What is a Preterist ?
by James B. Hartline
If you were to look up the word "preterist" in your dictionary, you might not find it at all. It is from the Latin word praeteritus, meaning "past" or "gone by." Used in this context, it simply identifies a person who believes the fulfillment of the prophecy of Jesus given on the Mount of Olives, commonly called "The Olivet Discourse," is past history. Preterists believe that all or most of these prophecies of Jesus have already been fulfilled. Futurism, on the other hand, is the belief that most of those prophecies are yet to be fulfilled. The futurist view is that none, or very few of the prophecies of Jesus have been fulfilled to this day.
What's wrong with the futurist point of view?
Futurism has too many unanswerable questions which are absolutely resolved when viewing prophecy from the past or "preterist" perspective. TRUTH is what Christianity is all about. I do not have all the answers, but I do have a lot of them! There are still many puzzling scriptures and a lack of recorded history in some time periods making it difficult to understand everything, but there are many more puzzles for futurists which will never be truthfully resolved from the futurist perspective.
I continue to study to understand more about the truth of God's word and what I know, I will share. The following are some of the reasons I had to change my position from futurist to preterist.
My change from the futurist to the preterist perspective actually, occurred in 1983 as a result of my studies in the Bible and history which began in 1978. The Preterist point of view is not a FAD, nor is it a cult, as some futurist have claimed, neither is it a new denomination or religion. It is simply a matter of accepting the TRUTH as established by the facts.The preterist view has been around many centuries. A number of the early writers of Christian literature were preterists.
"I did not simply choose to take the "preterist" point of view on
eschatology, I came to this vantage point out of the
dictates of scripture and historical facts."
# 1 - This Generation
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. "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone." Matthew 24:34-36.
Even when I believed futurist, that scripture troubled me. I could never find any authority for the long "gap" that futurists place between the generation contemporary with Jesus and some distant future generation. Speaking on the Mount of Olives, Jesus said it would ALL take place in that generation. He said He did not know the day or hour, but He did announce the generation, and most Bible scholars have overlooked it.
After studying every place in the New Testament that uses the phrase "this generation," I had to come to the realization that Jesus meant the generation that was alive on the earth when He spoke those words. That is what I believe. If you want to argue against that, you can't find a leg to stand on, scripturally speaking.
Futurists try to tell us that He meant the generation that is alive when all the signs take place. He didn't say that. He said "This" generation, meaning the generation in which He was living. How can you make something else out of that?
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 and some 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.
There is no Biblical authority for saying it is any other than that generation in which Jesus lived on this earth. But even if you believe that it is the generation when the signs take place, if you study in the Bible and in history of the forty years following His prophecy, you still have to come to the same conclusion that it was that generation. All the signs did take place in that generation, so the end result is the same.
The next question that usually comes to mind is, "how long is a generation." Actually, after thinking it through, Jesus was not talking about a full generation, just the finishing of the generation of the people who were listening to Him. From several scriptures in the Bible we can determine that from adult-hood (about 30 years,) the finishing of a generation is about 40 years (70 years total). If Jesus was crucified by A.D. 30-33, then A.D. 70 would be approximately 40 years and would be near the end of that generation of those he was addressing.
# 2 - Time Statements
During His earthly ministry, Jesus made many statements that indicated that the time of His return was very near. After He ascended, his disciples continued to make many similar statements. There are too many of these statements to just ignore them. If you do that, you might as well ignore the whole Bible. So let's review 35 of these time-statements that showed His coming to be imminent at that time:
1. "You shall not finish" going through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes,
Matthew 10:23.
2. "This Generation" shall not pass until all these things take place, Matthew 24:34.
3. . . . ."will He delay long over them?" Luke 18:31.
[Delay is the Greek word "tachos," meaning, "in a very short time," "a brief space (of time)," "in haste," "fleet."]
4. . . .some standing here who shall not taste death until they see the kingdom of god. Luke 9:26
5. . . .you may have strength to escape all these things that are "about" to take place, Luke 21:36.
6."Now is the time for judgment on this world, now the prince of this world will be driven out, John 12:31..
7. For yet a very "little while" longer the light is among you, John 12:35.
When Jesus said a very "little while," did he mean 2000 years? [This scripture is given as an example, and was not spoken of His return.]
8. . . ."and the God of peace will Soon crush satan under your feet," Romans 16:20.
9. . . . "knowing the that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep;" Romans 13:11.
10. . . ."the night is almost gone, and the day is at hand," Romans 13:12.
