The Bible Jesus Interpreted

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The Bible Jesus Interpreted

Hans K. LaRondelle and Jon Paulien
Loma Linda, CA
2014
Copyright 2014 Jon Paulien
www.DefensaAdventista.com

INTRODUCTION
Introduction by Han LaRondelle
This book is addressed to the earnest seeker after truth. It seeks to connect the world
of theologians with that of those untrained in theology. For that reason scholarly
references are kept to a minimum. The central focus of this book is the Word of God, not
the world of scholarship. It is an attempt to share my vision of the advancing story of
redemption from Genesis to Revelation.
The theme of this book unites two teachings of Jesus: His Messianic claims and His
unconventional interpretation of the Old Testament. What people today call the Old
Testament or the Hebrew Bible was, in fact, the Bible Jesus knew. In the four gospels we
find Jesus introducing a new way to read the Old Testament. That new way is centered in
Himself and is demonstrated in His teachings and His actions as the Messiah of Old
Testament expectation.
Careful attention to the life and teachings of Jesus clarifies the relationship between
the Old and the New Testaments, a problem that has never been fully resolved by biblical
scholars or church creeds. To what degree is the religion of Jesus the same as that of Old
Testament Israel? In what ways is it different? Scholars discuss these issues in terms of
continuity and discontinuity. To recognize the Hebrew roots of the New Testament,
therefore, is a good starting point for understanding the Christian faith. The Old
Testament is full of language and images that are taken up in the New. It is only in the
New Testament that the full potential of the Old Testament can be seen. In the teachings
of Jesus Christ we discover the full, advancing revelation of the God of Israel.
Two ways of interpreting the Bible have dominated in the past and are still widely
practiced in todays church: allegorism and literalism. In allegorism the Bible is not
taken at face value. Instead, people search for the deeper, hidden meanings that lie
beneath the surface. Too often, the Bible ends up reading exactly the way they would
write it. Literalism often goes to the opposite extreme. It takes the Bible as it reads.
This is a promising approach in that it invites the reader to take the biblical text seriously.
But too often literalism ends up as take the Bible as I read it. As we will see in chapters
24, both of these systems of interpretation have tended to eclipse the central place of
Jesus Christ in the Scriptures.
This was the case in the Middle Ages. Jesus Christ was replaced with many
surrogates, such as Mary, saints and priests. It was the 16th century ReformersLuther,
Zwingli and Calvinwho pointed the way to a better hermeneutic in their rediscovery of
the Christ-centered gospel in the New Testament (see Chapter 6). Their contributions
focused on the need to restore to believers the assurance of salvation. But this precious
truth alone is not enough. The time has come to widen the first reformation by restoring
the blessed hope of Christs second advent to its rightful place within the gospel (see
chapter 12).
This book zeros in on both the present and future ministries of Jesus as presented in
the New Testament. Our method will be to trace the Hebrew roots of the language of
Christ and to recover the new meaning and power He gave to these words. Such an
inquiry requires more than a literal reading of biblical texts. It develops a Christ-centered
interpretation that goes below the surface to draw out the inner unity of Scripture. Rightly

understood, every page of Scripture bears witness to Christ.

May this journey of discovery help you grow in the knowledge of Jesus Christ, bring
joy to your heart, and kindle hope for His soon return to bring peace to the world.
Unless indicated otherwise, the New International Version of the Holy Bible is quoted
(copyrighted by the New York International Bible Society, 1978).
Introduction by Jon Paulien

When I learned from a mutual friend that one of my beloved mentors, Hans
LaRondelle, did not have long to live, I sent him a note of appreciation for the years I
have enjoyed him as a teacher and a colleague at the Andrews University Seminary in
Berrien Springs, Michigan. He was one of my two favorite teachers when I was a student
there, first in the MDiv program and later for my PhD. As an M.Div. student in the mid1970s, I will never forget the class where he described the importance of the Old
Testament for an understanding of the Book of Revelation. He told us that much more
work needed to be done on the relationship of Revelation to the Old Testament. He then
looked around the class and said, Maybe one of you will be the one that helps us
understand these things better. At that very moment I decided that, God willing, I would
be that one.
Seven years later I returned to Andrews University to make good on that promise to
myself. I began coursework in the New and Old Testaments and also Systematic
Theology. I wrote a dissertation on the seven trumpets of Revelation with an eye to how
Johns use of the Old Testament could help illuminate the challenging images in that part
of the book. Dr. LaRondelle agreed to be one of my advisors for that project. A few years
later we became faculty colleagues at the Seminary. I owe a great debt to him.
After his death I was greatly honored by the request that I help get his last book
manuscript ready for publication. The kinds of changes that were needed were the kind
only the original author could make. Since that was no longer possible, the family turned
to me, who he felt understood him as a scholar and theologian about as well as anyone
could. It is hard for me to think of a greater honor.
To my delight, the book manuscript addressed the very aspects of Dr. LaRondelles
theology that most influenced my life. One was his passion for the relationship between
the two testaments of the Christian Bible. LaRondelle saw the entire Old Testament as a
witness to the Messiah who would come. Only that Messiah could truly understand the
Old Testament and make its deepest meanings plain. According to the New Testament,
Jesus was not only the Messiah of prophecy, He was the author of the Old Testament and
thus the one best fitted to interpret it. In this volume LaRondelle lays out the New
Testament vision for a Christ-centered understanding of the Old.
The other theme of Dr. LaRondelles work that most influenced my life was the
impact of his Christo-centric hermeneutic (system of interpretation) on the interpretation
of the Book of Revelation. In the Old Testament the things of Israel must be understood
literally in ethnic and geographical terms. To be a part of Israel was to be born of an
Israelite family. To be close to God required being in the land of Israel, as close to
Jerusalem as possible. So relation to Israel in the Old Testament was determined by ones
ethnicity and geographical location.
LaRondelles most powerful insight for the understanding of prophecy concerned

how Jesus transformed the understanding of Israel. As the Messiah, Jesus Christ
Himself is the New Israel (with twelve disciples, just as the original Israel [Gen. 32:28]
had twelve sons). All others, Jew and Gentile, can be included in Israel through
relationship with Jesus (Gal. 3:29). So when the Book of Revelation alludes to the things
of Old Testament Israel, they are not to be understood in terms of their original ethnic
and geographical meaning. Rather, Israel is now to be understood as spiritual and
worldwide in Christ. These themes are explained in this book and are grounded in the
careful reading of Scripture.
In a way this book seems almost a summary of LaRondelles work and thinking in a
nutshell. The manuscript packed a huge amount of information in each sentence and often
listed numerous texts that would have been covered in detail had they come up in class.
The end result for people who never had him as a teacher could have been confusing. So I
have done my best to clarify and flesh out his intention, using his original language as
much as possible. Occasionally, I have added footnotes of explanation in my own words,
these are signaled by (JP) at the beginning of such footnotes.
By itself, the Old Testament is an unfinished book. It promises many things but ends
with more of a whimper than a bang. As proof of my point, there is no major religion in
the world that is based solely on the Old Testament. The three great religions that build
on an Old Testament foundation have all found it necessary to supplement that
foundation. For Judaism that expansion can be found in the traditions of the rabbis,
recorded in the Mishnah and the Talmud. For Islam that expansion is found in the
Quran. For Christians that expansion is found in the New Testament. All who use it
agree that the Hebrew Bible is not complete in itself.
The question then arises, which of the three expansions has truly understood the
genius of the Hebrew Bible? Which has built on its inner logic rather than merely
codified later additions to its teachings? Hans LaRondelle was the one who convinced me
that the writers of the New Testament provided a natural extension of the Older
Testaments own inner logic and hermeneutic. The New Testament is not a distortion of
the Old, but rather unfolds its ultimate intention for the Messiah of promise and
prophecy. If Jesus is truly the Messiah, then the New Testament has grasped the true
meaning of the Old. I believe this book will help many to see what LaRondelle has seen.
I take great satisfaction that my humble efforts have helped make the publication of
this book possible. I hope to see my dear friend and colleague Hans again in eternity.
When I do, I trust that he will be pleased with what we did together here.
CHAPTER ONE
THE PURPOSE OF THE BIBLE

For believers the Bible is an inspired book that brings to us the Word of God. But if
that is so, what was Gods purpose in delivering His instruction to us? For many believers
the instructions in the Bible cover all aspects of life, both religious and civil. But because

times and places have changed in the world, the Bible requires interpretation. Usually
such efforts tend to expand and/or update the Bible.
An example of such expansion took place in early Judaism, in a book called Jubilees
(second century B.C.). This document expands the biblical narratives of Genesis 1
through Exodus 14 with some extrabiblical traditions and additions. Jubilees claims,
however, to be the report of revelations privately given to Moses during the 40 days he
spent with God on Mount Sinai. The book divides world history, from the days of
Adam, into weeks of years and jubilee cycles of 49 years. The purpose of this history
is to instruct the authors contemporaries about matters of vital importance, such as
keeping the seventh-day Sabbath strictly (Jubilees, chapter 50).
The Christian Church has likewise developed interpretations of the New Testament
that attempt to expand and to update the Gospel narratives for later times. Often the claim
is made that current church teachings and practices came about by the authorization of an
inspired extension of the Holy Scriptures, added as a second source of divine revelation.
Lets look at one recent example.
A Roman Catholic Church leader, John A. OBrien, compared the Bible with the
Constitution of the United States. According to him, both the Bible and the Constitution
need an authoritative interpreter: As the founding Fathers of our country established the
Supreme Court to interpret with authority the constitution for all citizens, so Jesus Christ
established the Catholic Church to interpret with infallible authority all His teachings,
both oral and written, for all mankind. Such an unwarranted parallel of inspired
revelation and human political wisdom attempts to justify the office of a magisterium in
the Roman Catholic Church that guarantees its proper interpretation of the Bible.
The above idea assumes that the average person cannot interpret the Bible
responsibly. It is, therefore, indispensable to have a church-appointed arbiter or referee in
matters of faith and morals. Such a teaching office may, no doubt, be helpful in providing
guidelines for responsible Bible interpretation. But there is also the danger that the church
will misuse its authority and serve its own political interests by endorsing a particular
tradition as the word of God. Church history shows how the formation of church creeds
has resulted in intolerance and even the persecution of dissenters.
A further danger in this approach is that believers are encouraged to replace personal
listening to the voice of God in Scripture with the decisions of a church institution. But
should this personal responsibility be transferred to others? Did not Jesus appoint the
Holy Spirit as His successor and Counselor? In His own words, He will guide you into
all truth (Jn. 16:13)? Does the Spirit work only through church institutions, or can all
believers connect with God directly through His Word? To put the question in another
way, did the Bible authors direct their writings only to the leaders of Gods people? Or
did they appeal to the hearts and consciences of every individual among Gods people?
Personal Responsibility in Ancient Israel

In the Psalms it says that Gods Word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my
path (Ps. 119:105). This implies that each Israelite was to have a direct access to His
Word. Similar is the telling example of the blessed man in Psalm 1, whose delight is
in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night (Ps. 1:2). It doesnt
say here that the blessed man listens to religious leaders, rather he meditates directly

on the Torah.
Nowhere is this personal engagement with Scripture emphasized more than in Israels
covenants with God (Exod. 20; 24; 34; Deut. 2930; Josh. 24). A pointed example is
Joshuas appeal to the people of Israel at Shechem. Their response at that time was: We
will serve the LORD our God and obey him (Josh. 24:24). Later the prophets forcefully
announced Gods indictment of both the leaders and the common people for their breach
of the covenant (Isa. 1; 5; Jer. 2; Am. 3; Mic. 3; Ez. 16).
Reading the heartfelt confessions of Israels sins by Daniel (chapter 9), Ezra (chapter
9) and Nehemiah (chapter 9) is an enlightening experience. Some Old Testament scholars
have concluded that nowhere else in the ancient world was there such an aroused
consciousness of sin and guilt as in Israel. On the other hand, there was also in Israel the
knowledge of a God who could forgive sins and offer the repentant soul a new beginning
(see Pss. 32; 50; 51). The appeal of the writers of the Old Testament had a strong
personal element. They could not hide behind the decisions of their leaders. Gods call
was for personal response and personal responsibility.
Individual Faith in Christ

In the New Testament, Jesus also directed His message to the common people, whom
He considered as the lost sheep of Israel, helpless like sheep without a shepherd
(Matt. 9:36; 10:6). Christ encouraged them all to ask for an open door to know God
personally. Yet, Jesus was more than a prophet. In His messianic self-understanding, He
spoke with a unique authority: Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I
will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and
humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my
burden is light (Matt. 11:2830). He claimed to know Gods will, as represented in the
Scriptures, from His direct communion with His Father in heaven (Matt. 11:27).
But this shining light of Christ brought everyone within its sphere to a decision: either
to accept it or to reject it. There was no middle ground. Jesus called on every Jew to
discern the divine authority and clarity of His teachings: If anyone chooses to do Gods
will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my
own (Jn. 7:17). Confrontation with Jesus and His words of life brings with it a personal
decision of faith or unbelief. Such a decision is formed under the influence of the Holy
Spirit, whose work it is to convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness
and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me (Jn. 16:8, 9).
Faith in Christ Jesus is thus more than just a conclusion of the mind; it also involves a
conviction of the heart under the working of the Spirit of God. Although Christ comes to
us in the garment of Scripture, He comes also with the Holy Spirit to arouse a trusting
faith from the human heart. Notice the intimate union between Christs words and Gods
Spirit in the following text: The man who has accepted it [that is: Christs testimony]
has certified that God is truthful. For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of
God, for God gives the Spirit without limit to him (Jn. 3:3334). Christ had received the
Spirit of God without limit at His baptism (Jn. 1:3134). His revelation of God was,
therefore, the perfection of revelation through the Spirit.
In conclusion, the Bibles own testimony is that it is not a book for elites, but it is for
everyone. Everyone is called to read and understand, everyone is responsible for what

they learn and how they practice what they have learned. Thus, learning hermeneutics
(the science of interpretation) is of value for all who seek to know God and understand
His Word. How can this happen for every believer?
The Union of Gods Word and His Holy Spirit

The Bible is no ordinary book or collection of writings. From start to finish a higher
authority claims attention and acceptance. The human words of the Bible are imbued with
the Spirit of the Creator, to enlighten and empower the believer for a sanctified walk with
God. The Spirit of God accompanies the words of God with creative power. Speaking
about all creatures the Psalmist says: When you send your Spirit, they are created, and
you renew the face of the earth (Ps. 104:30). This union of Gods word and the lifegiving Spirit was promised to the Messiah: The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him
(Isa. 11:2). It also empowers our own trust in Gods faithfulness to His promises.
This union between the Spirit and the Word of God is so important for us that God
commits Himself to this promise: My Spirit who is on you, and my words that I have
put in your mouth will not depart from your mouth, or from the mouth of your children
from this time on and forever, says the LORD (Isa. 59:21). This remarkable unity
of the divine word and Spirit became the heart of the new covenant promises in the Old
Testament prophets (see also Jer. 31:3134; Ez. 36:2628; Joel 2:2829). The New
Testament applies these promises to Christ and extends them to His apostles and their
eyewitness testimonies since the day of Pentecost (see Acts 2). The apostolic gospel,
therefore, partakes in the regenerating and sanctifying power of the Word of God that
was present already in the Old Testament.
This is illustrated by the words of Paul to the Thessalonians: And we also thank
God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from
us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which
is at work in you who believe (1 Thess. 2:13). Paul claims divine authority and efficacy
for his gospel proclamation. He also calls the Word of God the sword of the Spirit
(Eph. 6:17), indicating that through the Spirit the Word of God is living and active,
sharper than any double-edged sword (Heb. 4:12). The believers in Thessalonica
responded in a stunning way: You turned to God from idols to serve the living and true
God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the deadJesus, who
rescues us from the coming wrath (1 Thess. 1:10).
In the book of Revelation, John concludes each of the letters to the seven churches in
Asia Minor with the same admonition: He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit
says to the churches (Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22). The words of Jesus and the
words of the Spirit are one. Thus John clarifies that the Holy Spirit conveys the message
of Jesus to the churches (see Rev 19:10). Through the Spirit the Word of God has
convicting power on those who hear it. Confessing the authority of Scripture cannot be
isolated from confessing its inspiration by the Spirit of God.
The fact that the words of the Bible are empowered by the Spirit has an important
implication: the Bible cannot be properly understood by the natural human mind or
grasped by human wisdom. Paul explains this theological dimension of his apostolic
message: This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in
words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words (1 Cor. 2:13).

