Dale Partridge - April 08, 2025


Part 3： An Introduction to Partial Preterism #1


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58 minutes

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7,185

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361

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5

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9

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38

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Transcript

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00:00:00.000 Praise be to God. We are still here talking about eschatology. What a blessing. Today's
00:00:15.060 sermon will be a little bit longer. All these sermons, by the way, are going to be a little
00:00:18.520 bit longer just because they're topical and it's really difficult to figure out where to start and
00:00:23.340 where to end. But I really do believe that this congregation will be blessed by the truths that
00:00:29.340 we find here in Matthew 24. So this is part three of our series on eschatology. In part one,
00:00:37.420 I offered an overview of the three Orthodox views, historic premillennialism, amillennialism,
00:00:44.560 and postmillennialism. Last week, I focused, which was part two, on the origin of the kingdom of God,
00:00:54.680 Addressing the kind of premillennial view that Christ's earthly kingdom is strictly a future event and it's not a present and growing reality.
00:01:06.760 I believe we dealt with that and dedicated some time to looking at the scriptures.
00:01:12.480 I argued from Daniel 2, the kingdom parables in Matthew 13, to demonstrate that Christ's kingdom began at his first advent, his first coming, and has been expanding progressively through time and over the ages by the proclamation of the gospel through the means of the church, his body, here on earth.
00:01:36.840 I also presented eight additional scriptures, which I think might have actually been seven,
00:01:41.540 but anyways, that refute the idea of a postponed kingdom,
00:01:46.680 emphasizing a few things.
00:01:49.660 That a crown implies a throne, and that a king demands that there be a kingdom,
00:01:55.920 and that earthly subjects requires it to have an earthly rule.
00:02:00.240 All of those elements, logically, biblically, philosophically, we talked about all of those.
00:02:06.080 Now, today, I want to introduce a vital, I mean vital, eschatological framework called partial preterism.
00:02:18.180 Now, imagine trying to solve a puzzle, and you have all these pieces, but nothing seems to be able to fit together just right.
00:02:29.660 right. And you're trying every combination, but it feels that it's just impossible to complete
00:02:36.280 for some reason. You feel like you're missing pieces. Now, imagine that someone comes up to
00:02:42.620 you and gives you this key piece, that from this piece, all the other pieces start to fit
00:02:49.420 together. Suddenly, the whole picture comes out without forcing things in place.
00:02:55.180 viewing eschatology through what i call and what many theologians call the partial
00:03:02.860 preterist lens it's it's like receiving that key piece to that puzzle suddenly the the events and
00:03:11.460 the timelines uh start to make sense uh the whole you know story of matthew 24 uh first and second
00:03:19.660 Thessalonians, Revelations, Daniel 9, all of these things start to come together. Partial
00:03:28.640 preterism has incredible explanatory power. You're going to see that. Incredible explanatory
00:03:36.700 power. Now, the term preterism comes from the Latin term praetor, and it just means past.
00:03:46.920 And so partial preterism is really just partial pastism.
00:03:52.360 That's really what that means.
00:03:54.940 And so what do partial preterists believe?
00:04:01.140 Well, it's the belief that many of the eschatological prophecies that we see in the Bible,
00:04:08.140 particularly Matthew 24, verses 1 through 35,
00:04:12.700 Revelation chapter 1, all the way through chapter 20, verse 6,
00:04:16.920 have been fulfilled in, say, Matthew and John's future, but in our past.
00:04:25.720 Okay, so they have been past fulfilled.
00:04:29.260 Not all of the prophecies, but a significant portion of them.
00:04:33.860 Specifically, it's the belief that those prophecies,
00:04:38.800 including elements like the seven seals that we read about,
00:04:42.200 the seven trumpets, the beast, the false prophet,
00:04:44.940 The Antichrist, the fall of Babylon, the Battle of Armageddon, specifically all of those events leading are essentially all of those realities are the events leading up to the fall and the destruction of Jerusalem.
00:04:59.640 They are not they're not future events to come down the road in generations to come.
00:05:08.160 Those are speaking about events that have already been fulfilled in the past.
00:05:14.940 Now, partial preterists use the term partial because there is a heretical group called full preterists or hyper preterists that they believe essentially everything has been fulfilled in prophecy.
00:05:32.980 And that group of people have been rejected over and over and over again throughout millennia.
00:05:40.040 So partial preterism is not a new doctrine.
00:05:44.940 In fact, the early church fathers held to a partial preterist view.
00:05:49.020 Many of them did. Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Eusebius of Caesarea.
00:05:56.020 Partial preterism is also supported in one of, well, I believe it's actually the earliest church document.
00:06:03.940 It's called the Didache. It was written around 50 A.D.
00:06:07.840 I mean, it was written before some scripture was written.
00:06:10.400 and it it holds to this partial preteristic view showing that there was a prevalent group of people
00:06:17.500 in the early church that were holding this position but this is also the position of many
00:06:23.240 of the reformers so calvin held this position uh matthew henry who wrote the longest standing
00:06:29.180 bible commentary on earth uh wrote this or held this position um john owen isaac watts
00:06:36.860 Jonathan Edwards, who many of us claim to be the greatest theologian to ever come out of America.
00:06:43.280 It's also the position of R.C. Sproul.
00:06:45.980 It's the position of Doug Wilson and Jeff Durbin.
00:06:49.260 Kenneth Gentry, which we will hear some quotes from him today.
00:06:51.900 It is a very firm position backed with robust theological history.
00:06:59.380 now in america we have been saturated with futurist or futurism it's the opposite of
00:07:11.780 preterism it's the interpretation which believes that all the prophecies of matthew 24
00:07:16.560 and of revelation are all to come in the future they weren't just in matthew and john's future
00:07:25.360 but also in our future.
