Christ tells the chief priests and elders of the temple a parable in Matt. 22:1-14:
“1And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said, 2 The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, 3 And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. 4 Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage. 5 But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise: 6 And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them.
7 But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.
8 Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. 9 Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. 10 So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.
11 And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: 12 And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. 13 Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 14 For many are called, but few are chosen.”
In Matt. 21:45, after the parable of the vineyard, the priests and elders understood that Jesus was speaking about them; that He was telling them that the kingdom was going to be taken from them, and given unto another people, another nation. The chief priests, the scribes and Pharisees, the Sadducees were all politically and monetarily invested in the system they had manipulated out of the old sacrificial laws to benefit themselves. The coming of the owner (Lord) of the vineyard, the coming of the King who had bid his servants to the marriage feast was a threat to the political power structure of the Pharisees and Sadducees. They conspired to kill Jesus, just as the parables foretold, to try to keep what they thought of as theirs.
The parable of the marriage feast of Matt. c 22 has every element of the judgment day that was promised to that generation of the first century A.D.
The Old Covenant, the Old Testament promised national destruction of Israel for violating the covenant. Paul quotes from Hab. 1:5 in Acts 13:40-41,
“Beware therefore, lest that come upon you, which is spoken of in the prophets; Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you.”
Habakkuk was prophesying the destruction of Judah by the Chaldean armies. Paul, therefore was quoting the prophet again for the destruction of Judah, and specifically Jerusalem.
Lev 26:14ff tells the Israelites what God would do to them if they failed to keep their covenant, their promises to Him. Rev. 15 with the angels of the seven last plagues is the fulfillment of the promised judgment pronounced in Lev. 26:18-22 against Israel. The curses of Deu. 28: 15ff were promised if Israel forsook their covenant with God. Deu. 29: 24-25, 30:10ff gave Israel the promises of life and death, their choice to abide with God or forsake Him, and the results that would come upon them with both.
Jesus confirmed the prophesies of their destruction in the parables told to the chief priests and elders. The marriage of the King’s son was to be pronounced to the King’s people, those that were bidden to the wedding. Jesus was sent to the tribes of Israel. (Matt. 15:24) He directed his disciples to preach the gospel, the good news to the tribes of Israel. (Matt. 10:26) Not only would the tribes of Israel not hear the call, they killed the ones that were sent to call them. (Matt. 23:34-35, 27:35; Mark 15:13-25; Lu. 23:21-46; John 19:1-30; Acts 2:36, 7:59)
So, the King sent his armies against those who had been invited to the wedding. This is portrayed in Luke 21:20, and Rev. 17:16-17 where God uses the armies of Rome and surrounding nations to send against Jerusalem and Judah, promising to burn her city with fire. Titus, son of Vespasian, both Caesars of Rome, burned Jerusalem and tore down the temple in A.D. 70 so that not one stone was left upon another. (Matt.24:2; Mark 13:2; Luke 21:6) The parable of Matt. 22 pronounced the national judgment of Israel.
Only after the city (Jerusalem) was burned (Rev. 18:10ff), does the wedding take place. Rejoicing over the destruction of the evil whore (Jerusalem), and the glory of God, Rev. 19:7 pronounces that the marriage of the Lamb (Christ) has come. His wife, His bride is the church, all those that are covered by the blood of Christ through baptism (immersion in water), and that have been joined in spirit and are members of the body of Christ.
(Do not confuse this spiritual church of Christ with the Church of Rome. The spiritual church, the new Jerusalem, the body of Christ, the bride of Christ is not in a physical building, nor is it of the apostate Roman church. See previous posts on the Lies of the Roman Catholic Church.)
In the parable of Matt. 22, the King instructs his servants to invite as many other guests as they could find. This is the spread of the gospel to the gentile nations. Peter is sent to the house of Cornelius to open the door to the Gentiles in Acts 10, and where he then understands that God is not a respecter of persons, “But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.” (Acts 10:35)
But, when the King comes in to the wedding to see the guests, He finds one who is not properly clothed. The guest was not arrayed in the correct wedding garments. We have to be clothed with the righteousness of Christ (Rom. 13:14; 2 Cor. 5:1-4, Gal. 3:27; ), we have to be covered by the blood of Christ to be accepted by God (1 Cor.10:16; Eph. 2:13; Heb. 9:14; 1Pet. 1:18-19). If we are not, then we will be cast out into outer darkness. This part of the parable is the judgment upon each individual man or woman at our time of death.
