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David Chilton (1987) Those who were unable to attend the regular Feast of Passover were required to celebrate it a month later (Numbers 9:9-13). Josephus reports a third great wonder that happened at the end of this Second Passover in 66: “A supernatural apparition was seen, too amazing to be believed. What I am now to relate would, I imagine, be dismissed as imaginary, had this not been vouched for by eyewitnesses, then followed by subsequent disasters that deserved to be thus signalized. For before sunset chariots were seen in the air over the whole country, and armed battalions speeding through the clouds and encircling the cities.” (Jerusalem Under Siege) |
Matthew 24: Before the Second Coming of Jesus By Eric Fugett In this article, "A Personal Revelation" author, Eric Fugett explains the signs of Matthew 24 that describe the events that were to occur before Jesus returned. In Matthew 23, Jesus blasts the religious leaders for their hypocrisy and concludes by telling them that judgment, for all of the righteous blood that has been shed from Abel to Zechariah, will come upon that generation. The Greek word for generation here and in Matthew 24:34 is "genea", which means the time period of the people being spoken to. I would think that if he wanted them to just teach future generations what to look for that he would have used the Greek word "genos". Jesus repeats, and thus emphasizes, that judgment is coming upon Israel/Jerusalem by stating that their house will be left desolate. When Matthew 24 begins, Jesus is now alone with his disciples, who are in awe of the beauty of the temple. He tells them that not one stone (of the temple) will be left on another. This, as we know from history, was fulfilled when Titus and the Roman armies destroyed the temple on the Jewish day, Ab 10 or August 5, 70 CE. Babylon destroyed the temple on Ab 10 or July 30, 587 BCE. Babylon destroyed Jerusalem on the same day as the temple and Rome destroyed Jerusalem on September 2, 70 CE. All of these days occurred on Sundays and were the "Day of The Lord" prophesied about in their respective time periods (See my article on The Day of The Lord). Quite naturally his disciples inquire as to when this will happen, what signs will foretell that Jesus is coming, and when the end of the age will occur. Jesus tells them, those disciples who are present with him, what signs to look for in determining these events. So let's take a look at some of the signs that would precede his coming, the destruction of the temple/Jerusalem, and the end of the age. Upon careful examination, we find that in all three gospel accounts of the end of the age, Matthew 24:32-35, Mark 13:28-31, and Luke 21:29-31, Jesus mentions fig trees. The month of Elul (August-September) is the time of year for harvesting figs. Jesus also tells his disciples to pray that their flight will not take place in winter. One of the seasons bracketed by summer and winter is fall. Is Jesus giving his disciples a hint as to when to get out of Jerusalem before he returns? In Matthew 24:31, Jesus also tells his disciples that he will send his angels with a loud trumpet sound to gather his elect. The trumpet blast is in reference to Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah) that is celebrated in the Jewish month of Tishri (September-October). Using this symbology, I have also dated the book of Revelation. (See my article on Dating the book of Revelation.) Jesus also mentions a harvesting or ingathering of the elect, which is a reference to the Feast of Ingathering (Tabernacles) that is also celebrated in the Jewish month of Tishri. This deciphering of symbols is understandable if we keep in mind that Matthew was written with a Jewish audience in mind. In Matthew 24:15-16, Jesus said to his disciples, "So when you see, ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel-let the reader understand-then let those in Judea flee to the mountains." Mark 13:14 tells us that "the abomination that causes desolation" will be standing where it does not belong. In Luke 21:20, Jesus told his disciples that when they saw Jerusalem being surrounded by armies that its desolation would be near. As far as I can tell, all three of the Gospel accounts are talking about the same incident. So, I think the only way to make sense of these passages is to equate "the abomination standing in the holy place", mentioned in both Matthew’s and Mark’s accounts, to the armies surrounding Jerusalem in Luke’s account. Remember that Luke's writing was written with a non-Jewish audience in mind. Josephus tells us that on October 4, 66 CE (Tishri 27, 3827) that Cestius Gallus, the governor of the province, brought his troops to Jerusalem and surrounded the city. On