Time is Short

7 Biblical Reasons Why These Are The Final Days of Earth

Introduction

This booklet was made to create enthusiasm for the study of God’s Holy Word. You may ask why the urgency to study prophecy. Most people say they are saved and going to heaven and have no need to study prophecy. This is true. Millions of Christians have died and have never studied prophecy. The difference is they had no need to study. The “time of the end” was not during their lifetime. YOU, however are blessed by the Lord for some special reason to be counted among His children who are living during the last days on Earth.

People have been crying “wolf” for centuries. So why is this generation different? I want to show you where the Bible lays out 7 distinctive BIBLICAL reasons that indicate beyond a reasonable doubt that we are living at the “appointed time of the end.” I want to also address the age-old argument that many7 use quoting the Scripture that “no man knows the hour or day.”

Hopefully, after reading this, it will inspire you to begin studying God’s Word for the truth that lies within its pages.

Time is short, and if more people would realize how short it REALLY is, they would spend more time in the WORD. But just as in the days of Noah, we are eating, drinking and being merry, our lives going on as if they will last forever. We all wish our children to grow up and live a long full life, get a great job, meet a wonderful partner, have children of their own and be happy. But let’s face it. Only temporary happiness can be found in Satan’s world of sin and suffering. True happiness is found in Jesus and our eternal life in the new heaven and new earth. 

For 6,000 years, God had followed a consistent, orderly reliable, predictable behavior. He is the same yesterday as today. His actions show that He consistently warns us of impending destruction. The pattern was the same for Noah, Judah, Jerusalem, Babylon, Nineveh, Sodom, the Amorites, Israel, (see reason #1 Full Cup Principle), and the pattern will be the same for the final days.

1 Corinthians 4:5 (KJV)

Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts; and then shall every man have praise of God.

“But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled.” (1 Thessalonians 5:4-6)

“Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.” (Amos 3:7)

Men cannot make up laws or rules for prophetic interpretation.  We may only state what the rules are by conducting a careful and prayerful investigation. We will show you how God carefully designed the scenes in the prophecies, how He orchestrated their order, how He knew in advance what He wanted them to mean and how Hw withheld the understanding of the principles by which the prophecies operate until the last generation should arrive. Otherwise, how else would the last generation know they are the final one?

Therefore, if we correctly understand the prophecies in Daniel and Revelation, we will not be surprised like the “thief in the night” scenario. Although we do not know the day or hour of Christ’s return, we can know the timing of events in relation to God’s prophetic clock.

No Man Knows The Hour

I well understand the anguish that 99.99% of Christians have about any discussion on the timing of Jesus’ return. A failed date gives non-Christians something more to scoff at. A failed date gives Christian laymen (who know very little about the Bible) a sense of disappointment and discouragement. A failed date gives believers a sense that their theology is flawed and of course, no one can knowingly live with a flawed theology unless their greater need is to be socially accepted. So, there are plenty of good reasons to avoid discussion about the timing of Christ’s return. It’s a whole lot easier to quote Matthew 24:36 and to terminate the discussion.

Even though I fully understand the issues stated above, I think there is a serious critical oversight on the part of Christians in general.

When Jesus said,” … the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him,” Jesus was not talking about the Second Coming

When Jesus said,” … the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him,”

Jesus was not talking about the Second Coming

“No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. This is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. (Matthew 24:36-43)

Three phrases from these verses deserve emphasis:

1.   “No one knows about the day or hour… but only the Father.”

2.   “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.”

3.   “… And they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two will be in the field…” 

These verses are obviously concerned with the coming of the Son of Man. The point is stated twice. Further, no one but the Father knows the date of Christ’s coming (a singular coming). Second, Jesus says there will be a parallel between Noah’s day and His coming. The parallel is twofold: First, most people will be surprised, and second, many will be lost because of willful ignorance. I believe most people agree that two people can work side-by-side everyday and yet, one will be saved and the other will be lost. This is the meaning and emphasis of these two verses. In other words, it boils down to personal preparation. You cannot depend on the crowd or the charismatic oratory of popular Christian preachers. When end-time events unfold, the people who prepared spiritually will be saved, while many unprepared will be lost. This point is confirmed again in the parable of the ten virgins, which is the last part of this sermon. No doubt, the wise and the foolish virgins were close friends. The only difference between the wise and the foolish was the issue of preparation. When the foolish saw that they were without oil, they went to search for it. Meanwhile, the bridegroom arrived and the wise virgins followed Him through the door and into the banquet. Later, the foolish virgins showed up, but they were rejected. (See Matthew 25:1-13.) The key thought that Jesus emphasized throughout this parable is preparedness.  

The big surprise that Jesus continues to warn us about is not the Second Coming, but the commencement of the sequence of events leading up to His physical appearing. How does the surprise occur? Notice the verse: “But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep. But be alert and self controlled.” (1 Thessalonians 5:4-6)   

I understand these verse to mean that there is no need to be surprised if we are awake, alert and prepared. Centuries earlier the prophet Amos wrote, “Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.”

(Amos 3:7)

Before the flood, life went on as usual. People were not fasting and praying for understanding or preparation. Instead, they were eating and drinking, planning weddings, and living as if the world was only a figment of someone’s imagination. (See 1 Corinthians 7:27.) Were the antediluvians warned of impending danger? Oh, Yes! For 120 years the work and message of faithful Noah irritated the antediluvians. (Genesis 6:3; Hebrews 11:7; 2 Peter 2:5) Were the antediluvians busy with life’s activities? Yes! They went about their daily routines with little concern. The antediluvians were warned, that the end was coming, but none believed. They scoffed Noah like the scoffers today.

So, what did Jesus mean when He said: “… and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away.” In their wildest imagination, the antediluvians did not conceive the enormity or the process of what lay ahead. In their busy and active lifestyles that existed before the flood, the antediluvians did not intimately concern themselves with Noah’s message or his “crazy” activities out on the hillside.

Because it was hard to discern when the conjunction of the new moon was, the Israelites began using two witnesses to sight the crescent moon to begin their new month. Six of the seven feast days began after the start of the month. (The 10^th day, the 14^th day, the 21^st day, etc). The feast of trumpets was the ONLY feast that began on a new moon. Because the conjunction has a window of 36 hours, it was difficult to know exactly when the new moon was in perfect conjunction. The feast of Trumpets was to begin on the FIRST day of the month of Tishri. So this feast became known as “the feast of the unknown day and hour” by Jewish tradition. It is for this reason that we do not know the day and the hour of the sounding of the first trumpet. The feast of trumpets occurs near the beginning of the Great Tribulation.

If we correctly understand the prophecies contained in Daniel and Revelation, we will not be surprised like the thief Although we do not know the day or hour of the beginning of the Great Tribulation, we can know the timing of events in relation to God’s prophetic clock.

Conclusion – Once the Great Tribulation begins, the Bible tells us in Daniel 12 that it will be 1,335 days until Jesus returns. Therefore, it is not Jesus return we do not know, but the beginning of the Great Tribulation.  

[top]