He concludes that Gods spiritual message can be understood only through the
enlightening of Gods Spirit, because it can only be spiritually discerned (v. 14).
To recognize the Bible as a divine authority is, therefore, not yet sufficient to
understand its divine message. Merely appealing to isolated words as it is written in
order to lend authority to a church doctrine or tradition can be a self-serving delusion.
Such a doctrinal appeal may lack the power of Holy Scripture when it disregards the
specific intention of the biblical author for his time and place.
A meaningful example from Jesus life may illustrate the proper and improper use of
Holy Scripture. As soon as Jesus was baptized, He was led by the Spirit into the
wilderness to be tempted by Satan. The devil took Christ from there to the highest point
of the temple and challenged Him: If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down.
For it is written: He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up
in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone (Matt. 4:5, 6;
quoting Ps. 91:11, 12). Was this use of proof texting (for it is written) the proper use
of Psalm 91, or was this appeal to Scripture misinterpreting it?
If this appeal to Ps. 91 was a misuse, how then is the proper meaning to be
determined? The answer is: by honoring the covenant setting of the Psalms (see Psalms 1;
89 and 119). You see, Satans appeal to it is written had disconnected the promise of
God from its covenant of grace, and thus used the specific promise out of context. His
atomistic use of Scripture arbitrarily isolated a promise of Scripture, and cut it off from
its root in Gods covenant. Satan was not inviting Jesus to exercise faith in Gods
promise, he was tempting Him to presumption, which is a falsification of faith in the
promise.
The Torah of Moses, summarized in the book of Deuteronomy, forms the root and
foundation of the Psalms. Jesus knew this biblical connection and fully realized that
Gods blessings are conditional upon obedience (see Deuteronomy 48). As the Son of
God, Christ reacted to Satan therefore: It is also written: Do not put the Lord your
God to the test (Matt. 4:7; quoting from Deut. 6:16). Jesus appealed to the book of
Deuteronomy in order to effectively counteract Satans abuse of Gods promise in Psalm
91. In its larger context, the Bible interprets itself.
It is significant that in the Torah God states: Israel is my firstborn son (Exod.
4:22), and that Moses must say to Pharaoh: Let my son go, so he may worship me (v.
23). Satan had challenged Christ to demonstrate that He was the Son of God by
deliberately testing one of Gods promises in a perilous situation. But as the Son of God,
Christ demonstrated that engaging in such a test was inappropriate outside of the context
of worship, trust and faith.
The worship and faith of Jesus was grounded in Gods covenant with Israel. Jesus
replied to Satans temptations, therefore, with citations from the book of the covenant,
Deuteronomy, chapters 6 and 8. Christ saw His entire life and mission in the light of
Gods covenant, as He explained during His last supper: This is my blood of the
covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins (Matt. 26:28; cf.
Luke 22:20, new covenant, see also Heb. 10:29; 13:20).
Understanding the Scriptures, therefore, calls for our thoughtful meditation (Ps 1:2)
and encourages our serious efforts to seek their meaning. Look for it as for silver and
search for it as for hidden treasure: then you will understand the fear of the LORD
and find the knowledge of God (Prov. 2:4, 5). Jesus mentioned our willingness to do

Gods will as an essential condition to understanding His teachings (Jn. 7:17).
The Purpose of the Scriptures

There exists much confusion about the purpose of the Bible. Many scholars view the
Bible as the sum total of many independent revelations. In this view, the Bible is not a
Word from God, it represents the very best of human thinking about God. This
presupposition leads people to view the Bible as a book of laws and isolated truths,
some of which may even be in contradiction to each other. Such an atomistic,
compartmentalized approach to the Bible is, however, not derived from Holy Scripture
itself.
Instead, in the Bible we hear from the Creator, who speaks and acts in harmony with
His unified plan of creation, redemption, and restoration. The Scriptures are
communicated within the framework of a single covenant that He expressed in various
ways at different times in history. This single purpose in both Testaments is Gods
determination to restore the Kingdom of God on earth through the promised Messiah
(Gen. 3:15; 12:13; Pss. 2 and 110; Rev. 7:10; 11:15).
In the New Testament gospels this promise of a Messiah is fulfilled in the life and
death of Jesus Christ (Christ is the Greek equivalent of Messiah). And all the covenant
promises are fulfilled to us when we enter into a redemptive relationship with God
through faith in Jesus (2 Cor 1:20; Acts 13:3233). Jesus expressed this conviction in a
prayer: Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus
Christ, whom you have sent (Jn. 17:3). This statement of Christ determines the
fundamental purpose of the four gospels: to know God through knowing Christ.
Such knowing is not meant as purely intellectual information and assent. John
speaks in the wholistic way of Hebrew thought: knowing is experiencing with the heart as
well as the mind (see Deut. 6:56). Believing in the Creator Redeemer, therefore, means
the entering into a covenant relationship with God. It is characterized by a transforming,
whole-bodied fellowship with the Spirit of Christ.
The Fourth Gospel ends with this clarifying summary: But these are written that
you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may
have life in his name (Jn. 20:31). Johns Gospel sustains this redemptive Christcentered focus in every chapter and sums it up in the classic statement: For God so
loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall
not perish but have eternal life (Jn. 3:16). In this statement, the purpose of the gospel is
expressed in its simplest and most direct terms.
In the same gospel Jesus addressed Himself to the religious leaders of His time. They
believed that eternal life came into their possession through knowledge of the
Scriptures: You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you
possess eternal life (Jn. 5:39). Jesus made a distinction between the Scriptures and
Himself and taught that the Scriptures were prophetic testimonies about Himself. He
reproved these clerics for refusing to come to Him in order to have life (v. 40). He
concluded on account of this refusal that they actually did not believe the writings of
Moses (vv. 4547). For Jesus, eternal life is not found in the Scriptures themselves, but in
His own person: I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who
sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to

life (Jn. 5:24). The goal of the Scriptures is to lead people to Jesus.
The main theme of this book is that the Christ-centered focus of the Bible provides
the unifying structure of the two Testaments. In His woes to those who claimed to be
experts of the law, Jesus announced that His redemptive messiahship was the Godgiven key to understanding the Scriptures (Mat. 23:13; Lk. 11:52). By rejecting Him
they had taken away this key from the people of God. With the right key the Bible is
clear enough that any reader can find salvation in its pages.
The Clarity of Scripture

Through the centuries, however, many theories about divine inspiration obscured the
clarity of Scripture, making it harder for people to understand Gods plan of salvation.
These theories were often created with good intentions, such as defending the Bible
against its critics. A good example of such theories was the Summa Theologica of
Thomas Aquinas (122574). His explicit purpose was to harmonize the Greek philosophy
of Aristotle with the prevailing theology of the Middle Ages. His intent was to create a
rational system of theology that would bring order to the systems of human philosophy.
In doing this Aquinas filled the biblical words and concepts with foreign content about
God and man derived from Greek philosophy. Thus the biblical clarity of Gods nature
and His way of salvation became obscured and distorted within the church.
Toward the close of the Middle Ages, the Protestant reformers began the process of
restoring the Bible as the source and standard of divine revelation. They confessed not
only the divine authority and sufficiency of Holy Scripture, but also its clarity and
efficacy. In speaking of the clarity of the Bible, Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin were not
implying that the Bible contained no problems of understanding. They were well aware
of the difficulties people have in understanding many parts of the Bible.
What the Reformers found clearly revealed in Scripture, however, was the plan of
salvation as revealed in the life, death, resurrection, and heavenly ministry of Jesus
Christ. In short, for the reformers of the 16th century the Bible was clear and transparent
in the matter of salvation and of a sanctified walk with God through a living faith in
Christ Jesus. This was their focus on the clarity of the Scriptures. And outside this sphere
of a reconciled life and conscience, the reformers did not claim that the Bible was entirely
clear.
Thus the Reformers perceived that the grand structure of the Bible was focused on
Gods relationship with the human race. That relationship started in the creation
narratives, the fall, and the promise of restoration. It continued in Christ and pointed
forward to a glorious renewal of paradise on earth. They placed the accent of the truth for
their time on a saving and sanctifying faith over against the merit to be found in religious
acts and rituals. The free and sovereign grace of God was revived and began to liberate
many consciences from the burdens of man-made doctrines and rituals.
Nevertheless, each Protestant faith community separated from others on the basis of
how they interpreted the Bible. As Jaroslav Pelikan observed it: The rule of the sole
authority of Scripture meant in practice the unquestioned authority of this or that
particular interpretation of Scripture as it was characteristic of this or that church body.
The simple confession of the clarity of the Bible was more and more challenged by the
divisive claims of new church denominations.

A century after the great Reformers, the redemptive focus of Scripture remained the
hallmark of Protestant faith, but an acute awareness of the complexity of Scripture had
developed. The Westminster Confession (1646) defined the purpose of the Bible with
great care: All things in Scripture are not alike plain in themselves, nor alike clear unto
all; yet those things which are necessary to be known, believed, and observed, for
salvation, are so clearly propounded and opened in some place of Scripture or other, that
not only the learned, but the unlearned, in due use of the ordinary means, may attain unto
a sufficient understanding of them.
Biblical interpretation, therefore, presupposes a spirit of humility and includes the
conviction that the Bible must be accessible to both the educated and the uneducated. The
Bible was not given only to the scholars of the church but rather to all the saints (Eph
3:1619). Since confusion in interpretation continues to this day, there is a great need for
further clarity on the basic principles of biblical interpretation. Our path to that clarity
will continue with a respectful but critical evaluation of the history of interpretation in the
Christian church.
CHAPTER TWO
THE NEED FOR PRINCIPLES OF BIBLE

INTERPRETATION
The biblical understanding of one generation is not easily passed on to the next. The
meanings of words change. New generations ask new questions. For the faith of the
parents to be made real in the lives of their children (Deut. 6:67), the message of the
Holy Scriptures must be updated for each new generation. Such a process can be seen
already in the Bible.
A telling example can be found in the biblical book of Nehemiah. Nehemiah recounts
how Ezra assembled the Israelites in the public square and began to read to them the
Book of the Law of Moses (Neh. 8:1). But the language and meaning of Moses were no
longer clear to the Aramaic speaking Jews of the 5th century B.C. So the Levites were
translating it, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people could
understand what was being read (Neh. 8:8). The result was spectacular: they celebrated
with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to
them (8:12). The festival of booths (also called Feast of Tabernacles) had been
prescribed by Moses but was neglected for centuries. After the reading of Moses, the
festival was restored and their joy was very great (8:17).
This historical event illustrates the benefits of periodic reflection on our biblical
inheritance. Such fresh attention to the sources of our religious and moral authority can
be the means of spiritual awakening in times of apostasy or complacency. When spiritual
life wanes or becomes monotonous, the need arises for a new translation of the ancient
languages and for guiding principles that lead to recapturing its original meaning.
There are also New Testament illustrations of the need for a fresh approach to Gods

earlier revelations. When the conservative Sadducees, for example, denied the
resurrection of the dead, Jesus replied: You are in error because you do not know the
Scriptures or the power of God (Mt. 22:29). Jesus went on to say [in verse 31, quoting
Ex. 3:6]: Have you not read what God said to you? Knowing the words of Scripture
does not guarantee an understanding of their meaning.
One can read the Bible, yet still overlook the message of God. Christ addressed the
scribes ironically, Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key
to knowledge (Lk. 11:52). How did they do that? These theological experts had
obscured the redemptive meaning of the Old Testament by faulty interpretation, with the
result that they shut the kingdom of heaven in mens faces (Mt. 23:13). Later Paul
leveled a similar charge against some Jews: But Israel, who pursued a law of
righteousness, has not attained it. Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as
if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone (Rom. 9:31, 32). It is
thus possible to read the Bible with great zeal for God, yet still not understand it. This
failure should not be ascribed to the words of the Bible itself. Sinful human beings are
naturally resistant to the things of God, and the focus of the reader blocks the way to the
message of salvation (1 Cor. 2:1216; 2 Cor. 3:1416).
The book of Acts recounts the story of an Ethiopian official who had visited
Jerusalem and was in his chariot reading a passage from the scroll of Isaiah (chapter 53).
Then Philip ran up to him and asked, Do you understand what you are reading? He
replied, How can I unless someone explains it to me? Philip began to explain the
prophetic passage and told him the good news about Jesus (Acts 8:3035). This story
illustrates the need for an explanation of Scripture, the need for the proper key or
hermeneutic that lifts the veil over ones understanding. It also illustrates that an open
and willing mind conditions both our understanding and our redemptive experience (see
Dan. 12:4; John 7:17).
In early Christianity the need for reinterpretation of the Scriptures was pressed on the
church when dissenters arose who claimed the authority to interpret the Bible correctly.
An early example is Marcion, the son of a bishop of Sinope in northern Asia Minor
(modern-day Turkey). Around the year 140 A.D. he travelled to Rome and began to teach
a radical new doctrine about God, Christ, and the Scriptures. His message was welcomed
in reaction to the prevailing legalism in the post-apostolic church. The church historian
Justo L. Gonzalez observed a growing distance between the Christianity of the New
Testamentespecially that of Pauland that of the Apostolic Fathers the new faith
becomes more and more a new law. And the doctrine of Gods gracious justification
becomes a doctrine of grace that helps man to act justly.
Marcion protested against the legalistic preaching of his time. He accused the church
of falsifying the gospel and asserted that the New Testament message stood in
fundamental contrast with the Old Testament. As part of his appeal, Marcion presented a
new canon of Scripture. His preferred canon abolished the Old Testament and discarded
much of what we call the New Testament. It contained only portions of the Gospel of
Luke and ten corrected epistles of Paul, minus the letters to Timothy and Titus. Marcions
theology contrasted the Creator God of the Old Testament with the Redeemer God of the
New Testament. The Old Testament God was jealous, punitive and very strict, but the
God of the New Testament was compassionate and loving.
The church rejected this dualistic concept of God and of the Bible, as well as

Marcions absolute contrast of law and gospel, and excommunicated Marcion around
A.D. 144. In reaction the church was forced to think carefully about its apostolic
inheritance and establish officially the proper bounds of the New Testament canon. Otto
W. Heick notes: The Marcionite controversy led the church to the clearer understanding
of the fact that the Creator and the Redeemer are indeed one God, and that in God justice
and mercy are combined. Nevertheless, the ability to see the theological unity of the two
Testaments largely eluded the church for fifteen hundred more years. But the
establishment of a broader canon (the 66 biblical books we have today) set the table for
the deeper understanding that began with the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century.
Another example of the need for a fresh re-reading of the Bible can be seen in the
trial of Galileo Galilei by the Roman Catholic Inquisition in 1633. This father of modern
science had deduced from his observations that Copernicus and the Neo-Platonists were
correct. The sun was the center of our solar system rather than the earth. This truth of
nature, however, conflicted with a long church tradition that took the biblical figures of
speech about the heavens (for example, the sun going down) as literal truth. Galileo
accepted the idea that the Bible was without error, but he insisted that its expounders
and interpreters are liable to err in many ways when they would base themselves
always on the literal meaning of the words. Galileos conclusions were condemned by
the Inquisition as following the position of Copernicus, which was considered
contrary to the true sense and authority of Holy Scripture.iv
Until the late-19th Century, most Christians, like the opponents of Galileo, assumed
that Bible texts have a self-evident meaning, that biblical words keep their meaning in
any translation and culture. But this assumption proved to be an illusion in the light of
modern developments and discoveries.
With the archeological discoveries of ancient documents in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and
the Judean desert, for example, new knowledge was gained of the languages and religious
philosophies of the peoples who lived in Bible times. New sciences developed in the
realms of geology, volcanology (the study of volcanos), meteorology, cosmology (the
study of the wider universe), and in other areas. Such discoveries pressed home new
questions that were never asked before in relation to the Bible and its worldview. It was
no longer possible to retreat to a traditional way of thinking, because the horizon of
knowledge had been enlarged and the new developments urged a thoughtful response.
After World War II a young branch in Christian theology developed called
hermeneutics, that is, the science of interpreting Bible texts in their own literary and
historical settings. This development further stimulated the science of archeology and the
study of ancient cultures and languages. The awareness grew that the Bible should bring
a meaningful engagement between the interpreter and the text. One scholar has written:
The Bible can and does speak today, in such a way as to correct, reshape, and enlarge
the interpreters own horizons.
The Challenge of New Learning

For many, a self-evident or obvious meaning of Scripture can no longer be taken
for granted. An increasing distance between the text and the interpreter is being
perceived. At the most basic level, this led to the quest to recover the intended meaning
of each Bible writer in his own setting. At the broader, theological level, some New

Testament scholars began to seek methods to bridge the historical and cultural distance
between ourselves and the Bible writers. They sought to extract principles from the
ancient divine messages that would be valid and helpful for the believer today. They
became aware as well that an interpreters own knowledge base limits his or her ability to
understand the Bible.
History offers interesting examples of how Jews and Christians have been searching
to understand and obey the Holy Scriptures. Over the next several chapters we will look
at several of these that have been proposed in the past: 1) Jewish principles of
interpretation (following); 2) the perspective of Jesus and the New Testament writers
(chapter 3); 3) allegorical interpretation (see Chapter 4); 4) the typological perspective
(see Chapter 5); and 5) the legacy of the Protestant Reformers (see Chapter 6).
Jewish Interpretation of Scripture

One of the earliest examples of Jewish interpretation of Scripture is the third century
B. C. Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, the Septuagint (= the LXX). A
translation always implies a certain degree of interpretation. Simply using the Greek
language introduced Greek philosophical ideas into the Hebrew terms being translated.
Two examples from the LXX illustrate this. First, the Greek word nomos, meaning law
or legal code, is the usual rendering of the Hebrew term Torah. In the Hebrew Bible,
Torah conveys the broad religious concept of divine teaching, a revelation of the will of
God. The Greek term nomos, however, is not the exact equivalent of Torah, it has a much
narrower range of meaning. The New Testament scholar, C. H. Dodd, notes: Over a
wide range the rendering of Torah by nomos is thoroughly misleading.
Another example of a shift in meaning in the LXX is the Greek word dikaiosun, the
standard Greek term for social righteousness or justice. The Hebrew word tsedaqah, on
the other hand, expresses Gods acts of vindicating and delivering His oppressed people,
and thus represents as well a virtual equivalent of salvation (Jud. 5:11; Isa. 46:13). In
both instances, the Greek terms impoverish the Hebrew realities of Gods covenant with
Israel, replacing them with more abstract concepts. But these shifts in meaning had a
noble goal. It was to make the Hebrew Scriptures accessible to the Greek philosophical
mind.
Jewish teachers struggled to keep the Torah of Moses alive and relevant in the
Graeco-Roman culture that threatened their religious identity. Some translated the
Hebrew text with some additions in what they called Targums (Aramaic translations of
the Hebrew Bible). The Dictionary of Judaism in the Biblical Period states: The targums
generally attempt to insert their interpretations into the translations, interweaving the two
so that the interpretation appears as part of the translation. This practice began to blur
the fundamental distinction between the Word of God and its interpretation. Other
teachers tried to safeguard the original intention of Scripture by creating a system of
hermeneutical rules for understanding the sacred texts.
Hillel and Jesus

