When Do the End Times Begin?
The apostles were convinced that they were living in the last days. In the Old Testament, the expression “the last days” refers to the future time of God’s final intervention in Israel ’s history and in the history of the world.1 The earliest Christians dated the beginning of the end times to the coming of Jesus , particularly his death and resurrection and the giving of the Holy Spirit , a complex of events that constitutes the fulfillment of God’s promises of Israel’s restoration and humanity’s salvation. The End Times Have Begun with Jesus’ Coming: Acts 2:16–21 One important passage in the New Testament teaching that the end times began with Jesus’ coming is found in Peter’s speech given on the day of Pentecost. After clarifying for the Jews who had gathered from around the world that the speaking in unlearned languages by Jesus’ followers is not the result of drunkenness (Acts 2:15), Peter asserts that the audiovisual phenomena of the sound from heaven, the tongues of fire, and ...