The Domino Effect of Matthew 16:27

J. E. Gautier Jr.

"Obviously the full preterists have no desire to deviate from Scripture. They bear the burden in this controversy of showing that creedal orthodoxy has been wrong at crucial points of eschatological understanding."(The Last Days According to Jesus, RC Sproul, pp.156-157)

R.C. Sproul is not a full preterist. When asked why, his response, "The Resurrection". Yet, at the1999 Ligonier Conference, in his introductory lesson, "Last Days Madness" he assigned Matthew 16:27 and 28 to AD 70. In the past, many have tried to detach verse 27, from the time-frame statement of verse 28. Or they say, it was His Transfiguration. These attempts have fallen short. Giving up Matthew 16:27 to "what happened in AD 70" is huge! The resultant "domino effect" cannot be overstated. Consequently, Mr. Sproul has "given away the farm"!

The Effect of Sproul’s Concession

Isn't Matthew 16:27, speaking of the same Resurrection and Judgment scene as Revelation 20:12-13, and 22:12?

Mtt. 16:27 "...and then He will reward each according to his work."
Rev. 20:12 "...And the dead were judged according to their works..."
Rev. 20:13 "...And they were judged, each one according to his works."
Rev. 22:12 "And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work."

Take a look at Matthew 16:27 (Gr. mello) alongside Revelation 22:12

"For the Son of Man is about to come...and then He will reward each according to his works." (Mtt.16:27)

"And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work." (Rev.22:12)

Isn’t it also when He would separate the sheep from the goats? (what does this do to the "splitting" of the Olivet Discourse?)

Matthew 16:27-28 "For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. 28 Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom."

Matthew 25:31-34 "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, (Joel 3:2) and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."

It’s also found in Matthew 24:30-31? Which Ken Gentry and R.C. Sproul posit at AD 70.

Matthew 16:27 "For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels..."

Matthew 24:30-31 "...the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."

Doesn’t Matthew 24:30-31, then determine that I Thessalonians 4:16, was also fulfilled by AD 70?

Matthew 24:30-31 "...the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect (His wheat, Mtt.3:12; 13:38; His sheep, Mtt.25:32) from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."

I Thessalonians 4:16 "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first."

And if I Thessalonians 4:16, then I Corinthians 15:52.

I Thessalonians 4:16 "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first."

I Corinthians 15:52 "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised..."

To Fulfill All Things

Jesus said that "all things" that had been written in the Law and by the Prophets would be completely fulfilled. By when?

Luke 21:20, 22 "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near...For these are the days of vengeance,(Is.61:2; 63:4) that all things which are written may be fulfilled."

Matthew 5:17-18 "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, (Is.51:6; Heb.8:13) one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled."

Luke 24:44-45 "He said to them, ‘These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.’ And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures."

Revelation 17:17 "For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose, to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled."

In The Days of Vengeance, David Chilton writes this about Revelation 17:17,

Christ’s Coming would mean the end for the types and shadows of the Old Covenant. Not in the destruction or destroying of them, but in their fulfillment.

Isaiah 51:5-8 "My righteousness is near, My salvation has gone forth, And My arms will judge the peoples... 6 For the heavens will vanish away like smoke, The earth will grow old like a garment... (Heb.1:11; 8:13) 8 But My righteousness will be forever, And My salvation from generation to generation."

Matthew 9:16-17 "No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse. 17 Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."

The Passing of Heaven and Earth

By the time of Jerusalem’s desolation by Titus and the Roman armies, the Law and Prophets would be fulfilled. And heaven and earth would have passed away (Mtt.5:17-18). But it couldn’t have been the literal Heaven and planet Earth that Jesus was speaking of. How could it? We know that the Law with its sacrificial system was completed in Christ (Heb.10:1,14) and has passed away. So to what "heaven and earth" was Jesus referring?

Isaiah 51:16 "That I may plant the heavens, Lay the foundations of the earth, And say to Zion, ' You are My people.' "

Revelation 20:11; 21:1 "Then I saw the great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. 21:1 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away."

Hebrews 10:9 "...then He said, ' Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.' He takes away the first that He may establish the second."

Isaiah 51:6 "For the heavens will vanish away like smoke, The earth will grow old like a garment."

Hebrews 8:13 "In that He says, ' A new covenant,' He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away."

