The Hope of the Gospel Part 1

A. The Testimony of the Beginning same as Witness of the End

⁴ This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens… ⁸ Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. ⁹ … In the middle of the garden were the tree of life… ¹⁰ A river watering the garden flowed from Eden… ¹⁶ And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; ¹⁷ but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”… ⁸ Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day… ¹⁷ To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. ¹⁸ It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. ¹⁹ By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” (Ge 2:4-3:19 NIV)

¹ Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”… ³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴ ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” ⁵ He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”… ¹ Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb ² down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. ³ No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. ⁴ They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. (Re 21:1–22:4 NIV)

^•19 “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; ²⁰ and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, ²¹ whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time. (Ac 3:19–21 NASB95)

B. Common Hope Entrusted To The Patriarchs, Prophets and Apostles

²⁸ Lamech lived one hundred and eighty-two years, and became the father of a son. ²⁹ Now he called his name Noah (i.e. ‘rest’), saying, “This one will give us rest from our work and from the toil of our hands arising from the ground which the Lord has cursed (cf. Gn. 3:17).” (Ge 5:28–29 NASB95)

³ You turn man back into dust And say, “Return, O children of men.” ⁴ For a thousand years in Your sight Are like yesterday when it passes by (cf. II Pet. 3:8), Or as a watch in the night. ⁵ You have swept them away like a flood, they fall asleep; In the morning they are like grass which sprouts anew. ⁶ In the morning it flourishes and sprouts anew; Toward evening it fades and withers away… ⁹ For all our days have declined in Your fury; We have finished our years like a sigh. ¹⁰ As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, Or if due to strength, eighty years, Yet their pride is but labor and sorrow… ¹² So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom. ¹³ Do return, O Lord; how long will it be? And be sorry for Your servants. ¹⁴ O satisfy us in the morning with Your lovingkindness, That we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. (Ps 90:3–14 NASB95)

⁹ “Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, ¹⁰ Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, ‘My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’; (Isa 46:9-10 NASB)

¹⁴ “But this I admit to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect I do serve the God of our fathers, believing everything that is in accordance with the Law and that is written in the Prophets; ¹⁵ having a hope in God, which these men cherish themselves, that there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked. (Ac 24:14–15 NASB95)

¹¹ For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. ¹² It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, ¹³ while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, (Tt 2:11–13 NIV)

¹³ Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (1 Pe 1:13 NASB95)

C. Likewise In The Early Church

But I and others, who are right-minded Christians on all points, are assured that there will be a resurrection of the dead, and a thousand years in Jerusalem, which will then be built, adorned, and enlarged, as the prophets Ezekiel and Isaiah and others declare.” ^[1]

“The early Christians hold firmly to a two-step belief about the future: first, death and whatever lies immediately beyond; second, a new bodily existence in a newly remade world… within early Christianity there is virtually no spectrum of belief about life beyond death… whereas the early Christians were drawn from many strands of Judaism and from widely differing backgrounds within paganism, and hence from circles that must have held very different beliefs about life beyond death, they all modified that belief to focus on one point on the spectrum… We have plenty of evidence of debates about all sorts of things, and the virtual unanimity on resurrection stands out. Only in the late second century, a good 150 years after the time of Jesus, do we find people using the word resurrection to mean something quite different from what is meant in Judaism and early Christianity, namely, a spiritual experience in the present leading to a disembodied hope in the future. For almost all of the first two centuries, resurrection in the traditional sense holds not just center stage but the whole stage.”^[2]

^[1] Justin Martyr (103-165), Dialogue with Trypho, Chapter 80

^[2] N.T. Wright, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church (New York: HarperOne, 2008), 41-42.

