80. The Book Of Acts And The Jews Of "This Generation" (End-Times Series Part 30)

Hello everyone and welcome back to the podcast where we prod the sheep and beat the wolf. This is episode 80 the book of Acts and the Jews of this generation. Words and the power of context. Nowadays, if you want to insult someone in the English tongue or undermine the credibility of their position, you know in a self-righteous sort of way.

Then all you need to do is call them a racist or a lover of Hitler or some other equally aggressive postulate and that Should do the trick. Now the reason that such a flimsy and lazy tactic usually employed by the left has any teeth at all is Because it's undergirded with a contextual meaning that is shared by both the communicator and the receiver apart From the grisly background that those terms were birthed out of the word racist and Nazi have no intrinsic meaning.

They are mere sounds. You can even imagine a language somewhere on earth where Word sounding kind of like racist and Nazi actually meant something very good like lover of fine wine and expensive cheeses.

This lets us know that words are mere sounds that function However as vehicles for meaning that are constricted by a unique and a nearby context. Now the problem generally occurs when you're attempting to understand a word or a phrase that does not happen to be within Your near context.

The reason that Nazi evokes such a visceral reaction among Westerners Europeans and Americans is because the events of the Holocaust happened near enough in proximity to where we now stand to provoke a guttural reaction.

None of us want to be called Nazis because we know what that means, but If I level an insult at you such as you're as crooked as a tax collector. Well, there's a good chance that many people in our society are so far removed from the political situation of first century Judah that they would not fully comprehend the degree of infamy that is embedded within that term.

And there are more examples just like this one that I could give. That's precisely why as budding Bible scholars and faithful exegetes today We must attempt to understand the original setting and the context of the words in Scripture.

If the meaning like we've talked about just a minute ago is carried along through the words that are embedded in a particular context then to the degree that we understand the setting will be to the degree that we rightly understand the potency and the Accuracy of biblical words.

Now with this in mind I would like us to dive back into Peter's Pentecost sermon one more time to examine the context under one particular Phrase that that the sermon ends with it's this generation. And once we've seen what's underneath that phrase looking at it from Moses to Jesus to Paul I believe that our understanding of what that phrase means will be refined and sharpened.

Furthermore once we understand this phrase rightly I believe that we will no longer hold to any futurist interpretation of the passage. But we'll instead see how the various eschatological passages that we've bumbled along in in this book of Acts Have already found their completion in the first century and we'll see that through this one phrase this generation.

But before we get there Let us recap quickly where we've been just in case you haven't been with us. And if you have the refresher might be helpful. So here is the optimistic recap over the last seven weeks.

We've examined the eschatological passages in the book of Acts. Intending to see what they teach us about the end times, you know context. Now as you remember after a brief introduction in week one We saw in week two how Christ ascended physically and bodily in heaven in fulfillment of Daniel chapter 7 and by doing this Christ sat on the throne to reign over his kingdom and the sign that he was reigning over that kingdom was the wind and fire Theophany that was set aloft to his disciples heads in the upper room who according to Daniel chapter 7 would not only Inherit this worldwide kingdom, but would also participate in its global Dominion.

Now in week three, we saw how all of these events of Pentecost constitute Eschatological events and phenomenon and we looked at that in the the post titled the eschatology of Pentecost. From there in week four and week five We move beyond the miraculous events in the Pentecost to examine Peter's magnificent Jerusalem sermon in that message.

The one that Peter gave he uses passages like Joel chapter 2 in order to alert his audience. That the Messianic Age had finally begun and that the reign of Christ was inaugurated in heaven but also the signs of it were inaugurated in their viewing which means that Jesus's reign is Started now in case we fail to make the connections elsewhere in the Bible to this.

What we're talking about is the millennial reign of Christ on his throne that is what Christ has stepped into where he's gonna bring all of the nations under the reign of his government and He's going to bring them under the blessing of his peace by putting all his enemies under his feet.

Now after seeing all of that last week or the last time that we were on the eschatology topic. We examine the nature of Christ's reign and we look specifically into what? Milestones that his reign was going to accomplish on earth before he returns to close out human history by quoting psalm 110 we saw that Peter gives us the essential context to know that his reign is gonna go Unabated on earth until all of his enemies have been put decisively under his feet which means that the reign of Christ is going to continue until Jesus has no more enemies left on earth and Then he will hand the kingdom over to his father in heaven.