00:07:29.720 Now, I believe the best way to demonstrate the validity
00:07:33.620 and the explanatory power of partial preterism
00:07:38.260 is to take a section of scripture like Matthew 24
00:07:41.960 and over a couple weeks, maybe two to three weeks,
00:07:46.680 just demonstrate how the events that are in that text
00:07:50.260 are speaking about a near future and local event 70 AD and not a distant future global event
00:08:01.380 which is what many of the dispensational premillennial views are today now it's
00:08:09.020 important to note that Matthew 24 is the cliff notes or the abridged version of revelation
00:08:17.980 If you didn't know that, you know it now.
00:08:22.720 Matthew 24 is the abridged version.
00:08:25.500 It's the, if Revelation is the movie, Matthew 24 is the trailer.
00:08:31.340 Okay?
00:08:31.980 It gives us a little glimpse of what's in Revelation.
00:08:38.340 Now, Matthew is considered the Jewish gospel. 0.99
00:08:43.240 Nobody is going to argue with that fact. 0.66
00:08:45.980 It is the Jewish gospel. 1.00
00:08:47.980 R.C. Sproul says, Matthew was written for a Jewish audience.
00:08:52.860 While the message of Jesus is universal, Matthew particularly focuses on how the kingdom was being rejected by the Jewish people during his earthly ministry.
00:09:03.440 And he highlights the consequences of that rejection. 0.71
00:09:07.120 He focuses on Jewish customs without explanation.
00:09:11.900 His references to Christ as the Son of David and his emphasis on Old Testament themes
00:09:17.440 all point to a gospel with a Jewish audience and a Messianic perspective, end quote.
00:09:27.500 Now, Matthew 24 is part of what's called the Olivet Discourse.
00:09:33.220 Now, Olivet because of the Mount of Olives.
00:09:35.920 It was delivered on the Mount of Olives.
00:09:37.760 It's a discourse that was given on the Mount of Olivet.
00:09:41.280 So it's called the Olivet Discourse.
00:09:44.680 Now, many modern Christians interpret verses 1 through 35, or at least 3 through 35,
00:09:51.540 as referring to the end of the world.
00:09:57.520 However, as you're going to see,
00:10:00.420 Jesus in this section is not predicting the end of the world,
00:10:02.920 but rather prophesying about the judgment on ethnic Israel for them rejecting him as their Messiah,
00:10:15.220 which includes the destruction of the temple and of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.
00:10:22.900 It also talks about the destruction of the entire Old Covenant age, or the Jewish era.
00:10:32.920 of the of biblical history so i want to begin by offering some context on matthew before we jump in
00:10:43.160 chapters 21 through 23 matthew is basically recording constant conflict between jesus
00:10:53.460 and the temple i mean you could go back and read it later today if you'd like
00:10:58.920 he's casting out the money changers.
00:11:03.060 There's several arguments with temple officials.
00:11:08.540 In 23, 29 through 39, which is the chapter right before us,
00:11:13.420 there's an entire section that's titled
00:11:15.720 The Seven Woes to the Scribes and Pharisees.
00:11:19.800 Now, I want to set some context by looking at Matthew 23,
00:11:25.440 just for a minute.
00:11:27.060 We'll look at 33 through 36.
00:11:28.920 This is Jesus' final pronouncement of judgment upon the Pharisees that he was rebuking in that chapter.
00:11:41.940 And pay attention to the repeated use of the second person plural pronoun you.
00:11:49.680 We don't have a second person plural pronoun in English, so we say y'all.
00:11:54.440 But it says, in 23, 33 through 36, it says,
00:12:02.100 You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? 0.98
00:12:10.860 Therefore, I send you. 0.99
00:12:13.300 Notice that he said, I send. 1.00
00:12:15.880 I send you, prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify. 0.99
00:12:23.540 And some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town. 0.98
00:12:29.920 So that, why does he send them? 0.85
00:12:32.300 So that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth. 1.00
00:12:39.140 From the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Achaia. 0.98
00:12:44.840 Whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. 0.90
00:12:50.500 Truly, I say to you, he could almost be pointing at them.
00:12:55.180 All these things will come upon this generation.
00:13:00.820 All right.
00:13:03.620 This is Jesus foretelling his own crucifixion and the persecution of his apostles.
00:13:12.480 And God's judgment that's coming upon them for rejecting their Messiah.
00:13:19.560 Now, the word generation in the Greek is ganea, and it literally means this present age.
00:13:31.840 It speaks to the kind of contemporaneous audience to whom Jesus is addressing.
00:13:38.540 Now, we know this because every time Jesus or any of the gospel writers uses the word gania, it refers to people living in that specific time.
00:13:53.920 Not a distant or symbolic future generation.
00:13:57.660 To this generation that he's speaking to right in front of him.
00:14:00.740 You can see it in Matthew 11, 16, 12, 41, 42, 24, 34, Mark 8, 12, 13, 30, Luke 7, 31, 11, 29, 30, 31, 32, 50, 51, 17, 25, and 21, 32.
00:14:19.320 Every time, it's speaking to the contemporary audience that's before them.
00:14:27.240 More precisely, Jesus was addressing, I would argue, the specific 40-year generation.
00:14:36.160 Why do I say that?
00:14:37.360 Well, the concept of a 40-year generation was very, it still is, very popular among a Hebrew culture.
00:14:43.640 It's throughout the Old Testament, but they really, I think, draw it originally from the generation that wandered 40 years in the wilderness.
00:14:50.980 And that was always used to describe and break up generations.
00:14:55.340 About 40 year gaps.
00:14:58.840 Now this is important because at the end of our passage in Matthew 24, verse 34,
00:15:06.120 Jesus says that line again.
00:15:10.100 He says, truly, truly, I say to you, this generation will certainly not pass away
00:15:15.440 until all these things have happened.
