Here, you can learn the truth about the Great Tribulation that everyone should know.
On the Mount of Olives, Jesus foretold a time of "great
tribulation." It is important for Christians to understand
what specific events He prophesied, and whether those prophecies have
been fulfilled. We will address the
prophecies and will also address something very important
that has been overlooked.
Life on earth does not end with the "great tribulation." In fact, life
goes on, not just for hundreds, or thousands
of years, but indefinitely after the tribulation of Matthew 24,
Mark 13 and Luke 21 is history.
I am not
referring to a "millenial" kingdom as some people expect, but
life as we normally know it on this earth,
(Luke 21:24) a time after the "great tribulation." A
time when the church continues to add to its numbers those
who are being saved.
Many misapplications
of Biblical Scripture have brought forth predictions of sensational
end-time events, and
much speculation concerning the world and the church. Our beliefs
should always be grounded in truth.
Traditional Teaching
Traditional teachings say that
Jesus will come secretly, just prior to the "great
tribulation," to rapture
all His saints away to heaven, and again openly,
immediately after the tribulation is over, to set up His
millenial kingdom on the earth. Is that an accurate analysis?
As we entered the twenty-first century, there
were great expectations and many misguided, predictions of
what was coming on the earth. Most
are not in the Bible.
It is relatively consistent, whether found in a
Fundamental church or a Pentecostal one, or almost anywhere
in-between. It basically goes like this:
Traditional Futurist View
Since the time that Jesus lived on the earth,
almost two thousand years have passed in which few of His
predictions have come true. But, one of these days, the Jews in Israel
will rebuild the temple. Then there
is all this talk of a red heifer and re-institution of sacrifices.
At some point after that time, there will be
great earthquakes, famine, pestilence and distress all over the
earth, as never before in the history of the world.
Then one called "the Antichrist"
will appear on the scene, causing many to believe that he is the
Christ.
But before this "antichrist" shows up, the true
believers in Jesus are said to be "secretly" raptured
away to heaven, en masse, and the only ones left on the earth are the
sinners (those who never accepted
Jesus), and of course, the Jews.
Then the "Antichrist" performs great signs and
wonders and continues to deceive everyone for
three-and-one-half years, then he shows his true colors.
He causes the animal sacrifice to cease, and tries
to force everyone to take the mark of the beast in order to
buy and sell. Then a more severe tribulation occurs over all the earth.
This continues until Jesus returns from heaven
three-and-one-half years later, with his saints, and sets up
His millenial kingdom on the earth. Then, for a thousand years, the
saints rule and reign with Christ, over
some other people (no one seems to know just who).
Such teaching does not usually go beyond this
point, as to what occurs after the thousand years, although
many teach that when the thousand years is up, we will all go to heaven
and remain there for eternity.
Some teach that 144,000 converted Jews will go
around evangelizing the world during the
"great tribulation." And of course, somewhere in there is the
"Battle of Armagedon."
Since there are many variations on all this, and
we are interested in true facts, instead of traditions, we
have not covered every scenario, just enough to show basically what we
are talking about.
Various versions of these doctrines are espoused
by many fine, honest and sincere people, who love the
Lord with all their hearts. This is not written to hurt or
discourage anyone, but to uplift and encourage
those who love Christ.
If we are open enough to search for the
truth with our whole heart, we will surely find it, and Jesus
said
the truth would "make us free." John 8:32. Are we really hearing the
truth from those sensationalist
preachers on TV? There are many
ambiguities to most of these end-time doctrines; as to when the saints
are gathered unto the Lord, whether pre-trib, mid-trib, or post-trib,
all referring to its relationship with
the "great tribulation," where the "Antichrist"
will come from and where he will reign. Most say
Jerusalem, seating himself in the rebuilt temple, purporting to be God.
Importance of Prophecy
Prophecy is given to us so that we may see the
fulfillment and give glory to God. In the Old Testament, many
times it is stated by God, Himself, through His prophets, these things
will occur "that they may know that
I am the Lord your God."
The Bible teaches us that the proof of a
prophet is that what he predicts comes to pass. The Scripture
says:
"When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing
follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing
which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken
resumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid
of him."
Deuteronomy 18:22. So, the sign of a true
prophet of God is that all of his predictions take place,
just as he said they would.
Jesus, besides all else that He was, was also
God's greatest
Prophet. He prophesied certain events which, He
said, would take place in that generation. If those things did
not occur, in that generation, He would
have to be labeled a false prophet. Therefore, it is vitally
important for those fulfillments to be clearly
understood as a testimony to Jesus.
Realize, that any Bible prophecy which was
fulfilled after the writing of the Scriptures, is not recorded
in those
Scriptures. How, then, would we know of its occurrence? We must observe
it first hand, hear about it, or read
about it.
Now doesn't it stand to reason that, in the
almost two thousand years since the time of Christ, at least some
of His prophecies would have had their fulfillment?
Here, from the pages of the Bible, written
history, and early church writings, we will show that the predictions
of
Jesus were all true, and that many
of them have already come to pass. Everything, of course, must be in
harmony with the Word of God.
There is much to be learned by the study of chapter 21 of Luke's
Gospel concerning these things, and it is
really the key to understanding most of the prophecies of
Matthew 24. Luke's Gospel gives us the insight to
recognize these prophesied events as they occur.
If we want to be pleasing to the Lord, we must
take a more responsible approach than just taking someone
else's word for what we believe. We must study it for ourselves.
Only then can we be sure of what we believe,
and have confidence to face the future. Please begin by reading Luke 21
in your own Bible.
The Bible is not a book of great mystery, if we
take the time to read more than just selected verses. However,
it does require diligent study to understand some of the truths to be
found there. When we study enough to dig
out all the facts on any Bible subject, we will have a good
understanding of what God is saying to us.
What specific facts about the "great
tribulation" are recorded in the Bible, which will give us the
context of
these Scriptures in Matthew 24?
In the foregoing Scripture, Jesus was
addressing Jerusalem, and pronouncing a sentence of desolation
upon
the city and the temple (their house of worship).
Luke 21:20-21 is another "key" to where this "Great
Tribulation" would occur. "And when ye shall see
Jerusalem
compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is
nigh, then let them which are
in Judea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst
of it depart out; and let not them that
are in the countries enter thereinto."
Here we see again, that this "great
tribulation" is to occur in Jerusalem, which is in Judea,
and that those
who are outside Judea (anywhere outside) are not to enter into it.
Jesus told His disciples to depart out of it
(Judea) in order to escape the judgment which was about to come
upon the Jews.
So the answer to our question, Where was the "great tribulation" to occur? is: Judea, specifically Jerusalem.
A very common misconception about the "Great
Tribulation" is that it is on a worldwide scale.
The prophecies of Jesus, however, do not indicate this, but
confine it to Judea, as vengeance against the
Jews who killed the prophets and Jesus. If you disagree with this,
study in your Bible and you will see that it is true.
"But woe to them that are with
child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be
great
distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. And they shall fall
by the edge of the sword, and shall
be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be
trodden down of the Gentiles, until the
times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." Luke
21:23-24.
Obviously, "the land" refers to Judea,
from which the disciples were warned to flee, and "this people"
(on whom the wrath would come) refers to those inhabitants of
Judea, the Jews. They were to fall by
the sword's edge and to be led captive into all nations. And again, Jerusalem
is named as being trodden
down of the gentiles.
The answer to Towards whom is the great
tribulation directed? is, the Jews.
Luke 21:23-24, makes it clear that the
vengeance is upon the Jews. The reference to the
fulfilling of
"all things written" tells us that the words of Jesus in Matthew
23:37-38 and all foretold events are
fulfilled during the "great tribulation period."
The answer to Why was it to occur? is clearly,
to bring the promised vengeance and wrath of God
upon the unbelieving and wicked Jews in exact
fulfillment of Scriptural prophecy.
To begin to identify the"great tribulation," we must know the characteristics attributed to it by Jesus.
God gave these instructions to Ezekiel, and it
appears that such a principle of a day-for-a-year may also
apply to some of the prophecies of Daniel.
If it is true, as many scholars believe, that
the day-for-a-year principle applies to prophecies other than
those of Ezekiel, then the seventy weeks (490
days) of Daniel 9:24 could really be four hundred and ninety
years. The seven weeks (49 days) of Daniel 9:25
would then equal forty-nine years, and the threescore and
two weeks (434 days) could equal four hundred and
thirty-four years.
Added together, the seven weeks and sixty-two
weeks would equal four hundred and eighty-three "prophetic"
years. The remaining seven days (or years) of the
four hundred and ninety, stated in Daniel 9:26, will be
discussed as we get further along.
I am not trying to build a case upon an assumption
that the day-for-a-year principle is absolute, but as we
continue, it will be easy to see that the
time-table does indeed match with the predictions, if we assume that
principle to be valid.
If these figures are correct, the Messiah would
come on the scene four hundred and eighty-three years from
457 B.C., which calculates out to A.D. 27 (there
is no zero year in going from B.C. to A.D.) A.D. 27 is about the
date of the baptism of Jesus, when He began to be
about thirty years of age. Luke 3:23.
We are told that there could be an error in our
present day calendar of as much as seven years or as little
as three years, depending on who you listen to.
Some have stated that Jesus was probably born between
6 B.C. and 3 B.C. If this is true, then in A.D.
27, He could have been thirty years of age, the customary age
for the anointing for ministry according to the
tradition.
Let me substantiate the dating of the four
hundred and eighty-three years from 457 B.C.
Gabriel, in telling Daniel of the events to come,
gave a reference point for the beginning of the fulfillment of
his prophecy, the decree to rebuild Jerusalem.
In addition to the decree of Cyrus, already
mentioned, two other decrees followed before the temple
was completely restored; the decree of Darius in
519 B.C., and the decree of Artaxerxes in 457 B.C.
Notice that the decree of Cyrus (538 B.C.)
predates the visit of Gabriel to Daniel (521 B.C.).
The question arises here as to which of these
decrees Gabriel referred in his prediction of the coming of
Messiah. This dilemma
is solved by Ezra 6:14, a Scripture in which all three decrees are
named and said
to be "the commandment of the God of Israel, and
according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius
and Artaxerxes king of Persia."
It appears that the three are to be considered
as one. After all, it was the commandment of God(a single
commandment) issued by three kings at different
times. So it appears that we should date the
commandment at the last instance, or 457 B.C.
As we have already indicated, four hundred and
eighty-three years after that decree, Jesus, the Messiah,
was anointed for ministry at His baptism, as the
Holy Spirit descended upon Him and remained, and as
God spoke, saying: "This is My beloved Son in whom
I am well pleased." Matthew 3:17.
Gabriel continued: "the street shall be built
again, and the wall, even in troublous times." Daniel 9:25.
Nehemiah 4:17 tells us that the men who built the
walls worked with one hand and defended themselves
with the other. Their enemies were trying to
prevent the reconstruction. Those were "troublous times."
The prophecy, given to Daniel by Gabriel,
further states that the Messiah would be cut-off. "And after
threescore and two weeks, shall Messiah be cut
off, but not for himself; and the people of the prince that
shall come shall destroy the city and the
sanctuary: and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto
the end of the war desolations are determined."
Daniel 9:26.
It is imperative for us to see that, in this
prophecy in Daniel to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple, following
its first destruction by Nebuchadnezzar, there is also
a prophecy of a second destruction of Jerusalem
and the temple by the people of the prince who was
to come, after the coming of Messiah.
It specified that both the city and the
sanctuary would be destroyed. The reference to a "flood"
(Daniel 9:26) is interesting in light of a
paragraph in the book JERUSALEM, by Kathleen M. Kenyon,
which we will discuss later. It is specifically
predicting a sudden war of desolation upon Jerusalem. Similar
language is used by Daniel in Chapter 11:22, ". .
. with the arm of a flood. . . ," and 11:26, ". . . and his
army shall overflow." Both Scriptures mention
water, but speak of war.
Notice that in Daniel 9:26, Gabriel said after
the threescore and two weeks, Messiah would be cut off.
He explains this further: "And he [Messiah] shall
confirm the covenant with many for one week: [seven
prophetic years] and in the midst of the week
[halfway through the seven years] he shall cause the
sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the
overspreading of abominations he shall make it [the temple]
desolate, even until the consummation [a
completion], and that determined [the destruction of Jerusalem]
shall be poured upon the desolate." Daniel 9:27.
A footnote in the NIV Bible says: "And one who
causes desolation will come upon the pinnacle of the
abominable temple, until the end that is
decreed is poured out on the desolated city." This "week," which
came after the seven weeks and threescore and two
weeks [a total of sixty-nine weeks] was the seventieth
week of Daniel 9:24. "Seventy weeks are determined
upon thy people...." Using the day-for-a-year
principle, we can see in this last verse, the
prediction of a seven year period of time in which the Messiah
[Jesus] confirms the covenant [salvation by grace
through faith] with many.
Most dispensationalists insist that the
seventieth week of Daniel is separated from the other sixty-nine
weeks by the period of time from the Messiah to
the "great tribulation," and they say the "great
tribulation"
will be a seven year period, yet future. They
believe that Daniel 9:27 describes, not Christ, but Antichrist,
who they say, will make a covenant with many and
then break it after three and one-half years, and a
worse tribulation is then said to follow.
I am one of the many who disagree with such
doctrine, simply because there is no Scriptural evidence for
such a separation, none at all.
Notice that in Daniel 9:27, the one referred to
confirms "the" covenant. It is not the making of "a"
covenant, but the "confirming" of "the"
covenant. This one also causes the sacrifice to cease. This is exactly
what Jesus did when He became the sacrificed lamb
on the cross at Golgotha. God confirmed this by tearing
the temple veil from top to bottom, (Matthew
27:51).
The sacrifices made thereafter had no value
whatsoever. The Jews did continue to offer sacrifices until about
forty years later, when God caused them to cease
because of scarcity of animals. There has been no
reinstitution of animal sacrifice by the Jews
since that time, because there is no temple.
At this point, we know that Gabriel predicted
the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the temple, then the coming of
Messiah, followed by the second
destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, after Messiah
is cut off. Add to this
the prophecy in Daniel 12:11, where Daniel spoke
of the "abomination that maketh desolate." This appears to be
the Scripture to which Jesus referred when He
said: "When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation,
spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the
holy place (whoso readeth, let him understand:) then let them
which be in Judea flee into the mountains."
Matthew 24:15-16.
Daniel also, two other times (Daniel 8:13 and
11:31), prophesied concerning "transgression of desolation" and
the
"abomination that maketh desolate." If you examine these Scriptures very carefully, it
becomes obvious that they
are not the same as Daniel 12:22. For starters,
Daniel 8:13-14 specifies a time of 2300 evenings and mornings, and
seems to be the same as Daniel 11:31, listing a
sequence of rulers, culminating in Daniel 11:31.
This continuous line, as history witnesses,
ends with Antiochus Ephiphanes (Described in various Bible
commentaries). Antiochus profaned the temple,
setting up pagan worship there and interrupting the daily sacrifice
for 2300 days. These were literal days, because
the prophecy in Daniel 8:13-14 specified evenings and
mornings as in
the days of the creation in Genesis chapter one. If you believe that
the creation was literal days,
then you have to accept Daniel 8:13-14 as literal
days.
On the other hand, Daniel 12:11-12 speaks of 1290
days (taken literally, three years and seven months) and 1335
days (literally three years and eight months).
The Hebrew word used here was the word for "days,"
not evenings and mornings. These could be literal days, or
prophetic years. I relate these at this time
merely to contrast the number of days in Daniel 8:13-14 with the
number in Daniel 12:11-12 to show that they are
not the same, and that the "abomination that maketh desolate"
occurs more than one time.
When Jesus made His reference to it, the
desecration by Antiochus Ephiphanes was already long past, so
Jesus
necessarily spoke of the later time of the
"abomination of desolation" (in Daniel 12:11-12).
A minority of Bible scholars do not accept the
desecration of the temple by Antiochus Ephiphanes as the fulfillment
of the 2300 days prophecy. Although it seems right
to me, that is not the case in point here.
We can see from Matthew 24:15, that the "great
tribulation" was to be the fulfilling of the prophecy of Daniel
concerning the "abomination of desolation."
And from Luke 21:20, we know that the desolation would be
administered by armies surrounding Jerusalem.
Because this prophecy in Daniel runs continuously from the
first
desolation, through the rebuilding of the temple and the city, the
coming of Messiah and on to the second
destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, we must
consider this second destruction in our quest to find the actual
fulfillment of the "great tribulation."
Since the time that Gabriel visited Daniel,
recorded in Daniel, Chapter 9, and since Jesus prophesied this
desolation,
there has been only one destruction of the temple
and the city of Jerusalem. That was in A.D. 70. The temple has
not been rebuilt since that time. As we have
already seen, this second desolation of the temple and city was
prophesied to occur after the cutting off of the
Messiah.
Jesus was crucified in about A.D. 30, after
three and one-half years of His ministry, and the second destruction of
the temple and city followed within that
generation, about thirty-eight to forty years afterwards, in A.D.
70.
Jesus foretold this desolation and called it "great
tribulation." Matthew 24:21).
At this point, we will begin to correlate the
prophecies of the Olivet discourse with the actual historical events
which occurred between the resurrection of Christ
and the desolation of Jerusalem and the temple in A.D. 70.
We will see if these events fulfill the
predictions Jesus made.
His prophecies had required all these things to be
fulfilled in that generation. A generation is considered
to
be forty years based on the forty years the
children of Israel wandered in the wilderness until a generation died
off.
If we are to believe Jesus, we must look for
fulfillments to come before that generation passed away. We
will
cover, later, what Jesus meant by "This
Generation."
In Matthew 24:1, the disciples had
pointed out the temple buildings to Jesus, and in verse two, He said:
"There shall not be left here one stone
upon another, that shall not be thrown down." He was speaking of
the destruction of the temple buildings,
and (according to this account) said nothing about anything
else.
In verse three, they were sitting upon
the Mount of Olives, and the disciples asked Him (concerning His
previous statement): "Tell us, when shall
these things be? And what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and
the end of the world?"1
Our problems at this point are
manifold. This Scripture, in the King James Version, seems to be
speaking
of the second coming of Jesus and the end
of the world as we know it.
Is this what Jesus was saying? Let us
see what we can learn from the Greek text. The Greek word rendered
"coming" is the word "parousia," which means "presence."
That verse is speaking of the sign of His presence.
The Greek word rendered "end" is "sunteleia,"
which means literally: "entire completion," and the word "aion,"
which the King James Version rendered "world,"
literally means "age," and according to Strong's Concordance,
it further means: specifically (Jewish), "Messianic
period."
The New American Standard Bible renders the
latter part of Matthew 24:3, "end of the age." The Numeric
English New Testament says: "and what
the sign of thy presence and consummation of the age?" This is very
close to the Greek meaning. Think about
it. To speak of the consummation (entire completion) of an age is quite
different from the "end of the world."
The parallel Scripture in Mark 13 states it this
way: "Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign
when all these things shall be fulfilled
[suntelesthai: to complete entirely]?" Mark 13:4.
What things? The things which Jesus spoke to
them as they left the temple, concerning the destruction of the temple.
The word "fulfilled" in Mark 13:4 could
also be rendered "consummated." So we can see no contradiction between
Mark and Matthew on this point, just some
inconsistency in the work of the translators.
Also, notice that Mark 13:4 does not
mention the "end of the world," but the fulfillment of
the things Jesus told them.
The same is true of Matthew 24:3 in the
original language.
What is the consummation of the age? The book of
Hebrews refers to it: "but now once at the consummation of the
age, hath He [Jesus] been manifest to put
away sin by the sacrifice of Himself." Hebrews 9:26b, NENT.
It appears that, according to the writer of
Hebrews, the "consummation" of the age was that time period
beginning
with and following the ministry of the
Messiah, not the end of the world.
The King James Version rendered Hebrews 9:26b:
"but now once in the end of the world has he appeared
[past tense] to put away sin by the
sacrifice of Himself." They translated it as if the end of the world
had already
come. We know that the consummation of
that age was not the end of the world.
Luke 21:7 is very similar to Mark 13:4, "And
they asked Him, saying, Master, but when shall these things be? and
what sign when these things shall come to
pass?
The word here translated "come to
pass," is the Greek "genesthai," meaning: "begin to be
fulfilled." It is quite
obvious that when the disciples asked "when"
and "what sign," they were simply referring to His previous
remarks
concerning the destruction of the temple.
The same is true of the question "when shall these things be?" recalling again His earlier statements.
Notice also in Luke's account, there is
no mention of the end of the world. The
destruction of the temple was
the subject under discussion, and the time
of its fulfillment. We must be careful to understand this and not to
read
into it something that the Word of God
does not say.
Jesus warned His disciples, "Take heed lest any man deceive
you. For many shall come in My name saying
I am Christ; and shall
deceive many." Matthew 24:4-5, Mark
13:3-4, Luke 21:8. "And
the time draweth near:
go ye not therefore after
them." Luke 21:8b. (This is similar
to Matthew 24:26 and Mark 13:21).
Did this happen? Yes there were many
who came and pretended to be the Messiah and each one met death
and came to naught.
Within one year of this prophecy, came a
man named Dositheus the Samaritan who boldly claimed to be the
Messiah. A disciple of Dositheus,
Simon Magus claimed to be the "Great Power of God."
Three years later, another Samaritan declared
the he would show the people the sacred utensils that he said
were deposited by Moses on Mt. Gerizim. He
amass a great multitude of armed men, but Pilate defeated them
and killed their Samaritan leader.
During the reign of Cuspius Fadus, procurator of
Judea, there arose one named Theudas. He induced a great
number of men to follow him to the Jordan,
saying that the waters would part on his command. Fadus' army
went after them on horses and killed many
of them and the Theudas was beheaded.
When Felix was governor, many rose up, almost
daily, in Judea persuading people to follow them into the
wilderness where they would show signs and
wonders from the ALMIGHTY. Many were pursued by Felix and
put to death.
