Joel 2- The Last Days:
Lets examine the Greek word “last,” as in, “last days.” The Greek is, eschatos. How is it applied in Scriptures, and in what context?
Synonyms are, end, ends, lowest, uttermost, latter, utmost, hindermost, last time, finished.
LAST: That which follows all the others; that which is behind all the others in place.
When applied to time, that which comes after all the others; the latest; the last hour of the day; the last day of the year.
Beyond which there is no more. What did Christ mean when He said, “It is finished,” What He implied was, there is nothing left to do, nothing beyond what He has done that can bring man into a saving condition.
In Genesis we read, “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished.” What is meant? There will never be anything new under the sun that does not exist now. The creation was finished.
Before the present time: As in, the last week of this month; the last year of this century; or, I saw him last in Birmingham Alabama.
It is applied to the uttermost; beyond which, there is nothing greater. When Jesus said in,
Revelation 1:8, “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending.”
Jesus means there is nothing spiritual or human, living or dead, material or invisible, that falls outside of His dominion and rule. He is everything to everybody.
Lets investigate other verses of Scripture, then compare them to verses concerning the, “last days.”
In regards to extreme, or uttermost, when speaking of place and time. Jesus after His resurrection is speaking to the apostles, saying,
Acts 1:8, “Ye shall receive power AFTER that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.”
Once the Holy Ghost had come upon them the apostles would receive certain powers from God. The power of God would be shown through them; the apostles being the instruments to announce the Gospel message, and to establish the foundation of His Kingdom. God chooses the very moment and place for His purpose and pleasure.
Acts 13:47, “The Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth.”
Jesus Christ the only Savior, is to be proclaimed as such, to the ends of the earth. This is His design and mission.
Last is applied to the things that are last, in reference to two or more; for example, the later of the two or the later state, or condition of a person or persons.
This is written for those who have rebelled against God, who have made a conscientious decision to function within the world of materialism, walking after the flesh.
2 Peter 2:20, “If after they have escaped the pollutions of the world = (left the ways of the world) through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein = (return to their old ways), and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.”
Job 42:12. “The LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning,” because Job was found righteous in the eyes of the Lord, his last days of life, proved to be more fruitful than his early years.
Revelation 2:19, Jesus said, “I know thy = (church in Thyatira) works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first.”
This people in the church of Thyatira not only retained what they had received from God, but now grew in both spiritual knowledge and love.
Revelation 15:1, John writes, “I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels having the seven last plagues.”
These seven last plagues appear to fall under the seventh and last trumpet of Rev.8:2. The seventh seal, contained the seven trumpets, and the seventh trumpet contains the seven plagues. The results of the last of the seven plagues can be found in Revelation 16:17.
John is given a future vision of the great and new city Jerusalem, this descending out of heaven from God. Revelation 21:19, describes the foundations of this new city, and it is said that their were four wall, the last of the four being made of emeralds. The other three walls were adorned with various other precious stones.
1 Corinthians 15:52, “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump = (trumpet): for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”
Because the phraseology of this chapter is Jewish, we will look to the Jewish writers for the meaning. There are a total of seven trumpets. The last trumpet to sound, shall revive the dead from their place of sleep, they shall be caught up in the air to be with the Lord forever, and clothed in the garments of God,
1 Corinthians 15:21, “For since by man = (Adam the first man) came death, by man = (Jesus, the second man) also the resurrection of the dead.”
Mortality to mankind came by Adam, immortality by Christ Jesus, He being the last.
When “last” is used the noun, day; or days; or in regards to a festival.
John 7:37, “In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.”
When speaking of the last days of the world, or the day of judgment;
John 6:39, 40, 44, 54, Jesus said, “And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of Him = (the Father) that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.”
Verse 44, “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.”
Verse 54, “Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”
John 12:48, Jesus said, “He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one = (Jesus) that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.”
In the last or latter days:
Peter was speaking too many in the square on the day of Pentecost. He said,
Acts 2:17, “And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith 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.”
Here in the time of Christ, all Israelites shall be prophets. The word prophesy, signifies to teach and to proclaim the truths of the Gospel. Having now been given the Holy Spirit, the truths concerning the new covenant established in the sacrificial death, burial and resurrection of Jesus were to be proclaimed to all men.
2 Timothy 3:1, “In the last days perilous times shall come.”
The last days spoken of here, are the days preceding the second coming of the Lord Jesus. Traitors from within the Church, can do more damage than an army outside, charity, opposed to self love; those who become lovers of themselves, boasters, blasphemers, etc. These things will dominate the church in the days before the Lord’s return.
James 5:3, “Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.”
If our worldly possessions do not honor God, these possessions will be to us, as a fire that destroys the flesh. This was a truth in the last days of the Jewish commonwealth, when they, were crushed by the Roman armies. This same end will be the results of our modern day civilization. Murder, wars, pride, self-deception, materialism, greed, boasters, unruly sex rule the day.
In the last time:
1 Peter 1:5, “Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
Jude 18, “How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.”
1 Peter 1:20, “Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.”
In the last hour:
1 John 2:18, “Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.
Scriptures speak of the last times, the times since the coming of Christ, in which the power of this world is in part broken, and will be wholly destroyed only at his second advent.
1 Corinthians 10:11, “These things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.”
Phillip LaSpino www.seekfirstwisdom.com