00:15:19.140 okay keep that in mind for the next several weeks we'll get there
00:15:25.860 and why is that important because in the last in less than 40 years from the words
00:15:32.960 that came out of jesus's mouth all of those events that we will see in matthew 24 including
00:15:41.940 the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple take place in 70 AD, just shy of 40 years.
00:15:50.580 Now, why is that so critical?
00:15:54.180 Because it demonstrates that the substance of Matthew 24, as you will see, is not a distant
00:16:01.460 future and global prophecy about the end of the world, but it's a near future and local
00:16:11.160 prophecy about the destruction of Jerusalem.
00:16:14.920 In other words, Jesus anchors all
00:16:17.700 of these things that we're about to learn about
00:16:19.400 in the Olivet Discourse that they will
00:16:23.640 all come to pass in the generation of the audience that he is
00:16:27.580 speaking to. So
00:16:30.520 the context for chapter 24 is coming off
00:16:34.640 of the heels of Jesus having this massive
00:16:37.580 conflict over and over again with the temple and the Pharisees. And he's foretelling the Jews of 1.00
00:16:46.020 their coming judgment. In fact, he even closes chapter 23 with a few phrases like, your house 0.78
00:16:51.640 is left to you desolate. And he says, to close it off in 23, you shall see me no more.
00:17:00.040 then in matthew 24 1 through 2 it says jesus came out from the temple okay now you can understand
00:17:11.760 the gravity because he's been in the temple for three chapters and jesus goes i'm out now
00:17:19.980 jesus came out from the temple this is verse 1 in chapter 24 and was going away
00:17:28.580 when his disciples came up
00:17:32.060 to point out
00:17:33.180 the temple buildings to him
00:17:35.640 and he said to them
00:17:38.300 do you not
00:17:39.960 see all these things
00:17:41.840 truly I say to you
00:17:43.680 not one stone here will be left
00:17:45.960 upon another which will not be torn
00:17:47.920 down
00:17:48.360 now
00:17:51.660 if you don't know the geography
00:17:53.780 of Jerusalem
00:17:54.380 as you leave the
00:17:57.780 temple gates and you you begin to ascend to the mount of olives which is east of the city
00:18:04.020 you can see on the mount of olives the kidron valley runs between the mount of olives and the
00:18:13.480 temple and it's elevated up so you can see all of the temple and all the temple buildings so they're
00:18:19.700 walking up jesus left the gates they're walking up to the mount of olives crossing the kidron
00:18:24.600 Valley. They're coming up, and they're
00:18:26.600 looking back.
00:18:28.920 And they're pointing out the buildings to
00:18:30.520 Jesus.
00:18:33.900 And
00:18:34.340 you can see Mark 13.1 is
00:18:36.480 recording this exact same
00:18:38.600 section of Scripture. Mark 31
00:18:40.580 captures the essence of their conversation a little
00:18:42.540 bit better. It says,
00:18:44.240 Teacher, see what manner of
00:18:46.620 stones and what buildings are here.
00:18:50.140 They're
00:18:50.540 kind of marveling
00:18:51.460 at the temple.
00:18:54.600 Tacitus records, quote, the Jewish temple was famous beyond all other works of men, end quote.
00:19:06.160 The ancient Jewish historian Josephus, who lived through the destruction of Jerusalem, he says,
00:19:15.720 Now the outward face of the temple in the front wanted nothing that was likely to surprise either the eyes of men or their minds.
00:19:24.600 for it was covered all over with plates of great weights of gold.
00:19:31.740 And the first rising of the sun reflected back a fiery splendor
00:19:37.680 and made those who forced themselves to look upon it to turn their eyes away
00:19:42.620 just as if they were looking at the sun or the glory of God himself, end quote.
00:19:49.400 The temple was impeccable.
00:19:54.600 I mean, just utterly amazing.
00:20:01.020 It would be like climbing a mountain and looking down at like the Cathedral of Notre Dame or the Cologne Cathedral in Germany.
00:20:09.340 And you're looking down on it.
00:20:10.960 You're like, what a glorious place to worship.
00:20:16.100 Look at the magnificence of that place.
00:20:21.780 But then Jesus asks a question.
00:20:24.600 Do you not understand the judgment that I was proclaiming on them?
00:20:30.380 Do you not see these things?
00:20:32.440 I tell you, not one stone will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.
00:20:37.980 Okay.
00:20:39.820 This is a shocking statement to the disciples.
00:20:45.340 In other words, the temple that they have grown up seeing,
00:20:50.460 that they've marveled at,
00:20:53.940 Jesus is actually saying,
00:20:56.320 it's going to be torn down.
00:21:00.200 Now, as we know, we know,
00:21:01.940 the disciples, they struggled to believe Jesus
00:21:04.740 or understand what he was saying.
00:21:07.800 But as we see throughout Scripture,
00:21:11.980 Jesus taught enough
00:21:14.460 that he was going to tear down the temple
00:21:16.560 that it became one of the reasons he was crucified.
00:21:20.440 Mark 15, 29-30, it says,
00:21:22.460 And those who passed by Jesus blasphemed him, wagging their heads, saying,
00:21:27.020 Aha! You who said that you will destroy the temple and build it in three days,
00:21:32.940 save yourself and come off that cross.
00:21:36.240 So it was a widely known reality that Jesus was saying,
00:21:42.940 That temple is coming down.
00:21:45.260 now go with me to 24 verse 3
00:21:50.220 it says as he was sitting on the mount of olives the disciples came to him privately
00:21:57.080 they walked up imagine them walking up jesus says that they finally get to the top
00:22:03.660 and now his disciples come to him privately because there's probably a crowd as always with
00:22:08.340 jesus and they say tell us when these things will happen and what will be the sign of your coming
00:22:18.820 and the end of the age the obvious response to such a massive claim is curiosity i'll tell you
00:22:27.400 what that's exactly what i would ask jesus if i was walking with him and he's like that thing's
00:22:31.860 about to go. Soon as I get a second, I'm going up to Jesus going, okay, wait. When? How? Fill me in.
