39. Jesus and Apocalyptic Imagery (End Times Series Part 20)

Matthew 24 and the Rosetta Stone of Apocalyptic Imagery

Welcome back to the broadcast where we prod the sheep and beat the wolf. This is episode 39. Jesus and apocalyptic imagery. Matthew 24 31 says. And he will send forth his angels with a great trumpet. They will gather together his elect from the four winds from one end of the sky to the other.

An eschatological Rosetta stone. One of the engineering divisions from Napoleon Bonaparte's army was preparing another Egyptian building for demolition. While this was happening one of his lieutenants inadvertently stumbled upon one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of the modern era the Rosetta stone.

Built right into the foundation of that wall and just moments before the building was torn to the ground. That massive stone text with an inscription written in three different languages Was discovered that would unlock the keys to understanding Egyptian hieroglyphics from that day onward.

Before that find the pictorial language of hieroglyphics was nothing more than esoteric images arranged neatly on pottery shards. And on the sides of stray ancient buildings that scholars could not make heads or tails of quite literally.

Yet after that the entire world of Egyptian iconography opened up like never before the key had been found. Now if you carry this metaphor over into the world of biblical studies the apocalyptic genre is Very much like the Egyptian hieroglyphics.

This linguistic genre is known For its confusing images words signs and symbols which are arranged almost like hieroglyphics in the most obfuscated ways. But it also has been a source of confusion among the scholarly community.

Who come up with one theory after another attempting to crack the eschatological code? Thankfully for us the Rosetta stone that we need in order to interpret these events has already been found. Instead of looking at current geopolitical events reading reddit sub threads about the rise of Luciferians and ancient Freemasons or buying the tinfoil hat from the kooky guy on YouTube the key to understanding the biblical apocalyptic genre is found right in the text.

Unlike most genres of the Bible the apocalyptic genre is entirely dependent upon past revelation in order for it to be understood since it borrows from Old Testament language images symbols and all of that that come right out of scripture.

That's previously revealed with that the key to understanding the prophecies that were given in this genre Will not be found in trying to piece together current events 2 ,000 years disconnected from their authors.

But it will be found in Understanding the Old Testament and its images and its symbols and all of the things that it's saying. Especially in the prophetic parts of the Bible. We need to know When a New Testament author uses the apocalyptic genre, what Old Testament image are they pointing to?

If you don't know that you can't understand New Testament apocalyptics. What a day I want us to look at a poignant example of this. If you've been following along with this blog You'll know that our thesis has been that the prophecy given by Jesus to his disciples in Matthew 24, especially in the apocalyptic Section which is listed out in verses 27 through 31 that Jesus was not talking about in that section the end of the world or the end of human history.

But was instead Speaking about the doom that was soon going to befall wicked and faithless Judah. To support such a claim. We have cited linguistic evidence historical data first century Extra-biblical sources like Josephus and Tacitus and Suetonius and others.

We've cited careful Contextual factors and other lines of compelling data to resoundingly prove our premise. Today, I would like to add a few more cherries on top of that rather large Sunday. Section 2 brought to you courtesy of the red white and blue apocalypticism.

One of the distinguishing and most identifiable features of the apocalyptic genre is that it communicates urgent news an important truth using ancient sign symbols characters and figures. The writer who had an urgent message to share with his Contemporary audience would ratchet up the intensity of that message by reaching back into the annals of the past resurrecting common images stories and characters from their shared collective history and Culture Employing them in the story world of his apocalyptic vision.

Now, that is a mouthful for a definition. How about to help drive this point home? I give you a country music example. And you have to forgive me because I'm from North Carolina, and that's just what I do.

After the harrowing events of September 11th one of the songs that captured the American heart and became a ballad of courage for so many Americans was Courtesy of the red white and blue by country music legend Toby Keith and That song.

Keith masterfully employed American apocalyptic Apocalyptic images in order to threaten destruction upon all the terrorists who had weaponized their planes against our people. Addressing the terrorists directly Keith bellowed out now the famous lines.

Hey, Uncle Sam. We put your name at the top of his list and the Statue of Liberty started shaking her fist and The eagle will fly man. It's gonna be hell when you hear mother freedom start ringing her bell.

And it feels like the whole wide world is raining down on you. Brought to you courtesy of the red white and blue. Now if you were living in the year 40 AD or if the world continues to 4 ,000 AD You would not have any idea what Toby Keith was talking about but It's obvious to all the 21st century Americans what he's actually saying.