Around the time Jesus was born, the respected rabbi Hillel the Elder, who had come
from Babylon to Jerusalem, had formulated seven rules (middot) of exegesis. His purpose

was to respond to the intellectual challenge of Hellenism of his time and to establish a
hermeneutic that broadened the range of interpretation and application of the Torah to
everyday life. Noteworthy is Hillels first rule: to infer from a lighter to a heavier
meaning of a text (a fortiori; called in Hebrew: qal wahomer). He also encouraged
students of the Bible to seek verbal analogies from one verse to another (Gezerah
shawah), and to make deductions from the (literary) context. Hillel sought a standard
methodology for exegesis of the Torah and was later recognized as a second Ezra, who,
like the first Ezra, had come from Babylon to Jerusalem.x
Jesus seems to have operated with similar principles in mind. One scholar says:
Jesus taught that Torah was not a burden but a joy, and that rules like the Sabbath were
made for the human not the human for them. We may add that Jesus effectively used
Hillels first principle (of qal wahomer) against the Pharisees when He argued, How
much more valuable is a man than a sheep! (Mat. 12:12).
Hillels position, however, represented an academic minority within Pharisaic
Judaism. Most conservative Jews tended to use literalism or allegorism in seeking to
understand the Scriptures. The Jewish scholar G. F. Moore judges that the typical
rabbinic conception of Scripture naturally leads to an atomistic exegesis, which
interprets sentences and even single words, independently of the context or the
historical occasion, as divine oracles; combines them with other similarly detached
utterances; and makes large use of analogy of expressions, often by purely verbal
association.
Philo of Alexandria
Pharisaic Judaism became the norm for Jewish faith in the century after the time of
Jesus. But in the time of Jesus other Jewish communities had developed different
guidelines to understanding the Scriptures. The Jewish philosopher Philo of Alexandria
(20 B.C.A.D. 50) sought to make the Jewish religion more acceptable to the Hellenistic
world with its Platonic philosophy. To bridge the gap between the two worldviews, he
interpreted the Torah in an allegorical way, as he thought Moses himself had intended it.
In his allegorical commentary on Genesis, Philo states that the first creation narrative
in Genesis 1 refers to the ideal world in the Platonic sense. The second creation story, on
the other hand, depicts the real world as we perceive it with our physical senses. Philo
interpreted the history of Genesis 117 as the moral life and religious quest of the soul
by means of his exegetical technique of allegory. He never stated any rules for
allegorical interpretation, except that anthropomorphic descriptions of God2 and
inappropriate stories all needed an allegorical interpretation. In effect, such an approach
means that the inspired Scriptures have to be explained again by inspiration. Such, at
least, seems to have been Philos claim for himself. In spite of Philos exegetical zeal,
therefore, his own philosophy became the decisive norm for interpreting Scripture.
The Use of Scripture at Qumran

A unique phenomenon developed in Second Temple Judaism around the second
century B. C. It was the formation of a movement that protested against the Hellenization
of Judea, that is, the Jewish adoption of Greek language, philosophy, and customs. The

first Book of Maccabees complains that during the occupation of Judea by the Syrian
King Antiochus Epiphanes (175164 B. C.) there emerged from Israel a set of renegades
who led many people astray (1 Macc. 1:11). In that context a Levitical priest, called by
his followers the Teacher of Righteousness, denounced the Temple, its wicked
priesthood and its animal sacrifices as corrupted.
The new reform movement created communities of monastic life and ritual purity,
holding all property in common. They sought their religious identity in a pure worship of
God and a strict adherence to Gods covenant with Israel, understood according to their
interpretation of the Torah. One of these communities produced or collected the so-called
Dead Sea Scrolls. The discoveries of these scrolls, hidden for more than 2000 years in
caves near Qumran at the Dead Sea, revealed their way of interpreting Scripture. As an
apocalyptic movement, the Qumran community was convinced that they were living in
the last days, and explained the happenings of their times as the fulfillment of biblical
predictions. They expected the divine destruction of the wicked Jews and Gentiles and
the restoration of a perfect Temple, city, and people.
The Qumran community understood their founding leader, the Teacher of
Righteousness, to be the inspired and final interpreter of the Scriptures. His
interpretations of the Torah, and of Daniels and Habakkuks prophecies, became a test
of fellowship for the final remnant, the congregation of men of perfect holiness. The
Qumran community assumed that it was impossible to discover the meaning of the
Scriptures without an inspired interpreter: the Teachers interpretation alone, propagated
by his disciples, offered true enlightenment and guidance.
Meditation on the end time occupied a central place in their thinking. The book of
Daniel, for them, located their sense of identity in the pre-ordained scheme of divine
Providence. Particularly the seventy weeks (interpreted as weeks of years) of Dan. 9:24
played a major role in their expectation of final events. By equating these 490 years with
ten Jubilee cycles (referring to Leviticus 25:13), they believed that the last jubilee (of 49
years) had already begun. Consequently, they lived in the last days and the end of
days was imminent.
The Damascus Document (dated around 100 B.C.) states that From the day of the
gathering in of the Teacher of the Community until the end of all the men of war who
deserted to the Liar there shall pass about forty years (Deut. 2, 14). In the so-called War
Scroll [1QM) Daniels end-time prophecies (in Daniel 11) are adapted to the
communitys expectation of a final struggle between the Sons of light and the Sons of
darkness. The Qumran community was preparing for that final conflict by means of
rituals and prayers. But Michael (of Daniel 12:1) or Melchizedek would rise up with
his heavenly host and determine the victorious outcome for the faithful remnant of Israel.
The Qumran community apparently used the book of Daniel to unlock the history of
their own group in the last times. In their writings they ignored the immediate and
historical contexts of Scripture. Instead, they applied biblical prophecies (such as Daniel
11:4012:4, and Habakkuk 2:14) as if they were written directly to them. They were the
final covenant people of God, as the true Israel, as the one valid Temple. Their
Commentary on Habakkuk [1QpHab] considered Habakkuk 2:24 to be a secret word
[dabar] that needed a new revelation by another prophet to clarify its end-time
fulfillment. The Qumran sect apparently read their own existence into the texts on the
authority of the sects founder. As Geza Vermes concludes: The scrolls directly impute

to the Teacher a particular God-given insight into the hidden significance of prophecy.
Some scholars call this Qumran Teacher a charismatic exegete, and his style of
interpretation a charismatic midrash.xxi The Qumran community seems to have
believed that the biblical prophecies could only be understood through an extra-biblical
authority who would specify their precise fulfillment.
Conclusion
In this chapter we have explored some of the biblical and historical reasons that every
generation needs to interpret the Bible afresh. We also looked at historical evidence that
shows the Jewish people in Jesus day were not unified in their understanding of just how
one ought to do this. They diligently studied the Scriptures to find enlightenment for their
own situation in life. But a variety of methods and systems of interpretation led to a
variety of conclusions as to just how the biblical principles should be applied.
Since the Jews of Jesus day believed in the divine inspiration of the Scriptures, this
variety of interpretations left people longing for greater clarity on the meaning of
Scripture. Many were waiting for the Messiah in the hopes that he would teach them what
the meaning of Scripture really was. Such a sentiment was expressed by a spiritual cousin
of Judaism, the Samaritan woman, When he (Messiah) comes, he will explain
everything to us (Jn. 4:25). Thats where the story of Jesus comes in.
CHAPTER THREE
CHRIST-CENTERED HERMENEUTICS
Jesus presented Himself as the long-awaited Messiah who came to set Israel free from
all enslavements. Come to me, He proclaimed, all you who are weary and burdened,
and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me (Mat. 11:28,
29). This call was revolutionary in the setting of contemporary Judaism. The rabbinic use
of yoke referred to the yoke of the Torah, while Jesus speaks of my yoke, thus
claiming that He represented the will of God as much as the Torah did. He was the Godsent Rabbi or Teacher: Learn from me. In other words, He came as the living
embodiment of what the Torah means.
For a Christian believer, Christ is the true Interpreter of Scripture. His way of
understanding the Old Testament, therefore, becomes the true standard for understanding
Scripture. Followers of Jesus must be taught by Him, surprised by His personal
knowledge of God, and ready to accept His interpretation of the Scriptures (see Matthew
11:2526). In this chapter we seek to determine precisely how Jesus interpreted Moses,
the Psalms, and the Prophets, because He opened their minds so they could understand
the Scriptures (Luke 24:45).

The New Hermeneutic of Jesus

Jesus initiated a fresh interpretation of Israels sacred Scriptures. He introduced a
Christ-centered hermeneutic (interpretative key) for understanding the Old Testament.
For example, Jesus startled His audience in the synagogue of Nazareth when He read
Isaiah 61:12 and concluded: Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing (Luke
4:1621).
To understand this announcement of fulfillment, we must remember Jesus
experience during His baptism. Heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on
him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: You are my Son,
whom I love; with you I am well pleased (Luke 3:21, 22). These words become
meaningful when we discern that the voice from heaven announcing Jesus mission
was alluding to Israels Scriptures. The heavenly voice blended two messianic promises
(Psalm 2:7 and Isaiah 42:1) to confer on Jesus His messianic calling.
In the New Testament it is clear that Jesus and His followers did not generally use the
Old Testament as a collection of proof texts. Instead, they often quoted a single verse or
even a phrase as a pointer to the whole Old Testament context. On the basis of the voice
from heaven in Luke 3, Jesus would have seen His mission in the light of both the Royal
Psalms (such as Psalm 2) and the suffering Servant of Isaiah (Isa. 4253).
Jesus came to see His entire experience on earth in terms of the Hebrew Bible.
Referring to His imminent suffering and death during the last supper, Jesus quoted from
Isaiah 53 (verse 12he was numbered with the transgressors) and announced, I tell
you that this must be fulfilled in me (Luke 22:37). In everything He did He was
conscious of fulfilling a divine plan for His life. It is for this reason that He could
fearlessly affirm to the religious leaders of His day: These are the Scriptures that testify
about me. Yet you refuse to come to me to have life (John 5:3940, NIV). Jesus claim
to offer life was superior to that of any rabbinic authority or teacher from Qumran. He
was an independent interpreter who spoke with unprecedented authority.i
Christ did not argue for either a literalistic or an allegorical interpretation of the
written texts (see chapter 2). He introduced, rather, a new point of orientation for
understanding the Scriptures: their fulfillment in His messianic ministry. He appealed to
His authority as the God-sent Messiah and to His redemptive work for the human race as
the decisive testimonies for understanding the Scriptures (see John 5:3140). No wonder
the people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority,
and not as their teachers of the law (Mat. 7:28). They were forced to ask themselves
the question, Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?
(Mat. 13:54).
Jesus teaching aimed at a response of faith in God and in Him. The moral purpose of
Christs ministry was to engage the believer in a redemptive relationship with God. This
practical, saving experience is the explicit purpose of the Fourth Gospel: that you may
believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life
in his name (John 20:31; see also 17:3).
The Nature of Jesus Messiahship

If we ask how Jesus applied the Hebrew Scriptures to Himself and to the Kingdom of
God, we discern His new key of interpretation. Christ opened a way of experiencing the

kingdom of God here and now. Against the prevailing tradition, which expected a
political Messiah and a violent conquest over Israels enemies, Jesus proclaimed the
spiritual nature of Gods kingdom. His ministry of forgiving grace, healing, and teaching
had transforming power. Even in His healing miracles on the Sabbath day, the most
provocative issue was not how to keep the Sabbath but rather what kind of Messiah Jesus
was.
Jesus brought the purpose of His divine mission into sharp focus in His parable of the
wicked tenants (Mat. 20:3334 and Luke 20:918). Here Christ applied Isaiahs Song of
the Vineyard (Isa. 5:17) to His own generation. Jesus advances the story line by giving
the landowner a son, who is thrown out of the vineyard and killed by the tenants in
order to take his inheritance. Jesus then challenges His hearers, What will the owner
of the vineyard do to them? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard
to others (Luke 20:16). Horrified the people responded, May this never be! Jesus
looked directly at them and asked: Then what is the meaning of that which is written:
The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone? (quoting from Psalm
118:22). Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it
falls will be crushed (Luke 20:1718; alluding to Daniel 2:35, 4445).
In speaking about the stone Jesus blended two different Bible passages, one in
Psalm 118 and another in Daniel 2. What was new in Jesus interpretation was the double
application of the stone image to the people. First, a person falls on that stone in the
sense of stumbling over Jesus humble messiahship. Second, that same stone falls on
someone who is then totally crushed under it. In this interplay on the word stone in the
Scriptures, Jesus pointed first to His hearers lack of faith in Him. Though they rejected
Him He would eventually be vindicated, just as the stone in Psalm 118 was first rejected
by the builders but then chosen to be the capstone (v. 22). Jesus warned, however, that
in the final judgment it will be like the heavenly stone that came crashing down on all
ungodly kingdoms in Daniel 2:44.
Jesus taught in Luke 20 that the present and the future kingship of God both center in
His messianic presence. The messianic prophecies would be fulfilled in two successive
phases of Gods kingdom. These two phases represent the new pattern of Jesus
interpretation of the Scriptures. After His resurrection from the dead, He expressed this
pattern in these words: Did not the Christ [that is, the Messiah] have to suffer these
things and then enter into his glory? (Luke 24:25).
The twofold christological fulfillment is also evident in Jesus self-designation as the
Son of Man. Jesus apparently borrowed this title from the book of Daniel and gave it a
new Christ-centered meaning. Daniel described his vision of a heavenly being, in which
one like a son of man, will come with the clouds of heaven to the Ancient of Days
and then will receive the authority and power to establish Gods everlasting kingdom on
earth (Dan. 7:1314, 22, 27). Jesus applies Daniels son of man to His messianic mission
of salvation: that you may know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins
(Mk. 2:10). To confirm this messianic authority before the teachers of the law, Jesus said
to the paralytic in Marks story, I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home (v. 11).
It was only when His disciples became convinced that Jesus was indeed the Messiah
of prophecy that Christ revealed His mission to suffer and to die as a ransom for many
(Mk. 10:45). He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many
things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he

must be killed and after three days rise again (Mk. 8:31; cf. 9:31; John 3:13, 3133).
Jesus announcement that the heavenly Son of Man (of Daniel 7) must suffer and
must be killed was so offensive to Peters concept of the Messiah that he even started
to rebuke Christ (Mk. 8:32)!
Daniels visions of the coming kingdom of God (in Daniel 2 and 7) describe a
triumphant Messiah who will crush His enemies. But Daniel must be understood in light
of Jesus new hermeneutic. Daniels heavenly Son of Man was sent first to suffer and
to be rejected. After that, not before, He will return in His divine glory to judge the
world. Jesus taught explicitly: When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the
angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 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 (Mat. 25:3132).
According to Jesus, both the apocalyptic stone and the son of man have appeared
in the the Son of Man who came to seek and to save what was lost (Luke 19:10).
This fulfillment of prophecy in Jesus ministry was the surprising focus of His testimony
to Israel. The one who comes from heaven is above all. He testifies to what he has
seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. The man who has accepted it has
certified that God is truthful (John 3:3133).
The Newness of Jesus Messiahship

Jesus tried to dispel the popular understanding that the kingdom of God would bring
the exaltation of Israel and dominance over Israels enemies. The idea of the national
restoration of Israel was the predominant Jewish hope in Jesus days. Even John the
Baptist seemed to be confused about the nature of Jesus Messiahship. In a dungeon John
became mystified by Jesus lack of direct political action. He sent his disciples to ask
him, Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else? (Mat.
11:3).
Johns question exposes the surprise Jews of the time felt at the unexpected nature of
Jesus Messiahship. Christ sent him a gentle reply: Go back and report to John what
you hear and see: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are
cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.
Blessed is he who does not fall away on account of me (11:46; lit.: he who keeps
from stumbling over me, NASB). In His reply Jesus taught John the priority of Gods
redemptive purpose in His ministry. The messianic age had begun in advance of the
Judgment to come. Thus Christ opened up a new perspective on apocalyptic prophecies in
the light of His first advent.
Deliberate resistance came from some of the contemporary Pharisees. When He had
miraculously healed a demon-possessed man so that he could both talk and see, some
Pharisees reacted: It is only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives
out demons (Mat. 12:24). This clash of spiritual kingdoms caused Jesus to make a
definitive statement: But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom
of God has come upon you (Mat. 12:28). Here Jesus declared explicitly that the
kingdom of God had come in the power of His redemptive ministry. His liberating power
to exorcise demons from any victim defines the nature of Gods kingdom and of His
Messiahship. Christs power was demonstrably stronger than that of Satan.