And that is the end of human history. That's first Corinthians 15. Here's the pessimistic recap. With all of the optimism that we just described of the newness of this great kingdom coming in full. It would be easy for us to forget the context of impending doom that has come Upon the reprobate Jews who announced the pilot let his blood be on us and our children.

Now, this is not an anti-semitism. Which is a popular term nowadays that you can accuse someone of being of like a Nazi or a racist. This is not anti-semitism to bring this up. It's merely an actual portrayal of the facts of history is recorded in the Bible.

The same group of first century Jews who said we have no king but Caesar are the ones who Jesus is referring to 43 days earlier when he said that all of God's fury was going to be poured out on that generation.

Leaving their house the temple in Jerusalem completely desolate. Matthew 23 34 through 38. This is the group that Jesus said were the children of Satan John 8 44 whose covenantal status would be taken away and given To the Gentiles.

Matthew 21 43 the ones who we who would be cut off from the vine For their fruitlessness John 15. And because of her crimes against God He was in the armies of Rome to burn down their city and to raise it to the ground.

Matthew 22 7. All of these passages and more provide essential context that we must not forget. The meaning of this generation. Now understanding his context it's unsurprising how Luke records the end of Peter's great Pentecost sermon.

He tells us in verse 40 and with many other words He bore witness and continued to exhort them saying save yourselves from this crooked generation. Luke doesn't describe Peter as briefly mentioning a few very trifle things in his sermon.

He is not standing up and reviewing the list of safety features while uninterested passengers read a nearby vomit bag. Luke tells us that Peter was urgent and he was deliberate and he expended numerous words trying to compel the Jews to flee From the doom that was coming.

Luke tells us that he continually testified to the crowds beckoning them to save themselves from the coming destruction almost like a firefighter Crying out to the to the members of the home to leave the fire before the building collapses.

Now you ask yourself. Why was Peter so urgent? Well because he understood perhaps a lot better than we do today. What the meaning of the phrase this generation or this crooked generation actually meant?

That word that phrase at that particular time Was filled with a lot of embedded meaning and context that remains 2 ,000 years removed from us and we have to do a lot of hard work in order to rightly Understand what this generation and the other phrases that are scattered throughout these Gospels and and accounts really mean.

Because if we don't then we will have a flawed view of eschatology and we will have a flawed theology. So we need to do the work so that we understand these words. So that our theology will be Consistent so that we'll understand the meaning of the text and to do that We have to put our boots on and we have to get to digging the nearness of this generation.

Now Peter does not refer to generations in general terms. He does not tell all Christians at all times to flee from any crooked people who exist in any kind of land. While that could be a responsible strategy.

It's not what Peter says here and it's not when other New Testament writers come in to us elsewhere. Take for instance 1st Corinthians 5 9 through 11 in This case Peter uses the near demonstrative pronoun saying save yourself from this crooked generation.

Which identifies the generation right before him as his referent. Peter's looking at the first century Jews. And he's saying you are the crooked generation. He was not telling believers in that first century to adopt a strategy of cultural escapism similar to modern-day Amish folks.

He was telling them that there was something unique about that particular generation of Jews in the first century. Regarding their sin and the punishment that was coming upon them. He said that this particular generation of Jews living in Judea between the ascension of Christ in 80 30 and the harrowing events of 80 70 that Generation was a unique grouping of people with a special Impending punishment worthy of the imperative of save yourselves from them.

Now put simply Peter was warning any rational person living in the first century in Judah in those days To convert to Jesus Christ and to flee from the consequences that were coming. Now could this be why the Christians sold their property in Jerusalem that we see in the book of Acts and a few chapters later.

Could this be why as Josephus records us records that the Christians were the ones who were spared from the Romans arriving 80 70 because they knew what to be on the lookout for and when They saw them coming they fled.

These are fascinating historical questions. Looking at what Peter has said and the way that he used the phrase this generation We can see that the term applies to the near-term Events that were soon going to occur in his time and in his immediate Approximate location yet.

Peter is not the only one who uses the term Generation in this way and as we look at the other uses of the term It will only do nothing but confirm what we've already stated. So first, let's look at what Moses says about this generation and his final exhortation to the people of Israel.

Before he died before Joshua would take over leadership. Moses says this to the people. He says take this book of the law you know the one that he just Recorded and he says put it by the side of the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God.

That it may be there as a witness against you. For I know how rebellious and stubborn you are. Behold even today while I am yet alive with you. You have been rebellious against the Lord. How much more even after my death?

