by
Jerry Huerta
copyright
2022
The object of this work affirms
that the Old Testament (OT) prophets harmonize with the
plan of salvation outlined by the Hebraic ceremonial calendar, which supports
that the Revelation exemplifies the mediatorial work of Christ between the two
advents. As the New Testament (NT) affirms, the festival law was a shadow of
the good things to come,
For the law having a shadow of good things to come,
and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which
they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. (Hebrews
10:1)
There can
be little doubt that those good things to come are the prophecies of the OT,
regardless of the Open Theism and middle knowledge that has seduced much of the
Church today. Open Theism is the notion that God does not exhaustively know the
future from which Futurism and Preterism stem. Both schools view the prophecies of the Messianic kingdom as contingent upon the
acceptance of the shepherd of Israel, only diverging in the results. The
Futurists view the shepherd’s rejection as a postponement of the kingdom, a
parenthesis, and the ad hoc intervention of an unforeseen Church. The
Preterists view the shepherd’s rejection as a replacement of the descendants of
Jacob with the Gentiles, resulting in a hyper figurative fulfillment of
prophecy. Both schools view the prophecies of the OT as upset by the rejection
of Christ by the shepherds. However, the prophets wrote notably that the
builders would reject the stone and that Israel would endure another diaspora
as a result, which affirms that God’s kingdom is not contingent upon man.
The stone which the builders refused is become the
head stone of the corner. This is the LORD'S doing; it is marvellous in our
eyes. (Psalm 118:22-23)
Any
notion that the kingdom of God is contingent upon the acceptance by man is a
denial of God’s exhaustive knowledge of the future and ultimately results is open
theism or middle knowledge.
The
foundational presupposition of Preterism is Covenantalism, which maintains
Calvinism and the assertion of God’s exhaustive knowledge of the future. In an
article on the website A Puritan’s Mind, Covenantalist C. Matthew
McMahon holds this thought against middle knowledge, maintaining, “If God’s
knowledge is dependent on the free actions of men, then God is not really God
at all.”[1] Nevertheless, in contradiction McMahon believes that the shepherds of
Israel “should have taken up that commission to bless the nations” at the first
advent.
God had told Abraham that he would be a blessing to
many nations, and that the whole world would be blessed by him. The Pharisees, Scribes
and rulers of Jerusalem should have taken up that commission to bless the
nations with the Word of God, but they did not… they turned in on themselves,
reveling in ethnic privilege rather than in converting the nations… Jesus gives
His reaction to this when he says that their house has become “desolate” as a
result of this hardness towards Him.[2]
McMahon
has failed to grasp that he has violated the rule of noncontradiction. He
asserts the fallacy that those who were destined to be lost (1 Peter 2:7-8)
“should have taken up that commission to bless the nations.” However, God
intended to commission the elect, not the reprobate, to bless the nations
(Matthew 28:19; Mark 16:15; John 14:18, 15:16). McMahon shifts from a
compatibilist to an Arminian or open theist’s sense.
As
stated previously, the OT prophets harmonize with the plan of salvation
outlined by the Hebraic ceremonial calendar, which reveals the commission to
bless the nations as a first advent phenomenon between the two advents of Christ.
Zechariah and Isaiah most strikingly prophesy said phenomenon.
Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds, and I
punished the goats: for the LORD of hosts hath visited his flock the house of
Judah, and hath made them as his goodly horse in the battle. Out of him came forth
the corner, out of him the nail, out of him the battle bow, out of him every
oppressor together. And they shall be as mighty men, which tread down their
enemies in the mire of the streets in the battle: and they shall fight, because
the LORD is with them, and the riders on horses shall be confounded. And I will
strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph, and I will
bring them again to place them; for I have mercy upon them: and they shall be
as though I had not cast them off: for I am the LORD their God, and will hear
them. And they of Ephraim shall be like a mighty man, and their heart shall
rejoice as through wine: yea, their children shall see it, and be glad; their
heart shall rejoice in the LORD. I will hiss for them, and gather them; for I
have redeemed them: and they shall increase as they have increased. And I will
sow them among the people: and they shall remember me in far countries; and
they shall live with their children, and turn again. (Zechariah 10:3-9)
Zechariah
prophesied after the return from Babylon; consequently, it would be a fallacy
to interpret Zechariah relating phenomena in his past. The corner, the nail,
and the battle bow signify Christ.[3] He came out of the house
of Judah to save his elect people when his anger was kindled against the
shepherds. In Zechariah, salvation is sent to the Gentiles by sowing Ephraim
amongst the people. One must note that the nature of the initial salvation in
the passage is from sin and not from their enemies, as the latter gathers his
elect back from their scattering while the former is synonymous with the
scattering. Isaiah also supports salvation extended to Israel prior to its
gathering.
