Matthew 1:1-17

In this episode Brother Jonathan starts going through the book of Matthew, beginning with Matthew's genealogy of Christ.

 

Remnant Bible Fellowship

S3EP12

Matthew 1:1-17

 

1:1 – “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” (Mat 1:1)

• “Book of the generation of Jesus Christ” – “Generation” means that “this is a genealogy of Jesus Christ”.
• The phrase “book of the generation of” is reminiscent of the OT genealogies. Matthew places Jesus at the front to emphasize that all of these are dependent upon Him. Matthew also uses the Hebrew way of genealogy which goes from progenitor to ancestor. This is in contrast with Luke’s gospel which goes the other way—the Greek way.
• There are notable differences between Luke’s and Matthew’s genealogies. Luke’s is much more detailed while Matthew skips peoples’ names and even has some play on words with alternative renderings of names. (Amon to Amos, Asa to Asaph). Some of these differences are between Greek text families. If you read a KJV you won’t notice these two, but if you read a version based on the Critical text then you will. The weight of manuscript evidence goes to the renderings Amos and Asaph. This actually is in agreement with what Matthew does seem to be doing with his genealogy different from Luke. Matthew is emphasizing that Jesus is integral to Israel’s history. He’s tied to notable people throughout their history by direct descent. He makes the play on words by changing Amon to Amos and Asa to Asaph to evoke the more spiritual picture of the prophet Amos and the psalmist Asaph. This kind of alteration of names happened at times in this type of work. Indeed, things such as Hebrew Midrash allowed for very free application of things sometimes to allude to OT pictures. I’m not going to go into detail about the differences. There are better teachers for that. But know that Matthew does skip generations and does other things for the purpose of his theme. Practices like these were not uncommon at times.
• Son of David – Matthew mentions two people in this first verse: Abraham and David. The Messiah had to be a descendent of Abraham (a Hebrew) and David (to inherit his throne).
• “And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed…And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.” (Gen 12:3, 7)
• “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.” (Gal 3:16)
• “And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men: But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee. And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.” (2Sam 7:12-16)

1:2 – “Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren;” (Mat 1:2)

• “Abraham begat Isaac” – Isaac was the child of promise over Ishmael. (second born)
• “Isaac begat Jacob” – Jacob was chosen over Esau. (the firstborn serves the second born) His name was changed to “Israel”, which means “prince of God”.
• “Jacob begat Judas and his brethren” – This is the twelve “patriarchs”. Their descendents would be the twelve tribes of Israel.
• So Genesis covers from the beginning of creation all the way to God beginning the form the nation of Israel.

1:3 – “And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram;” (Mat 1:3)

• This verse, up to Esrom, is in the book of Genesis.
• When you read through the book of Genesis you notice in chapter 38 that it goes on a sidebar for some reason. When the narrative begins to focus on Joseph the focus shifts to Judah for some reason. We have a better understanding of that now, because it was when Judah slept with his daughter-in-law unknowingly and she had a set of twins. Of these two twins was Pharez, of whom the Messiah would be born.

1:4 – “And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon;” (Mat 1:4)

• Nashon (Naasson) is mentioned in Num. 1:7. He is part of the Exodus generation. Naasson was a prince over the tribe of Judah during the generation that come up out of Egypt with Moses. He is also mentioned in David’s genealogy in 1 Chronicles 2:10-11.

