No One Knows The Hour (part 25)

Jesus, like Isaiah, is employing apocalyptic imagery, and by doing so is vesting His words with the weight that He believes is due them, and doing it by utilizing the familiar words of one of Israel’s great prophets---words that came to pass and, owing to the fact that Israel had been in subjection to a foreign power and therefore under their God’s continued judgment from that point on, served to define Israel’s existence to that very day.  Naturally, if one has been successfully disabused of the notion that Jesus is somehow speaking about the end of the world, and is now positioned as a responsible hearer of His words and reader of the text, then there will be no falling into the trap of thinking about “the end” as “the end of the world”. 

What Jesus can be heard saying, as He continues to speak unswervingly about the Temple and as He builds upon the words and actions of judgment against the Temple and its regime that were delivered in the wake of His triumphal entry, is that the Temple has become corrupt and that the Creator God is going to bring judgment against it.  Israel’s God did it before by the instrument of the Babylonians, and now, given the situation that was then in existence, it is obvious that it is Rome that is going to perform the role of Babylon. 

Jesus then goes on to link this judging event to the Son of Man’s coming to the Ancient of Days, adding “Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven,” or the sky, “ and all the tribes of the earth will mourn.  They will see the Son of Man arriving on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (Matthew 24:30).  Once again, Jesus references Daniel chapter seven, and in doing so combines the time of the fall of the Temple with the time when the Son of Man receives His kingdom. 

So when will the Son of Man come (to the Ancient of Days) and receive His kingdom and all power and authority?  When the Temple falls.  When will the Temple fall?  When the Son of Man receives His kingdom and all power and authority.    By now, because the reader is squarely focused on the Temple and is hearing things correctly as first-century Jews that are inhabiting the narrative, it is possible to successfully resist the temptation to see the Son of Man arriving on the clouds of heaven as a movement to earth, and instead rightly understand it as the movement of an event in the heavenly realm. 

After speaking again about the arrival of the Son of Man on the clouds of heaven, as the Son of Man goes before the Ancient of Days to receive His kingdom (power and glory) rather than coming to earth, Jesus says “And He will send His angels with a loud trumpet blast and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” (24:31).  Because attention has again been called to Daniel’s seventh chapter, it would not be inappropriate to hear these words about the gathering of the elect amidst the falling echoes of the kingdom-of-God-laced words about the Son of Man.  Doing so, it is appropriate to reflect on words such as “While I was watching, that horn began to wage war against the holy ones,” God’s elect people, “and was defeating them, until the Ancient of Days arrived and judgment was rendered in favor of the holy ones of the Most High.  Then the time came for the holy ones to take possession of the kingdom” (Daniel 7:21-22). 

It is not impossible to hear about the gathering of the elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other, as an approximation of these words from Daniel, especially if Jesus is using veiled language to say that which He cannot overtly say.  Likewise, since this judgment in favor of the holy ones occurs in conjunction with the report of the Son of Man’s actions in Daniel, why would this not be that to which Jesus is making reference here in Matthew (along with Mark and Luke)?  Indeed, it would seem incongruous to think that Jesus is referring to anything else. 

Only Son (part 20)

It is written that “When Solomon became old, his wives shifted his allegiance to other gods; he was not wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord his God, as his father David had been.  Solomon worshiped the Sidonian goddess Astarte and the detestable Ammonite god Milcom.  Solomon did evil in the Lord’s sight; he did not remain loyal to the Lord…  The Lord was angry with Solomon because he had shifted his allegiance away from the Lord, the God of Israel…  So the Lord said to Solomon, ‘Because you insist on doing these things and have not kept the covenantal rules I gave you, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you’.” (1 Kings 11:4b-5a,9a,11a)  This idolatry would reportedly lead to the division of the kingdom of Israel into north and south, and the dual monarchies that would persist until their respective subjugations and exiles. 

When the Temple of Jerusalem had been dedicated, Israel’s God promised to make it the place of His presence, as it was recognized in the ancient near east that temples were the resting places of the gods (the whole of the creation was the temple of the Creator God, for that is where He was said to have rested).  At the same time, the covenant God issued a warning for Solomon, saying “if you or your sons ever turn away from Me, fail to obey the regulations and rules I instructed you to keep, and decide to serve and worship other gods, then I will remove Israel from the land I have given them, I will abandon this Temple I have consecrated with My presence, and Israel will be mocked and ridiculed among the nations” (9:6-7).  To this was added: “This Temple will become a heap of ruins” (9:8a).  Is not this same warning, given to Solomon, also that which was given to both Adam and Israel? 

These respective sons of God were all given responsibilities, and all three, as the historical narrative would indicate, fall short of those responsibilities through which they were to reflect the glory of the Creator God, and through which their God would gain worship and praise.  Indeed, Adam’s temple (creation) would fall into ruin, subjected to death and decay.  Israel’s temple (it’s promised land) would fall into ruin, subjected to foreign power and exile.  Solomon’s temple (the Temple) would fall into ruin, destroyed by subjugating powers. 

