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PROPHETIC APOCALYPTIC
LANGUAGE
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by Jim Gunter |
My good brethren, this treatise concerns "Prophetic Apocalyptic
Language" and the way that it should affect our interpretation of
the "new testament" Scriptures.
I would like to begin this enterprise by citing a Bible passage:
"For the stars of heaven and their constellations
will not flash forth their light. The sun will be dark when it
rises, and the moon will not shed its light."
Sound familiar? Because there has been so much discussion for
so long a time on a perceived "end of the world," it's quite
probable that someone right now may be thinking: "Why sure,
those are the words of Jesus in Mt. 24:29 where He described what's
going to happen at the end of the world; that it will be the time when
the sun and the moon are to cease shining, and the stars are all going
to fall from the sky, and Jesus comes back to the earth riding on the
clouds of heaven!" This may well have been your guess at the
passage and also your understanding as well.
Well, beloved, if you had guessed that Mt.24:29 was
the passage that I cited, you would have been mistaken, because that was
a quote from Isa.13:10,13, spoken some 750 years before Jesus used this
same kind of phraseology. My point being that when we read this
type of prophecy in the "new testament," whether by Jesus, or by
one of the inspired writers, I personally believe that it is imperative
that we go to the original source of such language if we are to arrive
at its true meaning! This is important, because, as we just
learned, Jesus' use of that awesome, colorful, celestial imagery in
Mt.24:29 was not the first time that those words were uttered in
prophecy. As we have seen, it had its roots in the old covenant
Scriptures - the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms. Beloved,
I really believe that if we fail to educate ourselves in what that
language meant in its "old testament" genesis, then we are giving
our minds over to the mercy of our imagination.
When that happens, it spawns all sorts of wild speculations and
interpretations, which preclude us from ever really understanding the "true"
message that was being conveyed by our Creator. I have found
Mt.24:29 to be only one of many such "new testament"
prophetic utterances that had the "old testament" Scriptures as
their source.
So, at this point, I would like to cite just a few of
those "old testament" prophecies (and their fulfillments), which
were spoken by the prophets; all of which used the same kind of imagery
that was described above. And, I'd like to start with the one that
was quoted at the beginning of this article, and which was later used by
Jesus in Mt.24:29, viz. Isa.13! Please examine this
prophecy with me and let's see what those words meant when God utilized
them for the first time! If we can learn that, then we can know
with certainty what they would mean when they were used later in the "new
testament!"
(1) Isa.13 - God's Judgment on Babylon: [v.1]
"The Oracle concerning Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw…
[v.3] I myself have commanded my consecrated ones, and have summoned
my mighty men to execute my anger; my proudly exulting ones …[vs 4b
8] The Lord of hosts is mustering a host for the battle. They
come from a distant land, from the end of the heavens; the Lord and the
weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land. Wail, for
the day of the Lord is near; as destruction from the Almighty it will
come! Therefore, all hands will be feeble, and every human heart
will melt. Their faces will be aflame. [vs. 9-13] Behold,
the day of the Lord comes with wrath and fierce anger to make the land a
desolation, and to destroy its sinners. For the stars of the
heavens and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will
be dark at its rising, and the moon will not shed its light. I
will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their iniquity.
I will make people more rare than fine gold. I will make the heavens
tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place, at the wrath of
the Lord of Hosts in the day of his fierce anger. [vs.15-19]
Whoever is found will be thrust through, and whoever is caught will fall
by the sword. Their infants will be dashed in pieces before their
eyes; their houses will be plundered and their wives ravished.
Behold, I am stirring up the Medes against them. And Babylon,
the glory of kingdoms, the splendor and pomp of the Chaldeans, will be
like Sodom and Gomorrah when God overthrew them."
Beloved, we should have no difficulty in recognizing that Isaiah's
prophecy spoke of the judgment that God would bring upon Nebuchadnezzar
and his Babylonian empire. That prophecy was fulfilled in 538
B.C., as Jehovah, through His use of the Medes, brought destruction upon
that kingdom. Let's take note of some of the remarkable things
that the Lord said would take place at that great judgment, including
some awesome celestial phenomena, of which God spoke through His prophet
Isaiah:
(A) God spoke of the Medes as "His mighty ones," "His
consecrated ones," and "His proudly exulting ones."
And, that it was He (Jehovah) who was "mustering the army"
[vs. 3,4b].