1:5 – “And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse;” (Mat 1:5)

• Here we enter into the lineage of David.
• Salmon is the Israelite who married Rahab (Rachab) the harlot. This is the Rahab who hid the two Hebrew spies sent by Joshua to Jericho before Israel crossed the river Jordan to enter Canaan. (Josh. 2:1 cf. 6:25) Rahab was a Caananite who was accepted into Israel because of her faith in the God of Israel. She is listed as an example of faith in Hebrews 11:
  • “By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.” (Heb 11:31)
• Booz is the Boaz of the book of Ruth. This was during the time of the Judges after Joshua but before the time of the Kings. Ruth was a Moabite who was married by Boaz. This actually has a lot of prophetic foreshadowing. Hebrew prophecy occurs in patterns. There are patterns that are repeatedly used throughout the OT that foreshadow an ultimate fulfillment. This is obviously aside from the things that the prophets plainly state.
• Boaz marrying Ruth, and the whole story of the book of Ruth, ultimately pictures Christ as our Kinsman Redeemer—the Hebrew “goel”. Boaz was a close relative of Ruth’s dead husband, but there was a closer relative who was unable to redeem Ruth. So, because this first man was unable to fulfill the role of the kinsman redeemer Boaz was able to fulfill it. This “kinsman redeemer” was the one who has the right to redeem the forfeited inheritance of the family member who had died. In order to redeem the inheritance he had to take the widow of the one who died and raise up children to his brother’s name. This was the practice of Levirate marriage.
• Just as Boaz was Ruth’s near kinsman Christ is our kinsman redeemer. He became a man so that He could redeem us. The first man, who was the first man, is Adam. Adam is unable to redeem us and Christ is able to redeem us. Ruth, being a Moabite, was cut off from the commonwealth of Israel and the promises and covenants. This is the bride of Christ. Those who were cut off from God’s promises and are brought close to God by Christ’s redemption.
• There are all sorts of aspects that picture NT salvation and the new covenant. Of course, you have to remember that you can’t make an exact and detailed line-by-line teaching this way. There are prophetic patterns laid out this way in the OT. The clear doctrinal things are clearly stated. You should never use a pattern, or typology, from the OT to reinterpret the NT.

1:6 – “And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias;” (Mat 1:6)

• Jesse is mentioned in 1 Samuel 16 where the prophet Samuel is told by God to go to his house and anoint his son king over Israel. This would be Jesse’s youngest son David.
• This is one of the places where Matthew’s genealogy diverges from Luke’s. Matthew traces Jesus ancestry through David’s son Solomon while Luke traces it through Nathan.
• Solomon was David’s second child from Bathsheba. God punished David for his sin in having her husband Uriah killed after committing adultery with her by not allowing the child to live. After that, and David’s repentance (Psalm 51), God blessed them with Solomon who would succeed David to the throne of Israel.

1:7 – “And Solomon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa;” (Mat 1:7)

• Rehoboam (Roboam) was the son of Solomon that became king after him. He was king when the kingdom was divided. God divided the kingdom of Israel as a result of Solomon’s sin (1 Ki. 11:11). Jeroboam the son of Nebat led the charge of rebelling against the house of David (the kingly line of David). The ten northern tribes separated from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. Samaria was the capital of the north and is referred to in the OT as either Israel or Ephraim. Jerusalem remained the capital of the south and it was called Judah. There were no godly kings over the northern kingdom of Israel. The only godly kings that came were over the kingdom of Judah.

1:7-11 – “And Solomon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa; And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias; And Ozias begat Joatham; and Joatham begat Achaz; and Achaz begat Ezekias; And Ezekias begat Manasses; and Manasses begat Amon; and Amon begat Josias; And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon:” (Mat 1:7-11)

• From Abia to Jechoniah is the time period covered in 1 Kings through 2 Chronicles.
• This is the line of the kings of Judah (the south) that are recorded here.
• It is throughout this time period that many of the Old Testament prophets were ministering. Isaiah, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah.

1:12 – “And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel;” (Mat 1:12)

• After the kingdom of Judah was destroyed by God for their wickedness the Jews were taken to Babylon. This was the time of the prophets Jeremiah (who was in Jerusalem before, during, and after the destruction of Jerusalem – Lamentations is a result of this), Ezekiel (who was taken to Babylonia when Jerusalem was destroyed), and Daniel (who was taken to Babylon).
• Shealtiel (Salathiel) lived during the time of this dispersion and had a son named Zerubbabel. The book of Esther happens during the time of the dispersion.

