How long do we have to wait until Christ returns to set up His Kingdom? How long until our change comes? Are the waning years of the twentieth century the last days? Peter and Jude warned that scoffers, mockers, cynics, skeptics, and rationalists would try to convince God's people that He would not return soon. Many look upon the world scene and conclude that events like Europe's readiness to challenge the U.S., peace in the Middle East, or the formation of a massive eastern army are not yet in place. Some, judging the church's condition, believe Christ cannot return now because the church has not yet witnessed to all the world or reunited. All these assumptions suggest that events will progress as they always have, but Peter warns that such reasoning is a mistake. World events will seem normal, yet when God's time comes, terrible and sudden changes will occur, and we, as His children, need to be ready.

The phrase "the last hour," or "the last time," appears in I John 2:18 and is identified as a term characteristic of New Testament teaching, appearing also in passages such as II Timothy 3:1, where the last days are described as perilous times. Some dismiss this phrase as merely reflecting the mistaken early Christian belief that Christ would return within their lifetime, but Scripture itself corrects this notion. In II Thessalonians 2:1-4, Paul explicitly warns the Thessalonians not to be shaken into thinking the Day of Christ had already come, clarifying that a falling away and the revealing of the man of sin must occur first. This shows that John and Paul possessed a correct understanding of the last time rather than a mistaken expectation of imminent return. When the New Testament's various uses of this phrase are considered together, the conclusion is that the entire period from Christ's death, resurrection, ascension, and the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost until His final return constitutes "the last time." This is a whole age, not merely a brief interval. At the same time, the phrase carries multiple meanings in Scripture. On a personal level, it reminds each believer that death could come at any moment, making the present always potentially one's own "last time" to develop the character of Christ, a nuance captured in Kenneth Wuest's paraphrase describing this as "a last hour in character." The phrase also applies to specific eras of particular crisis and judgment, such as Old Testament judgments upon Israel and the world that foreshadowed the final judgment. History has produced periods that seemed like the last time to those living through them, such as the persecution of early Christians by Jews and Rome, and later the Dark Ages. Yet the correct perspective recognizes that from the very beginning of God's church, this conflict, described by Paul as "the mystery of lawlessness" already at work in II Thessalonians 2:7, has persisted continuously and will culminate in a final, staggering conflict immediately preceding Christ's visible return. This understanding of "the last time" as an ongoing period, rather than a single imminent event, is essential to properly framing the warning about antichrists in I John 2:18. John's statement that "even now many antichrists have come" is directly tied to his declaration that "it is the last hour," showing that the presence of many deceivers throughout the age is itself the evidence and character of this last-time period. Rather than fixating on identifying one final Antichrist figure, the emphasis is on recognizing that the spirit of antichrist has been active since the apostles' time and continues to intensify. This connects to the broader message that believers must not waste their lives calculating dates or speculating about a future individual, but must instead remain spiritually vigilant, recognizing that every era, including one's own, carries the character of "the last time" and demands faithful perseverance, reliance on the Holy Spirit's anointing to discern truth from deception, and steadfast loyalty to Christ until His actual, glorious return.

In II Timothy chapter 3, Paul warns that perilous times will characterize the last days, marked by people who are lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, and holding to a form of godliness while denying its power. He instructs believers to turn away from such people. To explain why these last times will display such character, Paul compares these individuals to Jannes and Jambres, stating that just as these two resisted Moses, so will corrupt-minded people resist the truth, though their folly will ultimately be exposed to all, just as Jannes and Jambres' folly was exposed. Though never mentioned elsewhere in Scripture, Jannes and Jambres were identified through Jewish tradition, particularly the Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel, as magicians in Pharaoh's court who opposed Moses. A later discovery of ancient literary fragments compiled in 1994 revealed a fictionalized account called The Book of Jannes and Jambres, known to early writers including Origen. This account, though uninspired and influenced by Hellenistic ideas, likely preserves a germ of truth about these two brothers' character—namely, their obstinacy and stubborn defiance against God despite clear knowledge of Him. According to the narrative, Jannes had direct knowledge of the true God, receiving warnings through his mother's dream, an angel's intervention, and being struck with leprosy, yet he refused to repent. He even acknowledged that Moses was empowered by God while simultaneously attempting to kill him, revealing that his rebellion was willful rather than born of ignorance. On his deathbed, he still refused to repent, instead commissioning his brother Jambres to continue the opposition against God. Jambres, whose name relates to a Hebrew root meaning to agitate or rebel, followed the same defiant path, even conjuring his deceased brother's spirit for guidance rather than heeding his warning to repent. Paul's use of the plural pronoun in referring to "theirs also" indicates that both brothers shared the same fate, with Jambres apparently never repenting either. This connects directly to Paul's message about the last days: the wicked will progress no further in their efforts to deny God, just as the Egyptian magicians were powerless to stop God's judgment on Egypt despite all of Pharaoh's might. Additionally, just as Egypt's destruction displayed God's power for all nations to witness, so too will the destruction of the present evil age reveal to everyone that humanity's way of life is a total failure. The account of Jannes and Jambres thus serves as a lasting warning that in the last days there will be obstinate sinners who know the truth yet deliberately resist it. While following God leads to freedom from the slavery of sin and death, resisting Him leads only to the Lake of Fire, for one's sin will ultimately be exposed.