00:22:45.640 And Jesus says in verse 2, he says, do you not see all these things? And then in verse 3,
00:22:51.320 the disciples go, when will these things happen?
00:22:57.080 The question any wise interpreter must ask themselves is, what is the antecedent to these
00:23:07.520 things? What is the object or the substance behind that pronoun? It's a demonstrative pronoun.
00:23:14.140 These things, what is it?
00:23:17.700 Well, grammatically, logically, syntactically,
00:23:22.120 it's referring to the claim that not one stone here will be left upon another
00:23:28.540 which will not be torn down.
00:23:30.180 That's the object.
00:23:33.240 In other words, their question is, when will the destruction of the temple happen?
00:23:37.280 When?
00:23:37.500 I actually asked AI
00:23:41.760 to check my grammar
00:23:43.660 to do a grammatical analysis on that verse
00:23:47.320 and it said
00:23:50.440 quote
00:23:50.740 the antecedent to the demonstrative pronoun these things
00:23:53.580 in Matthew 24 3 is the temple buildings
00:23:55.560 mentioned in Matthew 24 1 through 2
00:23:57.980 referring to destruction of the temple
00:23:59.420 end quote
00:23:59.900 it's difficult to communicate
00:24:05.000 again how astonishing
00:24:07.180 this discussion really is.
00:24:12.620 Nobody could imagine the temple being destroyed.
00:24:17.400 It's like they truly believed
00:24:19.960 that that temple would be there forever.
00:24:25.420 It was an eternal building
00:24:27.620 to the eyes of a Jewish culture.
00:24:32.440 But this question, 0.75
00:24:34.000 this two-sided question what will be the sign of your coming to destroy it
00:24:42.020 and put an end to this jewish or temple age that's the question that's being asked and i'll defend
00:24:49.780 that in a second this is the question that is the catalyst for the entire all of it discourse
00:24:56.800 That question.
00:24:59.140 So they're asking, what are the signs?
00:25:02.560 What are the events that will precede this destruction of the temple?
00:25:10.180 And what are the things that will come and bring an end to the temple or this covenant age or covenant era?
00:25:19.060 Now, you have to understand that Jesus wants his disciples to know that he is establishing a new kingdom.
00:25:30.520 That is the entire theme of the book of Matthew.
00:25:35.640 And this kingdom is not to be confused with Jerusalem.
00:25:40.000 It's not to be confused with the sacrificial system.
00:25:43.000 It's not to be confused with the priesthood or the temple or any element of the Old Covenant way.
00:25:49.060 one theologian writes
00:25:51.900 Jesus was the ultimate temple
00:25:56.440 John 2.19
00:25:57.980 the ultimate sacrifice
00:26:00.200 1.29
00:26:01.100 the ultimate mediator between God and men
00:26:04.440 1 Timothy 2.5
00:26:05.700 the physical temple was no longer
00:26:08.480 needed
00:26:09.240 it was designed to be a placeholder for the
00:26:12.400 true temple Jesus Christ
00:26:14.420 end quote
00:26:14.980 R.C. Sproul says
00:26:17.480 quote, the end of the age is a reference to the transition between the old covenant and the new
00:26:27.420 covenant, an event marked by the judgment of Israel in 70 AD. N.T. Wright says, Jesus's reference to
00:26:37.420 the end of the age in Matthew 24 speaks to the end of the Jewish age and the coming of God's kingdom
00:26:44.820 in a new form, inaugurated by Christ's death and resurrection,
00:26:49.120 and finalized in the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.
00:26:54.960 John Owen says,
00:26:57.060 The end of the age is not the literal end of the world,
00:27:00.040 but rather the conclusion of the Old Covenant age,
00:27:03.840 which was signified by the destruction of the temple
00:27:06.500 and the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.
00:27:09.760 ultimately the end of the age is not referring to the end of the world why would it there is
00:27:20.200 no context at all to be talking about the end of the world they're talking about the temple
00:27:27.120 why would they bring up the conversation well what about the end of the world jesus
00:27:32.180 no that's not the conversation whatsoever one theologian put it the end of all the it is the
00:27:41.460 end of all those things that were always intended to be temporary first corinthians 10 11 speaks to
00:27:51.160 the old testament saints or speaks of the old testament saints and it says now these things
00:27:56.000 This happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the age has come.
00:28:07.440 Okay, there's so many more scriptures that I just don't have time.
00:28:10.560 My sermon's already double length.
00:28:14.800 This is speaking about the end of the covenant age.
00:28:18.680 The famous Bible commentator John Gill, he writes in this verse, he says,
00:28:48.680 and which now in times of the apostles were at an end.
00:28:52.920 Everything in those periods that were figurative and emblematic
00:28:56.040 having their fulfilling end and accomplishment
00:28:58.840 and are also about to be revoked, end quote.
00:29:03.220 Okay, ultimately, these disciples are living in what was called by theologians
00:29:09.440 the transition age of the church.
00:29:14.260 You're transitioning from the Old Covenant era to the New Covenant era.
00:29:20.420 It's why people often say John the Baptist was the last Old Covenant prophet and the first New Testament preacher.
00:29:29.460 Right? 0.75
00:29:30.480 He's crossing this barrier between two ages. 0.99
00:29:35.780 The Old Covenant age would be definitively cut off 0.72
00:29:47.220 because it would be impossible to fulfill all of the requirements of worship without a temple.
00:29:56.860 It's impossible.
00:29:58.040 And the reason this judgment came is because God's people had rejected their Messiah.
00:30:13.160 Now, this should not shock us at all, that God is coming to destroy nations with military armies for unfaithfulness.
00:30:22.300 This is like all throughout the Old Testament.
