A CRITIQUE OF FULL PRETERISM AND A DEFENSE OF HISTORICISTIC POST-MILLENNIALISM
J. PARNELL MCCARTER
Truths are often learned in the
context of debates with error.
Dedicated
to the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland,
A
good and faithful servant.
©2002 J. Parnell McCarter. All Rights Reserved.
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PREFACE
I have written this critique of full preterism as part of my preparation for a public debate with full preterist Don Preston (minister and author) scheduled for August 18, 2002 on the nationwide Genesis Radio Network. Its goal is to present in summary format an explanation of why full preterism, along with the general preteristic hermeneutic, should be rejected. And while it is primarily a critique of full preterism, it is also a defense of historicistic post-millennialism. For it is not sufficient simply to reveal the fallacies of preterism; it is necessary to present the alternative which properly interprets the eschatological prophecies of scripture. For those who are interested in the discussion now underway between historicistic (aka historical) post-millennialists and preterists, I hope this treatment will at least be a helpful introduction. It is by no means exhaustive, but hopefully it will prove expansive.
There is another objective, however, underlying this project, consisting of a public debate as well as this book responding to full preterism. As Christians, we are called upon to defend the Christian faith. It is a goal of The Puritans’ Home School Curriculum to equip our children to understand and defend the doctrines of scripture so excellently summarized in the Westminster Standards and the Three Forms of Unity. Hopefully this book, and the project of which it is a part, will illustrate to children reading it just one example of how the reformed faith is being defended. By reading this book, they should not only learn something about the issues involved on the particular topic, but also how one may apply knowledge of the faith in defense of that faith. As parents, we should be building defenders of the reformed Protestant faith.
- J. Parnell McCarter
Since I have been invited
to participate by John Anderson in a public discussion and debate on the “Voice
of Reason” broadcast with preterist Don Preston, the question of whether I
should really be the historicistic post-millennialist to do this has crossed my
mind often. Am I really the one to
articulate the eschatological position which has been maintained by such
notable theologians as Drs. John Owen, John Calvin, Jonathan Edwards, John
Knox, the Westminster divines, Patrick Fairbairn, and Francis Nigel Lee, not
even to mention the Apostles Paul, John, and so forth. Well I want to concede at the outset what
should be obvious to everyone: I am not the person most qualified to defend
historicistic post-millennialism. But I
am reminded of the words in I Peter
3:15 which say “[be] ready always to [give] an answer to every man that asketh
you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear”. I feel duty-bound to defend my Christian
hope which is so eloquently expressed in the Westminster Larger Catechism thus:
“in the second petition [of the Lord’s Prayer], (which is, Thy kingdom come) acknowledging ourselves and all mankind
to be by nature under the dominion of sin and Satan, we pray, that the kingdom
of sin and Satan may be destroyed, the gospel propagated throughout the world, the Jews called, the fullness of the Gentiles
brought in; the church furnished with
all gospel-officers and ordinances, purged from
corruption, countenanced and maintained
by the civil magistrate: that the ordinances of
Christ may be purely dispensed, and made effectual to the converting of those
that are yet in their sins, and the confirming, comforting, and building up of
those that are already converted: that Christ would rule in our hearts here,
and hasten the time of his second coming, and our
reigning with him forever: and that he would be pleased so to exercise the
kingdom of his power in all the world, as may best conduce to these ends.”
This is what I am here to defend to the best of my ability, however insufficient that may be.
Now this Biblical doctrine of hope is objected to by full preterists who deny Christ’s future second coming and by pre-millennial dispensationalists and other pessimistic futurists who deny our obligation and hope to establish Christian societies and governments before Christ’s second coming. As I see it, these objectors to historicistic post-millennialism maintain a common fallacy: they try to impose a flawed and overly simplistic hermeneutic upon all the prophecies of scripture. In the case of dispensational futurists, their flawed hermeneutic says we must in all cases impose a literalistic interpretation upon prophetic visions whenever possible. So if the book of Ezekiel prophesies a future Temple where animal sacrifices are performed, then you can bet your bottom dollar that such a brick-and-mortar Temple will yet be re-built in fulfillment of the prophecy. Never mind that Jesus Christ referred to Himself as the Temple who would be raised in three days and how that and other passages might affect how we should interpret the prophecy in Ezekiel. “Ezekiel said it, and we are going to believe it,” so says the dispensational futurist.
Well, when we come to
preterism we meet with a similar flawed and overly simplistic hermeneutic which
- I hate to say- is shoved down the throat of scripture. The partial preterist Dr. Kenneth Gentry has
succinctly stated this full and partial preteristic hermeneutic thus: "I
hold that passages specifically delimiting the time-frame by temporal
indicators (such as "this generation," "shortly," "at
hand," "near," and similar wording) are to be applied to A. D.
70." (July 1997 issue of Chalcedon Report, in an article
entitled "A Brief Theological Analysis of Hyper-Preterism) “So when we
come to the book of Revelation and we read that ‘Jesus is coming shortly’, well
that has got to mean that this reference to Jesus’ coming occurred within
decades of when the prophecy was written,” so says the preterist. “After all,”
the preterist says, “the Bible says it, and you can bet your bottom dollar that
we are going to believe it.” Never mind
that within that same book of Revelation that coming of Jesus Christ is said to
come after **at least** what it calls “a thousand years” have expired. And never mind that it depicts kingdoms
rising and falling in the intervening years, through the prophetic symbol of
beasts. And never mind that when it
depicts what Christ’s coming Day of Judgment will be like, it presents an image
of all the living and the dead who have ever lived standing together in front
of their Judge, King Jesus Christ on that day, which never happened in 70 AD or
any other year in the past history of mankind.
And never mind many other principles of sound interpretation of
prophecy, which are simply washed aside by preterism. “Jesus said He was coming soon, and we are going to believe it,”
so says the preterist.
I would like to explain to
both preterists and futurists why they should re-consider their methods. And
specifically with regards to full preterism, I would like to present from
scripture why we should believe in a coming Day of Judgment in which all the
living and the dead will stand before their judge, King Jesus, who will then
allow His elect to eternally reside with Him in the New Jerusalem on the New
Earth while He sends the reprobate to eternally reside in Hell. Also, I would like to outline the time
indicators of the New Testament which suggested that the Day of Judgment was
likely going to occur a long time after the Apostolic era; and I would like to
rehearse some principles of interpreting prophecy from the Old Testament which
we must apply to the New Testament as well.
Finally, I would like to answer, as time permits, some of the objections
of full preterism.
Before
comparing historicistic post-millennialism with preterism, it is important
first to explain clearly what historicistic post-millennialism is. Historicism interprets the eschatological
prophecies described in Revelation, II Thessalonians 2, Matthew 24 and other
relevant passages as unfolding over the history of mankind, from the First
Advent to the future Second Advent, just as it interprets the prophecies of
Daniel as unfolding over a vast expanse of time. This contrasts with futurism which tends to confine their
fulfillment to some future time in a relatively short time frame, and it
contrasts with preterism which tends to consign their fulfillment to the
distant past, generally in the Apostolic era.
Historicism identifies that Man of Sin and Beast of Revelation with the
Romish Papacy. Post-millennialism
interprets the millennium of Revelation 20 as following the diminution and
eradication of spiritual power of the
Romish Papacy and her daughter whores, when reformed Protestantism will enjoy
greater prosperity. Historicistic
post-millennialism has been the standard position of the Protestant
Reformation, especially among reformed Christians, and it is implicit and
explicit within the historic reformed confessions such as the Westminster
Standards.
Before proceeding into a treatment of the issue, I would be remiss if I
did not address one question often raised: why does this all matter
anyway? Well, I want to boldly say to
such that ask this question: it certainly matters. Indeed, it matters so much that those who deny historicistic
post-millennialism and advocate against it, should be excommunicated in order
to work repentance in them. There are
at least two reasons this issue matters and should be subject to
excommunication:
·
First, an
error on this issue, whether in the preterist direction or the futurist
direction, is predicated upon a dangerous hermeneutic. If this hermeneutic is logically and
consistently applied, it will affect even doctrines as basic as those found in
the Apostles’ Creed. For instance,
**if** the preteristic hermeneutic were correct and terms like “shortly”
necessarily imply **all** fulfillment of the described event is in 70 A.D.,
then all of the events in the book of Revelation must have been ultimately fulfilled
in 70 A.D., because the term “shortly” in Revelation 1:1 is descriptive of the
whole of the revelation, and not just some parts. But if all of its elements were ultimately fulfilled (including
the millennium, Great Day of Judgment in Revelation 20, and the New Heavens and
New Earth in Revelation 21), then it is simply erroneous to adhere to a future
visible, universal Day of Judgment and Advent, because all of such elements
would have been fulfilled in 70 A.D.
Simply put, full preterism is the logical end of the preteristic
hermeneutic. (And, in my opinion, a
rationalistic conception of the new heavens and new earth is its final logical
end. For in the description of the new heavens and new earth of Revelation 21,
heaven comes down to earth and they meet.
So what we currently experience would be the new heavens and new earth,
and there would be no more.) And to
take another example, that of dispensationalist futurism, Patrick Fairbairn is
quite right that the logical end of its hermeneutic is Judaism. **If** prophecies, like concerning the coming
Temple prophesied in the book of Ezekiel, are to be interpreted literally, then there will be animal sacrifices
required in a literal Temple even after Christ’s First Advent, and the Apostles
were deceptive liars to say otherwise.
Furthermore, it would imply Christ and His Apostles were frauds in the
way they applied Old Testament prophecy, saying things like Jesus’ body is the
Temple. It should come as no surprise
that there is even some movement of dispensationalists towards Judaism in our
day. Neither should it be a surprise
that there is a movement of partial preterists to full preterism. Too, it should be remembered that the same
basic methodology by which we identify the Anti-Christ that is the Man of Sin
and Beast of Revelation, must be employed to identify the Christ. The two are not separated with regards to
methodology. So an error in the one
will necessarily affect the other.
·
Second, the
word of God states that as the prophecies are fulfilled, Christ’s elect church
will be able to do things like properly identify the Man of Sin and support the
effort to establish the post-millennium through the instrumentality of
preaching. The Apostle Paul implies
that Christians will be able to identify that Man of Sin described in II
Thessalonians 2:3 when He comes. And
the book of Revelation implies that Christians will promote, and not oppose,
that “the kingdoms of this world…become [the kingdoms] of our Lord”. They will
not oppose the latter because of some false premise that reformed Christian
nations with reformed established churches must wait until after Christ’s
visible Second Advent. (It is the
instrument of the preaching of the gospel, also called the sword out of Christ’s
mouth, which will usher in reformation and the millennium [see Revelation 14:6,
19:15,21], though finally the new heavens and new earth will be ushered in by
Christ’s Second Advent.) In these
matters, “none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand.”
(Daniel 12:10) That does not mean every
last detail of prophecy should necessarily be interpreted properly (for then
probably none of us would qualify), but on the chief doctrines of eschatology
and the identity of the Man of Sin which are laid out in the Westminster
Standards, there should be no denial.
That there is a Day of Judgment in which Christ will visibly come and judge all the living and the dead who have ever lived- sending the wicked into hell eternally and the righteous to reside eternally with Him in the New Heavens and New Earth- is a plain teaching of the Bible. That full preterists reject this cardinal doctrine and great hope of the Christian faith is prima facia evidence that full preterism is erroneous. And we need not be sucked into this error to explain various passages which preterists wrongly assert imply their position.
Rev. Brian Schwertley has outlined in his book The Pre-Millenial Deception some of the many passages which testify of the coming Day of Judgment in which all men will be judged, the living as well as the dead, and he has shown that this Day of Judgment is the same as the future Second Advent:
1. "On “that day” (singular), “when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes, in that day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe” (2 Th. 1:7-10)."
2. “But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming. Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.... Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruption must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.... Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory’” (1 Cor. 15:23-25, 50-54)."
3. "The Apostle Paul teaches that both the righteous and the wicked will be judged on the same day: “But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who ‘will render to each one according to his deeds’: eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness; indignation and wrath” (Rom. 2:5-8)."
4. "The Apostle Paul always teaches in his epistles that the second coming of Christ, the resurrection of the righteous and the wicked, the reward of the righteous and the condemnation of the wicked occur on the same day—the day of the Lord. He says, “But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, ‘Peace and safety!’ then suddenly destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this day should overtake you as a thief.... For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him” (1 Th. 5:1-4, 9-10). “Paul associates the second coming with the resurrection and the ensuing glory of the saints and the sudden destruction of the wicked. Without the shadow of a doubt, that day has its reference to both parties:—believers are to look for it (1 Th. 5:4-10), for then they shall obtain salvation in all its fullness (vs. 9), then they shall ‘live together with him’ (vs. 10); while that same day will bring the false security of unbelievers to an end in their ‘sudden destruction.’”
5. "The Apostle Peter fully concurs with Paul’s teaching regarding Christ’s second coming. In his second epistle he deals with scoffers who deny the second coming of Christ: “‘Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.’... But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.... But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?” (2 Pet. 3:4-12)."
6. "Premillennialists teach that there is a 1000-year gap between the resurrection of the righteous and the resurrection of the wicked. They teach that the bodily resurrection of the wicked occurs at the end of the millennium. But the parables of Jesus Christ totally contradict premillennial doctrine. In the parable of the wheat and the tares Jesus said that both will grow together until the harvest: “Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, ‘First gather together the tares and bind them in a bundle to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn’” (Mt. 13:30). [6] The harvest obviously refers to the final judgment. “At last the separation shall be such that all the wicked shall be cast into hell fire, and the godly placed in heaven.”
7. "In Matthew 25 Jesus instructed His disciples with regard to the second coming: “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world....’ Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels....’ And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Mt. 25:31-46)."
8. “Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation” (Jn. 5:28-29)."
9. "Listen to how Isaiah the prophet describes the second coming of Christ: “For behold, the LORD will come with fire and with His chariots, like a whirlwind, to render His anger with fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by His sword the LORD will judge all flesh” (Isa. 66:15-16)."
10. "Paul teaches that when Christ returns it will be “in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God” (2 Th. 1:8)."
11. "Peter says, “the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up” (2 Pet. 3:10)."
12. "Paul warns Christians that when Christ returns, their works will be tested by fire: “Each one’s work will become manifest; for the day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire” (1 Cor. 3:13-15)."
13. "Thus, according to the abundant testimony of Scripture, Revelation 20:9 refers to the second coming of Christ." [Note: it is to be a day when all the living AND THE DEAD are judged before Jesus Christ.]
We may rightly conclude then that the Westminster Confession chapter 33 accurately portrays the case with the Day of Judgment thus:
I. God has appointed a day, wherein He will
judge the world, in righteousness, by Jesus Christ,[1] to whom all power and judgment is given of
the Father.[2]
In which day, not only the apostate angels shall be judged,[3] but likewise all
persons that have lived upon earth shall appear before the tribunal of Christ,
to give an account of their thoughts, words, and deeds; and to receive
according to what they have done in the body, whether good or evil.[4]
II. The end of God's appointing this day is
for the manifestation of the glory of His mercy, in the eternal salvation of
the elect; and of His justice, in the damnation of the reprobate, who are
wicked and disobedient. For then shall the righteous go into everlasting life,
and receive that fulness of joy and refreshing, which shall come from the
presence of the Lord; but the wicked who know not God, and obey not the Gospel
of Jesus Christ, shall be cast into eternal torments, and be punished with
everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of
His power.[5]
III. As Christ would have us to be
certainly persuaded that there shall be a day of judgment, both to deter all
men from sin; and for the greater consolation of the godly in their adversity:[6] so will He have
that day unknown to men, that they may shake off all carnal security, and be
always watchful, because they know not at what hour the Lord will come; and may
be ever prepared to say, Come Lord Jesus, come quickly, Amen.[7]
[1] ACT 17:31 Because
he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness
by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all
men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
[2] JOH 5:27 And hath
given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.
[3] 1CO 6:3 Know ye
not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?
JUD 6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own
habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment
of the great day. 2PE 2:4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but
cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be
reserved unto judgment.
[4] 2CO 5:10 For we
must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive
the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good
or bad. ECC 12:14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret
thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. ROM 2:16 In the day when God
shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel. 14:10
But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy
brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. 12 So then
every one of us shall give account of himself to God. MAT 12:36 But I say unto
you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof
in the day of judgment. 37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy
words thou shalt be condemned.
[5] MAT 25:31 When the
Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then
shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: 32 And before him shall be gathered
all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd
divideth his sheep from the goats: 33 And he shall set the sheep on his right
hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then shall the King say unto them on his
right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world: 35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat:
I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36
Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and
ye came unto me. 37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw
we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? 38 When saw
we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? 39 Or when
saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 40 And the King shall
answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it
unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. 41 Then
shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into
everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 For I was an
hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: 43 I
was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and
in prison, and ye visited me not. 44 Then shall they also answer him, saying,
Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or
sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? 45 Then shall he answer
them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the
least of these, ye did it not to me. 46 And these shall go away into
everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. ROM 2:5 But after
thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the
day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; 6 Who will render
to every man according to his deeds: ROM 9:22 What if God, willing to shew his
wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels
of wrath fitted to destruction: 23 And that he might make known the riches of
his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory. MAT
5:21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou
hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things:
enter thou into the joy of thy lord. ACT 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be
converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing
shall come from the presence of the Lord; 2TH 1:7 And to you who are troubled
rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty
angels, 8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that
obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: 9 Who shall be punished with
everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of
his power; 10 When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be
admired in all them that believe(because our testimony among you was believed)
in that day.
[6] 2PE 3:11 Seeing
then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye
to be in all holy conversation and godliness. 14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing
that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace,
without spot, and blameless. 2CO 5:10 For we must all appear before the
judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his
body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. 11 Knowing
therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest
unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences. 2TH 1:5 Which
is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted
worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer: 6 Seeing it is a
righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; 7
And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed
from heaven with his mighty angels, LUK 21:7 And they asked him, saying,
Master, but when shall these things be? and what sign will there be when these
things shall come to pass? 28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then
look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. ROM 8:23 And
not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit,
even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the
redemption of our body. 24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is
not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? 25 But if we hope for
that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
[7] MAT 24:36 But of
that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father
only. 42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. 43 But
know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief
would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be
broken up. 44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not
the Son of man cometh. MAR 13:35 Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the
master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or
in the morning: 36 Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. 37 And what I say
unto you I say unto all, Watch. LUK 12:35 Let your loins be girded about, and
your lights burning; 36 And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their
lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh,
they say open unto him immediately. REV 22:20 He which testifieth these things
saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
In the face of such overwhelming evidence for a UNIVERSAL DAY (not days plural) of Judgment in which all the living and the dead will be judged, why do full preterists essentially deny it and associate its fulfillment with the judgment on the Judaistic Jews in 70 A.D. in Palestine? They say the language of imminence often associated with scriptural descriptions of the Day of Judgment compels them.
To deny this final Day of Judgment in which all humanity will be judged, in order to explain the language of imminence often associated with this coming Day of Judgment, is unnecessary and unwarranted. It is unnecessary, because scripture itself provides the reasons for this language of imminence, and it is not the reason assumed by preterists. It is unwarranted because God’s word does not allow us to sweep under the rug the doctrine of the universal and final Day of Judgment of the living and the dead, which will usher in a new heaven and new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness.
What clues are provided
in scripture that the Day of Judgment would come long after the Apostolic
era? Here is at least a partial list:
1. According to Revelation 20, the Day of Judgment
accompanying Christ’s advent was to occur after a “thousand years”. Now the term “thousand years” certainly
suggests a long duration of time. Even
full preterists like James Stuart Russell have acknowledged that the millennium
symbolizes a great expanse of time, but they have failed to acknowledge that
the Great Day of Judgment follows the millennium. Other full preterists have acknowledged that the Day of Judgment
follows the millennium, but insist the millennium could have lasted a
relatively short time. In truth, the
millennium is suggestive of an extended duration of time, which is to be
followed by brief release of Satan, and then the Great Day of Judgment.
2. According to Revelation, the Day of Judgment was to
occur after many events which could not have occurred in a short span of
time. Rather, they are events which
consist of the rise and fall of earthly kingdoms (aka “beasts), pestilences,
famines, numerous wars, widespread deception within the church and apostasy,
the nations and their governments becoming Christian, etc.
3. II Peter 3 warns us that we should consider time
indicators relating to the Second Advent in relation to divine time and not
human time. This at least hints that
the Second Advent would be “soon” with respect to divine time, and not human
time.
4. II Thessalonians 2:2 suggests that the Second Advent
was not then imminent. It reads: “That
ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word,
nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.” The Authorized Version properly translates
‘enestaken’ as ‘at hand’ in this context.
5. II Thessalonians 2:3-8 indicates there would have to
be widespread apostasy associated with the Man of Sin (aka the Beast of
Revelation) before the Second Advent.
6. Matthew 24 contrasts the timing of the destruction
of Jerusalem which was to occur in the Apostolic generation with “that day” of
judgment.
7. According to II Corinthians 4:17, the Apostle Paul
describes our current sufferings before Christ’s Advent as being “but for a
moment”, but he explains in the next verse what he means by this. He says it is because this is temporal and
bounded by time, but the future state will be eternal. (“For our light affliction, which is but for
a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding [and] eternal weight of glory;
While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not
seen: for the things which are seen [are] temporal; but the things which are
not seen [are] eternal. “) This implies
language of imminence must be considered relative to eternity.
8. According to Psalm 90:3-4, our judgments will come
swiftly in divine time, even if in normal human reckoning they seem to come
slowly (“Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of
men. For a thousand years in thy sight
[are but] as yesterday when it is past, and [as] a watch in the night.)