1:13 – “And Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor;” (Mat 1:13)

• Zerubbabel (Zorobabel) was a leader of the Jews when they were led back up to rebuild Jerusalem. (The books of Ezra and Nehemiah record this) The prophets Zechariah and Haggai are here.

1:13-16 – “And Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor; And Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud; And Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob; And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.” (Mat 1:13-16)

• From Abiud (most likely) to Joseph covers the period known as the “inter-testamental silence”. The prophet Malachi lived some time after Zechariah and Haggai and was the last prophet before the opening of the New Testament. After Malachi, there was a gap of around 400 years before the events described in the gospels began.

1:17 – “So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.” (Mat 1:17)

• Matthew sums up the genealogy by emphasizing three distinct events in Israel’s history: Abraham (the father of all the Jews), David (the throne that the Messiah would reestablish), and the carrying away to Babylon.

Here's our new episode:

Introduction to Matthew

In this episode Brother Jonathan begins a series on the book of Matthew.

 

Remnant Bible Fellowship

S3EP11

Introduction to Matthew

 

1. Literary Genre
   1. The Bible, at the very least, is a literary work. It is not literature in the sense of how we normally think about it—usually fiction. But at the very least it is a work of literature. Within literature there are different genres. We have historical narrative, poetry, etc. And with every genre there is a different way that you would read them: a different way that you interpret them. For instance, you don’t read poetry like you read historical narrative. Even though some poetry my reference a historical event you recognize that poetry has elements that are non-literal. Well, the Bible has different genres within it also. It has law books, proverbs, poetry, prophecy, and historical narrative.
   2. The Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the first four books of the New Testament, have been debated about within academic circles since they were written. You have people who have immediately rejected them as being nothing more than ancient myth simply because they record miracles. That’s ridiculous because every ancient historian of Rome recorded the miraculous—except for Thucydides I believe. They have no problem taking a lot from those accounts to write textbooks on Rome’s history. So why do they have a problem taking from the Gospels knowledge about Jesus of Nazareth?
   3. The Gospels are generally regarded today as being part of the genre of Greco-Roman Bios. Bios comes from the Greek word “bios” which means the “life and activity of someone”. In English, we combine it with the Greek word “graphe” to become biography. The Gospels are biographies about Jesus of Nazareth, and as such are to be read in generally literal manner. Yes, within them there are passages that are not to be taken literally just like any biography. There are idioms and non-literal expressions. There are parables and prophecy. But these are excerpts and not the whole, and even a cursory reading of them makes that plain. They were written to be taken as being a historical narrative of Jesus’ life and teachings. Luke says in chapter one:
      1. “Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed.” (Luk 1:1-4)
   4. Luke understood these things as being believed among them and that they were to be taken as literal historical events. The intention of the authors of the Gospels was for them to be read as biography, as historical narrative.
2. Greco-Roman Bios
   1. Now there are two aspects of the Gospels that we need to take into consideration. There are narratives, which are the stories of events of Jesus’ life, and then there are His sayings, His actual teachings. These two aspects of Christ’s life were arranged selectively by the Gospel writers to give a biography for Him.
   2. If you’ve read each of the Gospels you are aware of some of their differences and some of their similarities. Matthew, Mark, and Luke are generally called the synoptic Gospels because of their similarities. It is pretty clear that both Matthew and Luke used Mark’s Gospel as a source for theirs—along with other sources. This makes them all overlap quite a bit. John’s Gospel is very different because it was written independently of the others and for a different purpose.
   3. Greco-Roman bios were generally written with a particular theme and audience in mind. Each of the evangelists, gospel writers, emphasized a certain role of Christ and certain aspects of His person and ministry tailored to their ideal audience.
   4. Matthew seems to have written to Jewish Christians about the Messiahship of Jesus of Nazareth. He emphasizes Israel’s history and OT scripture fulfillment regularly. He also weaves throughout his gospel consistent references to the gentiles being accepted with God through Jesus in some way or another. This culminates in the last two verses being the Great Commission and the gospel being preached to all nations.
   5. Mark seems to have had gentile Christians in mind, at Rome. At least, that’s where his gospel became very used. He is believed to have recorded the memoirs of the Apostle Peter.
   6. Luke’s is the fullest and most carefully composed of the first three gospels. It’s believed by some that Luke had in mind gentile Christians as well when he wrote his gospel. Him being a companion of Paul the Apostle, who was the apostle to the gentiles, would seem to make this likely.
   7. John’s gospel is different than the other three in that it was written for primarily doctrinal reasons. John’s disciple Polycarp said that John told him that the reason he wrote his gospel was because of the rise of incipient Gnosticism in the latter part of the first century. That’s why his gospel is so different than the synoptic ones. He’s writing for a very different purpose. His emphasis is clear in the first chapter that “He was manifest in the flesh.” That’s probably why John didn’t think it was necessary to retread old ground that Matthew, Mark, and Luke had already written.

