When it comes to the study of “the last days” (eschatology), Matthew 24 might be the passage cited most often. Known as The Olivet Discourse, it foretells earthquakes and famine, wars and rumors of war, the great tribulation, etc. Parallel passages are in Mark 13 and Luke 21. While many look to newspapers and CNN for signs that these events are coming to pass, it’s instructive to know that church fathers, reformation leaders, and others in church history looked in the rear-view mirror at these events.
The following quotes are commentary from various leaders on Matthew 24:34, the summary verse where Jesus says to His disciples: “Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened” (See also Mark 13:30 and Luke 21:32). These quotes are buried at the end of a previous post, but I wanted to draw attention to them separately here:
Clement (150-220 AD): “And in like manner He spoke in plain words the things that were straightway to happen, which we can now see with our eyes, in order that the accomplishment might be among those to whom the word was spoken.”
Eusebius (263-339 AD): “And when those that believed in Christ had come thither [out] from Jerusalem [in obedience to Matthew 24:15-16], then, as if the royal city of the Jews and the whole land of Judea were entirely destitute of holy men, the judgment of God at length overtook those who had committed such outrages against Christ and his apostles, and totally destroyed that generation of impious men (Proof of the Gospel, Book III, Ch. 5)… [When] the lamentation and wailing that was predicted for the Jews, and the burning of the Temple and its utter desolation, can also be seen even now to have occurred according to the prediction, surely we must also agree that the King who was prophesied, the Christ of God, has come, since the signs of His coming have been shewn in each instance I have treated to have been clearly fulfilled” (Proof of the Gospel, Book VIII).
John Calvin (1509-1564): “This prophecy does not relate to evils that are distant, and which posterity will see after the lapse of many centuries, but which are now hanging over you, and ready to fall in one mass, so that there is no part of it which the present generation [in Jesus’ time] will not experience.”
John Wesley (1754): “The expression implies that great part of that generation would be passed away, but not the whole. Just so it was; for the city and temple were destroyed thirty-nine or forty years after.”
Adam Clarke (1837): “It is literally true in reference to the destruction of Jerusalem. John probably lived to see these things come to pass; compare Matthew 16:28, with John 21:22; and there were some rabbins alive at the time when Christ spoke these words who lived till the city was destroyed, viz. Rabban Simeon, who perished with the city; R. Jochanan ben Zaccai, who outlived it; R. Zadoch, R. Ismael, and others.”
Charles Spurgeon (1868): “The King left his followers in no doubt as to when these things should happen: ‘Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled.’ It was just about the ordinary limit of a generation when the Roman armies compassed Jerusalem, whose measure of iniquity was then full, and overflowed in misery, agony, distress, and bloodshed such as the world never saw before or since. Jesus was a true Prophet; everything that he foretold was literally fulfilled.”
For a detailed study on how the Olivet Discourse was fulfilled by 70 AD, within Jesus’ own generation, see our Olivet Discourse page and this 4-part study (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4) in particular.
Pursuing Truth 
Do any of these authors go on to say “therefore, we are living in the new heavens and earth right now because all prophecy was fulfilled in 70 ad”? If I remember correctly, John Calvin and the other Reformers said the Pope was the Antichrist. Will there still be antichrists or THE Antichrist in the New Heavens and Earth?
Thanks.
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Hi John. Eusebius and Charles Spurgeon did teach that we are in the new heavens and earth, but I’m not sure about the others. Here are those quotes from Eusebius and Spurgeon:
All authorities concur in the declaration that “when all these things should have been done”, ‘The End’ should come: that “the mystery of God should be finished as he had declared to His servants the prophets“: it should be completed: time should now be no more: the End of all things (so foretold) should be at hand, and be fully brought to pass: in these days should be fulfilled all that had been spoken of Christ (and of His church) by the prophets: or, in other words, when the gospel should have been preached in all the world for a testimony to all nations, and the power of the Holy People be scattered (abroad), then should the End come, then should all these things be finished. I need now only say, all these things have been done: the old and elementary system passed away with a great noise; all these predicted empires have actually fallen, and the new kingdom, the new heaven and earth, the new Jerusalem–all of which were to descend from God, to be formed by His power, have been realised on earth; all these things have been done in the sight of all the nations; God’s holy arm has been made bare in their sight: His judgments have prevailed, and they remain for an everlasting testimony to the whole world. His kingdom has come, as it was foretold it should, and His will has, so far, been done; His purposes have been finished; and, from that day to the extreme end of time, it will be the duty, as indeed it will be the great privilege of the Church, to gather into its bosom the Jew, the Greek, the Scythian, the Barbarian, bond and free; and to do this as the Apostles did in their days–in obedience, faith and hope. (Eusebius)
“Did you ever regret the absence of the burnt-offering, or the red heifer, of any one of the sacrifices and rites of the Jews? Did you ever pine for the feast of tabernacle, or the dedication? No, because, though these were like the old heavens and earth to the Jewish believers, they have passed away and we now live under a new heavens and a new earth, so far as the dispensation of divine teaching is concerned. The substance is come, and the shadow has gone: and we do not remember it” (Charles Spurgeon).
