Bible Prophecy Under the Microscope-Episode 78
Gary disputes the claim of preterists being “scoffers” by using the Bible to interpret itself and also by recognizing the Bible’s own timing of when the last days take place.
What does the Bible say, not just about the “last time,” but about the “last days”? In 1 Peter 4:7, we read: “The end of all things is at hand.” Whatever “all things” Peter had in mind, notice their end was “at hand,” that is, near for him and his readers (cf. James 5:8). The ticking of the clock of the last days of the old covenant began with Jesus’ ministry, was confirmed at Pentecost, and ended with the judgment of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.
In Acts 2, Peter defines the time parameters of the last days for us after the people witnessed a series of manifestations of the Holy Spirit and their effect on the disciples: “For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day; but this”—the events you saw with your own eyes and heard with your ears—“is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel: ‘And it shall be in the last days,’ God says, ‘That I will pour forth of My Spirit upon all flesh’” (Acts 2:15–17a). The “last days” were a present reality for the New Testament church made up of Jews who embraced Jesus as the Messiah and believing Gentiles. The gifts of the Spirit are the hard evidence that the last days had arrived.
Dispensationalists are so befuddled by the obvious timing of when the last days occur that they must add to, and in other cases, take away from, Acts 2:16 to get it to mean what they need it to mean for their brand of futurism to hold up. Thomas Ice, who Dr. Hindson quotes approvingly in his article and served with him as an editor to the Tim LaHaye Prophecy Study Bible, reworks Acts 2:16 to read, “But this is [like] that which was spoken by the prophet Joel.” In his note on the passage, Ice adds the following explanation to account for his addition of “like”:
The Spirit’s activity in Joel is linked to the events that will transpire during the Tribulation; thus, it could not have been fulfilled in Acts 2. The unique statement of Peter (“this is that”) is in the language of comparison and similarity, not fulfillment.5
Peter explains what the people had just seen by stating unequivocally “this is that.” It’s not like that; it is that. The simile “like” is found in 157 verses in the New Testament. If Peter meant to imply “comparison and similarity” in Acts 2:16, he would have done so by inserting the word “like” without any help from Mr. Ice.
Identifying the Real Last Days Scoffers
What were the scoffers in Peter’s day scoffing at when they asked, “Where is the promise of His coming?” (2 Peter 3:3) Modern-day prophecy writers argue that anyone who questions that the return of Jesus is near based on Israel becoming a nation again and certain end-time signs is an end-time scoffer, and Peter had them in mind when he wrote his second letter. The simple fact is, the New Testament writers, including Peter (1 Peter 4:7; cf. Heb. 9:26), taught that Jesus would return “shortly” (Rev. 1:1, 3; 22:10), before the last apostle died (John 21:18–24; Matt.16:27–28), within a generation (Matt. 24:34), because the time was “near” for them (James 5:7–9; Rev. 1:3) that the old covenant was in the process of passing away.
Buy NowIn 2 Peter 3, we read about “scoffers” or “mockers” coming in the last days. Some modern prophecy writers accuse preterists of being these “scoffers.” Gary disputes this claim by using the Bible to interpret itself and also by recognizing the Bible’s own timing of when the last days take place.
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