• Writing Habits
  1. The ancient concept of writing history was very different back in the first century than it is today. Today, with our modern concepts, we are used to getting, or at least trying to get, every detail one-hundred percent correct. We are the generation of cell phone cameras, printers, fax machines, phones, and the internet. It was not so in the first century. Their concept of history writing allowed, and regularly used, paraphrasing, events being out of chronological order, omission of irrelevant details, the recontextualizing of quotations, etc. The writers of the gospels were no different. They were conservative in these practices, but they used the writing style of the day.
  2. Now, hearing things like that might upset some people, but you need to understand that it was commonly said at the time also by historical writers and accuracy that extremely important. They stressed accuracy as well in the midst of these practices.
  3. Writers though did arrange events in a more topical form though. They put quotations where they fit for their overall purpose without changing the meaning of them overall.
  4. This is how the Holy Spirit chose to have Christ’s life and teachings preserved for us. And He did preserve them for us. While some people study these things and it causes them doubt about the accuracy of the scriptures, the longer I study the more comforted and reassured I am that we absolutely have the words and teachings of the Lord.

1. Scholars
   1. I have no problem accepting that Matthew was written by the Apostle Matthew who is also referred to as Levi. Scholars tend to argue about miniscule things and make them more complicated than I believe is necessary. Craig Keener said that scholars make complicated things simple and simple things complicated. My experience has taught me to accept his conclusion on the matter. I will say though that sometimes, possibly a majority of the time, you will learn a lot from scholars. They do know more than you or I almost always. I find that there exists a problem somewhere in the sphere that they have to operate in. For instance, philosophers (even Christian philosophers) tend to make terrible theologians. They get used to thinking along certain lines that affect how they come to scripture. I think the same can be said for academics in general. They get used to operating in such an empiricist atmosphere where you need a substantial amount of evidence to prove your point that they cannot simply come to the scriptures in simple faith a lot of the time.
   2. Craig Keener said in a lecture that when he was studying and writing his book on the “historical Jesus” that there was one day when he was talking with his wife where he asked her if she had evidence for something she said and it struck him how much his studying for the matter was affecting him. I can empathize just a little bit having tried to dip my toe into that end of the pool. It does affect you to do academic studying on the scriptures. Study all you want to, but don’t forget it’s about faith and love for the Lord according to the scriptures. It’s things like that that make me very leery about textual criticism. There is a need for it to wade through the manuscript evidence that we have, but you end up looking at every passage with a skeptical eye. It’s very dangerous in a way, needful, but dangerous.
   3. You will find that as I go through the gospel of Matthew that I am quite conservative. Scholars are needed by the body of Christ, but the confusion that you get reading their arguments about passages can affect your faith. The argument about remarriage after divorce is a nightmare to look into among scholars for instance. But I’m not going to lie about it. Unless you are very secure in your relationship with Christ don’t go traipsing into the fog that is scholarship. People like Bart Erhman, an enemy of Christianity if ever I saw one, came about because he got into textual criticism and chose to allow it to rattle his faith.
