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FROM: THE COMING OR THE DAY OF THE LORD

 

This is a small section of a large article pointing out the many times in the Bible the Lord came to the earth in great days of judgment.

      The destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. is known as: " the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord" in Malachi 4:5. Or in Jeremiah 30:7  (New International Version) How awful that day will be! None will be like it. It will be a time of trouble for Jacob, but he will be saved out of it. Also in Daniel chapter 9 verses 25-27.  25. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem to the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troubled times. 26. And after sixty-two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come and shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end of it shall be with a flood, and to the end of the war desolations are determined. 27. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.  Then in Daniel 12:1.....  and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. Peter quoting Joel 2:28-32 in Acts 2 declares Joel's prophesy to speak of the great outpouring of the Holy Spirit that they were experiencing to be followed shortly by this particular great day of judgment.  Acts 2:16. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; 17. And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: 18. And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: 19. And I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke: 20. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: 21. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
     There are many more prophesies in the Old Testament that refer to this day and naturally (outside of the book of Revelation,) almost all of Jesus' and his apostles prophecies spoke of it. The article in Wordservice.org about Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21 is intended as a companion article with this one. It goes into great detail about the prophecies about the end of the First Covenant Age where Luke said in Chapter 21: 20. And when you shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation of it is near. 21. Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter into it. 22. For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. 23. But woe to them that are with child, and to them that are nursing in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people.......27. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draws nigh. 29. And he spoke to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; 30. When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. 31. So likewise you, when you see these things come to pass, know  that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand. 32. truly I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled. The salvation spoken of in Daniel 12:1 and Jeremiah 30:7 and Joel 2:32 and Luke 21:28 was of the type that Lot was saved with.  The followers of the Messiah, those who survived the terrible persecutions did not perish in that greatest of days of judgment. They were able to flee to a places prepared for them, but took nothing with them. This was why the church seemed rather communal in the book of acts.  Those who had lands and houses sold them and distribution was made. Jesus and the Old Testament prophecies told them what was coming in that generation. They were preparing for it, even if they did not totally understand why the Holy Spirit was leading them in the way he was. The first scripture mentioned in this article; John 21:18 where Peter was told by Jesus that John would remain alive until He (Jesus) came was a prophecy about the end of the first covenant age and the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. It is not the least bit confusing if one can see what this article is implying. He certainly remained until Jesus "came. " So the prophecy was fulfilled just as Jesus said. John was perhaps the only one of the twelve Apostles left alive to witness the war. Perhaps the only one to see Daniel 9:25-27: .......and the people of the prince (Titus the Roman prince) that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and even unto the end shall be war; desolations are determined......and even unto the full end (of the first covenant age,) and that determined, shall wrath be poured out upon the desolate (Jerusalem and her people). This was a time that will never be repeated again in history, nor will there be anything to ever compare with it. Jesus sorrowed over them saying in Matthew 21:43.....The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits of it. Then in Matthew 23:35. That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom you slew between the temple and the altar. 36. Truly I say to you, All these things shall come upon this generation. 37. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you that murder the prophets, and stone them which are sent to you, how often would I have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and you would not! 38. Behold, your house is left to you desolate.
     Almost all of the prophecies in the New Testament given by the apostles regarding the end times. the great apostasy,  the man of evil, the anti Christ, the perilous times ahead of them were related to the end times of the first covenant age. This is why they spoke of it as if it would come upon them, and it did. The book of Revelation though was a different matter. It was given to provide further illumination of Daniels prophecies about the age of the gentiles. It provided a chronological timeline of that age when four gentile empires, the last one being Roman would rule over the people of God. After it's fall the promised age were God's people would begin to see all the earthly promises of God made to the saints of ages past begin to come to pass in the lives of believers everywhere, once individual nations met certain conditions. Being a timeline, within it, the end of the first covenant age would occur. It is prophesied of in these chapters and verses. Revelation 6:12-7:8. Also, a repeat of the same in Revelation 14:1-5.  One of the main reasons this info is being supplied at this juncture is due to the misconceptions of Preterists who believe all Bible prophecy was fulfilled in the first century A.D. including all the book of Revelation. This mistake is often made because of the ease in which a serious Bible student can arrive at the conclusion that Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21 were completely fulfilled in 70 AD but at the same time find the book of Revelation incredibly difficult to come to grips with. Since they are both contain "end time" prophecies, (the real question being the end times of what.) They mistakenly mix the two as if they are talking about the same events which outside the timeline reference to 70 A.D, they are not.

       Here are a few more references to that particular great day of judgment from Jesus own mouth. Listed because they also point out the exact time period this particular day of judgment, when the Lord came.  In Mark 14:61 ...Again the high priest asked him, Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? 62. And Jesus said, I am: and you will see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. Or Matthew16: 27. For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. 28:Truly I say to you, There are some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom. Matthew16: 28. Truly I say to you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom. Mark: 9: 1. And he said unto them, Truly I say to you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power. Luke 9: 26. For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels.27. But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God. So these verses affirm that some of those standing there, whom he is talking too, will remain alive and see his coming with great power in the clouds of heaven with his angels.  Very confusing indeed if one has accepted a teaching, (before studying the subject themselves,) that says there is one coming or second advent of the Lord that has not happened yet . That all references to the coming of the Lord refer to that second coming and to nothing else. Yet Christ  told those people that many of them would live to see that day. The illustrative language of prophecy can be daunting if one is not schooled in it. To "see" the son of man coming, does not necessarily refer to seeing him visibly "riding on a rain cloud" so to speak. It means to see that day. In other words to see that day happen just as it was prophesied is to "see the son of man coming." If you cannot accept that the language about "seeing" is illustrative. Then you are stuck back in the original dilemma. That this did not come to pass as Christ said it would, in the lifetimes of those he was speaking to. It makes the prophecy false.  Yet if it can be seen for what it is, it is truly an amazing thing. That Jesus knew and prophesied his coming in judgment at the end of that age, which would happen in the first century.
     Since this particular day of judgment, when Jesus came according to his own words and prophecy at the end of the age of the first covenant is such a matter of special interest in the Bible. Due to the fact that ancient Israel was chosen to bring the Word of God into the earth. The transition into the Second covenant Age is a huge subject and has a large volume of Old and New Testament scripture dedicated to it. Actually it encompasses the whole Bible and is a main theme of the Wordservice.org website.  If the reader is interested, the article Bible Symbolism in the Book of Genesis goes into this pretty heavily. To wit: the first covenant age and then the second is prophesied over and over in the lives of the people of the book of Genesis. Obviously, this came to pass with the coming of the messiah and his death and resurrection for the sins of the world. The transition was the time when God would stop almost exclusively using ancient Israel in his work in the earth and from that point use only the believers, both Jew and the Gentile, to bring his salvation to the world through the preaching of the Gospel.

© Daniel Martinovich 2012-2016