11. . . . "in view of the Present distress," 1 Corinthians 7:26-31.
12. . . ."upon whom the ends of the ages have come," 1 Corinthians 10:11.
13. . . ."Maranatha,"1 Corinthians 16:22.
According to Strong's Concordance, the word Maranatha means "an exclamation of the approaching divine judgment."
14. . . ."that He might deliver us out of this present evil age. . ."Galatians 1:4.
15. . . ."we who are alive and remain," 1 Thessalonians 4:15.
Can you see that he is not talking about us in the 21st century? He said "we" who are "alive" and remain, not "those" who are alive and remain.
16. . . ."and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming (parousia = presence) of our Lord Jesus Christ, " 1 Thessalonians 5:23.
[Notice that when he said "your" body he was speaking to specific individuals of Thessalonica, not to some future generation. He expected (correctly) that the coming would be in his generation.
Look at this one:
17. "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus;" Titus 2:11-13
--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.
18. . . ."in these last days," Hebrews 1:2.
19. "Now once, at the consummation. . ." Hebrews 9:26.
20. . ."the day drawing near (approaching)," Hebrews 10:25.
21. "For yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry."Hebrews 10:37.
22. . . ."the coming of the Lord is at hand," James 5:8-7.
23. "The judge is standing right at the door," James 5:8-7.
24. "The end of all things is at hand, 1 Peter 4:7.
25. . . ."true light is already shining," 1 John 2:8.
26. . . ."the world is passing away". . . 1 John 2:17-18.
27. . . ."it is the last hour. . ." 1 John 2:17-18.
28. . . ."from this we know that it is the last hour," 1 John 2:17-18.
29. . . ."Shortly come to pass," Revelation 1:1.
30. . . ."for the time is near," Revelation 1:3.
31. . . ."or else I will come unto thee Quickly," Revelation 2:5,2:16.
32. . . ."hour of testing . . .which is about to come". . .Revelation 3:10-11.
33. . . ."time is near," Revelation 22:10.
34. . . ."must come to pass soon," Revelation 22:6.
35. . . ."quickly," Revelation 22:7,12,20.
Honestly now, do these 35 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, and this is not an exhaustive list, there are more, too many to ignore or dismiss lightly as the futurist do. If you are not persuaded by these scriptures, you really don't want to accept the truth.
Resurrection
Even concerning resurrection, there are time statements. There is a scripture that I found in the Greek text that has not been translated correctly in any of the Bibles I have checked. These include the KJV, NASB, NIV, NENT, Living, RSV and others. The scripture is Acts 24:15.
In the KJV reads, "And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust."
That translation does not give the full import of the urgency of the Greek text. Here is the rendering of the Greek to English in an Interlinear:
"I confess but this to you, that according to the way which they say (is) a sect, thus I worship the ancestral God, believing all the things as to the Law and the Prophets having been written having hope toward God, which also these admit, a resurrection being about to be of (the) dead of both just and unjust."
There is a lot of difference between "there shall be" and "about to be." One is something that could happen anytime and the other is something that must happen very soon. When this statement was made, sometimes before A.D. 70, there was about to be a resurrection.
The Greek word is "mello," which according to Strong's Concordance means: "to be about to be." Berry's Interlinear renders it this way: "a hope having in God, which also they themselves receive, [that] a resurrection is about to be of [the] dead, both of just and unjust." That's what it says in the Greek text. Please check any Interlinear and you will see.
Here is another example of the use of the word "mello." In Acts 28:6, when Paul was being taken to Rome, and they were ship-wrecked on an island called Melitene. Paul had gathered a quantity of sticks and laid on the fire, when a viper (snake) came out from the heat and fastened on his hand, they said one to another, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped from the sea, yet Justice hath not suffered to live. Howbeit he shook off the creature into the fire, and took no harm. But they expected that he would have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly: but when they were long in expectation and beheld nothing amiss come to him, they changed their minds, and said he was a god.
The above scripture uses the same Greek word "mello" and in the Greek text it actually says in verse 6. "But they were expecting him to be about to (mello) become inflamed or to fall down suddenly dead." Is death from a poisonous snake something that will take place 2000 years later?
It did not take them long to change their minds, because he lived on past the time that he should have died from the snake bite. You don't say that something is about to be unless it is about to be.
The Bible is either true, or we are all lost.
Scripture says there was a resurrection of many of the saints of old when Jesus was crucified:
"And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, 52 and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and 53 coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many." Matthew 27:51.
