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LAST DAYS, A BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE
THE LAST DAYS ENCOMPASSES THE CHURCH AGE
There are several references indicating that "the last days" started with the 1st century church.
[Heb. 1:2]:
"Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son..."
[James 5:3]:
"Ye have heaped treasure for the last days."
The context indicates the reference to be contemporaneous to the time in which James was speaking.
[2 Peter3:3]:
"Knowing this first that there shall come in the last days scoffers..."
Peter is referring to what the OT prophets said about the last days, which Peter was just describing in current day behavior in his epistle.
[1 Peter 1:20]:
"[Peter speaks of Christ...] Who Verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last days."
THE LAST DAYS ENCOMPASSES THE MILLENNIAL RULE
[Mic 4:1-8]:
[Isa 2:2-4]:
THE LAST DAYS ENCOMPASSES THE RAPTURE AND WHEN BELIEVERS RECEIVE THEIR RESURRECTION BODIES
[JN 6:40]:
THE LAST DAYS ENCOMPASSES THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION PERIOD
[2 Tim 3:1]:
THE LAST DAYS ENCOMPASSES THE SECOND COMING OF OUR LORD
(v. 17) 'In the last days, God says,....."
And then Peter goes on to quote Joel 2:28-32a.
Notice that in verse 16 above, Peter states that "this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel" and not 'this is what is being fulfilled as spoken of through the prophet Joel' The word "this" refers to the occurrence of the disciples' "declaring the wonders of God in...[the] tongues" [of all the people from foreign countries, (vv. 11-12)]. Peter then says, "this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel." Then Peter quotes Joel 2:28-32a which is part of a chapter which begins with the description of the horrors of God's judgment on the world:
~~~joel2.htm
[Joel 2:1-2; 28-32a]:
(v. 1) "Blow a trumpet in Zion, [Israel]
And sound an alarm on My [God's] holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, For the day of the Lord is coming; surely it is near,
["the day of the Lord" = that period of time beginning with the rapture of the church, (1 Thes 4:13-18; 2 Thes 2:1-12; Jn 14:1-4); then the 7 year tribulation, (Isa 2:12, 19; 13:9-11, 13; 26:20-21; 34:1-2, 8; Ezek 30:2-3; Joel 1:15; 2:1-3; 2:30-32; 3:12-16, 18; Amos 5:18, 20; Obad vs. 15-17; Zeph 1:14-15, 17; Zech 12:2,9,10; 14:1-5, 8-9, 20; Mal 4:1-3; 1 Thes 5:2-3; 2 Pet 3:8, 10; Mt 24:1-28; Rev 6:1-19:10) and then the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring in His Millennial Kingdom, (Rev 19:11-20:4; Mt 24:29-25:46), and finally the Great White Throne Judgment and eternity future with a new heaven and a new earth, (Rev 20:7-22:21)]
[Joel 2:1-2; 28-32a cont.]:
(v. 2) "A day of darkness and gloom,
A day of clouds and thick darkness.
As the dawn is spread over the mountains, So there is a great and mighty people; There has never been anything like it, Nor will there be again after it
To the years of many generations."
[The rest of this passage up to verse 18 continues to describe the future horrors of the tribulation period before Jesus Christ appears at His Second Coming. Verses 18-27 then describe our Lord's coming and His setting up of the millennial kingdom. This brings us to the part which the Apostle Peter quoted in Acts 2:17]:
[Joel 2:1-2; 28-32a cont.]:
(Joel 2:28) And it will come about after this, that I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind, And your sons and daughters will prophesy,
Your old men will dream dreams,
Your young men will see visions."
["And it" = The Kingdom with the Lord ruling, (vv 18-27).
"And it will come about after this" = And the Millennial Kingdom will come about after the tribulation period and our Lord's Second Coming which were described earlier. The phrase "after this" is located in the text such that it tells us that the Rapture, the 7 year tribulation period and our Lord's Second Coming must occur BEFORE the pouring out of the "Spirit on all mankind"]
(v. 28 cont.) And it will come about after this, that I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind, And your sons and daughters will prophesy,
Your old men will dream dreams,
Your young men will see visions."
(v. 29) And even on the male and female servants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days.
(v. 30) And I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth,
Blood, fire, and columns of smoke.
