Biblical Observations – Page 7

The mistaken prediction?

Posted on 5th October, 201616th March, 2018
by Martin Scott
Posted in Biblical Observations

Peter Enns had Christopher M. Hays and C. A. Strine explain the thesis of their book When the Son of Man Didn’t Come which (I summarise) suggests Jesus’ prediction about his return indicates he expected it before the end of the first century. In that sense he was mistaken but only if we understand prophecy as prediction. Prophecy is rather conditional and hence:

The Kingdom has not been fulfilled, as Peter explains, because people dropped the ball. Therefore, everyone should bust their butts to speed up the arrival of the Kingdom of God.

I of course have hardly done the book (or indeed the three posts) justice so here are the three posts:

peteenns.com/on-why-jesus-hasnt-come-back-yet-and-the-answer-may-shock-you/
peteenns.com/guess-what-prophecies-arent-predictions-of-the-future-you-can-look-it-up/
peteenns.com/why-jesus-hasnt-come-back-yet-according-to-the-new-testament/

Hays-book-200x300 My purpose in picking this up is not to cover the book – the material looks excellent – but to suggest that the coming of the Son of Man is not primarily referring to the parousia and thus I am not convinced that Jesus was predicting that event. And given that I do see prophecy as conditional (and there are unfulfilled prophecies in Scripture – John Goldingay has some great examples of that) and that I am pretty convinced about Open Theism the ‘solution’ presented in the book is not an issue for me. However… here is where the posts began:

“Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the kingdom of God has come with power” (Mark 9:1).

He assured them, “Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place” (13:30)—“all these things” apparently including reference to the “Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.”

In light of that promise he adjured them again and again, “keep alert . . . keep awake . . . keep awake” (Mark 13:33-37), for “truly I tell you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes” (Matt. 10:23).

Admittedly, he said that nobody would know the “hour or the day” of his return, but in general terms, Jesus definitely prophesied that he would be back before the end of the first century.
And since we are still here, it seems like he was pretty wrong!

The coming of the son of Man does seem to be rooted in the Danielic vision of chapter 7:

I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven
there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days
and was presented before him.
And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom,
that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion,
which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.

If we give these verses a Christocentric interpretation then this could be a future vision of final judgement. In the context it is probably giving great hope that a representative will indeed be granted by God to rule when the beastly oppressing nations are judged. If Daniel, in the form we have it, is essentially placed in the Maccabean period then we have here great hope of God’s intervention. In the NT the hope is taken beyond that to the hope of Jesus as Messiah’s rule. I think a question we have to answer is when does that take place? Or maybe does is there one and only one future event that will indicate that has taken place? (Incidentally in the above scriptural quotes from the posts, the Matt. 10:23 one of ‘before the Son of Man comes’ does not even use parousia type language. Jesus uses the verb erchomai probably just referring to his reunion with the disciples in the very near future, after the twelve disciples have gone out in his name and before they head toward Jerusalem.)

Jesus said to the High Priest that in Mark 14:62:

“you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”

This is surely not a prediction concerning the parousia but that if they have eyes to see the resurrection will indeed be evidence that Jesus is vindicated and is coming with the clouds of heaven not to earth but to the Ancient of Days.

In the Olivet Discourse we have in the three passages:

Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (Matt. 24: 29-31).

But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven. (Mark 13: 14-27).

And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.

Maybe Matthew’s addition of ‘the sign’ of the coming of the Son of Man is significant, but even if not the coming of the Son of Man is not primarily a coming of Jesus a ‘second’ time from heaven to earth, but of the Son of Man coming to the Ancient of Days, as per Daniel. If we think fluidly, such as the Christ Event being the Incarnation – Baptism – Ministry – Cross – Resurrection – Ascension – Return we can likewise suggest that the ‘Coming of the son of Man’ predictions are not tied into the commonly understood return of Jesus but refers to all evidences that the Son of Man has indeed come in the clouds to the Ancient of Days. The sign and the reality are there to be seen.

In the light of that I do not think we need to posit that Jesus was mistaken. I do though suggest that given the conditional nature of prophecy that we can ‘hasten the day’ of his return. We do not build the kingdom, the New Jerusalem does not rise up, but comes down from the throne of God from heaven to earth, but I tie together the building materials of 1 Cor. 3 and the materials of the New Jerusalem and suggest the delay is because there is as yet insufficient building material for the cosmic temple, the New Jerusalem, the transformed earth. So to quote from the posts I do agree that:

Therefore, everyone should bust their butts to speed up the arrival of the Kingdom of God.

Hospitality & sharing

Posted on 14th July, 201616th March, 2018
by Martin Scott
Posted in Biblical Observations

The sin of Sodom (& Gomorrah)? In Ezekiel it was that of the rejection of hospitality and lack of care for the poor and needy:

Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. They were haughty and did an abomination before me. So I removed them, when I saw it (Ezek. 16:49,50).