See "Dr. John Owens’ sermon on, New Heavens and Earth"

Luke 4:16-21 "So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. 17 And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: 18 ‘The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; 19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD." 20 Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21 And He began to say to them, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."

Why did Jesus quit reading and close the Scriptures where He did? The very next line found in the Isaiah passage (Is 61:1-2) says, "And the day of vengeance of our God." Why didn’t Jesus continue reading? Could it be, because "the day of vengeance" had not yet been fulfilled in their hearing on that day?

Concerning Isaiah 61, the New Geneva Study Bible is quick to note:

"day of vengeance. Jesus closed the book before reading this portion of Isaiah’s oracle (Luke 4:18-20). The time of healing belongs to His first coming; the time of judgment to the second (I Thess. 1:10) "

The New Geneva Study Bible, of which Mr. Sproul is the General Editor, assigns the "day of vengeance" to "the time of judgment" at Christ’s "second" Coming! Just ONE Second Coming not TWO!

So, if we apply the NGSB’s number of Second Comings (ONE), then, according to Jesus’ own words, when would it occur? (following this pattern the NGSB must also posit I Thess. 1:10 at AD 70)

Luke 21:20, 22 "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near...For these are the days of vengeance."

So, by the time the "first" heaven and earth, (Old Covenant / Law and Prophets) had "vanished away"; per Christ’s words, the following passages must have been fulfilled.

Isaiah 62:11-12; 63:4 "Indeed the LORD has proclaimed To the end of the world: ' Say to the daughter of Zion, ' Surely your salvation is coming; Behold, His reward is with Him, (Mtt.16:27; Rev.22:12) And His work before Him.' ' And they shall call them The Holy People, The Redeemed of the Lord... 63:4 For the day of vengeance (Lk.21:22) is in My heart, And the year of My redeemed has come."

Psalm 62:12 "Also to You, O Lord, belongs mercy; For You render to each one according to his work."

Proverbs 24:12 "If you say, ' Surely we did not know this,' Does not He who weighs the hearts consider it? He who keeps your soul, does He not know it? And will He not render to each man according to his deeds?"

Paul taught the first-century Christians in Rome and Corinth this same message:

Romans 2:5-9 "But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who ' will render to each one according to his deeds': eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness - indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil..." (BTW- Paul is quoting from the O.T. here)

I Corinthians 3:11-15 "For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is. If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward (Is.62:11; Mtt.16:27; Rev.22:12). If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire."

Malachi 3:2-3; 4:1 "But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand (Rev.6:17) when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire...He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; 4:1 For behold, the day is coming, Burning like an oven, And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up."

Daniel 12:10 "Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand."

Remember, Malachi and Daniel are Old Testament Prophets. And Jesus said, that He had come to fulfill the Prophets. And that "all" these things would be fulfilled by...

The Day of the Lord

Malachi 4:5 "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord."

Matthew 11:13-14 "For all of the prophets and law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come."

How many "day(s) of the Lord" did Malachi prophesy of ? Is that ONE New Testament "day of the Lord", still not here, 2,000 years after John the Baptist / Elijah had "prepared the way of the LORD and made His paths straight"? How many "Day" does Paul speak of ? How many "great and dreadful day of the Lord" does the New Testament refer? You can’t even ask the question without improper grammar!

Malachi 4:1 " 'And the day which is coming shall burn them up,' Says the LORD of hosts, ' That will leave them neither root nor branch.' "

Luke 13:6-9 "He also spoke this parable: ' A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. 7 Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, ' Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?' 8 But he answered and said to him,' Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. 9 And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down.' "

Matthew 3:1-12 "In those days John the Baptist (Elijah JEGjr) came preaching...' Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand! ' 7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, ' Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come (Gr. mello-about to be)? Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance... 10 And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree that which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 12 His winnowing fan is in His hand,("Behold, the Judge is standing at the door!"Js.5:9) and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

Isn’t separating the wheat from the chaff, the same as dividing His sheep from the goats? (Mtt.25:32) How about the gathering of the elect? (Mtt.24:31)

Aren’t all of these also representative of the Harvest at the end of the age?

Matthew 9:36-10:23 "But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. 37 Then He said to His disciples, ‘The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. 38 Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.’ 10:1 And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease. 5 These twelve Jesus sent out... 7 ‘And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 16 Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves... 17 But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues... 22 And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved. 23 When they persecute you in this city, flee to another. For assuredly, I say to you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.’"

