Topics of Concern Regarding Preterism

By Timothy R. Stoudt
2003

1. The Fundamental Flaw of Preterism - - Misunderstanding God's Timing

2. Biblical Proof Preterism is False

3. The Spirit not of God.

4. Satan the Source of Preterist Doctrine

5. The Blasphemy of the Preterist Argument

6. Methodology of Interpretation.

7. The Disappearance of Pain and Death.

8. Motivational Effect of the Time Statements.

9. Ten Reasons to Shun Preterism:

10. At Hand, Quickly, and Near in the Old Testament

A. Isaiah 13:1-22
B. Joel 1:15-2:32
C. Zephaniah 1:1-18, 3:8-9
D. Obadiah 15

12. Analysis of Some Additional Time Statements

A. "This Generation"
B. "Last of All"
C. The High Priest
D. "Be Ready"
E. The Transfiguration Experience

13. 2 Peter 3:8 in Ward Fenley's SCOJCAH

14. Summary

Appendix. The Biblical Basis of Dispensationalism

Full-preterism, that doctrine which teaches that the Lord Jesus Christ returned in 70 A.D. and that all of prophetic scripture has already been fulfilled, has been gaining an increasing acceptance among some over the past few years. The full-preterist, or simply "preterist" as he shall be called here, likes to assert that his doctrinal position is the result of being consistent in his interpretive methodology of the Bible.

It is true that the preterist is more logically consistent than the partial preterist. However, generally the preterist does not acknowledge the price it has cost him to achieve this consistency. He has been forced to embrace doctrines which contradict reality, doctrines which are specifically stated by Scripture to identify its proponents as unsaved, and doctrines which can destroy a person's personal relationship with God.

It is not necessary for one to be forced into logical inconsistency or to develop heretical doctrines in order to be honest in his interpretation of Scripture. Properly interpreted, the Bible naturally leads to dispensational teaching. An Appendix is included which will demonstrate how dispensationalism is the natural result of consistent Biblical interpretation.

Ward Fenley is a leading preterist. He has written a book, The Second Coming of Jesus Christ Already Happened (abbreviated SCOJCAH), which is a major document defining the preterist position. Mr. Fenley has an internet web site, is active on preterist-oriented e-mail lists, and has written numerous other articles on preterism. In this article we will use Mr. Fenley's documents as representative of the preterist position.

The basic premise of preterism may be summarized as follows: Jesus said to His disciples that He would return shortly after His resurrection in order to set up His Kingdom. Therefore, He came back within the lifetime of at least some of the disciples.

Of course, it is obvious even to the most casual observer that Jesus has not been physically present, ruling for the past 2,000 years from a visible throne in Jerusalem. This gives an apparent paradox: Jesus has supposedly been ruling over the world in fulfillment of those prophecies predicting and teaching these things, yet the world is going on as if He were not here. There is no visible throne; ungodly men are still ruling over ungodly citizens; and sickness, death, pain, and suffering have not ceased. The preterist claims that the resolution of the paradox is found by restricting the fulfillment of the prophecies about the return of Christ to the spiritual realm.

There are several Scriptural problems to the basic, fundamental tenant of preterism. In the course of this study, we will examine them in fairly great detail. However, for now we will mention three of them briefly and elaborate on them later.

First, Scripture discloses that God desires His servants to expect Christ's return at any time. The first three-fourths of the Olivet discourse in Matthew 24 discusses various events related to the second coming. The final one-fourth makes clear with emphasis that NO ONE, not even the angels in heaven, know when the return will be (see verses 36, 42, 44). God wants us to have the attitude that Jesus could return at any time, as shown by the phrase "Watch, therefore ..." in verse 42 and the phrase "Therefore you also be ready..." in verse 44. In other words, to summarize these passages, God says that no one knows when the coming will be, but-- even from the beginning-- He wants everyone to have an attitude of expectancy. He goes on to describe in verse 48 the behavior of the evil servant who in his heart does not expect the Lord to return.

So, we see two things at work in the passages involving the time of the Lord's return: First, very explicit statements that no one knows when the time of the return will actually be, and second, that God wants us to have an attitude of expectancy that it could be at any time. The wording of the New Testament time passages regarding the second coming merely implements these principles. God wanted the early church to expect that Jesus could have come back within their lifetimes-- this was for their own spiritual benefit. He likewise wants every generation since then to continue to have this same expectation, as indeed the godly of each generation have had and still do. But, He also made it very clear that no one actually knew when the time would be. The passages of Scripture have been worded the way they have in order to accomplish this Biblically stated purpose.

God has given us two more principles to keep in mind, lest we overreact if the first generation did not actually see the return of Christ.

One of these is that in the Old Testament, as a rule without exception, extensive periods of time lapsed between the prophetic promises about the first coming of the Messiah and their fulfillment by Jesus. It was 1,500 years between Moses' recording of God's promise to Adam that the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent until Jesus defeated Satan at the cross. There were literally hundreds of specific, literal prophecies given in the Old Testament between 750 and 1,000 years before they were fulfilled by His first coming. So, it should not be thought unusual if now in the New Testament period we see many generations of men come and go between the giving of the new prophecies and their fulfillment,. This would simply be following the pattern God had already established in the Old Testament.

The other of these is that there are Old Testament references to the "Day of the Lord" which were written some 600 to 900 years before the Resurrection of Jesus, which were still unfilled during the lifetime of Jesus. Yet, these passages were stated as being "at hand" or "near" in their fulfillment at the time they were written. The passages are Joel 1:15 and 2:1, Isaiah 13:6, and Zephaniah 1:14; these will be specifically analyzed in Chapter 10. In other words, the Bible itself used the terms "at hand" and "near" in the Old Testament to refer to events which were at least 600 to 900 years future when they were written. This would amount to about 15 to 25 generations. So, the Bible itself clearly establishes that when God uses phrases such as "at hand" or "near" concerning Messianic prophecy, the standard of comparison is His timeframe and not man's.

These three items in themselves are sufficient to invalidate the foundational premise of preterism.

II Thessalonians 2:1-8 specifically identifies as false the teaching that Jesus has already come back, if it is made before certain very specific events have taken place historically:

Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.

1. Paul here identifies as a deceiver anyone whose doctrine claims that Jesus has come back before the man of sin, the one who sits in the temple at Jerusalem and claims to be God, is destroyed.

2. God says we are to take special care not to let these people deceive us: "Let no one deceive you by any means...."

This passage was not fulfilled in 70 A.D. or at any time within past church history. It is yet future, even to us. Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 A.D. by the Roman General Titus. Titus was not the fulfillment of this passage. He did not "exalt himself above all ... that is worshipped." He was only a general-- he did not even exalt himself above Caesar, let alone God. In fact, any attempt by Titus to exalt himself "above all" would have been a capital, treasonable offense, for he would have been setting himself above Caesar. This, Titus did not do.

Furthermore, Titus was not destroyed in 70 A.D. by the "return of Christ". In fact, about a decade later, Titus himself became Caesar. The details of this passage simply contradict too much of recorded history to have any relevance to what took place in 70 A.D.

Actually, Revelation 19 tells how that at the time when Christ DOES physically return to the earth, that the beast (i.e., the antichrist) will gather the kings of the earth and their armies together to fight against Christ at His return. The response of Christ will be capture him and then cast him alive directly into the Lake of Fire. At that time the Antichrist will be completely, totally, and absolutely stripped of even the slightest degree of power or authority. The beast and the false prophet are unique in that they appear to bypass the Great White Throne Judgment of Revelation 20. Apparently, God hates them so much that they are cast directly into Hell at the time when Jesus comes back to rule as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The Lake of Fire is also called the second death.

Even with lots of twisting, one simply cannot honestly match the prophecies of these passages to what happened in 70 A.D. or at any point in history up to out own time. The prophecies are still future. A primary purpose of the book of 2 Thessalonians is to declare that those who teach that Jesus has already come back, but before the man of sin has not only been revealed but has been explicitly destroyed by Jesus at His coming, are false teachers.

