On Oct 3, 6:20 am, Pastor Dave
<ananias917_@_gmail.com> wrote:

Are We Living in the Last Days?
by Ward Fenley

There are many today who believe we are in the last
days because they see all of the middle-east turmoil,
technological advancements, "new world order", etc..
They claim that these are fulfillments of Biblical prophecy
that prove that we are in the last days. However, in order
to determine whether we are in the last days, we should
determine how the phrase was originally used in the
Hebrew Scriptures.

There are many today who believe we are in the last days
because they see all of the middle-east turmoil,
technological advancements, "new world order", etc..
They claim that these are fulfillments of Biblical prophecy
that prove that we are in the last days. An example of
this would be Jack Van Impe's statement in July that the
way that people will worship the "image" of the Beast is
through the scientific achievement of "cloning". They
will clone the Beast, Impe says, and therefore it will
provide his image everywhere around the world for people
to worship this Beast. Consequently Impe is a few dollars
richer and many gullible yet fleshly people are a few
dollars poorer.

In order to determine whether we are in the last days,
we should determine how the phrase was originally used
in the Hebrew Scriptures. This will help us immensely in
regard to our interpretation of the New Testament usage
of the term "last days". First, I would like to consider
the first usage of the phrase "last days" and consider
those who are primarily addressed:

Gen 49:1 And Jacob called unto his sons, and said,
Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that
which shall befall you in the last days. Jacob, in this
swan song, basically pronounced the general evil that
would come upon the twelve tribes. So, clearly, Israel
is the subject of the last days and the last days concern
the Jews.

Numbers 24:13-14 If Balak would give me his house full
of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the commandment
of the LORD, to do either good or bad of mine own mind;
but what the LORD saith, that will I speak? {14} And now,
behold, I go unto my people: come therefore, and I will
advertise thee what this people shall do to thy people in
the latter days.

Here again the vision is concerning the Jews. It was
concerning what would happen to Israel in the last days.

Isaiah predicts these last days as well:

Isaiah 2:1-2 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw
concerning Judah and Jerusalem. {2} And it shall come
to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's
house shall be established in the top of the mountains,
and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations
shall flow unto it.

The vision was concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
Nowhere is the passage referring to the last days of
the physical planet but, rather, the last days of Judah
and Jerusalem.

Moses confirms that the latter days of the Jews would
be devastation and their ultimate scattering:

Deu 4:27 And the LORD shall scatter you among the nations,
and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen,
whither the LORD shall lead you... Deu 4:30 When thou art
in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee,
even in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God,
and shalt be obedient unto his voice;

He continues this omen toward the end of the book:

Deu 31:29 For I know that after my death ye will utterly
corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way which
I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the
latter days; because ye will do evil in the sight of the
LORD, to provoke him to anger through the work of
your hands. Moses says, "evil will befall you in the
latter days". Moses was leading the company of Jews.
There is no reference to Gentiles being the subject of
these latter days.

Jeremiah 23:16-20 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken
not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you:
they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart,
and not out of the mouth of the LORD. {17} They say still
unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall
have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after
the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon
you. {18} For who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD,
and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked
his word, and heard it? {19} Behold, a whirlwind of the
LORD is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind:
it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked.
{20} The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he
have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts
of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it
perfectly.

Throughout the book of Jeremiah God condemns the Jewish
false prophets. Here Jeremiah predicts that when these
latter days come the people of God will understand what
He will do to the nation in destroying it and punishing it
for its wickedness.

Ezekiel identifies Israel also concerning its doom under
the nations.

Ezek 38:16 And thou shalt come up against my people
of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the
latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that
the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified
in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.

Michael the archangel spoke to Daniel associating
the latter days with Daniel's people:

Dan 10:14 Now I am come to make thee understand
what shall befall thy people in the latter days: for yet
the vision is for many days.

Hosea has at least an optimistic outlook for the elect
remnant of national Israel who would be saved:

Hosea 3:5 Afterward shall the children of Israel return,
and seek the LORD their God, and David their king;
and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.

Finally in Micah, the prophet states with no uncertainty
that the last days involves the reduction of Israel to heaps
at that time: Micah 3:12 Therefore shall Zion for your sake
be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps,
and the mountain of the house as the high places of the
forest.

Micah 4:1 But in the last days it shall come to pass,
that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be
established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be
exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it.

It is evident that national Israel was the main subject
involved in these last days. One might try to argue
that this concerned the spiritual Israel of God, however,
in light of the evil said to come upon Israel one would
be hard pressed to find God bringing such evil upon
His beautiful bride. The nation of Israel has not existed
for nearly 2000 years. Those in the middle east who
affirm themselves as Israel have no more right to do so
than a twentieth century man would to claim He was
Jesus Christ manifested in the flesh.

