From time to time I hear the question, “do you think we are living in the
last days?” Sometimes people positively state that there is no doubt; “we are
certainly living in the last days.” I agree, we are most definitely, with all
certainty living in ‘The Last Days’. But do we really understand the meaning and
timescale of the period Christians so often refer to as ‘the last days’. How can
I possibly be so sure that these are the last days? Do I profess an expert level
of understanding prophecy? Or am I endued with a special gift for discerning the
times we are living in? I do not claim either. What I do lay claim to though is
a simple understanding of the Bible terminology where this phrase is concerned.
I have said, and shall continue to do so, that wrong terminology will inevitably
lead to wrong thinking. Looking at it the other way round, correct terminology,
though not an absolute guarantee of our real spiritual understanding, will
none-the-less frequently help us toward a correct understanding of The Word. On
the majority of occasions that I hear this phrase used what the person really
wants to know, or state, is “how close are we to the return of the Lord Jesus” –
“that great and notable day of the Lord.” For a whole number of reasons I shall
not bother to begin to hazard my way into giving an answer for this. But what I
do want to say is that there is so often a misunderstanding of the phrase in
question. When once we see this, who knows, maybe a little chink more of light
may fall on this whole subject of ‘end times’.
The phrase ‘The Last Days’ is used four times in the New Testament. (This is not
a study as such of the whole topic so we shall not look at the O.T. references
to this but simply seek to establish the meaning of the phrase as intended by
N.T. writers). It is interesting to note that it is used once each by four
different writers: Acts 2:17, 2 Tmi 3:1, James 5:3 & 2 Peter 3:3. That’s Luke,
Paul, James and Peter. Each occasion is translating the same Greek phrase. The
key to understanding the message of the Holy Spirit in ‘inspiring’ these authors
in their use of this phrase is to be found in the first of our references in
Acts 2:17. Although it is Luke writing, he is actually transcribing a message,
which can only be described as prophetically inspired, spoken by Peter. In turn,
Peter is quoting one of the Old Testament prophets.
It is the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit form God has descended from heaven
upon these believing men and women and Peter stands up and says:
“But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to
pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh:
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see
visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my
handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall
prophesy…”
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There are no prizes for knowing that this is a quotation from the prophet
Joel – chapter 2. Peter, an apostle of the Lord, inspired to speak by the Holy
Spirit, interprets the words of Joel and the events of that great day as marking
the beginning of “the last days”. The things that follow are all hallmarks of
this period and mighty was the manifestation of some of these things on that
very day. As you know, prophetic utterances and visions continued to feature
throughout the years that followed. We read of such things often in the book of
Acts and the New Testament epistles.
So we have a clear commencement date for the period known as ‘the last days’.
What about an end date? For this all we need to do is read on further in this
very passage:
“And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my
Spirit; and they shall prophesy: And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and
signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall
be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable
day of the Lord come.”
Here we are introduced to another wonderful phrase – “The Day of The Lord.” All
these things are to happen before ‘The Day of The Lord’. That would seem simple
enough to me. The suggestion then is, all these things shall have ceased either
by the time of, or immediately after this event. I don’t wish to branch out here
into examining this second phrase but I would think that it is near universally
accepted that this refers to the second coming of the Lord Jesus. So now we have
two absolutely precise dates, which encompass the period of time that the New
Testament writers refer to as ‘The Last Days’ - Pentecost to the Second Coming.
The simple fact is, we have not been made party to the knowledge concerning that
second date.
This period could also be termed: ‘The New Covenant Era’, or, ‘The Church Age’.
The important thing is, that we see that this phrase refers to the whole of that
period and not just a part. It is not a future time to come. It is here, now and
it has been already going nearly 2000 years.
Why ‘the last days’? Because the former days have passed away. There have been
‘days’, or ‘ages’ gone by when God dealt with human beings in other ways, under
the terms of other covenants. But these days are the days of a final and
ultimate covenant, which God has made with man. This ‘latter day’ covenant has
come into being through the offering up of God’s Son of course, which has led to
not only the forgiveness of sins, but also to the thorough cleansing of our
hearts, which in turn makes mere men capable of being houses (temples) of the
Holy Spirit. God cannot give man anything better than this. So this is the
final, the ultimate age of human existence, and you and I are extremely
privileged to be born into this time.
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