Full Preterist Safe House

[Ephesians321]

The Eschatological Battle of Gog & Magog

Ezekiel describes the great battle of the end time in terms of a pagan hoard that invades the land of Israel; a host so numerous that they ascend like a storm and a cloud to cover the land:

And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords: Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet; Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee. Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them. After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but is it brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them. Ezek. 38:1-8; emphasis added.

Several points need to be made at this juncture. First, Gog has set himself as the enemy of God and his people and there is an historical account that the Lord wants to settle. When he says that “after many days thou shalt be visited,” the prophet indicates that God has abstained from vengeance for many years, but that Gog’s day would come. Gog’s war against restored Israel was divinely permitted or ordained, and would provide occasion for judgment and vengeance against the people symbolized by Gog. Second, the invasion of Gog would occur in the latter times. This phrase speaks to the closing years of the world economy marked by the reign of sin and death. This places Gog’s attack upon restored Israel in the period immediately preceding the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, for the end of the mosaic age coincided with the end of the world order that obtained from the time of mankind’s fall. Third, the description of Gog’s territory mirrors that of the Roman empire. Ethiopia and Libya were Rome’s south-western boundary, Persia beyond the Euphrates unto the Caspian sea was its eastern-most boundary, and the “north quarters” coasting long the Black sea and the Danube unto the British isles were its northern-most holdings. Evidence that Ezekiel’s description of Gog’s territory answers to that of Rome is provided by Agrippa II’s famous speech attempting to dissuade the Jews from war with Rome, recorded by Josephus:

For all Euphrates is not a sufficient boundary for them on the east side, nor the Danube on the north, and for their southern limit, Libya has been searched over by them, as far as countries uninhabited, as is Cadiz their limit on the west.” Josephus, Wars, II, xvi, 4, Whiston ed.

Having established the time of Gog’s attack and the extent of his territory, it remains only to show whom he attacked. Ezekiel describes the objects of Gog’s invasion as those “brought forth out of the nations;” viz., restored Israel under “David,” which is to say, the church. But if Gog’s territory answers to the Roman empire, and the time of his attack upon the church preceded the destruction of Jerusalem, then what historical event must the prophet have in mind? That’s right, the great spiritual battle that overtook the church in the first century. The battle of Gog and Magog is a symbol of the eschatological persecution of the saints by Nero and the Jews. This conclusion is corroborated by John’s Revelation.

Gog and Magog in Revelation

In Revelation, the battle of Gog and Magog occurs after the defeat and symbolic thousand-year binding of the dragon in the bottomless pit. The dragon represents the embodiment of sin and death expressing themselves in the children of disobedience in the form of Leviathan, the world civil power at enmity with God and his people. The dragon first appears in Rev. 12, where he attempts to kill the Christ-child in Herod’s slaughter of the innocents. (Rev. 12:4; Matt. 2:16-18) The child escapes and is later caught up to the throne of God. However, he first wages war with the dragon and his angels under the guise of Michael the Archangel (prince of angels). This was the earthly ministry of Christ, who defeated the power of sin and death by the blood of his cross (Rev. 12:11; Col. 2:14, 15), wresting the right of world dominion from dragon. Ascending to heaven, it thus became Christ’s to rule all nations with a rod of iron. (Rev. 12:5)

When the dragon saw that he was defeated, he made war against the woman who bore the Christ child: not Mary, but the virgin of Zion, the mother church in Palestine. (Rev. 12:13) Following as it does upon the heels of Christ’s ascension, this persecution is easily identified as the persecution that arose over Stephen, which St. Paul led under the commission of the Sanhedrin with the assent of Pilate. The dragon did not wage this persecution directly, but through its alter ego (Lat., other I) the “beast.” (Rev. 11:7) The beast is the persecuting power of the civil government; it receives authority to wage war against the saints from the dragon (imperial Rome). (Rev. 13:2, 4) The persecution that arose over Stephen lasted three and a half years, or one thousand two hundred and sixty days (A.D. 34-38) (Rev.12:6, 14); it collapsed with the removal of Caiaphas from the high priesthood; Pilate’s leaving Judaea, and the conversion of St. Paul. The persecution revived momentarily under Herod Argippa I (Acts 12 - circa A.D. 41), but ended almost as abruptly as it started when Agrippa died of a stroke from God. Aggrippa II was too young to manage his father's kingdom, so Claudius returned Judea to a province and sent thither Cuspius Fadus as procurator, returning the protection of law to the church. The collapse of the persecution in Palestine is represented by the earth opening its mouth to swallow the flood of persecution pouring out of the dragon’s mouth. (Rev. 12:16) It is also symbolized by the beast receiving a mortal wound to one of its heads. (Rev. 13:3)

In receiving the mortal wound to its head, the beast lost the power to persecute and symbolically went down in death to the bottomless pit (hades tartarus). (Rev. 11:7; 17:8) The dragon, which gave the beast power, also went down to the bottomless pit. (Rev. 20:1, 2) Both the dragon and beast remained in the bottomless pit for a period symbolized by a thousand years. (Rev. 11:7; 17:8; 20:7) Greco-Roman notions of hades had it that the dead lived in hades a thousand years, after which they were born anew into earthly life. (Plato, Republic, Bk. X, 315-320; Virgil, Aeneid, Bk. VI, 734-769; Justin Martyr, 1st Apology, VIII, Ante-Nicene Fathers, p. 165) The scriptures speak of the spiritual realm in similar terms, as essentially timeless, where a thousand years is as a day, and vice versa. (Ps. 90:4; II Pet. 3:8) This seems to be the significance of the thousand year internment of the dragon and beast; it points to the period during which they were “dead” in terms of their power to persecute the church.

Claudius was the “angel” that bound the dragon. (Rev. 20:1) All during Claudius’ reign the church enjoyed the protection of law; even banishing Jews from Rome for rioting against the church. (Acts 18:2) St. Paul alludes to Claudius in his second epistle to the Thessalonians as “he who lets” (restrains). (II Thess. 2:6, 7) The persecution of the last day would not come so long as Claudius was upon the throne, repressing the mystery of iniquity and powers of persecution. When Claudius was taken out of the way, Nero would be revealed as the man of sin and son of perdition, and the church would be gathered in martyrdom unto Christ. John portrays this by the dragon and beast being loosed from the bottomless pit and the mortal wound to the beast’s head having healed. John described the beast in Rev. 17:8 as the beast that “was and is not and is about to ascend out of the bottomless pit.” That is, the persecuting power of the empire that suffered defeat by the collapse of the persecution over St. Stephen was about to manifest itself again, this time under Nero, whose name the beast bore. This is the point at which the battle of Gog and Magog begins:

And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. Rev. 20:7

“Satan” is a generic term signifying an adversary. The character which here in verse seven is called “satan” in verse two is called the “dragon.” In other words, the adversary in this case was world civil power embodied in Rome, Nero, and the Jews. In Rome, the beast was identified with Nero, who was its driving power (Rev. 13:1-10); in Asia and other parts of the empire, the Jews, at the behest of their leaders in Jerusalem, were the driving force. John portrays this by a harlot, riding the beast in a surfeit of blood and gore. (Rev. 17:3-6) In Palestine, the persecution was driven by the “false prophet,” the religious leaders of the Jews who bade them to make an inquisition against the church like unto the beast’s. (Rev. 13:11-18) The dragon and beast make war against the church by surrounding the “camp of the saints” (the church). But fire comes down from God out of heaven and consumes Gog and his host, and the dragon, beast, and false prophet are cast into the lake of fire. (Rev. 19:20, 21; 20:9, 10) The harlot is also consumed. (Rev. 18) An angel calls to the birds of heaven to come and devour the carcasses of the slain. (Rev. 19:17, 18) This is a direct quote from Ezekiel. (Ezek. 39:17) John's application of Ezekiel's prophecy is certain proof that the persecution under the dragon, beast, false prophet and harlot were the battle of Gog and Magog. Their destruction occurred in the cataclysmic events of the first century, including famines, earthquakes, and plagues, in which also Rome saw a succession of civil wars and four emperors in the space of little more than a year, and Jerusalem was destroyed by Titus. Following the world-wide devastations of the last days, God renewed the earth, in which the church reigns supreme with Christ. (Rev. 21, 22)

Conclusion

The battle of Gog and Magog was a symbol for the eschatological battle of the last days; the persecution under Nero and the Jews.

Identifying Gog & Magog

 

[Ephesians321]

Revelation’s Millennia and Greco-Roman Notions of Hades (PART ONE)
by Kurt Simmons



Revelation twenty is the most difficult chapter in the Bible to interpret. The symbol of the dragon's thousand-year binding and the martyrs' thousand-year reign have perplexed interpreters for generations. However, the solution is not as difficult as one might expect. God has provided clues to assist us in our interpretation, if only we will avail ourselves of them. Read on, as we here loose the riddle of Revelation twenty.

Basic Imagery of Revelation Twenty and its Interpretation

There are two separate one-thousand year periods in the imagery of Revelation twenty. The first speaks to the binding of the dragon, the second to the reign of the martyred saints. Here is the binding of the dragon:

And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the Bottomless Pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the Dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 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. Rev. 20:1-3

Here is the reign of the martyred saints:

And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the Beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. Rev. 20:4-6

The dragon is the world civil power (imperial Rome) opposing Christ and the church. The term rendered “dragon” is from the Greek drakon, i.e., a fabulous serpent. The Septuagint uses the term to translate the Hebrew tannin - a land or sea monster, especially a serpent. The term is synonymous with leviathan. Typically, the dragon is portrayed as inhabiting oceans or waterways (Exek. 29:3; 32:2). Invariably it represents a wicked and despotic ruler, or tyrannical and oppressive civil power such as Pharaoh and Egypt or Babylon (Ps. 74:13, 14; Isa. 51:9; Jer. 51:34; Ezek. 29:3; 32:2). The bottomless pit is Hades Tartarus, the place of the wicked dead (cf. II Pet. 2:4; Jude 6). Numerous examples of world civil powers being cast down to the pit exist in scripture; the imagery is not unique to Revelation. Typically, casting down to the pit speaks to national or military defeat. Ezekiel describes the fall of Tyre thus:

They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the deaths of them that are slain in the midst of the seas” Ezek. 28:8.

