Month: October 2014

To Seal or Not to Seal the Book? (Daniel 12 Versus Revelation 22)

Adam Maarschalk 2 Comments

Series: “Little Gems from Our Study of the Book of Revelation”

The following study was published earlier today in The Fulfilled Connection (TFC) Magazine, and was adapted from our study of Revelation 22 (Part 2):

What a difference 600 years can make. It certainly made a difference when it came to the visions shown to Daniel (605 – 536 BC) and to John (around 65 AD*). As we will see, one prophet (Daniel) was told to seal his book, and about 600 years later the other (John) was told to keep his book unsealed. Daniel was told that the fulfillment of his visions was a long way off, and about 600 years later John was told that fulfillment was right around the corner.

Many have observed the parallels between what Daniel and John saw in their respective visions. For example:

(a) Daniel foresaw a king, arising from the fourth beast (kingdom), who would “persecute the saints of the Most High.” The saints would “be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time,” i.e. 3.5 years (Daniel 7:25).

(b) Very similarly, John saw a beast who “was given authority to continue for forty-two months” (i.e. 3.5 years), and “it was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them” (Revelation 13:4-7).

Without a doubt, Daniel and John were granted visions of the same event, future to both of them. Or, in John’s case, had it already begun? “I, John, both your brother and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ” (Revelation 1:9).**

One group of Bible teachers, whose eschatology differs from my own, has created the following chart to demonstrate how Daniel and John both repeatedly spoke of a 3.5 year time period:

Different Descriptions of a 3 ½ Year Period

Bible References

42 months

Rev. 11:2,13:5

1260 days

Rev. 11:3,12:6

3.5 years

Dan. 9:27

Time, times & ½ a time

Dan. 7:25, Dan. 12:7, Rev. 12:4

At the end of John’s visions, he recorded a very significant instruction given to him by an angel:

“Then he said to me, ‘These words are faithful and true.’ And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show His servants the things which must shortly take place. ‘Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book’… And he said to me, ‘Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand‘” (Revelation 22:6-10). 

Interestingly, Daniel was given opposite instructions. He was told to seal his book:

“But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end… it shall be for a time, times, and half a time; and when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered, all these things shall be finished… And he said, ‘Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end’” (Daniel 12:4-9)

Daniel was told to seal his book because “the time of the end” for his people was in the distant future. However, John was told that what he saw was about to take place and therefore he should not seal his book. The contrasts between these two sets of instructions can be seen in this chart:

DATE

Around 540 BC

Around 65 AD

PROPHET

Daniel

John (Revelation)

SEAL or DON’T SEAL?

“But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end” (Daniel 12:4); “And he said, ‘Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end’” (Daniel 12:9).

“And he said to me, ‘Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book…’” (Rev. 22:10).

FAR AWAY or AT HAND?

“Therefore seal up the vision, for it refers to many days in the future” (Daniel 8:26); “Now I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision refers to many days yet to come” (Daniel 10:14).

“…for the time is at hand” (Rev. 22:10).

Around 540 BC, Daniel was told that the time of the fulfillment of his book was still far away, but around 65 AD John was told that the time of the fulfillment of his book was near. This makes no sense if Daniel and John were prophesying about events in the 21st century or beyond, as both would be far away, and about 2600 years in Daniel’s case and about 2000 years away in John’s case. It does makes sense, however, if both Daniel and John were prophesying of events in John’s time. Here’s what the difference looks like:

Time Frame if These Prophecies Remain Unfulfilled

Time Frame if These Prophecies Were Fulfilled in John’s Day

To be fulfilled in the 21st century or beyond

Fulfilled around 70 AD

Daniel: “many days to come” = 2600 years later and not yet fulfilled

John: “at hand” = 2000 years later and still not fulfilled

Daniel: “many days to come” = fulfilled 600 years later

John: “at hand” = fulfilled a few years later

Daniel was told that his prophecies concerned “the time of the end” for his people in Israel, and the complete shattering of their power (Daniel 12:7). That “time of the end” had come in John’s day, and therefore he wrote that “the time” was “at hand.” It was the end of the old covenant age, and the time for judgment upon adulterous, unfaithful Israel – a judgment which Jesus had so often predicted (e.g. Matthew 21:43-44, 22:7, 23:34-36, 24:1-51; Mark 13:1-37; Luke 17:20-37, 19:41-44, 21:5-36). This judgment was made complete during the Roman-Jewish War of 67-73 AD, and Josephus graphically recorded the shattering of national Israel in his book,The Wars of the Jews, published in 75 AD.

That time of judgment was 600 years in Daniel’s future, but it took place in John’s generation. This is why Daniel’s book was sealed, but John’s book remained unsealed.

