I remember as a teenager about twelve or thirteen years old, looking at this scripture and wondering about these perilous days thinking to myself ‘just how perilous can it get’ and what is the meaning of this word as it relates to the world at large? My thoughts were provoked, and my eyes lingered on the verse trying to comprehend its meaning. While the full understanding eluded me, I also thought that this word that seemed weighty and carried with it a cause for concern was, on the other hand, not a concern for me, for surely Jesus would come and take me to heaven before these perils unfold.

Fast forward about four decades, give or take the odd year/s the scripture has unfolded with complete accuracy before my eyes. Even without looking at a dictionary or concordance for a definition, the signs of the time and the revealing events over the last couple of decades especially, give an accurate understanding of the perils of our present day.

The Greek tense of this verse carries an urgency with it and the Holy Spirit wants us to be prepared and not taken off guard with present and coming events. The Apostle Paul is not trying to scare us but to prepare us to navigate these last days.

“This know also that in the last days perilous times will come”. “That” õti (hoti) points to a specific and important point in the last days (Acts 2:17). “Last” is the word (eschatos) it is the final end of a thing; it means the final port or the last stopping off for a journey; something that is ending and at the very last stage. This is where we get the word eschatology, which is a study of the end times. These perilous times are the final stopping point before the end of the church age.

“Perilous” (chalepos) is defined as troublesome, dangerous, fierce, savage, grievous, hard to bear, or distressing.  Risky, treacherous, hurtful, unpredictable. It carries the picture of a deadly menace. Can also be used to describe words that are so harmful that when spoken are hard to bear.

“Shall come” (enistemi) it is a compound word of (en) that means in, like to be in something (histemi), means to stand in the middle of whatever is happening, feeling like there is no way of escape.

A closer look at the verse tells us that this is something that we cannot avoid, as ‘times, kairos’ speaks to season, a set time, due time, and proper time. So, in this last of the last days, it is appointed, so to speak, that these perilous times will come and continue to increase, and we will be in the middle of what is happening. There is no way of escape such as hiding and waiting it out. We need to be equipped to stand in the midst of dangerous and fierce times.

However, the juxtaposition of these challenging times is that it signals the body of Christ to arise into her Kingly anointing and take centre stage. In Luke 21:10-13, (ESV), Jesus talks about the nations and kingdoms rising against each other, the earthquakes and pestilences, and the persecution that would unfold. In verse thirteen he tells his disciples “This will be your opportunity to bear witness”. To give testimony, to show evidence, to demonstrate the kingdom of God. During this time of perils, pestilence, famine, hard to bear distressing global chaos, the same scripture speaks to us as people of the last days with the same urgency and commission to ‘bear witness.’ God has willed and purposed you and me to be exactly where we are for such a time. We come positioned and equipped to bear witness of Christ and to snatch men and women, sons and daughters out of the darkness and into the light of God’s glorious kingdom.

The word perilous is used only twice in the entire New Testament. We see it in Matthew 8:28 in the country of the Gadarenes with the two demon-possessed men who were “so fierce, that no one could pass that way.” fierce here is chalepos the same as in 2 Tim 3:1.  Jesus, however, did not shy away from the fierceness of this situation like the rest of the town folk. Jesus knew that this was his hour and his assignment. He was the answer to this perilous situation.

This is also our hour to rise and shine because the light is in us and has come upon us for this present moment, and we know by revelation and not just information, who we are and whose we are on the earth. That we understand our assignment and know that our positioning is not happenstance, we have been divinely placed. Why do we need to know this? Because it is “the people that know their God” who “will be strong and do exploits” Daniel 11:32. To know by revelation that we are “in the kingdom for such a time as this”. Esther was not positioned for a time of peace but for the time of war and impending annihilation of a people. She was the intercessor that stood in the gap so that God’s kingdom could come, and His will be done.

This perilous time is ushered in as men increasingly become lovers of themselves more than lovers of God. Taking on the attributes of the devil by becoming slanderous, rejecters of God’s grace, disobedient, and out of control. “They may pretend to have a respect for God, but in reality, they want nothing to do with God’s power.” 2 Timothy 3:5 TPT. “But this is not the way of life that Christ has unfolded within you.” Ephesians 4:20 (TPT). We have learned that according to Isaiah 60 the darkness is our cue, our signal to arise.

• Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Isaiah 60:1-3

This word is a reminder to you today that your calling, assignment, and positioning are no accident or coincidence. You are needed and you have everything that is essential to accomplish the task. You are more than able, more than capable. It’s not by your might or by your power “but by His Spirit says the Lord of Hosts”. Zachariah 4:6.

To some extent Mordecai’s counsel and rebuke, to Esther, was that regardless of whether she decided to sit out this defining moment or grab hold of her divine placement and be actively involved, God’s will would ultimately be done. It is better to be a part of the remnant that he is using in this end time to usher in his kingdom reign than to cower in fear and watch from the side lines. To be a participator, not a spectator.

“For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place…. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Esther 4:14.