Are We Living in the Last Days?
Lesson One: Understanding Some Key Terms (Listen) (Download)
Lesson Two: Prophets or Profits? (Listen) (Download)
Less Three: The Olivet Discourse (Listen) (Download)
Lesson Four: The Seventy Weeks of Daniel 9:24-27 (Listen) (Download)
Lesson Five: Demystifying Revelation (Listen) (Download)
Lesson Six: What Really Happens in the End (Listen) (Download)
From the Introduction to: Let No One Mislead You
“The end is near!” The words reverberate unceasingly from the resonating radio voices and best-selling books of today’s popular end-time prognosticators. However, the words are nothing new or revolutionary. This same shout of doom and gloom has been boldly proclaimed for years. Mankind has continually been assured and reassured “Jesus is coming soon!” With great confidence the warning has been repeatedly issued, “Armageddon is here!” Nearly every generation has had its share of self-confident individuals who thought they knew the time of the end—ours is no different.
The doomsday warnings of today’s “prophecy experts” garner interest and fearful concern from their trusting readers and loyal listeners. The faithful following the experts enjoy generates millions of dollars in book sales, but at what expense? Their many failed predictions and false warnings of end-time events have often created disappointment and disillusionment among believers. Yet, for the experts, there is little or no acknowledgment of past miscalculations and errors. They simply release new books with revised and updated end-time scenarios, still insisting: “The coming of the Lord is near!”
What makes the prophecy gurus of today so confident the end is near? The basis of their bold assurance rests primarily on current events. Many are interpreting the Bible based on the evening news. Comparing contemporary headlines with ancient scripture, they rush to publication with yet another book about the end-times. Every time a world power threatens war, an earthquake causes the ground to tremor, or famine and pestilence ravage a nation, they repeat the process. This has resulted in a continuous deluge of sensationalistic books about the earth’s final days, each with an interpretation of scripture based on current world conditions, leading the author to conclude: “The end is near!”
In stark contrast to the sensationalistic end-time prophecy books of today is the Bible. The inspired scriptures paint a very different picture of the last days, one that the majority of people today do not seem to be hearing. Many are being misled, not realizing that the very same scriptures used by popular Bible teachers to promote and establish futuristic interpretations of prophecy, can actually be shown to confirm ancient history.
Such a thought will be surprising to some readers of this material; especially to those more familiar with end-time scenarios presented in works such as The Late Great Planet Earth or the fictional Left Behind series. These contemporary prophecy-based writings present a futuristic interpretation of the last days, an eschatology known as dispensational premillennialism. Both have been extremely successful and popular, as have many others from the same eschatological viewpoint.However, success and popularity alone do not establish a doctrine as truth.Truth is not determined by the number of people (great or small) who subscribe to a particular doctrine. Truth is not determined by how long a doctrine has been believed or by whom it has been taught. Nor is truth determined by what we think or feel about a matter. Truth is determined exclusively by its conformity and consistency to God’s word—for His word is truth (Jn. 17:17).
When it comes to accurately gleaning inspired truth from God’s word, this author was raised with the principle: Speak where the scriptures speak and be silent where the scriptures are silent. The apostle Paul put it like this: “Learn not to exceed what is written” (1 Cor. 4:6). This book will seek to follow this simple and extremely sound hermeneutic. Through the course of this study, scripture will be used to interpret Scripture. In so doing, what the Bible really says about the last days will be truthfully revealed.
One of the goals of this book will be to try to keep it simple. This work is not intended to be a detailed study in eschatology. It is simply a brief, to-the-point study contrasting the clear teachings of scripture with those of the popular futuristic prophecy writers. In eschatological terms, the perspective taken in this book would be described as partial preterist. 5 However, this book was not written for preterists. That community is well-acquainted with the interpretations presented in this book. The purpose of this writing is not to uphold the long-held beliefs of preterism, but rather, to uphold the divinely inspired truth of God’s word.
This book was written for those who are (generally speaking) unfamiliar with Bible prophecy concerning the last days and the Second Coming of Jesus. It is also addressed to those who are primarily hearing only one side of the eschatological debate—the futuristic dispensational interpretation.Here is another view of the Bible’s teaching on the end-times for you to consider.
Please take the time necessary to allow a careful and honest examination of the interpretations presented in this work. Compare them with those of dispensationalism and render your verdict. You decide: Are we (as so many popular Bible teachers insist) really living in the last days? To this end, you may find the Study Guide at the back of this book helpful. It was designed for personal or classroom use.
Through the years, my views on this subject have been shaped and established through a number of valuable resources—the Bible, of course, being number one. However, I am thankful to those scholars, living and dead, who have helped me through their sound and clear interpretations of the Holy Scriptures.
A word of thanks must be given to my family. They have patiently watched as I have collected book after book on the end-times, and have respectfully endured my many late hours on the computer.Without their constant love and support, I would have a hard time fulfilling my responsibilities in full-time ministry. This book is lovingly dedicated to them.
I am thankful for those who patiently read various stages of the manuscript for this work; offering valuable comments, suggestions and criticism. Without their time and help, this book would be seriously lacking in a number of different ways.
I would also like to thank all those (probably disappointed and letdown souls) who gave up on many of the “experts,” and who subsequently sold their books to used book stores. I have greatly benefited from your many happy returns.
Finally, it is my sincere hope and prayer that this book will inform and assist all who read it in gaining a better understanding of the biblical truth about the end-times. Sadly, it is this truth that many of today’s popular Bible teachers have left behind. Let no one mislead you.
John Buttrey II (2003)