According to scripture, when did the last days begin and when will the last end?

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Somebody help me with this theology please.
Joel 2:27-32
27 Then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am the LORD your God, and that there is no other; never again will my people be shamed.
28'And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. 29 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. 30 I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. 31 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. 32 And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the LORD has said, among the survivors whom the LORD calls.
(from New International Version)

Acts 2:17-22
17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:
21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:
KJV

Isa 2:2
And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.
KJV

Mic 4:1
4:1 But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it.
KJV

2 Tim 3:1-7
3:1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,
7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
KJV

Heb 1:2-3
2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
KJV

James 5:3
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.
KJV

2 Peter 3:3-6
3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
KJV[/color]

Hi moe,

Here are some more scriptural anchors for you.

Remember that after the resurrection, Jesus, (who during his first ministry had regularly come up against the general unbelief of Israel, and denseness of understanding of His disciples), finally expounds scripture to them.

Luke 24
24 And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found [i]it[/i]] even so as the women had said: but him they saw not.
25 [b]Then he said unto them, O fools, and [u]slow of heart to believe all[/u] that the prophets have spoken[/b]:
26 Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?
27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

What has changed? How is it they are now receptive? Here is part of the answer to what has changed:

John 20
3 Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulchre.
4 So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre.
5 And he stooping down, [i]and looking in[/i], saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in.
6 Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie,
7 And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself.
8 Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, [u]and he saw[/u], [b]and believed[/b].
9 [u]For as yet they knew not the scripture[/u], that he [i][b]must rise again from the dead[/b][/i].

A thing to remember about the way certain language is used in the Bible, is that Hebrew thought attributes some words a kind of block meaning. Thus, an 'hour' includes the whole day, and a 'taste' includes the whole cupful.

I'm not an expert in explaining this fully but, it is something to bear in mind when you see the word 'day'. Often, Young translates 'ever' as 'age-during', which gives the possibility of another age to follow. I find this helpful, as it leaves room for the new heavens and earth.

Also, therefore, the 'day of grace' can last a lot more than a 'day' as we would understand a day. Nevertheless, Jesus uses the phrase 'last day' and I have no idea if this is the last day of an era, or, a one-day-only day... ;-)

John 6:40
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.

John 6:44
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.

John 6:54
Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.

One thing I've noticed recently, is that if it was Jesus who explained to the disciples about the resurrection, [i]after[/i] the sun had been darkened, there had been an earthquake, the temple veil was torn in two etc. then when [u]Peter[/u] says (Acts 2): 16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel...' he is speaking with considerable authority, because, Jesus Himself spoke of a time in the future when the signs would be identical:

Mark 13:24
But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light,

I realise my answer may not have told you what you hoped to hear, but, it may have given you some tools for dismantling or eliminating certain false ideas or preconceptions.

dorcas wrote:

Hi moe,

A thing to remember about the way certain language is used in the Bible, is that Hebrew thought attributes some words a kind of block meaning. Thus, an 'hour' includes the whole day, and a 'taste' includes the whole cupful.

I'm not an expert in explaining this fully but, it is something to bear in mind when you see the word 'day'. Often, Young translates 'ever' as 'age-during', which gives the possibility of another age to follow. I find this helpful, as it leaves room for the new heavens and earth.

Also, therefore, the 'day of grace' can last a lot more than a 'day' as we would understand a day. Nevertheless, Jesus uses the phrase 'last day' and I have no idea if this is the last day of an era, or, a one-day-only day... ;-)

John 6:40
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.

John 6:44
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.

John 6:54
Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.

One thing I've noticed recently, is that if it was Jesus who explained to the disciples about the resurrection, [i]after[/i] the sun had been darkened, there had been an earthquake, the temple veil was torn in two etc. then when [u]Peter[/u] says (Acts 2): 16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel...' he is speaking with considerable authority, because, Jesus Himself spoke of a time in the future when the signs would be identical:[/quote

[color=003300]Thanks dorcus for your comments. About Hebrew meanings of words on the days and years, are you referring the meaning in something like this passage?
2 Peter 3:8-10
8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
KJV
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BeYeDoers wrote:
Moe, I studied this very thing not too long ago. I got out a concordance and looked up every scripture that contained "last days" in the chronological order they were written. My conclusion: it is a general statement meaning closer to the end than when the reader wrote. It could be the end of an "era" for that specific group of people, or towards the "end" of the Old Covenant, or the "end" of time as we know it.

For example, Peter on Pentecost said we are now in the last days but forty years later wrote in his epistles about "last days" yet to come.

So, are we living in the last days? yes.
Are there last days that are not here yet? yes.

I could be wrong, but that is what I took from my study.

[color=0000FF]Moe said: Thanks BeYeDoers. I am in agreement with you post "The Last Days" started at Pentecost and continues until today and we don't know the hour or the day they will end. That's what I have learned so far from my study in HIS WORD and evidently everyone is in agreement with us. Thanks again and God Bless.[/color]