Understanding the Fulfilled View The Last Days Were Their Last Days, Not Ours Part 4 of 10

By Dan Maines

Understanding the Fulfilled View
The Last Days Were Their Last Days, Not Ours
Part 4 of 10, all posted same day, links at bottom

Introduction
When the Bible speaks about the last days, most people today think it is talking about our time, our era, and our world. But scripture interprets scripture, and when we actually read the New Testament in context, the last days were the last days of the Old Covenant age, not the end of planet earth and not our modern generation. Jesus and the apostles all spoke as if they were living in the last days, and they tied those last days directly to the judgment of Old Covenant Israel and the end of the temple system in the first century.

The Last Days Promised in the Prophets

Joel 2:28-29
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. Even on the male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.

† Joel spoke of a coming covenant transition marked by the outpouring of the Spirit.
† These last days were covenantal, tied to Israel's story.
† The New Testament tells us exactly when this prophecy was fulfilled.

Peter Said Joel's Last Days Prophecy Was Fulfilled at Pentecost

Acts 2:16-17
But this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel, and it shall be in the last days, God says, that I will pour forth of My Spirit on all mankind, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.

† Peter said this is what Joel spoke, identifying Pentecost as the beginning of the last days.
† That means the last days had already arrived in their generation.
† Scripture interprets scripture, not futurist tradition.

God Spoke in These Last Days Through His Son

Hebrews 1:1-2
God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.

† The writer and his readers were already living in the last days.
† The last days began with Christ's ministry.
† This cannot be pushed into our time without destroying the text.

The Last Days Were the Time of Their Wealth and Judgment

James 5:1-3
Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth eaten. Your gold and your silver have rusted, and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure.

† James says they had stored up treasure in the last days.
† Their miseries were coming upon them.
† This places the last days in the first century.

Christ Was Revealed at the End of the Ages for Them

1 Peter 1:20
For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you.

† Christ appeared in these last times, not future last times.
† Peter's audience lived in the era of fulfillment.
† These last times are the last days of the Old Covenant age.

The End of All Things Was Near for Them

1 Peter 4:7
The end of all things is near, therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer.

† Peter said the end of all things was near, not far away.
† Near means near to them.
† The end was the end of the Old Covenant system.

John Said It Was the Last Hour

1 John 2:18
Children, it is the last hour, and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared, from this we know that it is the last hour.

† John said it is the last hour, not it will be someday.
† The presence of antichrists proved it.
† The last hour belonged to their time.

The Ends of the Ages Had Come Upon Them

1 Corinthians 10:11
Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.

† Paul says the ends of the ages had come upon his audience.
† The Old Covenant ages were closing.
† This fits perfectly with the destruction of Jerusalem.

The Last Days Led to the Removal of the Old Covenant

Hebrews 8:13
When He said, A new covenant, He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.

† The Old Covenant was becoming obsolete, growing old, and ready to disappear.
† The last days were the transition from old to new.
† That disappearance was completed in AD 70.

Malachi Foretold the Last Days for Israel

Malachi 4:1, 4-6
For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff, and the day that is coming will set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. Remember the law of Moses My servant, even the statutes and ordinances which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel. Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.

† Malachi's last days were tied to Israel, not the modern world.
† John the Baptist fulfilled the Elijah role.
† This places the last days before AD 70.

John the Baptist Warned of Imminent Judgment

Matthew 3:7-12
But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come. Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance, and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, We have Abraham for our father, for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. The axe is already laid at the root of the trees, therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I and I am not fit to remove His sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in His hand and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

† The axe was already laid at the root in John's day.
† Judgment was imminent for that generation.
† This is last days language.

Some Would Live to See the Son of Man Come

Matthew 16:27-28
For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels and will then repay every man according to his deeds. Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.

† Some of Jesus' audience would live to see His coming.
† This places the coming in their lifetime.
† This is proof the last days are first century.

All Things Written Fulfilled in Israel's Judgment

Luke 21:22
Because these are days of vengeance, so that all things which are written will be fulfilled.

† Jesus ties the fulfillment of all prophecy to Jerusalem's destruction.
† These are the days of vengeance, He said, not future ones.
† This is the climax of the last days.

Jesus Appeared at the Consummation of the Ages

Hebrews 9:26
Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world, but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.

† Christ appeared at the consummation of the ages.
† That consummation happened in His time.
† The last days belong to the first century.

Judgment Tied to Israel's Covenant Story

Acts 24:14-15
But this I admit to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect I do serve the God of our fathers, believing everything that is in accordance with the Law and that is written in the Prophets, having a hope in God, which these men cherish themselves, that there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.

† Paul roots judgment in the Law and the Prophets.
† This shows the last days belong to Israel's covenant world.
† The New Testament never disconnects last days from Israel.

Last Days Difficulties Were Already Present

2 Timothy 3:1-5
But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness although they have denied its power. Avoid such men as these.

† Paul tells Timothy to avoid these men, showing they lived in Timothy's lifetime.
† This confirms Paul believed the last days were present then.
† None of this applies to a far distant future.

How It Applies To Us Today
† The last days were the last days of the Old Covenant age, not our modern time. We are not in the last days. They were.
† Every New Testament time statement becomes clear when placed in the first century and becomes meaningless when forced into our era.
† We live in the fulfilled New Covenant kingdom where Christ reigns and the Old Covenant world has passed away.

† This is the fulfilled perspective we proclaim at Fulfilled Prophecies †
© Fulfilled Prophecies - Dan Maines.

Source Index
† Joel 2:28-29, Acts 2:16-17, Hebrews 1:1-2, James 5:1-3, 1 Peter 1:20, 1 Peter 4:7, 1 John 2:18, 1 Corinthians 10:11, Hebrews 8:13, Malachi 4:1, 4-6, Matthew 3:7-12, Matthew 16:27-28, Luke 21:22, Hebrews 9:26, Acts 24:14-15, 2 Timothy 3:1-5

Series - Understanding the Fulfilled View

01 The Time Statements Mean What They Say Website

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1349070089314462/posts/1894198244801641/

02 Audience Relevance, Their Generation Website

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1349070089314462/posts/1894198808134918/

03 The End of the Age Was Not the End of the World Website

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1349070089314462/posts/1894199314801534/

04 The Last Days Were Their Last Days, Not Ours Website

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1349070089314462/posts/1894199971468135/

05 The Coming of the Son of Man Was a Judgment Coming Website

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1349070089314462/posts/1894200534801412/

06 The Judgment of Babylon Was the Judgment of Jerusalem Website