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*The following articles contain a wealth of evidence that the book of Revelation was written prior to Jerusalem’s destruction in 70 AD:

[1] External Evidence for An Early Date
[2] Internal Evidence for An Early Date (Part 1)
[3] Internal Evidence for An Early Date (Part 2)
[4] Internal Evidence for An Early Date (Part 3)
[5] Internal Evidence for An Early Date (Part 4)
[6] The Book of Revelation Written Before 70 AD (An Illustration)

**According to the church father, Tertullian, John was exiled to Patmos by Nero after John miraculously survived Nero’s attempt to boil him in oil.

Paul R. Lopez: Seven “Last Days” Passages You’ll Rarely Hear Pastors Preach On

Adam Maarschalk 6 Comments

This article from Paul Lopez is good food-for-thought concerning the topic of “the last days.” It has been edited somewhat, but only for grammar and punctuation:

When was the last time you heard a “last days” sermon from the Old Testament?

When most pastors preach a sermon on the end times they usually start with the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21) or the Book of Revelation. For years the focus on end times discussions has remained in the New Testament. Unfortunately, that results in our teachers only giving us the end of the story. When reading a story, it makes sense to start at the beginning, rather than at the end and try to figure out the story from there. Yet the study of the “last days” in most churches today has us doing this very thing. I did that too for years, until I finally decided to start at the beginning of the book.

Here are seven Old Testament passages that I’ve come across in my studies that are crucial to understanding the “last days” that you will rarely hear pastors preach on in today’s churches:

1. Jacob’s Prediction of the Last Days: Would you believe the first mention of the “last days” is in Genesis 49? “And Jacob called his sons and said, ‘Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days‘” (verse 1, NKJV). Ironically, the first passage in the Bible that speaks of the last days is in the first book of the Bible and not the last. This passage speaks of the last days of the twelve tribes of Israel.

2. Moses’ Warning to the Israelites: In Deuteronomy 31:29, Moses tells the Israelites:

“For I know that after my death you will act corruptly and turn from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the latter days, for you will do that which is evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger with the work of your hands” (NASB).

This verse is in the context of Deuteronomy 28-32 and Leviticus 26. God is establishing the Covenant with His people. God promises His people both coming blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. Study your cross references and you will find many fascinating connections to the New Testament — particularly Romans 9-11 and the book of Revelation. From this passage you will begin to see that the last days spoken of in Deuteronomy 31:29 are speaking of the last days of the Old Covenant, not the last days of the earth.

3. Jeremiah’s Prediction of the Last Days. Jeremiah 30:24 says: “The fierce anger of the LORD will not turn back, until He has performed and until He has accomplished the intent of His heart; in the latter days you will understand this” (NASB). Jeremiah 30:24 speaks of judgment coming upon His people, and it is also the context for Jeremiah 31. Jeremiah 31 contains several prophecies fulfilled at the first advent of Christ. For example, Jeremiah 31:15 is a prophecy fulfilled in Matthew 2:16-18. Jesus is born under law (Galatians 4:4), at the end of the Old Covenant. The Old Covenant is ending with Christ’s birth, and the New Covenant is at hand with the beginning of His ministry. In writing to Jews, the author of Hebrews says in chapter 1:1-2:

“God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.”

The things “spoken of long ago to the fathers and prophets” are the passages that we are outlining here. If you study these verses carefully, against current thought, the last days of the Jews and their Covenant were upon them. These references begin to line up with the last days of the Old Covenant, not the last days of the world.

4. Prediction of the New Covenant That Would Come: Another passage in the context of Jeremiah 30:24 is Jeremiah 31:31-34 — a prophecy that predicts that the New Covenant would come at the end of the Old Covenant. The writer of the book of Hebrews verifies this in Hebrews Chapter 8. The New Covenant for His people prophesied in Jeremiah 31 is fulfilled in the First Century, and the Old Covenant is becoming obsolete in Hebrews 8:13. Again, we see the last days of the Old Covenant were upon them in the First Century. The whole context of Hebrews 8 is again stated in the context of Hebrews 1:1-2.

5. Jesus Was Born in the ‘Last Days’: Micah 4 shows that Jesus was born in the last days of the Old Covenant: “And it will come about in the last days, that the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains. It will be raised above the hills, And the peoples will stream to it.” In the same context, Micah 5:2 reads: “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity.”

This prophecy is fulfilled in the last days of the Old Covenant, according to Matthew 2:1-6:

“Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.’ When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They said to him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet: AND YOU, BETHLEHEM, LAND OF JUDAH, ARE BY NO MEANS LEAST AMONG THE LEADERS OF JUDAH; FOR OUT OF YOU SHALL COME FORTH A RULER WHO WILL SHEPHERD MY PEOPLE ISRAEL.’”

