SPECIAL TOPIC: THE ANY-MOMENT RETURN OF JESUS vs. THE NOT YET (NT paradox or first century predictions)

  1. New Testament eschatological passages reflect Old Testament prophetic insight that viewed the end-time through contemporary occurrences.
    SPECIAL TOPIC: PROPHECY [OT], III., IV.

  2. Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21 are so difficult to interpret because they deal with several questions simultaneously
    1. when will the temple be destroyed?
    2. what will be the sign of the coming divine judgment on Israel?
    3. when will this age end (i.e., this is unique to Matthew. He seems to combine Jesus' teachings. It appears that he combines Luke 17 with Luke 21. This adds a third aspect to Mark's and Luke's two questions, cf. Matt. 24:3)?
      SPECIAL TOPIC: ANSWERS TO THE DISCIPLES' TWO QUESTIONS

  3. The genre of New Testament eschatological passages is usually a combination of apocalyptic and prophetic language which is purposely ambiguous and highly symbolic (see D. Brent Sandy, Plowshares and Pruning Hooks: Rethinking the Language of Biblical Prophecy and Apocalyptic and C. B. Caird, The Language and Imagery of the Bible)
     These passages emphasize:
    1. the exact time of the event is unknown, but the event is certain
    2. we can know the general time, but not specific time, of the events
    3. it will occur suddenly and unexpectedly
    4. we must remain prayerful, ready, and faithful to assigned tasks.
      SPECIAL TOPIC: APOCALYPTIC LITERTURE
    5. There is a twin emphasis in the NT between
      1. the temporal judgment on Israel (i.e., Olivet Discourse and John's Revelation)
      2. an end-time consummation and a new heaven and a new earth (e.g., 2 Peter 3; Revelation 21-22)

  4. Several passages in the NT (cf. Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 17 and 21, 1 and 2 Thessalonians and Revelation) deal with a coming of Jesus in judgment. They are using "coming" in several senses. This third question deals with the close of the "Age" of Covenant/Israel and opens the Age of the New Covenant for all people.
    SPECIAL TOPIC: YHWH'S ETERNAL REDEMPTIVE PLAN
    1. God sending an army to judge (i.e., Isa. 19:1; see SPECIAL TOPIC: SECOND COMING (esp. IV.)
    2. The NT propetic/apocalyptic references refer to the fall of Jerusalem and the temple ("those who pierced Him," i.e., Matt. 16:27-28; 24:30; Rev. 1:7, Partial Preterist).
    3. Revelation possibly records both the fall of Jerusalem (in the first chapters) and the fall of Rome (in the later chapters).

  5. There is a theological paradoxical tension between
    1. the any-moment return (cf. Matt.24:27,44; Luke 12:40,46; 21:36) and
    2. the fact that some events in the first century must occur (i.e., Matt. 24:34)

SPECIAL TOPIC: SOON RETURN

SPECIAL TOPIC: DELAYED SECOND COMING

SPECIAL TOPIC: JESUS' RETURN

SPECIAL TOPIC: SECOND COMING (chart)

 

Copyright © 2014 Bible Lessons International