Assembled to me all of the elders of your tribes and all of the officers that I may speak these words in their ears and Call heaven and earth to witness against them. For I know that after my death You will surely act corruptly and you will turn aside from the way that I have commanded you and in the days to come Evil will befall you because you will do what is evil on the side of the Lord provoking him to anger Through the work of your hands.

Deuteronomy 31 24 through 29. Now after that scathing rebuke Moses Breaks out into the final song that he would ever sing before he dies and this is one of the verses in that song. They the Israelites have dealt corruptly with God.

They are no longer his children because they are blemished. They are a crooked and a twisted generation. Deuteronomy 32 5. Because Moses knew The character of these people he called heaven and earth and even God's law to be a witness against him.

Moses foresaw thousands of years before it happened the inevitability of their future rebellion against God and he even prophesied that There would come a time when they would no longer be considered his children where they would be cut off from the covenant blessings.

Moses saw it thousands of years before it happened. Now throughout the Bible We get glimpses of this prophecy coming to fruition. We we see moments of it. We see small types and shadows of it. For instance the stiff-necked people who were crushed by the pagan people cyclically throughout the book of Judges for their idolatry is Is a sort of fulfillment of this prophecy?

The hard-hearted people who were repeatedly wiped out by invading empires throughout the era of the Kings because the Kings were were Idolatrous and you know the good Kings would lead them in good ways and the bad Kings would lead them in evil ways and and every time they got destroyed this was sort of a type or a partial fulfillment of this prophecy, especially when the northern kingdom of Assyria came in and absolutely decimated the the Israelites to ten northern tribes because of their whoredom against Yahweh and especially when Judah lost all rights to her national sovereignty when Babylon came in and burned her city to the ground.

These are events that happened in the Old Testament and their partial fulfillments of this prophecy and the Consequences for that being that they were bounced from one empire to the next all the way until the time you get to the old or the New Testament where the ultimate Manifestation of God's wrath was gonna come upon that nation because they did the ultimate covenant breaking act of killing God's Son.

You know because she didn't repent through exile. She didn't repent through the reconstruction of the temple. She didn't repent through four hundred years of intertestamental period history, and she didn't repent all the way up into the incarnation.

She didn't repent when she heard Jesus speaking the truth. She was primed for judgment, but the straw that broke Jerusalem's camels back was when she brought her unrepentant heart into the New Testament and Insisted insisted on her rebellion instead of listening to her righteous God who had come in person with healing in his wings.

She rejected him and she murdered him Malachi 4 2 for that treachery. God's righteous fury broke out against them for the murderous works that they did with their own hands. They didn't only just kill the prophets.

No, they they did something much worse and they killed God's one and only Son. Now while Moses could not foresee precisely how all of these things were gonna play out when he called that second wilderness Generation who received the second giving of the law a crooked generation we know that Peter is Borrowing from the lyrics of this song the exact same language that Moses sang to describe the generation of people in his day.

He is using this generation To describe the people of Judah in the first century, which is not a common phrase. This generation or this crooked generation is not common in the scriptures, which means Peter did it Intentionally and it would have immediately alerted his audience that Peter was making this connection all the way back to the generation at the time of Deuteronomy.

By connecting these two generations together Peter is warning his listeners anyone who would hear his voice. He is warning them that the long ago Mosaic woe that was sung over the people of Israel is now Coming to fruition on them and if they don't repent and turn to Christ it will overtake them.

Again Peter uses Moses's words. But Moses was not the only one who used this word. In fact, Jesus also used the phrase this generation and he did so more than any other person in Scripture To describe the covenantal judgment that was soon gonna break out against faithless first century Judah for instance when Jesus began to pronounce covenantal woes upon entire cities such as Corazon and Bethsaida.

For their astonishing unbelief. He says to them. So what shall I compare this generation Matthew 11 16? He tells them that would be more tolerable tolerable for Tyre and Sidon. Even Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment that it would be for them.

Why. Because Sodom and Gomorrah would have repented. Tyre and Sidon would have repented if they had seen the miracles that Jesus was doing in Judah. And yet Because they were harder of heart than the wicked towns of the plain Genesis 19 their judgment would be even more severe.

Jesus says later on Jesus calls the Jews of that day an evil and adulterous generation Matthew 12 39. Because they were looking for signs and for wonders from the Messiah instead of loving him and living by faith.

