Greek Words And Their Meanings
Donald Hochner
Part 1: Greek: Mello
(About
To)
This is the first of five articles examining the
Greek words as used in the Bible. I want to share with you why the full
Preterist position is consistent with the Scripture, especially these passages
that speak of things about to come. We are going to look into the lexicons with
the Greek word "mello" (with its root words) which means "to be
about to be, to be the point of doing" (Analytical Greek Lexicon, p. 262;
Arndt, p. 500; Thayer, p. 396). I think this word "mello" is one of
the most neglected English translations (NASB, KJV, NIV, etc.) of the
eschatological passages in the NT. I was shocked to find out about this. The
English translators may be guilty of removing or distorting God's Holy Word
(Deut. 4:2). I believe it is because of the futurists' views that have affected
or influenced translations of the Bible. This is pure eisegesis.
I
am going to show you some eschatological passages. I am using NASB and you will
see "[about]" which is in Greek text. I would recommend you to check
some books in Greek and English with the interlinear translation, "The New
Englishman's Concordance and Lexicon" and "Young's Literal
Translation of the Holy Bible." These books may be very helpful for you.
You will see why.
1.
Matt. 3:7 & Luke 3:7 - "But when he saw many of the Pharisees and
Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers, who
warned you to flee from the wrath [about] to come?" In this context, John
the Baptist was preaching to the Jewish people. He warned the Jewish religious
leaders about God's wrath to come shortly and it happened in 66-70 AD (3 1/2
years). The Old Covenant temple and the city of
2.
Matt. 12:32 - "And whoever shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it
shall be forgiven him; but whoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it
shall not be forgiven him, either in this (Old Covenant) age, or in the (New
Covenant) age [about] to come." Why did Jesus say it shall not be
forgiven, either in this age OR the age about to come? He is speaking of sins
committed in the time before the destruction of the Jewish temple before 70 AD
("this age") and afterward ("the age to come"). We will
study the Greek word "age" which is "aion" in Part Five.
3.
Matt.
4.
Matt. 24:6 - "And you will [about to] be hearing of wars and rumors of
wars; see that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but
that is not yet the end." Jesus was speaking to His disciples in their
GENERATION (Matt. 24:34).
5.
Luke
6.
Acts
7.
Acts 24:14, 15 - "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; having a
hope in God, which these men cherish themselves, that there shall [about to be]
a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked." Again, Paul made it
very clear. He was expecting everything that written to be fulfilled very soon
in his lifetime including the resurrection. Throughout the NT, we have seen the
proclamation of the fulfillment of Israel's promises for the gospel going
"to the Jews first, then the Greek"; the on-going Post-Pentecost
transition from the Old Covenant to the New which is a pervasive and emphatic
testimony for first century imminence of the time of the end.
8.
Acts 24:25 - "And as he was discussing righteousness, self-control and the
judgment [about] to come, Felix became frightened and said, "Go away for
the present, and when I find time, I will summon you." Notice Felix became
frightened.
9.
Acts 26:22, 23 - "And so, having obtained help from God, I stand to this
day testifying both to small and great, stating nothing but what the Prophets
and Moses said was going [about] to take place; that Christ was to suffer, and
that by reason of His resurrection from the dead He should be the first to
proclaim light both to Jewish people and to the Gentiles." Notice Paul
said the writings of the Prophets and Moses were about to be fulfilled.
10.
Rom.
11.
Rom. 8:38, 39 - "For I am convinced that neither death, not life, nor
angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things [about] to come, nor
powers, nor height, not depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to
separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Notice things present (Mosaic Age) and things about to come (Messianic Age) are
associated with death, life, angels, etc. which shall not able to separate us
from the love of God.
12.
1 Corinthians 3:21-23 - "So then let no one boast in
men. For all things belong to you, whether Paul or Apollos
or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things [about] to
come; all things belong to you, and you belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to
God." This is the same thing as in Rom. 8:38.
13.
Eph
14.
Col. 2:16, 17 - "Therefore let no one act as your judge in regard food or
drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day, things which
are a mere shadow of what is [about] to come; but the substance belongs to
Christ." These passages are the most important to understand the Old
Covenant (Jewish festivals, ceremonial, promises, etc.) which was about to
completed in Christ. Some futurists believe all these things were completed at
the cross but it was not at the time of Paul's writing. So, obviously we don't practice these things for today because they were done
away in 70 AD.