Jesus and the Torah

The four Gospels in the New Testament picture Jesus as a Torah-observant Jew. The
clearest confirmation of this is found in the Gospel of Matthew, where Jesus says: I tell
you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least
stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is
accomplished (Mat. 5:18). To Jesus, Torah was the inspired Word of God entrusted to
Israel. In this He reflected the standard position of Second-Temple Judaism.
What was new or different about Jesus was that His teaching was grounded also in
His intimate communion with God: All things have been committed to me by my
Father and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son
chooses to reveal him (Mat. 11:27). This claim of authority to interpret Scripture far
exceeded that of any rabbi.
Jews both then and now are monotheists, meaning that they believe in one God and
one God only. To be a monotheist is to have a line of clear separation between God and
everything else. Above that line is the one God, the infinite and transcendant One. Below
that line is all else, including angels. The worship of anything and anyone below that line
is idolatry.
The one God of Judaism is distinguished from all else by three main characteristics.
Only God can create, only God is the true Ruler of all things, and only God is worthy of
worship. What is so unique about the New Testament, therefore, is that it places Jesus
Christ on Gods side of the line between the finite and the infinite. Although He is clearly
human, Jesus is portrayed in the New Testament as the Creator (John 1:15; Col. 1:15
20), as the Ruler of all things (Mat. 28:18; Heb. 1:8; Rev 5:912), and as one who is
worthy of worship (Heb 1:6; Revelation 5:1314). In fact, all three of the above
characteristics of Jesus can be found in Hebrews 1:18. This means that, from the very
beginnings of the church, Jesus was included in everything that monotheistic Jews said
about God.
Jesus made His position even clearer during the ceremonies of the Feast of
Tabernacles: I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in
darkness, but will have the light of life (John 8:12). Jesus is the Creator, who came
down from heaven to reveal to us what God is like (John 1:118; 3:1215). When the
Jews asked Him who are you? (John 8:25), therefore, Jesus replied: He who sent me
is reliable, and what I have heard from him I tell the world (8:26), thereby asserting
His origin and unity with God. Jesus further claimed I and the Father are one. (John
10:30) Jesus was more than just a great Teacher, He embodied the very truths that He
taught.
This means that Jesus read the Old Testament from the perspective of the very One
who inspired it by the Spirit. And in His presence the power of that Word was reborn in
the lives of those He touched. Jesus not only interpreted the Torah with new insight and
clarity, He also offered the forgiveness of the God of Israel (Mk. 2:10). He provided the
sanctifying power of the Spirit of God to live a victorious life (John 8:11). And Christ
inspired His followers with a new hope for the future (John 14:13).
Jesus and the Gathering of Israel

To see Jesus in terms of the one God of Judaism changes the way one reads the Old

Testament. A powerful illustration of this new way of reading can be seen when we
concentrate on the specific theme of the gathering of Israel. A major promise in the Old
Testament is that Yahweh, Israels God, would gather His covenant people from their
dispersion among the nations and lead them back to the promised land.
The first reference to this promise in the Old Testament sets the guideline for its later
uses by the prophets. In his farewell address to the younger generation of Israels tribes,
assembled in the plain of Moab, Moses declared: When all these blessings and curses I
have set before you come upon you and you take these to heart wherever the LORD
your God disperses you among the nations, and when you and your children return to
the LORD your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul , then
the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather
you from all the nations where he scattered you (Deut. 30:13).
In Deuteronomy 2830 Moses explained the precondition for Israels participation in
Gods covenant blessings. To obey God would be to thrive as a nation. To disobey God
would mean exile. But even in exile Israel was assured of renewed blessing if they
returned to their covenant God with a whole heart. Israels repentance would lead to her
re-gathering from the nations by a new act of God. And this return would be more than
just a physical return from exile to the land of Israel. It would be a spiritual experience
with God. The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts , so that you may love
him with all your heart and with all your souls, and live (v. 6).
This covenant relationship with God was put in place for all Israel in all of its
generations. The prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, who came centuries after Moses,
reminded Israel of this covenant and of their calling to be the light to the nations (Isa.
42:6; 49:6). The prophets renewed Gods promise to gather them out of their Babylonian
captivity, and expressed Gods concern for His holy name (Ezek. 36:2231).
But these prophets also add a new revelation to that of Deuteronomy 30. This
gathering of dispersed Israel would be accomplished by a God-appointed Messiah from
the house of David, even though the Davidic dynasty would be reduced to a stump (Isa.
11:1, 1012). Anointed with the fullness of Gods Spirit, this Branch of Jesse (Davids
father) would arise, and the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be
glorious (Isa. 11:10). The prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel repeated this Messianic
promise to the exiled Jews in Babylon (Jer. 3033; see 33:1417; Ez. 3637; see 37:15
27).
This historical background in the Old Testament is necessary to understand the
messianic claims and accomplishments of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus appealed to Israels
Scriptures as a divine testimony to His messianic mission (John 5:39). In particular, Jesus
applied the gathering promises to His own mission for the lost sheep of the house of
Israel (Mat. 15:24). He declared: he who does not gather with me scatters (Mat.
12:30).
In this statement Jesus used the same verbs of gathering and scattering that the
Greek Old Testament had used to explain the blessings and the curses of the covenant
(Deut. 30:13). Jesus understood Himself as the appointed Messiah with a two-fold
gathering mission. First, He would save the lost sheep of Israel by gathering them to their
divine Shepherd. He considered the Jewish people of His day to be scattered like sheep
without a shepherd (Mat. 9:36). Secondly, His larger mission was to gather also all
men to Himself (John 12:32).

Notice how Jesus applied the gathering promise of Isaiah 56 to himself, when He
announced: I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the
sheep I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also.
They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd (John
10:1416). This universal perspective of the messianic gathering was alluded to briefly
by Isaiah (I will gather still others to them besides those already gathered, (Isa. 56:8).
Jesus did not engage in such a Gentile mission during His earthly ministry, but He
commissioned His apostles to reach out to all nations after His violent death: But I,
when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself (John 12:32). This
drawing to Himself occurs each time the gospel of the kingdom is preached in the
whole world as a testimony to all nations (Mat. 24:14; also Rev. 14:6, 7).
But the gathering of Israel would not end with Jesus ministry and the formation of
the church. Jesus also looked forward to the great apocalyptic consummation when He
declared: 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 (Mat.
24:30, 31). Christ will ultimately return with the clouds of the sky, in power and great
glory to gather all His chosen ones into the kingdom of glory.
Conclusion
In summary, Jesus created a new historical perspective involving two successive
phases of messianic fulfillment. First, there was an immediate gospel fulfillment of the
Old Testament gathering promises in the presence of Jesus and in the union of the
believer with Christ. Second, these same prophecies will have a final fulfillment at the
apocalyptic consummation, when He returns in glory. This glorious future began to be
experienced when Jesus was in human flesh, and we can enter into this experience with
Jesus Christ now.
In His use of Israels gathering promises, Christ introduced a new hermeneutical
paradigm for understanding the covenants of God with Israel. The Christian believer
cannot read the Hebrew Scriptures as if the Messiah has not yet come, or as if the New
Testament has not yet been written. Along with the Jews, the Christian believer must read
the Torah historically in its own time and place, which is the task of historical exegesis.
But if Jesus Christ is the final Interpreter of the Scriptures of Israel, the Christian is not
finished with an exegetical understanding of the Old Testament. As the God-sent
Messiah, Christ points the way to the Messianic fulfillment as it is outlined in the New
Testament. For the Christian, the New Testament is the last and most definitive word of
God. In Christ, therefore, we discover a theological interpretation of the Bible as an
indivisible unit. The same covenant God continues to speak and act in both Testaments.
The Epistle to the Hebrews, addressing primarily Christ-believing Jews, opens with a
statement containing this expanded perspective: In the past God spoke to our
forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways. But in these last
days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through
whom he made the universe (Heb. 1:1).
Faith in Christ Jesus is certainly foundational for the personal life of Christians. But it
also has wider implications for the way a Christian reads the Old Testament and

particularly the prophecies related to Israel. Christian appeals to the Scriptures of ancient
Israel cannot be isolated from Jesus Christ, or one would deny His Messiahship and thus
the Christian faith itself. There are not two Bibles but one, because there is only one God
and one Messiah, who represents all humanity (see 1 Cor. 15:22).
According to the New Testament, Christ is still gathering Israel today, not to any holy
land or holy city, but to a redemptive fellowship with Himself. His teaching demonstrates
a new interpretation of Scripture, one not guided by ethnic or geographic literalism but by
His messianic testimony and ministry. This kind of interpretation promises to transform
our lives as it transforms our reading of the Old Testament.
Two Jewish disciples who listened to the risen Lord gave this testimony: Were not
our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the
Scriptures to us? (Luke 24:32). What then was the theme of Jesus that created such a
burning heart experience? The Gospel says: And beginning with Moses and all the
Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself
(Luke 24:25). The change of heart came from Jesus new Christ-centered hermeneutic for
the Scriptures of Israel. The rest of this book, particularly chapters 712, unpacks further
what this deeper reading of the Old Testament is like.
CHAPTER FOUR
ALLEGORICAL INTERPRETATION
One of the most common ways that people seek to update or reinterpret the Bible for
a new situation is allegory. Before we explore the Christ-centered hermeneutic introduced
in the last chapter, it would be well to contrast it with allegorical interpretation. At first
glance, allegorical interpretation looks and feels much like Jesus hermeneutic, but it can
lead in some strange directions. So we need to understand what allegorical interpretation
is like and how it developed, if we are to truly perceive how Jesus own hermeneutic
differs from it. In this chapter, therefore, we will explore how the allegorical hermeneutic
attempts to understand and reinterpret Jesus, while unintentionally distorting His intent
and teachings.
Apologetic Use of the Bible

The Gospel of John introduces Jesus Christ as the Word [ho Logos], who was
with God in the beginning (1:2). In this Logos was life, and that life was the light of
men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it (1:4, 5).
As the church expanded from a Jewish sect into a world religion it was forced to move
beyond traditional Hebrew ways of expressing truth. Written near the end of the first
century, therefore, John applies the Greek term Logos to describe the pre-existent person
of Christ. Bauers Greek-English Lexicon informs us that the Logos concept was already
a familiar philosophical idea at that time. It was widespread in contemporary

syncretism with the meaning of an independent, personified Word (of God).

So Johns Gospel, under inspiration, has already taken the step of expressing the truth
about Jesus in language drawn from the wider Gentile context. However, John goes
beyond the bounds of Greek philosophy by stating that the divine Word took on human
form in the historical person of Jesus: The Word became flesh and made his dwelling
among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the
Father, full of grace and truth (1:14). This new testimony came in conflict with both
contemporary Judaism and Greek philosophy, and therefore called for a defense of the
nature and person of Jesus Christ: a Christology.
During the second century the Christian philosopher Justin (wrote around 150 A. D.)
took Johns logos theology a step further than John did. He had a two-fold interest in
doing this: 1) to establish common ground with the culture of Greek philosophy; and 2)
to challenge the Jewish understanding of the Hebrew Scriptures. In his First Apology,
sent to the Roman Emperor, Justin argues that Christ had come to complete the partial
knowledge of the Greek philosophers. He was the incarnate Logos or divine reason. In his
Dialogue with Trypho, Justin argues with the Jews that the Old Testament forecasts
Christ and His cross.
In order to build these bridges to Jews and Gentiles, however, Justin used allegorical
speculations. He presented the Christian faith as the true philosophy that motivates a
strictly moral life. The Christian religion became more a set of truths accessible to human
knowledge and reason rather than an experience with a Person. Jesus was interpreted as
the greatest philosophical teacher and the model of virtue. Thus Justin and the other
apologists are considered as contributing to the progressive Hellenization of
Christianity. In applying the allegorical method, Justin began a process in which
Christian theology became less and less grounded in the Bible and the Bibles
hermeneutic. Instead, it became more and more grounded in the philosophical thought
world it was attempting to influence.
Multiple Senses of the Bible in Alexandria

The place where allegorical interpretation of the Bible was systematically developed
was in Alexandria, Egypt, during the third century A.D. Both Clement and his pupil
Origen initiated a speculative understanding of the Bible that brought about a turning
point in the history of Scripture interpretation. Clement of Alexandria (ca. 150215)
introduced the doctrine of various senses of Scripture. This idea was adopted from the
Platonic worldview, according to which the realities of this world are mere symbols of
eternal truths.
On this assumption, every text has at least two meanings: a literal and a spiritual one.
After the first or historical meaning of a Scripture verse has been accepted, the further
meaning may be discovered through an allegorical interpretation. God thus reveals
Himself at different levels that meet the various mindsets of believers. Clement asserted
that the hidden senses of Scripture are not fitted for all, but only for those perfect
Christians who are marked out by election for the true Gnosis [knowledge].
Clement developed two exegetical principles of Bible interpretation. First, the
primary meaning of the text is valid, except when it contradicts the character and dignity
of God, such as in the anthropomorphic language of Scripture. In such cases the

interpreter must apply allegorical method to discover a more profound truth behind the
surface of the text. Second, each text must be interpreted in light of the rest of Scripture,
that is, within its immediate or wider context. This sounds like good advice, but Clement
often applied this contextual principle in arbitrary ways.
Let me provide an example of Clements misuse of this good principle of exegesis.
Jesus tells His disciples in John 6:55, my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.
Clement rightly recognizes that a literal reading of this text does not make sense. So he
appeals to Genesis 4:10, where God says to Cain, Your brothers blood cries out to me
from the ground. From this Old Testament text he derives that blood is a symbol for
the Word, and that therefore the blood to which the Lord refers (in John 6) is none other
than the Word himself. While the outcome of such reasoning may seem spiritually
helpful, Clement has manipulated both verses by disregarding their respective contexts.
The double meaning of Scripture was systematized more fully by Clements student
Origen in Alexandria (A.D. 158254). Origens main presupposition was that Platonism
is the true metaphysic. He developed Philos allegorical interpretations, and became the
most influential Christian Neo-Platonist in the third century. As Will Durant sums it up:
The literal meaning of Scripture, argued Origen, overlay two deeper layers of
meaningthe moral and the spiritualto which only the esoteric and educated few could
penetrate.v
Origen developed the idea that Scripture has a three-fold meaning. First, there is the
verbal sense that edifies relatively illiterate readers. Second, there is the moral meaning
of the text for the more educated person. And third, there is the spiritual law or deepest
meaning for the perfect man or pneumatic. Thus only the pneumatics, those who
have received the Spirit in the deepest and fullest sense, could grasp the full meaning of
Scripture.
Origen believed that this deeper intention of the Spirit, as recorded in sacred
Scripture, could be penetrated only by the method of allegorization. He assumed that
every text is pregnant with profound mysteries but that he could unlock all its mystical
meanings. His only boundary was his affirmation of the rule of faith as it was
transmitted by church teaching and preaching. One scholar concludes that Origen
transforms the Bible into a divine cross-word puzzle the solution of whose clues is
locked in Origens bosom.
In many ways the allegorical method of Origen is similar to the way most people read
the Bible devotionally today. God can use any word or phrase in a persons devotions as
a pointer to some impression He would like to get across. As long as one holds such
impressions lightly and does not compel others to adopt them as the true meaning of the
text, no harm may be done. But Origen was dead serious that allegorical interpretation
brought out the true meaning of the text. His approach, however, left the meaning of the
Bible vulnerable to manipulation by both the well-meaning and the power hungry.
Origens understanding of Scripture, for example, sowed the seed of the churchs
later restriction of the right to interpret Scripture to the church hierarchy. As the
allegorical use of Scripture became more mainstream in the church, the intention of the
Bible was largely lost, buried under layers of doctrinal authority. Using allegorical
method, the Bible could be made to say whatever church leaders wanted it to say. Today
many agree with this scholarly assessment: This doubling of the Scripture meaning,
rooted in Greek philosophy, has gone down as a legacy of Greek thinking in Hellenistic

Judaism and has entered this way into Christian theology.

