What You Need to Know About the End Times
Are we approaching the end of days? If so, will humanity cease to exist then? And what does Scripture tell us about this frightening time? The end of days is on our minds. Consider our obsession with how the world might come to an end. That obsession becomes quite clear when we look at the subject matter of so many modern movies.
Modern Obsession with the Apocalypse
According to a list on the website IMDb (which stands for Internet Movie Database), there are 1,187 “apocalyptic movies.” Of course, the site uses the word apocalyptic loosely. Apocalypse, which comes from the Greek word for revelation, is the Greek name for the final book of the New Testament. One definition in the online Merriam-Webster Dictionary is “foreboding imminent disaster or final doom.”
Most of the apocalyptic movies on the IMDb list don’t mention the Bible or biblical prophecy. Rather, these movies with end-of-the-world scenarios play on modern fears that range from nuclear war to pandemics, and from zombies to artificial intelligence run amok. Even so, the IMDb list is significant because it points out our fascination with the end of days.
Looking for the End of Days in Scripture
The New King James Version of the Bible doesn’t use the term end of days, though it does include the phrase end of the days twice in Daniel. The end of days is more than what Hollywood portrays. It is the culmination of God’s plan of salvation for this present age, and it is the time when Christ will return to earth to save humanity from self-destruction. These phrases include “day of the LORD,” “that day,” “latter days,” “last days” and “end of the age.”
Since the expression most similar to end of days occurs in Daniel, we’ll focus on the end-of-days idea in the book of Daniel. That reference occurs at the very end of the book. In fact, it constitutes the last four words of Daniel: “But you, go your way till the end; for you shall rest, and will arise to your inheritance at the end of the days” (Daniel 12:13). The specific days referred to here include the 3½ years of the Great Tribulation and conclude with the return of Jesus Christ.
A Future Not of Destruction, But Hope
These words at the end of Daniel do not describe the destruction of humanity. On the contrary, an angel uttered these words to the prophet Daniel to encourage him after he had been told startling and terrifying details of a coming “time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time” (verse 1). For Daniel, then, the end of the days was not something to fear. Rather, it was to be anticipated as the fulfillment of a wonderful promise!
Here we already see a great disparity with Hollywood’s apocalyptic ideas. Many times moviemakers show the human race nearly destroyed—and without any real hope for the future. If there is any glimmer of hope in these movies, it lies in the efforts of humans rather than the promises of God.
Biblical Expressions for the End in Daniel
To understand the broader meaning of this concept, we need to consider where it appears in the book. Daniel has much to say about the end of days, using these expressions:
- “The time of the end”: Daniel 8:17; 11:35, 40; 12:4, 9
- “The appointed time”: Daniel 8:19; 11:35
- “The time”: Daniel 7:22
- “That time”: Daniel 12:1 (three times)
- “The end”: Daniel 8:19
- “A time of trouble”: Daniel 12:1
- “Latter time”: Daniel 8:19, 23