Learning Activity 72B

Prophetic Theology – A Summary from the New Testament

Part Two

This Learning Activity is a continuation of the previous Learning Activity.

1. James 5:8, 9

2. In the passage above, James is writing to the twelve tribes in the dispersion (see James 1:1). What do you think the passage tells us about the timing of the coming of the Lord?

3. From your analysis of the above passage, can you tell when the Lord came to bring judgment upon Israel?

4. 1 John 2:18

5. In the passage above, John states that it was the last hour when he wrote the words about the antichrists which had already come and because of that he knew that it was the last hour. If this is true, why are some in the church today still anticipating the coming of the antichrist?

6. Romans 16:20

7. In this passage Paul states that the God of peace will soon crush Satan under the feet of the Roman believers. When did God crush Satan?

8. Read 1 Corinthians 7:26-29.

9. Why did Paul say that the Corinthians should stay married if they were married, and stay single if they were single?

10. Matthew 24:14

11. What “end” was Matthew speaking of in the passage above?

12. Since Mark 16:20, Acts 24:5, Romans 1:8, Romans 10:18, Romans 16:26, Colossians 1:5, 6, and Colossians 1:23 state that what Matthew was speaking of was fulfilled during Bible times, why are some Christians today still waiting for the coming of the Son of man?

13. Matthew 10:22, 23

14. In the passage above, Jesus told His disciples to “endure to the end,” and that by the time they had finished going through the towns of Israel the Son of man (Jesus) would have come. If this is so, why are there some Christians who are today waiting for the coming of the Son of man?

15. Matthew 16:28

16. Jesus told His disciples in the above passage that some of them standing before Him would not taste of death (physically die) before they had seen the Son of man (Christ) coming in His kingdom. Why are there some Christians today who are still waiting for the kingdom to come in fact they pray that “thy kingdom come?”

17. Read Matthew 23:34-36.

18. When did the event described above take place?

19. What was the event that fulfilled the above action that Jesus spoke about?

20. Matthew 24:34

21. When did all of those things mentioned in the passage above take place?

22. Matthew 26:64

23. When did Caiaphas experience what Jesus had said would take place in the above passage?

24. Mark 9:1

25. In view of the passage above, why are there Christians today that recite a prayer that asks for, “thy kingdom to come?”

26. Mark 13:30

27. In the passage above Jesus states that all of the things He had spoken about to His disciples in that chapter would take place before the generation to whom He was speaking had passed away. If this is true, when did the things of Mark 13 take place?

28. Mark 14:62

29. In the passage above Jesus told the high priest Caiaphas that he [Caiaphas] would see Jesus (the Son of man) coming on the clouds of heaven. When did this event take place?

30. Mark 15:43

31. Why do you think that Joseph of Arimathea was looking for the kingdom to come?

32. When did the kingdom come in all of its fullness?

33. Luke 3:7

34. What wrath was John speaking about in the passage above?

35. When did the multitudes John was speaking to experience this wrath?

NOTE: In order to understand a number of the following Bible citations it will be necessary to look at a smattering of Koine Greek. To begin with we need to be concerned with “tachei” and “tachu.” These words, in their various tenses, are translated as “shortly,” and “quickly.” The words do NOT mean “soon,” in the sense of “sometime,” but rather “swift,” “now,” “immediately,” “hastily,” and “suddenly.” The word meanings are critical to understanding the “imminency” that is being communicated in the vision of the book of Revelation to John. These words in no way would indicate something that would be expected to take place two thousand years or more into the future!

There is a principle in Bible interpretation that instructs us to always look at other passages in the Scriptures that use the same word to see if they throw light on how that same word is used throughout the Bible. When we do that for these words here is what we find.

“Make friends quickly [tachu] with your accuser, while you are going with him to court…” (Matthew 5:25). The use of the word tachu here indicates imminence. Action is now not some time in the distant future!

“Then go quickly [tachu] and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead….So they departed quickly [tachu] from the tomb…” (Matthew 28:7, 8). Here again we see an immediate response being portrayed by the word tachu.

“…but bring quickly [tachu] the best robe, and put it on him…” (Luke 15:22). Again, tachu is indicating and elicits a rapid response near to the event!

“And when she heard it, she rose quickly [tachu] and went to him” (John 11:29). Again a case of imminence.

A student of the Bible must ask the question, in the passages above, are the actions described as still waiting to take place? Of course not! So why do we think we can delay other uses of this word just because they do not neatly fit our preconceived theology or eschatology? As you will see as we move forward with the text of Revelation it will become clear that the vision we are dealing with is NOT something that would be expected to take place two thousand or more years into the future!

“The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to him to show to his servants what must soon [tachei] take place…” (Revelation 1:1).

“Repent; or else I will come quickly [tachu], and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth” (Revelation 2:16).

“Behold, I come quickly [tachu]: hold fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown” (Revelation 3:11).

“And he said unto me, These sayings [are] faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to show unto his servants the things which must shortly [tachei] be done” (Revelation 22:6).

“Behold, I come quickly [tachu]: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book” (Revelation 22:7).

“And behold, I come quickly [tachu]; and my reward is with me, to give to every man according as his work shall be” (Revelation 22:12).

“He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly [tachu]. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20).

36. Does the group of passages above indicate to you that they have to wait 2,000 years or more to take place?

Another word used in the Revelation to John that begs for imminency is the Greek word “eggus” which means “at hand” or “near.” This word appears in the following passages.

“…for the time is at hand [eggus]” (Revelation 1:3).

“…for the time is at hand [eggus]” (Revelation 22:10).

37. What is indicated to you by the two passages above?

Still more imminency is indicated by the Greek words “mello” and “mellei.”

“Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall [mellei] be hereafter” (Revelation 1:19).

“Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall [mello] come upon the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth” (Revelation 3:10).

The meaning of mello and mellei is given to us as: “is about to come.” When these words are used with the aorist infinitive the preponderance of use and preferred meaning is “be on the point of, about to be.” The same is true when these words are used with the present infinitive. The basic meaning as given by the scholars Thayer and Abott-Smith is “to be, about to” and the word “mellei” with the infinitive expresses imminence such as the immediate future. This causes us to understand that the word usage in Revelation 1:19 and 3:10 portray an expectation of soon or quick future occurrence. This kind of language should lead us to conclude that the prophecy in the vision of Revelation was something that was to take place very close to its being revealed to John! We conclude that this was the case and that the vision was fulfilled by the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple by the Roman Army circa AD 70.

When the Bible contradicts my theology of prophecy, it’s time for me to change my theology!

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