by Ron Boatwright<\/p>\n
The apostle Peter says in Acts 2:16-17, “But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: ‘ And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams.<\/em>” What was happening in Acts chapter 2 was the beginning of the last days. Then we read in Hebrews 1:1-2, “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds.<\/em>” We are living in the last days or the last dispensation of time.<\/p>\n The first dispensation was the “Patriarchal” dispensation, which was from Adam to Moses and lasted about 3500 years. The second dispensation of time was the “Mosaical” dispensation, which was from Moses until the death of Christ and lasted about 1500 years. We are now living in the last dispensation (the last days) or the “Christian” dispensation, which started from the death of Christ to the end of time. The “Christian” dispensation has lasted about 2,000 years. There will be no more dispensations or days after this dispensation. No one knows how long the “Christian” dispensation will last. It could end today or it could last for 10,000 years.<\/p>\n Man does not know; only God knows when the end of time will come. Jesus says in Mark 13:31-32, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.<\/em>” When this dispensation does end, II Thessalonians 1:7-9 says, “And to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power.<\/em>” At the end of the last days, the Judgment will occur when Christ appears. “I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing<\/em>” (II Timothy 4:1).<\/p>\n No one knows when the Lord will come back. “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?<\/em>” (II Peter 3:10-12). At the end of the last days, which is the end of this dispensation, the earth will be burned up.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Ron Boatwright The apostle Peter says in Acts 2:16-17, “But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: ‘ And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[1125,338,76],"class_list":["post-88925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-end-of-the-world","tag-end-times","tag-terminology"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":41983,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-acts-217-mean-that-miraculous-gifts-continue-today\/","url_meta":{"origin":88925,"position":0},"title":"Does Acts 2:17 mean that miraculous gifts continue today?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 26, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How do I respond to someone who uses Acts 2:17 in support that prophesies and the gifts the Holy Spirit may still be here today? Answer: \"But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, \"Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":32732,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-we-approaching-the-end-times\/","url_meta":{"origin":88925,"position":1},"title":"Are we approaching the end times?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 29, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: II Tim 3:1-4; Matthew 24:12; I Corinthians 7:26-27. Are we approaching the end times? Between now and then, can we expect things to get worse and not better? e.g. sins like greed, immorality, suffering, etc. Is it better and safer to be unmarried and childless in current times if\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":60509,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-church-in-prophecy\/","url_meta":{"origin":88925,"position":2},"title":"The Church in Prophecy","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 28, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jerry C. Brewer Over the period of many centuries, the process of revealing God's eternal purpose in the church was gradual. As parents impart knowledge to their children in portions and parts from infancy to adulthood, God dealt with the human race in the revelation of His eternal purpose.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":57339,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/jesus-the-prophet\/","url_meta":{"origin":88925,"position":3},"title":"Jesus the Prophet","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 27, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer Hebrews begins, \"Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son\" (Hebrews 1:1-2). Then, toward the end, \"See that you do not refuse him who is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":87330,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-last-days\/","url_meta":{"origin":88925,"position":4},"title":"The Last Days (Benton)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 30, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton Did you know that the \"last days\" can mean the last phase of earth-life that can itself involve \"ages\" of time? 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Houchen Guardian of Truth Magazine XXVI: 2, pp. 18-20, January 14, 1982 There are different kinds of premillennialists, but whether they be historic or dispensational in their views, all of them agree that after the second coming of Christ, He will reign upon this earth for one\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88925"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88925\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}