Heb 9:26: “…but now once in the end of the world hath he (Messiah) appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.”

What does “the end of the world’ mean in this verse? Did the world end in the days of Messiah?

The Greek original doesn’t really say “end of the world,” rather it says “the consummation of the ages.” A consummation CAN be an ending; however, the sense conveyed here is more like a coming together of events to close out one set of events and begin another.

This fits perfectly with the idea of the earlier ages ending, and the bringing in of the new Messianic kingdom which has no end.

Based on internal evidence, the book of Hebrews was written prior to 70 AD, likely in the mid-60’s. If the writer of Hebrews emphasized that this consummation was “now,” from the time of his writing, then the consummation of ages was already underway and was just about to transition fully to the successive age.

This is why I believe we should not be looking forward to the end of the world in this day and age, but we should be living in the fullness of the Messianic age which is already here!