Last Days Associated With the Apostasy. The words “last days” or comparable expressions are sometimes used in connection with the apostasy that was to be experienced within the Christian congregation. Wrote the apostle Paul to Timothy: “The inspired utterance says definitely that in later periods of time some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to misleading inspired utterances and teachings of demons.” (1Ti 4:1; compare Ac 20:29, 30.) In a later letter to Timothy, Paul again discussed this point and spoke of future “last days.” Because of the abandonment of right conduct by people then, these were to be “critical times hard to deal with” or, more literally, ‘fierce appointed times.’ (Int) After describing in detail the wayward course and perverted attitudes to prevail among persons living at that time, Paul continued: “From these arise those men who slyly work their way into households and lead as their captives weak women loaded down with sins, led by various desires, always learning and yet never able to come to an accurate knowledge of truth.” (2Ti 3:1-7) Next Paul contrasted such corrupt persons with Timothy, who had closely followed the apostle’s teaching, and encouraged him to ‘continue in the things that he had learned and been persuaded to believe.’ (2Ti 3:8-17; see also 2Ti 4:3-5.) Thus from the context it is clear that the apostle was informing Timothy well in advance about future developments among professed Christians and describing what fruitage such apostasy would finally yield.

Similarly, the apostle Peter provided advance knowledge to fellow Christians about pressures from within the congregation: “There will also be false teachers among you. These very ones will quietly bring in destructive sects and will disown even the owner that bought them, bringing speedy destruction upon themselves. Furthermore, many will follow their acts of loose conduct.” (2Pe 2:1, 2) This same warning is echoed in Jude’s words encouraging Christians “to put up a hard fight for the faith”: “As for you, beloved ones, call to mind the sayings that have been previously spoken by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, how they used to say to you: ‘In the last time there will be ridiculers, proceeding according to their own desires for ungodly things.’” (Jude 3, 17, 18) Toward the close of the first century C.E., apostate elements were clearly in evidence. In our day the full fruitage of such apostasy is clearly evident; the “last days” to which Paul referred have arrived.

Furthermore, the illustration suggested that the apostasy would bear its full fruitage of wickedness during “the conclusion of the system of things” under Satan’s control. Reasonably, therefore, at that time the conditions described by the writers of the Christian Greek Scriptures as marking “the last days” would be in evidence on a large scale among professed Christians. There would be increasing lawlessness and disobedience to parents. Persons would be “lovers of pleasures rather than lovers of God, having a form of godly devotion but proving false to its power.” (2Ti 3:2-5)