15.
2 Tim. 4:1 - "I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus,
who is [about] to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His
kingdom." This verse would close the case against the Futurist's views. At
Christ's return the wicked were judged and cast into eternal torment, the same place where all other wicked go at death. The
righteous inherited resurrection life back in the presence of God for the first
time since Adam, the representative of the human race, lost it in the Garden.
Resurrection life is
16.
Heb.
17.
Heb. 2:5 - "For He did not subject to angels the world [about] to come,
concerning which we are speaking." The Hebrew writer was discussing the
Mosaic age that was "put into effect through angels" (Acts
18.
Heb. 9:11 - "But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things
[about] to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle,
not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation." Read in Heb.
8:6-13, 9:8-12, 15. At the time of writing, the earthly temple was still there
and Christ the High Priest had not yet been disclosed from the holy place in
heaven. In the OT, the high priest sacrificed the animal and then brought the
blood into the holy of holies on the Day of Atonement. When the high priest
came out of the holy of holies, the actual atonement had been made. But the
blood of bulls and goats did not take away sins (Heb. 10:4). Jesus already came
out of the holy place and brought all of His elect into the glory of God in
heaven. That is why all the elect, physical, Israel were saved by the time the
Parousia took place at the destruction of the Temple as it is written in Rom.
11:5, 25-29 (c.f. Heb. 9:15, 28). Since then, all of God's elect are no longer
subject to Death (condemnation) and Hades (separation from God's presence). I
believe at death the elect shed their physical bodies, and continue living in
their spiritual immortal bodies with God in heaven forever.
19.
Heb. 10:1 - "For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things
[about] to come and not the very form of things, can never by the same
sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make perfect those who
draw near." The writer of Hebrews tried to remind the Jewish people about
the promises of God which were about to be fulfilled in Christ.
20.
Heb
21.
Heb.
22.
1 Peter 5:1 - "Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow
elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and partaker also of the glory
that is [about] to be revealed." Peter understood and he was expecting the
glory that was about to revealed. Remember, he was inspired by God. Read
carefully in 1 Peter 1:4-13, 20; 2:6-8; 4:7.
23.
Rev. 1:19 - "Write therefore the things which you have seen, and the
things which are, and the things which shall [about to] take place after these
things." In Rev. 1:9-20, these passages are "The things which you
have seen." In Rev. 2:1-3:22 are "The things which are," and
then in Rev. 4:1-22:5 are "the things which are ABOUT to take place after
these things." There are only three sections and notice the last section
was about to take place in John's generation. Read Rev. 1:1, 3; 22:6, 7, 10,
12, 20. We must NOT attempt to explain away the
statements of imminence. That is the rule of the interpretation. Some try to
use 2 Peter 3:8 to interpret the overwhelming abundance of the statements of
imminence. However, their hermeneutic is unacceptable.
24.
Rev 12:5 - "And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is [about] to
rule all the nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up to God and
His throne." It is clearly about Jesus who was caught up to God and His
throne in heaven, not on the earth. In John's vision, Jesus was about to rule
with a rod of iron.
Here is a quote from Eusebius, the Christian historian in the late third
century. This is what he wrote about James, the brother of the Lord, when James
was in trial with the Jewish leaders, "And he (James) answered with a loud
voice, 'Why do ye ask me respecting Jesus the Son of Man? He is now sitting in
the heavens, on the right hand of great Power, and is about to come on the
clouds of heavens.' in Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History, p. 77 (emphasis mine).
So, the Preterist view is consistent with the Scriptures. Let the
Scriptures interpret the Scriptures. Check the Greek words and some historians,
and you will find the Preterist view has the
strongest case against any other eschatological views. I don't know how the
Futurists would defend themselves with these passages which I have shown. We
ought to "be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who
does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth" (2
Tim.
The Reformed Futurists (Amillennialism, Postmillennialism or Historic Premillennialism) cannot defend their eschatological views
with Dispensationalism, Charismatic and Pentecostal
churches, Arminianism, Judaism, Liberal Theologians and the cults because they
have some holes. Once the Reformed churches come into the full Preterist view,
they will be able to defend the truth against the members of these false religions, and they will be able expose them with their
errors. Reformed Preterists can make a big difference, no matter what others
will think.
