Truly I Say To You

Gary responds to a recent video sermon by Pastor Jack Hibbs on Matthew 24 who asks “how close are we to the end?”

Jesus had made it plain to the disciples that He was going to take His throne and rule. They had asked when He was going to do so. Soon, He replied. In one sense, He assumed His rule in AD 30, when He ascended to the Father. But the sign of His rule, and the great manifestation thereof, would come in AD 70. At that time, as the book of Revelation shows, the saints would join Him in His heavenly rule (Rev. 20), or as Daniel 7 puts it, the body of people called “one like a son of man” would inherit the kingdom. (Like the four beasts, the “one like a son of man” in Daniel 7 is a corporate figure; Daniel 7:18, 22, 27.)

So, since Jesus was shortly going to manifest His power and rule and was going to “come” in that sense, there would be those who would say that He had already come and was on the scene. Jesus wanted them to know that His coming was not going to take the form of His physical appearance among men. They would not see Him walking around in the land of promise. He would not show up in the temple, nor would there be another prophetic forerunner in the wilderness. No, His next coming would be a manifestation of His heavenly rule, like lightning when it strikes from east to west from the sky.

There is surely nothing new about this kind of appearance or coming. Throughout the history of Israel, the prophets had repeatedly said that Yahweh was going to come and judge His people, but never did that mean Yahweh was going to appear visibly to the people. Rather, the appearance or coming of Yahweh meant earthquake, famine, invasion, captivity, and the like.

Matthew 23-25: A Literary, Historical, and Theological Commentary

Those who first read Matthew’s gospel only would have had as an interpretive reference what we describe as the Old Testament. They were living the history that Jesus said would take place before their generation passed away. They would have immediately noted the Old Testament parallels with the abomination of desolation (Matt. 24:15; Dan. 9:27), the judgment on Sodom and fleeing to the mountains to escape the coming conflagration (Matt. 24:16; Gen. 19:17), false prophets (Matt. 24:24; Jer. 14:14), signs in the sun, moon, and stars (Matt. 24:29; Isa. 3:10; 24:33; Ezek. 32:7; Amos 5:2; 8:9; etc.), the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven (Matt. 24:30; Dan. 7:13), and so much more.

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Gary responds to a recent video sermon by Pastor Jack Hibbs on Matthew 24 who asks “how close are we to the end?” Hibbs makes important hermeneutical points about reading this chapter through the eyes and understanding of Jesus’ first century audience, but then quickly veers away from it.

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