They were in agreement with Bishop John Lightfoot (1601-1675), John Owen (1721), and Jonathan Edwards (1739), who also taught that the Olivet Discourse was fulfilled in the first century. Here are their quotes:
“Compare [II Peter 3:10] with Deut. 32:22, Heb. 12:26, Gal. 4:9, Coloss. 2:20: and observe that by elements are understood the Mosaic elements: and you will not doubt that St. Peter speaks only of the conflagration of Jerusalem, the destruction of the nation, and the abolishing of the dispensation of Moses” (Bishop John Lightfoot).
“I affirm that the heavens and earth here intended in this prophecy of Peter, the coming of the Lord, the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men, mentioned in the destruction of that heaven and earth, do all of them relate, not to the last and final judgment of the world, but to that utter desolation and destruction that was to be made of the Judaical church and state… [A]nd then the heavens and earth that God Himself planted, -the sun, moon, and stars of the Judaical polity and church, – the whole old world of worship and worshippers, that stand out in their obstinancy against the Lord Christ, shall be sensibly dissolved and destroyed: this we know shall be the end of these things, and that shortly” (John Owen).
“The Scriptures further teach us to call the gospel-restoration and redemption, a creation of a new heaven and a new earth… The gospel state is everywhere spoken of as a renewed state of things, wherein old things are passed away, and all things become new… And the dissolution of the Jewish state was often spoken of in the Old Testament as the end of the world. But we who belong to the gospel-church, belong to the new creation; and therefore there seems to be at least as much reason, that we should commemorate the work of this creation, as that the members of the ancient Jewish church should commemorate the work of the old creation” (Jonathan Edwards).
Yes, I believe you are correct that John Calvin supposed that a future “antichrist” would come out of the Roman Catholic church, or that each Pope was an antichrist. He seemed to be a Historicist on this matter and probably others as well. I also know that Calvin provided a commentary on every book of the Bible except for Revelation – he said it was too difficult to interpret.
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John, I doubt any of them believed ALL prophecy has already been fulfilled. I believe we are living in the new heavens and earth NOW, but I still believe in the future return of Christ and the resurrection of the dead. I take Matt. 24:1-25:30 as the judgment that was coming in that generation, and then in Matt. 25:31-46, Jesus looks ahead to the final outcome of that generation at the future Second Coming.
What I find interesting about the old heavens & earth vs. the new heavens & earth is what it means for the Genesis creation account. Compare Matt. 24:29-35 with Jeremiah 4:23-26, and then compare it to Genesis 1. I had been trying to figure out the creation account for years before studying eschatology, and now it seems to confirm what I had long suspected – that OUR plain reading of Genesis 1 is just plain wrong.
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Doesn’t the author of the blog believe all prophecy has been fulfilled?
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John, I’m not sure where exactly Adam stands, especially about the resurrection. I do hope he posts on it soon.
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Steve, I looked at the passage in Jeremiah 4 that you pointed out, and that’s an interesting comparison indeed. Do you have an article anywhere where you develop those thoughts more deeply?
Also (John and Steve), I believe that all prophecy concerning “the last days” and the “end of the age” has been fulfilled. I would say that fulfillment of prophecy awaits individual believers who are now living, as well as those who will live after us, with regard to rising to one’s reward on the other side of the grave. There is also ongoing fulfillment when it comes to the expansion of God’s kingdom, His glory filling the earth, Christ’s followers doing the works that He did and even greater, etc.
Steve, the post(s) on the resurrection are still coming. I posted a couple of shorter items (like this post) in the meantime because they were already in draft form and I didn’t need to add much before publishing.