The judgment of the invited guests came upon national Israel, and Judah and was carried out in A.D. 70. It was future to those listening to Christ and the Apostles in the years 27 to 70 A.D. The books of the New Testament, the new Covenant, were written prior to the destruction of Jerusalem, and this includes Revelation. There are many evidences that Revelation was written approx. A.D. 66 -68. (See previous post, It’s Not The End of the World, Part V.)
So, all of the words of comfort the Apostles spoke to the early Christians of that century, all of the encouraging words to hold on and wait for the coming of the Lord, all of the time statements that the time was soon, at hand, shortly to come to pass were meant for them. Christ had not yet come again when the books of the New Testament were written. But, He did come the second time to that generation just as He promised He would in the judgment against Israel and the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. (Matt. 24:25ff; Mark 13:14ff; Luke 21:20ff; Heb. 9:28)
At the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple the old Covenant with Israel was finally taken out of the way. Between the cross of Christ and the destruction of Jerusalem was a period of transition, 40 years where the will (testament) of the deceased (Christ) was probated and broadcast. The old Covenant was decaying and ready to pass away, but had not yet passed in A.D. 65 when Hebrews was written. (Heb. 8:13) When all things were fulfilled then the old Covenant was taken out of the way. (Matt. 5:18, 24:34; Mark 1:15; Luke 21:22, 32; Luke 24:44)
If the current teaching, if the prevailing belief that Revelation is a book that concerns Israel of our day and time, the State of Israel which was deliberately created by the Zionists and Jesuits in 1948, then they must also believe that the current state of Israel is meant for a future judgment from God in burning and destruction. So, they set it up to destroy it? Or, are they ignoring that part of the prophesy of Matt. 22, Matt. 24, Luke 21, and Revelation.
Regardless of their machinations, regardless of their plotting and planning, God has already taken care of the judgment of earthly Israel in A.D. 70. He scattered the power of the holy people, Israel. (Dan. 12:7) He threw Hades into the lake of fire in A.D. 70, and took all of those who had been waiting in Paradise home with Him in A.D. 70. The great judgment scene depicted in Rev. 20:12-13 was the day in which Gabriel told Daniel that he would stand in his lot at the end of days. (Dan. 12: 13.) It was the Hadean death which was the last enemy that was conquered. (1 Cor. 15:55-56).
It was not the end of the physical world in Rev. 20. Rev. 21 & 22 continue on, indicating that life continued on after Hades was thrown into the lake of fire. If it wasn’t the Hadean death which was conquered, if it was the physical, bodily death that was ended, then all life would have to end on earth. The scriptures do not speak of the end of physical death, only of the end of the sting of Hadean death.
All those that had to wait for the atoning sacrifice of Christ were held in Hades until all things were fulfilled. It is Christ that held the keys of Hades and death. (Rev. 1:18) The gates of Hades would not prevail against Christ’s church. (Matt. 16:19)
If Christ’s church has prevailed, and we know that it has, then Hades has been done away with. There can be no other conclusion.
Hades is a thing of the past. Therefore, the Hadean destruction of Rev. 20:14 has already been completed. The great judgment scene of Rev. 20 happened before Hades was thrown into the lake of fire. It is not a future event for us. It was future to the first century Christians, but it is now past, and has been past since A.D. 70.
Today, all those that are in the spiritual body of Christ, in the New Jerusalem, the bride of Christ (Rev. 21:9-10), the church of Christ have put on Christ, are covered by the blood of Christ meet all of the saved in the air when we hear our last trump at our physical bodily death. (2 Cor. 5:6, 8; 1 Thess. 4:17)
“And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.“ (Rev. 14:13)
The burning of Jerusalem, the parable of Matt. 22, the desolation of Matt. 24, the great city of Revelation, already occurred in A.D. 70. It was the judgment of God upon the unrighteous of Israel who had rejected the Messiah, the Christ.