Christ’s disciples were the "laborers" of the Harvest.
And "the ‘reapers’ are the angels."

Matthew 13:36-43 "...Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field. 37 He answered and said to them: ‘He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. 39 The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels (Mtt.16:27; 24:31). 40 Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire (Mtt.3:1-12), so it will be at the end of this age (Christ was born, lived and died under the Law. His "this age", would be the present age, then existing, when He spoke. The Old Covenant Age.- Gr. aion). 41 The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, 42 and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!’"

Matthew 13:51 "Jesus said to them, ‘Have you understood all these things?’ They said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord.’"

Ken Gentry says that full preterism: "...goes too far by extending valid observations gathered from temporally confined judgment passages (texts including such delimitations as ‘soon’ and ‘at hand’) to passages that are not temporally constrained and that actually prophesy the future advent of Christ." (Tabletalk magazine, January 1999, p.56)

Not once, in the entire New Testament, do we have an instance of a disciple asking for verification from Jesus, as to which "coming" He is now referring! Nowhere do we read of one of them, raising their hand and saying, "Whoa! Wait a minute Jesus, back up, you lost me there! Now, which parousia are you talking about this time?"

Nor is there a time when Christ says, "O.K., I’m no longer speaking of the coming of the Son of Man that directly effects you. I’m now speaking of the one..."

And nowhere in the New Testament do we find an explicit time statement, like those that Gentry demands, "that actually prophesy the future advent of Christ." Not one!

Joel 2:28-32; 3:1-17 "And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions. 30 And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD. 32 And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved
3:1 For behold, in those days and at that time, When I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 I will also gather all nations, (Mtt.25:32) And bring them down to the Valley of Jehosaphat; And I will enter into judgment with them there... 12 Let the nations be wakened, and come up to the Valley of Jehosaphat; for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. 13 Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, go down; For the winepress is full, The vats overflow- For their wickedness is great. 14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. 15 The sun and moon will grow dark, And the stars will diminish their brightness. 16 The LORD also will roar from Zion, And utter His voice from Jerusalem; The heavens and earth will shake; (Lk.21:26) But the LORD will be a shelter for His people, And the strength of the children of Israel. 17 So you shall know that I am the LORD your God, Dwelling in Zion My holy mountain. Then Jerusalem shall be holy, And no aliens shall ever pass through her again." (see Eph.2:12-13,19-22)

Revelation 14:1-20 "Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud sat One like the Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle. 15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, ‘Thrust in Your sickle and reap, for the time has come for You to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.’ 16 So He who sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped. 17 Then another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. 18 And another angel came out from the altar, who had power over fire, and he cried with a loud cry to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, ‘Thrust in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for her grapes are fully ripe.’ 19 So the angel thrust his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth, and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. 20 And the winepress was trampled outside the city..." (see also Isaiah 5)

Revelation 19:11-16 "Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. ‘He will rule them with an iron scepter.’ He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS."

Resurrection and Judgment

"I share Gentry’s concerns about full preterism, particularly on such issues as the consummation of the kingdom and the resurrection of the dead."(Last Days... Sproul p.158)

For all the same reasons, the Resurrection and Judgment scene of Daniel 12, which cannot be taken out of its obvious AD 70 context, must have been realized by the ONE New Testament, "Day of the Lord".

Matthew 24:15,21 "Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet...(Dan.11:31;12:11) 21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be."

Daniel 12:1 "And there shall be a time of trouble, Such as never was since there was a nation, Even to that time."

Daniel 12:1-2 "And at that time (Dan.12:1-time of trouble, Mtt.24:21-great trib.) your people shall be delivered, Every one who is found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, Some to everlasting life, Some to shame and everlasting contempt."

Revelation 20:12-15 "And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered (Dan.12:1-at that time your people shall be delivered) up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each according to his works."

John 5:28-29 "Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming ("...even now...it is the last hour." I John 1:18) in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth - those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation."

The Kingdom of Heaven

In his book, The Last Days According to Jesus, R.C. Sproul states: "If the book of Revelation was written after the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, it seems strange that John would be silent about these cataclysmic events. Granted this is an argument from silence, but the silence is deafening. Not only does Revelation not mention the temple's destruction as a past event, it frequently refers to the temple as still standing. This is seen clearly in Revelation 11 ...Gentry gives impressive evidence to support this conclusion." pp.147-149

Revelation 11:1 "Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel stood, saying, "Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there."

