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Matthew 24: Prophecy of Destruction -- Part 1
Jack Van Deventer
 atthew 24 is an ominous chapter in
which Jesus foretells of tribulation associated with the following events: the
complete destruction of the temple, false christs and false prophets, wars,
famines and earthquakes, persecution of Christians, increased lawlessness, the
gospel preached to the whole world, the abomination of desolation, unprecedented
tribulation, and the heavens shaken.
How are these events to be understood? And what is the timing of these
events? Two main interpretive approaches are futurism (these events will be
fulfilled sometime in the future) and preterism (they have been fulfilled in the
past).
Futurists argue their position by pointing out that these events could not
have been fulfilled in the past because (1) the gospel has not been preached to
the whole world, (2) there has not been an unprecedented tribulation, and (3)
the sun has not been darkened, the moon has not failed to shine, nor have the
stars fallen. Futurists affirm that a very simple literal interpretation of the
Bible makes these conclusions rather obvious. Moreover, they argue that wars,
famines, earthquakes, and false prophets are on the rise, adding credibility to
a future (and perhaps soon) fulfillment.
On the other hand, preterists defend their interpretation by pointing out
that (1) Christ was speaking specifically to His disciples in reply to their
questions in verse 2 (Jesus tells them "you will hear", v. 6, and "when you
see," v. 15). (2) The immediate context of the passage requires a near
fulfillment. With respect to the timing of these events, Jesus declared,
"Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all
these things take place" (v. 34). (3) The destruction of the great temple by
multiple armies under Roman command in A.D. 70 fits Jesus' description exactly:
"Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that
shall not be thrown down" (v. 2).
Still, the preterists have a lot of explaining to do. How about the
objections (above) raised by the futurists? Certainly it is impossible for the
gospel to have been preached worldwide. Or is it? What do the Scriptures say?
Writing to the Romans, the apostle Paul wrote "your faith is spoken of
throughout the whole world" (Rom. 1:8) and that the voice of gospel preachers
had gone "to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world" (Rom
10:18). To the Colossians, Paul wrote of "the word of the truth of the gospel,
which has come to you, as it has also in all the world" (Col. 1:5-6). Later,
Paul added that the gospel "was preached to every creature under heaven" (Col.
1:23).
The tribulation spoken of by Jesus in verse 21 is said to be beyond anything
that has been or will be, so how could such a tribulation be fulfilled already?
[1]
First, the carnage surrounding the siege and destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70
was massive indeed. Jewish historian Josephus estimated that 1.1 million Jews
were slaughtered. Second, Gentry notes that the larger and more important aspect
of this tribulation was the covenantal significance of the loss of the temple:
the holy judgment of God for the crucifixion of His Son by the Jews.[2]
The covenantal implications to Israel are noted in the parable of the vineyard,
where Christ warned, "Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken
from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. And whoever falls on
this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to
powder" (Matt. 21: 43,44).
Futurists argue that the prophecy in verse 29 has not been fulfilled: "the
sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall
from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken." Preterists respond
that the sun, moon, and stars symbolize governments (Gen. 1:14-16). For a modern
example, Americans have fifty stars on their flag symbolizing fifty state
governments. Preterists contend that the strict literalism of futurists misleads
them because they fail to understand the scriptural use of these terms in a
prophetic context. For example, the fall of Babylon to the Medes in 539 B.C. was
prophesied in terms of the sun, moon, and stars going dark (Is. 13:9-10); the
fall of Edom was prophesied in terms of the heaven wearing away and the sky
rolling up like a scroll (Is. 34:4); Amos foretold of the destruction of Samaria
(722 B.C.) by saying the sun would go down at noon and the earth would go dark
in broad daylight (Amos 8:9); and the destruction of Egypt involved pr ophecy of
darkened sun, moon, and stars.
[3]
Jesus used the same terminology in Matthew 24, perhaps even quoting these
passages.
Given the abundance of fulfilled Bible prophecies involving the sun, moon,
and stars to illustrate impending judgment, preterists wonder what scriptural
justification futurists have for a literal fulfillment of these events. Why
should Matthew 24:29 be taken literally when all the O.T. passages using the
same wording were clearly symbolic of immediate, widespread destruction?
More discussion of Matthew 24 will follow in subsequent issues. However, the
main point to observe here is that, in general, the hermeneutical difference
between futurists and preterists is that futurists tend to weight literalism
more heavily while, relatively speaking, preterists are more inclined to let
Scripture interpret Scripture.
Credenda/Agenda Vol. 8, No. 2
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