Jesus Coming in His kingdom (the Kingdom of God)

Jesus Coming in His kingdom (the Kingdom of God).

The coming of Jesus in heaven is the sign or manifestation of the coming of Jesus in the kingdom of God. Jesus brought the manifestation of the kingdom of God in AD70 when Jesus came upon His people as the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple took place. It was the end of the era of Judaism and the beginning of the greater era of the Kingdom of God.

It is imperative to note that if one has an improper eschatological view, your perspective in life and understanding of Scripture will be hindered even though your redemption is not brought into question. Wrong perspective leads to wrong outlook of life. Right eschatology leads to right perspective and right outlook of life. This proper understanding of the coming of the kingdom of God brings our lives to align with Scripture and right perspective.

So it is important to note that the Coming of Jesus in Matthew 24:30, is the same as the appearing of the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, is the same as Jesus coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, is the same as the new era of the coming of the kingdom of God, is the same as destruction of the Temple and its Judaistic practices and the ushering of the New Jerusalem, the Kingdom of God.

Someone took notice of the 40 years phenomena in the Bible and said it took 40 years for natural Israel to get to the promised land, and it also took 40 years for spiritual Israel to get to New Jerusalem.

That means natural Israel took a total of 40 years to get from captivity in Egypt to the promised land. They had to go through the desert around Sinai and in the process received God's Laws through Moses, their leader. Also it took 40 years for new spiritual Israel, the new believers, to go from the finished work of Christ on the cross to the manifestation of the kingdom of God in AD70, which was the manifestation of the New Jerusalem after the destruction of the Old Jerusalem and its Temple.

In the bible, the term "kingdom of God" is interchangeable with the term "kingdom of heaven". The religious Jews during the times of Jesus do not want to speak or write "God" because they thought it was too holy a term to use, so they used the term "heaven". They had a mental fear of using the name of God in vain, so to be safe, they use the term heaven instead of God, particularly in the book of Matthew which was primarily written to the Jews.

When you study Matthew 24, you will realized that it speaks about the manifestation of  the kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of God.

An analogy would be like comparing to a water tank that had a small hole and the hole was about to get bigger. In the beginning, the water trickles down slowly, but as the hole gets bigger, the water starts to gush down in greater measure, many times bigger that it was before.

The coming of Jesus in the heavens and the coming of the kingdom of God is liken to a greater gush of the water coming down to the earth.

We come to an important key verse in understanding timing of eschatology in Matthew 16:28.

Mat 16:28  Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.

In reading this in its proper Context and Audience relevance, we can specifically conclude the following:

- Jesus was speaking to the people right there and then. He was not addressing people before that or people who lives 2000 years after that statement

- Jesus was saying that those who were hearing Him then will NOT die, until they see Jesus come again in His kingdom. When did Jesus come again? He came again at the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple. He came for His people to save them, those who left for the mountains. He came to witness the destruction of the Old Mosaic Covenant, so that He can usher in the beginning of the New Covenant. Even though Jesus rose again from the dead earlier, but it was the complete destruction of Temple that brought an end to the Old Covenant, the Old Era. In between the Cross and the destruction of the Temple, the Old Covenant and the New Covenant was existing together! The total destruction of the Temple practices brought an end to the Old Covenant.

Those who heard Jesus spoke witnessed the coming of Jesus in His kingdom of heaven i.e. the kingdom of God, just as what Jesus said they would. Just as what Jesus told the disciples in Matthew 24:30.

Mat 24:30  Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, 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. 

This happened in AD70. It happened in their future, but it is our past and not our future.

The kingdom of God was inaugurated or begin and was initially manifested with the arrival of Jesus in His anointed ministry. It did not begin in Jesus birth nor during the time He was as a baby in the manger

When Jesus first began His earthly ministry, He preached that the kingdom of God was at hand (that means now it is existing).

Mar 1:15  and Jesus saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” 

The kingdom of God began to manifest then in His early ministry, but it was a small manifestation and a local demonstration. There were signs of the manifestation of the kingdom of God, with miracles, healings, signs and wonders. But it was a small trickle and confined to the area or district where Jesus and His disciples were. It was not a worldwide event or a massive outpouring.

As Jesus ministry began to grow, He began to preach that the kingdom of God is "within" you.

Luk 17:20  And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: 

Luk 17:21  Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is "within" you. 

This word "within" can be said to be translated better by understanding the original Greek word "entos", which actually means "inside of".

Jesus is telling the Pharisees that the kingdom of God will be "on the inside" of you. Some translations use the word "in the midst" which is wrong.

It is interesting to note that this Greek word "entos" only appears TWICE in the New Testament. Once in Luke 17:21 and the other in Matthew 23:26.

Mat 23:26  You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside (Greek: "entos") of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean. 

Jesus told the Pharisees to clean the "inside" of the cup, not the "within" the cup, and not in the "midst" of the cup.

Qn: When did the kingdom of God went from the outside to the "inside" of you?

An: There are many theories, but my understanding is that when Jesus paid for the sin of the world, there was a vacuum space inside the hearts of people to be filled with the kingdom of God. So at the cross, after the sin debt was paid in full, and when Jesus said "it is finished", the hearts of humanity was ready to be filled with the kingdom of God.

Several years after the ascension of Jesus, we read of what Paul wrote about the kingdom of God in Colossians 1:13.

Col 1:13  He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son.

It was a past tense, and a done deal. Jesus has already transferred us into His kingdom and now His kingdom is inside of us.