He does not have an angry uncle named Sam who's fond of making kill list. He's not talking about some statue that's dedicated to Liberty in some esoteric way that has that breaks out in fish-shaking fury.

He's Mother freedom, whoever that lassie is did not begin ringing any strange bells and Some object colored red white and blue didn't come to life to fight in the actual battle. All of this is apocalyptic imagery in this paragraph all of it Toby Keith is borrowing from the common canon of American iconography.

Not only using these well-known images that are important to American life. But also bringing them to life in visionary and warlike ways. Why is he doing this? Because this kind of communication powerfully communicates the message of vengeance and doom that is soon going to be rained down on top of the enemies of America.

That's why uncle Sam in the song a symbol of American patriotism and troop recruitment is going to be the ones Gathering up the boys for war. That's why the Statue of Liberty which is a symbol of our ordered liberty and national freedom is angered when that same freedom is in jeopardy.

That's why the nation will become unified in administering furious justice, which is represented by a red white and blue flag raining down munitions on the top of the terrorist head. All of these images are apocalyptic to the core and They speak about the core of American identity.

The same is true for the first century disciples now while their images may look very different than ours. The symbols that Jesus used would have had would have been meaningful to them and would have communicated intense judgment and fury was soon going to be coming upon their enemies if We have any hope at all of understanding this passage.

We cannot Transplant our images our expectations our categories and our presuppositions onto this text. We must endeavor to understand their images and symbols. So that the passage comes to life in all of its honky-tonk glory.

The Angels Sent Forth at the End of the Age

Section 3 the angels sent forth Jesus told them and he will send forth his angels. Matthew 24 31 a after Jesus describes the 40 year period of trials that would lead to Jerusalem's downfall and verses 4 through 14 and The Roman Jewish war that would leave the Old Covenant cities a smoldering pile of rubble versus 15 through 26.

He switches to the apocalyptic genre in verse 27 to drive home his point with the visionary intensity and so and sobering finality as We discussed in the two previous articles the Sun the moon and the stars which are Genesis 1 images of celestial Covenantal rule we're reacting to the judgment of Judah by going dark refusing to give their light falling out of the sky, etc.

The heavens were also shaking which is a common prophetic image for the upheaval of nations. We also described how the tribes of the land all those within Judah and Jerusalem Would see the sign of Jesus as heavenly enthronement.

Which is an image coming out of Daniel 7 where Jesus? Ascends up to the Ancient of Days and he sits upon his throne to reign over his blood-bought kingdom. This calls the people of Judah to mourn as They were being destroyed not because they regretted their actions but more like those who weep and gnash their teeth in hell.

In verse 31 however Jesus switches his apocalyptic referent. He's no longer talking about the grim events that are going to be happening to Judah when they're punished with fire in AD 70. Now verse 31 He moves on to share what's gonna happen to the church who had suffered Tremendously during this 40 year period of time as well.

More specifically he dresses how redemption is going to be accomplished in this unique era between the ages. Now, what do I mean by between the ages? Well as the old age of temples priests Sacrifices and all of that was coming to a jarring halt and the new age of Christ's kingdom was a dawning.

This 40 year period from AD 30 to AD 70 became a unique period of overlap between the two ages where they both coexisted simultaneously. The old age existed at the same time as the new age. For that 40 year period this created obviously more than a little bit of confusion among the Christians who converted from Judaism.

Should they worship in the temple or in their homes? Should they be circumcised any longer or not? Should they worship on Saturday as was traditional for all of their history or on Sunday? And I'm sure you can imagine more than a few additional questions that any lifelong Jew would needed to have answered While they were trying to follow Jesus at the same time that a temple in Jerusalem was still standing.

One of the questions we know that they were asking during this period is where do the believers go when they die? More specifically. What about the believers who were being killed during this overlapping of ages?

For instance suppose a Christian was killed by a band of Jewish zealots in the year 55 AD. This was very likely. But what happened to them since the Old Covenant kingdom had not been fully put away yet?

What happened to them since the temple was still standing. Had Jesus's kingdom really come in full? This is the question that they were asking. Do the martyrs Who died before They saw Jesus's kingdom come in full after he had put away his first enemy of Judah.