9. Luke 21:24, in combination with Romans 11, suggests
that after Jerusalem is trodden down by the Gentiles (in 70 A.D.), that there
will be a long duration “until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled”, and
then many Jews will be converted, which shall usher in an era of great gospel
prosperity on earth. All of this is
suggestive of a great amount of time before the millennial reign.
10. The book of Revelation describes the coming
experience of the Christian church to be in many notable respects a repetition
of the experience of the Old Testament church, yet played out upon the world
stage. So the book of Revelation
describes a wilderness experience the church must endure, apostacy and
deception, a Babylonian oppression, and redemption. The experience of the Old Testament church lasted for centuries,
so we should not imagine the New Testament church would be any shorter. Indeed, the wilderness experience alone of
the New Testament church is to last a prophetic 1,260 years (according to the
day-year principle) and the redemption period is described in terms of a
millennium, according to the Revelation account.
11. The New Testament, and especially the book of
Revelation, suggests many typological and provisional comings of the Lord
before the coming of the Lord on the Great Day of Judgment. This suggests an expanse of time to
accomplish.
The
great Scottish theologian Patrick Fairbairn, in his work The Interpretation of Prophecy, summarized the temporal indicators
thus:
“…the day in question might, in perfect accordance
with the general design and proper character of prophecy, be represented in
apostolic times as “near,” as “drawing nigh,” as even “at hand;” for the church
being then in the full spring-tide of its life and blessing, it might well
seem, as if that mission were hastening to its accomplishment, and all things
were becoming ready for the final harvest of the world. Yet, it must have been impossible for any
one to read with care some of the parables of our Lord, or even what was
written by St. Paul of the great apostacy- to say nothing of the more
lengthened and intricate plan of events prospectively delineated in the
Apocalypse- without coming to the conviction, that there was still an implied
alternative; namely, that if the church of Christ should degenerate in her
course, if she should begin to slumber in the work given her to do, still more,
if she should become adulterated by the carnal spirit, and the corrupt
practices of the world, then the shadows of the evening should need to be
lengthened out, and in the tenderness of his forbearance, as well as for
purposes of trial and judgment, the Lord should have to protract the day of his
appearing.” (p. 65)
God’s word itself provides us with reasons why a language of imminence is used with respect to the coming Day of Judgment; so we need not essentially deny the universal, visible, and final characteristics of the Day of Judgment presented in the Bible, due to the language of imminence often associated with it. Let me now outline some of the reasons.
First,
we should note that in the Greek language the idea of certainty and the idea of
imminence meet in the Greek term “mello”, in its various forms. So we find in Liddell and Scott’s An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (see Appendix 1) that the idea of
certainty and the idea of imminence are listed as two separate definitions of
the term, with the proper definition in a given case determined by context.
Similarly, The Analytical Greek Lexicon on p. 262 explains concerning this word: "to
be about to, to be on the point of,...it serves to express in general a settled
futurity...." And The Bauer-Arndt-Gingrich, Second Edition
on p. 500 states that it "denotes certainty that an event will take
place," he then gives this "to be on the point of, be about
to." As Don Preston notes in one
of his own articles (http://www.eschatology.org/articles/rebuttals/mello.htm), this does not mean the Greek word “mello” always
means the event described by it will occur ‘soon’ in human time even though it
is certain to occur (as we witness in Hebrews 11:8). Nevertheless there is a close association in the Greek word
“mello” between imminence and certainty.
There is
not in English a word which joins these two ideas of “soon” and “certain”. There is no necessary connotation of “soon”
in our term “certain”, or vice versa.
But there are of course other words in English where two distinct ideas
meet. One such word in English is
“hot”. Sometimes this denotes ‘high in
temperature’ (as in the sentence ‘It is hot today.’), and sometimes it denotes
‘full of zeal’ (as in the sentence ‘He is hot on the warpath to take revenge.’) Given this association in English, we should
not be surprised to find that someone may employ language regarding heat to
convey the idea of zeal.
Similarly,
the very fact that the two ideas of imminence and certainty are joined in one
word in the Greek language suggests at least one reason why the Greek New
Testament may more naturally employ a language of imminence with regards to the
coming Day of Judgment: there is in the Greek language some association of the
idea of certainty with the idea of imminence, at least in the commonly used
Greek word “mello”.
A second
reason that the language of imminence seems to have been used with reference to
the coming Day of Judgment by Christ is to stir our constant preparation for
judgment. As we read in Matthew
24:43-44, “But know this, that if the
goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would
have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an
hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.”
So in order to effect our preparation, He employed language which would
stir us to such preparation and kept us somewhat in the dark about which
generation it would occur.
Third,
scripture suggests such language is employed that we will not imagine our time
perspective is the same as God’s (Psalm 90:4, II Peter 3 ). This then drives us to be more like God in
our perspective of time. In other
words, it works patience in us, even as it works watchfulness.
Finally,
in certain instances the terminology of imminence is employed because a typical
event was to be fulfilled near term, but its anti-type and ultimate fulfillment
was yet in the distant future. We
witness an instance of how a type is to be fulfilled imminently, yet its
anti-type in the distant future, in the prophecy of Haggai 2:6 (“For thus saith
the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it [is] a little while, and I will shake the
heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry [land];”). A.R. Faussett
comments on this verse, and allusions to it in the book of Hebrews, as follows:
“6. Yet once, it is
a little while--or, "(it is) yet a
little while." The Hebrew for
"once" expresses the indefinite article "a" [MAURER]. Or,
"it is yet only a little
while"; literally, "one little," that is, a single brief space
till a series of movements is to begin; namely, the shakings of nations soon to
begin which are to end in the advent of Messiah, "the desire of all
nations" [MOORE]. The shaking of
nations implies judgments of wrath on the foes of God's people, to precede
the reign of the Prince of peace ( Isa 13:13 ). The kingdoms of the world are but
the scaffolding for God's spiritual temple, to be thrown down when their
purpose is accomplished. The transitoriness of all that is earthly should lead
men to seek "peace" in Messiah's everlasting kingdom ( Hag 2:9 Hbr 12:27, 28 )
[MOORE]. The Jews in Haggai's times
hesitated about going forward with the work, through dread of the world power,
Medo-Persia, influenced by the craft of Samaria. The prophet assures them this
and all other world powers are to fall before Messiah, who is to be associated
with this temple; therefore they need fear naught. So Hbr 12:26 , which quotes this passage; the
apostle compares the heavier punishment which awaits the disobedient under the
New Testament with that which met such under the Old Testament. At the
establishment of the Sinaitic covenant, only the earth was shaken to introduce
it, but now heaven and earth and all things are to be shaken, that is, along
with prodigies in the world of nature, all kingdoms that stand in the way of
Messiah's kingdom, "which cannot be shaken," are to be upturned ( Dan 2:35, 44 Mat 21:44 ).
Hbr 12:27 ,
"Yet once more," favors English Version. Paul condenses together
the two verses of Haggai ( Hag
2:6, 7 , and Hag
2:21, 22 ), implying that it was one and the same shaking, of
which the former verses of Haggai denote the beginning, the latter the end. The
shaking began introductory to the first advent; it will be finished at the
second. Concerning the former, compare Mat 3:17 27:51 28:2 Act 2:2 4:31 ; concerning
the latter, Mat 24:7 Rev
16:20 18:20 20:11 [BENGEL]. There is scarcely a prophecy of
Messiah in the Old Testament which does not, to some extent at least, refer to
His second coming [SIR ISAAC NEWTON]. Psa 68:8 mentions the heavens dropping near the mountain (Sinai); but Haggai speaks of
the whole created heavens: "Wait only a
little while, though the promised event is not apparent yet; for soon will
God change things for the better: do
not stop short with these preludes and fix your eyes on the present state of
the temple [CALVIN]. God shook the heavens
by the lightnings at Sinai; the earth,
that it should give forth waters; the sea,
that it should be divided asunder. In Christ's time God shook the heaven, when He spake from it; the earth, when it quaked; the sea,
when He commanded the winds and waves [GROTIUS]. CICERO records at the time of
Christ the silencing of the heathen oracles; and DIO, the fall of the idols in
the Roman capitol.”
The
events associated with the reconstruction of the Temple following the
Babylonian captivity near Haggai’s day constitute merely the beginning or
typical fulfillment of this prophecy.
As Calvin observes:
“…we have said that what the Prophet had in view was to show that the Jews were not to fix their eyes and their minds on the appearance of the Temple at the time: "Allow," he says, "and give place to hope, because your present state shall not long remain; for the Lord will shake the heaven and the earth; think then of God's power, how great it is; does he not by his providence rule both the earth and the heaven? And he will shake all things above and below, rather than not to restore his Church; he will rather change the appearance of the whole world, than that redemption should not be fully accomplished. Be not then unwilling to be satisfied with these preludes, but know what God's power can do: for though it may be necessary to throw the heaven and the earth into confusions, yet this shall be done, rather than that your enemies should prevent that full restoration, of which the Prophets have so often spoken." But the Apostle very justly says, that the gospel is here set in contrast with the law; for God exhibited his wonderful power, when the law was promulgated on mount Sinai; but a fuller power shone forth at the coming of Christ, for then the heaven, as well as the earth, was shaken. It is not, then, without reason that the Apostle concludes that God speaks now to us from heaven, for his majesty appears more splendid in the gospel than formerly in the law: and hence we are less excusable, if we despise him now speaking in the person of his only begotten Son, and thus speaking to show to us that the whole world is subject to him. He then adds, I will move all the nations, and they shall come. “
We see
the application of this principle in the New Testament especially with respect
to the Second Advent. Fairbairn
describes it this way:
“There is a coming spoken of in New Testament
Scripture which may be designated in the proper sense terminal, and therefore
also visible; so that every eye shall see it, and every heart be filled either
with joy or dismay on account of it.
And there are comings of a provisional kind, which all point toward the
ultimate manifestation, and differ from it only in being less palpable in their
nature, and less complete and lasting in their results.” (p. 449)
In some
cases like the parable of the virgins the reference is clearly to the final
coming; but in other cases like the parable of the wicked husbandmen (Mt
21:33-43) the coming is clearly to a provisional coming (in this case the
judgment on Israel in 70 AD). But in
Matthew 24 “it is impossible altogether to separate between the immediate and
the final coming. To a certain extent,
the two are intermingled together, and the one is contemplated as the type and
presage of the other.” (p. 454)
The
imminent language of examples like Haggai 2:6-7 as interpreted by Hebrew 12:27
thus reminds us of the danger of a preterist treatment with regards to time
indicators.
So the
fact that imminent language is employed with respect to matters relating to the
coming Day of Judgment should come as no surprise to us. And its occurrence in these instances is
hardly arbitrary. Generally speaking
time indicators should be understood in human time, but with respect to matters
relating to the coming Day of Judgment, we must understand them in divine
time. And we should not compromise our
doctrine of the Day of Judgment to accommodate wrong notions about its
imminence.
PRINCIPLES OF SCRIPTURAL INTERPRETATION
There
are many possible hermeneutic formulae we could conceive to interpret Biblical
prophecy. Preterists employ a formula
that says “soon” always equals 70 AD.
Dr. Kenneth Gentry explains this preteristic (whether full or partial)
hermeneutic in the July 1997 issue of Chalcedon Report, in an article
entitled "A Brief Theological Analysis of Hyper-Preterism" :
"I hold that passages specifically delimiting the time-frame by temporal
indicators (such as "this generation," "shortly," "at
hand," "near," and similar wording) are to be applied to A. D.
70. One could imagine someone else who had a formula like “soon”
always equals 500 AD. Etc. Or someone might have a formula that said
every prophetic symbol should be interpreted literalistically, unless noted as
figurative in the immediate context.
But the real test of these multitudes of possible prophetic hermeneutic
formulae is the Bible itself, and how scripture teaches prophecies should be
interpreted. Therefore, a key issue in
a discussion between a preterist and a historicist should be how scripture
interprets other scriptural prophecy.
Let’s
follow one particular prophecy – that concerning the promised rest to the
people of God- through scripture, and see what we learn from it regarding
scriptural prophecy. Now in Joshua
21:44-45 we read concerning this prophecy of rest: “And the LORD gave them rest
round about, according to all that he sware unto their fathers: and there stood
not a man of all their enemies before them; the LORD delivered all their
enemies into their hand. There failed
not ought of any good thing which the LORD had spoken unto the house of Israel;
all came to pass.” And in Joshua 22:4
we read: “And now the LORD your God hath given rest unto your brethren, as he
promised them: therefore now return ye, and get you unto your tents, [and] unto
the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you on
the other side Jordan.” So does that
verse mean all those prophetic promises made to the fathers were completely
fulfilled in every sense of the word, typically as well as antitypically? After all, does not Joshua say he had done
what he promised? Well the answer is
“no”, because we must not interpret Biblical prophecy in this way. It becomes obvious the answer is “no” when
we read Psalm 95 as well as Hebrews 4.
We may infer from Psalm 95 that there must be a remaining and greater
rest which the Jews did not enter with Joshua, for in Psalm 95 the people are
warned not to fall short of entering the rest, which must mean there is a
higher rest than that of the typical Canaan.
Accordingly, we read in Hebrews 4:8: “For if Joshua had given them rest,
then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.” If the rest of God meant merely typical
Canaan, God would not after their entrance into that land, have spoken of
another future day of entering the rest.
There
are many interpretive principles we can learn from this example, but two
lessons we certainly should learn from it include:
1. Just because some promised condition is said to be
fulfilled in a given time and place, we cannot assume that there is not a
fuller sense in which it has yet to be fulfilled. We must consider all of the scriptural evidence.
2. Scriptural prophecy often incorporates typology, and
we must ask if there is any fuller and more ultimate sense in which scripture
would indicate a prophecy will be fulfilled.
We must not assume that even the New Testament with its prophecies does
not include some of these typologies, for even then it could be said “now we
see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but
then shall I know even as also I am known.” (I Corinthians 13:12)
Now,
let’s consider another prophecy: the besiegement and desolation of Jerusalem
followed by their gathering and redemption by God.
Deut
28:49-52 – “The LORD shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end
of the earth, [as swift] as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt
not understand; A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the
person of the old, nor shew favour to the young: And he shall eat the fruit of
thy cattle, and the fruit of thy land, until thou be destroyed: which [also]
shall not leave thee [either] corn, wine, or oil, [or] the increase of thy
kine, or flocks of thy sheep, until he have destroyed thee. And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates,
until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustedst, throughout
all thy land: and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy
land, which the LORD thy God hath given thee.”
Deut
30:4-7 – “If [any] of thine be driven out unto the outmost [parts] of heaven,
from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch
thee: And the LORD thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers
possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply
thee above thy fathers. And the LORD
thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the
LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest
live. And the LORD thy God will put all
these curses upon thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, which persecuted
thee.”
Jeremiah
prophesied concerning the Babylonian captivity and the subsequent return of the
Jews to Jerusalem:
Jeremiah
19:9- “And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of
their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend in the
siege and straitness, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their lives,
shall straiten them.”
But
should we think that the prophecies of Deuteronomy were really finally
fulfilled when there was the return from the Babylonian captivity? No, for we learn in Daniel that the
Babylonian captivity and subsequent redemption are typical of even subsequent
such events:
Daniel
9:27- “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.”
Daniel
11:31- “And arms shall stand on his
part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the
daily [sacrifice], and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate.”
Daniel
12:11- “And from the time [that] the
daily [sacrifice] shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate
set up, [there shall be] a thousand two hundred and ninety days.”
Especially
the Daniel 11 and 12 desolations have primary reference to what is recorded in
I Maccabees 1:54; 6,7. But we read how it was typical of the besiegement of a
later such desolation, for we read in Luke 21:20- “And when you shall see Jerusalem
surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is at hand.”
Compare
as well its parallel passages in Matthew 24:15 and Mark 13:14. This certainly has primary reference to the
besiegement of Jerusalem by the Roman armies in 70 AD, but it is in another
respect merely typical of other typical besiegements such as that found in
Revelation 11:2- “But the court which is without the temple leave out, and
measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they
tread under foot forty [and] two months.”
But
finally it will be yet once again fulfilled in the besiegement described in
Revelation 20:9 which had been ultimately promised in Deuteronomy 28-30, and
even earlier:
Rev.
20:9- “And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of
the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of
heaven, and devoured them.” Immediately
after this besiegement will be the Great Day of Judgment which will usher in
the new heavens and new earth, wherein will be the consummate fulfillments of
the divine promises.
Here
would be some questions I would raise with preterists from simply these first
two examples:
·
When full preterists
cite Pauline passages that indicate certain prophesied elements in Matthew 24
have been fulfilled, should we ignore principles learned from Old Testament
prophecies (e.g,, concerning how God gave the Jews rest), suggesting there is yet
a more ultimate fulfillment to come?
·
With the preteristic
hermeneutic, would the prophecies of Deuteronomy 28 and 30 have been regarded
as consummately fulfilled in Joshua’s day? Or with the return from Babylonian
captivity?
·
Should we really
believe that today they have been consummately and ultimately fulfilled, even
though we grant they have already been fulfilled in remarkable ways?
A
historicist would answer the question, “how do we know we have not come to the
final fulfillment of what was promised in Deuteronomy 28-30 and that has been
repeated in typical fashion so many times before?” as follows: we have never
seen the fulfillment in its fullest expression, and there are scriptural
indicators that there is such a full expression to come. But I fear the full preterist method of
handling prophecy would lead us to believe Deuteronomy 28 and 30 already have
been fulfilled to their ultimate extent.
I have
traced how certain Biblical prophecies were fulfilled, and derived certain
principles from these instances; now let me posit additional principles and
provide some scriptural evidence for them.
These principles are outlined in Patrick Fairbairn’s The Interpretation of Prophecy, and I
have supplied some representative New Testament applications.
First,
scriptural prophecy often announces “things to come under the formal aspect of
a recurrence of those which had already happened, although the later proved not
to be a repetition of the earlier, but only relatively alike.” (Fairbairn, p. 165.) This principle is illustrated in the manner
in which Hosea foretold the coming captivity of Israel by representing it as a
return again into Egypt. He only later
noted that it was not Egypt literally considered to which they would be taken
captive, but only figuratively considered representing Assyria. Ezekiel maintains
this same pattern when he speaks of David coming in the future as Messiah, who
we know is Jesus Christ; and Malachi speaks of his fore-runner as Elijah, who
we know from the New Testament is John the Baptist. New Testament prophecy
maintains this pattern. For example,
Christ foretells the free intercommunion between earth and heaven which the
people will soon enjoy, by describing it in words reminiscent of Jacob’s
ancient vision: “Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God
ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
And in the book of Revelation, terms such as Temple (as in the Temple
described in Revelation 11) and Babylon (as in the Babylon which is said to
have fallen) are not speaking of the literal Jewish Temple and ancient city of
Babylon, but rather they should be understood symbolically.
Second,
much of scriptural prophecy comes in the form of typology. “Type in the representative life of David
and the history of Israel” prophesied of Christ’s future work and ministry, as
Fairbairn notes (p. 169). We witness
this in Christ’s birth at Bethlehem, His asylum in Egypt, and the actual
piercing of His side with a spear, to name just several. And we should not fail to note such
typological prophecies in the New Testament.
We have already pointed out how the local temporal judgments of Christ,
such as the one chronicled under the second seal in Revelation 6:4 with Christ
as the red-horse rider, as well as the fall of Babylon described in Revelation
18:2, are typical of the Great Day of Judgment described in Revelation
20:11-15, which is said to take place at least after a millennium.
Third,
there is an “aversion of prophecy to clearly defined historical periods- its
tendency to exhibit coming events under relations in space or time, or, as
successive only, without being on either hand definitely bounded” (p.
177). Fairbairn cites the case of
Isaiah 11, where Isaiah proceeds onto a description of Messiah after a
description of the overthrow of the Assyrian power, with everything left
indefinite as to time. So too we find
an indefiniteness in the time between the apostacy and coming of Christ
described in II Thessalonians 2, as well as an indefiniteness in time between
the “these things” in Matthew 24 versus “that day” of Christ’s Second Advent.
Fourth,
Biblical prophecy manifests an “inter-connected and progressive character” (p.
182). Fairbairn traces it from the
promise to bruise Satan’s head. He
notes how “earlier developments become only the historical basis, out of which
spring the announcement of more matured and diversified results.” Thus, “as regards the great stream of
prophecy, the past never properly dies; it is perpetually resumed and carried
forward to the future.” (p. 188)
Accordingly, we find even the prophesied worship in heaven described in
terms of the Old Testament Temple elements, and the people of God described
there as Twelve Tribes. And,
accordingly, we find in the book of Revelation the most detailed account of the
progress of Christ’s conquering the nations and defeating Satan.
TYPOLOGY IN SCRIPTURAL PROPHECY
It would
not be an exaggeration to assert that one can have no proper understanding of
scriptural prophecy without a sound understanding of its use of typology. Scriptural prophecy is replete with types
which foreshadow future events or persons.
It is fundamental to the argument of preterism that typology (or what
full preterist James Stuart Russell sometimes calls “twofold reference”) has
ceased in New Testament prophecy. (Russell described the preterist position
this way: "There is not a scintilla of evidence that the apostles and
primitive Christians had any suspicion of a twofold reference in the
predictions of Jesus concerning the end." - The Parousia, p.
545) For if typology were acknowledged,
then a prophecy that has primary reference to the local judgment of 70 A.D. on
Jerusalem could typologically foreshadow and reference a post-70 A.D. Great Day
of Judgment. So let’s consider this
issue of typology in scriptural prophecy.
It would
be helpful first to define our terms. A
‘type’ is a figure, representation, or symbol of something to come, such as an
event in the Old Testament that foreshadows and prophesies of another in the
New Testament. An ‘antitype’ is one
that is foreshadowed by or identified with an earlier symbol or type, such as a
figure in the New Testament who has a counterpart in the Old Testament. And ‘typology’ is simply our theory or
doctrine of scriptural types.