It should be clear in reading 2 Thessalonians 2 that Paul is referring to a specific individual as the man of sin, not just a symbolic one. God has very specifically and with emphasis given this passage as a test. If the events surrounding the man of sin's rise and fall cannot be identified, then we are NOT BY ANY MEANS TO BE DECEIVED by those who claim that the Day of Christ has come.

If Jesus came back at 70 A.D., then the man of sin had to be in power then, and Jesus had to destroy him at that time. There are two candidates for the man of sin. Flavius was emperor at the time. However, Flavius was in Rome during this time, not Jerusalem. Titus was the general who destroyed Jerusalem, including the temple. Flavius continued as emperor until 79 A.D. That doesn't sound like he was destroyed in 70 A.D. Then, Titus became emperor after Flavius died. That doesn't sound like much of a destruction, either. So, this passage remains yet unfulfilled, and any doctrine such as preterism that claims Jesus has already come back is specifically identified as false.

I believe the writings of Josephus concerning the destruction of the temple are extremely relevant. Basically, he records that Titus was given the responsibility to squelch a rebellion by the Jews in Jerusalem. Eventually the rebels retreated to the temple, and finally to the Holy of Holies in the temple. Titus did all in his power to get the Jews to surrender and wanted to preserve the temple as an honor to the Jew's God. When his soldiers saw the ready availability of all the gold in the temple, they went wild. By the time they were brought back under control, the temple had been completely destroyed. At no time did Titus do anything even remotely resembling what 2 Thessalonians 2 describes, hence, he is not its fulfillment, A.D. 70 is not the time of its fulfillment, and it cannot be fulfilled until some yet future date after a new temple has been built in Jerusalem. This passage is yet future.

My challenge to the preterist is this: God has specifically told us not to be deceived by any means if someone claims that the resurrection is already past and yet they are unable to identify the man of sin. So, the challenge is this: 1). tell me who the man of sin is; or 2). Explain to me why I am not to consider you to be the deceiver God specifically warned me about when He said, "Let no one deceive you by any means..."

3. The Spirit Not of God. Not all professions of faith lead to salvation.

1 Corinthians 15:2 talks about a belief which is "in vain", meaning "without success". By context this references a belief which was not effective in bringing about a person's salvation. In order to be saved a person must properly understand who Jesus is - - the unique God-man Savior who is fully man and fully God, he must understand the elements of the gospel - - justification by grace through faith apart from works, and he must believe or "rely on" these things in a spirit of repentance. Failing in any of these areas, either through ignorance, misunderstanding, or rejection by one's heart, results in a false conversion. A Biblical example of just such an instance is given in the person of Simon the Magician. In Acts 8:13 we read: "Then Simon himself also believed; and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which were done." Yet, Simon's actions were not consistent with his profession of faith. Ultimately, Peter said to him in Acts 8:21-23, ^{21"You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God. 22 "Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 "For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity."}

Apparently Simon believed the technical aspects of the gospel, but was lacking repentance when he believed. Peter's comment that he had "no part nor portion in this matter" seems to be a strong indication that he was unsaved.

In 2 Corinthians 13:5 Paul explicitly encourages the Corinthians to test themselves, to confirm to themselves that they truly have been saved:

"5Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?-- unless indeed you are disqualified."

One of the saddest things that can happen is for a person to blindly assume he had been saved when his salvation experience was deficient in some manner and he actually was continuing without salvation, having never truly been saved. But, just how is one to test himself, to see if he is truly in the faith? There is at least one such test provided in the Bible.

In 1 John chapter 4, God provides a specific test for us to use in determining whether a spirit is from God; a few verses down this test is extrapolated to people as well. This test is particularly important to this discussion, because it applies directly to certain tenants of preterism:

1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God,

3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world. I John 4:1-3

It is very easy for us to misunderstand this verse, because a key part gets lost in translation. Specifically, the phrase "has come" is in the perfect tense.

I have in my possession three Greek grammars, two at the intermediate level and one advanced. All of them are in agreement with the following discussion.

The Greek verb has different emphases than the English verb. In English, we are very concerned about the time sequence relationships as designated by tenses. In Greek, quality of time is the main focus of interest. Sequential relationships tend to be implied by context.

The following are the main Greek verb tenses and their significance; the explanation of the perfect tense is what primarily concerns us here:

Present: Continual Action, normally in the present time, sometimes the future. Best translated by the present participle "He is running."

Imperfect: Continual action in the past time. Best translated by the past participle, "He was running."

Future: Continual Action in the future. "He will be running."

Aorist: An action which took place at a point in time. The aorist normally represents past action, although occasionally it can be used for present or future activity. A typical example of the aorist tense might be translated "He ran up the stairs."

Perfect: This is a compound tense. It involves the combination of point-wise activity in the past and which continues to persist into the present time. This is totally unrelated to the English perfect tense. Thus, a phrase reading "He has run" should more accurately be translated "he started running and still continues to run."

Past Perfect: Similar to the perfect, except the action only continued for a while and has now stopped. This is totally unrelated to the English past perfect tense. Thus, a phrase reading "He had run" should more accurately be translated "he started running, and ran for a while."

Again, these definitions or their equivalent are standard and quite easy to verify from a Greek grammar of any level.

These things are mentioned because verb tense is a significant component of the test given above for evaluating the spirits. A more proper translation of the passage would be as follows:

"Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ came in the flesh and still continues in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ came in the flesh and still continues in the flesh is not of God."

In other words, the perfect tense of the passage indicates that Jesus is still in the flesh. After making this statement, the passage proceeds to state that if one rejects this teaching, then he does not belong to God.

When one examines this verse in the larger context of all of Scripture, this is the significance of the passage. In John 12:31 John said that Isaiah saw the glory of the Messiah (the King, the Christ). This refers to Isaiah 6; it was at this time that Isaiah saw the preincarnate Jesus on the throne. In Philippians 2, we read about how Jesus emptied Himself and took on the form of a servant. This took place when Jesus was born of a virgin, becoming the unique God-man. This was the King, the One sitting on the throne of Isaiah 6, coming in the flesh. After Jesus had died for our sins, He rose from the dead. The significance of 1 John 4:2-3 is that it teaches that Jesus not only came in the flesh, but that He continues in the flesh. Hence, His resurrection was of a fleshly body and when He returns He will still have a fleshly body. The implications of this verse are straight forward: when Jesus comes back to set up His kingdom, it will not be in some secret, invisible manner hidden from the world. Jesus is not coming to set up a kingdom limited to the spiritual realm. He is coming back in the flesh to set up a kingdom in this physical world.

God elaborates on the significance of this doctrine a little bit more. Continuing down to verse 6 we read, "We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. "

This verse indicates that there will be people who will not get these verses right. They will be in error in their understanding and will not respond appropriately when corrected. I.e., they will not hear one who tells them the truth in this area. This doctrine is so important that God says that we are to consider such a person as not belonging to Him (verse 3) and that the person has a spirit of error (verse 6).

I am not aware of any other doctrine in the Bible stating this issue so strongly. It says specifically that if a person will not respond to efforts of correction in this doctrine, then he does not belong to God. Such a person indeed, then, fails the test.

Also, we read in I John 5:10

"He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son."

God has testified that Jesus has come and still is in the flesh. God says that if a person does not believe this, then that person makes God into a liar because the person did not believe what God said about Him. God is not interested in a person's reasons for improper belief. Either you get this right or you make God into a liar and do not belong to Him. End of discussion, there is nothing more to say. If a person rejects these things, his argument is with God and not man.