   4. On the other hand, we cannot cling to our ideas blindly just to maintain a certain kind of psychological security. To feel like “I got it” and you’re ignorant of the entire issue. That kind of insecurity—because that’s all that it is—is unhealthy and antithetical to Christian faith. We are to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. You cannot grow in knowledge if you are not studying. Not everyone needs to study Greek and Hebrew. Not everyone needs to study exegesis. But if you are a teacher, preacher, or pastor, you are required to at least understand the issues and discussions and be able to intelligently give justifiable reasons for why you believe the scriptures teach this or that. That is your role. If you can’t do that then I don’t believe that you are supposed to be in that role. I’m not saying you need a degree, and I’m not saying that there is some bar for you to aim for. If we give ourselves to learning the scriptures, honestly, really learning them, then God will direct us in study. Our part is to be open to whatever He teaches us and whatever the scriptures do say. One of the most important verses in scripture about studying doctrine, I think, is Proverbs 18:13:
      1. “He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him.” (Pro 18:13)
   5. We can’t reject interpretations before we even listen to their arguments, and we can’t just shutdown conversations about doctrine because it makes us uncomfortable. That’s not how a Christian should handle God’s Word. That’s how an insecure person handles God’s Word.
2. Matthew
   1. I believe that Matthew, who is also called Levi, wrote the gospel of Matthew. Many scholars place the date of his gospel being written around 55-70AD. Some of course date it later than that. Scholars are always debating these things and it will never be done even if we find a manuscript that had his name written across the top with a date stamp.
   2. At least one early church writer said that Matthew had originally written his gospel in Aramaic. This has led some to suspect that versions such as the Peshitta are greater than the Greek text. I don’t think this belief has very much support at all with scholarship. It’s kind of more like a fringe thing.
   3. A question that gets asked is why the gospels weren’t written immediately after Christ’s ascension. I believe that some scholars have given some very good reasons to explain why. You see, the world would not see the printing press for almost 1500 years after He ascended. They were, in a lot of ways, an oral culture. The Jews especially. People were used to public reading of books and important works. Studies have shown that people’s retention of oral reading was exponentially better than ours today. Even today overseas where technology is not very known some people still are oral cultures and retain great amounts of knowledge after hearing it very few times.
   4. It’s not uncommon in the middle east for instance for Muslims to have memorized the entire Qu’ran. In an oral culture you can understand why it took the disciples about 25 to 40 years to consider writing them: they weren’t needed. There were still dozens of eyewitnesses to the events themselves. What’s interesting is that the expectation of memorization was much higher if you were a disciple of a teacher. It was expected that you could competently explain or recite your teacher’s sayings. The Pythagoreans for example wouldn’t let you get out of bed in the morning without reciting everything that your teacher said the day prior. And it was in this kind of culture that Christ Himself had disciples.
   5. Papias, who was an early Christian writer, even notes that Matthew had written down Christ’s words early on. Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean his gospel but could just be His sayings. I believe that is what is meant.
   6. There is also the consideration of whether or not the Apostles believed it would be long before the Lord returned. Rome was in power in accordance with the book of Daniel’s prophecy about the return of the Lord. There was, at times, rampant Christian persecution as Christ said would be. Jerusalem was eventually surrounded by armies. In fact, that’s why some scholars date the synoptic gospels after 70AD. They believe that it was the destruction of Jerusalem that showed them it would be longer than they thought. We don’t know for certain. I believe that for these reasons it makes sense that they didn’t write things down initially. They had no need yet.
3. Closing
   1. So I hope you’re geared for us to start going through Matthew. I didn’t go very much into the specifics of Matthew this episode, but I wanted you to keep these things in your mind as we get started. This will actually be the first time that I’ve taught through a book verse-by-verse, and I’ve already learned a lot myself getting ready. I do think that verse-by-verse teaching is very important because it forces us to encounter passages and issues that we otherwise normally would not have to deal with. It’s good for us.