And now, saith the LORD that formed me from the womb
to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered,
yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my
strength. And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to
raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will
also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation
unto the end of the earth. Thus saith the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, and his
Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a
servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship,
because of the LORD that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall
choose thee. (Isaiah 49:5-7)
“Though
Israel be not gathered,” God’s Servant is tasked to raise the tribes of Jacob
while bringing salvation to the Gentiles and unto the ends of the earth.
Furthermore, this is achieved under conditions where Judah abhors and despises
God’s Servant. Jacob is being brought back to God, raised, and restored as a
prelude to their gathering.[4] Restoring Jacob's
relationship with God is conflated with a blessing to the nations prior to
being gathered unto their inheritance is also the subject matter of Jeremiah
31.
At the same time, saith the LORD, will I be the God of
all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people. Thus saith the LORD,
The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; even
Israel, when I went to cause him to rest… Behold, the days come, saith the
LORD, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed
of man, and with the seed of beast. And it shall come to pass, that like as I
have watched over them, to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and
to destroy, and to afflict; so will I watch over them, to build, and to plant,
saith the LORD. (Jeremiah 31:1-2, 27-28)
Essentially,
the prophets foretold that God would save his people in the wilderness while
scattered before being brought back from captivity, a phenomenon conflated with
the blessing to the Gentiles prophesied in Genesis 12:3. Again, Ezekiel
prophesied the same phenomena.
Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel,
prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe be
to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds
feed the flocks… Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD; Thus
saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my
flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither
shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from
their mouth, that they may not be meat for them… And I will set up one shepherd
over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them,
and he shall be their shepherd. And I the LORD will be their God, and my
servant David a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken it. And I will make
with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of
the land: and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the
woods. And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and
I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of
blessing. (Ezekiel 34:2, 9-10, 23-26)
King David
had died and was buried when Ezekiel prophesied so there can be little doubt
that he prophesied about Christ and his controversy with the shepherd of Israel
at the first advent. The promise to feed his flock in the wilderness in safety,
the elect of Israel, agrees with all the prophets and is the source of the prophecies
of Christ in his parables, especially the parable of the wheat and the tares.
Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The
kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But
while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his
way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared
the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir,
didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He
said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou
then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up
the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until
the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye
together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the
wheat into my barn. (Matthew 13:24-30)
Christ is
speaking of an insurgency or occupation into the kingdom of Satan by sowing his
seed throughout the earth, knowing that Satan will attempt a counter-insurgency
by planting his tares amongst the saints. This is the kingdom that was at hand,
not the Messianic kingdom promised in the OT. These trials between the good
seed and the tares are what is conveyed in Christ’s mediation of the seven churches
in the Revelation. The seven churches are antitypical of the seven months
between the spring and autumnal festivals that represent the plan of salvation;
the seven churches are historical as well as prophetic.
The principal theme of the seven churches
is to overcome during the occupation until Christ returns and then they will reign
with him.
And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the
end, to him will I give power over the nations And he shall rule them with a
rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even
as I received of my Father. (Revelation 2:26-27)
To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in
my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his
throne. (Revelation 3:21)
We also
witness this theme in Luke.
