Are We in the End Times?

Are we in the end times/last days? The answer depends in part on what we mean when we use those terms! If we’re referring to the final period of worldwide turmoil just before Jesus returns to earth—the period of time described in Revelation 6–19—then the answer is no. We are not yet in those end times.

But in a broader sense the “last days” can refer to the entire period between Christ’s first coming and His promised return. In Hebrews 1:2 the writer says the “last days” began at the first coming of Jesus. “[God] in these last days has spoken to us in His Son.” But in John 6:40 and 11:24 we’re told the resurrection of believing Jews will take place “on the last day,” pointing to the time of Jesus’ return. Since humanity is still between these two mileposts of history, the period in which we live can be called the last days.

Based on the description given by Paul and Peter, we could very well be nearing the end of the last days.

In 1 Timothy 4:1 the apostle Paul warned Timothy about the “later times” when people will “fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons.” Then in verse 7 Paul told Timothy to “stay away from” these false teachings, suggesting the “later times” were present since these false teachers were already here. But later, in 2 Timothy 3, Paul pictured a time that would become even more troubling as these last days progress. “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come” (v. 1). Paul then lists nineteen specific traits that will characterize humanity as the last days move toward their appointed end.

Peter added one final characteristic of the last days in 2 Peter 3:3–4. He said they will be characterized by the rise of scoffers and mockers who will deny the reality of Jesus’ soon return. “Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming?’”

The increasing godlessness, pride, brutality, and scoffing pictured by both Paul and Peter suggest the climax of the last days will be a time when much of humanity will shake its fist in the face of God in active rebellion. Based on the description given by Paul and Peter, we could very well be nearing the end of the last days.

The “end times” refers to the specific events associated with the end of the age and the return of Jesus to earth. As the disciples asked on the Mount of Olives, “What will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” (Matt. 24:3). We are living in the “last days,” but the events associated with the “end times” leading up to Jesus’ return have not yet begun. And yet, the curtain on the final act of God’s drama could rise at any time!