He tells them that the nation of Nineveh and the Queen of the South would stand up in judgment against them. Condemning them because they did repent at the preaching of the word unlike this generation of Judeans Matthew 12 41 through 42.

Who Jesus says were behaving as if they were possessed by a legion of demons Matthew 12 45. Which comports well with their father being Satan. John chapter 8? Jesus announces to this generation who was ashamed of their Messiah that he would be ashamed of them.

When he sits down on his throne to rule his kingdom mark 838 and he even asked him how long I had to put up with this evil and unbelieving generation mark 919 he calls them a perverted generation Luke 9 41.

A wicked generation Luke 11 29. And the specific generation who would reject him and kill him Luke 17 25. And. Because this generation of first century Jews rejected their covenant Lord all of the covenantal woes and curses that were Promised in the law would come down upon them Deuteronomy 18 and Matthew 23 36.

More specifically all of the guilt for spilling the prophets blood would be levied against them Luke 1150. Even more specific all of the innocent blood that was spilled on earth from righteous Abel who was slaughtered by Cain to Zechariah who was slain by the Pharisees between the altar would be poured out on that generation Luke 11 51.

And just in case there was any gen any confusion about this term. After listing all the explicit details that we have so far Jesus says that all of the judgments that God is gonna bring on his enemies Matthew 24 1 through 33 we're gonna happen to that generation.

He says in verse 34 of Matthew 24 truly I say to you this generation will not pass away Until all these things take place. Clearly Jesus envisioned that all of the curses and the punishments that We're gonna be poured out on this people that are revealed in Matthew 24 are not future events that are supposed to happen a long Distance into the in into the era so that we're still waiting on Matthew 24 to be fulfilled.

Not at all. They're gonna be poured out on that Generation. The covenant curses of Matthew 23 are gonna be poured out on that generation. He was not. Jesus was not Gazing aimlessly into the distant future.

He was tightening the noose around a specific people for specific crimes. And the crime was that they killed him instead of receiving him. This is precisely why Peter who is sitting there for every single one of those references?

That's why he has in mind What this generation means when he tells the crowds to save themselves from this crooked generation. He is bringing Moses to bear on that statement. He is bringing Jesus's own view of that statement to bear on that and he's telling the Jews that are in front of him repent.

That's why he Vehemently and repeatedly called for them to leave their sin because he knew that the tidal wave of God's wrath was coming and It wasn't just Jesus and Moses. It was also Paul. Look at what Paul says about this generation of Philippians 2 15.

He says Do all things without grumbling or disputing. He's talking to the Philippian Church here who was planted out of a Jewish synagogue. He says do all things without grumbling or disputing so that you will prove yourself to be blameless and innocent children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and Perverse generation among whom you appear as lights in the world.

Moses is being quoted again here by now Paul. So just as Jesus and Peter before him Paul compares the contemporaries in Judea the Jewish persecutors that he was meeting from one synagogue to the next to the wilderness generation who were both crooked and Perverse and we're gonna die for their covenant crimes.

He admonishes the Philippian Christians to act as lights even amid such a darkened people knowing that God Will judge them for their perversity. So that's Philippians 2 15. Now if you think that I'm being a little hasty here and in applying General passages to the Jews when the book of Philippians doesn't mention that look at chapter 3 Paul identifies exactly who the crooked generation is.

They're not a generic group of God-hating people. No, it's a specific people that he calls the dogs the evil workers and the fake Circumcision the latter title circumcision is a reference to the Jews.

They're the only nation at that time who practiced it. So he is holding in Juxtaposition the Jews and the church he calls the Jews the false circumcision. He calls the church the true circumcision. How much more clear could he be in this passage?

He's alluding to the fact that in the same way God left an entire generation dead in the desert except for Joshua and Caleb. He would soon leave that whole generation of Judeans either dead in Jerusalem Scattered throughout the Empire without a homeland or deported to Rome as captives and slaves when the wrath of God in the day of Christ would be revealed against them Philippians 2 16 and 3 19 and the role of the church the ones who are spared from the judgment the true circumcision when who's Circumcised in the heart by the power of the Spirit of God was to preach the gospel like Peter Beckoning their fallen brothers to leave their sin to leave their idolatry and to come to Jesus.

They were to live a life that was worthy of the gospel Philippians 1 27 even while calling everyone else to abandon every allegiance except for Christ since he was coming and he was gonna make his people into a Heavenly kingdom and he was gonna give them citizenship of that kingdom Philippians 3 20.