Did they get all the blessings that Jesus promised as well? Now Paul addresses this question to the Thessalonian Church. Who we know was asking that question in the mid 50s AD. Apparently there was a band of people in the church who had infiltrated and were Attempting to convince people that Jesus had already returned in Judgment against Judah and that all those who had died Before his coming We're gonna miss out on the resurrection.

See 2nd Thessalonians 2 1 through 10. Paul not only assured them that Jesus had not yet returned and would soon return in order to punish the Jews. He also in 1st Thessalonians 4 Assured them that all who believed in Christ would be gathered into the Savior's kingdom regardless of when they lived and died.

Paul was telling them that they would not miss out on the resurrection. This is also what Jesus is endeavoring to answer in Matthew 24 31, although a little bit differently he is reminding his disciples that he will send forth his angels and Then he is gonna collect all of his people even those who died in the overlapping of the ages.

We know that this is the right interpretation because Jesus already interpreted for his disciples once before Matthew 13 to be exact in that chapter Jesus interpreted the following parable and he said the one who sows the good seed is the son of man and The field is the world and as far as the good seed These are the sons of the kingdom and the tares are the sons of the evil one and the enemy who sowed them is the devil.

And the harvest is the end of the age and the reapers are the angels. So Just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire so shall it be at the end of the age the son of man will send forth his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all the stumbling blocks and all those who commit lawlessness and Will throw them into the furnace of fire in that place.

There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the son in the kingdom of their father and he who has ears let him hear Matthew 13 37 through 43. Now there's certainly a more general fulfillment to this passage which spans the entire church age and includes the final judgment the final separation of the elect from the reprobate or the sheep from the goats or the wheat from the tare.

That involves the eternal destinies of both heaven and hell and the closing out of human history and the entrance into the eternal state of course. But there's also a very poignant and very near-term fulfillment.

That this passage is talking about that involves the covenantal removal of Jerusalem the temple the counterfeit people and the beginning of the final age of redemption, which is ushered in by the kingdom of Christ in Regard to this near-term fulfillment.

Jesus is not only accusing Many of the first century Jews of being cheap replicas of the people of God but he told them that they were planted in God's field by the devil himself, which Meant that they were in league with Satan as he mentions in John 8 44.

He also promised that at the end of the Jewish age a harvest would come a reckoning of sorts where all Their sins would be visited upon their heads and they would be removed from the covenant community of God.

Just like Jesus says in Matthew 23. The church that lived here and died during this era of reckoning would be grafted into true Israel. Even as all the covenantal thieves and robbers of Judah would be pruned out by the Roman fires to the church.

Jesus used the phrase the Son of Man will send forth his angels as a way of Describing what was going to happen to all of those who follow him both Jew and Gentile. For all of those who died between the two covenantal ages They would enjoy the same covenant status and the same covenant blessings as all other believers in all other ages.

They would be made righteous as all believers in Christ have always been. They would be gathered into the kingdom of God and they would live with him just like we will in the eternal resurrected life.

Jesus uses the same phrase sending forth his angels in both Matthew 24 and Matthew 13, which cannot be accidental as The disciples were listening to this prophecy perhaps some of them were beginning to become afraid that they were going to die in this coming period of tumultuous tribulation persecution and chaos.

But as they listened They would have been encouraged that the end time gathering of elect of the elect would also include them. His disciples needed not to fear death as they faced the next 40 years of calamity uncertainty.

Why? Because they too would be gathered into the kingdom of Christ. They too could live with full assurance courage and conviction Serving their Lord no matter what happened to them because they knew they were a part of his kingdom.

Now Jesus also alludes to Joel chapter 2 here we mentioned earlier that the apocalyptic genre routinely uses words images and symbols of A shared past in order to communicate an important message about a shared future that applies to a particular people in the present.

When Jesus said the Son of Man will send forth his angels. He is not only using his past words. But he's also using the words of Joel chapter 2. If you've not read Joel chapter 2, I would highly encourage you to read it.

Of all the chapters in the Bible there is no chapter that more directly and specifically informs Jesus's apocalyptic understanding in the Olivet Discourse than that one. As you read it, you will notice nearly all of the elements Jesus has been speaking about in Matthew 24 27 through 31.

Have a Joel 2 referent. For instance both chapters speak about corpses death and destruction upon the Jews. Matthew 24 28. Joel 2 20. Both describe the judgment coming of the Lord is being near. Matthew 24 29.