Let’s
rehearse some types again that we find in scripture:
1. The rest that the Israelites enjoyed in Canaan when
they came out of Egypt is a type of the promised Sabbath rest believers will
enjoy when they enter heaven, according to Hebrews 4. And indeed the weekly Christian Sabbath is a type of this
promised eternal Sabbath rest.
2. King David, who the prophet Ezekiel prophesied would
rule in the glorious days ahead, is a type of King Jesus. Circumstances in David’s life foreshadowed
and prophesied of circumstances in the life of the Son of David.
3. The Old Testament Jewish Temple is a type of Jesus
Christ Himself (see Hebrews 9:24).
4. The Babylonian conquest in the Old Testament is a
type of the Babylonian oppression described in the book of Revelation.
5. Gog and Magog described in Ezekiel were a type of
the Gog and Magog we find prophesied in Revelation 20, which even full
preterist James Stuart Russell somewhat acknowledged with these words in his
book Parousia: “There is an evident
connection between this prophecy and the vision in Ezekiel concerning Gog and
Magog (chaps. xxxviii. xxxix.)”
6. The Old
Testament church- in other words,
Israel - was a type of Christ, so that events described in its history
foreshadowed and prophesied events in the life of Jesus Christ.
7. The Old Testament church was a type of the New
Testament church, so that events described in its history foreshadowed and
prophesied events in the life of the New Testament church.
8. The shaking of the heavens and the earth described
in Haggai 2:6 (in which we read these words: “For thus saith the LORD of hosts;
Yet once, it [is] a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth,
and the sea, and the dry [land];”) was a type of the shaking of the earth
accomplished in Christ’s First Advent, according to Hebrews 12:26b-28a (“but
now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but
also heaven. And this [word], Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those
things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which
cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore
we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace…”), and is a
type of Christ’s Second Advent, which is described in Matthew 24:29 with these
words: “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be
darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from
heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:”
Now
let’s focus in on some of these types.
First, with regards to how Old Testament Israel was a type of Jesus
Christ and in that way prophesied His life, we must first recall the words of
Exodus 4:22-23, where God says of Israel: “"Thus saith the Lord, Israel is
My son, My first-born; and I say unto
thee, Let My son go, that he may
serve Me; and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy first-born." By calling Israel His first-born son, God
was in effect saying that the Old Testament church of Israel was a type of His
true Son, Jesus Christ. Thus we can
learn how the history of Israel foreshadowed and prophesied the life of Christ. For example, consider how that at an early
age Jesus went into Egypt before returning to Nazareth, which Matthew 2:15
indicates fulfilled the Old Testament experience of Israel, “out of Egypt have
I called my son.” (Matthew Henry writes
concerning this : The fulfilling of the scripture in a this—that scripture (Hos. 11:1), Out of Egypt have I called my son. Of
all the evangelists, Matthew takes most notice of the fulfilling of the
scripture in what concerned Christ, because his gospel was first published
among the Jews, with whom that would add much strength and lustre to it. Now
this word of the prophet undoubtedly referred to the deliverance of Israel out
of Egypt, in which God owned them for his son, his first-born (Ex. 4:22); but it is
here applied, by way of analogy, to Christ, the Head of the church. Note, The
scripture has many accomplishments, so full and copious is it, and so well
ordered in all things. God is every day fulfilling the scripture. Scripture is
not of private interpretation: we must give it its full latitude. "When Israel was a child, then I loved
him; and, though I loved him, I
suffered him to be a great while in Egypt; but, because I loved him, in due time I called him out of Egypt.’’ They that
read this must, in their thoughts, not only look back, but look forward; that which has been shall be again (Eccl. 1:9); and the
manner of expression intimates this; for it is not said, I called him, but I called my son, out of Egypt.)
And we
can see how the rest of Jesus’ life also was foreshadowed by the history of Old
Testament Israel. Thus, Israel was
baptized in crossing the Red Sea according to I Corinthians 10, paralleling how
Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River.
And Israel endured and overcame a 40 year wilderness experience, as
Christ endured 40 days in the wilderness tempted by Satan and overcame
him. And Old Testament Israel then
endured many trials, tribulations, and vexations in Canaan, as Jesus did in His
ministry as well. And Old Testament
Israel was destroyed in the Babylonian conquest, as Christ was killed by a
mysterious manifestation of the Beast, the earthly Jerusalem. (It was a mystery, because one would not
have expected that the very professing church of God- which the earthly
Jerusalem was at that time- would have killed one of its own. But it was a type of Beast, as we can infer
from Revelation 11:8, where the earthly Jerusalem [the city where Jesus was
killed] is likened to the Beastly manifestations of Sodom and Egypt.) Following the Babylonian captivity, we learn
in Ezekiel 37 that Israel was resurrected from dry bones (Ezekiel 37:7-11:
“…and Behold a shaking, and the bones came together…the breath came into them,
and they lived, and stood up upon their feet…these bones are the whole house of
Israel…”) in its restoration in Jerusalem and re-building of the Temple. Similarly, Jesus the Son of God rose from
the dead, and the Temple which was Himself was re-built. So we witness how the Old Testament Church
was a type of Christ.
But the
Old Testament church was also a type of the New Testament church. Just as Israel was baptized in crossing the
Red Sea, the New Testament church was baptized by the Spirit at Pentecost,
according to Acts 2. This New Testament church came out of the earthly
Jerusalem, which unlike during Christ’s First Advent ministry when it had still
been part of God’s visible church on earth, but due to its rejection of the
Messiah Jesus Christ, its status as God’s firstborn child on earth was being
taken away from it, and given to the New Israel, the Christian church. (As we
read in Matthew 21:42-43: “Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the
scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head
of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God
shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits
thereof.”) This transfer of billing
was pre-figured by the taking away of the blessing from the first-born child
Esau and giving it to Jacob, also called Israel- a type of both Christ and His
Church. As we read in Genesis 32:28,
“Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou
power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.” In this transfer of blessing, the earthly Jerusalem ruled by Judaists
henceforth took on the status of Egypt, as we read in Revelation 11:8 (“…Egypt,
where also our Lord was crucified…”). These earthly Jerusalem mis-used the 70
weeks prophesied by Daniel (equivalent to 70 weeks of years, or 490 years,
according to the day-year principle [see Appendix 2]) God had given it to
repent and receive the Messiah. And it
was out of this figurative Egypt that the New Testament church came, just as
the Old Testament church came out of Egypt.
And just
as Israel went through the wilderness following its baptism, so we read in
Revelation 12 how the New Testament church had a wilderness experience of 1,260
years (calculated according to the day-year principle as explained in Appendix
2). Just as Israel came through its wilderness and entered the Promised Land,
and as Christ had overcome Satan after His wilderness experience, so the
Christian church came out of its wilderness experience in the Protestant
Reformation. Just as Israel went through many sore trials and tribulations even
after its wilderness experience, so has the church. And as Old Testament Israel was subject to Babylonian oppression,
so Christ’s church we read in Revelation 17 was subject to a mysterious
Babylonian oppression. We read in
Revelation 17:9 that its seat of power was in the city of 7 hills, which is
Rome. We read in Revelation 12 and 13
how it had oppressed Christ’s true church, becoming transformed from the
Pagan-to-Papal Roman Empire, the Beast taking on Lamb-like
characteristics. It was a mystery, because
one would not have expected that the very professing church of God- which the
Romish church along with her daughter and fellow whores in the Christian
church- would have oppressed its own.
But this Beast has the title ‘Son of Perdition’ (II Thes 2:3) – the very
same title ascribed in scripture to the deceptive and traitorous Christian Judas Iscariot (John 17:12). Thus what entered the wilderness years as a
virgin church (Rev 12:6), we find in the wilderness has played the harlot and
become morally corrupted (Rev 17:3).
But just as the Babylonian oppression ceased for the Old Testament
church, so we read it will cease some time in the future (for it has not yet
been overturned) for the New Testament church.
And just as Old Testament Israel enjoyed a time of restoration, so we
read the church will yet enter an era of post-millennial restoration, primarily
through the instrumentality of the preaching of the gospel according to
Revelation 14:6, 19:15, and 19:21, as well as II Thessalonians 2:8. The nations then will be reformed and
Christian, covenanted to Christ (Psalms 22:27, Zech 14:16, Rev 15:4, Isaiah
19:21-23). Then as Magog was released
against Old Testament Israel, the figurative Magog will be released upon the
New Testament church. But just as
Christ came to the rescue of His Old Testament church in the First Advent, so
Christ will come to the rescue of His New Testament church in the coming Second
Advent. And just as the First Advent
ushered in a typical new heavens and new earth (Isaiah 65:17), so the Second
Advent will usher in the ultimate new heavens and new earth (Revelation 21).
Given
that the Old Testament church was a type and foreshadowing of Jesus Christ, as
well as a type and foreshadowing of the New Testament church, it should come as
no surprise when we suggest that the life of Jesus Christ which He lived during
His First Advent, is figuratively repeated in the history of the New Testament
church. We as the church walk in His
footsteps, after His example.
And not
only are there types which we must recognize in scriptural prophecy, there are
types within types. For example, the
history of how Israel endured the wilderness experience and entered the
Promised Land under the leadership of Joshua, we read in Hebrews 4 is not only
a type of the whole history of Old Testament Israel, it is a type of all of
human history, in which Jesus brings His elect church into the eternal Promised
Sabbath rest. We also learn in Hebrews
4 how the pattern of God’s Old Testament people of working 6 days and enjoying
a Sabbath rest on the seventh day, is also a type of this. And the New Testament people’s pattern of
working 6 days and enjoying a first day of the week Sabbath is a type of it as
well, which follows the pattern of Christ’s Passion week and resurrection
Sabbath on the first day of the week, called the Lord’s Day. Similarly, the period described in the
opening of the 7 seals - which seems to describe the era up to the judgment on
the earthly Jerusalem in 70 A.D. (though it could describe the era up to the
Roman Emperor Constantine and the nominal Christianization of the Roman Empire)
– is a type of the history of the New Testament church up to the
post-millennium, as well as a type of the history of the New Testament church
up to the Great Day of Judgment ushering in the new heavens and new earth, and
finally is a type of the whole history of mankind post-Fall to the Great Day of
Judgment ushering in the new heavens and new earth.
Now
let’s return to our consideration of the prophetic type we find in Haggai 2:6,
speaking of the shaking of heaven and earth.
The type itself concerns the restoration in Jerusalem and specifically
the re-building of the Old Testament Temple then, following the Babylonian
captivity. When just this prophetic
type is considered, it is certainly true that it was fulfilled in a very short
time. The prophet Haggai was part of
the generation which returned to Jerusalem from the Babylonian captivity, and
Haggai’s prophecies prompted the re-building of the Temple within a short time
span, to great effect. Hence we read in
Haggai 2:6, “Yet once, it [is] a little while, and I will shake the
heavens…” Now this re-building of the
Temple in Haggai’s day was a type of Christ’s passion and resurrection on the
third day, for Christ described that event too as a building of the Temple
(which was Christ Himself), according to John 2:19-21 (“Jesus answered and said
unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up…he spake
of the temple of his body.”) This rebuilding
of the Temple of Christ’s body in His First Advent shook heaven and earth in
typological fulfillment of the Haggai 2:6 prophecy, as we read in Hebrews
12:26-28 (“…Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this
[word], Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken,
as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may
remain. Wherefore we receiving a
kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace…”) So Haggai 2:6 not only prophesied the re-building of the Temple
in Haggai’s day, but also the work and resurrection associated with Christ’s
First Advent, which was centuries later.
And as previously noted, it has typologically prophesied as well the yet
future Second Advent, when the heavens and earth will again be shaken, and the
Temple of Christ’s body will dwell with man in the New Earth. Finally, as previously noted as well, we
learn an important lesson from the Haggai 2:6 prophecy about prophetic
interpretation. A scriptural prophecy
can employ language of imminence because the prophesied type itself is to occur
shortly, even if the anti-type which it also prophesies occurs centuries
later. While I do not believe this is
the only reason why we find language of imminence used in prophecy of the Day
of Judgment and in the book of Revelation’s prophecies (and I have previously
provided other reasons that this language of imminence was used), I think it
goes a long way in explaining it.
BRIEF COMMENTS ON SOME PERTINENT PROPHETIC SECTIONS
OF SCRIPTURE
As I
stated in the introduction, much that needs to be addressed relating to the
most pertinent New Testament sections of scripture were already covered in my
critiques of partial preterism.
Therefore, I am not going to rehearse that material here. Rather, I shall make some brief comments to
supplement and reinforce the material there.
Matthew 24
First we
should note that the term “the end of the age” throughout the book of Matthew
refers to the coming visible Day of Judgment and Advent of Christ. Until the end of the age therein described,
the nature of Christ’s presence with His disciples is best described in John 14
thus: “16. And I will pray to the Father, and he will give you another
Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17. The Spirit of truth, whom
the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, and knoweth him not; but
you know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. 18. I will not
leave you orphans; I come to you.” It
is a spiritual presence. This spiritual
presence, as opposed to visible presence, did not conclude in 70 AD. Nor was there a visible Great Day of
Judgment of the living and the dead in 70 AD.
The term in Matthew “the end of the age” refers to that event described
in Matthew 13:38-42: “The field is the world; the good seed are the children of
the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked [one]; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the
harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and
burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels,
and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which
do iniquity; And shall cast them into a
furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” This description admits nothing less than
the Great Day of Judgment.
Second,
in Christ’s response to the disciples He is contrasting the time of the
destruction of the Temple with the end of the age. The full preterist interpretation ignores this contrast, and so
errs. It is this contrast which lies at
the heart of the disagreement with full preterists. They deny the contrast.
But Rev. Brian Schwertley rightly describes the fundamental flaw of this
interpretation in his book Matthew 24 and
the Great Tribulation:
“Can one apply the fact that the day of Jesus'
coming is totally unexpected to the coming in judgment upon Jerusalem in A.D.
70? It appears to be very difficult if not impossible to apply these passages
to the destruction of Jerusalem because Christ gave the disciples a number of
signs (i.e., a head-up alert) so that they could discern the coming judgment
and avoid the devastation by fleeing to the mountains. This point has been used
by a number of commentators and scholars to argue for a change of subject in
verse 36. Note the following comments. Matthew Henry writes: "'Verily, I say unto you. You may take my
word for it, these things are at the door.' Christ often speaks of the nearness
of that desolation, the more to affect people, and quicken them for it....But
as to that day and hour which will
put a period of time, that knoweth no
man, v. 36. Therefore take heed of confounding the two, as they did." (156) Spurgeon writes: "There is a
manifest change in our Lord's words here, which clearly indicates that they
refer to his last coming to judgment." (157) Lane writes: "In order to
understand the relationship of this affirmation to the assurance given in verse
30 that the events preliminary to the destruction of the Temple will occur
within the experience of that generation, it is necessary to give full force to
the adversative particle in verse 32: 'I say unto you solemnly, this generation
shall not pass away...As for you that day and that hour, on the contrary, no one knows...' While the parable of the fig tree
illustrates the possibility of observing the proximity of the first event,
another comparison is developed in connection with verse 32 that underscores
the impossibility of knowing the moment of the Lord's return. Verses 30 and 32
concern two distinct events (the taking of Jerusalem by the Romans, and the Day
of the Lord, respectively)." (158)”
Analysis of Mark Chapter 13
It is
evident from the disciples’ questions that when they asked the questions they
associated the “end of the age” with Christ’s coming. The parallel accounts in
Mark and Luke especially make clear this idea of the disciples. But it is equally evident from Christ’s
answer that He corrected their error.
As Matthew Henry notes: “These verses seem to point at Christ’s second
coming, to judge the world; the disciples, in their question, had confounded
the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the world (Mt. 24:3), which was
built upon a mistake, as if the temple must needs stand as long as the world
stands; this mistake Christ rectifies, and shows that the end of the world in those days, those other days you enquire about,
the day of Christ’s coming, and the day of judgment, shall be after that tribulation, and not
coincident with it. Let those who live to see the Jewish nation destroyed, take
heed of thinking that, because the Son of man doth not visibly come in the
clouds then, he will never so come; no, he will come after that.”
Analysis of Luke Chapter 21
There is
not significantly more in Luke’s account that we have not already addressed in
our examination of Matthew and our brief comment on Mark 13. We should keep in mind the typology present
in the account. As Matthew Henry
explains: “Having given them an idea of the times for about thirty-eight years
next ensuing, he here comes to show them what all those things would issue in
at last, namely, the destruction of Jerusalem, and the utter dispersion of the
Jewish nation, which would be a little day of judgment, a type and figure of
Christ’s second coming, which was not so fully spoken of here as in the
parallel place (Mt. 24), yet glanced at; for the destruction of Jerusalem would
be as it were the destruction of the world to those whose hearts were bound up
in it.” Matthew Henry goes on to
explain- “He foretels the terrible havoc that should be made of the Jewish
nation (v. 22): Those are the days of
vengeance so often spoken of by the Old-Testament prophets, which would
complete the ruin of that provoking people. All their predictions must now be
fulfilled, and the blood of all the Old-Testament martyrs must now be required.
All things that are written must be
fulfilled at length. After days of patience long abused, there will come days of vengeance; for reprieves are not
pardons.”
One very
interesting addition in Luke’s account concerns what will happen when the
fullness of the Gentiles is ushered in.
The Commentary on Luke by
David Brown reads: “that one day Jerusalem shall cease to be "trodden down
by the Gentiles" ( Rev 11:2 ), as then
by pagan so now by Mohammedan unbelievers; (2) that this shall be at the
"completion" of "the times of the Gentiles," which from Rom 11:25 (taken from
this) we conclude to mean till the Gentiles have had their full time of that place in the Church which the Jews in their time had before them--after which,
the Jews being again "grafted into their own olive tree," one Church
of Jew and Gentile together shall fill the earth (Rom 11:1-36 ).”
Analysis of Revelation
I will
abbreviate my comments on Revelation and rather point the reader to my critique
on partial preterism which focused on the book of Revelation. The objections to the partial preteristic
interpretation of this book would be virtually identical to objections that I
would cite relating to a full preterist interpretation. So my comments here will be of a
miscellaneous nature, and fill in some gaps left in the previous critique.
Over
history various schemes for interpreting the book of Revelation have been
proposed. But I believe the one
exhibited in the following tables most accurately captures its true intent. First, the following table presents a
general outline of the book as a whole, as suggested in Revelation 1:19 (“Write
the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which
shall be hereafter;”) and confirmed in
Revelation 4:1 (“After this I looked, and, behold, a door [was] opened in
heaven: and the first voice which I heard [was] as it were of a trumpet talking
with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be
hereafter.”):
|
Section # |
Chapters in Revelation |
General Topic Covered |
|
1 |
1 |
the
things which thou hast seen |
|
2 |
2
- 3 |
the
things which are |
|
3 |
4
– 22 |
the
things which shall be hereafter |
So I
would outline Revelation as containing the three sections listed above. This outline itself suggests that
Revelation is organized basically in chronological order, an idea that is
important to remember as we seek a detailed outline of the events described in
chapters 4-22.
I
would divide the third section into
sub-sections, for the account of “the things which shall be hereafter” presents
itself in these sub-sections.
Furthermore, I believe these sub-sections should be interpreted as
occurring in successive chronological order, and not synchronously occurring as
some expositors have interpreted. Those
expositors who have interpreted some or all of these sub-sections as
synchronously occurring have pointed to the repetition of certain features and
events, such as the presence of the beast or the fall of Babylon. But such an interpretation fails to take
into account how each sub-section rather builds upon the previous ones, and
often assumes the events described in the previous ones have already occurred. Furthermore, it fails to take into account
the very repetitive nature of history in general, especially in the history of
redemption of God’s people. Consider,
for example, the repetition in history of this pattern:
1. the suffering of God’s people, often due to sins
2. their redemption by God
3. rest as a result of redemption
Here are
just some of the times this pattern has been repeated in history:
·
God’s people saved in
the Ark with Noah after suffering through much sin and the Great Flood.
·
Lot saved from Sodom
after much suffering.
·
The Exodus from
suffering in Egypt followed by rest in Canaan.
·
The suffering of God’s
people before God would raise up a judge in Israel to save the people (this
pattern repeated often in the book of Judges).
·
The rescue of God’s
people by King David after much suffering.
·
The rescue of God’s
people by good kings like Hezekiah and Josiah after much suffering.
·
Return to Jerusalem
after Babylonian captivity.
·
Rescue of God’s people
under the Maccabbees after desolations under Antiochus Epiphanes.
·
Rescue of Christians
from persecution by Judaists and 70 AD Roman siege of Jerusalem.
·
Christianization of
Roman Empire under Constantine following severe persecution during the Empire’s
pagan era.
·
Redemption from
suffering and deception under the Papal Anti-Christ during the Protestant
Reformation.
·
Currently we are
suffering through the effects of the Enlightenment in which Romanism and
pseudo-Protestant whores, as well as outright pagan Marxism and Fascism, wreak
havoc on truth and God’s people. But we
have reason to believe these will be over-turned and usher in a
post-millennium.
·
The future Second
Advent and Day of Judgment will usher in the new heavens and new earth.
