Looking past matthew 24
Full/partial Preterist & Historicist view:
1.
To be interpreted literally [earthly signs] and figuratively
[signs in the sky; coming on clouds; son of man, Dan 7].
2.
End of the
age = end of Torah/Old covenant age.
3.
The world/earth [oikoumenē] = known world only;
“heaven and earth” = The Temple.
4.
The “coming” [Parousia] = God’s judgment, not the 2nd coming of Jesus.
5.
Jesus and not the Anti-Christ, is the one who
“desolates”/destroys the Temple.
6.
Last of the 70 weeks = Stephen’s death; the Great
Tribulation moved up to 66-70AD.
7.
Jesus said “this generation shall not pass away”, i.e. 40 year period only.
8.
Pitting Jesus against Paul: 1Thess 2.13-18
9.
Church fathers not futurists.
Preterists:
Past: Jonathan Edwards, John Lightfoot, Hort & Westcott, C.F.D.
Moule.
Modern adherents: Matthew Henry, Jamison, Fausset & Brown, D.
Chilton, R.T. France, R.C. Sproul.
Historicists: Protestant Reformers: Calvin, Luther.
Coming back strong!
Matthew 24 Redux
1. Bad exegesis:
·
Even if all these are metaphors for God’s
judgment, for the Jew this resulted in the restoration of the
Kingdom/resurrection of the dead.
·
In the NT “coming
on the clouds” refers to 2nd coming:
“From
now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power’
and ‘coming on the clouds of heaven.” Mar
14.62; Mat 26.64
“Look! He is coming in the clouds. Every
eye will see him, even those who pierced him. Every tribe on earth will mourn
because of him. This is true. Amen.” Rev
1.7
·
Blurs Daniel’s vision by splitting the image of
“the Son of Man coming on the clouds”.
·
The Jewish-Christian belief was of a coming with
his angels/saints to rule ALL nations [Dan
7.14].
·
The sign of the Son of Man is his own sign,
which is his own coming!
“The first thing to be said of the Son of Man is that he is
an eschatological figure. He has not yet appeared; but in the last times he
will be revealed. [His coming] means the end of the heathen human empires of
this [age], and the dawn of the Kingdom of God.”
Mowinckel, He That
Cometh, p 358.
2. The
phrase “the end of the age” = final
judgment/resurrection of the dead [cp. “end
of days” = “end of the age”, Dan
12.13 LXX]:
·
Matt
13.39-40: parable of tares = “end
of the harvest” [Rev 14.14f.].
·
Matt
13.49: parable of the dragnet-fish gathered by angels & the wicked
thrown in hell.
Jesus’ use of “end
of the age” is the day of final judgment/resurrection of the saints when the harvest
[wheat/weeds], fish [cp. sheep/goats Matt
25], are finally separated and
given their allotted rewards/punishment.
·
Confusing covenants with the Jewish, 2-stage,
age worldview.
“The contrast between a present age
dominated by evil and an age to come is explicitly drawn only in the later
Jewish apocalypses 4 Ezra and 2 Baruch, but it is a natural development of such
seminal passages as the vision in Daniel 2 and 7, was implicit in Qumran’s talk
of “the time of wickedness” (CD 6.10, 14; 12.23; 15.7; 1QpHab 5.7), and was
probably already part of the Jesus tradition (‘in this present age…the age to come’, Matt. 12.32; Mark 10.30; Luke 20.34-35).” Dunn, Theology of Paul, pp 40-41.
·
The cross and nothing else ended the Old Covenant:
“This cup is the new covenant in my
blood, which will be shed for you.” Luke 22.20
“I will destroy this temple made with
hands and within three days I will build another not made with hands.” John 2.19-22
“Here it is symbolic of Jesus’ resurrection and the resulting community.” [NABRE]
“Christ is the end of the Jewish Law.” Rom 10.4
How do we make sense of the command to the church to preach “this Gospel about the coming KOG”
and to “make disciples of all nations…to the very end of the age” [Mat 28.19-20]?
3. The
phrase “heaven and earth” cannot mean the Temple in this context!
·
“Until heaven/earth [the Temple] pass away” Torah
will remain [Mat 5.18] as strained
as saying Torah remains regardless of
whether or not “heaven/earth [the Temple] pass away” [Luke 16.17].
·
The word for earth/world [oikoumenē] = “heavens”:
“…the sun will be darkened, and the moon
will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers
of the heavens will be shaken…And he will send out his angels with a trumpet
blast, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the
heavens to the other.”
