This is a small section of a large article
pointing out the many times in the Bible the Lord came to the earth in
great days of judgment.
The
destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. is known as: " the coming
of the great and dreadful day of the Lord" in Malachi 4:5. Or in
Jeremiah 30:7 (New International Version) How
awful that day will be! None will be like it. It will be a time of
trouble for Jacob, but he will be saved out of it. Also in
Daniel chapter 9 verses 25-27. 25. Know therefore and
understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and
to build Jerusalem to the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and
sixty-two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in
troubled times. 26. And after sixty-two weeks shall Messiah be cut off,
but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come and
shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end of it shall be
with a flood, and to the end of the war desolations are determined. 27.
And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the
midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to
cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it
desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be
poured upon the desolate. Then in Daniel 12:1.....
and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was
a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be
delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. Peter
quoting Joel 2:28-32 in Acts 2 declares Joel's prophesy to speak of the
great outpouring of the Holy Spirit that they were experiencing to be
followed shortly by this particular great day of judgment. Acts
2:16. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
17. And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, I will pour
out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall
prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall
dream dreams: 18. And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour
out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: 19. And I will
show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and
fire, and vapor of smoke: 20. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and
the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:
21. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of
the Lord shall be saved.
There are many more prophesies in the Old
Testament that refer to this day and naturally (outside of the book of
Revelation,) almost all of Jesus' and his apostles prophecies spoke of
it. The article in Wordservice.org about Matthew 24, Mark 13 and
Luke 21 is intended as a companion article with this one.
It goes into great detail about the prophecies about the end of the
First Covenant Age where Luke said in Chapter 21:
20. And when
you shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the
desolation of it is near. 21. Then let them which are in Judea flee to
the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and
let not them that are in the countries enter into it. 22. For these are
the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be
fulfilled. 23. But woe to them that are with child, and to them that are
nursing in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land,
and wrath upon this people.......27. And then shall they see the Son of
man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28. And when these
things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for
your redemption draws nigh. 29. And he spoke to them a parable; Behold
the fig tree, and all the trees; 30. When they now shoot forth, ye see
and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. 31. So
likewise you, when you see these things come to pass, know that
the kingdom of God is nigh at hand. 32. truly I say unto you, This
generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled. The
salvation spoken of in Daniel 12:1 and Jeremiah 30:7 and Joel 2:32 and
Luke 21:28 was of the type that Lot was saved with. The followers
of the Messiah, those who survived the terrible persecutions did not
perish in that greatest of days of judgment. They were able to flee to a
places prepared for them, but took nothing with them.
This was why the church seemed rather communal in the book of
acts. Those who had lands and houses sold
them and distribution was made. Jesus and the Old Testament prophecies
told them what was coming in that generation. They were preparing for
it, even if they did not totally understand why the Holy Spirit was
leading them in the way he was. The first scripture mentioned in this
article; John 21:18 where Peter was told by Jesus that John would remain
alive until He (Jesus) came was a prophecy about the end of the first
covenant age and the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. It is not the
least bit confusing if one can see what this article is implying. He
certainly remained until Jesus "came. " So the prophecy was fulfilled
just as Jesus said. John was perhaps the only one of the twelve Apostles
left alive to witness the war. Perhaps the only one to see Daniel
9:25-27:
.......and the people of the prince (Titus the
Roman prince) that shall come shall destroy the city and the
sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and even unto the
end shall be war; desolations are determined......and even unto the full
end (of the first covenant age,) and that determined,
shall wrath be poured out upon the desolate (Jerusalem and her
people). This was a time that will never be repeated
again in history, nor will there be anything to ever compare with it.
Jesus sorrowed over them saying in Matthew 21:43.....The
kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing
forth the fruits of it. Then in Matthew 23:35. That
upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the
blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom
you slew between the temple and the altar. 36. Truly I say to you, All
these things shall come upon this generation. 37. O Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, you that murder the prophets, and stone them which are sent
to you, how often would I have gathered your children together, even as
a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and you would not! 38.
Behold, your house is left to you desolate.