(B) God said that the Medes would "come from a distant
land; from the end of the heavens" [v.5].
(C ) Isaiah called that judgment a "destruction from the
Almighty" and would take place on "the Day of The Lord"
[v.6].
(D) God said that "every human heart will melt" and "their
faces will be aflame" [vs. 7,8].
(E) He also prophesied that "the stars, including all the
constellations would not give their light" [v.10].
(F) "The sun would be dark at its rising." [v.10].
(G) "The moon would not give its light" [v.10].
(H) "The world would be punished for its evil" [v.11].
(I) "The heavens would tremble" [v.13].
(J) "The earth would be shaken from its place" [v. 13].
As we consider the various elements of that judgment
on Babylon, brethren, there's a lot that I can learn about how God
effects His will. And, another very important thing that I
can learn about is the highly charged, highly symbolic, colorful speech
or language that He employed to express His judgments. Under
A, B, and C, we get another lesson in how God used men, often times "evil"
men to execute His judgments etc.. The Medes, of course, were not
Jehovah's people. However, in that account, He called them His "consecrated
ones," His "mighty men," and His "highly exulting ones."
In other words, God had set the Medes apart for His purpose.
No, it was not uncommon for the Lord to speak of "evil" men as
His servants in a context such as this! In Jer.25:9, as God
was pronouncing judgment on His own people Judah, whom He was about to
send into 70 years of Babylonian captivity, He spoke of this same king
that He was about to judge (king of Babylon - Nebuchadnezzar) as "His
servant!" Certainly God's reasons for applying such
terms to the Medes was as He declared in v.3; "They would execute
His anger." Yes, He used the Medes as He used Pharaoh to "show
his power."
As we then consider the celestial phenomena that has
been described in D-J, it won't be necessary to again cite all of these
things, but let's just consider two or three of them. First, we will
look at (D). Do you think that we are to understand that men's
hearts literally melted within their chests in this conflict? Are
we to understand that men's faces were literally on fire? In
(E-J), did God really intend for us to learn that the sun, moon, and
stars "literally" would not shine during the period of that great
battle? Also, were we to understand that during that period,
that "the earth" would literally be shaken from its place of
orbit around the sun? Surely, any serious student of the Father's
Word, realizes that those wonderful, super-charged phenomena did not "literally"
take place. My dear friends, please think about this for a moment:
If that marvelous display of celestial catastrophes literally took place
back then, then the very fabric of our planet would be no more!
However, that does not mean that those things did not have meaning or
that we should just simply overlook them. Oh no! Those things are
very important to us. Certainly there was indeed a purpose for them!
Surely, we all understand that they were symbols, and because
they were symbols, they had to have been symbolic of something or
someone. But of what - or whom? Well, I believe that the
Scriptures themselves have given us insight into exactly what those
things symbolized.
The very first time that the sun, moon, and stars
were used as symbols in the Scriptures, is found in Gen.37:9-11. Do you
recall the two dreams that Joseph had as a lad? The first was a dream of
the sheaves of wheat [vs.5-8], where the sheaves of his brothers bowed
down to his sheaf. Upon telling his eleven brothers of the dream, they
indicated that they understood its meaning, viz., that Joseph would
actually rule over them one day. We are all familiar with the narrative
and how that came to pass when Joseph later, through Divine providence,
became ruler in Egypt, second only to Pharaoh in authority! But it's in
the second dream of Joseph where we gain insight into the symbols of
Isaiah's prophecy regarding Babylon. In his second dream [vs.
9-11], Joseph dreamed that the sun, moon, and eleven stars
bowed down to him. He related the dream to his father, Jacob, and
also to his brothers. If you will look at v.10, Jacob knew exactly what
the dream meant, for he immediately asked Joseph: "Shall I and
your mother, and your brothers actually bow down before
you to the ground?" Verse 11 said that Joseph's brothers were
jealous of him, but that Jacob kept the saying in his mind, or heart!
Yes, Jacob knew exactly what the dream meant! However, it's also
very clear from Jacob’s words that he understood that the sun, moon,
and stars of the dream to be "symbols!" And beloved,
isn't it interesting that we're not left to guess or speculate as to
what the sun, moon and stars symbolized? It's quite
obvious from the language, that the sun symbolized the #1
authority figure – Jacob - the head of the family. The moon,
being the lesser of the two great lights because it reflected the light
of the sun, symbolized the lesser or #2 authority figure –Rachael -
Joseph's mother. And finally, we see that the eleven stars
symbolized Joseph's brothers; those even lesser in rank and subjects
under the higher authorities! So, brethren, I can't speak for
anyone but myself, but this helps me immensely when I see that same
imagery used in other prophetic judgments of God against a nation, a
king, government, or dynasty; yea even His own people, Israel!