00:30:24.660 Jesus is just acting like Ezekiel or David or Isaiah or Daniel.
00:30:32.240 He's just prophesying in the same way that the Old Testament prophets would prophesy. 0.60
00:30:39.140 The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. 0.87
00:30:42.640 The conquest of Canaan by Israel under Joshua. 0.70
00:30:48.240 Babylon's conquest of Judah.
00:30:50.880 Assyria's destruction of Israel.
00:30:53.220 The fall of Nineveh. 0.99
00:30:55.380 These are all God's judgments, destroying nations.
00:31:00.680 This isn't a new concept, by the way.
00:31:04.940 The destruction of Jerusalem and the temple was just another form of divine judgment.
00:31:10.820 But it was, in my opinion, very unique in its severity and finality.
00:31:16.360 Josephus, the Jewish historian who, again, witnessed the fall of Jerusalem,
00:31:25.560 he wrote, it's a long quote, so just bear with me here.
00:31:33.860 Now, as soon as the army had no more people to slay or to plunder,
00:31:40.380 because there remained none to be their objects of their fury,
00:31:45.860 Titus gave orders that they should now demolish the entire city and the temple.
00:31:53.400 One wall was spared.
00:31:56.720 It's the current wailing wall, by the way.
00:31:59.520 In order to afford a camp for such as were to lie in garrison in the upper city,
00:32:05.860 as were the towers, their three forts, also were spared.
00:32:09.480 in order to demonstrate the posterity of what kind of city it was
00:32:15.040 and how well fortified it was, which the Roman valor had subdued.
00:32:20.680 But for all the rest of the walls surrounding Jerusalem,
00:32:24.520 it was so thoroughly laid even with the ground 0.91
00:32:28.640 by those that dug up its very foundations
00:32:32.760 that there was left nothing to make those that came there
00:32:37.520 believed that Jerusalem had ever been inhabited. 0.97
00:32:41.720 This was the end which Jerusalem came, 1.00
00:32:46.200 a city otherwise of great magnificence 0.95
00:32:49.120 and of mighty fame among mankind.
00:32:53.700 And truly, the very view itself was a melancholy thing,
00:32:58.580 for those places which were adorned with trees and pleasant gardens
00:33:04.140 were now become desolate country in every way,
00:33:09.460 and its trees were all cut down.
00:33:12.500 Nor could any foreigner that had formerly seen Judea
00:33:16.580 and the most beautiful suburbs of the city 0.91
00:33:19.380 and now saw it as a desert,
00:33:23.140 but lament and mourn sadly at such a great change,
00:33:28.140 for the war had laid all signs of beauty quite waste.
00:33:34.140 Nor had anyone who had ever known the place before, had come to it now, would have ever known it again.
00:33:42.760 End quote.
00:33:44.700 It was absolutely leveled.
00:33:50.600 This is the fulfillment of those words in Matthew 23, 38.
00:33:55.840 Your house is left to you desolate.
00:33:59.540 But then, Jesus offers a more detailed answer to his disciples' question.
00:34:09.960 The when and the what will be the signs of his coming.
00:34:15.980 So read with me chapter 24, verses 4 through 8.
00:34:20.840 I'll wait for you guys to get there.
00:34:22.300 24, 4 through 8.
00:34:29.540 And Jesus answered and said to them,
00:34:37.180 See to it that no one misleads you.
00:34:40.340 For many will come in my name, saying that I am the Christ, and will mislead many.
00:34:45.460 You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars.
00:34:49.780 See to it that you are not frightened, for those things must take place.
00:34:54.380 But that is not yet the end.
00:34:56.720 For nation will rise against nation.
00:34:59.540 And kingdom against kingdom.
00:35:01.300 And in various places there will be famines and earthquakes.
00:35:05.280 But all these things, there's that word again, are merely the beginning of the birth pangs.
00:35:13.520 Okay.
00:35:15.700 That's all we're going to get through today.
00:35:17.580 I'm going to exposit this for the next probably 20 minutes.
00:35:21.480 But that's as far as we're going in Matthew today.
00:35:24.820 So first off, I want you to notice.
00:35:26.680 Jesus said to them
00:35:30.120 okay
00:35:31.980 what does it say
00:35:33.660 and Jesus answered and said
00:35:36.180 to them
00:35:37.080 which indicates a particular
00:35:40.460 audience that we know to be
00:35:42.160 the disciples
00:35:43.440 who came to him privately
00:35:45.940 asking him when
00:35:47.760 second he says
00:35:50.180 see to it that no one misleads
00:35:52.440 you
00:35:52.780 the word actually
00:35:56.380 you. Greek is so wonderful. English is like black and white.
00:36:00.500 Greek is like 4K color. It gives you way more
00:36:04.080 understanding of the intent of the person
00:36:08.420 who wrote it. So we can see that the you
00:36:12.040 is in the present tense possessive pronoun. It's a second
00:36:16.480 person plural, which means again, y'all. You. Y'all.
00:36:21.360 He's speaking to the disciples
00:36:24.480 standing right in front of him
00:36:27.340 about the question they just asked
00:36:30.940 regarding when those things would take place.
00:36:37.260 Now remember, we're called to do exegesis.
00:36:41.620 Ek.
00:36:42.680 It's a Greek word.
00:36:44.080 It means to come out.
00:36:46.120 Exegesis is to come out.
00:36:48.320 Pull something out.
00:36:49.420 Extract something out of the text.
00:36:52.120 Eisegesis.
00:36:52.800 It means to go in.
00:36:56.060 It means to project yourself into the text.
00:36:59.220 We're not eisegesist.
00:37:01.960 We're exegesis.
00:37:07.240 Jesus then tells his disciples three indicators.
00:37:11.200 Three indicators.
00:37:13.480 Three signs that will occur prior to the temple being torn down.
00:37:18.240 Number one, false messiahs.
