The End of a System Not the End of the World (3)

By Bob Myhan

Jesus, in Matthew 24:34-35, exclaimed, “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.”

The phrase, “all these things,” refers to the things Jesus had been speaking of – the signs that would indicate the impending destruction of Jerusalem and the  temple. He then continues:

"But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only” (Matt. 24:36).

Although He knew these events would occur sometime in the near future, neither He nor “the angels in heaven” knew the “day and hour” of their occurrence. (Mark 13:32) Of course, it would likely have been a disadvantage for the disciples to have known the “day and hour.” They probably would have been inattentive in regard to the signs He gave them.

One might, indeed, wonder why it would be that Jesus did not know something that the Father knew, inasmuch as He and the Father “are one” (John 10:30). However, Jesus had previously said,

“For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me” (John 6:38).

“He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him--the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day. For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak" (John 12:48-50).

Since Jesus came to do His Father’s will and He had been given a command as to what He should say, it must be that the revelation of the exact “day and hour” of Jerusalem’s destruction was not included in that command.

Just prior to His ascension to heaven, He had said, concerning the setting up of His kingdom,

"It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth" (Acts 1:7-8).

Thus, the “day and hour” that the kingdom was to be set up was no more a part of the command given Him by His Father than the “day and hour” Jerusalem and the temple were to be destroyed.

Again, it probably would have been disadvantageous if they had known the specific “day and hour,” for they would likely have been inattentive concerning the signs Jesus had given them. It was, therefore, necessary for them and other early disciples to be on the lookout for those signs so they could flee the city and escape destruction. (Matt. 24:15-28; Luke 21:20-24) Nevertheless, those who had not become disciples would not be looking for the signs and would be caught unawares, as those of Noah’s day.

“But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (Matt. 24:37-44).

However, though the flood “took them all away,” except for Noah and family, some would be taken captive and others would be left to die at the destruction of the city. He tells them this to prevent them, if possible, from misinterpreting His Father’s longsuffering as negligent delay, then growing impatient and discouraged. Though many think that Jesus segues at verse 36 to the “day and hour” “heaven and earth will pass away,” this writer sees no compelling reason to conclude this. Jesus says, “one will be taken and the other left” but no one will be left following the passing of heaven and earth.

"Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods. But if that evil servant says in his heart, 'My master is delaying his coming,' and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matt. 24:45-51).

This closing admonition has a secondary application for all of the Lord’s disciples throughout the church age, at the end of which He will come again to deliver up the kingdom to God the Father. (1 Cor. 15:19-24) We must all be faithful servants, even in the face of death. (Rev. 2:10) &

A Skeptic’s Response

One, who reads the Faith Builder not to build his own faith but to look for opportunities to destroy the faith of the editor, responds to the article on the death of David and Bathsheba’s infant son from two weeks ago. Our respondent characterizes the death of the child as “a horrendous judgment,” “egregiously unjust,” “a glaring injustice” and an instance of God’s “contradicting his own law.” He says, “This eye-popping error is apparent to any who are doing a rational study of the Bible.”

Rebuttal

By Bob Myhan

First, one should not be surprised at the shallowness of a skeptic’s remarks regarding the Bible. If skeptics were not shallow, they would not be skeptics.

Second, our respondent gave absolutely no explanation for his negative criticism of God’s judgment, except to quote Ezekiel 18:20.

The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.

This passage was quoted in an attempt to prove that the infant’s death for David’s sin was a case of God’s “contradicting his own law.” But there is no suggestion that the child was being punished, at all, much less that he was being punished for David and Bathsheba’s sin.

He was actually being spared the grief that the entire family suffered indirectly as a result of the sin. Notice.

Then Nathan said to David, "You are the man! Thus says the Lord God of Israel: 'I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more! “Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon. Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.' Thus says the Lord: 'Behold, I will raise up adversity against you from your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, before the sun.'" (2 Sam. 12:7-12)

True to God’s word, the sword did not depart from David’s house. In the next chapter, we read of David’s son, Amnon, raping his half-sister, Tamar. David suffered because of this but did nothing, perhaps due to feelings of guilt. In that same chapter, Tamar’s brother, Absalom, kills Amnon for his deed. Later, Absalom rebels against the king and beds his father’s concubines in the sight of all the people. And finally, Absalom is killed by Joab while he hangs helpless by his hair in a tree.

If anyone had a right to accuse God of punishing the child for David’s sin it was David. But he accepted the infant’s death as his own punishment. He did not say anything to suggest that he viewed the death as being against the child.

Third, we are simply not in a position to criticize the judgments of God.

Fourth, a rational study reveals that God did not err here. &