However, in the text under discussion, it was Babylon. So, if I
apply the model of what I learned from Jacob's interpretation of
Joseph's dream to a kingdom or empire such as that of Nebuchadnezzar's,
I understand then that the sun, moon, stars, and
constellations etc. symbolized authorities: kings, governments,
rulers, leaders, and their subjects.
Now, what about v.11 in Isaiah's prophecy concerning
Babylon? The verse said that God would "punish the world for its
evil, and the wicked for their iniquity." One might ask, "Does
this mean that God punished the whole world at His judgment on Babylon?"
Well, yes it certainly does, if we consider the "world" of which
He spoke! I believe that we can gain some insight into that by
considering another "world" - the world that God created for
Israel when He brought them out of Egyptian bondage. That
marvelous declaration is recorded in Isa.51:15,16. The Scripture records
that the Lord put His word (His law) in their mouth, took them (Israel,
or Zion) as His people, and gave them His providential care, i.e., He
covered them with the shadow of His hand. Doing all of those
marvelous things for Israel constituted the Lord's "establishing
their heavens, and founding their earth." Yes, God
created their (Israel's) "world." Oh what a remarkable
story that was! So, with an understanding of "Israel's world,"
I find help in determining what Jehovah meant when He made [v.11] the
prophecy concerning Babylon. He was going to punish "their world for
its evil." Yes, I now understand that He was talking about "Babylon's"
world! Yes, beloved, God had determined that it was time for
wicked Babylon's world to come to an end! As the prophet Daniel
once declared: "God removes kings, and He sets up kings" [Dan.
2:21].
Dear friends, before proceeding further, please let
us not forget that wonderful and very graphic imagery and language that
was utilized by the "old testament" prophets to describe God's
judgment on nations. Also, a very important thing for us to
remember is, as noted in (C) above, almost invariably, the time and
execution of God's judgments were characterized by the prophets as "The
Day of The Lord!" That's so relevant when we come to the word
"judgment" in the "new testament" prophecies!
At this time, let's consider God's judgment on
Egypt, which was prophesied by Isaiah in Isa., chapters 19 and 20.
Beginning with 19:1,2, Jehovah said:
"An oracle concerning Egypt. Behold, the
Lord is riding on a swift cloud and comes to Egypt and the hearts
of the Egyptians shall melt within them. And I will stir up
Egyptians against Egyptians, and they will fight each against another,
and each against his neighbor. [v.4] and I will give over the
Egyptians into the hand of a hard master, and a fierce king will rule
over them, declares the Lord God of hosts. [20:3,4] Then the Lord
said, 'As Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot for three years as a sign
and a portent against Egypt and Cush, so shall the king of Assyria
lead away the Egyptian captives and the Cushite exiles, both the young
and the old, naked and barefoot, with buttocks uncovered, the nakedness
of Egypt.'"
Brothers and sisters, that prophecy was fulfilled
about 480 B.C. when Egypt was defeated by the king of Assyria,
who then led them away to captivity. The more important thing is that we
find more of the colorful imagery and language employed.
(A) The Lord "comes to Egypt, riding on a swift
cloud" [v. 1].
(B) "The hearts of the Egyptians will melt
within them" [v. 1].
So, what do we learn about "prophetic language?"
More importantly, what did "the children of Israel" learn from
it? Here's why I ask that. Several centuries later, their
Messiah used that same language in His prophecies. And His
apostles also used it as they wrote to 1st century believers.
Therefore, having an understanding of apocalyptic, prophetic language,
was paramount in the minds of the old covenant children of Israel! Am I
making sense?
As we look at the things in Isaiah’s prophecy against
Egypt, let's begin with (B) first. If you remember, in the
prophecy concerning Babylon, we read about that same thing regarding
those people. I think by now that we understand that "their
hearts melting within them," conveyed a feeling of despair and
hopelessness on the part of those in Egypt as God wielded the sword of
His judgment (the Assyrians) against them. Indeed, all hope for
them was gone! As in the case of Babylon, so it was for Egypt in
the prophecy concerning their judgment!