In retrospective, we can say that the kingdom of God began at the initial anointed ministry of Jesus. But it is also an ever growing and expanding kingdom throughout all humanity. As long as more and more of the world gets the knowledge of the kingdom of God inside of us (God in you, the hope of glory), the kingdom of God will continue to expand forever and ever.

In the Old Testament, in Habakkuk 2:14, we read of an old prophecy that speaks of the knowledge of God spreading throughout the whole world.

Hab 2:14  For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. 

I believe this verse speaks about the ever expansion of the kingdom of God.

Qn: So where does Matthew 24, the chapter on eschatology fits in with the ever expanding kingdom of God?

An: I believe the coming of Jesus in power and glory, the coming of the Son of Man in heaven, the coming of the kingdom of God in AD70, the destruction of the Temple, and the ushering of the New Covenant or the New Jerusalem (they all meant the same or happened at the same time), has brought about a great beginning and expansion for the kingdom of God to be inside you. I believe Paul referred to this as the "age to come".

When Jesus began this eschatology lessons as an answer to his disciples curiosity in Matthew 24:3, He was drawing their attention not just to the negative aspect of the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple, but to a positive aspect,to a greater glory of the coming of the New Covenant and with a greater expansion of the kingdom of God.

The Gathering of the elect

The Gathering of the elect

The term "gathering of the elect" is found in Matthew 24:31.

Mat 24:31  And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. 

Jesus had spoken of the gathering of His people before Matthew 24. In Mat 23:37-38, we read of how Jesus lamented over Jerusalem because He was trying to gather His people together like a hen gathering her chicks, but they were not willing to be gathered. And because of that, their house i.e. their Temple will be left desolate, thus prophesying about the imminent coming destruction of the Temple by the Roman armies in AD70.

Mat 23:37  O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! 

Mat 23:38  See, your house is left to you desolate. 

Jesus gathering was a spiritual gathering. The Temple will be destroyed but the Temple that He is building in us will live forever. God had this intention of living inside of us by His Holy Spirit, like what Paul would say "God in us, the hope of glory" and "You are the Temple of the Holy Spirit". Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well, that a time is coming where the worship of God is not a locality like Jerusalem or a mountain, but will be within us as long as it is in spirit and truth. But alas to say, the Jews rejected Jesus, and rejected His gathering, and so God had to bring down the entire system of Jewish religion (Judaism) centred around the Temple, so that He can execute His gathering of the elect.

Some futurists have said that Mat 24:31 refers to a future event called the rapture where "angels" and spiritual beings will gather His people from the world. This is not true, and has been taken out of the context of the entire chapter of Matthew 24 which is not speaking of our future event but of their soon coming event of the destruction of Jerusalem.

In a parallel passage to Matthew 24, we read in Mark 14:61-62, where Jesus is talking to the high priest and the Sanhedrin that they will physically see Jesus coming in power and with the clouds of heaven.

Mar 14:61  But he remained silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” 

Mar 14:62  And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” 

This is not our future event called the rapture!. This happened 2000 years ago when the high priest and the Pharisees and the Jewish people actually saw the coming of Jesus to gather His elect. Those that did not believe in Jesus and His message were not gathered because they did not acknowledge Him as their Messiah. They did not see this Jesus as their Savior and they only wanted to see what they had envisioned in their minds. For that they crucified Jesus to get rid of Him who was an stumbling block to their plans. They refused to be counted as part of God's elect and when Jesus came again for the salvation of His people, they missed out the gathering.

The English word "angel" in Matthew 24:31 came from the original Greek word called "aggelos". "Aggelos" does NOT mean a spiritual being or angel. In fact, the Greek word "aggelos" actually mean "messenger" and that's all. A pastor can be called an "aggelos". An evangelist can be called an "aggelos". Anyone who carries a message is called an "aggelos". In fact John the Baptist was called "aggelos" several times in the bible, and John was never a spiritual being but a human.

Luk 7:24  When John's messengers (aggelos) had gone, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? 

Luk 9:52  And Jesus sent messengers (aggelos) ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. 

Mat 11:10  This is he (John) of whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send my messenger (aggelos) before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’ 

Mark 1:2  As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I send my messenger (aggelos) before your face, who will prepare your way"

Luke 7:27  This is he (John) of whom it is written, “‘Behold, I send my messenger (aggelos) before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’ 

2Co 12:7  So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger (aggelos) of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 

Jas 2:25  And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers (aggelos) and sent them out by another way? 

Of course, angels can be messengers but messengers need not be angels.

The translators of Matthew 24:31 felt that the word "aggelos" should be translated as angels, but a proper word should be just "messengers".

Q: Why should "aggelos" in Matthew 24:31 be translated as "messengers" and not "angels"?

A: After Jesus died and was resurrected, there was a huge gathering of people believing in Jesus due to the working of the Holy Spirit, and particularly the work of spreading the gospel by His disciples (human messengers). The apostles took the message of Jesus to all the 4 corners of the land from the east to the west, and from the north to the south (thus the term "four winds").

So you can see that it was human messengers who took the gospel and took up the task of the spiritual gathering of believers in Jesus and not angels. In fact, angels or spiritual beings had never been given the task of presenting the gospel of Jesus. It was the task of Jesus disciples like you and me. We now are the "aggelos" - human messengers of Jesus taking the gospel to the whole world, to bring about a continuous gathering of the elect.