This is heavy stuff. These verses indicate that when Jesus rose from the dead, it was indeed a physical, fleshly resurrection and that this was to be a continuing condition. In order to explain away the invisibility of Jesus from Jerusalem for the past 2,000 years, the preterist claims that the resurrection of Jesus was merely spiritual, not physical, and that His kingdom is only spiritual, not physical. Hence, 1 John 4 cuts right into the heart of preterist doctrine and exposes it as severe heresy. The passage goes on very clearly to teach that a person who will not respond to correction in these things does not belong to God and makes Him out to be a liar. This is the only doctrine in the Bible containing such a serious warning. This passage should strike terror in the heart of anyone tempted by the preterist train of logic.

It is true that a significant portion of the verse gets lost in translation, i.e. that of the continuing aspects of Jesus being in the flesh. However, for a person willing to do the study, material is readily available for confirmation. Also, the passage simply teaches that the person who doesn't respond to correction is condemned. God is not interested in His reasons for getting it wrong; he needs to get it right.

A similar passage to this one is found in II John 1:7

For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.

In this passage, the word "coming" is a present participle. According to the Greek grammars, a present participle is a descriptive noun-verb which describes continuing action which takes place at the time of the main verb. Thus, the significance of this verse is that it teaches that a person is a deceiver and an antichrist who does not confess that Jesus is continuing in the flesh even as of the time during which the confession is being made. When John wrote the passage, he was obviously referring to people who were denying the fleshly, physical body of the Lord Jesus Christ in a time which was after the resurrection and ascension. The preterist is guilty of the same thing. He is forced into this heresy in order to explain away the lack of the visible presence of Christ in Jerusalem for the past 2,000 years. Hence, according to this verse, the preterist is a deceiver and an antichrist.

This passage confirms our interpretation and understanding of 1 John 4.

Preterism is not a new doctrine. Even the early church was plagued with its own brand of preterists. We read in 2 Timothy 2:16-18

"16But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. 17And their message will spread like cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort, 18who have strayed concerning the truth, saying that the resurrection is already past; and they overthrow the faith of some."

Hymenaeus and Philetus were preaching that the resurrection was already past, even though it wasn't. This is indeed the same as the preterist is doing today. We may look at them as being the preterists of the early church. The Bible has some interesting comments to say about them and those like them whom they represented:

1. God views their arguments as profane and idle babblings. He is not at all impressed with what they have to say. This does not mean that they had no case to present. Indeed, they may well have had a train of logic which appeared convincing, otherwise the doctrine would not have spread. But, God Himself viewed the arguments with such contempt that He judged their teachings to be nothing more than profane and idle babblings.

2. The doctrine may spread, but this is not an indication of God's blessing- - rather God viewed the spread of preterism in the early church as being analogous to cancer spreading in a human body.

3. God says that those taking this position have strayed from the truth. Our analysis of 1 John 4:2 and 2 John 1:7 already showed us how the doctrine leads one into heresy.

4. The doctrine will have the effect of overthrowing the faith of some. From my own background and experience I can speculate on at least two ways this could happen. The first concerns a person who initially believed sound doctrine, but having become convinced by the preterist's false logic, departed from the truth and latched onto error. Thus, the doctrine has the effect of overthrowing an initially sound faith. A second is when there is a person who has at one time latched onto preterism and then later come to realize that it is false. However, he had become so poisoned against the truth that he continued to reject it even after leaving preterism. Feeling that he had no place acceptable to turn, he just walked away from everything. So, two possible effects of preterism on a person would be either to lead him into further and deeper heresy or to get him to abandon his faith altogether. These things are not the mark of godly doctrine.

I personally would be terrified, reluctant, and very cautious about involvement with any doctrine given this evaluation by God at any stage of the church's history.

Yet, this is not all. The chapter ends with the following statement:

23But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. 24And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, 25in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, 26and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will. 2 Timothy 2:23-26

The charge to avoid foolish and ignorant disputes we just read seems a rewording of the profane and idle babblings mentioned in the early part of the chapter. The evaluation given here in this portion for such people is not very favorable. It states that those promoting these false disputes have lost their senses and have been taken captive by the devil to do his will.

This is a heavy statement. One is using strong words whenever he says about anyone that they have been taken captive by the devil and their actions are now actually accomplishing the devil's will. Yet, the context surrounding the passage leads us to apply this to the preterist in particular, as it was apparently meant for the preterists plaguing the early church in Paul's day. However, to those who may think this is a rather strong statement, does it not really provide the only reasonable explanation for a person hanging onto a doctrine with the characteristics discussed in the next section?

It is difficult to imagine a person having the audacity to speak this arrogantly. The statement is made that if a certain personal interpretation of Scripture is not true, then the apostles were liars, Jesus was a liar, and Scripture is not inspired. This is NOT godly reasoning led by Holy Spirit.

I frequently take part in discussions involving the Biblical basis for many different doctrinal positions. Issues such as speaking in tongues, eternal salvation, mode of baptism, and Calvinism versus Armenianism are just a few of these. Normally, people pretty much limit their discussions to what they understand the Bible to teach or to what they believe common sense dictates. Arguments for one side or the other may become heated, and a person may question the spirituality or intellect or any number of things about a person who disagrees with him. However, the argumentation typically is pretty much limited to these things.

However, there is one exception and that is the modern full-preterists in their presentation of their doctrines. They seem barely to begin their case when they start claiming that if their interpretation is not right, then God lied to them. They make themselves the judge of God. They establish standards of behavior they require from God before they will serve Him or have anything to do with Him. This entire approach is forbidden by Scripture. (The approach parallels things discussed in Romans 9:14, 20 and 1 Corinthians 12:3). It is blasphemous to God's character and is a practical rejection of His sovereignty.

In all honesty, there are some statements which my spirit finds so offensive that I do not like to quote them even in order to deal with them. Yet, in Ephesians 5:11-12, we are told to expose the works of darkness, so we will have at least a limited discussion of these things.

In his book SCOJCAH, on page 23 Mr. Fenley makes the following statements:

The passage quoted above allows for only 3 possibilities: 1. The apostle Paul was misled by the Holy Spirit or 2. all of the apostles were liars or 3. the preterist interpretation of the passages is the correct one. Then the frosting on the cake comes with the next sentence. "Using the thousand-years-as-a-day argument to interpret time statements in Scripture is vanity and makes God out to be a liar." We have already established and will later confirm with more detail that the Bible can use phrases such as "at hand" and "near" to mean dozens of generations. In Chapter 12 we will examine in detail 2 Peter 3:8, which discusses the thousand years as a day passage just mentioned. During the analysis, we will show that God has actually supplied this argument as the proper response to the preterist position. If the Bible teaches a certain truth and Mr. Fenley claims that anyone who teaches that truth is making God out to be a liar, then it is really Mr. Fenley who is calling God the liar. This is blasphemy.

The blasphemy quoted above is not unique. It is actually the foundational rhetoric used for the entire preterist argument. It is repeated over and over. In fact, much of the rhetoric used I find so offensive that I do not even like to read the material.

Are the arguments for preterism so weak that they cannot stand on their own merit? Is the blasphemy added to them in the attempt to give the argument a weight which is simply not there without it? To me, this appears to be the case.

I could fill several pages with quotes for SCOJCAH where the only alternatives given are that preterism is right or God has lied. However, I do not believe that dwelling on this theme is spiritually edifying and will leave this discussion at this point. Hopefully, those who are sensitive to the Lord will not need more of this discussion for the point to be made.

The Bible is capable of many different interpretive approaches. One approach is dogmatic. Organizations such as the Roman Catholic Church, the Mormon Church, and the Watchtower Society take this approach. A passage in the Bible means whatever they say it does. They assert that their reasons are irrelevant, beyond the capacity of the lay person to understand. All interpretive authority resides in them, and their statements are final. Another approach is the allegorical approach, such as taken by the Christian Scientists. In this approach, the physical content is simply a tool to communicate higher, philosophical truths and otherwise has no significance. Then there is the higher critical approach of the modernists. Their position is that the Bible is simply a record of how people used to think about God; they claim the Bible has no innate supernatural validity within itself.

