There is such fear expressed all over the internet and in many books about the return of the Lord, the Apocalypse and Armageddon, and the end the world. Many dates have been predicted for Christs’ return that always come and go without result. Instead of questioning their basic understanding of God’s word, the false prophets immediately begin to predict the next date for the end of the world.
This fear is not based in scripture. The fear is generated by men who are twisting God’s word to mean something it does not say. We need to become aware of their political agenda, and connect a few dots. We also need to look closer at what the scriptures actually say about the Coming of the Lord because God did tell us when.
The New Testament (NT) was written over a period of years during the first century A.D. It recorded the genealogy of Christ, His birth, His earthly ministry, His death, His burial, His resurrection, His ascension, and the establishment of His church and of His kingdom. These events had a time and place during the first century A.D., during the “fullness of the time” (Gal. 4:4).
At the date of this writing, that makes the NT almost 2,000 years old. Therefore, the New Testament is an historical record for us, one just as historical as the Old Testament.
When we read the Old Testament (OT) we have no trouble recognizing the historical nature. We know that the events it records happened to another people in an earlier place and time. But, when people today begin reading the NT some have a tendency to take the words recorded out of the first century A.D. and slip them into our day and time. They treat the NT as though it was written yesterday to us.
That is a mistake. We must read the NT knowing the events recorded, and the words spoken happened in the past.
In order to prevent any misunderstandings, it is important to know who is being spoken to, and when. We must place the time of the word, the time of the speaker, and the time of the first audience. We begin with just a few of the time texts and pointers found in the NT. In coming to God’s word we clear our thoughts and our ideas from our mind, becoming receptive to His thoughts only, and see what His words actually say.
Heb. 9:26, “For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” (KJV)
Heb. 9:26, “else must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once at the end of the ages hath he been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” (ASV)
When was Jesus manifested? When did He appear on earth? When was he sacrificed?
We know that he was manifested and that He was then sacrificed in the first century A.D. Again, following the principles of basic Algebra, if A equals B, and if B equals C, then A must also equal C. As Jesus appeared (was manifested) in the first century A.D., and as we know He appeared at the end of the ages, then the end of the “world” (KJV) or “ages” (ASV) occurred in the first century AD.
Since we are reading these verses some 2.000 years later, and the natural, physical world and universe are still here, then the word “world” as used above was not referring to the “cosmos”. The “world” spoken here was aeon, or age, and was the time period, their customs and societal rules, their religious and political structure, the lifestyle of their day and time. The “end of the ages” had come upon those of the first century A.D.!
We submit to God’s word, and let it mean what it says. The scripture must rule our understanding. Any preconceived notions, or taught or learned concepts which are contradictory to the Scriptures must be discarded.
Matt 11:13, ”For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.”
Every word of God is profitable (2 Tim. 3:16), even the little words. The conjunctions and prepositions are just as important as the nouns and verbs in God’s word. In fact, they are critical! “For” is a conjunction, linking the previous sentence and thought to a concluding thought. “Until” is a preposition, a time marker, and is often used by the Holy Spirit to indicate an end of things.
In vs. 7-12 of Matt. 11, Jesus told the people who John the Baptist was. Vs.13 pinpoints the time of the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies… until John.
When did John the baptizer come? He came before Jesus, clearing His path, in the first century A.D. In vs. 12, Jesus told them that the Kingdom of Heaven “suffereth violence from the days of John the Baptist until now…” The words “until now” were spoken by Jesus in His contemporaneous time frame, in the first century A.D.. Not in our day and time; not when we are reading it. Rather, in the first century A.D. The evil and violent ones were even then persecuting the Kingdom of Heaven, during Jesus’ earthly life.
Matt 12:39-40, “But he answered and said unto them, ‘An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.“
When? Answering the question asked by the scribes and the Pharisees who were seeking a sign, Jesus told them the sign to look for. He was pinpointing their generation in the first century A.D., when He would be sacrificed, when He would spend three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, as the wicked and evil generation to be judged.
Vs. 41 & 42 go on to specifically state that their generation would be judged by Nineveh and the Queen of the South, because a greater than Jonah, and a greater than Solomon “is here.”
