…The choice then, as you rightly suggest, is between fullness in the sense of time, or fullness in the sense of maturity. Either would make sense, as both are true. But I agree with you that it seems more likely that Paul is referring to the same event that Jesus has in mind in Lk 21:24 where the language is remarkably similar. Paul believed with Jesus that the age ends with the day of the Lord, which accomplishes at once the end of Gentile dominion and the restoration of captive Israel (the grafting in again of the ‘natural branches’). Moreover, seeing the term ‘fulness of the Gentiles’ as a time that ends with the coming of the Deliverer out of Zion at the day of the Lord makes better sense of Paul’s much disputed phrase, “And so (‘at this time’, or ‘in this way’?) ‘ALL’ shall be saved” (Ro 11:26).
Apocalyptic Evangelism
The idea of the course was to recover the context of the apocalyptic gospel of the first century as a call to flee to Christ from the wrath to come, and thus make personal appropriation of the messianic salvation in expectation of the imminence of Jersualem’s destruction, which represented the imminent tribulation to first century Jewish expectation. Well, we are there again. We have come full circle. We stand and witness once more under the shadow of an imminent world disaster over Jerusalem. Thus the same issues that confronted first century Israel are back in the forefront.
The Church’s Prophetic Witness As Key to Israel’s Survival
… Far from being the “Ark of Safety” (a term used by many to encourage the present ‘Aliyah’), the Land will be the first target and greatest concentration of Antichrist fury. We have this burden that it is critical that believers in the Land today understand that Jewish survival will depend on escape into surrounding wilderness locations (Isa 26:20; Dan 11:41; Mt 24:16). This message will have a direct bearing on the physical survival of the elect remnant of Israel. It is the responsibility of a prophetically instructed church (Dan 11:33) that has taken seriously the Lord’s command to pay attention to Daniel (“Let the reader understand”, Mt 24:15). Ultimately, it will be seen that many were saved alive through the words of Jesus directing His disciples (the church) to pay attention to Daniel. To Him be all the glory that a people were alerted and prepared to direct Jews not only to the urgency of flight, but also to the testimony of Jesus (“the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” Rev 19:10). …
Books: “An Alternative to Left Behind Eschatology”
[…] You happen to have caught me just as I am working through one of the first books I’ve had the pleasure of reading in quite a while. I think its one that you would particularly enjoy, if only for its ability to revive some of the themes of mutual interest in eschatology. Its “A Case for Historic Premillennialism; An Alternative to Left Behind Eschatology,” edited by Craig Blomberg and Sung Chung.
I’ll forward this recommendation to our larger group of friends with the caution that it is academic in character and approach, and might seem tedious to some. I suggest that any that think they might be interested first go on line to Christianbook.com, or Amazon.com, and check out the table of contents and read some excerpts before buying.
By no means is this a blanket endorsement to such a diversified collection of essays. It is only some iron that may sharpen those that have a specialized interest, or that labor and in this field. One of the essays might be of particular interest for those interested in a concise historical survey of Jewish views of the after life and the ‘messianic age’. It will inform but sadden. […]
The Remnant Tasting the Bitterness of the Nations
[…] In considering judgment on nations and particular localities, we should remember the pattern we observe in scripture. However righteous and set apart, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel were required to taste the bitterness of exile along with the rest of the apostate nation. Therefore, though the end of an individual may be quite different in the ‘long run’, he or she may well be required to suffer in the judgements that descend on a nation whose iniquity has come to full. That is the pattern we see in Israel’s exile, and I can’t see where it would be too different in a world where the church is called to be a ‘diaspora’ people, scattered throughout the earth as a witness people. Why, even the church’s sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s table are suitably quite portable. We are a pilgrim people, in every place, and often on the move.