It is now generally agreed that allegorical exegesis in the post-apostolic age was
substantially influenced by Greek philosophical ideas. One leading New Testament
scholar clarifies this critique for us: But this approach was largely arbitrary, because the
approved interpretation depended so largely on the interpreters personal preference, and
in practice it violated the original intention of the Scriptures and almost obliterated the
historical relatedness of the revelation they recorded.
Augustines Hermeneutical Principles

The distinction between the letter and the spirit of Scripture was finally defined by
Augustine, the Bishop of Hippo in North Africa. He wrote a book on the principles of
Scripture interpretation called On Christian Doctrine (written between A. D. 396 and
427). Augustine accepted in principle the three different senses of Scripture that Origen
had taught, though he stressed the primacy of historical interpretation more than Origen
did. Nevertheless, he felt free to propose some allegorical meanings of Bible texts that
were purely speculations. He also recognized at times a mixed or multiple interpretation
that gave straightforward Bible texts a deeper, allegorical sense.
Augustine states that whatever in Scripture cannot apply literally to morality or to
religious truth must be interpreted figuratively, allegorically. As a result of this principle,
Augustine sometimes asserts that the literal meaning of a Scripture text also contains a
deeper, allegorical meaning. For example, he accepted the narrative about Noahs ark in
Genesis 6 literally, yet he considered this story to be allegorical as well. The ark for him
was a symbol of the church, and the cypress wood with which it was made was a symbol
of the cross of Christ. The three decks of the ark were symbols of the three Christian
virtues (faith, hope, and love). They were also symbols of three forms of sexual
abstinence, that of married couples, widows, and virgins. This last application exposes
the fact that Augustines theology was rooted in the ascetic morality of Neo-Platonic
philosophy as much as it was rooted in the Bible.
Another notable allegorization found in Augustines writings is his interpretation of
the creation narrative of Genesis 1. He assumes that the six literal days of creation may
also imply the Triune God, because they are structured in two parallel passages of three
days each. Augustine discovers another hidden truth in the statement that God
separated the light from the darkness in Genesis 1:4. He assumes that this first light
implies the creation of the good angels, so that the darkness points to the bad angels.
His strange argument is: For, the only one who could discern this distinction was he
who, even before their fall, could foresee that they would fall and that, once they were
deprived of the light of truth, they would remain in the darkness of pride.
In general, Augustine tried to keep the focus of Scripture on the revelation of Gods
saving grace, as in his commentary on Genesis: In short, it must be said that our authors
knew the truth about the nature of the skies, but it was not the intention of the Spirit of
God, who spoke through them, to teach men anything that would not be of use to them
for their salvation. In cases of uncertainty about the Scriptural meaning, the rule of
faith should be consulted as it is found in the more open places of the Scriptures and in
the authority of the Church. If the meaning still remains ambiguous: then it is necessary
to examine the context of the preceding and following parts surrounding the ambiguous

place (On Christian Doctrine, III, 2). While these latter principles of interpretation can
be helpful, his allegorism seems motivated by the need to blend what he found valuable
in Neo-Platonic philosophy with church tradition. And so the biblical perspective was
often muted or lost.
The Medieval Interpretation of Scripture

The church of the Middle Ages moved a step beyond even Origen and Augustine.
They developed a fourfold sense of Scripture. The literal (or historical) sense of the text
was now amplified by an allegorical, a moral, and an anagogical (or eschatological)
meaning. For instance, a reference to water in the Bible could mean 1) literal water; 2)
moral purity; 3) baptism; and 4) eternal life all at the same time. Yet the dichotomy
between a literal and a non-literal sense of Scripture remained at the foundation of all
exegesis. Interestingly, one scholar concluded that the Bible was the most studied book
in the middle ages among the educated clerics. But the view of four meanings of
Scripture allowed interpreters way too much room for manipulation of the Bibles
meaning. Thus the Word of God was obscured even as it was being studied.
Beginning with the 12th century, a new wave of mysticism occurred. Bernard of
Clairvaux (10901153), a monk of ascetic piety and Catholic orthodoxy, stressed the
mystical sense of Scripture (in his homilies on the Song of Songs). The Cistercian monk
Joachim of Flora (or Fiore, 11351202) applied the Trinity allegorically to the course of
human history. In his book Harmony of the Old and New Testaments, Joachim explained
that the Old Testament described the era of the Father, the New Testament the era of
the Son, and the age about to start was the age of the Holy Spirit. Only in this latter
age, the epoch of peace, would the believer come into direct contact with God through
the everlasting gospel (of Rev. 14:6which Joachim believed would begin around
A.D. 1260, based on Rev. 11:3 and 12:6). Only then would believers understand
Scripture in its deepest meanings, thereby making the hierarchy of the Church
unnecessary.
All allegorical interpretations were severely limitedalthough not completely
eliminatedby Thomas Aquinas (12251274), an Italian priest in the Dominican Order.
He taught the primacy of the literal interpretation of Scripture, but he allowed the other
(three) senses to be built on it. Intentionally or not, his theology proved to be a synthesis
between the Bible and the philosophical categories of Aristotle, so the Word of God
remained largely hidden in the Middle Ages.
Allegory in Scripture
But if allegorism is such a bad thing, how is it that we can find examples of such
interpretation in the Bible itself? While allegorical interpretation has tended to divert
people from the true intent of Scripture, it would be an extreme position to forbid all use
of allegory. The Scriptures themselves offer multiple examples of allegory as an extended
metaphor.
Examples of allegorical-style expressions in the Old Testament include Jothams
speech to the citizens of Shechem in which the trees went out to anoint a king (Judg.
9:715); Isaiahs poem about the vineyard of Jerusalem and Judah (Isa. 5:17); Asaphs

song of Israel as the vine in Psalm 80:819; and the vivid language about the aging of
the human body in Ecclesiastes 12:37.
In the New Testament Jesus used comparisons in His parables and teachings that
resemble allegory (Jn. 10:116; Mt. 13:2430, 3643). Paul used allegory as a rhetorical
device in Ephesians 6:1117, and in his comparison of the speaking parts of the human
body (1 Cor. 12:1426). He also applied one of the laws of Moses allegorically when he
argued that the church of Corinth should adequately support its pastor: Doesnt the Law
say the same thing? For it is written in the Law of Moses: Do not muzzle an ox
while it is treading out the grain (1 Cor. 9:89; Deut. 25:4).
Pauls Allegory of Slavery and Freedom

Perhaps the best known example of allegory in the Bible is Pauls application of the
story of the patriarch Abraham and his two sons, one with Hagar and one with Sarah
(Gal. 4:2131). Paul states directly: Now this is an allegory [allgoroumena] (Gal.
4:24, NRSV, NASB, JB; other translations use the word symbol, or figuratively). He
did not, however, use the term allegory in the Hellenistic sense that denies the
historical reality of the original story. His purpose In Galatians 4 was to underline his
gospel preaching with a story from the Law of Moses. It is likely that the same story was
being used by his rivals to urge Gentile believers to observe the whole Torah, including
circumcision. Some scholars have suggested that Pauls opponents used the stories of
Genesis 16 and 21 as the primary basis for their teaching.
True descendants of Isaac should be circumcised, Pauls rivals argued, and Gentile
converts who remain uncircumcised would be like Ishmael who was disinherited. Paul
wanted to reclaim the patriarchal story for his Christian message by giving it a figurative
(or allegorical) interpretation through the lens of the gospel (cf. NIV on Gal. 4:24).
Paul uses the story as an illustration of two opposing principles of salvation: through
observance of the law or through the grace of Christ alone. In this way the story of Hagar
and Sarah speaks to the conflict he was experiencing in the Galatian churches. Paul states
this antithesis clearly: I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be
gained through the law, Christ died for nothing! (Gal. 2:21; cf. 5:26). This grace of
God, as revealed in Christs death and resurrection, can be received by faith alone, not
by any human work or law observance.
To illustrate this divine grace, Paul describes Abrahams relationships with his wife
Sarah and Hagar, his Egyptian slave girl, as two different covenants. Abrahams
covenant with Hagar produced only another slave, while his covenant with Sarah, the
free woman, generated a son who is born free as the true heir. Those believers who
insist on becoming heirs on the basis of their law observances are still slaves who will not
share in the inheritance of Abraham (Gal. 4:10, 2831; 5:6).
This was the pastoral point of Pauls allegory. Paul does not intend to provide a
hermeneutical system or technical method of interpretation. What he illustrates with the
allegory is his summary of chapters 2 and 3 in Galatians 3:29: If you belong to Christ,
then you are Abrahams seed, and heirs according to the promise. Pauls use of
allegory is not a precedent for uninspired speculation.
Paul introduced something new into Judaism that was born out of his experience with
the living Lord Jesus. The mighty acts of God in the Old Testament (creation, flood,

exodus and return from exile) are now extended through a new act of God in Jesus. Paul
does not spiritualize away Gods revelations and acts in past history, rather he reaffirms
them in his radically new message about Christ Jesus.
Conclusion
The allegorical method offers a way to speak about eternal things in concrete terms
that humans can understand. As such, it is commonly used in personal devotions that
focus on the Holy Spirits communication to our hearts. It was also used by biblical
writers to communicate Gods messages through His written Word.
But we have seen that there is an inappropriate use of allegory, one that imposes a
speculative meaning on Scripture by means of a plural meaning of the biblical text. Such
an allegorization is usually called allegorism. It bypasses the plain meaning of
Scripture to impose meanings from outside. It thus serves to support abusive power
within the church and leads to confusion as to what the Scriptures actually teach.
But there is another way to find the deeper things of Gods Word, one that respects
the historical context. It requires greater effort and a willingness to submit ones own preconceived opinions to the authority of the text. This method is called typological
interpretation. Typological interpretation seeks the clues to deeper meaning imbedded by
the Holy Spirit within the text itself. It is grounded in careful exegesis and goes no further
than the text allows. We examine the difference between typological and allegorical
interpretation in the next chapter, along with the Bibles own guidelines for typological
interpretation.
CHAPTER FIVE
Christian Typology
Today the difference between allegory and typology in the Bible is widely
recognized. The distinction can be explained this way: allegory deals only with the words
of a Bible text, while typology brings to light repeating patterns of events in redemptive
history. When reading the Bible, people often focus on the words of God, such as the
promise of a Redeemer. But the Bible spends at least equal time on the acts of God, such
as the ten plagues on Egypt and the dividing of the Red Sea in behalf of Israel.
God revealed His redemptive will, therefore, in two different ways that He intended
to complement and explain each other. In the course of time Gods speaking and His
acting showed a definite coherence and consistency. The same God who spoke was also
at work in the history of salvation. The consistency of Gods words and actions through
the ages constitutes the foundation of biblical typology. As God has acted in judgment
and salvation in the past, so He will act again in the future. A prime example of this blend
of word and action is illustrated in the accounts of the exodus of Israel out of Egypt.

Typology in the Old Testament

Already in the Old Testament, the prophets used the exodus story as a prophetic type
of Israels future deliverance from Assyria or Babylon. Hosea portrays such a future
exodus of Israel into the desert to revive the original covenant relationship: I am now
going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert there she will sing as in the days
of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt (Hos. 2:14, 15, NIV; see also vss.
1823).
The prophet Isaiah also used Israels historical exodus as an assurance of a second
Exodus from Babylon (Isa. 11:1116; 52:112). He paints a striking parallel picture of
Gods past and future deliverances: The LORD will dry up the gulf of the Egyptian
sea; with a scorching wind he will sweep his hand over the Euphrates River (Isa.
11:15). Isaiah stresses, however, that Israels second exodus will be more magnificent
than the first, because her deliverer will be greater than Moses. He shall be the glorious
Root of Jesse or Messiah Himself, who shall gather Israel from the four quarters of
the earth (11:1, 10; 12:16). Isaiah even says that this future perspective includes
inconceivable surprises: Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived,
no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for Him
(64:4; see also the song of praise in 12:16).
In his use of typology based on the Exodus, Isaiah teaches some basic principles of
prophetic interpretation. 1) God is a covenant keeping God, who remains faithful to His
promise even when Israel doesnt keep hers (see Deut. 7:9). 2) Both type (the original
event) and antitype (the greater, more spiritual event modeled on the type) center on
historical correspondences within redemptive history. 3) The antitype will be fully
realized in the messianic deliverance of Gods covenant people, but with unexpected
contrasts, as the New Testament points out.
Biblical typology is based on the faithfulness (and consistency) of God, who
guarantees the unity of His acts in the past, the present, and the future. While this
typology deals with concrete historical events, we must also recognize what one scholar
points out: The OT authors and participants did not necessarily recognize any
typological force in the original, but in the divine plan the early event did anticipate the
later reality. This seems to be one reason why the Jewish people were so astonished
when Jesus announced that His Messsiahship was more than that of Israels anointed
leaders in her past history. They limited their evidence base to prophetic predictions of
the Messiah and failed to see the prophetic implications of Gods actions.3
Typology in the New Testament

Jesus of Nazareth began His redemptive ministry after His baptism in the Jordan
River. When He received the fullness of the Spirit of God there, a voice from heaven
spoke: This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased (Mat. 3:17). The
significance of these words lies in their allusion to the Servant of Yahweh as predicted
in the book of Isaiah: Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I
delight; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations (Isa. 42:1);
See, my servant will act wisely; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.
(Isa. 52:13). Jesus saw His own mission therefore in the light of Isaiahs prophecy, as His
later citation from Isaiah 53 indicates: It is written: And he was numbered with the

transgressors (Isa 53:12); and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me. (Luke
22:37). Jesus life and work were guided by His determination to follow Gods will as He
found it in the prophetic Scriptures.
Jesus clearly understood His mission in the light of Israels kings, priests, and
prophets. For example, when the Pharisees challenged Jesus to give them a miraculous
sign, He surprised them by declaring His superiority over Israels anointed ones: Now
one greater than Jonah is here, and now one greater than Solomon is here, and by
His shocking assertion, one greater than the temple is here (Mat. 12:38, 41, 42, 6).
With these historical comparisons, Jesus introduced a new kind of typological
thinking into Jewish thought. Jesus message to the Jews was of a more serious nature
than was Jonahs message to Nineveh (Mat. 12:41). His wisdom was greater than even
that of Solomon (Mat. 12:42; 11:27). And, finally, His violent death would provide the
blood of a new covenant, better than the blood of sacrificial animals (Mat. 26:28; see also
Hebrews 9). Thus Jesus differed fundamentally from all Jewish end-time expectations.
He understood that His mission was to complete the history of divine revelation to Israel.
He brought the fullness of Gods redemptive will that exceeded all previous revelations.
Also in Matthew 12, Jesus defended His disciples regarding an alleged Sabbath
violation. He appealed to Davids act, who on one occasion had broken the law (note
wording of Matthew 12:4), regarding the consecrated bread in the temple. Christ thereby
suggested: If David as Gods anointed one had the right to set aside a ritual requirement,
how much the more authority have I as Messiah? Here Jesus argued on the basis of an
implied messianic typology. The temple priests of the old covenant foreshadowed a
greater high priest: I tell you that one greater than the temple is here (Mat. 12:6).
A similar typological approach was expressed in the context of the Last Supper.
While handing His disciples the bread and the cup he said: Take and eat; this is my
body; This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the
forgiveness of sins (Mat. 26:2628). Here Jesus honored the Mosaic rituals of eating a
roasted lamb, without defect, together with bitter herbs and bread without yeast, all of
which symbolized Israels ancient exodus deliverance (see Exodus 12:111). Christ then
instituted a new symbolic ritual that would remember His death and resurrection, because
His self-sacrifice provided an even greater deliverance, the forgiveness of sins.
Such a dramatic fulfillment of the slaughtered Passover lamb could not have been
deduced from the type itself. Christ took the imperfect type and interpreted it as
witnessing to Himself (John 5:39; Mat. 13:17). No wonder the people were constantly
amazed at His teaching (Mark 2:27; Mat. 7:29; 13:54). Jesus acts and teachings
reveal two advancements in Israels salvation history. First, the time of the messianic
antitype was present in His redemptive ministry: The time has come (Mark 1:15).
Second, the renewal of Gods covenant with Israel was established in His blood-shedding
as the antitypical Passover Lamb (John 19:3336; Exod. 12:46).
The Typological Pattern in Matthews Gospel

It is widely recognized that Matthews Gospel was designed to show correspondences
between Christs ministry and Israels redemptive history. Commentators speak of
Matthews christological Moses typology, or: For Matthew, as for the early Church
generally, the Christian dispensation is a new Exodus wrought by Jesus as the new

Moses.iv
Matthews typology is not meant to convince outsiders but rather to strengthen the
faith of those who already believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Matthew is not
limiting himself to the exegetical intention of the Old Testament writers. Rather he is
presenting a perspective of faith in light of a new mighty act of God, the coming of the
Messiah. Matthew sees messianic foreshadowings in certain events in Israels history.
These foreshadowings were fulfilled on a higher plane in Jesus ministry. At first
glance this may seem a human construct, but it is grounded in the sovereign rulership of
the Lord of history and confirms the essential unity of the Scriptures. A few examples
from Matthews gospel may illustrate this Christian view of Israels history.
When Herod threatened the infant Jesus life, Joseph and Mary fled with the child to
Egypt until the death of Herod. Matthew interprets the flight to Egypt with this
comment: And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: Out of
Egypt I called my son (Mat. 2:15). His citation is from Hosea 11:1, where the prophet
recalls Israels exodus from Egyptian bondage. How can Matthew turn this historical
exodus into a messianic promise? Matthew views Jesus as the promised Davidic King
(Mat. 1:1), the embodiment of ancient Israel and the antitype of earlier divine
redemption. Matthew presents his typological correspondence not as a coincidence, but
as a divine intention to foreshadow a messianic fulfillment. This typological
interpretation of Hosea 11 originated in the Spirit-filled, or charismatic, exegesis of
Matthew, and can be accepted only by faith in Christ Jesus. The understanding of Israels
exodus from Egypt as a type of Christ finds its starting point in the New Testament.
Matthew adds more unexpected parallels between Jesus acts and Israels history. In
particular, he presents Jesus as reliving Israels history in His baptism and temptation
experiences at the beginning of His ministry (Mat. 3:1316; 4:110; Luke 4:112). Even
though Jesus was sinless and had no need for baptism, He said He needed baptism in
order to fulfill all righteousness (Mat. 3:15). In so doing, He recalled Israels Red Sea
experience and identified with her need for cleansing from sin. At the same moment He
received the anointing of the Spirit, empowering Him to accomplish His messianic
mission. He also heard the voice of His Father, declaring Him to be My Son (Mat.
3:17).
The same Spirit directed Jesus into the desert to be tempted by the devil (Mat. 4:1;
Luke 4:1), as Israel was. Satan tempted Jesus to doubt the words of His Father and
manifest His sonship by turning stones into bread (Mat. 4:3). Jesus, full of the Holy
Spirit, (Luke 4:1) resisted Satans suggestions by appealing three times to a central part
of Israels Scripture, Deuteronomy 68 (see 6:13, 16; 8:3).
These chapters of Deuteronomy are central to the whole Torah because they begin
with Israels fundamental statement of faith: Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the
LORD alone. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your
soul, and with all your might (Deut. 6:45, NRSV). This summary of Israels covenant
bond is the heart and core of the Torah, the greatest of all the commandments. The
following parts (in Deuteronomy 68) describe the alluring temptations Israel
experienced in the desert. Moses calls on Israel to trust and obey the Lord, stating:
Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God
disciplines you (Deut. 8:5; see also Exodus 4:2223).
Jesus applied Moses farewell address to Himself. As Israel was tempted in the

desert for forty years (Deut. 8:2), so Jesus (being led by the Spirit) submitted Himself
to be tempted by Satan for forty days in the desert (Luke 4:12). Both the purpose and
the time periodsthe temptations and the forty days in the desertcorrespond to those
of Israel. Jesus here parallels not with Moses but with Israel. Where Israel failed to trust,
believe and obey God in the desert, Christ there demonstrated an undivided heart toward
God. Jesus not only repeated Israels history but also conquered where Israel had failed.
Matthews Gospel teaches that the Messiahs coming was to deliver Israel from her
slavery to sin and to Satan. He also came to lead Israel into a new understanding of the
Torah through His sermon on the mount (Mat. 57).
Typological Design in Johns Gospel

