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The New Exodus Consummated

by Charles Cooper
written by Charles Cooper

The New Exodus Consummated: A Day of Visitation
Charles Cooper

As we have already seen in the two previous visitations of God – namely, the Exodus and the crucifixion – God’s final visitation will also bring both deliverance and destruction. I Peter 2:11-12 declares,

Dear friends, I urge you as foreigners and exiles to keep away from fleshly desires that do battle against the soul, and maintain good conduct among the non-Christians, so that though they now malign you as wrongdoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God when he appears.

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Biblical StudiesDay of the LordGeneral TheologyPrewrath

The Rapture: the Old Testament Foundation

by Charles Cooper
written by Charles Cooper

A Day of Visitation
Charles Cooper

      For some believers, the timing of the Lord’s return to rapture the saints is more important than any other New Testament study. Much has been written about it and the views are diverse. But even more fundamental questions have not been the focus of earnest discussion: Why have a rapture? Where did the concept originate? What is the Old Testament basis for this idea?

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General TheologyJewish FeastsPrewrathUncategorized

Pentecost – The Incomplete Feast (Part II)

by Charles Cooper
written by Charles Cooper

Pentecost – the Incomplete Feast
Charles Cooper
Part II

The celebration of the beginning of the wheat harvest began on Pentecost. However, the end of the wheat harvest was unknown. No one knew when it would end. Several factors regulated when it would end; each year was different. The amount of rain, the temperature, the date of planting, and other intangibles all had an impact on when the harvest would end. No man knew the day and hour when the harvest would be completed. Only the sovereign God of the heavens knows that. As well, the grape harvest would occur after Pentecost and hopefully was complete before Tabernacles.

The harvest is a useful and frequent metaphor for God’s work among his elect. This term describes God’s work throughout the ages and at the end of the final age. In Matthew 9:37-38, the Lord stated, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

Notice that the Lord Jesus states three facts about the harvest: 1) the harvest is large; 2) God is Lord of this large harvest; and 3) this large harvest belongs to God. What then is the harvest? One author states,

The huge crowds are therefore very appropriately called “the harvest,” the very extensive field in need of immediate attention. By a legitimate extension of the figure one can say that this harvest, as here viewed, consists of the sum-total of “the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt. 10:6). The application to present (twentieth century) conditions would, without doing violence to the basic idea, enlarge the scope of the interpretation, so that the reference would be to all those who can be brought within the reach of the gospel….[1]

In essence, what this author and others are saying is that all peoples should have an opportunity to hear the gospel. The harvest refers to the entire world and each person has a right to hear the gospel whether he or she responds or not.

However, we are of the opinion that a much narrower audience is the focus of the Lord Jesus. Lenski would argue that only those “gathered into the heavenly garner,” that is, to “all those in whom the work of God’s grace succeeds,”[2] are intended in Matthew 9:37-38. Calvin agrees and writes, “The limited number of the elect, who were mixed with unbelievers.”[3]

God would never leave the eternal hope of people in the hands of men. If the Lord Jesus indicates here that prayer is necessary to get people to go and preach in order that others might have a chance to hear the gospel – whether they accept it or reject it – then are we to conclude that if people do not go, those poor souls missed the opportunity to be saved because of someone else’s laziness? Will God only save the lost if people go and share the gospel? If a very few people pray and a very few people go, then the lost have no hope, if this line of thinking is correct. These are very logical questions if this passage refers to the world. Surely, that is not the point of this passage. Rather, God requires men to go, but even if a man is disobedient, God’s elect will come to faith.

The correct view of this passage is closer to what Leon Morris adds. Notice,

Jesus does not spell it out, but he is speaking of people who are ripe for inclusion in the kingdom. In that situation, it is necessary that something be done to bring them in. A crop of wheat needs workers to bring the grain into the barn; without the laborers the crop cannot be reaped. Jesus says that in the great harvest of which he is speaking the workers are few.[4]

My ultimate point here is this: the Lord Jesus looked at the salvation of God’s elect as “the great harvest.” Please do not miss the point that the work of evangelism refers to laboring in God’s harvest now. Please understand that the harvest continues until all the crop is gathered into the barn. We are busy with the work of harvesting now. The work begun at Pentecost continues.

In John 5:34-38 the Lord Jesus again used the harvest metaphor to speak of the ongoing kingdom work of God’s laborers in the world. He told his disciples,

“My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”

The point the Lord Jesus is making is that the wait is over – the harvest time is now. “The saying of Jesus represents the gathering of people into the kingdom of God.”[5] Since we are engaged in the same work, the harvest continues and will do so until the gathering ends. Pentecost is a celebration of the coming harvest, not a celebration of a completed harvest. That is the focus of the Feast of Sukkoth (Tabernacles).

 

[1] Hendriksen, W., & Kistemaker, S. J. (1953-2001). Vol. 9: Exposition of the Gospel According to Matthew. New Testament Commentary (440). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.

[2] R. C. H. Lenski, op. cit., pp. 373, 374.

[3] Calvin, Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, English translation, Vol. I, p. 421.

[4] Morris, L. (1992). The Gospel according to Matthew. The Pillar New Testament Commentary (239–240). Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press.

[5] Beasley-Murray, G. R. (2002). Vol. 36: John. Word Biblical Commentary (63). Dallas: Word, Incorporated.