(Cross references: Deuteronomy 31:29: Judges 2:19)

6. Isaiah’s Prediction of judgment on Old Covenant Israel in the Last Days:

Isaiah 2:1-2 , we see almost verbatim the words from Micah 4:1, about the last days of the covenant: 

“The word which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. Now it will come about that in the last days the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains, and will be raised above the hills; And all the nations will stream to it.”

This segment of Scripture is full of description of the last days that can be traced through the New Testament to the book of Revelation. In the same context of Isaiah 2 is the parable of the vineyard (Isaiah 5:1-7) – the vineyard is the house of Israel (vs 7)! It is a vineyard that God said produced worthless grapes! This same parable Jesus quotes in Matthew 21:33-46. In verses 40-45, Jesus describes what is coming upon the Jews in their last days. The Pharisees, being familiar with the prophet Isaiah’s words, knew exactly what Jesus was saying, and that Jesus spoke the parable about them. The end of the Old Covenant system ended at the cross, yet the final destruction of the temple system came in 70 A.D.

See also Jeremiah 3:8, 23:20, and 30:24.

7. Joel’s Prediction that the Holy Spirit Would be Poured Out in the Last Days:

Joel 2:28-32 is quoted by the apostle Peter in his sermon on Pentecost in Acts 2:14-21:

“But Peter, taking his stand with the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: ‘Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give heed to my words. For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day; but this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel: ‘AND IT SHALL BE IN THE LAST DAYS,’ God says, ‘THAT I WILL POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT ON ALL MANKIND; AND YOUR SONS AND YOUR DAUGHTERS SHALL PROPHESY, AND YOUR YOUNG MEN SHALL SEE VISIONS, AND YOUR OLD MEN SHALL DREAM DREAMS; EVEN ON MY BONDSLAVES, BOTH MEN AND WOMEN, I WILL IN THOSE DAYS POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT‘” (Acts 2:14-18).

According to the Prophet Joel, the Holy Spirit would be poured out in “the last days.” This prophecy was being fulfilled in Acts 2 according to the Apostle Peter. His audience in Acts 2 are Jews from “every nation under heaven.”

Could all of these Old Testament passages that were fulfilled and pointed to by inspired writers in the New Testament be about the Last Days of the Old Covenant and not the Last Days of the World? It is worth your time and study to research the Scriptures.

All the prophets we have mentioned above were writing to the Jews of coming judgment upon them for breaking the covenant of Deuteronomy 28-32. Last days events mentioned in the Old Testament included the birth of the Messiah, the New Covenant coming, the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, and pending judgment on the Old Covenant system. Jesus clearly states that this judgment was coming upon the generation He came to in the first century (Matthew 23:36, Matthew 24:34, Mark 13:30, Luke 21:32).

So what does all this mean? The Old Testament references provide the context for the New Testament passages concerning the “last days.” But that’s something you’ll rarely hear from the pulpit today, in a culture that is more fascinated with signs from world events than Scripture.

In real estate the golden rule is “location, location, location.” In eschatology, it’s “signs, signs, signs.” How about we go back to “Scripture, Scripture, Scripture”?

I challenge our pastors and teachers in the church today to begin to address these passages on the Last Days from the Old Testament. They provide the context for the New Testament passages on the Last Days and will spark healthy discussion within our churches today.

Source

Paul Lopez is a longtime student of the Word and a Bible teacher and small group leader at Murrieta Valley Church in Murrieta, Calif.

The Mystery of God (Revelation 10:7) Has Long Been Finished

Adam Maarschalk 12 Comments

Series: “Little Gems from Our Study of the Book of Revelation”

The following study was published yesterday in The Fulfilled Connection (TFC) Magazine, and was adapted from our study of Revelation 10:

“…in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets” (Revelation 10:7).

Like so many of the visions and prophecies in the book of Revelation, this one has a rich background in the Old Testament. John was told that the finishing of “the mystery of God” had been foretold by “His servants the prophets.” For a long time, the prophets had been looking forward to what John was about to witness!

Before we examine verse 7 and the meaning of “the mystery of God,” let’s briefly consider the context of this verse. The first six trumpet judgments are featured in Revelation 8-9. (One earlier post discusses the third trumpet, Wormwood, and another discusses the fifth trumpet, the locust invasion.) Then in Revelation 10:

  • A mighty angel comes down from heaven, whose appearance (verse 1) is similar to that of Jesus in Revelation 1:15-16, and his behavior resembles that of “the man clothed in linen” who announces the shattering of the holy people in Daniel 12:7.
  • This mighty angel “sets his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land” (verses 2, 5).
  • He swears that, without any further delay (verse 6), the sounding of the seventh trumpet would bring about the completion of the mystery of God (verse 7).