About A.D. 55, the celebrated Egyptian impostor,
Felix, (not to be confused with the governor) assembled thirty
thousand followers who accompanied him to
the Mount of Olives, saying he would command the walls of Jerusalem
to fall down as a prelude to the capture
of the Roman garrison and to their obtaining the sovereignty of the
city.
The governor saw this as a revolt and slew
four hundred of them. The Egyptian impostor escaped.
When Porcius Festus reigned about A.D. 60,
another impostor promised deliverance from the Roman yoke, if
the people would follow him into the
wilderness. Festus send out armed force to destroy them and their
leader.
You can see that there was no
shortage of false Christs as Jesus had predicted. "For many
will come in My
name saying 'I am the Christ' and mislead
many." Matthew 24:5.
When Jesus said "the time draweth
near," He wasn't indicating something that would happen two
thousand
years later. If that were the case, He would have been
deceiving them, for they would never live to see it. Instead,
He was warning them of things which would
happen in their own generation, and they did.
Matthew 24:6, "You will hear of wars and rumors
of wars." 7. "Nation will rise against nation
and kingdom
against kingdom."
Next, Jesus warned of wars
and tumults, and rumors of wars, and
said, "be not terrified: for these things must
first come to pass; but the end is not immediately."
Matthew 24:6b, Luke 21:9b, NENT. Notice that the wars and
tumults and rumors of wars occur prior
to the destruction of the temple, as indicated by the word "first."
Were there, in fact, wars, tumults and rumors of wars in the forty years following that prophecy? Indeed there were!
Right from the pages of History we read: There
arose robbers in Jerusalem called Sicarii.1
They hid daggers in
their clothing and mixed among crowds at
festivals. They would seek out and kill their victim and then become a
part of the crowd, and no one knew who was
the perpetrator. This caused each man to be suspicious of even his
closest friends, and to constantly fear
death.
Some men pretended that God had told them He
would show them freedom in a place in the wilderness and led
many away, but Felix, the procurator,
thought it was a revolt and killed a large number of them.
About three years after Christ was crucified,
war broke out between Herod and Aretas, king of Arabia Petraea
in which Herod's army was cut off.
Emperor Caligula ordered his statue to be placed
in the temple of Jerusalem. The Jews, of course, refused him
and there were rumors of war, but it never
materialized.
Then, a great number of Jews left Babylon and
went to Seleucia. The Greeks and Syrians destroyed myriads of
them. (Josephus said this slaughter had no
parallel in prior history).
Five years later, the Jews at Perea and the Philadelphians fought over the city limits of Mia and the Jews were slain.
Four years later, when Cumanus ruled, the Jews
reacted to an act of indignity of a Roman soldier, but when they
saw the Roman army approaching in large
number they panicked and trampled to death ten thousand Jews in the
streets.
Three years later, the Samaritans murdered a
Galilean on his way to keep the Passover in Jerusalem. To get
revenge, the Jews fought against the
Samaritans and ravaged their country.
At Caesarea, the Jews who were mixed with
Syrians raised a tumult over city government. They argued over
whether the city was Grecian or Jewish.
This led to an armed conflict between Jews and Greeks. The city was
decreed to the Syrians. This brought
about the greatest conflict between those two nations. The Jews beat
the
Syrians in one battle, and Felix sent
soldiers out to slay a great many Jews. About twenty thousand Jews were
killed. Wherever Jews and Syrians
lived in the same city, slaughter was a common occurrence. This
included
Tyre, Gadara, Scythopolis, Damascus and
Ascalon. At Damascus, ten thousand Jews were killed in one
hour.
At Scythopolis, thirteen thousand in a
night.
At Alexandria rose up against the oppressive
Romans. The Romans killed fifty thousand Jews, including infants
to aged.
At Jopata, forty thousand Jews perished.
There were many attacks of Romans by Jews and
Jews by Romans (even Jews fighting among themselves) in
the years prior to A. D. 66. This is
well recorded in the "Complete Works of Josephus" to be found in almost
any
library.
An Egyptian false prophet got together thirty
thousand Jews and led them around the wilderness to the Mount of
Olives, and was going to break into
Jerusalem by force, but again, Felix sent Roman soldiers against them
and
many were killed.
Some deceivers persuaded Jews to revolt and kill
other Jews who obeyed the Roman government. They
plundered the homes of the great men and
slew them and then set their villages on fire, until Judea was filled
with their madness.
Festus succeeded Felix and destroyed many of the
seditious. Albinus succeeded Festus and he was a thief,
burdening the whole nation with taxes,
allowing prisoners to be redeemed for money, and set free. He became
joined to robbers and tyranny was
generally tolerated at that time.
Florus succeeded Albinus and all but legalized robbery, as long as he shared in the spoils.
The people of Jerusalem (three million of them)
gathered around Cestius Gallus when he visited Jerusalem and
tried to persuade him to put an end to
Florus' exploitation of their country. Florus deluded Gallus and
continued to
incite the Jews to rebel in order to
divert attention from his own vice.
Florus had his soldiers bring some of the
nonviolent Jews before him, and chastised them with stripes, then
crucified them. They had done no wrong. He
destroyed about thirty-six hundred men, women and children in this
way.
In vain, Bernice, wife of Herod (king of
Chalcis) petitioned Florus to spare the Jews. As often as the rebellion
subsided, Florus would incite the Jews to
rebel again.2 All this is well accepted history from the
writings of
Flavius Josephus, a Jewish historian of
the first century. It all obviously qualifies as fulfillment of the
predictions
Jesus made, as recorded in Matthew 24:4-6
"For nation shall rise against
nation, kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines,
pestilences,
and earthquakes, in divers [various]
places. All these are the beginning of sorrows." Matthew 24:7-8, Mark
13:8,
Luke 21:10-11.
We have seen that nation did
rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom, but what about
famines,
pestilences, and earthquakes?
The fulfillment of prophecy of pestilences and
famines began within about ten years. Look at this Scripture:
"And in these days came prophets from Jerusalem
unto Antioch. And there stood up one of them named
Agabus, and signified by the Spirit that there
should be great dearth [Greek: Limos, meaning scarcity of food,
as destitution, famine] throughout all the world
[oikoumenen: inhabited earth or Roman Empire]: which came
to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar." Acts
11:27-28.3 Claudius Caesar was
in power from A.D. 41 to A.D. 54.
So there it is, right in your own Bible, and if
you continue to read a few verses, it refers to Judea by name.
This great famine extended through Greece and
into Italy. To alleviate the famine, Helena, queen of Adiabena,
sent large quantities of grain from Alexandria and
her son, Izates, gave vast sums to the governors of Jerusalem
for relief of sufferers. The Gentile
Christians also sent contributions for relief of the distresses of the
Jews:
I Corinthians 16:2&3. "On the first day of
every week let each one of you put aside and save, as he may prosper,
that no collections be made when I come. 3. And
when I arrive, whomever you may approve, I shall send them
with letters to carry your gift to Jerusalem;"
Dion Cassius states that there was a famine
at Rome in the first year of Claudius. In the eleventh year of
Claudius, Eusebius mentions another famine.
The book ESSENTIAL ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
by Isaac Boyles, contains the following on page 72,
Chapter XIX: "Whilst Claudius held the government
of the empire [A.D. 41-54], it happened about the festival
of the passover, that so great a sedition and
disturbance took place at Jerusalem, that thirty thousand Jews
perished of those alone who were crowded out of
the gate of the temple, and thus trodden to death by one
another."
Earthquakes
Matthew 24:7b, Earthquakes:
There were numerous earthquakes that are spoken of in the Bible.
Tacitus
records that there was an earthquake at Rome, and a very severe one at
Apamea in Syria, during
the reign of Claudius.
Philostatus
wrote of an earthquake in Crete in his "Life of Apollonius," Which also
occurred in the reign of
Claudius. He also wrote of quakes in
Miletus, Chios, Smyrna and Samos (all in places where Jews lived).
In
the reign of Nero, Tacitus, Eusebius and Orosius all mentioned an
earthquake in Laodicia.
Eusebius and Orosius also mentioned that
Hieropolis and Colose were overthrown by an earthquake.
Tacitus
and Seneca both told of quakes in Campania and later at Rome in the
reign of Galba, recorded by
Suetonius.
Josephus
wrote of a heavy storm with violent winds and much rain,
lightning, tremendous thunder and
roarings of earthquakes. He said: "It
seemed as if the system of the world had been confounded for the
destruction of man kind; and one might well
conjecture that these were signs of no common event."
As you can well see, history records numerous
severe earthquakes in the seven years preceding A.D. 70, some
associated with Mt. Vesuvius, which eventually
erupted on August 24, A.D. 79, after four hundred years of
dormancy.4 There was an
earthquake at the crucifixion of Jesus, and again at His resurrection.
Acts 16:26
records an earthquake when Paul was in jail, and
all the doors were opened and every bond was broken loose.
It says it was a great earthquake. Most
encyclopedias will tell you that there was a series of earthquakes from
A.D. 63 to A.D. 79. So the prophetic requirement
for earthquakes in various places before the "great
tribulation," was satisfied.
Review
Now let us recapitulate a bit. We have the
warning about deception by false prophets, then wars and rumors
of wars that all came to pass, then the beginning
of sorrows (nation rising against nation, kingdom against
kingdom), pestilences, famine, earthquakes and
trouble. We can see that there were adequate fulfillments of
all these in the forty years preceding A.D. 70, so
we will continue with the predictions of Jesus, and see if there
are other fulfillments of His words.
Signs from Heaven
Following the prediction of famines,
pestilences and trouble, discussed in the previous chapter, Jesus made
a forecast of fearful sights and great
signs from heaven (this is only recorded in Luke 21:11). Notice, not in
heaven, but from heaven.
History records that many great signs
were given the Jews in the forty years from the crucifixion of Christ
to the
destruction of Jerusalem.
The first sign was that of a star like
a sword which hung over Jerusalem, then a comet which continued for a
year.
At the feast of unleavened bread, at the
ninth hour of the night, a great light shone around the altar of the
temple
for half an hour.
At that same feast, a cow gave
birth to a lamb in the temple. The eastern gate of the temple,
made of heavy
brass which took twenty men to
shut, was bolted and barred, and at the sixth hour of the night, it
opened on its own.
All over the area, chariots and armies
were seen fighting in the clouds, and besieging cities. A voice was
heard,
which sounded like a multitude, saying:
"Let us depart hence!"
Four years before the war, a man from
the country, named Jesus, began (in a time of peace and prosperity) to
cry
out: "A voice from the east! a voice from
the west! a voice from the four winds! a voice against Jerusalem and
the
temple! a voice against the bridegrooms
and the brides! and a voice against all the people!" "Wo, wo to
Jerusalem," "Wo, wo to the city and to the
people, and to the temple!"
He did this for years, until he was struck and killed by a stone from a sling or war engine.
Although he had received many stripes
from the magistrates, and underwent much punishment, they could not
restrain him until his prophecy was
completed, and then he died.1
So the signs which were predicted in Luke 21:11 were from heaven, and literally came to pass prior to A.D. 70.
But Before all These
Jesus, following His description of signs from heaven, gave a very
specific warning to those listening to Him at that
very moment. He said: "But before all these, they shall lay their hands
on you, and persecute you, delivering you
up to the synagogues [of the Jews], and into prisons, being brought
before kings and rulers for My name's sake.
And it shall turn to you for a testimony. Settle it therefore in
your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer.
For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your
adversaries shall not be able to gainsay [refute] nor resist.
And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and
kinsfolk and friends; and some of you shall they cause
to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for My
name's sake. But there shall not a hair of your head perish.
In your patience possess ye your souls." Luke 21:12-19.
NENT
Notice the frequent use of the word "you" in this paragraph.
Jesus was explaining to His disciples what would occur
before all the other things He had just told them, and it would involve
them personally, not some future generation.
History confirms this, as we read in the Book of Acts, and in
secular history, of persecutions and violent deaths of many
of His disciples. He said they would be delivered up to the synagogues,
which could hardly happen to us today, but was
a real threat to the disciples in that age, because of the power of the
Jewish leaders.
He said they would be delivered up to prisons [Paul spent many years
in prison and several others had shorter
incarcerations], before kings and rulers [read Acts Chapters 21-28] for
"My name's sake," and it would turn to them
for a testimony. The book of Acts is full of
dissertations of Paul, before various authorities as a testimony
to them.
That Jesus was addressing those events that would occur "before all
these," can readily be seen also in Mark 13:9,
"But look to yourselves: [specifying His disciples] for they [the Jews]
shall deliver you up to councils: [sanhedrin] and in
synagogues shall ye be beaten; and before governors and kings shall ye
stand for My sake, for a witness to
them." Mark 13:9, NENT.
How clear can it be? The reason for their persecution was spelled
out plainly, that it was for a testimony, a witness
to those before whom they would be taken. Can you think of
circumstances under which an unwavering testimony
of Jesus Christ would be more effective? If they stood strong before
councils and kings and rulers, this made their
witness much more effective to those looking on. And many of them
believed. Even some of the rulers almost
believed. "Then Agrippa said unto Paul, almost thou persuadest me to be
a Christian. And Paul said, " would to
God that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both
almost and altogether such as I, except these
bonds." Acts 26:28-29.
So we can see that Jesus was pointing out the events that would
befall the disciples prior to the time of sorrows.
Those words in Luke 21:12-19 were addressed personally to His
disciples. In fact, this whole portion of Scripture
is almost identical to Matthew 10:16-23, where Jesus sent out the
twelve Apostles, telling them: "Behold, I send
you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; therefore be shrewd as
serpents, and innocent as doves. But beware of
men; for they will deliver you up to the courts, and scourge you in
their synagogues; and you shall be brought
before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them
and to the Gentiles. But when they deliver you
up, do not become anxious about how or what you will speak; for it
shall be given you in that hour what you are to
speak." Luke 21:12-19, NASB.
Now there is no doubt that the above was addressed to the Apostles,
because the text in Matthew 10:5 says so,
and likewise, Luke 21:12-19, which states it in almost the same words,
was addressed to His disciples.
Mark 13:3 specifically names Peter, James, John and Andrew as the ones
who asked the questions. Matthew
24:3 tells us that the questions were asked by His disciples,
privately. The very fact of the martyrdom of many
of His disciples shows that He was speaking of what would befall them,
specifically, as a witness or testimony of
Him.
The nineteenth verse of Luke 21 closely parallels Matthew 24:13 and
Mark 13:13, "In your patience possess ye
your souls," or as stated in Matthew and Mark, "But he that shall
endure [have patience] unto the end, the same
shall be saved [possess his soul or 'person']."
This Gospel of The Kingdom
Only one thing remained in this
sequence of prophecies before the destruction could come. "And this
gospel of
the kingdom shall be preached into all the
world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come."
Matthew 24:14.
This may come as a surprise, but this
Scripture appears to be speaking of the end of the age contemporary
with
Jesus, and not the end of the world itself.
Mark puts it this way: "And the gospel must first be published among all nations." Mark 13:10.
What is the significance of the word
first? Before what? Notice that this statement is located in the
middle of
the warning that Jesus gave His disciples
about what would happen to them prior to the time of sorrows.
"But take heed to yourselves: for they
shall deliver you [disciples] up to councils; and in the synagogues ye
shall
be beaten: and ye shall be brought before
kings for My sake, for a testimony against [Greek text says "to"]
them; and the gospel must first be
published among all nations. But when they lead you [disciples] and
deliver you up, take no thought beforehand
what ye shall speak..." Mark 13:9-11a.
Notice that Matthew 24:14 says "...into
all the world for a witness [marturion: evidence]" and Mark
13:9 reads:
"...and ye [disciples] shall be brought
before kings for My sake, for a testimony [marturion: evidence]
to them;"
It's the same Greek word for both, witness
and testimony, but the King James version renders it witness
one time
and testimony the other. Many
times, what appear to be discrepancies in our Bibles, are only
inconsistent
rendering of words.
So the purpose that Jesus gave for first
publishing the Gospel (good news) at that time, was to allow all those,
who could possibly lose their lives in the
upcoming destruction of Jerusalem, the opportunity to repent and
accept Christ, and to be warned to flee
the wrath to come.
This is a principle with God, that He
is altogether just and always forewarns His people through His prophets
before doing anything (Amos 3:7).2
The Jews were given almost forty years,
after they killed Jesus, to repent and escape the destruction, but they
would not.3 "He
came unto His own and His own received Him not." John 1:11. Had they
received Him, they
would have been spared.
We have already seen that the Jews
resisted Jesus and the prophets, killing many of them, and putting to
death
the Christ on a cross. This is why it says
"this Gospel must first be published." Jerusalem was about to be
destroyed.
The Gospel went first to the
Jews, then after they rejected it, to the gentiles, including all other
nations and even
to the Israelites in the dispersion.
And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly
and said, "It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken
to you [Jews] first; since you repudiate
it, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are
turning to
the Gentiles. For thus the Lord has
commanded us, 'I have placed you as a light for the Gentiles, that you
should
bring salvation to the end of the earth.'
And when the Gentiles heard this they began rejoicing and glorifying
the
word of the Lord; and as many as had been
appointed to eternal life believed." Acts 13:46-48, NASB.
Habitable Earth
When Matthew 24:14 says "This gospel of
the kingdom shall be preached into all the world," the word for
world is the Greek word oikoumene, which
means: habitable earth, or specifically, the Roman Empire.
That is how the word oikoumene was
used in those days.4 It did not mean the whole earth.
When the Bible speaks of the whole
world, the Greek word is kosmos, from which we get our word, cosmos,
that we use now-a-days for "universe." The
following is an example from Scripture of the use of the word kosmos.
"Verily I say unto you, wheresoever this
gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world [kosmon],
this also
that she hath done shall be spoken of for
a memorial to her." Mark 14:9.
Notice that world is kosmon,
another form of kosmos. We can see from this Scripture that
the word kosmos
means the whole world.
Now a very good example of the use of oikoumene:
And it came to pass in those days a decree went out from
Caesar Augustus that all the habitable
world [oikoumenen] should be registered." Luke 2:1, BINT.
This speaks of the part of the world
over which Caesar Augustus had authority as all the habitable
world. Any
good Bible atlas will show that the Roman
Empire covered only a small portion of the whole world.
Oikoumene means the habitable earth, or Roman
Empire. Kosmos means the whole world, as far as the New
Testament Greek is concerned.
When in Matthew 24:14 it says: "into
all the world for a witness unto all nations," the word oikoumene
is used,
meaning all the nations under control of
the Roman Empire.
Matthew 24:14 then says: "and then shall the end come."
It seems that a more literal rendering
of this Scripture might be: "And there shall be proclaimed these glad
tidings [gospel] of the kingdom in all the
habitable earth, for a testimony to all the nations; and then shall
come
the end." The end spoken of here
was the end of that age, and of Jerusalem as a nation, with its
inhabitants,
not the end of the world.
In his book, "The Search for the Twelve
Apostles," William Steuart McBirnie, Ph.D., Tyndale House Publishers,
Wheaton, IL., has the following
information:
p. 282, The
evidence on the subject, though ( as we have said) not copious, is yet
conclusive so far as it goes; and this is all one way.
"The most important portion of it
is supplied by Clement, the disciple of Paul mentioned in Phil. iv.
3, who was afterward bishop of Rome.
This author, writing from Rome
to Corinth, expressly asserts that Paul had preached the gospel 'IN THE
EAST AND IN THE WEST,'
that he 'had instructed the whole
world [i.e. the Roman empire, which was commonly so
called] in righteousness,' and that he 'had
gone to the extremity of the
west' before his martyrdom.
"Now, to a Roman author the
extremity of the West could mean nothing short of Spain, and the
expression is often used by Roman
writers to denote Spain.
Here, then, we have the express testimony of Paul's own disciple that
he fulfilled his original intention
(mentioned Rom. xv.
24-28) of visiting the Spanish penisula, and consequently that he was
liberated from his first imprisonment at Rome.
p. 290, "Capellus, in History
of the Apostles, writes: "'I know scarcely of one author from the
time of the Fathers downward who does
not maintain that St. Paul, after
his liberation, preached in every country of the West, in Europe,
Britain included.'" (The Drama of the
Lost Disciples, George F. Jowett, p. 196)
However there is more solid
evidence for an early Christian tradition of Apostolic evangelism in
Britain--possibly that of St. Paul.
TERTULLIAN, A. D. 155-222, the Early Father, the
first great genius after the Apostles among Christian writers, writing
in A. D. 192,
said: "The extremities of Spain,
the various parts of Gaul, the regions of Britain, which have never
been penetrated by the Roman Arms,
have received the religion of
Christ." (Tertullian, Def.
Fidei, p. 179)" (St. Joseph of Arimathea at Glastonbury,
Rev. Lionel Smithett
Lewis, pp. 129, 130)
ORIGEN, another Early Father (A. D.
185-254), wrote:
"'The divine goodness of Our Lord
and Saviour is equally diffused among the Britons, the Africans, and other
nations of the world." (Ibid)
"ST. CLEMENT speaks of
Paul going to "the extremity of the West, then returning to Rome and
suffering martyrdom before the
sovereigns of mankind."
Gospel Proof
Jesus said: "This Gospel of the kingdom
shall be preached in all the world for a witness to all nations,
and then the end
shall come." Matthew 24:14.
Does the Bible say that this occurred?
The following Scripture shows the preaching of the Gospel to the nations (Gentiles) in progress:
"For thus the Lord has commanded us, I HAVE PLACED YOU AS A LIGHT FOR THE
GENTILES, THAT YOU SHOULD
BRING SALVATION TO THE END OF THE
EARTH. And when the Gentiles
heard this, they began rejoicing and
glorifying the word of the Lord; and as
many as had been appointed to eternal life believed." Acts
13:47-48. NASB.
The Bible, itself, tells us
that the gospel reached the whole inhabited earth at that time.
