In this post, I want to suggest to you there is a simple way to understand and talk about the end time that is both accurate and Biblical. It's not something you can impress your friends with, but it will give you a working understanding as well as a means to be able to convey that understanding to others.
There are four main theological views concerning the end times with each system of thought having varying schemes of interpretation within itself.
They are:
(1) Amillennialism
(2) Postmillennialism
(3) Historic premillennialism
(4) Dispensationalism
If you want to identify with one of those groups of interpretation I will leave you with the task of studying each scheme and determining for yourself which you think to be the most plausible. Our study here will take a different path, for the lack of a better terminology but to be able to make a distinction from the main views let's call our system Textual Eschatology. I am no scholar, nor do I have the ability to read and understand the original languages. I have no seminary education, online or otherwise. All I have going for me is a Bible and some good study tools to help me along. I suspect many of you may be the same.
When studying the various end-time views mentioned above with all their variations, I would become lost in the depth of the theological rhetoric being presented. I'm not attempting to say that deep theological thought is a bad thing, it's just the sheer volume contained in all the various end-time views combined was difficult if not impossible for me to wrap my mind around. It is obvious the scriptures indicate we should have an understanding of these things, but I was left not only inadequate in my own comprehension but also unable to speak of these things in an adequate and confident manner. As a result, I found myself avoiding the subject altogether and that was not a satisfying state of mind. Thus the purpose of this post and the term, "Textual Eschatology." I realized the letters to the early church were written in large part to the non-Jewish community. Also, John's book of Revelation had not been written yet, therefore, the knowledge of all the Old Testament Prophecies along with Revelation which is necessary to build the large comprehensive views we now have would not have been on the minds of the people being taught. I wondered if perhaps I was approaching the subject in the wrong direction. Instead of starting with the main theological views and trying to comprehend them and all their differences, what if I started with the New Testament understanding and then looked at the more comprehensive views that might seem to agree? So I decided to try and look at the end-time events as they were spoken of relying only upon the information given in the Apostolic writings and the Gospels while for the moment excluding the Old Testament Prophecies and Revelation except where the New Testament specifically indicated and explained. It seemed to me by doing so, I should be able to obtain a concise yet Biblical and accurate understanding of the coming events as they were understood by the church under New Testament instruction and Apostolic authority.
So let us begin and see what we can learn,
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 ESV
(13) But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.
(14) For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.
(15) For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.
(16) For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
(17) Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
(18) Therefore encourage one another with these words.
On that day, the Lord will come, an angel will announce it, those who have died in the Lord will come with him, we that are still alive will be changed and caught up with them in the air. From that point we will forever be with the Lord, this is to be our encouragement during that time and now.
Some would like to discuss a rapture, seven years of tribulations, the marriage supper of the lamb followed by a thousand-year Millennial reign of Christ, and a host of other things here. However, you will notice none of that is in the text, and with Textual Eschatology, all we want is what is in the New Testament text. It seems the Holy Spirit speaking through Paul determined this simple understanding as a sufficient comprehension of the coming events.
Paul continues:
1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 ESV
(1) Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you.
(2) For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
(3) While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
(4) But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief.
(5) For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness.
(6) So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.
(7) For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night.
(8) But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.
(9) For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
(10) who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.
(11) Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.
He reminds them here how this day will affect those who do not believe, they will be caught unaware, and sudden destruction will come upon them. However, he tells the believers that day will not surprise them as they continue to be encouraged. They understand that he is coming, he is bringing those who have died with him, and if we have remained till that time, we will be changed and caught up with them. He tells us this catching away and gathering with Christ is because God has not destined us for wrath. The wrath is for those who are caught up in the things of the world and remain on the earth and will immediately meet with destruction.
Paul for some reason finds it necessary to write to them again concerning this subject of this last day. He finds his previous instructions either misunderstood, which seems unlikely having been done with such clarity and straightforwardness, or misguided. It seems more likely they had been influenced by an opposing view or some rhetoric that changed and confused his previous instructions. For whatever reason, it became necessary for him to write a second time.
2 Thessalonians 1:5-10 ESV
(5) This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering—
(6) since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you,
(7) and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels
(8) in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
(9) They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,
(10) when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.
In verses 5 through 7, it seems he is again distinguishing between his people and the judgment. He assures them that retribution will be due to those that were afflicting them. He tells them that even though they may not be seeing it now when he comes with his mighty angels, this retribution will take place. In verses 8 through 10 he describes this Judgment upon the non-believers. This is conducive to his previous statements describing the catching away and gathering of his people, separating them from the others.
2 Thessalonians 2:1-17 ESV
(1) Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers,
(2) not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.
(3) Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,
(4) who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.
(5) Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?
(6) And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time.
(7) For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way.
(8) And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming.
(9) The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders,
(10) and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
(11) Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false,
(12) in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
(13) But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.
(14) To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
(15) So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.
(16) Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace,
(17) comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.
In verse 1 Paul sets the scene, it is Christ coming and our gathering unto him, an event which he has already clearly defined. In verses 2 and 3 he cautions them about being troubled in mind by whatever new teaching had corrupted their understanding. He informs them that all the things he had previously told them concerning the coming of the Lord were contingent upon certain other events. Assures them that day will not come until those events have arisen on the scene.
We cannot go there in our minds, because there has not been a Jewish temple after 70 AD. It seems we are tempted to take our minds and understanding to the future building of a new temple in Jerusalem as to what is referenced here. If Paul was not speaking of the then-present temple, it seems unlikely he was speaking of a future temple to be built, for that would have required an explanation that is not present in the text. It is also difficult to see Paul's mind going to the then-present temple, for that would leave him confused in his own understanding as that temple no longer exists. It is plausible to speculate the minds and understanding of the Thessalonians went to the body of Christ. Paul is known to refer to the body as a "temple" 1 Corinthians 3:16 ESV(16) Do you not know that you are God's temple (Greek ναός) and that God's Spirit dwells in you?
Paul continues to build upon this idea in Ephesians 2:19-22 ESV
(19) So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,
(20) built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,
(21) in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple (Greek ναός) in the Lord.
(22) In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
This seems to be a common understanding in the Church as Peter also uses the same language. The phrase translated "spiritual house" In 1 Peter 2:5 is the same word Paul uses that is translated as "temple".
1 Peter 2:5 ESV
(5) you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house(Greek ναός) [temple], to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
I may suppose this understanding was prevalent in the church and their minds simply went to that understanding as ours should. If so we can understand that God was in the temple of old and was worshipped there and is in and with his church now, so the man of lawlessness here mentioned is some usurper of God's authority in some perceived religious system, who claims divine honors to himself. However, the word Paul uses could apply to all 3 options. Hence, the difficulty remains in determining just exactly how that phrase affected the hearers when they received and read the letter. However, it seems the understanding of a spiritual temple falls into place in the text more easily than the others.
In our next post, we will continue our textual eschatology by examining other New Testament texts on the subject of the end time and see if they agree with and enhance what Paul has laid out here for the Thessalonians.
David
1 Corinthians 15:1-8 ESV
(1) Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand,
(2) and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
(3) For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,
(4) that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
(5) and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
(6) Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.
(7) Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.
(8) Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.
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