Unpacking the Tribulation: An Introduction to Preterism

the Great Tribulation is a concept in the Bible that has caused a lot of debate worried or even excitement and for many people it's proof that the end times are not going to be pretty if you've seen our previous video on postmillennialism and how the Bible gives us hope and optimism for the world you might be wondering how that could be the case when places like Matthew 24 indicate that the world will descend into utter chaos before Jesus comes back in fact most scholars who disagree with postmillennialism do so by appealing to Matthew 24 well this problem is answered by a view in theology known as preterism which just means in the past because it teaches that the events known as the Great Tribulation happened in 70 AD when the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed but does that really fit the description let's unpack the tribulation [Music] before we look at any specific passages it's really important to take a brief look at the biblical understanding of the temple itself and its significance in the biblical narrative the temple isn't just a building the temple is God's dwelling place among his people it's the place where heaven and earth meet just like Jacobs vision of the ladder in Genesis and this is why in Jeremiah 7 the Israelites presumed that because the temple is in Jerusalem they will be safe from destruction it's why it's such a big deal when the glory of God leaves the temple in Ezekiel 10 and why in lamentations the fact that God has allowed his temple to be destroyed gives such a stark realization of how sinful his people have been so the temple is a concept that relates to God dwelling with his people and so in the New Testament we see that as the holy spirit is poured out which is God's presence believers are called God's temple and in Revelation in the new heavens and earth we see that there is no physical temple because God's presence itself is the temple now that heaven and earth are truly United but think about this because the temple is such a significant part of how God relates to his people when the first temple is destroyed it is talked about both prophetically and descriptively in Kings Nehemiah Ammon tations Jeremiah Isaiah and many more even though God had promised that the second one would come in fact many of these same books talk about the temple being restored as well but when the second physical temple is destroyed never to be rebuilt again because now God's people are his temple would it not leave a big gap in our coven ental history if this were never really talked about so bearing this in mind let's turn to Matthew 24 this passage is commonly known as the Olivet discourse as it was spoken from the Mount of Olives looking on to the temple and this is also found in Luke 21 and mark 13 now has already said this tends to be the key passage for people who view the end times as marked by chaos and calamity but there are a number of key points in this passage which show that Jesus isn't prophesying about something in our future but about the temples destruction that happened 40 years later so let's get into it [Music] the passage opens with the disciples marveling at the grandeur of the temple to which Jesus quite nonchalantly responds that it will all be destroyed now considering what I've already looked at about the temple this surely came as quite a shock to them the end of the temple means the end of the Old Covenant ceremonial system the end of an age and so they asked him when is this going to be so the rest of the text has to be approached with this in our heads that Jesus is answering the question of when this monumental act of the temples destruction will be these verses set the context for the rest of the passage next Jesus lists several world events that will precede the end of the age wars famines and earthquakes all of these are historically reported in the years between when this prophecy was given and 70 AD when the temple was destroyed wars are recorded in Germany race school Britain and Armenia as well as many conflicts in Israel itself many of these battles were against the Parthian Empire hence Jesus's prophecy the kingdom will rise against Kingdom famines were in Rome Greece Armenia and Israel many earthquakes are recorded in a number of places with major ones in Laodicea Pompeii Colisee and Jerusalem bearing in mind that this isn't even an exhaustive list for just a 40 year period this is a large amount of calamity particularly for those in Israel and even more for the Christians there as persecution was heightened and false prophets were widespread throughout the land with too many to name here but this is only intensified and reaches its full height when Jerusalem is invaded the temple is destroyed and the city burned and Jesus's words that this is a time of tribulation unequaled from the beginning of the world until now is perfectly valid to describe this because he isn't focused on a forensic kind of thinking where greatness of tribulation is equal to body count rather this is about the covenantal significance Jesus is quoting a phrase which appears throughout covenant history that's used to describe the weightiness of God's judgment consider how important both Jerusalem and the temple after the Old Covenant economy their destruction regardless of