What is the correct approach? Does the Bible itself explain to us how it should be interpreted? Yes, the Bible itself provides the standard of interpretation - - not explicitly, but by example. The Bible was written over a period of time spanning approximately 2,000 years. Much of the Bible comments on passages which were written during earlier times. A study of how the Bible interprets itself leads one into the literal, historical, grammatical hermeneutic which in turn leads to dispensationalism.

In particular, the prophecies concerning the first coming of Jesus Christ were filled literally:

Micah 5:2 Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. Matthew 2 records how this was properly understood even by the unbelieving priests, who told Herod and the wise men how that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem and quoted Micah 5:2. Matthew 2 then proceeds to record that Jesus was indeed born there. There was a literal physical event associated with the fulfillment of this prophecy.

Isaiah 53 predicts the offering of Jesus' soul for our sins, the resurrection, and many other specific details, some almost trivial, about the crucifixion of Jesus. These were all fulfilled literally.

There are 200 to 300 Old Testament prophecies which were specifically fulfilled by Jesus at his first coming. These were all fulfilled by physical events taking place within our world system. The passages relating to the first coming of Jesus were fulfilled by a literal, historical man, descending from His throne in heaven and taking on the form of human flesh. He was fully man, even while being fully God.

Many of the Old Testament prophecies concerning Christ seem to jump from his first coming to His second coming. If that portion pertaining to the first coming was fulfilled literally, that would seem to confirm that we should expect the second coming should also be fulfilled literally.

The basis of the literal interpretation is the analysis of Scripture itself.

Even if there are things hard to understand, it still remains improper to discard Biblical principles of interpretation. Indeed, 2 Peter 3:16 teaches that untaught and unstable people can twist Scripture to their own destruction. We need to study the Bible to discover a Biblical methodology of interpretation, then apply this methodology with honesty to the Bible itself. Indeed, this is the approach which leads to the literal, grammatical, historical interpretation of Scripture, which in turn leads to dispensationalism.

The Bible very clearly teaches that in the new heavens and earth, there will be no death, sorrow, nor weeping. It then goes on specifically to state that there will be no more pain. From the perspective of the new heavens and the new earth, these will all be "former things":

"And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." Revelation 21:4

This passage very clearly states without qualification that death, sorrow, crying, and pain will NOT exist in either the new heavens or in the new earth. They will have passed away; that is, they will have ceased to exist. Whether one's focus is in heaven or on earth, the view will be the same: no more death, no more sorrow, no more crying, no more pain. Hence, if one can see any of these things, he is not in either of the new heavens or the new earth.

The reality is that there is still death in the world today. There is still sorrow. And there is most definitely still pain. When a late-stage cancer patient is pleading for more morphine to deaden a pain which seems unbearable, all the philosophical rhetoric in the world is useless to soothe him. He is experiencing pain and pain so great he cannot bear it. He is not interested in philosophical discussions about whether pain still exists or not. He is overwhelmed by his pain. He knows he himself is not yet in a world in which there is no longer any pain.

A parent who has just had a lovely child molested and permanently scarred for life by a perverted criminal will be overwhelmed by sorrow and weeping. This sorrow is real and the weeping is real. Criminal statistics indicate that this is all too common an occurrence.

A Saudi Arabian Moslem who converts to Jesus Christ as Savior and then has both of his hands cut off as a judgment against his conversion will experience sorrow and pain.

The promise of Scripture is that God will someday create a new heavens and a new earth, and in them death, sorrow, weeping, and pain will no longer exist. The preterist claims that these promises have been fulfilled. Yet, a person living in reality can see that these things are still in the world today. It does God a very real disservice to claim that what we are in today represents His fulfillment of verses promising a time when these things will no longer exist. The preterist may attempt to designate these verses as valid in a spiritual realm only, but to a person who is suffering intensely and in need of relief, this is not satisfying.

This verse alone should be sufficient to demonstrate to the preterist that he has misunderstood something somewhere along the line. His doctrine is inconsistent with reality.

Before proceeding along this train of thought, we need to lay a scriptural foundation for the subsequent discussion. There are two seperate items to consider. The first is a situation associated with the death and resuscitation of Lazarus. The second involves God's evaluation of His physical creation. With this foundation laid, we will then look in SCOJCAH and examine certain attitudes proclaimed within it.

First. Sometimes young children like to brag and quote that they know the shortest verse in the Bible, John 11:35, "Jesus wept." Jesus wept because He was moved by the grief and sorrow of Martha and Mary, the sisters of Lazarus, who had died several days earlier. What impresses me most about this passage is how Jesus was moved with grief to the point of weeping alongside Martha and Mary, even though He knew that in a few minutes they would have Lazarus back with them and would be rejoicing. Jesus is moved by our sorrow, even though He can see the bigger picture in which that sorrow will only be temporary.

Second. All that God made was good. God made the physical universe and it was good. Indeed, as God was making the world during the six days of creation, he paused regularly and commented that the work was good: "... And God saw that it was good." Genesis, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25

Finally, after it was all completed, including the creation of man, God commented that it was very good: "Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good." Genesis 1:31

Because of Adam's sin, even the ground is cursed at the present time (Genesis 3). However, this is only a temporary situation. In Romans we read about how even though the creation is in bondage to corruption at the present time, it will be delivered from it:

18For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. 20For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; 21because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. 23Not only that, but we also who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. Romans 8:18-23

Hence, it is strongly implied that it the creation will someday again be "very good." The bondage to decay and sin which is so evident when we look out into the world will someday end.

Now, to continue our discussion. While reading through SCOJCAH, I came across the following statement on page 18:

In this statement Mr. Fenley confirms that the preterist limits the domain of Messianic prophecy to the spiritual realm and that it has nothing to do with the physical realm. Of course he is forced into this position since it is so obvious that what we see taking place in the physical realm is not even remotely a reasonable fulfillment of such promises as there being no more pain or suffering.

Mr. Fenley then expands this on the next page, page 19:

This passage reveals how Mr. Fenley's assumptions are forcing him into unscriptural positions. He is now condemning those who look to a physical fulfillment of God's promises, calling them fleshly. He implies that their end is destruction, that their God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame. They are chastised for looking forward to a world which will give them physical peace and health.

Yet, Jesus was moved by compassion at the suffering of Martha and Mary, even though He knew that in a matter of minutes he would remedy the cause of their concern and they would be weeping. Jesus did not condemn Martha and Mary for their sorrow. He wept along with them.

By contrast, since SCOJCAH is claiming that we are already in fulfillment of the promises of Scripture about there being no more pain or sorrow, its doctrine forces it become callused to those who still experience it. The preterist has no hope for the person who is in pain or suffering, all he can say is that God's promises of spiritual blessings should be adequate and that a person should not concern himself with his physical condition. So, the preterist not only lives in a world disassociated from reality, but it destroys his compassion for those who are suffering and in neeed.

Also by contrast, whereas God has called his physical creation "very good," in SCOJCAH a person who looks forward to the redemption of the physical universe from its curse is considered to have a "fleshly hope". SCOJCAH further elaborates that those with such a fleshly hope are ones “Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things." In other words, instead of believing the promises of God and looking forward to the physical fulfillment they describe, the preterist condemns those who believe them.

The awesome component of the incarnation of Christ is that the King sitting on the throne in Isaiah 6 and Ezekiel 1 gave up the outward expression of His glory in order to take on human flesh, and has done so as a permanent condition. If God the Son is willing to be identified with the physical world on a permanent basis, Mr. Fenley is starting to skate on thin ice when he condemns those believe in the physical fulfillment of prophecy.

Perhaps these things can best be summarized in Isaiah 5:20-21:

20Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! 21Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!