So, both Sproul and Gentry use Revelation 11:1, as an internal proof for a pre - AD 70 dating. Yet, just like Chapter 20, the content of Chapter 11 assaults the futurist paradigm. Once again, they find themselves forced to jettison their preterist approach.

In his book, Overcoming Sproul's Resurrection Obstacles, Daniel E. Harden shows that Rev.11:15, was actually prophesied in Daniel 7.

Rev. 11:15 "The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, (Mtt.24:31; I Thess.4:16; I Cor.15:52) and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: ' The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever."

Daniel 7:14, 18, 27 "Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, Which shall not pass away, And His kingdom the one Which shall not be destroyed. 18 But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever. 27 Then the kingdom and dominion, And the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, Shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And all dominions shall serve and obey Him."

Isn’t the book of Revelation, the prophecy of "the things which must shortly take place...for the time is at hand"? Old Testament prophecies seeing there fulfillment "shortly" after its writing. And didn’t Jesus Himself say that, "all things which were written" would be fulfilled by that time?

"I share Gentry’s concerns about full preterism, particularly on such issues as the consummation of the kingdom and the resurrection of the dead." (Last Days... Sproul p.158)

I’m sorry, but in those two passages, Revelation 11, and Daniel 7, I just don’t see a future-to-us "consummation of the kingdom". How many kingdoms are there? 2,000 years ago the kingdom of heaven was at hand. Didn’t it come, like He promised?

Luke 1:30-33 "Then the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. 33 And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end."

Luke’s account of the Olivet Discourse, equates the "coming of the Son of Man" in AD 70, with the arrival of "the kingdom of God"!

Luke 21:20-32 "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. 22 For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. 23 For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. 26 ...the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken (Joel 3:16). 27 Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near. 31 ...when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near. 32 Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all things take place.

"...and of His kingdom there will be no end."

Resurrection and Judgment - part 2

Even though they use Revelation 11, for support of their position (11:1). R.C. Sproul and Ken Gentry, also postpone portions of the very same Chapter, which conflict with their position.

Isn't the Resurrection and Judgment scene of Revelation Chapter 11, the same as Revelation 20, and Daniel 12?

Revelation 11:18 "The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, And the time of the dead, that they should be judged, (Dan.12:2; Rev.20:11-15) And that You should reward (Mtt.16:27; Rev.20:12-13, 22:12) Your servants the prophets and the saints, And those who fear Your name, small and great, (Rev.20:12, 19:18) And should destroy those who destroy the earth."

Daniel 12:4, 7, 11 "...seal the book until the time of the end... 7 ...when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered... 11 ...the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation (Mtt.24:15) is set up..."

Hebrews 9:8-9 "...the Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing. 9 It was symbolic for the present time..."

Revelation 11:18-19 "...the time of the dead that they should be judged, and that You should reward Your servants... 19 Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple."

Where Righteousness Dwells

The Prophets Ezekiel and Isaiah, spoke of the days when the "symbolic", "first tabernacle" would be gone, thereby making possible the opening of the True "temple of God" which is in heaven. And His tabernacle, the holy city, New Jerusalem.

Ezekiel 37:24-28 "David My servant shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd... 25 Then they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob My servant, where your fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell there, they, their children, and their children’s children, forever; and My servant David shall be their prince forever. 26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them and multiply them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary in their midst forevermore. 27 My tabernacle also shall be with them; indeed I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 28 The nations also will know that I, the LORD, sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forevermore."

Revelation 21:3 "And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God."

Isaiah 60:19-22 "The sun shall no longer be your light by day, Nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you; But the LORD will be to you an everlasting light, And your God your glory. 20 Your sun shall no longer go down, Nor shall your moon withdraw itself; For the LORD will be your everlasting light, And the days of your mourning shall be ended. 21 Also your people shall all be righteous; They shall inherit the land forever, The branch of My planting, The work of My hands, That I may be glorified. 22 A little one shall become a thousand, And a small one a strong nation. I, the LORD, will hasten it in its time."