When Caiaphas prophesied that Jesus will cause the  nation of Israel to be in trouble because Rome is  going to destroy them in John 11:49-52, the author John added that Caiaphas was not just prophesying about this Jesus but also about the great gathering of all the children of God because of the work of this Jesus. This gathering of God's children had always been in the eternal plan of God.

Milton Terry in his book "Biblical Hermeneutics" 1898 wrote about this gathering of the elect:

[  This verse has been understood figuratively of the sending forth of the messengers of the gospel to gather unto Christ an elect church in place of the outcast Israel. In that sense, it was a procedure which followed the Parousia and still continues ]

Q: Why is this procedure still continues?

A: It is because we are still seeing the gathering of the people of God through the presentation of the gospel. This is the mandate to take the kingdom and spread it all over the earth. We are part of that gathering and  we are part of the messengers who gathers. It is not angels  that are presenting the gospel. We are the messengers that are the presenters of the gospel.

Jesus also prophesied earlier before this Matthew 24 passage about this gathering in Matthew 8:11-12.

Mat 8:11  I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, 

Mat 8:12  while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. 

Those that were outside of Judaism will be gathered from the east to the west, while those that had the kingdom will be left out, even those who claimed to have the blood line of Israel and the 12 tribes.

Q: How did the early church viewed this gathering spoken of by Jesus?

A: In Acts 15, we read of the great gathering even affecting the Gentiles, those that were outside of the Jewish community. Peter had a vision in Acts 10 to prepare him to accept Cornelius (a Gentile of Italian origin) to be part of the gathering of the elect. Paul and Barnabas also testify of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Gentiles in their ministry. Because this phenomena was a new happening, the council in the church in Jerusalem called a meeting to discuss this issue of Gentiles coming to believe in Jesus.

James the leader of the council made a decision and quoted Amos 9:11-12, saying that this gathering of the Jews and Gentiles was in agreement to the prophecy by Amos about the gathering of the elect of God, and the rebuilding the tabernacle of David.

Side note: The tabernacle of David had no walls and God met with His people and vice versa regularly. James is saying that Jesus is fulfilling the building of the tabernacle of David so that all the people can come to know God. And for that to happen, the tabernacle of Jerusalem must fall down then only can the tabernacle be rebuilt.

Paul told the Galatian church in Gal 4:22-26, to give up on Hagar and Ishmael (the old Jerusalem) and to go for Sarah (the new Jerusalem). The old Jerusalem is the earthly Jerusalem that was destroyed in AD70. The new Jerusalem lives forever in the Temple of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

We are  now the new Jerusalem that is  gathered into Jesus Christ. Paul tells us in Eph 1:10,

Eph 1:10  That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: 

Jesus is still in the process of gathering all things unto Himself.

Exra Palmer Gould in his book "Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Mark's gospel" 1896, wrote regarding to Matthew 24:31

[  All the processes by which men are brought to the acknowledgement of Christ and the obedience of the kingdom belong to the gathering of the elect. The angels represent the invisible heavenly agencies in an earthly event. The introduction of them means that there is that invisible divine side to a human transaction, back of all that men are doing for the conversion of the world is the Lord Jesus Christ with the hosts of heaven.

As for the time, it begins then at the  time of the consummation of the Jewish age because Judaism was  the great obstacle at that time to the universal spread of the kingdom. Under its influence, Christianity threatened to become a mere appendage of Judaism to have the particularism, formalism and legalism of that religion grated up it in such a way that it could never become a universal religion. With the removal of this obstacle, could begin not the gathering of the elect but the gathering of them from the four quarters of the world, the universal gathering.   ]

God would find it fit to break outside of the borders of Judaism and Jerusalem to go get the rest of the world. He removed the great obstacle.

Q: Someone asked that could it be that the "gathering of the elect" meant the physical gathering of the believers just before the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple?

A: Yes, it can mean that as well. If we consider the Context of the passage in Matthew 24, the "gathering of the elect" can refer to the gathering of the believers outside of Jerusalem while the city was being destroyed by the Roman armies as described in the parallel passage of Luke 21:20-21.

Luk 21:20  But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. 

Luk 21:21  Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it.

What did Luke meant by "Jerusalem surrounded by armies"?

Acccording to history, the First Jewish–Roman War began in the year AD66. It started with religious tensions between the Greeks (of Roman citizenship) and the Jews. The tension increased when the Jewish rebels attacked the Romans due to their taxation policies.

In response to the Jewish uprising, the Romans plundered the Jewish Temple and executed about 6,000 Jews in Jerusalem leading to a huge rebellion against Rome.

The small Roman military garrison of Judea was then easily defeated by the Jewish rebels and the pro-Roman king Agrippa II fled Jerusalem together with his Roman officials.

When the rebellion was growing, Cestius Gallus, the governor of Syria, brought the Syrian army together with auxiliary forces to try to restore order and quench the rebellion.

See:

https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/history-of-the-jewish-war/neros-war-i-the-blunder-of-cestius-gallus/96D313480094F1FE648A41266B60CCA4

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cestius_Gallus

However, despite making several attempts, the Syrian and Roman armies were ambushed and defeated by the Jewish rebels at the Battle of Beth Horon and 6,000 Romans were killed. This shocked the leadership at Rome.

When these events were happening, the Christian believers, especially the Jews who remembered the many warnings of Jesus about Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, began to flee Jerusalem for the hills of Judea.

That was the physical meaning of the "gathering of the elect".