"For the Scripture saith,
Whoever believeth on Him shall not be put
to shame. For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek: for He
is the same Lord of all, rich unto all
that call upon Him: for, Whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord
shall be
saved. How then shall they call on Him in
whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe whom they have
not heard? and how shall they hear without
a preacher? and how shall they preach, except they be sent? even as
it is written, How beautiful the feet of
them that bring a gospel of good things! But they did not hearken to
the
gospel. For Isaiah saith, [prophetically]
Lord, who hath believed our report? The faith therefore is by hearing,
and hearing by Christ's word. But I say,
Did they not hear? Yea, verily, Their sound when out into all the
earth,
and their words unto the ends of the
inhabited earth [oikoumene]." Romans 10:11-18, NENT.
--This Scripture refers to preaching of
the gospel (glad tidings), saying that Israel is without
excuse, because
the gospel (evangel) had gone out into all
the habitable earth, at that time.
Another Scripture in the Bible
addresses this spread of the gospel: "because of the hope laid up for
you in
heaven, of which you previously heard in
the word of truth, the gospel, which has come to you, just
as in all
the world..."
"If in deed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast,
and not move away from the hope
of the gospel that you have heard, which
was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and
which I, Paul, was
made a minister," Colossians 1:5, 6 and
23, NASB.
Yet a third Scripture found in Romans
16:25-27 says: "Now to Him who is able to establish you according
to
my gospel and preaching of
Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has
been kept
secret for long ages past, but now
is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according
to the
commandment of the eternal God, has
been made known to all the nations, leading to
obedience of faith;
to the only wise God, through Jesus
Christ, be the glory forever. Amen.
Again, Paul wrote in Romans 15:18, "For
I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has
accomplished through me, resulting in the
obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed, 19 in the power of signs
and wonders, in the power of the Spirit;
so that from Jersualem and round about as far as Illyricum I
have fully
preached the gospel of Christ. 20 And thus I aspired to preach the gospel,
not where Christ was already named,
that I might not build upon another man's
foundation; 21 but as it is written, "They who had no news of Him
shall see, And they who have not heard
shall understand."
22 For this reason I have often been
hindered from coming to you; 23 but now, with no further
place for me in
these regions, and since I have had for many years a longing
to come to you 24 whenever I go to Spain -- for I
hope to see you in passing, and to be
helped on my way there by you, when I have first enjoyed your company
for a while -- 25 but now I am going to
Jerusalem serving the saints."
What did Paul mean when he said there
was no further place for him in those regions?
He meant that he had
covered them thoroughly with the gospel
and it was time to continue on to somewhere else. He was now
planning
to go to Spain.
In Acts 19:10 it says that all
in Asia heard.
In Acts 13:49 It says that the . . .word.
. .spread through the whole region. . .
Romans 1:8, "Your faith is being
proclaimed throughout the whole world."
Cities and countries where the Book of Acts specifically says the Gospel was preached.
Antioch, Syria, Cilicia, Cypress, Pamphylia,
Derbe, Lystra, Iconium, Phrygia, Galatian region, Asia, Mysia,
Bithynia, Troos, Macedonia, Samotrace, Neopolis,
Phillipi, Thyatira, Amphipolis, Appollonia, Thessalonica, Berea,
Corinth, Cenchrea, Ephesus, Caesarea,
Alexandria, Achaia, Athens, Greece, Assos, Mitylene, Chios, Samos,
Miletus, Cos, Rhodes, Patara, Phoenicia, Tyre,
Ptolemais, Mnason, Tarsus, Damascus, Nazareth, Jerusalem,
Antipatris, Rome, Italy, Myra in Lycia, Cnidus,
Crete, Salmone, Rheguim, Puteoli, Azotus, Galilee, Judea,
Samaria, Parthians, Medes, Elamites, residents of
Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Egypt, Libya,
Cyrene, Arabia, Lydda, Joppa, Seleucia, Salamis,
Paphos, Perga, Pesidian, Lycaonia, Attalia, Three Taverns.
Ethiopian Eunuch. A total of over 80 cities
and countries.
Most of the above list was the work of one man,
Paul. Phillip preached to all the cities from Azotus to
Caesarea.
Note that Rome and Italy are listed in separate
scriptures and the same is true of Athens and Greece. This
indicates that the country as well as specific
cities were taught the Gospel. The other apostles were also
busy
preaching the Gospel to the Jews and some gentiles.
Remember, that Jesus sent them in to
all the habitable earth (oikoumene) for a witness, not into all the
world
(kosmos). Look up the word "world,"
as used in Luke 21, in your concordance and you'll see the truth.
Was the Gospel preached into all the world (oikoumene) for a witness?
It is hard to argue with the Scriptures. The Gospel was taken into all the world for a witness at that time.
Eusebius
Eusebius, described as the Christian
Church's greatest historian, writing in the fourth century, had this to
say:
"Thus, then, under a celestial influence
and cooperation, the doctrine of the Savior, like the rays of the sun,
quickly irradiated the whole world.
Presently, in accordance with divine prophecy, the sound of his
inspired
evangelists and apostles had gone
throughout all the earth, and their words to the end of the world."
Writing of a time prior to A.D. 70,
Eusebius said: 'And it was at this time that "over all the land there
went forth
the voice" of His holy apostles and "their
words over all the earth."'5
Further, speaking of the apostles,
Eusebius said: 'They were driven from the land of Judea and they
traveled to
all the nations, bringing the message of
the Gospel. They did so by the power of Christ, for He had said to
them:
"Go and teach all nations in My name."'6 So the church's greatest historian agrees,
that the gospel had already
been preached into all the world
for a witness, prior to the desolation of the city and the temple in
A.D. 70.
At another place, Eusebius said: "As
for the holy apostles, and disciples of our Savior, they had spread
over all
the inhabited world."7
Again, we quote Eusebius, "But the
members of the church in Jerusalem were instructed by a prophecy,
revealed
to the leaders, to abandon the city before
the war and to take up residence in one of the cities of Perea which
was
named Pella. From Jerusalem the followers
of Christ migrated to Pella, and thus the royal Capital of the Jews and
the whole land of Judea were all abandoned
by holy men. The justice of God could now at last come upon the Jews
for all their crimes against Christ and
his apostles. This race of impious men could at last be blotted from
the world."8
As we saw in Acts 13:46-48, the Jews
rejected the gospel, and following its proclamation, the end did come,
indeed, in the fall of Jerusalem in A.D.
70.
It is also easy to see that the early
church historians did not know about many of the inhabited areas of the
earth.
They spoke of the area that they knew as
the whole inhabited earth.
The Great Commission
Just because the gospel was preached
into all the world (habitable earth) for a witness at that time does
not mean that we should stop evangelizing
the world today. As long as there is a person on the earth who
does not know Jesus Christ as his Lord and
Savior, we must continue to freely share the good news of the
gospel.
Matthew 26:13 says: "Wheresoever this
gospel shall be preached through the whole world (kosmon)..."
This indicates that it would reach beyond
the Roman Empire at some point in time, which we know it has.
The "great commission" in Matthew 28
tells us to make disciples of all nations, teaching them to observe
the commandments of Jesus.
It is sufficient evidence that we
should continue to share the gospel, that God honors our efforts by
bringing
into His kingdom many converts by means of
the Gospel. If there were no such results from our efforts, only
then would we be justified in questioning
its continuance.
But, the prophecy of preaching the
gospel to all the world for a witness was literally fulfilled
before the
destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.
The second destruction was after all
the Bible had been written, therefore it is not recorded there.
But there is a very good record of it in the
writings of Flavius Josephus.
Josephus was a Jew who was carried out of
Jerusalem in a coffin, while it was under siege by Titus'
Roman Army. The Jews considered him a
traitor, however, if he had remained in Jerusalem as the
others did, we would not have his very detailed
and very conscienciously written history of that time period.
Even though the Jews do not recognize Josephus,
their history of that time very closely parallels his on most
events. The history by Josephus is well accepted
and highly acclaimed by the rest of the world.
I will relate to you the significant events
that have to do with our discussion of the Great Tribulation. As you
read through this, notice how it lines up with the
prophecies of Jesus on the Mount of Olives (Luke 21).
Because many people have never heard of the events
which occurred in Jerusalem between A.D. 66
and A.D. 73, it
is essential to include here some history of that period.
The actual destruction of Jerusalem, which
began in the spring of A.D. 70, was the culmination of years
of conflict and provocation between the Jews and
Romans.1
Jerusalem first fell to Roman control in 63
B.C., and remained under Roman domination until four years
before its destruction. The Jews seized control of
the city in A.D. 66. About May of that year, the Jews
attacked the Romans that were at Masada, and slew
them. Then Eleazar, the son of Ananias the High
Priest, persuaded the officiating priests to
receive no gift or sacrifice for any foreigner. This eventually led
to the refusal of Caesar's sacrifice, and
ultimately started the war.2
Eleazar's men killed a group of Roman soldiers
on the Sabbath day. The people of Cesarea killed the Jews
among them on the same day and hour when the
soldiers were slain. In one hour, twenty thousand Jews
lay dead.
At Alexandria, Tiberius Alexander sent two
Roman Legions plus five thousand other soldiers to destroy
the seditious Jews. These soldiers rushed
violently into the Delta, and destroyed unmercifully, catching
Jews in open fields as well as some in their
homes. No mercy was shown, regardless of age. They slaughtered
until the place overflowed with blood, and fifty
thousand lay dead upon heaps.
Cestius Gallus took part of his forces and
marched into Zebulon of Galilee, finding it deserted by its men, the
multitude having fled to the mountains, they
plundered the city.3 Cestius also besieged
Jerusalem in A.D. 66,
and then retreated without apparent cause.4 He was
severely attacked in his retreat and suffered great
casualties.
Was the presence of the Roman army of Cestius
Gallus actually the "abomination of desolation"? The
Roman army was considered an abomination by the
Jews, because of the Roman's ensigns and images
which they worshipped and to which they sacrificed.
Where is the holy place in which the
abomination of desolation was to appear? Was it the temple proper?
This is what many believe, but Ezekiel 43:12
indicates differently. "This is the law of the house; upon the
top of the mountain the whole limit thereof round
about shall be holy. Behold this is the law of the house."
Ezekiel 43:12. [emphasis mine].
So the mere presence of the Roman army in the "holy city" was an abomination, standing where it ought not.
If we read only Matthew and Mark, we have
difficulty fully comprehending the reference to the "abomination
of desolation," but let us now look at Luke's
account of these same prophecies and we will see why the
Christians believed this to be what Jesus had
foretold: "And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with
armies, then know that the desolation thereof is
nigh. Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains;
and let them which are in the midst of it depart
out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto.
For these be the days of vengeance, that all
things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe unto them
that are with child, and to them that give suck,
in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land,
and wrath upon this people." Luke 21:20-23.
Notice again, that this prophecy is not for the
whole world, but for those in Judea only. Actually, the siege
of the city under Cestius Gallus did not
materialize into the destruction of the city. That was to come later,
but it served the Christians well, in that it
afforded them time to escape before the actual desolation came.
This vengeance which Jesus prophesied had to
come upon the Jews in order to fulfill the Scriptures. There
was to be distress in the land, and wrath
upon this people. "This people" refers to the Jews, who both
killed Jesus
and the prophets (1 Thessalonians 2:15), and said, "His blood be on
us, and on our
children."
Matthew 27:25. The desolation was not intended to ensnare the
Christians, for they had the
words of Jesus warning them to flee when certain
events began to occur.
Eusebius, in his history, reports that an
oracle of the Lord directed them to flee from Jerusalem. They fled
across the Jordan river to Pella. It is said by
Eusebius that not one Christian was killed in the destruction
of Jerusalem.5 By
A.D. 69, the
Jerusalem church was gone entirely,6
gathered out of the
tribulation by the
Lord's word.
Although the A.D. 66 attack by Cestius Gallus
was not the destruction of Jerusalem, it did signal the
beginning of what is called the "great
tribulation." There followed, continuous attacks of Jews upon
Romans, and Romans upon Jews.
The people of Damascus slew the Jews that lived
with them. A short time later, Vespasian was sent into
Syria by Nero to make war with the Jews there. He
slew ten thousand Jews and two Jewish generals, John
and Silas.
Vespasian took Gadara, Jotapata, Joppa, and
Taricheae, and helped his son Titus in taking Gamala. Great
was the slaughter of the Jews by Vespasian.
Titus then took Gischala and John of Gischala
fled to Jerusalem. As there was preparation for war with
Rome, there were, inside, various factions
fighting each other.
The Zealots who had sent for the Idumeans, slew
a great many more of the citizens, themselves.7 Vespasian
persuaded the Romans to not proceed in the war at
that time.
At one point, Vespasian made preparation for
the siege of Jerusalem, but because of Nero's suicide, he
changed his mind. All these events, and many more,
too numerous to recount here, occurred prior to the
actual destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. So
the Jews, not only in Jerusalem, but throughout the land,
had suffered great loss of life.
Then in the spring of A.D. 70, Titus, heir to
the throne of Rome, went to take a look at Jerusalem. He was
surrounded there by such a large group of Judean
citizens that he barely escaped with his life.
A short time later, eighty thousand men with
battering rams surrounded Jerusalem. Jesus had said: "And
when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with
armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh."
Luke 21:20.
Right before the Passover festival, large
numbers of men came into Jerusalem to defend it. Jesus had said
"Let not them that are in the countries enter
therein." Luke 21:21c. The walls were more strongly fortified, as
Titus formed his huge army all around Jerusalem.
Then he sent word to the inhabitants to surrender,
demanding submission, taxes and recognition of
Roman rule. Titus desired to spare the destruction of the
temple and the city, but the Jews refused all
negotiations, swearing to defend their city with their lives. As
the Roman army attacked, the first encounter was
successful for the Jews, as they caught the 10th Legion by
surprise on the Mount of Olives.
During the Passover of A.D. 70, Titus came with
his battering rams, but the Jews quickly destroyed them.
The Jews fought the Romans with their own weapons.
They also threw stones upon them and poured boiling
oil on their heads from the walls. But the Romans
repaired the rams and finally forced the Jews back and
took the outer wall. They also seized the nearby
town of Bezetha.
After fighting for seventeen days, the Romans
reached the Antonine Tower and the Jews at last realized that
it would be a fight to the death.
The army of Titus crucified five hundred
prisoners in one day. They also cut off the hands of some of the Jews
and sent them back into the city to instill fear
in the people.
Titus held a council of war, and listened to
suggestions from various parties as to how he should proceed.
He felt the only way to prevent the Jews from
getting new supplies and continuing to resist was to
completely cut them off, so he had his soldiers
build a siege wall, totally encompassing the city. The wall
was four and a half miles around, with thirteen
large forts outside, and the huge Roman army completed
it in just three days.
It is said that the building of the siege wall,
forts, and platform for their rams, necessitated the clearing of
woodlands over sixty square miles, leaving it as a
desert.8
The siege wall was an exact fulfillment of the
prophecy of Jesus, "For the days shall come upon thee, that
thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and
compass thee round, and keep in on every side, and shall
lay thee even with the ground, and thy children
within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon
another: because thou knewest not the time of thy
visitation." Luke 19:43-44, KJV. 9
As we have seen, that enemy, Rome, did throw a
bank up before them. They did encircle the entire city with
a wall, hemming them in on all sides, so that no
one could go in or out of the city. And we will see, as we
continue, that they did level them to the ground,
they and their children within, and did not leave one stone
upon another that was not thrown down (Luke 21:24).
The destruction was so complete, that a man
named Turnus (Terentius) Rufus actually plowed up the land
on which the temple had stood,10 so completely that
it appeared as though it had never been inhabited.
According to the book JERUSALEM, by Kathleen M.
Kenyon,11 page 185, "The final
structures were
regularly planned houses, beneath which was a
well-built drain, a layout that culminated in the period of
Herod Agrippa." "In the destruction of these
buildings, walls were razed, paving stones torn up, and the
drain clogged with material firmly dated to the
last part of the century by the pottery. In the drain were
human skulls and other bones, washed down from the
ruined city higher up the slope." Continuing on page
186, . . . "with the drains and retaining walls
which controlled the forces of nature, was destroyed, the central
valley reverted to its natural function. Torrents
of water from winter rains swept down the valley. The
stratification of Site N showed how these torrents
had churned up the debris resulting from the destruction
by Titus." This may explain the reference in
Daniel 9:26 to a flood related to the second destruction of Jerusalem.
After twenty-one days, the wall surrounding
Antonine Tower fell to the battering rams, but the Jews had
built a second wall behind it.
The famine was so intense in Jerusalem that
money was worthless and could not purchase food. ('He then
said to me, "Son of man, I will cut off the supply
of food in Jerusalem. The people will eat rationed food in
anxiety and drink rationed water in despair, for
food and water will be scarce. They will be appalled at the
sight of each other and will waste away because of
their sin. Ezekiel 4:16-17, NIV.)
The High Priest's wife Martha roamed the
streets looking for a mere morsel of food. A woman, Miriam,
actually killed, roasted and devoured her own
child which was still of nursing age, a gruesome sight.
("Therefore in your midst fathers will eat their
children, and children will eat their fathers." "A third of your
people will die of the plague or perish by famine
inside you; a third will fall by the sword outside your walls;
and a third I will scatter to the winds and pursue
with drawn sword." "I will send famine and wild beasts
against you and they will leave you childless.
Plague and bloodshed will sweep through you and I will bring the
sword against you. I the Lord have spoken."
Ezekiel 5:10,12&17, NIV.) Was not this "great tribulation?"
"For these be the days of vengeance, that all
things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe unto them that
are with child, and to them that give suck, in
those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath
upon this people. And they shall fall by the edge
of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and
Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles,
until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." Luke 21:22-23.
There were many people hiding out in the
Sanctuary, and those who could not stand the thought of living
without their beloved temple threw themselves into
the burning mass. Many others hid in the inner court.
They had been promised by the smooth words of the
false prophets, the priests (Matthew 24:11), that God
would save them by a miracle at the very moment of
destruction. Of course, that did not happen.
The Romans slew about six thousand on the spot.
The temple was totally burned, and only smoldering rubble
remained along with the western wall. Those
priests who did escape to the wall went without food for days,
and finally had to surrender, and Titus ordered
them killed. He said, "Priests must fall with their Temple."
The Roman standard was raised in the ruins, and they sacrificed to their pagan gods in the Holy Place.
Speaking of A.D. 70, Eusebius said: "at last
the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophets was
implanted in the very temple of God...."13
Flavius Josephus in WARS OF THE JEWS,
chapter VII, section 7, states that the Romans themselves never took
the Jews for their enemies until they revolted
from them in A.D. 66. Regarding their state of affairs, he
wrote, "however, the circumstances we are now in,
ought to be an inducement to us to bear such calamity
courageously, since it is by the will of God, and
by necessity that we are to die: for it now appears that God
hath made such a decree against the whole Jewish
nation, that we are to be deprived of this life which
(He knew) we would not make a due use of;"
Even Titus, who conquered the Jews, stated that
God had fought with his army and given the Jews over
to him.15
What did Jesus mean by "this
generation?"
Some say that the word generation should
be rendered race, meaning the Jewish race. Others say that
He meant the generation alive when the signs
begin to occur, not the generation when Jesus spoke these
words.
The word translated generation
is the Greek word "genea," which Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
defines as "a generation" or by implication,
an age. Berry's Interlinear defines it "the people of any given
time," "an age of the world's duration." It is
quite safe to render it generation, meaning the age
contemporary with Jesus and those who lived at that time.
While it is true that the "great
tribulation" was to come only upon the Jews (not the
whole world),
the word, genea, in this instance does not
mean race, as some would claim who do not hold to this view.
If this generation is understood to be
the one to whom Jesus spoke these predictions, it makes absolutely
perfect sense.
This is also fully consistent with all other renderings of the same
Greek phrase used
elsewhere in the Bible. This is a very important
fact if we want the truth concerning this matter.
Examples: This wicked generation,
Matthew 12:45. This generation seeks a sign, Mark 8:12.
"This untoward generation," Acts 2:40. But first must He suffer many things and be
rejected of "this
generation,"
Luke 17:25. Whereunto then shall I liken the men of this
generation? Luke 7:31.
Not one of us would try to say that these
phrases were spoken of any generation other than the one in
which they were uttered. It is obvious, beyond
question, that all refer to the generation of people
contemporary with Jesus. Yet, our Scriptures under examination reflect the exact
same meaning,
and many, who are learned Bible scholars, suppose
it to mean some later generation. Why? Because it
fits the "futurist" doctrine. But it is not
true. There is nothing in the Scriptures preceding His
statements
that would transfer it to some future
generation. He said THIS generation.
In Luke 11:29 Jesus said of that generation:
"This generation is a wicked generation;
it seeks for a
sign, and yet no sign shall be given to it
but the sign of Jonah."
Then in Luke 11, verse 49, Jesus said: "For
this reason also the wisdom of God said, 'I will send to them
prophets and apostles, and some of them
they will kill andsome they will persecute, 50 in order that the
blood of all the prophets, shed since the
foundation of the world, may be charged against this
generation,
51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished
between the alter and
the house of God; yes, I tell you, it
shall be charged against this generation.'" NASB.
Now doesn't it make perfect sense that He would
fulfill His prophecy of destruction of the generation that
was charged with the guilt of destroying the
prophets and apostles and even Jesus Himself?
Jesus said: "Verily, I say unto you, this
generation [genea] shall not pass, till all these things
be fulfilled."
(Luke 21:32 and Matthew 24:34)
If it could be interpreted "this generation
(which is alive when these signs begin to occur) shall not pass
until all be fulfilled," then we must again
conclude that the fulfillments of those prophecies came about
prior to A.D. 70. The record so dictates. All the
signs did come at that time.
Donald G. Miller, in his Commentary on the
Gospel of St. Luke, p. 148, THE LAYMAN'S BIBLE
COMMENTARY, Vol. 18, had this to say about Luke
21:32: "If verse 32 can be referred to the destruction
of Jerusalem, it presents no problem, for that
took place within the lifetime of many to whom Jesus was
speaking. If it does not relate to that, it
presents us with an almost insoluble problem, for Jesus did not
make guesses about the date of the end."
R.V.G. Tasker, in his GOSPEL OF ST. MARK, p.
205, said this of Mark 13:30: "This generation must surely
be the generation of the Lord's ministry, who
would indeed have lived to see the awful days of the siege
of Jerusalem."
