Last Things

Last Things

Eschatology is the study of last things. It comes from two Greek words. The first is eschatos, (ἔσχατος), which means the last of something in time, rank or place. The second word is logos (λόγος) which means word. So Eschatology is basically the Last Word. We use this term to cover the study of things related to the end of history, i.e., the Second Coming of Christ, the Final Judgment and Resurrection of the dead.

In this study, we will touch upon the following Last Things:

1. The Last Day
   • The Final Resurrection
   • The Final Judgment
2. The Last Trump
3. The Last Enemy

The New Testament uses several different eschatological time frame references, such as the end of the age, and the last days. However, there is one that fails to get the attention that the previously mentioned does. This is the time frame of The Last Day. Elsewhere, we have discovered that the two previously mentioned, the end of the age and the last days, are specifically connected to the period from the first advent of Christ, to the end of the Sinai Sacrificial System, in the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple.

However, the phrase, The Last Day, is only mentioned in the Gospel of John, and with one exception, only found on the lips of Jesus. This Last Day is specifically related to the final Resurrection and the final Judgment. How do we know this? Because this is what Jesus says concerning it.

John 6:39 And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.(See also John 6:40, 44, 54; 12:48)

The only other mention of the Last Day, comes from the lips of Martha, the sister of Lazarus [John 11:24]. Whether Martha understood this Last Day as the day of Resurrection and Judgment from her exposure to the common Judaic teaching, or if she received it exclusively from Jesus, we cannot know for sure. It may be a moot point, for Beale and Carlson, in their work, Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament, they state concerning this,

“Martha’s affirmation of the end-time resurrection in 11:24 was in keeping with Pharisaic beliefs . . . and those of the majority of first-century Jews, as well as Jesus’ own teaching on the subject.”
“Yet Jesus’ message went far beyond what Martha had in mind; he himself was the resurrection and the life.” (p.468)

So it seems to have been a common belief among those Jews who believed in the resurrection of the body, that it would occur on the Last Day. The Last Day of what?

The Last Day of What?

The best way to describe this Last Day, is as the absolute last day in the long history of the race of the First Adam. On this day comes the resurrection, i.e., the full manifestation of the sons of God in glory [Rom. 8:19, 22].

This last day is also one of Judgment, as well as Resurrection. For concerning the Judgment of the unbelieving, Jesus said,

Jn. 12:48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul refers to this day as, the End [15:24].

1 Cor. 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming (also can be translated as, “they that are Christ’s in His Parousia,” this is the preferred meaning based upon the actual Greek).
24 Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

The End comes when He has put down “all rule and all authority and power.” The last enemy to be destroyed is death. When is death destroyed? Death shall be destroyed at the End, when all the saints are changed from this corruption to incorruption, and this mortality puts on immortality. This is the event that fulfills the goal and purpose of His Suffering, Death and Resurrection. Jesus' death signed the death warrant of death's final demise. The final resurrection and union of the saints of God through the Ages, is the serving of that warrant. It requires that even Death bow the knee and confess that Jesus is Lord the glory of God the Father.

Also, Paul writes to the Assembly of the Philippian saints, that the Lord,

Phil. 3:21 . . . shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.

In 1 Cor. 15:54-55, Paul announces the defeat of death by the resurrection of the saints, when he says,

15:54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

It is in the resurrection of the saints that Death receives its final death blow. Death was overcome and received its first death blow in the resurrection of Jesus. However, it was allowed to continue to operate until all other enemies had been put down. God saved its final demise for last. Death is the Last Enemy to be put down.

The Apostle John gives us an important clue as to when this Last Day happens. According to his vision found in Revelation 20, The Last Day, and so the Resurrection, occurs AFTER THE THOUSAND YEARS HAS EXPIRED. I realize this will make a mess of many's eschatology, but this is what he records. After stating that the thousand years has concluded, John writes,

Rev. 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

After the thousand years expired, John saw the Great White Throne Judgment, which was a judgment for those who,

1. Were not found in the Book of Life, and
2. These were judged “according to their works.”

Jesus said that this judgment of the unbelievers would occur on the Last Day. In John 12:48, we read,

Jn. 12:48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

Those who have rejected Jesus and have not believed His words, will be judged by the words that He has spoken. In order to reject His words, implies that you have heard them. This implies that it is those who have heard His words, or the Gospel message, and judged it not worthy of their belief, who are judged thereby. This judgment will take place in the “last day.”