Now let's consider (A). What are we to think of
that visual of the God of heaven riding to Egypt on a swift cloud?
Are we to understand that the Egyptians got an awesome cineramic view of
Jehovah literally riding on a fast-moving cloud across the Egyptian
skies at "His coming?" Or, does that awesome sight "symbolize"
something else instead? Perhaps if we look at a few passages where
"clouds" were used in such manner, they may give us a little
insight into that awesome picture that Isaiah (and others) described.
(1) Lev.16:2: There, the Lord instructed Moses regarding the
manner that Aaron was to perform his duties as High Priest on the annual
"Day of Atonement." God said:
"Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the
holy place within the veil before the mercy seat, which is upon
the ark, that he die not: for I will appear in the cloud
upon the mercy seat."
I believe that the verse speaks for itself. The "cloud"
clearly referred to the "presence" of the Lord. The "cloud"
also concealed God; otherwise, Aaron would have been destroyed by His
glory!
(2) Psa.97:1-6: "The Lord reigneth; let the earth
rejoice; let the multitude of isles be glad thereof. Clouds and
darkness are round about him: Righteousness and judgment are the
habitation of his throne. A fire goeth before Him, and burneth up
His enemies round about. His lightnings enlightened the world: the
earth saw, and trembled. The hills melted like wax at the presence
of the Lord, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.
The heavens declare his righteousness, and all the people see his glory."
In that Psalm, David spoke of "God's judgment
on His enemies." David, not unlike the prophets, who spoke by the
Spirit of God, used very similar colorful, yet frightful language to
convey to Israel God's power as the Judge of all men and nations.
It's also very interesting that David depicted God's throne as being
encompassed by clouds to signify not only God's "presence,"
but also His majesty, glory, and power in judgment!
(3) Nah.1:1-3: "The oracle of Nineveh. The book of
the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite. A jealous and avenging God is
the Lord; The Lord is avenging and wrathful. The Lord takes
vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserves wrath for His enemies.
The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and the Lord will by no
means leave the guilty unpunished. In whirlwind and storm is His
way. And, clouds are the dust beneath His feet."
Dear brethren, if we pay close attention to detail in
the "old testament" writings, we find that "clouds" were
used extensively in prophecies concerning judgment and to also symbolize
His "presence" or His "coming" in those judgments!
We had just read of His coming to Egypt "riding on a swift cloud,"
and Nahum described His coming in judgment on Nineveh with clouds
being the "dust beneath His feet." We have
established that all of the marvelous, celestial imagery that was
displayed in the various "old testament" prophecies of God's
judgments, are not to be understood as literal heavenly
calamities, but rather signs and symbols. And as we
have seen, the meaning of the signs and symbols found in
prophetic speech can most accurately be determined by what we see in the
fulfillments of those prophecies! As it turns out, some of the
things that we think that we may see, are really not there at
all. I'm reminded of the story by a "Christian comedian"
some years back, named Wendy Bagwell. He was the guest of a friend
of his who was with a group of "snake handlers" somewhere in
Tennessee. Well, it wasn't long before they brought out the snakes
and began what they considered "showing their faith" by engaging
in all sorts of dancing maneuvers with the snakes, and soon they were
even blocking the entrance door of the building. Well, Wendy,
being more than just a little afraid at that point, was ready to change
addresses, and asked his friend where the back door was - to which his
friend replied, "They don't have a back door." Wendy said,
"Well, where do you reckon they want one?" Well, the story goes
that a while later, Wendy was guest on some talk show and was asked by
the host, "Now just why have you been going around telling folks this
lie about you seeing a 47 foot rattlesnake; you know that there's no
such thing as a 47 foot rattlesnake!" Wendy's response was, "Well,
I didn't lie, because if you take the 6 feet that I saw, and you add to
it the 41 feet that I thought I saw, then you've got a 47 foot
rattlesnake!" Well, beloved, the same thing can happen to us when we
read the prophecies in the "new testament" Scriptures, i.e., if
we're not careful, and conduct our Bible study in a haphazard fashion,
we can think that we see something, when in actuality, it really
isn't there at all! That's why all of us need to study more
in the old covenant Scriptures. I know that I do!
We noticed in our first three "old testament"
prophecies, that the use of "the clouds" was
very conspicuous in those judgments of God. So, let's now continue
our look at those prophecies.
(4) Joel 2: In that entire chapter, God, through the prophet
Joel, pronounced judgment on His own people, the house of Judah; who had
left the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and were playing the harlot.
