SID: So as I was saying before we went into the break, there’s the last days, but Rick, there is, when did the last days start?
RICK: The last days started on the day of Pentecost.
SID: That’s a long time.
RICK: Yes.
SID: So where do you get the last of the last days? Isn’t that all the same?
RICK: Well first of all, for people that are skeptics who say, oh, they’ve been talking about the last days for 2000 years, they are absolutely correct, because the last days began in Acts, Chapter 2, whenever Peter said that God would pour His spirit in the last days. And that initiated a period which some people call the Church Age. Some people call it the Age of Grace, but the Bible calls it the Last Days. But when you come to 2 Timothy, chapter 3, verse 1, Paul writes, “This know also, that in the last days, perilous times shall come.” And the word “last”, which Paul uses is the Greek word, “eschatos”, and it’s where we get the word for eschatology. And the word “eschatos” describes the very, very, very, very end of a thing. For example, if you were describing the last week of the year, you would use the word “eschatos”. You can’t go any further. You’ve come all the way to the end. The word “eschatos” was used to describe the final port for a ship. The ship couldn’t go any further than that.
SID: So you say that there were 18 characteristics. Tell me some of these characteristics that caused you to believe we are at the final port, so to speak.
RICK: Well the first characteristic is in verse 1 and it says, “This know also that in the last days,” notice it doesn’t say in the last period, but “in the last days”, the Greek word, ” hemera ” which describes really the final countdown. It says, “Perilous times shall come.” And that word “perilous” is the Greek word “chalepos” and the word chalepos is only used one other time in the New Testament, and it’s found in Matthew, chapter 8, verse 28, where it used to describe the two demoniacs of Gadara. And when you read that verse in Greek, it says that those two men were chalepos or they were exceeding fierce, hard to bear with. If you went near those two demoniacs of Gadara, you were entering into dangerous territory. In fact, the verse says, “So that no man could pass by that way.” So in 2 Timothy, chapter 3, verse 1, when Paul says, “This know also, that in the last days,” or in the end of days, “perilous times will come.” He’s actually saying, exceedingly fierce times will come, times hard to deal with. And in fact, it will be an impasse, it will be difficult for people to get past those days.
SID: Could it have, I mean, what I’m reading in the newspaper of in Africa, they’re running into girls’ schools and they’re kidnapping these girls, and they’re selling them into sexual slavery. I mean, they’re cutting people’s heads off and making videos of it. It couldn’t get much worse than that.
RICK: Well you know what, when you continue to read 2 Timothy, chapter 3, verses 2 to 5, Paul gives those 18 characteristics of things which will happen to society in the last days. And one of them is brutality. It’s savageness, which will come forth in society, a violence. And in fact, it’s the same word, “violence”, which was used to describe the violent games in the Coliseum, the violence of entertainment. And if you think about it, Sid, people enjoy violence today. We may not go to an actual Coliseum where we see bloodshed, but our computer games and our movies, our entertainment is absolutely filled with violence.
SID: It’s breeding that to be within the brain of our young generation.
RICK: And that is one of the signs of a last days society.
SID: Well tell me some other signs.
RICK: Well the very first sign that is listed is, lovers of our self.
SID: You can’t get, I mean, let’s face it, this is what America and most of the world is right now.
RICK: It’s the Greek word “philos” and the word “philos” means to love. It’s the same word that is used in [Matthew, chapter 28] when the Bible says that Judas Iscariot gave Jesus a kiss. It’s the Greek word, “phileo” And it’s usually a word that you would use to describe what you feel for someone else. But when you compound it together with the word “autos”, which is where you get the word for autobiography, it describes self, it is self-love, and really it is the picture of self-kissing, people so in love with themselves that they are making sacrifices for themselves that they make for no one else. It’s misdirected love. And out of that misdirected love comes all the other flaws, which we see in a last days society.
SID: How much worse can it get?
RICK: Well it’s going to be pretty dark. Actually, the Bible says, Paul speaking to Timothy about this, says, “Deceivers and sorcerers are going to wax worse and worse.” And the good news is we’re anointed for this time.
SID: That was what I was going to ask you. I mean, reading this in the Bible, especially in the Greek, you can get pretty fearful. So what would you say to someone that’s fearful of living in the, at the last port, the last days?
RICK: I would say these scriptures were not written to scare us. They were written to prepare us. These verses were written so that we could insulate ourself against what is happening in society. For example, if we know that self-love is going to be a primary characteristic of the last days, then we need to work on loving others and loving God. If we know that greed is going to be a major sign of society in the last days, then we need to work on giving. We need to flip those verses and around, and we need to work on the opposite of those things.
SID: But you know the most important thing you said? He said that we were created to live at this time. It’s in our spiritual DNA and God trusts us with this. I’m going to tell you one other thing. When you find out Rick’s revelation from the Word about Paul the Apostle, who spent a lot of time in prison and observed the Romans, guards in their uniforms, and then wrote in the Book of Ephesians what they meant, and once you comprehend all of this, you’re dressed to kill.