A. Yahweh’s Faithfulness To The Covenant

¹⁹ And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you”… ⁵ The LORD descended in the cloud and stood there with him as he called upon the name of the LORD. ⁶ Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness (Heb. ‘chesed’) and truth (Heb. ‘emeth’); (Exd 33:19, 34:5-6 NASB)

2876 חֶסֶד (ḥě∙sěḏ): n.masc.; ≡ Str 2617; TWOT 698a—1. LN 25.33–25.58 loyal love, unfailing kindness, devotion, i.e., a love or affection that is steadfast based on a prior relationship ^[1]

“The word is used only in cases where there is some recognized tie between the parties concerned. It is not used indiscriminately of kindness in general, haphazard, kindly deeds; this is why Coverdale was careful to avoid using the word ‘kindness’ in respect of God’s dealings with his people Israel. The theological importance of the word chesed is that it stands more than any other word for the attitude which both parties to a covenant ought to maintain towards each other. Sir George Adam Smith suggested the rendering ‘leal-love.’ The merit of this translation is that it combines the twin ideas of love and loyalty, both of which are essential… God’s loving-kindness is that sure love which will not let Israel go. Not all Israel’s persistent waywardness could ever destroy it. Though Israel be faithless, yet God remains faithful still. This steady, persistent refusal of God to wash his hands of wayward Israel is the essential meaning of the Hebrew word which is translated loving-kindness.” ^[2]

¹ Now when Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the LORD filled the house. ² The priests could not enter into the house of the LORD because the glory of the LORD filled the LORD’S house. ³ All the sons of Israel, seeing the fire come down and the glory of the LORD upon the house, bowed down on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave praise to the LORD, saying, “Truly He is good, truly His lovingkindness is everlasting.” (2Ch 7:1-3 NASB)

B. Framework For Hebrew Covenants – The Eternal Existence Of The Earth

¹⁴ The LORD said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, “Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east and west. ¹⁵ All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever… ¹⁷ Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you.” (Genesis 13:14-17 NIV)

⁷ I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. ⁸ The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.” (Genesis 17:7-8 NIV)

³ Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and there he blessed me ⁴ and said to me, ‘I am going to make you fruitful and will increase your numbers. I will make you a community of peoples, and I will give this land as an everlasting possession to your descendants after you.'” (Genesis 48:3-4 NIV)

² For I said, “Steadfast love (heb. ‘chesed’) will be built up forever; in the heavens you will establish your faithfulness.” ³ You have said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one; I have sworn to David my servant: ⁴ ‘I will establish your offspring forever, and build your throne for all generations.’” Selah…³³ but I will not remove from him my steadfast love (heb. ‘chesed’) or be false to my faithfulness. ³⁴ I will not violate my covenant or alter the word that went forth from my lips. ³⁵ Once for all I have sworn by my holiness; I will not lie to David. ³⁶ His offspring shall endure forever, his throne as long as the sun before me. ³⁷ Like the moon it shall be established forever, a faithful witness in the skies.” Selah (Ps 89:2–37 ESV)

¹¹ the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voices of those who sing, as they bring thank offerings to the house of the Lord: “‘Give thanks to the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good, for his steadfast love (heb. ‘chesed’) endures forever!’ … ²⁰ “Thus says the Lord: If you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, so that day and night will not come at their appointed time, ²¹ then also my covenant with David my servant may be broken, so that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne, and my covenant with the Levitical priests my ministers. (Je 33:11–21 ESV)

^[1] Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (electronic ed.). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

^[2] Norman H. Snaith, Theological Word Book of the Bible, ed. by Alan Richardson (New York: MacMillan, 1951), 136-7.

A. The ‘Proto-Evangelium’

¹⁵ And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel… for dust you are and to dust you will return.” ²⁰ Adam named his wife Eve (lit. ‘life’), because she would become the mother of all the living. (Ge 3:15–20 NIV)

¹ Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand… ²⁰ But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. ²¹ For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. ²² For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. ²³ But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. (1 Co 15:1–23 NIV)

B. Messiah, Son of Abraham

¹⁸ “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” (Ge 22:18 NASB95) ^[1]

²⁷ God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. ²⁸ God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Ge 1:27–28 NASB95)

²⁵ “It is you who are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ ²⁶ “For you first, God raised up His Servant and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.” (Ac 3:25–26 NASB95)

C. Messiah, Son of David

¹² “When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. ¹³ He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. (2 Sa 7:12–13 NKJV)

