Episode 64: Clearing the Prophetic Air

Bible Prophecy Under the Microscope-Episode 64

Gary gives his “state of the union” of current teachings about Bible prophecy coming from non-Dispensational critics.

Debates continue over which biblical passages refer to the AD 70 judgment coming of Jesus and those that refer to what is commonly called the yet Second Coming of Jesus. As I have repeatedly pointed out, there is no unanimous agreement among scholars on this question, especially among those who signed the “Three Questions Letter” that was sent to me to affirm specific creedal and confessional statements or else! Kenneth Gentry argues that Matthew 16:27 and 28 describe two comings separated by nearly 2,000 years (so far). Almost any commentary you pick up will admit that these two verses (also found in Mark and Luke) are difficult to interpret. Honest students of Scripture should be free to study the topic without being labeled a “heretic” for arguing that both verses refer to events surrounding that first-century destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 that included the dismantling of the temple (Matt. 24:1-3). Douglas Wilson is honest enough to admit that he is “not finally settled” but is “strongly inclined to take Matthew 16:27 as a 70 AD reference because of the ‘not taste death’ reference in the next verse.”

Gentry takes a different approach by describing himself “as an orthodox preterist.” Does this mean that anyone who does not interpret Matthew 16:27 the way he does is not “orthodox”? Here’s how he expresses his position:

As an orthodox preterist, I hold that this passage brings together the AD 70 judgment and the Final Judgment. As orthodox preterists argue (following most conservative, evangelical theologians in general), the AD 70 destruction of the temple is a dramatic judgment of God in itself. But it is also a typological foretaste of the universal Final Judgment, which it pictures through the local judgment on Israel. (This is much like the Israel’s Old Testament exodus event being an important act in itself, while serving as a type of coming redemption through Christ.)

Gentry shows by his comment that there is no agreement of two comings in Matthew 16:27-28. Yes, many evangelical commentators state that Matthew 16:27 is a Second Coming passage. Surprisingly, Gentry declares, “Many scholars see v. 28 as simply repeating v. 27, using different words.” This means that by his own admission “many scholars” disagree with him that two comings are described in verses 27 and 28. While he does not tell us who these “many scholars” are, I’ll list some of them. I’ll start with contemporary author Keith Mathison who edited the book When Shall These Things Be? A Reformed Response to Hyper-Preterism that includes a chapter by Gentry and himself. Mathison states the following in his book Postmillennialism: An Eschatology of Hope:

There is a distinct parallel between the language of 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 and Matthew 16:27-28, which describes a coming of the Son of Man for judgment within the lifetime of some of His disciples.

“A coming,” not two comings separated by thousands of years. He expands on the above comments in his 2009 book From Age to Age: The Unfolding of Biblical Eschatology. Mathison notes that some interpret Matthew 16:27 as a reference to a yet future coming of Jesus. He then argues that “a more likely … possibility is that the judgment Jesus is referring to in verse 27 is the judgment referred to in Daniel 7:9-10, a heavenly judgment of the ‘beasts/nations’ that is directly related to Jesus receiving of the Kingdom of God from the father, an event that occurs in connection with his first advent.”

Prophecy Wars: The Biblical Battle Over the End Times

There is a long history of skeptics turning to Bible prophecy to claim that Jesus was wrong about the timing of His coming at “the end of the age” (Matt. 24:3) and the signs associated with it. Noted atheist Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) is one of them and Bart Ehrman is a modern example. It’s obvious that neither Russell or Ehrman are aware of or are ignoring the mountain of scholarship that was available to them that showed that the prophecy given by Jesus was fulfilled in great detail just as He said it would be before the generation of His day passed away.

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Gary gives his “state of the union” of current teachings about Bible prophecy coming from non-Dispensational critics. Gary is preparing to travel to Moscow, Idaho to discuss eschatology with Douglas Wilson in a public forum, so the topic is forefront on his mind.

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