The expression, “His servants the prophets” (verse 7), was commonly used in the Old Testament to refer to the prophets God sent to the nation of Israel (e.g. II Kings 9:7, Jeremiah 7:25, Zechariah 1:6, and especially Daniel 9:6). The expression, “the mystery of God,” should ring a bell for anyone familiar with the epistles written by Paul. He speaks of this mystery in Romans 16:25-26 (see also Rom. 11:25), but he covers this topic most thoroughly in his epistles to the Ephesians (1:7-10, 2:11-3:11, 5:31-32, 6:18-20) and to the Colossians (1:24-27, 2:1-4, 4:3-4).

Paul told the Ephesians that they could perceive his insight into “the mystery of Christ” which was not made known to previous generations as it had been revealed to the apostles and prophets in his day (3:4-5). Then in Ephesians 3:6, Paul explicitly defines this mystery, and this definition is most crucial to our understanding of Revelation 10:7.

“This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.”

Indeed, in the previous chapter, Paul had already declared that Jesus had “broken down the middle wall of division” between Jews and Gentiles, creating “one new man from the two” (Eph. 2:14-15). They were joined together “into a holy temple in the Lord” (verse 21) and were “being built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit” (verse 22). This, of course, lines up with other New Testament declarations that, in Jesus, there is no difference, no favoritism, and no distinction between Jews and non-Jews (Romans 10:12, Galatians 3:28, Colossians 3:11).

Here is one place where fulfilled eschatology and futurist eschatology can stand very far apart. Steve Gregg has edited an excellent book titled, “Revelation: Four Views (A Parallel Commentary).” His book features parallel commentaries from four different viewpoints regarding the book of Revelation. We have already observed how “the mystery of God” is clearly defined throughout the New Testament. Notice, then, how this phrase in Revelation 10:7 is defined in vastly different ways by [1] futurists and [2] preterists in Gregg’s book:

Futurist Interpretations of Revelation 10:7
Preterist Interpretations of Revelation 10:7
“Everything will then be made plain. The mystery of retribution—the mystery of predestination—the mystery of the great struggle between light and darkness and good and evil—all will be explained then” (H.A. Ironside, pp. 209-211).
“This ‘Mystery’ is a major aspect of the letters to the Ephesians and Colossians: the union of believing Jews and Gentiles in one church, without distinction” (David Chilton, p. 208).
“The reference to the mystery of God seems to mean truth concerning God Himself which has not been fully revealed. It is often overlooked, however, that the mystery is said to have been ‘declared to his servants the prophets’ (v. 7). The mystery of God which is declared as subject to fulfillment is unfolded therefore in the Old Testament in many passages which speak of the establishment of the kingdom of God on earth” (John Walvoord, p. 209).
“The completion of the mystery of God (v. 7) refers to the fact that the ‘predominantly Jewish nature of the church was to be ended by the destruction of the temple, the distinctive feature in which it centered.’ The mystery itself, of course, is… ‘that the Gentiles should come into the church on an equal footing with the Jews, not first having to become Jews themselves…’” (Jay Adams, p. 208).
[The mystery of God is] the secret of His allowing Satan to have his own way, and man too (that is to say, the wonder of evil prospering and of good being trodden underfoot)” [William Kelly, p. 209].
 
“How great has been that mystery! Evil had apparently triumphed; the heavens for so long have been silent. Satan had been permitted to be the god of this age deceiving the nations… And now the time has come when the mystery of God will be completed” (Arno C. Gaebelein, p. 209).
 

Each of these futurist interpretations of Revelation 10:7 completely miss Paul’s clear definition of the mystery of God. Perhaps, among futurists, there is a deliberate reluctance to compare Scripture with Scripture in this case, knowing that the first century transition from the old covenant to the new covenant (Hebrews 8:13) is easy to see here.

In this passage (Revelation 10:1-7), we can see the significance of the angel standing with one foot on the sea and one foot on the land (verses 2, 5). Numerous scholars have recognized a Scriptural pattern where “the sea” often represents Gentile nations and “the land” (or “the earth”) represents Israel. P.S. Desprez, for example, in his 1855 book, “The Apocalypse Fulfilled,” wrote the following concerning the expression “those who dwell on the earth” which appears often in Revelation:

“But the words in question are sometimes found qualified by governing considerations which define and determine their meaning, and this is always the case, when they are found in connection with the governing clauses ‘they that dwell’… Then they have, and can have, only one meaning; then they refer only to one land and to one people, and this land and this people must be the land and the people of Judea.”

My 3-part study on this pattern can be seen here (part 1, part 2, part 3).

So if the sea is interpreted as a reference to the Gentiles, and the land as a reference to Israel (i.e. the Jews, generally speaking), then the image of the angel with one foot on both suggests a bridging of the gap between the two. This is precisely what we see in Paul’s definition of the mystery of God and his teachings that, in Christ, Jews and Gentiles are one. “Gentiles in the flesh” were once “aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise” (Ephesians 2:11-12), but, in Christ, they were “no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens” (verse 19).