See a similar description about the war in my previous post:

https://advancingtruth.blogspot.com/2020/05/the-great-tribulation.html

The Sign of the Son of Man in heaven

The Sign of the Son of Man in heaven


This is found in Mat 24:30

Mat 24:30  And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 

The phrase "sign of the Son of Man in heaven" is different from the phrase "signs of the heavens" which I covered in:
https://advancingtruth.blogspot.com/2020/05/signs-in-heavens-day-of-lord.html

The "signs (and wonders) in the heavens" speaks about the heavenly bodies such as the sun, moon and stars and it was prophesied by Joel in Joel 2:28-32, and Peter spoke of its fulfillment in Acts 2:19.

The phrase "sign of the Son of Man in heaven" is also another fulfillment of another prophecy in Dan 7:13-14, where Jesus as the Son of Man was prophesied to receive from God (the Ancient of Days) a kingdom that is forever and unshakable.

See my write up on the shakable and the unshakable:
https://advancingtruth.blogspot.com/2020/05/the-shaking-of-powers-of-heavens.html


So Mat 24:30 "sign of the Son of Man in heaven" is about the coming of Jesus to bring a destruction of the Old Mosaic Covenant by the destruction of Jerusalem and the desolation of the center of Judaism, that is the Temple, and bring in a new and everlasting kingdom that is everlasting and will never end.


Check out an extra-biblical writing of J. Marcellus Kik in his book "An Eschatology of Victory" 1971:

[  The judgement upon Jerusalem was the sign of the fact that the Son of Man was reigning in heaven. There has been misunderstanding due to the reading of this verse as some have thought it to be a sign in heaven. This is not what the verse says. It says the "sign of the Son of Man IN heaven". The phrase "in heaven" describes the locality of the Son of Man and not of the sign. The sign was not to appear in the heavens by the destruction of Jerusalem was to indicate the rule of the Son of Man in heaven.  ]


In David H. Chilton's book "The Great Tribulation" 1987, he wrote with respect to Matthew 24:30,

[  The destruction of Jerusalem was the sign that the Son of Man, the Second Adam, was in heaven, ruling ovver the world and disposing it for His own purposes. At His ascension, He had come on the clouds of heaven to receive the kingdom from His Father. The destruction of Jerusalem was the revelation of this fact.

In Matthew 24, therefore Jesus was not prophesying that He could literally come on the clouds in AD70 (although it was figuratively true). His literal coming on the clouds in fulfillment of Daniel 7, took place in AD30 at the beginning of the terminal generation. But in AD70, the tribes of Israel would see the destruction of the nations as the result of His having ascended to the throne of heaven to receive His kingdom.  ]

This is what was meant by the fulfillment of Daniel 7:13-14, where Jesus had to remove the kingdom of Moses Old Covenant and receive a New Covenant of the Kingdom of God that is forever.


In David H. Chilton's book "Paradise Restored" 1985, he added:

[  The location spoken of "is heaven" and not just the sky. Secondly, it is not the sign that is in heaven but the Son of Man who is IN heaven. The point is simply, that this great judgement upon Israel, the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, will be the sign that Jesus Christ is  enthroned in heaven at the Father's right hand, ruling over the nations and bringing vengeance. The divinely ordained cataclysm of AD70 revealed that Christ had taken the kingdom from Israel and given it to the Church. The desolation of the old Temple was the final sign that God had deserted it and was now dwelling in a new Temple, the Church.  ]


Jesus repeated this transition of kingdom to the Pharisees and Jewish audience:

Mat 21:43  Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. 

The kingdom of God that was given to Israel will be taken away and given to another. This was the interpretation of the parable of the wicked tenant in Mat 21:33-43.
This Mat 24:30 is another of Jesus interpretation of the kingdom of God taken and given to another.


Albert Barnes in his commentary on the kingdom of God in Mat 21:43 says,

[  Mat 21:43 "The kingdom of God" ... - Jesus applies the parable to them - the Jews.
They had been the children of the kingdom, or under the reign of God; having his law and acknowledging him as King. They had been his chosen and special people, but he says that now this privilege would be taken away; that they would cease to be the special people of God, and that the blessing would be given to a nation who would bring forth the fruits thereof, or “be righteous” that is, to the Gentiles, Act 28:28.
  
Act 28:28  Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.  ]


In Mat 24:30, what is the meaning of "all the tribes of the earth mourn" ?

Q: What is this tribes?

A: The word tribe has always meant to refer to Israel and has never meant the Gentiles. Tribe is a term reserved for the descendants of Israel (Jacob) and the segregation of their ancestors and descendants by their families. 

The phrase "the tribes of Israel will mourn" is a fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecy in Zechariah 11.

That is, all the tribes or people of the land of Judea shall mourn at the great calamities coming upon them, and they shall wail when He comes in judgement. All the wicked shall mourn at the prospect of their doom (Rev 1:7). The cause of their wailing at the day of judgment will be chiefly that they have pierced, killed, rejected their Savior, and that they deserve the condemnation that is coming upon them (John 19:37; Zec 12:12).

Zech 11:10-12 tells us how God had broke His Covenant with Israel, if they would buy Him out of the Covenant with 30 pieces of silver. Incredibly, in Mat 26, we read of Judas betraying Jesus, the Son of God, to the Pharisees for 30 pieces of silver. This  term "30 pieces of silver" is the price of a wounded slave according to Exodus 21:32.


Q: What about the term "earth"? Futurist will say that it means the whole world, and this the "sign of the Son of Man in heaven" has not been seen by the whole world, and therefore Jesus has not yet come.

