An Alphabetical Analysis
Volume 8 - Prophetic Truth - Page 296 of 304
INDEX
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
conjecture.
We now turn to the New Testament references to 'the last days'.
(2)
In the New Testament
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
Bloomfield:
'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).