An outline of these chapters consistent with a
successive interpretation would be as follows:
|
Sub-Section # |
Chapters in Revelation |
General Topic Covered |
Period in History |
|
1 |
4
– 8:1 |
Opening
of the 7 Seals |
Either
the period up to 70 A.D. when Christians were saved from the Roman siege, or
the period up to Constantine when the Roman Empire was Christianized and
pagan persecution abated. |
|
2 |
8:2
- 14 |
Sounding
of the 7 Trumpets* |
The
rise of the Papal Anti-Christ and Islam, and redemption in the Protestant
Reformation. (This period lasts well
over 1,000 years up to the 16th and 17th centuries.) |
|
3 |
15
- 19 |
Pouring
of the 7 Vials with the 7 Plagues |
Rise
of the ‘Enlightenment’ in which Romanism and other deceptions (whores) lead
to much suffering, and God sends judgments like the world wars, AIDS, etc.
which eventually overcome the Papal Anti-Christ and her fellow whore,
especially because they are accompanied by the preaching of the gospel |
|
4 |
20:1
– 20:10 |
The
Post-Millennium |
future
period in which deception will be significantly lessened, followed by a brief
period of significant Satanic activity |
|
5 |
20:11ff |
Great
Day of Judgment |
future
Second Advent of Jesus Christ in which all are judged |
|
6 |
21
- 22 |
New
Heavens and New Earth |
Future
eternal state when Christ visibly reigns on new earth as well as heaven |
*
Revelation chapters 12 – 14 present themselves as a flashback to more fully
describe what has occurred in the period of the sounding of the 7 trumpets (and
perhaps the opening of the 7 seals as well).
In the course of explaining the sounding of the 7 trumpets, a beast and
evil forces released from the bottomless pit was mentioned but not elaborated
upon. Revelation chapters 12 –14
elaborate upon them.
Thus, while it is plausible that the period
covered by the 7 seals, 7 trumpets, and 7 vials are synchronous rather than
successive, it is less likely. Even
those who have argued they are synchronous have generally admitted that the
focus of the prophecies of the events associated with the seven vials follows
in time the focus of events described in the prophecies of the 7 seals and 7
trumpets. The typological nature of Biblical prophecy should be kept in mind as
well. While the sounding of the 7
trumpets, for example, I believe has primary reference to the time up to the
Protestant Reformation, it typologically foreshadows the whole history of man
up to the millennium, and even up to the new heavens and new earth. Therefore,
the difference among historicistic post-millennialists between the successive
versus synchronous frameworks can often be a matter more of form than substance. But whether successive or synchronous, the
historicistic post-millennial framework still holds. For as the theologian Patrick Fairbairn so ably demonstrated, the
elements of Revelation simply do not admit a short time frame for their
fulfillment.
The beasts of Revelation should be
understood as kingdoms, consistent with their meaning in the book of
Daniel. And the “kings” that are said
to successively fall in Revelation chapter 17 should be interpreted as “kingdoms”
as well, consistent with the use of a similar expression in Daniel to describe
kingdoms. The interpretation of the
“kings” in Revelation chapter 17 as merely individual Roman emperors up to the
time of 70 A.D. does not even accord with history. Here is a list of men who could lay some claim to having been
Roman “emperor” up to the time of 70 A.D.:
Pompey the Great Imperator, c. 81 - 48 B. C.
Sextus Pompey
Imperatorial General, c. 45 - 35 B. C.
Julius Caesar
Imperator & Dictator, 61 - 44 B. C.
Brutus
Imperatorial General, c. 50 - 42 B. C.
Cassius
Imperatorial General, c. 50 - 42 B. C.
Ahenobarbus
Imperatorial General c. 42 - 32 B. C.
Marcus Antonius
Imperator and General, c. 61 - 30 B. C.
Lepidus
Imperator, c. 46 - 42 B. C.
Augustus (Formerly Octavian)
First Roman Emperor 27 B. C. - A. D. 14
AgrippaImperial
General c. 31 - 12 B. C.
Tiberius
Emperor A. D. 14 - 37
Drusus Son of
Tiberius, Murdered A. D. 23
Nero Claudius Drusus
Brother of Tiberius
Germanicus
Nephew and Adopted Son of Tiberius
Caligula
Emperor A. D. 37 - 41
Claudius
Emperor A. D. 41 - 54
Britannicus Son
of Claudius
Nero Emperor 54
- 68
Clodius Macer
Rebel against Galba A. D. 68
Galba Emperor
A. D. 68 - 69
Otho Emperor A.
D. 69
Vitellius
Emperor A. D. 69
Vespasian
Emperor A. D. 69 – 79
Even if
the term “kings” in Revelation chapter 17 referred to individual monarchs, it
would be a most unlikely proposition to say that in the Roman Empire five kings
had fallen before Nero, and only 1 or 2 fell up to and including the time of 70
A.D. No matter how you slice the above
list of men, it just does not fit with what is said in Revelation chapter
17. It is far more consistent with the
nature of Daniel and Revelation to identify these kings as the 7 beastly kingdoms:
Egypt, Sodom, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Pagan Rome, Papal Rome up to the
time of the Protestant Reformation (the 7Th. Beastly manifestation), and
Post-Reformation Papal Rome (the Whore and Mother of Harlots riding the Beast).
This
Pagan-to-Papal Rome corresponds to the Little Horn which comes out of the
Fourth Beast in Daniel 7:8. Revelation
chapter 13 describes it more fully.
There we witness a Beast which is said to reign 42 months (equivalent to
3.5 years [“time, times, and half a time”] = approximately 1,260 days). In accordance with the day-year principle of
prophetic time (see Appendix 2), this
would amount to 1,260 years, and the Geneva Bible rightly assigns it to the
time from the foundation of the Christian church in the Apostolic era to the
dawn of the Protestant Reformation with leaders like Wyckliffe and Huss. Its pagan-to-papal character is exhibited by
the lamb-like land beast which comes out of the wounded sea beast in Revelation
13. The lamb-like land beast is
especially deceptive, and “deceiveth them that live on the earth.”
The
1,260 years of tyranny upon the church under this Pagan-to-Papal Beast is
variously described in Daniel 7:25, Revelation 11:2-3, Revelation 12:6, and
Revelation 12:12-14. It would seem that
all of these passages refer to the same period of time, when Christ’s true
church was sorely oppressed. But
through the preaching of the gospel this regime in many respects fell
(Revelation 14:6-8). And thus concluded
the seventh manifestation of the beast which was to continue the “short space”
of a “time, and times, and half a time” (compare Revelation 17:10 with
Revelation 12:12-14).
And how do the books of Daniel and Revelation prophesy the Protestant Reformation, following a church wilderness experience? According to Daniel 12:11, “from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.” The abomination that maketh desolate refers to the destruction of the earthly Jerusalem and Temple in 70 A.D. In 70 A.D. the church definitively left the figurative Egypt of earthly Jerusalem, and earthly Jerusalem ruled by Judaists was destroyed like Pharoah and his armies. This was followed by the church’s wilderness experience according to Revelation 12. Revelation 12 describes it as lasting 1,260 years (according to the day-year principle), while Daniel 12 describes it as lasting 1,290 years. The difference is 30 years. Now 30 years was the time from Christ’s birth to His public ministry, and it symbolizes the time of birth to public ministry in His prophets. If we add 1,260 years to 70 A.D., we get 1330 A.D. And 30 years later is 1360 A.D. So who was born in 1330 A.D. and began his public ministry in 1360 A.D.? John Wycliffe, the Morningstar of the Reformation. Daniel 12:12 goes on to speak of the blessing of those who will make it to 1,335 years, which is 1405 A.D. By 1405, the Reformation was firmly planted in the British Isles with the Lollards, and it had been planted in continental Europe with Huss. But just as in Israel’s history, there remained and remains a long saga even after coming out of the wilderness.
So we
should not be so naïve as to believe this marked the conclusion of the
manifestation of Satan’s power on earth.
Indeed, even during the 1,260 years the church in the wilderness was in
most respects transformed into the Mother of Harlots, also in the wilderness
(compare Rev 12:6 with Rev 17:3). The
church played the whore, just as Israel of old had played the whore. And she was the Mother of Harlots in that
she has daughter whores scattered about even amongst Protestantism. They too have embraced many of her foul
doctrines, such as the denial of total depravity, unconditional election,
perseverance of the saints, and justification through faith alone. Thus it has been necessary for God to pour
out his vials of wrath upon this human rebellion (see Revelation 15 and
following). These vials consist of many punishments upon Enlightenment culture
which has come to dominate modern civilization. So we have witnessed the scourge of world wars, epidemics such as
AIDS, and Muslim and Communist
terrorism. It is in this general epoch
of history that we find ourselves today.
How long will it last? That is
hard to say, but it is an epoch marked by a diminution in the power of the
Papal Whore, largely at the hands of wicked rulers who have tired of Papal
tyranny (Revelation 17:16). Thus we see
the diminution in Papal power with the French Revolution, the Industrial
Revolution, and the Technological Revolution.
We can look forward to the ultimate collapse of the Papal power, and
finally even the flagrant manifestation of the Beast on earth (Revelation
19:20). The spread of the gospel
message will be the primary instrument for this to take place (Revelation
19:15).
A
prominent flaw in preterism is to assign the Man of Sin, Son of Perdition,
Lamb-Like Beast, False Prophet and the Babylonian Whore to an entity outside
professing Christendom. This
mis-identification fails to properly take into account the extent of deception
involved. It is much easier to identify
that a Nero, a Stalin, a Judaistic High Priest, etc. are enemies of
Christ. Yet, when one comes with the
name Christian, he is much harder to identify.
Is this not why Christ warned us: “beware of false prophets, which come
to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves” (Mt
7:15)? But even within the context of
the book of Revelation, the truly elect body of Christians are described as
virgins (Rev 14:4), whereas faithless and corrupted Christians are identified
as whores and fornicators (Rev 2:14, 20, 22, 14:8).
Once
Satan has been chained, we can anticipate a glorious period of gospel
prosperity in the post-millennium, which will be followed by the Great Day of
Judgment (Revelation 20). And this will
usher in the new heavens and new earth (Revelation 21-22), the ultimate
fulfillment of the promise that Satan’s head would be crushed by the Seed of
the Woman, that man may enter into God’s Sabbath rest.
SOME CROSS-EXAMINATION QUESTIONS
As this
treatment of full preterism was stimulated by a public discussion and debate,
it behooves me to propose these cross-examination questions:
1. Does
the term “thousand years” give any indication of length of time?
2. Do
you believe Revelation 22:12 and Revelation 20:12 refer to the same event?
which event?
Rev.
22:12- " And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward [is] with me, to give
every man according as his work shall be. "
Rev.
20:12- "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the
books were opened: and another book was opened, which is [the book] of life:
and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books,
according to their works."
3. Revelation
20:12 is part of Revelation 20:3-12 that reads as follows:
Revelation
20:3-12 – "And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set
a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand
years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season…And
when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his
prison…And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of
the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of
heaven, and devoured them…And the devil that deceived them was cast into the
lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet [are], and
shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. And I saw a great white
throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled
away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and
great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was
opened, which is [the book] of life: and the dead were judged out of those
things which were written in the books, according to their works."
Is the
term "thousand years" a temporal indicator, and if so, of what?
4. Why
should we not interpret the release of Satan, the Great Day of Judgment, and
the new heavens and new earth as occurring after an expansive time (symbolized
by the millennium)?
5.
Should we interpret the temporal indicator
'hastening unto' (which means ‘moving towards quickly) in II Peter 3:12 in
accordance with II Peter 3:8 (ie, understood in terms of divine time) or
not? Why or why not?
6.
In II Peter 3:9, it reads that "the Lord is not
slow concerning his promise". Is "not slow" a temporal
indicator? Should we infer from this that the Lord is fast, but as
measured by the divine time described in II Peter 3:8: "But, beloved, be not
ignorant of this one thing, that one day [is] with the Lord as a thousand
years, and a thousand years as one day."
7.
Preterists like Ken Gentry assert this as their
hermeneutic: ""I hold that passages specifically delimiting the
time-frame by temporal indicators (such as "this generation,"
"shortly," "at hand," "near," and similar
wording) are to be applied to A. D. 70." Preterists allow for **no**
exception to this hermeneutic with regards to temporal indicators. Are
you willing to stand by this hermeneutic with regards to temporal indicators in
II Peter 3:12 and II Peter 3:9?
8. Were
the ‘beasts’ of Daniel merely particular kings, or were they kingdoms? And
should we not assign them similar signification in the book of Revelation,
which is the New Testament sequel of Daniel?
9.
Since you and other preterists (incorrectly) render
from the Greek construction in Revelation 13:18 that the beast is a
[particular] man, are you willing to render from the same Greek construction in
Revelation 21:17 that the wall is a [particular] man? Why do you deny the
more reasonable rendering that the number is a human number like the
measurement of the wall is a human measurement?
10.
Why do preterists refuse to
relate Revelation 17:10-11 and Daniel 7:17? Are the ‘kings’ referenced in
Daniel 7:17 kingdoms or merely particular kings, as preterists seem to insist?
Revelation
17:10-11 reads: "… And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is,
[and] the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short
space.And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the
seven, and goeth into perdition."
And
Daniel
7:17 reads: "These great beasts, which are four, [are] four kings, [which]
shall arise out of the earth."
10.
If you insist ‘beast’ means a
mere king in prophetic revelation, then why does Daniel 7:23 read: "The
fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth".
11.
Most preterists like Gentry
say Nero was the sixth "king" of Revelation 17:10, which would imply
Caesar Augustus was the second. Did Caesar Augustus really **fall**, or
did he die after a long and prosperous reign? Did the Babylonian,
Persian, and Greek kingdoms fall?
12.
Some preterists like Don
Preston suggest Babylon in Revelation is Jerusalem. But is Jerusalem really associated with 7 hills or mountains (see
Revelation 17:9- “And here [is] the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are
seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.”) in contrast to Rome?
13.
In the Bible is the term ‘the
man of God’ a reference to one particular man or is it a title describing a
group of men with certain common characteristics? In the Bible is
the term ‘the son of perdition’ a reference to one particular man or is it a
title describing a group of men with certain common characteristics? In
the Bible is the term ‘the man of sin’ a reference to one particular man or is
it a title describing a group of men with certain common characteristics?
14.
Is one common characteristic
of a ‘son of perdition’ that he deceitfully feigns to be a Christian while he
is really not? Was that true of Judas Iscariot? Was that true of
Nero? Was that true of some Judaistic High Priest in the first century? Is that
true of the Romish papacy?
15. In Revelation 18:4 Christians are told to
come out of the compromising harlot.
How would this make sense if we conceive of the harlot as the pagan
Roman Empire?
16. The failure of preterism to adequately address the millennium and the Day of Judgment that follows it is a tremendous flaw of the entire preteristic interpretation of Revelation. Here is what James Stuart Russell admitted in his Parousia: “It is evident that the prediction of what is to take place at the close of a thousand years does not come within what we have ventured to call ‘apocalyptic limits.’ These limits, as we are again and again warned in the book itself, are rigidly confined within a very narrow compass; the things shown are ‘shortly to come to pass.’ It would have been an abuse of language to say that the events at the distance of a thousand years were to come to pass shortly; we are therefore compelled to regard this prediction as lying outside the apocalyptic limits altogether.” Do you agree with the full preterist Russell? Do you acknowledge that at least the elements in the book of Revelation that are said to follow the millennium occur long after 70 A.D.? And if the millennium extends into the future beyond the first century, why should we not believe the events which are said to follow it – like the Great Day of Judgment – are also in the distant future?
17. The full preterist James Stuart Russell wrote concerning the account in Revelation 20 of what follows the millennium thus: “There is an evident connection between this prophecy and the vision in Ezekiel concerning Gog and Magog (chaps. xxxviii. xxxix.), which is equally mysterious and obscure. In both the scene of conflict is laid in the same place, the land of Israel; and in both the enemies of God meet with a signal and disastrous overthrow.” So what do you believe is the connection between what is prophesied in Ezekiel 38-39, and the event described in Revelation 20? Is the former not a typological foreshadow of the latter? (Matthew Henry writes concerning it: “Magog we read of in Gen. 10:2. He was one of the sons of Japheth, and peopled the country called Syria, from which his descendants spread into many other parts. Of Gog and Magog together we only read in Eze. 38:2, a prophecy whence this in Revelation borrows many of its images.”) If not, why not? If so, why should we not believe that New Testament prophecies concerning 70 AD do not foreshadow events associated with a future Great Day of Judgment?
18. Luke 21:24 says, “until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.” This is said to follow the time in 70 AD when “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.” So when do full preterists believe this will take place and are any circumstances going to accompany it?
19. It seems in the book of Revelation that the virgin who flees into the wilderness due to the persecution by the beast (see Revelation chapter 12) plays the harlot and is thus transformed into a whore that we witness in the wilderness (see Revelation chapter 17). Now most commentators agree that the virgin is to be identified with the church, so why should we not identify the whore in Revelation chapter 17 especially with the heretical Romish church which is based in the city of 7 hills?
20. Should we identify the judgment described in Revelation 20:11-15 with the judgment and destruction of Babylon described in Revelation 17-18, or is the latter typical of the judgment described in Revelation 20:11-15? If you acknowledge it is typical, then why do you deny the future Great Day of Judgment, simply because you identify certain New Testament prophecies to 70 A.D.? On the other hand, if you believe these prophecies refer to the same event, why is there so much evidence that wickedness persisted after the destruction of whorish Babylon (see Revelation 17:16-18 and Revelation 19), yet Revelation 20:11-15 describes an event with finality? (Even the Beast and False Prophet lived past the time of the destruction of Babylon.) Why should we not believe that Revelation 19:1-20:9 outlines events in between the destruction of Babylon and the judgment of Revelation 20:11-15?
21. How can we consider the millennium described in Revelation 20 as synchronous with the era outlined in Revelation 4-19, when the era described in Revelation 4-19 was a period characterized by widespread deception, yet the millennium is characterized by its absence? Specifically within the context of Revelation, does it make sense to say Satan was bound in the bottomless pit throughout the period covered in Revelation 4-19?
22. Do you deny that the prophecy of Haggai 2:6 (“For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it [is] a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry [land];”) was fulfilled at least in some sense in Christ’s First Advent, which occurred centuries after Haggai uttered it? If so, how do you explain Hebrews 12:26-27? Do you deny any connection between Haggai 2:6 and the prophecy relating to the Second Advent in II Peter 3:10?
23. Do you acknowledge that within the context of the book of Revelation, the truly elect body of Christians are described as virgins (Rev 14:4), whereas faithless and corrupted Christians are identified as whores and fornicators (Rev 2:14, 20, 22, 14:8)? If so, why should we not believe that the whorish Babylon in Revelation is also to be identified as such a traitorous Christian, instead of someone like Nero or the Judaistic High Priest?
24. Given that scriptural prophecy is replete with typology, how can you deny it in New Testament prophecy about the future? Do you deny that the Babylonian captivity in the Old Testament is typical of the Babylonian oppression of Christians we find in the book of Revelation? If so, why do you not acknowledge that the judgment on the wicked in 70 A.D. is typical of the future Great Day of Judgment?
25.Do
you deny that the judgment described in Revelation 6:15 is typical of the
judgment described in Revelation 20:12?
26. Don Preston asserts that "Babylon
in Revelation = Jerusalem". This
seems to imply that ancient Babylon was a type of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Now *if* that is the case, how do we know
Jerusalem in 70 AD was not a type for a judgment in the future (i.e., after 70
AD)? If he equates the fall of
Jerusalem with the "fall of Babylon" described in Rev 18, then what
does the Day of Judgment described in Revelation 20 refer to?
27.
Since only the type was
imminent in the Haggai 2 prophecy, how do you know just the type is not
imminent in the NT prophecy, and the anti-type advent is centuries later?
28. In Daniel we read of events taking place 70 weeks (in other
words, 490 days) later, 1290 days later, and 2300 days later, after certain
specified events. Should we interpret
these according to the day-year principle?
If it took sometime after Daniel wrote this to the Apostolic era for the
event which is to occur after the 70 weeks to be fulfilled, does it not stand
to reason that the events which are to occur after 1290 days and even 2300 days
will be significantly after the Apostolic era?
REBUTTALS
Addressing Certain Articles by Full Preterist Author and Minister Don Preston
Don Preston is a very capable proponent of the full preterist position. Many of his articles on the topic can be found on the internet at url address http://www.eschatology.org/articles/articles.html. I will here briefly address some of these articles.
In Those Days vs. That Day Don Preston
argues against the contrast in timing between “those days” and “that day” in
Matthew chapter 24. He notes just some
of the many commentators but disagrees with them:
“North says "verse 36 starts with the word
'but' suggesting a contrast with what has gone before. Before verse 34,
moreover, Jesus uses the plural 'days' to refer to his major subject, while
after verse 34 he speaks in the singular of 'that day.'" Jackson also
notes this so-called distinction. Roy Deaver, says "Whereas the Lord has
been discussing "those days," he now makes the reference to 'that
day.' The Greek says, 'that day.' Obviously, this is a transition text."
[emphasis his] Robert Taylor also believes "that day" is positive
proof of a change in subject. The post-millennialist Kik also emphasized this
distinction: "The expression 'that day and hour' gives immediate evidence
of a change of subject matter.”
Don
Preston makes many valid arguments against the standard partial preterist
interpretation of Matthew 24, but his arguments fail to address the standard
historicistic post-millennial interpretation of Matthew 24. It denies that “those days” only relate to
the Apostolic era; but it does recognize the distinction Christ is making
between the timing of “these things” (i.e., the destruction of the Temple in 70
A.D.) and “that day” (i.e., Christ’s Second Advent). There is a true distinction in timing of the two, and that full
preterism denies it is one more significant objection to full preterism itself.
In How Heaven and Earth Passed Away Don Preston argues that heaven and earth
passed away. He writes: “IF YOU BELIEVE
THE OLD COVENANT HAS PASSED AWAY THEN YOU MUST BELIEVE "HEAVEN AND
EARTH" HAVE PASSED AWAY! Please read the words of Jesus: "Think not
that I am come to destroy the Law and the Prophets; I am not come to destroy,
but to fulfill. Verily I say unto you, until heaven and earth pass, not one jot
or one tittle shall pass from the law until all be fulfilled". [Matthew
5:17-18]”
But such
an interpretation ignores the substance of what Jesus is teaching in the
context of the Sermon on the Mount.