You see the heartbeat of the Jews Was that they would stop being ruled by these empires the Rome Greece Persia Babylon. They wanted their own kingdom again Jesus is promising that saying leave your sin and You can have a kingdom that will eventually take over the entire world and you can be Citizens of that kingdom and I will be your king.

But if you do not leave your sins, you will be punished. The book of Hebrews also mentions this this generation, let's look at that example. It's in chapter 3 verses 7 through 11 The writer says today if you hear his voice Do not harden your heart as when they provoked me as in the day of trial in the wilderness Where your father's tried me by testing me and saw my works for 40 years therefore I was angry with this generation and said they always go astray in their heart and They did not know my ways as I swore in my wrath and they shall not enter my rest.

The author tells us that the wilderness generation that lasted for 40 years Tested God and refused to believe in him despite countless signs and wonders attesting to his power and in the end God poured out his fury at the end of that 40 years on that generation Refusing to let them enter into the land of his rest in the same way the first century generation of Jews for 40 years the same time frame Refused to believe in the Messiah and because of that God forbid them for entering into the land of his rest his kingdom.

God wouldn't allow them to enter into the kingdom of his rest. That kingdom is the church. They ignored sign after sign miracle after miracle and even Acknowledged the empty tomb in Matthew 28 11 through 15 when they told this lie to cover it up and yet they still refused to believe in him.

To that generation Instead of marching along with the Saints of God towards Zion Instead of living in the Lamb's Kingdom of Liberty and life. They would soak the sands of Jerusalem with their blood. They would lose their place.

They would lose their nation and they would litter the plain with their corpses and this would occur because they defied the Living God and Murdered his only son and refused to repent and turn to him.

The Meaning of "This Generation" in Acts and the Gospels

Conclusion as We've seen throughout today's episode. The phrase this generation is embedded with deep Context and meaning that we must understand if we're gonna understand Peter Jesus Paul Hebrews Moses all of them correctly.

That context goes all the way back to the wilderness generation. Who is a paradigm of rebellion who rebelled against God and would be destroyed for their idolatries and crimes? And this is precisely why Jesus picks up this phrase and applies it to the first century Jews.

That's why Peter picks up this phrase and compares it to his contemporaries. That's why the Jews of Jerusalem who killed their Messiah would be punished that original crooked and perverted Generation was going to be punished now through them.

Peter was not speaking about things that would happen thousands of years into the future. He was talking about long foretold judgments that were soon to come on the people and they would happen in his lifetime.

So when we understand the phrase this generation and all that that entails We will see clearly what Peter is saying and a futurist interpretation will be unwarranted. Now also we have to wreck we have to wrestle with this as well.

After seeing this passage rightly we are not excused brothers and sisters from a rightful application. If we harden our hearts against God like the Jews did long ago we will likewise perish and while this passage was not written to us it was written for us as an example as Paul says in Romans chapter 11 if we reject him Like the Jews did we will be cut off in the same way that they were.

And if they he says if they repent of their rebellions Then they like us will be grafted back in Romans 11 17 through 24. Highly recommend you go read those passages so instead of smugness or pride or a Sort of superiority that we feel because we are now the chosen people of God.

I would ask you to repent of that and With humility. Understand that if it were not for God's amazing grace, then we would be no different. We would be covenant rebels and lawbreakers and we too would be punished With an even more fiery punishment than what happened in 8070.

We would be punished in the flames of hell forever. So When we look at different events and horrific circumstances like what's going on in Israel in our modern day. Let us pray that the Lord would bring our long-lost brothers and sisters to repentance so that they can join with us like the prodigal son and Enjoy fellowship in the family of God.

Let us pray and let us be humble. Let us remember that the only reason that we have Standing with God is because Christ Jesus stood for us. It's not because of our works not because of our merit not because of our performance.

No. We belong to Christ because Christ purchased us Christ crucified us Christ buried us and Christ resurrected us and Let us not be so smug and so prideful to think that the same punishment could not happen to us if we so to rebel.

Thank you so much for listening to another episode of the podcast. We are enjoying a time of growth on this show right now. Having just had our very best month to date over the last 30 days we've had almost 800 downloads and listens and I expect that that number will continue to grow as We continue to open up the scriptures and reveal what they are really saying to God's people now to help us with that growth.

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Which is a crooked and perverse generation in its own, right? And we being the very lights that God has called upon to shine here will shine and we will shine through things like this. Until next time may God richly bless you and we will see you again next week on the podcast.