The church is called to be a light in a dark world. What part of the world does not lie in wickedness? Where does one go to hide their loved ones from the judgment that hovers over a cursed land? If we flee from certain levels of societal debauchery that seems to especially concentrated in some cities or nations more than others, we might well be fleeing to a worse place where God has marked a perhaps more hidden but just as hateful kind of pride. […]
The Eschatology of the Everlasting Covenant
… The New Covenant, also called the Everlasting Covenant, envisions nothing short of the salvation of ‘all’ Israel. “And so all Israel shall be saved: … for this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sin” (Ro 11:26-27). In the context of Paul’s argument, a future event is in view. It is based on nothing other than the covenant. Hence, there can be no doubt that at least something of the covenant remains unfulfilled where Israel is concerned. Whatever is understood of the phrase, “and so all Israel shall be saved,” one thing is clear: For Paul, there can be no final fulfillment of the covenant that stops short of this future ‘fullness’ (compare Ro 11:12 w/ 25-29). We need to understand what Paul means by “and so all Israel shall be saved,” as interpreters are divided over just about every word of this much disputed phrase. …
How soon is “The Time of Jacob’s Trouble?”
[…] Ezekiel shows that when the Spirit is poured out at the day of the Lord, the face of God will never again be hidden from the nation that is now saved to the last man (Ezek 39:22-29 with Isa. 54:13; 59:21; 60:21).
This is the time that the sealed book (Dan 9:24; 12:4, 9) is revealed to Israel. But the sealed vision is not sealed to all. During the days of the tribulation, there is a remnant ‘that understand among the people’ (11:33; 12:3, 10). They will know the secret (the mystery of the gospel) and through their witness many will be turned to righteousness. A comparison of Zech 12:10 with Mt 23:39 will show that the end of the age waits till the beleaguered survivors of Israel receive the same revelation of the gospel that came down from heaven at Pentecost (1Pet 1:12). This is the rock on which the church is built; it is the revelation of Christ that cannot come by flesh and blood.
So I believe the two days of Hos 6:2 coincide with the events that span the time between Christ’s two advents to Israel. Although history is littered with one shameful debacle of failed prediction after another, the time is coming when the question of the time will no longer be a question for the true church. The last seven years is clearly marked by a highly descript sequence of definite events that nothing in the past has come near to fulfilling (e.g., Dan 11:21-45). It is paramount that we know the distinctive character of the end time events in order to avoid the false alarms of prophetic speculation, and to recognize the real thing when it does come. […]
The Dangerous Presumption of ‘Exemption from Tribulation’
[…] The great tribulation is not called ‘unequaled’ simply because of some unprecedented degree of human suffering. Though the ‘scale’ of human suffering will indeed be without precedent during the last tribulation, what individuals might face personally cannot be worse than what others of our brethren have faced throughout history without a rapture. The the final tribulation is said to be without equal because it extends to all the natural order. So, of course, human suffering will be co-extensive with the upheaval of a creation that has come to its greatest time of travail.
Therefore, it is not the ‘degree’ of personal suffering that makes this tribulation exceptional from all others, but its ‘scale’ of impact on the world of nature. So I ask: Do we detect a certain selfishness, or subtle presumption of moral superiority in the modern church’s expectation of exemption from a last repeat of the same kind of persecution that their ‘fellow servants and their brethren’ have faced in every age (see Rev 6:11)? I must say that such a doctrine sounds suspiciously accommodating of a soft and untested church that has embraced the cross only in theory as a historical fact in Jesus’ experience, and not as the invariable pattern of the very ‘way’ of God in the experience of every believer before and after Christ (but see Act 14:22). […]
Recommended Book: “Rapture? Sure… but When?”
Dear friends, I want to recommend a comparatively new book on the rapture question. It is clear and concise, the best thing I’ve seen since Ladd and Gundry. This is not only for those who have unresolved questions concerning the rapture, but for those interested to give answer and help […]
Recommended Reading on the Prophet Daniel
[…] In an instant, I have exactly who to recommend on Daniel. First, and most accessible would be S.P. Tregelles’ “Remarks on the Prophetic Visions in the Book of Daniel,” available through Sovereign Grace Advent Testimony in Essex (on line at sgat.org).
Second, or perhaps even first in importance is a much more rare book entitled “Prophetic Interpretations” by P.S.G. Watson. It is available to view on line through the Dallas Theological Online Library, Antiquarian Books. Unfortunately, they have it where it can only be leafed through; it can’t be copied to be printed. If upon your preview of the book, interest should happen to soar, I would be happy to take my xerox copy to a printer here and have a copy made to be sent. I could let you know the cost. But look through it first, and see what you think. In my view, no one is so good as Watson on the case for ‘futurism’ and a literal hermeneutic, particularly in regards to the ‘abomination of desolation’ and the centrality of its place and role in the unfolding of last days events. […]
