Prophecy

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by Clive Campbell
02/15/20
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18. Learn the parable of the fig tree--when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know summer is near; so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, at the door: this can not be talking about things pre-70 AD, because the Apostles did not see "all these things," as I have pointed out in my 17 previous points. They saw some of "these things," but not in their fullest sense. This also brings up the point that "you" does not refer to just the Apostles, but to later followers of Jesus also, as "this generation" also does not have just a narrow definition, which has been covered in my first article, THIS GENERATION, AGAINST PRETERISM.

Of course, the "fig tree" is one of the vegetation metaphors for the Jews and Israel:

Hosea 9:10 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

10 I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness;
I saw your forefathers as the earliest fruit on the fig tree in its first season.
But they came to Baal-peor and devoted themselves to shame,
And they became as detestable as that which they loved.

I covered the Jews and Israel as the fig tree also in my article, ENACTMENT PARABLES, where Jesus cursed the leafy fig tree because it had no fruit on it and it was withered the next day. Figuratively, Jesus was cursing the unregenerate Jews, because He found no spiritual fruit in them at the end of the 4th millennial "day" (970 BC-30 AD) and they were destroyed 40 years later (another figure of Israel's 40 centuries) by Rome at the beginning of the 5th millennial "day" (30 AD-1030 AD).

The fig tree Jesus cursed was already leafy in early spring (just before Passover). It wasn't the season to find fruit on the tree, just as it was not the God-ordained season for there to be much spiritual fruit in Israel. In Matthew 24 the fig tree is also in spring, before the summer comes with the sun and heat. In 70 AD the Sun, Christ, did come to bind Satan and the unbound demons in hell, after they had burned the unregenerate Jews with fire. In a similar way, unregenerate Israel now, since 1948, is a leafy "fig tree" in spring time, again waiting for the Sun, Christ, to come and to be burned by the fire of the 10-horned Beast from the Sea, the 10-nation Commonwealth of Independent States (led by Russia), headed by the Satan-possessed Jewish Antichrist.

While Christ's invisible coming in 70 AD was a partial fulfillment of the victory of the Kingdom of God over the Kingdom of Satan, it was not the complete fulfillment. That will come when the Son of Man returns in a visible way, as I have already discussed.

19. This generation will not pass away until all these things take place: "this generation" has already been covered in my first article, THIS GENERATION, AGAINST PRETERISM. As well, Preterists must prove that "all these things" took place by 70 AD, which clearly they have not. Some may have taken place partially, but not completely.

20. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away: heaven and earth are both figures for Israel. So, I think that Jesus is saying that one day, Israel will pass away, but His words will not pass away or ever change--they are eternal. Israel in a sense did pass away in 70 AD, but it came back into existence in 1948. Once Christ returns as King of Israel, it won't be Israel as a nation-state, but it will be the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. It is possible that this refers to the coming of a New Heaven and New Earth (Rev. 21:1), but I believe that is figurative for the new Israel of 1948, replacing the first Israel, just as the "no longer any sea" is figurative for the Gentile rapture. I can't imagine that Heaven needs to be replaced, nor can I imagine that our eternal home, Earth, will have no seas. Of course, I could be wrong.

21. But of that day and hour no one knows: one could say that this relates both to 70 AD and to 2030 AD. Of course no one knows the exact month and day and hour of God's planned future events, but it is possible to have a good guess at the year sometimes. I believe that Jesus was referring to the literal day and hour of His Second Coming. Here is good support for that:

Revelation 9:15 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

15 And the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released, so that they would kill a third of mankind.

(This verse by the way, I believe, is referring to the release of Satan and the demons in 1910--my guess at the year--at the end of Israel's 4th millennium to kill 1/3 of the Jews in the Holocaust.)

In retrospect, we could now guess that God would destroy the unregenerate Jews by Satan and the unbound demons by 70 AD, 40 years after Jesus cursed the fig tree, paralleling His destruction of them again at the end of Israel's 40 centuries.

And it is easy to guess, as Elijah's school of the prophets did, as Church father Irenaeus did, and as Archbishop James Ussher did (I think), that the Genesis prologue is prophetic of 6 millennial "days" and then a 7th of rest. I believe that this is patently obvious in the Bible. This is why Jesus rose from the dead at dawn of the 3rd day, to indicate that He would return at dawn of the 3rd millennium, just as Moses and Elijah will rise from the dead after 3 1/2 days, to indicate that they will return in 3 1/2 years.