Jesus is the resurrection and the life. But the above scripture was written after His resurrection, but before A.D. 70. A resurrection around A. D. 70 makes perfectly good sense. This was the end of the taking away of the Old Covenant and the fulfillment of the promises made to the saints of old as well as the disciples and apostles. All of the apostles except John were dead by A. D. 70.
How does this relate to us today? What happens to us when we die, if the resurrection has already occurred? Those of us born after that time, I believe, simply live out our lives and if we belong to the Lord, when we die we will be ushered into His everlasting kingdom and we shall forever be with the Lord. Of course, spiritually speaking, we are already in His kingdom.
For more information on the "endtimes" go to:
#3 - The Words of Jesus
The Second and most important reason I came to the preterist view is that the events that Jesus foretold on the Mount of Olives, which He called "great tribulation," given in a very precise order and with great detail, came to pass exactly as He predicted. Many of the events leading up to the final destruction are recorded in the Bible. I am speaking of things such as famine, (Acts 11:28, in the reign of Claudius) earthquakes, (Acts 16:26, Rev. 6-12, etc.) pestilence (which Josephus said occurred in the A. D. 70 period), apostasy (2 Tim. 2:17), persecution of the followers of Jesus, etc.
History
In the year A.D. 66, Cestius Gallus brought his huge Roman army and surrounded Jerusalem. He besieged the city for some time, then retreated while he was winning the battle.
Flavius Josephus, writing in his history of that time period, said there was "no reason in the world" for his retreat however, I know a very good reason. Jesus had told His disciples that when they saw armies surrounding Jerusalem to flee to the hills. The retreat of Cestius gave them the opportunity and this they did. According to Eusebius, the church's greatest historian, they went about 100 miles to Pella in Decapolis and remained there until the danger was past. According to Eusebius, there was not one Christian killed in Jerusalem during this siege.
Titus
Then there were "wars and rumors of wars" all over the area, up until A.D. 70, when Titus formed his hugh Roman army around Jerusalem, built a siege wall that was 50 miles around and besieged the city until it was completely destroyed. He cut off all supplies and the sacrifice had to cease because of scarcity of animals. Famine and pestilence were the result of the isolation of Jerusalem and the people fell by the Roman sword as Jesus had predicted. It all came about between A.D. 66 and A.D. 73.
Actually the tribulation period began at Masada when the Jews attacked the Romans there and it ended seven years later at Masada when the Romans came to kill the Jews that were there. When the Jews heard that the Romans were on their way, they committed mass suicide so they would not die at the hands of the Romans. One woman and her children hid away and are said to have been the only survivors.
I know that the events that occurred during the time between 66 and 73 A.D. fulfilled the prophecies of Jesus called the "Olivet Discourse." It has to be. If not, we would never recognize a fulfillment when it did occur.
Then, in Matthew 24:21, Jesus said: "for then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall be."
What does that mean, "has not occurred since the beginning of the world until NOW, nor ever shall be?"
It means that the great tribulation was a ONE TIME event. It could happen only ONCE!
How plain can it be stated? Those events all occurred in the A.D. 70 period. They are well recorded historical facts.
Not only did they occur, but the fulfillment came about in the exact sequence that Jesus said. This is one of the greatest testimonies of Jesus that we could ever have. All of His prophecies came about EXACTLY as He foretold. That makes Him a true prophet. He can be nothing less.
The Futurist view puts the fulfillment of the prophecies of Jesus in the yet future. If that were true, He would be a FALSE PROPHET, because He said before all that generation died, ALL His prophecies would have been fulfilled. I am absolutely convinced they were fulfilled.
# 4 - When was the Gospel preached into all the world for a witness?
"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 Matthew 24:14 was not referring to the end of the world itself. It was speaking of the end of the the age of the Old Covenant and Judiasm, the seat of which was Jerusalem and the Temple.
If A. D. 70 was the fulfillment of the end of the age, then the Gospel would have to have been preached into all the world for a witness before A. D. 70.
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.
In the very middle of telling them they would be delivered up to be persecuted He states that the gospel must first be published among all nations, then He continued with the same subject of when they would be delivered up. Do you think that Jesus was a scatter brain? He knew what He was saying. The problem is our understanding, not Jesus and how He stated it.
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 forewarns His people through His prophets before doing anything (Amos 3:7).
The Jews were given almost forty years, after they killed Jesus, to repent and escape the destruction, but they would not. "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 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. It did not mean the whole earth. Look it up in Strong's Concordance.