Almost all of the prophecies in the New
Testament given by the apostles regarding the end times. the great
apostasy, the man of evil, the anti Christ, the perilous times
ahead of them were related to the end times of the first covenant age.
This is why they spoke of it as if it would come upon them, and it did.
The book of Revelation though was a different matter. It was given to
provide further illumination of Daniels prophecies about the age of the
gentiles. It provided a chronological timeline of that age when four
gentile empires, the last one being Roman would rule over the people of
God. After it's fall the promised age were God's people would begin to
see all the earthly promises of God made to the saints of ages past
begin to come to pass in the lives of believers everywhere, once
individual nations met certain conditions. Being a timeline, within it,
the end of the first covenant age would occur. It is prophesied of in
these chapters and verses. Revelation 6:12-7:8. Also, a repeat of the
same in Revelation 14:1-5. One of the main reasons this info is
being supplied at this juncture is due to the misconceptions of
Preterists who believe all Bible prophecy was fulfilled in the first
century A.D. including all the book of Revelation. This mistake is often
made because of the ease in which a serious Bible student can arrive at
the conclusion that Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21 were completely
fulfilled in 70 AD but at the same time find the book of Revelation
incredibly difficult to come to grips with. Since they are both contain
"end time" prophecies, (the real question being the end times of what.)
They mistakenly mix the two as if they are talking about the same events
which outside the timeline reference to 70 A.D, they are not.
Here are a few more references to that particular great day of judgment
from Jesus own mouth. Listed because they also point out the exact time
period this particular day of judgment, when the Lord came. In
Mark 14:61 ...Again the high priest asked him, Are you the
Christ, the Son of the Blessed? 62. And Jesus said, I am: and you will
see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the
clouds of heaven. Or Matthew16: 27. For the Son of man
shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall
reward every man according to his works. 28:Truly I say to you, There
are some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see
the Son of man coming in his kingdom. Matthew16: 28.
Truly I say to you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste
of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.
Mark: 9: 1. And he said unto them, Truly I say to you, That
there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death,
till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power. Luke 9:
26. For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall
the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in
his Father's, and of the holy angels.27. But I tell you of a truth,
there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they
see the kingdom of God. So these verses affirm that some of
those standing there, whom he is talking too, will remain alive and see
his coming with great power in the clouds of heaven with his angels.
Very confusing indeed if one has accepted a teaching, (before studying
the subject themselves,) that says there is one coming or second advent
of the Lord that has not happened yet . That all references to the
coming of the Lord refer to that second coming and to nothing else. Yet
Christ told those people that many of them would live to see that
day. The illustrative language of prophecy can be daunting if one is not
schooled in it. To "see" the son of man coming, does not necessarily
refer to seeing him visibly "riding on a rain cloud" so to speak. It
means to see that day. In other words to see that day happen just as it
was prophesied is to "see the son of man coming." If you cannot accept
that the language about "seeing" is illustrative. Then you are stuck
back in the original dilemma. That this did not come to pass as Christ
said it would, in the lifetimes of those he was speaking to. It makes
the prophecy false. Yet if it can be seen for what it is, it is
truly an amazing thing. That Jesus knew and prophesied his coming in
judgment at the end of that age, which would happen in the first
century.
Since this particular day of judgment, when Jesus came
according to his own words and prophecy at the end of the age of the
first covenant is such a matter of special interest in the Bible. Due to
the fact that ancient Israel was chosen to bring the Word of God into
the earth. The transition into the Second covenant Age is a huge subject
and has a large volume of Old and New Testament scripture dedicated to
it. Actually it encompasses the whole Bible and is a main theme of the
Wordservice.org website. If the reader is interested, the article
Bible Symbolism in the Book of Genesis goes into this pretty
heavily. To wit: the first covenant age and then the second is
prophesied over and over in the lives of the people of the book of
Genesis. Obviously, this came to pass with the coming of the messiah and
his death and resurrection for the sins of the world. The transition was
the time when God would stop almost exclusively using ancient Israel in
his work in the earth and from that point use only the believers, both
Jew and the Gentile, to bring his salvation to the world through the
preaching of the Gospel.
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