Understanding Prophetic Texts

Today’s Text Matthew 24:29-33

III. How can we understand this?

Methodology

Today we have a difficult bit of text to consider and I thought that it would be useful to many readers to discuss at the beginning how I have come to the conclusion stated below. If this is all old hat to you, then skip down to the section labeled “Application of Method.”

Since there are two interpretational methods that are frequently used in understanding prophetic passages, let’s take a very brief look at each.  The two methods are the Literal Method and the Apocalyptic Method of interpretation.  I’ll begin with the Literal approach.  Please understand if this is all new to you, that if you go through carefully you will discover that there is nothing that is really very hard to follow here; I’ve tried very hard to take out all of the technical academic jargon and use simple and clear English.  If nothing else, you will gain some insight into how theologians approach these texts and may learn a bit to help you study more effectively on your own.

The crisis of literalism

I have pasted the following definition of literalism from Mirriam-Webster’s Dictionary:

lit·er·al·ism

Pronunciation: \ˈli-t(ə-)rə-ˌli-zəm\

Function: noun

Date: 1644

1 : adherence to the explicit substance of an idea or expression literalism>
2 : fidelity to observable fact

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/literalism

Notice in the first definition the example of “biblical literalism” I must point out that I did not add this example; it is a cut and pasted directly from the online edition, and is readily available for anyone who doubts me!  In order for a literal approach to be consistent, and thereby reliable, we must be able to maintain “adherence to the explicit substance of an idea or expression”.  Thus, if we do not do so because we cannot allow the passage in question to be about the thing that it is stated to be about (context, subject) then our interpretation is logically invalid.  In other words, if we try to change what the prophecy is about because our literal interpretation of its description will not work, then our interpretational method is the wrong method.

Last week we considered Isaiah 13:1-22 where the subject (context) set forth in verse 1 was “Babylon”. As we know, Babylon was an empire in ancient times that was much discussed in the Old Testament because not only was it a world power at the time, but it was the empire that sacked Jerusalem and carried the Jews away to captivity.  These prophecies were entirely fulfilled in the Old Testament; in fact, some of them were written from captivity in Babylon.  After all of this, Babylon itself was over run and destroyed.  It is interesting to note that the prophecies concerning Babylon’s destruction are generally classified by literal interpreters as awaiting fulfillment… and they change the meaning of Babylon to be something else; anything from Arabs in general to “Babylon” in Revelation.  Of course in Revelation, Babylon is described centuries after it has ceased to exist in a vision discussing various things, none of which relate to the empire that was so much in play during Isaiah’s time.  So, which is it?

Let’s consider another passage, also from Isaiah: Isaiah 34. This passage speaks of God’s judgment against the nations of the earth, and singles out Edom for very detailed treatment. I have attached two brief histories of Edom that detail very nicely the fact that in the Old Testament “Edom” refers to the kingdom of the Edomites, the descendants of Esau.  This kingdom was utterly destroyed by the tenth Roman legion after it destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD.

In verses 1-4, the prophet calls the peoples of all nations to witness his judgment, concluding the verses in verse four: “All the stars of the heavens will be dissolved and the sky rolled up like a scroll;  all the starry host will fall like withered leaves from the vine, like shriveled figs from the fig tree.”

Following, he remarks on the awesome destruction of Edom. For the purposes of our study, note particularly verses 5, 9 and 10:

“v. 5 My sword has drunk its fill in the heavens; see, it descends in judgment on Edom, the people I have totally destroyed.

V. 9 Edom’s streams will be turned into pitch, her dust into burning sulfur; her land will become blazing pitch! v. 10 It will not be quenched night and day; its smoke will rise forever. From generation to generation it will lie desolate; no one will ever pass through it again.”

A literal interpretation would say that while Edom was destroyed by the Romans, this passage cannot be about Edom because the streams and landscape aren’t pitch, and the smoke isn’t rising any more; therefore, “Edom” really means something else!  What that something else is, depends on who is talking.  Some say the Arabs, some say the PLO, others say other things; there’s no way to be sure, but they all say that this passage belongs in the “Great Tribulation” at the very end of time.

Here is the crisis point: If Edom doesn’t mean Edom, then it really means something else.  If you say it means something else, then your interpretation isn’t literal. If your interpretation isn’t literal, then you cannot use literalism as a method of interpretation because you are being selective in literalism, which is to say that you are interpreting with no method at all.  What you are actually doing is trying to fit a passage into a theory!  Put another way, if there is no reliable method to your interpretation, then your interpretation is just an unsubstantiated opinion.

Apocalyptic Imagery

The particulars cited in the above passage are not literal events, because literalism doesn’t hold up in understanding prophetic passages, for they are Apocalyptic rather than literal.  Once we have the subject (context) the descriptive terms that modify the subject are figurative.  Note, that this is consistent with the rules of grammar.