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Adam, what I’ve written on Genesis before is now woefully out of date, as a couple of very big pieces of the puzzle have fallen into my lap since then.
Keep in mind, I have studied the creation in Genesis for years & years, long before I ever got around to eschatology. My main area of study was Christian evidences, and so I spent lots of time pondering Genesis: young earth vs. old earth, creation vs. evolution, etc.
But here are a few things for you to chew on. Jesus predicted the destruction of the heavens & earth in His generation (Matt. 24:29-35), and in context, He was speaking of Jerusalem & the Temple being destroyed by the Romans. Jeremiah likewise predicted the destruction of the heavens & earth in his generation, and in context, he was plainly speaking of Jerusalem & the Temple being destroyed by the Babylonians. The context of Jer. 4 is unambiguous, Jeremiah is definitely talking about the fall of Jerusalem, and he is calling it the destruction of what was created in Gen. 1.
Pay attention to the expanse/firmament in Gen. 1. The text doesn’t say God created the waters, they just seem to be there at the beginning. God separates these waters into two groups, above & below the expanse/firmament. It is commonly supposed that the waters above are our atmosphere, but notice that the Sun, Moon, & stars are IN or ON the expanse/firmament, which places them BELOW the waters above. So what is the deal with this water, which is the same as the waters here on the earth, being above the Sun, Moon, and stars?
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Adam, it sounds to me then that you do subscribe to Kurt Simmon’s hyperpreterist view of the resurrection. I suspected as much, but I was hoping you were beginning to come out of that. So yeah, that pretty much confirms you believe all prophecy has been fulfilled and are a hyperpreterist/unorthodox preterist.
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Steve, I believe I see what you’re saying about Genesis 1. You pointed out a couple of things I hadn’t noticed before. If/when you update your writing on this subject, in relation to Jeremiah’s words, I’d be interested in seeing it. You could even guest post it here at this site, if you’d like.
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More timely words from Spurgeon http://spurgeonwarquotes.wordpress.com/
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Thanks, Michael, for the link. I’m opposed to war as well, and enjoyed seeing these quotes from Spurgeon (both this time and when someone pointed out this site some time ago).
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“this generation”….ahh… but what generation is Jesus talking about, the generation that “sees all these things.” A good question would be what generation has seen all the things described in the proceeding verses. A good answer would be, no generation up till now. The gathering from the four winds, the appearance of Jesus in the sky, the abomination that Daniel spoke of, the resurrection that Daniel spoke of, the loud trumpet that Isaiah spoke of. We yet await the Day, maybe this is the generation, Jerusalem is a cup of trembling to the nations, Israel is surrounded by enemies. So many prophecies are yet to be fulfilled. Verse 35 holds a key, “My words will not pass away.” With so many prophecies yet to be fulfilled, I must believe that His words will not pass away, as Spurgeon did, “I think we do not attach sufficient importance to the restoration of the Jews. We do not think enough of it. But certainly, if there is anything promised in the Bible it is this.”
From first volume of Sermons, 1855, as cited in Iain Murray, The Puritan Hope, 256.
or as Jonathan Edwards did, “Nothing is more certainly foretold than this national conversion of the Jews in Romans 11.”
Jonathan Edwards, The Works of Jonathan Edwards, vol. 1, Banner of Truth Trust, reprint, 1976, 607.
Spurgeon again, “It is also certain that the Jews, as a people, will yet own Jesus of
Nazareth, the Son of David, as their King, and that they will return to
their own land. . . . It is certain also that our Lord Jesus Christ will come
again to this earth, and that he will reign amongst his ancients
gloriously, and that there will be a thousand years of joy and peace such
as were never known on this earth before. It is also certain that there
will be a great and general judgment, when all nations shall be gathered
before the Son of man sitting upon the throne of his glory;”
Spurgeon, “The Harvest and the Vintage,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit
50:553-54
How could there be conflicting quotes from these men, simple, There have been partial fulfillments, and anti-Christs have gone out into the world, but the day is yet to come for a full and complete fulfillment of every word from the mouth of God. There is yet to come the mystery of iniquity, the anti-Christ, the one who is Satan in the flesh.
Matthew 24 is a precious chapter to me, I appreciate the opportunity to comment on it.
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Do you have a reference for “Satan in the flesh”?