Mat
24.29, 31 [cp. Gen 1.1, LXX]
·
Kosmos
= can be worldwide:
“Inherit the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world.” Mat 25.34
·
The “land” [ges]
simply establishes the fact that all the
nations over the land will be subjugated.
4. Multiple
parousias and redefinition:
·
Only in Matthew 24.3, 27, 37, 39; the “end” same meaning, 24.6, 13-14.
“A term associated with military and
imperial parades.” Jewish Annotated NT.
·
Implies an “invisible, inaudible, localized” coming
of Jesus himself as opposed to a visible [angels gathering the church/resurrection
of the dead], audible [trumpet call, “nations of the earth mourning”] and
public [clouds, glory, lightning, earth/heaven signs].
·
In the NT parousia
refers to a person’s physical presence, the others are all about the Parousia:
1Cor
16.17: “I rejoice in the parousia
of Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus, because they made up for your absence…”
2Cor
7.6-7: “But God, who encourages the downcast, encouraged us by the parousia of Titus, and not only by his parousia but also by the encouragement
with which he was encouraged in regard to you…”
2Cor
10.10: “For someone will say, ‘His letters are severe and forceful, but his
[person] parousia is weak, and his
speech contemptible’.”
Phil
1.26: “…your boasting in Christ Jesus may abound on account of me when I parousia again.”
Phil
2.12: “So then, my beloved, obedient as you have always been, not only when
I am present [parousia] but all the
more now when I am absent…”
2Thess
2.9: “…the one whose parousia
springs from the power of Satan in every mighty deed and in signs and wonders
that lie…”
·
The coming of the Son of Man = the coming of the
KOG [see Mowinckel].
·
The transfiguration [Mat 16.28] = Parousia vision,
[orama] Mat 17.9; cp. 2Pe 1.16-21; NOTE: transfiguration “lightning” =
sign of the Son of Man:
Mat
28.3: “His appearance was like lightning
and his clothing was white as snow.”
Luke
9.29[NIV]: “As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his
clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning.”
Mat
24.27: “For as lightning that
comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the
Son of Man.”
5. The
2nd figure in Dan 9.26b [cp. Mar 13.14] is missed/ignored:
Dan
9.26 [CJB]: “Then, after the sixty-two weeks, Mashiach will be cut off and have nothing. The people of a prince
yet to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary, but his end will come with a flood, and desolations are decreed
until the war is over.”
Mark
13.14: “But when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet,
standing where HE ought not (let the
reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains…”
Pulpit
Commentary: “In the Authorized Version, after the word "desolation,"
the words "spoken of by Daniel the prophet," are introduced, but
without sufficient authority. They were
probably interpolated from St. Matthew, where there is abundant authority for them; and thus their omission
by St. Mark does not affect the argument drawn from them in favor of the genuineness of the Book of Daniel, against those,
whether in earlier or in later times, who reject this book, or ascribe it to
some mere recent authorship.”
·
Anthony has written extensively in the Focus
& Articles – Prophecy: “A Close Look at Daniel 9:26, 27: Antichrist’s Reign
of Terror”.
6. Bad
exegesis: Great Tribulation/2nd coming/Resurrection of the dead
ripped out!
·
A mix of Preterist/Historicist.
·
They don’t take into account “immediately after the tribulation of
those days” [24.29].
Holman’s Illustrated Bible
Dictionary: “The expression Great Tribulation refers to the time of trouble
which will usher in the second coming of Christ (Matt. 24:21; Rev. 2:22; 7:14).
Jesus warned that the great tribulation would be so intense that its calamities
will nearly decimate all of life1…The allusion to Daniel 12:1 suggests an
eschatological [future] view of the great tribulation…Although this event
should rightly be regarded as future, attempts to connect the time of
tribulation with specific events or persons [in history] have proven futile.”
7. Jesus
said he didn’t know the day or the hour/times or seasons [Mar 13.32; Acts 1.3;
cp. “Only YHWH knows”, Zech 14.7] yet he knows/predicts within 40 years [70AD]?
·
No need to reinterpret “this generation” in unnatural ways: “the nation of Israel”, “the Jewish race”, “that generation” [be it 70AD or in the future, whenever the events
take place].
·
In this context the more natural reading
would be of “this present evil age” [Gal 1.4] of human history [Mat 12.39, 45;
16.4; 17.17; cp. Luke 16.8].
·
Mat 24.31
says the Church would be gathered but instead was dispersed.
·
“The Day of the Lord” is always “at hand/near” [Zeph 1.14; Ezek 30.3; Oba 1.15; Joel 1.15];
“the Son of Man comes/is seated at the right hand of God” [Matt. 10:23; 16:27ff.; 26:64].