Concerning Assyria Ezekiel said:

I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to hell with them that descend into the pit. Ezek. 31:16

The Greek Septuagint renders this verse "At the sound of his fall the nations quaked, when I brought him down to Hades with them that go down to the pit." This clearly identifies the "pit" with Hades Tartarus, the intermediate place of the damned. Other nations described by Ezekiel as being cast down into the pit in the time of world judgment under the Assyrio-Babylonian invasions include Egypt, Elam, Meshec, Tubal, Edom, and Zidon (Ezek. 32:18, 22, 24, 26, 29, 30; cf. Isa. 14:9-23; 30:27-33). The Greek in Revelation differs slightly from Ezekiel and is literally "the pit of the abyss" (frear thj abussou), but the meaning is identical and points to the Hadean realm of the damned. Hence, whatever interpretation of Revelation's imagery we adopt should be consistent with these Old Testament examples. The better view is that the binding of the dragon in the pit points to the defeat of the persecuting power and its prevention from persecuting the church. Loosing the dragon, points to the renewal of the civil power’s ability to persecute.

Revelation also describes the persecutor of God’s people as “the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit” (Rev. 11:7). It is characteristic of beasts to devour men. The special characteristic of Revelation’s beast is that it devours the saints. The beast is the dragon's alter ego ("other I"); the dragon acts through the beast to persecute God's people. While the beast is in the bottomless pit it is referred to as the beast that “was, and is not, and yet is” (Rev. 17:8). That the beast “was and is not” speaks to the fact that it had ceased to persecute the saints (e.g.., the persecution ceased to exist). However, this was merely temporary; the beast still exists (“yet is”) and “shall ascend out of the bottomless pit” (Rev. 17:8). The period the beast is in the bottomless pit answers the binding of the dragon; ascending out of the bottomless pit answers the loosing of the dragon; both describe the same historical events under different symbols and characters; both assume former and latter persecutions. Two persecutions are contemplated by this language, and two persecutions are portrayed in Revelation. The binding of the dragon comes between these.

The first persecution is of the Mother church in Revelation twelve. This persecution began after the ascension of the man-child (Christ) who was “caught up to God, and to his throne” (Rev. 12:5). The fact this persecution follows close upon the heels of the ascension of Christ fixes its time-frame, placing it at or near the beginning of the gospel. We submit that it describes the persecution that arose over Stephen that St. Paul led or took part in. This persecution lasted for forty-two months, or approximately A.D. 34-38. It collapsed after receiving a triple strike to its most powerful actors: The departure of Pilate from Palestine, the removal of Caiaphas from the high priesthood, and the conversion of St. Paul, all within the space of little more than a year (e.g., A.D. 36-38).[1] We possess no information suggesting procurators following Pilate suffered or permitted the Jews to persecute the church. Tiberius died about the very time Pilate left office, and Caligula became emperor. The emperor Caligula made Agrippa I king over Philip’s tetrarchy. After Caligula’s death (A.D. 41), Claudius ascended the throne of the empire; Claudius augmented Agrippa’s kingdom, removing the procurator, making Agrippa sole authority in Judea. Agrippa briefly renewed persecution of the church (Acts 12:1-19), but he died immediately thereafter (A.D. 44) and the kingdom was returned to a province under Roman procurators.[2] Returning Judea to a province restored Roman law and order and protection to the church in Judea by the religio licita. The religio licita (legally recognized religions), allowed national and ethnic groups to keep their local deities and religious observances. The Jews had been guaranteed the right to keep their own religion from the times of Julius Caesar.[3] Christianity was considered a sect of Judaism, equal in standing to the Pharasees, Saducees, and Esseans. Hence, Claudius' policy extending the religio licita to Christianity gave world-wide protection to the church from persecution at the hands of the Jews. By returning Judea to a Roman province under a Roman governor, this protection was made sure in Palestine as well.

The collapse of the persecution under Caiaphas, Pilate, and Paul is represented under the symbolism of the earth swallowing the flood of persecution flowing out of the dragon's mouth (Rev. 12:16). This evokes the image of Korah's rebellion when the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the rebels, who went down alive to the pit (Num. 16:30). It is also referred to by the symbol of the mortal wound to the beast's head (Rev. 13:3). The mortal blow sent the beast dead to Tartarus; but the wound would wondrously healed and the beast would rise up again, and the persecution revive (Rev. 17:8; cf 11:7). Until the mortal wound was healed, the beast and dragon were bound in the pit. This refers to the policy of Claudius Caesar who afforded the church the protection of law. Claudius is “he who lets” and “what withholdeth” of II Thes. 2:6, 7. He is the "angel" of Revelation twenty, which bound the dragon (restrained Rome from persecuting the church). When Claudius was taken out of the way by poison, Nero ascended the throne and was revealed as the “man of sin” and “son of perdition” who persecuted the church (II Thess. 2:3). The restraining power of Claudius answers to the binding of the dragon in the bottomless pit. Loosing the dragon speaks to the persecution under Nero.

The binding of the dragon begins and ends prior to the reign of the saints. The reign of the saints depicts the souls of the martyrs who die under Nero and the beast. Their reign stretches from the persecution under Nero to the second coming and general resurrection (Rev. 20:5, 11-15). Jesus said, “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life…He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death” (Rev. 2:10, 11). “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame and am sit down with my Father in his throne” (Rev. 3:21; emphasis added). The martyrs have overcome; they have been faithful unto death and have given their lives in testimony under the beast. Hence, they live and reign in Paradise with Christ pending their eternal inheritance in heaven. In chapter fourteen we read: “Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them” (Rev. 14:13). Those mentioned in Rev. 14:13 are the same individuals portrayed in Rev. 20:4-6 as having won the martyr’s crown. The Spirit pronounces a blessing upon them in martyrdom because they will be tenderly gathered by God into Paradise. Their deaths under the dragon, beast, and false prophet are not a defeat, but a victory. They have overcome and are sit down with Christ in his throne (rev. 2:26, 27; 3:20, 21). Rev. 20:4-6 is a window into the blessed estate of the martyrs in Hades alluded to in Rev. 14:9-13 and nothing more.[4]

The Thousand Years

Thus far the historical referents of Revelation twenty; what of the enigmatic “thousand years?” The common symbol of a thousand years is often confused to mean that a single thousand-year period is contemplated by the text. As we have seen, it is not. There are two one-thousand year periods in Rev. 20:1-6.[5]. The common symbol arises from the fact that the binding of the dragon and reign of the saints both touch and concern Hades. The dragon is cast down to Tartarus (the bottomless pit) and the saints reign in Paradise. What is the significance of these thousand-year periods and how do they relate to Hades?

One of the chief difficulties in interpreting the thousand-year periods is that, unlike virtually every other passage of Revelation, they have no Old Testament precedent. It has been estimated that two-hundred-seventy-eight of Revelation’s four-hundred-four verses contain allusions to Old Testament sources.[6] These allusions are our guide to interpretation; virtually every symbol in Revelation has an Old Testament precedent to guide us. When wrestling with the symbols of Revelation we can almost invariably consult Old Testament sources to see how they were used. Whether it be the beasts, the two witnesses, or the woman standing upon the moon clothed with the sun and crowned with twelve stars, we have Old Testament allusions at every turn that open these symbols for us. This is equally true of the millennia and Hades/Sheol.

The fact that the thousand-year periods are tied to Hades is fairly easily discerned. We have already seen that we possess numerous Old Testament references to the “pit.” Also, the fact that the martyrs are described as “souls” who have been beheaded is a clear indication that they are in the nether realm. Because they are righteous dead, we know this means Paradise (Lk. 24:43; Acts 2:31; cf. Lk. 16:19-31; II Cor. 12:1-4). The longest any man has ever lived was nine-hundred-sixty-nine years (Gen. 5:27). Hence, the thousand-year periods exceed the length of all earthly life. Use of a thousand years to suggest the timelessness of the spirit-realm may be seen in Psalm 90:4, where the Psalmist speaks of God's eternal majesty compared with earthly existence: "For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night." These scriptural factors and precedents compel that we see the thousand-year periods as alluding to the timeless nature of the spirit/Hadean realm. However, there are extra-biblical sources that point with equal persuasiveness to the same conclusion. We allude here to Greco-Roman notions about Hades.

http://www.preteristcentral.com/Revelation's%20Millennia%20and%20Greco-Roman%20Notions%20of%20Hades.html

 

[Ephesians321]

Revelation’s Millennia and Greco-Roman Notions of Hades (PART TWO)
by Kurt Simmons

Audience Relevance and the Millennia

The New Testament was not written in a vacuum. It was written with a view to the coming destruction of Jerusalem and Greek and Latin speaking Gentiles replacing the Jews as the dominant ethnic group of the church (Matt. 8:5-12; cf. Matt. 3:7-12). The New Testament was written in Greek to peoples who largely thought and spoke in Greek and whose culture and mental associations drew from those sources. When the New Testament uses Greek words, it is natural that the minds of Greek speaking peoples of the first century should run to Greek associations of those terms. A good example of this is the term “logos” (word/wisdom/reason). This term was employed hundreds of years before Christ by Heraclitus, Plato, and various Stoic philosophers. For Plato, the logos was the divine wisdom and idea pre-existing creation’s material forms.[7] Among the Stoics, the logos is an impersonal abstraction, an irresistible force which bears along the entire world and all creatures to a common end, an inevitable and holy law from which nothing can withdraw itself, and which every reasonable man should willingly follow.[8] Greco-Roman culture was steeped in Stoic and Platonic philosophy; most Greek and Latin speaking peoples would have been thoroughly familiar with the term “logos” and its attendant associations. Indeed, even among Jews use of the term was widely known. Philo Judaeus, the Alexandrian Jew, wrote extensively about the logos, attempting to harmonize Platonic philosophy with the Jewish scriptures. Philo represents the logos as the creative word of God, an intermediary between God and the world; through it God created the world and governs it; through it also men know God and pray to him.[9]

