Enrico, the end of the age occurred as a result of Christ's return in 70 AD. The phrase, "consummation of the age" is used 5 times in the New Testament, 4 times in Matthew, two of which occur in the parable of the tares, (Matt. 13:39-43), one in chapter 24:3, and the last occurs in 28:20. The other occurrence is found in Hebrews 9:26, which says that Christ appeared in the end of the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. So, we ask, in what age did Christ live and die? He was born of a woman born under the Law [of Moses]. Therefore, the age in which He both lived and died was the Old Covenant age. It was the age ruled by sin and death (separation from God) over which Satan reigned being called the "god of this age." (2 Cor. 4:4). However, as the parable of the tares and Matt. 24:3 indicates, the end of the Old Covenant age did not occur at Jesus' death, but at his parousia, i.e. return in glory. This is why the Bible yet speaks of the Old Covenant age as "this present evil age" (Gal. 1:4), which along with its Jewish rulers who crucified the Lord of glory was coming to nothing (1 Cor. 2:6-8). Hence, the Bible speaks what then was the future age as the "age to come (Eph. 1:21; Heb. 6:5)." However that age arrived in A.D. 70 and is the present age in which we experience restored fellowship to Christ and the Father. This age is the age in which Christ is glorified and which has no end (Eph. 3:21). "To Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end, Amen"
Thank you very much,dear William.How do you explain Matt.25/31-46 ?And:do you have an escatology?
Ciao and God with You(I'm Italian but went in Switzerland at scool:English is not perfect…)
The view I subscribe to is called "Covenant Eschatology or "realized eschatology." Eschatology is the study of last things. Since the new covenant things are eternal, i.e. have no end, there can be no eschatology of the new covenant realities. The kingdom has no end, Isa. 9:7; Lk. 1:32,33. The church has no end, Eph. 3:21, etc. Therefore, there can be no last day. However, by comparison the Old Covenant had an end. That's why they were living in the last days, when Jesus came the die for sin. He died in the "end of the age," i.e. the end of the Jewish age. Those last days continued until 70AD at which time the new "age to come" arrived. It has no end, therefore no eschatology.
Matthew 25:31-46, must be explained in the context of the covenant. Surely, verse 31, is the covenant coming of Christ prophesied in the Old Covenant (Dan7:13) to fulfill the covenant blessings and curses to Israel. It is a connected to the previous chapter where he comes within the first century generation, 24:30-34, as there is no gap or time difference. He ushered in eternal life at his coming for those who accepted him in faith. Those who refused to "have this man reign over them," eternal banishment from the Presence of God. See Rev. 20:11, where the old heaven and earth fled from the presence of God and no place was found for them.
O.K.:Matt.24 and Matt.25 is the same situation.I'll try to find this way.
Thank you very much(may i ask you some other questions later?)
Brother William:God with you – Enrico
Dear brother,in 2.Kor.12 Paulus was taken away in the heaven(greek"Harpazò"),the same expression of 1.Tess.4/17.In my german-greek dictionary it means"enraptured".Can it be,that it was a rapture in the first century?
