What You Should Know about the LAST DAYS: Studies in Eschatology

By MOSES OHIWEREI

The last days are upon us! We're soon to witness the unfolding of the major eschatological events that will climax in the final moment in the history of mankind in this present universe.

However, most people are unawaken to this obvious reality, despite its imminence. This is quite a sad and disturbing observation! In any case, a major percentage of the few who indicate interest in the subject lack a clear understanding of the events of the last days. This is because they haven't done a personal study of the subject from the scriptures, but have relied majorly on somefallacies and hypotheses, which have been passed around over time.

In this book, I present you a well balanced and detailed biblical analysis of the events of the last days in a chronological order.

This analytical and compelling book will enlighten you, and put you on the right track as you prepare for what lies ahead.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Mar 30, 2023
• ISBN: 9781312727489

Book preview

To

Samuel Ohioze Ohiwerei(my first son)

I dedicate this book to you as a gift of my love for you. I pray that the Lord will grant you the rare privilege of understanding His mysteries, and by so doing you may be brought into uncommon intimacy with Him and be set aflame for His course for as long as you shall live here on earth. This, my son, is the best gift a truly loving father can give to his son.

"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth’

2 Timothy 2:15(KJV)

Preface

I believe that God wants us to understand whatever he reveals, otherwise he wouldn’t reveal anything. Thus, the things revealed in the scriptures about the last days can be understood and should be understood. Hence in this book, I have undertaken (by the help of the Holy Spirit) to do a thorough analysis of the events of the last days, as revealed in the Bible, in order to enhance a clearer understanding.

Many people shy away from this subject. But that is playing the ostrich because, whether we admit it or not, these things are determined to happen and will soon begin to unfold right before our very eyes. And having the right understanding of the events of the last days will help us prepare for what is imminent.

I’m not unaware of the great deal of variations among the teachings available about the last days; hence I have conscientiously done a comparative study of the various positions.

You will find this book very revealing and enlightening, as the conclusions arrived at are based on a well-balanced and unbiased analysis of the Bible.

Acknowledgement

It’s with a heart full of love, that I express my sincere appreciation to my three lovely kids: Anita, Samuel, and Victory(Ohis), who typed the manuscript for this book.

Thanks buddies and God bless you, for believing in me and supporting my vision.

Signs of the End-time: Prophetic Timeline

We cannot know the exact date and time when Christ will return: But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but my Father only (Matthew 24:36). But concerning the time and the season, brethren you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.(1 Thessalonians 5:1-2). But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up(2 Peter 3:10) . See also, Acts 1:7 and Revelation 16:15. However, we can know the series of events that will culminate in his coming, just like a pregnant woman cannot tell the exact time her baby will be born, but can tell that the baby is on its way, when she begins to experience the signs of the baby’s arrival. So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near at the doors.(Matthew 24:33)

Jesus spoke of the signs of his return in three phases, which can be likened to the three phases of childbirth: the beginning of birth pains (Matthew 24:3-14), the travail (Matthew 24:15-25), and the appearing of the baby (Matthew 24:26-31)

The Beginning of Birth Pains

As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. Tell us; they said: when will this happen and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? Jesus answered: Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, I am the Christ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of war, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains."

Matthew 24:3-8, NIV

Birth pain (or labor) doesn’t come upon a woman suddenly. It begins gradually and periodically at regular intervals of some hours, and intensifies progressively as the time of delivery draws closer. Finally the woman is in travail, and the baby is delivered. …For as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children (Isaiah 66:8, NIV)

The events listed by Jesus in the above passage, as the beginning of birth pains (that is, the early signs of the end-time) include the following:

> Deception, occasioned by the coming of false prophets and false Christ

>wars and rumors of war

>pestilence

>Earthquake.

We have been hearing of wars and rumors of war - communal, tribal, international, and global -for a very long time. On July 28, 1914, the First World War broke out and lasted till November 11, 1918. And judging by the number of lives lost and its devastating effects, one might think there would never be anything like it again. But alas! In 1939 the Second World War (the Nazi war) broke out at the instance of Adolf Hitler of Germany, and lasted till 1945. About 6 million Jews were said to have been massacred in this war. Since then, the severity and frequency of wars and rumors of war have been on the rise. Tension is once again mounting up around the world for a showdown of military might between nations, as some countries continue to build nuclear and biological weapons, even at the expense of food, in absolute defiance to the United Nations’ call for disarmament of weapons of mass destruction. Terrorism has assumed an alarming dimension the world over.