I enjoy reading missionary stories. Missionaries are often in situations so awkward that their only hope of survival and for an effective ministry is the intervention of God into their daily affairs. The one who needs to depend upon God for his survival and effective service soon learns that a pure life is the starting point. Sin has a deadening effect upon a person's prayer life and ability to feed upon the Word of God. Just as Hebrews 11 represents a list of the spiritual "giants" of the Old Testament, I personally suspect that if God were to give such a list for the church, missionaries would occupy a significant portion of the list. What I find interesting is to hear how many of the missionaries whose stories I have read have sincerely hoped and expected that Jesus would have come back within their lifetime. Yet, their attitudes were not ones of demand, just anticipation. They recognized God's sovereignty, of His right to bring Jesus back whenever He chooses. I have never detected in any of them even a hint of disrespect towards God for the possibility that He might choose yet to delay a little longer.

A vivid hope of the soon return of Jesus Christ is an effective motivator toward godly living. Indeed, frequently in my own life I find that this hope helps me keep a proper perspective on priorities. The world can be very attractive. I am not necessarily talking about the openly sinful attractions of the world, but simply issues like jobs and recreation. These are things which are legitimate to some degree, but the world can twist them into having an importance which becomes idolatrous, or at least inappropriate, distracting one from his service to the Lord. It is the hope of the soon return of the Lord that helps me personally to keep the proper perspective.

I believe this principle is Scriptural, being inferred by the following passages.

2Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 3And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. 1 John 3:2-3

Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing. 2 Timothy 4:8

God, in His wisdom, knows that having an eagerness to see the revelation of Jesus Christ will have a purifying effect on the life of a believer. So, Scripture has been written in such a way as to give each generation the hope that Jesus will come in that generation's lifetime. This is the simplest explanation of the time statements and is adequate.

By illustration, there is a value in attaching imminence to impending judgment. To what extent does a person stop at a stop sign? In a small city which enforces traffic laws vigorously, people may very well come to a complete stop. In a bigger city in which traffic law enforcement is not so rigid, the word stop may mean anything less than 4 miles an hour. Yet, even in the big city, when a person is aware of being immediately followed by a policeman, he will have a tendency to come to an exagerrated stop at a stop sign. What is the difference? It is the expectation of the degree of accountability that determines behavior. The person in the small town expects to be caught and fined if he bends the law even just a little. The person in the bigger city expects to get away with fairly sloppy stops-- except, of course, when he is aware of being watched by a policeman, in which case a sloppy stop isn't worth the risk even in a big city. It is the expectation of just how imminent judgment is that determines how we act.

So, by comparison just how effective would it be for a prophet to say, "Repent, for in 180 years God will punish those who don't!" Such a cry to repentance would go completely unheeded, people would say, "That doesn't apply to me so I can ignore it."

Toward the end of Matthew 24 and the beginning of 25, there is something unique. There are 4 parables given, all with a common theme: Be diligent to watch for Jesus' coming, because we do not know when it will be. The emphasis is that we do not know at all when it will be and for that reason need to be diligent that we do not become careless.

The first parable concerns the men in the field and the women grinding, where one each is taken. The parable concludes with this admonition: "Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. (Matt 24:42)

The next parable concerns the man whose house was broken into by a thief. The suddenness and unexpectedness is compared to what many will find it like when Jesus returns. The parable concludes with this admonition: "Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. (Matt 24:44)

The next parable contrasts the good servant and the evil servant. The evil servant is the one who has convinced himself that he does not need to worry about his master's return, for whatever reason. The parable then concludes with these words:

48"But if that evil servant says in his heart, 'My master is delaying his coming,'

49"and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards,

50"the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of, 51"and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

(Matthew 24:48-51)

This parable is similar to the description of stop sign responses given above. When a person convinces himself that repercussions are distant, it becomes difficult for him to resist temptation.

The final parable concerns the wise virgins and the foolish virgins, and concludes with the following admonition: "Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming." (Matthew 25:13)

Four parables in a row and they all have the same basic message! You do not know when Jesus will return. Watch and be careful, otherwise He will come at an hour you do not expect and there will be repercussions.

There is nothing in these passages restricting them to any particular generation or group of people. In fact the first generation did not need these admonitions any more or any less than any of us throughout church history have. They address a universal situation. Hence, what we see are a series of parables, the intent of which is to admonish all of us to be watchful, to be prepared for the return of our Lord. These parables supplement the verses mentioned at the beginning of this chapter.

God wants holy lives. He wants purity in living. He wants repentance. Because of the nature of man's mindset, this can best be accomplished by a person expecting that accountability is imminent. Hence, passages discussing the Day of The Lord in both the Old Testament and the New Testament are written so as to produce a sense of urgency and expectancy within the hearer. This is not a matter of God being dishonest. It is a matter of recognizing a legitimate need we have because of the condition of our hearts and writing in such a manner as to address that need.

The New Testament merely continued the Old Testament idea that the coming of Christ and the day of the Lord are imminent when looked at from the perspective of God's overall timetable. Neither Jesus nor the apostles seemed to be worried about at hand, near, and quickly as used in the Old Testament referring to extended lengths of time (see Chapter 11). Neither should we. Likewise, we should not worry about this same practice when it has been carried over to the New Testament.

Mr. Fenley gives many, many examples of passages that talk about Christ returning shortly, iterated in one form or another. These are intended as proofs that Jesus then had to have come back within the first generation. However, if God sees a value for every generation to know the cleansing effect of anticipating a soon return of the Lord and if He so pleases as to write Scripture in such a way as to produce this hope, then I certainly have no right to find fault, as does the preterist. I am not God's judge, unlike the preterist. Rather, I myself have this hope, even as I believe God wants me to. And, I am ready to give reasons why I think the hope is valid for me, yet also recognizing that God has the right to delay matters yet further if He so chooses.

At the end of the book of Revelation, the Apostle John records the following words of encouragement given him by Jesus:

He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming quickly." Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! (Rev 22:20)

John's heart cry was that Jesus would indeed come quickly. It is mine, too. Is it yours? God wants it to be.

The following ten reasons to shun preterism summarize the above discussion:

1. Scripturally, the preterist is a deceiver, being one who teaches that Jesus has come back before the man of sin has been revealed. (pp. 5-7).

2. It forces one into doctrines which God says identify those who do not belong to him. (pp. 9-10).

3. It is called profane and idle babblings by God. (p. 11).

4. God calls its spread a cancer. (p. 11).

5. God says that those espousing it have strayed from the truth. (p. 12).

6. God says that those espousing it have lost their senses. (p. 12).

7. God says that those espousing it have been taken captive by the devil. (p. 12).

8. It teaches a person to blaspheme the character of God. (pp. 13-14).

9. It teaches a person to make himself the judge of God, thus denying God's sovereignty. (p. 13).

10. It is not consistent with reality. (p. 16).

A person should be terrified of having anything to do with this doctrine.

We will next study some of the time passages themselves.

We saw that in 2 Timothy 2:16 God called the arguments of the early-church preterists foolish and idle babblings. We saw from 2 Thessalonians 2 that if the modern-day preterist cannot identify the man of sin, that he should then be counted a deceiver, even as those of the early church were. So, if the modern-day preterist is simply continuing the sames errors as Hymenaeus and Philetus did in the early church, we should expect that their arguments will likewise be foolish and idle babblings. In other words, when examined carefully, their arguments will be found to have no substance.

The Bible says that Satan is the source of early-church preterism. By observation we see that Satan's rhetoric typically consists of slander, ridicule, twisting passages, and outright misstatement of fact. In examing the rhetoric used in SCOJCAH to establish modern-day preterism, we will see that it follows this same pattern. This would seem to confirm that the modern-day preterist has likewise been taken captive by Satan to do his will.

One of the major arguments presented in SCOJCAH for the preterist position is the abundance of certain "time phrases" which imply that Jesus is going to return soon. There are primarily three of these: shortly, near, and at hand. Many verses in the New Testament use these phrases in reference to when Jesus will return. For practical purposes these words may be considered synonyms. SCOJCAH goes to great length in an effort to prove that the total impact of these passages requires Jesus to have returned during the "first generation", while at least some of those hearing Him speak were still alive.