³ “I have made a covenant with My chosen, I have sworn to My servant David: ⁴ ‘Your seed I will establish forever, And build up your throne to all generations.’” Selah…³⁵ Once I have sworn by My holiness; I will not lie to David: ³⁶ His seed shall endure forever, And his throne as the sun before Me; ³⁷ It shall be established forever like the moon, Even like the faithful witness in the sky.” Selah (Ps 89:3–37 NKJV)

²⁰ “Thus says the LORD: If you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, so that day and night will not come at their appointed time, ²¹ then also my covenant with David my servant may be broken, so that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne, and my covenant with the Levitical priests my ministers. (Jer 33:20-21 ESV)

D. Consistent Hope Through NT Writings

¹ The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham: (Mt 1:1 NASB95)

²³ All the crowds were amazed, and were saying, “This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?” (Mt 12:23 NASB95)

²⁵ He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! ²⁶ Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” ²⁷ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. (Lk 24:25–27 NIV)

³ After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God… ⁶ Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Ac 1:3–6 NIV)

¹² Now if their transgression is riches for the world and their failure is riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fulfillment be! ¹³ But I am speaking to you who are Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle of Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, ¹⁴ if somehow I might move to jealousy my fellow countrymen and save some of them. ¹⁵ For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? (Ro 11:12–15 NASB95)

^[1] Adam and Eve, being the only ones who witnessed the original blessedness of creation, were the ones who informed their own descendants of what had been lost, and consequently the coming restoration which had been promised in the coming seed. Abraham was by no means ignorant of the garden, or of the original blessedness of creation since he was alive at the same time as Shem (possibly Noah?) whose great grandfather Methuselah lived for 300 years prior to Adam’s death.

A. Messiah Appointed To Judge The Earth

⁴² “And He ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead. ⁴³ “Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.” (Ac 10:42–43 NASB95)

¹⁴ It was also about these men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, ¹⁵ to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” (Jud 14–15 NASB95)

¹⁰ Go into the rocks, hide in the ground from the fearful presence of the Lord and the splendor of his majesty! ¹¹ The eyes of the arrogant will be humbled and human pride brought low; the Lord alone will be exalted in that day. ¹² The Lord Almighty has a day in store for all the proud and lofty, for all that is exalted (and they will be humbled), (Is 2:10–12 NIV)

¹⁶ and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; ¹⁷ for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” (Re 6:16–17 NASB95)

B. Biblical Hope Is Contingent Upon The Day Of The Lord

³ The earth will be completely laid waste and completely despoiled, for the Lord has spoken this word. ⁴ The earth mourns and withers, the world fades and withers, the exalted of the people of the earth fade away. ⁵ The earth is also polluted by its inhabitants, for they transgressed laws, violated statutes, broke the everlasting covenant…^26:7 And on this mountain He will swallow up the covering which is over all peoples, Even the veil which is stretched over all nations. ⁸ He will swallow up death for all time, And the Lord God will wipe tears away from all faces, And He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth; For the Lord has spoken. ⁹ And it will be said in that day, “Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us. This is the Lord for whom we have waited; Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.” (Is 24:3-25:9 NASB95)

² that you should remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles. ³ Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, ⁴ and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.”^{… 7} But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. ⁸ But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. ⁹ The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. (2 Pe 3:2–9 NASB95)

¹⁹ “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; ²⁰ and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, ²¹ whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time. ²² “Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren; to Him you shall give heed to everything He says to you. ²³ ‘And it will be that every soul that does not heed that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’ ²⁴ “And likewise, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and his successors onward, also announced these days. ²⁵ “It is you who are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ ²⁶ “For you first, God raised up His Servant and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.” (Ac 3:19–26 NASB95)

