this time onward while He was talking to the high priest. But how? It is because He knew that He will be leaving the judgment hall to the cross, and His death and resurrection will bring Him to the throne of His Father David (Lk.1:30-33). This is confirmed by the words of Peter on the day of Pentecost when he quoted King David (Ps. 16:8+) in relation to the resurrection of Christ and the power that should follow "...I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for He is at my right hand ... therefore being a prophet and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh (2Sam.7:12, Rom 1:3), He would raise Christ to sit on His throne, He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ. ...For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he (David) saith himself, The Lord said to my Lord: sit thou on my right hand, until I make thy foes thy foot stool" Acts 2:25 -35. Again, Paul by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit confirms this rulership `from now on' until all things are subdued unto Him when he said, "for the (Christ) must reign till He hath put all enemies under His feet. ...And when all things shall be subdued unto Him, then ...God may be all in all" ICor.15:25-28. "...Then God will mean everything to everyone" CEV. So what we should be talking about is a progression of the reign of Christ `now onward' as a King and not His supposed Second Coming. For in the words of Isaiah "...of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end upon the throne of David and upon His Kingdom..." Isa.9:6-7. In the interpretation of the King's dream of the great image, Daniel said as touching " - the stone that smote the image (and) became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth ... In the days of these Kings (Babylon to the Roman empire when He was born) shall the God of heaven set up a Kingdom, which shall never be destroyed (no break, stoppage) and the Kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these Kingdoms (man's dominion) and it shall stand forever" Dan.2:31-45. Thank God, the Christ I serve is the King today and forever. A-M-E-N! In the same vein, we have stated in Part 1 that a proper Eschatology should not be limited to things which are future at some particular time in human history, but should be concerned with things to come in relation to predictions whether fulfilled or unfulfilled at a given time, which could be realized at various levels. This could be seen in the passages below.  

A CLOSE LOOK AT THE WORD - LAST DAYS

            In Gen.49 when Jacob called his children to tell them (the tribes) what will befall them IN THE LATER DAYS (V.1) He said unto Rueben "thou art my first son, my might and the beginning of my strength, the Excellency of power; unstable as water, thou shall not excel; because thou went up to thy father's bed; then defilest thou it, he went up to my couch" (vs.3-4). Now you can agree with me that this `later days' of Rueben has nothing to do with you or me. It can only be understood in the context of the time the predictions about the future of Rueben were made. And this is `eschatology'. Again observe that, the word is `later days' which speaks of a period of time to which these predicted events would take place. Now the time the predictions were made and when they had their fulfillment constitutes the `later days'. When these events had a fulfillment in the life of Rueben is not our concern here in this study, but let it be noted that in John's vision of the sealing of the twelve tribes of Spiritual Israel, Rueben is not given the leading place, but is named second, after the tribe of Judah - Rev. 7:4,5.

            Again in Math.24:37-39, Jesus likened `His days' to that of Noah. "But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be..." Now apart from the life style of the people (Gen.6:13 violence - eating and drinking, marriage and giving in marriage) that characterized the period in question, the era covered a time period of about 120 years (Gen.6:3) in which Noah preached his message that men might repent of their evil ways. In a similar vein, when Jesus spoke of His days, it was in direct connection with when He started His message of the Kingdom and the 40years that followed with the continuation of the preaching of the message of the Kingdom by His disciples especially to the Jews that they might escape the judgement of the Lord upon that nation, which rounded up in the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70. So you see, that 40 years period that the Gospel of Christ was preached were the `days of Jesus' for in His words "...this generation (of the Jews living at that time) shall not pass, till these things (the destruction of the temple etc. Math.24:1-3) be fulfilled" Math.24:34. So eschatologically, the predicted events took place as indicated by the words of Jesus.  

WHAT THEN IS THE `LAST DAYS' OF JOEL 2:28?

            "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out of my spirit upon all flesh..." Joel 2:28. But Peter quoting this on the day of Pentecost as a fulfillment said "But this is that which was spoken by the Prophet Joel: And it shall come to pass IN THE LAST DAYS, saith God, I will pour out of my spirit upon all flesh..." Acts 2:16-17. Now get the word right. What do we mean by `in the last days? ' It simply means in the midst of the last days. That is when the last days are on, the Lord will pour out of His Spirit upon all flesh. So what last days was that? Simply the last days of the Jewish order, the 40 years period when Christianity existed side by side with Judaism even after the death of Christ, before the final destruction. The writer of Hebrew to the Hebrew Christians confirms this when he said "In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but IN THESE LAST DAYS, He has spoken to us by His Son. ---We must pay more careful attention, therefore to what we have heard, (this letter was written by Paul in AD 63-67 before the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70) so that we do not drift away. For if the message spoken by angels (the law of Moses - Gen. 3:19, Gat 3:19 ) was binding, and every violation and disobedience, received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation which was first announced by the Lord (Acts 10:37 ) was confirmed to us by those who heard Him (the disciples.) God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles (Acts 2:18 -19, 5:12 , Mk. 16:20 ) and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to His will" Heb.1:1-2, 2:1-4 NIV. So Joel's `last days' covers the period of the preaching of the Kingdom message; right from the days of John the Baptist, the birth, preaching, death and resurrection of Christ, the out pouring of the Holy Spirit, the existence of Christianity side by side with Judaism, till the final destruction of the temple, thereby putting away once and for all the Levitical priesthood to be replaced by the Melchizedek order of a royal priesthood in Christ (Heb.7:11-12, 1Pet.2:9)

            In line with the above, the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled today when he said "And it shall come to pass IN THE LATER DAYS that the Mountain of the Lord's house (God's Kingdom inaugurated in the days of the Kings of Dan.2. See V. 28) shall be established in the top of the mountains (other Kingdoms and governments before the inanguration) and shall be exalted above the hills (Cities) and all nations shall flow into it" (Isa.2:2). Even as His power will never end; PEACE will last forever" (Isa 9:6-7CEV). Therefore "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth PEACE: (because of His Kingdom) good will toward men" (who please God) LK 2:14 . He will reign until all forms of rebellion (through h Adam's fall Gen. 3:14) is brought under His control (1 cor.15:22-28). So "...that God may be everything to every one" (v.28 RSV). Then "the last days" of the mountain (Kingdom) of the Lord, which may be called `the kingdom age' should have come to an end as we enter into a New day of God's redemptive/creative process.

To be continued.            OGAGA O. DAVID

 

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