·
An argument for a “delay” of the 2nd
coming:
Mar
13.7-10: “When you hear of wars and reports of wars do not be alarmed; such
things must happen, but it will not yet
be the end. Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom.
There will be earthquakes from place to place and there will be famines. These are the beginnings of the labor pains.”
Luke
17.22: “The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the
Son of Man, but you will not see it.”
Luke
18.1-8: Parable of the Persistent Widow
Mat
24.36-51: “This is why you also must be ready, because the Son of Man is
coming at an hour you do not expect…The master of that servant will come on a day
he does not anticipate and at an hour he does not expect.”
Luke
19.11-27: “While they were listening to him speak, he proceeded to tell a
parable because he was near Jerusalem and they thought that the kingdom of God
would appear there immediately. So he said, ‘A nobleman went off to a distant
country to obtain the kingship for himself and then to return’.”
Read: Mat
25.1-5; 14-19.
8. Paul
learned from Jesus and his Apostles:
The "word of
the Lord" [v.15] leads at once into a reminder of the Jesus tradition,
that "the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night" (5.2, 4),
and thence into a sustained exhortation to wakefulness — again echoing a
characteristic theme of Jesus' parables of crisis [Matt. 24.42-43; 25.13; Mark
13.34-37; Luke 12.37. Also Mark 14.34-38 par.].
As with 1
Thessalonians, the [2nd] letter has been occasioned by a particular crisis.
There it was the problem of unexpected events prior to the parousia. In this
case it is the problem of escalating expectation, overheated eschatological
enthusiasm. The Thessalonians had been given to believe "that the day of
the Lord has come," that it was already present (2.2). [Paul's
formulation, "neither through spirit[-inspired utterance], nor through
word, nor through letter..." (2.2), envisages a continuing ferment, with
various communications contributing to the confusion.] Paul's response was to
damp down the fires of enthusiasm by insisting that crucial events were yet to
intervene before the end (2.3-12).]
[This is one of the
clearest examples of a paraenetic [exhortation/advice] tradition (passed on by
Paul in founding a new church) whose echoes of a distinctive parable of Jesus
(Matt.24.43/Luke 12.39) are best explained if Paul had repeated the parable to
them as part of their foundational Jesus tradition.] Dunn, The Theology of Paul the Apostle, pp 300-302.
9. Early
Church and Fathers ARE futurists:
Didache (AD 100) "then shall appear the world-deceiver as Son of
God, and shall do signs and wonders, and the earth shall be delivered into his hands…but
they that endure in their faith shall be saved from under the curse itself. And
then shall appear the signs of the truth; first, the sign of an out-spreading
in heaven; then the sign of the sound of
the trumpet; and the third, the resurrection of the dead; yet not of all,
but as it is said: The Lord shall come and all His saints with Him. Then shall the world see the Lord coming
upon the clouds of heaven." (Chapter 16)
Shepherd of Hermas, Visions
2, 2.7: c. 100AD
“Stand steadfast, therefore, you who work righteousness, and doubt not,
that your passage may be with the holy angels. Happy you who endure the great tribulation that is coming on,
and happy they who shall not deny their own life. For the Lord has sworn by His
Son, that those who denied their Lord have abandoned their life in despair, for
even now these are to deny Him in the days that are coming.”
“A virgin meets me…I knew from my former visions that this was the
Church…‘You have escaped from great tribulation on account of your faith, and
because you did not doubt in the presence of such a beast. Go, therefore, and
tell the elect of the Lord His mighty deeds, and say to them that this beast is
a type of the great tribulation that is coming.’” Visions 4, 2.5.
“For as gold is tested by fire, and thus becomes useful, so are you
tested who dwell in it. Those, therefore, who continue steadfast, and are put
through the fire, will be purified by means of it…Wherefore cease not speaking
these things into the ears of the saints. This
then is the type of the great tribulation that is to come.” Visions 4, 3.6.
Justin Martyr (AD 100-168) "Two
advents of Christ have been announced: the one, in which He is set forth as
suffering, inglorious, dishonored, and crucified; but the other, in which He shall come from heaven with glory, when the
man of apostasy, who speaks strange things against the Most High, shall venture to do unlawful deeds on the
earth against us the Christians.” (First
Apology, Chapter 110)
Irenaeus (AD 180) Against Heresies, bk. 5, chs. 25-26: “In which
[temple] the enemy shall sit, endeavoring to show himself as Christ the Lord
also declares: ‘When you shall see the
Abomination of Desolation standing in the holy place, as Daniel spoke of it…’
Everything will be given into his hands until a time of times and half a time:
that is for three and a half years, during which time, when he [Antichrist]
comes, he will reign over the earth…The Abomination shall be brought into the
temple, even until the consummation of the time shall the desolation be
complete [Dan 9:27]. Now 3 years and 6 months constitute the half ‘week.’”