Ezekiel uses similar descriptive language in discussing the downfall of Egypt in chapter 32, particularly in verses 7 and 8.

“V. 1 In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month on the first day, the word of the LORD came to me: ²v. 2″Son of man, take up a lament concerning Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him…” (Context: a particular Egyptian Pharaoh)

“V. 7When I snuff you out, I will cover the heavens
and darken their stars;
I will cover the sun with a cloud,
and the moon will not give its light.

⁸V. 8All the shining lights in the heavens
I will darken over you;
I will bring darkness over your land,
declares the Sovereign LORD.”

The full passage is Ezekiel 32:1-15, and if you read it, you will discover that it is quite graphic in discussing the extent of God’s wrathful judgment against Pharaoh, and it contains many more images than I have cited. It also says who will do the destructive work: Babylon.  (Gee, I wonder if Babylon means Babylon here?)  Of course, since the sun, moon and stars are still up there, I wonder if it means the Pharaoh specified.  As you might suspect, most literalists put this in the future, even though the Babylonians did indeed smash the Pharaoh in question.

More importantly, we see some images that are very similar to those in Matt. 24:29.  Other instances of similarity include Jer. 15:9; Joel 2:10, 30, 31, and 3:15, and Micah 3:6… all of which refer to the sun, moon and stars in connection with God’s judgment.  In fact, the Old Testament abounds with judgment images, including these, the pitch we saw in Isaiah 34, and many, many others. The sun, moon and stars image is first found in Genesis 37:5-11. Joseph had two dreams, and when he told his father of the second one, where the sun, moon and eleven stars fell from heaven, his father was irritated and asked if he really thought that his father, mother and brothers would bow down to him.  Notice that Jacob interpreted Joseph’s dream figuratively rather than literally.  Note further that it did indeed come to pass.

Taking this approach, consider that it may well have come to pass with Matthew 24:29, that in fact the houses of Caiaphus and Herod, the religious and civil authorities of the Jews, along with the lesser authorities, Pharisees, teachers and scribes all were brought down in 70 AD.  The Hebrews author, writing just before these events in Hebrews 8 chronicles the end of the sacrificial system and the Old Covenant, and in 8:13 says that it is soon to pass away:  “By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.” (Heb. 8:13) Less than 5 years later, Jerusalem was destroyed, and the Temple and sacrificial systems were gone from the earth; the heavenly bodies were shaken indeed. (Cf. Matt. 24:29)

Since we have seen the crisis of literalism that results in no reliable or verifiable way to understand prophetic passages, we are left with the Apocalyptic method, which is not only reliable but verifiable.  Using it, we have seen that while we need to do some digging into Scripture, we can determine what these difficult passages are really talking about.  We now have some more work to do with verses 30 and 31.

Application of Method.

“At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.”

Matt. 24:30-31

It is now time to move forward using our methodology that we have determined to be the one applicable to prophetic passages: the Apocalyptic Method.  You will recall that last week we discovered that Jesus had used similar language in Matt. 16:28 referring to the coming of the church:

“I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

We know that this language has been used in Matt. 16, and we know that verses 30 and 31 precede verse 34, and thus must deal with the fall of Jerusalem. When Apocalyptic language is used, we understand it to tell more about a state, a feeling or the coming of an epoch, rather than to list details to be fulfilled in a literal way.  Thus, as we see from the Acts account of the coming of the church (Pentecost) the meaning is more epochal than detailed.

¹⁶No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
 ¹⁷” ‘In the last days, God says,
      I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
   Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
      your young men will see visions,
      your old men will dream dreams.
 ¹⁸Even on my servants, both men and women,
      I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
      and they will prophesy.
 ¹⁹I will show wonders in the heaven above
      and signs on the earth below,
      blood and fire and billows of smoke.
 ²⁰The sun will be turned to darkness
      and the moon to blood
      before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
 ²¹And everyone who calls
      on the name of the Lord will be saved.

(Acts 2:16-21 cf. Joel 2:28-32

Acts does not record an argument taking place after Peter said that Joel’s prophecy had been fulfilled at Pentecost.  Nobody contended that all of these details were not evident (bloody moons, people prophesying, etc.)  because they understood the apocalyptic nature of such language; Joel’s prophecy actually describes the entire church age..  When taken in light of Heb. 8:13, it is obvious that Jesus is speaking of a time when the Old Covenant would die out in practice as well as in law; when Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed. He goes on to wrap up his discussion on the subject in verses 32-33 with the example of the fig tree.  Some will choose to make this point to the restoration of fleshly Israel, but indeed, the fig tree is no compliment to the Jews!

Thus in going back to our text we see that a great event is coming in the destruction of Jerusalem.  It is an event that marks the end once and for all of the practices of the Temple which have become entirely obsolete by the New Covenant.  No longer will there be animal sacrifices, for the sacrife of Jesus is both superior and eternal.  No longer is there a dwelling place for God in the Temple, for His dwelling is now within His people.