Well, well, well…..I learned something new today. And I can’t wait to tell you about it!
As I was reading today a phrase uttered by Jesus caught my attention. It’s found in Matthew 10:23 “the Son of Man will return before you have reached all the towns of Israel”. Jesus was speaking directly to the 12 disciples whom He was sending out to various towns, and the implication is very clear….that He will come back before they share the Gospel with every town. Since that clearly didn’t happen…… what’s up?
I did some research on the topic and found a link that you might want to check out. It has about 7 different theories that have been offered by various scholars on the topic. All of them are rejected except for the last one, which is called the “Destruction of Jerusalem” theory. In short, many well respected scholars are saying that the phrase “before I (the Son of Man) return” is a reference to the destruction of Jerusalem, which happened in 70 A.D. It isn’t seen as clearly in Matthew 10 as it is in Luke 21, where many of the same phrases and circumstances are repeated. I won’t list them all here, because you can simply click on the link and read them in the author’s own hand. If you have been of the same opinion as I have, that Jesus was speaking of the end of the world in the Luke 21 passage, then I recommend reading this additional insight.
The key insight for me (the one responsible for changing my perspective) is the fact that many times in Scripture God refers to impending punishment as his “coming” or the sending of “his armies”…even though they would be pagan armies that actually arrived. The Babylonians are one such example, and there are others. (check the link in the second paragraph for more examples). Therefore, when Jesus says “I am coming” it could mean that war is coming. It could mean that destruction is coming.
When I have read Luke 21 before, my mind took me to “end times” and the tribulation…but I now understand that isn’t what Jesus was talking about. He was speaking of a “tribulation” that was much closer, within about 30 to 40 years. In Luke 21 Jesus tells the disciples that the temple will be torn down, and that the disciples themselves will be flogged and forced to appear before kings and governors. That’s the exact same language being used in Matthew 10. It seems clear that Luke 21 and Matthew 10 are describing the same conversation, but in different detail. In both cases they are talking about the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans.
You may ask, “How does knowing this change anything for you?” Actually, it doesn’t make any difference in my belief or my opinion of what will happen in the last days. I believe that Jerusalem will be surrounded by enemies again, and that the tribulation will be a dark and terrible time for Christians. Having said that, I need to realize that I have overlaid my opinion and preconceived ideas on the Biblical text, so I will have to be doubly aware of that as I read texts that I think relate to end times. I don’t want to be guilty of misrepresenting what Scripture says.
For instance, if you and I were to mistakenly believe that everything in Luke 21 had not yet been fulfilled, we would be looking to a future event that would alert us to the coming tribulation, such as Jerusalem being surrounded, people fleeing in fear of torture. But since that isn’t specifically an end times prophecy, the end may approach without those things. What I’m saying is this: “if we believe signs for past events are actually for future events, we could miss the future event because we haven’t seen the sign”. In part, that is exactly what happened to the Pharisees and religious leaders of Jesus’ day…they misinterpreted the signs, and didn’t recognize Jesus when He appeared.
Let’s pray daily that God the Holy Spirit will help us to read and correctly interpret the Word of Truth. Our lives literally depend on it.
Faithfully,
PR