Parky60 Loc: People's Republic of Illinois

3 REASONS I DON'T WE ARE IN THE END TIMES... YET

Reason #1: The 10 kings/kingdoms ruling much of, if not the entire world, must occur before the Antichrist’s arrival on the world stage (Dan:7:24).

This 10-king system will likely take many years to develop, as major geopolitical changes will need to take place first.

The Antichrist will be opposed to the 10-king system initially, after which he'll defeat 3 of the 10 (Dan 7:8, 20, 24), with all 10 kings pledging loyalty to the Antichrist and receiving royal authority (Rev 17:12, 17), thus changing the system into a theocracy (Rev 13:12, 15). This starts at the midpoint of the 7-year period known as the Time of Jacob’s Trouble (Dan 11:36-40, Matt 24:15-22, 2 Thess 2:3-12).

Therefore, we are awaiting the establishment of the 10 kings/kingdoms, probably located around the Mediterranean Sea (Dan 7:3). We are also waiting for the Antichrist to conquer that yet future system. And while all those events could take place quickly, it would seem reasonable to assume a decade or more would be needed before even the first events could take place.



Reason #2: Israel is currently not ruled by a world empire.

If you believe that the first 6 heads of the dragon in Rev 13:1-4, 17:3, 7, 9-11, are a picture of Egypt, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome (as many conservative scholars do), then the 7th and final head of the beast, the one with the 10 kings, will need to rule over Israel, because ruling over Israel is arguably the one thing a head of the beast must do, typologically speaking.

Ruling Israel is the thing that connects the other 6 empires in history, which is almost certainly why they are singled out from other Satanically inspired kingdoms (Dan 2,7, Rev 17:10-11).

Therefore, since the 10-king system is a precursor to the Antichrist (Dan:7:24), it means that Israel will need to be ruled over by the 10 king system significantly before the Antichrist first comes on the scene. And since Israel is currently a sovereign nation, many events will need to take place before these other events can occur.

Reason #3: Contrary to popular belief, the birth pains have not yet begun.

The “birth pains” in Matthew 24:4-8 (false christ’s, wars, famines, earthquakes), as well as the other events in Matthew 24, such as martyrdom (v.9, 21-22), celestial disturbances in the sun, moon, and stars (v.29), and resurrection (v.30-31), seem to be mirrored in the opening of the seals in Rev 6-7: The Antichrist (v.1-2), wars (v.3-4), famine (v.5-6), martyrdom (v.7-11), celestial disturbances (v.12-17), and resurrection (v.7:9-17). All of which seems to line up with the signs that announce the start of the Day of the Lord in the Old Testament (Joel 2:31).



If this is the correct interpretation, then the birth pains cannot have been occurring already, as many evangelicals teach, but instead the birth pains are prophecies of specific events, which will occur over a very short time period, probably starting at the beginning of the 7-year period, with the strengthening of the covenant, and the starting of the daily sacrifices (Dan 9:27). This will be directly followed by the Antichrist’s wars of conquest (Dan 11:40-12:1, Rev 6:3-4, Matt 24:6-7).

Therefore the main argument used by those attempting to prove that we are in the end times (that the birth pains are occurring now), is a bad, and even dangerous interpretation, because if you believe that the first stage of the 10-king system is the Antichrist’s system, when it isn’t – it may be evil, but it will not be ruled by the Antichrist until just before the midpoint – then you will be more likely to cheer the Antichrist as he appears to liberate the world, including Israel from that evil system.

This deception would be especially potent if the AC claims to be the messiah, supposedly fulfilling messianic prophecies, such as Isa 11:14-16, and other such prophecies of messianic conquests, not coincidentally, of the same nations mentioned in Dan 11:40-45.

Zemirah Loc: Sojourner En Route...

End Times, Last Days, Latter Days, End of the Age?

(Hebrews 1:1-2)

1 "On many past occasions and in many different ways, God spoke to our fathers through the prophets.
2 But in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe. (Berean Study Bible)

1 "God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways,
2 hath at the end of these days spoken unto us in his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds;" (American Standard Version)

1 "Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets.
2 And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe." (New Living Translation)

What is a Biblical explanation of the difference between these phrases?

Quick summary: They all mean the same thing.

End times (as that phrase) is not found in either The Authorized King James or the New International Version of the Bible. It is found in Daniel as “time of the end.” The Hebrew word translated as time (transliterated Hebrew word: ayth) can mean either time of an event or an occurrence while the word translated as end (transliterated Hebrew word: Qets) refers to end of time or the end of a space (i.e., end of the hall).

End of the Age is found in The New International Version of the Bible. The same text is translated as End of the World in the King James Bible. It is used only in the New Testament. The Greek words (transliterated Greek words: aion suntevleia) consistently translated as end of the world or age can mean “completion or consummation of” the following: eternity, the worlds/universe, or period of time/age.

Latter Days (found only in the Old Testament) and Last Days (found in both Old and New Testaments). In the Old Testament, the same Hebrew words are translated as either last days or latter days. The word for latter or last means “end, latter time for prophetic future time, or last/ hindermost. (tyrxa)The word for days is the common word for the day found throughout the Old Testament including Genesis where God creates the world in a period of days (yowm). It can mean day as opposed to night, a 24 hour period, a division of time, a working day, plural days can mean a lifetime, a time period (general) or a year.

How it is translated depends on the context. In the Greek New Testament again the King James translators are consistent. The word translated as last (eschatos) means the end of or last in a series or the end of space. The Greek word for days (hemera) is similar to the Hebrew in that it can refer to a particular day or days as in a lifetime or period of time.

The next step is a bit of a comparison. The words translated as last or end are similar to our English last or end. We might say “He’s at the end of the line.” Or we might say, “He’s last in line.” The meaning is essentially the same. The words translated as day/days/age/or the world can all mean a period of time or in some cases space. We can assume then that that all the phrases are different ways of saying the same thing.

https://amazingbibletimeline.com/blog/bible_timeline_end_times/

Matthew 24:3-14:
"As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. 'Tell us,' they said, 'when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?'”

Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you.
For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many.
You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.
Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.
8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.

“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.
At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other,
and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.
Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold,
but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.
And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

Parky60 Loc: People's Republic of Illinois

I'll be succinct.

Actually we've been in the last days, end times, etc. since Jesus left the planet.

To clarify, my comments were about that period of time that Jesus and the books of Daniel and Revelation among others warned us about just prior to His return and how they're all intertwined.

Zemirah Loc: Sojourner En Route...

Thank you, Parky,

I knew you knew that.

I think the seeming disparity in wording relates to Psalm 90:4 and 2nd Peter 3:8.