January 27, 2010

Εὐθέως (Immediately) in Matthew 24:29 Undermines Historicism

"Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken." (Matt 24:29).

Historicism is the eschatological position that says the thrust of prophecy in the Olivet Discourse and Revelation are fulfilled in the span of the church age. So for example, they would say that the Great Tribulation was not fulfilled in the first century, nor is it to be fulfilled in the future. Instead, it spans the entire church age.

You may by surprised to learn that most Evangelical scholars are not preterists or futurists---they are historicists. But many are a mixture of preterist-historicist. Or, more inconsistently, some are preterist-historicist-futurist.

There are good reasons why historicism is not a valid interpretation. I want to point out one salient reason here. In Matthew's account of the Olivet discourse in Matthew 24:29 he uses the Greek term έὐθέως, which means "immediately." The event that follows the "tribulation (i.e. great tribulation) of those days" is the coming of Christ. Matthew says that the coming of Christ will occur immediately after the tribulation of those days. What is the nature of this tribulation? We are told specifically that this tribulation is caused by the abomination of desolation (Cf. Matt. 24:15, 21).

So historicism cannot be correct for two reasons:

i. The tribulation will come about by the abomination of desolation. So this tribulation cannot be described as occurring over the span of the church age. That is, believers are not going through tribulation today because the Roman general Titus destroyed the Jewish temple in A.D. 70.

ii. Since historicism believes that the abomination of desolation in Matthew 24 was fulfilled in A.D. 70 with the destruction of the temple followed by tribulation, έὐθέως (immediately) must refer specifically to that tribulation, since the term has a temporal meaning requiring that the coming of Christ to occur in the first century. In other words, it is nonsense for them to claim as they do that "immediately" will happen thousands of years later after the abomination of desolation. Therefore historicism has a strained interpretation.

Prewrath has the natural reading. We understand that the abomination of desolation for Matthew refers to a futurist event of Antichrist in the temple. That will cause a great tribulation and immediately after those days are cut short the coming of Christ will happen.

January 21, 2010

A Reply to Michael Stallard and His Misuse of Noah and the Flood in Genesis 7:10

Dr. Michael Stallard writes:

"The floodwaters did not begin until Noah and his family were in the ark for a full week according to Genesis 7:10."

He is responding to the prewrath tenet that the same day that the rapture happens will be the same day that the Day of the Lord begins. We point out that Jesus cited the flood as an example to show this back-to-back nature of God's deliverance of his people and his pouring out of his wrath:

"Just as it was in the days of Noah, so too it will be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage--right up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all." (Luke 17:26-27).

Jesus is explicit that it was the very day Noah entered the ark, "right up to the day." What does "right up to the day" mean for Stallard? We are not told. He then appeals to a proof text of Genesis 7:10:

"And after seven days the floodwaters engulfed the earth." (Gen 7:10).

That is all we are given by Stallard. There was no attempt to show how this verse supports his assertion. He is assuming that the seven days began after Noah and his family entered the ark. But that is not what the verse, nor the context, says.

The context is clear that the seven days refers to God's command to Noah to get animals into the ark before seven days come to pass. Here is the context:

"The LORD said to Noah, "Come into the ark, you and all your household, for I consider you godly among this generation. (2) You must take with you seven of every kind of clean animal, the male and its mate, two of every kind of unclean animal, the male and its mate, (3) and also seven of every kind of bird in the sky, male and female, to preserve their offspring on the face of the earth. (4) For in seven days I will cause it to rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the ground every living thing that I have made." (5) And Noah did all that the LORD commanded him. (6) Noah was 600 years old when the floodwaters engulfed the earth. (7) Noah entered the ark along with his sons, his wife, and his sons' wives because of the floodwaters. (8) Pairs of clean animals, of unclean animals, of birds, and of everything that creeps along the ground, (9) male and female, came into the ark to Noah, just as God had commanded him. (10) And after seven days the floodwaters engulfed the earth." (Gen 7:1-10).