Jesus identified the generation that He was to
destroy in His wrath when in Luke 17:25 He said: "But first
He must suffer many things and be rejected by this
generation."
Referring again to Matthew 24:34, notice that
the text says this generation shall not "pass." Some
translations render it shall not "pass away," but
a careful study of the Greek shows that it should be, as
the King James Version has it, simply "pass,"
from the Greek word parelthe.
In Matthew 24:35, Jesus used a different word, pareleuontai,
when He said "Heaven and earth shall pass
away, but my
words shall not pass away. The Greek word for pass away,
in both instances in this verse
is the same. Although it has the same root as parelthe,
it has a slightly different meaning.
So, the Greek text in Matthew 24:34 says:
"Verily I say to you, in no wise will have passed this generation
until all these things shall have taken place,"
[My rendering]. Jesus seems to have used the word generation
more to indicate the passing of the time period of
a generation than the passing of the people of that time
period or generation. For those who had ears to
hear, He told them that the promised wrath of God upon the
Jews, including the destruction of their temple,
would come in that generation. There seems to be no
authority in
the Bible at all to apply this statement to a later time.
Why did God wait so long after the crucifixion
of Jesus before bringing the destruction of those people and
the Temple? In the wilderness, God caused
the children of Israel to wander for forty years, until
that
generation
died off. In this instance, God allowed the Jews forty years
to repent, before He brought
destruction upon them through the instrument of
the Roman Army in A. D. 70. Some believe that was not
the end of that generation, but all Jesus said was
"This generation shall not pass until all be fulfilled, so it could
have gone beyond A.D. 70. Actually, I
believe that it did go several years beyond that time to encompass
additional events which wrapped up the predictions
of Jesus.
There are various indicators in the Bible as to
how long a generation is. The first people on the earth
before the flood lived hundreds of years, to
almost 1000. Then, after the flood, man's years were shortened,
so the length of the generations probably changed.
The length of the life-span of a man is not what is totally in
place here. Many of the people who were
listening to him had already lived a great part of their lives.
But it
would happen before they all died off.
The A.D. 70 desolation of Jerusalem and
the temple is the only"great tribulation" prophesied in the Bible,
so if there is to be another, you have to get it
from some other than Biblical source.
I challenge you to prove me
wrong on this.
The fact is, there can be only one
fulfillment of the "great tribulation" which Jesus
predicted. The Bible
contains two Scriptures which absolutely preclude
a dual fulfillment.
Matthew 24:21 speaks of this "great
tribulation," using the Greek word "thlipsis," and Mark
13:19 calls it
"Affliction,"
from the exact same Greek word. Both instances state that it will be unparalleled
in the past or
future. This
means that it can only happen one time. These Scriptures make this very
clear:
"For this shall be great tribulation [thlipsis]
such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, nor
ever shall be." Matthew 24:21. "for in those days
shall be affliction [thlipsis] such as was not from the beginning
of the creation which God created unto this time,
neither shall be." Mark 13:19.
"Such as was not since the beginning" indicates that it had never happened to that degree
before, and "nor ever
shall be"
states that this "great tribulation" foretold by Jesus will
never happen again.
You cannot expect a repeat of something that Jesus
said could only happen once. And this is the only "great
tribulation" that He foretold, "days of vengeance" upon the
Jews, in fulfillment of Prophecy.
Similar language was used concerning the wisdom
of Solomon, in 1 Kings 2:12. God said, "I will give you a wise
and discerning heart, so that there will never
have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be." We know
that Solomon is accepted as the wisest man that
ever lived.
Recall that, earlier, we wrote of the
destruction of Jerusalem and the temple by Nebuchadnezzar beginning in
605 B.C. when he took the city, and ending when he
destroyed the temple in 587 B.C. Although this was a similar
destruction to the one in A.D. 70, it was not as
severe in terms of the horrors of it and it occurred long before
Jesus made His pronouncements concerning the "great
tribulation."
Later in this writing, we will speak of a
destruction of the city of Jerusalem, but not the temple which occurred
in A.D. 135. Again it was not as severe, and since
there was no temple to be destroyed, it could not qualify as
the "great tribulation."
Warburton is
quoted as having said: "One of the most awful eras in God's economy of
grace, and the most
awful revolution in all God's religious
dispensations." Orelli said: "A greater catastrophe than the mortal
combat
of the Jewish people with the Roman world-power,
and the destruction of the holy city, is unknown to the
history of the world."
Farrar called it "the most awful in history.16
Adam Clarke wrote: "No history can furnish us with a parallel to the calamities and miseries of the Jews.17
Eusebius
wrote: "Such was the punishment of the Jews for their iniquity against
the Christ of God, and for
their impiety. But one should add to this the
prophecy of our Savior, a prophecy in which there was no lie, and
by which He foretold these very things: Woe to
those who are with child and give suck in those days. Pray that
your flight be not in winter nor on a Sabbath day.
[The Sabbath means almost nothing to most Christians
today]. For there shall then be a great affliction
such as never happened from the beginning of the world until
now, nor ever shall happen."18 "These things
happened in the second year of Vespasian [A.D. 68-79] and in
accordance with the prophetic utterances of our
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Who by divine power foresaw
the events as though they were already happening.
He shed tears at them and lamented, for so it is set down
in the writings of the holy evangelists who also
gave His words.19
Josephus,
speaking of the A.D. 70 destruction of Jerusalem said this: "I cannot
refrain from saying what my
emotion bids me. It seems to me that if the Romans
had proven powerless against the sinner, the city
[Jerusalem] would have been engulfed by an
earthquake or flood, or it would have shared the thunderbolts
of Sodom, for it had brought forth a generation
more ungodly than these. Because of the folly of these men,
the entire nation perished."20
In Acts 2:40, Peter called it a perverse [untoward] generation.
In the preface of "The Wars of the Jews" or
"the History of the Destruction of Jerusalem," COMPLETE
WORKS OF JOSEPHUS, p.427, Josephus wrote: "Whereas
the war which the Jews made with the Romans
hath been the greatest of all, not only that have
been in our times, but, in a manner, of those that ever were
heard of; both of those wherein cities have fought
against cities or nations against nations...."
Josephus described it in a similar way to that
of Jesus, when He said: "such as was not from the beginning of
the creation which God created unto this time,
neither shall be." Mark 13:19.
This destruction was so complete that every
synagogue and every tombstone with a Jewish inscription was
destroyed, leaving no sign that a single Jew had
ever lived in Palestine.
"And except those days should be shortened,
there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those
days shall be shortened." Matthew 24:22, Mark
13:20.
Jesus prophesied of the destruction of
Jerusalem, in that generation, Matthew 23:36 and that the
temple
would not be left one stone upon another that
would not be thrown down, and that God's people were to flee
when they saw the city surrounded with armies, and
that if the days were not shortened, no flesh would be
saved, but for the elect's sake, those days were
shortened.
Luke continued, "And they shall fall by the
edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations:
[notice, they, not you] and Jerusalem shall be
trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles
be fulfilled." Luke 21:24.
Let me pose a question. What race of people
on this earth has been led away captive and scattered into all
nations? Only
the Jews have been so completely dispersed, yet retained their
identity. This was not true of
the house of Israel (ten northern tribes dispersed
about 721, B.C. who melted into other civilizations).
The first part of Luke 21:24 was exactly
fulfilled between A.D. 66 and A.D. 73, as attested to by Josephus.
The Romans completely destroyed Jerusalem and the
temple and an estimated 1,100,000 Jews died by the
edge of the sword, or by starvation, and many were
led away captive into all nations. Of the latter group,
some of the recorded figures are: 2,130 at Joppa,
1200 at Jotapata, 6000 young men at Tarichea who were
sent to Nero, over 30,000 others sold or given to
Agrippa. Of the Gadarenes, 2200, Idumea, 1000, and
Josephus says the total was about 97,000 who were
taken captive.
Why Such Desolation?
We can readily see that the prophesied
desolation of Jerusalem, which Jesus called "great tribulation,"
was completely fulfilled in explicit
detail through the events which occurred in the forty years following
His
ministry. But why would God bring such desolation
upon a nation which He had chosen to be His own?
Luke 19:44 tells us why this desolation occurred: "because you did not recognize the time of your visitation." NASB.
Just what does that mean? The Lord, God, in
order to redeem fallen man, sent His only begotten son to bring
the way of salvation. After the prophets had
prophesied of Jesus, the Jews, instead of receiving Him, crucified
Him. He was too much of a threat to them.
Jesus spoke before the multitudes and His disciples, saying: "woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!"
Then, as recorded in Matthew 23, to the Jews,
He said: "Therefore, behold I am sending you prophets and
wise men and scribes; some of them you will
kill, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues,
and
persecute from city to city that upon you may fall the guilt of all the
righteous blood shed on earth, from the
blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah,
the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the
temple and the altar. Truly I say to you, all
these things shall come upon this generation.
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the
prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I
wanted to gather your children together,
the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you
were unwilling. Behold your house is being
left to you desolate!" Matthew 23:34-38, NASB.1
R. V. G. Tasker, in THE TYNDALE NEW
TESTAMENT COMMENTARIES, 1st Ed., 1961, Matthew,
pp. 218-219, makes this statement about the
desolation of Jerusalem: "This terrible prophecy of Jesus
[Matthew 23:37-39] was uttered in no spirit of
vindictiveness, but, as the most moving lament over
Jerusalem bears eloquent testimony, was truth
spoken in love . . . and He recalled the numerous occasions
when He would have sheltered them, if only they
had been willing, from the wrath that was coming upon
them in the onslaught of the Roman legions . . ."
On page 222 we read: "The blood of innocent men that is
to be unjustly shed by the death of the Messiah
and His servants will make it possible for the destruction of
Jerusalem in A.D. 70 to be in effect a judgment
upon the murderers of all God's servants whose deaths are
recorded in the canonical Scriptures."
The exceeding wickedness of the Jews is
shown through the historical and Biblical records of the lives and
deaths of the followers of Jesus. Among those who
were brutally murdered were Stephen, James, Andrew,
Peter, Paul, Simon the Canaanite, James son of
Zebedee, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James son of
Alphaeus, Jude Thaddeus, John Mark, Barnabus,
Matthias, Luke and Jesus.
The Bible records the stoning of Stephen Acts Chapters 6 & 7.
Acts 6:8, "And Stephen, full of grace and
power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people.
9. But some men from what was called the Synagogue
of the Freedmen, including both Cyrenians and
Alexandrians, and some from Cilicia and Asia, rose
up and argued with Stephen.
10. And yet they were unable to cope with the
wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. 11. Then
they secretly induced men to say, "We have heard him speak blasphemous words
against Moses and God."
12. And they stirred up the people, the elders
and the scribes, and they came upon him and dragged him
away, and
brought him before the Council.
13. And they put forward FALSE witnesses
who said, "This man incessantly speaks against this holy place,
and the Law;
14. for we have heard him say that this Nazarene,
Jesus, will destroy this place and alter the customs which
Moses handed down to us."
Acts 7:58. And when they had driven him out of
the city, they began stoning him, and the witnesses laid
aside their robes at the feet of a young man named
Saul.
59. And they went on stoning Stephen as he
called upon the Lord and said, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!"
60. And falling on his knees, he cried out with a
loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them!" And
having said this, he fell asleep.
History
tells us that James, the just, was thrown down from the pinnacle of the
temple, and it did not kill
him, so they finished him off with a fuller's club.17
In Luke 21:12, Jesus warned His disciples that
the Jews would persecute and scourge them in
their
synagogues. You can also see this in Matthew 24:9.
The Jews persecuted many followers of Jesus,
including Peter and Paul, from city to city (1 Thessalonians
2:15).3
All this, Jesus
said, would occur that the guilt of all the blood of the righteous from
Abel to that day
would fall upon those Jews, and it would all come
upon that generation. And indeed, it did.
That generation of Jews, Josephus said, was the "most ungodly generation to live on the earth."
Paul said, "For you, brethren, became imitators
of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea,
for you also endured the same sufferingsat
the hands of your own countrymen, even as they did from
the Jews, who both killed the Lord and the
prophets, and drove us out. They
are not pleasing to
God, but hostile to all men, hindering us
from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved; with the
result that they always fill up the measure of
their sins. But wrath has come upon them to the uttermost."
1 Thessalonians 2:14-16, NASB.
It is also interesting that Paul credited the Jews
with the death of Jesus, when most people today are
persuaded that the Romans were responsible
for killing Him. Perhaps the Roman soldiers nailed Him to
the cross, but it was at the insistence of the
Jews who shouted "crucify Him!"
The prophecy of Jesus that the Jews
would kill the prophets, scourge some of them in their synagogues
and persecute some of them from city to city was
fulfilled over and over in the book of Acts. Let's look at
some of those scriptures:
Acts 9:29, "And he was talking and arguing with
the Hellenistic Jews; but they were attempting to put
him to death."
Acts 10:39, "And we are witnesses of all the
things He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jersalem,
And they also put Him to death by hanging
Him on a cross."
Acts 14:2, "But the Jews who
disbelieved stirred up the minds of the Gentiles, and embittered
them
against the brethren." 19. But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium,
and having won over the multitudes,
they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the
city, supposing him to be dead."
Acts 17:1, "Now when they had traveled through
Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica,
where there was a synagogue of the Jews.
2. And according to Paul's custom, he went to them, and for
three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the
Scriptures."
5. But the Jews, becoming jealous
and taking along some wicked men from the market place, formed
a
mob and set the city in an uproar; and coming upon the house of Jason, they were seeking
to bring them
out to the people.
13. But when the Jews of Thessalonica
found out that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul in
Berea also, they came there likewise, agitating
and stirring up the crowds.
Acts 20:3, "And there he spent three months,
and when a plot was formed against him by the Jews as
he was about to set sail for Syria, he determined
to return through Macedonia."
19. "serving the Lord with all humility and with
tears and with trials which came upon me through the
plots of the Jews.
Acts 21:27, "And when the seven days were
almost over, the Jews from Asia, upon seeing him in the
temple, began to stir up all the multitude and
laid hands on him, 28. crying out, "Men of Israel, come to
our aid! This is the man who preaches to all men
everywhere against our people, and the Law , and this
place; and besides he has even brought Greeks into
the temple and has defiled this holy place."
Acts 23:12, "And when it was day, the Jewsformed
a conspiracy and bound themselves under an oath,
saying that they would neither eat nor drink until
they had killed Paul."
Acts 24:9, "And the Jews also joined in the attack asserting that these things were so."
Acts 25:2,"And the chief priests and the
leading men of the Jewsbrought charges against Paul; and
they
were urging him, 3. requesting a concession
against Paul. . ."15. "and when I was at Jerusalem, the chief
priests and the elders of the Jewsbrought
charges agains him, asking for a sentence of condemnationupon
him." 24. "And Festus said, "King Agrippa, and all
you gentlemen here present with us, you behold this
man about whom all the people of the Jews
appealed to me, both a Jerusalem and here, loudly declaring
that he ought not to live any longer."
Acts 26:2, "In regard to all the things of
which I am accused by the Jews. . ."21. "For this
reason some
Jews seized
me in the temple and tried to put me to death."
Is it any wonder that God destroyed those wretches?
No Great Surprise
It should come as no great surprise that God
spent His wrath on the Jews of that time. He had foretold it
through His prophets, and Jesus had made it
perfectly clear as well.
The prophet Jeremiah wrote numerous times of
the coming of the first desolation of Jerusalem: "For thus
hath the Lord said, The whole land shall be
desolate; yet I will not make a full end.. For this shall the earth
mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I
have spoken it, I have purposed, and will not repent
neither will I turn back from it." Jeremiah
4:27-28.
Although this prophecy concerned the first
destruction of the temple and the city, the fact of its fulfillment
indicates that God would do that which He
foretold. Therefore, we should not be surprised that He did it
again. God caused the temple and city to be
destroyed twice because of the wickedness of the people. The
second destruction was prophesied in Daniel 9:26.
Many people have overlooked this prophecy.
Warning
Jesus gave the Jews plenty of
warning about the impending doom of Jerusalem and the temple. It
was
the subject of several
of His parables.
Luke 19:12-28, He said therefore, "A certain
nobleman went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for
himself, and then return. 13. "And he
called ten of his slaves, and gave them ten minas, and said to them,
'Do business with this until I come back.'
14. "But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him,
saying, 'We do not want this man to reign
over us.' 15. "And it came about that when he returned,
after receiving the kingdom, he ordered that these
slaves, to whom he had given the money, be called to
him in order that he might know what business they
had done. 16. "And the first appeared, saying,
"Master, your mina has made ten minas more.' 17.
"And he said to him, 'Well done, good slave, because you
have been faithful in a very little thing, be in
authority over ten cities.' 18. "And the second came, saying,
'Your mina, master, has made five minas.' 19. "And
he said to him also, 'And you are to be over five cities.'
20. "And another fame, saying, 'Master, behold
your mina, which I kept put away in a handkerchief; 12 for
I was afraid of you, because you are an exacting
man; you take up what you did not lay down, and reap
what you did not sow.' 22. He said to him, 'By
your own words I will judge you, you worthless slave. Did
you know that I am an exacting man, taking up what
I did not lay down, and reaping what I did not sow?
23. 'Then why did you not put the money in the
bank, and having come, I would have collected it with
interest?' 24. "And he said to the bystanders,
'Take the mina away from him, and give it to the one who
has the ten minas." 25. "And they said to him,
'Master, he has ten minas already." 26. "I tell you, that
to everyone who has shall more be given, but from
the one who does not have, even what he does have
shall be taken away. 27. "But these enemies
of mine, who did not want me to reign over them,
bring them here, and slay them in my
presence."
Matthew 21:33-45 "Listen to another
parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard.and put
a wall around it and dug a wine press in it, and
built a tower, and rented it out to vine-growers, and went
on a journey. 34. "And when the harvest time
approached, he sent his slaves to the vine-growers to receive
his produce. 35. "And the vine-growers took his
slaves and beat one, and killed another, and stoned a third.
36. "Again he sent another group of slaves larger
than the first; and they did the same thing to them. 37.
"But afterward he sent his son to
them, saying, 'They will respect my son.' 38. "But when the
vine-growers
saw the son, they said among themselves, 'This is
the heir; come, let us kill him, and seize his inheritance.'
39. "And they took him, and cast him out of the
vineyard, and killed him. 40. "Therefore when
the owner
of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those
vine-growers?" 41. They said to Him, "He will bring those
wretches to a wretched end, and will rent out the vineyard to other vine-growers,
who will pay him the
proceeds at the proper seasons." (Luke
20:16, "He will come and destroy these vine-growers. .
.")
42. Jesus said to them, "Did you never read in the
Scriptures,
'THE STONE WHICH THE
BUILDERS REJECTED,
THIS BECAME THE CHIEF
CORNERSTONE;
THIS CAME ABOUT FROM
THE LORD,
AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN
OUR EYES'?
43. "Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of
God will be taken away from you, and be given to a nation
producing the fruit of it. 44. "And he who falls on this stone whill be broken to
pieces; but on whomever it
falls, it will scatter him like dust." 45. And
when the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables,
they understood that He was speaking about
them. 46. And when they sought to
seize Him, they
became afraid of the mulitudes, because they held
Him to be a prophet.
Matthew 22:1-7 "And Jesus answered and spoke to
them again in parables, saying, 2. "The kingdom of
heaven may be
compared to a king, who gave a wedding feast for his son.
3. "And he sent out his slaves
to call those who had been invited to the wedding
feast, and they were unwilling to come. 4. "Again he
sent out other slaves saying, 'Tell those who have
been invited, "Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my
oxen and my fattened livestock are all
butchered and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast."'
5. "But they paid no attention and went their
way, one to his own farm, another to his business, 6. and the
rest seized his servants [the prophets] and
mistreated them and killed them. 7. "But the king was
enraged and sent his armies, and
destroyed those murderers, and set their city on fire."
Luke 19:41-44, And when He approached, He saw
the city and wept over it., 42. saying, "If you had known
in this day, even you, the things which make for
peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes.
43. "For the days shall come upon you when your
enemies will throw up a bankbefore you, and surround
you, and hem you in on every side. 44."and will level you to the ground and
your children within you, and
they will not leave in you one stone upon
another, because you did not
recognize the time of your visitation."
Clay in the Potter's Hand
In Jeremiah, chapter 18, there is a principle
which God gave through the prophet, which enlightens us as to
how God deals with mankind. "O house of Israel,
cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD.
Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so
are ye in mine hand, o house of Israel. At what instant I shall
speak concerning a nation, and concerning a
kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; If that
nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from
their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do
unto them. And at what instant I shall speak
concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to
plant it; If it do evil in my sight, that it obey
not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I
would benefit them. Now therefore go to, speak to
the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
saying thus saith the LORD; Behold, I frame evil
against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now
every one from his evil way, and make your ways
and your doings good. And they said, There is no hope: but
we will walk after our own devices, and we will
every one do the imagination of his evil heart." Jeremiah 18:6-12.
God made it very clear, through Jeremiah,
exactly what Israel could expect from Him. In Jeremiah 18:17,
God said that He would scatter Israel before their
enemy. "Because my people hath forgotten me..."
Jeremiah 18:15.
So if Israel had followed God, He would have
preserved and blessed them, but because they chose their own
way, He destroyed and scattered them.
This, of course, again spoke of the first
destruction of Jerusalem, but it shows the principle by which God dealt
with the Jews in the latter desolation as well.
In the forty years from the death of Jesus to
the desolation of Jerusalem and the temple, God gave the Jews
ample opportunity to receive the gospel, repent
and accept Jesus, the Messiah, but they refused (except for
a few who believed and repented). So God was not
free to change His mind concerning the calamity that He
had pronounced upon them through Jesus and the
prophets.
Because of the principle in Jeremiah chapter
18, in which God responds according to man's obedience to
Him, many of the prophecies made in the Old
Testament, concerning God's promises to natural Israel, have
not, and will never come to pass. They were
conditional upon Israel's obedience. God has shown us through
their example that He will bring calamity upon
disobedient people when they continually refuse to be
corrected and to repent and turn from their evil
ways. He will also bring blessing upon those who walk
according to His statutes.