A: The understanding comes from the Greek word "ghay" for "earth" and it literally means "land" or "ground". So the tribes of the land refers to the Jewish tribes of the land, and not the whole world. It was the Jews who fled Jerusalem to the mountains during the destruction of Jerusalem, and the Jews that were left behind in the city mourned. Other lands and countries were not usually divided into tribes and they were also not affected with the calamities and desolation of Jerusalem and its Temple, and the vengeance of the Son of Man. Because other countries were not involved in the carnage of Jerusalem, they would have no reason to mourn.


Coming back to His disciples question in Matthew 24:3, what shall be the sign of His coming and of the end of the age? This sign of the Son of Man in heaven would be one of the answers that satisfied their question. The "destruction of Jerusalem", the "sign of the Son of Man in heaven" coming in the clouds with great glory and power is  the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy and also an answer to their need of the sign of His coming.

Is the "Mountain Peaks of Prophecy" Interpretation correct?

Is the "Mountain Peaks of Prophecy" Interpretation correct?

If we read into Matthew 24:1-51, we come across many things that Jesus spoke to the disciples about such as "foretelling the destruction of the Temple", "signs of the End of the Age", "the abomination of desolation", "the coming of the Son of Man", and "nobody knowing the day or the hour of the coming of the Son of Man".

Many of these words or prophecies spoken by Jesus were in their future, but about 200 years ago, many theologians have came to the theory that the future events spoken by Jesus were not only in their future but in our future by using the principle of "mountain peaks of prophecy" interpretation.

Q: So what is this "mountain peaks of prophecy" interpretation?

A: This theory was made popular by Clarence Larkin (1850-1924) who also promoted the dispensationalism theory. 

In a gist, it means that a person is standing on the left and looking towards the right. The scene is a timeline, which represents the progress of time. And this person, a prophet, can only tell you what he saw in the peaks because the valleys are hidden away. They cannot tell you what lies in between the peaks. And because the mountains are so far away (in the future), he cannot tell you which mountain is nearer and which is farther. So when the prophet speaks, he describes prophecies that are in the immediate future and some of them are hundreds or even thousands of years in the future.

This method of interpretation is very subjective and you can force verses to come into a particular set of presumed timeline that had been pre-conceived. This method will fail if you read the scriptures within its Context. For example, the disciples asked Jesus a question in Mat 24:3, and if you use this method of interpretation, then the whole timeline will go haywire, and you will be bombarded with several prophets with very diverse and different types of interpretations.

Jesus was never haphazard in answering his disciples. He never jumped from place to place in His answers and provide more confusion to His message.

This "mountain peaks of prophecy" was originally started by a German Lutheran theologian called John Albert Bengel (1687-1752).

See a write up on Johann Albrecht Bengel:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Albrecht_Bengel

It may be interesting to note that Bengel calculated the date of 18th June 1836 to be the exact date for the second coming of Jesus Christ, which of course is incorrect and in grave error.

Bengel wrote in his book "Bengel's New Testament Commentary" and introduced the "mountain range/peak of prophecy" theory in his commentary on Matthew 24:29, on biblical interpretation. This is what he said:

[  The English has "immediately". You will say it is a great leap from the destruction of Jerusalem to the end of the world which is sub-joined to it "immediately". I reply a prophecy resembles a landscape painting wich represents distinctly the houses, paths and bridges in the foreground but brings together into a narrow space most widely severed valleys and mountains in the distance.

Such a view, should they who studied prophecy have of the future to which the prophecy refers. And the eyes of the disciples, who in their question had connected the end of the Temple with that of the world, are left somewhat in the dark, (for it was not yet time to know). Hence, they afterwards with entire harmony imitated the Lord's language and declared that the end was at hand.  ]

Bengel said that the disciples believed that the fall of the Temple and the end of the world were the same event and they were left somewhat in the dark since it wasn't the time for them to know. And thus from that time onward, they imitated the Lord's language and say the end is at hand.

This interpretation is contextually wrong. It means Jesus spoke out ahead of the disciples and then did not even tell them that He was speaking out ahead of them, and it ignores the word "immediately" in Mat 24:29.

Mat 24:29  Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 

Let us look at this word "immediately". The Greek word for "immediately" is the word "eutheos" meaning "at once", "soon", "as soon as", "forthwith", "immediately", "shortly", "straightway".

It has never meant to be a far off amount of time in the future or someday.

To compare see how the word "immediately" or "eutheos" is used in many other verses.

Mat 3:16  And when Jesus was baptized, immediately (eutheos) he went up from the water.

Mat 8:3  And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately (eutheos) his leprosy was cleansed. 

Mat 20:34  And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately (eutheos) they recovered their sight. 

Mar 1:31  And he came and took her by the hand, and lifted her up; and immediately (eutheos) the fever left her, and she ministered unto them. 

Mar 2:12  And immediately (eutheos) he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all.

and many more verses. In these verses, does it mean that it took many years for their healing, when Jesus said immediately? No, it was straightaway.

See Milton Terry's Biblical Hermeneutics (1898) on what he wrote about Matthew 24:29.

[  But we can find no word or sentence which appears designed to impress anyone with the idea that the destruction in question and the Parousia would be far separate as to time. The one, it is said, will immediately follow the other, and all will take place before that generation shall pass away.

On what valid hermeneutical principles, then, can it be fairly claimed that this discourse of Jesus comprehends all futurity? Why should we look for the revelations of far distant ages and millenniums of human history in a prophecy expressly limited to the generation in which it was uttered?

