Unless you live under a rock, you've likely been told by an evangelizing Christian that you should repent and give your life to Christ because we're living in the "last days" or "end times."
But are we?
Jesus, in Matthew chapter 24 details the signs of the last days; things we should expect to see when the end is nigh.
And since most Christians are absolutely convinced that we're living in the end times I thought it's a good idea to go over these signs one by one, to be sure we really are living in the end times as stated by the Bible.
The first sign Jesus mentions is that many people will claim to be the Christ and will deceive people (v. 5).
However, according to Bart Ehrman in "How Jesus became God," Jesus wasn't the only apocalyptic preacher of the 1st century. He wasn't the only one who claimed to be the Messiah. So it seems this sign was already fulfilled since when Jesus walked the earth. Perhaps the last days began then.
Also, I don't know about you, but I haven't noticed many people claiming to be the Messiah in this 21st century. So are we no longer in the last days?
The next sign of the end times is that there would be "wars and rumours of wars" because "nation will rise against nation." (v. 6)
I am pretty sure that wars (as well as rumours of them) are as old as time. War has been a way for nations to assert their dominance over each other, as well as a way to gain more resources through the spoils obtained. So as long as different human societies and tribes have existed, war has existed, and will probably always exist. So if war is supposed to be a sign of the end times, what are we to make of the fact that war has always been a thing?
Or did he mean that wars will increase? If so, then he could not be more wrong. Wars have been declining (at least major wars), not increasing. So again, I ask, are we no longer in the last days?
He also says that there will be earthquakes and famines. (v. 7)
Well, there was an earthquake recently in Turkey, so earthquakes are happening. But are earthquakes new?
Absolutely not. Earthquakes are generally caused by the release of energy due to friction between tectonic plates; this means earthquakes are as old as tectonic plates. In short, earthquakes have happened for billions of years, way before humans came around. When Jesus says "there will be earthquakes", I'm tempted to ask "when haven't there been earthquakes?"
So is this really a sign of the end times, or is it just a sign of plate tectonics?
About famines... Just like earthquakes and wars, famines are not a recent phenomenon. They are as old as humanity itself. Scarcity seems to be a part of nature, probably as a form of population control. So famines have always been around.
Anyways, his next sign is that his followers will be persecuted and hated all over the world. (v. 9)
This is probably the most accurate statement on this list because currently, Christians are the most persecuted religious group.
However, even this isn't quite "there", because just like the others, Christian persecution isn't new. In fact, Christian persecution was likely more prevalent in the decades/centuries immediately following Jesus's death because then Christians were only a small minority and weren't really liked by the state. Compared to now when roughly two-thirds of the world's countries are Christian-majority countries. This means that in most countries today, Christians are the ones with political power and can't be persecuted, except when they're persecuted by other Christians (sometimes Christians persecute each other).
Widespread Christian persecution only occurs in a few countries, most of which are Muslim-majority. So to say that Christians are "hated all over the world" is a gross overstatement.
Next, he says people will turn from him and will betray and hate each other (v. 10). The first one seems to be happening. At least, if the internet is anything to go by, Christianity seems to be losing its appeal among many people, particularly young people. However, this is not peculiar to Christianity. Islam is also losing followers (even though it's the fastest growing religion). Religion in general seems to be losing its appeal to many people.
The second one, though...
Betraying and hating each other? I'm sure betrayals aren't new, and neither is hate. In fact, hate seems to be reducing as the world is now generally tolerant and accepting of different types of people, at least much more than it was before.
Jesus also says that false prophets will "appear." (v. 11)
Firstly, "false prophet" sounds like a tautology to me. I would say anyone who claims to be a prophet is already a fraud, so the "false" is unnecessary. Secondly, even if I were to grant that prophets could be real, false prophets didn't just "appear", they have always been around, even according to the Bible. Deuteronomy 13:5 says to put false prophets to death, indicating that they existed at the time. God wouldn't tell them to kill false prophets if they didn't exist then and just recently appeared.
The next verse says that sin will be rampant and the love of many will grow cold (v.12).
Is rampant sin a new thing? Also, no.
God literally had to drown most of the world's population at some point because of how much sin there was. So clearly, rampant sin is not new.
The love of many growing cold? Also not a new thing.
Finally, verse 14, says that the good news about the kingdom will be preached all over the world and this is when Jesus will return and the world will finally end.
This clearly hasn't happened. Although, Christianity is the world's largest religion, it still hasn't reached the whole world. There are still some small isolated communities and tribes that have never heard about Jesus.
So that's it, those are the signs of the end times. Most of these "signs" imply that humans have always been living in the end times, because most of them have always happened. Humans have always experienced wars, earthquakes, famines, etc. Christian persecution is not new, and neither are betrayals or false prophets.
So this list of "signs" is not very informative and is quite frankly, very vague.
Personally, I think this list is a description of things they were currently experiencing. Because the last days were supposed to be then, during the lifetime of the disciples. In verse 34 of that same chapter, Jesus says "I tell you the truth, this generation will not pass from the scene until all these things take place."
"This generation" refers to that generation of believers/disciples; the one Jesus was speaking to. Jesus was supposed to come back while they were still alive.
This belief that the world was supposed to end in their time can also be seen in other parts of the new testament.
James 5:8 says: "You, too, must be patient. Take courage, for the coming of the Lord is near."
1 Peter 4:7 reads "The end of the world is coming soon. Therefore, be earnest and disciplined in your prayers."
It's certain that his followers believed he was to come in their time.
1 John 2:18 even says "Dear children, the last hour is here. You have heard that the Antichrist is coming, and already many such antichrists have appeared. From this we know that the last hour has come."
This verse doesn't even say "last days", it says last hour indicating that the end is so close, that we're pretty much already there.
But that didn't happen, clearly. The world hasn't ended and Jesus hasn't returned. More than 2000 years later.
"To the Lord, a day is like a thousand years."
- 2 Peter 3:8
It seems that this verse was written as a way to rationalise the fact that Jesus hadn't showed up yet. This reinterpretation provided a way to explain to themselves (and to mockers) why the world hadn't ended despite Jesus's promise that it would happen "very soon." As we can see in earlier verses (v. 3-4), they were being mocked by unbelievers that their Messiah had not showed up yet despite all their preaching.
When a strongly held belief is disconfirmed, this causes cognitive dissonance, and rationalisation/reinterpretation can be a way to deal with or minimise this dissonance.
And I think that's what we see in 2 Peter 3:8. A rationalisation of their faith in Jesus's second coming.
Fast forward to the 21st century and Modern Christians continue to preach this same thing, that Jesus is coming soon. Some even believe it's going to happen in their lifetime. They don't know that their predecessors also believed the same thing.
But 2000 years is a long time to be coming soon. Even if 2 Peter 3:8 is correct, 2000 years is already way more than a thousand years.
Jesus isn't coming back.
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