Lesson 362 - Senior

Memory Verse

"This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.  For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away" (II Timothy 3:1-5).

Cross References

 

I Signs given in the Book of Nahum and in II Timothy

1. The automobile is graphically portrayed, [NAH:2:3-4].

2. Cutting down of the fir tree is prophesied, [NAH:2:3].

3. A vivid account of moral conditions of the last days is given, [2TM:3:1-5], [2TM:3:13]; [JAM:5:5].

II Signs given by Peter and by James

1. Scoffers will teach evolution, [2PE:3:3-4]; [ROM:1:20-22].

2. The ingathering will be after the Latter Rain, [JAM:5:7-8]; [JOE:2:23-29]; [ACT:2:16-18].

III Signs given by Matthew

1. Many false prophets shall rise, [MAT:24:3-5], [MAT:24:11], [MAT:24:23-26]; [1TM:4:1-3]; [1JN:2:18].

2. There will be world-wide conflict, [MAT:24:6-7]; [MAK:13:7-8]; [LUK:21:9-10].

3. There will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in many places, [MAT:24:7-8].

4. The Jews will be persecuted, [MAT:24:9-10]; [JHN:16:2]; [AMO:9:9-10].

5. There will be a falling away from the faith, [MAT:24:12-13]; [2TS:2:3].

6. The Gospel will be preached unto all nations, [MAT:24:14]; [MAT:28:19-20].

7. The coming of the Great Tribulation is told, [MAT:24:15-22]; [DAN:12:1].

8. The coming of the Lord will be as swift as the lightning, [MAT:24:27-28], [MAT:24:42-44]. 

Notes

 

The Raging of Chariots

Many years ago some pioneers drove their oxcarts along uncharted trails to reach the west coast of the United States. Today more than 50 million motor vehicles speed their way across great superhighways to all parts of the land. The dangers of the road have changed, too, from that of the Indians and the wilds to a collision less than every four seconds, with someone's being injured on the road less than every 26 seconds, and one killed less than every 14 minutes. Could anyone visualise such a change? Hardly. Yet, wait; here is a prophet who wrote more than 2,700 years ago: "The chariots shall be with flaming torches . . . shall rage in the streets, they shall justle one against another in the broad ways: they shall seem like torches, they shall run like the lightnings" [NAH:2:3-4]). What a description -" "with flaming torches" -" the sealed beam headlights piercing the darkness before them; "rage in the streets" -" the impatient honking of horns, as someone waits too long for a signal; "justle one against another" -" millions of collisions in one year; "in the broad ways" -" eight-lane or more freeways leading into many cities; "shall seem like torches" -" watch them from some vantage point on a dark night; "shall run like the lightnings" -" more than a mile a minute seems slow on our highways. Nahum must have watched our automobiles.

Why should such a revelation be given to the prophet? What is the significance of this? It marks the "day of his preparation." These signs are given to alert people to be ready for the coming of the Lord. Let us consider these along with other signs concerning His coming.

Timber

"The fir trees shall be terribly shaken" [NAH:2:3]). Driving along toward the coasts of some African Countries, we pass through a beautiful stretch of tall, stately, fir timber. Stopping the car to enjoy the freshness of a verdant virgin forest, we have that feeling of smallness and of being alone with nature. We take a few steps into the timber. Light shines through the trees; is it a meadow or a lake? Investigation reveals naked hills. A pang strikes us as we awaken to the fact that we are in a forest corridor. There is just a token or remnant of the pristine firs that once clothed the mountains. The fir trees have been terribly shaken. It is the day of His preparation. At first there seems to be little connection between the fir trees and the chariots in Nahum's prophecy. But driving on down the highway, we see truck after truck passing, loaded with great long logs, speeding toward the mill. We see how closely allied the automobile is to the logging industry. Logging trucks and modern logging operations have reached out, like the tentacles of a giant octopus, into our virgin forests, to shake terribly the fir tree.

Evolution

"As they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind" [ROM:1:28]). For the past generation, in the schools and colleges which should prepare young men and young women for a full, rich, and productive life, youth is led to believe through the teaching of evolution that God is not the Creator of the universe, that the Bible is unscientific and out of date, that men are gods, that men are not responsible to God's or to man's authority, that there is no Heaven and no hell. So they say, "Why not indulge today in anything and everything the heart or the physical body desires?"