Here's our new episode:

The Return of Christ

In this episode Brother Jonathan discusses some important points about the fact of Christ's return, how He is coming, and when He is coming.

 

Remnant Bible Fellowship

S3EP10

The Return of Christ

 

1. Intro
   1. We’re going to be talking about the return of Christ in this episode. Again, I want to remind you, in case you just found this episode, we’re doing a series on basic doctrines. This is not a deep discussion on exegesis or interpretation. This is an overview of some basic points.
   2. But the points we’re going to talk about today is the fact of His coming, how He is coming, and when He is coming.
2. The Fact of His Coming
   1. There is a very simple reason that we can assert dogmatically that Jesus Christ is returning: because He said so. On top of that, the Apostles believed so. Let’s look at a couple of passages.
   2. “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” (Joh 14:1-3)
   3. “When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” (Act 1:6-11)
   4. “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (Mat 24:29-31)
   5. “And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.” (2Th 1:7-10)

• How He is Coming
  1. Visibly – He will be seen by our eyes.
     1. “And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” (Act 1:10-11)
     2. “And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” (Mat 24:30)

• “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.” (Rev 1:7)

1. Bodily
   1. “Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” (Act 1:11)
2. With Power
   1. “When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:” (Mat 25:31)
   2. “And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.” (2Th 1:7-10)
3. When He is Coming
   1. There are different views, but the Lord warned us that some will try to deceive us about the timing/nature of His return.
      1. “And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.” (Mat 24:3-4)
   2. While this is applied immediately within the context of false Christ’s coming it should stand out to us that there is deception around the coming of Christ. But let’s look at some things from the context that Christ says.
      1. “And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.” (Mat 24:6)
      2. “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” (Mat 24:14)

• “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)” (Mat 24:15)

1. “Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.” (Mat 24:23-28)

1. From these few verses we can gather the following:
   1. There will be deception around the return of Christ.
   2. There will be wars and rumors of wars but this does not mean that His return is imminent. We can also understand that there will be something different about these wars and rumors of war because ever since the book of Genesis there have been wars on the earth. The Bible itself is filled with historical accounts of wars even with the nation of Israel. This shows us that there is something different about the wars and rumors of war that He is telling us of here. Perhaps because it is larger in scale as the rest of the signs He tells us imply.

• The gospel will be preached to the whole world before Christ returns. This does not necessarily mean that every individual person on earth will have heard the gospel—though that may be what is meant. It may simply mean that the gospel will have penetrated every nation (the Greek word here is “ethnos”, as in ethnic groups). I believe it is more likely that what is meant is every ethnic group amongst the nations will have heard the gospel. This seems to be corroborated by Revelation 7:9-10 where a multitude is pictured in heaven praising God from every nation (“ethnos”):
  1. “After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.” (Rev 7:9-10)

1. Christians will see the AntiChrist. Jesus is specifically addressing His own disciples here. He makes no distinction about it being “tribulation saints” or those converted during the coming 7-year tribulation period. That’s a common counter-argument by some people. What I would like to ask them is who is discipling this great mass of new converts if Christianity is outlawed, all the previous Christians are gone because they have been removed from the earth before the trouble began (according to them), and who in the world is going to “have wisdom” as the book of Revelation states about those who can identify the mark of the beast and the number of his name? There is no discipleship going on if there is no one to disciple. Christian books? Which ones? Some will argue that God will supernaturally reveal these things to them? On the basis of what scripture, taken within its context, can you say that? You can’t. It’s arbitrary. The fact is that Christ Himself, and the Apostle Paul, and the first centuries of Christianity uniformly testify that Christians—those that are alive on the earth before and leading up to the 7-year tribulation—will see the AntiChrist with our own eyes. Anything else is an arbitrary opinion.
2. Lastly, from these verses at least, Jesus said people will be saying Jesus has come before He has. He goes on to tell us that when He comes you’re not going to miss it. It’s going to be like lightning from the east to the west. He later says this:
   1. “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (Mat 24:29-31)
3. He says that it is immediately AFTER the tribulation of those days that the Lord will visibly return for all the world to see. He gives no indication of a “secret” coming.

