When Did the Last Days Begin?

The Book of Hebrews divides time in two [Heb 1:1-2]:

1. The Past Days (when God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways) [Heb 1:1] and
2. The Last Days (when God spoke to us by His Son Jesus) [Heb 1:2].

So, we see, that the last days began in the days of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ [Mat 11:13]

We have confimation in the words of Peter in the Upper Room on the Day of Pentecost that they were already in the last days and this is in fulfillment of Joel's prophecy [Joel 2:28 cf., Act 2:16-17]

Below is a basic chronology of events in the last days.

(Please click on each event to see more.)

Messiah Walks the Earth

1. Messiah is born [Luke 2:4-40]
2. Messiah is baptized [Matthew 3:13-17; Luke 3:21-22]
3. Messiah is tempted [Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13]
4. Messiah teaches
5. Messiah is tried and unjustly crucified [Matthew 27; Mark 15; Luke 23; John 19]
6. Messiah rises and ascends [Matthew 28; Mark 16; Luke 24; John 20-21]

The Spirit is Poured out

1. Judas is replaced by Matthias [Acts 1:14-26]
2. The Holy Spirit is poured out [Acts 2]
3. Persecution begins [Acts 4]
4. The gospel gets to Samaria as commanded by Jesus [Acts 8]
5. The first of the gentiles comes in [Acts 10]
6. The gospel spreads to other gentiles [Acts 11-28]

The Church Grows and is Infiltrated

1. False brothers inflitrate the church from within and from outside [Mat 13:24-30; Act 20:29-30; Jude 1:4]. This happened during the lifetime of the Apostles and, naturally, became worse after their generation passed [Act 20:29-30; Mat 13:25 cf., Deut 31:16,27].
   They taught/teach all manner of false doctrines and practices such as
   1. That gentiles must be circumcised and keep the Law of Moses [Acts 15; Galatians 1-6]
   2. That Jesus did not come in the flesh [1John 1-5]
   3. That there is no resurrection [1Corinthians 15:12]
   4. That the resurrection had already taken place [2Tim 2:18]
   5. That the Day of the Lord had already come [1Thess 2:1-2]
   6. And other destructive heresies [1Tim 4:1-3; Jud 1:8]

The Gospel Spreads to the Ends of the Earth

1. This began at Pentecost and continues to this day. We we will be sure it has been fulfilled when we see the Antichrist because we know that Satan will release the Antichrist after his fall and his fall would be triggered by the spreading of the gospel to the ends of the earth.
2. The Gospel must produce mature Christian, men who are true to the Lord Jesus, this is the goal of the gospel. It is not sufficient for the nations to simply hear the Gospel.

Satan Loses Access to Heaven

1. Satan is thrown out of heaven and loses access to it forever [Isaiah 14:1-17; Ezekiel 28:11-19; Habakkuk 2:1-12; Revelation 12]
2. Satan releases the Antichrist [2Thessalonians 2:7]

The Reign of the Antichrist

1. God sends the 2 witnesses [Malachi 3:1, 4:1-6; Revelation 11]
2. The false prophet and the mark of the beast [Revelation 13:11-18]
3. The Antichrist kills the two witnesses [Revelation 11:7-10]
4. The 2 witnesses rise 3½ days later and ascend to heaven [Revelation 11:8-12]
5. A devastating earthquake hits Israel and some of the people repent [Revelation 11:13]
6. The Antichrist attacks Israel and brings hardship upon the earth [2Thessalonians 2:1-12; Daniel 7-8; 9:25-27; 11:28-45; 12:1; Revelation 13; Matthew 24:14-25; Jeremiah 30:5-15; Ezekiel 5:5-17; 7:1-8,16-22
7. The Antichrist puts an end to the daily sacrifices in the temple in Israel [Daniel 9:26-27]
8. Babylon is destroyed by the Antichrist and the 10 Kings with him [Isaiah 13; Revelation 17-18]

Messiah Returns

1. Jesus returns in splendour [Matthew 24:29-30]
2. The First Resurrection takes place [John 5:25; Revelation 20:4-6]
3. Jesus slays the Antichrist and his army. The Antichrist and the false prophet are thrown into the lake of fire [Revelation 19:19-21]
4. Satan is imprisoned [Revelation 20:1-3]
5. The wedding supper of the Lamb [Revelation 19:5-9]
6. The Millennium commences (1,000-year reign)

The Millennium

1. The 1,000-year reign of Jesus (most likely by proxy) commences [Revelation 20:4]
2. Peace is restored to Israel [Isaiah 2:2-4,11,65; Zechariah 14; Revelation 20:1-5]
3. The nations cease wars and turn to agriculture [Isaiah 2:2-4]
4. The nations flock to Israel to learn God’s ways [Isaiah 2:2-4]
5. The nations will be made to keep the Law of Moses or face drought [Zechariah 14]
6. Jesus is with the Church in heaven this period

Satan is Released from the Abyss

1. Satan is released form the Abyss after the thousand years are spent [Revelation 20:7]
2. Satan proceeds to deceive the nations and gathers them to war against Israel [Revelation 20:8]
3. God responds by destroying the nations gathered against his Israel [Revelation 20:8-10]
4. Satan is thrown into the lake of fire [Revelation 20:10]

The Last Resurrection

1. All the dead who did not rise at the First Resurrection rise [Revelation 20:12-13]
2. The judgement commences and sinners are thrown into the lake of fire [Revelation 20:11-15]
3. The last enemy is defeated as Death and Hades are thrown into the lake of fire [1Corinthians 15:26; Revelation 20:14]

The New Heavens and Earth

1. The old earth and heavens are burned up with fire [Habakkuk 2:13; 2Peter 3:1-13]
2. There is now a new (renovated) heavens and earth [Revelation 21; Isaiah 65:17; 66:22-24]
3. The New Jerusalem comes from God and rests on the new earth [Revelation 21:1-5]
4. God ordains Priests and Levites for this new temple (the New Jerusalem) [Isaiah 66:21]