The Great Tribulation of the 1st Century
by Jamey Bennett
Part 1 - Not A Snowball's Chance This Will Ever Happen!
Part 2 - Soon, Near, & Hey, I'm Here
So that brings us to an important question: if many of the New Testament's prophetic events were near to the first century audience, does that mean that the tribulation is a past event? To answer this question, it is helpful if we start with Jesus' teaching in the Olivet Discourse, found in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21.14 Since Matthew 24 is the fullest account, we will deal primarily with that text. There is no room for a full exegesis, but certain observations must be made before we proceed.
In Matthew 23, Jesus gives the Scribes and Pharisees a good verbal back-alley whacking for their hypocrisy. He predicts that they will persecute, scourge, kill and crucify His disciples in the coming times (v. 34); and in judgment, punishment for "all the righteous blood shed on the earth" will come upon the Jews for this very persecution. When? "Assuredly," Jesus said, "all these things will come upon this generation" (v. 36), the generation to whom Jesus was speaking. All Christians know that this was in fact the case; the early church faced much more persecution than any of us pot-bellied American Christians. In chapter 24, continuing His prophetic condemnations, Jesus says that the temple would be utterly destroyed (v. 2). To a first century Jewish audience, this would seem nearly unfathomable.15 Then His disciples ask him when this is going to happen, and Jesus launches into His famous discussion of the Great Tribulation. In verse 34 He gives them the clearest answer they are going to get on the timing of the temple's destruction: "Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away until all these things take place." So what was to take place within a generation? All these things clearly meant everything Christ had predicted earlier in the chapter. All of his prophetic statements did come to pass, most notably the destruction of the temple in AD 70.
Gary DeMar points out, "Every time 'this generation' is used in the New Testament, it means, without exception, the generation to whom Jesus was speaking."16 From the gospels alone, DeMar lists the following examples:17
• Matthew 11:16; 12:39-45; 23:36; 24:34
• Mark 8:12; 13:30
• Luke 7:31; 11:29-32; 11:49-51; 17:25; 21:32
There is no contextual reason to suspect this one instance is any different than every other time "generation" is used. As DeMar says, "we must take Him at His word."18
Duncan's characters list Matthew 24's signs as an indication that we are in the last days. Certainly world history hasn't seen pestilence and astronomical perturbations as Jesus describes them, right? Actually, the language of signs in the heavens (the sun being darkened and so forth) is not so hard to understand once one takes even a cursory look at the Old Testament when it prophesies judgment.19 Jesus tells his disciples it was that very generation -- "the generation to whom he was speaking"20 -- who was to see these things happen. Notice that when Jesus addresses the disciples, it is obvious that He is talking to them directly (He says "you" over a dozen times -- a clear indication that He was speaking to His audience!).21 All of the things Jesus predicted would happen within a generation actually did happen! For example:
• Apostasy, false prophets, and messiahs were present in the first century (Acts 5:37; 8:9-11; Galatians 1:6-10; 2 Tim. 1:15).
• The early Christians faced tribulation in a great measure (John 13:18; 2 Thes. 1:4; Rev. 1:9).
• Famines and earthquakes were there, too (Matthew 27:54; Acts 11:28; 16:26; Romans 15:25-28).
Duncan's characters would likely object that verse fourteen, referring to worldwide gospel preaching, had not been fulfilled in the first century (209). It is quite helpful that Duncan, in another context, answers this objection for us!
The Bible often uses absolute terms when it is, in fact, referring to a more limited concept. In Luke 2:1 we read, "And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered." Now we know that people from Southeast Asia, and Australia, and the Americas were not included in the phrase, "all the world." It referred only to all those in the Roman World.22
So it is feasible to suggest that verse fourteen's reference to the gospel being preached in “all the world” is more limited in scope than the entirety of the globe. It likely means the Roman world, or the civilized world, or perhaps the known world. Moreover, the Apostle Paul seemed to think that this prophecy had been fulfilled, in the first century, in some sense:
• Col. 1:5-6 - "…the gospel, which has come to you, as it has also in all the world…"
• Col. 1: 23 - "…the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven…"
• Rom. 1:8 - "… your faith is being reported all over the world."
• Rom. 16:25-26 - "… the mystery kept secret since the world began but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations…"
Understanding now the context of the Olivet Discourse and the tribulation of the first century, we may briefly turn to the book of Revelation.23 We must remember that Revelation was written to a real first-century church, facing real persecution, from real antichristian forces. John himself was a "companion in the tribulation" -- in the first century!24 Jay Adams notes that the book "was written to a persecuted church about to face the most tremendous onslaught it had ever known." Adams goes on to say, "It would be absurd (not to say cruel) for John to write a letter to persons in such circumstances which not only ignores their difficulties," but speaks of events thousands of years in the future.25 To treat it as something in our future is to go against the plain meaning of the text. As Newcome points out: "While the idea that the Great Tribulation has already taken place may seem novel in today's milieu, it's an idea that's been around much longer than the currently popular view. For many centuries it was held that the Tribulation Jesus spoke about [in the Olivet Discourse] was fulfilled in the Roman assault on Jerusalem in AD 70."26 The church of Jesus Christ would do well to reacquaint itself with that position.
Notes
13. 1 John 2:18 says, "Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour."
14. There are many fuller treatments of this passage by capable authors. See the discussion in Sproul's Last Days According to Jesus or DeMar's Last Days Madness and End Times Fiction.
15. It is helpful to remember that this was the third temple. The first was Solomon's temple, which was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC. The second was Ezra's temple, and the third was Herod's temple, which was around in Jesus' day (destroyed in 70 AD). According to Newcombe, dispensationalists anticipate a fourth temple to be erected (the tribulation temple), and a fifth during the millennium. Of course, this is all unnecessary, since the temple was destroyed in AD 70 with no Biblical promises whatsoever to rebuild it. See Newcombe, Jerry. Coming Again, But When? (Colorado Springs: Chariot Victor Publishing, 1999), 265.
16. DeMar. End Times Fiction, 68.
17. DeMar. End Times Fiction, 68.
18. DeMar. End Times Fiction, 70.
19. See how the same type of language is used elsewhere in the Scriptures: Is. 13:9-10; Ezekiel 32:7-8.
20. DeMar, 70.
21. In the NKJV, Jesus addresses them as "you" in vv. 4, 6, 9, 15, 20, 23, 25, 26, 32, 33, and 34.
22. Duncan. Appendix 1, 10-11.
23. It is likely that Duncan would object that the book of Revelation wasn't written until well after the destruction of Jerusalem. That position has been cast into doubt by both liberal and conservative scholars alike. Probably the most significant treatment of a pre-70 AD writing of Revelation is Gentry, Kenneth L. Before Jerusalem Fell: Dating the Book of Revelation, 3d ed. (Atlanta: American Vision, 1998).
24. Revelation 1:9
25. Qtd. in Newcombe, 105
26. Newcombe, 139
Part 4 - Gaps & Monkeyshine Exegesis Posted by Jamey W. Bennett - 8/14/2007 | Print this post
what bibli do you say is the right bibli to buy
tina florence - 10/21/2007
what bible do you say is the right bible to buy
tina florence - 10/21/2007
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