It is against this background that the apostle John, who also wrote Revelation, wrote in his gospel “in the beginning was the Logos, and the Logos was with God, and the Logos was God” (Jn. 1:1). The average reader today knows little or nothing about Plato and the Stoics, and therefore fails to appreciate the cultural allusions behind John’s words. Where our minds encounter strange, poetic allusions to the Word (logos), resulting in perplexity, uncertain what John is driving at, the Greek speaking reader of the first century would have made an immediate and automatic connection to Plato and the Stoics. This does not mean that in using the term logos John is adapting or adopting Stoic or Platonic philosophy. To the contrary, his purpose is to indicate that, what Plato and the Stoics were grasping for but missed, God has manifested to man in the person of Jesus Christ. The logos is God’s self declaration; just as the word is the verbal embodiment of the mind and Spirit of God, so Jesus is the logos made flesh – the fleshly embodiment of God’s mind and Spirit. Paul makes a similar appeal to the Greek mind when, on Mar’s Hill, he invoked Greek poets to bring out an essential truth concerning the Godhead (Acts 17:28). It is an attempt to reach one’s audience by appealing to sources with which they are familiar and approve, without necessarily endorsing all that the source may advocate. When we come to the millennia of Revelation twenty, the same sort of phenomenon is at play. Like John’s use of the term logos, students and scholars today generally approach the millennia ignorant of first century cultural associations. Whereas we are perplexed by the symbology of these thousand-year periods, the Greek speaking reader of the first century would have made immediate connection to Hades.

Hades and Thousand-years among Ancient Peoples

An essential element of Greek belief about Hades and the afterlife is that the spirits of the dead dwelt in Hades a thousand years, after which they were reincarnated by being born anew into earthly life.[10] Plato, in the tenth book of his Republic, reports the story of a soldier, thought to be dead, whose body was placed upon a funeral pyre, only to have him revive before being burnt. The soldier told of descending to Hades where he encountered souls who were judged for the deeds done in life and sentenced, some to a heavenly realm of bliss, others to a lower region of torments. After a thousand years in their respective realms, these souls were then reincarnated into earthly life. This thousand-year pilgrimage in the underworld was a major factor in Plato’s ethical instruction about virtuous living:

Wherefore my counsel is that we hold fast ever to the heavenly way and follow after justice and virtue always, considering that the soul is immortal and able to endure every sort of good and every sort of evil. Thus shall we live dear to one another and to the gods, both while remaining here and when, like conquerors in the games who go round to gather gifts, we receive our reward. And it shall be well with us both in this life and in the pilgrimage of a thousand years which we have been describing.[11]

Virgil also makes reference to the thousand-year period of the spirit in Hades in his epic poem “Aeneid,” the story of the legendary founding of Rome by Aeneas, a Trojan who escapes and survives Troy’s famous war with the Greeks. Part of Aeneas’ labors before reaching Latium, Italy, was to descend to Hades and there receive a prophecy from his deceased father. According to Virgil, the realm of the underworld was entered by an enormous cavern, whose mouth emitted poisonous vapors from its black throat. The dead were then ferried across a river; some detained in Limbo, others permitted to precede to a fork in the road, one of which leads to Tartarus, the other to the happy fields of Elysium. Tartarus, also called the Pit, is the place of the damned. Peter uses the term Tartarus in reference to the “angels” (probably the sons of Seth) that sinned and were kept under chains of darkness, reserved unto judgment (II Pet. 2:4; cf. Jude 6; Gen. 6:1-4). Souls that do not go to Tartarus or Elysium, suffer punishments in Purgatory for sins committed during life.[12] Some are later released to wander about happily in Elysium. Souls in both Elysium and Purgatory must complete a thousand years, after which they are born anew into earthly life. The purpose of the thousand years is to remove all remembrance of one’s past earthly existence:

Yes, not even when the last flicker of life has left us, does evil, or the ills that the flesh is heir to, quite relinquish our souls; it must be that many a taint grows deeply, mysteriously grained in their being from long contact with the body. Therefore the dead are disciplined in purgatory, and pay the penalty of old evil: some hang, stretched to the blast of vacuum winds; for others, the stain of sin is washed away in a vast whirlpool or cauterized with fire. Each of us finds in the next world his own level: a few of us are later released to wander at will through broad Elysium, the Happy Fields; until, in the fulness of time, the ages have purged that ingrown stain, and nothing is left but pure ethereal sentience and the spirit’s essential flame. All these souls, when they have finished their thousand-year cycle, God send for, and they come in crowds to the river Lethe, so, you see, with memory washed out, they may revisit the earth above and begin to wish to be born again.[13]

(The river Lethe bears the souls to the surface where they are reborn to earthly life.) Thus, we see that Greco-Roman conceptions of Hades involved separate thousand year periods for each soul, after which they were born into earthly anew. Of course, the scriptures do not teach reincarnation. However, Revelation was written to Greek speaking Gentiles in Asia Minor who would have immediately (and correctly) associated the millennia of Revelation twenty with Hades – The dragon symbolically bound in Tartarus for a “thousand years,” whence he is released to persecute anew the church, the martyrs in Paradise where they lived a “thousand years.” The Greek speaking Christians of Gentile descent in Asia Minor faced a time of unparalleled persecution; many would be called upon to pay with their lives for their testimony of Jesus. The familiar figure of the thousand-years doubtless was adapted to ensure they fully comprehended the meaning of the symbolism and its message of assurance as they faced the prospect of martyrdom. They could die secure in the knowledge Christ had prepared for them a place of rest in Hades Paradise pending the general resurrection. The French skeptic Voltaire described this association aptly:

The belief in this reign of a thousand years was long prevalent among the Christians. This period was also in great credit among the Gentiles. The souls of the Egyptians returned to their bodies at the end of a thousand years; and, according to Virgil, the souls in purgatory were exorcised for the same space of time—et mille per annos.[14]

Conclusion

The millennia of Revelation twenty have draw from both Biblical and Greco-Roman associations concerning Hades. The book of Revelation was addressed to Greek speaking residents of Asia minor who would have made an immediate connection between John’s imagery and traditional Greco-Roman belief about the underworld. The purpose in this was to assist them in interpretation of the imagery and thus gain strength against the coming crisis.

http://www.preteristcentral.com/Revelation's%20Millennia%20and%20Greco-Roman%20Notions%20of%20Hades.html

 

[Ephesians321]

“THE DEATH OF ADAM” WAS SPIRITUAL DEATH, NOT PHYSICAL

“ Yahweh God commanded the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it; for in the day that you eat of it you will surely die.’” Gen. 2:16-17.

That the “sin of Adam” resulted in physical death for mankind is a widely held belief in many Christian assemblies. We will explore the Biblical evidence to show that “The Death of Adam” was spiritual.

1. IN THE DAY THEY ATE, ADAM AND EVE DID NOT DIE PHYSICALLY, BUT THEIR HEARTS WERE PROFOUNDLY ALTERED. AS ENEMIES OF GOD, THEY SUFFERED SPIRITUAL DEATH.
A. “Eyes of them both were opened.”
The Light of Unity was eclipsed by sensual dualism—good and evil.
B. “Knew that they were naked.”
Minds became carnal, corrupted.
C. "Sewed fig leaves together to make…aprons.”
Tried to mitigate guilt, shame
D. “Man and wife hid.”
Desire to elude, hide from God, alienation
E. ” I was afraid because I was naked.”
They were fearful, ashamed, estranged
F. "I hid myself.”
Hid rather than humble self and confess, isolation from creator
G. "The woman whom You gave me…”
Enmity with God, human enmity, anger.
H. “She gave it to me.” "The serpent beguiled me.”
Blaming, self-righteousness, self-pity
I. The innate consequence of pride, rebellion, and defiance of God was exclusion from His presence.

2. THE BIBLE IS THE HISTORY OF A LOVING CREATOR OVERCOMING THE SPIRITUAL DEATH OF ADAM AND RAISING MAN TO LIFE IN COMMUNION WITH HIMSELF.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only [unique] Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.” Jn 3:16

3. OLD TESTAMENT RESURRECTION: NOT RAISING CORPSES, RATHER, RECONCILIATION TO GOD
A. The Valley of the Dry Bones in Ezekiel 37 conveys relational, figurative resurrection from death when God brought his people back from Babylonian captivity. “And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall have opened your sepulchres, and shall have brought you out of your graves, O my people: And shall have put my spirit in you, and you shall live.” Ezk. 37:13-14
B. God’s tenacious pursuit of the love relationship with His people was resisted at every turn. Like the harlot wife of Hosea, they turned to other allurements and “died.” Spiritual Death: “He [Ephraim] exalted himself in Israel, but when he became guilty in Baal, he died.” Hos. 13:1
Spiritual Life: But God will provide a way for Ephraim to “be converted that sit under his shadow: they shall live upon wheat, and they shall blossom as a vine.” Hosea 14:7
C. Judah’s/Jerusalem’s apostasies were many, as conveyed by Isaiah, but alienation/death will be turned to singing/resurrection/life.
Spiritual Death: “The dead shall not live. The deceased shall not rise. Therefore have you visited and destroyed them, and caused all memory of them to perish. Is. 26:14f
Spiritual Resurrection: “Your dead shall live. My dead bodies shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust; for your dew is like the dew of herbs, and the earth will cast forth the dead.” Is. 26:19f

4. OLD TESTAMENT SPIRITUAL RESURRECTION IN PAUL’S WRITINGS
A. Paul drew his teaching on the resurrection (also known as “light”) from the Old Testament. “I stand to this day testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would happen, how the Christ must suffer, and how, by the resurrection of the dead, he would be first to proclaim light both to these people and to the Gentiles.” Acts 26:22-23
B. I Corinthians 15 is an often quoted teaching of Paul on the resurrection in which he used the Hosea and Isaiah prophetic scriptures (above) to testify to the Corinthians about spiritual resurrection.
“But when this corruptible will have put on incorruption, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then what is written will happen: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’ ‘Death, where is your sting?’” I Cor. 15:54-55.” (based on Is. 25:8 and Hosea 13:14 as above). (Spiritual resurrection was future to Paul, but not to us.)