October 7, 66 CE (Tishri 30, 3827), Cestius Gallus’ troops proceeded all the way up to the temple area (Josephus, The Wars, Book II, Chapter 19, Sections 4-6). Josephus believed that Gallus would have taken Jerusalem had he continued his siege a little longer. He also believed that it was an act of God that Gallus did not end the war at that time (Josephus, The Wars, Book II, Chapter 19, Sections 4-6). Instead, Gallus withdrew his troops from Jerusalem in October of 66 CE. The Christians left Jerusalem shortly after this withdrawal (Josephus, The Wars, Book II, Chapter 20, Section 1). The Romans came back in 67 CE and waged war against the Jews living in Judea. Three and a half years later they destroyed the city of Jerusalem. Now we have a definitive incident that correlates the abominable act (Gentile troops in the holy place) to the desolation (of Jerusalem). Taking this even further, we can now correlate the abominable acts of Daniel 8:13 and 11:31 fulfilled under Antiochus IV Epiphanes in 167 BCE to what Jesus is referencing in the 1st Century. In 167 BCE, Antiochus IV Epiphanes marched his troops into the temple area, which was an abomination in similar fashion to that of Cestius Gallus. He also sacrificed pigs on God’s altar (Josephus, The Antiquities, Book 12, Chapter 5, Section 4). This shedding of pigs’ blood on the altar was definitely an abominable act. In actuality, the abomination was twofold. Cestius surrounding Jerusalem in 66 CE does equate with Antiochus doing the same in thing 167 BCE. The part that relates to the pigs blood being spilled on the altar occurred 1290 days from the time that sacrifices ended like Daniel 12 says. (1290 days = 3 1/2 years, 1260 days, or 42 months + Adar Sheni, the Jewish leap year month which occurs every 2-3 years). In Elul (August-September) of 66 CE, Eleazar, the governor of the temple and the son of Ananias the high priest, persuaded the officials to cease to allow any foreigner to make sacrifice offerings (Josephus, The Wars, Book II, Chapter 17, Section 2 and Section 8). Just before Passover in 70 CE, John’s men killed the priests, and others who were making sacrifices at the altar. (John, along with Eleazar and Simon were the three rebel faction leaders within Jerusalem during the 1290 day period. They were also the reason Revelation 16:19 says that the city was split into three parts.) This shedding of the priests’ blood on the altar is the correlating act to the shedding of the pigs’ blood on the altar by Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Regarding this act, Josephus writes,
Hopefully you have determined that these events are what Jesus was referring to when He warned his disciples to get out of Jerusalem before He came. Perhaps Gallus did not take Jerusalem because as Matthew 24:22 tells us, the days had to be cut short for the sake of the elect. Regardless of whether you realize it or not, the Christians in Jerusalem definitely did. They followed Jesus' instructions and were not in Jerusalem when the Roman armies destroyed it. I've already explained (in my article on the 1st & 2nd Coming of Jesus) that the Second Coming of Jesus began with Vespasian's coming to Judea and culminated three and half years later when his son Titus and the Roman armies destroyed Jerusalem. By the way, Vespasian came in the spring of 67 CE around the time of Passover. If you recall my statement earlier in this article about Jesus bracketing the seasons, spring is the other season that is bracketed by summer and winter. Send an email with your comments to todd @ preteristarchive.com Be sure to include the article name. They will be posted shortly upon receipt Date: 23 Dec 2004 CommentsYou deserve credit because, unlike most other preterists, you're trying to understand and explain the critically important first-century fulfillment of the seven feasts of Lev. 23 (the key to understanding MT. 24 and the book of Revelation). But remember that in the OT AFTER God used Babylon to destroy Jerusalem and the temple, he then punished Babylon for its arrogance. Therefore, in the years AFTER (Mk. 13:24) God used spiritual Babylon (first-century Rome) to destroy Jerusalem and the temple in AD 70, he then punished Rome for its arrogance (in Mk. 13:24 the word "days" is used in its figurative sense to mean "years," just as in Mt. 24:37,38 and 1 Pet. 3:20 "the days of Noah" means "the years of Noah"). Preterists have always failed to recognize the SEPARATE, first-century SPIRITUAL judgments of the old, natural, Christ-rejecting Israel and the old, natural, Christ-rejecting world (the Roman Empire in that day), neither of which occurred in AD 70. Date: 23 Dec 2004 CommentsThe simple fact that somehow is unseen by preterists and futurists alike is this: The NATURAL judgment of the old