For all of the good that was said to have been done during his reign, it was Solomon’s idolatry that set the nation on course for the eventual destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple at the hands of the Babylonians.  For all of the good that Adam presumably did, in service of his Creator, it was his self-idolatry that brought destruction into the world.  For all of the good that Israel had done, as they carried out at least a portion of their God’s commands in taking and subduing their promised land, it was their idolatry that routinely and repeatedly and finally brought about destruction. 

Before coming to that however, Solomon is shown to have served his Lord well.  As was said, kingdoms paid tribute to Israel, as the Creator God blessed Israel for its faithfulness.  “People from all nations came to hear Solomon’s display of wisdom; they came from all the kings of the earth who heard about his wisdom” (4:34).  The queen of Sheba was one of those that reportedly came to Solomon, having heard of his reputation.  It is said that when she heard him and saw all of his wealth, that “she was amazed” (10:5b).  She would go on to say, “Because of the Lord’s eternal love for Israel, He made you king so you could make just and right decisions” (10:9b).  This hearkens to the words of Jesus.  Is it not possible to hear echoes of these amazed words from the queen when Jesus says, “For this is the way God loved the world: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16)? 

Father Of Your Nation (part 1 of 2)

The father of your nation sinned… - Isaiah 43:27a  (NET)

When the Creator God tells Israel, through Isaiah, that the father of their nation sinned, He adds that “your spokesmen rebelled against Me” (43:27b).  Through this, He is expressing to them the reason for His judgment that has come upon them.  Now, who is the father of the nation by ancestry?  Specifically, that would be Jacob, and Isaac before him, with this lineage being traced back to Abraham, who was the recipient of a covenant with the Creator God and given the promise that he would be made into a great nation. 

So here, is the covenant God of Israel suggesting that Abraham has sinned?  Naturally, one can think of Abraham as a sinful man like any other man, but that is most likely not the referent.  Even though they certainly had their faults and flaws, it would probably not be appropriate to think of either Isaac or Jacob as the point of reference, though both certainly could be said to have “sinned” at a number of points.  So who is it that is the father of their nation?  Who is the one that sinned?  In all probability, based upon the Creator God’s dealings with His people that can be found throughout the historical books of the Hebrew Scriptures, the father in question, or more correctly, “fathers,” are most likely the kings of Israel and Judah. 

Throughout their history, as is indicated by the Scriptural narrative, the king (or even leaders or judges before the era of the kings) stood as the representative for the people.  They were the spokesmen for the Creator God’s people, in both word and deed.  They directed and reflected the national sentiment.  Looking through the history of Israel to find a classic example of this situation, one can find the excellent example of when King David ordered that a census that, tragically, did not include the taking up of an offering for the tabernacle (Exodus 30:12-16).  Even though it is he alone that is demonstrated to be at fault, it is the covenant people that suffer a plague until the point at which David makes an offering and buys the plot of land on which the Temple will eventually come to be built (thus effectively making an offering for the tabernacle).  Though it was their father that had sinned, it was the people that were forced to suffer. 

When the kingdom is divided into north (Israel) and south (Judah), the fortunes of the people are generally pegged to the righteousness (faithfulness to the Creator God and to His covenant requirements) or wickedness (unfaithfulness) of the king.  Their reported peace and prosperity waxes and wanes in accordance with the king’s reported disposition toward the Creator. Ultimately, as the historical records suggests, the north (Israel) would not have a single king that was said to have done what was right.  Naturally, this is a problematic situation for the covenant people.  As a result, Israel is conquered and the people are said to have been dispersed by Assyria, with this taking place in 722 B.C..  This happens fewer than three hundred years after King David.  The textual narrative makes the implication that the conquering is a result of the performance of the king---the father of the nation. 

The south (Judah), on the other hand, has a few kings that were said to have done what was right in the eyes of the Lord.  As a result of this, though conquering and destruction would eventually come at the hands of the Babylonians in 586 B.C., they were spared from the Assyrian conquering, having been given what proved to be a temporary reprieve from judgment.  The fate of Judah is said to have been sealed by the gross and intolerable idolatry of the king named Manasseh, who would reign over Judah for fifty-five years (more than any other king).  

Terms Of The Covenant (part 1 of 2)

Tell them that the Lord, the God of Israel, says, “Anyone who does not keep the terms of the covenant will be under a curse.” – Jeremiah 11:3  (NET)

So it was for the people of the Creator God, Israel (specifically those of the southern kingdom of Judah in the time of Jeremiah).  The curses under which they would find themselves are presented with utmost clarity in the twenty-eighth chapter of Deuteronomy (expounding on the Levitical curses).  Because Jeremiah is speaking on the coming destruction of Jerusalem and subjugation of Judah by the Babylonians, and because such subjugation and oppression can be located within the extensive list of curses that Israel’s God had promised to bring upon His covenant people if they did not keep the terms of the covenant, it can be reliably affirmed that the Creator God’s people had not kept to the terms of the covenant. 

