Handout - Western Christadelphian Bible School

(d) Evil will fall on Israel for turning away from God (Deut 31:29).
(e) The anger of the Lord against Israel will be accomplished (Jer 23:20, 30:24).
(f) Israel will “return”, seek the Lord and “David their king” (Hosea 3:5).
(g) God will respond to Israel’s cry for help when in tribulation (Deut 4:30).
(h) Salvation will be revealed (1 Peter 1:5, Jude 18).
(i) Balaam’s blessings of Israel will be fulfilled (Num 24:14).
(j) Jacob’s blessings will be fulfilled (Gen 49:1).
(k) Daniel’s prophecies will be finally fulfilled (Dan 2:28, 8:17,23, 10:14, 11:35, 40,
12:4, 9).
(l) Jesus’ disciples will be raised from the dead (John 6:39, 40, 44, 54, 11:24).
(m) The day of judgement will be one of the last days (John 12:48, James 5:3).
(n) The faithful will be given the gift of the Spirit - eternal life (Acts 2:17, cp Joel
2:28).
(o) Daniel will receive his reward for faithfulness (Daniel 12:13).
(p) The fortunes of Moab and Elam will be restored (Jer 48:47, 49:39).
(q) The kingdom will be set up (Isa 2:2, Micah 4:1).
3 Only exceptions to the general application of these appearances to events connected
with the return of Christ to reign: Heb 1:2, 1 Pet 1:20.
(a) In Hebrews 1:2 the phrase is not the last days, it is these last days both in the
Greek and in the various translations. It’s also these last times in the AV and
NIV of 1 Pet 1:20 though the Greek just has, “last of the times”.
(b) In each of these two cases the phrase is intended to show that the event revealed
in the “last days” or “last time” was the culmination of something that had been
long established in God’s purpose and implied that the readers were privileged to
witness that culmination. In Hebrews 1:2 the message of the Lord Jesus is put
alongside and compared with that which had been spoken by prophets in “time
past”. 1 Peter 1:20 is much the same. Jesus had been foreordained before the
foundation of the world, but had been very recently manifested for the sakes of
Peter’s readers.
(c) These last days are those in which Jesus spoke (Heb 1:2). In context, the phrase
has the sense of “latterly”.
4 We have long used phrases such as, “Last Days”; “Latter Days” in a general sense.
(a) We usually don’t think of the last days as having begun at any particular time.
For the most part we apply such phrases, in a vague way, to an indeterminate
number of years prior to Christ's return.
(b) In the overwhelming majority of cases, scripture uses such phrases of a specific
number of literal days; they include the tribulation leading to Christ's return, his
actual return, and the events immediately following His return.
(c) Strictly, then, "the last days" have not yet begun. When do they begin, how do
they end, and what is their duration? (Daniel-like questions)
The Last Days: Literal, 24-hour Days
5 Key prophecy: Daniel 8:9-14.
Page 55