00:37:22.800 Number two, wars and rumors of wars.
00:37:27.440 And number three, famines and earthquakes.
00:37:33.740 Each of these signs are recorded by both Christians and secular historians as prevalent realities that occurred between 35 and 70 A.D.
00:37:49.140 Okay. 0.66
00:37:50.560 False messiahs. 0.83
00:37:52.160 Number one. 1.00
00:37:52.800 This is actually a really common thing in first century Israel.
00:38:03.240 And why?
00:38:05.020 Well, because the Jews were experiencing increasing pressure from Rome.
00:38:10.540 They wanted to be delivered.
00:38:12.800 They were feeling oppressed.
00:38:14.140 They needed a Savior, a Messiah.
00:38:18.200 up. But remember, they were thinking of a political Messiah. They weren't thinking of a spiritual
00:38:27.580 Messiah. They were thinking of a political king. And how do we know that? Well, because
00:38:35.080 John 6.15 says, therefore, when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take him
00:38:40.960 by force and make him king, he departed.
00:38:50.240 They all wanted kind of the Donald Trump of their day.
00:38:55.460 Come rescue us.
00:38:58.420 So when it says that there are going to be many messiahs, it's not talking about many
00:39:02.920 spiritual messiahs.
00:39:03.820 It's talking about rulers and kings.
00:39:06.320 so when jesus says for many will come in my name saying that i am the christ
00:39:12.080 he's talking primarily about military leaders and politicians and and maybe some spiritual
00:39:21.060 gurus of sorts one jewish scholar writes the first century especially the generation before
00:39:26.880 the destruction of the temple witnessed a remarkable outburst of messianic emotionalism
00:39:33.440 This guy's not even a Christian, by the way. This is a Jew. 0.98
00:39:37.400 This is to be attributed as what we shall see, not only the intensification of Roman persecution, 0.50
00:39:45.600 but also to the prevalent belief induced by the popular chronology of the day that the age was on the threshold of the millennium.
00:39:52.540 There are numerous people who came out between Jesus' time and 70 A.D. claiming to be the Messiah or the Savior of Israel.
00:40:11.920 Justice, son of
00:40:16.280 Ezekiah, Simon of Perea
00:40:18.340 Anthrongs, Judas of Galilee
00:40:20.520 Thudias, the Egyptian 0.95
00:40:24.160 prophet, Manahem 0.67
00:40:25.780 Simon Bar-Giora
00:40:28.020 John of Gescala
00:40:29.940 are just a few that have been recorded
00:40:32.000 in secular and Jewish
00:40:34.120 history
00:40:34.680 the next sign is
00:40:38.120 wars and rumors of wars
00:40:39.360 now there has been almost non-stop wars
00:40:44.200 since the beginning of time
00:40:46.580 but interestingly about 15 years before the birth of Christ
00:40:51.380 we had this really important moment
00:40:54.580 called the Pax Romana
00:40:56.040 which means the peace of Rome
00:41:00.760 it was an era enforced
00:41:04.120 by an army for military peace
00:41:07.920 It was forced peace, but nevertheless it was peace.
00:41:12.220 And this is important because that generation, since the birth of Christ, had not really seen or heard of many wars.
00:41:21.000 Origen wrote, quote, the abundance of peace that began at the birth of Christ was astonishing, end quote.
00:41:28.120 Pliny the Elder, Eusebius, Epictetus, and others
00:41:35.420 wrote about this time of geopolitical harmony in the Roman Empire, which included
00:41:39.500 Jerusalem. There was a unique peace
00:41:42.500 at that time. This continued until Nero
00:41:47.340 ruled. And Nero ruled from 54
00:41:51.220 AD to 68, and he was actually the
00:41:55.400 initiating source of the destruction of Jerusalem. He died before it happened, but he was the one 0.99
00:42:00.500 that initiated that reality. Ken Gentry writes, quote, at Nero's death in 68 AD, the Pax Romana
00:42:07.300 was shattered, sparking the Roman civil wars, including the chaotic year of four emperors,
00:42:15.500 which was 68 through 69 AD, which nearly led to the empire's collapse. As the events leading up
00:42:22.400 to the Jewish war unfolded, Christians were called
00:42:24.280 Christ's prophecy of a great
00:42:26.100 tribulation, the wars and rumors
00:42:28.340 of wars that would precede
00:42:30.480 Jerusalem's destruction.
00:42:32.800 Thus, the wars and rumors
00:42:34.500 of wars were clear signs 0.99
00:42:35.900 for that generation, a stark
00:42:38.320 contrast to the peace
00:42:40.220 imposed by the mighty Roman Empire
00:42:42.540 that had reigned for nearly
00:42:44.200 100 years prior.