Their history was one of disobedience and idolatry, as was her sister,
the house of Israel. In 721 B.C., Jehovah had given to Israel a
writ of divorce, delivering them into the hands of the Assyrians, at
which time, even though they continued to exist as the "house of
Israel," they no longer existed as a "kingdom," but were
taken captive and dispersed among the nations, In effect, they became
the nations themselves. However, Judah did not learn from all of
this, as God said that Judah "was more treacherous than her sister
Israel" [Jer.3:8-11]. In vs.1-3 of Joel's prophecy, God said …
"Blow a trumpet in Zion (Jerusalem), and
sound an alarm on My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land
(Judea) tremble, For the day of the Lord is coming;
surely it is near. A day of darkness and gloom. A day of clouds,
and thick darkness. As the dawn is spread over the mountains,
there is a great and mighty people; There has never been anything like
it, nor will there be again after it, to the years of many generations."
Then, in vs. 28-32, He also said of that time:
"I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your
sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your
young men will see visions, and even on the male and female servants, I
will pour out My Spirit in those days. And I will display wonders
in the sky and on the earth, blood, fire, and columns of smoke.
The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before
the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And it will
come about that whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be
delivered; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those
who escape [Mat.24:16 - believers in Jesus - the remnant or
elect of Judah – JG], as the Lord has said, even among the
survivors whom the Lord calls [Mt.24:16 - the remnant or elect
of Judah – JG]."
Folks, I'm sure that you would agree that this is one of the most quoted
passages (at least part of it) in the Scriptures. We recognize it
as the prophecy from which Peter quoted a portion on the day of
Pentecost in Acts 2:16-21. At that great event, the apostles (who
were Galileans), were speaking the Word of God to Jews from many
different Jewish, in their own native tongues, because they were endowed
with the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit. Some of the Jews were
mocking and charging the apostles with drunkenness. In response to that
charge, Peter offered Joel’s prophecy as evidence that what they were
witnessing was exactly what the prophet Joel had prophesied some
centuries earlier.
But my dear friends, as wonderful as that part of the prophecy was, it
seems that most of the time when we read from Peter's quote in Acts
2:16-21, we seem to give all of our attention to only those three verses
[vs. 16-18] while not giving much attention at all to vs. 19-21. These
verses say:
"And I will grant wonders in the sky above, and
signs on the earth beneath, blood, and fire, and vapor (columns)
of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon into
blood, before the great and glorious day of the Lord shall come.
And it shall be, that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall
be saved."
O beloved, look at all of the information in those
words! First, we clearly see signs and symbols that were very
similar to those that appeared in all of the other "old testament"
prophetic passages that we examined. We saw in Joel 2:2 that Joel
even said that, that day would be "a day of clouds and thick
darkness." And, we found that all of those signs and symbols
were indicative of "God's judgment" on a nation or people.
So, I ask: "Why should it be any different in this case?" Surely,
if we are shown what those signs and symbols meant in the "old
testament," what possible reason would there be to assume that they
would mean something entirely different in the "new testament?"
Am I making sense here? Good people, if you will look in both
Peter's quotation of Joel, and Joel's original prophecy in Joel 2:1-3
and 28-32, I believe that you will conclude that it was indeed a
prophecy of God's judgment. In the case of Joel’s prophecy, the judgment
began with God's own household [1 Pet.4:17]. I believe that you
will see that in the prophecy of Joel, there was both salvation and
judgment prophesied, to be fulfilled in the same time-frame.
Salvation was for the Israelites who would accept their Messiah, and
judgment for those who did not! There was a time when I
inserted a time gap of at least 2,000 years between Acts 2:16-18 and
19-20. I applied vs. 16-18 to Pentecost and vs. 19-20 to a perceived
future "end of the world." Then I would pick back up with
v.21 and apply it to Pentecost also. Of course, neither
Joel nor Peter did that! But I did! Not out of arrogance or irreverence
for my Father, but only because judgment, in the same time-frame
as the salvation, did not fit my then present understanding in
those matters!
But beloved, please look again with me briefly at
Joel's original prophecy from which Peter quoted, viz. Joel 2:31,32.
He said, "The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into
blood, before the great and awesome Day of the Lord come.