Matthew is not alone in building a typology of Jesus on the things of Israel. The
Fourth Gospel, written near the end of the first century, brings home some remarkable
antitypes of the rituals that were performed in the temple in the days of Jesus. The feasts
of Passover and of Tabernacles in particular are highlighted in Johns Gospel as being
fulfilled in Christ.
These festivals commemorated the Exodus out of Egypt, including the water from the
rock during Israels forty years in the wilderness. These Passover and Tabernacles
celebrations relived Israels historical redemption by means of symbolic rituals in the
Temple courts. At the same time these festivals kindled hope that the promised Messiah
would produce even greater acts of redemption for Israel. In the setting of these Jewish
Temple feasts the acts and words of Jesus take on a new dimension. A few examples will
support Jesus claims of being sent as the true Antitype of those symbolic ceremonies.
Chapter 6 of the Fourth Gospel informs us: The Jewish Passover Feast was near
(v. 4). Jesus saw a great crowd of pilgrims coming toward him near the Sea of Galilee,
and asked Philip a testing question: Where shall we buy bread for those people to eat?
(vv. 56). All they had was a little boys five small barley loaves and two small fish
(v. 8). Jesus then performed His astonishing miracle of feeding about five thousand men.
This act convinced many that Jesus was the promised Prophet (v. 14), who would lead
Israel to actively resist the Roman occupation (v. 15). They rightly remembered the
ancient miracle of the manna in the desert during the Exodus.
But Christ announced that the manna of old had an even deeper implication. God the
Father had now given Israel the true bread from heaven (v. 32), and Jesus explained
its significance: I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and
he who believes in me will never be thirsty (v. 35). This was nothing less than a
messianic claim! Jesus presented Himself as the heavenly Antitype of the ancient miracle
of the manna. Christ provided, however, something infinitely more than temporary food:
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at
the last day (v. 54).
Christs words had special power during the Feast of Passover, because the Jews were
celebrating Gods gracious acts of deliverance under Moses. Curiously, the Jews took
Jesus words in a literal, physical sense and thus became confused (v. 52). Even His
disciples reacted by saying, This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it? (v. 61). Christ
then enlightened them: The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life (v.
63).

Chapter 7 of the Gospel of John continues by stating that now the Jewish Feast of
Tabernacles was near (v. 2). This autumn feast was the most popular of all festivals,
drew the most international visitors, and lasted seven days (Lev. 23:3336). The prophet
Zechariah had connected this Feast with the future ingathering of the Gentiles to
Jerusalem at the day of the LORD (Zech. 14:1, 1621). According to Jewish tradition,
every day of the feast priests performed two elaborate rituals. At the time of the morning
sacrifice they performed a ritual to bring water from the Pool of Siloam through the
Water Gate to the altar of burnt offering in the temple. And in the evening they lit giant
candelabras in the Court of the Women. All Israel was required to live in makeshift
booths during the feast to commemorate the living in tents during Israels desert journey
under Moses. Each ceremony pointed back to Gods protective leading in the wilderness,
but also pointed to the great future triumph of the Messiah.
In John chapter 7, Jesus arrived halfway through the Feast and began to teach in the
temple (v. 14). He amazed the Jews by His new understanding of the Torah and His
charge that not one of you keeps the law (vv. 1419). When Jesus said that they did
not know God, but I know Him because I am from Him and He sent me, the chief
priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest him (vv. 2832), but they were
unable to follow through on their commission.
When the last day of the feast arrived, the water ceremony was performed while the
priests sang the promise of Isaiah, With joy you will draw water from the wells of
salvation (Isa. 12:3). When the people had responded with their song of praise, the
hallel of Psalm 118, a silence fell over the crowd. Then the voice of Jesus was heard
loudly throughout the Temple: If a man is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.
Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of water will flow from
within him (vv. 3738). Jesus words assert that the promise of wells of salvation in
Isaiah 12 (v. 3) would be fulfilled when Israel came to Him to drink.
A new dimension to this story is added when we learn that the water libation
specifically commemorated Moses smiting the rock in the wilderness in order to receive
life-giving water. Christ announced that the appointed Antitype of this action had now
arrived in Israel. According to John, Jesus would mediate the life-creating Spirit of God
in the believer (see John 7:39). Thus Jesus not only interpreted the symbolic meaning of
the ritual, He also fulfilled it. Even the temple guards admitted: No one ever spoke the
way this man does (v. 46).
Jesus seems to have repeated His call that very evening when the torches in the
temple court were all lighted for the evening celebration. This was called the joy of the
feast and was connected with the hope for the Messiah, who was described in prophecy
as a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel (Isa. 42:6;
Luke 2:2832). On that occasion Jesus exclaimed, I am the light of the world. Whoever
follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life (8:12). It is no
wonder that a serious dialogue between Christ and the Pharisees began shortly after in the
temple (John 8:3159).
Christian Typology Is Retrospective

With the appearance of Jesus as the Messiah, new events occurred that surprised all
who witnessed them. Something incomparably greater than the shadows or prefigurations

of the past was present, in their very midst. As the God-sent Messiah, Jesus redefined
Israels covenant relationship with God. In the past, Israel related exclusively to Yahweh
as her covenant God. Now believers in Jesus relate to God through Jesus Christ who is
the Lord of the new covenant. This advancing of history from type to antitype is of
hermeneutical (interpretative) significance. Good things had happened in the past, but
now something even greater has come: In the past God spoke to our forefathers
through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has
spoken to us by his Son (Heb. 1:1, 2).
This recognition of Gods speaking and acting through Jesus means more than just a
further development of revelation, it indicates a messianic high point in time. One New
Testament scholar explains that the New Testament antitype is neither a richer, more
perfect form of the old (type), nor a new stage of development , but the eschatological
fulfillment, the unique end-time consummation The New Testament typology testifies
everywhere to the eschatological Christ event.
Christian typology is defined by this messianic progression of salvation history.
Because the ancient types and prophecies were but dimly understood, Christian typology
must start with Jesus as the true Interpreter of the Scriptures. He opens the mind to a
deeper understanding that goes beyond a surface reading of Scripture (see Luke 24:45).
This hermeneutical starting point offers a serious safeguard against unwarranted
conclusions on the basis of an Old Testament type or prophecy alone. Although there is a
circle of correspondences in type and antitype, the defining standard of this two-way
relationship lies in the New Testament. An example from Pauls letters illustrates this
normative use of the gospel of Christ.
Pauls Pastoral Use of the Exodus Motif

The apostle Paul was informed that the church in Corinth had some serious problems.
In his first letter to this church, Paul advised her: Get rid of the old yeast that you may
be a new batch without yeastas you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has
been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of
malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth
(1 Cor. 5:7, 8, italics added). Here Paul uses Exodus typology: Christ is our Passover
lamb, implying that His atoning death provides a new Exodus for His followers, a life of
grateful love.
Paul develops this Exodus typology further in 1 Corinthians 10. He warns some
undisciplined Corinthian believers that Israels God is also the judge of the the new
covenant (1 Cor. 10:113). Consider the people of Israel, he urges them (1 Cor.
10:18). In his pastoral concern for the church, Paul expands typology beyond matters of
salvation to include judgment. He points to the faithless and idolatrous Israelites under
Moses as a type of faithless and licentious Christians (1 Cor. 10:711; cf. Ps. 78).
More than that, Gods judgments on the Exodus generation occurred as examples
[Gr: tupoi], to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did (v. 6). Paul
confronts the arrogant claims of some to have freedom to be sexually permissive and
to join idolatrous pagan festivals (1 Cor. 6:1220; 10:2333). He reminds them, however,
that God will judge the church just as He did the ancient Israelites, our forefathers (1
Cor. 10:1). Those had been baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and ate

the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink from the spiritual rock
that accompanied them (10:24). Paul then adds: and that rock was Christ (10:4). So
these analogies were more than coincidental, they were divinely intended from the
beginning.
Pauls point in this passage is: Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of
them; their bodies were scattered over the desert (10:5). Gods past judgment on Israel
has not become irrelevant now, but has increased its pertinence in the time of the end.
These things happened to them as examples [Greek: tupiks] and were written down
as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come [Greek: ta tel tn
ainn, the ends of the ages] (1 Cor. 10:11, italics added). Paul warns: So, if you
think you are standing firm, be careful that you dont fall! (10:12; cf. vss 1433).
We can summarize Pauls Exodus typology in three points. 1) The church of Christ
receives her spiritual identity from being baptized into Christ. 2) The church needs to
view Israels covenant experiences as warning types for her own covenant relationship
with Christ. 3) The new covenant intensifies Israels redemptive and judgment typologies
for the messianic age.
Pauls message is characterized by its redemptive historical perspective. His
typology has been called a charismatic interpretation of the Old Testament in that Paul
was inspired by the enlightening Spirit of God. He is reading the Scriptures with new
eyes in the light of Gods revelation in Christ and produces fresh and startling
interpretations.x In the new context, Paul made the gospel of Christ the definitive norm
for understanding the Hebrew Bible and its redemptive history.
Conclusion
The crucial difference between allegory and typology in the Bible is this:
allegory deals only with the words of a Bible text, while typology deals with repeating
patterns of events in redemptive history. For the biblical writers, the acts of God were as
important as His words. The consistency of Gods words and actions through the ages
constitutes the foundation of biblical typology. As God has acted in judgment and
salvation in the past, so He will act again in the future.
Already in the Old Testament, the prophets used stories like Creation and the Exodus
as prophetic types of Israels future deliverance from Assyria or Babylon. Building upon
this inspired hermeneutic, Jesus applied the Old Testament acts of God to Himself. Jesus
understood His mission in the light of Israels kings, priests, and prophets, and how God
interacted with them. He understood that His mission was to complete the history of
divine revelation to Israel. He brought to this earth the fullness of Gods redemptive will
that exceeded all previous revelations.
Jesus, therefore, saw the entire history of Gods dealing with Israel as divinely
intended foreshadowings of His own life and ministry. His life and teachings become the
hermeneutical key to unlock the deeper meaning of the Old Testament Scriptures. If we
want to understand the Bible the way Jesus did, we need to apply the same method Jesus
did to our study of its pages. The Messiah of Israel is the key to rightly understanding the
Bible.


CHAPTER SIX
THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE REFORMERS IN

UNDERSTANDING THE BIBLE
The most influential reformers of the 16th century (Martin Luther in Germany, Ulrich
Zwingli in Switzerland, and John Calvin in France), led the Christian Church into a rediscovery of the gospel. They argued that the Bible does not need appointed church
authority in order to be interpreted correctly. Rather, the Scriptures are the living oracles
of Christ to all believers. The Reformers saw Scripture, Christ, and faith in an
unbreakable interrelationship, all mutually connected with one another. To them, true
Scripture faith was identical with faith in Christ.
The Reformers expressed this new view in short formulas: sola scripturasolo
Christosola fide (meaning: salvation by Scripture aloneby Christ aloneby faith
alone). No one of these three confessional statements should be interpreted in isolation
from the others. To do so would be to distort the meaning of each. The Reformers also
rejected splitting up letter and spirit in the Bible, as if we could understand the one
without the other. To take the letter of Scripture by itself was to them already an
abstraction that was illegitimate. A Spirit-filled but straightforward reading of the Bible
was, for them, the correct approach.
Nevertheless, each reformer adapted the apostolic gospel message to his own
religious and political circumstances. And each also exhibited significant limitations
within those situations. Our focus in this chapter will be on the Reformers common
agreement on the gospel and their individual contributions to a better understanding of
the Bible.
Luthers Christ-centered Scripture Understanding

Martin Luther was more concerned about the Catholic plan of salvationand its
claim of a monopoly on gracethan about the outward abuses of its religion. He detected
how the theology of his time was deeply embedded in the Greek philosophy of Aristotle.
As a result of this mixture of theology and human philosophy the meanings of biblical
key words, such as righteousness, sin, grace, and faith, had been fundamentally changed.
Faith was considered to be merely an intellectual assent to a certain truth. Such
unformed faith needed to be infused with sacramental grace through a priestly act in
order to become formed faith. Such a distinction was not derived from the Bible but
was absorbed from Aristotles philosophy.
Luther reacted against such speculative theories by returning to the Bible as his
authoritative source of divine revelation. For that reason he began to master the original
languages of the Bible; Greek and Hebrew. Gradually, Luthers Christ-centered
hermeneutic exposed the medieval doctrine of faith (intellectual assent followed by the
infusion of sacramental grace) as a subtle separation of the letter and the spirit. Luther
overcame this medieval distinction through Pauls understanding of the gospel. For Paul,
saving faith means the personal embracing of Christ which results in assurance of
salvation. Faith unites the soul with Christ as a bride is united to her bridegroom.
Luther explained further: Therefore faith justifies because it takes hold of and possesses

this treasure, the present Christ.ii

For Luther the medieval concept of grace needed to be reformed from a
supernatural substance to the favor or mercy of God (favor Dei) in Christ. He began to
stress that our salvation is sola gratia (by grace alone) and can be accepted only by
trusting faith (sola fide). In other words, saving grace is revealed in Christ as the gift of
God. So for Luther, Christ and His ministry became the key to understanding Scripture.
The Bible unlocks its own message. Christ must be recognized as the dominant theme of
the Bible. Luther even sees Christ as the center of a circle, around which all other truths
form concentric circles. This central focus on the person of Christ in the Scriptures was at
the heart of the Protestant reformation.
Luthers Exegetical Discovery

Near the end of his life, Luther wrote a brief report of how he had received his
spiritual rebirth while studying Pauls letter to the Romans. One particular phrase in
Romans 1 threw him into great distress: For in the gospel a righteousness from God is
revealed (Rom. 1:17). He first understood the word righteousness in the traditional
philosophical sense of Gods punishing justice against sinners (the so-called iustitia
distributiva, retributive justice). Luther could not grasp what Paul meant with such a
gospel, since his own conscience judged him unrighteous on the basis of Gods
commandments. Nevertheless, he kept searching to understand what Paul meant when he
said: In the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed that is by faith from first
to last (1:17).
Then it dawned on Luther that Gods righteousness is a gift rather than an obligation
or punishment. From first to last, faith embraces that gift of righteousness which comes
from outside ourselves. The righteousness of God then stood for Gods merciful work
for us in Christ, not the punishing justice of God. Luther discovered that the attributes of
God are not a threat in Christ, instead they are a gift that empowers the believer.
Discovering the exegetical meaning of Gods righteousness in Romans 1:17 delivered
Luther from his anxious conscience. It was, in fact, the key to a new understanding of the
gospel. In retrospect, he described its transforming effect: Here I felt that I was
altogether born again and had entered paradise itself through open gates. There a totally
other face of the entire Scripture showed itself to me.
Luthers exegetical discovery also had hermeneutical significance. He had moved
Scripture interpretation away from its philosophical guideline (with its abstract
Aristotelian distinctions) and re-oriented it to a Christ-centered understanding of
Scripture. Luther no longer approached the Bible by means of a fixed philosophical
method. He now approached the Bible solely by a name: Jesus Christ. Hermeneutics
needed to be grounded in a Person rather than a philosophical approach.
Luther began to reject all speculative questions about God. Instead, a true knowledge
of God is received only by an encounter that God initiates and that places man in His
presence (coram Deo). Experiential knowledge of Gods awesome holiness as Judge
brings man to a new self-knowledge, that of sinfulness under divine condemnation.
Luther thus interpreted the wrath or judgment of God in the light of the gospel of Gods
grace in Christ. He now viewed the law of God from the perspective of the gospel, and
Gods wrath as the appointed way to His grace.

