Sign of the Times (Part IX)

By Moonings

Peter's Description of the Last Days

The passage we have just discussed mentions in passing that the most popular teachers in the church of the Last Days would tell fables rather than the truth. Some of these fables are described in the book of 2 Peter.

1 This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in [both] which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance:2 That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour:3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
2 Peter 3:1-7

Here, Peter warns us that in the Last Days, scoffers would arise in the church who would aggressively challenge the doctrine of the Second Coming as well as the Biblical account of origins.

Like Paul, Peter sets the time of apostasy in the future. He says, "There shall come [future tense] scoffers" (v. 3). More precisely, this time would arrive when "the fathers" have long since departed. Who are these fathers? In context, they must be the prophets and apostles who originally announced and disseminated the promise of Christ's coming. It is evident that the scoffers would not appear until a time in the distant future.

Notice that the scoffers regard the founders of the church as their own spiritual fathers. It is evident that in the Last Days a profound disbelief in the teachings of the Bible would be prevalent even among those who consider themselves to be Christians.

A passage similar to Peter's discussion of the future apostasy occurs in the Book of Jude.

17 But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ;
18 How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.

Again, verb tense illuminates the author's meaning. By saying, "There should be [literally, 'will be'] mockers in the last time," Jude demonstrates that his understanding of the last time agrees with Peter's. He conceives of it as a time in the future when there would be a plague of false teachers and false believers, serving their own lusts rather than God.

The many warnings in the New Testament that the final state of the church would be inglorious, as it sank ever deeper into corruption, are intended to strengthen the few believers who would remain in the Last Days. An understanding of their disheartening circumstances eases their suffering and loneliness. It assures them that God's program for the Church Age has not collapsed in failure, but has unfolded exactly as He said it would. It helps them to guard their own integrity against the many threats which have overthrown the integrity of others. And, finally, it encourages them to rejoice that the Church Age will soon be over, when Christ comes to assert Himself as King of the world.