What do you think all of this so far, especially after examining the
Greek word "mello"? Hopefully this will help a lot and cause you to
rethink the reasons for your eschatological view.
Soli Deo
Gloria!
Donald Hochner
This is the second of five articles to examine the Greek words, since the
full Preterist view is consistent with the Scripture, the Greek words in the
NT, and the historical records. Most Futurists' views have fallen short in
their failure to properly take into account the historical-grammatical-cultural
context of the prophecies (specifically what they meant to their first-century
audience). One of many problems some futurists have is identifying the correct
definition of the word, "generation." They interpret the word,
"generation" as it is used today or in the future. The Bible was
written for us, but it was not written to us. We will look into the eschatological
passages of the Bible with this word "generation." The Bible I am
using is the New American Standard Bible.
When you see the phase "this generation," ask yourself, the
question, "which generation?" We can look the word
"generation" in Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the NT, and we can
see that the Greek word is "genea." It
says, "The whole multitude of men living at the same time." Also we
find in William F. Arndt and Wilber Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the NT
and Other Early Christian Literature: "basically, the sum total of those
born at the same time, expanded to include all those living at a given time. Contemporaries."
I have noticed that many Bible commentators dance around the meaning of
the word "generation." Some say that Jesus was speaking to a
generation that was not going to exist until thousands of years in the future.
Others claim that the whole Jewish "race" was in view. Those are NOT
sound Biblical interpretations. The Greek word "genos"
rather than "genea" is the best translated
"race" as in Acts 7:19;
1.
Matt.
2.
Matt.
*There
was a great storm in which Jonah was caught and he was sleeping. The men on the
boat were afraid. Then the sea was calmed supernaturally (Jonah 1:4-16).
*There was a great storm in which Jesus was caught and He was sleeping. The
disciples on the boat were afraid. Then the sea was calmed supernaturally (Mark
*Jonah was in the great fish for 3 days and 3 nights (Jonah
*God had supernaturally raised Jonah out of the great fish's belly of Sheol
(2:2, 10).
*God had supernaturally raised Jesus out of the tomb and Hades
"vomited" Him (Acts
*Jonah was a sign to Nineveh.
*Jesus was a sign to
*Jonah preached to the Ninevites that God was going
to destroy them in 40 days (Jonah 3:4).
*Jesus (and His apostles) preached to the Jews in
*40 days of preaching caused Nineveh to repent. *40
years of preaching did not get
*God called Nineveh the great city (Jonah 1:2; 3:2;
3.
Matt. 12:41, 42 - "The men of
4.
Matt. 12:43-45 - Read these passages and Jesus say, "That is the way it
will also be with this evil generation." He was talking about how the
demoniac spirits will get worse in the generation to which He was speaking.
5.
Matt. 16:4 - "An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and a
sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah." And He left them,
and went away." Jesus was repeatedly saying that the Jewish leaders were
still seeking after a sign in an evil and adulterous generation.
6.
Matt.
7.
Matt.
8.
Matt 24:34 (Mark
Let me add something about Matt. 24 from Eusebius, the Christian
historian from the late third century. He said, "The whole body, however,
of the church at
9.
Mark
10.
Luke 11:29-32 - The same as in Matt. 12:41, 42. Jesus repeatedly said
"this generation" seven times in this chapter. How does
the Futurists deal with this???
11.
Luke 11:50, 51 (Matt. 23:36) - "In order that the blood of all the
prophets, shed since the foundation of the world, may be charged against this
generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished
between altar and the house of God; yes, I tell you, it shall be charged
against this generation." Jesus was saying from the beginning (from Abel)
to that generation (by 70 AD), all of these people shall rise up in the
judgment. Read the context in verses 46 to 54 and the other passages from this
article.
12.
Luke
13.
Luke
14.
Acts
15.
Phil. 2:14-16 - "Do all things without grumbling or disputing; that you
may prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above
reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you
appear as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that in the
day of Christ I may have cause to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil
in vain." Clearly, Paul knew he was in the midst of perverse generation
because the day of Christ is at hand.
16.