The teaching of the theory of evolution has spread over the whole earth. "No concept," writes an editor, "since the advent of Christ and the writing of the New Testament has had such an enormous transforming influence over every area of man's thinking, as the doctrine of evolution, especially since the publication of Darwin's Origin of Species, in 1859." And perhaps no concept, we might add, has had such an evil influence.

Peter foretold that the mark of the last days would be "scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation" [2PE:3:3-4]). Many today claim to believe in God, and yet accept the theory of evolution and deny the Bible account of creation. They deny the God who created them and have set up a god of their own creation. Their very scoffing comes as a warning to the true believer that these are the last days.

Lust and War

"Walking after their own lusts" has caused this generation to be in a constant state of war. "From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war" [JAM:4:1-2]). "Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom" [MAT:24:7]). This strife that Jesus said would mark the time of his coming stems from the lust of the heart, which has dethroned God and enthroned man.

A heart left to its own lust degenerates rapidly, and thus it is today that we are in the midst of conditions that Paul described as the perilous times of the last days. Proud man boasts of his own intellect and accomplishments; yet, look what a mess he has made of world affairs. He writes many books about child psychology, but is unable to cope with juvenile delinquency. "Without natural affection" and "dis-obedient to parents" describe the true condition of some African homes where, marriages have ended in divorce and children become wards of the court. Incontinent, unrestrained teenagers are, by the thousands, turning to "dope" for the sake of a thrill, and soon become brutal, fierce criminals in order to continue the habit. Perilous times are here.

False Prophets

"False accusers," "trucebreakers," and "traitors" -- these words describe not only the propaganda and actions of Communist Russia, but a degenerate condition frequently uncovered in official circles of our own government. "Pink fronts" find their way into religious realms, and preachers are found who live in adultery and declare it is impossible to live above sin. Heady, highminded, Modernist doctors of divinity despise those who teach the good old way of repentance, scoff at the atoning Blood of Calvary, and make mockery of the deity of Christ: "Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away" [2TM:3:5]).

Not only do we have many "healers" going through the land making merchandise of the Gospel of Christ, but there are also many who make a claim of divinity for themselves, and have attained great followings. Jesus warned: "There shall arise false christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect" [MAT:24:24]). We are warned not to be gullible even though great miracles are done, but to examine the life and doctrine of those who profess to teach Christ: "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them" [ISA:8:20]).

Famines, Pestilences, and Earthquakes

Fight polio, fight tuberculosis, fight cancer -" these various campaigns with seals, march of currency, and other money-raising ideas call to our attention that pestilences which are a mark of the last days are increasingly found in "divers places" in spite of modern medical skill. Famine, too, stalks the world; a report by the Nationalist Chinese Government states that many millions Chinese people are facing starvation. Earthquakes are another reminder that the coming of the Lord is near. More earthquakes were recorded in the 20th century than in all the previous centuries since the birth of Christ; and without much surprise there may be more earthquakes in the 21st century than there were in the 20th.

A Hiss and a Byword

The increased hatred for the Jew, which has been prevalent the world around, is another sign pointing to the coming of the Lord and should not be overlooked. "Ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake" [MAT:24:9]). In our day many nations have singled out the Jew and marked him for destruction; while in others, as it may be, he is often made the subject of ridicule and hatred.

The Last Sign

"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." It would seem that the last sign before His coming is the preaching of the Gospel to all nations, and so far as we know this sign has already been fulfilled. Are you ready for His coming?

"Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh" [JAM:5:7-8]). In Palestine the early rain fell at seedtime and the latter rain came just before the harvest, to bring the grain to fruition. The spiritual Early Rain fell at Pentecost, that the Gospel seed, being sown in all the earth, might take root. The Latter Rain began to fall in 1906. (See Lesson 281.) This came that the grain might be ripened for the harvest. "The coming of the Lord draweth nigh." 

Questions

 

1. Give Nahum's description of the automobile.

2. How is the high divorce rate of our nation a sign of the last days?

3. Give examples of people being "lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God."

4. How does the teaching of evolution enter into the signs of the coming of Christ?

5. What seems to be the last sign to be fulfilled before the coming of the Lord?

6. What is the spiritual meaning of the "early and latter rain"?

7. Give examples of traitors in our day. Trucebreakers.

8. Name some of the great earthquakes of recent years.

9. Name some of the pestilences of the last days.

10. Give examples of famine in our day.

11. When will the Lord come?

12. What signs remain yet to be fulfilled?