As we have gone, verse by verse, through the Olivet discourse, we can now see the fulfillments more clearly.
The exactness of these predictions of our Lord
Jesus confirm again in our hearts that He was indeed the
Christ, the Son of God. Every word which He spoke
has been, or shall be, literally fulfilled. Jesus said:
"Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words
will not pass away." Mark 13:31.
Since the time when Jesus spoke the prophesies
recorded in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21, the only
period of tribulation in recorded history, which
dealt with the Jews, that could possibly be the fulfillment
of Luke 21:20-24, was that destruction of
Jerusalem in A. D. 70. No other such period has included all the
specific predictions of time-table, location,
severity, exact sequence, etc., as did that desolation.
After the A. D. 70 destruction, the city of
Jerusalem was not under Jewish control again until A. D. 132.
This was only for a brief period of about three
years, during the reign of Roman emperor Hadrian.
At that time, there was a man named Simon,
called Bar-Cocheba (Bar-Kochba), whom the Jews proclaimed
and supported as their long-awaited "Messiah."
Simon led the insurrection, achieving
independence for Jerusalem, which apparently lasted until A. D.
135 (history is not complete concerning this).
The finds near the Dead Sea in 1951-52 included
two letters from a "Simon ben Koseba" who could have
been one and the same as "Simon Bar Cocheba" (a
name given him by a Scribe, based on Numbers 14:17,
believing that he was the Messiah). Bar Cocheba
means: "son of the star."
Simon ruled at Jerusalem for three years, as
indicated by the so called "insurrection coins" minted with
Hebrew inscriptions. These numbered "year 1" and
"year 2," and dated from the "liberation" of Israel.
This numbering shows that the Jews thought it the
beginning of a new era under their "Messiah." The
coins proclaimed him "Simon, the Prince of Israel."
This movement was finally crushed by Roman
general Julius Severus, governor of Britannia, and Simon
Bar-Cocheba was killed about A. D. 135. The
spelling of his name was then perverted by the Rabbis to
"Simon Bar-Kosiba" (son of lies).
After this time, the area known as Judea, now
called "Palestine," (land of Philistines) became a Roman
Province. Jews were forbidden to enter on
pain of death. Its population was by then heathen.4
Since the A. D. 70 destruction, the temple in
Jerusalem has never been rebuilt. It, therefore, could not
be destroyed again. For this reason, the
destruction of A. D. 132-135 must be totally ruled out as a
possible fulfillment of the "great
tribulation" prophesied by Jesus. The temple destruction was to
be a major part of that fulfillment.
From the crucifixion of Christ, to this day,
the Jews have been visited by calamity and persecution.
They had invoked upon their race the most
far-reaching indictment that man could ever conceive.
They said of the Christ, "Let His blood be upon
our heads and upon our children." Matthew 27:25.
There is only one hope for the Jew, and that is
the same hope that exists for any man; to call upon the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ, accepting His
forgiveness and salvation, and being taken from under
this self-appointed curse.
Sufficient Evidence
If we stopped at this point, we would have
given sufficient evidence to establish that the "great
tribulation" of Matthew 24 is past history; that the events of A. D.
70 did, indeed, fulfill all that
Jesus prophesied concerning the "great
tribulation."
At this point, we press into some other areas
of events which were to happen after the tribulation
of those days. They do not make or break our case
for the already past fulfillment of the "great
tribulation," but
do, by the very fact of their occurrence, support our belief that the
"great
tribulation" is
past.
These chapters will help us to better
understand Bible prophecy. The possibility of more than one
fulfillment of some of them is not precluded by
Scripture, however, only one fulfillment is necessary to
establish the authenticity of a prophecy.
Now let us talk about what happens after
the tribulation.
There seems to be a period of time, during and
possibly after the "great tribulation," which transpires between
verses 24 and 25 of Luke 21. This we will talk
about in the Chapter on "The Times of the Gentiles."
For the time immediately after the "great tribulation," Jesus gave the following warning:
"Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here
is Christ, or there: believe it not. For there shall arise false
Christs, and false prophets and shall show great
signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they
shall deceive the very elect. Behold I have told
you [disciples] before. Wherefore if they say unto you, Behold,
He is in the desert; go not forth: Behold, He is
in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning
cometh out of the east; and shineth even unto the
west; so shall the coming [presence] of the Son of man be.
For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the
eagles be gathered together." Matthew 24:23-28, Mark 13:21-23.1
It is important to understand that these false
Christs and false prophets arise after that "great
tribulation." What
implication does this have for those who hold the pre-tribulational
rapture theory?
If the elect are raptured to heaven as they
believe, how can they be on earth to be deceived?
In the Olivet discourse, Jesus
specifically warned His disciples to not believe these false Christs
and false
prophets. He was speaking of events
that would occur in the years following A. D. 70.
History records numerous examples of false gods and false Christs. Justin, the martyr, wrote:
'One Samaritan, Simon, from a village called
Gitthon, performed wonders of magic by the art of the demons
who possessed him. He did this in your imperial
city of Rome during the reign of Claudius Caesar. He was looked
upon as a god, and like a god was honored among
you by a statue placed on the Tiber River between the two
bridges and bearing this Latin inscription: simoni
deo sancto, which means, "to Simon the holy god."'17
According to Eusebius, Hegesippus, in a letter,
wrote: "The church was still called a virgin, for it had not yet
been corrupted by false tidings. But Thebouthis,
because he had failed to become a bishop, was first to begin
its corruption among the people by means of the
seven heresies, to which he belonged. From these sects
came Simon, whence arose the Simonians; Cleobius,
from which came the Cleobians; Dositheus, whose
followers were Dosithians; and Gorthaeus, founder
of the Gorthenians and Masbothians. From these came
the Menandrians, the Marcianists, the
Carpocratians, the Valentinians, the Basilidians, and the Saturnilians.
In their own way by different means, each
proclaimed its own doctrine. From them came false Christs, false
prophets, false apostles who, against God and His
Christ, split the unity of the church with their words of
destruction. . ."18
This type of deception continues to this day.
Elect Deceived
When Jesus warned His disciples about false
Christs and false prophets to come after the tribulation,
He said they would deceive, if possible, the very
elect. He was not speaking of the unbelieving Jews as elect,
because they were to be destroyed in His
vengeance. It would indeed be shocking if Jesus brought
vengeance upon the very elect of God!
The natural Jews were broken off (Romans
11:17-24) because of their unbelief, and a new covenant
brought a new "elect," the church.
This new covenant was established by grace through faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ, whom most Jews rejected. Those
who did receive Him and were the first Christians,
and numerous ones thereafter, were numbered among
the "elect," because they were grafted in again and
became a part of His church, in which there is no
distinction between Jew and Greek, bond and free, male
and female. All are one in Christ Jesus
(Colossians 3:11-12).
Those under the new covenant of salvation by
grace through faith make up the "elect" spoken of by Jesus,
and they are those whom He warned of the
desolation to come. Jesus said to the unbelieving Jews: "you are
not my sheep."
John 10:26. He called them "this evil generation," Matthew
12:45, and told them:
"The kingdom shall be taken away from you and
given to a nation producing the fruit of it:" Matthew 21:43.
The clear meaning of Matthew 24:28 is not
obvious: "For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles
be gathered together." Perhaps it refers to the
prophecy of Jeremiah: "And the carcases of this people shall
be meat for the fowls of heaven, and for the
beasts of the earth; and none shall fray them away."
Jeremiah 7:33-34. The words "fowls of heaven"
could refer to eagles or vultures.
The Roman eagles, which were the standards of
the Roman army could be referred to here as they were
gathered where the dead bodies of the Jews were.
"For as lightning, that lighteneth out of the
one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under
heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his
day. But first must he suffer many things and be rejected of
this generation."
Luke 17:24-25.
Signs After the Tribulation
What signs did Jesus foretell after the
"great tribulation?" Matthew 24:29 begins: "Immediately after
the tribulation of those days..." Mark says: "but
in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be
darkened and the moon shall not give her light,
and the stars of the heaven shall fall, and the powers that
are in heaven shall be shaken." Mark 13:24. Luke
also spoke of signs in the sun, moon and stars in Luke 21:15.
The word "immediately," used in Matthew 24:29,
has caused a lot of difficulty for those who believe that
the great tribulation was fulfilled in A. D. 70.
It is probably the main reason that many people believed that
the great tribulation will be repeated. But we
know that Scripture precludes that, so we must deal with the
word "immediately." There is, what I believe to
be, a plausible explanation for these signs in the sky which
Jesus prophesied. Bear in mind that everything
after Luke 21:24 occurs "after the great tribulation."
Fulfillments of Prophecy
First, let us talk about prophecy. Fulfillments
of prophecy were not always easy to recognize. When Jesus
said that John the baptist was the fulfillment of
the prophecy that Elijah would come, it was not at all clear
to His disciples. John (the baptist), himself, had
stated that he was not Elijah, yet Jesus said that he fulfilled
the prophecy that Elijah would come before the
great and dreadful day of the Lord. (Malachi 4:5). The
explanation, which makes this fulfillment about
Elijah come clear, is found in Luke 1:13-17. It tells of an
angelic visitation to Zacharias, father of John
(the baptist). As recorded in verse 17, the angel said: "And
he shall go before Him in the spirit and power of
Elias [Greek equivalent of Elijah], to turn the hearts of the
fathers to the children...." This even quotes some
of the words of Malachi 4:6.
We can see that there is sufficient Scripture to establish that John did fulfill the prophecy of Elijah.
In some instance, it took very little to
fulfill a prophecy. In Luke 22:36, Jesus said, ". . . and he that hath
no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one."
That was to fulfill the Scripture that Jesus would be
reckoned among criminals. It sounded as if every
one of them would have to buy a sword, but in verse 38,
they said, ". . . Lord, behold, here are two
swords." And He said unto them, "It is enough." Not much was
required to adequately fulfill the prophecy.
Perhaps we are looking for too spectacular a display in the heavens to fulfill the prophecy of Matthew 24:29.
The Jews did not recognize Jesus as their long
awaited Messiah, in spite of the vast number of old testament
prophecies which were fulfilled by His life. Could
we be lacking in our understanding of Bible prophecy as well?
Stars Falling
The closest star to the earth, excluding our
own sun, is 4.3 light-years from the earth. It is called Proxima
Centauri, and it takes its light 4.3 years to
reach us. If it were possible for this star to travel at the speed of
light, 186,282 miles per second, it would take it
4.3 years to reach earth. Such a speed is unheard of. If
Proxima Centauri ceased to emit its light, it
would be 4.3 years before we would know it. That's the closest
one. The average distance between stars in the
Milky Way is four to five light-years.
The farthest star is said to be billions of light-years away. Its light takes billions of years to reach the earth.
What would happen if a star really fell to
earth? The smallest star is 5,200 miles in diameter, compared to
the earth's diameter of 7,930 miles at the
equator. If such a star fell upon the earth, it would take only one
to destroy the entire earth. The earth's
atmosphere would not be sufficient to cause it to burn up, because of
its enormous size. Further, if such a phenomenon
began to occur, there would be an indication of its
movement long before its actual arrival, because
its light would travel faster than the star itself. As it
approached earth, it would be like another sun.
Since stars are nuclear fusion and radiate
tremendous heat (millions of degrees) and ultra violet and X-rays,
it would never reach the earth before all forms of
life on this planet ceased to exist.
Stars, even when they die, do not fall from the
sky. Aside from "proper motion," which is almost
undetectable, they are stationary.
What we usually refer to as falling stars are
actually meteors. When they fall into the earth's atmosphere,
at about sixty-five miles up, the friction of the
air causes them to heat up to about 4000 degrees and
glow brightly, giving the appearance of a shooting
or falling star. They must be in the earth's atmosphere
to be visible. There have been meteor showers upon
the earth from the earliest times. They occur so
frequently that, to be a real indicator of
prophetic fulfillment, it would necessitate a rather spectacular
display to distinguish it from so many previous
occurrences.
The most significant meteor shower on record
was on November 13, 1833. This vast group of meteors is
called the Leonid meteor shower, and the earth
comes in contact with it each November. The November
13, l833 encounter was with the most dense portion
of this group. Many who saw this meteor shower were
convinced that it was the time of the second
coming of Jesus. They were, unfortunately, misinformed.
Could it be that we have misunderstood what "stars falling" from the sky really indicates?
If we can call meteors "falling stars," then it
is also possible that brightly glowing cinders from a volcano
could represent stars as they fall from being
spewed high into the sky. To someone totally unaccustomed to
such a phenomenon, it would seem as if stars were
falling. In this age, with knowledge increased, we would
not think so, but in those days, it could have
been.
Luke wrote: ". . . and Jerusalem shall be
trodden down of the nations [gentiles] until the seasons of the nations
(and they shall be) are fulfilled. And signs shall
be in sun and moon and stars; and upon the earth distress of
nations, in perplexity for the roaring of sea and
billow; men fainting for fear, and expectation of the things
coming on the inhabited earth [Roman Empire]. Luke
21:24-26, NENT.
What could cause the seas to act in such a
violent manner, and sufficiently fulfill this prophecy? Did such an
event occur after A. D. 70?
Volcanic tremors in the ocean stir up waves,
today called "tsunamis." They often reach tidal wave proportion.
So a volcanic eruption of sufficient proportion
could actually fulfill all five signs.
A volcanic eruption could also fulfill the
Scripture in Acts which says: "and I will grant wonders in the sky
above and signs on the earth beneath, blood and
fire, and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into
darkness and the moon into blood, before the great
and glorious day of the Lord shall come." Acts 2:19-20,
NASB. Notice that this is before the great and
glorious day, not before the great and terrible day
of the
Lord. I believe the great and terrible day of the
Lord was the destruction of Jerusalem in A. D. 70.
The obstruction of the atmosphere caused by
smoke and ashes from a volcano can filter the light from the sun
so that when the light reaches the moon, it
appears very red. This was seen in recent years in the eruption of
Mt. St. Helens in Washington state.
An erupting volcano may also cause earthquakes.
But was there such a volcanic eruption in that region at
that time?
Let me tell you of a possible fulfillment of
all these signs which occurred in A. D. 79, in the proper location,
right from the pages of history, immediately after
that tribulation of those days, and you decide if it could be
the actual fulfillment of the prophecies of Jesus.
Mt. Vesuvius
On August 24, A. D. 79, Mt. Vesuvius in Italy
erupted, after centuries of being dormant. It had caused
earthquakes almost continuously since A. D. 63,
seven years prior to the desolation of Jerusalem [see
Matthew 24:7-8].
It was not too distant from Rome, where many of
the survivors of the destruction of Jerusalem had been
taken.
There is an account in secular history, by
Pliny, the younger, available in most libraries, which describes
this eruption in detail. It appears to be exactly
what Jesus foretold. The timing of its eruption is not
coincidental.
The sun and moon were obliterated from sight,
and it was the blackest of days and nights. Jesus said there
would be signs in the heavens [sky] and distress
upon the earth, but He did not say that the earth would be
destroyed at that time. These signs occurred after
the tribulation of A. D. 70.
According to Pliny's account, men's hearts
failed for fear and the waves (tsunamis) of the sea were great and
very destructive. He described the beginning of
the eruption as looking like a tall pine tree. The cloud was
filled with cinders which made it spotted with
what would appear to be stars, falling in all directions. Compare
that to this Scripture: "And the stars of heaven
[the sky] fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her
untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty
wind." Revelation 6:13.
The sea seemed to roll back upon itself, the shore was enlarged and several dead sea-animals were left on it.
The greater part of the people imagined that
the last and eternal night was come, which was to destroy the
[pagan] gods and the world together. Pliny stated
in a letter: "I imagined that I was perishing with the world
itself."
In a more recent eruption of Vesuvius, in 472,
ashes and smoke were carried by winds as far as Constantinople
(Istanbul), fifteen hundred miles distant. In 1631
there was another eruption in which streams of lava and
boiling water fell on the villages beneath it,
killing 18,000 people. It is reasonable to assume that the A.D. 79
eruption was at least as widespread as the 472 and
1631 eruptions, after such a long dormant period (400
years). The pressure that was necessary to blow
the top off the mountain would have had tremendous force.5
I would not be so dogmatic as to say that the
eruption of Mt. Vesuvius was absolutely the only possible
fulfillment of the heavenly disturbances, because
Scripture does not specifically preclude the recurrence of such
signs as it precludes the recurrence of the
"great tribulation." And perhaps these signs could appear again,
but it is quite likely that Jesus was announcing
the exact events which I have enumerated, since all the other
parts of the prophecy were of a local nature, and
were for that generation.
The first converts to Christianity were
Jews. So the gospel was not taken away, nor withheld from them, it
actually went to them first; but the old
covenant was made obsolete and a new covenant was instituted
(Hebrews 8:13).
The old covenant was based upon
ordinances and animal sacrifices, and the new covenant is based upon
salvation by grace through faith in Jesus,
the Christ; Jesus Himself being the permanent sacrifice for all men,
for all times.
Unbalanced View of the Jews
Some people literally hate all Jews,
committing violent, anti-Semitic acts against them. On the other hand,
because of the teaching of some of our
church leaders, many Christians stand in awe of the Jews, "God's
chosen people." In my opinion, both views
are unbalanced, or extreme.
The fact is, that the majority of the
Jews rejected Jesus and the prophets, and God cut them off. He
considers
them to be dead. "For if the casting away
of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the
receiving of them
be, but life from the dead?" Romans 11:15.
"As regards indeed the glad tidings
(gospel), [they are] enemies on your account; but as regards the
election,
beloved on account of the fathers. For not
to be repented of are the gifts and the calling of God."
Romans 11:28-29, BINT.
In other words, the Jews are enemies of
those who are preaching the gospel, but if they will repent and accept
it,
God will welcome them in again, through
Jesus as their Savior.
No Respecter of Persons
The Bible tells us that God is no
respecter of persons. Gentiles who do not know Christ are also
considered,
just as the Jews, to be dead. "Let
not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in
the lust
thereof. Neither yield ye your members as
instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God,
as those that are alive from the dead..."
Romans 6:12-13.
Here again, all are equal who do not
know Christ, equally lost in their sins, and all are equal who do know
Him,
and have their names written in the Lamb's
book of life.
"...even when we were dead in
our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ." Ephesians 2:5,
NASB.
Everyone regardless of race or
nationality, is spiritually "dead" until they accept the atonement of
Jesus Christ.
God did not cast the Jews off totally,
but left a remnant which He did not destroy, kept by election of grace
(Romans 11:5-7). So a balanced view of the
Jews is to consider them to be equal with all other people. They, like
gentiles, must come to salvation by grace
through faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior to be grafted in again
(Romans 11). Jews who accept Jesus as
their Savior are call "Christians," just like everyone else. The
majority
of the early Christians were converted
Jews.
Apostle to the Gentiles
The reason that Paul had so much to say
about the "mystery," was that it was directly related to the gentile
believers, and he was the Apostle to
the gentiles [in the sense of masses (nations), not necessarily in
the
sense of "heathen"]. Almost every mention
of the "mystery" has in it a "gentile connection."
The gospel (good news), which Jesus
gave us was a gospel of salvation by grace through faith for all people
(nations, gentiles). All races, of people
may come into the kingdom of God, through Jesus Christ our Lord, by
the new birth. Each man must receive or
reject it for himself until the harvest is full.
First to the Jews
As we have seen, the gospel was first
preached to the Jews, and after they rejected it, it was taken to the
gentiles. Because God foreordained this
"mystery," which would bring salvation to all who would accept it,
it
is accurate to state, that the gospel
would have gone to the nations regardless of what the Jews did in
response
to Jesus, since it was not a taking away
of anything from the Jews, but a bringing in of a better covenant both
for
them and adding to it, the nations. This
addition of the masses as "fellow-heirs" to the kingdom is a part of
the
"mystery," ordained from the foundation of
the earth.
The Mystery
This is one of the most enlightening chapters
in this book. It contains a very clear explanation of the
"mystery" of
God which we all need to understand.
I recall reading a book in which a Christian
writer detailed what he thought the mystery of God was all about.
As I read, I became convinced that he had no
understanding whatsoever of the "mystery," but I had to
confess that I, myself, did not know what it
meant, either. I began to seek the Lord for a deeper
understanding
of the "mystery," and as I studied, it
began to come clear.
Jesus had said: "Because it is given unto
you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them
it is not given."
Matthew 13:11, Mark 4:11. So let's begin with a prophetic
Scripture from Isaiah 42, and
unravel this "mystery."
"Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My Chosen
One in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon
Him; He will bring forth
justice to the gentiles. He will not cry out or raise His
voice, nor make His voice heard in the street, a
bruised reed He will not break, and a dimly burning wick He
will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring
forth justice. He will not be disheartened or crushed, until He has
established justice in the earth; and the
coastlands will wait expectantly for His law." Isaiah 42:1-4, NASB.
Although this Scripture does not mention the
word "mystery," it is a prophecy about that very thing
which
Paul called the "mystery" of Christ.
Isaiah said in verse one, "He will bring forth
justice." The word justice is the Hebrew word "mishpat," which
means a particular right or privilege. The word
which is rendered "gentiles" is the Hebrew word "goy," which
can also be translated "nations," in the sense of
massing, or simply, the "masses." So this verse literally says:
He will bring forth a particular right or
privilege to the masses. It then goes on to say that
He will
establish justice (right or privilege) in the
earth; and the coastlands will wait expectantly for His law (the
perfect law of liberty, James 1:25).
The word coastlands or isles above is from a
Hebrew word meaning literally: a habitable spot. Again, this
pointed to the masses.
The Chosen One in verse one is
obviously Jesus. What the "mystery" shows us is that Jesus came for the
specific purpose
of making it possible for the masses to obtain access to the
kingdom of God: for the "gentiles"
to receive the right or privilege of
sonship. For this purpose, consider the words "gentiles" and "masses"
to
have the same meaning.