Heb. 3:9-11 - "Where your fathers tried Me by
testing Me, and saw My works for forty years. Therefore I was angry with this
generation, and said 'They always go astray in their hearts; and they did not
know My way'; as I swore in My wrath, 'They shall not
enter MY rest." The writer warned the Jewish Christians not to fall back
into Judaism as the Israelites did in the wilderness for 40 years with Moses.
He further shows that many did not enter the typical rest (promised
land) because of unbelief or apostasy, thereby exhorting the believers
to remain faithful lest they fall after the same example of unbelief. That
generation was a "wilderness" period for the church (30 to 70 AD).
Now we have entered His rest and inherited the
Lastly, here is a quotation from the Jewish historian, Josephus, which he
wrote about the Jewish War in his generation. When the Jews revolted against
Now, I challenge you to determine which of these verses refers to a time
of our future. Did you know that the liberal responds about this in the
following way: "We know Jesus didn't return in the first century. Therefore, the NT writers were mistaken in their
predictions of an imminent return; and since inspired men cannot write mistaken
things, they must not have been inspired!" When God
communicates time to man, He reasons with His people in a way that man can
understand Him. So, if the futurists really want to get to the heart of
the issue, they had better deal with the Imminency
statements. In other words, to say that "this generation, at hand,
quickly, or near" meant two thousands years is to put the integrity of the
NT at risk.
Since I am Reformed in my soteriology
(doctrine of salvation), I have gladly adopted the full or consistent Preterist
position of eschatology. I have realized that it is the only Biblical system
that truly cries "Sola Scriptura!" It
allows the Scripture to interpret itself and upholds the law of hermeneutics -
the grammatical-historical hermeneutic.
Soli Deo Gloria!
Donald Hochner
First, this study is based on the belief that the only way a Christian can
understand God and the Church is through the Word of God - Sola Scriptura.
Second, any tradition of men or teaching of men which can be shown to be
contradictory with the Scripture must be rejected, no matter how long the
tradition has existed and no matter how many people hold to that teaching.
Third, no matter what the creeds say or teach, they are not the final
authority. What saith the Scripture? This does not mean I have no value for the
creeds. In fact they may be useful or helpful.
This is the third of five articles. We are going to study the Preterist's view on "Parousia,"
the Greek word for "advent, coming, or presence." Interesting, I
checked in Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, and it says, 'Advent
(often, return; spec. of Christ to punish
One passage says all the tribes of the earth shall see the Son of Man
coming with the angels in the clouds and they will mourn over Him because God
judged them for their sins (Rev. 1:7). "Earth" (Gk: ge) can be "land" or
"region," depending on the context. Young's Literal Translation of
the Holy Bible translates it just this way. I do not believe the
"earth" means the whole world in Rev. 1:7. This verse comes from
Zech. 12:10-14, where the land in question is clearly
We will look into the eschatological passages with the word
"coming" or "Parousia" that is
used in the original text. I am going to show you that the first century
generation was expecting the Parousia
of Christ. I am using the NASB.
1.
Matt. 24:3 - "And as He was sitting on the
2.
Matt. 24:27, 37, 39 - Jesus repeatedly said, "So shall the coming (Parousia) of the Son of Man
be." The same theme is in this context. I want to point out that some
Futurists believe the "double fulfillment" or "type/anti-type
fulfillment" theory, a method of interpretation. In other words, the
theory says that prophecy may be fulfilled in 70 AD as typical form but will be
completely fulfilled, coinciding with the "final" coming of Christ in
the future. This kind of approach is a questionable hermeneutic. They must
prove that Jesus and the NT writers clearly distinguished between two different
comings of Christ. How would the first century Christians living before 70 AD
have been able to distinguish between two different comings? I have not seen
anyone get around with this problem. They expected all this to occur in their
lifetime. Either we have to say it is all future (and make Jesus a liar for saying
any of it would occur in that generation), or make it all fulfilled at 70 AD
(and preserve Jesus' integrity).
3.