5. JESUS TAUGHT SPIRITUAL RESURRECTION
A. Jesus, in keeping with Old Testament thought, used the word, “death” for being out of relationship and “life” for reconciliation/restoration/resurrection in the story of the Prodigal Son. In the story of the prodigal son: “My son was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is found. “ Lk 15:24
B. Jesus tells us that union with Him is Life/Resurrection.
• Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will still live, even if he [physically] dies. Whoever lives and believes in me will never die..” John 11:25
• "He who hears my word, and believes him who sent me… has passed out of [spiritual] death into [resurrection] life. John 5:24-5
• “This is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and him whom you sent, Jesus Christ.” Jn 17:3
• “It is the spirit who gives life. The flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and are life.” John 6:63
C. Jesus’s physical death was a sign. A sign does not point to itself, but to that of greater importance. “But he answered them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, but no sign will be given it but the sign of Jonah the prophet. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Mt. 12:39
D. Jesus’s physical death pointed to the great spiritual reality that he was the first to be raised from the death of Adam i.e. raised from alienation from the Father.
• “My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me.” Matt. 27:46
• “For him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf.” 2 Cor. 5:21
•. “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us.” Gal. 3:13

6. PAUL TAUGHT SPIRITUAL RESURRECTION
The life that now belongs to believers is spiritual life i.e. resurrection/union with Christ.
A. ”You were made alive when you were dead in trespasses and sins… Even when we were dead through our trespasses, [He] made us alive together with Christ.” Eph. 2:1-5
B. “You were dead through your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh. He made you alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses.” Col. 2:13
C. “If by the trespass of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God, and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many.” Romans 5:16-17

7. SALVATION FROM ESTRANGEMENT FROM GOD FREES US FROM THE FEAR OF DEATH. “Since then the children have shared in flesh and blood, he also himself in the same way partook of the same, that through death he might bring to nothing him who had the power of [spiritual] death, that is, the devil, and might deliver all of them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” Heb. 2:14-15 ___________________________________________________________________________________________
Note: The presence of the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden implies death was part of the original plan before the fall. We know that eating and reproduction require growth and death processes.

SOME SYNONYMOUS TERMS SPIRITUAL DEATH: alienation, sin, estrangement, separation, curse,” lost”, darkness, etc.

SPIRITUAL LIFE: resurrection, atonement, salvation, redemption, restoration, righteousness, eternal life, “found”, adoption, light, etc.

RESURRECTION/LIFE IMAGES: Messianic Banquet, Marriage Feast, Mount Zion, conquered death, wiping away tears, New Heavens and Earth, New Jerusalem, Kingdom of God, armor of light, house not made with hands, kingdom of light, “in Christ”, body of Christ, New Covenant, etc.

 

[Ephesians321]

From Israel 1948: Countdown To No Where by Don K. Preston

 

[Ephesians321]

From Israel 1948: Countdown To No Where by Don K. Preston

 

[Ephesians321]

From Israel 1948: Countdown To No Where by Don K. Preston

 

[Ephesians321]

ELEMENTS WILL MELT WITH FERVENT HEAT (2 Peter 3)

2 Peter 3 is often cited as proof positive the coming of the Lord is future because they believe it teaches all the physical elements of earth and heaven are going to burn in a world-ending conflagration, which, obviously, has not happened. We will take a look at this passage in the context of the first century readers to whom it was written.

1. “In the last days mockers will come, walking after their own lusts and saying, “Where is the promise of his coming? For, from the day that the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.”
Vv. 3-4 “The last days” was a reference to the last days of the Old Covenant.* Jesus prophesied the “coming of the Son of Man” and the destruction of the temple would occur in the disciple’s generation. Now, approximately 34 years later, around late AD 64, the temple was still standing and temple worship continued just as it had for so many years.

2. “For they willfully forget that there were heavens from of old, and an earth formed out of water and amid water by the word of God, by which means the world [social order] that existed then, being overflowed with water, perished.”
Vv. 5-6 The mockers willfully forgot their history regarding Noah’s day when the unrighteous were swept from the land. It is important to note the physical earth was not destroyed with the flood, but rather, the world of ungodly men. The same would be true of the coming national judgment of Israel and the destruction of the Old Covenant in AD 70.

3. “But the heavens that exist now and the earth, by the same word have been stored up for fire, being reserved against the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.” V. 7
“Heaven and earth” was a figure of speech used for the Mosaic Covenant (“I…have covered you in the shadow of my hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and tell Zion, ‘You are my people.’” Is 51:16) But Jesus taught the covenant relationship was broken and would be abolished with the destruction of Jerusalem. (The King “sent his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city.” Mt. 22:7) “Fire” denotes God’s wrath, is purifying, and was the chief weapon of war in ancient times. Jesus said he came to throw fire on earth in reference to the coming national judgment.

4. “But don’t forget this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some count slowness; but he is patient with us, not wishing that anyone should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
Vv. 8-9 A 40 year period (a generation) was given for Israel to repent and come to faith in their Messiah. At Peter’s writing, approximately 35 years had passed and detractors were ridiculing the veracity of the prophecy.

5. “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 be dissolved with fervent heat; and the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.” V. 10
Here we have typical Hebraic eschatological pictorial language in reference to the uprooting of the Old Covenant social order. The “world” of covenant Israel would be destroyed. The Greek word “elements” [#4747 stoixeíon] referred to the elements of religious training or ceremonial precepts. (See: He 5:12, Gal 4:3, 4:9, Col 2:8, 2:20) With the temple’s destruction, any semblance of Old Covenant worship rites was made impossible. The temple was literally taken apart as Roman soldiers salvaged the melted gold from its stones.

6. “Looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God, which will cause the burning heavens to be dissolved, and the elements [temple practice] will melt with fervent heat.” V. 12
The day of the Lord was imminent. Peter’s audience would witness the demolition of the Old Covenant (their heaven and earth) with the burning of Jerusalem and the temple. Just as in Noah’s day, it would be the society of ungodly men who would be destroyed, not the entire creation.

7. “We look for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.” V. 13
The destruction of the Old Covenant ushered in the New more perfect Covenant. The essence of the new heaven and new earth is reconciliation with God. “God with us” is our present reality.

The coming of the Son of Man (v 3) = the day of the Lord (v 10) = coming of the day of God (v 12). _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
WERE THERE ZEALOTS IN THE JERUSALEM CHURCH?

Peter was writing in response to false teachers in the church, and, from our recent studies, their description in 2 Peter 2 is familiar to us. Their boorish, uncouth demeanor reminds us of the zealots we encounter in Josephus’ “Wars of the Jews”. Peter identified his ministry as taking place in “Babylon” (I Peter 5:13), which we have determined to be Jerusalem, where the zealot movement was gaining strength. The following is a brief comparison of Peter’s description and zealot behavior during the war.

1. “…those who walk after the flesh in the lust of defilement [degradation] and despise authority. Daring, self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries…” V. 10
Jesus, the high priest reported: “They [zealots] are robbers, who by their prodigious wickedness have profaned this most sacred floor [temple], and who are to be now seen drinking themselves drunk in the sanctuary, and expending the spoils of those whom they have slaughtered upon their insatiable bellies.” Wars 4.4.3

2. “But these, as unreasoning beasts, creatures of instinct to be taken and destroyed, speaking evil in matters about which they are ignorant, will in their destroying surely be destroyed.” V. 12
High priest Jesus, son of Gamaliel, referred to the zealots as wild beasts: “And this place [Jerusalem], which is adored by the habitable world… is trampled upon by these wild beasts born among ourselves.” Wars 4.4.3

3. “Receiving the wages of unrighteousness; people who count it pleasure to revel [carouse] in the daytime, spots and defects, reveling in their deceit while they feast with you;” V. 13
The zealots dressed up like prostitutes: “while their faces looked like the faces of women, they killed with their right hands; and when their gait was effeminate, they presently attacked men, and became warriors, and drew their swords from under their finely dyed cloaks, and ran every body through whom they alighted upon.” Wars 4.9.10

4. “…having eyes full of adultery, and who can’t cease from sin, enticing unsettled souls, having a heart trained in greed, accursed children!” V. 14
“Their [zealots] inclination to plunder was insatiable, as was their zeal in searching the houses of the rich; and for the murdering of the men, and abusing of the women, it was sport to them.” Wars 4.9.10

5. Uttering great swelling words of emptiness, they entice in the lusts of the flesh, by licentiousness [lacking moral restraint], those who are indeed escaping from those who live in error. V.18
“But for John [zealot leader]… went about among all the people, and persuaded them to go to war, by the hopes he gave them. He affirmed that the affairs of the Romans were in a weak condition, and extolled his own power.” Wars 4.3.1

6. “Promising them liberty, while they themselves are bondservants of corruption.” V. 19
The slogan of zealotry was to have only God as their ruler, however, they worshipped the gods of power and wealth.