• Now, an argument that people bring up to the contrary is that we have not been appointed to “wrath”. That’s absolutely right. But Jesus didn’t say here “after the wrath of those days” He said “after the tribulation of those days”. In Matthew 24:29 the Greek word underlying our English word “tribulation” is “thlipsis”. It is translated as “affliction, anguish, burden, persecution, tribulation, trouble.” In 1 Thessalonians 1:10, where it says Christians are saved from the wrath to come, the Greek word underlying our English word “wrath” is “orge”. It is translated as “anger, indignation, vengeance, wrath”. Those are two separate concepts.
• For those who may struggle with this distinction don’t forget to ask yourself the question: Who’s wrath are we talking about? We are certainly saved from God’s wrath, but we are appointed to suffer someone else’s wrath.
  1. Christ Himself told the church at Smyrna that the Devil was going to give them tribulation, “thlipsis”:
     1. “Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” (Rev 2:10)
  2. The Lord even warned the church of Thyatira that He would bring them great tribulation unless they repented:
     1. “Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.” (Rev 2:22)
  3. This does not mean what we call the Great Tribulation necessarily. The word just means persecution, trouble, tribulation. We must examine context to see what it means. I point these two passages out for the sole purpose to show you that either God or the Devil can bring Christians tribulation. That’s from the mouth of Jesus Himself.

1. If you examine the context and timing of the wrath mentioned in Revelation you find that the time of God’s wrath, especially the “day of wrath”, if focused at the end of the 7-year time period. This is consistent with the words of Christ which indicate that it is “immediately AFTER the tribulation of those days” that He will return. For these, and many many more, reasons I only believe that two particular views of the return of Christ have any merit at all scripturally.

1. Two possible views:
   1. Pre-Wrath View
   2. Post-Tribulation View
2. Now, both of these fall under the post-tribulation camp. The basic idea being that Jesus Christ returns near the end, or at the end, of the 7-year tribulation period. Of course, there are variations with minor details with these two interpretations. People’s opinions are endless when it comes to prophecy.
3. The other notable views regarding the return of Christ—Pre-tribulation and Mid-tribulation—I don’t believe have any scriptural support whatsoever.
4. Some ministries that are very good in their teaching about this issue are Moriel Ministries with Jacob Prasch. I believe Prasch holds to a modified form of the Pre-wrath view. The other ministry is Blessed Hope Chapel, or Good Fight Ministries, with Joe Schimmel. Schimmel holds to a more straightforward Post-tribulation view I believe. I personally like Joe Schimmel’s teaching better on this issue. In fact, if you go to Blessed Hope Chapel’s Youtube page, or look up their podcast, you’ll find that he’s been teaching through the book of Revelation verse-by-verse. I highly recommend it.

1. Problems
   1. We have to be careful where to draw the line of what is biblical on this issue. The debate of pre-trib, mid-trib, pre-wrath, or post-trib, is not the hill to die on when it comes to determining who is a Christian or not. People are not necessarily in a cult if they believe any of those options. And there are extremes on all sides of this issue. Just because someone holds to a pre-trib view doesn’t necessarily mean that they are a lax, non-vigilant Christians. And just because someone holds to a post-trib view doesn’t necessarily mean that they believe that they’re going to conquer the world for Jesus and stockpiling guns and ammo. These are both problems, but we can’t allow caricatures to affect our desire for the truth for God’s Word. If the Bible says something is true, then it is true. We can’t allow our fear of being looked down on by some person or some group somewhere out there make us biased against God’s Word.

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