Revelation 21:3-5,23-24,27; 22:5,17 " ‘...God Himself will be with them and be their God, 4 And God will wipe every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.’ 5 Then He who sat on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new’ 23 The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. 24 And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light... 27 But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. 22:5 There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever. 17 ...And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take of the water of life freely."

Hosea 2:21-23 " 'It shall come to pass in that day That I will answer,' says the LORD;  'I will answer the heavens, And they shall answer the earth.  The earth shall answer With grain, with new wine, And with oil;  They shall answer Jezreel.  Then I will sow her for Myself in the earth ("Lay the foundations of the earth" Is. 51:16), And I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy; Then I will say to those who were not My people 'You are My people!'  And they shall say, 'You are my God!' " (see also Roms. 9:24-25)

Isaiah 65:15,17 "For the Lord God will slay you, And call His servants by another name... 17 For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind." (NGSB- "servants by another name," Acts11:26)

Acts 11:26 "And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch."

II Peter 3:1-2,13 "Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), 2 that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior... 13 Nevertheless we (Christians) according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells."

Hebrews 12:22-28 "But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, 23 to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven... 24 to Jesus the Mediator of the New covenant... 25 ...Him who speaks from heaven, 26 whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, ‘Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.’ 27 Now this, ‘Yet once more,’ indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made , that the things which cannot be shaken  may remain. 28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken..." (see Joel 3:16, Lk.21:26)

When did God "call His servants by another name"? When would God "create new heavens and a new earth"? When did they "receive" the kingdom? Peter and the first-century Christians were looking for the promised "new heavens and new earth." They would not be disappointed. By AD 70, all that had been written would be fulfilled.

Revelation 20:11, John writes, "the heaven and the earth fled away. And there was found no place for them." (Old Covenant Age) In Revelation 21:1, He writes, "Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth (New Covenant Age), for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away."

What major eschatological event, do we find sandwiched between the passing of the OLD (Rev.20:11) and the dawning of the NEW (Rev. 21:1) ?

Revelation 20:11-(16)* "Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face THE EARTH AND THE HEAVEN FLED AWAY. AND THERE WAS FOUND NO PLACE FOR THEM. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. NOW I SAW A NEW HEAVEN AND A NEW EARTH, FOR THE FIRST HEAVEN AND THE FIRST EARTH HAD PASSED AWAY." (emphasis mine)

* There is no Revelation 20:16. But there should be! The Chapter division (21:1), where it has been placed, has made this invisible to us.

The partial preterist wants to pick and choose which eschatological events they will take out of "the things which must shortly take place...for the time is at hand" sandwich of the Beginning of Revelation (1:1,3) and the End (22:6,10). And they also want to take the Resurrection out of this even "tighter" sandwich formed between the "Old" and "New" Covenants! Revelation 20:11-(16)* 21:1

W. W. J. D. ?

There is certainly a feeling, "an expectation of those things which are coming on the earth", that pervades the New Testament Scriptures. They were on the brink of a truly unique and fantastic time in world history. They lived in a period which will never be repeated. A "time of the end." And a time for "the New."

It had been over four hundred years, since God, through His prophet Malachi had promised, "I will send you Elijah the prophet..." They knew that Elijah must proceed before the Christ.

Matthew 17:10,12 "And His disciples asked Him, saying, ‘Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?’ "But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him..."

Most likely, they understood the timing of Daniel’s 70 weeks. Therefore, they also understood the timing of the Messiah’s arrival. This is the very reason the People could be deceived by false Christs. They understood the timing, but not the nature.

Matthew 21:41-45 "While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42 saying, ‘What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?’ They said to Him, ‘The Son of David,’ 43 He said to them, ‘How then does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord ’, saying: 44 ‘The LORD said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool’? 45 ‘If David then calls Him ‘Lord’, how is He his Son?’ 46 And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare question Him anymore."

I Corinthians 2:7-8 "But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, 8 which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory."

