Hoshea promises that despite the period of punishment and separation, ultimately Israel will return and seek Hashem, their God and David, their king. He says this will take place b’acharit ha’yamim (באחרית הימים), translated here as ‘in the days to come,’ but often translated as ‘the end of days.’ However, as Prime Minister Menachem Begin pointed out in a speech to the delegates of the United Nations Disarmament Conference in 1982, “Acharit hayamim does not mean ‘the last days’ or ‘the end of days.’ On the contrary! The key word, acharit, is a synonym for a bright future. It means hatikva, ‘hope,’ as we find in Jeremiah (29:11): latet lachem acharit v’tikva (לתת לכם אחרית ותקוה) — ‘to give to you a future and a hope,’ or, ‘to give you a hopeful future.’ Acharit can also mean progeny, as we find in Ezekiel (23:25), and in progeny there is future. Hence, b’acharit hayamim really means the days of redemption, when mankind shall enjoy the full blessings of eternal peace for all generations to come.” The Prime Minister taught the UN delegates that no matter how difficult the present may be, one must maintain our hope for a bright future and the days of redemption.
Source: Israel in the News