The picture of the angel bridging the gap between land and sea is a beautiful symbol of God’s bringing Jews and Gentiles together in Himself on an equal basis, having torn down the dividing wall by His work on the cross. This mystery was made complete in John’s day, in the first century. All delay soon came to an end (Rev. 10:6) and the temple in Jerusalem, the chief symbol of old covenant Judaism and Israel’s national pride, was brought down forever in 70 AD in favor of “a holy temple in the Lord…a dwelling place for God by the Spirit” (Eph. 2:21-22).

“…but in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets” (Revelation 10:7).

“Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever! …Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple…” (Revelation 11:15-19).

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All of our studies on the book of Revelation can be seen here.

The Shadows of the Old Covenant Can’t Be Restored

Adam Maarschalk 3 Comments

A Facebook friend, Larry Siegle, posted the following book excerpt the other day, and it’s excellent. It comes from a book written in 1972 by James D. Bales titled, “Prophecy and Premillennialism” (pp. 162-163):

“If we tried to go back to the Old Testament, it would not permit it. It would send us back to the New. The substance has arrived, so the shadow tells us to abide in the substance.

First, if we go back to Moses, he sends us to Christ. (Deut. 18:15-18; Acts 3:22, 23).

Second, if we ask Moses to be our mediator, he sends us to Christ the mediator (Heb. 8:6; 12:24).

Third, if we go back to the Old Covenant, it sends us back to the New (Jer. 31:31-34; Heb. 8:5-13; 13:20).

Fourth, if we go back to the blood of animals, it sends us to the sacrifice of Christ of which its sacrifices were but a shadow (Heb. 10:1-4).

Fifth, if we go back to the blood of animals, it sends us to the sacrifice of Christ of which the animal blood typified (Heb. 9:15-27; 23-28; 13:20).

Sixth, if we go back to the Old Temple, the way to heaven is not made manifest (Heb. 9:6-12, 24, 25, 26); so it sends us to Christ who has opened and made manifest the way (Heb. 10:19-22).

Seventh, if we go to the Old Testament priests, they send us back to the priesthood of believers (I Pet. 2:5, 9).

Eighth, if we go back to the Jewish kingdom, it sends us back to the everlasting kingdom which was being received in the first century (Hag. 2:6; Heb. 12:18-28; 13:20).

Ninth, if we go back to the Old Testament kingdom, it sends us back to the everlasting kingdom (Dan. 2:44; Heb. 12:28; 13:20).

Tenth, if we go back to the Old Testament Kings and High Priests, they send us to Christ the king and priest (Psa. 110:1-4; Heb. 7:11-22, 28; 8:4).

Eleventh, if we go to Abraham, he sends us to his seed, Christ (Gen. 22:18; Gal. 3:16-29).

We must not retreat from the substance to the shadow. Any system of the interpretation of prophecy which restores the shadow contradicts the Old Testament and the New Testament.”

James Bales (1915-1995) was “an influential Bible professor and administrator at Harding University (then Harding College) for almost 40 years.” Bales was an amillennialist (Wikipedia).

The New Testament Repeatedly Applies Isaiah 65-66 To This Present Age

Adam Maarschalk 2 Comments

Series: “Little Gems from Our Study of the Book of Revelation”

This post serves as a follow-up to my last post, “We Now Live in the New Heavens and the New Earth” (which explored Matthew 5:17-18, Matthew 24:35, II Peter 3:7-13, portions of Isaiah and Jeremiah, and more). There is one Scripture text on the subject of the old/new heaven and earth which I didn’t explore in that post: 

“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God‘” (Revelation 21:1-3).

We do, however, have a detailed study on this text in our series on the book of Revelation. In that study we highlighted an excellent observation made by Steve Gregg in his book, “Revelation: Four Views (A Parallel Commentary).”  

Revelation 21:1

Isaiah 65-66 clearly provides a background to Revelation 21:1, most notably Isaiah 65:17-19 and 66:10-13, 22.

“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered or come to mind. but be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; For behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing and her people a joy. I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in My people; The voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her, nor the voice of crying” (Isaiah 65:17-19).

“‘For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before Me,’ says the Lord, ‘so shall your descendants and your name remain‘” (Isaiah 66:22).

Gregg shows that this portion of Isaiah is not awaiting future fulfillment — not according to Jesus, Luke, John, and Paul. On page 489 of his book, Gregg writes,

“[The] specific promise of ‘new heavens and a new earth,’ found exclusively in Isaiah 65:17 and 66:22, fall within a portion of Isaiah which New Testament writers applied to the present age.”