However, all of this rhetoric is rendered meaningless by one simple fact: Phrases such as at hand, quickly, and near are also used in the Old Testament concerning the time of the approaching Day of the Lord. These passages were typically written between 600 and 800 years before the crucifixion and resurrection. Yet, they still had not taken place by then. God was able to have Isaiah say that the Day of the Lord was at hand, yet have it still be pending at least some 800 years later. Instead of at hand referring to something which must take place within the lifetime of its hearers, it rather appears to refer to something which will definitely happen at some point in time, something which God wants the hearer to apply to himself, something that could be but is not required to be at any moment, and something for which only God knows the exact timing of its occurance. Whether the elapsed time between the prophecy and fulfillment is a single generation or dozens of generations is not the issue. Rather, the issue is the repentance and faithfulness that God desires from the expectancy of imminency. If the preterist were willing to understand and accept this principle, he could have avoided backing himself into all of the heresy we discussed earlier.

This chapter will be devoted to studying the Old Testament at hand and similar passages.

The phrase The Day of the Lord examined.

The Bible teaches that someday the entire world is going to endure a severe judgment. In describing this judgment, Jesus said it was a time of when "there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened." (Matthew 24:21:22). This is a time of judgment yet future to the days of Jesus which is unique in its severity. In fact, in discussing this period the Book of Revelation has passage after passage talking about how here a quarter of the world died (Revelation 6:8), there a third died (Revelation 9:18), and unstated numbers elsewhere (Revelation 8:10, 19:19-21). By the time all of the plagues are finished only a small percentage of the world's population will remain alive compared to the number at the beginning of the period. Worse than this is the terror experienced by those who don't die; they desire death and yet it is taken from them (Revelation 9:6.) Indeed, the Book of Revelation itself refers to these events as "the great tribulation" (Revelation 7:14). These things are still yet future to us; a world-wide judgment of this severity has yet to take place.

Jesus mentioned some interesting things about this time. There will be severe disturbances in the heavens. Indeed, He says, "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. (Matthew 24:29).

The doctrine of a coming day of severe judgment did not originate with Jesus or the New Testament. It was taught by many of the Old Testament prophets. From the Old Testament perspective, the primary focus of the judgment was towards Israel, even though some of the prophecies incude the whole world in their scope. The term commonly used for this time of severe judgment is the "Day of the Lord.".

In His wisdom and sovereignty God frequently has chosen to cloak prophecies which have a long-term future fulfillment within those which are more immediate. Thus, in Matthew 1:22-23 the New Testament explicitly states that Isaiah 7:14 refers to the birth of Jesus Christ. Yet, certain portions of the passage seem to apply more appropriately to the birth of Isaiah's son, described in Isaiah 8 and representing a more immediate fulfillment. Likewise, in Daniel 11:31 the abomination of desolation ties in with the desecration of the temple by Antiochus Epiphanes on December 15, 167 B.C.; a good Study Bible can identify from secular history every personal reference in Daniel 11 up to the time of Antiochus. Yet, Jesus in Matthew 24:15 describes the abomination of desolation as something yet future to him, taking place during tribulation period. Indeed, it is when the Jews see the abomination of desolation that they are to flee to the mountains. Incidentally, the abomination of desolation is the same event as the man of sin proclaiming himself as God in the temple, described in 2 Thessalonians 2 and which we discussed earlier. These examples are not unique; they provide a Biblical pattern repeated many times over. (As a parenthesis, using this model to address certain preterist claims, the destruction of the temple in 70 A.D. was no more the long-term fulfillment of Luke 21:20-21 than Isaiah's wife giving birth to a son was the long-term fulfillment of the virgin birth of Christ.)

The significance of this is that many of the Old Testament prophecies concerning the Day of the Lord follow this same pattern. Sometimes the phrase may refer to a relatively near fulfillment, other times an end-time fulfillment. Frequently the two are merged, with portions of a passage referring to one and other portions another.

A. Isaiah 13:1-22 The first Old Testament passage we will examine is Isaiah 13:1-22. From its style and its placement in the book, it is believed that this prophecy was given relatively early in Isaiah's ministry, perhaps around 710 B.C. The key verses are highlighted for convenience.

1The burden against Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.

2"Lift up a banner on the high mountain, raise your voice to them; wave your hand, that they may enter the gates of the nobles.

3I have commanded My sanctified ones; I have also called My mighty ones for My anger-- those who rejoice in My exaltation."

4The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like that of many people! A tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together! The LORD of hosts musters the army for battle.

5They come from a far country, from the end of heaven-- the LORD and His weapons of indignation, to destroy the whole land.

6Wail, for the day of the LORD is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty.

7Therefore all hands will be limp, every man's heart will melt,

8And they will be afraid. Pangs and sorrows will take hold of them; they will be in pain as a woman in childbirth; they will be amazed at one another; their faces will be like flames.

9Behold, the day of the LORD comes, cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; and He will destroy its sinners from it.

10For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be darkened in its going forth, and the moon will not cause its light to shine.

11"I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will halt the arrogance of the proud, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.

12I will make a mortal more rare than fine gold, a man more than the golden wedge of Ophir.

13Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth will move out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts and in the day of His fierce anger.

14It shall be as the hunted gazelle, and as a sheep that no man takes up; every man will turn to his own people, and everyone will flee to his own land.

15Everyone who is found will be thrust through, and everyone who is captured will fall by the sword.

16Their children also will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses will be plundered and their wives ravished.

18Also their bows will dash the young men to pieces, and they will have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye will not spare children.

20It will never be inhabited, nor will it be settled from generation to generation; nor will the Arabian pitch tents there, nor will the shepherds make their sheepfolds there.

21But wild beasts of the desert will lie there, and their houses will be full of owls; Ostriches will dwell there, and wild goats will caper there.

22The hyenas will howl in their citadels, and jackals in their pleasant palaces. Her time is near to come, and her days will not be prolonged."

This passage mixes both a near-term fulfillment and a long-term. The early part of the passage parallels things Jesus and the New Testament say apply to the tribulation period. The latter part refers to the destruction of Babylon by the Medes and Persians in 539 B.C.

These are the things that refer to the tribulation period:

7Therefore all hands will be limp, every man's heart will melt, 8And they will be afraid.

This is paralleled in the Book of Revelation with:

And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! "For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?" (Revelation 6:15-17)

In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them. (Revelation 9:6)

Continuing in verse 8 of Isaiah, we read

...they will be in pain as a woman in childbirth;

And it is Jesus Himself who uses this phraseology for the early tribulation period:

"All these are the beginning of birth pangs." (Matthew 4:8)

Then, in verse 9 we read,

9Behold, the day of the LORD comes, cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; and He will destroy its sinners from it.

A few lines previously, we quoted Revelation 6:17 which describes the tribulation in Revelation as a time of wrath and great anger. Indeed, the entire content of Revelation 6 through 19 describes the destruction of sinners, a period unique in its terror and cruelty, and a time of God outpouring His wrath on the world.

Next, Isaiah talked about cosmic disturbances:

10For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be darkened in its going forth, and the moon will not cause its light to shine.

13Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth will move out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts and in the day of His fierce anger.

There is something really important concerning these cosmic disturbances. Jesus indicated that the future tribulation would be marked by them. Various Old Testament prophets refer to them. Significantly, the only place in the Bible that discusses their fulfillment is in the Book of Revelation (6:112-14, 8:12-13, 16:8-9). If there were any such disturbances during the near-term Old Testament fulfillments, Scripture does not record them, nor does secular history. If one limits himself to things written and not to empty speculation, then he is led to the natural conclusion that the Old Testament passages referring to cosmic disturbances during the Day of the Lord are referring to the tribulation period. This becomes important as a hermeneutic tool to help us decipher which is near-term and which is long-term in its fulfillment.

Now, having laid this background, we are ready for a really interesting study. In verse 6 of the above passage, Isaiah says that the Day of the Lord, is at hand. I.e., it is imminent. It will take place shortly. This is the same phraseology that the preterist uses as foundational to his doctrine. The question becomes, how is at hand in the Old Testament used? The answer to this question completely destroys the basis of the preterist argument.

