Then why does Christ - citing Daniel - place it immediately after the "tribulation of those days" (which are the days leading up to and including the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD?)
"For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. Matthew 24:21 (NASB)
"Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued. "Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt. Daniel 12:1-2 (NASB)
"But immediately after the tribulation of those days THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, AND THE STARS WILL FALL from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Matthew 24:29 (NASB)
"Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Matthew 24:34 (NASB)
The resurrection is clearly juxtaposed with the great tribulation that befell Jerusalem and it was all prophesied to happen before that generation had passed. Not my words: Christ's.
Unfortunately, Preterists, like Dispensationalists, only see external, outward, signs (the
natural man - as well as the unfortunate
nature of eschatology), rather than understanding that every word that proceedeth from the mouth of our Lord
is, was, and
always will be "Spiritual":
John 6:63 "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. THE WORDS that I SPEAK to you ARE SPIRIT, and they are life."
Was physical Jerusalem attacked and destroyed in 70 A.D.? Yes, of course. Was is prophesied to occur. Yes!
But
Spiritual Jerusalem has been under attack ever since.
When is this
"day of judgment ........ the day of the Lord which comes as a thief in the night"? Does this "Great Tribulation" and this "Day of Judgment" only concern
"the outward, external" events of 70 AD?
Acts 2:14 "But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:
Acts 2:15 For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.
Acts 2:16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
Acts 2:17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
Acts 2:18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
Acts 2:19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
Acts 2:20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come."
Peter is relating all the events surrounding
the death and resurrection of Christ, and he is claiming that all of
"this is that which was spoken of by the prophet Joel... it shall come to pass in the last days... the sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come."
Christ had already told the apostles the same thing. Notice what Christ's answer was to the question by His disciples,
"What will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age?":
Matthew 24:21 "For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
Matthew 24:22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
Matthew 24:23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here [is] Christ, or there; believe [it] not.
Matthew 24:24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if [it were] possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
Matthew 24:25 Behold, I have told you before.
Matthew 24:26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, [he is] in the secret chambers; believe [it] not.
Matthew 24:27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Matthew 24:28 For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
Matthew 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
Matthew 24:30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Matthew 24:31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Matthew 24:32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer [is] nigh:
Matthew 24:33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
Matthew 24:34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Matthew 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away."
So here is Christ saying the same thing Peter says a several weeks later at the day of Pentecost.
"After the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken", only Peter is telling us that when Christ says
"This generation will not pass, till all these things be fulfilled."
What he meant was
"It is near even at the door" meaning beginning at the day of Pentecost and
"never passing away" but being
fulfilled in the lives of all of God's elect from that time to this day.
The point being made by both Christ and Peter is that the day of judgment is
now on the house of God, and
the day of the Lord is now come to those who are being judged (
"now" - meaning - 'now' to everyone who
heareth the words of the Lord, in
EVERY generation).
Peter says,
2 Peter 3:7 "But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
2 Peter 3:8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day [is] with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
2 Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and THE WORKS that are therein shall be burned up."
These words about
"the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men... the day of the Lord" were used by Peter on the day of Pentecost, just as he had just used them in his epistle, which, in both cases are understood as referring to events in the lives of believers of
EVERY GENERATION.
When Peter said,
"But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men." he knew that
"the day of judgment was already here" and being executed upon and bringing about the perdition of such ungodly men. So he tells us all clearly that
"the fiery... day of judgment at the time of the end" is
right now on the house of God:
1 Peter 4:12 "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
1 Peter 4:17 For the time IS COME that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?"
The day of Pentecost was the beginning of
"the end of the world," [Greek = age] for all who comprise
"the house of God". All of this spoken from the mouths of Peter and Christ were not about 70 AD, they
'are' far more significant and profound. The events of 70 AD were incidental.
1 Corinthians 10:11 "Now all these things happened unto them [Israel] for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come."
"The ends of the world ARE come" upon us, and
THAT HAS BEEN THE CASE SINCE THE DAY OF PENTECOST!
The
time 'IS'' [ALWAYS] at hand. To the preterist or dispensationalist, the time
'IS' never "at hand." To a
preterist; the time
'WAS' at hand. To a
futurist; the time
'WILL BE' at hand. Both do not see that the time
'IS' always at hand.
To a preterist, 'physical' Jerusalem was surrounded in 70 AD, but they fail to see SPIRITUAL JERUSALEM surrounded by the armies of the
'man of sin' within the temple (which
YOU ARE) right
now at this time. In fact, Spiritual Jerusalem has been surrounded by the armies of the 'man of sin' within the temple (which YOU ARE) ever since Pentecost.
As far as the resurrection, it is both present in
"the earnest of the spirit" and it is future in
"the redemption of the purchased possession."
Ephesians 1:13 "In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, [of resurrection]
Ephesians 1:14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession [the actual resurrection], unto the praise of his glory."
Paul tells us we are already dead and raised up with Christ in
"the earnest of our inheritance":
Romans 6:4 "Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Romans 6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection."
When are we to be
"in the likeness of His resurrection"?
Ephesians 2:6 "And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus."
It is spoken of
in spirit, as an accomplished fact. But this is only in the
"sealed with the holy spirit of promise" form at this time,
"until the redemption of the purchased possession."
Ephesians 1:14 "Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession [the actual resurrection], unto the praise of his glory."
"The earnest" is the
"down payment", and the
"redemption of the purchased possession" is
the resurrection from the dead.
We should be careful never to claim that
"the resurrection is past", even though
"we are resurrected with Him in newness of life".
2 Timothy 2:18 "Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some."
PS - Forgive me for the long post, but to explain this AND provide Scriptural documentation in only a few words is difficult :type
Now I have to give a guitar lesson :guitar
Peace, and God bless.