1 Corinthians. 15:23-25 - "But each in his own order:
Christ the first fruits, after that those who are at
Christ's at His coming (Parousia), then comes the
end, when He delivers up the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has
abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has
put all His enemies under His feet." We must understand the Jewish
festivals in the OT that are the types in Christ. Christ the first fruits, in
other words, Christ and some of the saints rose from the dead or the
"first resurrection" (Matt. 27:52, 53). After that, those who were at
Christ's coming, the harvest gathered. Then comes the end of the Mosaic age
when His enemies (the Jewish nation: Luke
Notice in 1 Corinthians. 15:24 when it says Christ will
deliver up the kingdom to the Father. Remember when the Jews rejected God from
being their King and wanted Saul (1 Sam. 8:7). That was not God's choice
(though He permitted under the counsel of His will). God had someone picked out
for Himself who would bring the kingdom back to Him (1 Sam. 16:1). That was
David's dynasty. A "branch" was born and finally brought the kingdom
back to God after He put His enemies under His feet. This does not mean Christ
quits reigning once He returns the kingdom to the Father. Christ co-reigns with
the Father forever (Luke
4.
1 Thessalonians.
5.
1 Thessaloians.
6.
1 Thessaloians.
In verse 16, "With the trumpet of God" is parallel to Matt.
24:31, 1 Corinthians.
Also, notice "To meet the Lord in the air" in verse 17. The
word "air" is an another word for heavenly
or spiritual realm. Satan was always an opponent of the plan of redemption. He
was (but no longer is) the prince of the power of the air (Eph. 2:2). In Rom.
7.
1 Thessaloians.
8.
2 Thessaloians. 2:1 - "Now we request you, brethren,
with regard to the coming (Parousia)
of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to Him." Again, Paul
wrote the same theme regarding to the
Parousia
of Christ. Notice he wrote, "Our gathering
together to Him" is parallel to 1 Thessaloians.
9.
2 Thessaloians. 2:8 - "And then that lawless one will be
revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an
end by the appearance of His coming (Parousia)."
Read carefully in this context verses 2-12. In verse
2, some believers thought that the day of the Lord had come. Think about it, if
they thought that the day of the Lord has come (which they assume would destroy
the physical heavens and earth), why would not Paul have said that the literal
heavens and earth were not destroyed? Of course they did not think of that way.
So Paul explained the day of the Lord would not come unless the apostasy came
first, and the man of sin was revealed in the
This letter was written around 51 AD, before the great persecution of
Nero (63 to 68 AD) which led many into apostasy. The Jewish revolt took the
10.
James 5:7 - "Be patient, therefore, brethren until coming (Parousia) of the Lord." James was the great leader of
Jewish Christians in
11.
James 5:8 - "You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming (Parousia) of the Lord is at
hand." Again, James wrote that the coming of the Lord was at hand. It was
near to them, only a few years away. Read the next verse, "Behold, the
Judge is standing right at the door." Clearly, it was in their generation,
not some 2,000 years later.
12.
2 Peter 1:16 - "For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made
known to you the power and coming (Parousia) of our
Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty." Peter tried
to assure the believers there would be the coming of the Lord very soon and he
was not making it up.
13.
2 Peter 3:4 - "And saying, "where is the
promise of His coming (Parousia)? For ever since the
fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of
creation." Peter wrote to the Jewish Christians to remember the words
spoken by the holy prophets, the commandment of the Lord, and the apostles (vv.
1-2). He knew it was the last days of the Mosaic or Old Covenant age (Heb. 1:2)
and many Jewish mockers were saying, "Where is the promise of His
coming?"
14.
2 Peter
15.
1 John 2:28 - "And now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He
appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His
coming (Parousia)." John was encouraging the
believers to be faithful and have confidence when Jesus would appear at His
coming. John knew it is the last hour, even many
antichrists had come (v. 18). This is one of the clearest passages indicating
that these events belonged to the time of writers and original hearers of the
NT. If I were a first century Christian reading the books of Matthew, James, 1
& 2 Thessalonians, etc., before the great events of 66-70 AD, I would never
get the impression that two or more parousia's
separated by different times were being discussed.