But that is not all! If one continues to read, they will see even a more explicit statement that it happened on the same day:

"In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month--on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst open and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. (12) And the rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights. (13) On that very day Noah entered the ark, accompanied by his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, along with his wife and his sons' three wives. (14) They entered, along with every living creature after its kind, every animal after its kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, everything with wings. (15) Pairs of all creatures that have the breath of life came into the ark to Noah. (16) Those that entered were male and female, just as God commanded him. Then the LORD shut him in. (17) The flood engulfed the earth for forty days. As the waters increased, they lifted the ark and raised it above the earth. (18) The waters completely overwhelmed the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the waters." (Gen 7:11-18).

So Jesus' use of the flood story is accurate and fitting: two events of deliverance and judgment, back-to-back, on the very same day.

January 20, 2010

The Blood Red Moon:
Hyper Literalism vs. the Natural Reading

Many Pretribulationists do not identify the sixth seal cosmic disturbances with the cosmic disturbances associated with the Lord's Return in Matthew 24.

The most common reason I have heard is that Revelation states that the moon becomes a "blood red" color but in Matthew 24 it states that the moon does "not give its light." Therefore, according to them, these are two completely separate events.

"the sun became as black as sackcloth made of hair, and the full moon became blood red" (Rev 6:12).

"the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light" (Matt 24:29).

This is a classic case of hyper literalism interpretation. Can you imagine if we applied such wooden principles to the gospels? For example, the story of Jesus calming the storm has Matthew's account with Jesus saying, O men of little faith; Mark has Have you no faith?; Luke has Where is your faith? According to their logic, Jesus must have calmed the storm three different times. Many more examples could be adduced from the gospel writers having the inspired freedom to use their own expressions and paraphrases.

Writers had the literary freedom to express vivid images about monumental significance. It is naive to pit the parallelism between John and Jesus simply because John adds the element about the diminish light from a red moon and Jesus simply states the fact of a diminished light.

The same can be said about the description of the sun:

Jesus: "the sun will be darkened"
John: "the sun became as black as sackcloth made of hair"

Are we suppose to believe that by necessity Jesus and John are talking about two different events because John augments his imagery? Of course not.

And what about that little important thing called . . . context. Never mind the fact that this celestial sign takes place when Jesus says that the elect are gathered at the Great Tribulation (Matt. 24:21-22, 29-31), and consistently John says the same thing (Rev 7:14). Is that a coincidence? The burden of proof is on them to show that. As for me, I am going with the natural reading.

January 20, 2010

INBOX: An Alternative to a Prewrath Study Bible

Alan - I would like to know if there are any study Bibles with pre-wrath notes? All the study Bibles I have contain pre-trib notes. Thanks, Judy

No there isn't. However, there is an alternative. Photocopy the Scripture Indexes from prewrath books of Rosenthal, VanKampen, Cooper, et al., then place those pages in the back of your Bible, or near your Bible, for reference.

January 19, 2010

The Great Tribulation is Against Believers, Not Unbelievers

A definitional tenet of the prewrath position is seeing a proper distinction between the Antichrist Great Tribulation against God's people, and the Day of the Lord's wrath against the ungodly. Pretribulationists conflate (or confuse) the two making God's wrath mediated through the Antichrist against unbelievers and believers! All one needs to do is read Revelation 13 and learn that the Antichrist will be persecuting God's people, not unbelievers.

One attempt to make the Great Tribulation a time for persecution for unbelievers is by Dr. Mike Stallard in his article, "An Analysis of the Use of Cosmic-Sign Passages by Proponents of the Pre-Wrath Rapture Theory." He writes:

[T]he passage [Matthew 24:22] in question says that "no life" would be saved unless God shortened this time. Yet, it is clear that life continues on after the rapture in a pre-wrath scheme until the Second Coming itself. The verse does not limit itself to "Christian life" in the first part of that verse. Such an assumption is arbitrary. It is much more natural to interpret the statement of Jesus to mean that, if the tribulation lasts longer than seven years, everyone on earth would die."

