Newsgroups: bit.listserv.christia
Date:         Fri, 4 Sep 1992 06:29:58 EDT
From:         JEK@NIHCU.BITNET
Subject: Matthew 24 -- when? Part 1

     NOTES ON MATTHEW 24: PART 1 OF 2

Jesse Carnes, in a series of posts, has suggested that much of the
Little Apocalypse (Matthew 24-25 and parallels in Mark and Luke) was
fulfilled at the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.

The main argument for this view (the Preterist Interpretation) is
that Our Lord uses language like, "This generation shall not pass
away...."

The main argument for the view that the passage refers to events
still in the future, near to the end of human history as we know it
(the Futurist Interpretation) is that the predictions do not seem to
fit the past facts as we know them.

Let us take a closer look at this second argument.

Jesus has just predicted the destruction of the Temple. "Not one
stone will be left on another." The disciples ask Him:
    (a) When will this be?
    (b) What will be the signs of your coming?
    (c) What will be the signs of the end of the age (aion)?

Many English readers are accustomed to the translation "end of the
world." But note the English word "world" once meant "span of time,
era, age." Originally, in fact, it referred to the lifespan of a
man, and comes from the same root as "were", (pronounced "weer"),
meaning "man," as in "werewolf" (a legendary being that is usually a
man but turns into a wolf from time to time) and "weregild" (payment
given as compensation to the family of a slain man).

If we take "the end of the age" to mean the end of the great chapter
in human history and Divine Providence represented by the Levitical
Sacrifices in Tabernacle and Temple, then (c), along with (a), could
very plausibly be referred to 70 AD. The "coming" (parousia)
mentioned in (b) seems most naturally to refer to the Final
Appearance to judge the quick and the dead, and it is possible that
we will find references to both events in Jesus' reply to the
disciples' question.


Now, Matthew 24:29 says:

 + Immediately after the tribulation of those days,
 + the sun will be darkened,
 + the moon will not give her light,
 + the stars shall fall from heaven.

This does not sound like the events of 70 AD. It suggests instead
The Final Wrapup. However:
     (a) in Isaiah 13:10, we find similar langauge applied to the
coming destruction of Babylon by the Medes.
     (b) In Isaish 34:4, we find similar language applied to the
coming destruction of Edom.
     (c) In Ezekial 32:7, we find similar language applied to the
coming destruction of Egypt by Babylon.
     (d) In Joel 2:10, we find similar language applied to a
catastrophe befalling Judah -- either a plague of locusts described
under the metaphor of a foreign (Nineveh?) invasion, or a foreign
invasion described under the metaphor of a plague of locusts.
     (e) In Joel 3:30f, we find similar language, in a prophecy that
we are told (Acts 2:16) was fulfilled in the year of the Passion.

The reference (d) probably means simply that the swarm of locusts is
so huge and thick as to darken the sky. This agrees with what I have
seen of locust swarms on National Geographic specials.

The reference (e) may have been fulfilled literally at the
Crucifixion.  I think it probable that the Crucifixion took place in
the year 33 AD.  (Not all Christian scholars agree.) The Synooptists
tell us that at the Crucifixion, there was darkness from noon till
three o-clock pm. Phlegon of Caria, a Greek chronicler writing soon
after 137 AD, speaks of a darkness at noon, accompanied by a great
earthquake, in the year ending 30 June 33 AD.  On the evening of
Friday 3 April 33 AD (14 Nisan), there was a partial eclipse of the
moon which would have been visible at Jerusalem.

This leaves us with (a), (b), and (c). If we take these passages as
referring to the defeat of these three ancient powers some centuries
ago, then we may conclude that language about the failing light of
sun and moon was standard metaphor when speaking of the fall of
cities and empires. If we take these as referring to some future
spectacular defeat of these powers, then we can suppose that the
references to celestial phenomena are intended literally. However,
in that case we have to ask:
      Does the society currently occupying the land of Egypt have
anything in common except for location with the society ruled by the
Pharaohs in Isaiah's time? Isaiah clearly intended his words to be a
comfort to the people of Judah in his own time. Would they have been
comforted by the assurance that the republic occupying the Nile
valley more than 25 centuries after their time would be defeated by
the country occupying Mesopotamia at that time?
     When a day comes on which the sun and moon are darkened
literally, and empires crash, will they do so under invasion by
other empires, or by more spectacular methods? If the latter seems
more plausible, then it makes sense to take the darkness predicted
by Isaiah and Ezekiel to be a metaphor of catastrophe, and to apply
the prophecies to ancient events.
     Assuming that the reference is to a future literal darkening of
sun and moon, are we to assume one such darkening, or several?
Supposing the answer is "one," is it plausible to suppose that the
Medes will conquer Babylon at the same time that Babylon is
conquering Egypt, and that someone is conquering both Edom and
Jerusalem?

In the light of these considerations, I submit that it is a
reasonable option to treat a Biblical reference to a coming darkness
of sun and moon as usually a metaphor of cataclysm, and to say that
M 24:29 may refer to the sack of Jerusalem in 70 AD.