Tuesday, December 08, 2015

"The last days ended with Pentecost." -Mark DeRaud

Thanks to Mark DeRaud for the tip on the post below by JD Walt.
Of course, I have taught that according to Joel 2/Acts 2, the last days began at Pentecost.

Peter preaches, and says "What you see is the following; "In the last days....I will pour out my Spirit.."

14 Then Peter stepped forward with the eleven other apostles and shouted to the crowd, “Listen carefully, all of you, fellow Jews and residents of Jerusalem! Make no mistake about this. 15 These people are not drunk, as some of you are assuming. Nine o’clock in the morning is much too early for that. 16 No, what you see was predicted long ago by the prophet Joel:
17 In the last days,’ God says,
    ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy.
    Your young men will see visions,
    and your old men will dream dreams.
18 In those days I will pour out my Spirit
    even on my servants—men and women alike—
    and they will prophesy.

19 And I will cause wonders in the heavens above
    and signs on the earth below—
    blood and fire and clouds of smoke.
20 The sun will become dark,
    and the moon will turn blood red
    before that great and glorious day of the Lord arrives.
21 But everyone who calls on the name of the Lord
    will be saved.’[c]
--

But Mark's comment (based on the Walt post) pushes a huge envelope:

                         "The last days ended with Pentecost." -Mark DeRaud.


What do you think?
This raises the question about whether verses 19-20 have happened yet?
Of course, the party line is that the sun darkening and the red moon are signs of the "end of the end, "and they obviously haven't happened yet.  Yet many including NT Wright make the case that this was a symbolic way of speaking of the events of AD 70: destruction of  the temple. (see what Wright does with the Isiaah 13:10 sun and moon signs here.  See also  a couple posts by Kirk 

 here and  here ).


Mark, your take on that?  Do you see the sun/moon signs as Pentecost, or about the tumultuous transition to the New Covenant order"?  Or..

King's post:


I was talking with a well-meaning leader just the other the other day who began discounting my outlook. He said, "J.D., your view is preposterous. Don't you notice how terrible things really are? Don't you know what the Bible says? 'There will be terrible times in the last days'" (2 Timothy 3:1).

Another man suggested that I was a "scoffer." He said, "Don't you know what Jude, the half-brother of Jesus declared, 'In the last times scoffers will arise who will follow their own ungodly desires' (Jude 1:18). If you don't see things getting worse, you're nothing more than a scoffer - rejecting the Word of God."

Many insist that the Bible foretells disaster and trouble - particularly as we descend into the "last days." They're convinced that, in the grand biblical narrative, cataclysm and destruction are imminent. It seems that there can be no goodness or hope in "perilous times."

This kind of worldview is understandable. A superficial reading of the New Testament would suggest the reality that they're asserting. However, things are not always as they appear.

The term "last days" is arguably one of the more misunderstood phrases in the Bible. It is not talking about the end of the world, but the end of the old covenant” era. 

Rather than referring to the destruction of the earth, it is a depiction of the end of the temple, animal sacrifices, and Levitical priesthood. It spoke of the unrest and volatility that would be found at the cessation of a religious order that was, at best, temporal in nature (Hebrews 6:20-8:13).

It might surprise many to hear this, but the writer of Hebrews affirms that the last days were in his lifetime. He declares that the revelation was being received, "in these last days" (Hebrews 1:2). Elaborating on what this meant, he goes on to declare that "Jesus has now obtained a more superior ministry, since the covenant he mediates is founded on better promises" (Hebrews 8:6).

The “Last-Days” or “End of the age” is really about the tumultuous transition to the New Covenant order. It is the end of what was and the beginning of something new! It was never meant to be used as an excuse to sidetrack the good news of the gospel.  link

4 comments:

  1. Isaiah says: "“And as for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says the LORD: “My Spirit which is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your offspring, nor from the mouth of your offspring’s offspring,” says the LORD, “from now and forever.”
    The Holy Spirit is the New Covenant. Jesus died for sins committed under the old covenant, ending it (Heb 9:15) and is, in a sense Himself free from the constraints of the Law to Judge according to His knowledge of the intents of the hearts of men and to accommodate our slavery to sin (in the flesh, over which the Spirit has power for those who submit to the mind of the Spirit) and over the reign of Satan, who holds in slavery to blindness.
    The Law is replaced by a person, the Son of God, and He has given the Holy Spirit to the whole world, revealing His desire to save the whole world. But it is still a Covenant wherein humanity must turn to the unctions of the Holy Spirit, whereby Christ responds by fully revealing Himself to complete the Covenantal transaction

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  2. Peter uses the same language in his sermon at Pentecost...this is for you and your children, and your children's children....as suggested in The Isaiah 59:21 verse.

    Pentecost is also the arrival of the full force of the King

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  3. Of. The Kingdom of God as Jesus says, If by the Spirit I cast out Satan then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.

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Hey, thanks for engaging the conversation!