Click here to get this post in PDF

A Never-Ending Last Days

We also use the word “last” to describe days past, not future. “In the last few days” would be an example. But that would be stretching the meaning of “last” too far in the Hebrews passage. Clearly, the author is speaking of the end of something because he warns people about something passing away and of something else appearing and that they should view those “last” days in faith, as if they’re headed toward a destination, a goal, a finish. But the finish is something better than what was past, not something worse. Those who suffered in the past were giving their lives for us, for something to come, for something better. Hebrews 11. The Israelites who left Egypt were headed somewhere; they wandered because of disobedience, not because the goal could not be accomplished. The “last” days refers to the time just before the accomplishment of the mission or goal for which the faithful saints gave their lives.

But what about those preachers who talk about the last days starting at that time and continuing until our time? Are they wrong? Of course, they’re wrong. They’re expanding the meaning of “last” to the point of meaninglessness. If there’s no real end until thousands of years later when Jesus returns, then it really has no meaning. At least, such an interpretation would have had no meaning for the people living in the author’s time. Worse, it’s a deception for those readers because they’re given a false impression of something ending, which is not really ending. God’s word is not a deception. It’s an encouragement, a reliable guide. And for these readers, who appear to have been of the Hebrew faith before becoming Christians, they need to know that the upheaval being experienced, the loss of their nation right before their eyes, the nation chosen by God to transmit His truth, has meaning and hope. The author says more than that; he tells them that the very upheaval that the Jewish nation is experiencing is the ultimate sign of the hope they need.

They had forsaken the Judaism of the Pharisees to follow the Judaism of Christ and his apostles. They had left the shadows and precursors contained in sacrifices of sheep and goats and a physical temple for the reality of Christ’s sacrifice and the church of Christ. Hebrews 8:2; 9:11; 13:10. But the suffering they were experiencing – exclusion from the “elect” of Israel, the economic deprivation caused by that exclusion, and even physical persecution – caused them to question their status, just as the chosen in Moses’ day doubted their status as the elect, when they faced the difficulties of the wilderness after leaving Egypt. What physical reality could they see in their day that would show them they had chosen the correct path, the path to God’s Kingdom, the path God had chosen versus the path of the mislead followers of some dead Jewish rabbi accused of blasphemy?

Interestingly, the author of Hebrews doesn’t refer to the temple as the “temple,” but as a tabernacle, a temporary building. Whereas the Jews of that day who clung to the hold considered it the epitome of the history of Israel. It was a huge building project, taking over 50 years to finish. It was massive and beautiful. As the traveler approached Jerusalem, the whiteness of the stone of Herod’s temple dazzled the eye. Yet, the author of Hebrews writes that:

“The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing: which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.” Heb. 9:8-10.

His view is that Herod’s temple is not the second temple (after Solomon’s) but merely another manifestation of the first tabernacle, the temporary physical one. The second final temple is where Christ, the true High Priest, has entered with His own blood, not the blood of bulls and goats. It is where His elect enjoy the relationship with their high priest, truly forgiven and adopted into God’s family by the true Son. Notice the words he uses to describe the time when only the high priest could enter the holiest place — “while as the first tabernacle was yet standing.” The author uses another phrase that indicates that they’re waiting during the last days, and that waiting has a goal, a finish, and that it is in their day: “the time of reformation.”

If there’s a time when the physical earthly tabernacle will not be, and that will be the time of reformation, then the readers of Hebrews are being encouraged to have hope that they will see that time arrive. How will they know that the time of reformation, the time of Christ’s High Priesthood, has fully arrived? Could it be when the earthly tabernacle is no more? If so, then why do some prophecy buffs look forward to a time when the temple will be rebuilt in Jerusalem? Wouldn’t that symbolize the return to the old shadows, the days when no one but the High Priest could enter the holiest place? How could that be the sign that Jesus has conquered His enemies, that His Priesthood is the true, final, eternal priesthood?

It couldn’t be; it would symbolize the opposite. It will not happen.