Present tense “is here”. When? It was in the present tense for them, for those hearing Jesus speak, for those listening in the first century A.D.
Matt 16:28; “Verily I say unto you, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.”
Unless we are to entertain the notion that some people from the first century A.D. are even now still living on earth, then we have to acknowledge that Jesus said He would come in His kingdom in the their lifetime, in the first century A.D.
Since His death was only days away from the time he spoke these words, Jesus was not contemplating some of His disciples dying before His own death on the cross. Nor is this a comment of the few more days that would pass before the establishment of His church on the day of Pentecost. The reference to some of them still living means that enough time – years – will have passed for some of them to have died either in the persecution, or of natural causes. Enough time would have passed so that some of them would die before He came in his kingdom. But, some would still be living to witness His second coming. Jesus was speaking here of his second appearance promised to that generation (Heb 9:28).
In Matt. chap. 10, Jesus gave specific instructions to his disciples, speaking directly to them, for their missionary journeys throughout the cities of “Israel.” These specific statements are not instructions for us today. In Matt 10:23, Jesus told them,
“But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.“
The disciples were told that they would not finish their mission to all of the cities of “Israel” before the Lord would come again. These included those cities with Jewish population throughout Asia, beyond Judea that still sent the tax to Jerusalem.
Keep in mind who was speaking, when He was speaking, and to whom was He speaking. Some instructions are generic, meant for all people of all time. Some instructions were specific, only to a certain person, or group of people. We must know the difference.
Matt 23: 31-36; “31 Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. 32 Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. 33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? 34 Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: 35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. 36 Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.”
Jesus spoke these words to the scribes and Pharisees almost 2,000 years ago. It was a specific judgment addressed to those unbelievers of that generation; spoken to the evil people as He stood before them 2,000 years ago.
They, the scribes and Pharisees, would kill (in their future, in their day and time) and crucify the wise men and prophets Jesus would send them. They would scourge the wise men in the synagogues. They would persecute the wise men and scribes from city to city.
The persecution spoken of was pinpointed for that generation, and it was that generation in the first century A.D. which would fill up the measure of their fathers, and suffer the judgment for all of the righteous blood shed from Abel to Zacharias.
The religious and political leaders of the Jews, the Sadducees, scribes, and Pharisees of the first century A.D. would eventually crucify our Lord, and persecute His called-out ones, His “ekklesia.” They would use Saul and others, and hide behind the Romans to do it. They ruled and held this power until the temple was destroyed in A.D. 70.
After A.D. 70, and the destruction of the temple by the Romans, the scribes and Pharisees, the priests of the Jews no longer had power to continue the persecution, as they were killed, and scattered (Dan. 12:7). The Jews had no more influence with Rome.
The study of the Old Testament teaches us, just as the Jews were taught from their childhood, that the meaning of the phrase “a Coming of the Lord” was a day and time of God’s judgment poured out upon the wicked.
Jesus has been seated at the right hand of the Father in Heaven since He received the Kingdom at His ascension in the first century A.D. He is here with us now! He has been judging the world ever since, and each judgment is a Coming of the Lord. I am sure He has come in judgment many times since the first century A.D. But, the subject coming spoken of in the New Testament was pronounced on that generation, in that century, in the first century A.D.
Jesus came again, just as He said He would, when He came in judgment against Judea and Jerusalem in A.D. 70. He appeared a second time, just as He promised He would to those listening to Him in the first century A.D.
Today, as we study the New Testament, it is incorrect to be ascribing the “soon” and immediate prophesies spoken to the people who lived in the first century A.D. to a future coming some two thousand years later. It is anachronistic to do so. In Part III we will look at some of the Old Testament prophetic language.
(All bold emphasis is mine. Expanded and edited May 29, 2018.)
Further reference:
“What is the Meaning of Ekklesia? ” by Wayne Jackson at ChristianCourier
Shredding The Veil 
Another great blog, Gina. Thank you. 2 questions for you:
1) Has 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 been fulfilled yet? The passage reads “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.” Based on what I’ve been reading from your blogs, I’m assuming the answer is yes.