Old Covenant
God had established the old covenant between
Himself and a chosen race, Israel. If that covenant had been
perfect,
through the blood of animal sacrifices, there would have been no
necessity for the Son of God, Jesus,
the Christ, to have shed His innocent blood to
redeem fallen man (Hebrews 8:7).
The fact is, that the old covenant was far
from perfect, and was only a type of the new covenant to
follow.
The blood shed under the old covenant was only
temporary, while the work of the blood of the perfect
sacrificed Lamb, Jesus, is permanent.
Jesus was the sacrificed Lamb slain from the foundation of the world,
the focal point of God's redemption of man.
Not only was the old covenant imperfect, but
one of its greatest shortcomings was that it excluded the majority
of mankind, the masses of the people
(gentiles) who were not of the natural nation Israel.
God, in His infinite wisdom, established a plan
from the beginning of this world, to destroy the works of the devil.
This plan would be God's secret (a mystery)
until the proper time, then He would display it openly.
Why would God want to keep a secret? From whom would He hide His plans for man's redemption?
What is the Mystery?
The "Mystery" is, that after giving
Israel as a type of chosen people (in the flesh), God fulfilled His
original
plan which He foreordained before the ages (in the
Spirit), but which was kept hidden (secret) until the time of
Christ, and that was salvation by grace
through faith.
Now let us back that statement up with plenty
of Scripture. "For I would not, brethren, have you ignorant of
this mystery, lest you be wise in your own
conceits, that a hardening in part has befallen [the] Israel, till what
time the fullness of the nations [masses] be come
in; and so [meaning: "in this way"], all Israel
shall be saved:
even as it is written." Romans 11:25, NASB. Bracketed information added by author.
That Scripture tells us how all the
Israel of God [Abraham's seed and heirs according to promise, Galatians
3:29]
will be saved. In the Greek text, the first word Israel
is preceded by the definite article, denoting a specific
people, and the second usage for all Israel
does not use the definite article. This is only a small "clue" which
Scripture bears out to be true. It denotes another
"Israel" of God, the church.
"Now to him that is of power to stablish you
according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according
to the revelation of the mystery, which was
kept secret [hidden] since the world began, But now is made
manifest, and
by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the
everlasting God, made
known to all nations for the obedience of faith: To God only wise, be
glory through Jesus Christ for ever.
Amen." Romans 16:25-27.
What a power-packed Scripture! The "mystery"
was hidden, though prophesied, then it was made manifest
according to God's commandment, and it is made
known unto all the nations [masses], and it is the gospel of
Jesus Christ of salvation by grace through
faith.
In I Corinthians, Paul, writing to Greeks
(gentiles) said: "but we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, the hidden
wisdom which God foreordained before the ages unto
our glory: which none of the rulers of this age has known:
for had they known, they would not have
crucified the Lord of glory: but as it is written, things which eye
saw
not, and ear heard not, and entered not into heart
of man, whatsoever things God prepared for them that love
Him." I Corinthians 2:7-10, NENT. This speaks of
salvation by grace through faith.
God prepared beforehand this salvation, and
Jesus the Christ would bring it to all nations, and to do so, it was
necessary for Him to be slain as a sacrifice to
forever atone for man's sins, once for all. If the rulers of
that
age had known what they were doing, they would not
have killed Him. Therefore, God had to keep it a
"mystery" until
it was accomplished. Only through the death of a sinless man could
redemption come. There
was only one sinless man, Jesus.
"According to the riches of His grace,
which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having
made known to us the mystery of His will,
according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Him unto a
dispensation of the fullness of the season,
to sum up all in the Christ, those upon the heavens, and those
upon the earth; in Him whom also we were made a
heritage, foreordained according to the purpose of Him
who worketh all things...." Ephesians 1:7-11, NENT.
Again, there is great substance in that
Scripture. It speaks of grace (by which we must be saved, through
faith)
and His good pleasure in making known to us the
"mystery." He purposed that the "mystery" would be
administered to us at the appropriate time, and
that all would be summed up in Christ. We will see in the next
Scripture what that summing up means.
"Wherefore remember, that once you, the nations
[gentiles] in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision by what
is call circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
that ye were at that season apart from Christ, alienated from
the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the
covenant of promise [Abrahamic covenant based on faith],
having no hope and without God in the world. But
now in Christ Jesus ye that once were far off are become nigh
in the blood of the Christ. For He is our peace,
who made both one, and break down the middle wall of the
partition, having abolished in His flesh the
enmity, the law of the commandments contained in ordinances; that
He might create in Himself of the two
[Israel and the nations], one new man, making peace; and might
reconcile
both in one body [the church] to God
through the cross, having slain the enmity thereby."
Ephesians 2:11-17, NENT.
Notice that there are several points presented here:
1. The gentiles were apart from Christ.
2. They were alienated from the commonwealth of Israel.
3. They were strangers to the covenant of promise, having no hope without God in the world.
Through His sacrificial death, He abolished the
law of commandments contained in ordinances, and broke down
the wall of partition separating the nations from
God and from the commonwealth of Israel. He brought the
"masses" into the (Abrahamic) covenant of promise.
So through Christ, all nations are made equal
in God. And all must come through the blood of Christ. The two
are made oneonly in Him. The enmity
(hatred, hostility, animosity) between nations was slain and their
reconciliation came about through the His
sacrificial death on cross, bringing a "new creation," (Galatians
6:15).
This new creation is made up of people from all
nations on the face of the earth, but only includes those
persons who come through Christ Jesus. For those
who have not accepted Jesus, the hostility remains.
"And He came and preached peace to you which
were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him we
both have access by one Spirit unto the Father."
Ephesians 2:17-18.
A New Temple
The access is through Christ. Both are equal
through Him! "Now therefore ye are no more strangers and
foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints,
and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of
the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself
being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly
framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the
Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an
habitation of God
through the Spirit. Ephesians 2:19-22.
This is no natural covenant as was the old
covenant, but it is in the Spirit, through faith in the Christ,
likewise,
this temple is no natural temple, but it is the
church, His body, and the only temple that the Bible
predicts will
be built. The old covenant was centered around the
old temple buildings with its altars and animal sacrifices,
with strict ordinances which no one could fully
keep. The new covenant is centered upon Christ, and His Spirit
inhabits a collective temple, not made with hands,
the hearts of men, making up His body, the church. This body
needs no natural temple building or altars,
because Jesus became the sacrifice forever for all who receive Him.
This breaking down of the middle wall of
partition, then, is not to make unbelieving Jews one with Christians,
or gentiles as to that matter, but both groups
must come through the blood of Jesus to become one in Him.
Jesus did the work, but we must receive it for it
to be effective in our lives.
"For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of the
Christ Jesus, in behalf of you nations [gentiles], if so that
you
have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God
given me toward you; how that by revelation was made
known to me the mystery, as I wrote afore
in few words, whereby when you read, you can perceive my
understanding in the mystery of the Christ; which
in other generations was not made known to the sons of men
as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles
and prophets in Spirit; that the nations [gentiles] are
fellow-partakers
of the promise in Christ Jesus through the Gospel, whereof I became a
minister, according
to the gift of the grace of God given me according
to the working of His power (to me, the least of all saints, was
this grace given), to preach to the nations
[gentiles] the unsearchable riches of the Christ and to bring to
light what is the dispensation of the
mystery hid for the ages in God who created all things; in order
that
now unto the principalities and the powers in the
heavenlies be made known through the church the
manifold wisdom of God according to a plan of the
ages which he made in the Christ, Jesus our Lord;"
Ephesians 3:1-11, NENT.
It is obvious that this is the body of Christ,
the church, which God will work through until the "times of the
gentiles" be fulfilled. The nations are
fellow-heirs through the "promise" in Christ through the gospel. His
body
includes both natural Israelites (Including Jews)
and gentiles, all who have accepted Jesus as their Savior, as
one new man. It
is also interesting to see that Paul was imprisoned because of
preaching the "mystery" to
the gentiles. This is seen in Ephesians 3:1 and
Colossians 4:2-4.
No wonder the Jews wanted to stop him, he was
teaching the gentiles about the fulfillment of the "mystery"
that the kingdom of God had now come to them. The
Jews did not understand that God had made the gentiles,
whom they considered heathen, to be equal
with them, and fellow-heirs. Many Christians do not understand
that today. But the fact is, those Jews who did
not accept Christ died in their sins and were not heirs at all.
Some teach that Jesus descended into hell and
preached to the Israelites who had died without Jesus, and led
them away to heaven. I think that this is a total
distortion of Scripture. If the Israelites believed in a coming
Messiah, it was reckoned to them as righteousness.
If they died unbelieving, they are lost. It is appointed unto
man once to die and after that the judgment.
"Now I rejoice in my suffering for you, and
fill up on my part what are lacking of the afflictions of the Christ in
my flesh for His body, which is the church;
whereof I became minister, according to the dispensation of God
given toward you, to fulfill the word of God, the
mystery hidden from the ages and from the generations: but
now has it been manifested to His saints, to whom
God was pleased to make known what is the riches of the
glory of this mystery among the nations,
which is Christ in you [gentiles], the hope of glory:" Colossians
1:24-29,
NENT.
Isn't that a fantastic revelation? That the
hope of glory is Christ in the masses. But remember that the
term
gentiles, in
this sense, includes all those who come to accept Jesus Christ as their
Lord and Savior. Whosoever
will, remember? Notice that He called the gentiles
His saints. In Romans 1:7, Paul said the beloved of God in
Rome were also called as saints.
"And confessedly great is the mystery of
godliness; Who was manifested in flesh, justified in Spirit, seen of
angels, preached among nations [gentiles],
believed on in the world, received up in glory [brilliancy and
splendor],"
I Timothy 3:16, NENT. There's that gentile
connection again.
"I want you to know how much I am struggling
for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me
personally. My purpose is that they may be
encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the
full riches of complete understanding, in order
that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ,
in
whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge. Colossians 2:1-3. NIV.
So, the "mystery" of God is completely
expressed in Christ Himself, and His manifestation was for the
purpose
of bringing forth this "mystery," making
all one in Himself.
According to Faith
"Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the
law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every
one that hangeth on a tree: That the blessings of
Abraham might come on the Gentiles [masses], through Jesus
Christ; that we might receive the promises of the
Spirit through faith." Galatians 3:13-14.
There it is again, the blessings of Abraham,
which are according to "promise," and by "faith," not under the law.
And the promise that was given to Abraham is now
appropriated to these Gentiles. Everyone who accepts
Christ into his life and walks in obedience to Him
is in this group of "Gentiles" [masses]. Without the marvelous
work that Christ did by His sacrificial death on
the cross, the covenant of Abraham would never have been
extended to the gentiles. It was for this
reason that Christ came.
The ministry of the gospel during the intervening years has continued and it will continue into the future.
This was, again, a prophecy of the A.D. 70
destruction of Jerusalem, perhaps, updated by Paul. Are these
two Scriptures contradictory? No! Realize that the
epistle to the church at Rome was written before the A.D.
70 desolation of Jerusalem, in which 1,100,000
Jews were killed. They died without Christ.
Those Jews had said to Pilate, concerning the
crucifixion of Jesus, "His blood be upon us, and upon our children."
Matthew 27:25, NENT.
Even though Jesus prayed on the cross, "Father
forgive them, for they know not what they do," it is obvious
that those Jews were not saved and will not be,
unless they repented and accepted Jesus as their Christ. Jesus
said, "No man cometh to the Father but by Me."
John 14:6. It would be pure folly to believe that He would
give eternal salvation to those whom He destroyed
in His wrath.
So the Scripture in Romans 9:27-28 is referring
to the A.D. 70 desolation, while the one in Romans 11:26 is
addressing the salvation of all the Israel of God,
Christians [Abraham's seed and heirs according to promise].
There will be no blanket salvation for all Jews no more that there is blanket salvation for all mankind.
"And he saith to me, Seal not the words of the
prophecy of this booklet; for the season is nigh. Who is
unrighteous, let him be unrighteous still: and who
is filthy, let him be made filthy still: and who is righteous, let
him do righteousness still: and who is holy, let
him be made holy still." Revelation 22:10-11, NENT.
It is quite clear, that all Jews will not be
saved, neither will all natural Israel, nor all the gentiles, but only
those
who accept Jesus the Christ. The Israel of God is
not the natural nation called Israel, but the Israel which is
circumcised of the heart and not the flesh. It is
made up of members of all peoples who have, through Christ,
entered into a personal relationship with Almighty
God, walking in obedience to His will. "If you belong to
Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs
according to promise." Galatians 3:29, NIV.
Now the promise was given to Abraham, but it
was of faith, not a natural promise. Those after the flesh, which
are described (in Galatians 4:21-28) as the
Jerusalem of that day, were not of promise, and were cut-off and
destroyed. But the Jerusalem above (Hebrews 12:22)
is our mother, and that's the only way anyone can
obtain the promises given to Abraham, administered
through his seed, Jesus, in the fullness of time, the
revealing of the "mystery" of God.
"For neither is circumcision anything, nor
uncircumcision, but a new creation. And as many as shall walk by
this rule, peace upon them, and mercy, and upon
the Israel of God." Galatians 6:15, NENT.
When we read the old testament accounts of
God's dealings with Israel, and the Jews specifically, it becomes
abundantly clear that, though given centuries of
time, the natural nation Israel could never achieve salvation.
They were almost continually wicked, doing
abominations in the sight of God. One generation would seek God,
and the next would go back into worship of pagan
gods.
Yet, through His prophets, God foretold that He
would someday save Israel. This would not be their doing,
but would be fully accomplished by God at His
appointed time, and in His way.
Since it proved impossible for Israel (except
for a small remnant) to walk with God, even after He sent His own
son Jesus to die for our sins, it would seem that
those old testament prophecies could never be fulfilled. In the
natural, that would be a true assumption, but with
God, we see the supernatural at work, and all things are possible.
God required holiness, and man could not
produce it. It would take a perfect people who had walked upright
with God all their days to fulfill the
righteousness required for salvation. No such people ever existed. Only
one
perfect man ever lived on the earth, Jesus, the
Christ, the only begotten son of God. Only He could lay claim to
the promises of God for the nation Israel. In Him,
God would fulfill His old testament prophecies of Israel. Not
in a natural nation, but in one man would
come a holy nation, the Israel of God. Not by natural procreation, but
a new creation. That one man, who only did what
the Father showed Him, fulfilled all Scripture, all types given
by the law and the prophets, taking upon Himself
the iniquity of us all, and nailing sin and death to a cross, He
arose victorious over it. He bought salvation for
all who would accept Him. In Him would the gentiles hope.
He was the focal point of Israel, and
in Him exists the Israel of God, Abraham's seed and heirs
according
to promise (Galatians 3:29). 'But it is not as
though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who
are descended from Israel; neither are they all
children because they are Abraham's descendants, but:
"through Isaac your descendants will be named." That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are
children of God, but the children of the promise
are regarded as descendants.'
All past history focused upon the Christ, and
all future claims to eternal life spring forth from and through Him.
He was the manifestation of God in the flesh; the
first born of many brethren.
The old Israel was a natural nation, a chosen
race. The new Israel is a Spiritual nation, the body of Christ, "the
church." And if we belong to Christ, and His
righteousness is manifested in our lives, the free gift of God's
salvation, eternal, victorious life with Jesus is
ours.
"And then shall they see the Son of man coming
in a cloud [Matthew 24:30 says "on the clouds of heaven"] with
power and great glory." Luke 21:27.
There are various opinions of the meaning of
this Scripture. Some Bible commentators see this as a coming of
Christ "in the clouds" above Jerusalem at the time
of the destruction, to actually direct the desolation of the city,
or a manifestation of His power is so doing. This
is because Luke 21:32 says: "Verily I say unto you, This
generation shall not pass away, till all be
fulfilled." Of this, Bible commentator Matthew Henry wrote: "The
destruction of Jerusalem was in a particular
manner an act of Christ's judgment, so that it might justly be looked
upon as a coming of the Son of man, in power and
great glory, but in the clouds."1
In Clarke's Commentary, Vol. V., p. 232, Adam
Clarke states (regarding Matthew 24:30, "Then shall appear the
sign of the Son of man...") 'The plain meaning of
this is, that the destruction of Jerusalem will be a remarkable
instance of Divine vengeance, such a signal
manifestation of Christ's power and glory, that all the Jewish tribes
shall mourn, and many will, in consequence of this
manifestation of God, be led to acknowledge Christ and his
religion." At first reading, it sounds as though
he is placing this as a future event, but read further and it becomes
obvious that he was referring to A.D. 70. The
Scripture on which he was commenting had put it in a future
setting, because it had been written before the
fact, and he handled it in that same way.
'By "of the land" in the text, is evidently
meant here, as in several other places, the land of Judea and its
tribes...'
He identified the angel sent out in verse 31 as
"his messengers, the apostles, and their successors in the Christian
ministry." (Which followed the sign of the son of
man) The trumpet, he identified, as "the earnest affectionate
call of the Gospel of peace, life and salvation."
(Which occurs during the "times of the gentiles.") The elect which
were to be gathered together, he said, were "The
Gentiles, who were now chosen or elected, in place of the
rebellious, obstinate Jews, according to our
Lord's prediction, Matthew 8:11-12 and Luke 13:28-29." He further
said: "It is worth serious observation, that the
Christian religion spread and prevailed mightily after this period:
and nothing contributed more to the success of the
Gospel than the destruction of Jerusalem happening in the
very time and manner, and with the very
circumstances, so particularly foretold by our Lord. It was after this
period that the kingdom of Christ began, and his
reign was established in almost every part of the world."
I have often wondered if the gathering of the
elect would be accomplished through the preaching of the gospel.
That is literally what is happening. We are being
gathered unto Him through acceptance of Christ into our lives.
The Greek word translated "angels" does mean
literally "messengers," and they are sent out by Jesus to carry
the message of the good news of the gospel of
Christ. As sinners are converted, they come into the fellowship of
Christ and become "one" with Him.
This joining with Christ is a "union" or "betrothal" of the believer to Jesus, as a part of His bride, the church.
Some Bible scholars see this coming in Matthew
24:30 as His second coming at the end of this age. This is the
traditional view and perhaps the most popular one,
but not what the Bible teaches.
Jesus told His followers: "But when these
things begin to come to pass, look up and lift up your heads; because
your redemption draweth nigh." Luke 21:28. This He
told them not us.
The greatest persecution of Christians, prior
to A.D. 64, was from the Jews. But when the Jews began to fight
among themselves, and later, against the Romans,
they were too busy to persecute Christians. So in the
desolation (and the troublous times before and
after) there was a kind of redemption for the Christians. Of
course, the later persecutions came from the Roman
Emperors, but there were also several periods, between
persecutions, in which the gospel was freely
preached to all nations.
Look up, Lift up Your Heads
When the Scripture in Luke 21:28 says
"look up" and "lift up" your heads, it does not indicated a looking up
into the sky as some suppose, but merely to
"unbend," "rise," and "be elated," not with head hanging down in
dismay, but to hold your head erect, knowing that
you are about to be ransomed by the Lord.
The remainder of Matthew 24, beginning with
verse 32, is made up of parables, which show clearly that there
would be signs when this "great tribulation"
was to begin (as in the parable of the fig tree putting forth
leaves) and that it would catch the unprepared by
surprise [as in the days of Noah, when the wicked knew not
until the flood came and took them (the wicked)
all away].
The Greek text says: presence of the Son of man." Matthew 24:37-29, NENT.
The word used here, which in many translations
is rendered "coming," is the Greek word "parousia" which
means "presence." It is showing how the desolation
of Jerusalem would come upon the Jews to destroy them
in the same way that the flood destroyed the
wicked in the time of Noah. Notice that, in Matthew 13, in the
parable of the tares and wheat, and the parable of
the fish in the sea, the wicked are taken from among
the
just. Just as in the days of Noah.
"Then shall two be in the
field; the one shall be taken, and the other left, two women shall be
grinding at the
mill; the one shall be taken and
the other left. Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord
doth
come."
Matthew 24:40-42.
Each of these is a warning to stay on the alert
for the signs which would alert them that it was time to flee
Jerusalem. In the parable of the good man of the
house, and the faithful and wise servant, and again the
parable of the ten virgins, in Matthew Chapter 25,
they were admonished to be prepared at all times for the
coming of the fulfillment of His prophecies. "Watch therefore, for ye know neither
the day nor the hour."
Matthew 25:13.
When the time was fulfilled, and Jerusalem was
finally threatened, first by rumors of (talk about) wars, with
Galigula wanting to place a statue of himself in
the Sanctuary of the Temple (A.D. 38), to the attack upon
Jerusalem by Cestius Gallus (A.D. 66), when the
Jewish Christians fled Jerusalem traveling about a hundred
miles over the mountains of Judea and Moab, to
Pella, the warning signs all came, and all the prophetic words
of Jesus were fulfilled.
Important Questions
At this point, I would like to address some
questions that may have arisen in your minds concerning the
material covered in this book and its implications.
Question 1. If the "great tribulation"
came in A.D. 70, and John, writer of the book of the Revelation,
survived past that time, to possibly A.D. 100, why
didn't he write about it in the books of the Bible which he
authored after that time?
Answer: There is very good evidence that the
Book of the Revelation was written prior to A.D. 66. It describes
the events of the Great Tribulation period which
took place around A.D. 70.
The Christians who fled to Pella were well
aware of the destruction of Jerusalem, just as Jesus had foretold. The
early church had no doubt that the "great
tribulation" had indeed come to Jerusalem. This gave great
impetus to the Christian movement, because they
could see that Jesus was the Christ, as He had declared,
from the fulfillments of the things He foretold;
from the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost to the
destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. It
happened just as He had said it would.
John mentioned the "great tribulation" as
a current event in the book of the Revelation. The first mention
is Revelation 1:9, "I John, your brother and
partaker with you in the tribulation..." NENT.
The second mention is Revelation 8:14, "And he
spake to me, These are they that come out of the great
tribulation,
and they washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the
Lamb." NENT. This
obviously refers to Christians. It was, a vision
of the future of what was about to take place.
Revelation 1:9, quoted above, was not in a vision,
but was introductory to the book of the Revelation, yet he
spoke of the "tribulation" as if it were a
current event.
