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I believe Mr. Becker misunderstands the term “last days,” although I shared his concept for nearly 50 years. Please consider the following:

The Jews to whom he spoke recognized two ages (and Jews still do): the age in which they lived, the Mosaic age, and the Messiah’s age. Jews who don’t recognize Jesus as the Messiah believe they are still in the Mosaic age, and when the Messiah comes, his age will began.

Jesus respected the Jewish usage of these terms in Mt. 12.31-32 when he said:

31 Therefore I say unto you, Every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men; but the blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. 32 And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world [aionios, lit., age—SGD] nor in that which is to come.

“This age” would be the Mosaic age; Jesus says that blaspheming the Holy Spirit wouldn’t be forgiven in the Mosaic age, nor in the age to come, the Messianic (or Christian) age.

Likewise, in Lk. 20.27-35, when responding to the question from the Sadducees concerning marriage in the resurrection, Jesus used this same distinction:

27 And there came to him certain of the Sadducees, they that say that there is no resurrection; 28 and they asked him, saying, Teacher, Moses wrote unto us, that if a man’s brother die, having a wife, and he be childless, his brother should take the wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. 29 There were therefore seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and died childless; 30 and the second: 31 and the third took her; and likewise the seven also left no chil-dren, and died. 32 Afterward the woman also died. 33 In the resurrection therefore whose wife of them shall she be? for the seven had her to wife. 34 And Jesus said unto them, The sons of this world [aionios, lit., age—SGD] marry, and are given in marriage: 35 but they that are accounted worthy to attain that world [aionios, lit., age—SGD], and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage:

In the Mosaic age, in which every character in this conversation lived, citizens of the kingdom were produced by marriage and procreation. In the case of the woman involved, she had no children after five marriages. This was of utmost seriousness in the Mosaic age, as children of the kingdom were produced solely by physical procreation. Eunuchs, for example, could produce no heirs in the kingdom, and they were regarded as inferior citizens because of this.

However, Jesus says, that won’t be the case in the Messiah’s age. Children of God will not be produced by physical procreation, but by teaching the gospel. Now, in the Messiah’s age, we know that to be the case. Christians are produced by evangelism, not procreation. Imagine the effect this teaching would have on eunuchs (such as the Ethyopian in Acts 8) or unmarried people now: they can produce citizens and heirs of God’s kingdom as well as anyone else!

The Age of Christ Has no End

We next notice that the Messianic age has no end. In the Messianic prophecy of Isa. 9.6, 7, God foretold:

6 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. 7 There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.

This prophecy of the Messiah also says that there will be no end to the increase of his government or of peace. The increase of the Messiah’s government takes place, again, through preaching the gospel, and it has no end.

Similarly in Lk. 1.28-33, we find the angel Gabriel appearing to Mary, saying:

28 And he came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee. 29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this might be. 30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God. 31 And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. 32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: 33 and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

Again, the kingdom of the Messiah will never end. One had just as well talk about the end of eternity as the end of the Messiah’s rule. It will never end!

Hence, the Age of Christ or the Messiah’s age has no end. The Mosaic age did. The Messiah’s age has no last days, last day, nor last hour. The Mosaic age had all of those, and they are spoken of repeatedly. Thus, when these parables speak of the end of the age, they’re not speaking of the end of the Christian age, which has no end, but the end of the Mosaic age, the age in which Jesus’ audience lived. The harvest and judgment of which Jesus spoke to his countrymen would occur at the end of the Mosaic age.

Thanks for reading, and considering.