Ciao – Enrico
There is no such thing as a rapture of the saints from the earth. The Greek words used in the context with harpazo in the text do not imply that one is raptured from the earth. Paul uses the phrase "eis apantesin tou kuriou" (to meet the Lord)." F.F. Bruce comments on this term as follows: "When a dignitary paid an official visit (parousia) to a city in Hellenistic times, the action of the leading citizens in going out to meet him and escort him back on the final stage of his journey was called the apantesis. So Cicero, describing Julius Caesar's profess through Italy in 49 B.C., says, "Just imagine what apanteseis he is receiving from teh towns, what honors are paid to him!" (Ad Att. 8.16.2), and five years later he says much the same about Caesar's adopted son Octavian: "The municipalties are showin the boy remarkable favor…. Wonderful apanteseis and encouragement!" (Ad Att. 16.11.6). Cf. Matt. 25:6, where the bridal party is summoned to go out and meet the bride groom (eis apantesin autou), so as to escort him with a torchlight procession to the banqueting hall, and Acts 28:15, where Christians from Rome walk south allong the Appian Way to meet Paul and his company (eis apantesin hmin) and escort him on the remainder of their journey to Rome. Bruce further adds: "These analogies, (especially in association with the term parousia) suggest the possibility that the Lord is pictured here as escorted on the reminder of his journey to earth by his people–both those newly raised from the dead and those who have remained alive. But there is nothing in the world apantesis or in this context which demands (his emp.) this interpretation" F.F. Bruce, Word Biblical Commentary, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, Vol. 45, pp. 102-103, Word Books, Waco, TX. While Bruce does not draw the conclusion that as in the illustrations, it is always the leading citizens who go out to meet the dignitary and accompany him on his way to his destination, every example he gave from the Bible shows that this was the case. In particular, at the wedding in Matthew 25:6, when the virgins go to meet the bridegroom, he does not take them off the earth but they join or meet him and accompany him back to the wedding. This accords perfectly with Revelation 21:1-3, where the holy city, the new Jerusalem and bride of Christ comes down out of heaven as the tabernacle of God (i.e. God's presence) to be with men on earth. Therefore, we conclude that rather than teaching a rapture of the saints off the earth, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, teaches the very opposite. Now consider that the time statements indicate these words were spoken by the Lord, i.e. "we who are alive and are remaining until the Parousia." Paul said Jesus spoke these words. Jesus spoke of his coming in the lifetime of the saints is in Matthew 16:27-28 and Matt. 24:30-34. In the latter text all the elements are present in the verse, (the clouds, the trumpet and the gathering of the elect in the end of the age Jewish age). Finally, according to the parable of the Tares, (Matt. 13:28-30; 39-43, Jesus shows that his coming in the end of the age and the gathering of the saints is a 180 degrees contradistinction to what is taught about the Rapture. Note that it is the wicked who are gathered first and burned while the righteous are left. That is a backhand slap to the rapture doctrine which teaches the righteous are raptured first. The time statements cannot be ignored that these events occurred at the end of the Jewish age. As I have shown in the article, Jesus expected the saints to remain on earth and rule over the nations with a rod of iron. Jesus said, "and ALL the churches would know that he searches the reins and hearts," (Rev. 2:23). Thus, not a single church was raptured at his return.
Very interesting!(But i have to"digest"this letter…)
– This afternoon i went in the forest,to walk and think:2.Tess.was writen before the Temple was destroyed.This way it is possible,that some roman emperor claims to be God.Now i find a similar situation:most of Christian leaders have permitted "the antichrist-religion"enter in their harts.
Dear Brother,thank you for yuor surch and God with you.Ciao – Enrico
I would take the man of sin as a corporate entity to refer to national Israel of Paul's day. It is Daniel's little horn in chapter 7:13, 21. Thanks for your comments.
Yes,i agree with you:national Israel is the inpersonification af Anti-Christ.Even the futuristic wiew is interesting(before Christ comes the other will first decieve many),i expect,that Israel is still Anti-Christ,but stronger as today and that with the help of the dispentionalist(a sort of suicude!!!).
Dear Brother,bye,bye means Ciao in italian – Enrico
I had some thoghts:If God told us the beginning:"Bara bereshit Elohim…"He will tell also the end,possibly.
The second law of thermodynamic says,that the time will destroy the matter and that energy will finish.Do you have a solution?
(One more)"the first will be the last" – Israel was first elected,then came The Lord.Now is inverse:first we Christians and last(the real)Israel.
