When Is The Last Day?

In the Gospel of John, the 'last day' is referenced frequently. We see that this day is when believers are promised to be raised up.

John 6
39 And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.

Martha said she knew that Lazarus would be raised up on the last day.

John 11:24
Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.

We see that unbelievers will be judged in the last day.

John 12
47 And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.
48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

Does the last day point to the time of the great white throne in Revelation 20?

11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

 

Yes Bob, we are in the last days, so when is the last day?

 

Bob, the last days refers to the end times, but the last day, when the resurrection occurs did not start 2000 years ago. Believers should be looking for a kingdom as well, you see it 'revealed' in Revelation. You also see the resurrection revealed in Revelation. Unless you too are going to go preterist on me, it hasn't happened yet.

 

I tend to also agree with you Bob. I have no dispute with the last days being now. But I would argue that we are in the last of the last days. I am partial to the septamillenial theory that there are 7 days of a thousand years of history, with the millenial kingdom being the last 1000 year day, the day of rest. Would you agree with this?

 

It wouldn't surprise me to find that it was an exact 6000 years from Adam to the kingdom, but since we don't know the day or hour of Christ's return we can't work backwards, and we really don't even know for sure when Christ was born. But I do believe that we are told that a day is as a thousand years for a reason, and not just to show the bigness of the Lord. Since we are admonished not to be ignorant of this, I would tend to think of it as less a statement about God's relationship to our time, and more a statement of prophetic fact. But due to differences between our calendar and the Jewish calendar, and the uncertainty of our own, I don't have much of a timetable other than 'any day now'.

 

So anyway, the last day, the general resurrection at the great white throne... Isn't this the promise that we have through belief?

John 6
39 And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.

 

I never said it was a 24 hr period, but your statement that all at the GWT go to the lake of fire is an assumption of the highest order.

I don't see how you can even pretend that the last day resurrection promised to believers is the same as the last days where scoffers roam the earth. It's pretty clear that they are not talking about the same thing. What about the treasure in these two verses, are they the same thing too?

Matthew 6:20
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

James 5:3
Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

Do you suppose that Martha was saying that she knew that Lazarus was going to be raised up to go through the tribulation?