2) In Matt 24:36-41, Jesus talks to His disciples about the end times and the rapture “Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.” Did the rapture happened in the 1st century?
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Thank you, Elly. I am always happy to answer questions. You will have a lot of questions about the current traditional beliefs being taught in today’s churches. I have discussed many of them in all of the posts here, and can point you to those that answer your questions. On these two mentioned see the posts “The Gathering of the Elect” (Jul 2017) as well as “Frequent Mistakes – Part III: The Last Day” (Dec 2017). All of the posts here include a lot of scriptural background that is necessary to build upon the first audience perspective in order to see the scriptures through their eyes. Please continue reading as I think all of your questions are answered in the posts to date. It is going to take time to cover all of this view of the scriptures, so give yourself the time to study these posts. But, if you cannot find what you want, let me know.
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I agree with most everything you’ve been saying. It makes sense that all has been fulfilled. I have a question though. At what point do you believe that death will be defeated? Much of what you says makes it sound like it has been defeated, however it sounds like you still believe in the church and the need to preach the gospel. 1 Corinthians 15 tells us that when all enemies are put under his feet, and the last enemy defeated, which is death, Christ will deliver the kingdom back to God and God will be all and in all. This fits with what we see in Jeremiah 31, and also quoted in Hebrews 8. When this happens, there is no longer need for the gospel, and as Hebrews quotes, there’s no need for every man to teach his neighbor because God’s laws will be written on the hearts of man. When do you think this happens?
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If you keep on reading the blog you will find the answers to these questions. You have to keep the basics of hermeneutics when studying God’s word so that we do not misapply or misappropriate the scriptures: Who is speaking and to whom; When were they speaking; What is the subject matter or context; and stay with the context. Jer. 31 continues with the prophesy of the righteousness God would restore to Israel / Judah / Jerusalem “in the latter end of the days” which is declared in Jer. 30:24 and is stated again in Jer. 31: 17 for “their latter end”. The people who are to be saved / redeemed are the remnant of Israel (vs. 7), ransoming Jacob (vs. 11) so that their sins would be pardoned and remembered no more (vs. 34). Who would be the focus of the new covenant that would be the method for their forgiveness? Yeshua, the Chief priest (Heb. 8:1), the mediator of the better covenant (Heb. 8::6) that was established during the last days of the Mosaic covenant which was about to pass away (Heb. 8:13) in the 1st cent. AD.
The scriptures work as a whole. We cannot lift one verse or a group of verses out of context, and try to find the meaning. We will get lost every time we try to do that. The time period of the prophesy from Jer. 31 was Messianic and happened when the remnant of Israel / Jerusalem was saved through immersion into Christ’s death, burial and resurrection during the last days of the Mosaic covenant. The believing remnant were restored to the Father through Jesus Christ.
Jesus told the scribes and Pharisees, the unbelieving ones that the kingdom would be taken from them and given to another ppl (Matt. 21:43-45). It was those unbelievers who rejected their promised Messiah who are closed out from the kingdom. The door was shut at the wedding feast to those unbelievers (Matt. 25:11-12) just as in the days of Noah’s flood when God shut the doors of the ark on all those who would not listen to Noah’s preaching. But, Jesus said that all we have to do is seek Him out; that if we knock on that door it will be opened (Matt. 7:7-8).
The teaching of God’s word during “the latter end of the days” was through the Holy Spirit as promised by Joel 2:28 and which Peter recalled for them in Acts 2:16-36 that the Holy Spirit would be poured out on His ppl. They didn’t need the teachers of the Jewish rabbi to tell them the truth. The Holy Spirit was filling their minds and mouths with His word. That was the fulfillment of Jer. 31:34 which was repeated in Heb. 8:11 during those days when the ppl experienced that pouring out of His Spirit. Once the record of the miracles that were performed during those “last days” when the pouring forth of the Spirit happened, once the books and letters of the NT were made available to confirm those events of the new covenant under the gospel of Christ, then the ppl learned of Christ and the new covenant through the written words of the Holy Spirit (2 Pet. 1:21). Those written words of the Holy Spirit are now our teacher. We do not rely today upon priests or other men to verify those written words of the Spirit, and as we learn them they are written on our hearts.