Matthew Henry, in his Bible commentary on
Matthew 24, stated that none of the twelve apostles, except
John, lived to see the destruction of Jerusalem,
but they left directions to their successors, and that it was
useful to them.
He says that when the Christians in Jerusalem
and Judea saw the ruin coming, they fled to Pella, across
the Jordan. He also states that of the thousands
that perished in the destruction of Jerusalem, there was
not so much as one Christian.
It is interesting that John's Gospel does not
include the prophecies of the Olivet discourse as do the other
Gospels. It is likely that the Gospel according to
John was written after A.D. 70, and that John did not include
those prophecies because they had been entirely
fulfilled. This is merely speculation, and should be
received as such.
Question 2. If the A.D. 70 desolation was not
the fulfillment of Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21, what
events would have to happen before the second
coming of the Lord?
Answer: If the "great tribulation" was
not fulfilled in A.D. 70, and was yet future, then among other
things, it would be necessary for the following
events to occur to fulfill prophecy:
1. The temple in Jerusalem would have to be rebuilt. This would mean clearing the land of existing structures.
2. Animal sacrifice would have to be
reinstated. This would be a great abomination to God, refusing to
acknowledge the sacrifice of His only begotten Son
as a permanent atonement, once for all.
3. Jerusalem would have to experience wars and tumults and rumors of (talk about) wars.
4. Her enemies would have to surround her, and
throw up a bank [siege wall] against her, hemming her in
on all sides.
5. There would have to be famine, pestilence
and the Jews would have to be killed by sword (an outmoded
weapon).
6. The reinstated sacrifice would have to cease again.
7. The city and the temple would have to be
destroyed again, leaving no stone upon another that was not
cast down.
8. Their survivors would then have to be
scattered into all nations (as they have already been for two
thousand years).
9. The "times of the gentiles" would come.
10. False prophets and false Christs would have to appear during the time after the destruction.
11. There would have to be wonders in the sky,
12. Finally, Christ would come again.
After having read this book, you can easily see
that these events have all occurred, in the exact order,
as foretold
by Jesus, in the forty years following the
crucifixion of Christ.
If we are unable to recognize these
fulfillments that were so literal and precise, how could
we ever hope to
recognize any fulfillment of prophecy today, or in
the future?
Some say that we are going through great
tribulation even now, and what of the destruction of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki in Japan during WWII, and the holocaust
of Hitler's concentration camps? That was against Jews!
Christians are being persecuted in many lands
right now, and some estimate that over fifty million were killed
in the name of Christianity by the Roman church
during the dark ages. What of them? What of all the martyrs?
Could none of this be the "great
tribulation?"
All of these are, perhaps by definition,
"great tribulation," but Hiroshima and Nagasaki are not
prophesied
about in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21. Although
the hollocaust was perpetrated against Jews, it was not
the "great tribulation" of
Scripture, because it was not in Jerusalem, and did not involve the
destruction of
the Temple and the City. The martyrdom of
Christians is foretold as a continuing thing in the Bible, but again,
it
was not exclusively during the "great
tribulation" in Jerusalem.
Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21, in short,
contain very specific prophecies which predict the acts of vengeance
and wrath of God upon an obstinate and disobedient
generation of unbelieving Jews.
Some of these prophecies are found in the
predictions of Jesus in Matthew 23:34. There are many other related
scriptures of prophecy in the Bible. They do not
address a worldwide conflict and tribulation, but only that which
related to Judea and its inhabitants of that day,
the Jews.
Question 3. If the "great tribulation" is
past history and cannot be repeated, then what can be expected to
occur in the future, between now and the second
coming of Jesus?
It is not our purpose here to detail what will
happen in the future, but rather, to show, unquestionably, what has
already come to pass, in fulfillment of Bible
prophecy.
However, there are several conclusions which
can be drawn. The first is that there cannot be a
pre-tribulation
rapture of the saints, as many have confidently
taught for over a hundred and fifty years, because the "great
tribulation" is
past. Jesus said, "But
watch at every season, making supplication, that ye may prevail to
escape
all these things that shall come
to pass, and to stand before the Son of man."
Luke 21:36, NENT. The King James
Version says: "pray that ye may be accounted worthy to escape." This Jesus spoke, not of an end-time
pre-tribulational "rapture" of the church, but of
the escape of His disciples from Jerusalem to prevent being
killed in the destruction. As we have already
stated several times, the saints who were in Jerusalem at that
season did escape to Pella in Perea. History bears
this out.
Question 4. Will Antichrist come in the future?
Many end-time teachers talk about the coming of
"the Antichrist." They are apparently referring to one of
the beasts in the Book of the Revelation, calling
him "the Antichrist." This is simply not Scriptural. In Revelation
13:1-18, there are three wicked ones mentioned, a
dragon, and two beasts (one of which is smitten unto death
and his stroke of death has been healed), and
there is the image of the first beast.
The Bible does not refer to any of
these as "the Antichrist." In Revelation 16:13, the dragon, the beast
and
the false prophet (which could be the second beast
of Revelation 13) are all mentioned, and in Revelation 20:10,
all three have been cast into the lake of fire and
brimstone.
The word "antichrist" appears in only two books
of the entire Bible, 1 John and 2 John. "Little Children, it is
the last time: and as ye have heard that
antichrist shall come, even now are there many
antichrists." (Notice,
not "the" antichrist, but "many"
antichrists.) 1 John 2:18.
"Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus
is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and
the
Son." 1 John 2:22. "and every spirit that
confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God:
and
that is that spirit of antichrist,
whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already
is in the
world." 1 John 4:3. Before John died, (history
says near A.D. 100), the spirit of antichrist was already
in
the world.
"For many deceiver are entering into the world,
who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is
a deceiver and an antichrist." 2
John :7. This he spoke of the heresies which were beginning to creep
into
Christianity.
The word antichrist comes from the Greek word "antichristos," meaning: "an opponent of the Messiah."
The only mentions of this word in the Bible are
those listed above, and they do not refer to any one individual
as "the Antichrist." John was merely warning them
of those who would come and oppose the Messiah, as many
had already begun to do. So there is no authority
in the Scriptures to refer to an individual as "the Antichrist,"
in regard to end-time events. All who oppose the
Messiah are antichrist, of which there are still very many.
Some refer to the "man of sin" in 2
Thessalonians Chapter 2, as "the Antichrist," but again, the Scripture
does not so name him. "...he that opposeth and
exalteth himself against every one called God or an object of
worship; so that he sitteth in the temple of God,
setting himself forth as being God." 2 Thessalonians 2:4,
NENT. This Scripture is also used by some to show
that the Temple in Jerusalem must be rebuilt before the
Lord can return. On closer examination, we find
that the word translated "temple" is the Greek word "naos,"
which is the same word in I Corinthians 6:19,
saying: "What! know ye not that your body is the temple [naos]
of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have
of God, and ye are not your own?"
The Greek word for the physical temple building
is "hieron" (the entire precincts of the temple). But "naos"
(the central sanctuary of the temple) is used
numerous times in the Bible to identify the dwelling place of
God, in the Spirit, the hearts of men (I
Corinthians 3:16, 6:19, II Corinthians 6:16, Ephesians 2:21).
In this day, a person totally sold out to
humanism would be described as having the "man of sin" sitting in the
temple, "naos" (his heart), where God should be.
The "man of sin" represents everyone who exalts himself
above God in his own heart, and tries to run his
own life apart from, and in opposition to Christ. Such a one
is sent a working of error from God to believe
what is false, because he has not a love of the truth.
(2 Thessalonians 2:10-12).
Most of the confusion concerning the "man of
sin" comes from the King James Version. I believe that the
rendering of this Scripture from Greek to English
could be greatly improved. Perhaps then our theologians
could understand it. That is just my opinion, and
it's worth as much as it cost you.
Question 5. Since the Temple in Jerusalem was
fully destroyed in A.D. 70, does the Bible predict that it will
have to be rebuilt before Jesus comes again?
Answer: The Bible makes no such prediction.
It is possible, I suppose, that the present-day Jews, in
their zeal, could rebuild it, but prophecy does
not foretell such.
Standing in the way of such a reconstruction of
the temple is the Moslem mosque, called the "Dome of the
Rock," which presently occupies much of the
location of the temple. Of course that is no problem to God, but
the New Jerusalem, described in Revelation 21, has
no temple in it, (vs 22) "for the Lord God and the Lamb
are its temple."
The Bible makes it perfectly clear that under
the new covenant, God inhabits those who are His through
Jesus our Lord. He needs no temple building to
reside in. He has made for Himself a body, the church, and
therein will He dwell.
Conclusion
To be very clear about it, our
conclusion, after all the evidence has been examined, is that the
"great
tribulation" prophesied
by Jesus, and previously announced as the day of God's wrath and
judgment
upon the Jews, was entirely fulfilled, attended
with famine, pestilence, death by starvation and the sword,
the cessation of sacrifices, the abomination of
desolation, the total and final destruction of the Temple at
Jerusalem and the dispersing of survivors into all
nations, in the time period between A.D. 66 and A.D. 73.
Further, that a repeat of such events is not
prophesied in the Bible and is, in fact, precluded by Matthew
24:21 and Mark 13:19.
These facts have been adequately shown both Biblically and historically.
What Difference does it Make?
"For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions,
I found an altar with this inscription TO THE UNKNOWN
GOD, whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him
declare I unto you. Acts 17:23. As Paul stood on Mars hill,
he pointed out how the men of Athens were too
superstitious. He also said that they were ignorant and went
on to say: "And the times of this ignorance God
winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to
repent:" Acts 17:31.
In Romans Chapter ten, Paul wrote: "Brethren,
my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they
might be saved. For I bear them record that they
have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they
being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going
about to establish their own righteousness, have not
submitted themselves unto the righteousness of
God." Romans 10:1-3.
Paul also wrote in Romans 1:13, "Now I would
not have you ignorant, brethren...," and this statement he
made at least seven times, concerning Paul's
purpose, righteousness, baptism, Spiritual gifts, Paul's
desperation of life, concerning the dead, and the
fact that, to the Lord, a day is as a thousand years and a
thousand years as a day.
If we are willing to receive what Paul is saying,
we must acknowledge the fact that God does not desire that
we be ignorant. He has given us the capability to
obtain accurate knowledge about Him, and He expects us
to be diligent to learn the truth. Otherwise, we
might be like Israel, trying to go about serving God in the
wrong way.
This is what I believe is happening in our day. We
have, in our laziness, allowed someone else to explain
the Bible to us, instead of studying it for
ourselves. We are individually responsible to God for what we
do with our lives, and no one else can stand in
our place. So it is vital that we learn as much of the truth as
we can, from the best source (the Bible), so as to
dispel the traditions of men (which make the Word of God
of non-effect) in our lives.
God has given us inquiring minds, and in much of
our secular activity, we use them very well, but when it
comes to our knowledge of God, we too often place
our trust in men.
Men figure out things, then expound upon what they
have found, much as I have done in this book. And we
should listen, or read these things, perhaps we
will learn something. But, as we have our minds stimulated by
men's input, let us turn to God's sources and
examine for ourselves if these things be true, as the noble men
of Berea did in Acts 17:11.
I have had the opportunity several times, in
recent years, to discuss some of my findings, from independent
Bible study, with others who have studied in much
the same way. It is amazing how we have reached the
same conclusions, independently, about so many
Bible doctrines. Yet I do not desire that anyone take what
I say as truth, without first checking it out in
the Bible and the sources cited.
Corporate Bible studies are good, and group
discussions are valuable, but never abandon your own individual
Bible studies. Try to put aside traditions you
have been exposed to, and see what the Scriptures say to you
by the power of the Holy Spirit. This I say, not
to everyone, but to those who are able to do so. Rest assured,
if those things you have been taught are true,
they will be reinforced by Scripture. If not, Scripture will
expose them.
Do not be apprehensive about the great tribulation
which, so many teach, is yet future, when in fact it is past.
Jesus came to set the captives free. Incorrect
understanding holds us captive. Before conversion, fear of
death holds men captive, but afterwards, with the
assurance of eternal life, the fear of death can no longer
hold us, the "portals of the grave" (gates of hell), cannot prevail
against the church because we are in Christ
Jesus. Jesus led captive the fear of death which
had sway over us. Now we are free to live our lives, and die
with that blessed assurance that we shall forever
be with Him.
The fear of what is coming upon the earth,
especially when we believe error, can cause us much unnecessary
anxiety. Here, again, the truth can set us free.
"Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving let your requests
be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which
passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts
and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7.
I am not a great prophet of God, who can give you
all the facts about what will happen in the future. I am,
however, a reasonably intelligent historian and
Bible scholar, who can relate to you those most obvious
events which have already come, fulfilling Bible
prophecy. I can also assure you that "neither death, nor
life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers,
nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth,
nor any other creature, shall be able to separate
us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Romans 8:23-39. Neither can "tribulation, or
distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril,
or sword." Romans 8:35.
The future is in God's capable hands, and if we
place ourselves in His hands, He will fit us into His Master
plan, so that all things will work out for our
good.
No man knows what lies ahead for us, but be
assured that those belong to our Lord we'll have nothing to fear.
I'm sure, if you have heard any of the
"end-time" preaching on TV, or read Hal Lindsay's books, you have heard
about "the Antichrist." You may
have heard your pastor speak of such a one from the pulpit.
This one that they refer to as "the
Antichrist" is described as some awful world leader who is said to come
on
the scene at the beginning of the "great
tribulation," and then halfway through the "great tribulation," he
shows
his true colors and does all sorts of
terrible things to Christians (those who will not take the "mark of the
beast").
And it goes on and on. The same people
believe that all Christians will be "raptured" off the earth
before the
great tribulation, so I don't know who
those Christians are who are persecuted by the Antichrist. I
don't think they
have thought their doctrine through.
What does the Bible have to say about
this? It is really quite simple and easy to understand if you do not
allow
someone with the futurist view to cloud up
your thinking. The word "antichrist" is only mentioned
five times, all
in the books of 1 John and 2 John.
It is not to be found anywhere else in the Bible. I am
listing all the scriptures
that mention antichrist below,
with comments.
1 John 2:18, "Children, it is the last
hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming,
even now, many
antichrists have arisen; from this we know that it
is the last hour."
The apostle John was writing this in a
letter to the church. He was writing to real people who were
alive on the
earth at that time. He was
not writing to us today, nor to those who have lived in the generations
in between then
and now. There is no "code" word
there in the scriptures to transfer what he was saying to a different
time or
later generation. He stated
emphatically that "it is the last hour" (at that time) and that
"many antichrists have
arisen," and he said that this was
evidence that it was the "last hour." He did not say that
"the" antichrist had
arisen, but "many" antichrists.
He goes on in verse 19 to say: "They
went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they
had been of us,
they would have remained with us; but they
went out, in order that it might be shown that they all are not of
us."
He was talking about people who had
been there with them, not some strange person who would be in charge
of a "one world government." There
is no one called "the antichrist," in the Bible that
is any such world leader.
The next mention of "antichrist" is in
1 John 2:22 "Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the
Christ?
This is the antichrist, the one who denies
the Father and the Son."
This tells us one of the marks of an "antichrist," one who denies that Jesus is the Christ.
Then in 1 John 4:2&3 "By this you
know the Spirit of God; every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ
has
come in the flesh is from God; 3. and every spirit that does not
confess Jesus is not from God; and this is the
spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it
is coming, and now is already in the world."
Could it be any clearer? He has
given us another attribute of an "antichrist," that he is one who
does not confess
Jesus. Then he goes on to reiterate that the
spirit of antichrist "now is already in the
world." He's not writing
about an antichrist coming in the year
2000, but at the time he was doing the writing, which was probably
around
A.D. 60-66. The antichrists he was
writing about were already in the world at that time.
2 John 1:7 "For many deceivers have
gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as
coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist."
John was making the church aware that
those who had walked away from them, denying that Jesus is the
Christ were "antichrists." The word "antichrist"
is from the Greek word "antichristos,"which means one
who
is an opponent of Christ. He simply wanted them to be enlightened as to
what the "spirit of antichrist" was.
There is absolutely nothing in
these scriptures to say that some world ruler called "the
antichrist" was ever
to come upon the earth.
So where does all this doctrine come
from? The Worldbook Encyclopedia states, under the article on
"antichrist" and the war between good and
evil as the final battle on earth: "The idea of such a final war
between
good and evil occurred among Babylonians,
Persians and Jews before being adopted by Christians." Of course
the first three didn't call him
"antichrist," but they had the same idea.
The modern day proponents of the
futurist doctrine have misapplied the word "antichrist" to the "beast"
of
Revelation Chapter 13. Then they tie
in 1 Thessalonians Chapter 2 concerning the man of lawlessness and try
say that all this describes "the
antichrist." This is a twisting of the scriptures making them say
something that
was never intended.
The "beast" of Revelation Chapter 13
was to come at the time of the "great tribulation," which occurred
between
A. D. 66 and A. D. 73. The great
tribulation is well documented on our webpage.
Where did the doctrine of the End-Time begin?
Daniel mentioned "the time of the end,"
prophetically looking forward to Jesus, however, what we know as
"End-time" doctrine originated with the "Olivet Discourse" of
Jesus Christ. Because the origin of the
"great tribulation" doctrine comes from the teaching of Jesus on
the Mount of Olives, the Scriptures in
Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21 should be the main source of Scripture that we study to learn about
the subject.
The Great Tribulation and the
"End-Time" is inextricable tied together. The "End-Time" is one
doctrine
where the majority of Christians are in darkness.
The truth concerning the fulfillment of the Olivet Discourse
has, for many years, been neglected. The
fulfillment of all that Jesus foretold is a powerful testimony to the
authenticity of Jesus.
Only those, who desire to know the truth, should venture
further into this web page.
Understanding Tribulation
Anyone who has done even a small amount of
reading in the New Testament will have come upon the word
"tribulation" perhaps many times. Just what is tribulation according to
the Bible?
The word "tribulation," found in our English
Bibles, comes from a Greek word, "thlipsis," which is defined as
"affliction, distress, oppression."
This Greek word is used at least forty-two
times in the New Testament, in various forms, but it is not always
rendered "tribulation." It is sometimes "distress," "trial," or even "suffering." Sometimes it
describes
"anguish of mind or heart,"
or "afflictions," or
again, it could be "trials,"
depending upon which English translation
of the Bible you read. (See II Corinthians 1:4, 2:4 and Matthew 13:21)
Jesus warned His disciples of personal tribulation, which
would come upon them before the "great tribulation"
of Matthew 24:21. He said, "In this world ye have tribulation,
but be of good cheer, I have overcome the
world." John 16:33.
Paul stated in Romans 2:9 and 10, "there will
be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil"
. . ."but glory and honor and peace to every man who does
good...." NASB.
Ever since sin entered the world, there has been some form of tribulation.
Some of the Scriptures which tell of
personal tribulation for those who follow Jesus are: Acts 14:22b,
"...and
that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of
God." This statement was made by some of
the Apostles, who knew that they were to go through personal
tribulation. Romans 5:3, "And not only so, but
we glory in tribulation also: knowing that tribulation worketh
patience;" This indicates that personal tribulation
can be good for us.
Some other places where tribulation is
mentioned in the Bible include: Romans 12:12, "Rejoicing in hope;
patient
in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;" II Corinthinans
1:4, "Who comforteth us in all our tribulations...,"
Ephesians 3:13, "Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my
tribulations...," and II Thessalonians 1:4, "So that we
ourselves glory in you in the churches of God, for your patience and
faith in all your persecutions and tribulations
that ye endure."
These are not all the references to tribulation to be found in the Bible, but are representative of them.
Both the Bible and history record that the
early church suffered much personal tribulation, and in fact, such
persecution was not unique to the early church. Even today, persecution
and tribulation continues in many parts
of the world. However, the kind of tribulation that is common
throughout history is not the subject of this writing.
Not all tribulation found in the Bible is "great
tribulation." But Jesus, in the Olivet discourse of
Matthew 24,
Mark 13 and luke 21, did predict a time of "great tribulation,"
and that is what this writing is about.
"For then shall be great tribulation, such as
was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever
shall be." Matthew 24:21.
The word for tribulation, used here, is
"thlipsis," followed by the word "megale," meaning "great." In Mark 13,
it is rendered "affliction:" "For in those days shall be affliction
such as was not from the beginning of the creation
which God created unto this time, neither shall be." Mark
13:19. This is the same Greek word used for
"tribulation" in Matthew 24:21.
It is from these two Scriptures that the end-time doctrines of the "great tribulation" originate.
Several other Scriptures in the Bible use the
word "thlipsis," referring to "tribulation," but not to a specific
period of time."Great tribulation" is named twice in the
book of the Revelation (2:22 and 7:14), and
"tribulation" is mentioned in Revelation 1:9. We will discuss these
verses later, to show how they relate to
the "great tribulation" of Matthew 24:21.
Matthew 24:29 says: "...after the
tribulation of those days...," and Mark 13:24 says:
"...after that tribulation...."
Both of these Scriptures refer to a specific time
of tribulation, the worst since the beginning of the world, found
in Matthew 24:21. The entire prophecy of the "great tribulation"
is contained in seven verses, Matthew 24:15-21.
Let's lay aside our preconceived ideas and prejudices, and let Scripture and history speak for themselves.
With a lot of people, this subject is
an emotionalone and many are resistant to change. But if we
are believing
something that is contrary to the truth and it can be clearly shown that
it is incorrect, shouldn't we be willing to
investigate it. It's the truth
that will set you free.
There are over 60 "time-statements"
connected with these prophecies of Jesus, and if the prophecies
have
not come true, He would be a false
prophetaccording to the Bible definition found in Deuteronomy 18:22.
Click here to read Deuteronomy 18:22
When did Jesus promise to return?
Jesus didn't promise to
return in 2000 years. The time statements found in
the Bible tell us a
different story. They repeatedly
tell of events that must SOON come to pass. 2000 years later
is NOT soon. He said these events would occur in THAT
generation, before some of the
people living at that time died.