The life that Jesus is speaking of is clearly of Christian life, not "everyone on earth."

Stallard arbitrary disconnects "life" from the qualification of what kind of life found in the second half of this verse: "Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short." (Matt 24:22 NASB).

Stallard believes that the wrath of God is both against the ungodly and godly in this passage. This is untenable. The context of the Great Tribulation in that passage is the Antichrist's (not God's) wrath in the suffering of believer's lives because they are perishing. Unbelievers are nowhere in view in that passage; hence the reason Stallard failed to provide any examples.

Pretribs are hard-pressed to find any passage in the Bible that teaches that the Great Tribulation will be against unbelievers.

January 19, 2010

Another Response to Stallard on the Cosmic Disturbances

Dr. Mike Stallard writes,

"[T]here are some interesting questions about the timing of these cosmic signs [Isaiah 13:10]. Isaiah 13:6 and 13:9 appear to warn that these things occur during the day of the Lord, which we normally associate with the tribulation period" (emphasis his).

The two verses he cites are as follows:

"Wail, for the LORD's day of judgment is near; it comes with all the destructive power of the sovereign judge. (9) Look, the LORD's day of judgment is coming; it is a day of cruelty and savage, raging anger, destroying the earth and annihilating its sinners." (Isa 13:6, 9).

Where in these two verses does he infer that the cosmic disturbances from v. 10 occur "during" the Day of the Lord? We are not told.

If anything, it suggests that the cosmic disturbances will announce the Day of the Lord, since it says, "for the LORD's day of judgment is near; it comes with all the destructive power of the sovereign judge."

And this would be consistent with the prophet Joel: "The sunlight will be turned to darkness and the moon to the color of blood, before the day of the LORD comes- that great and terrible day!" (Joel 2:31).

If Stallard seeks to determine a temporal relationship between the cosmic disturbances and the Day of the Lord, he should seek to interpret the implicit in light of the explicit with respect to the Isaiah text.

January 18, 2010

A Response to Dr. Mike Stallard on the Sixth Seal

In 2002 at the Pre-Trib Study Group, Mike Stallard wrote, "An Analysis of the Use of Cosmic-Sign Passages by Proponents of the Pre-Wrath Rapture Theory." In an attempt to argue that the seals of the scrolls are expressions of God's wrath, making the entire 70th week of Daniel the Day of the Lord's wrath, he asserts:

"[M]en are already hiding from the wrath of God during the sixth seal and are not simply preparing to hide" (fn. 5).

This is in error since the context clearly indicates that the cosmic disturbances and earthquake are the cause of the ungodly hiding in the caves, hence the reason they recognize the impending wrath of God. The text reads:

"Then I looked when the Lamb opened the sixth seal, and a huge earthquake took place; the sun became as black as sackcloth made of hair, and the full moon became blood red; (13) and the stars in the sky fell to the earth like a fig tree dropping its unripe figs when shaken by a fierce wind. (14) The sky was split apart like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved from its place. (15) Then the kings of the earth, the very important people, the generals, the rich, the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains." (Rev 6:12-15 NET).

In addition, in verse 15, it begins with the Greek kai (then), which in this context is resultant from a previous causal action.

Nor can Stallard appeal to the aorist tense-form of the Greek verb behind "hid," since the aorist tense-form does not grammaticalize time (Only context and/or lexeme give us time). See Exegetical Fallacies by D.A. Carson, p. 68; also, Greek grammars by Wallace, Porter, McKay, et al.

In Revelation 7, between the sixth and seventh seal being broken there is an interlude of two groups of people being delivered. The second group in vv. 9-17 is the Church who came out of the Great Tribulation (cf. Matt. 24:15, Rev. 7:14). Then in Revelation 8, we have the seventh seal broken, which introduces formally the wrath of God, which are the contents of the Scroll: the Trumpets and Bowls.

January 15, 2010

5 Views on the Antichrist to Avoid

Pretribulationism: The Antichrist is a literal future man, but this view sees the Church being raptured before his Revelation and persecution.