Earthquakes are now a familiar headline on the news in diverse places all over the world. We now hear of Tsunamis and hurricanes like never before.

Besides war and natural disasters, famine now poses a major threat to human existence in some parts of the world, and pestilences have also become a major cause of concern for mankind. Among the most recent are HIV/AIDS, Lassa fever, Ebola virus disease, and the novel Coroner virus disease (COVID).

The statistical evidence of these signs lead to one indisputable conclusion: the beginning of birth pains is already at its climax; what we shall soon witness is the travail

The Travail

Travail refers to the immediate pain (or labor) of childbirth. In Matthew 24:15-22 Jesus spoke of the tribulation, which in our analogy is the travail:

Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation; spoken of by Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place (whoever reads, let him understand). Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! And pray that your flight may not be in the winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor, ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened".

Matthew 24:15-22.

The tribulation period is a time of great and unequaled distress. I will discuss more on this in chapter four.

Christ’s Return

Travail is immediately followed by the birth of a child … for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children. (Isaiah 66: 8, NIV). In Christ’s own words, he will return immediately after the great tribulation.

"Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light;

the stars will fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of man

will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of man

coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory"

.Matthew 24:29-30;Mark 13:24-27; Luke 21:25-28

The Two Critical Signs

Jesus left us with a promise to return and take us to himself: Let not your hearts be troubled: you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself; that where I am you may be also. (John 14:1-3). Other scriptures, where Jesus also spoke of his return include (but not limited to) the following: Matthew 24 and 25; Mark 13; Luke 21; Luke 17:22-37, and Luke 18:8. After Jesus had ascended into heaven, two angels appeared to his disciples as they kept gazing into heaven, and said to them, Men of Galilee, why do stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven" (Acts 1:11)

But years had gone by now (about AD 51) since Jesus ascended into heaven, and some of the believers had fallen asleep (died) and many were being persecuted; yet Christ had not returned as promised. This became a source of worry for some of the believers, especially those in Thessalonica, who were still very young (about two to three years old) in the faith. Hence Apostle Paul (together with Timothy and Silas) wrote to them, to address their worries:

"Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep or to grieve like

the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again

and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep

in him. According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive,

who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who

have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down

from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel

and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up

together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words"

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (NIV).

However, many in the Thessalonian Church were confused about the timing of Christ’s return, and misunderstood Paul’s letter. They interpreted the letter (1 Thessalonians) to mean that Jesus could come at any time, and because of mounting persecutions they thought the coming of the Lord must be immediate. As a result many became idle and disorderly, with the excuse of waiting for the Lord’s imminent return.

(See 2 Thessalonians 3;6-12). So in quick response to this misconception of his first letter, (which was delivered just few months earlier), Paul wrote a second letter to the Thessalonian church, to set the records straight. So, 2 Thessalonians is a continuation of the discourse on the subject of Christ’s return in 1 Thessalonians.

In this second letter (2 Thessalonians), Paul directly addresses the misunderstanding about the timing of the events that will culminate in Christ’s return. In doing so, he unveiled two critical events that must immediately precede Jesus’ return: these two events are the falling away and the revelation of the Antichrist (the man of lawlessness or sin).

"Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you,

brothers, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter

supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come.

Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way for that day will not come, until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doom to destruction. He will exalt himself over everything that is called God or worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple,

proclaiming himself to be God."

2 Thessalonians 2:1-5 (NIV)

The Falling Away (the Rebellion)

This is the first of the two critical signs that will immediately precede Christ’s return.

The falling away describes a time of rebellion or apostasy, when many believers will deviate from true Christianity, as were already witnessing today. Jesus spoke about it in Matthew 24:10-12 as a time when:

(i) Many will turn away from him.

(ii) Many will betray and hate one another.

(iii)Many false prophets will appear and lead people astray.

(iv) sin will be rampant everywhere.

(v) The love of many for God and the brethren will wax cold.

Scriptures speak further about the falling away in the following passages:

(a) 1 Timothy 4:1-2 (NLT):

Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from what we believe; they will follow lying spirits and teachings that come from demons. These teachers are hypocrites and liars. They pretend to be religious, but their consciences are dead.

(b) 2 Timothy 3:1-5 (NLT):

"You should also know this, Timothy that in the last days there will be very difficult times, for people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control, they will be