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“End Times” hysteria is popular and comes in waves. A big deal on April 8, 2024 has been the total solar eclipse and whether that has apocalyptic significance.
So does the total solar eclipse signal the impending rapture of the church? Does it fulfill biblical prophecies about heavenly disturbances? Does it confirm that we’re living in the “last days”? The answer to all of those questions is No.
It is true that “end times” speculation makes headlines in news outlets and publications. But the speculations are misguided. Facebook memes can contain erroneous theology!
We are living in the last days, but that truth has nothing to do with a total solar eclipse or any other heavenly phenomena. The biblical authors consider the “last days” as something Christ himself inaugurated.
Texts That Speak of the Last Days
During Peter’s speech in Acts 2, he quotes the prophet Joel in light of the outpouring of the Spirit, and he says, “But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh…’” (Acts 2:16–17). The outpoured Spirit confirms that the “last days” had come.
In 1 Timothy 4:1, Paul says that “in later times some will depart from the faith.” The greater
context of 1 Timothy 4:1 demonstrates that such departures were already happening. The “later times” had arrived.
Paul says that “in the last days there will come times of difficulty” (2 Tim. 3:1). And then he lists a series of vices that will be evident in personal and social ways. In the context of what comes before and after 2 Timothy 3:1, Paul’s words indicate that such “last days” are unfolding around him.
The writer of Hebrews says, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son” (Heb. 1:1–2).
James, in his letter, rebukes the rich who exploit their workers: “Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days” (James 5:3).
A Last Days People
The revelation of God’s redemptive work in Christ has inaugurated what the biblical authors call the “last days” or “later times.” We have been living in the last days for 2000 years. We’re so used to hearing the phrase “last days” being applied to a brief season of time before Christ’s return that we may find the biblical authors’ use of the phrase strange and surprising.
When you study the phrase “last days” or “later times” in the New Testament letters, the contexts bear out the truth that the first advent of Christ inaugurated this period of time, and now believers live in these “last days” that have been unfolding for two millennia.
Christians are a Last Days people and will continue to be, until Christ’s return. Let’s not get caught up in the Speculation Industry that promotes confusion, distorts biblical texts, and deceives people far and wide. The Lord Jesus will return in great glory and splendor. But his return isn’t prompted by or connected to a total solar eclipse.
“Since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation” (1 Thess. 5:8). In addition to this spiritual armor, put on some eclipse glasses as well today, before you look up.