Why has the Church, for two thousand years taught that, Christ’s Coming is still in OUR future? In Chapter 13 of his book, THE MESSIAH’S RETURN, Delayed? Fulfilled? or Double-Fulfillment?, Timothy A. James explains:

"The belief in the failure of Christ’s prophecies stem from the attempts of a Gentile- dominated church after A.D. 70 trying to understand Jewish concepts. This lack of understanding should not amaze us, for most of the Jewish world misunderstood the prophecies of His first coming, so why should we expect any difference in recognition of His second coming by Gentile interpreters? The silence of the period after the destruction was a direct result of the downfall and captivity of the Jewish Nation. Along with its end the Jewish Christians were scattered and became almost lost to history. If any literature was written by them after the fall of Jerusalem that taught the return of Christ in that event, there is good reason to believe that it was suppressed or beyond the understanding of the dominant Gentile church (see E. Hampden-Cook’s section in Appendix I). Careful study of Rabbinic sources shows that the remnant of the Jewish nation actively destroyed all apocalyptic works speaking of an imminent end after A.D. 70 because of its embarrassment to them. Hence, suppression of Jewish/Christian material referring to fulfilled imminence was a most likely target of this group also. Another factor related to this is N. B. Stonehouse’s mention of a definite division in the church after A.D. 70. (Apocalypse, p.139f). Syrian Christianity was isolated from the Greek world because of its Aramaic language. This barrier caused a more pure line of understanding and tradition. Therefore, the Greek church considered the Syrian church "heretical" because they rejected the Greek’s sensual chiliasm and held to a spiritual/figurative understanding of Jewish/Christian apocalyptic. This distaste for sensual chiliasm was a major factor in their total rejection of the Apocalypse in the early Syrian texts and canon. It wasn’t till later that Revelation was added, and then with a heading that placed its date in reign of Nero, before the A.D. 70 event.

Interpretation of Scripture by the Gentile-dominated church was caught up in the idea of a physical return and a literal interpretation of the very figurative Jewish apocalyptic language found in the book of Revelation and other OT & NT prophecies. Yet, even in the early church, Christ’s return was seen by the Jewish Christians to be a spiritual change in the authority of the Kingdom. Such can be seen in the "jumping the gun" of the early church in the teaching that the Lord had come before A.D. 70, (II Thess. 2:1-2). This premature teaching was dangerous to the early church since it implied an acceptance of the Temple cultus, thus putting Christianity in the category of just a new sect of Judaism, rather than the fulfillment of the whole thing.

The fact that they believed the Lord had come before A.D. 70 shows that they interpreted His return as a spiritual coming in the early church. Even though they were premature, it only supports our early research that they expected His return just as He said, in that generation.

There are only two main verses that have loosely been used to assume a physical return of Christ by the Greek-dominated church. The first is Acts 1:9-11 (the Ascension), "he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight," after this the two angels reassured the disciples saying, "this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven." (emphasis mine, tj.) The emphasis here is not on the transfigured form, but on the manner in which he ascended and would return, "in a cloud." This event was a reaffirmation of Jesus’ being the apocalyptic "Son of Man" spoken of in Daniel and the Gospels. That he, "the Son of Man," came with the clouds of heaven (Daniel 7:13), is later emphatically stated to be fulfilled in His return, in numerous places (Matt.16:27f; 24:30; Mark 13:26; and Luke 21:27).

The second verse under consideration is Revelation 1:7, "Behold, he cometh in the clouds and every eye shall see him, every one which pierced him: and all the kindred of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen." Here one finds the same apocalyptic "Son of Man" imagery regarding His "coming in the clouds." The language of the text shows that literally, those that would see him were even who had "pierced him", namely the Jews (Acts 2:23,36; 5:30). In His parousia in judgment on the Jewish theocracy, those that had rejected Him would now "see" the truth of Jesus’ claims and their error, i.e. a nationalistic expectation of the Kingdom (Matthew 26:64). Truly, upon a close investigation of the subject, there are not any verses in the New Testament that point to any other manner of coming other than a spiritual parousia of Christ in a judgment of God’s enemies at the redemptive-historical end-time of the Old Covenant system. In fulfilling this event, the bondage of the non-occurrence theory is vanquished."

Paul before Felix - "...thus I worship the ancestral God, believing all the things according to the law and the things in the prophets having been written, having hope toward - God, which these [them]selves expect, a resurrection to be about to be both of just and of unjust. Acts 24:14-15 (The Interlinear NASB-NIV)

"I solemnly witness before - God and Christ Jesus, the [one] being about to judge living [ones] and dead, both [by] the appearance of him and [by] the kingdom of him" II Timothy 4:1 (The Interlinear NASB-NIV)

"For yet a little while,
And He who is coming will come and will not tarry."
Hebrews 10:37

"...Surely I am coming quickly."
Revelation 22:20

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