Notice the next verse in Matthew 5:19
- “Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and
shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but
whosoever shall do and teach [them], the same shall be called great in the
kingdom of heaven.” Christ is teaching
the enduring applicability of God’s moral law exhibited in the Law and the
Prophets. He is not discoursing on the abrogation of the Old Covenant in this
context – though it is true the Mosaic
economy passed away as a result of Christ’s First Advent - but rather the
enduring character of God’s moral commandments exhibited in the Old Testament.
Luke 16:17-18 makes a similar point: “And it is easier for heaven and earth to
pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.
Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth
adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from [her] husband
committeth adultery.” So Matthew
5:19 in no wise proves that heaven and earth passed away in the Apostolic
era.
In his
tract How is this Possible? Don
Preston asserts that the Authorized Version incorrectly translates II
Thessalonians 2:2 (“That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither
by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is
at hand.”), and that it should be rendered “that the day of Christ is
present.” And from this he asserts
that the Thessalonians were expecting an invisible Second Advent, because they
obviously knew it was not visible.
The very
conclusion that the full preterist arrives at is evidence enough to invalidate
his proposed correction to the translation.
Nothing could be more plain from the Apostle Paul’s teaching in I
Thessalonians that Christ’s Second Advent was to be visible. For example, he writes in 4:16-17: “For the
Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the
archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
Then we which are alive [and] remain shall be caught up together with them in
the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the
Lord.” How could this not be
visible?
Furthermore, Don Preston fails to mention the universal
aspect of the Second Advent which the Thessalonians expected. They did not expect a Second Advent which
was really only a local judgment upon the Judaistic Jews in Israel; they
expected a Second Advent with universal scope.
And it makes no sense that they should be troubled by a judgment
starting to happen upon the Judaistic Jews in Israel; but it makes much sense
that they should be concerned by an imminent Day of Judgment in which all men
will be judged. This is why Paul
consoles them with these words:
“And to
you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from
heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that
know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall
be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and
from the glory of his power; When he shall come to be glorified in his saints,
and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was
believed) in that day.” (II Thes. 1:7-10)
He did
not say something to the effect that it was merely going to be a judgment upon
the Jews in Israel.
It is
true that the Greek term translated in the AV as “at hand” most commonly means
present. But as the commentator A.R.
Faussett notes, while “the Greek is
usually used of actual presence; but is quite susceptible of the translation,
"is all but present." And
given that the Thessalonians were expecting a visible and universal Second
Advent, which they could not have missed in Paul’s teaching, there is
sufficient warrant in this context to render it as “at hand”.
In his article Babylon of Great of Revelation Don Preston contends that Babylon
must refer to Jerusalem because only Jerusalem killed Old Testament prophets,
and “prophets in Revelation must refer to Old Testament prophets. “Revelation 16:6; 17:1-6; 18:20, 24 tell us
that Babylon was drunk with the blood of the prophets. This is a critical
point! The term "the prophets" appears 88 times in the New Testament.
The overwhelmingly normal usage of the term refers to Old Testament prophets.”
This argument of Don’s is a real stretch,
because Revelation 18:20, to take but one example, evidently refers to New
Testament Apostles and Prophets. It reads: “Rejoice over her, [thou]
heaven, and [ye] holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on
her.” And Revelation 11 speaks of the
witnesses there prophesying, which is evidently in the New Testament era. So to argue these are Old Testament prophets
is quite implausible.
Furthermore, to identify the Babylon of
Revelation with Jerusalem is implausible.
First, Jerusalem does not fit with the description in Revelation chapter
17 as the city on 7 hills. In addition,
Jerusalem did not come out of the Roman Empire, yet the little horn of Daniel
(which is to be identified with Revelation’s Babylon) is said to come out of
the Roman Empire (aka ‘the fourth beast).
Finally, the Babylonian whore in the wilderness in Revelation 17 seems
to be a transformed version of the virgin in the wilderness, which was the
persecuted church. The term ‘virgin’ in
the book of Revelation identifies elect Christians (see Rev 14:4); whereas the
terms ‘whoredom’ and ‘fornication’ identify traitorous, corrupted Christians
(Rev 2:14, 20, 22). In the context whoredom is not identified either with pagan
Romanism or non-Christian Judaism. It
simply does not fit to identify Babylon then with Jerusalem, but it readily
fits to identify it with the Romish church.
In Recorded in the Book of Life Don Preston argues that we must be now outside the last days because:
· In the last days Christians will have miraculous gifts like prophecy, yet after the Apostolic era these gifts disappeared.
· The Day of the Lord which concludes the Last Days according to Isaiah must be identified with 70 A.D.
· Satan was to be bruised shortly (Romans 9:28 and Romans 16:20)
Regarding
the first point, to say that these miraculous sign gifts will be present in the
Last Days is not to say they will be present with everyone all the time. Indeed, they were especially fulfilled on
Pentecost Sunday. Regarding the second
point, it is overly simplistic to identify the term “day of the Lord” in Isaiah
2-4 with 70 A.D. It actually has
primary reference to the coming judgment of God upon the wicked Jews of that
day through the Babylonians, though this typologically refers as well to 70
A.D. and ultimately to the Great Day of Judgment.
It
should be noted as well that according to Romans 11:24-25 many Jews will be
converted when the time of the fulness of the Gentiles is complete. But according to Luke 21:24 this must occur
a considerable time after the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70
A.D.
A
parallel passage to Romans 9:28 and Romans 16:20 is Revelation 12:10-11. In Revelation 12:10-11 we read how Satan
will be bruised through the preaching
of the gospel. It is the preaching of
the gospel which will ultimately overthrow the Beast (Rev 14:6-8, Rev
19:15,21). But we should not mistake
this with the Great Day of Judgment described in Revelation 20:11-15.
So in
answer to Don’s question (“Paul said that was being accomplished when he wrote, Romans 11:1ff;
would be consummated at the coming of the Lord, 11:25-27; and would be
accomplished in a short while, Romans 9:28. Can we extend that "short
work" into two thousand years so far?”), our answer should surely be
“yes.”
Don
Preston has argued that Genesis 49 teaches that the Last Days ended in the
Apostolic era, because the scepter departed from Judah then. But he is wrong to say the scepter ever
departed from Judah. Jeremiah 31 and
Hebrews 8 say that God made a “new covenant with the house of Israel and with
the house of Judah”, and Jesus is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. So Judah hardly ceased then, any more than
Jesus and the New Covenant ceased then.
In fact,
the Last Days could not have ceased in the Apostolic era, because what Isaiah 2
says will happen in the Last Days has not yet ultimately occurred. It says the people “shall beat their swords
into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up
sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” This is a description of the post-millennium
which has yet to occur.
Jeremiah
31 and Hebrews 8 say that God made a “new covenant
with the house of Israel and with the house of
Judah”, and Jesus is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. So for Don to suggest Judah ceased during the Apostolic era is
wrong. And the term “until” in the
phrase “until Shiloh comes” does not mean
"up to the point of and not after." In one of Don’s very own
articles he admits that very often in scripture the word is used in a transitional
sense without the sense of termination. In Matthew 11:12 Jesus said the kingdom
had suffered violence "until now." Did the kingdom suffer no violence
after the days of John the Baptist?… In Romans 5:13 inspiration says sin was in
the world "until the law." Now was there no more sin after the Old
Law came?” So we should not imagine
that Judah and the Last Days had to cease in the Apostolic era.
In fact,
the Last Days could not have ceased in the Apostolic era, because what Isaiah 2
says will happen in the Last Days has not yet ultimately occurred. It says the people “shall beat their swords
into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up
sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” This is a description of the post-millennium
which has yet to occur.
Finally,
preterists such as Don Preston assert there are no types in the New Covenant
era. But our first day of the week
Christian Sabbath, called the Lord’s Day, which is a type of the Promised Eternal
Sabbath rest, is testimony against any such notion.
Verse-by-Verse Rebuttals
A
preterist by the name of David Green has put together a list of 101 verses
which he alleges are proof-positive time indicators that “the fulfillment of all prophecy was "at hand,"
"near," "soon," "about to be," etc. when the New
Testament was written, and it was all to be fulfilled by the time the old
covenant vanished and its temple was destroyed (in A.D. 70).” (see
http://www.strato.net/~dagreen/preterism101.html) Here I will briefly
comment upon each of these supposed proofs.
It should be noted that I reject the way in which full preterism so
often tries to relate language of a ‘kingdom’ or a ‘coming’ with the 70 A.D.
judgment upon Jerusalem, and not sufficiently to consider its fulfillment in
other events, some before and many after 70 A.D.
1. "The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand."
(Matt. 3:2)
We must
keep in mind that when Christ was crucified and resurrected, His kingdom was
established; He came and sat at the right hand of God the Father. To use the words of Psalm 2, He was set on
His holy hill of Zion. This is
confirmed in Acts 13:33 which reads: “God hath fulfilled the same unto us their
children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the
second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.” And this is why we read in Ephesians
1:19-21: “And what [is] the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who
believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised
him from the dead, and set [him] at his own right hand in the heavenly
[places], Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and
every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to
come.” It did not even have to wait
until 70 A.D. This is why even before
70 A.D. Paul could say in Colossians 1:13 that Christ had “delivered us from
the power of darkness, and hath translated [us] into the kingdom of his dear
Son.”
But
Christ had indicated in parables such as the one of how a mustard seed grows
into a tree, that the manifestation of His kingdom on earth would only
progressively develop. It will progress
into what we find in the book of Revelation describing a post-millennium, and
ultimately it will be fully manifested after a
Great Day of Judgment in a new heavens and new earth.
So there
is nothing in statements which imply Christ’s kingdom would be raised at the
time of Christ’s resurrection that contradict the ultimate manifestation to be
realized after the yet future Great Day of Judgment. And there are a number of instances in the gospels where Christ’s
coming refers to His coming to the Father to establish His kingdom upon His
resurrection and ascension (see response to quote #7 below). This is also consistent with the fact that
in the very first seal opened in the book of Revelation, Christ is presented as
coming as the White Horse Rider (Rev. 6:2), which is the same image we find of
Him in Revelation 19.
2. "Who warned you to flee from the
wrath about to come?" (Matt. 3:7)
The
Authorized Version rightly renders this “the wrath to come.” It is an allusion ultimately to the Great
Day of Judgment, which we discover in the book of Revelation is to occur at the
conclusion of the post-millennium. Then all men will be eternally judged.
However, it has secondary allusion to such temporal judgments as that in 70
A.D. We should keep in mind that the
book of Revelation describes a series of such judgments, all foreshadowings of the
Great Day of Judgment.
The
Greek term “mello“ [meaning ‘to come’] (as used in such verses as Acts 17:31
and Romans 8:18) often does not mean immediate in the human sense of time, but
rather refers to the certainty of something to come. An example of this is its occurrence in Romans 5:14, which reads
“Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not
sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him
that was to come.” The term translated
here ‘him that was to come’ is a form of the Greek word “mello”. Obviously,
Christ in His First Advent did not come in human time soon after Adam. Similarly, the Great Day of Judgment did not
occur in human time shortly after the First Advent.
3. "The axe is already laid at the
root of the trees." (Matt. 3:10)
This
probably refers to the coming judgment in 70 AD upon the Jews. Christ’s kingdom was established at His
resurrection, and most of the Jews rejected Christ and His kingdom, so they
were punished in 70 A.D. by the local judgment of the Roman siege. But we should not think this negates the
reality of the future Great Day of Judgment, of which such judgments as that in
70 A.D. are mere types and shadows. So
we find in the book of Revelation a series of such
4. "His winnowing fork is in His
hand." (Matt. 3:12)
Matthew Henry comments: “There is a day coming when the floor shall be purged,
and the wheat and chaff shall be separated. Something of this kind is often
done in this world, when God calls his people out of Babylon, Rev. 18:4. But it is
the day of the last judgment that will be the great winnowing, distinguishing
day, which will infallibly determine concerning doctrines and works (1 Co. 3:13), and
concerning persons (ch. 25:32, 33), when saints and sinners shall be parted for
ever.”
We
should not reject the ultimate manifestation of the separation of wheat and
tares simply because we acknowledge that in various local judgments in history
this separation has partially been accomplished, and therefore serves as a
foreshadowing of the ultimate.
5. "The kingdom of heaven is at hand."
(Matt. 4:17)
See response to quote #1.
6. "The kingdom of heaven is at hand."
(Matt. 10:7)
See response to quote #1.
7. "You shall not finish going
through the cities of Israel, until the Son of Man comes." (Matt.
10:23)
This
‘coming of the kingdom of God’ corresponds with prophecies such as Daniel
7:13-14, which reads: “I saw in the night visions, and, behold, [one] like the
Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and
they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory,
and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his
dominion [is] an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his
kingdom [that] which shall not be destroyed.” Thus Calvin writes concerning
Daniel 7:13-14:
“He came to the Ancient of days. This, in
my judgment, ought to be explained of Christ's ascension; for he then commenced
his reign, as we see in numberless passages of Scripture. Nor is this passage
contrary to what the Prophet had previously said -- he saw the Son of man in
the clouds. For by this expression he simply wishes to teach how Christ,
although like a man, yet differed from the whole human race, and was not of the
common order of men; but excelled the whole world in dignity. He expresses much
more when he says, in the second clause, He came even unto the Ancient of
days. For although the Divine Majesty lay hid in Christ, yet he discharged
the duty of a slave, and emptied himself, as Paul says, (Philippians 2:7). So
also we read in the first chapter of John, (John 1:14,) Glory appeared in him as of the
only begotten Son of God; that is, which belongs to the only begotten Son of
God. Christ, therefore, thus put off his glory for the time, and yet by His
miracles and many other proofs afforded a clear and evident; specimen of his
celestial glory. He really appeared to Daniel in the clouds, but when he
ascended to heaven, he then put off this mortal body, and put on a new life.
Thus Paul also, in the sixth chapter to the Romans, says, he lives the life of
God, (Romans 6:10;)
and other phrases often used by our Lord himself agree very well with this,
especially in the Evangelist John, "I go to the Father." "It is
expedient for me to go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I," (John 16:7; John 14:28;) that is,
it is expedient for me to ascend to that royal tribunal which the Father has
erected for me by his eternal counsel, and thus the whole world will feel the
supreme power to have been entrusted to me.”
That
Christ ascended to the right hand of the Father to establish His kingdom was to
be great comfort for those who labored to proclaim His gospel amidst
persecutions.
8. "....the age about to come."
(Matt. 12:32)
This is another instance in which a form of the Greek word “mello” is used,
meaning ‘to come.’ The Greek term
“mello“ [meaning ‘to come’] (as used in such verses as Acts 17:31 and Romans
8:18) often does not mean immediate in the human sense of time, but rather
refers to the certainty of something to come.
An example of this is its occurrence in Romans 5:14, which reads
“Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not
sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him
that was to come.” The term translated
in Romans 5:14 as ‘him that was to come’ is a form of the Greek word “mello”.
Obviously, Christ in His First Advent did not come in human time soon after
Adam.
Refer to
Appendix 1 for additional information concerning this Greek term.
9. "The Son of Man is about to come
in the glory of His Father with His angels; and will then recompense every man
according to his deeds." (Matt. 16:27)
There
are various reasons we should conclude that the coming here speaks of the same
one as described in Matthew 13:38-43, for it describes a universal judgment of
all mankind, with Christ accompanied by His angels. The verse should be translated: “For the Son of man shall come in
the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man
according to his works.” There was no
universal judgment and complete separation of the tares from the wheat in 70
A.D.
Calvin
comments: “27. For the Son of man
will come. That the doctrine which has just been laid down may more deeply affect
our minds, Christ places before our eyes the future judgment; for if we would
perceive the worthlessness of this fading life, we must be deeply affected by
the view of the heavenly life…”
10. "There are some of those who are
standing here who shall not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in
His kingdom." (Matt. 16:28; cf. Mk. 9:1; Lk. 9:27)
There
are various reasons we should believe the coming spoken of in Matt. 16:28 is
different from the one described in 16:27.
First, the one described in 16:27 was a universal judgment; the one in
16:28 is one where Christ established His kingdom. (see answer to quote #7)
Calvin comments: ”28. Verily,
I say to you. As the disciples might still
hesitate and inquire when that day would be, our Lord animates them by the
immediate assurance, that he will presently give them a proof of his future
glory. We know the truth of the common proverb, that to one who is in
expectation even speed looks like delay; but never does it hold more true, than
when we are told to wait for our salvation till the coming of Christ.
To support his disciples in the meantime, our Lord holds out to them, for
confirmation, an intermediate period; as much as to say, "If it seem too
long to wait for the day of my coming, I will provide against this in good
time; for before you come to die, you will see with your eyes that kingdom of
God, of which I bid you entertain a confident hope." This is the natural import
of the words; for the notion adopted by some, that they were intended to apply
to John, is ridiculous.
Coming in his
kingdom. By the coming
of the kingdom of God we are to understand the
manifestation of heavenly glory, which Christ began to make at his resurrection,
and which he afterwards made more fully by sending the Holy Spirit, and by the
performance of miracles; for by those beginnings he gave his people a taste of
the newness of the heavenly life, when they perceived, by certain and undoubted
proofs, that he was sitting at the right hand of the Father.”
11. "'When the owner of the vineyard
comes, what will he do to those vine-growers?' '....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.'
'....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.' ....When the chief
priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was
speaking about them." (Matt. 21:40-41,43,45)
This verse started to be fulfilled as the Jews rejected the gospel before 70
A.D. but the Gentiles embraced it.
Matthew Henry comments: “We have here the
privileges of the Jewish church, represented by the letting out of a vineyard
to the husbandmen; they were as tenants holding by, from, and under, God the
great Householder. Observe, 1. How God established a church for himself in the
world. The kingdom of God upon earth is here compared to a vineyard, furnished
with all things requisite to an advantageous management and improvement of it.
(1.) He planted this vineyard. The church is the planting of the Lord, Isa. 61:3. The forming of a church is a work
by itself, like the planting of a vineyard, which requires a great deal of cost
and care. It is the vineyard which his
right hand has planted (Ps.
80:15), planted with the choicest
vine (Isa. 5:2),
a noble vine, Jer. 2:21. “
We
should not identify every statement speaking of Christ’s coming as necessarily
referring to one event. Some refer to
Christ’s coming in His kingdom at His resurrection. (His coming in His kingdom did not wait until 70 AD, because we
read in Mt 28:18, “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is
given unto me in heaven and in earth.”)
Some refer to 70 A.D. or other local judgments. But those which speak of a universal
judgment refer to the future Great Day of Judgment.
12. "This generation will not pass
away until all these things take place." (Matt. 24:34)
In the context of Matthew 24, the “these things” is referring to the
destruction of the Temple in 70 AD, but it is not speaking of everything in the
chapter, and especially not of the Second Coming (“that day”), which Christ
contrasts with “these things” regarding our knowledge of its timing.
13. "From now on, you [Caiaphas,
the chief priests, the scribes, the elders, the whole Sanhedrin] shall be seeing the Son of Man sitting at
the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven." (Matt.
26:64; Mk. 14:62; Lk. 22:69)
This
“sitting on the right hand of power” followed Christ’s resurrection, as we read
in Ephesians 1. The effects of this
“sitting on the right hand of power” were displayed on Pentecost, in the
miracles of the Apostles, in the spread of the gospel, in the 70 A.D. judgment,
and ultimately on the Great Day of Judgment when all men will stand before
Christ for judgment. But none of this
contradicts our doctrine of the future Day of Judgment.
14. "The kingdom of God is at hand."
(Mk. 1:15)
See
response to quote #1.
15. "What will the owner of the
vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vine-growers, and will give the
vineyard to others. ....They [the chief priests, scribes and elders] understood that He spoke the parable
against them." (Mk. 12:9,12)
See response to quote #11.
16. "This generation will not pass
away until all these things take place.” (Mk. 13:30)
This is the parallel passage to Matthew 24. See response to quote #12.
17. “Who warned you to flee from the
wrath about to come?” (Lk. 3:7)
See response to question #2.
18. “The axe is already laid at the root
of the trees. " (Lk. 3:9)
See response to question #3.
19. "His winnowing fork is in His
hand…." (Lk. 3:17)
See response to question #4.
20. “The kingdom of God has come near to
you.” (Lk. 10:9)
See response to question #1.
21. “The kingdom of God has come near.”
(Lk. 10:11)
See
response to question #1.
22. “What,
therefore, will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy
these vine-growers and will give the vineyard to others." …The scribes and
the chief priests …understood that He spoke this parable against them.”
(Lk. 20:15-16,19)
See response to question #11.
23. “These
are days of vengeance, in order that all things which are written may be
fulfilled.” (Lk. 21:22)
We must
understand “all things…be fulfilled” in light of the nearby verse which speaks
of Jerusalem being trodden down by the Gentiles **until** the fullness of the
Gentiles be brought in. Such was long
after 70 AD, and is even still future for us.
But there shall come a day when the fullness of Gentiles are brought in,
and the Jews are converted to Christianity.
This will usher in the post-millennium.
As Matthew Henry records about Whitby’s position: “Jerusalem shall be possessed by the Gentiles, of one sort or other, for the most part, till the time come when the nations that yet remain infidels shall embrace the Christian faith, when the kingdoms of this world shall become Christ’s kingdoms, and then all the Jews shall be converted. Jerusalem shall be inhabited by them, and neither they nor their city any longer trodden down by the Gentiles.”
We can
look forward to a day when the Jews are converted to Christianity, when the
fullness of the Gentiles are brought in: “For I would not, brethren, that ye
should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own
conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of
the Gentiles be come in.” (Romans 11:25)
24. "This
generation will not pass away until all things take place.” (Lk. 21:32)
”All things” here does not refers to the
events associated with the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD, not events such
as the fullness of the Gentiles being brought in and the Second Advent.