Those who would agree that God has been finished with
national Israel for nearly two millennia would be forced
to conclude that, in light of the above evidence, the latter
days are concerning the nation of Israel. Therefore if they
agree that God has been finished with the nation of Israel
for 1900+ years they must agree that the latter days have
also been finished for the same length of time.

In the book of Acts we find a profound statement made
by Peter (a Jew) to a multitude of Jews out of every nation:

Acts 2:14-21 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted
up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and
all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you,
and hearken to my words: {15} For these are not drunken,
as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.
{16} But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
{17} 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:
{18} And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will
pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall
prophesy: {19} And I will show wonders in heaven above,
and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour
of smoke: {20} The sun shall be turned into darkness, and
the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of
the Lord come: {21} And it shall come to pass, that
whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Peter explicitly says, "This is that". He then explains
that what this multitude of Jews was experiencing was
the fulfillment of the prophecy in Joel. Peter is telling
this multitude that they were in the last days. Beyond
this he goes on to describe what would take place
during these last days: dreams, visions, prophesying,
wonders in heaven, signs in the earth, blood, fire,
vapour of smoke, the Sun turned into darkness and
the Moon into blood. Peter said, "This is that".
Jesus predicted strikingly similar events to take place
before His return:

Mat 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days
shall the Sun be darkened, and the Moon shall not give her
light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers
of the heavens shall be shaken:

As we have seen, the latter days concerned the nation
of Israel. In fact, the very first mention of the last days
was by Jacob, the father of the twelve tribes of Israel.
More importantly Jacob was addressing the twelve sons,
or tribes, in speaking about the evil that would befall
those tribes in the last days. The question is, how does
this relate to the language of Jesus and Peter in speaking
of the Sun, Moon, and the stars? Our attention should
be immediately drawn to the dream of Joseph concerning
His family:

Genesis 37:9-10 And he dreamed yet another dream,
and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed
a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the
eleven stars made obeisance to me. {10} And he told it to
his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him,
and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast
dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed
come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?

This description of the foundation of national Israel
would no doubt be an imprint upon the hearts of those
born as Israelites. This description basically identified
Jacob, his wife, and the heads of the twelve tribes,
as the Sun, Moon and stars respectively. They represented
the foundation of the whole Jewish nation. The Jews were
dangerously confident in their nationality and foundation
to the point of believing that their nationality along with
their works secured them a place in the eternal promised
land. When Jesus, therefore spoke of the Sun being
darkened, the Moon not giving its light and the stars
falling from heaven, He was referring to the complete
dissolution of the Jewish state. Peter was very likely
addressing the same event.

What is significant about Peter's statement is that he was
claiming that they were in the last days. The writer of
Hebrews expressed this identical sentiment as he began
his discourse comparing the fading Old Covenant with
the Everlasting New Covenant:

Hebrews 1:1-2 God, who at sundry times and in divers
manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
{2} Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son,
whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom
also he made the worlds;

"Hath in these last days" the writer confirms. Without any
speculation those in the first century believed they were in
the last days. Certainly the writers of the New Testament
were very aware of those passages we have studied involving
the last days of Judah and Jerusalem. Therefore it is safe
and logical to say that the New Testament writers believed
that they were in the last days of the Jewish age.
The writer of Hebrews confirmed this:

Heb 9:26 For then must he often have suffered since
the foundation of the world: but now once in the end
of the age hath he appeared to put away sin by the
sacrifice of himself.

Paul believed they were living in the end of the Jewish age
as well: 1 Cor 10:11 Now all these things happened unto
them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition,
upon whom the ends of the age are come. Paul was describing
the history of the Jews and their rebellion against God in
the wilderness. We should not ignore the fact that Paul,
in discussing the ancient rebellion which took place in the
40-year period between the giving of the Old Covenant and
the entering into the earthly promised land, was describing
the rebellion taking place during the 40-year period in
which he was living: the period between the giving of
the New Testament and the entering into the heavenly
Promised Land.

Consider the statement of James as he addressed
the unbelieving Jews:

James 5:1-9 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for
your miseries that shall come upon you. {2} Your riches
are corrupted, and your garments are moth eaten.
{3} Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them
shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as
it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last
days. {4} Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped
down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud,
crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered
into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth. {5} Ye have lived
in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have
nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.
{6} Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth
not resist you. {7} Be patient therefore, brethren, unto
the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth
for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience
for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. {8} Be
ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the
Lord draweth nigh. {9} Grudge not one against another,
brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth
before the door.

Clearly James taught that these men were in the last days.
To prove this with even more authority, James declares
that the coming of the Lord was drawing near and that
the Judge was standing at the door. This corresponds
very well with the previous statement declaring the
unbelieving Jews to be in the last days ready for the
slaughter.

Jude, in describing the same group of unbelieving Jews,
also speaks of this period, although with a different
phrase:

Jude 1:17-18 But, beloved, remember ye the words which
were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ;
{18} How that they told you there should be mockers in the
last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.