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."
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 whole world.
#5 - 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 nation (Gentiles) in progress:
1. "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.
2. The Bible, 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 went 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) went out into all the habitable earth, at that time.
3. 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.
4. Yet another 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 Jerusalem 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.
5. In Acts 19:10 it says that all in Asia heard.
6. In Acts 13:49 It says that the . . .word. . .spread through the whole region. . .
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.
# 6 - Gabriel is on the Preterist Side
Note:
I will be making many references to Daniel chapter 9, verses 24-27, so I am putting that text first:
Daniel 9:24-27. KJV
24. Seventy weeks [literally seventy "sevens"] are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
25. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks [seven "sevens"], and threescore and two weeks [sixty-two "sevens"]: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
26. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not from 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.
27. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
Gabriel
Futurists believe that Daniel 9 is yet to be fulfilled, but a study of this chapter reveals much light on the truth of this matter:
In Daniel Chapter 9, the angel Gabriel came to Daniel in a vision after Daniel had been praying for a long time. The angel told him of what was going to come to pass in the future. This is the word of the Lord, delivered to a prophet of God, by an angel of God. The Bible says that the word of angels proved unalterable (Hebrews 2:2), so it is very important that we understand it.
Gabriel told Daniel that the temple would be restored and built, following a certain decree, then after seven "sevens" (49 years) and sixty two "sevens" (434 years) (a total of 483 years) Messiah would come. Messiah would then be cut off and after that the temple and the city would be destroyed again. This is a continuous prophecy and is an overview of nearly five hundred years, with no gaps. The words "restore and build" indicates an earlier destruction. So when did that earlier destruction occur?
In fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon took Jerusalem about 605 B.C. The temple was destroyed in 587 B.C. by the Babylonians and still lay desolate at the time of Gabriel's appearance to Daniel.
The decree to build is a little complicated, because there were three decrees. The first, by Cyrus, predates Gabriel's visit to Daniel. The question is, which one of these decrees is the reference date of the beginning of the 490 years. 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." The last of the three occurred about 457 B. C. according to history.
Day for a Year Principle
There is found in Ezekiel 4:5-6, a principle of substituting a day-for-a-year. It reads: "For I have assigned you a number of days corresponding to the years of their iniquity of the house of Israel. When you have completed these, you shall lie down a second time, but on your right side, and bear the iniquity of the house of Judah; I have assigned it to you for forty days, a day for each year."
Although God gave these instructions to Ezekiel, it appears that such a principle of a day-for-a-year applies to some of the prophecies of Daniel. Otherwise, the number of "sevens" given by Gabriel makes no sense. The date of Messiah's coming and all the other events come out right according to the records of the Bible and history if we use the day-for-a-year principle.
Seventy Weeks
The total of the seventy weeks [seventy sevens] of Daniel 9:24 is then 490 years. The seven weeks would be 49 years and the threescore and two weeks (sixty-two) would equal 434 years. This also squares with the statement by Matthew that there were fourteen generations between the Babylonian captivity and the Messiah. (Matthew 1:17.) They were in captivity in Babylon for seventy years. Seventy plus four hundred and ninety equals 560 years, which is fourteen, forty year generations.
Daniel 9:24 tells us that everything Gabriel is saying will be finished in seventy weeks (490 years). This includes:
1. Finish the transgression (Adam's sin in the fall had to be atoned for by the Christ).
2. Make an end to sins (The Christ must provide a way for man's sins to be justified).
3. Make reconciliation for iniquity (He must make atonement for sin).
4. Bring in everlasting righteousness (All righteousness must be fulfilled by the Christ).
5. Seal up (the) vision and prophecy (Close vision and prophecy [foretelling of events]).
6. Anoint the most Holy (Christ).
This scripture also includes the second destruction of Jerusalem and the temple following the 490 years. The angel Gabriel said it would be after Messiah was cut off. Such a destruction at a later time period just won't fulfill the prophecy.
The city and temple to be destroyed are the same temple that Jesus said (on the Mount of Olives, as recorded in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21), would have not one stone left upon another that was not cast down. This is the destruction of the city and the temple that Jesus called the "great tribulation." It is the only such destruction that has occurred since Gabriel foretold it and it did occur just like Gabriel and Jesus had said. Jesus said it would be the worst ever since creation nor ever shall be. This means it could only happen once.