Lastly, did anyone in the first century see some strange signs before end
of their generation? Of course! The writings of two (maybe more) ancient,
non-Christian historians seem to record such an incident. The Jewish historian
Josephus wrote before the destruction of Jerusalem (66 AD), "A certain
prodigious and incredible phenomenon appeared: I suppose the account of it
would seem to be a fable, were it not related by those who saw it of so
considerable a nature as to deserve such signals; for, before sun-setting,
chariots and troops of soldiers in their armour were
seen running about among the clouds, and surrounding the cities. Moreover, at
that feast which we call Pentecost, as the priests were going by night into the
inner [court of the] temple, as their custom was, to perform their sacred
ministrations, they said, that in the first place they felt a quaking, and
heard a great noise, and after that they heard a sound of multitude, saying,
'Let us remove hence" (Josephus' Wars of the Jews VI.V.3, read the whole
Book VI especially in chapter V).
The Roman historian Tacitus relates a very
similar event of the destruction of
The reason I am showing two historians is that when Jesus Christ went up
into the clouds to heaven, the whole world did not see Him going up (Acts
1:9-11). Also when some men went with Saul (Paul) on the way to
In conclusion, there is nowhere in the NT that mentions two comings of
Christ, one in the first century generation and other one in the future. Also
there is nowhere that mentions the multi-Parousias of
Christ like the Dispensationalists claim (the Parousia or "rapture" before 7 years
tribulation, the Parousia of Christ after the great
tribulation and the Parousia at the end of millennium).
This does not make any sense. The Futurists are in a real dilemma, dividing the
Word of God. The Preterists have no problem with the eschatological passages.
All these passages above must be applied to the first century generation.
Hopefully this will help a lot and cause you to rethink your
eschatological view. It is very important because it is God's Word and we ought
not to twist the Scripture.
Soli Deo Gloria!
Donald Hochner
This is the fourth of five articles with Greek words. We are going to
look into the Preterist view on
"elements." The Greek word for elements used here is "stoicheia," and it appears in the NT only seven times.
When you see the terms like "elements," ask yourself what this means?
In Young's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, the literal meaning of the word
is "element, rudiment, principle." In other
words, these are the elements of religious training, or the ceremonial precepts
that are common to the worship of Jews and of Gentiles. We will look into it
and you may find out.
Why I am talking about this is because the Futurists believe the elements
of the physical heavens and earth were going to melt away or be burned up,
especially in 2 Peter 3. Does this word "elements" refer to the
scientific idea of the elements of matter, all the "atoms" of the
universe? Or the periodic table of elements? I don't think so! We will first
look into seven passages with the word "elements" or in Greek "stoicheia." I am using Youngıs Literal Translation of
the Holy Bible.
1.
Gal. 4:3, 9 - "So also we, when we were babes, under the elements of the
world were in servitude...and now, having known God -- and rather being known
by God -- how turn ye again unto the weak and poor elements to which anew ye
desire to be in servitude?" Notice Paul uses the word twice. This context
is clearly his discussion of the relationship of the Jew to the old law of Moses, in verses 1-7; the Gentiles who had served
idols in verse 8. The blessings, by the way, are contrasted, which are in
Christ. So, the Jews were held in bondage to the old law
of Moses or the tradition of men. Paul exhorted the Christian brethren not to
return to the bondage to that Law. The Law was our tutor to bring us into
Christ that we might be justified by faith (Gal.
2.
Col. 2:8, 20-22 - "See that no one shall be carrying you away as spoil
through the philosophy and vain deceit, according to the deliverance of men,
according to the rudiments of the world, and not according to Christ, ...If,
then, ye did die with the Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as
living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances? -- thou mayest
not touch, nor taste, nor handle -- which are all for destruction with the
using, after the commands and teachings of men." Again, Paul uses the word
twice. In verse 8 he pleads with the Colossian church not to allow anyone to
deceive them by way of worldly philosophy, or traditions of men according to
the elements or rudiments of the world. In this context, there were two
different dangers they confronted: Judaistic
activities in verses 16-17, and possibly some cultic or pagan activities in
verse 18. The point is, once again, this one is not about the material
creation.
3.
Heb. 5:12 - "For even owing to be teachers, because of the time, again ye have
need that one teach you what [are] the elements of the beginning of the oracles
of God, and ye have become having need of milk, and not of strong food."
This writer laments to the Jewish Christians (Hebrews) the fact that they had
not grown in Christ as they should. The writer says they need someone to teach
them again with "milk, not solid food" in elementary principles of
God's oracles before becoming teachers and mature. Obviously, this "stoicheia" is not about atoms or the creation of the
universe.
