This implies ages of this world's history that were not the last days; they were prior, preparatory, anticipatory. The last days are characterised by two comings, notable, unprecedented, indeed astounding - the coming into the world of the Son of God and the Spirit of God. In order to accentuate the marvel of these comings we must say that God came into the world, first in the person of the Son and then in the person of the Holy Spirit. They came by radically different modes and for different functions. But both are spoken of as comings and they are both epochal events. These comings not only introduce and characterise the last days; they create or constitute them.
John Murray, The Unity of the Old and New Testaments, Collected Works Volume 1, page 23