In Daniel 9:26, Gabriel said it would be a "war." That's exactly how the temple and the city were destroyed, by a war, at the hands of Titus of Rome. The destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 is a well documented historical event, so I will not go into it at this point. Only to say, that it was the fulfillment of part of the Olivet discourse. If you want further information on the destruction of Jerusalem in A. D. 70, look at our web page at: After the Great Tribulation. The web address is: http://aftergt.homestead.com/AfterGT.html#Destruction
Gap
The futurist view of eschatology inserts a "gap" between the 69th and 70th weeks of Daniel, which has no Biblical authority to back it up.
The futurists insist that there is a "gap" between the 69th and 70th week of Daniel. This is because they believe that the 29th verse of Daniel 9 is talking about one called "Antichrist." However, that assumption is taken without scriptural authority. Verse 29 is talking about the only one who can establish "the" covenant, Jesus Christ. He causes "the" sacrifice to cease and He brings the desolation upon Jerusalem and the temple just as He said He would in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21. The KJV wording lends itself to misrepresentation of this scripture. Some of the other translations make it easier to understand.
There is no mention of "Antichrist" in the books of Daniel or Revelation. The only scriptures containing the word "Antichrist" are in 1 John and 2 John, where the word is mention six times, and it tells a whole different story to what we hear from our preachers. Read it and see if you get the idea that a world ruler called "the Antichrist" is coming. The Bible is the truth.
# 7 - Futurist Position
The Futurist Position is absolutely untenable (That is, it is not provable nor logical). It is founded on false assumptions and then built upon, stretching scripture to try to support it. It is largely based on ignorance, propagated by those who had, or have, no solid foundation in the basic absolute principles of God, found in the Bible. Most of the futurist beliefs started in the 19th century. Although there is indication that some were teaching a "rapture" in earlier times.
In many cases, our preacher tells us all we know about everything and we just believe it and live by it, even if it is not accurate understanding of the word of GOD. If there is anything in this world that we should understand it is the word of God. It should guide our every thought and action in life. I am not saying that we shouldn't have pastors and that we shouldn't listen to them, just that we should always check it out in the Bible for ourselves to see if what they are teaching is true.
Why are so many evangelists in the dark concerning the "End times?"
When I first "saw the light" concerning the "end times," I really questioned why the evangelists on Television and Radio are almost, to a man, futurists. I could not understand why I had learned something from my individual studies that so many "men of God" did not know. When I approached them about this subject, they thought I was apostate. They could not be wrong. Like the Pope, some think they are infallible.
There are a few that have come to the preterist position, though they seem to be afraid to teach it openly. It might adversely affect the bottom line. One TV pastor that I know of does teach it, but he is an outcast by some. Another, Evangelist James Robison, has a minister on his team who teaches the fulfillment of the great tribulation in A. D. 70. I don't know how far he goes with it, I only heard a tape which didn't carry it very far, but it was true as far as it went.
I would never try to tell you that I know everything. I am always open to change my mind when someone can present me with the truth on any subject. I challenge you to show me from the Bible and history where I am wrong in my preterist perspective. Scripture is on the preterist side. Nevertheless, I will listen to your argument and study it with the Bible as my guide.Please don't quote creeds as your proof. Creeds are made up of man's beliefs. Much of what is in them is correct, but in some, we find some error. Creeds are not necessarily the precepts of God.
Error of the Futurist Position
The fact is, that the futurist position is inaccurate. There are no two ways about it. I am not trying to be cruel, I just believe that God requires us to walk in all the light He has given us. I did not get my beliefs in past fulfillment of prophecy from any man, but from the direction of the Holy Spirit who led me through many years of study into this subject.
Bible prophecy is always in a future setting, but then after the Bible was written, many, if not all, of these things came to pass. To us, they are now "past" history. To the futurist, no matter what happens, everything in prophecy is still in the future. With such an approach, no prophecies can ever be fulfilled.
Futurists like to bring up the scripture about Hymenaeus and Philetus (2 Tim. 2:16&17), who were erroneously teaching that the resurrection had already come. Paul rebuked them, and rightly so. The resurrection had not come at that time, but it did come in that generation just as Jesus said it would. Luke 21:32, "Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all things take place. "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away." NASB.
As I stated earlier, a scripture that supports this is Acts 24:15. Here is the rendering of the Greek to English from an Interlinear Bible: "I confess but this to you, that according to the way which they say (is) a sect, thus I worship the ancestral God, believing all the things as to the Law and the Prophets having been written having hope toward God, which also these admit, a resurrection being about to be of (the) dead of both just and unjust." "About to be"indicates something that will happen very soon. When this statement was made, just prior to A.D. 70, there was about to be a resurrection. The Greek word is "mello," which means: "to be about to be." Check any Interlinear and you will see.