4.
2 Peter 3:10-13 - "And it will come -- the day of the Lord -- as a thief
in the night, in which the heavens with a rushing noise will pass away, and the
elements with burning heat be dissolved, and earth and the works in it shall be
burnt up. All these, then, being dissolved, what kind of persons doth it behove you to be in holy behaviours
and pious acts? waiting for and hasting to the presence of the day of God, by
which the heavens, being on fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements with
burning heat shall melt; and for new heavens and a new earth according to His
promise we do wait, in which righteousness doth dwell" Notice Peter uses
the word twice. In both views he says the elements will be destroyed or burned
up. So far, we (hopefully) agree that the fact "elements" does not,
in its other previous passages, ever refer to the physical universe.
Nowhere do the Scriptures teach that this physical creation will be
destroyed. In the beginning God created the universe and it was good. The sin
of men only affected the human race. This is what we call "total
depravity." In fact, the Scripture speaks of the earth's permanence (Ps.
104:5; Ecc. 1:4) and the church throughout all
generations (Eph.
We will do some study in 2 Peter
In verse 12, notice "looking (Gk: prosdokao
- fervent, expecting, anticipating) and hastening (Gk: speudo
- speeding, eagerness) the coming (Gk:
Parousia
- presence, coming, advent) of the day of God." Peter uses this word
"prosdokao" three times in verse 12, 13,
and 14. And each verse says the brethren to whom he was writing were looking
(expecting) and hastening the day of God in their lifetime, for the end of all
(Jewish) things was AT HAND (1 Peter 4:7).
In verse 13, "But according to His promise (see Rom. 4:13, 16; Eph.
3:6; Heb 4:1; 9:15; 10:36-39; 12:25-29 and many more about the promise of God)
we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness
dwells." First we will look at what "heavens and earth" means.
It means that when God made His covenant with
Peter tells us they expected the "new" heavens and earth. We
ought to check out the word "new" that he used. There are two words
translated as "new" in the NT. They are "neos"
and "kainos." Interesting, neos is new in time, never been before, or that which has
recently come into existence. Other one is kainos
which means new in quality, not time. So, Peter uses kainos
in this verse. Now, if someone takes the position that the new heavens and
earth is a literal way, it is inconsistent with the word of kainos.
If God destroys this earth and creates another, that would be a new (neos) earth not a new (kainos).
We have seen in the NT that it says we have a new (kainos)
covenant (Heb. 8), a new (kainos) creation (2 Corinthians.
Lastly, "the new heavens and a new earth" must have come into
Peter's mind from the book of Isaiah, chapters 65 and 66. Notice before God
creates the new heavens and a new earth, He will pour out His wrath against
The fact is that anytime Scripture uses the phase "last days"
(and similar expression) it means, not the end of the world or physical
universe, but the period from 30-70 AD. This was the period during which the
Apostles were preaching and writing, the "last days" of Old Covenant
I would recommend you to read in Athanasius' On
the Incarnation of the Word, Section 40 Verses 1-8 because I do not have enough
space. Athanasius, the early Christian writer from
the fourth century, made a significant Preterist
statement.
In conclusion, what we have seen so far is that the
Preterist
view is consistent with the Scriptures. The Futurist's views do not agree with
the Scriptures for several reasons. The first reason is their views are based
on their church traditions or creeds. The second reason is the lack of careful
analysis of the original Greek words used in the Bible and their proper
meaning. The Futurists also did not carefully compare different Scriptures to
determine their actual meaning.
Hopefully this will help a lot and cause you to rethink your view of
eschatology. Blessed are those
who abide His Word.
Soli Deo Gloria!
Donald Hochner
This is the last of five articles on the Greek words. We are going to
study the Preterist view on the Greek word
"aion" which means "age (dispensation, or indefinite time), era,
or a period of time." When you see the phase the "age" in the
NT, ask yourself, which age? Or the end of which age?
In Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the NT we read, "As the Jews
distinguished the time before the Messiah, and the time after the advent of the
Messiah" (p. 19). It describes human history as divided up into two ages.
The NT writers considered themselves to have been living at a terminal point of
these ages. This did not mean that history was to end in their generation but
they were anticipating an age to come.