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Thanks, Chuck, for these quotes from Edwards and Spurgeon. From what I’ve read, Edwards was a postmillennialist (at least at one point) and Spurgeon was a classic (non-dispensationalist) premillennialist (at least at one point). Whether either of them left those positions or not, I don’t know. I’ve wondered in Spurgeon’s case, though, because I find premillennialism difficult to reconcile with other things he taught. For example, premillennialism assumes a future Great Tribulation, followed by the Second Coming, and then the Millennium. However, Spurgeon affirmed that the Great Tribulation (Matthew 24:21) was fulfilled in the first century. As far as I can recall, I’ve never seen him suggest a dual fulfillment of this event (this 3.5 year time period), but I’ve also not read all of his writings. So I wonder if he abandoned premillennialism later on in his life.
Regarding “this generation,” why would the disciples have understood this phrase any differently than when Jesus used it in Matthew 11:16-17; Matt. 12:41-42; Matt. 12:45; Matt. 17:17; Matt. 23:35-36; Mark 8:12; Luke 7:31; Luke 11:29-32; and Luke 17:25? In each of those cases, He was clearly speaking of His contemporaries, those living at that time. If He meant a different generation in the far distant future, why didn’t He say “that generation”? In any case, He named a good amount of events that would occur before the temple (the one they had been admiring) would fall, and we know it fell in 70 AD.
If time allows (I realize it’s a lot of reading), I hope you can look at the 4-part series listed at the top of the Olivet Discourse page (http://kloposmasm.com/olivet-discourse). You said, “A good question would be what generation has seen all the things described in the proceeding verses”? And you went on to answer by saying that no generation had seen them all. Eusebius (see quote above) declared that he had shown how all of Jesus’ predictions in Matthew 24 were fulfilled, so my work is by no means the only resource, but if you’re able to read that 4-part series I believe you can learn many details on how “all these things” (Matthew 24:34, Mark 13:30, Luke 21:20) did indeed happen before Jesus’ own generation passed away.
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Sounds good, I will take you up on this reading assignment. Thanks again for being a gracious host.
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Hi Steve…
There’s an interesting page taken from Spurgeon’s “Popular Exposition of Matthew “. It concerns his thoughts on Matthew 24.
One thing i particularly noticed were his beliefs concerning verses 15-18:
15-18. “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolution, spoken, of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains: let him which is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes”
Spurgeon wrote concerning these verses:
This portion of our Savior’s words appears to relate solely to the destruction of Jerusalem. As soon as Christ’s disciples saw “the abomination of desolution”, that is, the Roman ensigns, with their idolatrous emblems, “stand in the holy place”, they knew that the time for them to escape had arrived, and they did “flee to the mountains.”
The Christians in Jerusalem and the surrounding towns and villages, “in Judea”, availed themselves of the first opportunity for eluding the Roman armies, and fled to the mountain city of Pella, in Perea, where they were preserved from the general destruction which overthrew the Jews.
There was no time to spare before the final investment of the guilty city, the man “on the house-top” could “not come down to take anything out of his house”, and the man “in the field” could not “return back, to take his clothes.” They must flee to the mountains in the greatest haste the moment that they saw “Jerusalem compassed with armies “.(#Lu 21:20)
source: http://www.historicism.com/sites/matt24/spurgeon.htm
As i said, this was of particular interest to me, for so many have taught differently, particularly since the introduction of dispensationalism in the mid 1800’s. They still see this as something to be fulfilled in the future by a future antichrist…while prior to dispensationalism, most saw it fulfilled at the time of Jerusalem’s destruction: as Spurgeon obviously did.
Anyway, as i noticed Spurgeon being quoted in this post/comments, thought you might be interested.
God bless…
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Did you mean to address this to chuckabean?
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Aha! No, not necessarily Steve, I just noticed Spurgeon was being referenced in the comments and thought to add my 2 cents.
All kidding aside, i thought someone might be interested in Spurgeon’s belief concerning the abomination pointed out (in Daniel) by our Lord.
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Thank you, PJ, for this information on Spurgeon’s teachings about Matthew 24:15-18, the parallel passage in Luke 21, and the abomination of desolation. That historical account of how the believers fled Jerusalem, in obedience to Jesus’ words, and were saved is an exciting one to me. I’ve found it exciting ever since I became aware of it only about five years ago. What a beautiful fulfillment and deliverance of God’s people. I’ve learned also that it was said they were overseen and protected by King Agrippa, the very one who was “almost persuaded” by the testimony of Paul (recorded in Acts). One source of this is here:
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/hcc1.i.VI.39.html
As Spurgeon pointed out, Luke, in his account, does make plain that the abomination of desolation was the Roman armies surrounding Jerusalem.