On page 506, Gregg gives the following comparisons to illustrate what he is saying here:

[a] Isaiah 65:23 with I Cor. 15:58
[b] Isaiah 65:25 with Luke 10:19
[c] Isaiah 66:1f with I Tim. 3:15
[d] Isaiah 66:8 with Gal. 4:26
[e] Isaiah 66:11 with Matt. 5:6
[f] Isaiah 66:12 with John 14:27
[g] Isaiah 66:15f with Matt. 22:7
[h] Isaiah 66:18 with Matt. 8:11
[i] Isaiah 66:19 with Eph. 3:8 and Col. 1:27
[j] Isaiah 66:20 with Rom. 15:16

Let’s observe these comparisons in the form of a chart, and with these passages written out:

Passages from Isaiah 65 – 66
Corresponding New Testament Passages
“They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth children for trouble; For they shall be the descendants of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them” (Isaiah 65:23).
“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord” (I Corinthians 15:58).
“’The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,’ says the Lord” (Isaiah 65:25).
“Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you” (Luke 10:19).
“Thus says the Lord: ‘Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you will build Me? And where is the place of My rest?’” (Isaiah 66:1)
“…but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (I Timothy 3:15).
“Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion was in labor, she gave birth to her children” (Isaiah 66:8).
“…but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all” (Galatians 4:26).
“…that you may feed and be satisfied with the consolation of her bosom, that you may drink deeply and be delighted with the abundance of her glory” (Isaiah 66:11).
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled” (Matthew 5:6).
“Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream. Then you shall feed; On her sides shall you be carried, and be dandled on her knees” (Isaiah 66:12).
“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27).
“For behold, the Lord will come with fire and with His chariots, like a whirlwind, to render His anger with fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire” (Isaiah 66:15).
“But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city” (Matthew 22:7; see also Matt. 16:27-28, II Thess. 1:6-8, Jude 14-15).
“For I know their works and their thoughts. It shall be that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and see My glory” (Isaiah 66:18).
“And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 8:11; see also Acts 2:5-12).
 “I will set a sign among them; and those among them who escape I will send to the nations: to Tarshish and Pul and Lud, who draw the bow, and Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands afar off who have not heard My fame nor seen My glory. And they shall declare My glory among the Gentiles” (Isaiah 66:19).
“To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ…” (Ephesians 3:8); “To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).
“’Then they shall bring all your brethren for an offering to the Lord out of all nations, on horses and in chariots and in litters, on mules and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,’ says the Lord, ‘as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the Lord” (Isaiah 66:20).
“…that I might be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:16).

So we can see that Isaiah was given a vision of the coming new covenant age, the age in which we now live, and the fiery passing away of the old covenant age (I believe this occurred in 70 AD with the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem; see especially II Peter 3:7-13). Kenneth Gentry adds these thoughts on this subject:

“Isaiah’s prophecy clearly portrays the coming new covenant order established by Christ, which Paul calls a ‘new creation’ (2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15; cp. Ephesians 2:10; 4:24… We know that Isaiah was not speaking of the consummate order, for he includes aspects of the present fallen order in his description: ‘No longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his days; For the youth will die at the age of one hundred and the one who does not reach the age of one hundred shall be thought accursed‘ (Isaiah 65:20). The eternal order will not include infants, death, aging, and curse.”

Kenneth Gentry, “Navigating the Book of Revelation: Special Studies on Important Issues,” GoodBirth Ministries: Fountain Inn, SC, 2009, p. 169.

Presbyterian Pastor David Lowman agrees, saying:

“[It] is best to understand the NHNE [new heavens and new earth] covenantally as a picture of the promised New Covenant that finds origination in the Old testament, institution in the Gospels, unfolding in the [book of] Acts and explanation in the rest of the New Testament.”

Revelation 21:2

In Revelation 21, John goes on to speak of New Jerusalem, “the holy city,” coming down out of heaven as Christ’s bride. Recall the promise that Jesus made to the first century church in Philadelphia:

“The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from My God out of heaven, and my own new name” (Rev. 3:12).

The temple of which Christ spoke, of course, is the Church:

“For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building (I Corinthians 3:9).

“Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are” (I Cor. 3:16-17).

“Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?” (I Cor. 6:19)

“And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: ‘I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people'” (II Cor. 6:16).

“Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:19-21).

The author of Hebrews not only refers to the heavenly Jerusalem as a reality in the first century, but he also equates it with the new covenant:

“But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel” (Hebrews 12:22-24).

Revelation 21:3

Before concluding, let’s look briefly at one more proof that Revelation 21 is speaking of this present age. In verse 3, God declared that His tabernacle would be with men, and that He would “dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God.” This promise was first given in Exodus 29:45 and Leviticus 26:11, but it was conditional, only to be true as long as the Israelites walked in His statutes and kept His commandments (Lev. 26:3). In Revelation 21:3, this promise is unconditional.