Joel 2 1. Both use gruesome language to describe the character of those days. Matthew 24 29. Joel 2 2 11 and 31. Both foresee an invading army that decimates the people of Judah. Luke 22 21 and Joel 2 3 through 9.

Both employ similar apocalyptic signs that are going to be occurring in the heavens such as the Sun the moon and the stars in the shaking of the heavens. Matthew 24 29 through 30. Joel 2 10 and 30 and 31.

Both passages describe the people in the land who are in mourning. Matthew 24 30 and Joel 2 1 6 12 through 15. Both announced that the Son of Man will be coming. Matthew 24 27 and 30 and then Joel 20 or 2 16.

Both describe a trumpet being blasted. Matthew 24 31 and Joel 2 1 and 15. Both describe the angelic armies of God gathering the elect people of God into his end time kingdom. Matthew 24 31. Joel 2 11 16 19 and 27 and both.

Use a metaphor of a summer fig tree That is ready to produce its fruit as a metaphor for the newly blood-bought Kingdom of the Messiah that had been cut loose from faithful Judah to produce her fruit for the nation's.

Matthew 24 32 through 35. Joel 2 22. Clearly from the very beginning to the very end Jesus had Joel 2 on his mind. The trumpet blast Jesus said and he will send forth his angels with a great trumpet. Now we have already shown that this image appears in Joel chapter 2, but what we have not shown is what it means.

To do that. I would like to briefly highlight a few examples. The first has to do with the trumpet as God's judgment. The first time the word trumpet is used in the Bible God himself blows it from the top of Mount Sinai.

This is the place where he had descended into the camp of Israel and all the people of that generation were trembling in fear. Exodus 1916. You can also see Exodus 20 verse 18. Now here we have God descending on the clouds his holy presence as a form of judgment against people who are unholy by nature and All of that generation responded by trembling in fear.

Now this is Exactly what Joel 2 and Matthew 24 are alluding to when it comes to Jesus coming in judgment. The unholy people the land are going to be trembling in fear. This image would have been a powerful Apocalyptic image to show the Jews what kind of coming was about to happen their covenant.

God was going to revisit them like he did in the days of Sinai and sadly. Like the wilderness generation before them they too were gonna end up dead in the desert in the span of 40 years. Striking. Yet the trumpet was not only used as an instrument of judgment.

In fact, it also appears that it had a dual purpose in the life of Israel to those who were considered the rebels of God his trumpeting presence descending upon the clouds would be like a moral terror to their impish souls.

But to those who trusted in the Lord, it could be used in a couple of different ways of blessing. For instance. When the people of Israel were traveling from Mount Sinai and they were going to the promised land a single trumpet blast would often be Blown so that it would alert the people of God to come to the tent of meeting for worship For a holy convocation and to experience his Sabbath rest.

Leviticus 23 23 through 25. But when it was blown twice in a row the congregation of Israel would know that they are to gather at the tent of meeting for war. Understanding their duty was to defend God's temple and to extend God's kingdom over it against the pagan and Canaanite nations who were Squatting in God's land numbers chapter 10 as an example.

Now think about the dual symbolism that is being employed here. If you're a hater of God like many of the Jews in the first century. Then the blast of his trumpet would have been a terror to you. But if you love the Lord Jesus Christ and you belong to him he was your Savior and Lord.

It would not only signal the eternal rest that you have found in your Savior. But it would also remind you of the duty that you would have to go to the nations at war. Spreading his kingdom to all the nations who were in rebellion against God.

When Jesus blew his apocalyptic trumpet in the first century. Both outcomes would have been symbolically significant to his audience. You can also see Isaiah 27 in Zechariah 9 8 through 7 as examples of The Messiah's trumpet being blown when his kingdom is inaugurated in the first century.

The Four Winds, the Scattered Church, and Ezekiel’s Dry Bones

The four winds of heaven Jesus said. And he will send forth his angels with a great trumpet. From the four winds of heaven from one end of the sky to the other. Matthew 24 31. This is one of the few images coming out of Matthew 24 27 through 31 that does not correspond to Joel chapter 2.