25. "Daughters
of Jerusalem, stop weeping for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your
children. For behold, the days are coming when they will say, 'Blessed are the
barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.' Then
they will begin to say to the mountains, 'Fall on us,' and to the hills, 'Cover
us.'” (Lk. 23:28-30; Compare Rev. 6:14-17)
This
seems to refer to the 70 A.D judgment., but this in no wise contradicts the
coming Great Day of Judgment.
26. "We
were hoping that He was the One who is about to redeem Israel.” (Lk. 24:21)
The Authorized Version has properly translated
this verse: “But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed
Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were
done.” They probably did believe,
however, that Jesus would then redeem Israel, because His disciples were slow
to understand the plan, as their very discussion with Jesus indicates.
27. "I
will come to you. …In that Day you shall know that I am in My Father, and you
in Me, and I in you.' …'Lord, what then has happened that You are about to
disclose Yourself to us, and not to the world?'" (Jn. 14:18,20,22)
As John Calvin points
out, “This passage
shows what men are, and what they can do, when they have been deprived of the
protection of the Spirit. They are orphans, exposed
to every kind of fraud and injustice, incapable of governing themselves, and,
in short, unable of themselves to do any thing. The only remedy for so great a
defect is, if Christ govern us by his Spirit, which he promises that he will
do. First then, the disciples are reminded of their weakness, that, distrusting
themselves, they may rely on nothing else than the protection of Christ; and,
secondly, having promised a remedy, he gives them good encouragement; for he
declares that he will never leave them. When
he says, I will
come to you, he
shows in what manner he dwells in his people, and in what manner he fills all
things. It is, by the power of his Spirit; and hence it is evident, that the
grace of the Spirit is a striking proof of his Divinity.”
The
immediately preceding verse reads: “The Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot
receive, because it seeth him not, and knoweth him not; but you know him; for
he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.”
This is the nature of Christ’s coming and presence with the saints
following His resurrection and ascension.
28. "If
I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?" (Jn. 21:22)
As John
Calvin wrote:
22. If I will
that he remain. It has been customary to take this
sentence as detached, and to read the former clause affirmatively, I will that
he tarry till I come; but this has
been done through the ignorance of transcribers, not through the mistake of the
translator; for he could not have been mistaken about the Greek word, but a
single letter might easily creep into the Latin version, so as to alter the
whole meaning. 1
The whole sentence, therefore, is a question, and ought to be read in immediate
connection; for Christ intended to put his hand on his disciple, in order to
keep him within the limits of his calling. "It is no concern of
yours," says he, "and you have no right to inquire what becomes of
your companion; leave that to my disposal; think only about yourself, and
prepare to follow where you are called." Not that all anxiety about
brethren is uncalled for but it ought to have some limit, so that it may be
anxiety, and not curiosity, that occupies our attention. Let every man,
therefore, look to his neighbours, if by any means he may succeed in drawing
them along with him to Christ, and let not the offenses of others retard his
own progress.
29. “This
is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel: 'And it shall be in the last
days…'” (Acts 2:16-17)
The term
“the last days” is found in Isaiah 2:2 (“And it shall come to pass in the last
days, [that] the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established in the top
of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall
flow unto it.”) This period certainly began
with Christ’s resurrection, but it shall not end until all those elements which
characterize it are fulfilled (e.g., the fullness of the Gentiles brought in,
the conversion of the Jews, the millennium, etc., all to be consummated with
the Great Day of Judgment). Isaiah 2
suggests some of these elements: “And many people shall go and say, Come ye,
and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob;
and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion
shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and
shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and
their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more.
O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the
LORD.” These elements are progressively
realized over history, and were not all realized in 70 A.D.
John
Calvin wrote concerning this verse:
17. It
shall be in the last days. By this effect he proveth
that the Messiah is already revealed. Joel, indeed, doth not express the last
days, (Joel 2:29;) but for as much as he
intreateth of the perfect restoring of the Church, it is not to be doubted but
that that prophecy belongeth unto the last age alone. Wherefore, that which
Peter bringeth doth no whit dissent from Joel's meaning; but he doth only add
this word for exposition sake, that the Jews might know that the Church could
by no other means be restored, which was then decayed, but by being renewed by
the Spirit of God. Again, because the repairing of the Church should be like
unto a new world, therefore Peter saith that it shall be in the last days. And
surely this was a common and familiar thing among the Jews, that all those
great promises concerning the blessed and well-ordered state of the Church
should not be fulfilled until Christ, by his coming, should restore all things.
Wherefore, it was out of all doubt amongst them, that that which is cited out
of Joel doth appertain unto the last time. Now, by the last days, or fullness
of time, is meant the stable and firm condition of the Church, in the
manifestation or revealing of Christ.
30. “He
has fixed a day in which He is about to judge the world in righteousness…”
(Acts 17:31)
The
Greek term “mello“ (as used in such verses as Acts 17:31 and Romans 8:18) often
does not mean immediate in the human sense of time, but rather refers to the
sureness of expectation and occurrence.
An example of this is its occurrence in Romans 5:14, which reads
“Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not
sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him
that was to come.” The term translated
here ‘him that was to come’ is a form of the Greek word “mello”. Obviously,
Christ did not come in human time soon after Adam.
The
Authorized Version is correct in translating the verse thus: “Because he hath
appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by
[that] man whom he hath ordained; [whereof] he hath given assurance unto all
[men], in that he hath raised him from the dead.”
31. “There
is about to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.” (Acts
24:15)
The
Greek term “mello“ (as used in such verses as Acts 17:31 and Romans 8:18) often
does not mean immediate in the human sense of time, but rather refers to the
sureness of expectation and occurrence.
An example of this is its occurrence in Romans 5:14, which reads
“Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not
sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him
that was to come.” The term translated
here ‘him that was to come’ is a form of the Greek word “mello”. Obviously,
Christ did not come in human time soon after Adam.
The
Authorized Version is correct in translating the verse thus: “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.”
32. “As
he was discussing righteousness, self-control and the judgment about to come…"
(Acts 24:25)
This is
another instance of the Greek term “mello”.
See response to question #31.
33. “Not
for [Abraham's] sake only was it
written, that [faith] was reckoned to
him [as righteousness], but for our
sake also, to whom it is about to be reckoned.” (Rom. 4:23-24)
This is
another instance of the use of the Greek term “mello”. Imputation of righteousness did not wait
until 70 A.D. Rather, the term “mello” is used to describe its certainty.
34. “If
you are living according to the flesh, you are about to die.” (Rom. 8:13)
This is a very obvious case where the term
“mello” must be interpreted as ‘certain to die’ and not ‘about to die.’ The Greek term “mello“ (as used in such
verses as Acts 17:31 and Romans 8:18) often does not mean immediate in the
human sense of time, but rather refers to the sureness of expectation and
occurrence. An example of this is its
occurrence in Romans 5:14, which reads “Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to
Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's
transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.” The term translated here ‘him that was to
come’ is a form of the Greek word “mello”. Obviously, Christ did not come in
human time soon after Adam. See Appendix 1.
35. “I
consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared
with the glory that is about to be revealed to us.” (Rom. 8:18)
The
Greek term “mello“ (as used in such verses as Acts 17:31 and Romans 8:18) often
does not mean immediate in the human sense of time, but rather refers to the
sureness of expectation and occurrence.
An example of this is its occurrence in Romans 5:14, which reads
“Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not
sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him
that was to come.” The term translated
here ‘him that was to come’ is a form of the Greek word “mello”. Obviously,
Christ did not come in human time soon after Adam. See Appendix 1.
36. "It is already the hour for you
to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed.
The night is almost gone, and the day is at hand." (Rom. 13:11-12)
John
Calvin comments on this verse:
“The import then of the words is this, "Since
we know that the seasonable time has already come, in which we should awake
from sleep, let us cast aside whatever belongs to the night, let us shake off
all the works of darkness, since the darkness itself has been dissipated, and
let us attend to the works of light, and walk as it becomes those who are
enjoying the day." The
intervening words are to be read as in a parenthesis.
As, however, the words are
metaphorical, it may be useful to consider their meaning: Ignorance of God is
what he calls night; for all who
are thus ignorant go astray and sleep as people do in the night. The
unbelieving do indeed labor under these two evils, they are blind and they are
insensible; but this insensibility he shortly after designated by sleep, which
is, as one says, an image of death. By light he means
the revelation of divine truth, by which Christ the sun of righteousness arises
on us. 1 He mentions awake, by which he
intimates that we are to be equipped and prepared to undertake the services
which the Lord requires from us. The works of
darkness are shameful and wicked
works; for night, as some one says, is shameless. The armor
of light represents good, and
temperate, and holy actions, such as are suitable to the day; and armor is
mentioned rather than works, because we are to carry on a warfare for the Lord.
But the particles at the
beginning, And this, are to be read by
themselves, for they are connected with what is gone before; as we say in Latin
Adhoec -- besides, or proeterea --
moreover. The time, he says,
was known to the faithful, for the calling of God and the day of visitation
required a new life and new morals, and he immediately adds an explanation, and
says, that it was the hour to awake: for it is not cro>nov but kairo<v which means
a fit occasion or a seasonable time. 2
For nearer is
now our salvation, etc. This passage is in various
ways perverted by interpreters. Many refer the word believed to the time
of the law, as though Paul had said, that the Jews believed before Christ came;
which view I reject as unnatural and strained; and surely to confine a general
truth to a small part of the Church, would have been wholly inconsistent. Of
that whole assembly to which he wrote, how few were Jews? Then this declaration
could not have been suitable to the Romans. Besides, the comparison between the
night and the day does in my judgment dissipate every doubt on
the point. The declaration then seems to me to be of the most simple kind, --
"Nearer is salvation now to us than at that time when we began to
believe:" so that a reference is made to the time which had preceded as to
their faith. For as the adverb here used is in its import indefinite, this
meaning is much the most suitable, as it is evident from what follows.
12. The
night has advanced, and the day, etc. This is
the season which he had just mentioned; for
as the faithful are not as yet received into full light, he very fitly compares
to the dawn the knowledge of future life, which shines on us through the
gospel: for day is
not put here, as in other places, for the light of faith, (otherwise he could
not have said that it was only approaching, but that it was present, for it now
shines as it were in the middle
of its progress,) but for that glorious brightness of the celestial life, the
beginnings of which are now seen through the gospel.
The sum of what he says is, -- that as soon as God
begins to call us, we ought to do the same, as when we conclude from the first
dawn of the day that the full sun is at hand; we ought to look forward to the
coming of Christ.
He says that the night
had advanced, because we are not so
overwhelmed with thick darkness as the unbelieving are, to whom no spark of
life appears; but the hope of resurrection is placed by the gospel before our
eyes; yea, the light of faith, by which we discover that the full brightness of
celestial glory is nigh at hand, ought to stimulate us, so that we may not grow
torpid on the earth. But afterwards, when he bids us to walk in the light, as
it were during the day time, he does not continue the same metaphor; for he
compares to the day our present state, while Christ shines on us. His purpose
was in various ways to exhort us, -- at one time to meditate on our future
life; at another, to contemplate the present favor of God.”
37. “The God of peace will soon crush
Satan under your feet.” (Rom. 16:20)
John
Calvin comments:
“20. What
follows, God shall bruise Satan, etc.,
is a promise to confirm them, rather than a prayer. He indeed exhorts them to
fight manfully against Satan, and promises that they should shortly be
victorious. He was indeed once conquered by Christ, but not in such a way but
that he renews the war continually. He then promises ultimate defeat, which
does not appear in the midst of the contest. At the same time he does not speak
only of the last day, when Satan shall be completely bruised; but as Satan was
then confounding all things, raging, as it were, with loose or broken reins, he
promises that the Lord would shortly subdue him, and cause him to be trodden,
as it were, under foot. Immediately a prayer follows, -- that the grace of
Christ would be with them, that is, that they might enjoy all the blessings
which had been procured for them by Christ.”
38. “The time has been shortened.” (I
Cor. 7:29)
John
Calvin rightly comments:
“29. Because
the time is short, etc. Again
he discourses respecting the holy use of marriage, for the purpose of
repressing the wantonness of those who, when they have married, think of
nothing but the delights of the flesh. They have no remembrance of God. Hence
he exhorts believers not to give way to unbridled desire in such a way, that
marriage should have the effect of plunging them into the world. Marriage is a
remedy for incontinency. It has really the effect, if it be used with
moderation. He therefore exhorts married persons to live together chastely in
the fear of the Lord. This will be effected, if marriage is made use of by
them, like other helps of this earthly life, having their hearts directed
upwards to meditation on the heavenly life. Now, he draws his argument from the
shortness of human life: "This life," says he, "which we are now
spending is frail, and of short duration. Let us not therefore be held
entangled by it. Let those accordingly who
have wives, be as though they had none." Every one, it is
true, has this philosophy in his mouth, but few have it truly and in good
earnest impressed upon their minds. In my first translation, I had followed a
manuscript, to which (as I afterwards discovered) not one of the many others gave
any countenance. I have accordingly deemed it proper to insert the particle because, to make the
meaning more apparent, and in accordance also with the reading in some ancient
copies. For as in those cases in which we are deliberating as to anything, we
look to the future rather than to the past, he admonishes us as to the
shortness of the time that is to come.”
We
should not interpret this “shortly” as referring to the 70 A.D. judgment upon
Jerusalem; this book was not even
especially written to those in Jerusalem, but those in Corinth.
39. “The form of this world is passing
away.” (I Cor. 7:31)
Calvin comments on this verse:
“For the fashion of this world passeth
away.
By the term here used, the Apostle has
elegantly expressed the vanity of the world. "There is nothing," says
he, "that is firm or solid;5for it is a mere show or
outward appearance, as they speak." He seems, however, to have had an
allusion to theatrical representations, in which, on the curtain being drawn up
in a single moment, a new appearance is presented, and those things that held
the eyes of the spectators in astonishment, are immediately withdrawn from
their view. I do not see why it is that Erasmus has preferred the term habitus (form.)
He certainly, in my opinion, obscures Paul's doctrine; for the term fashion is
tacitly opposed to substance.6”
40. “Now these things …were written for
our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.” (I Cor. 10:11)
A.R.
Faussett comments on this expression “the ends of the ages” thus:
“the
ends of the world--literally, "of the ages"; the New Testament
dispensation in its successive phases (plural,
"ends") being the winding up of all former "ages." No new dispensation
shall appear till Christ comes as Avenger and Judge; till then the
"ends," being many, include various successive periods (compare Hbr 9:26 ). As we
live in the last dispensation, which is the consummation of all that went
before, our responsibilities are the greater; and the greater is the guilt,
Paul implies, to the Corinthians, which they incur if they fall short of their
privileges.”
We are
not forced by this term to assume that in 70 A.D. we somehow came out of the
“ends of the ages.”
41. “We shall not all fall sleep, but we
shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last
trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable,
and we shall be changed.” (I Cor. 15:51-52)
The
event described in I Corinthians 15 as the end and Christ’s coming cannot apply
to 70 AD, for the following has not yet
been accomplished: “Then [cometh] the end, when he shall have delivered up the
kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all
authority and power. For he must reign,
till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
The last enemy [that] shall be destroyed [is] death.” There is yet death and open enemies on this
earth.
42. "Maranatha!" [The Lord
comes!] (I Cor. 16:22)
The localized judgment of 70 AD was directed at the Judaistic Jews in
Jerusalem, but this serves as a warning to those who are in Corinth.
Matthew
Henry comments on this verse: “"Let
him be Anathema, Maran-atha, lie under the heaviest and most dreadful curse.
Let him be separated from the people of God, from the favour of God, and
delivered up to his final, irrevocable, and inexorable vengeance’’ Maran-atha is a Syriac phrase, and
signifies The Lord cometh. That very
Lord whom they do not love, to whom they are inwardly and really disaffected
whatever outward profession they make, is coming to execute judgment. And to be
exposed to his wrath, to be divided to his left hand, to be condemned by him,
how dreadful! If he will destroy, who can save? Those who fall under his
condemning sentence must perish, and that for ever.”
43. "...not only in this age, but
also in the one about to come.” (Eph. 1:21)
This is
another instance where a form of the Greek term “mello” is used. See response to quote #8, as well as others.
44. “The Lord is near.” (Phil. 4:5)
Calvin explains: “The Lord is near to all that call upon him. The meaning therefore is,--
"Miserable
were the condition of the pious, if the Lord were at a distance from
them."But as he has received them under his protection and guardianship,
and defends them by his hand, which is everywhere present, let them rest upon
this consideration, that they may not be intimidated by the rage of the wicked.
It is well known, and matter of common occurrence, that the term solicitudo
(carefulness) is employed to denote that anxiety which proceeds from distrust
of Divine power or help.”
45. "The gospel …was proclaimed in
all creation under heaven." (Col. 1:23; Compare Matt. 24:14; Rom.
10:18; Col. 1:5-6; II Tim. 4:17; Rev. 14:6-7)
The fact
that even in the Apostolic era the command was being fulfilled, does not mean
it has been entirely fulfilled in every respect, any more than the rest during
Joshua’s day fulfilled all of God’s promises concerning a rest.
46. “…things which are a shadow of what
is about to come.” (Col. 2:16-17)
This is
another instance where a form of the Greek term “mello” is used. See response to quote #8, as well as others.
47. “…we who are alive, and remain until
the coming of the Lord… …We who are alive and remain shall be caught up
together with them in the clouds… …You, brethren, are not in darkness, that the
Day should overtake you like a thief.” (I Thess. 4:15,17; 5:4)
Calvin
comments;
“We who live. This has
been said by him with this view--that they might not think that those only
would be partakers of the resurrection who would be alive at the time of
Christ's coming, and that those would have no part in it who had been
previously taken away by death. "The order of the resurrection," says
he, "will begin with them: 3 we shall
accordingly not rise without them." From this it appears that the belief
of a final resurrection had been, in the minds of some, slight and obscure, and
involved in various errors, inasmuch as they imagined that the dead would be
deprived of it; for they imagined that eternal life belonged to those alone
whom Christ, at his last coming, would find still alive upon the earth. Paul,
with the view of remedying these errors, assigns the first place to the dead,
and afterwards teaches that those will follow who will be at that time
remaining in this life.
As to the circumstance, however, that by speaking in
the first person he makes himself, as it were, one of the number of those who
will live until the last day, he means by this to arouse the Thessalonians to
wait for it, nay more, to hold all believers in suspense, that they may not
promise themselves some particular time: for, granting that it was by a special
revelation that he knew that Christ would come at a somewhat later time, 4 it was nevertheless necessary that this doctrine should be delivered
to the Church in common, that believers might be prepared at all times. In the
mean time, it was necessary thus to cut off all pretext for the curiosity of
many--as we shall find him doing afterwards at greater length. When, however,
he says, we that are alive, he makes
use of the present tense instead of the future, in accordance with the Hebrew
idiom.”
48. “May your spirit and soul and body be
preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
(I Thess. 5:23)
Matthew Henry comments: “Where the good work of grace is begun, it shall be
carried on, be protected and preserved; and all those who are sanctified in
Christ Jesus shall be preserved to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And
because, if God did not carry on his good work in the soul, it would miscarry,
we should pray to God to perfect his work, and preserve us blameless, free from sin and impurity, till at length
we are presented faultless before the
throne of his glory with exceeding joy.”
This is
an exhortation relevant for all men, because the dead as well as the living at
the time of the Great Day of Judgment will have to stand before the judgment
seat.
49. “It is only just for God to repay
with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to you who are
afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven
with His mighty angels in flaming fire.” (II Thess. 1:6-7)
He is not saying that Christ’s Second Advent was then about to happen. We know this from the next chapter in II
Thessalonians, where we read: “That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be
troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the
day of Christ is at hand.”
50. “Godliness …holds promise for the
present life and that which is about to come.” (I Tim. 4:8)
This is
another instance where a form of the Greek term “mello” is used. See response to quote #8, as well as others.
51. “I charge you …that you keep the commandment
without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (I
Tim. 6:14)
Calvin comments:
“Till
the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is impossible to tell how necessary it was to all the godly, at that
time, to have their mind entirely fixed on the day of Christ; because
innumerable offenses existed everywhere in the world. They were assailed on
every hand, were universally hated and abhorred, were exposed to the mockeries
of all, were oppressed every day with new calamities; and yet they saw no fruit
of so many toils and annoyances. What then remained, but that in thought they
should fly away to that blessed day of our redemption?
Yet the same reason is in force with regard to us in
the present day, and indeed applies equally to almost every age. How many
things does Satan constantly present to our eyes, which, but for this, would a
thousand times draw us aside from the right course! I say nothing about fires,
and swords, and banishments, and all time furious attacks of enemies. I say
nothing about slanders and other vexations. How many things are within, that
are far worse! Ambitious men openly attack us, Epicureans and Lucianists jeer
at us, impudent men provoke us, hypocrites murmur at us, they who are wise
after the flesh secretly bite us, we are harassed by various methods in every
direction. In short, it is a great miracle that any man perseveres steadfastly
in an office so difficult and so dangerous. The only remedy for all these
difficulties is, to cast our eyes towards the appearing of Christ, and to keep
them fixed on it continually. 8
15.
Which in his seasons he will show. We are commonly hasty in our wishes, and not far from prescribing a day
and hour to God, as if we should say, that he must not delay to perform
anything that he has promised; and for that reason the Apostle takes an early
opportunity of restraining excessive haste, by expecting the coming of Christ.
For that is the meaning of the words, "which in his seasons he will
show." When men know that the proper time for anything is not fully come,
they wait for it more patiently. How comes it that we are so patient in bearing
with the order of nature, but because we are restrained by this consideration,
that we shall act unreasonably, if we struggle against it with our desires?
Thus we know, that the revelation of Christ has its appointed time, for which
we must wait patiently.”