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PrewrathRevelation

The Structure of the Book of Revelation – Part I

by Charles Cooper
written by Charles Cooper

Is the Rapture Depicted in Revelation 14:14-16?
The Structure of the Book of Revelation – Part I
Charles Cooper

As an advocate for the prewrath rapture view I find it unfortunate, yet necessary, that a good portion of my time is spent disproving claims. For example, the confusion about the structure of the book of Revelation naturally leads to erroneous views regarding the timing of the rapture. Any similarity, detail, parallel or whisper of a heavenly descent or ascent may present the opportunity for someone to argue for his own rapture position preference based on that particular passage. Perhaps the greatest obstacle is uncertainty about the structure of the book. Until there is a consensus about this matter, little will be accomplished regarding the timing of the rapture in the book of Revelation.

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Day of the LordIsaiahOlivet DiscoursePretribulationismPrewrathThessalonians 1&2

A Biblical Response to Eric Douma – Part 4

by Alan Kurschner
written by Alan Kurschner

I am responding to Eric Douma’s sermon on April 3rd 2011, “The Day of The LORD: A Look at the Imminent Day of Salvation and Judgment.” We continue.

Douma claims that the term “birth pangs” in the Bible is a technical term for the day of the Lord. That is, every time it is found in the Bible it must refer to the day of the Lord. This is categorically false and unproven. It is an assumption he makes to maintain the unbiblical doctrine of imminence. What do I mean by this?

Since Douma claims the rapture must occur before the great tribulation (so the church can avoid encountering the Antichrist), he interprets Jesus’ expression in Matthew 24:8, “the beginning of birth pangs,” to refer to the day of the Lord. He argues that since Paul uses the birthing metaphor in 1 Thessalonians 5 drawing from Isaiah 13 to refer to the day of the Lord, then Jesus must be using it in the same way. Therefore, he concludes that Matthew 24:4–35 describes the day of the Lord.

However, his premise is deeply flawed, for Jesus’ purpose of using the metaphor of birth pangs is just the opposite of Paul’s purpose.

Let’s begin.

Paul says,  “Now when they are saying, ‘There is peace and security,’ then sudden destruction comes on them, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will surely not escape” (1 Thess 5:3). Paul’s analogy of “labor pains” is drawn from a day of the Lord passage in Isaiah 13:

(6) Wail, for the LORD’s day of judgment is near; it comes with all the destructive power of the sovereign judge. (7) For this reason all hands hang limp, every human heart loses its courage. (8) They panic—cramps and pain seize hold of them like those of a woman who is straining to give birth. They look at one another in astonishment; their faces are flushed red. (9) Look, the LORD’s day of judgment is coming; it is a day of cruelty and savage, raging anger, destroying the earth and annihilating its sinners. (10) Indeed the stars in the sky and their constellations no longer give out their light; the sun is darkened as soon as it rises, and the moon does not shine. (Isa 13:6–10; see also Isa 26:17–21)

We should not confuse Paul’s use of the birth pangs analogy with Jesus’ use of it in the Olivet Discourse, for it serves a completely different purpose than Matthew 24:8 (“All these things are the beginning of birth pains”). There are six differences that demonstrate that Jesus does not use the birth pangs metaphor to refer to the day of the Lord:

1. Jesus’ usage in Matthew 24 occurs before the great tribulation; Paul’s usage is found at the inception of the day of the Lord. In other words, Jesus uses the birthing metaphor to warn that the end has not arrived (“Make sure that you are not alarmed, for this must happen, but the end is still to come. . . All these things are the beginning of birth pains”). Paul uses it to announce that the end has arrived (“then sudden destruction comes on them, like labor pains,” cf. Isa 13:7–8).

2. Accordingly, Jesus emphasizes the tolerable stage of “the beginning of birth pains” (Matt 24:8); hence, the reason he reassures, “Make sure that you are not alarmed, for this must happen, but the end is still to come” (Matt 24:6). In contrast, Paul is drawing from Isaiah’s labor imagery focused on the intolerable stage of actual giving birth, “cramps and pain seize hold of them like those of a woman who is straining to give birth” (Isa 13:8).

3. Jesus teaches that the “beginning of birth pangs” is what Christians are destined to experience (Matt 24:4–8); Paul teaches just the opposite that Christians are promised exemption from the hard labor pains, the time of God’s wrath (1 Thess 5:9).

4. The labor pains in Matthew 24 refer to natural events such as false christs, wars, famines, and earthquakes (Matt 24:5–8). Paul’s reference is to the supernatural event of the day of the Lord (2 Thess 1:5–8).

5. Jesus’ usage of the beginning of birth pangs occurs before the celestial disturbance happens (Matt 24:8–29). But in the Isaiah passage that Paul is drawing from associates the birth pangs of the onset of the day of the Lord with the celestial disturbance (Isaiah 13: 8–10).

6. Jesus uses the birthing metaphor to apply to both unbelievers and believers (Matt 24:5–8). While Paul uses it exclusively applied to unbelievers (1 Thess 5:3–4).

So we have seen that Douma is mistaken to think that Jesus is speaking of the day of the Lord. A red flag should go up whenever someone claims that this or that is a “technical term,” for the danger is not taking contexts into consideration and thus flattening out an author’s intention. In this case, Douma has abused Jesus’ intention of the birthing metaphor to serve his own theology of imminence.

 

 

 

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