Revelation 21:3 mirrors the description of the new covenant in Jeremiah 31:31-34, and identical language is also used in Ezekiel 37:27-28, a passage connected to the new covenant promises in Ezekiel 36:24-28. In Ezekiel’s own vision of a holy city, he was told that this city would be the place where God would dwell with His people (Ezekiel 43:7, 48:35). As we already observed above, Paul quoted Exodus 29:45 and Leviticus 26:11 as a present reality for the Church in his own day (II Corinthians 6:16).

Conclusion

Revelation 21 applies Isaiah 65-66 to the present new covenant age in which we now live. However, it does not carry out this application alone. As we have seen, multiple New Testament authors have done the same. What a blessing it is to live under the new heavens and the new earth.

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Our study on the entire chapter of Revelation 21 can be seen here (verses 1-4 and verses 5-27).

We Now Live in the New Heavens and the New Earth

Adam Maarschalk 10 Comments

The following study will examine:

  • Matthew 5:17-18
  • Matthew 24:35
  • How Isaiah and Jeremiah spoke of the old and new heavens & earth
  • II Peter 3:7-13 (compared with Galatians 4:9 and Colossians 2:20)
  • Quotes from Eusebius (265 – 340 AD), Bishop John Lightfoot (1601-1675), John Owen (1721), Jonathan Edwards (1739), and Charles Spurgeon (1865) regarding “the heavens and the earth” as covenant language in Scripture.

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“Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things are fulfilled. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away” (Matthew 24:34-35).

Jesus spoke these words to His 12 disciples around 30 AD. When He said “all these things,” He was of course speaking about everything He had just predicted in verses 1-33, from the temple being destroyed, to wars and rumors of wars, to famines and earthquakes, to false prophets and persecution, to the gospel being preached to all nations, to the abomination of desolation and people fleeing from Judea, to great tribulation, to the coming of the Son of Man, etc. Our Olivet Discourse series demonstrates how all these things were fulfilled by the time the temple fell in Jerusalem in 70 AD (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4).

Was Jesus also saying that heaven and earth would pass away in His own generation? Indeed, He was. We repeatedly saw in our study of the Olivet Discourse that the prophetic language of the Old Testament provides a background to much of what Jesus says in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21. The same is true for the expression “heaven and earth.” This is covenant language, and this is perhaps most evident in the book of Isaiah.

Isaiah and Jeremiah: Zion/Israel Was the Old Heavens and Earth

Isaiah’s opening vision was concerned with Judah and Jerusalem, according to Isaiah 1:1. Notice the very first words of Isaiah: “Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the Lord has spoken” (Isaiah 1:2). This is not unique to Isaiah, for heaven and earth were repeatedly called as witnesses against Israel (e.g. Deuteronomy 4:26, 30:18-19, 31:28, 32:1; Jeremiah 2:12, 6:19; Micah 6:2). In Isaiah 51, speaking to the people of Israel, God says:

I, I am He who comforts you; who are you that you…have forgotten the Lord, your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth…? …And I have put My words in your mouth and covered you in the shadow of My hand, establishing the heavens and laying the foundations of the earth, and saying to Zion, ‘You are My people’ (verses 12-16).

The establishment of the heavens and the earth is thus linked directly to the establishment of Israel as God’s people at Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:5-6). Psalm 68:7-8 reiterates that the earth and the heavens were greatly affected when “God, the One of Sinai” marched through the wilderness before His people:

“O God, when You went out before Your people, when You marched through the wilderness, the earth shook; The heavens also dropped rain at the presence of God; Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel.”

This happened during the days of Moses. Judges 5:4-5 says the same thing. Jeremiah also spoke of Jerusalem’s pending destruction (in 586 BC) in a way that might seem as if he was talking about planet earth and the galaxies, if it weren’t for the context:

“My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain! Oh, the walls of my heart! My heart is beating wildly; I cannot keep silent, for I hear the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war… I looked on the earth, and behold, it was without form and void; and to the heavens, and they had no light… For thus says the Lord, ‘The whole land shall be a desolation; yet I will not make a full end. For this the earth shall mourn, and the heavens above be dark…’” (Jeremiah 4:19, 23, 27).

Jeremiah was in anguish over the collapse of the heavens and the earth (Zion) when Babylon destroyed Judah and Jerusalem in 586 BC. David Curtis, the pastor of Berean Bible Church (Virginia Beach), has this to say about Isaiah 51 (quoted above) and the Old Testament’s use of “heaven and earth” language in the context of judgment:

Notice [in Isaiah 51] that God is speaking to Israel. He says He gave them His law, the Old Covenant… Clearly God is not saying He gave the Old Covenant to Israel to create literal heaven and earth! Material creation existed long before Israel was ever given the Old Covenant.

The meaning of this verse is that God gave His covenant with Israel to create their world–a covenant world with God! God created Israel’s “heaven and earth” by giving them His Covenant. Now if He destroyed that Old Covenant heaven and earth and gave a New Covenant, would He not thereby be creating a New heaven and earth? This is precisely the thought in the New Covenant Scriptures!