52. “…storing up for themselves the
treasure of a good foundation for that which is about to come, so that they may
take hold of that which is life indeed.” (I Tim. 6:19)
This is
another instance where a form of the Greek term “mello” is used. See response to quote #8, as well as others.
53. “In the last days difficult times
will come. For men will be lovers of self… …Avoid these men. For of these are
those who enter into households and captivate weak women… …These also oppose
the truth… …But they will not make further progress; for their folly will be
obvious to all…” (II Tim. 3:1-2,5-6,8-9)
See
response to quote #29 concerning the term “last days”.
54. “I solemnly charge you in the
presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is about to judge the living and the
dead…” (II Tim. 4:1)
This is another instance where a form of the Greek term “mello” is used. See response to quote #8, as well as others.
55. “God, after He spoke long ago to the
fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days
has spoken to us in His Son.” (Heb. 1:1-2)
See
response to quote #29 concerning the term “last days”.
56. “Are they not all ministering
spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who are about to
inherit salvation?” (Heb. 1:14)
This is
another instance where a form of the Greek term “mello” is used. See response to quote #8, as well as others.
57. “He did not subject to angels the
world about to come.” (Heb. 2:5)
This is another instance where a form of the Greek term “mello” is used. See response to quote #8, as well as others.
58. “…and have tasted …the powers of the
age about to come.” (Heb. 6:5)
This is
another instance where a form of the Greek term “mello” is used. See response to quote #8, as well as others.
59. "For ground that drinks the rain
which often falls upon it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose
sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; but if it yields thorns
and thistles, it is worthless and near a curse, and it's end is for burning.”
(Heb. 6:7-8)
This very real threat is true in all ages, for judgment is nigh since all will
die and face judgment.
60. “When He said, 'A new covenant,' He
has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old
is ready to disappear.” (Heb. 8:13)
The new covenant was established at the First Advent, and the Old Covenant
administration was replaced. The
judgment in 70 A.D. was merely the last nail in the coffin.
61. “The Holy Spirit is signifying this,
that the way of the [heavenly] Holy
Places has not yet been revealed, while the outer tabernacle is still standing,
which is a symbol for the present time. Accordingly both gifts and sacrifices
are offered which cannot make the worshiper perfect in conscience, since they
relate only to food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body
imposed until a time of reformation.” (Heb. 9:8-10)
Calvin
remarks: “10. Until the time of
reformation, etc. Here he alludes to the prophecy of Jeremiah. (Jeremiah 31:31.)2 The new covenant succeeded the old as a
reformation. He expressly mentions meats and drinks, and other things of
minor importance, because by these trifling observances a more certain opinion
may be formed how far short was the Law of the perfection of the Gospel.3”
62. “But when Christ appeared as a high
priest of the good things about to come…” (Heb. 9:11)
This is
another instance where a form of the Greek term “mello” is used. See response to quote #8, as well as
others. The “good things to come” in
fact refers to the redemption He purchased on Calvary, as is evident from the
following verse (Heb. 9:12):
“12. Neither by the blood of
goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place,
having obtained eternal redemption [for us].”
63. “Now once at the consummation of the
ages He has been manifested to put away sin.” (Heb. 9:26)
See
response to quote #40, which employs similar phraseology.
64. “For the Law, since it has only a
shadow of the good things about to come…” (Heb. 10:1)
This is
another instance where a form of the Greek term “mello” is used. See response to quote #8, as well as others.
65. “…as you see the Day drawing near.”
(Heb. 10:25)
John
Calvin opines:
“Were
any one to ask, how could the Apostle say that those who were as yet afar off
from the manifestation of Christ, saw the day near and just at hand? I would
answer, that from
the beginning of the kingdom of Christ
the Church was so constituted that the faithful ought to have considered the
Judge as coming soon; nor were they indeed deceived by a false notion, when
they were prepared to receive Christ almost every moment; for such was the
condition of the Church from the time the Gospel was promulgated, that the
whole of that period might truly and properly be called the last. They then who
have been dead many ages ago lived in the last days no less than we. Laughed at
is our simplicity in this respect by the worldlywise and scoffers, who deem as
fabulous all that we believe respecting the resurrection of the flesh and the
last judgment; but that our faith may not fail through their mockery, the Holy
Spirit reminds us that a thousand years are before God as one day, (2 Peter 3:8;) so that
whenever we think of the eternity of the celestial kingdom no time ought to
appear long to us. And further, since Christ, after having completed all things
necessary for our salvation, has ascended into heaven, it is but reasonable
that we who are continually looking for his second manifestation should regard
every day as though it were the last.3”
66. “…the fury of a fire which is about
to consume the adversaries.” (Heb. 10:27)
This is another instance where a form of the Greek term “mello” is used. See response to quote #8, as well as others.
67. “For yet in a very little while, He
who is coming will come, and will not delay.” (Heb. 10:37)
Calvin
remarked: “He that cometh
will come, and will not tarry. Here are two clauses: by the first we
are taught that God will come to our aid, for he has promised; and by the
second, that he will do so in due time, not later than he ought.2”
68. “For here we do not have a lasting
city, but we are seeking the one that is about to come.” (Heb. 13:14)
This is
another instance where a form of the Greek term “mello” is used. See response to quote #8, as well as others.
69. "Speak and so act, as those who
are about to be judged by the law of liberty." (Jms. 2:12)
This is
another instance where a form of the Greek term “mello” is used. See response to quote #8, as well as others.
70. “Come now, you rich, weep and howl
for your miseries which are coming upon you. …It is in the last days that you
have stored up your treasure!” (Jms. 5:1,3)
Calvin
wrote: “Ye have heaped treasure
together: These words
may also admit of two explanations: -- that the rich, as they would always
live, are never satisfied, but weary themselves in heaping together what may be
sufficient to the end of the world, -- or, that they heap together the wrath
and curse of God for the last day; and this second view I embrace.3”
71. “Be patient, therefore, brethren,
until the coming of the Lord.” (Jms. 5:7)
Calvin
notes about this verse:
“7.
Be patient therefore. From this
inference it is evident that what has hitherto been said against the rich,
pertains to the consolation of those who seemed for a time to be exposed to
their wrongs with impunity. For after having mentioned the causes of those
calamities which were hanging over the rich, and having stated this among
others, that they proudly and cruelly ruled over the poor, he immediately adds,
that we who are unjustly oppressed, have this reason to be patient, because God
would become the judge. For this is what he means when he says, unto
the coming of the Lord, that is, that the confusion of
things which is now seen in the world will not be perpetual, because the Lord
at his coming will reduce things to order, and that therefore our minds ought
to entertain good hope; for it is not without reason that the restoration of
all things is promised to us at that day. And though the day of the Lord is
everywhere called in the Scriptures a manifestation of his judgment and grace,
when he succors his people and chastises the ungodly, yet I prefer to regard
the expression here as referring to our final deliverance.”
72. “You too be patient; strengthen your
hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.” (Jms. 5:8)
This is another instance in which a language of imminence is used with respect
to Christ’s Second Advent. We have
already addressed the reasons why such language was employed.
73. “…salvation ready to be revealed in
the last time.” (I Peter 1:6)
See response to quote #29 concerning the term “last days”, which is similar to
this term “last time”.
74. “He …has appeared in these last times
for the sake of you.” (I Peter 1:20)
See response to quote #29 concerning the term “last days”, which is similar to
this term “last time”.
75. “They shall give account to Him who
is ready to judge the living and the dead.” (I Peter 4:5)
This is another instance in which a language of imminence is used with respect
to Christ’s Second Advent. We have
already addressed the reasons why such language was employed.
76. “The end of all things is at hand;
therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer.”
(I Peter 4:7)
This is
another instance in which a language of imminence is used with respect to
Christ’s Second Advent. We have already
addressed the reasons why such language was employed.
77. "For it is time for judgment to
begin with the household of God.” (I Peter 4:17)
Faussett
comments on this verse:
“judgment
must begin at the house of God--the Church of living believers. Peter has in
mind Eze 9:6 ;
compare Amo 3:2 Jer 25:29 .
Judgment is already begun, the Gospel word, as a "two-edged sword,"
having the double effect of saving some and condemning others, and shall be
consummated at the last judgment. "When power is given to the destroyer,
he observes no distinction between the righteous and the wicked; not only so,
but he begins first at the righteous" [WETSTEIN from Rabbins]. But God limits the destroyer's power over His people.”
78. “…as your fellow elder and witness of
the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is about to be
revealed.” (I Peter 5:1)
This is
another instance where a form of the Greek term “mello” is used. See response to quote #8, as well as others.
79. “We have the prophetic word …which
you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the
Day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.” (II Peter 1:19)
See
response to quote # 82.
80. “Their judgment from long ago is not
idle, and their destruction is not asleep.” (II Peter 2:3)
See
response to quote #82.
81. “In the last days mockers will come.
…For this they willingly are ignorant of…” (I Peter 3:3,5)
See
response to quote #29 concerning the term “last days”.
82. “But the day of the Lord will come
like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements
will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned
up. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people
ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the
coming of the day of God.” (II Peter 3:10-12)
We must interpret the passages of imminence concerning the Judgment Day in
light of II Peter 3:7-8 – “But the
heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store,
reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly
men. But, beloved, be not ignorant of
this one thing, that one day [is] with the Lord as a thousand years, and a
thousand years as one day.”
83. “The darkness is passing away, and
the true light is already shining.” (I Jn. 2:8)
Calvin
comments: “Because the darkness is
past. The present time is here instead of the
past; for he means, that as soon as Christ brings light, we have the full
brightness of knowledge: not that every one of the faithful becomes wise the
first day as much as he ought to be, (for even Paul testifies that he labored
to apprehend what he had not apprehended, (Philippians 3:12,) but that the knowledge of Christ alone
is sufficient to dissipate darkness.”
84. “The world is passing away, and its
desires.” (I Jn. 2:17)
Calvin
comments:
“17.
And the world passeth away. As
there is nothing in the world but what is fading, and as it were for a moment,
he hence concludes that they who seek their happiness from it, make a wretched
and miserable provision for themselves, especially when God calls us to the
ineffable glory of eternal life; as though he had said, "The true
happiness which God offers to his children, is eternal; it is then a shameful
thing for us to be entangled with the world, which with all its benefits will
soon vanish away." I take lust here
metonymically, as signifying what is desired or coveted, or what captivates the
desires of men. The meaning is, that what is most precious in the world and
deemed especially desirable, is nothing but a shadowy phantom.”
85. “It is the last hour.” (I Jn.
2:18)
See response to quote #29 concerning the term “last days”, which is similar to
this term “last hour”.
86. “Even now many antichrists have
arisen; from this we know that it is the last hour.” (I Jn. 2:18; Compare
Matt. 24:23-34)
See response to quote #29 concerning the term “last days”, which is similar to
this term “last hour”.
87. “This is that of the antichrist, of
which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.”
(I Jn. 4:3; Compare II Thess. 2:7)
Faussett writes in his commentary on I
John: “ TO WHOM ADDRESSED.--AUGUSTINE [The Question of the Gospels, 2.39], says this Epistle was written
to the Parthians. BEDE, in a prologue
to the seven Catholic Epistles, says that ATHANASIUS attests the same. By the Parthians may be meant the Christians
living beyond the Euphrates in the Parthian territory, outside the Roman
empire, "the Church at Babylon elected together with (you)," the
churches in the Ephesian region, the quarter to which Peter addressed his Epistles
( 1Pe 5:12 ).
As Peter addressed the flock which John subsequently tended (and in which Paul
had formerly ministered), so John, Peter's close companion after the ascension,
addresses the flock among whom Peter had been when he wrote. Thus "the
elect lady" ( 2Jo 1:1 )
answers "to the Church elected together" ( 1Pe 5:13 ). See further confirmation of this
view in JF & B for Introduction to Second John.
It is not necessarily an objection to this view that John never is known to
have personally ministered in the Parthian territory. For neither did Peter
personally minister to the churches in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia,
Bithynia, though he wrote his Epistles to them. Moreover, in John's prolonged
life, we cannot dogmatically assert that he did not visit the Parthian
Christians, after Peter had ceased to minister to them, on the mere ground of
absence of extant testimony to that effect. This is as probable a view as
ALFORD'S, that in the passage of AUGUSTINE, "to the Parthians," is to
be altered by conjectural emendation; and that the Epistle is addressed to the
churches at and around Ephesus, on the ground of the fatherly tone of
affectionate address in it, implying his personal ministry among his readers.
But his position, as probably the only surviving apostle, accords very well
with his addressing, in a Catholic Epistle, a cycle of churches which he may
not have specially ministered to in person, with affectionate fatherly counsel,
by virtue of his general apostolic superintendence of all the churches.
TIME AND PLACE OF
WRITING.--This Epistle seems to have been written subsequently to his Gospel as
it assumes the reader's acquaintance with the Gospel facts and Christ's
speeches, and also with the special aspect of the incarnate Word, as God manifest in the flesh ( 1Ti 3:16 ), set forth
more fully in his Gospel. The tone of address, as a father addressing his
"little children" (the
continually recurring term, 1Jo
2:1, 12, 13, 18, 28 3:7, 18 4:4 5:21 ), accords with the view
that this Epistle was written in John's old age, perhaps about A.D. 90. In 1Jo 2:18 , "it
is the last time," probably does not refer to any particular event (as the
destruction of Jerusalem, which was now many years past) but refers to the
nearness of the Lord's coming as proved by the rise of Antichristian teachers, the mark of the last time. It was the Spirit's purpose to keep the Church
always expecting Christ as ready to come at any moment. The whole Christian age
is the last time in the sense that no
other dispensation is to arise till Christ comes. Compare "these last
days," Hbr 1:2 .
Ephesus may be conjectured to be the place
whence it was written. The controversial allusion to the germs of Gnostic
heresy accord with Asia Minor being the place, and the last part of the
apostolic age the time, of writing
this Epistle.
Calvin comments: “We must
understand the design of the Apostle, that he calls that the last time, during
which all things shall be so completed, that nothing will remain except the
last revelation of Christ. Even
now are there many antichrists. This may
seem to have been added by way of correction, as they falsely thought that it
would be some one kingdom; but it is not so.
They who suppose that he would be only one man, are indeed greatly
mistaken. For Paul, referring to a future defection, plainly shows that it
would be a certain body or kingdom. (2 Thessalonians
2:3.) He first predicts a defection that would prevail through the whole
Church, as a universal evil; he then makes the head of the apostasy the
adversary of Christ, who would sit in the temple of God, claiming for himself
divinity and divine honors. Except we desire willfully to err, we may learn
from Paul's description to know Antichrist. That passage I have already
explained; it is enough now touch on it by the way. But how can that passage agree with the words of John, who says
that there were already many antichrists? To this I reply, that John meant no
other thing than to say, that some particular sects had already risen, which
were forerunners of a future Antichrist; for Cerinthus, Basilides, Marcion,
Valentinus, Ebion, Arrius, and others, were members of that kingdom which the
Devil afterwards raised up in opposition to Christ. Properly speaking,
Antichrist was not yet in existence; but the mystery of iniquity was working
secretly. But John uses the name, that he might effectually stimulate the care
and solicitude of the godly to repel frauds.”
A.R.
Faussett comments: “These "many Antichrists" answer to "the
spirit of lawlessness (Greek) doth
already work." The Antichristian principle appeared then, as now, in evil
men and evil teachings and writings; but still "THE Antichrist" means
a hostile person, even as "THE
Christ" is a personal Saviour. As "cometh" is used of Christ, so here of Antichrist, the embodiment in
his own person of all the Antichristian features and spirit of those "many
Antichrists" which have been, and are, his forerunners. John uses the
singular of him. No other New Testament writer uses the term. He probably
answers to "the little horn having the eyes of a man, and speaking great
things" ( Dan 7:8, 20 );
"the man of sin, son of perdition" ( 2Th 2:3 ); "the beast ascending out of
the bottomless pit" ( Rev
11:7 17:8 ), or rather, "the false prophet," the same
as "the second beast coming up out of the earth" ( Rev 13:11-18 16:13 ).”
88. “For certain persons have crept in
unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation.
…About these also Enoch …prophesied, saying, 'Behold, the Lord came with many
thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all
the ungodly…'” (Jude 1:4,14-15)
See
response to quote #87, in which we find similar language.
89. “But you, beloved, ought to remember
the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that they were saying to you, 'In the last time there shall be mockers,
following after their own ungodly lusts.' These are the ones who cause
divisions…” (Jude 1:17-19)
See response to quote #29 concerning the term “last days”, which is similar to
this term “last time”.
90. “…to show to His bond-servants, the
things which must shortly take place.” (Rev. 1:1)
The time
indicator of Revelation 1:1 is grammatically worded in such a way as to embrace
the whole of the Revelation account.
But the whole simply does not lend itself to be interpreted as literally
being fulfilled in the first century, as preterists would ask us to
conclude. Even full preterists such as
James Stuart Russell have had to admit as much, at least with respect to the
millennium and its aftermath. But this
admission only serves to point out the very real flaw in the preteristic
hermeneutic of insisting time indicators like ‘quickly’ and ‘soon’ must refer
to 70 A.D.
91. “The time is near.” (Rev. 1:3)
See
answer to #90.
92. “Nevertheless what you have, hold
fast until I come.” (Rev. 2:25)
See
answer to #90.
93. “I also will keep you from the hour
of testing which is about to come upon the whole world.” (Rev. 3:10)
See
answer to #90.
94. “I am coming quickly.” (Rev.
3:11)
See
answer to #90.
95. “And she gave birth to a son, a male
child, who is about to rule all the nations with a rod of iron.” (Rev.
12:5)
Ruling the nations with a rod of iron is certainly an allusion to Psalm 2. At Christ’s resurrection He became the
rightful Messianic ruler of the nations (see Ephesians 1: [“. But as we also learn from Psalm 2, this does
not mean all opposition to His rule was immediately vanquished. Christ is exacting judgments upon His
opponents, and in so doing is ruling with a rod of iron. But there is a progressive aspect to the
manifestation of His kingdom, even as implied by Christ’s parables about a
mustard seed becoming a great tree and leaven ultimately leavening the
whole. So we should not assume that
such statements in Revelation imply a fully developed manifestation of Christ’s
kingdom.
96. "And in her [the Great City
Babylon] was found the blood of prophets
and of saints and of all who have been slain on the earth." (Rev.
18:24; Compare Matt. 23:35-36; Lk. 11:50-51)
“Babylon”
in Revelation most likely refers to Rome and not to Jerusalem. In Revelation 17 we read that the Beast
resides in the place of 7 hills, which seems to be an allusion to Rome.
97. “…to show to His bond-servants the
things which must shortly take place.” (Rev. 22:6)
See answer to #100.
98. "Behold, I am coming quickly.
" (Rev. 22:7)
See
answer to #100.
99. "Do not seal up the words of the
prophecy of this book, for the time is near." (Rev. 22:10; Compare
Dan. 8:26)
In order
to understand why the prophecies of the book of Revelation were unsealed at its
conclusion, while in contrast the book of the prophecies of the book of Daniel
were to remain sealed at its conclusion (12:9- “And he said, Go thy way,
Daniel: for the words [are] closed up and sealed till the time of the end.”),
we must look to Revelation 5:9 (“Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open
the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy
blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.”) It could only be unsealed once the Messiah
had come, died, and was resurrected, so as to conquer the nations for
Christ. No longer did the world have to
wait for the Messiah. He had now come
to conquer. But this does not mean that
all of the events prophesied in Revelation were to be concluded in the first
century.
100. "Behold, I am coming quickly
; and my reward [is] with me, to give
every man according as his work shall be.” (Rev. 22:12)
In order to properly interpret the meaning of Christ’s coming in the instances
described in Revelation 22 and throughout Revelation, it is important we keep
in mind that various types of His coming are described in the book. Some appear to be localized judgments (as
the threatened coming to judge the wickedness in [Rev ]), some appear to
be His spiritual presence in bringing the gospel to many lands and spiritually
vanquishing many enemies, and the coming in Revelation 20:12 refers to the
future Great Day of Judgment [i.e., Christ’s Second Advent] after the thousand
years have expired. So we should not
rashly conclude from these statements in Revelation 22 that the Second Advent
happened in the first century.
101. "Yes, I am coming quickly."
(Rev. 22:20)
See
answer to #100.
CONCLUSION
Much more could be said and perhaps should be said on this important eschatological topic. But I would simply close by saying there is very good reason that the Christian church has for so long embraced the future visible Advent of Christ and the Day of Judgment. The scripture offers abundant testimony of its veracity. And that the preteristic hermeneutic leads to a full preteristic interpretation of the book of Revelation and II Thessalonians 2, which in turn has significant consequences upon one’s interpretation of II Thessalonians 1 and I Thessalonians and Matthew and other books, is testimony of the significant flaw in the preteristic hermeneutic itself. There is no sound basis for abandoning historicistic post-millennialism for such a flawed conception of Biblical prophecy.
APPENDIX 1
Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, An Intermediate Greek-English
Lexicon. (see
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?layout.refembed=2&doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0058%3Aentry%3D%2320710&layout.reflookup=me%2Fllwn&layout.reflang=greek&layout.refwordcount=1)
mellô
1. I. to think of doing, intend to do, to be about to do, with inf., mostly inf. fut., tach' emelle dôsein he was just going to give, Il.; melleis aphairêsesthai aethlon thou thinkest to strip me of the prize, id=Il.; often with ouk ara, as, ouk ar' emelles lêxein; did you not think you might stop? could you not stop? Od., etc.; to be about to do (on compulsion), to be destined to do or to be, ta ou teleesthai emellon which were not to be accomplished, Il.; mellen oikos aphneios emmenai the house was destined to be wealthy, Od.; ei emellomen anoisein if we were able to refer, Plat.