The quoted passage from Isaiah has two fulfillments, a tribulation-period portion discussed right after the at hand comment is made and a nearer-term portion concluding the passage; the nearer-term portion referring to the destruction of Babylon by the Medes and the Persians in 539 B.C.

For the sake of argument, without conceding the point, suppose that at hand in verse 6 really refers only to the nearer-term fulfillment. We can then provide a precise statement of the length of time the phrase encompassed.

In about 710 B.C. Isaiah gives the prophecy, saying the Day of the Lord is at hand. 100 years later in 610 B.C. Babylon conquers Assyria. This is not the fulfillment. 124 years later, in 586 B.C., Babylon conquers Jerusalem. This is not the fulfillment. 180 years later, in 539 B.C., the Medes and Persians conquer Babylon. This, at last, is a fulfillment of the nearer-term of the passage.

So, at the very shortest, at hand in this passage represents about 180 years, almost 5 generations. Certainly, no one who was alive at the time the prophecy was initially delivered, no matter how young, would have remained alive until its fulfillment. It is likely that none of their children would have, either. Perhaps a few of their grandchildren might have seen the fulfillment. Hence, it is obvious that when God uses at hand to refer to the coming Day of the Lord, He has in mind periods of time involving many generations. This has extremely serious implications which cast doubt on the entire foundation of preterist logic and interpretation.

Beyond, this, other Old Testament passages refer to the events of the Day of the Lord as being at hand even when they specifically refer to a tribulation period fulfillment. Hence, there is no Scriptural reason to assert that at hand in verse 6 does not actually refer to the later period fulfillment. In this case, if one assumes that the preterist position is true and the fulfillment of the later-period portions of Isaiah 13 took place in 70 A.D., then the time between 710 B.C. and 70 A.D. is 780 years. In this case at hand would represent a period much closer to 1,000 years than it does to a span within a single generation. However, if one takes the position that these events of Isaiah 13 are still future even to us now, then at hand refers to a period of time approaching 3,000 years. Hence, no matter how one interprets the passage, at hand refers to a period of time short from the perspective of an eternal God discussing major events in the flow of eternity, even though they are long to us from a human perspective. One does well to remember that from God's perspective, we are as grass, here today and gone tomorrow, barely reaching our glory before we wither. (Compare James 1:11, 1 Peter 1:24.)

Joel was another Old Testament prophet discussing the day of the Lord. His book is thought to have been written in approximately 800 BC, which would be almost one hundred years earlier even than Isaiah. The occasion of Joel's writing was an invasion of locusts which was currently underway, devastating the land. Joel presents this as an outworking of God's judgment and calls the people to repentance. He then uses the locust plague as a metaphor to introduce the events of the Day of the Lord associated with the tribulation period, which comprises the material of chapter 2. Notice how in chapter 2 verses 2 - 5 the word like appears 8 times. Joel is no longer referring to specific, observed events, he is using near events as a figurative comparison of the future day which is so terrible. We again have cosmic disturbances presented:

10The earth quakes before them, the heavens tremble; the sun and moon grow dark, and the stars diminish their brightness. Joel 2:10

30"And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood and fire and pillars of smoke. 31The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD. Joel 2:30-31.

so this is actually tribulation period fulfillment.

What is the timing of this horrible judgment to come upon Israel if she does not repent? It is at hand. God can bring it about at any time and people need to be aware that it is pending and imminent. However, it happens that its actual, complete fulfillment would be future to Peter, who quoted portions of it in Acts 2 and it is still future to us today.

For the sake of convenience, most of Joel 1 and 2 is quoted below:

3Tell your children about it, let your children tell their children, and their children another generation. 4What the chewing locust left, the swarming locust has eaten; what the swarming locust left, the crawling locust has eaten; and what the crawling locust left, the consuming locust has eaten. 5Awake, you drunkards, and weep; and wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the new wine, for it has been cut off from your mouth.

...

15Alas for the day! For the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as destruction from the Almighty.

16Is not the food cut off before our eyes, joy and gladness from the house of our God?

17The seed shrivels under the clods, storehouses are in shambles; Barns are broken down, for the grain has withered.

18How the animals groan! The herds of cattle are restless, because they have no pasture; even the flocks of sheep suffer punishment.

19O LORD, to You I cry out; for fire has devoured the open pastures, and a flame has burned all the trees of the field.

20The beasts of the field also cry out to You, for the water brooks are dried up, and fire has devoured the open pastures.

CHAPTER 2

1Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; for the day of the LORD is coming, for it is at hand:

2A day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, like the morning clouds spread over the mountains. A people come, great and strong, the like of whom has never been; nor will there ever be any such after them, even for many successive generations.

3A fire devours before them, and behind them a flame burns; the land is like the Garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; surely nothing shall escape them.

4Their appearance is like the appearance of horses; and like swift steeds, so they run.

5With a noise like chariots over mountaintops they leap, like the noise of a flaming fire that devours the stubble, like a strong people set in battle array.

6Before them the people writhe in pain; all faces are drained of color.

7They run like mighty men, they climb the wall like men of war; every one marches in formation, and they do not break ranks.

8They do not push one another; every one marches in his own column. Though they lunge between the weapons, they are not cut down.

9They run to and fro in the city, they run on the wall; they climb into the houses, they enter at the windows like a thief.

10The earth quakes before them, the heavens tremble; the sun and moon grow dark, and the stars diminish their brightness.

11The LORD gives voice before His army, for His camp is very great; for strong is the One who executes His word. For the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; who can endure it?

12"Now, therefore," says the LORD, "Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning."

13So rend your heart, and not your garments; return to the LORD your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; and He relents from doing harm.

14Who knows if He will turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind Him-- a grain offering and a drink offering for the LORD your God?

15Blow the trumpet in Zion, consecrate a fast, call a sacred assembly;

16Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children and nursing babes; let the bridegroom go out from his chamber, and the bride from her dressing room.

17Let the priests, who minister to the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar; let them say, "Spare Your people, O LORD, and do not give Your heritage to reproach, that the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, 'Where is their God?'"

18Then the LORD will be zealous for His land, and pity His people.

19The LORD will answer and say to His people, "Behold, I will send you grain and new wine and oil, and you will be satisfied by them; I will no longer make you a reproach among the nations.

20"But I will remove far from you the northern army, and will drive him away into a barren and desolate land, with his face toward the eastern sea and his back toward the western sea; his stench will come up, and his foul odor will rise, because he has done monstrous things."

21Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice, for the LORD has done marvelous things!

22Do not be afraid, you beasts of the field; for the open pastures are springing up, and the tree bears its fruit; the fig tree and the vine yield their strength.

23Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God; for He has given you the former rain faithfully, and He will cause the rain to come down for you-- the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month.

24The threshing floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil.

25"So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the crawling locust, the consuming locust, and the chewing locust, my great army which I sent among you.

26You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, who has dealt wondrously with you; and My people shall never be put to shame.

32And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, as the LORD has said, among the remnant whom the LORD calls.

Of course, Peter in Acts 2:17-21 quoted verses 28-32 above. Peter commented that the speaking in foreign languages observed by the people in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost was what Joel was talking about, i.e., it was the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the last days. The last days started with the beginning of the church age and continues until the return of Christ to set up His Millenial kingdom. We are now in this period. However, the Day of Pentecost was only a partial, nearer-term fulfillment than the complete passage encompasses. The cosmic disturbances and other portions of the passage which were not fulfilled on Pentecost will match things to happen during the tribulation period, which is also contained within the terminology of last days.