Preterism: The Antichrist was fulfilled in the first century, so there is no future Antichrist.

Historicism: The Antichrist is manifested in oppressive leaders throughout Church history, so there is no future Antichrist.

Spiritualism: The Antichrist is not literal, instead, he is symbolic of an evil principle in the Church age, so there is no future Antichrist.

Skepticism: God does not want us to know if the Church will encounter the Antichrist, therefore, don't teach that the Church will encounter the Antichrist.

The prewrath position teaches though that the Church will encounter the Antichrist's persecution in the future. It is the only view that has the natural reading of Paul's words:

"Now regarding the arrival of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to be with him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, (2) not to be easily shaken from your composure or disturbed by any kind of spirit or message or letter allegedly from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here. (3) Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not arrive until the rebellion comes and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction. (4) He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, and as a result he takes his seat in God's temple, displaying himself as God. (5) Surely you recall that I used to tell you these things while I was still with you. (6) And so you know what holds him back, so that he will be revealed in his own time. (7) For the hidden power of lawlessness is already at work. However, the one who holds him back will do so until he is taken out of the way, (8) and then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will destroy by the breath of his mouth and wipe out by the manifestation of his arrival. (9) The arrival of the lawless one will be by Satan's working with all kinds of miracles and signs and false wonders, (10) and with every kind of evil deception directed against those who are perishing, because they found no place in their hearts for the truth so as to be saved." (2 Thess 2:1-10.

January 9, 2010

Archaeology Vindicates, Once Again, the Historicity of the Bible

Haaretz Reports: "Deciphered etching sheds new light on Bible's origin "

Did the writing of the Bible begin as far back as the 10th century B.C.E., during the time of King David? That is four centuries earlier than Biblical scholars currently believe - but an inscription recently deciphered by a scholar at Haifa University indicates that for at least some books of the Bible, the answer may be yes.

The inscription, written in ink on clay, is the earliest yet found in Hebrew. It was discovered about 18 months ago in a dig at Khirbet Qeiyafa, near Emek Ha'ela. While it was quickly dated, its language remained uncertain until Prof. Gershon Galil was able to demonstrate that it was an early form of Hebrew - containing roots commonly found in Hebrew, but which are very rare in other Semitic languages. Read More...

January 5, 2010

Death is Imminent

Life is short, life is precious, only what is done for Christ will matter on that day.

"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience." (2 Cor 5:10-11).

January 4, 2010

Titus 2:13 - How Pretribulationism Robs Jesus of His Glory at the Rapture

"waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ," (Titus 2:13 ESV).

This verse is part of a larger sentence:

"For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, (12) training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, (13) waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, (14) who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works." (Titus 2:11-14 ESV).

My intent here is not to provide a full exegesis of this passage, but instead to comment on just a couple of elements in v. 13.

The pretribulational interpretation of this verse finds its origin in the misleading rendering found in the King James Version:

"Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;" (Titus 2:13 KJV).

Notice the KJV rendering indicates that the "blessed hope" and the "glorious appearing" are two separate events. So pretribulationists in the past two centuries have interpreted the blessed hope being the secret rapture, and the glorious appearing as Christ at Armageddon.

The Greek, however, will have none of that. It reads:

προσδεχόμενοι τὴν [the] μακαρίαν ἐλπίδα [blessed hope] καὶ [and] ἐπιφάνειαν [appearing] τῆς δόξης τοῦ μεγάλου θεοῦ καὶ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, (Titus 2:13).

There is a rule in Greek grammar that says:

"when two nouns are connected by kai ["and"] and the article precedes only the first noun, there is a close connection between the two. That connection always indicates at least some sort of unity. At a higher level, it may connote equality. At the highest level it may indicate identity." Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics, p. 270.

This is precisely what we have in Titus 2:13. The literal Greek reads: "the blessed hope and appearing."