2. 2. to express a certainty, mellô apechthesthai Dii it must be that I am hated by Zeus, Il.; mellô athanatous alitesthai I must have sinned against the immortals, Od.
3. 3. to mark a probability, when it may be rendered to be like to do or be, or expressed by an adv., ta de mellet' akouemen belike ye have heard it, Hom.; melleis idmenai thou art like to know of it, Od.; emellet' ara pantes anaseiein boên aye, all of you were like to raise (i. e. I thought you would raise) a cry of submission, Ar.
4. II. to mark mere intention, to be always going to do without ever doing, and so to delay, put off, hesitate, scruple, mostly with inf. pres., ti mellomen chôrein; Soph.; often followed by mê ou or mê, ti mellomen mê prassein; Eur.
5. 2. mellô often stands without its inf., ton huion heorakas autou; Answ. ti d' ou mellô; why shouldn't I have seen him? i. e. be sure I have, Xen.; ouden epathete oude emellêsate (sc. pathein) Thuc.:--so, when mellô seems to govern an acc., an inf. is omitted, to mellein agatha (sc. prassein) the expectation of good things, Eur.: hence
6. 3. the part. mellôn without an inf. (where einai or gignesthai may be supplied), ho m. chronos the future time, Pind., Aesch.; esp. in neut., to mellon, ta mellonta things to come, the event, issue, future, Aesch., etc.:--so in Mid., ta ischurotata elpizomena melletai your strongest pleas are hopes in futurity, Thuc.
7. III. mellomai as Pass., hôs mê melloito ta deonta that the necessary steps might not be delayed, Xen.; en hosôi tauta melletai while these delays are going on, Dem.
Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon (http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3D%2366174)
mellô , impf. emellon and êmellon (v. infr.), Ep. mellon Il.17.278 , Od.1.232, 9.378, B.12.164; Ep., Ion. melleskon Theoc.25.240 , Mosch.2.109: fut. mellêsô D.6.15 , Ev.Matt.24.6: aor. emellêsa Th.3.55 , X.HG5.4.65, etc., and êm- (v. infr.):--Pass. and Med., v. infr. v.--Only pres. and impf. in Hom., Hes., Lyr., and Trag.: aor. only in Prose (exc. Thgn., v. infr.): the impf. êmellon with long augm. is established by the metre in Hes.Th.898, Thgn.906, Ar.Ec. 597, Ra.1038 (both anap.), A.R.1.1309 (cf. Sch. ad loc.), Call.Del. 58: aor. 1 êmellêsa Thgn.259 ; êmellon is not found in earlier Att. Inscrr., but occurs in Pap., as PPetr.2p.146 (iii B. C.), Phld.Rh.1.145 S. (but emellon Hyp.Ath.7 , Arist.Ath.25.3).
I. to be destined or likely to, indicating an estimated certainty or strong probability in the present, past, or future (cf. Aristonic. ap. Sch.Il.10.326, 11.817, 16.46,al.): a. c. pres. inf. (or its equivalent), of a probability in the present, hothi pou mellousin aristoi boulas bouleuein where belike the best are holding counsel, Il.10.326; hôi melleis euchesthai to whom thou doubtless prayest, 11.364; melleis de su idmenai doubtless thou knowest, Od.4.200; ta de mellet' akouemen belike you have heard it, Il.14.125, cf. Od.4.94; houtô pou Dii mellei hupermeneï philon einai Il.2.116 ; olbon de theoi mellousin opazein methinks it is the gods who give wealth, Od.18.19; ei d' houtô tout' estin, emoi mellei philon einai you may be sure it is my good pleasure, Il.1.564. b. c. aor. inf., of a probability in the past, mellô pou apechthesthai Dii patri I must have become hateful to father Zeus, 21.83; keleusemenai de s' emelle daimôn a god must surely have bidden thee, Od.4.274; pollaki pou melleis arêmenai you must often have prayed, 22.322; mellô athanatous alitesthai I must have sinned against the immortals, 4.377; allote dê pote mallon erôêsai polemoio mellô at any other time rather than this I may have drawn back . . , Il.13.777; mellei men pou tis kai philteron allon olessai before now, no doubt, a man has lost . . , 24.46, cf. 18.362; tou d' êdê mellousi kunes tachees t' oiônoi rhinon ap' osteophin erusai Od.14.133 ; of a destiny in the past, emellen hoi autôi thanaton . . litesthai he was fated to have been praying for his own death, Il.16.46; epei ouk ar' emellon hetairôi kteinomenôi epamunai since I was (i.e. am) not destined to have succoured my comrade when they were slaying him, 18.98: c. pres. inf., ouk ar' emelles analkidos andros hetairous edmenai he was to turn out no helpless man whose comrades you ate, Od.9.475. c. c. fut. inf., of a destin y or probability in the future, ha rh ou teleesthai emellon which were not to be accomplished, Il.2.36; tacha d' anstêsesthai emellen ib.694; epei ouk ar' emellon egôge nostêsas oikonde . . euphraneein alochon 5.686 , cf. 12.113, 22.356, Od.13.293,384; mellon eti xunesesthai oïzui pollêi 7.270 ; peri tripodos gar emellon theusesthai they were to have run . . , Il.11.700, cf. E.HF463; chronôi emelle s' Hektôr . . apophthisein S.Aj.1027 ; emellon ara pausein poth' humas tou koax Ar.Ra.268 ; pheugeis; emellon s' ara kinêsein egô Id.Nu.1301 , cf. V.460, Pl.103, Ach.347: c. pres. inf., kai gar egô pot' emellon en andrasin olbios einai I had a chance of being, might have been . . , Od.18.138; mellen pote oikos hod' aphneios kai amumôn emmenai, ophr' eti keinos anêr epidêmios êen 1.232 : c. aor. inf. (cf. infr. 11), oudeis an oude mellêseie genesthai agathos Arist.EN1105b11 : with inf. understood, [ta men] paschousi, ta de mellousi [paschein] A.Pers.814; all' ouch houmos touto peponthen bios ou ma Di' oude ge mellei no, not likely! Ar.Pl.551; ouden . . oute epathete oute emellêsate Th.3.55 ; out' eme apephênen hê boulê out' emellêsen Din.1.49 .
d. in ei clauses, ei mellei polis einai if it is to be a city, Pl.Prt.324e: c. fut. inf., ei emellomen . . anoisein if we were to refer . . , Id.Phd.75b: c. aor. inf., ei mellomen . . dêlôsai Id.Lg.713a , cf. Smp.184d, Plt. 268d, al.: so in part., tên mellousan oikêsesthai polin kalôs Arist. Pol.1261a3 , etc.
e. in final clauses, xunepimelesthai hêi mellei arista hexein, = hêi arista hexei, Th.8.39; eichomen an . . epistatên labein . . hos emellen . . poiêsein Pl.Ap.20b , cf. App.Syr.46, etc.
f. in questions, the inf. being understood, ti ou mellô (melleis, etc.); why shouldn't I? why is it not likely that I should?, i. e. yes, of course, ton huion heorakas autou; Answ. ti d' ou mellô (sc. heorakenai); of course I have, X. HG4.1.6; ti d' ou mellei, eiper ge drai auto; Pl.R.605c; pôs gar ou mellei; Id.Phd.78b, etc.; alla ti mellei; what (else) would you expect? i. e. yes, of course, Id.R.349d, Hp.Mi.373d.
II. to be about to, in purely temporal sense, c. fut. inf., Hektora dion etetmen adelpheon, eut' ar' emelle strepsesth' ek chôrês Il.6.515 ; ho men min emelle geneiou . . hapsamenos lissesthai (perh. pres. inf.), ho d' auchena messon elasse 10.454 ; aleison anairêsesthai emelle Od.22.9 , cf. Il.23.544, 2.39, 6.52,393; deipnêsein mellomen, ê ti; Ar.Av.464, cf. Eq.931 (lyr.), Th.2.8, etc.: c. pres. inf., ti melleis dran; Ar.V.1379,Th.215, cf. Ec. 760, Ach.493, Av.498, al.; mellô mainesthai Lyr.Alex.Adesp.1.23 : more rarely c. aor. inf., pathein A.Pr.625 ; ktanein S.OT967 (nisi leg. ktenein); analabein, lipein, thanein, E.Or.292, Heracl.709, Med.393; apolesai, labein, Ar.Av.366, Ach.1159 (lyr.); prostheinai Th.3.92 ; oude emellêsan oude dienoêthêsan enthesthai D.35.19 : Phryn.316 wrongly condemns this constr.--The inf. is sts. omitted, to mellein agatha (sc. prassein or praxein) the expectation of good things, E.Or.1182, cf. IA1118.
III. to be always going to do without ever doing: hence, delay, put off, freq. in Trag. (also in Med. mellomai, v. infr. IV fin.): in this signf. usu. folld. by pres. inf., S.OT678 (lyr.), OC1627, etc.; tous xummachous . . ou mellêsomen timôrein: hoi d' ouketi mellousi kakôs paschein we shall not delay to succour our allies, for their sufferings are not being delayed, Th.1.86: freq. with mê ou, A.Pr.627, S.Aj.540: with mê, ti mellomen . . mê prassein kaka; E.Med.1242: rarely folld. by aor. inf., Id.Ph.299 (lyr.), Rh.673: inf. is freq. omitted, ti melleis; why delayest thou? A.Pr.36, cf. Pers.407, Ag.908, 1353, S.Fr.917, Th.8.78, etc.; makra m. S.OC219 (lyr.); Arês stugei mellontas E. Heracl.723 ; iômen kai mê mellômen eti Pl.Lg.712b ; mellon ti . . epos a hesitating word, which one hesitates to speak, E.Ion 1002; mellôn sphugmos a hesitating pulse, Gal.8.653.
IV. part. mellôn is used quasi-adjectivally, ho m. chronos the future time, Pi.O.10(11).7, A.Pr. 839, Arist.Top.111b28: Gramm., ho mellôn the future tense, D.T.638.23, A.D.Synt.69.28, etc.; hê m. autou dunamis his future power, Pl.R. 494c; m. phulaxasthai chreos Pi.O.7.40 ; ton m. blaston (karpon codd.) Thphr.HP4.15.1: esp. in neut., to mellon, ta mellonta things to come, the future, Pi.O.2.56, A.Pr.102, Th.1.138, 4.71, Pl.Tht.178e, etc.; opp. to what is simply future ( [to esomenon] ), Arist.Div.Somn.463b29, cf. GC337b4; eis to mellon (sc. etos) Ev.Luc.13.9, cf. PLond.3.1231.4 (ii A. D.), Plu.Caes.14:--also in Med., ta ischurotata elpizomena melletai your strongest pleas are hopes in futurity, Th.5.111:-- but
V. Pass. mellomai, hôs mê melloito ta deonta that the necessary steps might not be delayed, X.An.3.1.47; en hosôi tauta melletai while these delays are going on, D.4.37: fut. mellêsomai dub. l. in Procop. Goth.2.30: pf. part. memellêmenos, = mellôn, sphugmos Gal.9.308.
APPENDIX 2 : THE SEVENTY WEEKS OF DANIEL 9:24
We should interpret the Seventy Weeks of Daniel 9:24 (“Seventy weeks 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 the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.”) as Seventy Weeks of years (490 years), as most expositors have historically interpreted it. This conforms to its use in Leviticus 25:8 (“And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years.”)
The
day-year principle for interpreting prophetic time is well founded in scripture.
Two additional places where we find it explicitly declared, besides
Leviticus 25:8, are Ezekiel 4:6 (“And when thou hast accomplished them, lie
again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah
forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year.”) and Numbers 14:34
(“After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, [even] forty
days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, [even] forty years,
and ye shall know my breach of promise.”).
It is an important principle for interpreting the “1,260 days” (or “42
months”) in the book of Revelation, and is but one other reason we must reject
the preterist interpretation of this Apocalyptic book., which would seek to
compress its prophetic events into the first century.
The 70
weeks of years must begin with the decree of Cyrus to re-build the Temple, and
concludes in the years shortly after Christ’s resurrection, when the main body
of Jews had not repented of their sins received Jesus as Messiah. The anointing of the most Holy (Jesus
Christ), which is within the 70 weeks of years, most surely refers to the
baptism of Jesus; Jesus Christ was anointed
by the act of baptism for His great work.
John
Calvin offers a most insightful explanation of this 490 year period prophesied
in Daniel, which he views as expiring in the years immediately following
Christ’s resurrection. Here is an
extended excerpt from Calvin’s Commentaries
relating to the Seventy Weeks described in Daniel 9:24ff:
…There is no difference between us and the Jews in
numbering the years; they confess the number of years to be 490…
…No other
interpretation can possibly be received than that which refers it to the advent
of Christ, and the entire restoration of the Church of God….
Daniel here repeats the divisions of time already
mentioned. He had previously stated seventy weeks; but he now makes two
portions, one of seven weeks, and the other of sixty-two. There is clearly
another reason why he wished to divide into two parts the number used by the
angel. One portion contains seven weeks, and the other sixty-two; a single week
is omitted which will afterwards be mentioned…
I confess
the impossibility of finding any other exposition of what the angel says -- until Christ the Leader, unless by
referring it to the baptism of Christ. These two points, then, in
my judgment, must be held as fixed; first, the seventy weeks begin with the
Persian monarchy, because a free return was then granted to the people; and secondly,
they did not terminate till the baptism of Christ, when he openly commenced his
work of satisfying the requirements of the office assigned him by his father…
I stated
that we must begin with the monarchy of Cyrus; this is clearly to be gathered
from the words of the angel, and especially from the division of the weeks. For
he says, The seven weeks have
reference to the repair of the city and temple…When,
therefore, he puts seven weeks in the
first place, and clearly expresses his reckoning the commencement of this
period from the promulgation of the edict, to what can we refer these seven
weeks, except to the times of the monarchy of Cyrus and that of Darius the son
of Hystaspes? This is evident from the history of the Maccabees, as well as
from the testimony of the evangelist John; and we may collect the same
conclusion from the prophecies of Haggai and Zechariah, as the building of the
Temple was interrupted during forty-six years…If we reckon the years from the
reign of Darius to the baptism of Christ, sixty-two weeks or thereabouts will
be found to have elapsed.
… In the last Lecture we
explained how Christ confirmed the covenant with many
during the last week; for he gathered together the
sons of God from their state of dispersion when the devastation of the Church
was so horrible and wretched. Although the Gospel was not instantly promulgated
among foreign nations, yet Christ is correctly said to have
confirmed the covenant with many, as the
nations were directly called to the hope of salvation. (Matthew 10:5.) Although he forbade the disciples to
preach the Gospel then to either the Gentiles or Samaritans, yet he taught them
that many sheep were dispersed abroad, and that the time at which God would
make one sheep-fold was at hand. (John 10:16.) This was
fulfilled after his resurrection. During his lifetime he began to anticipate
slightly the calling of the Gentiles, and thus I interpret these words of the
Prophet, he will confirm the covenant with many. For I take
the word "many" here, Mybr, rebim, comparatively,
for the faithful Gentiles united with the Jews. It is very well known that
God's covenant was deposited by a kind of hereditary right with the Israelites
until the same favor was extended to the Gentiles also. Therefore Christ is
said not only to have renewed God's covenant with a single nation, but
generally with the world at large. I confess, indeed, the use of the word many for all, as
in the fifth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, and in other places, (Romans 5:19,) but there seems to be a contrast between
the ancient Church, included within very narrow boundaries, and the new Church,
which is extended over the whole world. We know how many, formerly strangers,
have been called from the distant regions of the earth by the gospel, and so
joined in alliance to the Jews as to be all in the same communion and all
reckoned equally sons of God.
The
Prophet now subjoins, He will make to cease the sacrifice and
offering for half a week. We ought
to refer this to the time of the resurrection. For while Christ passed through
the period of his life on earth, he did not put an end to the sacrifices; but
after he had offered himself up as a victim, then all the rites of the law came
to a close. By the words "sacrifice and offering" the Prophet implies
all ceremonies, a part being put for the whole; as if he had said, after Christ
had offered up one eternal sacrifice, all the customary ceremonies of the Law
were abolished; for otherwise Christ's death would have been superfluous, had
he not put an end to all the old shadows of the Law. Although the sacrifices
were continued for many years after Christ's death, yet we can no longer call
them "legitimate," for no reason can be offered why the sacrifices of
the Law should be pleasing to God, except their reference to that heavenly
pattern which Moses saw on the mount. (Exodus 25:40.) Hence, after Christ had appeared and expiated all the sins of the
world, it became necessary for all sacrifices to cease. (Hebrews 8:5.) This is the Prophet's
intention when he says, Christ should cause the sacrifices to cease
for half a week. He
embraces two points at the same time; first, Christ really and effectually put
an end to the sacrifices of the Law; and secondly, he proved it to the world in
the preaching of the Gospel by his Apostles. We observe, then, the sense in
which God testified by his Prophet the cessation of sacrifices
after Christ's resurrection. The veil of the temple was then rent in twain; true liberty was
proclaimed; the faithful might then feel themselves to be full grown men, and
no longer subject to that government of childhood to which they had submitted
under the Law.
The second clause of the
verse now follows: we have read it before, but we now repeat it to refresh the
memory. And over the
extension, or expansion, of abominations he shall cause astonishment, or stupefaction; and
even to consumption and determination he shall pour himself upon the desolator. Some translate, It shall be poured or shall distill:
we shall treat the words afterwards. The passage is obscure, and may be
rendered in a variety of ways, and consequently interpreters differ much from
each other. Some take Pnk, knaph, "a wing," for a "cherub;" then
they change the numbers from singular to plural, and think the Prophet alludes
to winged cherubim. This gives those who adopt this rendering a two-fold method
of explaining it. Some say the abomination shall be above the wings, that is,
the ark of the covenant, because the temple was profaned, and the abomination
was so ruinous that it destroyed even the very cherubim. Others take it
causally -- the abominations shall be for the sake of the cherubim. But I leave
these subtleties, as they do not seem to me to have any solidity. Others,
again, follow the Greek version, as quoted by Christ in the 24th chapter of
Matthew (Matthew 24) and elsewhere, although
Christ seems rather to refer to the 12th chapter of our Prophet. But as these
two passages refer to the same abomination, I will not insist on this point; I
will only remark upon the translation of one word. Those who translate
"the abominations of desolation" treat the words of Daniel too
carelessly, for there is no grammatical dependence of one word on the other,
or, technically speaking, no state
of regimen. The preferable opinion is
that which considers the word "wing" to mean extremity or extension.
Others, again, treat "extremity" as if it meant a state of despair;
as if the angel had said, on account of the extremity of the abominations, as
evils should accumulate upon evils without end till matters came to the last
pitch of despair. Others, again, explain "the wing of abominations"
more simply for the expansion itself, as if the angel had stated, the temple
shall be openly profaned, and the pollution shall be apparent far and wide.
Interpreters differ again
about the words Mmsm, rmesmem and Mms, sem-em usually
translated "make desolate," and "desolation." Some take the
former transitively, and others as neuter; the latter signifies to destroy and
lay waste, and also to wonder and be astonished. I think these two words ought
to be used in the same sense; as if the Prophet had said, all shall be
astonished at the extent of the abominations; when they shall perceive the
temple worship, swept away as by a deluge, then they shall be mightily
astonished. He afterwards adds the calamity which commenced when God shewed the
pollution of the temple shall distill or pour itself upon
him who is astonished. We will
treat the occurrence itself to enable us to understand the sense of the words
better. I have no hesitation in stating God's wish to cut off all hope of
restoration from the Jews, whom we know to have been blinded by a foolish
confidence, and to have supposed God's presence confined to a visible temple.
As they were thus firmly persuaded of the impossibility of God's ever departing
from them, they ought to be deprived of their false confidence, and , no longer
deceive themselves by such flattering hopes. Thus the temporary pollution of
the temple was shewn by Ezekiel. (Ezekiel 10:18.) For when
the prophets constantly proclaimed the approach of their enemies to destroy
both the city and temple, the greater part of the people derided them. In their
opinion this would overthrow all their confidence in God, as if he had been
false to his word, in promising them perpetual rest on Mount Zion. (Psalm 132:14.) Here Ezekiel relates his vision of God
sitting in the temple -- he then vanished, and the temple was deprived of all
its glory. This was but temporary.
But we are
now treating of a profanation of the temple, which should prove, if I may use
the phrase, eternal and irreparable. Without the slightest doubt, this prophecy
was fulfilled when the city was captured and overthrown, and the temple utterly
destroyed by Titus the son of Vespasian. This satisfactorily explains the
events here predicted. Some consider the word "abominations" to be
used metaphorically, and to signify the overthrow of the city; but this seems
to me forced. Others explain it of the statue of Caligula erected in the temple;
and others again, of the standard of Tiberius, who ordered the eagles to be
placed on the pinnacle of the temple. But I interpret it simply of that
profanation which occurred after the gospel began to be promulgated, and of the
punishment inflicted upon the Jews when they perceived their temple subject to
the grossest forms of desecration, because they were unwilling to admit the
only-begotten Son of God as its true glory. Others, again, understand the
impious doctrines and superstitions, as well as the perverse errors with which
the priests were imbued. But I think the passage marks generally the change
which took place directly after Christ's resurrection, when the obstinate
impiety of the people was fully detected. They were then summoned to
repentance; although they had endeavored to extinguish all hope of salvation
through Christ, yet God stretched forth his hand to them, and tried whether
their wickedness was curable or not. After the grace of Christ had been
obstinately rejected, then the extension of abominations followed; that is, God overwhelmed the temple in desecration, and
caused its sanctity and glory to pass utterly away. Although this vengeance did
not take place immediately after the close of the last week, yet God
sufficiently avenged their impious contempt of his gospel, and besides this, he
shews how he had no longer need of any visible temple, as he had now dedicated
the whole world to himself from east to west.