22. For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah: as I have already written, the visible coming of the Son of Man relates to the "end of the age" in 2030 AD, more so than His invisible coming in 70 AD. Also, the worldwide First Day of Wrath in Noah's 600th year clearly relates better to the worldwide Second Day of Wrath in the 6000th year (after 14 billion, without macro evolution) than to the limited Day of Wrath on unregenerate Jews in 66-70 AD.

Also, in Noah's day, there were 120 years of demonic activity before the Great Flood in Noah's 600th year (see my article, ANOTHER 120 YEAR COUNTDOWN TO GOD'S SECOND DAY OF WRATH). I believe, so too, we are in another 120 years of Satanic and demonic activity before the Great Fire in the 6000th year.

Here's another interesting thing that I have just noticed: God appears to have given his command to Noah to build the ark in Genesis 6, not 120 years before his 600th year (when he was 480 years old), but when this 3 sons had wives. Noah's first son was born when he was 500 (Gen. 5:32), so the 4 men may well have started building the ark 75 years before Noah and the 7 others entered the ark 7 days before the Great Flood. I believe that this is clearly prophetic of Israel being "built" for 75 years after 1948 at the end of Israel's 4 millennia, at the end of which (in 2023), Christ will bring His 7 Churches into heaven. The Great Fire will come in 2030.

The eating, drinking, marrying and not understanding before the coming of the Son of Man certainly applied before 66-70 BC and it certainly applies in our day. But, again, the reference is to His visible coming at the "end of the age."

I would guess that the 2 references to one taken to Jesus' side and one left are prophetic of the rapture. Does it suggest that half of the visible Church will be raptured? Are the 2 men and 2 women another figure of the coming of the Son of Man at the end of Israel's 4 millennia? Will God save any Gentiles after the Resurrection and Rapture? Consider these verses:

Luke 21:24 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

24 and they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

Romans 11:25 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

25 For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise in your own estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in;

I do not know the answers to these questions.

23. Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming: not knowing the day of the Lord's coming could certainly apply to 70 AD and 2030 AD.

24. If the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into: I think the head of the house being spoken of here is the invisible Kingdom of God; the house is the visible Kingdom of God; the night is the time after the Sun, Christ and His Apostles, have departed (Jn. 9:4,5); and the thief is Satan (see Jn. 10:10 and Jn. 12:6 about Judas, whom Satan entered). Note that there is a coming of the thief, Satan, and that he breaks into the house. He is not already on the scene as he was pre-70 AD. He and his demons came out of hell and broke into the visible Church in 1910, bringing the apostasy of the last 110 years.

In a similar parable, the players are reversed:

Matthew 12:29 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

29 Or how can anyone enter the strong man’s house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.

Here, Satan is the "strong man;" his house is the Kingdom of Satan; Jesus spiritually binds him in 30 AD, accomplishing the plunder of God's elect from the "domain of darkness ... to the kingdom of His beloved Son" (Col. 1:13); and He literally binds him and his unbound demons in hell in 70 AD.

25. For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will: again, this chiefly refers to the visible coming of the Son of Man at the "end of the age" in 2030. It is a coming of great hope, the ushering in of the Kingdom of God in all its fullness, not the partial fulfillment in 70 AD. It seems clear that the Apostles did not know the "hour" of the "night" when Jesus would return. This makes us think of the parable of the 10 Virgins, waiting for the Bridegroom (Matthew 25:1-13). Only 5 of the 10 were ready with oil (the Spirit) for their lamps. Will only half of the visible Church be ready for the Resurrection and Rapture in 2023? Perhaps. Or will only half of Israel be ready for the Second Coming in 2030? Perhaps. I don't know the answers to these questions either.

26. Lastly, Matthew 24 ends this way:

45 “Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46 Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. 47 Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 48 But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My master is not coming for a long time,’ 49 and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards; 50 the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know, 51 and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

It seems clear that the coming spoken of here relates to the time when Christ's faithful and sensible slaves will be put in charge of all His possessions. One can see a partial fulfillment of this in 70 AD, when Christ invisibly came and bound Satan and the unbound demons in hell. But the complete fulfillment of it will be when those faithful and sensible slaves receive their inheritance at the visible Second Coming of Christ and the evil slaves are sent to hell. Note that it is the evil slaves that will not know which "hour" of the "night" that Christ will return and He will come upon them like a thief (Rev. 3:3; 16:15). The faithful and sensible slaves will not be so overtaken (1 Thess. 5:4).

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