00:42:48.580 So it becomes helpful because you go,
00:42:50.420 wow it's really peaceful when you start hearing
00:42:52.640 wars and rumors of wars
00:42:54.880 it's like a stark contrast
00:42:56.800 to the existing
00:42:57.780 temperature of the culture
00:43:01.020 and you start
00:43:02.840 to see it rumble
00:43:04.780 in the 50s and then
00:43:06.840 in the 60s and then
00:43:08.780 at the end of the 60s it's booming
00:43:10.920 of conflict
00:43:11.980 and Jesus says that's
00:43:14.720 one of the signs these are the birth pains
00:43:17.040 you will
00:43:18.880 know
00:43:19.200 the third sign is famines and earthquakes
00:43:23.620 famines are severe shortages of food to the point of death they are pretty rare actually
00:43:33.840 which makes jesus's mention of them very helpful because you go you're not having famines every
00:43:40.240 year so it'd be hard you know when the famines come that'll be a sign acts 11 verse 28 actually
00:43:48.820 records a famine. It's stating, quote, then one of them, named Abagus, stood up and showed by the
00:43:53.800 Spirit that there was going to be a great famine throughout all the world, which also happened in
00:44:00.640 the days of Claudius Caesar. End quote. That's Bible right there, okay? Two things I want to say
00:44:07.660 about that verse. First, this prophecy aligns with the historical record of Josephus about the year
00:44:14.320 46 AD, he said, quote, now during the time of the reign of Tiberius Alexander, who was
00:44:20.840 the Roman governor of Judea at the time, different than Caesar, a great famine occurred, which
00:44:26.100 was so severe that many of the people were forced to leave the city to find food. The
00:44:30.180 famine was so distressing that it caused a widespread suffering. Queen Helena moved
00:44:35.920 to the plight of the people, sent large sums of money to Alexandria and brought corn for
00:44:40.620 the people to eat distributing it generously to the needy end quote second i want you to go back
00:44:48.020 to the acts 11 28 verse i want you to look at luke's language real quick just for a second
00:44:54.500 it says there was going to be a great famine throughout all the world
00:44:59.600 okay you have to learn as a bible interpreter that when the scriptures say world
00:45:09.520 it does not always mean the entire earth
00:45:13.020 okay I could give you a hundred examples I feel like it's just a
00:45:17.180 it's all over the place Luke doesn't
00:45:21.660 use actually the word cosmos which is the word for
00:45:25.400 kind of the universe of the whole world he uses the
00:45:29.580 word oikomene which is a different word
00:45:31.940 and in this instance refers to the whole known world
00:45:37.500 basically the roman empire and this is important because in matthew 24 14 and 24 21 which we're
00:45:47.180 going to discuss over the next couple weeks the term world is used there and it's also oikomene
00:45:51.960 and you cannot interpret it as the whole earth because if you do you're going to get yourself
00:45:58.440 stuck into the dispensational futuristic position again did a famine hit the whole world
00:46:05.960 is that what he's talking about in Acts 11 28 no there's so much evidence that that was not true
00:46:13.440 there's evidence in India there's evidence in China no it wasn't the whole it was the known
00:46:19.880 world the Roman Empire and so we are going to be smart Bible interpreters when it comes to these
00:46:26.420 words and we're going to understand it because we're going to be able to look at the Greek and
00:46:29.860 see 4k about the usage of particular terms next there was also a famine
00:46:39.960 leading up to and during the fall of jerusalem this is vital vital it was so intense
00:46:50.980 this famine was so intense that josephus who again was an eyewitness to the fall of jerusalem
00:46:58.160 he wrote this and this is really even hard to read okay so pay attention there was a certain
00:47:07.340 woman that dwelt beyond the jordan her name was mary it was now become impossible for her to find
00:47:15.020 any way to get food while the famine pierced through her very bowels and marrow when also
00:47:22.340 her passion was fired to a degree beyond the famine itself, nor did she consult with anything
00:47:29.760 but with her passion and the necessity that she was in. She then attempted a most unnatural thing,
00:47:39.000 a snatching up her own son, who was a child suckling at her breast. She said, O thou miserable 0.99
00:47:46.260 infant for whom shall I preserve thee in this war this famine in this sedition as to the war
00:47:54.320 with the Romans if they preserve our lives we must be slaves this famine also will destroy us
00:48:00.500 even before that slavery comes upon us come on then be thou my food and be thou a fury to these 0.99
00:48:10.140 seditious varlets. Josephus says, as soon as she had said this, she slew her son and then roasted 1.00
00:48:19.540 him. And onlookers were seized with horror and amazement of mind and stood astonished at the
00:48:25.780 sight when she said to them, this is my own son. And what has been done has been my own doing.
00:48:32.420 Come and eat of this food, for I have eaten it for myself.
00:48:37.540 Do not you pretend to be either more tender than a woman or more compassionate than a mother.
00:48:44.120 But if you be so scrupulous and do not abominate this my sacrifice,
00:48:48.960 as I have eaten the other half myself, lest the rest be reserved for me also.
00:48:56.320 After which those men went out trembling,
00:48:58.460 being never so much affrighted at anything as they ever saw and with some difficulty they left
00:49:06.040 the rest of the meat to that mother upon which the whole city was full of this horrid action
00:49:13.860 and while everybody laid this miserable case before their own eyes they trembled as if they
00:49:20.000 as if this unheard of action had been done by themselves so those that were distressed
00:49:28.200 by the famine were very desirous to even die as those already dead were esteemed to be happy
00:49:36.920 because they had not lived long enough to see or hear of such miseries end quote
00:49:43.260 okay what makes this so incredible is that the old testament actually prophesies that this exact
00:49:54.980 thing would happen. And that it would happen because the Jews broke their covenant by rejecting
00:50:03.980 the Messiah. It literally says that mothers and fathers would eat their own kids. I'm going to 0.93
00:50:09.160 read it to you. Deuteronomy 28, 54 through 57. It says, the sensitive and the very refined man among
00:50:19.440 you will be hostile
00:50:21.620 toward his brother, toward the wife
00:50:23.660 of his bosom, and toward the rest
00:50:25.540 of his children whom he leaves behind
00:50:27.300 so that he will not give any of 0.83
00:50:29.500 them the flesh of his children whom he 0.98
00:50:31.460 will eat, because he has
00:50:33.380 nothing left in the siege.
00:50:35.940 Literally the name for the
00:50:37.200 fall of Jerusalem is the siege
00:50:39.460 of Jerusalem.
00:50:40.980 And the desperate straits in which
00:50:43.560 your enemy shall distress you at
00:50:45.380 all of your gates. It's talking
00:50:47.460 about in your city. Verse 56.
00:50:49.440 The tender and the delicate woman among you, who you would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground 0.55
00:50:56.000 because of her delicateness and sensitivity, will refuse to the husband of her bosom and her son and her daughter
00:51:02.620 her placenta which comes out from between her feet and her children from whom she bears, 0.99
00:51:08.880 for she will eat them secretly for lack of everything in the siege and desperate straits 0.72
00:51:15.040 in which your enemy shall distress you at all of your gates.