And, it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the Lord
will be delivered For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,
there will be those who escape, and the Lord has said, even among
the survivors whom the Lord calls." Please notice
Joel's use of the phrases, "will be delivered," "those who
escape," and "the survivors." Beloved, all of those
things of which Joel spoke would take place "in those days." Yes,
the same "those days" in which God would pour out His Spirit;
the same "those days" in which He would display wonders in the
sky and on the earth etc.. I find that very interesting; so
interesting that it causes me to ask such questions as these:
(1) Who are those that "will be delivered?"
(2) From what will they "be delivered?"
(3) Who are "those who escape?"
(4) From what will "they escape?"
(5) Why are those that escape "in Jerusalem?"
(6) Who are the "survivors?"
(7) What did they "survive?"
Kind brethren, I would suggest that all of the Jews
who accepted the Lord Jesus as their Messiah, from Pentecost to the "last
days" judgment on the house of Judah, Jerusalem, and the temple in
70 A.D., were the ones in view. Yes, it was they who were
delivered and escaped and who were the survivors that
were mentioned by Joel. By the use of apocalyptic and prophetic
speech, I would like to demonstrate this.
In that same passage [Joel 2], the prophet said in
v.1 that "the day of the Lord is coming, and that it is
near." He said in v.2 that it would be "a day of
clouds and thick darkness. There is a great and mighty people;
there has never been anything like it, nor will there be again after
it, to the years of many generations." Folks, in my mind,
there can be no other great and mighty people who would fit this
description in the 1st century than the Roman empire!
Furthermore, I understand that "there has never been anything like
before, nor ever would be again," to be "the great tribulation"
that would come upon the Jewish nation, Jerusalem, and the temple in
that great judgment of God!
At this time, I would like to go back to Matthew,
chapter 23, where the Master spoke in the temple for His next to the
last time. He verbally blistered the unbelieving Jews, especially the
chief priests, scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees! In that chapter, He
charged them with the "murder of the prophets" [vs. 34,37), and
said that upon them (1st century Jews) would fall the
guilt of all the righteous blood from Abel to one of God’s prophets who
was named Zechariah [v.35]. He further said in v.36, "Truly I say to
you, all these things shall come upon this generation (that
then present, 1st century generation - JG)." Of their temple,
He said, "Behold, your house is being left to you desolate!"
After those words, Jesus and His apostles left the
temple, which brings us to chapter 24. That is the chapter in which the
Master, from a back-drop of "old testament" imagery, used the
same language as the prophets to describe the fall of Jerusalem and the
temple, the Jewish nation, which brought an end to the old covenant, or
Mosaic age. As they departed from the temple, His disciples pointed out
to Him all of the great and beautiful buildings that comprised the
temple complex. In v.2, Jesus said to them: "Do you not see all these
things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here shall be left upon
another, which will not be torn down." Being so perplexed by such a
declaration from their Lord, they asked him in v. 3: "Tell us,
when will these things be, and what will be the sign of Your
coming (Greek - parousia), and of the end of the age
(not planet)." Before telling them exactly what the "sign" of His
coming would be, He first told them of things that would happen
before "the sign" would appear, which would signal all of
those things that were coming to pass. But then, in v.15, Jesus told
them exactly what the sign would be. He said: "Therefore, when
you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through
Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader
understand)." Then the believers were to recognize that Jerusalem’s
desolation was at hand because those were "the days of vengeance in
order that all things which are written may be fulfilled"
[Lk.21:20,22]. Matthew records Jesus as saying that when that happened,
then would be, "a great tribulation, such as has not occurred
since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall"
[Mat.24:21].
At this time, beloved, let us recall those words of
Joel's prophecy. He said that there would be those that would escape
from Judea; those that would be delivered; that there would
be survivors. In light of those statements, look at Jesus' words
in Mat.24:16; Lk.21:20, 21. He warned His apostles that when they saw
Jerusalem surrounded by armies (Roman armies - JG): "Then let those
who are in Judea, flee to the mountains. Let him that is on the
housetop not go down to get the things out that are in his house …"
Yes, beloved, they would be the same armies of whom the angel told
Daniel, would "finish shattering the power of the holy people"
[Dan.12:7]. And remember, in Lk.21:22, Jesus said of that time that, "These
are the days of vengeance, in order that all things which are
written may be fulfilled." Dear friends, to me it seems so clear,
that as a result of Jesus' warning to His apostles (who would in turn
teach all other disciples in Judea), to flee to the mountains when they
saw the Roman armies and their allies surrounding the city … they would
be delivered (saved); they escaped from Jerusalem; they
were survivors because they did in fact flee to the mountains.