As for Jesus conquering death, and the realm of the dead (Hades) He did that through His sacrifice for all that will answer the call. Pls read the posts here for The Burning of Jerusalem & The Hadean Death; Hades Is No More; The Signs of Revelation – Part VI: Judgement Day; Testing The Spirits – Part II: Then End and Part III: Daniel’s Lot. These and many more will bring more light to your questions. But, Jesus turned all back over to the Father once that city of Jerusalem was destroyed in AD 70, and after removing all the dead who had been waiting in Hades, either in the section of Paradise (Abraham’s Bosom) or the place of torment soon after the destruction (Rev. 20). Christ is God the Son, reigning at the right hand of God the Father, and all enemies are now beneath His feet whether they know it or not.
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Thank you for the reply. I will be sure to checkout those other posts for more info.
I’m a bit confused still on what it means that there’s no need for every man to teach his neighbor. If I understand you correctly, you’re saying that was fulfilled by the Holy Spirit. How could that be the case though? Paul, and all of the other disciples, literally went around teaching people about Jesus. If it was the Spirit teaching, they wouldn’t need to do anything because it was already written on everyone’s heart. I don’t think it works to say that it was the Holy Spirit in them that was doing the teaching. That doesn’t work with what Jeremiah 31/Hebrews 8 says.
Do I understand you correctly too that we don’t need the Holy Spirit like they did in the first century because we now have the Bible? If so, which Bible are you referring to that is God’s preserved word and is without error, and equal to the Holy Spirit in the first century?
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You are coming from a literal background and attempting to make all of God’s prophesies be very literal. His prophesies use a great deal of metaphor, symbolism, and hyperbole. Very often His use of the word “all” was the indication of hyperbole. Obviously,,the unbelieving scribes and Pharisees did not know Him. The sense is not that teaching would no longer be required for spreading the gospel message, but that those who believed in Him would know Him because of the pouring forth of His Spirit which Joel prophesied. The work of the Holy Spirit in the 1st century AD was to confirm the words Jesus and His disciples / Apostles spoke to the people, and to spread that message broadly throughout the inhabited lands (world) of the ancient Roman empire before that old temple, and the old law would be abolished. The prophesy of Jer. 31:34 was still of the time of the “latter days” which happened in the 1st century AD. The Apostles had a job to do in that 40 year time span, the mirror of the 40 year wandering after the Exodus. And they needed the help of the Spirit to accomplish that. Jeremiah’s prophesy is concerning that time period, so we keep that prophesy in that context. It does not mean that the Holy Spirit is no longer working in our lives, but we now have His Spirit through His written word, the Holy Bible. Please read the posts Testing The Spirits – Part V (a), (b), (c) for Exploring the Holy Spirit.
The original texts of the Hebrew and Greek scriptures are our standard. The translations must always be compared to those original source documents through study of the definitions of Lexicons and concordances. I often read the scriptures in the English translations by comparing the KJV with Young’s Literal, the Interlinear, as well as the Complete Jewish Bible. The translations have the problem of the mindset and beliefs of the translators reading into the texts their own opinions and biases. So, we have to be careful when the reading the translations.
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Your post got me thinking about the parables of the wedding feast. I went back and read those parables in Matthew 22 and 25, and reread Matthew 7:7-8 and Revelation 19 again as well. The sermon on the mount was Jesus speaking to a specific large gathering of people in the first century. Using those two verses about knocking and the door being opened doesn’t fit for the wedding feast. Why would he tell them that? It wouldn’t be at all applicable to them because the wedding feast hadn’t happened yet and the door was still open. In fact, if they rejected Christ, they would’ve been the ones knocking and the door not opening. It seems that you are misapplying Matthew 7:7-8 to something it had nothing to do with.