Finally, near the end of the third and last chapter of Joel, the day of the LORD is stated to be imminent, although this time the term near is used instead of at hand. This passage is a very clear prophecy for the tribulation period, not only because of the reference to the cosmic disturbances contained within it, but also because of the Millenial kingdom blessings said to immediately follow it:

14Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. 15 The sun and moon will grow dark, and the stars will diminish their brightness. 16The LORD also will roar from Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem; the heavens and earth will shake; but the LORD will be a shelter for His people, and the strength of the children of Israel. 17"So you shall know that I am the LORD your God, dwelling in Zion My holy mountain. Then Jerusalem shall be holy, and no aliens shall ever pass through her again." 18 And it will come to pass in that day that the mountains shall drip with new wine, the hills shall flow with milk, and all the brooks of Judah shall be flooded with water; a fountain shall flow from the house of the LORD and water the Valley of Acacias. (Joel 3:14-18).

No Jew living in Jerusalem today and looking at the Dome of the Rock every time he passes through the city would deny that this passage has not been fulfilled so far. Jerusalem is still trodden down by the gentiles. Aliens still dwell in it. Furthermore, the Millennial blessings spoken of in verse 18, which are to happen in that day, are still yet future. Hence, that day is still future. The Day of the LORD referred to in verse 14 is still future after a delay of almost 3,000 years. Yet, when God gave the prophecy to Joel, He said the time was NEAR.

From these passages in Isaiah and Joel, it should be obvious that God does indeed use phrases like near and at hand to refer to periods of time that seem long to us but short to Him. It seems that it would be more productive if the preterist were to acknowledge this and see what implied message God has in this usage of words, than in trying to use elaborate logic to deny it. This is particularly the case when the denial leads to all of the problems we have discussed earlier.

Incidentally, Joel shows that the inclusion of Millennial blessings within the terminology of the Day of the Lord, which is commonly done in the New Testament, has an Old Testament basis. The significance of this is that now the O.T. Day of the Lord passages can legitimately be associated with the events related to the second coming of Christ. Thus, when the New Testament uses time phrases such as at hand and near to mean long periods of time humanly speaking in order to refer to the timing of the second coming, it truly is only carrying on a tradition established by the Old Testament. Relative terms which imply imminence can actually refer to extensive periods of time from a human perspective.

Zephaniah is believed to have delivered his prophecy in about 630 B.C., during the reign of Josiah.

14The great day of the LORD is near; it is near and hastens quickly. The noise of the day of the LORD is bitter; there the mighty men shall cry out. 15That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of devastation and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, 16A day of trumpet and alarm against the fortified cities and against the high towers. 17"I will bring distress upon men, and they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD; their blood shall be poured out like dust, and their flesh like refuse." 18Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of His jealousy, for He will make speedy riddance of all those who dwell in the land. (Zephaniah 1:14-18)

8"Therefore wait for Me," says the LORD, "Until the day I rise up for plunder; my determination is to gather the nations to My assembly of kingdoms, to pour on them My indignation, all my fierce anger; all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of My jealousy. 9"For then I will restore to the peoples a pure language, that they all may call on the name of the LORD, to serve Him with one accord. (Zephaniah 3:8-9)

Zephaniah here in 1:14 refers to the "GREAT day of the Lord;" the implication is that this is the tribulation period, not a minor precursor. Furthermore, the phrase in verse 1:15, "A day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness," is the exact wording quoted in Joel 2:2 above for a description of the tribulation period. Hence, this passage most definitely has tribulational aspects in view.

Furthermore, in verse 3:8 God specifically indicates that He views a day in which He will pour out his fierce anger and indignation on all of the earth. Then, in verse 3:9, He states that at that time He will then bring about a restoration, a restoration which we associate with the Millennial blessings.

So, what is the timing that God uses for Zephaniah's prophecy about the GREAT Day of the Lord? It is said to be near and hastens quickly (verse 1:14). Yet, it is still future to us today.

D. Obadiah 15 Obadiah was written perhaps around 850 B.C., although the date is not clear. In verse 15 we read the following:

"For the day of the LORD upon all the nations is near; as you have done, it shall be done to you; your reprisal shall return upon your own head.

The day of the LORD upon all the nations refers to the tribulation period. Yet, Obadiah says it is near.

Words such as near and quickly and phrases such as at hand are by their very nature extremely ambiguous. For instance, if a man tells his wife that he is down the street at the grocery store and is coming home soon, she would probably expect him to be home in less than an hour. If a volcano has a history of erupting once every one hundred and fifty years or so, and if it has been 160 years since the last major eruption, one may say that he expects the volcano to erupt soon and soon may mean somewhere within the next several years. At hand, shortly, and soon are all relative words; they only have meaning when their reference of comparison is understood. In God's overall timetable for eternity, even thousands of years is a short time period. Hence, when God says that the day of the Lord is at hand, meaning that it will soon appear, His reference period is apparently time from His perspective, not from ours. As sovereign God, He has a right to state it from this perspective if He so chooses.

Our analysis should have made it fairly obvious that God's frame of reference for interpreting Old Testament time passages is from His perspective and not man's. Thus, the significance of 2 Peter 3:8 is that it explicitly states that this same frame of reference applies to the New Testament as well. We have seen that the concept of using time passages referenced against God's eternal nature is not new to the New Testament, it is simply a continuation of what had already clearly been established in the Old Testament. So, 2 Peter 3:8 does not stand alone as a tool for interpreting time passages, it merely confirms a scope already established by the Old Testament.

One should always keep in mind that the New Testament time statements were worded so as to give a certain expectancy to every generation that they might be the ones to see the Messiah. The manner in which they were written has effectively accomplished this purpose. The preterist has completely missed the point concerning why God used them the way He did. God has been gracious enough to give us the Old Testament examples so that we can see how He intended these phrases to be understood. Hence, we should not allow ourselves to get carried away with improper logic, twisting the New Testament time phrases into things God never intended.

On page 37 Mr. Fenley quotes Matthew 24:32-34

When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: 33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. 34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall ^{not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.}

Mr. Fenley concludes that the generation of Jesus' audience would be the generation in which his return would be fulfilled. However, the grammar of the Greek text discounts this conclusion, although in all fairness to Mr. Fenley the English Bible mistranslates it. Specifically, the words "when you shall see” need to be more carefully analyzed. The word "when" has the Greek suffix "an" added to it. This indicates that an action is merely possible, not certain. Likewise, the verb shall see is actually in the subjunctive mood, which indicates possibility, not certainty. It should more properly be translated might see.

Remember our earlier discussion that God desires each generation to anticipate our Lord's coming to be within his own lifetime? The wording of this passage is consistent with this perspective. A more accurate rendering of the passage would be: "So likewise you, if you happen to see all of these things, then whenever you do know that it is near..." Notice, the passage does NOT promise that the specific generation to whom Jesus was directly speaking would see these things, only that it MIGHT be the one to do so. Indeed, whenever these things are seen, in whatever generation that might be, then that generation will be the one to "experience His parousia." So, the wording of this passage is completely consistent with what we would expect from Scripture in accordance with God's stated purposes and objectives: The first generation could legitimately hope that the Lord Jesus Christ might come during his lifetime, but had no specific assurances of when it would be.

Technically speaking, the things that Jesus says will preceed His appearing are things associated with the tribulation period. We know that the tribulation period totals seven years in length. Notice that the Matthew passage does teach that once the signs of the tribulation period have been seen, then generation will not pass away until Jesus has returned. Since there will be less than seven years from the time that the signs are seen until the return, Jesus statement will certainly be fulfilled.

This passage does not justify the preterist position.

B. Last of All On page 43 Mr. Fenley makes a big "to-do" about the phrase "last of all" when Jesus is talking to the Pharisees in Matthew 21:33-35. We will not read or discuss the entire passage. Mr. Fenley makes the following statement in his analysis of the passage:

I believe this argument has completely missed the point of the passage. The phrase "last of all" simply means "last in sequence". God the Father sent a string of prophets, then He sent His Son. Once He sent His Son, He did not go back to sending prophets again. I have no problems personally with taking this parable at face value. Any effort to read a time statement into the passage is imaginative an