The End of a System Not the End of the World (2)

By Bob Myhan

In Matthew 24, Jesus was conveying to His disciples the coming destruction of Jerusalem and Herod’s temple and the termination of the sacrificial system instituted by Moses. He tells them of the intense suffering that would follow.

“Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.” (Matt. 24: 7-21)

It was quite common, in those days, for people to be on their rooftops (see Acts 10:9). Expectant mothers and mothers with infants would have greater difficulty fleeing Jerusalem. The winters are severe in that location. The gates of the city would be closed on the Sabbath day. And why would Jesus say "then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be” if the events in question constituted the end of all things? Josephus, the Jewish historian, discusses the destruction of Jerusalem at great length, describing in great detail the horrors of what could legitimately be called "the first holocaust." He also reported that those of the Jews who were not slain were sold into slavery. This is why there are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in all parts of the world, today. Jesus then goes on to say,

"Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (Matt. 24:29-31)

The darkening of the sun, the failure of the moon to give its light, the stars falling from heaven and the shaking of the powers of the heavens are not literal references to celestial bodies but figurative references to political events. Notice the similar figures in Isaiah 13:1-22.

The burden against Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.

"Lift up a banner on the high mountain, Raise your voice to them; Wave your hand, that they may enter the gates of the nobles. I have commanded My sanctified ones; I have also called My mighty ones for My anger--Those who rejoice in My exaltation."

The noise of a multitude in the mountains, Like that of many people! A tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together! The Lord of hosts musters The army for battle. They come from a far country, From the end of heaven--The Lord and His weapons of indignation, To destroy the whole land.

Wail, for the day of the Lord is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty. Therefore all hands will be limp, Every man's heart will melt, And they will be afraid. Pangs and sorrows will take hold of them; They will be in pain as a woman in childbirth; They will be amazed at one another; Their faces will be like flames.

Behold, the day of the Lord comes, Cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, To lay the land desolate; And He will destroy its sinners from it. For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not give their light; The sun will be darkened in its going forth, And the moon will not cause its light to shine.

"I will punish the world for its evil, And the wicked for their iniquity; I will halt the arrogance of the proud, And will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. I will make a mortal more rare than fine gold, A man more than the golden wedge of Ophir. Therefore I will shake the heavens, And the earth will move out of her place, In the wrath of the Lord of hosts And in the day of His fierce anger. It shall be as the hunted gazelle, And as a sheep that no man takes up; Every man will turn to his own people, And everyone will flee to his own land. Everyone who is found will be thrust through, And everyone who is captured will fall by the sword. Their children also will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; Their houses will be plundered And their wives ravished.

"Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, Who will not regard silver; And as for gold, they will not delight in it. Also their bows will dash the young men to pieces, And they will have no pity on the fruit of the womb; Their eye will not spare children. And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, The beauty of the Chaldeans' pride, Will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It will never be inhabited, Nor will it be settled from generation to generation; Nor will the Arabian pitch tents there, Nor will the shepherds make their sheepfolds there. But wild beasts of the desert will lie there, And their houses will be full of owls; Ostriches will dwell there, And wild goats will caper there. The hyenas will howl in their citadels, And jackals in their pleasant palaces. Her time is near to come, And her days will not be prolonged."

The context clearly shows that Isaiah was speaking of the judgment God was about to bring upon Chaldea by allowing the Medes to defeat them (see also Dan. 5:1-31).

Similar language was also used in Isaiah’s description of the destruction of the nation of Edom. Notice:

All the host of heaven shall be dissolved, And the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll; All their host shall fall down As the leaf falls from the vine, And as fruit falling from a fig tree.

"For My sword shall be bathed in heaven; Indeed it shall come down on Edom, And on the people of My curse, for judgment. The sword of the Lord is filled with blood, It is made overflowing with fatness, With the blood of lambs and goats, With the fat of the kidneys of rams. For the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah, And a great slaughter in the land of Edom. The wild oxen shall come down with them, And the young bulls with the mighty bulls; Their land shall be soaked with blood, And their dust saturated with fatness." (Isa. 34:4-7)

Even in the context of Matthew chapter 24, there is conclusive proof that Jesus is discussing events of the first century.

"Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near--at the doors! Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.” (24:32-35)

Just as surely as spring precedes summer, these events would precede the destruction of Jerusalem. And they would occur before that generation passed away. The words of Jesus, in fact, were more certain than the continuation of heaven and earth. &

The Church Was Foretold in the Old Testament

By Bob Myhan

Dispensational Premillennialists would have us believe that the Old Testament prophets foretold of a millennial kingdom that has not yet been set up.

They say, also, that the church age was completely unknown to the prophets. Jesus came to set up a millennial (thousand-year) kingdom but, since the Jews rejected Him, He went back to heaven and sent the Holy Spirit to set up the church instead. One day, they say, He will return to succeed in doing that which He failed to do before.

In the second recorded gospel sermon in Acts, however, Peter says the opposite.

 “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. For Moses truly said to the fathers, 'The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you. And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.' Yes, and all the prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days." (Acts 3:19-24)

Peter quotes from Deut. 18:15, 18-19. Since he defends his statement regarding “the times of restoration of all things” by a reference to Moses, who was clearly prophesying of the church age, “the times of restoration” must be the present dispensation of God’s grace through obedience to the gospel plan of salvation. This is also a period of destruction, since those who do not obey the gospel will be destroyed (Matt. 10:28; 2 Thes. 1:3-10). Here is conclusive proof that the church age was not hidden from the view of Old Testament prophets. Every prophet spoke of these days. This proves that the “times of restoration,” in verse 21, are the church age and that the kingdom is the church. The kingdom will not be set up but delivered up at Christ’s coming (1 Cor. 15:23-24). It was set up at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-47). &