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Jesus was first and foremost preaching of the kingdom that was at hand in the 1st century AD. Matt. 7:7-8 are part of the principles Jesus was teaching the people about His kingdom. Knocking on the door was about entering into the kingdom, not the wedding feast. The wedding feast was the opening event for the establishment of His kingdom after the city of Jerusalem was destroyed. Rev. 19 was still part of the battle, but vs. 1-9 are anticipating the time of the wedding feast, that it was near and the bride was ready. It had not yet begun b/c Jesus (the rider of the white horse) still rode to battle (vs. 11-21). Compare this with Matt. 22:1-14 for the destruction of Jerusalem and the wedding feast for the marriage of the Lamb after the destruction of the city. Then go back to Rev. 21 where the bride is presented to the bridegroom (vs. 1-3) which followed the judgement and separation out of Hades in Rev. 20, corresponding to the judgment at the wedding feast in Matt. 22:13. The kingdom was established by the marriage of the Lamb at the wedding feast. We enter into the kingdom when we enter into Christ through immersion into His death, burial, and resurrection (baptism – a mistranslated Greek word), which today is our anointing. The wedding feast belongs to the 1st century AD at the Feast of Trumpets (1st of Tishri), the 10 days of “awe” ending with Yom Kippur, 10th of Tishri, which was culminated by the continual Feast of Tabernacles where all nations were welcomed on the 15th of Tishri. All in Christ now tabernacle with God (Rev. 21:3). When we believe, repent of our sins, confess Yeshua / Jesus as the Son of God we are answering that call (Acts 9:17-18; 22:16), and the door to the kingdom is opened for us to enter in.
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I’ve reread Matthew 7:7-8 as well as Revelation 19. I don’t think Matthew 7 is applicable in this situation. It seems you may be misapplying scription here. The wedding feast is not an ongoing event, an event lasting 2000+ years where anyone can just knock on the door and be let in. The wedding feast/marriage supper of the lamb is describing the judgement. It’s not a pretty wedding feast like what we have in our minds based on our culture. It is judgement language where God is releasing the fowls of heaven to go “eat the flash of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of might men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and salve, both small and great. (Revelation 19:18)”. Similar language is used as well in Ezekiel 39 for judgement. I agree with Jesus’ words about knocking and it will be opened, but I think you’re misapplying that verse to the wedding feast.
If Jesus delivers the kingdom back to God so that God can be all and in all, how is it that he is still reigning? I agree that Jeremiah was talking about the restoration of Israel in the latter days, but this section of scripture doesn’t account for what happens after the door is shut at the wedding feast. The wedding feast was a one-time event, not an ongoing event. So, if God is all and in all now, just like we read in Jeremiah, quoted again in Hebrews, as we read in 1 Corinthians 15, and again in Revelation 21, how is it that we enter in to the Father through Christ after He has already delivered the kingdom back to God? Can a case be made that only those that lived under the first covenant needed Christ? Now that Christ did his short work on earth, fulfilled that old covenant, defeated all rule and authority, shut the door and had the wedding feast (judgement of Israel), and delivered the kingdom back to God so that he is all and in all, and established a new covenant with all of mankind (no discrimination between Jews and Greek/no more sea), can’t a case be made that we no longer need to evangelize, that every man has the laws of God written on their hearts from birth and we now choose whether or not to follow God? How do we come in through Christ when his feast has happened and he has turned everything over to the Father?
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I think you are confusing several issues. Please read the answer to the last question you posted, and also read the posts for the Signs of the Feasts – Part I, II and III. The wedding feast was the consummation of the marriage of Christ to His bride, the church. It is not an on-going event. Christ was with God in the beginning (Gen. 1:26; John 1:1). As His Son, Jesus the first fruits from the “dead”, obedient in all things, He co-reigns with and at the right hand with The Father in heaven. Chain of command (Eph. 5:18; Col. 1:2, 13, 18, 19).
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I agree with everything you say about “heaven and earth” and about his coming being in the first century, however, at what point do you believe Jesus delivers the kingdom back to God so that he can be all and in all? It’s at this point that the door is shut and the wedding feast happens. Didn’t this happen in the first century as well? If so, God is all and in all, just like Jeremiah says and Paul quotes in Hebrews 8. That would mean that there is no gospel to preach and there is no need for every man to teach his neighbor. We are without excuse because God is all and in all. Everyone can know him, and does know him from birth.
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