Notes: For more illustrations of the nature of the zealots, see Josephus, “The Wars of the Jews”, books 4 to 6

 

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THE “SONG OF MOSES" FORETOLD THE END

SONG OF MOSES SUNG WITH THE POURING OUT OF THE SEVEN BOWLS OF WRATH: “Those who overcame the beast…[were] standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God. They sang The Song of Moses, the servant of God, and the Song of the Lamb…” Rev. 15:1-3

I. WICKEDNESS IN ISRAEL

1. MOSES: “I know that after my death ye will utterly transgress, and turn aside out of the way which I have commanded you; and …you will do evil before the Lord, to provoke him to anger by the works of your hands.” Deut 31:29 LXX
2. MOSES: “They are a very perverse generation, children in whom is no faithfulness.” Dt 32:20
3. MOSES: “Their vine is of the vine of Sodom, of the fields of Gomorrah…” Dt. 32:32
4. MOSES: “Their wine is the poison of serpents, the cruel venom of asps.” Dt 32:33
5. MOSES: They moved him [Yahweh] to jealousy with strange [gods]. They provoked him to anger with abominations.” Dt 32:16
6. MOSES: “They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God. They have provoked me to anger with their vanities.” Dt 32:21
7. MOSES: “They sacrificed to demons, [which were] no God, to gods that they didn't know, to new [gods]…” Dt 32:17
8. JESUS: “You are of your father, the devil… He was a murderer from the beginning, and doesn't stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him… for he is a liar, and its father.” Jn 8:44
9. JESUS: “You offspring of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” Mt. 12:34
10. JESUS: You serpents, you offspring of vipers, how will you escape the judgment of Gehenna [national judgment]?” Mt. 23:33 11. JESUS: “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign…” Mt. 16:4
12. JESUS: “Whoever will be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man also will be ashamed of him, when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” Mk 8:38
13. JESUS: “Faithless and perverse generation! How long will I be with you?” Mt. 17:17
14. JESUS: “Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.” Mt. 23:28 15. JESUS: “You clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and unrighteousness.” Mt. 23:25
16. JESUS: “The blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world… required of this generation.” Lk. 11:50
17. JESUS: “I send to you prophets, wise men, and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify; and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city…” Mt. 23:34
18. JESUS: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets, and stones those who are sent to her! How often I would have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not!” Mt. 23;37
19. JESUS: “You are children of those who killed the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers.” Mt. 23:31
20. New Testament: Disciples blamed first century Jews for Jesus’s death: Acts 2:23, 2:36, 3:15, 4:10, 5:30, 7:52

II. SPIRITUAL IGNORANCE IN ISRAEL

1. MOSES: “For they are a nation void of counsel. There is no understanding in them." Dt 32:28
2. MOSES: “Oh that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!” Dt. 32:29
3. MOSES: “Of the Rock who became your father, you are unmindful, and have forgotten God who gave you birth.” Dt. 32:18
4. MOSES: “Do you thus requite [repay] Yahweh, foolish people and unwise? Isn't he your father who has bought you? He has made you, and established you.” Dt 32:6
5. JESUS: “When a south wind blows, you say, 'There will be a scorching heat,' and it happens. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky, but how is it that you don't interpret this time?” Lk 12:55
6. JESUS: “Woe to you lawyers! For you took away the key of knowledge. You didn't enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in, you hindered.” Lk 11:52
7. JESUS: “Woe to you, you blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obligated.' You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifies the gold?” Mt. 23:16-17
8. JESUS: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faith.” Mt. 23:23
9. JESUS: “Fill up then the measure of your ancestors!” Mt. 23:32
10. JESUS: (about) “A division arose again among the Jews… Many of them said, ‘He has a demon, and is insane…’” Jn 10:19-21

III. JUSTICE, VENGEANCE FOR FAITHLESS

1. MOSES: “Evil will happen to you in the latter days; because you will do that which is evil in the sight of Yahweh, to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands.” Dt 31:29
2. MOSES: He said, "I will hide my face from them. I will see what their end shall be.” Dt 32:20
3. MOSES: “A fire is kindled in my anger, burns to the lowest Sheol, devours the earth with its increase, and sets the foundations of the mountains on fire.” Dt 32: 22
4. MOSES: "[They shall be] wasted with hunger, and devoured with burning heat and bitter destruction. I will send the teeth of animals on them, With the poison of crawling things of the dust.” Dt 32: 24
5. MOSES: “Outside the sword shall bereave, and in the rooms, terror; on both young man and virgin, The nursing infant with the grayhaired man.” Dt 32: 25
6. MOSES: “I said, I would scatter them afar. I would make the memory of them to cease from among men.” Dt 32: 26
7. MOSES: “Vengeance is mine, and recompense, at the time when their foot slides; for the day of their calamity is at hand. The things that are to come on them shall make haste.” Dt 32:35
8. MOSES: “If I whet my glittering sword, My hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to my adversaries, and will recompense those who hate me.” Dt 32:41
9. MOSES: “I will make my arrows drunk with blood. My sword shall devour flesh with the blood of the slain and the captives, from the head of the leaders of the enemy.” Dt 32:42
10. MOSES: “He will render vengeance to his adversaries.” Dt 32:43
11. JESUS: “I came to throw fire on the earth. I wish it were already kindled.” Luke 12:49
12. JESUS: “These are days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.” Luke 21:22
13. JESUS: “Behold, your house is left to you desolate.” Mt. 23: 38
14. JESUS: “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is at hand…” Lk 21:20-22
15. JESUS: “Daughters of Jerusalem, don't weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. 29For behold, the days are coming in which they will say, 'Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.' 30Then they will begin to tell the mountains, 'Fall on us!' and tell the hills, 'Cover us.'” Lk 23:28
16. JESUS’ PARABLE: “Then he will say also to those on the left hand, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels.” Mt. 25:41
17. JESUS’ PARABLE: The tenets killed the vineyard’s owner’s son. The owner will “destroy those miserable men.” Mt. 21:41
18. JESUS’ PARABLE: The invitees to the King’s banquet, killed the king’s servants so he “sent his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city.” Mt. 22:7

IV. VINDICATION FOR THE FAITHFUL (Justice for the wicked was vindication for the faithful.)

1. MOSES: “Rejoice, you nations, [with] his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants. And will make expiation [atonement] for his land, for his people.” Dt 32:43
2. JESUS: “Won't God avenge his chosen ones… I tell you that he will avenge them quickly." Lk 18:7-8
3. JESUS: “The love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end, the same will be saved.” Mt. 24:11-13
4. JESUS’ PARABLE: “Then the King will tell those on his right hand, 'Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Mt 25:34

V. GENTILE INCLUSION WAS ENTWINED WITH ISRAEL’S SALVATION

1. MOSES: “I will move them to jealousy with those who are not a people. I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.” Dt 32:21
2. MOSES: “Rejoice, you nations, [with] his people…”. Dt. 32:43
3. JESUS: “They will come from the east, west, north, and south, and will sit down in the Kingdom of God. Behold, there are some who are last who will be first, and there are some who are first who will be last.” Lk. 13:29-30
4. JESUS’ PARABLE: “The tenets killed the vineyard owner’s son, so He will “lease out the vineyard to other farmers, who will give him the fruit in its season.” Mt. 21:41
5. JESUS’ PARABLE: Invited guests refuse to attend a man’s great dinner. “Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor, maimed, blind, and lame.' "The servant said, 'Lord, it is done as you commanded, and there is still room.' "The lord said to the servant, 'Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.’” Lk 14: 21-23
6. PAUL: “But I ask, didn't Israel know? First Moses says, ‘I will provoke you to jealousy with that which is no nation, with a nation void of understanding I will make you angry.’” Romans 10:19
7. PAUL: “I ask then, did they stumble that they might fall? May it never be! But by their fall, salvation has come to the Gentiles, to provoke them to jealousy.” Romans 11:11
8. PAUL: “…when the Jews saw the multitudes, [presumably including gentiles] they were filled with jealousy… Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, and said, "It was necessary that God's word should be spoken to you first. Since indeed you thrust it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles.” Acts 13:44-46
9. PAUL: “Now if their fall is the riches of the world, and their loss the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fullness?” Ro 11:12
10. PAUL: “The Gentiles are fellow heirs, and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of his promise in Christ Jesus through the Good News, of which I was made a servant, according to the gift of that grace of God …to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.” Eph 3:1-8
11. PAUL: “Now it has been revealed to his saints, to whom God was pleased to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Col. 1:26-27
12. GENTILE INCLUSION IN ACTS: 9:15; 11:1, 18; 13:46-47; 14:27; 15:14,17; 18:6; 22:21; 26:17,20,23; 28:28.

Notes: Two Songs of Moses: Ex 15 contains the triumphant crossing of the Red Sea. Dt. 32 is the tragic end of Old Covenant Israel.

 

[3 Resurrections]

The 144,000 and James’ audience (James 1) were the first fruit of the harvest.

These are different from each other. The 144,000 were specifically called "the First-fruits unto God and to the Lamb", but the James 1 text refers to "a KIND of First-fruits of His creatures". In other words, these in James 1:18 were similar in one respect to the 144,000 First-fruits and Christ the Firstfruits, but not the same thing exactly. James writing to the believers among the twelve tribes scattered abroad was addressing them as the first ones of the Jews who had believed the gospel in the early church.

"Christ the First-fruits" was raised bodily into a glorified form of flesh and bones that would never die again. "Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over Him." (Romans 6:9). The rest of the resurrection harvests (PLURAL) would be of the same nature as that of Christ.

The 144,000 Firstfruits were the Matthew 27:52-53 saints that were bodily resurrected from those graves around Jerusalem on the same day Christ was bodily resurrected. These never died again either, just like Christ. These all shared the same "First-fruits" title because they shared the same "First resurrection" event back in AD 33.

 

[3 Resurrections]

The battle of Gog and Magog was a symbol for the eschatological battle of the last days; the persecution under Nero and the Jews.

This is an impossible conclusion. That is because the battle of Gog against Israel was characterized in Ezekiel 38:21 as an occasion when "every man's sword shall be against HIS BROTHER." This was going to be CIVIL WAR in Israel. The Zealot factions who fought against each other and their own people fulfilled this in the tumultuous AD 66-70 period. One man in particular was able to assemble the largest force under his command composed of various nationalities, and that was Simon bar Giora. In AD 69, he came to the gates of Jerusalem, demanding admittance with his forces numbering some 40,000. After some equivocation, he was allowed entrance into the city, and almost immediately became an insupportable tyrant over the city's inhabitants and the other competing Zealot factions inside.