Christ continues to rule the nations with a rod of iron. (Psa. 2:9; Rev. 2: 27, 12:5, 19:15) So, any future burning of Israel, while not the specific prophesy of Revelation, may certainly be a deserved judgment and coming of the Lord in our day.
See previous posts for It’s Not The End of The World, Heaven and Earth Have Passed Away, The Whore of Babylon, Beast of Revelation, There Are No End Times…, and The Thousand Year Reign of Rev. 20. (Scripture is quoted herein from the KJV. All bold emp. is mine.)
Shredding The Veil 
Pingback: Biblical Hermeneutics. – Down to Earth But Heavenly Minded
How would you describe the difference between Amillenialism and Postmillenialism? They both seem so similar to me. They both believe Christ will return to Earth after the 1,000 year reign. As far as I can tell, they both view the 1,000 years symbolically, and that it is ongoing now. Do you see a difference between these two views?
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I don’t keep up with these two belief systems as they frequently change their positions in response to objections raised from God’s word. So, I asked Kurt for an answer. His reply is:
“Post-millennialism teaches that Jesus will return AFTER the “millennium” which it interprets as the whole period from Jesus’ ascension until his return. They correctly understand that Jesus is presently reigning and rules over earth from heaven. However, Postmillennialsm sees the future of the earth similar to Jehovah’s Witnesses in that God will “re-create” the material universe at Christ’s return and make a physical creatin and “new heaven and earth.” This is fundamentally mistaken. The believer’s home is in heaven; we will be resurrected in spiritual (non-tangible, non-material) bodies, not physical bodies as Postmillennialism teaches. The analogy of the seed given in I Cor. 15 shows that God sows the earth with physical men, but harvests souls for heaven, leaving the old dry hull of the seed behind.
I cannot give you a definition of Amillennialism as it does not represent a comprehensive teaching, it just denies that there is a millennial period taught in scripture, but sees it as merely symbolic of the church’s victory over its enemies. Augustine is sometime associated with Amillennialism in his teaching that the “first resurrection” is conversion and baptism. In other words, the millennium is merely a symbol for our reign with Christ beginning with conversion.”
Hope this helps.
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In the Garden of Eden story, after eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, God said, “Man has now become like us, knowing good and evil.” This infers that Adam did not know the difference between good and evil before eating from that tree. If that is the case, how can Adam be held accountable for his actions when he did not have the ability to decipher between good and evil? That would be like holding an infant accountable for throwing a tantrum.
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The KJV and other English translations miss the preterit tense of the verb in Gen. 3:22. Should be “was” not “is become”. See it in the YLT:
“And Jehovah God saith, `Lo, the man was as one of Us, as to the knowledge of good and evil; and now, lest he send forth his hand, and have taken also of the tree of life, and eaten, and lived to the age,’ ”
After Adam & Eve broke YHVH’s command, their disobedience caused their fall, and they had to be expelled from the garden to prevent further sin of eating of the tree of life. Excerpt from Clarke’s Comm:
“On all hands this text is allowed to be difficult, and the difficulty is increased by our translation, which is opposed to the original Hebrew and the most authentic versions. The Hebrew has היה hayah, which is the third person preterite tense, and signifies was, not is. The Samaritan text, the Samaritan version, the Syriac, and the Septuagint, have the same tense. These lead us to a very different sense, and indicate that there is an ellipsis of some words which must be supplied in order to make the sense complete. A very learned man has ventured the following paraphrase, which should not be lightly regarded: “And the Lord God said, The man who WAS like one of us in purity and wisdom, is now fallen and robbed of his excellence; he has added לדעת ladaath, to the knowledge of the good, by his transgression the knowledge of the evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat and live for ever in this miserable state, I will remove him, and guard the place lest he should re-enter. …..” See https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/acc/genesis-3.html
Our English translations have many problems with understanding the original Hebrew, and the metaphors and idioms of the Hebrew OT. Always best to read them in tandem with the YLT, and a good commentary. Clarke’s commentary is generally good about 80% , But even he as well read as he was had problems because of his learned biases and perspective.
