What Days are the Last Days?
By Joseph Clarke
Both the Old and New Testament often speak of the last days as being times of great interest to the church. Jacob says to his sons, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days. Gen. 49:1. At that early date, Jacob understood what would constitute the last days; and that he did not then live in the last, is evident from his language; and that he expected his descendants to flourish in the last days, is also evident. Paul, in his epistle to the Hebrews, speaks thus, “God . . . hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son.” Heb. 1:2. In these two quotations we have two important facts: one is that in the days of Jacob the last days had not commenced; and the second is, that in the days of Paul the last days had commenced. With these facts as a basis, we will proceed. Let us consider: when speaking of the week, we call the last three days the last of the week; when speaking of the month, we speak of the last twelve or fifteen days of the month, as the last of the month; when speaking of the year, we call the last four or five months the last of the year; so of the age of the world: it being now about six thousand years of age, the last two thousand years, being the last third of the whole age (six thousand years), then the last two thousand years are the last years, or “last days,” prophetically speaking, of the world's history. Reader, look now at the above-mentioned quotations from the words of Jacob, and the words of Paul, both inspired men, and tell me, can you say that this conclusion is a false one? Here is a long interval of time, from Jacob to Paul. One speaks of the last days as future, the other speaks of them as present. It follows, of course, then, that the last days had commenced in the days of Paul, who wrote this epistle about sixty-four years this side the first advent, and that they had not commenced in the days of Jacob, sixteen hundred and eighty-nine years before the advent. It is necessary to make this a point, and to make it a clear point; for such is the unwillingness of many to believe in the second advent, that arguments which would be perfectly satisfactory upon common themes, are not noticed upon this; therefore, a short and clear statement is necessary. From the above conclusions as to the last days, no one can appeal; next it must be admitted that the last half, or last third, of the world's age are the last days; if the last half, then the last days commenced about the time of Solomon; if the last third, then the last days commenced at the advent of our Saviour. In either case, we are in the last days. Now this article is not to locate any particular point for the second advent. In the works published at the Signs Office, there is much light on this point; but it is astonishing, that any with the Bible open before them, can doubt that we are now living in the last days; and if in the last days, may we not know something quite definite on this matter? Shall Christians allow prejudice to shut their minds against the prophetic scriptures, which speak so often and so emphatically upon the events in the last days? JOSEPH CLARKE.