Simon bar Giora postured as the King of the Jews, and was considered as such by the Romans who captured him at the close of AD 70, to be taken to Rome for the Triumph procession.

Gog is the name which stands for the nation of Israel itself in the LXX passage of Balaam's prophecy for Israel (Numbers 24:5-9). "How goodly are thy habitations, Jacob, and thy tents, ISRAEL! as shady groves, and as gardens by a river, and as tents which God pitched, and as cedars by the waters. There shall come a man out of his seed, and he shall rule over many nations; and the kingdom of GOG shall be exalted, and his kingdom shall be increased. God led him out of Egypt; he has as it were the glory of a unicorn: he shall consume the nations of his enemies, and he shall drain their marrow, and with his darts he shall shoot th rough the enemy. He lay down, he rested a a lion, and as a young lion: who shall stir him up? they that bless thee are blessed, and they that curse thee are cursed."

 

[Ephesians321]

Incorrect because the 144,000 first fruits of Revelation 14 are the exact same 144,000 martyrs of the Great Tribulation in Revelation 7.

Deuteronomy 32 *
Daniel 9:26-27 *☆
Daniel 12:2,6-7 *☆
Matthew 23:32-36 *^
Luke 21:20-28*☆
Hebrews 9:8 ☆
=
Revelation 6:9-11 *^
Revelation 7:14; 14:4;
Revelation 15:3 *, 8☆
Revelation 18:7-8,20,24 *^☆

 

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THE PROMISE KEEPING GOD – #2

One of the most popular doctrines of our day is called Dispensationalism. Fundamental to this doctrine is the idea that Jesus came to establish the kingdom of Israel. However, “because that nation refused Him, it became impossible to establish the kingdom” (Thomas Ice, The End Times Controversy, 2003, 85). God supposedly withdrew the kingdom offer from Israel and established the church in its place. He then stopped the prophetic countdown of Daniel’s 70 Weeks. In the (supposedly near) future, God will remove the church, restore Israel, and then, in the millennium, establish the kingdom. Does the Bible teach that God failed to keep His promises on time, or that He postponed the kingdom? In this short series on The Promise Keeping God, I am shring the wonderful news that God has not failed!

In Psalms 2:1f God predicted the rejection of Jesus by the people. Think about that! If God in the Psalms, almost a millennium before Christ came, predicted the rejection of His Son, how can it be argued that the rejection of Jesus’ caught God so off guard that He had to go to “Plan B” and withdraw the kingdom offer?


What would be God’s response to that rejection? Would He withdraw His promises, or postpone fulfillment? Read: “He who sits in the heavens shall laugh, He will hold them in derision. Yet, I have set my king on my holy hill Zion.” The rejection of Christ was foreknown, and predestinated by Jehovah. How could it therefore have caused Him to postpone His plans? If He planned the crucifixion – as He clearly did – the crucifixion was a part of the kingdom plan! (See Luke 24:26).

In Isaiah 42:5f, Jehovah foretold the coming of His Son to establish the kingdom. Would the suffering of His Servant prevent the fulfillment of the mission? Listen: “He shall not fail, nor be discouraged, until he has established justice and judgment in the earth.” God said His Son would not fail!” Yet, Dispensationalism says Jesus did fail! The irony is deepened when we realize that the NT writers tell us that God sent Christ, “at just the right time” (in the fulness of time, Romans 5:6f; Galatians 4:4). Well, if God – in His Omniscience – thought it was “just the right time” then if in fact it was NOT the right time, God Himself was wrong!

God promised David that one of his descendants would sit on David’s throne and rule over the kingdom forever. That kingdom was to be established, according to Daniel 9, at the end of the 70 Week countdown. Would the Jewish rebellion postpone that prophetic countdown and prevent the fulfillment of God’s promises to David? Would the Lord of heaven change His kingdom plans to the church plan, and the time from the first century, to at least two millennia later? Read: “My covenant I will not break, nor alter the word that has gone out of my lips. Once have I sworn by My holiness, I will not lie to David.” (Psalms 89:34f) God said He would not alter His promises! No matter how you look at it a 2000 year postponement is an alteration! But the God of heaven said He would not alter His promise, and part of that promise was when the kingdom would be established.

What kind of a doctrine is built on the failure of God to keep His promises? What assurance can anyone have that God would be able to do the second time what He could not do the first? It will not do for the Dispensationalists to argue that: “Well, the next time will be the right time,” because the Bible teaches that the first time WAS the right time!

If Jewish rebellion prevented the establishment of the kingdom the first time, can it not prevent it the second time? God knew full well that Israel would reject His son when He sent him, and said that their rebellion would not prevent or alter His purposes!

The God of the Bible is a God who keeps His promises in spite of anything man can do. He is The Promise Keeping God! As Paul contemplated Israel’s rejection of the Kingdom, it made Him reflect on what that meant. Did it mean that God’s plan was thwarted? Did it mean God had failed? Does man’s unbelief change God’s unconditional promises? Read what he had to say on this: “What if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God of no effect? Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true and everyman a liar!” (Romans 3:3).

Man’s rebellion does not postpone or prevent God’s purposes! We have a God who keeps His Promises– every one of them! More to come on this marvelous reality.

The Promise Keeping God- #2

 

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THE PROMISE KEEPING GOD – #3

BUT, WHAT IF GOD DID NOT KEEP HIS PROMISES?

It is amazing and somewhat disturbing to hear some so-called Bible experts speak so flippantly of either God’s ability, or willingness to keep His promises. In a new book entitled When Shall These Things Be? one of the contributing authors says Ahistorical contingencies may prevent or alter the fulfillment of God’s promises.@ In other words, man’s rebellion can thwart God’s promises and prophecies!

The faithfulness of God is a foundational Bible truth. The Bible affirms that God cannot lie (Titus 1:2). In ancient times, God challenged the prophets of the pagan gods to a duel. His challenge was, “show us things to come, that we may know that you are gods.” (Isaiah 41:21-23). The issue was this, only God, true God, can tell the future. If the gods of the pagans could not accurately tell the future, they are not truly God. Furthermore, not only can God know and predict the future in scripture, He never tells lies about what was to happen, or when it was to happen! This was a lesson that Israel, like many people today, seemed not to learn.


In Ezekiel, Jehovah said the Day of the Lord against Jerusalem was near. The Babylonians were coming (Ezekiel 7). The people however, refused to believe that judgment was near. They rejected the imminence of the prophet’s predictions. (See Ezekiel 11). What was God’s response? Jehovah told them that when He said something was near, it was going to happen in their lifetime! (Ezekiel 12:21f). God was faithful to His promises, and when He spoke He expected man to believe Him.

It is lamentable that many today believe that God is not faithful, or even bound by His own Word to keep his promises. In a new book attempting to refute Covenant Eschatology, author Richard Pratt says “the contingency of human choice may influence the ways in which biblical prophecies are fulfilled.” (When Shall These Things Be: A Reformed Response to Preterism? Keith Mathison Editor, P and R Publishing, 2004, p. 131). Although Pratt is not a Dispensationalist, this is Dispensational theology, and the millennialists will be thrilled to read these words! You can be certain that the Dispensationalists will use these words against men such as Kenneth Gentry and other Postmillennialists in the future.

The truth is that many of God’s promises were conditional (see Jeremiah 18). What this means is that if God threatened judgment, and the wicked repented, then the prophecies of judgment were not brought to bear. What was fulfilled was the blessing side of every prophecy! In other words, the prophecy did not fail! It was fulfilled, positively, just as the Lord said! God was always faithful to His promises, whether judgment or blessings. Man’s response did not nullify the prophecy, man’s response simply determined the nature of the fulfillment, whether by judgment, or by blessing.

Pratt tells us, “Jeremiah learned that true prophets often predicted things that did not come to pass.” (Pratt, 131). This is patently untrue. Jonah is an excellent example. He proclaimed doom, yet, Nineveh’s repentance brought blessings instead of destruction. Jonah’s prophecy did not fail! God’s prediction was that if they did not repent, they would perish. If they would repent, they would be blessed. They repented, and were spared. Prophecy fulfilled! True prophets did not foretell things that did not come true. True prophets gave the options, repentance and blessing, or rebellion and destruction. Whichever choice the people made, God was faithful and fulfilled His prophecies.

In the Old Testament, Jehovah gave an unalterable rule for determining whether a person was actually a prophet. If his predictions came true, he was a true prophet. If his prophecies failed, the man was false. (See Deuteronomy 13 and 18). This was God’s way of demonstrating that He is the Promise Keeping God! Yet, according to Pratt, as well as the Millennialists, a man’s prophecies could fail to come to pass, and they could still be considered a true prophet! After all, it was not God’s fault that man was so disobedient as to prevent the fulfillment of God’s promises! This view of prophecy is a de facto abdication of the claim to the inspiration of the prophets. If a prophet’s predictions did not come to pass, according to Pratt, as well as the Millennialists, all they had to do was to say that it was the disobedience of the people that prevented fulfillment. The onus was then removed from them, to the people, and to God

In Pratt’s paradigm then, the prophet, no matter how many times his predictions failed, would always be vindicated / excused by the disobedience of the people. The bottom line is that in Pratt’s view, you could never know if a man was a true or false prophet, because in his view, failed prophecy had nothing to do with the vindication and confirmation of the prophet. This is certainly not the Biblical doctrine of prophecy.


In the New Testament Jesus even challenged those who questioned him to put him to the test. What Jesus said is not well received in today=s theological world, but they are his words nonetheless: “If I do not do the works of my Father, do not believe me, but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works.”(John 10:37-38). Now here is a dilemma.