world occurred when the flood came in the clouds in the last day and hour of a 100-year period (Noah aging from 500 to 600) that is described in Gen. 7:1 as "this generation" and the SPIRITUAL judgment of the post-flood world occurred when Christ came in the clouds in the last day and hour of a fulfillment 100-year period (the true first century) that is described in Mt. 24:34 as "this generation." First the natural things of the OT, then the spiritual things of the NT (1 Cor. 15:46) Date: 23 Dec 2004 CommentsI do see that there may be something to what you are saying because I too believe it was 100 years from the birth of Jesus to the death of Domitian. Date: 27 Dec 2004 CommentsThe Greek word for generation here and in Matthew 24:34 is "genea", which means the time period of the people being spoken to. I would think that if he wanted them to just teach future generations what to look for that he would have used the Greek word "genos". I have understood that Matthew was written in Hebrew. If that's the case then I do not see how this statement is relevant to Fugetts arguement. Date: 27 Dec 2004 CommentsI agree that Matthew had Jewish readers in mind. However, someone translated it to Greek using "genea", so I can only guess that they understood what he meant. The fact that Matthew had a Jewish audience in mind is why I interpret the symbols the way that I do. I think that in order to understand it better from a Gentile point of view, we should focus on Luke's account. As far as I'm concerned, Matthew 24 is a Dispensationalist's smoke screen because not many of us understand the OT symbolism. Just my thoughts. Eric Date: 29 Dec 2004 CommentsThe spirituality of the inspired NT writers has always far exceeded the spirituality of their readers. Bible students traditionally have been unable to deal with spiritual things because spiritual things are invisible. Thus, it has rarely been understood that the old, natural and temporary Israel passed away IN THE SIGHT OF GOD when the new, spiritual and eternal Israel appeared in the spring of AD 30 and that the old, natural and temporary world passed away IN THE SIGHT OF GOD when the new, spiritual and eternal world appeared in autumn of AD 96. ALL things were made new in the first century (Rev. 21:5). It is the newly created spiritual world that is described in Rev. 21 and 22. The new Jerusalem, created earlier in the century, descended into that new world. Date: 22 Mar 2005 Date: 06 Aug 2006 Date: 26 Jan 2007 |
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Opened in 1996 |
Warning: "Full
Preterist" material is being archived for balanced representation of all
Christian Preterist views, but its premise is deemed by the opinion of
the curator (a
former full preterist) to be "toxic theology." Due to its
brash and "letter-based" appeal to the flesh and "things seen," it very
subtly draws people away from the truth of the Spirit and His "unseen things"
(core components of the system being extra-biblical history and logic -- because there is
not one full preterist verse which looks back to
fulfillment in ad70,
it is based entirely upon deductive reasoning). If you have already
adopted this viewpoint, please seriously consider that according to full
preterism, AD70 was not only the end of Old Testament Judaism, but it was also
the end of the revelation of Christianity as seen in the New Testament.
This is done by teaching that AD70 was a "dispensational line"
regarding redemption and the like which makes the revealed New Testament
Christianity completely different from that of today (faith vs. sight ; hope vs.
fulfilled, no more paraclete work of the Holy Spirit, much etc.).
Teaching such a wholesale overthrow of biblical
Christianity is hugely irresponsible and catastrophically dangerous, is it not?
If the New Testament scriptures do not reveal our circumstances as
Christians, then what does? If you find yourself reading the Bible through
the filter of AD70, trying to decide what applies to today and what does not,
then you know you are already coming under the influence of this tendency. Please also note that the earliest
known adherents of full preterism later abandoned it, as have many contemporary
former full preterists, including the curator of this archive (after a decade
of promotion). The "past spiritual resurrection" view is the theology that Paul
condemned in II Timothy 2:17-18, and the cessationism of this view likewise
overthrows faith and hope -- by doctrinal insistence that faith has been turned
into sight, and that hope became a tree of life in AD70, etc. The article
which follows is deemed "full preterist" in nature
-- so please proceed with extreme caution. If this article is not "full
preterist" in nature, please notify me and I will have it reclassified.