The word "time" is the Greek word chronos,
defined by Strong's Exhaustive Concordance as:

5550. chronos, khron'-os; a space of time

The word "last" is defined as:

2078. eschatos, es'-khat-os; a superl. prob. from G2192
(in the sense of contiguity); farthest, final (of place or
time):--ends of, last, latter end, lowest, uttermost.

Certainly we can conclude from Jude that they were in
the farthest or uttermost space of time of the Jewish age.
They were in the last days of the Jewish state.

The apostle John made a similar statement:

1 John 2:18 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye
have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there
many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.

Here, the same word "eschatos" is used for "last". However,
the Greek word for "time" is slightly different, though very
related: it is the Greek word "hora" defined by Strong's as:

5610. hora, ho'-rah; appar. a prim. word; an "hour"
(lit. or fig.):--day, hour, instant, season, X short,
[even-] tide, (high) time.

It means, "hour". John said they were in the "last hour".

John believed they were in the last or farthest season,
or hour of the Jewish age. Paul believed the same:

Rom 13:11 And that, knowing the time, that now it is high
time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer
than when we believed.

There are two different Greek words used here translated
as "time". In the first cause Paul says "knowing the time".
The Greek word here is "2540. kairos, kahee-ros';
of uncert. affin.; an occasion, i.e. set or proper time:
--X always, opportunity, (convenient, due) season,
(due, short, while) time, a while. Comp. G5550".
Strong's. In the second clause Paul uses the phrase
"high time". "High time" is the same Greek word used
in 1 John. Both Paul and John firmly believed that
they were in the last time or days of the Jewish age.

There are many other passages that could be used to
support the fact that the first-century believers and
particularly the Apostles believed unanimously that
they were in the end of the Jewish age or the last days
of the Jewish age.

When Jesus spoke of the last day, He was making strong
reference to the final day of the Jewish age in which the
elements of the Temple, rituals, and curse would be done
away. There are many Futurists who would say there was
nothing spiritually significant concerning the destruction
of the Jewish state. However, consider this very confusing,
nevertheless profound statement by Arthur Pink concerning
Hebrews 10:25 which reads:

Heb 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves
together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting
one another: and so much the more, as ye see the
day approaching.

Arthur Pink:

On Hebrews 10:25 "and so much more as ye see the day
approaching". There seems little room for doubt that the
first reference here is to the destruction of the Jewish
commonwealth, which was now very nigh for this epistle
was written within less than eight years before Jerusalem
was captured by Titus. That terrible catastrophe had
been foretold, again and again, by Israel's prophets,
and was plainly announced by the Lord Jesus in Luke 21.
The approach of that dreadful "day" could be plainly seen
or perceived by those possessing spiritual discernment:
the continued refusal of the Nation to repent of their
murder of Christ, and the abandoning of Christianity
for an apostate Judaism by such large numbers, clearly
presaged the bursting of the storm of God's judgment.
This very fact supplied an additional motive for genuine
Christians to remain faithful. The Lord Jesus promised
that His followers should be preserved from the destruction
of Jerusalem, but only as they attended to His cautions
in Luke 21:8, 19, 34, etc., only as they persevered in
faith and holiness, Matt. 24:13. The particular motive
unto diligence here set before the Hebrews is applicable
to other Christians just to the extent that they find
themselves in similar circumstances. Pink-Volume 2,
Commentary on Hebrews (10:25).

The approaching day was the same day that would come
in a little while according to the author of Hebrews:

Heb 10:37 For yet a little while, and he that shall come
will come, and will not tarry.

Pink, again with incredible insight says: A little while:
"The Greek is very expressive and emphatic. The apostle
used a word which signifies 'a little while,' and then for
further emphasis added a particle meaning 'very', and
this he still further intensified by repeating it; thus,
literally rendered this clause reads, 'For yet a very,
very little while, and he that shall come will come.'...
'For yet a little while, and He that shall come will come,
and will not tarry'.

Yet Pink, who seems to have incredible insight, still
ends up employs a hermeneutic that radically distorts
the text! Read on, what he had to say and see how it
goes 180 degrees away from what he agreed that the
text says, by trying to place another physical return of
Christ into the future, without any support from the
Scriptures he just quoted! This makes it Pink's
doctrinal desire, not Scripture!...