More specifically, the covenant people had not lived up to their responsibility to properly bear the divine image, as set forth in the laws that were understood to have been provided to them by their God, through Moses.  To Judah in Jeremiah’s day, in reference to the terms of the covenant and its curses, the Creator God said, “Those are the terms that I charged your ancestors to keep when I brought them out of Egypt, that place which was like an iron-smelting furnace” (11:4a).   

However, it would behoove later observers not to look down upon them or speak poorly of them because of this.  The covenant people were unable to keep the terms of the covenant because they were human, and therefore, as the story of Scripture seems to be supposed to be understood, subject to the same failings to be found in the head of the entire race, that being Adam.  The covenant that Israel violated was not the first covenant to be violated.  They were not the first to find failure when it came to the Creator God’s expectations.  To find that occurrence, one must look to the book of Genesis, remembering that the Genesis narrative is crucial for the self-identification and self-understanding of the people of Israel. 

There one is able to read that “The Lord God took the man and placed him in the orchard in Eden to care for it and to maintain it” (Genesis 2:15).  This care and maintenance was a portion of the Creator God’s covenant with the being that had been created in His image.  Reading on, one  also finds it said that “You may freely eat fruit from every tree of the orchard, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will surely die” (2:16-17).  Of course, owing to the knowledge of pain and suffering, information about which provides a daily bombardment of the sense, all are quite aware that the terms of this covenant were violated. 

Again, as the Scriptural narrative seems to insist, owing to that violation, because the Creator God is faithful to His covenants, all of humanity and creation came under a curse, as death is said to have made its entry into the world.  The curse came upon the good creation of the covenant God for the same reason that the curse came upon that same God’s people, Israel.  Terms of the covenant were not kept.      

What The Lord Says (part 2 of 2)

The Scriptural narrative makes it abundantly clear that Israel and Judah, as the covenant people of the Creator God, were held to a different and seemingly higher standard than the surrounding nations.  The evil that was bringing their God’s judgment upon them, according to the prophetic words of Amos (prophecy more often than not the act of calling leaders and rulers to account for their actions, rather than foretelling) was of far greater consequence. 

Of Judah, the covenant God says, “They rejected the Lord’s law; they did not obey His commands.  Their false gods, to which their fathers were loyal, led them astray.  So I will set Judah on fire, and it will consume Jerusalem’s fortresses” (2:4b-5).  This pronouncement, rooted in the Deuteronomic and Levitical curses that were promised to the covenant people if they failed to meet their covenant obligations, would be fulfilled when the Babylonians would come forth to conquer.  Of Israel, God says, “They sold the innocent for silver, the needy for a pair of sandals.  They trample on the dirt-covered head of the poor; they push the destitute away” (2:6b-7a).  Judah was condemned for idolatry, whereas Israel was called to account for rampant oppression as well as idolatry.

Moving along to the end of the third chapter, the Creator God speaks through His prophetic mouthpiece to His wayward people, saying “Certainly when I punish Israel for their covenant transgressions, I will destroy Bethel’s altars.  The horns of the altar will be cut off and fall to the ground.  I will destroy both the winter and summer houses.  The houses filled with ivory will be ruined, the great houses will be swept away” (3:14-15a).  In the fourth chapter, there is a greater elaboration on Israel’s transgression, as it is read, “You oppress the poor; you crush the needy” (4:1b).  The God of Israel’s response to this is to say “Certainly the time is approaching when you will be carried away in baskets, every last one of you in fisherman’s pots” (4:2b).  Furthermore, one finds that God saying, “But surely I gave you no food to eat in any of your cities; you lacked food everywhere you live.  Still you did not come back to Me… I withheld rain from you three months before the harvest…. People from two or three cities staggered into one city to get water, but remained thirsty.  Still you did not come back to Me.  I destroyed your crops with blight and disease.  Locusts kept devouring your orchards, vineyards, fig trees, and olive trees.  Still  you did not come back to Me… I sent against you a plague like one of the Egyptian plagues.  I killed your young men with the sword… Still you did not come back to Me” (4:6a, 7a, 8a, 9a, 10a,c). 

Naturally, all of this is quite significant.  With these words of what the Creator God will do to His people, specific references are being made to the curses that are set forth in Deuteronomy and Leviticus, with a reminder of the highly determinative (for Israel’s identity) Egyptian experience.  When it is said “Still you did not come back to me,” the reader is forced to think about what God promised upon national repentance (2 Chronicles 7:14-if My people…), which would be a restoration from the curse of conquering and exile.  This is the promise that would be seized upon in the story of Daniel, which leads to Judah being restored to their land (though still in exile, as they are not independent from foreign power), and re-gathered for identification as their God’s covenant people.  

Though Daniel and Judah recognized the curses and repented, Israel, on the other hand, did not.  Though their God brought His promised curses, this was not productive of repentance.  They did not return to Him.  What ultimately happened?  Israel was conquered by Assyria, scattered through the Assyrian empire, and the ten tribes that made up the kingdom of Israel were dispersed, never to be re-gathered or identified as part of the covenant people of the cosmic sovereign.  “The virgin Israel has fallen down and will not get up again” (5:2a).  Truly, the Creator God is faithful to His covenant promises and deals seriously with covenant transgressions.