Who is sitting on this Great White Throne? Who is the Final Judge of Mankind? We will see it is none other than Christ Jesus Himself. When Peter was preaching to the Roman Centurion, Cornelius, he said concerning Christ,

Acts 10:42 And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of the quick and dead.

Peter testifies that it is God who ordained that Christ Jesus would be the Judge of the Living and the Dead. Jesus says the same thing, when He said,

Jn. 5:21 For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.
22 For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:
26 For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;
27 And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.
28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

Here, we see Jesus states that the Father has committed all judgment unto the Son, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of man. Here we see that it is Jesus who raises the righteous dead and judges the unbelieving dead.

The Last Trump

Jesus raises the righteous dead, not just on the Last Day, but at the Last Trump.

1 Thess. 4:15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

1 Cor. 15:51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

It is important to note that Paul connects the catching up of the living saints with the time of the resurrection of the dead. The catching up or away (rapture, if you prefer) of those alive at this time, is the second part of the whole Resurrection Event. The first part is the raising of the righteous dead. Paul clearly states this, when he says that we who are alive, "shall not prevent them which are asleep." The living will not go before those who sleep in Jesus. They will be raised first, before the living are changed and caught away.

This is likely what Paul meant when he wrote,
1 Cor. 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.
The phrase, "every man in his own order" means each man is raised in his proper turn. The word, order is a military term for an orderly arrangement.

In 1 Thess. 4:16, Paul states that the “trump of God” will signal the time when the dead in Christ will be raised up. In 1 Cor. 15:52, he refers to it as the Last Trump. What is this Last Trump? It would probably be helpful in answering this question, if we could identify the First Trump. What and when was the First Trump? Does it matter? Oh, yes.

The first place in the Bible where a trumpet was sounded, is found in Exodus 19. This is the account of the children of Israel being assembled in the presence of God at the base of Mount Sinai as His covenant people. It should also be noted that this first trumpet was the Trump of God, i.e., it was God who sounded the trumpet, not men.

As Paul has described this Last Trump, we see the same thing as we did in the first. It is with the Trump of God that the covenant people of God are called to assemble in His Presence for this last and final time. In Exodus 19, we have the record of the First Convocation of the covenant people of God. Paul records for us the prophecy of the Last Convocation of the covenant people of God. This Last Convocation is for the same purpose as the First, to ready the covenant people of God for their inheritance, which He promised through the prophets.

At the first trump, the people were called to a smoking mountain they could not touch, lest they die. At the last trump, the people are called to the Mount of God, Mount Zion, where they all have passed from death unto life.

The writer of Hebrews illustrates for us the difference between these two trumpet calls, when he says,

Heb. 12:18 For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest,
19 And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more:
20 (For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart:
21 And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:)
22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.

We must not confuse the Last Day with what the Bible calls, the Last Days. It should be clear that the Last Days was a time frame in which the Apostles believed they were living in, as well as living in the end of the age (world, [kjv]).

The Last Day is the last time period of existing human history, which is brought to a close by the Second Appearance of Christ, and His raising the righteous dead, transforming all His saints to be made like unto His glorious body. It is also the time in which the unbelieving dead are brought before the Great White Throne Judgment, which is God’s final settling of all accounts. Death and Hades are cast into the lake of fire, as are all those who are not found in the book of Life. How sad and horrifying this time will be for all who have not been plunged beneath the saving power of the blood of the Lamb of God. However, for the New Humanity of the Israel of God, living under the headship of the Last Adam, we shall dwell forever with God our Father, and Christ His Son, along with all the saints of history. And So Shall We Ever Be With The Lord!