Josephus recorded that the Christians fled Jerusalem, to the city of
Pella in the hills of Perea, with no record of any of them perishing
(this is also the source for our idiom "head for the hills").
Dear believer, in light of those things, it makes a lot of sense to me
now why Peter kept exhorting the Jews on Pentecost to … "be saved
from this perverse generation" [Acts 2:40]. The KJV renders
it "save yourselves from this untoward generation!" Good folks,
for many years, I understood that Peter had reference to their "being
saved from their sins." But, I can see now that I was
mistaken. Peter had already given them instruction concerning
salvation from sin back in v.38. Those 3,000 Jews who became
Christians that day, were subsequently instructed by the apostles of
Jesus, of the same imminent destruction spoken of by the prophets
and Jesus.. In my own mind, those particular words of Peter implied that
their submission to Jesus and the gospel, would not only save them from
their sins, but at the same time would save them from the great
destruction that he quoted from Joel's prophecy that was soon to come!
Let us now go back to that prophetic, apocalyptic
language that Jesus used to describe exactly what would happen
immediately after the great tribulation of Mt.24:21. In vs. 29-31, He
said: "...the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its
light, and the stars will fall from the sky and the powers of the
heavens will be shaken, and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear
in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they
will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with
power and great glory. And He will send forth His angels with a great
trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds,
from one end of the sky to the other." In examining a number of "old
testament" prophecies, we learned that the use of expressions
involving the sun and moon not giving their light, and the stars either
falling or not giving their light, were symbolic "judgment prophecies"
concerning the fall or collapse of kingdoms, governments, and
authorities. Then we also found that the phrase "coming on the clouds"
was also used frequently as a symbol or sign. For example, the picture
of God coming in judgment on Egypt, "riding on a swift cloud"
in Isa.19:1, or when He came in judgment on Nineveh in Nah.1:3, with
the clouds being the dust under His feet, or as David said in
Psa.104:3, "He makes the clouds His chariot." Then there
was the cloud upon the mercy seat atop the ark of the covenant,
which symbolized the very "presence" of God. So, it seems very
clear that clouds were commonly used to symbolize God's
presence in judgment on all His enemies.
So, dear brothers and sisters, if we understand what
all of those various terms symbolized in the "old testament,"
what should we think when we then see the same terms used in the "new
testament?" Wouldn't they still mean the same things? I would
certainly think so! Just as the things that John saw on Patmos in The
Apocalypse. John said, "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God
gave unto him, to show unto his servants, things which must shortly
come to pass and He sent and signified it by his angel unto
His servant John" [Rev.1:1]. W.E. Vine says that the word "signify"
comes from the Greek "semaino" [Strong's #4591]. He says,
"… where perhaps the suggestion is that of expressing by signs."
So, one might rightly say that in the Apocalypse, Jesus (sign)-i-fied
those things to John, i.e., He used signs and symbols that
were descriptive of some thing and/or some one other than
the signs and symbols themselves! Among scholars in theological circles,
this is also known as "apocalyptic language." Dear ones, that's
why I believe it to be so very important that we consider the relevance
of John's 1st century reading audience when studying that
marvelous epistle. Disciples in the 1st century (especially
Jewish disciples) understood very clearly what those signs and symbols
meant, because they were familiar with the "old testament"
prophets' use of them. Concerning the prophecies that we are examining
in this study, they all were well-indoctrinated in them; they
were an integral part of their lives.
So, from such verses as Mt.24:15; Lk.21:20-22, it
becomes evident that all of those things in Mt.24:29-31,34, were in
regard to the fall of Jerusalem, the temple, and the Jewish nation.
Daniel had prophesied that this would be the time of the "shattering
of the power of the Holy people" [Dan.12:7]. The time of God's
vengeance on Jerusalem [Lk.21:20,22] was also the time of the great
harvest [Mt.13:24-30; 36-43; Mt.24:31]. As for when all of these
things would transpire, the Master said very plainly to His apostles in
v.34, "Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away
until all these things take place."
Verse 30 spoke of another spectacular event as Jesus said of His
coming (parousia),
"And then shall appear the sign of the son of
man in heaven. And then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and
they shall see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with
great glory."
This is our first look at "new testament"
usage of prophetic language involving Jesus' coming on the clouds.
