What does the Bible mean when it refers to the end of the age?

The effort to make the Millennium a mere extension of present blessing, more converts, etc., with "not one(!)" element in it that has not been already realized, needs no refutation to those who accept what has been before us. The question is not one of salvation but of God's ways in the government of the world. The end of the age is when the Son of Man takes (not, gives up) the kingdom, and, having received it, returns. He will then judge the habitable earth, (Acts 17), as He will judge the dead before He gives up the kingdom.

It has been already stated, at the commencement of these papers, that the expression in Matthew 13:39-40, 49, and Matt. 24:3, is not properly "the end of the world," as in our common version, but rather "the end [or consummation] of the age" and this may be now found in the margin of the new revision. It is a change of immense importance, as it is one of absolute necessity. As it was itself, no doubt, the product of the belief that Christ's coming is at the end of the world, so this mistranslation has done perhaps more than anything else to sustain this.

What is this end of the age? It is the harvest-time when the wheat-field of Christendom will be reaped, the wheat gathered into the barn, and the tares gathered and burned in the fire. It was entirely natural, therefore, for those who supposed that after Christianity there could be nothing more, to suppose that the end of the age and the end of the world were one. It is strange, but true, that the expression itself shows exactly the opposite for the truth is, that the end of the age does not refer to any Christian age at all. For us, the cross was the "consummation of the ages" (Heb. 9:26, Gk.); and upon us, therefore, the "ends of the ages are come" (1 Cor. 10:11, Gk.). Nay, the apostle uses an expression which shows at once the impossibility of a Christian age when he calls Satan the "god of this age" (2 Cor. 4:4, Gk.). The time of the display of God's heavenly purpose is not reckoned among the ages of the world. In the Old Testament prophecy, its history has no place; it is an uncounted interval — a mere gap of time. Of this we shall have proof as we proceed.

That this passage has been supposed to describe a general judgment at the end of the world, is partly the cause and partly the consequence of the unfortunate mistranslation of the word signifying "age," as if it meant "world." The completion of the age is, however, a totally different event from the end of the world, and nothing but error can arise from confounding things so entirely opposed in character. It was a phrase well understood by the Jews, as describing the termination of their subjection to the Gentiles and disowning of God — the time concerning which Daniel's inquiries had been made and his prophecies uttered. It is always so used by the disciples, as when they inquire, "What shall be the sign of Thy coming and of the end of the age?" Nor is there a single instance where it can be properly understood as referring to the end of the world. On the contrary, it is the beginning of another epoch, by far the most blessed and glorious in the world's history.

It is important to note the error in the KJV of confounding the end of “the age” with that of “the world” (v. 3). The coming age of a thousand years and more is after the age that still is, and before the eternal scene. Even disciples, as yet preoccupied with Jewish hopes and prejudices, and wholly unintelligent of the new, heavenly associations of Christianity, knew better. It is clear in the Greek that they did not say “of the world,” but “of the age.” The Lord in Matthew 13:38-40 had amply guarded against such a confusion. The field or sowing-place was “the world,” the judgment on the darnel and the display of the wheat would be at the close of “the age.” The new age, the Millennium, will be characterized by the King reigning in righteousness when the Father's kingdom is come on high and the Son of Man's here below, when His will is to be done on earth as in heaven.

In Matthew 13, we find the expression, “the end of the world,” occurring three times. A reader might naturally suppose that this refers to the end of the world, as described by the Apostle Peter, when “The heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent beat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up” (2 Peter 3:10). But when we know that the correct translation is “The end of the age [aiōn],” we find it refers to the close of this present age of God’s grace, to be followed by the outpouring of God’s judgments on this guilty world, leading up to the Lord setting up His kingdom on this earth to last a thousand years, commonly called the millennium.

I repeat also that the end of the age is not the end of the world. The phrase "end of the world" in Matthew 13:39 is an unequivocal error of translation. There is no scholar who ought not to be ashamed of such a blunder. Far from being the end of the world, the very context proves the contrary. The Lord sends His angels and purges from the field or world what is offensive to Him. The evil is judged, the scandals removed; the bad crops or bad fish destroyed. In short, the living wicked are punished, and the righteous shine in the kingdom of their Father. The kingdom of the Son of man is the earthly part of the kingdom of God, the kingdom of the Father is its heavenly part, as will appear to any attentive reader. The heavenly things and the earthly things of the kingdom of God (compare John 3:12) will be found then in unsullied brightness and harmony. In the Father's kingdom, according to His own counsels, the glorified saints shine to His own praise. The field or world which had been spoiled by Satan's wiles will be cleared of all its corruptions and lawlessness. Thus, far from being the end of the "world", the harvest which closes this age will be the beginning of the world's going onward in blessedness under the displayed kingdom of the Son of man and Son of God, the Head of the church which will then be exalted and reigning with Him.

It is the end of the age, the present age, during which Christ does not appear in glory and reign over the earth. There will follow another age, when Christ, instead of being hidden, will be manifested, and will expel Satan, removing all that contaminates men and dishonours God. This judicial purging connects itself with the Old Testament prophets. They all refer to the times of restitution of all things, the kingdom of Messiah over the earth. The mistake is applying them to the church now. The principle often does apply in the New Testament, as we all see. I do not mean to contest this, but there are limits. The fulfilment is another thing.

The end refers to the close of the age which commenced with the supremacy of Nebuchadnezzar and which will go on so long as the Gentile rule remains in the ascendant and Israel is servant to the nations. Daniel, like every godly Jew of his day and of succeeding days, anxiously sought for light upon the termination of this servile condition. So the disciples asked the Lord, “What shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the age? And Jesus answered … then shall the end come” (Matt. 24:3-14). And after His resurrection they said, “Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6). In Daniel the phrase, “the time of the end,” recurs noticeably (Dan. 8:17; Dan. 11:35, 40; Dan. 12:4, 9). The end therefore means the conclusion of that period called elsewhere “the times of the Gentiles.”

It is distinctly unfortunate that both in Matt. 13 and Matt. 24 the Authorized Version uses the expression "the end of the world." "The end of the world" and "the end of the age" are by no means one and the same thing. "The end of the world" is the absolute wind-up of things as we now know them. At that epoch, time will pass into eternity. But "the end of the age" is simply the wind-up of a certain order of things, with a view to some other order taking its place in the wisdom of God. The statement may seem bold to some, but it may quite safely be affirmed that the end of the world is at least a thousand and seven years distant. Before the history of the world, as we know it, is wound up, the Man of God's choice must reign in Zion a thousand years, and the man of the Devil's choice must reign there seven years before Christ's appearing. But none dare say that the end of the age is far off. Indeed, all that is taking place around us to-day is suggestive that it is very near. Great changes are impending. Even men of the world feel that it is so. This thought should solemnize our hearts, and cause us to look well to our ways.

The notion of a general judgment at the end of time finds no sanction in Matt. 25 nor in any other Scripture. The Great White Throne will indeed be set up at the end of time, but only the lost dead will be there, "the first resurrection" (of all the blessed and holy) will be completed a thousand years earlier. The judgment of Matt. 25 will take place at "the end of the age." Please read "age," not "world" in Matt. 24:3 and elsewhere in the first Gospel.

When that consummation comes, there will be a process of discrimination in judgment. The wheat will be removed on high, the darnel consumed below. Consequently, then will be the harvest, but this implies evil abounding up to the end of the age. Never will there be a time for this age when the preaching of the gospel or discipline can root out the evil sown by Satan from the beginning under the Christian name. This age will close by divine judgment on the lawless and on all the stumbling-blocks. The new age will be characterized by the Son of man's righteous rule over the earth in power and peace.