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Glad you found it interesting Adam, i did too.
Some years ago (actually 2007) i came upon what i believed was a rare find…a page which included some of Spurgeon’s thoughts (and beliefs) concerning eschatology. I ended up posting it at my blog. I noticed in one of your comments above you mentioned wondering if he abandoned premillennialism later on in his life. According to this page, he didn’t, but he did disagree with premillennial dispensationalism.
Scroll down to “Part Three: Spurgeon and Dispensational Premillennialism”
http://www.spurgeon.org/eschat.htm#ans3
One thing he firmly believed was:
“Israel in the covenant of grace is not natural Israel, but all believers in all ages”
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Thanks for this additional link, PJ. “Israel…is…all believers in all ages.” That’s good.
I scrolled a little higher and saw this regarding Iain Murray’s synopsis of Spurgeon’s eschatology: “Murray’s thesis is that although Spurgeon made many statements affirming a premillennial position, he also made statements, that according to Murray were contradictory to a premillennial position.” So Murray saw what I’m seeing too.
I’ve saved the link and I plan to look at more of the material there later.
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Good catch Steve, not “Satan in the flesh”, but Satan enabling, empowering, resurrecting a man in such a way as to receive glory from his life in an unprecedented way. The anti-Christ, the final one, the ultimate one. 2 Thes. 2:7-10 Satan is kicked out of heaven in Revelation 12, I figure he has to go somewhere. Also there is a ‘neat parallel’ to Daniel 12:1,2 Where Michael arises, just like he does in Rev. 12 and the event is the great tribulation.
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Ah, so you mean Satan will enter him akin to John 13:27?
I thought you were saying Satan would be born as a man. I was thinking, “You’ve been watching waaaayyy too many movies” lol.
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Thanks for making me laugh out loud. Yes, I see it as an ultimate “Satan entered him”. Your reference to movies made me laugh especially because just today I drove by “Saint Damien’s Church” here in western Pennsylvania… and I thought… that just seems wrong to me! lol
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Ha! I guess anything is possible. When I was in highschool, I knew a kid who wanted to be a preacher when he grew up. He was so ticked at his mother for naming him… Damien.
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Is it just me, or am I the only one who doesn’t really care what Spurgeon, or Martin Luther, or whoever believed about such and such? Since they weren’t inspired, and they weren’t privy to special cultural/historical information on Bible times, why does it seem to matter what their conclusions were? I hope I do not come across as being a troll, and I don’t know if I’m wording this very well, but I don’t understand this emphasis on the beliefs of various theologians when we have the ability to study the inspired Scriptures for ourselves.
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Steve, I can’t speak for others who have commented here, but I do care about what respected leaders have taught and believed throughout church history. Their words don’t set doctrine in stone, but they can be informative. Like you, I care more about what the inspired Scriptures say and I’m grateful that we can study them for ourselves, but I don’t believe that commentaries and patterns of teaching in church history are unimportant.
In reference to your other comment, has orthodoxy been established independent of accepted teachings in church history? It sounds like orthodoxy is important to you. Why isn’t it profitable to look at and analyze the historic teachings that represent (and maybe even helped establish) that orthodoxy? Why are you disturbed at my alleged unorthodox position(s) if it doesn’t matter what “Spurgeon, or Martin Luther, or whoever believed about such and such?”
I’ve seen people comment here at this site, on Facebook, and elsewhere that “no one in earlier church history ever taught that the Olivet Discourse was entirely fulfilled in the first century.” This post is one effort to answer that claim.
I know who Kurt Simmons is, but I don’t know what he teaches on the resurrection. What is the orthodox position on the resurrection, and where can I find it? This is one doctrine where believers seem to be all over the map. For example, I’ve heard plenty of people say that their loved ones who have passed on are now walking around in heaven with redeemed bodies, free of all previous illnesses and defects. This implies that they’ve been resurrected already, doesn’t it? My dad said this very thing about his mother (my grandmother) who passed away last year. Yet he is a dispensationalist who believes in the pre-trib rapture, a future millennium, and that not one word of the Olivet Discourse or the book of Revelation has been fulfilled.
