away, and the abomination of desolation set up' and so run on after the close

of the three and a half years' tribulation.  Some commentators think that the

extra thirty days will cover the period of national repentance (Zech. 12:10 -

14; 13:1), when a fountain shall be opened to the house of David and to the

inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness, and that the further

forty -five days will be occupied by regathering the dispersed and outcasts

of Israel, but it must be confessed that this is largely a matter of

We now turn to the New Testament references to 'the last days'.

With the one exception of 1 Timothy 4:1, which uses the Greek work

husteros, every reference to the last days in the New Testament employs the

Greek word eschatos.  Writing to the Hebrews the apostle contrasts the

earlier times, when God spoke 'unto the fathers by the prophets' with 'these

last days' in which He has spoken 'to us by (or in) His Son' (Heb. 1:1,2).

Had Israel repented at the call of John the Baptist and of the Lord, the long

expected kingdom would have been set up, and all that is said of the 'last

days' of Old Testament prophecy would have been fulfilled, but as Israel did

not repent, and as the King was rejected, those last days, like John the

Baptist were only 'in the spirit and power' of those wondrous prophecies and

not their fulfilment, and 'the mysteries' of the kingdom of heaven operate,

and a mystery always indicates a previous failure.

The six references in John's Gospel to the last day speak of

'resurrection' (John 6:39,40,44,54; 11:24) or of 'judgment' (John 12:48).

The reference in John 7:37 is to 'the last day, that great day of the feast'

(Lev. 23:39 -44).  Although John 7:38 says 'As the Scripture hath said', no

passage of the Old Testament can be found that contains the words that

follow, any more than any single passage of Scripture can be found for

Matthew 2:23.  However, the sense and prophetic import of many Scriptures

justify the Lord's assertion, among them such prophecies as Isaiah 12:3;

55:1; 58:11; Ezekiel 47:1 -12 and Zechariah 14:8.  Moreover, there is a

division of opinion as to who is referred to in the words: 'Out of his belly

shall flow rivers of living water'.  Some see in these words an exclusive

reference to Christ, that from Him the Giver shall flow rivers of living

water, and justify the reading by the words of explanation that follow, 'This

He spake of the Spirit'.  We cannot, however, ignore such a closely similar

passage as that found in John 4:14:

'But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never

thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall Be In Him A Well Of

Water Springing Up into everlasting life'.

The sentiment of 7:38 is not dissimilar to this.

We must not, in this chapter, fail to give full weight

to the Rabbinical teaching which had so moulded the language and the thoughts

of those that heard the Lord's utterance.  Here is one example, quoted by

'When a man turns to the Lord, he is like a fountain filled with living

water, And Rivers Flow From Him to men of all nations and tribes'

(Sohar.  Chadesch).