And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to
this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man is
come to seek and to save that which was lost. And as they heard these things,
he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because
they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear. He said
therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a
kingdom, and to return. And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten
pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come. (Luke 19:9-13)
The parable
in Luke also conveys the test or trial that the saints must endure between the
advents in order to be found worthy to reign with Christ at his return. As
stated in the previous paper on theologian Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg’s influence
on the historicist’s interpretation of the Revelation,
While the active judgment of God portrayed in the
Revelation has been constant through the seven churches eras, Hengstenberg
interpreted the locust judgment upon the covenant people as the highest and
last, which cannot be restricted to the time of John… Hengstenberg’s
interpretation of the locusts in Joel and John promotes the historicists
reading of the Revelation and not the preterist or the futurist’s views.[5]
It is the
epitome of folly to attempt to sustain that Christ came to establish His
kingdom at the first advent. The OT prophecies hold that Christ came to sow both
houses of Israel throughout the world as a blessing to the Gentiles. The NT
maintains that these OT references to this sowing epitomize a test or trial
between the two advents to secure a remnant that inherits Christ’s kingdom conveyed
in the OT by prophets,
And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all
countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds;
and they shall be fruitful and increase. And I will set up shepherds over them
which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither
shall they be lacking, saith the LORD. Behold, the days come, saith the LORD,
that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and
prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah
shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he
shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Therefore, behold, the days come,
saith the LORD, that they shall no more say, The LORD liveth, which brought up
the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; But, The LORD liveth, which
brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north
country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell
in their own land. (Jeremiah 23:3-8)
And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I
will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone,
and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: And I
will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one
king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither
shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all: Neither shall they
defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things,
nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their
dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they
be my people, and I will be their God. And David my servant shall be king over
them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my
judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. And they shall dwell in the
land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt;
and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their
children's children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for
ever. (Ezekiel 37:21-25)
The
interval between the two advents is illustrated by seven months in the Hebraic
ceremonial calendar and is the subject matter of the Revelation. The parables
in Matthew 13, especially the wheat and tares, have their origin in the
prophecies of the scattering of Israel. The scattering precedes the gathering
(Jeremiah 23:3-8; Ezekiel 37:21-25). This scattering is how Abraham's seed is a
blessing to all the families of the earth (Genesis 12:3). The interval between
the two advents is depicted by the seven churches and the seven seals as the
fall festivals.
The
active judgments portrayed in the Revelation, starting with the seven churches,
are confined to the mediation of Christ under the New Covenant, affirmed by the
illustrations in the book. In Revelation 1:13, Christ is “clothed with a
garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle,”
representing Christ’s mediation, typified by the Aaronic mediation in Leviticus
8:7. This attire affirms Christ’s mediation in the Revelation. The seven
candlesticks also typified Christ’s mediation. The OT prophecies that both
houses were to be sown throughout the world must coincide with Christ’s
mediation, as it requires the tares as the vehicles to challenge and chastise
the saints to prepare them to reign with Christ at his return.
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so
great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which
doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set
before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the
joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set
down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such
contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your
minds. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. And ye have
forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son,
despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of
him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he
receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what
son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement,
whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we
have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence:
shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he
for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. (Hebrews 12:1-10) Now
no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless
afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are
exercised thereby. (Hebrews 12:1-11)
In the
parable of the wheat and the tares, the latter meet their fate at Christ's
second advent, while the wheat is gathered into the barn, indicative of
Jeremiah 23:3-8 and Ezekiel 37:21-25. Without the tares, there can be no
resistance and overcoming the world, which is the object of Christ's
intercession for the saint in the Revelation. The only place for such
overcoming is our age, while the only place for gathering the wheat into the
barn is the age to come.
Such
evidence discredits both the preterist and the futurist’s interpretations.
Preterist and futurist interpretations maintain that the book pertains to the
final judgment upon Israel under the Old Covenant, which is untenable. They
garner such views by maintaining the prophecies of the Messianic kingdom are
contingent upon the acceptance of the shepherds of Israel. However, the
evidence in the OT supports no such contingencies. The evidence supports that
Christ came to punish the shepherds and sow a remnant of both houses in the
world to gather in the Gentiles and to occupy until his return. It is this occupation
that was the kingdom that was at hand.
