Finding Jesus in the Bible…So We Can Follow Him in Life
Bible Reading Plans
- Plan One: New Testament Only
- Plan Two: New Testament + Psalms
- Plan Three: New Testament + History
- Plan Four: The Entire Bible – Year 1 of 3, Year 2 of 3, Year 3 of 3
Don’t know which plan? Go to A Christ-Centered Bible Reading Plan: Quick Start.
Extras
Verse of the Day, Audio Capsule, and Video Minute
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(Today’s Reading)
The Implications of the Second Coming as Accomplished Fact
(Book Installment 36)
The Scope of the Second Coming
Chapter 3 – Themes of the Second Coming
The Last Days (continued)
What happened on this day of Pentecost in Jerusalem – 50 days after Jesus’ resurrection from the dead – was going to be repeated all over the Mediterranean world in the coming decades as Peter and the other apostles traveled and spread the word about Jesus’ execution, resurrection, and exaltation to the right hand of God in heaven – all according to biblical prophecy – and all accompanied by signs and wonders.
This particular feast of Pentecost, in roughly 33 AD, was thus the starting pistol, so to speak, for “the last days” that had been so frequently prophesied in the Scriptures. These days would continue until the Second Coming – “the last day itself” – which would occur before the generation alive that day of Pentecost had fully passed away.
Remember the fateful Bible verses that Jesus invoked at His trial.
Matthew 26:62 The high priest stood up and said to Him, “Do You not answer? What is it that these men are testifying against You?”
Matthew 26:63 But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest said to Him, “I adjure You by the living God, that You tell us whether You are the Christ, the Son of God.”
Matthew 26:64 Jesus said to him, “You have said it yourself; nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you will see THE SON OF MAN SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER, and COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN.”
Matthew 26:65 Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has blasphemed! What further need do we have of witnesses? Behold, you have now heard the blasphemy;
Matthew 26:66 what do you think?” They answered, “He deserves death!”
Jesus is quoting first phrase from Psalm 110:1, and the second from Daniel 7:13-14. These two Old Testament verses bookended “the last days” – Jesus being seated at the right hand of God anchoring the beginning of that period, and Jesus receiving the eternal kingdom (at His Second Coming) anchoring its end.
The Second Coming was not, therefore, to be the end of the world, but rather the end of ancient Israel. But as we will see clearly later in this book, it was the end of spiritual Israel as well as physical Israel. Thus the last days of Israel were the worst of times and the best of times – the worst for the physical Israel (the nation), and the best for spiritual Israel (the church). We’ll cover this thoroughly in the section of the book labeled “Implication: His Church Is Done.”
Fulfillment of All Biblical Prophecy
Moses began the Bible by writing its first five books. Over the next one thousand years, God raised up prophets – men like Samuel, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and others – to write the rest of the Old Testament books. The apostles completed the Bible by writing the New Testament. Thus “the last days” were not just the end of the two Israels – they were the end of the biblical age. The Bible gradually grew in size from Genesis until Revelation – but not since! The concrete the biblical authors poured set long ago. No one can succeed at changing its shape at this late date.
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