C. The Days Of Men And The Day Of The Lord

¹² For the Lord of hosts has a day against all that is proud and lofty, against all that is lifted up—and it shall be brought low… ¹⁷ And the haughtiness of man shall be humbled, and the lofty pride of men shall be brought low, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day. ¹⁸ And the idols shall utterly pass away. ¹⁹ And people shall enter the caves of the rocks and the holes of the ground, from before the terror of the Lord, and from the splendor of his majesty, when he rises to terrify the earth. ²⁰ In that day mankind will cast away their idols of silver and their idols of gold, which they made for themselves to worship, to the moles and to the bats, ²¹ to enter the caverns of the rocks and the clefts of the cliffs, from before the terror of the Lord, and from the splendor of his majesty, when he rises to terrify the earth. ²² Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he? (Is 2:12–22 ESV)

¹ “Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations. ² “He will not cry out or raise His voice, Nor make His voice heard in the street. ³ “A bruised reed He will not break And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice. ⁴ “He will not be disheartened or crushed Until He has established justice in the earth; And the coastlands will wait expectantly for His law.” (Is 42:1–4 NASB95)

⁶ Wail, for the day of the Lord is near; as destruction from the Almighty it will come!… ⁹ Behold, the day of the Lord comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the land a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it. ¹⁰ For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be dark at its rising, and the moon will not shed its light. ¹¹ I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will put an end to the pomp of the arrogant, and lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless. (Is 13:6–11 ESV)

¹⁴ The great day of the Lord is near— near and coming quickly. The cry on the day of the Lord is bitter; the Mighty Warrior shouts his battle cry. ¹⁵ That day will be a day of wrath— a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness— ¹⁶ a day of trumpet and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the corner towers. ¹⁷ “I will bring such distress on all people that they will grope about like those who are blind, because they have sinned against the Lord. Their blood will be poured out like dust and their entrails like dung. ¹⁸ Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them on the day of the Lord’s wrath.” In the fire of his jealousy the whole earth will be consumed, for he will make a sudden end of all who live on the earth. (Zep 1:14–18 NIV)

²⁹ And at the end of the nineteenth jubilee in the seventh week, in the sixth year, Adam died. And all of his children buried him in the land of his creation. And he was the first who was buried in the earth. ³⁰ And he lacked seventy years from one thousand years, for a thousand years are like one day in the testimony of heaven (cf. 2 Pet 3:8; ‘sabbath rest’ Heb 4-5) and therefore it was written concerning the tree of knowledge, “In the day you eat from it you will die.” Therefore he did not complete the years of this day because he died in it. (Jubilees 4:29-30) ^[1]

^[1] James H. Charlesworth, The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, vol. 2 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1985), 63-64

A. Messianic Kingdom Made Up Of All Nations

¹³ “I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him. ¹⁴ “And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations and men of every language Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed. (Da 7:13–14 NASB95)

¹⁵ The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written: ¹⁶ “‘After this I will return and rebuild David’s fallen tent. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it, ¹⁷ that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who bear my name, says the Lord, who does these things’— (Ac 15:15–17 NIV)

²² “You shall divide it by lot for an inheritance among yourselves and among the aliens who stay in your midst, who bring forth sons in your midst. And they shall be to you as the native-born among the sons of Israel; they shall be allotted an inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel. ²³ “And in the tribe with which the alien stays, there you shall give him his inheritance,” declares the Lord God. (Eze 47:22–23 NASB95)

³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. ³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. (Mt 25:31–34 NIV)

⁹ After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches (cf. Zech 14:16ff) in their hands. (Re 7:9 NIV)

B. Messianic Kingdom Centered In Jerusalem

⁶ For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. ⁷ Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. (Is 9:6–7 NIV)

⁶ “But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain.” (Ps 2:6 NASB95)

¹ The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.” ² The Lord will stretch forth Your strong scepter from Zion, saying, “Rule in the midst of Your enemies.” (Ps 110:1–2 NASB95)

C. New Testament Consistency

³⁰ The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. ³¹ “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. ³² “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; ³³ and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” (Lk 1:30–33 NASB95)

⁹ Those who went in front and those who followed were shouting: “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord; ¹⁰ Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David; Hosanna in the highest!” (Mk 11:9–10 NASB95)

²⁸ “You are those who have stood by Me in My trials; ²⁹ and just as My Father has granted Me a kingdom, I grant you ³⁰ that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. (Lk 22:28–30 NASB95)