In Old Testament days, before the coming of Messiah, when righteous men died, they slept with their fathers. That means that they were placed in a tomb or grave and there they remained awaiting a resurrection from the dead.
When Jesus came and sacrificed Himself for our sins and the sins of those who had died believing in the coming Messiah, those who were waiting for resurrection were raised. Some of them were raised when Jesus died and rose again. They came out of their tombs at His resurrection and were seen by many in the city. Mt. 27:52 & 53.
I believe that others were raised about the time of the destruction of Jerusalem. The first group appears to have been those who were martyred and the second group, the remainder of those who had died in Christ. God said He would bring those who had died in Jesus into union with Himself, and He did.
Since that time, all who have died in Jesus have gone directly into the presence of the Lord. I believe that's why the scripture says in Revelation 14:13, ". . .blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on."
My search for truth concerning the "end-time" started in the 1970s, when I read in Hal Lindsay's "Late Great Planet Earth" that he was making an assumption as a basis for what he believed. It turned out that the assumption was false, then he built his whole "end-time" theology upon the false assumption. Bad foundation, faulty doctrine.
I began to look into the matter and eventually started to see all the false doctrine surrounding prophecy. It is used by many evangelists and TV/Radio preachers to raise $$$ from the scare tactics of making everyone think the world is about to come to an end. If that were the case, it would behoove us to hurry up and tell everyone about Jesus. Well, we do not know when our lives will come to an end (individually) so it is urgent that we tell everyone. Someone every day is a heart beat away from eternity. So, I agree with the urgency part, but not the end of the world part.
End of Time?
Does the Bible say that time will someday come to an end? There is a misconception that Revelation 10:6&7 says that time is going to come to an end. It actually says there will be no more delay, but the KJV translated it incorrectly. Many of our misconceptions come from mistranslations in the KJV.
Although I do not agree with many of the teachings of Jack Van Impe, he does have some things right, one thing in particular: The world will not end any time soon, if ever. It will go on for many thousands of years. Why do we insist that it come to an end. There will be many people born, and saved for the kingdom of God in the future, after we are long gone from this earthly life. Who are we to think that it will end it with us? Generations of well-meaning evangelists have thought the same thing, but we're still here. God is no respecter of persons. God created the whole universe to support life on THIS PLANET. I believe His harvest has only just begun.
I guess I should apologize for picking on TV/Radio preachers, many of them have a lot of good stuff, but they are so busy keeping the business of their ministry going that they do not have the time to search the scriptures to see if "these things be true." That is, largely, why they do not know the truth about the "end times."
Body ministry
The body of Christ is just that, a body. Every member does not have all the truth. Each joint supplies a part of it until the whole body grows into maturity. The one man ministries do not have all the answers.
Your pastor can't save you. You are individually responsible for what you believe.
Rapture?
There can be no pre-tribulational rapture of the church as many have so confidently taught for the last century, because the tribulation that Jesus foretold is already past. The pre-trib rapture is fabricated from a lot of scriptures that are not connected, but are used to support a flying away to heaven before the great tribulation. Jesus warned his disciples to flee Jerusalem when they saw armies surrounding it, and this they did in A. D. 66. They removed to Pella in Decapolis where they were safe throughout the destruction of Jerusalem.
The idea of being accounted worthy to escape was by some a lead-in to the "rapture" idea and then I Thes. 4:17 seems to support such an idea when taken from most Bible translations, but the Greek tells a different story. (The word rapture does not appear anywhere in the Bible.) The word translated "caught-up" in I Thes. 4:17 is the Greek word "harpazo." This word means to "snatch" or "take by force," and it does not have a directional connotation to it. In John 6:15 it says "they tried to 'take Jesus by force' to make Him their king." That's the same word, "harpazo."
The word for "air" in I Thes. 4:17 is the Greek word "aer" which means "air as naturally circumambient." It means the air that "immediately surrounds" us, not the air up in the sky. The word for sky is the word "ouranous," but, unfortunately, it is also rendered "air" several times in the KJV. It's not talking about flying away, up into the sky.
Actually, in the Greek text it says caught up "into" air rather than "in the air." The word used here is the Greek: "eis," meaning into, or as one German version rendered it: "towards air."
There is much more to be said about all this, and you can find it on our website.
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