Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary 2 Timothy 3:1

"But know this, that in the last days grievous times shall come." — 2 Timothy 3:1 (ASV)

The expression “in the last days” comes from the OT (e.g., Isaiah 2:2; Micah 4:1). In Peter’s quotation of Joel 2:28 on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:17), it clearly refers to the whole messianic age, for he declared that the prophecy was being fulfilled that very day. Some insist that “in the last days” has the meaning here, but it seems more natural to take it as applying especially to the last days of this age, just before the Second Coming (as in 2 Peter 3:3;Jude 18). This does not at all deny that these conditions have been and will be present throughout the church age. It is simply to say that the characteristics enumerated here will be more intensive and extensive as the end approaches. Paul declared that the last days will see troublesome and dangerous times.