In addition, these insights enabled Luther to sharpen his understanding of

righteousness by faith. It now became for him the divine imputation of Christs
righteousness to the repentant believer, a forensic justification. In 1535 he commented on
Pauls words, that we may be justified by faith in Christ (Gal. 2:16): Here it is to be
noted that these three things are joined together: faith, Christ, and acceptance or
imputation.1
Luther, therefore, recognized the theological distinction between justification and
sanctification, but he never separated or compartmentalized them as later Lutheran
orthodoxy taught. For Luther the divine act of justification gave the believer the
assurance of a present salvation (Rom. 8:1, 3334). Sanctification, however, is the neverending work of a lifetime of obedience to God, as Paul had expressed it: Therefore do
not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires (Rom. 6:12).
In order to keep both acts of God together, Luther formulated the phrase that the
believer is: simul justus et peccator (simultaneously righteous and sinner). He here
moved away from Augustines idea that a believer is only partly righteous and partly
a sinner. For Luther the believer in Christ is simultaneously totally righteous (or justified
through Gods judgment), and totally a sinner. He appealed to Pauls words, For in my
inner being I delight in Gods law; but I see another law at work in the members of my
body, waging war against the law of my mind , (Rom. 7:22, 23), Luther explained:
with reference to Christ our Lord and the forgiveness of sins in Christ, we are truly holy,
innocent, and righteous With reference to myself and my flesh, however, I am a
sinner.
The Luther expert Paul Althaus states it succinctly: Christocentric interpretation for
Luther thus means gospel-centered interpretation, understood in terms of the gospel of
justification by faith alone. Luther proclaimed the gospel as our participation by faith in
the historic death and resurrection of Jesus.x Representative of reformation theology,
Luther viewed the Bible as sufficient, effective, and perspicuous (clear) in its message of
salvation. Nevertheless, the New Testament gospel will be effective only when a living
voice (Latin: viva vox) preaches the gospel of Christ, because faith comes from
hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ (Rom.
10:17).
On this point the Augsburg Confession of 1530 makes an important contribution in
Article V: To obtain such faith God instituted the office of the ministry, that is, provided
the Gospel and the sacraments. Through these, as through means, he gives the Holy
Spirit, who works faith, when and wherever he pleases, in those who hear the Gospel.
By way of preaching and hearing the Gospel, God is drawing the listeners to enter into a
personal relationship with Christ and this way appeals directly to the human conscience.
But who is that living voice that preaches the Gospel?
The Spirit and the Word

Fundamental to all Protestant Reformers was the inseparable connection of the Bible
and the Holy Spirit. Neither can be separated legitimately from the other, because the
Word of God functions as the sword of the Spirit (Eph. 6:17; also Isa. 59:20). This
implies that the Bible cannot be understood properly without the illumination of our heart
and mind by the Spirit of God. There must be a congeniality, an affinity of the soul with

the inner movings of Scripture, to receive the spiritual message embedded in the literal
interpretation of the Word.
Luther further stressed that a certain order must be recognized: first comes the
outward (written) Word and then the Spirit deepens it into the inner Word. These two
relate to each other as promise and fulfillment, as a symbol to its reality. The outward
Word is the promise, the inner Word brings the experiential fulfillment. The Spirit uses
the Word of God in Scripture to make Jesus Christ present.
Without the Bible Christ cannot be known and the name of Christ would be but an
idea without historical substance. On the other hand, without the Spirit the Word about
Christ remains ineffective. Only the Spirit creates faith. There is a logical tension
between the Word and the Spirit, which Luther applies also to the distinction between
law and gospel. But for him this tension is resolved in the notion of saving faith in
Christ, a faith that is always progressing and growing.
Through the Spirit, the Bible places the hearers conscience before the face of God
(coram Deo). This is a revolutionary view of the Scriptures. If they are truly the living
oracles of God, then no human authority should be placed above Scripture. And so Luther
went to battle against the absolute claims of the institutional church. The guiding
principle for all the magisterial Reformers became the belief in the self-authentication
(autopisty) and the self-interpretation of the Scriptures. Or as it was stated in practical
terms: The Bible is its own expositor (sui ipsius interpres). This hermeneutical
principle allows Scripture to be its own interpreter, while respecting the particular literary
and historical context of every text. Luthers new approach to Scripture also led to a new
doctrine of the Church (ecclesiology), which ultimately led to the great conflict and
schism with Rome.
Luthers Understanding of the Church

Luther redefined the church as the priesthood of all believers. This powerful New
Testament concept (see 1 Pet. 2:910; Rev. 1:56) had been introduced earlier, but
Luther gave it a voice and power as never before.xv A major concern of Luther was the
correct interpretation of Jesus promise to Peter: I will give you the keys of the kingdom
of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you
loose on earth will be loosed in heaven (Mat. 16:19). Luther discusses the Roman
abuses of this text at length in his treatise The Keys.
Luther argued that any claim to a formal apostolic succession in the Roman sense
was misguided. Apostolic succession is grounded, not in rituals, but in faithfulness to the
gospel message. In that sense all Christians may function as priests, that is, to teach, to
preach and proclaim the Word of God, to baptize, to consecrate or administer the
Eucharist, to bind and loose sins, to pray for others, to sacrifice, and to judge all doctrine
and spirits. But the first and foremost of all on which everything else depends, is the
teaching of the Word of God.4
Luthers unique emphasis on the priestly calling of each believer led to a dramatic
clash with church hierarchy and with the papal office in particular. The crisis reached its
high point in 1520, when Pope Leo X sent Luther his papal bull Exsurge Domine that
condemned the evangelical teaching. Luther reacted by publicly burning this bull and by
publishing his defense Against the Bull of the Antichrist (1520). The apostolic gospel

was, for Luther, the ultimate test of truth, and its falsification the very mark of the
antichrist. Luther challenged the self-serving use of Christs words in Matthew 16:1819
as the proof text for the divine right of papal rule. He began to restrict the true church to
a remnant, a minority of Gods people who have remained faithful to the truth in every
age.
Zwingli on the Clarity and Power of the Word

A contemporary of Luther, Ulrich Zwingli (14841531), grew up in Switzerland and
was educated in the classical sciences by humanist scholars. He engaged in his own
systematic investigation of the Scriptures in the original Greek language. There he found
the truth about God and the gospel of righteousness by faith independently from Luther.
His pastoral concern as a preacher at the Zurich cathedral was the salvation of his people,
the Swiss nation. In 1529 he and his pastoral team published the Zurich Bible, an
important contribution to the cause of the Swiss Reformation.
In his sermon of 1522, Of the Clarity and Certainty or Power of the Word of God,
Zwingli testifies: Eventually I came to the point where led by the Word and Spirit of
God I saw the need to set aside all these things and to learn the doctrine of God direct
from his own Word. To him the Scriptures could be understood only partially by human
reason. Their divine truth must be perceived through the illumination of the Holy Spirit.
Only the person who is taught by God can understand and interpret the Bible properly. In
this fuller sense, the Bible carries with it its own enlightenment and assurance. His
counsel is: When you find that it gives you assurance of the grace of God and eternal
salvation, it is of God.xxi
A key issue for Zwingli as well as Luther was the question of authority. This led him
to reject the tradition of Mary as mediatrix of salvation and also the veneration of images.
In 1523 he issued in Zurich his Sixty-Seven Articles of faith that he based on the
Scriptures alone. In these he declared that Christ is the one eternal High Priest, and the
only Mediator between God and us (Articles 17 and 19). Zwingli was asked to direct the
city Bible school, where he taught scholarly exegesis of the two Testaments.
In 1525 the city council of Zurich abolished the Catholic mass and the veneration of
saints, and declared itself an independent, evangelical city. Zwingli considered the
Eucharist as a mere remembrance of the sacrifice of Christ, arguing that Christ made
His sacrifice only once for all eternity. He therefore rejected both the Roman
transubstantiation doctrine and the Lutheran doctrine of a consubstantiation in the
Eucharist. He argued that Christs word of institution, This is my body, must be
interpreted as: This signifies my body. He later considered this concept his major
contribution to the renewal of Christianity. Like the other Reformers, Zwingli rested his
certainty ultimately on the supreme authority of Holy Scripture and on the internal
testimony of the Spirit.
Calvin and the Spirit

John Calvin (15091564) eventually became the leading exegete and systematic
theologian of the Reformation. Like Luther, he stressed the union of Scripture, Christ,
faith, and the Spirit. His unique contribution was his development of the inward

testimony of the Holy Spirit as the confirmation or sealing of the trustworthiness of

Holy Scripture. In his Institutes of the Christian Religion (1559) he concludes: For as
God alone is a fit witness of himself in his Word, so also the Word will not find
acceptance in mens hearts before it is sealed by the inward testimony of the Spirit (I, 7,
4); Accordingly, without the illumination of the Holy Spirit, the Word can do nothing
(III, 2, 33).
Calvin does not suggest that the Spirit offers an independent testimony about
Scripture, but rather that it binds the conscience to the gospel message of Scripture itself:
it seals the gospel teaching in our hearts. For him the Scriptures and Gods law are not
dead letters but living words to pass on to us. These words are effective in their
divinely ordained purposes, because they contain Christ (Commentary on Acts 7:38).
The Legacy of the Protestant Reformation

For all the Protestant Reformers the clarity of Scripture was centered in the gospel of
Jesus Christ. He alone is the unifying center and substance of the Bible. The Reformers
formulated as their guiding principle that Scripture interprets Scripture. This expressed
their common conviction that a truthful understanding of Scripture and saving experience
in Christ is not dependent on any church authority. The assurance of salvation is given by
the Spirit of Christ to all believers because Christ is our Righteousness. Thus the
Reformers held fast to the unbreakable union of the Word and the Spirit of God.
The Reformers defined Christian terms, like gospel, grace, faith, church, priesthood,
sacraments and tradition by their biblical meanings. They did not agree in all matters of
exegesis, as is evident from their historical debates and combative writings. Nevertheless,
they stood united on the christocentric meaning of the gospel as revealed in the life,
death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. They all believed in the authority of the Word of
God, because they recognized its authority by the inner testimony and liberating power of
the Spirit.
The Radical Reformers

Today new attention is being given to radical reformers who protested not only
against the Roman Church but also against the classical reformers. The most significant
of these were the Anabaptists, who in 1527 issued the seven articles of the Schleitheim
Confession in Switzerland. This statement of their fundamental beliefs testified to a
strictly literal interpretation of the teachings of Jesus and His apostles.
Fundamental was their understanding of the church of Christ. They were convinced
that the post-apostolic church had fallen away from the truth, that is, from the apostolic
teachings. They identified this apostasy in the formation of the state-church under
Emperor Constantine, who had made the Christian religion compulsory. The Anabaptists
were among the first to uphold religious liberty for all believers. For them Christian faith
was not subject to external coercion of any kind.
Another hallmark of the Anabaptist faith was their restoration of believers baptism as
the entrance into the church of Christ. The First Article even concludes: This [baptism]
excludes all infant baptism, the highest and chief abomination of the pope. In this you
have the foundation and testimony of the apostles. Matt. 28, Mark 16, Acts 2, 8, 16, 19.

The Anabaptists viewed Luther, Zwingli and Calvin as merely half-way reformers,
because these still recognized the baptisms of Rome as valid. The Anabaptist concept of
discipleship was incompatible with any oath taking, political office, or form of violence
and persecution.
In the Anabaptists, the first generation of the Reformation reached its ultimate extent.
They believed that a church that recognizes the Lordship of Christ cannot become captive
to any state or to the powers of this world. The sola scriptura belief of the major
Reformers became for the Anabaptists a new way of life within a disciplined community.
It gave rise to the development of the Free-Church movement.
Conclusion
The Reformation of the Sixteenth Century centered around a re-discovery of the unity
of the Bible in the gospel of Jesus Christ. This meant that the Bible could no longer be
read only as a book of rules for life. Neither did it need appointed church authority in
order to be understood. Instead, it should be heard as the living oracles of Christ to all
believers through the living action of the Holy Spirit. Through the Spirit, the three
elements of Scripture, Christ and faith were united in an unbreakable relationship. The
Reformers paved the way for us to see Jesus Christ as the interpretive center of Gods
revelation in Scripture. The implications of these insights for hermeneutics (interpretation
of the Bible) will be the subject of the rest of this book.1

1 Hans K. LaRondelle y Jon Paulien, The Bible Jesus Interpreted (Loma Linda, CA: Jon
Paulien, 2014), 178.

CHAPTER SEVEN
THE BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE OF REDEMPTIVE

HISTORY
The most characteristic feature of the Bible is its advancing story of redemption. The
biblical narrative gives theological meaning to human history. It reveals the divine plan to
redeem planet earth from its rebellion against the Creator. This news makes the Creator
also the Redeemer, adding to history a new dimension: the redemptive historical
perspective. The Bible writers focus their attention on the Redeemer God who both
speaks and acts. They present therefore a history of redemption, that is, an account of the
divine interventions in human history and of their theological meanings. The purpose is
to evoke a response of faith and trust in this Creator/Redeemer. The recounting of Gods
words and deeds, therefore, became the essence of Israels worship.
The book of Psalms testifies to Israels unceasing reflection on the Torah of Moses
and his testimonies about Gods works in creation and redemption. Representative of
such reflection is Psalm 136. The Psalmist focuses Israels worship on giving thanks to
the One who created all things, as recounted in the book of Genesis (Ps. 136:19). The
Psalm next thanks this same Creator God for liberating Israel from slavery in Egypt, as
described in the books of Exodus and Numbers (Ps. 136:1026). The response of Israel to
these divine wonders occurs with the identical refrain: His steadfast love endures
forever (NRSV).
Along with Psalms 78, 105 and 106, Psalm 136 is usually categorized as a
historical psalm, although this category does not mean a mere rehearsal of historical
events. These psalms are testimonies of Israels faith in the wonders of Gods acts.
They praise His covenant faithfulness and His steadfast love or covenant loyalty. They
express Israels abiding amazement about Gods redemptive acts and they prompt all
flesh to respond with gratitude and obedience to His covenant of grace.
The Psalms claim that the origins of the world and of Israel are inextricably
connected with the gracious love of God. The cosmic Ruler of the universe is also the
Redeemer of Israel as His covenant people. Even more than this, He expands the purpose
of their election: to be a light for the Gentiles (Isa. 42:6) and to bring Gods
salvation to the ends of the earth (Isa. 49:6), so that ultimately everything that has
breath [shall] praise the LORD (Ps. 150:6).
Redemptive History as Covenant History

The two testaments of the Bible represent two major phases of Gods eternal
covenant of grace. The Letter to the Hebrews closes with this benediction and doxology:
May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back
from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with
everything good for doing his will (Heb. 13:20). While there are two testaments
(Old and New), there is only one eternal covenant. That eternal covenant was
established through the death and resurrection of the great Shepherd of the sheep. In
John 10:11 the Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. But in Hebrews 13:20
Jesus self-sacrifice is placed in the framework of Gods eternal covenant.
The key concept of covenant reminds Christian believers that Jesus was the
continuation of Israels history of salvation. The history of the covenant begins in
principle with Gods first promise of a Redeemer after humanitys fall in paradise (Gen.
3:15). The next step came with the Creators judgment against mans wickedness on the
earth and His covenant with Noah to preserve the human race (Gen. 6:518; 9:817).
With the divine election of Abraham, who lived in Ur of the Chaldeans, came the explicit
promise of divine blessing for all mankind: I will make you into a great nation and I
will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. and all
peoples on earth will be blessed through you (Gen. 12:2, 3).
This new emphasis on the divine blessing becomes more meaningful if placed in
contrast with the previous curse on all the earth as found in Genesis 3:17. As Creator,
God remains the Judge of all peoples, and as Redeemer He seeks to redeem all peoples.
This twofold aspect of judgment and redemption was clearly introduced in the promise to
Abraham (Gen. 12:23). It was further expressed in the ritual slaughter of sacrificial
animals when God established the Abrahamic covenant in Genesis 15 (see vv. 821).
With Abraham the history of redemption becomes grounded in the covenant. From
now on, Gods promises are placed within a legal framework safeguarding His
relationship with His chosen people. All Gods promises and curses are therefore
covenant promises and covenant curses. This new truth was explained by Moses to the
gathered tribes of Israel at Mount Sinai. They all responded with the pledge: We will do
everything the LORD has said; we will obey (Exod. 24:7; Deut. 5:2729).
It deserves special attention, however, that the Ten Commandments do not begin with
a commandment, but with a reminder that God is Israels Redeemer: And God spoke
these words: I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land
of slavery (Exod. 20:12). God identified Himself to Israel first as their Savior from
slavery. The Decalogue was given, therefore, by a Redeemer God to a redeemed people!
This truth places the law of God within the setting of Gods saving grace, a feature
characteristic also of the Abrahamic covenant.
Forty years later Moses renewed the Sinai covenant just before the Israelites entered
the promised land. He presented to them the many blessings and curses of the covenant
(Deut. 2730). His final appeal was: This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses
against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose
life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God,
listen to his voice, and hold fast to him (Deut. 30:19, 20). Israel was not asked to
choose life in order to win Gods favor, but because they had already received it in Gods
covenants with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The Mosaic covenant did not undo the grace
offered in the Abrahamic covenant but unfolded it more fully.