Christ’s proclamation that the
kingdom of God was at hand (Matthew 3:2; Mark 1:15; Luke 10:9) and its
subsequent arrival impart the underpinning of the consummate attributes of the
age to come. The age to come is intruding into the dominion of Satan through
the redemption of Christ and his mediation. As covenantalist Meredith G. Kline
expressed it,
the Covenant of Redemption all along the line of its
administration, more profoundly in the New Testament but already in the Old
Testament, is a coming of the Spirit, an intrusion of the power, principles,
and reality of the consummation into the period of delay.[6]
Kline
labels his doctrine eschatological intrusion. Just as Christ’s judgments are
active upon the wheat he sows, so is Satan’s weakening of the nations by
planting his tares (Isaiah 14:12). Further evidence is in the parables by
Christ.
Now the consummation that Kline
wrote about is the age to come, and the phrase the kingdom of God also is
placed in this future age by Christ’s testimony.
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall
enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which
is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not
prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name
done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you:
depart from me, ye that work iniquity. (Matthew 7:21-23)
Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more of the
fruit of the vine, until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God.
(Mark 14:25)
And as they heard these things, he added and spake a
parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the
kingdom of God should immediately appear. He said therefore, A certain nobleman
went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. (Luke
19:11-12)
We can
take great solace in the NT evidence that the Messianic kingdom establishes an
absolute peace, security, the power and principles of Christ in temporal as
well as in a spiritual sense, which are now merely intruding into the dominion
of Satan. This intrusion is by Providence. In other words, the teleological
goal of Providence is the end of the ordained worldly powers of God in this age
and to establish Christ’s consummate reign in the age to come. The early
church’s failure to grasp the concept that the consummate age was intruding
into this age led the allegorists to disdain Chiliasm.[7] Kline’s perception of
eschatological intrusion is on the right track, but it is much simpler than his
take on the issue.
When
Christ proclaimed the kingdom was at hand, he was utilizing classical or
general prophecy, specifically what is termed prophetic telescoping today,
which historicist Jon Paulien defines,
It was argued that general prophecy, because of its
dual dimensions, may at times be susceptible to dual fulfillments or foci where
local and contemporary perspectives are mixed with a universal, future
perspective.[8]
Classic
prophecy expresses imminence in the same context with distant eschatological
consummation, without chronological notification. Classic prophecy exposes
preterism’s folly. Preterism hitches their theory on the imminence in classic
prophecies, such as the Olivet Discourse, but fails to grasp the principle of
dual fulfillment in the method and account for future fulfillment. The Old
Testament’s typical use of the “Day of the Lord” and the New Testament’s
prophecy of a future “Day of the Lord” (Zephaniah 1:7; 1 Thessalonians 5:2)
emphasizes this principle. Classic prophecy is the method Christ used when he
prophesied that the kingdom of God was at hand. In support, Christ testified
that Elijah must precede the restoration of all things but that he had already
come in the person of John the Baptist.
And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the
scribes that Elias must first come? And Jesus answered and said unto them,
Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. But I say unto you, That
Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever
they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. Then the
disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist. (Matthew
17:10-13)
Christ
interprets the phenomenon of Elijah as having the dual foci that Paulien
related, “where local and contemporary perspectives are mixed with a universal,
future perspective.” Additional support is in Christ’s rendering of Isaiah 61.
