What is 'the end time,' exactly?

Here are a few random things I've been meaning to get to. First, some definitions.

I was writing the Prophecy Newsletter yesterday and explaining what the 'end time' is, and it occurred to me that it might be good to put on here too. The term comes from, in part, Matthew 24:1-8, when the Disciples asked Christ about the end of the age. They were sitting on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem at the time so Jesus's answer, one of the longest He delivered anywhere in the New Testament, is called The Olivet Discourse. The NASB's header to the beginning of His answer is:

Signs of Christ’s Return

"Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. And He said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.” As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many. You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs."

So when the disciples came to Jesus when they were on the Mount of Olives, they asked him three things; when will You come, what will be the signs of Your coming, and what will be the signs of the end of the age? If Jesus's answer in Matthew 24 was to be ONLY the time of the Tribulation, He would not have included the sign of the Temple being thrown down, something that happened about 40 years later. Matthew Henry commentary explains, "The prophecy first respects events near at hand, the destruction of Jerusalem, the end of the Jewish church and state, the calling of the Gentiles, and the setting up of Christ's kingdom in the world; but it also looks to the general judgment; and toward the close, points more particularly to the latter." This is because the end time is technically the time between His first coming (Ascension) and the Second Coming (Return). The prophecy as Henry says points particularly to the latter period because that is what birth pangs do. A woman does not feel the pangs throughout her entire pregnancy, but at the end when the birth is about to occur and gestation is over.

Now, there is "Day of the LORD" spoken of in the bible (1st use, Isaiah 2:12). Depending on the translation, it is mentioned between 23 and 27 times throughout the Old and New Testaments. Barnes Notes explains, "The Day of the Lord" is any day in which He avengeth sin, any day of Judgment." However, all of human history is hurtling toward one particular Day of the Lord, the LAST DAY! God has judged many times in the past, in discrete moments, such as the earth swallowing Korah (Numbers 16:30-31), and in wide-open moments such as the Flood which swallowed the whole earth (Gen 7:6). But the Day of the LORD spoken of by the prophets in most cases refers to a 7-year period of judgment in which God will judge sin. It is also known as the Time of Jacob's Trouble (Jeremiah 30:7). We get the word 'Tribulation' from Matthew 24:29-"Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken."

There is also referred to the time of 'distress.' It's from Daniel 12:1, the angel tells Daniel, "Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued."

There will come a moment when the LORD dissolves the world and heaven (2 Peter 3:10) and makes a new one (Rev 21:1, Isaiah 66:22).

So the end time is a long period of devolving creation that meets the time of tribulation and ends with the one moment the LORD dissolves the world and makes a new one. In very rough, general terms.

Since Jesus likened the time to a woman in birth pangs it is instructive to look closely at His analogy. The gestational period is long, but we can see by the baby bump outside the mother just how things are progressing. When the signs indicate that the gestation period is nearing the end, we expect other signs, such as the baby moving lower, and the water breaking. The actual birth begins when the labor pangs grow in intensity and frequency, but no birth can be timed exactly. Some women are in labor for a day, others for three days. So at all phases of the gestation, labor, and birth, we can see the signs but  not know the lengths of the periods it will take to complete. Even the last day, His Second Coming, will not be a day known in advance, but a day that no one knows the day nor hour. Only the general imminence.

As we see the signs grown in intensity and frequency, we wait for the water to break, which in my opinion, is the rapture. The sudden bursting-in of the LORD into this world and physically removing His church will be a dramatic moment in which all earth's inhabitants will know something extraordinary has happened. After that, the events described in so many of our Old Testament and New Testament books will again alert the populace that something supernatural is happening. It will all happen faster and faster until the dramatic moment when the lights go out (Mt 24:29), and after an unknown period (Mt 24:36), likely a very short period, HE COMES to judge the earth.

So that's the end time. Are you ready?
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