We are driven, then, by every sound principle of hermeneutics, to conclude that Matthew  24:29-31, must be included within the time-limits of the discourse of which it forms an essential part, and cannot be legitimately applied to events far separate from the final catastrophe of the Jewish state.  ]

Question: What is the purpose of this "mountain peak of prophecy" interpretation theory?

Answer: There is no purpose and we do not need it unless we have a pre-conceived idea of the "end times", and we try to fit in the words of Jesus into the different "peaks" of the interpretation. In that case, you will have to ignore the Context of the whole chapter and put in their own interpretation in the timeline that fits their theory of prophecy interpretation. This is called making the scriptures work within their own theory.

Let us look at another extra-biblical author called Ezra P Gould who wrote "Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Mark's Gospel" in 1896, who commented on Mark 13, which is a parallel passage to Matthew 24:29.

[  We come now to the coming of the Son of Man with its accompanying portents. It is placed after the destruction of Jerusalem but in the same general period in those days after the affliction. The portents, the darkening of the sun and moon, the falling of the stars belong to that event and not to the destruction of Jerusalem. This separation of the two events which might seem to belong together, means that the fall of Jerusalem was a preparation for the Advent, which cannot take place without it. It is the end of the old order which might precede the beginning of the new. This does not discount the possibility of anything happening in our future.  ]

See a write up on E P Gould:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ezra_Palmer_Gould

End Times according to Jesus

End Times according to Jesus - ESCHATOLOGY SERIES

(TO BE UPDATED)

1. Matt 24 and Luke 21
2. Wrong eschatology..?
3. Days of Wrath ?
4. The Desolation of Jerusalem and its Temple
5. Did Jesus proclaim the day of Vengeance.?
6. Did Jerusalem have 2 or 3 Temples?
7. The 4 Popular Views of End Times
8. Why Preterism is correct
9. Destruction of Jerusalem's Temple (not one stone left upon another)
10. The 3 Troubling Questions in Eschatology
11. The Age to Come
12. False Christs - Do not be tricked
13. Wars, famines, pestilence, earthquakes - Not the End yet?
14. What is the "Beginning of sorrows"
15. Why is there a need for AD70 (destruction of Jerusalem and Temple).?
16. Persecution for Jesus' sake - not the End yet.?
17. False prophets will come - not the End yet.?
18. Gospel to all the world - not the End yet.?
19. Open the Seal - not the End yet.?
20. The Abomination of Desolation (Part 1)
21. The Abomination of Desolation (Part 2)
22. 70 weeks - book of Daniel
23. Flee to the Mountains
24. 144,000 and 666 - Revelations
25. The Great Tribulation
26. Double Fulfillment of Prophecy?
27. Do NOT Believe It.?
28. The Coming of the Son of Man
29. The Parousia
30. Dead bodies and eagles
31. Times of the Gentiles
32. The Shaking of the Powers of the Heavens
33. Signs in the Heavens / The Day of the Lord
34. Is the "Mountain Peaks of Prophecy" Interpretation correct?
35. The Sign of the Son of Man in heaven
36. The Gathering of the elect
37. Jesus Coming in His kingdom (the Kingdom of God)
38. This Generation shall Not Pass Away (Part 1)
39. This Generation shall Not Pass Away (Part 2)
40. Heaven and Earth will pass away
41. Like the days of Noah
42. No one knows that Day or Hour
43. Remember Lot's wife
44. Faithful servant and evil servant
45. Parable of the 5 wise virgins and 5 foolish virgins
46. Is there a Rapture?

OTHER WRITERS:

1. Transition between the Old Covenant to New Covenant
2. History interprets "Woman eats her Baby"
3. Is the nation of Israel same as the Israel in the Bible?
4. God coming on the clouds in the Old Testament
5. Important verses for Christians to ponder
6. God has moved into you (From Tabernacle to Temple to Man)
7. Understanding Matthew 24
8. Understanding Revelations 15:1
9. Hell?
10. How to Interpret the Bible
11. Audience Relevance
12. 10 reasons why people are confused about the “last days”
13. Q&A on End Times / Last Days
14. Return of Christ - Biblical Time Frame
15. Where does the Old Testament predict the coming of Jesus Christ? 
16.  A metaphorical example - Psalms 18
17. A metaphorical example - Isaiah 13
18. A metaphorical example - Revelations 12

Signs in the Heavens / The Day of the Lord

Signs in the Heavens / The Day of the Lord

When Jesus spoke about the shaking of the heavens in Matthew 24:29, He mentioned particularly the sun, moon and stars not giving their lights and also falling out from the sky.

In the 1st sermon by Peter after the ascension of Jesus we read of Peter saying these same words in Acts 2:16-21

Act 2:16  But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: 

Act 2:17  “‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; 

Act 2:18  even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. 

Act 2:19  And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; 

Act 2:20  the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. 

Act 2:21  And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ 

Peter is telling his audience that these are not my words (v16) but the fulfillment of the words of their prophet Joel in Joel 2:28-32. Peter did not dream it up or imagine these Jewish symbols. He was speaking in their Jewish culture and language that they understood.

To see the Context of how and why Peter talked about these heavenly bodies, we need to understand that prior to his sermon, the Holy Spirit came upon them on the day of Pentecost and filled all of them with visible fire on their heads and the ability to speak in tongues and foreign languages. Those inhabitants and visitors in Jerusalem were amazed at how these 120 disciples were able to speak their mother tongue and describe the mighty works of God and His kingdom. It was within this context that Peter began to tell them about the signs in the heavens, that there will be a great shaking of the heavenlies, and that if they were to put their faith in Jesus Christ, then salvation will come upon them.

