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2 Peter 3:3
3 Knowing [ginosko] this [touto] first [proton], that [hoti] there shall come [erchomai] in [epi] the last [eschatos] days [hemera] scoffers [empaiktes], walking [poreuomai] after [kata] their [autos] own [idios] lusts [epithumia], KJV-Interlinear
3 Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, NASB
Peter is speaking of the last days, not the final days of human history. So what is the difference?
The last days is a reference to an era, a time frame, a segment of time over which a generation or more of folks will turn dramatically away from God and to their own selfish interests.
In Lk. 17:26-27, the last days are described as being similar to the last days of Noah’s time, immediately before the flood. Recall that the human race had 120 years to accept or reject Noah’s warnings. Everyone rejected Noah, and in so doing rejected God.
After Solomon’s time, the nation of Israel split into the Northern Kingdom, known as Israel or Samaria, and the Southern Kingdom, generally known as Judah. It took several hundred years before both of these nations were destroyed.
The seven empires recorded in history (in our study of Revelation), Assyria, Egypt, Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome all survived for several centuries before they evaporated into history. And yes, I can count. The seventh empire will be the revived Rome of the Tribulation, yet to come, and that greatest of the empires will last only seven years.
So our last day segment, can easily occur over a period of several generations. Peter is speaking to believers in our current dispensation. And although none of us will be present when the Tribulation begins, we can know that there will be signs (ambiguous as they might be) that will indicate the end days are nearing.
Simply because so much time has passed, is an obvious clue that we are more near the end days than Peter was. But Peter did not know of the development of the world population around the world as we have been able to see from our hindsight advantage.
Also, Peter is not referring to just any class of folks that happen to be mockers. Mockers have existed in every generation since Adam. But as in the time of Noah, there will be developing, a special class of folks that will be indifferent to the point that when times get tough, they will coast along in life as though nothing is happening.
But also, they will be the folks that will disregard all categories of truth, especially those principles of honesty, and honor and such.
Now we can look around and see lots of examples of this kind of attitude. Don’t accuse me of being anti-anyone, because we have at our finger tips examples of controversy in our own country and around the world, which we can use to learn about and understand what the last days will be like.
We do not know when those days will occur, and we do not try to predict the day and hour of the Rapture. Many have tried that, to their own embarrassment.
Typical examples are the attacks against Christianity and the fundamental principles of Christianity, such as prayer in schools, homosexual marriages and such things.
The rise of liberalism and the attitudes over fighting or not fighting a war against terrorists.
The election of a man who has no qualifications. The appointments of people to high offices, who have crossed the legal line. The blind eye of the media toward truth. The general indifference of people toward God.
And these are just generalizations. You can probably add many more examples to this short list.
But when the last days finally arrive, they will not be revealed in a single moment, on some Monday morning, during a breaking news alert. These things will evolve in society over the course of several generations, until finally there will be very few believers in the world and mostly unbelievers or indifferent believers, and probably no more new believers will become saved. A spiritual gap in other words.
Noah had a gap of 120 years and there were no takers (apathy and mockers ruled). The Old Testament had a gap of four centuries until the birth of Christ. There were no new revelations of doctrine during that gap (apathy and mockers ruled). Those were the two prior major gaps in human history. The next major event will be the Rapture.
Will there be a gap immediately prior to that event? We will never know, because that event is going to be a surprise to everyone when it occurs.
Regardless of what you think of this study, and there will be those who will balk at it (scoffers), the whole point of all of this is that there is going to be a ‘Come to Jesus’ meeting for us all at some point in the future.
Whether you agree with that or not is really irrelevant.
As time advances on in history, society will pursue its own lusts more and more, as doctrine becomes less and less important in peoples lives. And with the diminishing of doctrine, will come the rise is crime, indifference and general trouble in the world. People will argue over petty things such as dinosaurs, or whether an elected official is qualified or not.
Lusts refer to everything that people see as important in their lives. From their jobs to their entertainment, to their attitudes toward social programs, to their efforts to advance or seize whatever they deem important, to the many attitudes toward public norms and standards of society. All will seem normal and acceptable.
There is only one defense against falling into this pit of mockery, and that is through a daily diet of Bible doctrine. Without it, you will be like everyone else and never realize it – until it is too late.
