Episode 111: What Did Jesus Mean by "A Long Time"?

Bible Prophecy Under the Microscope-Episode 111

Gary answers a recent critic who questions whether he is a Christian.

The Jews did know, from Daniel 9, that the Messiah would come and bring judgment on their city. They expected it to happen around 50 BC. When this did not happen, the faithful religious leaders kept being faithful, like Hannah, who was eighty-four when she saw the baby Jesus (Luke 2:37) and like old Simeon, who had been told he would not die before seeing Him (Luke 2:26), but those who were not inclined to be faithful fell into evil behavior. Jesus condemned them in Matthew 23. Then, when Jesus appeared and raised people from the dead and the sky was darkened for three hours over the city at His crucifixion, they began to walk softly (like Ahab before them, 1 Kings 21:27-28) and look for the judgment to come soon. When that judgment did not come, they went back to their evil behavior, but worse than before (Luke 11:24-26).

The Delay is an important theme in the Bible and an important aspect of how God deals with us. It should make us afraid, very afraid. God promises judgment for a sin and then delays the judgment after we sin. He does this to give us time to repent but also time to harden in our sin. We see this principle immediately in Genesis 3. We know from Genesis 1–3 that only Adam heard God forbid the eating of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Eve got her information from Adam, her husband and protector. We know that Adam was standing by silently the whole time the serpent persuaded Eve to eat (Gen. 3:8: “with her”). He did not intervene. Clearly, Adam wanted her to eat the fruit, so he could test God’s word. When Eve did not drop dead immediately, Adam went ahead and ate as well. Only then, after the Delay, did God appear to judge Adam.

Similarly, Samuel delayed to come to Saul, arriving after Saul had decided to take matters into his own hands and had stopped trusting the Lord (1 Sam. 13:8-10). Similarly, God did not send Nathan to David immediately after David took Bathsheba, nor after she told him she was pregnant (after a couple of months, probably). God delayed, and David did not repent. David went further and murdered Uriah. Then Nathan came to David.

Be afraid, reader! When you transgress God’s law, judgment may not come immediately. The Delay is both a blessing and a curse. God gives you time to repent, but also an opportunity to fall asleep and stop fearing Him. But after the Delay, He surely will come!

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 answers a recent critic who questions whether he is a Christian. When Jesus says “a long time” in Matthew 24 and 25, does this indicate that He means people thousands of years in the future? Is He actually referring to a completely different audience than the one He was directly speaking to in the first century?

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