Take note that this "salvation" that Peter was talking about was the saving from the shaking of the heavens and the earth. The building up of the signs in the heavens and earth is so that the listeners may be saved from the effects of these shakings. And we shall see later, what is the meaning of these  signs and shakings.

In verse 20, Peter says that these signs in the heavens and earth will precede the coming of the "Day of the Lord" and this day will be a great and glorious day. It will be a great and glorious day for those who will be saved but a terrible day of judgement for those not saved.

This "coming of the day of the Lord" or "coming of Jesus" is the same "coming of Jesus" in Matthew 24:3-13, where the disciples asked "when will be the sign of your coming?". And Jesus answered them by saying that when they see all these signs and events take place, they should flee to the mountains of Judea and then they will be saved. Saved from what? Saved from the coming of the "day of the Lord".

Peter, Joel and Jesus were all speaking of the same thing! Joel prophesied that the "day of the Lord" will come, Jesus said these are the signs of the coming of the "day of the Lord", and Peter said the "day of the Lord" is very near.

The "signs of the heavens" were synonymous with the "day of the Lord". Peter was using the same apocalyptic language about the sun, moon and stars not giving their lights (v19-20) and I have shown that this shaking of the heavens and the earth (signs of the heavens) refers to the judgement and shaking upon the people. The audience understood that the shaking of the sun, moon and stars is not a literal description and not meant to be a natural phenomenon but a metaphorical and symbolic in its meaning.

To the Jews, their nation, Temple and the holy city of Jerusalem was their "heavens and the earth". They were the sun, moon and stars. The judgement of God about heavens and earth being shaken, burnt up, falling down, not giving their lights, are all symbolic meanings of the destruction of natural Israel. This is the passing away of the old Israel and its performance based religion of Judaism together with all its practices.

Look at how God and the prophet Isaiah referred to Israel in Isaiah 51:16. This was what the Jewish nation thought of themselves based on their Scriptures. The heavens and earth is Israel, God's people.

Isa 51:16  And I have put my words in your mouth and covered you in the shadow of my hand, establishing the heavens and laying the foundations of the earth, and saying to Zion, ‘You are my people.’

In Acts 2:16-21, Peter, after the filling of the Holy Spirit, said that the signs in the heavens (the sun, moon and stars stop their lights) and signs on earth with blood, fire and smoke (the destruction of Jerusalem), will be just before the coming of the "day of the Lord".

Now let's look in depth about this phrase the "day of the Lord" in Acts 2:20. It is not a future "day of the coming of Jesus" but it is a past event that happened in AD70. It indicates the arrival of judgement.

See: https://advancingtruth.blogspot.com/2020/05/the-coming-of-son-of-man.html

Just the phrase alone the "day of the Lord" is a reference to the "judgement of God", so the coming of the "day of the Lord" is the coming of the "judgement of God".

Let us see how this is used in the Old Testament:

In Isaiah 13:6,9-10 we read about the prophecy of God's judgement against Babylon.

Isa 13:6  Wail, for the day of the LORD is near; as destruction from the Almighty it will come! 

Isa 13:9  Behold, the day of the LORD comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the land a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it. 

Isa 13:10  For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be dark at its rising, and the moon will not shed its light. 

In Isa 34:8 we read of "the day of the Lord's vengeance" speaking about the judgement of God against Idumea (v5) and Bozrah (v6) and it happened just the way Isaiah prophesied.

Isa 34:8  For the LORD has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion. 

In Ezekiel 30:2,3 the "day of the Lord" is considered a doom day for Egypt.

Eze 30:2  Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: “Wail, Alas for the day!" 

Eze 30:3  For the day is near, the day of the LORD is near; it will be a day of clouds, a time of doom for the nations. 

In Joel 1:15 the "day of the Lord" is near meaning the destruction of God on Israel is near.

Joe 1:15  Alas for the day! For the day of the LORD is near, and as destruction from the Almighty it comes. 

In Joel 2:1 the "day of the Lord" is coming meaning that the alarm must be sounded for the judgement of God and the people will tremble.

Joe 2:1  Blow a trumpet in Zion; sound an alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming; it is near, 

In Joel 3:14,15 the "day of the Lord" is near with the sun, moon and stars darkened showing that judgement of God is on the nations.

Joe 3:14  Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. 

Joe 3:15  The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. 

In Zeph 1:7,14 we read of the "day of the Lord" is coming to mean that the judgement of God on Jerusalem is coming and it will be a day of wrath.

Zep 1:7  Be silent before the Lord GOD! For the day of the LORD is near; the LORD has prepared a sacrifice and consecrated his guests. 

Zep 1:14  The great day of the LORD is near, near and hastening fast; the sound of the day of the LORD is bitter; the mighty man cries aloud there. 

In Zech 14:1 the coming of the "day of the Lord" is when God brings all the nations to battle against Jerusalem.

Zec 14:1  Behold, a day is coming for the LORD, when the spoil taken from you will be divided in your midst. 

In Jeremiah 46:10 the "day of the Lord" is the day of vengeance by God on His enemies.

Jer 46:10  That day is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, to avenge himself on his foes. 

In Amos 5:18,20 the "day of the Lord" is a day of darkness and gloom.

Amo 5:18  Woe to you who desire the day of the LORD! Why would you have the day of the LORD? It is darkness, and not light, 

Amo 5:20  Is not the day of the LORD darkness, and not light, and gloom with no brightness in it? 

