DEFINE "THESE LAST DAYS" (KJV), "THE END OF THESE DAYS" (ASV) AS TO BEGINNING AND DURATION (Heb. 1:2)
Jesus set the tone for this great text when he took his disciples upon the mount of transfiguration (Matt. 17; Mark 9; Luke 9). There, with Moses and Elijah, the great law-giver and the loyal prophet in company with them, the voice of Jehovah declared, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him" (Matt. 17:5). In the past, God had directed man through the law and the prophets and by direct means, but now we are directed to give our attention to Jesus -- to God's final revelation through his Son.
F. F. Bruce comments:
"The earlier stage of revelation was given in a variety of ways: He spoke in storm and thunder to Moses, in a still small voice to Elijah. To those who would not heed the gently flowing stream of Shiloah (Isa. 8:6ff), He spoke by means of the Euphratean flood. Priest and prophet, sage and singer, were in their several ways His spokesmen; yet all the successive acts and varying modes of revelation in the ages before Christ came did not add up to the fulness of what God had to say. His word was not complete until Christ came; but when Christ came, the word spoken in him was indeed God's final word.<9>
For those with some dispensational doctrine to defend, this passage, along with Acts 2:16-17 and others, becomes difficult. Premillennialists have taken a perfectly good, Biblical term and given to it an entirely unbiblical application. Just like their abuse of other words, such as tribulation and rapture, the world has become accustomed to thinking of some period just prior to, or just after, Jesus' second coming when they hear the term "last days." Fifty years ago, upon hearing words like "pot," "gay" and "bread," we would have been thinking of "cast-iron," "happy" and "Mrs. Baird's bread". Today these words are used to speak of marijuana, homosexuality, and money. A similar distortion is now seen even in Bible words and phrases.
There are at least two things we must not do:
(1) We must not let false teachers make their own rules. We must teach, both positively and negatively, correcting false doctrines even when we ourselves are weary of giving such warnings. We must "read in the book of the law of God distinctly, giving the sense, and causing them to understand the reading" (Neh. 8:8).
(2) We must make sure that we do not fall victim to the same deception, by misusing passages just because they have the catch phrases that sound as if they either strengthen or weaken the dispensational view. Misusing a passage is inexcusable regardless of the person who does it or the purpose for which it is done.
In using the phrase "these last days" (or "the end of these days," ASV), the emphasis is on contrasting the revelation of "old time" or "time past" with the new and final revelation of God through Jesus.
"The last days are in contrast to the days of old. The Old Testament often speaks of "the last days" (Gen: 49:1; Num. 24:14; Isa. 2:2; Hos. 3:5), by which is meant the future in general or the Messianic age in particular, the time when when prophecy would find its fulfillments. ... These last days denotes the final phase of history, brought on by the entry of the Son into the world and continuing until the consummation of all things."<10>
The Jews never attempted to carefully delineate the exact beginning of this period, but by letting the inspired New Testament writers do so, we can come to a rather strong conclusion. The Old Testament prophets had said that some things would happens in the last days:
First, God would pour out his Spirit upon all flesh (Joel 2:28). In describing the events of the day of Pentecost, Peter was inspired to say "this is that" (Acts 2:14-17). This writer submits that it is somewhat presumptuous for man to say "this is not that."
Second, the last days were to be characterized by the Lord's House being established, which would bring an era of genuine peace to the world, and for the law of God to proceed from Jerusalem (Isa. 2:2-3; Mic. 4:1-3). This peace came to be enjoyed by those who knew how to behave themselves "in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth": (1 Tim. 3:15). In Acts 2, with "men out of every nation", (Acts 2:5) present, the law of the Lord did proceed from "Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1:8).
Third, God promised to "make a new covenant" (Jer. 31:31-34) with his people, and that not only the Jews but the Gentiles would be "called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name" (Isa. 62:2). In Antioch, under this new covenant and with Jews and Gentiles now called by the name "Christian" (Acts 11:26), God's people enjoyed the blessings promised for those in the last days. Since the law was nailed to the cross (Col. 2:14), this would establish the beginning and project the duration of this prophetic era, "the last days."
Note carefully the additional New Testament usage of this and similar terms:
First, 1 Tim. 4:1 -- "In the latter times some shall depart from the faith ..." The actions described and the doctrines mentioned were prevalent in the first century as well as today. As Wallace says, "the `latter times' did not mean that a general departure from the faith, or a mass apostasy, portends the end of time."<11> It meant the last age -- the Christian age.
Second, 2 Tim. 3:1 -- "In the last days perilous times shall come." That these days were to be in Timothy's lifetime is obvious since Paul then warns Timothy that he must "turn away" from those who possessed these wicked qualities. See also Jude 1:18 for a similar warning.
Third, 2 Pet. 3:3-4 -- "There shall come in the last days scoffers ... saying, Where is the promise of his coming?" These scoffers are then described as being "willingly ignorant" (present tense) of the facts, and Timothy is warned to not be ignorant. This spoke of a problem current to Paul's and Timothy's work, not some fanciful age thousands of years in the future. See also 1 John 2:18.
Let it be noted that Christ is now in the kingdom, and that we look forward to a rest at God's side, not on his footstool.