Melito, the Bishop of Sardis, said this in his “Homily of the Pascha” (150 AD):
“This is the one who was taken from the flock, and was dragged to sacrifice, and was killed in the evening, and was buried at night; the one who was not broken while on the tree, who did not see dissolution while in the earth, who rose up from the dead, and WHO RAISED UP MANKIND FROM THE GRAVE BELOW… Who will contend against Me? Let him stand before Me. It is I who delivered the condemned. It is I who gave life to the dead. It is I who RAISED UP THE BURIED. Who will argue with me? It is I, says Christ, who DESTROYED DEATH. It is I who triumphed over the enemy, and having trod down Hades, and bound the Strong Man, and HAVE SNATCHED UP MANKIND TO THE HEIGHTS OF HEAVEN.”
Melito was esteemed and referenced by Eusebius, Jerome, Tertullian, and others. He compiled the first known Christian canon of the Old Testament, and is the one who coined that term (“Old Testament”). It appears that he taught (in 150 AD) that the resurrection of the dead had already taken place. I know he also went on to tell the living that they would be raised up as well when their time on earth would expire.
Daniel 12:2 says this: “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake,
some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt.” The context is a time of incomparable trouble for Daniel’s people, a time when all of them would be delivered whose names were “found written in the book” (verse 1), and a 3.5 year period in which their power would be shattered (verse 7). This is parallel to the incomparable great tribulation Jesus predicted in Matthew 24 (verse 21), and the deliverance that the believers among Daniel’s people experienced when they fled from Jerusalem (verses 15-20). Daniel predicts a resurrection of the dead in this context.
In Revelation 11:18 we read, “The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, and those who fear Your name, small and great, and should destroy those who destroy the earth.”
If I’m not mistaken, you affirm this to be fulfilled in or around 70 AD, right? I would ask, how could the dead be judged, if they were not resurrected at this time?
Similarly, we have Paul’s words in II Timothy 4:1. “I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ who will [Greek: “mello” – is about to] judge the living and the dead at his appearing and His kingdom…” Jesus had previously said His coming in His kingdom would take place before His disciples could pass through the towns and cities of Israel (Matthew 10:23), and that His coming in judgment and in His kingdom would take place while some of them were still alive (Matthew 16:27-28), and that His kingdom would come before His generation would pass away (Luke 21:31-32). Again, how could Jesus judge the living and the dead if they weren’t raised at this time?
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When I speak of orthodox/unorthodox, I mean it in the sense of “sound or correct in opinion or doctrine.” So when I refer to the 70 AD resurrection theory as unorthodox, I am saying it is wrong, and it is wrong because it contradicts the teaching of Scripture.
Kurt Simmons teaches a hyperpreterist resurrection which sounds very similar to your own. On his pretersistcentral site, he tries (and fails) to make a biblical argument for it.
Regarding the beliefs of various people, lots of people hold contradictory beliefs, and many who claim to be Christian are woefully ignorant of the Bible. I’m sure lots of people think of heaven as sitting on a cloud plucking a harp all day. So what?
It is obvious to me that Melito is speaking in a poetic, dramatic fashion, and is not teaching what you think he is. This is born out by the fact that he was a millenarian!
I have already addressed your belief that Dan. 12:2 teaches a 70 AD resurrection in the comments of the 70 AD Term Paper. I argued that the context of Dan. 12:2 relates to the Greek era, and does not refer to either 70 AD or the future day of resurrection. Since it went unanswered, I will not bother to repeat it here.
Let us assume Rev. 11:18 is 70 AD. How can the dead be judged if this isn’t talking about the resurrection, you ask? The same Bible writer wrote John 5:25, “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.” Jesus isn’t referring to 70 AD, because the “hour is coming AND NOW IS,” at the time Jesus was speaking these words. The dead were coming to life as they heard and accepted the word of Christ. Those who heard and rejected the word of Christ and His Apostles remained “dead.” The “dead” were still physically alive, so at 70 AD, the “dead” could be judged by being killed or sold into slavery. Even Jude 1:12 refers to some people as being “doubly dead,” even though they were still very much alive. I think this answers the rest of your post.
Now I would like for you to answer one point of mine. At the 70 AD judgment, the wicked are killed and sent to Hades (Matt. 11:23). How then can the day of resurrection be in 70 AD, since at the resurrection (Rev. 20:13-15), the wicked are made alive again and raised OUT of Hades, abolishing death and Hades?
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