death toll is more significant than most other historical suffering including the world wars and even the Holocaust because this suffering is directly related to salvific history and a change in the economy of salvation [Music] but to leave us without still wondering if this is more than Jerusalem's destruction being described Luke qualifies it specifically by applying it to this event and this is why Jesus then talks about the Sun being darkened and the moon not giving its light he's quoting a combination of Old Testament passages that used signs in the heavens as symbolic of the gloom and darkness that God's judgment brings and in all of these passages God uses foreign armies as a means of bringing his judgment just as he uses Rome to bring judgment on Israel when they invade and destroy Jerusalem in 70 AD but you may say we can't spiritualize the text and make it all symbolic but understanding these signs as symbolic isn't doing any damage to the text because it's simply reading it in its intended genre hyperbole an exaggeration are commonly used in prophecy we shouldn't consider the prophecy in Isaiah 34 a failed one because the sky wasn't literally rolled up like a scroll its intended to give a visually stimulating image to the hearer not a literal map to what will happen in Matthew 24 Jesus is using Old Testament symbols to describe God's judgment on Jerusalem but you might wonder how the coming of the Son of Man happened in 70 AD isn't the second coming of Christ still something we're waiting for yes it certainly is but this verse is not referencing the second coming of Christ at the end of time this verse is again a combination of Old Testament allusions to Isaiah 19 but even more clearly to Daniel 7 to understand it in the Olivet discourse we really need to see it back in Daniel in Chapter 7 Daniel sees a vision of one like a son of man coming on the clouds before the throne of God to be given all authority Dominion and power but notice this the Son of man coming on the clouds isn't going down to earth rather he's coming up on the clouds before God's throne as well as this Isaiah 19 illustrates God's judgment on Egypt by describing God as riding on the clouds creating the image of judgment coming from the heavens and so what we see in Matthew 24 is Jesus acting on the authority and Dominion given to him in his ascension to judge Israel for their rejection of their Messiah so verse 30 isn't talking about seeing Jesus on the clouds in terms of his second coming but seeing him as he is in the passages that he's alluding to using his judgment and authority as he brings about Jerusalem's destruction finally Jesus n this discourse by saying that this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place now this is a very important verse to note a generation is a time period in scripture of about 40 years just like the generation that wandered the wilderness Jesus is making it very plain here that everything he is prophesied will be done within about 40 years and he is shown by history to have been a true and faithful prophet all these things truly did happen some theologians tried to have Jerusalem's destruction as a partial fulfillment of this passage but this first undermines that Jesus says all these things will happen within 40 years he's talking only about Jerusalem's destruction so now if we look back at the passage we see that the two sandwich ends are Jesus answering the question of when the temple will be destroyed and ends with him saying that it will happen within a generation all the things he prophesized are rightly applicable to the temples destruction and any argument that these descriptions are far too cosmic to just be about Jerusalem's destruction missus how significant and cosmic the temple is in its covenant or context but with the end of the temple comes the final end of the old covenant ceremony and priesthood so having had a brief look at the topic of pressure ism you can see how putting these passages in their proper context has to alter our view of the end times and it also means there is no clash between postmillennialism and passages like the Olivet discourse which are about the end of the temple not the end of the world but it's important to know even though many passages like this are focused on the temples destruction not the end of the world the Bible does still teach a second physical coming of Christ at the end of history be aware there is a heresy known as hyper or full pressure ISM the teachers all Biblical prophecy is fulfilled don't shortchange yourself by getting caught up in it and so having looked at Matthew 24 we can see that Jesus gave a prophecy that was fulfilled in the proper time that he said it would be by bringing his judgment and destruction on them he's shown his people categorically we are no longer to make use of sacrifices the priesthood and the temple because he is our true sacrifice our true priest and our true temple you [Music] you

Channel: Unfolding Theology

Views: 5,720

Rating: 4.7490196 out of 5

Keywords: Theology, Bible, Preterist, Preterism, Postmillennialism, Premillennialism, Amillennialism, Eschatology, End Times, Rapture, Great Tribulation, Jerusalem, Temple, Old Covenant, Old Testament, New Cove

Id: U4-SQ5JYHxs

Length: 12min 29sec (749 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 21 2019