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THIS
IS
''THETIMEOF
THEEND''!
by
Clayton Steep
This present world crisis is identified
as the bibl ical "time of the end. " Here is the proof.
W
HY
s houldn 't we
have world peace?
Why not beat weap–
o ns into plowsha res and
pruning hooks? Why not live
in a world of j ustice and uni–
versal prosperity?
Such a world is descri bed
repeatedly by prophets in the
Hebrew scriptures in Jsaiah 2:2-
4 and Micah 4: 1-4, for example.
They poi nt to the end of one age
and the beginning of a magnifi–
cent new age.
Two thousand years ago, those
prophecies were on the minds of
many in the land of Judea a t the
time of the birth of J esus. Events
taking place during the course of
Jesus' life caused a heightening of
expectation. Would the Messiah set
up hi s kingdom then? Many
believed so. The Bible records at
least one occasion when J esus had
to flee because a crowd was prepar–
ing to take him by force and make
him king ( John 6: 14-15).
Even Jesus ' own group of disci–
ples, who listened to all his teach–
ings, didn' t understand. The Bible
records that "they thought the
kingdom of God wou ld appear
immediately" ( Luke 19: 11, RAV
throughou t). So Jesus gave his fol–
lowers a parable. He showed that
before God' s government could be
44
established on earth he would have
to go away and then, after a long
duration, return. Meanwhile, he
told them, they should busy them–
selves, fulfilling certain responsibil–
ities if they wanted to have a part in
tbat governrnent (verses 12-27).
Later yet, after Jesus' crucifix–
ion, burial and resurrect ion, his dis–
ciples still didn't understand. They
tbought surely the time had finally
arrived for his kingdom to be estab–
lished. " Lord, will You at this time
restore the kingdom to Israel?"
they asked. J esus replied that it was
not given to them to know exactly
when that hoped-for event would
take place, but that they should go
and preach the good news of that
future kingdom to all nations (Acts
1
:6-8).
This the disciples began to do,
start ing in Jerusalem. Even as they
spread the message, however, they
continued to believe they were liv–
ing in the "last days."
The " Time of the End"
"Time is running out!" " T he great ,
final crisis at the
el
ose of this age."
" These last days." "These last
times."
" It
is the last hour." "The
end of all things is at hand."
Whose words are these? Jf you
think they may belong to 20th cen–
tury observers anticipating the end
of the age in the foreseeabl e future,
you are only partly right.
The first two phrases are indeed
from recent editions of the
Plain
Truth
magazine. The other ex–
cerpts are from the writings of
Jesus' apostles more than 19 centu–
ries ago.
James, the brother of J esus,
referred to the "last days" as
though they were then extant {las.
5:3). So did the apostle Paul ( Heb.
10:25; Rom. 13:11 -1 2). He left no
doubt in two of his Jetters that he
hoped to be alive at J esus' return (1
Cor. 15:51 : 52;
1
Thess. 4:15-17).
T he apostle Peter wrote of "these
last times"
(1
Pet. 1:20; 4:7). J ohn
and Jude used similar expressions
(1 John 2:18; Jude 18).
1t
was
toward the end of their lives that
these men realized they would die
before Christ came- and they
began to refer to the "last days" as
being yet future (JI Tim. 3:1; 4:6-
8; 11 Pet. 1:15; 3:3-4).
Nor were they alone in history.
For centuries there have been those
who expected in their generation
the end of the age and the coming
of the Messiah to rule on earth.
They publicly proclaimed it. They
intense1y wanted to see it happen .
But in spite of the depth of their
feel ings, what they looked for did
not come to pass- then.
Waiting and Watching
Jesus allowed the early apostles and
his followers through succeeding
The
PLAIN TRUTH