Apocalyptic Signs

from Google Images

According to Luke, there would be heavenly signs, pertaining to the sun, moon and stars before the time of the end (Luke 21:25). Both Matthew and Mark wrote that the sun would be darkened, and the moon wouldn’t give its light, and the stars shall fall from heaven (Matthew 24:29; Mark 13:24-25), but if the sun withheld its light, the moon wouldn’t be able to shine, because it reflects the sun’s light. Moreover, if even one star fell from heaven to the earth, the earth and everyone on it would be destroyed. So, this couldn’t be literally true, but, rather, is apocalyptic language describing events that would occur near the time of the end.

 

The Eschatology of the Great Tribulation

from Google Images

Luke tells us in Luke 21:23, “there shall be great distress (G318) in the land…”, but Matthew refers to this time as great tribulation (G2347 – Matthew 24:21), while Mark simply calls it affliction (G2347 – Mark 13:19). Both Matthew and Mark describe this trouble as a sort set apart from all other seasons of history for the Jewish people. There was never a time of trouble quite like this tribulation in the past, nor would there be a season of trouble like it afterward (Matthew 24:21; Mark 13:19). Therefore, this tribulation is unique in the history of the Jews, never to be repeated, which rejects the possibility of it being a type of something ‘greater’ in the future.

 

False Signs of Jesus’ Coming

from Google Images

When we first read Luke 21:8, we have to wonder if the Apostles, who knew Jesus personally, could actually be deceived into believing another man was the Messiah. While I don’t believe the Apostles could have been deceived that another person was Jesus, I think, if they weren’t very cautious to consider Jesus’ words carefully, they could have been deceived into believing Jesus’ return to judge Jerusalem would be sooner than it was, and they could have left Judea prematurely without a witness. The text says that many would come in the name of Jesus and declare the time was at hand (Luke 21:8), i.e. the time of the end, or the time of the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple was at hand. Jesus told the Apostles not to believe such people.

 

When Shall These Things Be?

from Google Images

Luke’s account of the Olivet Prophecy is similar to both Matthew’s and Mark’s account. However, it also differs in some very interesting ways, and perhaps troubling ways, especially when comparing Luke to Matthew, because some believe the prophecy points to a yet future coming of Jesus.[1] Luke’s account of the disciples’ question is, “Master, but when shall these things be? and what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass?” (Luke 21:7).[2] However, Matthew has it, “Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” (Matthew 24:3). The “when shall these things be” agree in both accounts, but Luke’s “…what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass?” differs from Matthew’s “…what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world (age)?” So, the question is: does Luke really differ from Matthew?

 

What Is the Nature of the Kingdom?

from Google Images

In a previous study[1] I mentioned that any futurist view of the coming of Christ is proved wrong, if, indeed, Jesus returned in 70 AD, as implied in the Parable of the Nobleman (Luke 19:11-27). Moreover, I also claimed that, if Jesus had intended to rule in a physical body, from a physical city (i.e. Jerusalem) on a physical throne, he could have done so in the first century AD, because multitudes of Jews wanted to put him there on several occasions (cf. John 6:15; 12:16-19). In other words, the Jews were ready to receive Jesus as their Messiah, if he had intended to reign in a physical body, on a physical throne, from physical Jerusalem! The fact is, they had always wanted a king such as this (cf. 1Samuel 8:5).

 

The Return of the Nobleman

It might be interesting, as far as eschatology is concerned, to consider the context of the Lord’s Parable of the Pounds (Parable of the Minas in many translations) of Luke 19:11-27. First of all, Luke tells us the reason Jesus gave the parable. It is because the people thought the Kingdom of God was about to be established immediately upon Jesus’ coming to Jerusalem, and this is where Jesus was headed (Luke 19:11, 28). This is why Jesus’ disciples lay the palm branches and their clothing before Jesus as he descended Mount Olives to enter the eastern gate of the city (Luke 19:35-36; Mark 11:8). Nevertheless, Jesus claimed in the parable that such hopes would not be realized.

 

Did Jesus Come to Destroy the World?

from Google Images

Presently, I’m involved in a study of Luke 17. However, Luke records Jesus saying something here that has some bearing upon what he said in Matthew’s version of the Olivet Discourse. In the Olivet Prophecy Jesus gave several signs of his coming and of the end of the age, or when these things would occur, which was in reply to the question the four Apostles asked in Matthew 24:3 and Luke 21:7. The claim, however, is that Jesus was able to offer signs that would foreshadow the coming of the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, but no sign could be offered for the coming destruction of the world, so Matthew 24:36 is interpreted to be a dividing point between the two judgments. Nevertheless, this idea cannot be adequately defended with scripture.

 

The Day of Jesus’ Coming

from Google Images

In Luke 17:22 Jesus told his disciples that in times ahead of them they will wish they could see one of the days of the Son of man, but they wouldn’t be able to see any of Jesus’ days. Desiring to see one of Jesus’ days would tempt the disciples to run after folks who claimed to be the Messiah—perhaps the Spirit of Jesus returning in them (Luke 17:23), but all such occurrences simply reflect the erroneous Pharisaical teaching of the arrival of the visible Kingdom of God on earth (Luke 17:20). Such a thing would not come from God, nor would such an obscure event reflect the coming of Jesus into his office as Messiah (Luke 17:23-24).

 

The Eminence of the Coming of the Lord

from Google Images

We often hear today about the eminence of the coming of Christ, and there are not a few people, even well known people, who seem willing to predict when that would occur, showing themselves, one and all, that they are false prophets (Deuteronomy 18:20-21). When I point this out to folks I know, most often these people seem willing to smooth over the false prophecy, by saying something to the effect that the “false prophet” wasn’t really saying that, but the fact is, he did say that, and according to the Bible that one **is** a false prophet. He or she may be famous and appear very religious, but so were Baalim and Jezebel famous and very religious. In fact, the Scriptures even tells us that God spoke to Baalim, but Baalim didn’t have a heart for the will of God.

 

Did Jesus Already Come in Power?

from Google Images

According to Acts 14:22 the Kingdom of God is entered sometime **after** one becomes a believer. In other words, the people Paul spoke with were believers, having the Holy Spirit, yet they were not, as yet, in the Kingdom of God, because it is entered only through much tribulation. Therefore, observing the rapid spread of Christianity cannot be viewed as discerning (G1492) the Kingdom of God, nor can any of the other theories (see HERE) with the exception of #4, the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple.

 

The Coming Kingdom of God

from Google Images

In Luke 9:27 Jesus claimed that at least some of the Apostles would be alive to see the coming of the Kingdom of God. Misunderstanding what Jesus meant has led some folks to believe Jesus was wrong, and the writers of the New Testament were wrong to expect Jesus to come in their lifetimes. Moreover, misunderstanding the signs of this event has led many to falsely claim Jesus would return on certain dates, and the world as we know it would end at that time. This slant on the Scriptures has always proved to be wrong and has led many to take for granted that Christianity is just another of the world’s religions and has no basis in reality. What can we say about these things, and what did Jesus really mean in Luke 9:27?

 

It Shall Come to Pass in the Last Days…

As I read through the Book of Acts my eyes stopped at Acts 2:17. Peter is speaking, and he informed his listeners that what they were witnessing in the activity of Jesus’ disciples was what Joel foretold would occur in the “last days!” We Christians seem to be so taken with preaching about the last days that any author who wrote of such would be virtually guaranteed a best seller. Nevertheless, usually the Scriptures used in such teaching are really speaking of the 1st century C.E. and not about the Second Coming at all.