The reference here is to the person of the Lord Jesus as is
evident from Hab. 2:3, to which the apostle here alludes.
Like so many prophecies, that word of Habakkuk's was
to receive a threefold fulfillment: a literal an initial
one, a spiritual and continuous one, a final and complete
one. The literal was the Divine incarnation, when the
Son of God came here in flesh. The final will be His
return in visible glory and power. The spiritual has
reference to the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 when
that which most obstructed the manifestation of Christ's
kingdom on earth was destroyed- with the overthrow of
the Temple and its worship, official Judaism came to an
end. The Christians in Palestine were being constantly
persecuted by the Jews, but their conquest by Titus and
their consequent dispersion put and to this. That event
was less than ten years distance when Paul wrote:
compare our remarks on 'see the day approaching' (10:25).
We trust that none will conclude from what has been said
above that we regard v.37 as containing no reference to
the final coming of Christ. What we have sought to point
out was the immediate purport of its content unto the
Hebrews. But it also contains a message for us, a message
of hope and comfort. It is out privilege too to be waiting
for God's Son from Heaven. Let us add that is a big mistake
to regard every mention of the 'coming' of Christ in the
N.T. Scriptures as referring to His 'appearing the second
time' (Heb 9:28). Pink-Commentary on Hebrews-Pg 145

In other words, "I recognize that the text speaks of
the time that the Jewish state was destroyed, but
I WANT it to be about ME, so I will claim that Jesus
has yet to come again, even though the text gave
no indication of that and Jesus never spoke of
multiple returns.". Hmmm... (:

John Brown also makes some unique remarks:

John Brown commentary on Hebrews 10:25: "The day'
here referred to seems plainly the day of the destruction
of the Jewish State and Church. That day had been foretold
by many of the prophets, and with peculiar minuteness by
our Lord Himself: (Luke 21:8-12)..."These events were now
very near; and the harbingers of their coming were well
fitted to quicken to holy diligence the Hebrew Christians,
that they might escape the coming desolation.

John Brown commentary on "these last days" of Hebrews 1:2:
"...the meaning is, towards the conclusion of the Jewish
dispensation. It seems equivalent to the expressions used
by the Apostle, 1 Cor, 10:11, 'the ends of the world (age)
are come'-the conclusion of the Mosaic economy; Gal. 4:4,
'the fulness, or the fulfillment of time'-the accomplishment
or termination of the period assigned for the duration of
the Mosaic economy; Eph. 1:10, 'the dispensation of the
fulness of times'-the economy which was to be introduced
when the times of the Mosaic economy were fulfilled;
Heb. 9:26, 'the end of the world,' literally 'of the ages'
-the period of the termination of the Mosaic economy
-the time when the present age or world was about
to be changed into the coming age-the world to come.
The Christian revelation was begun to be made in the
conclusion of the Jewish age. It was before the conclusion
of that age that God spake to the Jews by His Son, who,
according to our Lord's parabolical representation, was sent
last of all to the husband men: 'He sent forth His Son made
under the law'. His personal ministry, and for some time
that of His Apostles, was confined to them; and though
by His death the Mosaic economy was virtually abrogated,
yet it was not in fact dissolved till forty years
afterwards, in the destruction of the Temple by the Romans,
and the consequent final cessation of its services."

John Owen comments on Hebrews 10:25:

John Owen--"It is not such a day, such a motive, as is
always common to all, but only unto those who are in some
measure in the same circumstances with them....Wherefore
this day was no other but that fearful and tremendous day,
a season for the destruction of Jerusalem, the temple, city,
and nation of the Jews, which our Saviour had forewarned
His disciples of, and which they had in continual
expectation" --Commentary on Hebrews

With the exception of this last comment by Owen, it is
manifestly evident that the preceding quotations are in
gross error of applying a hermeneutic that is completely
unwarranted both contextually and historically.
Nevertheless, we have seen that even the greatest scholars
cannot ignore the particular reference given to the Jews and
the destruction of the Temple in AD 70 and the last days.

A question should be raised: if, as we have seen, the last
days were concerning Judah and Jerusalem, and we believe
that God is done with the nation of Israel, then how can we
affirm that we are in the last days?

Also, if we have proven that they were in the last days and
the end of the age, and that those last days have come and
gone and the Jewish age has come and gone, then in what
age are we now? Jesus spoke of two ages:

Mat 12:32 And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son
of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh
against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him,
neither in this age, neither in the age to come.

Interestingly, the Greek phrase used is aeoni houtay en
toe mellonti, literally translated "age ABOUT TO come".
Jesus spoke of the present Jewish age and the ensuing
New Covenant age. Because of the obvious overlap,
which, even the authors cited recognized, Paul could say:

Eph 1:21 Far above all principality, and power, and might,
and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in
this age, but also in that which is about to (mello) come:
This age is synonymous with the city of the living God:

Heb 13:14 For here have we no continuing city, but we seek
one about to come. With the destruction of Jerusalem and
its Temple, Jesus Christ brought to complete establishment
the eternal Jerusalem from above. The last days concerned
Israel and its covenant and nation. We are now in the age
that was about to come, the everlasting Covenant through
the blood of that great Shepherd of the sheep.

Thank you Dave, for this good Bread!

A Great way to start the day! I will be meditating
on this in my travels. You have a good Day in Jesus!