00:51:19.440 Okay, you need to understand the gravity.
00:51:24.080 Jesus is saying the Israelites rejected their Messiah.
00:51:32.720 God's wrath and fury is about to come down.
00:51:37.440 And what's the sign of this destruction of the temple?
00:51:42.180 Well, I'm going to give you some of them.
00:51:44.960 There's going to be false political leaders that are ruling up or rising up.
00:51:48.580 There is going to be famines and earthquakes.
00:51:53.220 There's going to be wars and rumors of wars.
00:51:55.480 When you start to see these things, it's best for you to leave the city.
00:52:00.960 That's basically what's being communicated here. 0.98
00:52:03.140 And when you find out that all the Christians in church history, prior to the fall of Jerusalem,
00:52:10.700 actually did leave Jerusalem and went to Bethany,
00:52:14.500 you realize, wow, they had some insider knowledge.
00:52:18.580 Wonder how they got that.
00:52:21.260 Well, no, we don't have to wonder.
00:52:24.000 They believed that Matthew 24 was about the fall of Jerusalem,
00:52:29.420 not some future cataclysmic global event.
00:52:36.320 Jesus also prophesies about that famine in Luke 1944.
00:52:41.640 He says,
00:52:41.920 for days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you surround
00:52:49.160 you and close in on you on every side and level you and your children within you to the ground
00:52:55.880 and they will not leave you one stone upon another because you did not know the time of
00:53:03.080 your visitation speaking to him as for earthquakes and i'm getting ready to wrap up here
00:53:10.960 Philostratus mentions earthquakes in Smyrna, Miletus, Chios, Samos, and several other of the areas.
00:53:20.920 Ken Gentry writes, Tacitus mentions earthquakes in Crete, Rome, Apamea, Figura, Campania, Laodicea of Revelation fame, and Pompeii.
00:53:32.960 During the time just before Jerusalem's destruction,
00:53:36.220 severe earthquakes plagued the reigns of the emperors Caligula 37 through 41 Claudius 41
00:53:44.960 through 54 and according to Seneca uh 4 bc to 65 a.d others occurred in Asia Achaia Syria and
00:53:53.660 Macedonia of this area and this era Ellicott's commentary observes this pay attention to this
00:54:01.220 Perhaps no period in world history has ever been so marked by these earthly convulsions
00:54:07.540 as that which intervenes between the crucifixion and the destruction of Jerusalem.
00:54:12.500 There is more earthquakes in that short period of time than of any other period of ancient history.
00:54:20.560 Huh.
00:54:22.000 Maybe Jesus knows what he's talking about.
00:54:24.460 And he's prophesying about the signs, about the birth pains that are coming to end, not just Jerusalem, not just the temple, but the entire Old Covenant economy.
00:54:42.120 Done.
00:54:43.040 unfortunately
00:54:47.680 and this is my closing
00:54:49.100 the dispensational position
00:54:51.960 or the futurists
00:54:52.880 they make Jesus' statements about these
00:54:55.840 near future and local signs
00:54:57.500 to a first century audience
00:55:00.100 about
00:55:01.160 a far future and global
00:55:03.960 signs to a universal audience
00:55:05.760 honestly it is
00:55:07.720 it is honestly an embarrassing degree
00:55:09.820 of poor interpretation 0.87
00:55:10.620 it's historically ignorant and very prideful now why because it makes prophecies that are
00:55:20.820 not about us seem to directly apply to us today which ignores the original context of the text 0.85
00:55:26.380 and the audience to whom these warnings were actually given
00:55:29.660 we love in america the idea of this kind of future cinematic apocalyptic reality
00:55:42.900 okay what partial preterism does is it allows you as a christian to realize that all of the
00:55:50.480 things of revelation and all of the things of matthew 24 the hard things the tribulation 70
00:55:55.720 AD. The difficulties, they're all in the past. And what that does is it frees you up now to be
00:56:03.320 hopeful that Christ won and that he's triumphant and that he's victorious and the church will
00:56:08.640 continue to triumph in history through the proclamation of the gospel and that the gates
00:56:13.860 of hell will not prevail against the church and the kingdom will grow like a mustard seed that
00:56:19.680 becomes the biggest kingdom or the biggest plant in the garden plants and that we will be like
00:56:23.520 leaven that leavens the entire lump of mankind you're free to be hopeful and optimistic because
00:56:31.400 you realize oh those things are not speaking about my future but the future of those original
00:56:36.300 audience it really is that key that allows you to interpret eschatological history and make
00:56:46.160 everything make sense and now be hopeful and optimistic about the kingdom that's coming
00:56:51.160 And that is, and that will be consummated when Christ returns.
00:56:58.600 So, in part four, I'm going to continue taking us through Matthew 24.
00:57:07.380 Explaining how each of these things are speaking about the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD.
00:57:13.620 And then I'll close with one to two sermons on a biblical defense of post-millennialism
00:57:22.540 that will help you realize the optimistic nature of a victorious and reigning kingdom.
00:57:31.940 Amen? Let's pray.
00:57:35.380 Father, we thank you, Lord.
00:57:40.540 We thank you that you are a reigning and ruling king.
00:57:43.620 Lord, that your church, your body, is victorious because you are victorious, our head.
00:57:53.100 Lord, we ask that you would give us wisdom and humility.
00:57:57.600 Lord, that we would not make the scriptures about us, but that we would make them about you.
00:58:04.100 Lord, that we would apply properly those passages which apply to us, but not those passages that do not.
00:58:11.360 Lord give us discernment
00:58:13.840 help us to be careful
00:58:17.320 Lord help us to be hopeful
00:58:20.240 and optimistic
00:58:22.000 in Jesus name
00:58:23.680 Amen