THE BIBLICAL LAST DAYS: As Defined by Scripture

Are you looking for current events to identify the “biblical last days?” If so, you are reading your own presuppositions into the text. Theologians call that “eisegesis.” That’s an illegitimate methodology for biblical interpretation. Instead, we should be trying to glean the meaning intended by the biblical authors themselves―and the understanding of the original audience, i.e. “exegesis.” Let’s avoid newspaper-eschatology and go to the Bible to define the “last days” or “end times.”

The Bible never speaks about the end of the world―only about end of the AGE. The King James Version of the Bible has misled readers for 400 years. For example, in the book of Matthew we see the phrase “end of the world” (Matthew 13:36-50; 24:2-3; 28:18-20). But the Greek word for “world” in these passages is not KOSMOS, but rather AION. AION is better translated as “age.” Most modern translations have corrected that error, rendering it “end of the age.” The END is about the close of the old covenant age, which ended in finality in AD 70 when Jerusalem fell and the temple was destroyed.

Now, let’s consider an important passage from the Old Testament: Daniel 12. This chapter is about the “TIME OF THE END” (12:4, 6, 8, 9, 13). The fulfillment of this passage is clearly delineated. It would be fulfilled when “the power of the holy people comes to an end” (12:7) and when “the regular burnt offering is taken away” (12:11). This clearly happened in AD 70 when God sent the Roman army as the instrument of his judgment against Old Covenant Israel. At that time, the temple was destroyed and the historic Jewish animal sacrifices for sin ended forever (Matthew 23:1-24:2; Luke 21:20-24). This was the Abomination of Desolation predicted by Daniel (12:11) and Jesus (Matthew 24:15). Jesus said all this would happen in his own generation (Matthew 23:35; 24:34).

In the New Testament, there are 19 primary texts about the last days, end times (or end of the age). The writers of the New Testament spoke with one voice that THEY were living in the last days. Contrary to popular opinion, the setting and fulfillment of the last days can only be placed within the first century! Here are seven passages, which one can ignore, futurize, or try to explain away―but you cannot do that and deal honestly with the text:

• “The appointed time has grown VERY SHORT. . . . For the present form of the world IS PASSING AWAY.” (Apostle Paul, 1 Corinthians 7:29-31)

• “Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, ON WHOM THE END OF THE AGES HAS COME.” (Apostle Paul, 1 Corinthians 10:11)

• “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in THESE LAST DAYS He has spoken to us by his Son. . . .” (Writer of Hebrews, Hebrews 1:1-2)

• “He has appeared once for all at THE END OF THE AGES to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” (Writer of Hebrews, Hebrews 9:26)

• “He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but WAS MADE MANIFEST IN THE LAST TIMES for your sake.” (Apostle Peter, 1 Peter 1:20)

Here are the other twelve, which I suggest you look up and compare in context to the above: Matthew 13:38-42; 24:2-3; 13-16 (ref. v. 34); Acts 2:14-20; 1 Corinthians 1:8; 15:24; 1 Timothy 4:1; 2 Timothy 3:1-5; Hebrews 3:14; James 5:1-6; 1 Peter 1:5-7; Jude 17-23. It is clear. You cannot push the last days beyond the generation of men who were writing the New Testament without doing violence to the text.

There is only one logical conclusion. The last days are not about the end of the world. In fact, the Bible never speaks about the end of the physical universe, and indeed teaches that the earth abides forever in some sense (Psalm 78:69; 104:5; 148:3-6; Ecclesiastes 1:4; Ephesians 3:21). They are not about a supposed end of the Christian age, which has no end (Isaiah 9:7; Luke 1:31-33; Ephesians 1:20-22; etc.). They are not about a future millennium. Rather, they marked the last days of the OLD COVENANT AGE, which came to a violent end in AD 70 at the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple.

This is confirmed by the writer of Hebrews who declared, “In speaking of a new covenant, He makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.” (Hebrews 8:13) So, what was coming to a close in the first century? The Last Days of what? The Old Covenant order!

