Whose "Last Days" is it, anyway?

If you were brought up, like I was, you would automatically say that the last days are either today or still in the future. This notion is fostered by the majority of modern eschatology books, charts, and tracts, as well as sermons, and websites. But if we just read the Bible as the first and foremost authority - a neglected practice, especially when it comes to this subject - the truth becomes evident.

A good first step in understanding any biblical word or phrase is to study the the other occurrences in the Bible. Fair enough? A quick search for the words "last" and "day" brings up twelve places where both words appear in the same verse. Ignoring the verses that are not germane to our current topic leaves us the following seven verses:

"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." - Gen. 49:1

It is ironic that many who subscribe to the "Law of First Mention" become scofflaws when it comes to this particular first mention, showing that the last days is what happens to the Jews and, considering the entirety of Jacob's prophecy here, showing that these blessings and curses on the individual tribes have already happened. These events are not happening today or still future. The biblical "last days" didn't last.

"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." - Isaiah 2:2

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

The verse before and after Isaiah 2:2 establishes that the focus here is "Judah and Jerusalem" and "the house of the God of Jacob". Similar application is found in the Micah passage.

"And it shall come to pass in the last days, says 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:" - Acts 2:17

Peter here quotes the last days prophecy of Joel 2:28 - 32. And then he applies the passage to what was happening right then. This is very important, Those who insist that the events of Acts 17 - 20 (or at least 19 - 20) are still future would thus have a problem with verse 21. They recognize that verse 21, calling on the name of the Lord, to be happening already in Acts, but the phrase "it shall come to pass" argues for verse 21 to be either at the same time or after the events of 17 - 20. So none of this can be still in our time or yet future.

For the futurist version to be true verse 21 should have been written, "And it shall come to pass that the sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood..."!

Back to the verses:

"Has in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he has appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;" - Heb. 1:2

One of the main things I learned when I was convinced of amillenialism (and had to unlearn!) was that, according to this verse, we were still in the last days. Jesus, after all, is still speaking to us, isn't He? But this is actually about Christ and His Apostles first giving out the Good News ("has spoken"), that which we now have in our New Testaments. See also Heb. 2:3 -4.

John, in his 1st epistle, is even more precise in his referring to this time as the "last hour", 1 John 2:18 -19, placing the falling away and the appearance of “antichrists” at the same time. The apostasy and the appearance of a single supposed Antichrist are not something still future. They were present already at the time of John's writing. How bizarre it is to imagine that "last days" and "last hour" should be followed by almost 2000 years!

And then we have these last three verses:

"This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come." - 2 Tim. 3:1

"Your gold and silver is rusted; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as if it were fire. You have heaped treasure together for the last days." - James 5:3

"Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts," - 2 Peter 3:3

These last three verses all explain just how those last days had become perilous. And a reading of Acts as well as Josephus show how these verses came true.

All of these passages show just what is meant by "last days". It was the last days of the Jewish Dispensation. The Law was already nailed permanently to the Cross of Christ and the very last outward remnant of the Jewish Law was destroyed with the destruction of their temple.

After that there are no further last days. The darkness is past. We have now the bright new day of the everlasting Gospel.