God has in fact told us the beginning and the end for those willing to hear it. "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" "Surely the Lord God does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets." Any time there was a judgment of great magnitude, God always sent prophets to reveal that message to the people. (1) While the "precise" or "exact" day and hour was unknown to Jesus while he was on earth (Matt. 24:36), he promised that the Holy Spirit would come and reveal not only what he told the apostles while he was with them, but also he would show them the "coming" (erchomena) things, i.e the events of the future related to his parousia which he said would come "in a little while" (John 16:13-19). (2) Jesus however, was very specific in saying that his generation would not pass away until all were fulfilled, (Matt. 24:34). So it is possible to know the general time of an event without knowing the specific day and hour of that event. (3) Later, in the Book of Revelation, (Jesus says God revealed that the time was "at hand" to "shortly come to pass" and that there should be delay no longer (Rev. 1:1-3). 10:7). Note in chapter one that it was the Father, who did know the time, (Acts 1:7), who revealed it, for the text reads, "The Revelation of Jesus Christ which "God gave to Him…" (4) As to the Second Law of Thermodynamics, I would recommend you read "Beyond the End Times" chapter 4, pages 59-60, by John Noe. Noe is a partial preterist but his comments on this topic are in my opinion excellent. Your suggestion is that the second Law of Thermodynamics is greater than the "laws of God" who spoke the world into existence, owns the world, and upholds all things in the world by his word, (Gen. 1:1; Psa. 24:1; Heb. 1:3). Now why would God lie about being able to uphold the world and everything in it, if he created a law that bringing it to an end, thus negating his own power. Just doesn't make sense when you think it through! Since the God says, the church would continue, world without end, Eph. 3:21, (according to F.F. Bruce), this is the strongest expression of endlessness in the Greek language. (5) According to the scriptures, national Israel did not obtain what they sought but the elect, i.e. the remnant from Israel did. "What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded." (Rom. 11:7). Paul, therefore shows that the "new Israel of God" are those who obeyed the gospel of Jesus Christ and that if any who were of the nation wanted to be saved, they had to accept Christ. See also Gal. 3:26-29. God saved all his Old Covenant people who wanted to be saved and those who did not perished. Any today who desire to be saved must come through Christ, not as a nation but as an individual. There is no national covenant people of Israel today and the modern state" of Israel is no more and no less recognized in God's sight than any other "political state" on earth. By the way, I would also recommend you read, "We Shall Meet Him in the Air – The Wedding of the King of Kings" by Don K Preston, the only Preterist commentary on 1 Thessalonians and the Rapture. It debunks all Rapture theories as thoroughly as I've read anywhere. Order from his site at eschatology.org.
Yes,you are right:it was helpfull(It is possible to make business in America,without be a friend of the jewish business?)
God with you,dear William – Enrico
Dear William,thank you very much for your informations(now i'm feel free…).Can you tell me,how will be the end of the ages?
GOD with you – Enrico
Enrico, the end of the age occurred as a result of Christ's return in 70 AD. The phrase, "consummation of the age" is used 5 times in the New Testament, 4 times in Matthew, two of which occur in the parable of the tares, (Matt. 13:39-43), one in chapter 24:3, and the last occurs in 28:20. The other occurrence is found in Hebrews 9:26, which says that Christ appeared in the end of the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. So, we ask, in what age did Christ live and die? He was born of a woman born under the Law [of Moses]. Therefore, the age in which He both lived and died was the Old Covenant age. It was the age ruled by sin and death (separation from God) over which Satan reigned being called the "god of this age." (2 Cor. 4:4). However, as the parable of the tares and Matt. 24:3 indicates, the end of the Old Covenant age did not occur at Jesus' death, but at his parousia, i.e. return in glory. This is why the Bible yet speaks of the Old Covenant age as "this present evil age" (Gal. 1:4), which along with its Jewish rulers who crucified the Lord of glory was coming to nothing (1 Cor. 2:6-8). Hence, the Bible speaks what then was the future age as the "age to come (Eph. 1:21; Heb. 6:5)." However that age arrived in A.D. 70 and is the present age in which we experience restored fellowship to Christ and the Father. This age is the age in which Christ is glorified and which has no end (Eph. 3:21). "To Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end, Amen"
Thank you very much,dear William.How do you explain Matt.25/31-46 ?And:do you have an escatology?
Ciao and God with You(I'm Italian but went in Switzerland at scool:English is not perfect…)
The view I subscribe to is called "Covenant Eschatology or "realized eschatology." Eschatology is the study of last things. Since the new covenant things are eternal, i.e. have no end, there can be no eschatology of the new covenant realities. The kingdom has no end, Isa. 9:7; Lk. 1:32,33. The church has no end, Eph. 3:21, etc. Therefore, there can be no last day. However, by comparison the Old Covenant had an end. That's why they were living in the last days, when Jesus came the die for sin. He died in the "end of the age," i.e. the end of the Jewish age. Those last days continued until 70AD at which time the new "age to come" arrived. It has no end, therefore no eschatology.
