The Message of the End of the Last Days,as Revealed in the Bible The End-Time Message In the Old Testament Genesis Judgment by Water Genesis chapter six records the history of the flood-judgment by the hand of God because of the human race's disobedience to God and violence throughout the earth. But Noah, a just man, and eight members of his family were saved by the preparing of the Ark; and through its use, the human race has been saved up to the present time. (Gen. 6:5-22; 7:7, 12; 9:1; 1 Pet. 3:20; 2 Pet. 3:6-7) God warned that judgment by fire would one day come upon the earth, not unlike the judgment by water, when violence and unbelief should again fill the earth. (2 Pet. 3:7, 10) Jesus predicted that the end of the last days would be like Noah's day, that the people would commit heinous crimes and fall into the deepest of sins. (Matt. 24:37-39; Luke 17:26-27) Sodom and Gomorrah In the nineteenth chapter of Genesis, the Lord God judged and destroyed the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah because He could not find even ten righteous men there. (Gen. 19) The wickedness of the earth our day is worse than the wickedness of Sodom, should we be compared with it. Jesus predicted that the end of the last days would be like it was in the days of Noah. (Luke 17:28-30) This tells us that the judgment of God is at hand. (2 Pet. 3:3-7) Proverbs “Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you. Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh.” (Prov. 1:23-26) In Proverbs, God warned that judgment would come upon the people, and they must receive reproof and teaching before these tribulations come. They shall come at a day of calamity upon all those who scorn the words of God's revelation. (Prov. 1:20-22, 26, 27-33) Isiah “I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment. For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.” (Isa. 63:3-4) The judgment of God in the last days, which Isaiah the prophet predicted, shall be fulfilled in the coming days of vengeance against the enemies of God who persecute God’s people.(Isa. 34: Rev. 6:15-16; Rev 19:11-16) Jeremiah “Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.” (Jer. 30:7) The prophet Jeremiah warned that there will be tribulations for God’s people. But there is hope of salvation for them, despite the tribulations. The time of Jacob's trouble is a time of trouble for all the saints of God. (Lk. 21:33-36; Joel 1:14-20) Ezekiel “And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house. And he said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go ye forth. And they went forth, and slew in the city.” (Ezek. 9:5-7) The prophet Ezekiel said that the judgment of God would be poured out upon the house of God in the last days. However, those who are sealed with God’s mark on their foreheads shall suffer no harm from it. This calamity might be called “the slaughter-house” tribulation. Ezekiel predicted that God would call forth the nations of the north for great wars in the last days. (Mt. 23:13-33; Rev. 17:3-5) Daniel From King Nebuchadnezzar to the Last Days: “Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.” (Dan. 2:34-35) “And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him,” (Dan. 7:27) The prophet Daniel revealed God’s plan for the kingdoms of the earth, which plan extended from the time of king Nebuchadn-ezzar to the judgment of the last days. (Dan. 2:36, 45; 9:25-27) Jesus Christ is the great stone. At his second coming, he shall smite the kingdoms of this world and reign with His people over all the nations of the earth. (Dan. 12:2-3) “I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.” (Dan. 7:9-10) The Holy and Mighty Lord, who is without sin, sits on the throne. This passage shows the fearful judgment from the throne that is prepared by Him. Everlasting God shall judge the wicked, and Christ shall reign upon the earth. (Rev. 20:11-15) Tribulation Such As Was Not Since The Beginning Of The World “And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.”(Dan. 12:1) The prophet Daniel revealed that there will be great tribulation at the end of the last days throughout the whole earth, such as has never been since the beginning of the nations. In Matthew 24:15, Jesus taught eschatological matters (events of the Last Days) to his disciples on the mount of Olives, and it had to do with Daniel prophecies. (Matt. 24:21-22; Dan. 12:4; Isa. 34:1-7; Zeb. 1:6-18; Lk. 21:34-36) Obadiah “The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground? Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the Lord.” (Obadiah 1:3-4) Nowadays, atheists who are depending on science and its ability even to conquer outer space are making their voices heard saying that there is no God. They are even now building space stations where they shall make their habitations, but the Lord shall bring them down. The Lord of the world and the Sovereign Lord God of the universe shall judge the ungodly. (Rev 16:16) Nahum “God is jealous, and the Lord revengeth; the Lord revengeth, and is furious; the Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies. The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.” (Nahum 1:2-3) These words are is written about the final judgment against the enemies of God. Nahum testified that God will indeed bring vengeance upon the wicked of the earth for their evil deeds. (Isa. 63:1-4; Rev. 20:11-15) Zechariah “And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God.” (Zech. 13:8-9) The prophet Zechariah predicted the judgment and final salvation of the remnant of Israel which shall remain at the end of the last days. The Jews persecuted and blasphemed Jesus Christ and His Second Coming. In this judgment, the Lord shall permit the destruction of two-thirds of them by the invading armies, but one-third shall be saved and believe on Christ when he appears and stops their annihilation. (Zech. 12:10-11) “Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.” (Zech. 14:1-4) The physical location of the Second Coming of the Lamb, the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings, shall be at the mount of Olives, where Jesus ascended into heaven after his resurrection. That day, the day of Christ’s glorious return, the wrath of the Lamb shall indeed be fulfilled. It will take place at the final Great War preceding the millennial reign, the terrible war of Armageddon. (Rev. 16:12-16; 19:11-16; Mt. 24:30; Rev. 6:15-17; Acts 1:9-11) Malachi “For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.” (Mal. 4:1) The prophet Malachi warned that there will be a fiery-furnace judgment against the wicked at the end of the last days. The wicked shall be burnt to ashes in this judgment fire: not only their branches, but their roots, too. The judgment of the Lord is a fearful thing indeed. It shall suddenly come upon the proud and the wicked, but those who fear the Lord shall enjoy freedom and protection from these things, for the Sun of righteousness shall arise with healing in his wings, and they shall go forth as calves out of the stall. (Mal. 4:2; Mt. 13:43; 25:46; 1Peter 4:17-18) The End-Time Message In the New Testament Second Thessalonians “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.” (2 Thes.2:3-4) And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.” (2 Thes. 2:8-10) Apostle Paul warned strongly that Satan’s Antichrist shall come against the saints with great power, signs and lying wonders. (2 Thes. 2:3, 4) Because of this, many lukewarm Christians shall be seduced to depart from Christ by the deceiving teachings of the Antichrist, who shall teach that there shall be neither judgment nor punishment of sins. On the Day of Judgment, God shall say to them: “Depart from me, ye that work iniquity!” (Matt. 7:21-23; Eze. 9:5-7; Mt. 23:13-33; 1Peter 4:17-18) First Peter “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?” (1Peter 4:17-18) The judgment at the end of the last days shall start with the church, where people are trying to live for God. The object of the beginning of this judgment is not the gentile nations, but the worldly church. (Ezek. 9:4-8) Through great tribulations, there shall be a separation between the wicked and the righteous in the Church. (Rev. 2:20-24; 2:6, 14-16; 3:1, 15-20) Second Peter “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” (2 Pet. 3:10-13) Peter speaks of the judgment of all things by God at the time of the end. Our God is the Creator and Sovereign Lord of all things, and He is the one who judges the whole world. Now we look forward to His glorious new heaven and new earth with the eyes of faith, and the Second Coming of our Lord in the near future. (Rev. 8:5; 11:19; 16:17-20; 20:7-10) Jude “Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.” (Jude 1:7) Sexual immorality will be more wide-spread at the end of the last days. This lowering of moral standards to the level of crass pleasures and immoral lust totally corrupts society and ends up in total spiritual collapse. (2Peter 2:6-7) Nowadays, Satan is threatening the churches with legalized abortion, homosexuality, fornication, drugs, alcohol and humanistic secularism. Many of God's workers are being lulled to sleep by worldly pleasures: adultery, covetousness, and haughtiness. Many of the Christian leaders' morals and ethics are in shambles, and they must repent of their sins! God shall not allow them to continue on in His service while wallowing in their sins. (Mt. 7:21-23; 2 Pet. 2:1; 1Cor. 6:18-20)