According to lots of folks today, Jewish unbelief prevented Jesus from keeping his word to establish the kingdom. So, Jesus challenged his first century audience (and us!), to believe him only if he did what he said he would do. However, he could not do what he said he would do because of their unbelief. Remember what Pratt has suggested: “historical contingencies” such as rebellion will prevent the fulfillment of prophecy. Therefore, since the Jews rejected Jesus, and his word, this prevented him from fulfilling his promises. However, since he could not keep his promises this means he is not to be accepted as the Son of God! Is that a manifestation God=s faithfulness?

In the 1970s Hal Lindsay, and other prophecy pundits said Christ was coming back in the 80s. By the way, Lindsay is now on record as calling himself a prophet. Edgar Whisenant said, AOnly if the Bible is wrong, will the Lord not return in 1988.@ Jack Van Impe said the Rapture would definitely occur in 1999. John Hagee said the Rapture would be in March of 2004. All of these men claim to speak authoritatively for the God of the Bible. Yet, they have all failed, miserably. They are all false prophets! What is worse, these false prophets cause people to reject the God who is faithful, because of their false prophecies.

Only if God keeps His promises is He a God to be loved, believed, and obeyed. If the God of the Bible is no better at keeping His promises than the repeated failed prognostications of the men mentioned above, then He is not a God worth serving! And, if Christ=s apostles, supposedly inspired by the Spirit of Christ, failed in their predictions, then they are false prophets as well.

But you see, God is faithful. He did keep His word! Jesus did not fail, in any regard, to do what he said he would do! The apostles were not wrong. The Bible is not wrong. Our God is the Promise Keeping God! More to come!

The Promise Keeping God- #3

 

[Ephesians321]

Finding Jesus in the Old Testament- Guest Article- Terry Cropper

Terry Cropper is a careful and diligent student of God’s word and an excellent writer. I have shared articles by him in the past, and am glad to offer another one now. It is about Christ being the fulfillment of all of the types and anti-types of the Old Testament. This is a rich study, so enjoy!

Finding Christ in the Old Testament:Jesus fulfilled all the types and shadows of the Old Testament.

Almost every person I have met knows about Jesus coming in the clouds in the New Testament. However when it comes to comparing the nature of God’s coming in the Old Testament to the nature of Jesus coming in the New Testament everything they have learned goes out the window.

Many Christians, especially those who are very fond of “endtime prophecy,” insist on interpreting the New Testament prophetic prophecy concerning the coming of Christ isolated from the Old Testament. The idea of God coming on the clouds in judgement is not unique to the New Testament passages.

I urge you to examine other Old Testament passages of scripture that speak of the same topic or issue. Those texts will often shed some light on the text you’re confused about. A correct interpretation of scripture will always be consistent with the rest of the scriptures. Scripture is the best interpreter of itself.

Because that is the case, the first commentary you should consult on a passage is what the rest of the Scriptures have to say on the topic being examined. So, the first guideline or principle for rightly dividing the Word: is “Let Scripture interpret Scripture” which is incredibly simple and yet so important to put into practice!

So, be careful not to base your conclusions, or build your interpretation of scripture on the New Testament alone, but on Scripture as a whole. Just as you cannot understand the book of Revelation until you know where all the signs and symbols are used throughout the Old Testament, so too it is with the (nature of the coming of Jesus on the clouds of heaven). To explore what is going on, we need to spend a little time thinking about ‘clouds’ and what it means to be ‘coming’ with them.

A cloud (or clouds) first feature prominently in the exodus narrative, as God travels with his people in the form of a ‘pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night’ (Exodus 13.21). There is no doubt that this symbolizes God’s presence in power, protecting his people and confounding the Egyptian army.

In later narratives, it is often ‘clouds’ that signify God’s action and (power in judgment). It is within this symbolic context that we see the development of the language of ‘coming with the clouds in judgement’ in the prophetic prophecy. When God comes in judgement to Egypt, he ‘rides on a swift cloud.’ Behold, the Lord is riding on a swift cloud, and is about to come to Egypt. The idol of Egypt will tremble at His presence, and the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them. (Isaiah 19:1). Egypt did receive this judgment at the hands of the Assyrians. (Isaiah 20:1-6) This did not involve a literal coming of God on the clouds. When God used the means of a nation or people to carry out a judgment. He was said to come on the clouds.

From this scripture we observe God’s coming on the clouds was not a world-ending event. Zephaniah 1:15. That day is a day of wrath, A day of trouble and distress, A day of devastation and desolation, A day of darkness and gloominess, A day of clouds and thick darkness, This prophecy concerns the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 586 BC. So God ‘makes the clouds his chariots’ as a symbolic expression of his presence and power. (Psalm 104.3; Jeremiah 4:13)

Only the God of Israel could ride the clouds of heaven in judgement. Nahum 1-2 God is jealous, and the LORD avenges; The LORD avenges and is furious. The LORD will take vengeance on His adversaries, And He reserves wrath for His enemies; 3 The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, And will not at all acquit the wicked. The LORD has His way In the whirlwind and in the storm, And the clouds are the dust of His feet. See also (Psalms 104:1-3; Isaiah 19:1-3; Joel 2:1-2) The Biblical references of clouds and God’s presence in the Bible go hand in hand.

This apocalyptic language was well known to all in the Jewish and early Christian communities. This language was studied by all the congregation of Israel on the Sabbath in the synagogue. It was spoken in homes and by the rulers of Israel. This is the reason Jesus chose to use this apocalyptic language as He described His SOON return in judgement to the people of His day.

Jesus repeatedly calls himself the “Son of Man” throughout his ministry, which is a veiled reference to what Daniel saw. For a typical Jew of the first century, hearing Jesus call himself the Son of the living God, would have been ambiguous – even shocking.

When Caiaphas the high priest was questioning Jesus during his arrest, he asked him bluntly if he was the Messiah (Matthew 26:63-65), and how did Jesus answer? Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.” Jesus was making a reference to the vision of (Daniel 7:13-14) in divine terms.

The book of Daniel contains the crucial foundational passages concerning Israel and the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. In this chapters you will find one of the most dominant prophecies of the coming of Christ and His everlasting kingdom ever recorded.

Daniel 7:13-14 “I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, And they brought Him near before Him. 14 Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, Which shall not pass away, And His kingdom the one Which shall not be destroyed.

The reaction of the High Priest says it all: Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “He has blasphemed!” This was more than just an idle phrase, this was Jesus claiming to be Israel’s Messiah and making himself equal to God and the Jewish leaders understood this which is why they got so angry. This is why they voted that night to crucify Him the next morning.

Only the God of Israel was promised to come with the clouds of heaven to the Ancient of Days to set up an everlasting Kingdom. When Jesus mentioned he was coming in clouds the flashing images triggered the high priest and it was more then he could handle. Caiaphas also know this was the language of judgment from his Old Testament scriptures

The promised kingdom in Daniel is fulfilled in the coming of Jesus and the establishment of His kingdom. It is “now and not to come” in that it is already present with the coming of Jesus. It was consummated with the New Covenant and when He returned to judge Jerusalem in the glory of His Parousia.” Greek (παρουσία) the technical word ‘for the arrival or visit.

We proclaim the kingdom of God when we preach the death of Jesus for our sins and His resurrection. We enter the kingdom when we repent and put our faith in Christ.

There is no way to biblically separate the event of the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven with an everlasting dominion, or kingdom when they are the same event in scripture. They are to be accomplished during the very same time frame according to scripture. The “Parousia, of Christ” was tremendous and frightening during the destruction of Jerusalem and the consummation of the kingdom in A.D 70 but no one literally saw Jesus riding on a literal cloud.

Many modern skeptics, such as Bertrand Russell have believed Jesus to be a false prophet because he predicted his “coming on clouds” within the lifetime of his disciples. He did not follow the simple rule of hermeneutics by letting scripture interpret scripture.

Why I Am Not a Christian (1927)* By Bertrand Russell

DEFECTS IN CHRIST’S TEACHING

Having granted the excellence of these maxims, I come to certain points in which I do not believe that one can grant either the superlative wisdom or the superlative goodness of Christ as depicted in the Gospels; and here I may say that one is not concerned with the historical question. Historically it is quite doubtful whether Christ ever existed at all, and if He did we do not know anything about Him, so that I am not concerned with the historical question, which is a very difficult one. I am concerned with Christ as He appears in the Gospels, taking the Gospel narrative as it stands, and there one does find some things that do not seem to be very wise. For one thing, He certainly thought that His second coming would occur in clouds of glory before the death of all the people who were living at that time. There are a great many texts that prove that. He says, for instance: ‘Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of Man be come.’

Then He says: ‘There are some standing here which shall not taste death till the Son of Man comes into His kingdom’; and there are a lot of places where it is quite clear that He believed that His second coming would happen during the lifetime of many then living. That was the belief of His earlier followers, and it was the basis of a good deal of His moral teaching. When He said, ‘Take no thought for the morrow,’ and things of that sort, it was very largely because He thought that the second coming was going to be very soon, and that all ordinary mundane affairs did not count.

I have, as a matter of fact, known some Christians who did believe that the second coming was imminent. I knew a parson who frightened his congregation terribly by telling them that the second coming was very imminent indeed, but they were much consoled when they found that he was planting trees in his garden. The early Christians did really believe it, and they did abstain from such things as planting trees in their gardens, because they did accept from Christ the belief that the second coming was imminent. In that respect clearly He was not so wise as some other people have been, and he was certainly not superlatively wise.

Bertrand Russell did not follow the simple rule of hermeneutics by letting scripture interpret scripture.

God has given the nation of Israel and us a way to tell a false prophet.

Biblical Guidelines for recognizing false prophets.

Deuteronomy 18:20-22 But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die. 21 And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken? 22 When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.