Matthew 25:31-46, must be explained in the context of the covenant. Surely, verse 31, is the covenant coming of Christ prophesied in the Old Covenant (Dan7:13) to fulfill the covenant blessings and curses to Israel. It is a connected to the previous chapter where he comes within the first century generation, 24:30-34, as there is no gap or time difference. He ushered in eternal life at his coming for those who accepted him in faith. Those who refused to "have this man reign over them," eternal banishment from the Presence of God. See Rev. 20:11, where the old heaven and earth fled from the presence of God and no place was found for them.
O.K.:Matt.24 and Matt.25 is the same situation.I'll try to find this way.
Thank you very much(may i ask you some other questions later?)
Brother William:God with you – Enrico
Enrico, yes you may.
Dear brother,in 2.Kor.12 Paulus was taken away in the heaven(greek"Harpazò"),the same expression of 1.Tess.4/17.In my german-greek dictionary it means"enraptured".Can it be,that it was a rapture in the first century?
Ciao – Enrico
There is no such thing as a rapture of the saints from the earth. The Greek words used in the context with harpazo in the text do not imply that one is raptured from the earth. Paul uses the phrase "eis apantesin tou kuriou" (to meet the Lord)." F.F. Bruce comments on this term as follows: "When a dignitary paid an official visit (parousia) to a city in Hellenistic times, the action of the leading citizens in going out to meet him and escort him back on the final stage of his journey was called the apantesis. So Cicero, describing Julius Caesar's profess through Italy in 49 B.C., says, "Just imagine what apanteseis he is receiving from teh towns, what honors are paid to him!" (Ad Att. 8.16.2), and five years later he says much the same about Caesar's adopted son Octavian: "The municipalties are showin the boy remarkable favor…. Wonderful apanteseis and encouragement!" (Ad Att. 16.11.6). Cf. Matt. 25:6, where the bridal party is summoned to go out and meet the bride groom (eis apantesin autou), so as to escort him with a torchlight procession to the banqueting hall, and Acts 28:15, where Christians from Rome walk south allong the Appian Way to meet Paul and his company (eis apantesin hmin) and escort him on the remainder of their journey to Rome. Bruce further adds: "These analogies, (especially in association with the term parousia) suggest the possibility that the Lord is pictured here as escorted on the reminder of his journey to earth by his people–both those newly raised from the dead and those who have remained alive. But there is nothing in the world apantesis or in this context which demands (his emp.) this interpretation" F.F. Bruce, Word Biblical Commentary, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, Vol. 45, pp. 102-103, Word Books, Waco, TX. While Bruce does not draw the conclusion that as in the illustrations, it is always the leading citizens who go out to meet the dignitary and accompany him on his way to his destination, every example he gave from the Bible shows that this was the case. In particular, at the wedding in Matthew 25:6, when the virgins go to meet the bridegroom, he does not take them off the earth but they join or meet him and accompany him back to the wedding. This accords perfectly with Revelation 21:1-3, where the holy city, the new Jerusalem and bride of Christ comes down out of heaven as the tabernacle of God (i.e. God's presence) to be with men on earth. Therefore, we conclude that rather than teaching a rapture of the saints off the earth, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, teaches the very opposite. Now consider that the time statements indicate these words were spoken by the Lord, i.e. "we who are alive and are remaining until the Parousia." Paul said Jesus spoke these words. Jesus spoke of his coming in the lifetime of the saints is in Matthew 16:27-28 and Matt. 24:30-34. In the latter text all the elements are present in the verse, (the clouds, the trumpet and the gathering of the elect in the end of the age Jewish age). Finally, according to the parable of the Tares, (Matt. 13:28-30; 39-43, Jesus shows that his coming in the end of the age and the gathering of the saints is a 180 degrees contradistinction to what is taught about the Rapture. Note that it is the wicked who are gathered first and burned while the righteous are left. That is a backhand slap to the rapture doctrine which teaches the righteous are raptured first. The time statements cannot be ignored that these events occurred at the end of the Jewish age. As I have shown in the article, Jesus expected the saints to remain on earth and rule over the nations with a rod of iron. Jesus said, "and ALL the churches would know that he searches the reins and hearts," (Rev. 2:23). Thus, not a single church was raptured at his return.
