BLOG: Latter Days – a lesson in word studies

Greek and Hebrew word studies in the Bible provide cultural and Biblical context to a word.  The Interlinear Bible online[i] provides an excellent resource for this task. In our podcast on the Book of Daniel, we emphasized the use of the term latter days or last days. In the New Testament the Greek word ἔσχατος (eschatos) is used.  Eschatos means “Last, final, utmost”. This word is the root of the English word “eschatology,” which is the study of the “last days” or the end times. In the Old Testament the Hebrew words “bə’aḥărîṯ hayyāmîm” is used, it means “in the latter days” or “in the last days”.

Your first step for conducting a word study should be to find the Greek word in the New Testament, such as 2 Timothy 3:1, a variation of eschatos (last or latter) is used here in connection with the word hēmerais (days). Next, go to Bible Gateway and use the Common Jewish Bible[ii] for this same verse you will find, it uses the word acharit-hayamim, a variation of the word “bə’aḥărîṯ hayyāmîm”. So now, do your Old Testament search to find everywhere this term is used and the context.  There is a reason the writers of the New Testament did not explain the term.  The early church was mostly Hebrews as were the disciples; they understood the context of this term.

Now, let’s get to work for step two and go through all references in the Old Testament for “bə’aḥărîṯ hayyāmîm”, starting with the Torah (first five books of Bible). The term is first used in the Genesis 49:1 when Jacob blesses his children. There is little context provided as to the time this refers to.  But, the second use in Numbers 24:14 when Balaam the son of Beor provides his oracle starts to provide detail. In Numbers: 24:17-19 (ESV)[iii]

“I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth. Edom shall be dispossessed; Seir also, his enemies, shall be dispossessed. Israel is doing valiantly. And one from Jacob shall exercise dominion and destroy the survivors of cities!”

Several key points now focus us on the first and second coming of Jesus Christ (the star out of Jacob) crushing the forehead of Moab, a judgment (possible reference to defeating Satan in Gen 3:15). Interestedly, it is no surprise that Israel was looking for a warrior king during the first coming of Jesus Christ based on verses such as these. For Israel, the prophecies of Messiah were lumped into one basket (1^st coming & 2^nd coming). We have the advantage to place these in context with what Jesus told us in the gospels and Book of Revelations after the first coming. The Moabites lived in the area which today is called Jordan and Edom is South of it, in vicinity of Egypt and southern Israel and Jordan. Since this did not happen during his first coming, it is likely a second coming event.

The next occurrence is Deuteronomy 4: 30 (ESV)[iv] “When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the Lord your God and obey his voice.” Where Moses is given a warning to the nation of Israel. Jesus was rejected by Israel during his first coming but as we know from the Book of Revelations, they have the opportunity to return to him at his second coming.

Initial conclusion: Just by using the Torah, we see a correlation between “the latter days” and the tribulation and God’s judgment.

Let’s now go to the prophets to examine “bə’aḥărîṯ hayyāmîm” starting in Isaiah 2:2. The prophets begin to provide more detail and expand on these last days but we will also see it used in context of shorter-term prophecies.  Remember, we told you there is one story in the Bible and it does not contradict.  Many of the verses in Isaiah will be seen in Daniel and Revelations.  Starting at Isaiah 2:2-3[v]

“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.”

We see in Daniel 2:44, that a stone is cut out of the mountain and not by hands (Jesus Christ) and it crushed the iron, bronze, silver and gold kingdoms. These two verses are also echoed in Micah 4:2 with latter day term being used in Micah 4:1. Isaiah, Micah and Daniel discuss a time which has not yet occurred-when God sets up his kingdom on earth with its center in Jerusalem. This is after the tribulation period and starts the millennial reign of Jesus Christ.

Step 3 is the wrap-up where all verses are reviewed to check for any differences. There are many other verses referencing latter days. In Jeremiah 23:20 (section deals mostly on not listening to evil prophets, but includes in verse 20 a judgment for false teachers in latter days), Jeremiah 30:24 (this section discusses fierce anger of the Lord and his wrath), Jeremiah 48:47 (restoring fortunes of Moab in latter days), and Jeremiah 49:39 (restoring Elam) all discuss the “latter days” but will require a much more detailed look at Revelations to gain the full intent. Likewise, Ezekiel 38 ties in with these chapters. Ezekiel 38:8 and Ezekiel 38:16 term is used again where a prophecy against Gog is described. Gog will attack Israel but God will eventually strike back proving his greatness to the nations. Again, a study of Revelations will reveal a correlation between Gog and armies of the north.  We will dive into this in later podcasts.

Daniel 8:19 and Daniel 10:14 use this same term to describe a distance time. In Daniel 8, it begins with a near term prophecy of the vision but later moves into a far term in verse 26 the vision of the 2300 evenings and mornings is told to be sealed up for now. Later in Daniel 10, we see it in reference to the Kings of the North and the South which we revisit in Revelations 20.

Hosea 3:5 brings in many prophecies but not necessarily the with term for latter days.  This is a good example of associating other words and text with the phrase latter days such as “the day of the Lord”, “time of indignation” and “tribulation”.  There are also sections in the Bible which use these terms but do not use the phrase “bə’aḥărîṯ hayyāmîm”.  Understanding these other words and their context will also help us to orient to the latter days. Thanks to modern day tools, the word searches are relatively straight forward.

[i] The Interlinear Bible: Hebrew-Greek-English” (using BibleHub, accessed April 11, 2025, https:// https://biblehub.com/interlinear//)

[ii] The Common Jewish Bible (using Bible Gateway accessed April 11, 2025, https://www.biblegateway.com/) 2 Timonthy 3:1

[iii] The English Standard Version Bible (using Bible Gateway accessed April 11, 2025, https://www.biblegateway.com/) Numbers: 24:17-19

[iv] The English Standard Version Bible (using Bible Gateway accessed April 11, 2025, https://www.biblegateway.com/) Deuteronomy 4: 30

[v] The English Standard Version Bible (using Bible Gateway accessed April 11, 2025, https://www.biblegateway.com/)  Isaiah 2:2-3