³ To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God… ⁶ So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” (Ac 1:3–6 NASB95)

¹⁴ Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, ¹⁵ and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mk 1:14–15 NASB95)

²² Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see. ²³ All the people were astonished and said, “Could this be the Son of David?” ²⁴ But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.” ²⁵ Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. ²⁶ If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? ²⁷ And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. ²⁸ But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. (Mt 12:22–28 NIV)

⁴⁴ “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. (Da 2:44 NIV)

³⁰ “When you are in distress and all these things have come upon you, in the latter days you will return to the Lord your God and listen to His voice. (Dt 4:30 NASB95)

^•15 “But it shall come about, if you do not obey the Lord your God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I charge you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: (Dt 28:15 NASB95)

⁴³ “Terror, pit and snare are coming upon you, O inhabitant of Moab,” declares the Lord. (Je 48:43 NASB95)

D. Early Church Apocalyptic Kingdom Expectation

The Apostles for our sakes…went forth…preaching the gospel that the Kingdom of God was about to come. ^[1]

“But when this Antichrist shall have devastated all things in this world, he will reign for three years and six months, and sit in the temple at Jerusalem; and then the Lord will come from heaven in the clouds, in the glory of the Father, sending this man and those who follow him into the lake of fire; but bringing in for the righteous the times of the kingdom, that is, the rest, the hallowed seventh day; and restoring to Abraham the promised inheritance, in which kingdom the Lord declared, that “many coming from the east and from the west should sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” ^[2]

“These are [to take place] in the times of the kingdom, that is, upon the seventh day, which has been sanctified, in which God rested from all the works which He created, which is the true Sabbath of the righteous” ^[3]

“And six thousand years must needs be accomplished, in order that the Sabbath may come, the rest, the holy day on which God rested from all His works. For the Sabbath is the type and emblem of the future kingdom of the saints, when they shall reign with Christ, when He comes from heaven” ^[4]

E. Modern Perversions

“The Old Testament must be interpreted by the New Testament. In principle it is quite possible that the prophecies addressed originally to literal Israel describing physical blessings have their fulfillment exclusively in the spiritual blessings enjoyed by the church. It is also possible that the Old Testament expectation of a kingdom on earth could be reinterpreted by the New Testament altogether of blessings in the spiritual realm.” ^[5]

“But eschatological themes are reinterpretedin the New Testament, where we are told these Old Testament images are types and shadows of the glorious realities that are fulfilled in Jesus Christ. ^[6]

Jesus spent His whole ministry redefining what the kingdom meant. He refused to give up the symbolic language of the kingdom, but filled it with such a new content that, as we have seen, he powerfully subverted Jewish expectations. ^[7]

F. Realized Eschatology In The Early Church

¹⁷ Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, ¹⁸ who have departed from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some. (2 Ti 2:17–18 NIV)

¹ Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, ² not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter—asserting that the day of the Lord has already come. ³ Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. (2 Th 2:1–3 NIV)

⁷ For who regards you as superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it? ⁸ You are already filled, you have already become rich, you have become kings without us; and indeed, I wish that you had become kings so that we also might reign with you. ⁹ For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. ¹⁰ We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are prudent in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are distinguished, but we are without honor. ¹¹ To this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and are roughly treated, and are homeless; ¹² and we toil, working with our own hands; when we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure; ¹³ when we are slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now… ¹⁶ Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me. (1 Co 4:7–16 NASB95)

^[1] First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians; ch 42

^[2] Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Bk. V, xxviii

^[3] Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Bk. V, xxxiii

^[4] Hippolytus. On the HexaËmeron, Or Six Days’ Work, Fragments from Commentaries on Various Books of Scripture

^[5] Ladd, George E. “Revelation 20 and the Millennium” RevExp57 (1960); 167

^[6] Riddlebarger, Kim,ACase for Amillennialism: Understanding the End Times(Grand Rapids: Baker, 2003), 37

^[7] Wright, N.T. Jesus and the Victory of God (Christian Origins and the Question of God, Volume 2)