Very interesting!(But i have to"digest"this letter…)
– This afternoon i went in the forest,to walk and think:2.Tess.was writen before the Temple was destroyed.This way it is possible,that some roman emperor claims to be God.Now i find a similar situation:most of Christian leaders have permitted "the antichrist-religion"enter in their harts.
Dear Brother,thank you for yuor surch and God with you.Ciao – Enrico
I would take the man of sin as a corporate entity to refer to national Israel of Paul's day. It is Daniel's little horn in chapter 7:13, 21. Thanks for your comments.
Yes,i agree with you:national Israel is the inpersonification af Anti-Christ.Even the futuristic wiew is interesting(before Christ comes the other will first decieve many),i expect,that Israel is still Anti-Christ,but stronger as today and that with the help of the dispentionalist(a sort of suicude!!!).
Dear Brother,bye,bye means Ciao in italian – Enrico
I had some thoghts:If God told us the beginning:"Bara bereshit Elohim…"He will tell also the end,possibly.
The second law of thermodynamic says,that the time will destroy the matter and that energy will finish.Do you have a solution?
(One more)"the first will be the last" – Israel was first elected,then came The Lord.Now is inverse:first we Christians and last(the real)Israel.
God has in fact told us the beginning and the end for those willing to hear it. "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" "Surely the Lord God does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets." Any time there was a judgment of great magnitude, God always sent prophets to reveal that message to the people. (1) While the "precise" or "exact" day and hour was unknown to Jesus while he was on earth (Matt. 24:36), he promised that the Holy Spirit would come and reveal not only what he told the apostles while he was with them, but also he would show them the "coming" (erchomena) things, i.e the events of the future related to his parousia which he said would come "in a little while" (John 16:13-19). (2) Jesus however, was very specific in saying that his generation would not pass away until all were fulfilled, (Matt. 24:34). So it is possible to know the general time of an event without knowing the specific day and hour of that event. (3) Later, in the Book of Revelation, (Jesus says God revealed that the time was "at hand" to "shortly come to pass" and that there should be delay no longer (Rev. 1:1-3). 10:7). Note in chapter one that it was the Father, who did know the time, (Acts 1:7), who revealed it, for the text reads, "The Revelation of Jesus Christ which "God gave to Him…" (4) As to the Second Law of Thermodynamics, I would recommend you read "Beyond the End Times" chapter 4, pages 59-60, by John Noe. Noe is a partial preterist but his comments on this topic are in my opinion excellent. Your suggestion is that the second Law of Thermodynamics is greater than the "laws of God" who spoke the world into existence, owns the world, and upholds all things in the world by his word, (Gen. 1:1; Psa. 24:1; Heb. 1:3). Now why would God lie about being able to uphold the world and everything in it, if he created a law that bringing it to an end, thus negating his own power. Just doesn't make sense when you think it through! Since the God says, the church would continue, world without end, Eph. 3:21, (according to F.F. Bruce), this is the strongest expression of endlessness in the Greek language. (5) According to the scriptures, national Israel did not obtain what they sought but the elect, i.e. the remnant from Israel did. "What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded." (Rom. 11:7). Paul, therefore shows that the "new Israel of God" are those who obeyed the gospel of Jesus Christ and that if any who were of the nation wanted to be saved, they had to accept Christ. See also Gal. 3:26-29. God saved all his Old Covenant people who wanted to be saved and those who did not perished. Any today who desire to be saved must come through Christ, not as a nation but as an individual. There is no national covenant people of Israel today and the modern state" of Israel is no more and no less recognized in God's sight than any other "political state" on earth. By the way, I would also recommend you read, "We Shall Meet Him in the Air – The Wedding of the King of Kings" by Don K Preston, the only Preterist commentary on 1 Thessalonians and the Rapture. It debunks all Rapture theories as thoroughly as I've read anywhere. Order from his site at eschatology.org.
(Now it cames to my mimd):What was the story with Gog & Magog?
Ciao – Enrico
Yes,you are right:it was helpfull(It is possible to make business in America,without be a friend of the jewish business?)
God with you,dear William – Enrico