covenantee
Well-Known Member
More historical fulfillments of Jesus' prophecies.The discourse was NOT talking about the first century. No.
There is no Biblical evidence that it's talking about anything but one time period when the Lord would return in judgment. These "signs" were "these things" that would be the harbinger of the Lord's Second Advent. When we carefully examine the WHOLE chapter in order, in context, we conclude the whole idea of AD 70 is forced and untenable! Read carefully in context:
Matthew 24:33-36
The time when "all these things" shall be fulfilled is "THE" end of the world. And all "these things" shall not be fulfilled until the end of the world. For a list of all "these things" one has only to carefully examine Matthew 24. Not "some" of these things, but "ALL" of these things must be fulfilled, and they weren't in AD 70. Sorry to disappoint you RWB and Covenantee.
- "So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
- Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
- Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
- But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only."
Now I like to add that some Preterists even suggested the "40-year probationary period." I mean... what forty-year probationary period are you Preterists referring to? What chapter and verse is that prophecy in? I don't see the Biblical validation for saying that God prophesied to give Israel a forty-year probationary period. If that is true, where is the prophecy? Christ told Israel very clearly that, "behold your house is left unto you desolate." Despite popular ideas about Israel's judgment, Israel didn't fall in AD 70, but the minute Christ died on the cross. The minute that darkness covered the land. The Temple veil rent from top to bottom as a sign that the shadows or types of the land, Priest, and temple were completed. The physical Temple was no longer the Holy place, the veil within no longer separating men from God, as Christ the true Temple and veil now replaced it. Israel had been judged, blinded, and left with no prophet and no vision. And no, there was no probationary period! That Jerusalem had already been judged, their city burned, and their kingdom given to another. Not in AD 70, but at the time of Christ's death and resurrection. Remember the temple fell and CHrist rebuilt it in 3 days. It did not occur in 70AD!
Likewise, when the New Testament congregation is judged, it is the representation of Jerusalem. It is the beloved city that Revelation 20 says Satan attacks when he is loosed. It's not a plot of dirt or a physical city in the Middle East, It is the New Testament congregation. And speaking of this time when they are to flee and not come down from the housetops, etc, God continues..
Matthew 24:21
Was there great tribulation in AD 70 greater tribulation than at any other time period, or greater than any period since, or that ever will be? Please! Of Course Not!!! I don't care what that man called, Josephus claimed. The whole idea would require such gymnastics as to be spiritually twisted. Moreover...
- "For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be."
Matthew 24:29-31
There is NO POSSIBILITY of erroneously intermingling these prophesies, For God first said the tribulation was in the days of fleeing to the mountains, and "THEN" seals these truths by declaring unambiguously that IMMEDIATELY after the tribulation "of those days" there is seen the sign of Christ's return. Selah!
- "Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
- 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 in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
- And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."
Suetonius and Tacitus are recognized historians.
You're not.
WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS
Matthew: “And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars. See that ye be not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom” (24:6, 7).
Mark: “And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled; for such things must needs be, but the end is not yet, For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom” (13:7, 8).
Luke: “But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified; for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by [immediately]. Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom” (21:9, 10).
We are told that when Jesus gave this prophecy, the Roman Empire was experiencing a general peace within its borders. But Jesus explained to his disciples that they would be hearing of wars, rumors of wars, and commotions. And did they? Yes, within a short time the Empire was filled with strife, insurrection, and wars.
Before the fall of Jerusalem, four Emperors came to violent deaths within the space of 18 months. According to the historian Suetonius (who lived during the latter part of the first century and the beginning of the second), Nero “drove a dagger into his throat.” Galba was run down by horsemen. A soldier cut off his head and “thrusting his thumb into the mouth”, carried the horrid trophy about. Otho “stabbed himself” in the breast. Vitellius was killed by slow torture and then “dragged by a hook into the Tiber.” We can understand that such fate falling on the Emperors would naturally spread distress and insecurity through the Empire.
In the Annals of Tacitus, a Roman who wrote a history which covers the period prior to 70 A. D., we find such expressions as these “Disturbances in Germany”, “commotions in Africa”, “commotions in Thrace”, “insurrections in Gaul”, “intrigues among the Parthians”, “the war in Britain”, “war in Armenia.”
Among the Jews, the times became turbulent. In Seleucia, 50,000 Jews were killed. There was an uprising against them in Alexandria. In a battle between the Jews and Syrians in Caesarea, 20,000 were killed. During these times, Caligula ordered his statue placed in the temple at Jerusalem. The Jews refused to do this and lived in constant fear that the Emperor’s armies would be sent into Palestine. This fear became so real that some of them did not even bother to till their fields.
But though there would be wars, rumours of wars, and commotions, Jesus told his disciples: “See that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the END is not yet.” The word “end” that is used here is not the same Greek word as in the expression “end of the world.” (See footnote on page 59). As Barnes says, the end here referred to is “the end of the Jewish economy; the destruction of Jerusalem.”
Wars, rumors of wars, and commotions were of a general nature. These things were not signs of the end; to the contrary, they were given to show that the end was NOT yet. None of these things would be the sign which would cause the disciples to flee into the mountains.
Great Prophecies of the Bible
Ralph Woodrow