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On Kurt Simmons’ “Preteristcentral.com” there is a preterist statement of faith. At the end of the statement it reads, “At death, the souls of men now go to their respective rewards – eternal life in heaven, or destruction of the soul in hell.” I’m confused about the word “hell” as it is used here. Is it not true that “hell” is the english word for “hades” ? Since hades was cast into the lake of fire and destroyed in A.D.70, would it not also follow that hell was cast into the lake of fire and destroyed? So going back to that preterist statement of faith, how can a soul be sent to destruction in hell, when hell (hades) no longer exists?
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I can’t really say what Kurt’s preterist statement about “hell” is based on. I know he’s been very busy in recent years, and may not be updating his web page very often. We also have a few differing points / perspectives. And as stated before we all grow as we study, so his views may have changed over time. The word “hell” does not appear in the YLT. Its use in the KJV is translated as either “sheol” in the YLT Hebrew OT, or as “gehenna of the fire” (Matt. 5:22), or “gehenna” (Matt. 5:29), or “cast to the gehenna” (Luke 12:5), or “set on fire by the gehenna” (James 4:6) or as “hades” (Acts 2:27; Luke 16:23; Rev. 1:18), or “Tartarus” (2 Pet. 2:4).
The definition of “sheol” (H7585) is the underwold, where people descend when they die; otherwise often translated as realm of the dead, land of the dead in the other English translations. The definition of “Tartarus” (G5020) is the Greek underwold, or “hell” or abyss for the wicked. Of course, “gehenna” (G1067) is the valley west and south of Jerusalem where the burning sacrifices of the children were carried out, and where the Romans used it as a crematorium for the dead bodies during the siege in AD 70, and is defined as the final place of punishment for the ungodly. Jesus used this word deliberately to bring the imagery of burning judgment, the fire of God’s fury. And, “hades” (G86) is the abode of departed spirits. The Greek Hades and the Hebrew Sheol are both the same idea of the realm of the dead. Both gehenna and Tartarus are pointedly directed to the wicked who were subject to the final sentencing when Jesus returned to release all of those waiting in Hades.
We can draw the conclusion from Jesus’ words to John in Rev. 20, that after the release of all those who had been held in the prison of Hades, then the realm of the dead was not needed any more because since AD 70 each person is judged and sentenced at their death (Matt. 22:13; Rev. 14:13). But, the language of gnashing of teeth and forever and ever is often taken to mean an eternal place of punishment when it might better be viewed as an eternal sentence pronounced upon the wicked unbelievers.
Matt. 8:12, “… cast forth to the outer darkness…. there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (YLT) Same as Matt. 22:13 & 25:30. Matt. 13:42, “…cast them to the furnace of the fire; there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of the teeth.” Same at Matt. 13:50. See also Luke 13:28. The language supports the idea of awareness on the part of the condemned. Does this awareness only happen at the moment of sentencing? OR does it denote continual awareness? Does the “outer darkness” where they are cast out constitute an eternal dark place? As the realm of the dead (sheol / hades) is no longer holding any of God’s people, and that prison was thrown into the lake of fire (God’s judgment) after AD 70, then the outer darkness may be a forever and ever existence of weeping and gnashing of teeth?
I don’t know the answer to that. That may be what Kurt is referring to as “hell”. I do believe that the prison of Hades with its two distinct parts – one for the righteous sheep, and one for the rebellious goats – is not there anymore. But, God’s punishment / sentencing is eternal, as in never changing. No parole, no probation.
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In 2 Peter where it mentions angels being cast into Tartarus, is this an example of the word “angels” being used to describe humans, rather than invisible beings that people commonly think of when they see that word today?
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Yes. 2 Pet. 2:4 “messengers who sinned did not spare, but with chains of thick gloom, having cast [them] down to Tartarus,…” Contrast with the messengers of vs. 11 who are mightier in strength and power. The messengers of vs. 4 are lesser in power, & therefor are mortal men who sinned. You can read in more detail in the post Testing The Spirits Part IV (b): Slandering Angels.
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