And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into
Galilee… and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue… and stood up for
to read… The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to
preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to
preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set
at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And
the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he
began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
(Luke 4:14, 16-21)
Christ
expressed imminence and fulfillment of what Isaiah prophesied, except for the
“day of vengeance of our God.” The only tenable explanation is that day is held
in abeyance until the consummation of the kingdom of God (2 Thessalonians
1:7-8). In the consummate sense, “deliverance to the captives” is a delivery
from our enemies on the day of vengeance, when the wicked are vanquished
(Matthew 13:38; 2 Thessalonians 2:8; Revelation 18:4-5). In eschatological
intrusion, deliverance is from sin and the second death (Romans 6:14; Hebrews
9:25; Revelation 20:11-15). In the consummate sense, the “recovering of sight”
is normal (1 Corinthian 15:52-53), while in the Providential sense, it is a
miracle (Matthew 9:30; John 9:11). Being “set at liberty” in the age to come
ends all oppression (Romans 8:18-23), in the Providential sense, it is peace
while enduring oppression or adversity (2 Corinthians 8:4-9; Philippians
4:12-13). These aspects of the Messianic kingdom are intruding into Satan’s
domain through Christ’s Providence until he consummates them at his return.
Again, the OT prophecies that both
houses were to be sown throughout the world must coincide with Christ’s
mediation, as it requires the tares as the instruments to challenge and
chastise the saints to prepare them to reign with Christ at his return. And as stated
in the previous paper, Hengstenberg’s influence on the historicist’s
interpretation of the Revelation maintains that God uses the locust army as the
highest and last judgment against his covenant people for their apostasy
renders the traditional view of the seven seals and trumpets untenable. The
interpretations that the seals represent long past phenomena do not agree with
the portrayal of the locusts as the highest and the last judgment upon God’s
covenant people. Joel declares the locusts have “the appearance of horses; and
as horsemen, so shall they run” (Joel 2:4), which is precisely how the
apocalyptic horsemen in the Revelation are depicted,
And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat
on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering,
and to conquer. (Revelation 6:2)
There are
several scriptural reasons why the apocalyptic horsemen represent God’s highest
and last judgment upon the covenant people and not past phenomena, as
traditionalists have thought. The nineteenth-century historicist Edward B.
Elliott, for instance, held the first rider to represent the prosperity and
triumph of the Roman Empire following the first advent of Christ. Moreover,
Elliott’s contemporary, H. Grattan Guinness, held the first seal representing
the depiction of the first century Church missionary exploits. However, a
critical analysis of the symbolism and narration does not support the
traditional interpretations. Firstly, horses as symbols are predominantly
associated with apostasy for reliance upon their illicit power (Deuteronomy
17:16; Isaiah 2:6–7, 30:15–17; Amos 2:15), which is indicative of the end day
covenant apostasy prophesied of in the New Testament (Matthew 5:13, 24:12; 2
Thessalonians 2:1–12; 1 Timothy 4:1–3; Romans 14:10; 2 Corinthians 5:10). In
Jeremiah, “horsemen and bowmen” represent God’s agent Babylon in judging
Jerusalem because “as a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of
deceit: therefore, they are become great, and waxen rich” (Jeremiah 4:29,
5:27). We see this same condition met as an admonition to come out of mystery
Babylon, as the highest and final event, and from a historicist’s perception.
And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying,
Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils,
and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful
bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication,
and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the
merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
(Revelation 18:2-3)
Furthermore,
2 Timothy 4:8 maintains we must await Christ’s next advent to receive a crown,
using the exact word for crown we see in Revelation 6:2, which does not support
the interpretation of the first seal as a first advent phenomenon.
There
is every indication that the symbolism and narration of the seven seals are
associated with covenant apostasy in the final days. The association with
apostasy is predicated on the warnings in final churches eras. The fifth church
era, Sardis, conveys a major falling away brought on by the denunciation: “thou
hast a name that thou livest, and art dead” (Revelation 3:1). The precedent for
this judgment is in Amos: “For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I
will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they sold the righteous for
silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes” (Amos 2:6). Sardis represents the fourth
transgression of the seven churches, as Smyrna cannot be counted, and the
punishment is that Christ comes as a thief,
Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard,
and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee
as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.
(Revelation 3:3)
The
symbolism that this judgment will come unexpectedly, likened unto to a thief,
is also part of the imagery of God’s locust army.
