The Latter Days Phrase


The Latter Days

According to scripture, the latter times are the known as the end of the age or the Church age /Messianic Age. It is the time between Christ’s first and second coming. For support, look below.
·         Acts 2:17-21 17 “‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; 18 even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. 19 And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; 20 the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. 21 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’
***NOTE: Peter quotes Joel 2:28-32 as being fulfilled in Acts 2.  This is figurative description of the event. The moon did not literally turn into blood during the Pentecost, etc. It is a hyperbolic description of a cataclysmic event.
·         Joel 2:28-32 28  “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. 29 Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit. 30 “And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. 32 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.

·         Isaiah 2 1 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. 2 It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, 3 and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 4 He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. 5 O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.

·         Micah 4 1 It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and it shall be lifted up above the hills; and peoples shall flow to it, 2 and many nations shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 3 He shall judge between many peoples, and shall decide disputes for strong nations far away; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore; 4 but they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid, for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. 5 For all the peoples walk each in the name of its god, but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever.
***NOTE: These types of verses have been false attributed to the “1,000 Year Earthly Millennial Kingdom.” Again, this is a figurative description of the New Covenant in Old Testament terms.

·         Isaiah 9:1, 9:6-7 1 But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
***NOTE: Christ will be born in the latter times, which further supports that the “1,000 Year Earthly Millennium Kingdom” verses are really figurative descriptions of the New Covenant.
·         Hosea 3:5 5 Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king, and they shall come in fear to the Lord and to his goodness in the latter days.
***NOTE: This is Christ’s ministry and the promises of the New Covenant coming into fruition.
·         Jeremiah 48:47 47 Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab in the latter days, declares the Lord.” Thus far is the judgment on Moab.
***NOTE: This happened when Christ’s death extended the Kingdom to the Gentiles
·         Daniel 10:12-14 12 Then he said to me, “Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words. 13 The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia, 14 and came to make you understand what is to happen to your people in the latter days. For the vision is for days yet to come.”
***NOTE: The role of the Church/ God’s elect during the Church age.
·         1 Corinthians 10:11 11 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.
***NOTE: Paul indicates that we are in the latter times/the end of the age.
·         2 Timothy 3:1 1 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.

·         Jude 1818 They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.”

***FINAL NOTE***: The only exception to the “Latter Days” Phrase is that it doesn’t apply to Ezekiel 38 and 39. The reason for this is that it uses Latter Years (Ezekiel 38:8) and then switches to Latter Days (Ezekiel 38:16) to distinguish the Gog/Magog event as something separate and unique from the Church/Messianic Age.
Conclusion: As we can see, Dispensationalism makes the erroneous claim that the New Covenant verses are attributed to the “1,000 Year Earthly Millennial Kingdom.”

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