A short time later [Mt.24:63-65], we find Jesus using it again. And folks, I believe that you will find Jesus' words
and the High Priest's response to be oh so interesting and informative!
Jesus was standing before Caiaphas the High Priest, after having been
betrayed by Judas, who delivered Him into the hands of the Jewish
authorities. In v.63, Caiaphas said:
"I adjure you by the living God, that You tell us
whether You are The Christ, the Son of God. Jesus said to him, 'You have
said it yourself, nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you (Caiaphas)
shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power,
and coming on the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest tore
his robes saying, He has blasphemed; what further need do we
have of witnesses? Behold, you have now heard the blasphemy!"
Ladies and gentlemen, have you ever wondered why
Caiaphas, upon hearing Jesus say that he (Caiaphas) would personally see
Him sitting at the right hand of power, and coming on the
clouds, would become so furious as to tear his robes and make
the most serious charge of blasphemy against Jesus? Just what was
it in those few words of Jesus that set him off like that? Well, I
believe that if we would consider a few things here, we will get some
insight into that! First of all, every Jew was very familiar with the "old
testament" Scriptures, having been taught them from their childhood
[2 Tim.3:15; Acts13:27; 15:21]. That should have been especially true of
the high priest! So, when Jesus told Caiaphas that he was going
to see Him coming on the clouds, this infuriated him because
Caiaphas knew what coming on the clouds meant. Being very
familiar with the "old testament" Scriptures, he knew all too
well that only "deity" came on the clouds of heaven; hence
the charge of blasphemy. Caiaphas also knew that every prophetic
utterance that pictured God coming on the clouds was a symbol of
God’s coming in judgment! Yes, beloved, he knew very well that it
was God who "rode on a swift cloud" in judgment on Egypt
[Isa.19:1], and he knew quite well that Nahum had spoken of the
clouds as being "the dust under God's feet," when he foretold
God’s judgment on Nineveh. And, he certainly knew of David's marvelous
declaration that the clouds were God’s chariot
[Psa.104:3]. And Caiaphas was certainly familiar with Joel's prophecy of
judgment that was to come upon that nation in the last days of
that old covenant age; the same prophecy that Peter quoted on Pentecost!
And in that prophecy, Joel employed all of the
catastrophic, celestial imagery in describing that great judgment! Did
Caiaphas "physically" see Jesus coming on the clouds?
Well, I don't say that he did, however, "to see" has more than
just the meaning of "physical sight," for it also means "to
perceive." For example, Paul told the saints at Ephesus that he
prayed for "the enlightening of the eyes of their understanding."
Concerning Caiaphas, what I see here is the fact that when Caiaphas
witnessed all of the awesome, terrible, and horrific things that he
heard Jesus prophesy, come to pass, then he would see (perceive)
that as Jesus coming on the clouds as He had promised. He would see
the sign of the son of man in heaven [Mt.24:30], i.e., Caiaphas
would see (perceive) Jesus "sitting on the right hand
of power;" that the Son of Man was indeed at the right hand of the
throne of heaven as deity! Yes, dear friends, just as the Babylonians
saw (perceived) God "riding on a swift cloud" into
Babylon, the Master, with all judgment having been committed unto
Him by His Father [Jn.5:22], came riding on the clouds of judgment on
Jerusalem and the Jewish nation in 70 A.D. Yes, I understand that to be
the same "coming on the clouds" that was mentioned by John in
Rev.1:7, and the one of Acts 1:11, and yes, the same coming of which He
had promised His apostles in Mt.16:27,28.
Beloved, I don't pretend to speak for anyone but
myself here, but in light of all the "old testament" examples of
God's judgment on His enemies, I am persuaded that all of the
apocalyptic imagery of the sun and moon not shining, the stars and
constellations either falling from the sky or not shining, were simply
signs or symbols of something other than themselves, and
thus those celestial calamities were to be taken figuratively and
not literally, otherwise the material fabric of our
universe would have been destroyed many times through the centuries!
My dear fellow believers, I will close simply by
saying that my time will have been well spent if this little study
accomplishes no more than to cause us to think and be more aware of the
purpose of prophetic, apocalyptic speech. And I hope that when we see
such imagery used by Jesus or His apostles in the "new testament"
Scriptures, and especially in The Book of Revelation, that we use reason
and consult our source for such language - the "old testament"
Scriptures - so that our imaginations do not run wild, causing us to
miss that which the language was designed to convey. May The Lord richly
bless you with His grace and peace.
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