Hippolytus (AD 170-235) “Now, concerning
the tribulation of the persecution which is to fall upon the Church from
the adversary, John also speaks thus [Rev 12]…[Rev 12.14] refers to the one
thousand two hundred and threescore days (the half of the week) during which
the tyrant is to reign and persecute the Church, which flees from city to
city, and seeks conceal-meat in the wilderness among the mountains…The Lord also says [Mat 24.15-22]; and Daniel says [12.11]…
And the blessed Apostle Paul, writing to the Thessalonians, says [2Thess 2.1-10]… These things, then,
being to come to pass, beloved, and the one week being divided into two parts,
and the abomination of desolation being manifested then, and the two prophets
and forerunners of the Lord having finished their course, and the whole world
finally approaching the consummation, what remains but the coming of our Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ from heaven, for whom we have looked in hope? who
shall bring the conflagration and just judgment upon all who have refused to
believe on Him…For the Lord says [Luke
21.28, 18; Matt 24.27].” (Treatise on Christ and
Antichrist, 60-64) c.202
Cyprian (AD 200-258)
Nor let any one of you, beloved brethren, be so terrified by the fear
of future persecution, or the coming of
the threatening Antichrist, as not to be found armed for all things by the
evangelical exhortations and precepts, and by
the heavenly warnings. Antichrist is coming… but immediately the Lord follows to avenge our sufferings and our wounds.”
(Epistles of Cyprian, LIII, p.722)
Commodianus (AD250): “Isaiah said, ‘this is the man who moves the world
and so many kings and under whom the land will become a desert’…Then, doubtless
the world will be finished when he appears. He himself will divide the globe
into three ruling powers, when however, Nero
will be raised up from hell, Elijah will first come to seal the beloved
ones…the whole earth on all sides will
tremble for 7 years. But Elijah will
occupy half of the time and Nero the other half…and the Latin conqueror
will then say, ‘I am Christ whom you always pray to.’ And indeed the original
ones who were deceived combine to praise him. He does many wonders since he is
the false prophet. Especially that they may believe him his image will speak.
The Almighty has given it power to appear such. The Jews, recapitulating
Scriptures from him, exclaim at the same time to the Highest that they have
been deceived...” (The Instructions of
Commodianus, chs. 41-42).
Victorinus (AD 269-271) "He shall cause also that a golden image
of Antichrist shall be placed in the temple at Jerusalem, and that the apostate
angel should enter, and thence utter voices and oracles...The Lord, admonishing
His churches concerning the last times and their dangers…three years and six months, in which with all his power the devil
will avenge himself under Antichrist against the Church." (Commentary
on the Apocalypse, 20:1-3)
Lactantius (c. 250-330 AD) “Another king shall arise out of Syria, born
from an evil spirit...and he will constitute and call himself God, and will
order himself to be worshipped as the Son of God, and power will be given him
to do signs and wonders. Then he will
attempt to destroy the temple of God and persecute the righteous people; and
there will be distress and tribulation such as there never has been since the
beginning of the world.” (Divine
Institutes, bk. 7, ch. 17).
Cyril of Jerusalem (313-386) “For this cause the Lord knowing the
greatness of the adversary grants indulgence to the godly, saying, Then
let them which be in Judæa flee to the mountains. Matthew 24:16…for then shall be great tribulation, such
as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, nor ever shall
be. Matthew 24:21 But thanks be
to God who has confined the greatness of
that tribulation to a few days; for He says, But for the elect's sake those
days shall be shortened ; and Antichrist
shall reign for three years and a half only. We speak not from apocryphal
books, but from Daniel; for he says,
And
they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and half a time.
A time is the one year in which his coming shall for a while have increase; and
the times are the remaining two years of iniquity, making up the sum of the
three years; and the half a time is the six months. And again in another place
Daniel says the same thing, And he swore by Him that lives for ever that
it shall be for a time, and times, and half a time. Daniel 12:7 And some perhaps have
referred what follows also to this; namely, a thousand two hundred and ninety
days ; and this, Blessed is he
that endures and comes to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.
For this cause we must hide ourselves
and flee; for perhaps we shall not
have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of Man comes [Matthew 10:23].” Catechetical Lecture 15.16
Summary:
The preterist/historicist view has left us with the wrath of God only
without the result of that judgment, the regeneration/rebirth of the new
heavens/earth: Isa 66.7-9.