From the above, you can read from the Scriptures what the "day of the Lord" means.

Let us look at an  extra-biblical source on the meaning of the "day of the Lord".

CD Alexander, a bible scholar wrote on his commentary on Joel 2:

[  an adequate study of prophecy would soon teach that the figures used in this prophecy, signs in heaven and earth, the darkening of the sun and the moon, blood, fire and vapor of smoke have nothing to do with the end of the world but with the end of  the Old Covenant and its earthly administration in the Jewish state. The same figures are frequently used in the Old Testament to denote the removal or the overthrow of kingdoms, powers and ordinances. See Isaiah 13, for example as those that were used to overthrow a Babylonian kingdom.

Peter's quotation was a warning to the Jewish people of his own day, that the time of the removal of their order had come. Their kingdom and state were about to go down in blood. Their sun was about to set as it took place in AD70 when nation and Temple was destroyed by the Romans.  ]

Look into Luke 21 in the New Testament which is a parallel passage to Matthew 24.

Luke 21:22 states that the "day of the Lord" is also called the "day of vengeance". All these signs mentioned before this verse are the signs of the coming of the "days of vengeance" and all of them are going to be fulfilled.

Luk 21:22  for these are days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written. 

After those days in Luke 21:22, there is nothing left to be fulfilled about the "days of vengeance" in the future. All of them have been fulfilled according to Jesus.

Question: Were the early church expecting any literal signs in the heavens?

Answer: Yes, there were some written in non-biblical records and in historical writings. Luke 21:25-26 says there will be some signs IN the sun, moon and stars and these will cause the sea and the waves to create loud sounds. It does not say anything about the sun, moon and stars falling to the earth (symbolic meaning), but it says the signs will be IN the sun, moon and stars.

Luk 21:25  And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, 

Luk 21:26  people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 

Let us see some historical writings of FW Farrar in his book "The early days of Christianity" in 1886. On page 416 it says:

[  In Jerusalem, men told how at the Passover of AD65, a mysterious light had gleamed for 3 hours at midnight in the holiest place. How the enormous gates of brass which required the exertions of 20 men to move, had opened of themselves and could not be closed. How at Pentecost, priests had heard sounds as of departing deities who said to each other "Let us depart from here".  ]

According to Flavius Josephus, a Roman historian of the 1st Century, who was an eye-witness to the events happening at Jerusalem, wrote in his book "War of the Jews. Vol. 1"

[  While they did not attempt nor give credit to the signs that were so evident, and did so plainly foretell their future desolation but like men infatuated without either eyes to see or minds to consider, did not regard the denunciations that God made to them.

Thus there was a star resembling a sword which stood over the city and a comet that continued a whole year. Thus also before the Jewish rebellion and before those commotions which preceded the war when the people were coming in great crowds to the feast of unleavened bread on the 8th day of the month of Nisan (Xanthicus), at the ninth hour of the night. So great a light shone around the altar and the holy house that it appeared to be bright daytime which light lasted for half an hour. This light seemed to be a good sign to the unskilled but was so interpreted by the sacred scribes as to portend those events that followed immediately upon it.

At the same festival also, a heifer as she was led by the high priest to be sacrificed brought forth a lamb in the middle of the Temple. Moreover the Eastern Gate of the Inner Court of the Temple, which was made of brass and vastly heavy and had been with difficulty shut by 20 men, and rested upon bases armed with iron and had bolts fastened very deep into the firm floor which was there made of one entire stone, was seen to be opened of its own accord on the 6th hour of the night. Now those who kept watch in the Temple came here upon running to the captain of the Temple and told him of it, who then came up thither and not without great difficulty was able to shut the gate again.

But the men of learning understood it. That the security of their holy house was dissolved of its own accord. And that the gate was opened for the advantage of their enemies. So they publicly declared that this signal foreshadowed the desolation that was coming upon them.

Besides these, a few days after the feast on the 21st day of the month of Iyar, a certain prodigious and incredible phenomenon appeared. I suppose the account of it would seemed to be a fable were it not related by those that saw it and were not the events that followed it of so considerable in nature as to deserve such signals.

For before sunset, chariots and troops of soldiers in their armor were sen running about among the clouds and surrounding the city. Moreover at the feast which we call Pentecost, as the priests were going by night into the Inner Court of the Temple, as their custom was to perform their sacred ministrations, they said that in the first place, they felt a quaking and they heard a great noise and after that they heard a sound as of a great multitude saying "Let us remove hence".  ]

Josephus said it sounds like fable. You can believe it or not but when you read the writings of these historians, it is indeed an incredible account of the signs and wonders in the heavens that cannot be just simply explained away. Furthermore these are eye-witnesses accounts.

See a write up on the "day of the Lord" :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_of_the_Lord

Note: The New Testament calls the "day of the Lord" by other terms as well such as "days of wrath", "days of vengeance", "day of visitation", "great day of Almighty God", "last days (of Moses Old Covenant)", "day of our Lord Jesus Christ", "day of God". And that this day will come suddenly like a thief in the night (1 The 5:2; 2 Pet 3:10).

We conclude by seeing how did the prophet Zephaniah describe this "day of the Lord".

According to Zephaniah 1:14-16, the "day of the Lord" is also called:

- that day will be a day of wrath

- a day of distress and anguish

- a day of trouble and ruin

- a day of darkness and gloom

- a day of clouds and blackness

- a day of trumpet and battle cry.