So what is this relationship between blessed hope and the appearing? The grammatical rule can only tell us that there is a unity, but it cannot tell us what exactly that unity is. However, we can be informed by the meanings of the words themselves, and theological context.

It is my contention (and the vast majority of Greek scholars) that the referents of "blessed hope" and "appearing" are referring to the same thing, that is, the latter is a clarification of the former: The appearing is the blessed hope itself. First you have an abstract notion or desire ("blessed hope"), then followed by a concrete event ("appearing"). The object of hope is the appearing of Christ. The blessed hope is not the rapture in itself---it is the result of the rapture, being present with our Lord with our newly resurrected bodies.

It could be rendered more precisely as "the hoped-for blessed manifestation." The New English Translation (as does the ESV and NIV) brings this out best by identifying the hope as the glorious appearing:

"as we wait for the happy fulfillment of our hope in the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ" (Titus 2:13 NET).

Theologically, we know from other passages from Jesus, Paul, Peter, and John who identify our waiting for this hope with the appearing of Christ:

"Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory" (Matt 24:30).

"to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ," (1 Tim 6:14).

"Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing" (2 Tim 4:8).

"Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming" (1John 2:28).

"When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory" (Col 3:4).

"And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory" (1 Pet 5:4).

"Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is" (1 John 3:2).

Notice that all these passages teach that the Church will be on earth at the Appearing of Christ.

There will also be someone else on the earth with the Church when Christ appears:

Antichrist: "Then that lawless one [Antichrist] will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming" (2 Th 2:8).

Therefore, since the Church and the revealed Antichrist will be present at the Appearance of Christ, (1) the rapture cannot be imminent, since the Antichrist must be revealed prior to Christ's Appearing, and (2) the Church will be here during Antichrist's rule.

The pretribulational secret rapture is not a glorious event, since it disconnects the blessed hope from the glorious appearing of our Lord. The Return of Christ will be glorious because as the world is hating and putting to death his Church, our Great Rescuer will blast through the sky and deliver his people! And subsequently, the Lord will pour out his wrath upon this wicked world---that is a glorious Return! Not this secret pretrib rapture that robs Christ of his glorious rescue and vindication.

Finally, I want to address a hackneyed pretrib objection that I hear from time to time. It goes something like this: "I am looking for the true Christ, not the Antichrist." They think that since we have an exhortation to look for the blessed hope, therefore we will not have to endure persecution, such as the Antichrist persecution against the Church.

I don't have much to say about such an inane false piety. According to the thinking of pretribulationists, apparently the persecuted underground Chinese Church cannot look forward to the blessed hope, since they are being persecuted! But of course, that is absurd.

(Keep in mind that the escapist theology of pretribulationism is a very recent British/American teaching that originated in the early 19th century. And if it is found in other parts of the world, it is only because it has been exported by American pretribulational missionaries and their literature.)

It is actually more of a blessed hope to look forward to Christ's Return if the Church is in the midst of persecution. Knowing that difficult times are coming would intensify our hope to be with the Lord. Tell me: Which group of believers will have more expectancy for the Lord's Return: Complacent believers sitting on a couch in front of a television stuffing their face with Twinkies? Or, believers standing for their faith in the Lord undergoing persecution from the Antichrist during the Great Tribulation? I think the answer is clear.

Jesus said, "in the world you will have tribulation." As well as Paul's teaching of persecution at the Lord's blessed Appearing (2 Thess 1; 2 Th 2:8).

Pretribulationism is not only misguided on a Biblical level, but also on a basic logical level:

It confuses Expectancy with Imminency. Titus 2:13 teaches the former. At the beginning of the month of December, I can sincerely express my desire to see the New Year, and I can genuinely express its nearness and its expectancy. But at the same time, I know for a fact that it is not imminent. There are intervening events. The remaining weeks of December must transpire, and Christmas, for example, must precede the New Year. So at the same time that I can be expectant for the coming New Year, it is not imminent.

And I can look forward to being a parent, but a few things sort of have to happen first, unless a stork imminently comes along.