This idea is seen more clearly as we look at other passages where mention is made of the destruction of a state and government using language which seems to set forth the end of the world, as the collapse of heaven and earth. In Isaiah 13:1-13, this is not an oracle against the universe or world, but against the nation of Babylon. Notice verse 13, “Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth will move out of her place.”

Now remember, He is speaking about the destruction of Babylon, but it sounds like world wide destruction… If you were a Babylonian and Babylon was destroyed would it seem like the world was destroyed? Yes! Your world would be destroyed.

This is an historical event that took place in 539 BC. When the Medes destroyed Babylon (Isaiah 13:17), the Babylonian world came to an end… The physical heaven and earth were still in tact, but for Babylon they had collapsed. This is apocalyptic language. This is the way the scripture discusses the fall of a nation (Source).

Curtis also points out how this “heaven and earth” language is used in these ways concerning Israel (Isaiah 24-27), Edom (Isaiah 34), Nineveh (Nahum 1), and Israel again (Hebrews 12). 

Isaiah didn’t only speak of the old heavens and earth. He also prophesied of “new heavens and a new earth,” and the creation of Jerusalem as a joy (Isaiah 65:17-19). This is covenant language, and this can be seen in the fact that the new heavens and new earth were to be marked by sin and death (verse 20), building and planting (verses 21-22), and the reproduction of children (verse 23).

When I was younger, I was taught that the new heavens and earth would be set up following a future Second Coming of Christ and a 1000 year “millennial reign” based in earthly Jerusalem, at which time sin and death would cease to exist. Isaiah’s description of the new heavens and earth, however, does not allow for this. Instead, his description speaks of present, earthly realities coinciding with new, glorious spiritual realities.

It also mirrors what we see in the New Testament. Paul told the Ephesians that God’s people are called to “put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:24). He likewise told the Corinthians, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (II Corinthians 5:17). In Christ, a new temple/tabernacle had come (e.g. I Corinthians 3:16-17, I Cor. 6:19, II Cor. 6:16, Ephesians 2:21, Revelation 3:12), and the old temple/tabernacle had to go. During the one generation following the cross, all of the rituals attached to the temple in Jerusalem were worthless. By the end of that generation, that temple and those worthless rituals were gone.

Obituary of the Old Covenant

SOURCE: Cindye Coates

We would also do well to remember that Jesus had already made a very significant statement about the disappearance of (the old) heaven and earth in the Sermon on the Mount:

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will be any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished” (Matthew 5:17-18).

Is the Law 100% intact even now in the year 2014, and are we thus still under the old heavens and earth? Or did Jesus accomplish everything and fulfill the Law, so that we are now under the covenantal framework of the new heavens and earth? Matthew 5:17-18 is an all-or-nothing statement. If “heaven and earth” have not yet disappeared, neither then has even one trace of the Law of Moses.

The “heaven and earth” spoken of by Jesus here are connected to the temple worship and law keeping of the Jewish world. We know that Jerusalem, the temple, and the old covenant system passed away in a fiery blaze in 70 AD. Jesus, of course, predicted this (in Matthew 22:7; Revelation 17:16-17; Rev. 18:8-9, 17-18).

II Peter 3:7-13 also speaks of the heavens and earth of that time being “stored up for fire” (verse 7) and ready to “pass away with a roar” and be “burned up and dissolved” (verse 10), giving way to “new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (verse 13). That fire occurred in 70 AD when Jerusalem was burned by the Roman armies, as Jesus said would happen to the city of those who rejected His Father’s wedding invitation and murdered His servants: “And the king sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city” (Matthew 22:7).

Bishop John Lightfoot (1601-1675) made a key point in his Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles (Vol. 3, p. 452),

“Compare this 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.”

Indeed, Galatians 4:9 and Colossians 2:20 make use of the same word translated as “elements” in II Peter 3:10. It’s clear that Paul spoke there, not of the cosmos, but of what was contained in the Law:

[1] “But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? You observe days and months and seasons and years!” (Galatians 4:9-10).

[2] “If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations—‘Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch’ (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings?” (Colossians 2:20-22).

In a 1721 sermon, the Puritan preacher John Owen said,

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.”

Jonathan Edwards (in 1739) said this in his work, “The Perpetuity and Change of the Sabbath, Vol. 2”:

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.

C.H. (Charles) Spurgeon also had the same understanding. In a sermon delivered in 1865 (Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Vo. XXXVII, p. 354), he said:

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.

We will conclude with a much older quote, a very intriguing statement made by the church father, Eusebius (265-340 AD), in one of his writings known as “the Theophania”:

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.

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The information in this post also appeared in our study of Matthew 24:35.

Also see Steve’s 3-part series on “The Biblical Heavens and Earth” (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3) which he posted here in June 2014.