(v. 31) The sun will be turned into darkness,
And the moon into blood,
Before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.
(v. 32a) And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the Lord Will be delivered..."
Notice that what is described in Joel 2:28-32a has not occurred yet.
For example:
"I will pour out My Spirit on ALL mankind" = God's Spirit has not yet been poured out on ALL people - not at that 'first' Pentecost and not throughout history.
"The sun will be turned into darkness,
And the moon into blood,
Before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes." = All of this which is just preceding when our Lord comes in glory in His Second Coming in the clouds of heaven, (Dan 7:13-14; Mt 24:30-31), has not occurred yet.
[Footnotes in THE NEW SCOFIELD STUDY BIBLE
(NIV, C. I. Scofield, D.D., Oxford Univ. Press, New York, 1967, p. 63]:
[Gen 49:1]:
"Then Jacob called for his sons and said: 'Gather around so I can tell you what will happen to you in days to come."
[Scofield, op. cit., p. 63]:
"[Re: Gen 49:1]: This is the first occurrence of the term 'the days to come,' a most important concept in Biblical prophecy. (The Hebrew word for 'to come' here is 'acharith'). In general, the expression (as also 'latter days,' 'last day(s), 'last time(s)) refers to that terminal period in the history of a particular group of people or nations when God's announced purposes for them are about to be consummated.
(1) In Dan. 2:28-10:14, it refers to the end of the rule of the Gentile nations.
(2) Most frequently in the O.T., the term relates to Israel's final rebellion against God (Dt 31:29), accompanied by a season of great trouble (Dt 4:30; Ezek 38:16), to be followed by her return to the LORD (Hos 3:5), this being succeeded, in turn, by the establishment in Jerusalem of the center of divine sovereignty on earth, to which the nations of the world will come up to learn the law of the LORD (Mic 4:1). This no doubt contemporary with the universal outpouring of the Holy Spirit predicted by Joel (Joel 2:28-29; Acts 2:17).
(3) In the N.T. the expression is twice used for that period of history introduced by the advent of Christ (Heb 1:2; 1 Pet 1:20); but
(4) more frequently of the end of the Church age, when departure from the faith, iniquity, and consequent peril will attain their greatest intensity (2 Tim 3:1; Jas 5:3; 1 Pet 1:5; 2 Pet 3:3). And
(5) our Lord's use of the expression 'the last day' is found only in John's Gospel, where it relates to the resurrection (6:39, 40, 44, 54; 12:8; cp. 11:24). Chapter 49 [of Genesis] would seem to combine the second and third of these definitions."
[Acts 2:17]:
(v. 17) " 'In the last days, God says,....."
And then Peter goes on to quote Joel 2:28-32a.
[Scoffield, op. cit., p. 1132)]:
"A distinction should be observed between 'the last days' when the prediction [of Acts 2:17] relates to Israel (Isa 2:2; Mic 4:1, '''latter''' in some versions; see also Num 24:14; Dt 31:29; Jer 23:20; 30:24; 49:39; Ezek 38:16; Dan 2:28; 10:14; Hos 3:5), and the '''last days''' when the prediction relates to the Church (2Tim 3:1-8; Heb 1:1-2; Jas 5:3; 2 Pet 3:1-9; see also such passages as 1 Tim 4:1; 1 Pet 1:5 , 20; 1 Jn 2:18, Jude 18). While Acts 2:17 is part of this [Church Age] context and therefore relates to the Church, it should be remembered that it has reference to Israel as well and, therefore, points to a future day.... When '''last days''' is used of the Church, the plural form ('''days''') should be distinguished from the singular ('''day'''). The '''last day''' (Jn 6:39, 40, 44, 54; 11:24) in this usage refers to the resurrection. (In Jn 12:48 it is used of the time when unbelievers will be judged.) The '''last days,''' as related to the Church, began with the advent of Christ (Heb 1:2), but the expression has special reference to the time of declension and apostasy at the end of the [Church] age (2 Tim 3:1). The '''last days,''' as related to Israel, are the days which, though begun in sorrow, issue in Israel's exaltation and blessing (cp. Jer 30:4-10), i.e., the Kingdom Age (Isa 2:2-4; Mic 4:1-7). They are '''last days,''' not with reference to this dispensation [Church Age] but in respect tot he whole of Israel's history."