Let’s put something else to bed. The last days/end times did not just begin in the first century―and continue until now. That would make the end time longer than the period to which it was an end! That is, we have been in the New Covenant era for 2,000 years, which is longer than the Old Covenant era which was 1500 years, beginning with Moses and lasted till the first century (Hebrews 8:5-13; 9:19-20; 10:28-29). “At hand” and “It is the last hour” cannot be 2,000 years later. The biblical last days were the END OF SOMETHING―NOT THE BEGINNING OF SOMETHING.

The culmination of the last days/end times were in the near future to the New Testament Writers:

• Jesus―Matthew 24:14 (ref. Luke 2:1; Romans 1:8; 10:18; 16:26; Colossians 1:6, 23)

AD 70 is when God judged Israel for her sins Matthew (Matthew 23:35), her refusal to accept Jesus as Messiah (Matthew 23:37-39), and for her participation with the Roman authorities in Jesus’ conviction and crucifixion (Matthew 27:24-25). This was the end of biblical Judaism. No longer would the temple be the focus of faith, but rather Jesus became the focus (John 2:19-21; Revelation 21:22).

Where do you suppose that these writers of the New Testament got such an idea? Well, from our Lord himself, of course, in such passages as Matthew 21-24. In these and many other passages, Jesus placed the “end” at the time of the destruction of the temple, during his own generation (Matthew 24:1-3, 14, 34).

TEN CLUES TO UNDERSTANDING the NEW HEAVEN and NEW EARTH

The “New Heaven and New Earth” of the Bible is popularly thought by Christians to be a future world of utopia—either on earth or in heaven. In the new heaven and new earth there will LITERALLY be “no more tears, pain, or death” (Revelation 21:4). It would be a time when “the wolf will lie down with the lamb” (Isaiah 11:6; 65:25). But watch out on this! We are given clues in the Bible that the popular view may be flawed.

The primary texts about the New Heaven and New Earth are Isaiah 65/66, Matthew 5:17-18; 2 Peter 3, and Revelation 21. Christians hold at least four different views about the New Heaven and New Earth. These include the following (or combinations of these views):

1. Heaven itself. True bliss implied in the New Heaven and New Earth is found only in heaven.

2. A renewed future earth perhaps like the Garden of Eden. Or, it is sometimes said that “heaven and earth become melded as one.” This concept is expressed in somewhat vague terms―is this heaven on earth?

3. A literal 1,000-year period (the “millennium”) in which Jesus has returned bodily to earth and rules the world from a literal throne in Jerusalem. His iron-fisted rule creates a near-perfect utopia on earth, in which there will be literally “no more tears, pain, or death.” The millennium is only found in Revelation 20, but this view considers Revelation chapters 20-22 as a unit.

4. The New Heaven and New Earth refers to the new covenant world in which Jesus is ruling forever from heaven.

Let’s see which model best fits the biblical narrative.

Thesis: Some uses of the nouns “earth” or “heavens” refer to physical realities in the cosmos (Genesis 1:1; etc.), especially when referred to in the present or past tense. However, I have found ten reasons why the best biblical fit for “New Heaven and New Earth” is option #4. Eschatological expressions in the Bible are often symbolic or metaphoric―especially in Revelation and especially about prophetic utterances future to the writers―rather than strictly literal. “Hebraic apocalyptic language,” expressions of God’s judgments expressed in cosmological language, was also used by the biblical writers to express spiritual or covenantal things in physical terms. To help determine what is to be understood literally vs. metaphorically, a knowledge of the Old Testament language, context, and common sense should be considered. Accordingly, the New Heaven and New Earth can be understood as a Hebraic metaphor for the New Covenant in Christ.

To explore what the Bible says about the four possibilities for the New Heaven and New Earth, go to my article here:

https://prophecyquestions.com/10-clues-to-understanding-the-new-heaven-and-new-earth

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