Conditions of the Last Days Before Christ Comes

"Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; for He is faithful that promised. . . For yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry." Hebrews 10:23, 37.

2 Peter 3:3-7

Men will be obstinately ignorant of God’s will; choosing to remain in rebellion, even when God sends them plain truth

Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, 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." 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: whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: 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. [Through acceptance of evolution and the higher critical approach to theology, people are intentionally ignorant of God as the Creator of all things, the acceptance of which causes them to deny the seventh-day Sabbath as the sign and seal of God as Creator of all things — Exodus 20:8-11; Revelation 14:6-7; Nehemiah 9:6.]

Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope: that say, "Let Him make speed, and hasten His work, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it!" Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink: which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him! Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the Law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. [The fourth Commandment defines God, differentiating Him from all pagan gods, and underscores His right to rule in men's lives.]

Matthew 24:4-8

Calamities of large magnitude happening around the world

And Jesus answered and said unto them, "Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in My name, saying, 'I am Christ'; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows."

Matthew 24:9-10

Religious persecution against those who worship the true God

"Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another." (24:9-10). "For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened." (24:21-22).

Matthew 24:11-26

False doctrines
widely promulgated

"And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many." (24:11). "When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand)." (24:15). "Then if any man shall say unto you, 'Lo, here is Christ,' or 'there'; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, 'Behold, He is in the desert'; go not forth: 'Behold, He is in the secret chambers'; believe it not." (24:23-26). ["False christs are those who claim to be deliverers; false prophets are teachers of false doctrine. Thus this comment covers both the political and religious realms. See also our discussion on the "Mystery of Iniquity."]

Matthew 24:12, 37-39

Deteriorating
social conditions

"And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold." (24:12). "But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." (24:37-39).

James 5:1-6

Financial instability, economic inequity, and labor unrest

Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you. [Lord of sabaoth means the "Lord of hosts" or "Captain of the LORD's army"; cf. Revelation 19:11-16.]

Revelation 13:7-8; 12-17

Almost total apostasy
that results in
religious persecution

And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. (vss. 7-8). And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. (vss. 12-17). [ cf. Daniel 7:19-25 for a prophecy on the origins of this apostate power]

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