They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run
upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the
windows like a thief. (Joel 2:9)
The
warning of an impending, unanticipated and final judgment is also supported in
the admonitions to the church in Philadelphia,
And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write;
These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of
David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;
I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can
shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not
denied my name… Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will
keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to
try them that dwell upon the earth. (Revelation 3:7-8, 10)
The key
of David is a reference to Isaiah 22:22 by which additional discovery can be
garnered. Commentators convey the chapter in Isaiah pertains to a typical
example of impending judgment at the hands of an invading army and the
intervention of a Messiah type individual that determines who is fit or not to
enter the city, signified by the open and shut door. Again, we see this imagery
as the narration shifts from the seven churches to the seven seals.
After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in
heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking
with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be
hereafter. (Revelation 4:1)
The
progressive guideline “after this” and Christ’s trumpet-like voice gesturing to
show us “things which must be hereafter” convey a contiguous, linear narration
and that the phenomena that follow overlap the last era of the churches. John
hears the same voice heard in Revelation 1:10 that announces the “Day of the
LORD,” the voice that sounds like a trumpet. The sanctuary visions in
Revelation 4–5 commences with the sound of the trumpet that represents the call
to justice and the release of the apocalyptic four horsemen that parallels the
first part of Joel. Here we have the “hour of temptation, which shall come upon
all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.” (Revelation 3:7-8, 10).
As the time of the apocalyptic four horsemen draws near its end in Joel, it
invokes a cry for mercy, a solemn assembly that parallels the fifth seal of
Revelation (Joel 3:15-17). God answers the cries and turns back his locust
army, while the Revelation conveys the next event as the sealing of his
covenant people in chapter 7. This sealing precludes any further harm from the
locust conveyed in the fifth trumpet of Revelation. The forensic evidence that
the apocalyptic horsemen represent God’s highest and last judgment upon the
covenant people far outweighs the traditionalist view that the seals and
trumpet are, for the most part, past eschatological events.
The
connection between the phenomena related as the open door in Revelation 3:7-10,
the throne scene, and seven seals are overwhelming. The discrimination between
them “which say they are Jews, and are not” and the true Philadelphian is
figurative and not by blood, considering that the church is comprised of people
of all nations. The intent is a parting of those who are indeed Christ’s from
those who are not. Furthermore, this parting is accomplished by the trial
related to the church in Philadelphia. The seven seals convey the trial,
insomuch as the saints depicted in the fifth seal petition for relief from the
trial at the hands of the four horsemen of the previous seals.
[1] C.
Matthew McMahon, The Heresy of Middle Knowledge (A Puritans Mind) https://www.apuritansmind.com/historical-theology/heresy-in-the-church/the-heresy-of-middle-knowledge-by-dr-c-matthew-mcmahon/
[2] C.
Matthew McMahon, The Two Wills of God (Puritan Publications, 2005), Kindle
location 6825.
[3] David
C Coldwell: “Several decades may have passed before the Lord gave these updated
prophecies to Zechariah in chapter ten. Zechariah was undoubtedly concerned
about the quality of Judah’s future leaders. God relieved any anxiety that the
prophet may have had by using three metaphors in His promise about future
leadership. In addition to the corner and the nail, God described the Messiah
as the battle bow.” Lulu.com; First Casebound Edition (February 13, 2018) 228.
[4] John
L. Mckenzie: “In the Pss Joseph is synonymous with the tribe of Ephraim
(78:67), with Israel (80:2), and with Jacob (81:6).” Touchstone (October 1995)
456
[5]
Jerry Huerta, The Influence of Hengstenberg on the True Structuring of the
Revelation (Academia.edu 2021) https://www.academia.edu/65029947/The_Influence_of_Hengstenberg_on_the_True_Structuring_of_the_Revelation_by
[6] Meredith
G. Kline, The Structure of Biblical Authority, Wipf & Stock Pub; 2nd
ed. edition (November 1, 1997), 156.
[7] The
doctrine stating that Jesus will reign on earth for 1,000 years. (The Free
Dictionary) https://www.thefreedictionary.com/chiliasm