Whatever we make of the commonly highlighted sexual issues, this aspect of social contempt for the stranger is highlighted. Recently it came to my attention that Jesus statement over the cities of Israel:

I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town (Luke 10:12).

is in the context of looking for the cities to give hospitality to the travelling disciples. I had never seen that before and it again underlines the need for hospitality, care, looking after the stranger. Judgement on cities of Israel, and historically a judgement on a non-covenant city (Sodom), hence these aspects stand as an indictment on any city or community.

A few notes that reflect some on Western society, and the statistics referred to could be multiplied many times over:

David Cameron (UK Prime Minister) has stepped aside – who would want a role such as that? It is easy to criticise from the side. During his time in office the Trussel Trust provides us with this statistic that illustrates a huge shift: those relying on food banks to supply them has moved from 61,468 to 1,109,309 people in the UK. There is a political divide over whether this is the responsibility of government or not, but the statistic remains as an indictment on society. That 1.8% of the population should be in that situation cannot be something that escapes the eyes of God.
In the nation that is perhaps viewed as the most-advanced of Western nations apparently 50% of food goes to waste (Guardian article). Contrast that with the command of God to allow the poor and needy to glean what is left.
1 out of every 3 children in Spain are are at risk of poverty or social exclusion, according to latest EU figures (Reuters).
Spain faces major issues as it has failed to meet the figures set by the EU and to pay for debts has ‘borrowed’ on more than one occasion from the social security pot. Latest figures suggest that by 2018 that pot will be empty. While at the same time those assessed to have ‘large fortunes’ has grown by 40% since the crisis of 08.

Coming back to Sodom the kind of homosexuality in view cannot be separated from that of power abuse. Control and domination was certainly part of what is going on and this might be why the sexual activity itself is not commented on in Ezekiel or Luke but the response to and care for the stranger, the poor and the needy is the centre of focus. Power, control, maintaining power; pro-life but pro-war and the death penalty; following a redemptive God and yet having huge populations within non-redemptive-prison-systems…

There will always be solutions suggested, a reviving of an -ism, the repackaging of an old one, or the proclamation of a new one. How different are the two big ones, capitalism (and now in its predominant ugly face of neo-liberalism) or hard-line left socialism? One has the god of the free-market, the other the god of the state. They both promise to reward those who comply but only ‘reward’ a few. Enough have to be rewarded to maintain the status quo and enough can be consumed to keep the machine functioning. And neither escape the eyes of the Lord. That is the imperial spirit. In the old days one of my points on the kingdom and church was that ‘the kingdom produces the church’. If we are to know something by the fruit it produces we have to look long and hard at what is often produced.

I am sure we are headed to another manifestation of the crisis we are in. It is not a new crisis coming, but a fresh manifestation of that crisis. The institutions will be opened again for us to see inside. The outcome? Probably dependent on how like / unlike Sodom we are at the core.

Did you hear (of) him?

Posted on 8th June, 201616th March, 2018
by Martin Scott
Posted in Biblical Observations

Romans 10:13 is a great promise regardless of being a Jew or a Gentile:

For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

And then Paul goes into his faith comes from hearing argument and working back from that he gives a significant role to the ‘one who preaches’, which was one of the works of the apostle – I suggest that contextually we should not think pulpit and neither should we limit the ‘preaching’ to three points but should include the political (small ‘p’ but a very real ‘p’) aspect of the gospel, particularly when the Isaiah beautiful feet passage he quotes is of the deliverance from the imperial powers.

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. (Rom. 10:14-17.)

A justification for ‘telling’ people is Paul’s words ‘and how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard’. The most important aspect then is to get the facts (the gospel truth) across. We have then discharged our responsibility, and those who hear are then fully accountable. Of course the last statement has presented a dilemma for some: would they be less guilty if they had not heard, thereby being judged by the light they have, rather than by the gospel? (An aside: I think this springs from a negative view of salvation as if it is primarily salvation from hell, thus reducing salvation to a non-NT understanding of being safe, rather than the predominantly positive perspective of being saved.)

And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?

I think there is a major adjustment we have to make in our thinking on this aspect of discharging our responsibility, or that our responsibility is discharged once we have ‘told them the gospel’. The Greek language when using the verb ‘to hear’ uses the normal object when referring to something that is heard. For example ‘I heard a sound’ would take the object (known as the accusative case). But if we were to hear a person speak this would not take the accusative but would switch to the genitive (possessive case ‘of’). We have here the genitive case which I strongly suggest should not be translated as ‘hear of / about him’ but should be translated ‘hear him’ in the sense of ‘hear his living voice’. This is what we would expect as I believe it is the voice of the person that is being referred to, not facts about the person. This then makes sense of the closing part: faith comes from hearing and hearing through the word of Christ. It is not hearing about Christ it is hearing Jesus that brings about faith, to hear his voice makes all the difference.

The goal is not somehow to communicate facts, to get people through the door where they will hear truth, nor even to get them on a course, it is to be faithful to Jesus so that those we live among hear, through words and lifestyle, the very voice of Jesus. Those who truly hear can begin a journey of faith. Those who speak need to speak in such a way that Jesus is heard and not simply a set of facts (even if those facts were correct). If our words are purely ‘spiritual’ perhaps we are not being communicators of Jesus. If only our words communicate maybe we need to think again.

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