Some English Bible translations use the word "world" instead of
"age." We need to be careful to examine how the English word is used
like "world" because there are three different Greek words with one
English word that are "kosmos," "oikoumene," and "aion." We ought to check
the meaning of the Greek word to get a correct interpretation of the Bible. It
is very significant to understand eschatology because in this area many Futurist
views have stumbled.
A critical error for many Futurists is made when the Mosaic Age is
considered as being consummated at the cross. They believe the Church Age will
end at the Parousia of
Christ or the cataclysmic and final end of the world. But what age do we call
the age after the Church age? Nothing. Many of the
Futurist's believe we are living in the last days. I don't think so and I will
show you.
In these passages in the NT, we have two ages in contrast: "This
age" and the "age to come." The expression "age to
come" implies that "this age" must come to end. Will the
"age to come" also have an end? If not, then the expression
"last days" must apply to the closing period of "this age."
So, in the end of "this age" (the Old Covenant) is when God's
eschatological program will be completed or consummated. In other words, time
was divided by the Jews into two great periods, the Mosaic Age and the
Messianic Age. The Mosaic Age is done away and we have been in the age of the
Messianic administration of the new covenant since 70 AD. Hence, from 30-70 AD (40 years = a generation), the church was in
the period of transition, changing from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant.
It is the period of the bondwoman (Hagar is
Before we go further, I think we can look into the rabbinical writings
from the early second century. It is interesting that many Rabbis believed that
the period of the Messiah was to be only a transition stage between this age
and the Age to Come, and opinions differed on the time
of its duration. 'How long will the days of Messiah last?' R. Akiba [c. 120-140 AD] said, Forty years, as long as the
Israelites were in the wilderness. ... R. Eliezer (b.
Hyrcanus) [c. 80-120 AD] said, A thousand years. ...
Other versions read: 'R. Eliezer [c. 80-120 AD] said,
The days of the Messiah will be forty years. ...[quoted from Everyman's Talmud, by Abraham Cohen, pub. by
E.P. Dutton & Co., 1949. Page 356]. They debate
how long will this period would be. Many believe it would be a generation of
about 40 years, like the wilderness wandering or the reigns of David and Solomon,
even though others thought of it as a thousand years.
Also read in Luke 19:11-27 from the parable of Jesus Christ. Verse 11
says that some Jews supposed that the
We will look into the eschatological passages of the Bible with the Greek
word "aion." I am using the NASB.
1. Matt. 12:32 - "And whoever shall speak a word against the Son of
Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit,
it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age, or the age [about] to
come." Why did the Lord say it shall not be forgiven, either this age OR
the age about to come? Because these two ages will always
have the sin of men.
2. Matt.
3. Matt. 13:49, 50 - "So it will be at the end of the age; the
angels shall come forth, and take out the wicked from among the righteous, and
will cast them into the furnace of fire; there shall be weeping and gnashing of
teeth." Read Matt. 13:47-50. The same idea as previously mentioned (#2).
Jesus spoke another parable about the kingdom of heaven. This is important in
light of Matt. 25:31-46 (c.f. Mark
4. Matt. 24:3 - "And as He was sitting on the
Compare two parallel passages in Mark 13:4, 'Tell us (disciples), when
will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are going
to be fulfilled?' and in Luke 21:7, 'And they questioned Him, saying,
"Teacher, when therefore will these things be? And what will be the sign
when these things are [about] to take place?" In Matt. 24, the Lord
answered to the disciples' questions that all of these events will be upon
"this generation" (v. 34; Mark
I want to emphasize that anytime you see the term "the end," it
does not mean the end of the physical universe or the end of our earthly life.
It means the end of the Mosaic Covenant. In this context of Matt. 24, you will
notice "the end" three times in verses 6, 13, 14. The question is, when would "the end" be? Clearly Jesus answered
that question with the phrase, "this generation" in verse 34. It
means within 40 years, which would fall sometime between
30-70 AD. Check the other passages with the term "the end" in
Matt. 10:22; 13:39, 40, 49; 28:20; Mark 13:7, 13; Luke 21:9; 1 Corinthians. 1:8; 10:11; 15:24; Heb. 3:6, 14; 6:11; 9:26; 1 Peter
4:7; Rev. 2:26. Hopefully this will make sense to you.
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