In Deuteronomy 18:21,22 we are told that if a prophet’s prediction does not come to pass, that forever settles it. He is a false prophet and we are to never respect him as a true prophet. It does not matter how many of his predictions had previously come to pass, one strike and he’s out. The penalty for that was death (Deuteronomy 18:20) under the old covenant. A true prophet always hears infallibly from God. That is the standard the Old Testament set for those who would presume to speak in the name of the Lord. Perhaps God was trying to discourage false prophets. If we applied the same standards today, do you think so many people would dare to call themselves prophets?

Jesus is not a false prophet He is the God that cannot lie and he returned during the first century exactly as he said He would in the clouds of heaven in judgement as he did in the Old Testament.

Finding Jesus in the Old Testament- Guest Article- Terry Cropper

donkpreston.com

 

[Ephesians321]

Exposition of I Corinthians 15

Preterism is the belief that all Bible prophecy has been fulfilled.

www.preteristcentral.com

 

[Ephesians321]

When Heaven and Earth Passed Away: Everything Changed​

Can Christians excuse themselves from obeying the Law of Moses? Jesus plainly said, “Until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law” (Matthew 5:18). Surely that would mean all 613 commandments in the Pentateuch must be followed until some cataclysmic events take place. Or does it?

If we were still waiting for some cataclysmic event to happen before we were set free from obedience to the Mosaic Law, what would that practically mean for Christians today? It would have huge implications. If “heaven and earth” haven't passed away, we would have a backlog of Jubilee years to celebrate, “cities of refuge” to resurrect (which is a law requiring certain cities to protect sinners from people trying to vengefully hurt them), and bleeding lambs to burn on an altar. Forget Sunday. We would need to go back to the Sabbath rest on Saturday. And we would have to throw out our clothes that mix linen and cotton and kill our rebellious children. If you weren’t aware, the Law of Moses has some serious instructions.

So why don't Christians obey every letter of the Law if Jesus said it all applies “until heaven and earth pass away”?

It’s an important question to answer, and very few Christians have taken the time to address it. But before we start in forcing the law of Moses again, let’s make sure we understand what Jesus meant. The historical background is going to blow your mind. It will require you to put down your apocalyptic imaginations of meteors hitting earth and start seeing the world Jesus talked about.

Where Heaven and Earth Was for First-Century Jews

Jews did not always mean “the physical universe” when they spoke of heaven and earth together. In Jewish literature, the Temple was a portal connecting heaven and earth. They called it the “navel of the earth” and the “gateway to heaven” (Jub 8:19; 1 Enoch 26:1). Just like the Mesopotamian Tower in Genesis 11, the Temple connected God’s realm to where humans lived.

To reflect this belief, the Jerusalem Temple had been built to look like a microcosm of the universe. We typically overlook how literally true the Temple hymn preserved in Psalm 78:69 is: "He built his sanctuary like the high heavens, like the earth, which he has founded for ever." The actual holy place and most holy place inside the Temple building were constructed like earth and heaven. The courts outside represented the sea. I am not making this stuff up.

According to Josephus, two parts of the tabernacle were "approachable and open to all“ but one was not. He explains that in so doing Moses "signifies the earth and the sea, since these two are accessible to all; but the third portion he reserved for God alone because heaven is inaccessible to men" (Ant. 3:181, cf. 3:123). The veil between’ the accessible and inaccessible parts of the Temple was designed to represent the entire material world during Jesus’ day. Josephus and Philo agree that the veil was composed of four materials representing the four elements—earth, water, air, and fire (War 5:212-213; Ant. 3:138-144; Quaestiones in Exodum 2:85, cf. Mos 2:88). Heaven was beyond this material world. It was behind the curtain.

Outside the Temple’s microcosm of “heaven and earth,” the courts looked like the sea. Numbers Rabbah 13:19 records, "The court surrounds the temple just as the sea surrounds the world." In Talmudic tradition, Rabbis described how the inner walls of the Temple looked like waves of the sea (b. Sukk. 51b, b.B.Bat. 4a). From heaven and earth inside the temple, you looked out at the sea surrounding the world. Why? Ancients believed the earth had one giant land mass surrounded by sea. The temple reflected that cosmology. The accessible section of the Temple and the surrounding courts embodied both the land mass and sea believed to comprise the earth. The Most Holy Place was heaven where God's presence resided.

Jesus’ Prophecy of the Temple’s Destruction

If we listen to Jesus in First-Century Israel, his prediction of “heaven and earth” passing away sounds like the destruction of Jerusalem and her Temple. The contemporary songs, writers, and architecture all make the connection between Jerusalem’s Temple and “heaven and earth.” Isaiah used the same language of “heaven and earth” to depict Jerusalem and her citizens in Isaiah 65:17-18.

“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth and the former things will not be remembered or come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; For behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing and her people for gladness.”

Isaiah is predicting the eventual reconstruction of Jerusalem after its destruction at the hands of invaders. He uses Hebrew parallelism to equate the creation of “new heavens and a new earth” with the restoration of Jerusalem. So Jesus isn't the first prophet to describe Jerusalem and her temple with grand language describing its theological significance. Jerusalem was the place where people encountered the presence of God on earth. The Temple is where heaven met earth.

Interpreting Jesus’ language of “heaven and earth passing away” in Matthew 5:18 as the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple fits with the rest of Jesus’ prophetic message. Like Jeremiah smashing a pot outside the city to predict Jerusalem’s fall to Babylonian invaders (Jeremiah 19), Jesus symbolically acted out God’s judgment on the Jerusalem Temple and verbally condemned it (Mark 11). Remember all those tables he flipped over as he yelled, “You have turned God’s house of prayer into a den of thieves!” In Luke 21:20-24 Jesus gave a graphic picture of how Jerusalem will be surrounded by armies and the Temple destroyed.

Jesus knew that Jerusalem and her Temple were about to be destroyed, and he gave it great significance in his teaching. The entire Torah would be set aside once the Temple crumbled. What would replace it? Jesus’ words according to Matthew 7:24. The entire Sermon on the Mount with its blessings, curses, and instructions given from a mountain (sound like Moses' law given on Mount Sinai!?!) are designed to be the new giving of God’s instructions. Jesus is redefining Torah in the same teaching where he says, “Until heaven and earth pass away not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law.” The Torah will remain in force as long as the Temple stands, but Jesus gave a new Torah for when it fell.

Modern Assumptions Mess Up the Bible

If you listen to Jesus with modern astronomy in mind, you will be responsible to obey the Mosaic Law. You're still waiting for the physical space-time universe to collapse so you can stop your ritual purifications and celebration of Succoth. But “heaven and earth” for Jesus wasn't a planet in a galaxy. He was obsessed with where heaven met earth in Jerusalem not the physical universe.

When we mix our assumptions with Jesus’ message, we mess everything up. We create confusion and contradictions of thought in the Bible. We have to conclude that the Mosaic Law reigns until the meteors incinerate our world. Or we just have to ignore Matthew 5:18 along with all the other sayings that make no sense outside their original context.

So hear what Jesus said in First-Century Israel. And relax. You don't have to switch your Sabbath back to Saturday or kill your rebellious kids. You can keep eating bacon (Hallelujah!). “Heaven and earth” passed away when the Romans sacked Jerusalem in 70AD and everything changed. No need to wait for the meteoric destruction of planet earth to stop sacrificing animals and avoiding shellfish in your diet.

Hebrews 9:8-9 stated that the Temple was a symbol of “the present time,” not the New Covenant age that Jesus inaugurated. The arrival of the New Covenant age that Jesus’ death and resurrection made possible meant the Old Covenant with its Temple, sacrifices, and laws would soon come to an end. Hebrews 8 describes that transition as the fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophecy about a New Covenant that will replace the Old Covenant. After Jeremiah 31:31-34 is quoted in that letter, Hebrews 8:13 says, “When God said, ‘A new covenant,’ He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.” Hebrews is talking about the impending destruction of the Temple in the first century. When that happened during the Roman invasion of Jerusalem, the Old Covenant was retired and Jesus’ words remained as the binding instructions to follow to maintain a relationship with God in the new era Jesus had announced. That is the era in which we now live, free from the requirement to obey every little law in the Old Covenant. And that is part of the good news about the Kingdom that Jesus pioneered during his time on earth.

Excerpt from my next book redefining what Jesus really meant in many misunderstood statements where the original context has been missed or ignored. Tentative title is Listening to Jesus in First-Century Israel: so we don't westernize his message and follow the wrong directions.

When Heaven and Earth Passed Away: Everything Changed

First-Century Jews did not mean “the physical universe” when they spoke of heaven and earth together. So what did Jesus say would pass away in Matthew 5:18?

www.reenactingtheway.com

 

[3 Resurrections]

Incorrect because the 144,000 first fruits of Revelation 14 are the exact same 144,000 martyrs of the Great Tribulation in Revelation 7.

Yes, I agree that the 144,000 First-fruits of Revelation 14 are the same as the 144,000 mentioned in Revelation 7. We know this because in both texts, the 144,000 have the same seal of God / name of God in their foreheads.

But the number of Jewish tribal members composing the 144,000 represented a separate bodily resurrection event from the other unnumbered great multitude which were to be resurrected from out of all nations kindreds, people and tongues who had gone through great Tribulation.

 

[FredVB]

What God promised is what will happen, God is righteous with no sin, as sin is always rebellion against God's will, and so God does not lie and God cannot error. It is still so that those who are God's people do not belong in Mystery Babylon, they must come out. And it is becoming clearer that the cities and all civilization which overexploits the world and there really is ruin that God hates as was directly said is coming toward a great collapse.

 

[Ed Parenteau]

What God promised is what will happen, God is righteous with no sin, as sin is always rebellion against God's will, and so God does not lie and God cannot error. It is still so that those who are God's people do not belong in Mystery Babylon, they must come out. And it is becoming clearer that the cities and all civilization which overexploits the world and there really is ruin that God hates as was directly said is coming toward a great collapse.

God cannot lie. True! So who's Mystery Babylon "that great city"? I see nothing from scripture concerning your assertion.
It seems to me, if you're going to make a claim, you need to make a case from scripture. You haven't done that.