Instead this phrase the four winds is mentioned in a variety of Old Testament passages in a variety of different ways. See Daniel 7 2 Jeremiah 49 36 Ezekiel 37 9 and Zechariah 2 6. Sometimes the four winds of God connotes universal divine judgment that comes violently from all four directions to scatter a rebellious people to the four corners of the earth.

See the example of Elam in Jeremiah 49 34 through 39. At other times it signals God's divine providence in raising up and eventually destroying pagan empires such as Babylon Persia Greece and Rome. Daniel 7 2.

Still on other occasions four winds refers to the first century Church of Jesus Christ Being scattered by the Holy Spirit to the ends of the earth so that they can avoid the devastating Roman invasion against the Jews.

Who is described in that passage as the daughter of Babylon Zechariah 2 6. Perhaps Jesus is alluding to all three of these scenarios in Matthew 24 an Allusion to Jeremiah 49 Jesus could be referring to the fact that the first century Jews had become just like the people of Elam instead of Loving God's people now They were the great persecutors of God's people who would need to be punished by the violent breath of the Lord.

In allusion to Daniel 7 Jesus could be referring to the final army in that great vision Rome who had been summoned by the breath of God to destroy the faithless people of Judah and Then still yet Jesus could be referring to Zechariah 2 showing how the earliest Christians were actually scattered away from Jerusalem Because of the persecution that was happening and they were spared from the bloody war by leaving that city and going out into the rest of the Roman Empire.

But there's still one more reference to the four winds that I believe fits best with the context of what Jesus is saying. All of the ones that I've already mentioned could very well be in view. But I believe that Ezekiel 37 at least in my opinion seems like the very best candidate for what Jesus is referring to.

If You remember in Ezekiel 37 the prophet Ezekiel has a vision where he is told to survey a valley of dry bones. He is told that God himself would revive these bones when the prophets summoned God's life-giving breath.

When Ezekiel obeyed and summoned the breath God then animated the dry bones and revived them in the power of resurrection. You can see Ezekiel 37 8 through 10. These bones represent the United Kingdom of Israel and Judah.

Israel as you know was the northern ten tribes who had intermarried with the pagan nations and had basically become the Gentiles. The Jews that he's referring to is the true nation of Judah those who bowed an allegiance to Christ.

These two divided peoples the Jews and the Israelites would be divided no longer under the lordship of their coming Messiah. Ezekiel 37 11 through 28 in Christ the true son of David. The dead will be raised to new resurrection.

Life in the kingdom of God would be filled with the Jewish and Gentile believers the Israel of God the eschatological Zion who would be then sent out to the nations as God's ambassadors of his great gospel.

In Matthew 24 31 Jesus focus is on the church. Who will be offered the life-giving breath of God. And who is the church? These are the people that are going to be gathered at the end of the ages into his kingdom by the angels of God both Jew and Gentile in this life.

The Christians are going to be scattered to the four corners of the earth on mission for Jesus Christ. And that is for a purpose so that we can tell every tribe tongue and nation who Christ is. But like the Valley of Dry Bones both Jew and Greek believers will be made eternally alive in him.

Forever loyal always eager to bow in allegiance to our Messianic King in eternity with him. Conclusion. The apocalyptic genre takes old images from the past and then it applies them to a present people.

Discussing near-term very important events that were soon going to happen in their future. In Matthew 24 Jesus plunders the pages of the Old Testament scriptures grabbing pregnant images and metaphors that speak volumes of information to his disciples in just a few short sentences.

As You've seen in this article we've barely scratched the surface of everything that Jesus was saying and this is especially true in verse 31. My hope is that you see this verse in a whole new and glorious light.

We are not waiting on the future Jesus to come riding on a cloudy surfboard. Coming to the 21st century people who rejected him in order for Matthew 24 to be fulfilled. We are not waiting on blood moon solar eclipses the stars falling out of the heavens and the in the skies shaking in fury.

For Matthew 24 to be proved true. We are not waiting to hear trumpet blast or see reaping angels collecting the elect from all the four corners of the world. In order for every single element of Matthew 24 to be eschatologically satisfied.

Matthew 24 has already happened. All of these images come directly from the pages of the Old Testament and they show us Exactly what Jesus was referring to when he gave these visionary statements. With that.

Go on the attack. Live this life with joy and righteousness. Spurn the devil defy the world. Forsake your flesh participate in the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Do everything you can to the glory of God and Serve him faithfully until our King returns.

With that I'll see you next time on the broadcast.