These events did come to pass, within the 40 years following His statements.
I challenge all futurists to try to explain away the following 67 very clear time statements!
TIME STATEMENTS
CONCERNING THE TIME OF THE END
The Bible contains numerous statements
in Scripture as to when the "end" would
come. They are not specific
as to the day or the hour, but give a generational
guideline. Jesus made many of these statements himself, and
the writers of other books in the New
Testament did likewise.
Are we to ignore our Lord and believe what men say instead?
Think of how it would have been if you were there,
hearing the very words of Jesus or His apostles. When
would
you have thought these things were going to
happen? Two thousand years later? Did Jesus and
His apostles
deliberately deceive everyone? Of
course not. It happened exactly as Jesus predicted.
Lets look at some of these time statements and you'll see what we mean:
1. Matthew 10:23, Jesus said: "But whenever they persecute
you in this city, flee to the next; for truly I say to you,
you shall not finish going through
the cities of Israel, until the Son of Man comes. .
2. Matthew 24:34, Jesus said: "Truly I say to you, this
generation will not pass away until all these
things take
place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words
shall not pass away.
--Comment: Jesus had just told them about the
destruction of the Temple and the great tribulation that was to come
upon Jerusalem.
In Luke 11:49-51 Jesus said: "For this reason also the
wisdom of God said, 'I will send to them prophets and apostles,
and some of
them they will kill and some they will persecute,
in order that the blood of all the prophets, shed since the
foundation of the world, may
be charged against this generation, from
the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the
altar and the house
of God; yes, I tell you, it
shall be charged against this generation." This
was NOT speaking of a future generation!
3. Matthew 26:64, Jesus said to him, "You have said it
yourself; nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you
shall see
the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming
on the clouds of heaven."
---Notice the word "YOU," indicating those listening to him at that time.
4. Romans 13:12, The night is almost gone, and
the day is at hand. Let us therefore lay
aside the deeds of
darkness and put on the armor of light.
- -Comment: When He said the "night is almost gone,"
what does that mean to you? What does "at hand
mean?" Does it mean
down the road 2000 years?
5. Romans 16:20, And the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.
--Comment: What does soon mean?
6. 1 Corinthians 7:26-31, I think the that this is good in
view of the present distress, that it is good for a man
to remain as he is.
7. 1 Corinthians 10:11, Now these things happened to them as
examples, and they were written for our
instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.
--Comment: When it says "our instruction" it is not
referring to us today, it was Paul who was saying it to the people at
Corinth.
But when most people read it, they assume it is for our
instruction today. The "ends of the ages" came upon them.
8. Titus 2:11-13 "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing
salvation to all men, 12 instructing us to deny
ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and
godly in the present age, 13 looking for
the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great
God and Savior, Christ Jesus;"
--Comment: He didn't say
instructing you, he said us,and he also
said "in the present age," which doesn't mean some future
age as the futurist try to
tell us, and he summed it up with "looking for the blessed hope"
and the "appearing" of the glory of
our great "God and Savior, Christ Jesus." These
scriptures are all written right together. I
didn't gather a bunch of isolated
scriptures and fit them together to say
this. It's right there in your Bible. Please look
it up and read it for yourself. Today most
Christians believe their blessed hope is the
"rapture." The word "rapture" is not
in the Bible.
9. Hebrews 1:2, in these last days has spoken
to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through
whom also He made the world.
--Comment: The writer of Hebrews was identifying hisday as "these last days." Was he confused or disillusioned? I hardly think so.
10. Hebrews 9:26, Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer
often since the foundation of the world; but now
once at the consummation, He has been manifested to put
away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.
--Comment: The Greek word translated "consummation" means "to complete entirely." What does the word "now" mean to you?
11. Hebrews 10:25&37 not forsaking our own assembling
together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging
one another; and all the more, as you see the day drawing
near. 37. FOR YET IN A VERY
LITTLE WHILE, HE WHO
IS COMING WILL COME, AND WILL NOT DELAY.
12. 1 John 12:35, ". . . For a little while longer. . .
13. John 14:19, "After a little while the world will behold Me no more;"
- -Comment: What does a "little while"
longer mean? Does it mean 2000 years? The Greek
word for little is "mikros," meaning:
"small." The Greek word for "while" is "chronos"
meaning: "a space of time." Can you argue with this time
statement? Of course not.
So why do you argue against all the others that have to
do with the time of the end?
14. James 5:8-7 Be patient, therefore brethren, until the
coming of the Lord. 8. You too be patient; strengthen
your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.
9. Do not complain, brethren, against one another, that you
yourselves may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing
right at the door.
15. 1 Peter 4:5, "but they shall give account to Him who is ready
to judge the living and the dead. 6. for the
gospel has for this purpose been preached
even to those who are dead.
16. 1 Peter 4:7, The end of all things is at
hand; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit
for the
purpose of prayer.
17. 1 John 2:8, On the other hand, I am writing a new
commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you,
because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already
shining.
18. 1 John 2:17-18, And the world is passing
away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of
God
abides forever. 18. Children, it is the last hour;
and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many
antichrists
have arisen; from this we know that it is the
last hour.
--Comment: The prediction of "antichrist" is only
found in 1 John and 2 John, and he said "many antichrists had arisen
[past
tense], back in the time between the crucifixion of
Christ and A.D. 70. See our page on "The Antichrist."
19. Revelation 1:1 "The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God
gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the
things which must shortly
take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His
bond-servant John,"
Comment: What do you think? Does shortly indicate a long time?
20. Revelation 1:3, Blessed is he who reads and those who
hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the
things which are written in it; for the time is near.
21. Revelation 3:10-11 'Because you have kept the word of My
perseverance, I also will keep you from the
hour of testing, that hourwhich is about to
come upon the whole (inhabitable) world, to test those who dwell
upon the earth (soil).
--Comment: This verse uses the Greek word "Mello,"
which means "about to." The words in parenthesis are
added by me.
They are the Greek meanings of the words which are not
translated in the English versions. The word used for "world," is the
Greek
"oikoumene" which means habitable
earth or the Roman Empire. The Greek word translated earth
here is the word "Ge" which
means "soil." These words show that we are not
talking about the whole world as the text would suggest and as
many people
believe and teach. More on this later.
22. Revelation 22:10, And he says to me, Seal not the words
of the prophecy of this book; because the
time is near.
23. Revelation 22:6, And he said to me, These words are
faithful and true and the Lord God of the holy
prophets sent his angel to show his bondmen the things which must
come to pass soon.
24. Revelation 22:7,12,20, Behold, I am coming quickly.
25. John 16:13, "He will disclose to you what is to come."
--Comment: What was John expecting to come? Must have been a very important event to be mentioned in this way.
26. Galatians 1:4, ". . .that He might deliver us out of this present evil age. . ."
27. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 ". . .and may your spirit
and soul and body be preserved complete, without
blame at the coming (parousia = presence) of our Lord
Jesus Christ." 24." . . .He will bring it to pass. . ."
--Comment: Paul was praying for his then present
listeners that their bodies would be preserved
complete at the coming of our
Lord etc. Sounds like a soon coming event.
28. 2 Thessalonians 1:6 ". . . relief to you and us
. . . 7. ". . .when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed
(Apokalupsis: disclosure) from heaven with His mighty angels in
flaming fire. . ."
--Comment: Here Paul included himself. Relief
to you and us when the Lord shall be revealed.
Something Paul was expecting to happen within the
lifetime of some of those present.
29. John 12:31, "Now
is the time for judgment on this world, now
the prince of this world will be driven out.
But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all
men unto myself." 32. "But He was saying this to indicate
the kind of death by which He was to die." (In other
words, that He would die on a cross.)
- -Comment: The word that is translated "now"
is the Greek word "nun" which means: "presently" or
"immediately." So when
was the judgment to come on the world? Jesus said "NOW." Is
that what He meant? When was the prince of this world (which
we all believe to be Satan) to be driven out?" Was it to be 2000 years later? That's what the futurists say.
30. Luke 18:31, . . .will He delay long over them? Delay
is the Greek word "tachos," meaning, "in a very short
time," "a brief space (of time)," "in haste," "fleet."
Mello
There are many time statements in the Bible that use the same Greek word, "Mello."
Here is the definition::
(3195) me>llw, — mel’-lo; a strengthened form of (3199)
(me>lw) (through the idea of expectation); to intend,
i.e. be about to be, do, or suffer something (of persons or
things, especially events; in the sense of
purpose, duty, necessity, probability, possibility, or hesitation):
This is the Strong's Concordance definition, but some futurists
argue that it does not always mean about to.
I have searched the scriptures for other places that the word "Mello"
is used that do not necessarily apply to
the "end times. Those verses are listed below, and plainly show
that the meaning is consistently "about to be."
Some good examples of the urgency of the word "Mello"
are found in two chapters of the book of John and
several verses in Acts and Romans. There are many other examples
to be found throughout the New
Testament. You will see from these verses how the word was consistently
used to convey immediacy! But
when our Bibles were translated, the translators chose to remove the
immediacy and merely say that these
things were going to happen, not that they were about
to happen. To see the real meaning of "mello," read
through these examples.
Next,
we will list the verses that use the word "mello," meaning "about to..." that apply specifically
to the
destruction of Jerusalem and events related to the coming of the Lord.
31. Matthew 3:7 "But when he saw many of the Pharisees and
Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them,
"Brood of vipers! Who has warned you to flee from the wrath about
to come."
--Comment: What wrath was he talking about? How
about the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in A.D. 70 which
Jesus
prophesied and most Christians today don't know about?
32. Matthew 12:32 "Anyone who speaks a word against the Son
of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever
speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in
this age or in the age about to come."
(also Luke 21:7)
33. Matthew 16:27 "For the Son of man is about to come
in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then
He will reward each according to his works."
34. Matthew 24:6 "And you are about to hear of
wars and rumours of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all
must come to pass, but the end is not yet."
35. Mark 13:4 "Tell us when will these things be? And
what will be the sign when all these things should be
about
to be accomplished." NIV says "about to be fulfilled."
36. Luke 3:7 "Then He said to the multitudes that came out
to be baptized by him, "Brood of vipers! Who warned
you to flee from the wrath about to come" (NIV
footnote wrong concerning two fulfillments, this is precluded
by Matthew 24:21.)
37. Luke 19:11 "Now as they heard these things, He spoke
another parable, because He was near Jerusalem and
because they thought the kingdom of God was immediately about to
be manifested."
38. Luke 21:36 "Watch therefore, and pray always that you
may be counted worthy to escape all these things which
are about to come to pass, and to stand before
the Son of Man."
39. John 14:22 'Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, "Lord,
what has occurred that to us you are about to manifest
yourself and not to the world?"'
40. Romans 5:14, "but death reigned from Adam until Moses
even upon those who had not sinned in the likeness of
the transgression of Adam, who is a figure of the one about to
(mello) come.
41. Romans 8:13, "For if according to flesh you live, you are about to (mello) die."
42. Acts 17:31 "because He has appointed a day in which He is
about to judge the habitable world in righteousness
by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this
to all by raising Him from the dead."
43. Acts 24:25 'Now as he reasoned about
righteousness, self-control, and the judgment about to be,
Felix was
afraid and answered, "Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I
will call for you."'
44. Acts 26:22-23 "I have stood bearing witness both to
small and to great, saying nothing else than what both the
prophets and Moses said was to happen, whether Christ should suffer;
whether first through resurrection of [the]
dead is about to announce light to the people and to
the nations."
45. Romans 4:23 & 24 "Now it was not written for his
sake alone that it was imputed to him, but also on account
of us to whom it is about to be imputed, who
believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead,"
46. Romans 8:18 "For I consider that the sufferings of this
present time are not worthy to be compared with the
glory about to be revealed in us."
47. Romans 8:38 "For I am persuaded that neither death nor
life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor
things present nor things about to be, nor height nor
depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate
us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
48. 1 Corinthians 3:21 & 22 "Therefore let no one glory
in men. For all things are yours: 22. whether Paul or
Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or things present or
things about to come all are yours."
49. Ephesians 1:20-21 "which He worked in Christ when He
raised Him from the dead and seated at His right
hand in the heavenlies 21 far above all principality and power and
might and dominion, and every name that is
named, not only in this age, but also in the one about to
come."
50. Colossians 2:17 "which were a shadow of things about to come, but the substance is Christ."
51. 1 Thessalonians 3:4 "For in fact, we told you before
when we were with you that we were about to suffer
tribulation, just as it happened, and you know."
52. 1 Timothy 4:6, "For I am already being
poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has
come."
--Comment: We know that Paul was put to death shortly after this. "Already" meant what it said. So did "time of my departure."
53. 1 Timothy 4:8 "For bodily exercise profits a little, but
godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of
the life that now is and of that which is about to come."
54. 1 Timothy 6:18 & 19 "Let them do good, that
they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, 19
storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time about to
come, that they may lay hold on eternal life."
55. Hebrews 1:14 "Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those being about to inherit salvation."
56. Hebrews 2:5 "For He has not put the world which is about to come, of which we speak, in subjection to angels.."
57. Hebrews 6:5 "and have tasted the good word of God and the power of the age about to come"
58. Hebrews 9:11 "But Christ came as High Priest of the good things about to come."
59. Hebrews 10:27 "but a certain fearful expectation of
judgment, and fiery indignation being about to consume
the
adversaries."
60. Hebrews 13:14 "For we have no continuing city, but we seek the one about to come"
61. James 2:12 "So speak and do as those being about to be judged by law of liberty."
62. 1 Peter 3:22, "Christ who is at the right hand of God,
having gone into the heavens after angels and
authorities
and powers had been subjected to Him.
63. 1 Peter 4:13, "but to the degree that you share the
sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing; so that also at the
revelation of His glory, you may rejoice
with exultation.
--Comment: This epistle (letter) was written to
people alive at that time and he was specifically
addressing them saying YOU may
rejoice at the relevation of His glory.
64. 1 Peter 4:17, "For it is time for judgment to begin
with the household of God; and if it begins with us first,
what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
65. 1 Peter 5:1 "The elders who are among you I exhort, I
who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings
of Christ, and also partaker of the glory about to be
revealed:"
66. Revelations 1:19 "Write the things which you have seen,
and the things which are, and the things which are
about to take place after this."
67. Revelations 3:10 "Because you have kept My command to
perservere, I also will keep you from the hour of
trial which is about to come upon the whole habitable
world, to test those who dwell on the land."
Honestly now, do these Scriptures sound like they are going
to be fulfilled in two thousand years,
or were they
imminent at the time they were spoken? The number
of these statements is overwhelming, too many to
ignore
or dismiss lightly as the futurist do. And this is not an
exhaustive list, there are dozens more of them that I haven't
located yet.
It's an on-going thing with me, locating time statements in the
Bible, and they show up at some very unexpected
places. You can read a scripture a hundred times and not see something
that is in it. I just noticed a time statement
in Matthew 24:21 that I had overlooked.
I have been pointing out that this scriptures says that the great
tribulation can only happen once, because it says
"for then there will be a great tribulation such as has
not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor
ever shall." That precludes more than one fulfillment of
the great tribulation, but the time statement I had overlooked
was the word "now." It designates that
period as a pivotal time for the occurrence of the great
tribulation.
Although Jesus had said "then" earlier in this scripture, the word
"now" nails it down to the transition period
between the past and the future.
Greg Kiser and I were discussing this on the phone and he was using
the KJV while I was using the NASB.
There is a difference in that the KJV says "until this time,"
and the NASB says "until now." So this led me
to the Strong's Concordance. I looked up the word "time" listed
for that verse and here is what I found: The Greek
word was "Kairos" {2540} and the meaning: occasion, i.e.
set or proper time: Then I looked up "this" to see
what they had for it. It was the word "nun" {3568} which
means "now," as adverb of date, a transition or
emphasis, "present or immediate:" Since this word
meant "now," I wondered what the word "time" was
doing
there, so I looked in the Greek text and it wasn't there. The
word "kairos" is not there at all.
This is a Strong's mistake, of taking the KJV and listing a word
that wasn't in the Greek text. Actually in the
Greek text it says: "until the now." It designates
a present or immediate event. It is definitely
another of the
many time statements. We have listed sixty-seven
(67) of them here, there are likely many more in the Bible.
Lets review some of these
time-statements in a briefer form:
In reference to the idea of Christ setting up a kingdom on earth:
John 18:36, Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this
world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My
servants would be fighting that I might not be delivered up to the
Jews, but as it is, My kingdom is not of this
realm."
Jesus told his disciples:
Luke 17:20, "The kingdom of God is not coming with signs
to be observed; 21. nor will they say, 'Look,
here it is!' or 'There it is!' For behold, the kingdom of God is
within you."
The realm of the kingdom of God is a Spiritual kingdom and not a
natural one. It now exists in the hearts of all
the Christians on earth. The greatest hinderance to the kingdom
of God is the belief that it is still not here, but is
coming sometime in the future.
Colossians 1:27: "Christ in you, the hope of glory."
At any rate, can we just ignore the "time statements?" I DON'T THINK SO.
These are the renderings of these scriptures which use the word
"Mello" from the Greek text in an Interlinear
Bible. Do these sound vague and distant, or something that
was going to happen very soon?
John 6:6, "But this He said trying him for he knew what he was about to do.
John 6:15, "Jesus therefore, knowing that they are about to come and seize him. . .
John 6:71, "But he spoke of Judas Simon's [son] Iscariote, for he was about to deliver him up. . .
John 7:35, "Is He about to go to the dispersion among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks?
Acts 32, "And a certain man, his being lame from his mother's womb,
was being carried, whom they placed
daily at the door of the temple called Beautiful, to ask alms
from those who were going into the temple, who
seeing Peter and John being about to (mello) enter into
the temple. . ."
Acts 5:35, "And said to them, men, Israelites, take heed to
yourselves as regards these men what you are
about to (mello) do, for before these days rose up
Theudas, offering himself to be somebody, to whom were
joined a number of men . . . who was put to death, and all . . .
persuaded by him were dispersed."
Acts 11:28, "And having risen up from among them, Agabus, by name,
he signified by the Spirit, A great famine
is about to (mello) be over the whole habitable earth
which also came to pass under Claudius Caesar."
Acts 13:34, "And that he raised him from among [the] dead, no more
to be about to (mello) return to corruption,
thus he spoke: I will give you the faithful mercies of David."
Acts 18:14, "But Paul, being about to (mello) open
[his] mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, If indeed therefore it
was some unrighteousness or wicked criminality, O Jews, according to
reason, I should have borne with you,
15 but if a question it be about a word and names and a law which [is]
among you, you will see [to it] yourselves,
" for a judge of these things I do not wish to be."
--Comment: Was Paul going to open his mouth 2000
years from then? Isn't it silly to try to put off what was said
to be about to
happen, just to make your erroneous theology work out?
There were men at Ephesus who made silver shrines to the goddess
Diana. As Paul was preaching the gospel
there these men got upset and said in:
Acts 19:27, "Now not only is this dangerous to us [lest] the
business come into disrepute, but also the temple of
the great goddess Artemis (KJV says "Diana") for nothing be reckoned,
and the majesty of her is about to
(mello) be destroyed, whom all Asia and the habitable world worship."
Acts 20:3, "And having continued three months, having been made
against them a plot by the Jews being about
to (mello) sail into Syria . . ."
Could this happen 2000 years later?
Acts 20:13, "But we having gone before to the ship sailed to Assos,
being about there to (mello) take in,
Paul,
for so he had appointed himself being about to (mello)
go on foot.
Its obvious that both of these were about to occur immediately.
Acts 21:37, "But being about to (mello) be brought into the fortress, Paul . . ."
Acts 22:16, "And now why delayest (mello) them?" (Reverse meaning).
Acts 22:29, "Immediately therefore departed from him those being about
to (mello) examine him, and the
chief captain also was afraid, having ascertained that a Roman he is
and because he bound him."
Acts 23:3 'Then Paul said to him, "God is about to
smite you, whitewashed wall! For you sit to judge me
according to the law, and do you command me to be struck contrary to
the law?"'
Acts 23:15, "Now therefore you make a representation to the chief
captain with the sanhedrim, so that tomorrow
him he may bring down to you, as being about to (mello)
examine more accurately the things concerning him, and
we, . . ."
Acts 23:20, "And he said, the Jews agreed to request you that
tomorrow into the sanhedrim you may bring down
Paul, as being about to (mello) inquire something more
accurately concerning him."
Acts 23:27, "This man, having been seized by the Jews, and being about to (mello) be put to death by them, . . ."
---Comment: They couldn't put him to death 2000 years later.
Acts 25:4, "Festus therefore answered, Paul should be kept at
Caesarea, and himself was about to (mello)
shortly set out."
Acts 26:2, "Concerning all of which I am accused by Jews, king
Agrippa, I esteem myself happy being about to
(mello) make defense before you today. . ."
That's pretty immediate!
Acts 26:22, "And therefore having obtained from God unto this day I
have stood, bearing witness both to small
and to great, nothing else saying, than what both the prophets and
Moses said, was about to (mello) happen,
whether Christ should suffer; . . ."
Acts 27:2, "And having gone on board a ship of Adramyttium about
to (mello) navigate the places along Asia we
set sail, being with us Aristarchus a Macedonian of Thessalonica."
Acts 27:9b, 10, "Paul exhorted them saying, men, I percieve that the
voyage is about to (mello) be with disaster
and much loss not only of the cargo and of the ship but also of our
lives."
Acts 27:30, "But the sailors seeking to flee out of the ship and
having let down the boat into the sea, with pretext
as from [the] prow being about to (mello) cast out
anchors, Paul said to the Centurion and to the soldiers. . ."
When a viper (snake) had come out of the wood that Paul had gathered
to start a fire and it had latched onto his
hand, the scriptures says in:
Acts 28:6, "But they were expecting him to be about to
(mello) become inflamed or to fall down suddenly dead."
Again something that was expected to happen immediately.
--Comment: The following
are more time statement scriptures which use the word "Mello"
that have to do with what Jesus called the
"end." This word demands a more imminent
rendering than what we find in our translations such as KJV, NASB, NIV,
etc.
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