The Davidic Covenant

We come now to the culmination of Israels covenants in the so-called Davidic
covenant. Some four hundred years after Moses, God chose a young shepherd boy to be
anointed as the future king of Israel. From that day on the Spirit of the LORD came
upon David in power (1 Sam. 16:13). The significance of this anointing of David
became clear when the prophet Nathan was sent to announce the deeper purpose of God
with David: The LORD declares to you that the LORD himself will establish a house
for you: I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own
body, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my
Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and
he will be my son (2 Sam. 7:1114).
This covenant of God with King David takes up and completes the previous
covenants. From David on, the Messianic promise was centered in the Davidic covenant.
God concentrated the sonship of Israel (Exod. 4:22) in the Davidic king as His special
son. Each new king from the house of David was anointed as the firstborn of
Yahweh, as the most exalted of the kings of the earth (Ps. 89:27). He would call out to
God: You are my Father, my God, the Rock my Savior (89:26).
Psalm 132, however, reveals a conditional element to the Davidic covenant: One of
your own descendants I will place on your throne12 if your sons keep my covenant
and the statutes I teach them, then their sons will sit on your throne for ever and ever
(Psalm 132:1112). The conditional phrase, if your sons keep my covenant (v. 12),
explains the eventual disappearance of the Davidic monarchy because of the
disobedience of Davids descendants. But the Davidic hope did not die with the end of
the monarchy. It remained anchored in the promise of God to King David and so became
the messianic hope.
The New Testament roots its gospel proclamation in the claim that Jesus of Nazareth
is the son of David and the son of Abraham (Mat. 1:1; Luke 1:2635; 2:11). The New
Testament considers the Abrahamic and the Davidic covenants as the abiding pillars of
Christian faith and hope. It interprets these covenants christologically, that is, it orients
them to Jesus as the God-sent Messiah or Christ. As a consequence, the historical
background of Israels covenants is essential for a better understanding of Jesus Christ
and His gospel of the kingdom of God.
The Redemptive Significance of the Advent of Christ

The New Testament announces the advent of Jesus as the promised Davidic King
(Luke 1:3233). This first advent was not only a fulfillment of prophecy but also the
assurance of His second advent to complete the work of redemption. The one advent
cannot be understood fully without the other. The arrangement of the books in the New
Testament, beginning with four Gospels and ending with apocalyptic visions, underscores
an advancing history of redemption. The story of redemption is not like a circle that has
one center, but more like an ellipse that has two centers.
We should therefore retain the gospel tension between the two advents of Christ and
not reduce the gospel to one event, either in the past or in the future. The New Testament
offers us four gospels which emphasize the significance of the first coming of Christ. The
Book of Acts is added as the gospel of the risen Lord Jesus. The following apostolic

letters interpret the death and resurrection of Jesus and the new moral imperatives that
apply to all who are in Christ. The Apocalypse of John functions as the dramatic capstone
of the gospel news culminating in the second coming (Rev. 1:7; 6:1217; 14:620).
When we honor this historical order in the New Testament, we can discern the advancing
progression of the plan of salvation for us today.
How then do the four Gospels evaluate the coming of Jesus as the Christ of the
covenant promise? As noted already in chapter 3, Jesus appealed to Israels sacred
Scriptures to present His credentials to Israel: You diligently study the Scriptures
because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that
testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me (John 5:3940).
This appeal to the Hebrew Bible indicates that Jesus understood these Scriptures as
centered in the messianic hope (see also Luke 24:2627). Jesus view of the Hebrew
Scriptures was Messiah-centered. Jesus focused particularly on the Davidic covenant and
its assurance of a God-appointed King Priest. When Jesus stood before the Roman
governor Pilate, accused of being a political king of the Jews, Jesus replied: You are
right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into
the world, to testify of the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me (John
18:37).
While Pilate misunderstood the nature of His kingship, Jesus deliberately laid claim
to the Davidic kingship at His triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Matthews Gospel affirms
this messianic claim: This took place to fulfill what was spoken of through the
prophet: Say to the Daughter of Zion, See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding
on a donkey (Mat. 21:45, a direct reference to Zechariah 9:9). Jesus wanted to
demonstrate that His messianic kingship was not of a political nature but represented the
peaceful character of Gods rule.
Jesus appealed directly to the Davidic covenant when He asked the Pharisees: What
do you think about the Christ [Messiah]? Whose son is he? (Mat. 22:41). When they
answered, the son of David, Jesus asked, How is it then that David, speaking by the
Spirit, calls him Lord? Jesus quoted Psalm 110:1, where David said: The Lord said
to my Lord: Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet (Mat.
22:43, 44). Jesus understood that David, as the inspired author of this Royal Psalm,
recognized two Lords over him in heaven. He placed before the Pharisees the
challenging question: If then David calls him Lord, how can he [the Messiah] be his
son? (v. 45). While they were dumbfounded, Jesus wanted them to recognize that the
Davidic Messiah would come from heaven.
This truth was later expressed in the prologue of the Gospel of John: The Word
became flesh and lived for a while among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the
one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14).
John adds this redemptive perspective: For the law was given through Moses; grace
and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but God the only Son,
who is at the Fathers side, has made him known (John 1:1718). The Gospel author
points here to a significant distinction between Moses and Jesus, although they reveal the
same God of Israel.
John draws a distinction between the partial revelation of God in the Torah, and the
unique revelation of Gods grace and mercy in the person of Jesus: From the fullness of
his grace we have all received one blessing after another (John 1:16). The revelation

through Moses is good, the revelation through Jesus is better. In Jesus Christ is revealed a
forgiving and sanctifying grace of God that surpasses the Torah.
A similar move from good to better is found in the Letter to the Hebrews: In the
past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various
ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of
all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of Gods
glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things through his
powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right
hand of the Majesty in heaven (Heb. 1:13).
This awesome proclamation unites four different strands of messianic prophecy into
one historical reality: 1) The Messiah is superior to all the prophets in the past. 2)
Jesus is now engaged in a priestly ministry in heaven at the right hand of the Majesty.
3) The beginning of the last days, as foretold by Israels prophets, has come. And
finally, 4) the future inheritance of all things is anticipated in the person of the risen
Lord.
The Four Stages of Messianic Fulfillment

These four stages of messianic fulfillment in Jesus indicate a movement from the past
to the present, and from the present to the future. These movements do not imply a
change of purpose in God or in Christ. On the contrary: Jesus Christ is the same
yesterday and today and forever (Heb. 13:8). Gods purpose in history has, however,
reached a decisive high point in the life, death and resurrection of Christ. The preliminary
ministries of the old covenant priesthood have reached their intended reality in the
Messiah, who came as both Priest and Victim (see Hebrews, chapters 610 in particular).
This theme raises the book of Hebrews to the level of fundamental importance for
understanding the Old Testament. Lets examine these four aspects mentioned above in
more detail.
The first truth that Hebrews announces is the redemptive superiority of Christ as the
unique Son of God. His divine appointment as Messiah was announced by a heavenly
voice at the moment of His baptism in the Jordan, This is my Son, whom I love; and
with him I am well pleased (Mat. 3:17). After His earthly mission was completed, Jesus
was resurrected for His new mission as King/Priest on the heavenly throne. This heavenly
event was a messianic fulfillment of Psalm 2. Hebrews blends Psalm 2 with the original
promise to David: I will be his Father, and he will be my Son (Heb. 1:5; 2 Sam. 7:14).
As the ultimate king of the Davidic covenant, the risen Lord Jesus is superior to all kings
and even angels. In Hebrews Psalm 110 is alluded to repeatedly to explain the present
ministry of Christ: To which of the angels did God ever say, Sit at my right hand until
I make your enemies a footstool for your feet? (Heb. 1:13; 5:6; 7:20; 12:2, citing Ps.
110:1 and 4).
The second aspect of messianic fulfillment in Hebrews is the priesthood of Christ: He
alone unites kingly power and priestly mediation. The appeal is once again made to
Psalm 110, where God made a solemn oath to Himself concerning the King Messiah:
You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek (Heb. 5:6 and 7:2021). The
relevance of this royal priesthood is that He is the guarantee of a better covenant
(Heb. 7:22). The priestly Messiah has introduced a covenant relationship with God that is

better than before, because it brings immediate access to Gods Presence. The
exhortation to all believers now is: Let us then approach the throne of mercy with
confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of
need (Heb. 4:16).
This new covenant relationship was promised by the prophets Jeremiah (chapter
31) and Ezekiel (chapter 36) in the Sixth Century before Christ. At that time they
renewed the hope of all exiled Jews for a restored kingdom of Israel. The advancement
from that promise to its messianic reality in Jesus implies that the Levitical priesthood
has reached its intended goal and effectiveness. The progression is to a better, that is, to
a more effective relationship with God in the present. In view of this more perfect
salvation today, the old rituals and foreshadowings have become obsolete and set
aside by the new ministry of Christ (Heb. 8:13; 10:89).
Third, the apostles of Christ began to characterize the newness of the messianic epoch
as these last days (Heb. 1:2). They did so because Christs royal priesthood is now
permanent and He is able to save completely those who come to God through him,
because he always lives to intercede for them (Heb. 7:24, 25).
The first advent of Christ marks the time of the better covenant of God with Israel,
because it is established by the shed blood of Christ once for all (Heb. 1:12, 7:22,
27). Hebrews refers to this new quality of time in redemption history as these last
days, compared to the many times God has spoken through the prophets in the past
(1:2).
The phrase the last days was a familiar expression to Israels prophets. They used it
initially to refer to the future, to days to come (Gen. 49:1; Deut. 4:30; 31:29). Over
time the phrase was increasingly used concerning the future messianic time, the time of
the coming kingdom of God (Isa. 2:2; Mic. 4:1; Hos. 3:5; Dan. 2:28). An excellent
example of this is found in Isaiah 2:2: In the last days the mountain of the LORDs
temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the
hills, and all nations will stream to it.
In the New Testament, the phrase last days is applied to the first advent of Christ,
the gospel age. Jesus began His gospel proclamation with the words: The time has
come! (Mark 1:15). In the synagogue of Nazareth the messianic kingdom of Isaiah 61
was being fulfilled in His appearance: Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing
(Luke 4:1621). He then went on to exorcise demons and heal many (Luke 4:3141). But
His message was: I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God (4:43). And
when the Pharisees demonized His redemptive ministry, Christ replied: But if I drive
out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you (Mat.
12:28).
In this last text Jesus also identified His work with that of the Spirit of God, so that
the messianic age becomes also the epoch of the Spirit. This identification of the Messiah
and the Spirit became present truth on the day of Pentecost. The visible outpouring of
Gods Spirit on that day confirmed the resurrection of Jesus and His ascension to the
right hand of God in heaven (see Acts 2:113, 33). Now the history of redemption
moved forward to the gospel of the risen Lord in Acts. In Acts some Jewish spectators
who saw the disciples speaking in tongues ridiculed them, saying, they have had too
much wine (Acts 2:13). But most of the Jews, who had come from every nation under
heaven, listened to these apostles who were declaring the wonders of God in their

own language (Acts 2:11). They were amazed and perplexed, and asked, What does
this mean?
Peter stood up and explained that this phenomenon of the Spirit was the messianic
fulfillment of the promise in Joel. That ancient prophet had announced a unique promise
of God to His repentant people: afterward I will pour out my Spirit on all people (Joel
2:28). On that historic day of Pentecost, Peter responded: This is what was spoken to
the prophet Joel: In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people
(Acts 2:16, 17).
Peter read this promise of Joel according to the Greek translation (the Septuagint),
which stated: in the last days (Acts 2:17). He then gave this expression a christological
fulfillment by applying it to the first advent of Christ and to His exaltation at the right
hand of God (see Acts 2:3336). He explained the Pentecostal experience as the visible
proof that Jesus was resurrected from the dead, had ascended to the throne of God, and
had now poured out the promised Spirit on believing Jews: what you now see and
hear (2:33).
Peter was the first apostle who redefined the structure of redemptive history within
Jewish eschatology. Filled with the Spirit, he pronounced with authority that the time of
the risen Lord was the beginning of the last days. This apostolic view was repeated in
other New Testament declarations, such as in Hebrews 1:2 and James 5:3. To Peter this
prophetic term was to be understood as the time of Christs priestly ministry from the
throne of God. Salvation history had received a new theological quality. According to
Christian faith, the promised Messiah has already come and is now effectively redeeming
all who come to Him from slavery to sin and Satan. The redemptive rulership of the
Messiah has begun and it determines the future of human history.
Finally, there is a fourth stage of messianic fulfillment that is never far from view:
He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as He
promised long ago through His holy prophets (Acts 3:21). Jesus will also come again
to consummate the promises of Gods covenant and restore all things. Here the apostle
opens up an apocalyptic perspective that continues the outlook of Israels prophets,
particularly Daniel 2 and 7. The last days would not last forever, but would be a
purpose-driven time. The coming of the Messiah provided a new certainty that Gods
plan to save all things would soon by achieved by the same Messiah Jesus.
This means that the apostolic gospel has a two-fold implication. It looks back to the
first advent of Christ and forward to the second advent. Thus a peculiar intermediate time
is created, a time full of tension between remembering and expecting, between the
already fulfilled and the not yet completed. This tension is characteristic of the
apostolic gospel and finds its resolution only in the glorious vision of a new heaven and a
new earth (Rev. 21).
The dynamic relationship between the first and second advents of Christ raises some
fundamental questions: How did Jesus Himself connect these two advents in His
teachings, and how did He harmonize His mission of grace with His return in divine
justice? How did He expect His followers to live between the times? What kind of
ministry of redemption is Christ fulfilling in the meantime at the right hand of the
Majesty in heaven? How long does Jesus expect to wait, or delay His return as the
Judge of the living and the dead? What signs of the nearness of His coming did Christ
announce? Christ has given some illuminating and challenging answers to these

questions, which we pursue in the chapters that follow.
CHAPTER EIGHT
HOW JESUS APPLIED APOCALYPTIC PROPHECIES TO

HIS FIRST ADVENT
Jesus was a consummate student of Israels Holy Scriptures. But He not only knew
the intellectual content of the Old Testament, He was aware of its deeper divine meaning.
This should surprise no one who believes in His divinity and pre-existence. After all, He
had been intimately acquainted with the redemptive plan of God from eternity. His
knowledge of the intention of the Scriptures, therefore, astonished all who heard him
speak. Even as a young boy of twelve years everyone who heard him was amazed at
his understanding and his answers (Luke 2:47). And so it remained during His adult
ministry. The people were so amazed that they asked each other, What is this? A new
teachingand with authority! (Mark 1:27).
On the other hand, Jesus was under constant suspicion of heresy and even blasphemy.
When Jesus said to the paralytic man who had been let through the roof: Son, your sins
are forgiven (Mark 2:5), some teachers of the law thought to themselves, Why does
this fellow talk like that? Hes blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone? (v.
6). Jesus responded with a serious challenge to convince them of His divine mission:
But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins
He said to the paralytic, I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home (v. 10). When
the paralyzed man actually got up, took his mat, and walked out, this amazed everyone
and they praised God, saying, We have never seen anything like this! (v. 12).
Jesus Claim to Be the Son of Man

At this point in the developing story we need to consider why Jesus began to
designate himself as the Son of Man, who has authority on earth to forgive sins.
For the Jews who were acquainted with the apocalyptic book of Daniel and with the
apocryphal book of Enoch, Jesus unique self-designation implied a messianic claim.
Daniel 7 describes a symbolic vision concerning Gods judgment on a power that
exalts itself against God and oppresses the saints. The prophet also saw a humanlike
figure in heaven, one like a son of man, who was escorted by a cloud of angels into
the presence of the Ancient of Days. There this son of man was honored with divine
authority to serve as king and judge over the world: In my vision at night I looked, and
there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He
approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority,
glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped
him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom

is one that will never be destroyed (Dan. 7:1314).

Daniels vision assured the exiles from Israel that God was acting to judge the
oppressor by means of a heavenly Mediator, the Son of Man. Through this messianic
figure the persecuted saints would be exalted over the kingdoms of the world (Dan. 7:27).
When Jesus consistently called Himself the Son of Man, He was alluding to Daniels
apocalyptic figure. Christ claimed to have received the same mandate and mission as
Daniels Son of Man.
A surprising confirmation of this messianic claim is given in the Fourth Gospel. Jesus
explains to the respected teacher Nicodemus: No one has ever ascended into heaven
except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man (John 3:13, NSRV). This
statement presupposes Daniels vision of the heavenly Son of Man. Jesus further
announcement brings Him even closer to Daniels judgment vision: And He [the Father]
has granted the Son also to have life in himself; and has given him authority to execute
judgment, because he is the Son of Man (John 5:26, 27).
This connection also explains the astounding reply of Jesus to the High Priest at His
trial. Answering the charge of claiming to be the Christ [the Messiah], the Son of God,
Jesus said: Yes, it is as you say, but I say to all of you: In the future you will see the
Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of
heaven (Mat. 26:64). Here Jesus combines Daniels Son of Man with Davids messianic
prophecy: The LORD [YAHWEH] says to my Lord: Sit at my right hand until I make
your enemies a footstool for your feet (Ps. 110:1). With stunning insight, Jesus
blended Daniels Son of Man and Davids heavenly Lord.
Christ declared under oath (Matt 26:63) that Daniel 7 and Psalm 110 revealed the
same heavenly Messiah. Only this time Jesus applied both visions to His future return in
glory. No wonder this reply of Jesus caused the high priest to tear his clothes and declare
Jesus guilty of blasphemy! All the council members then answered: He is worthy of
death (Mat. 26:65). Jesus knew the consequences of His claim to be the Davidic
Messiah, but He remained faithful to His testimony till the end.
Jesus Messianic Self-Understanding

What did Jesus understand by the term Messiah? Lets consider this question in the
light of the Old Testament Scriptures. Jesus principle of interpreting the Hebrew
Scriptures reveals a twofold messsianic application to His ministry. His teaching and
healing ministry confirmed this messianic mission: For the Son of Man came to seek
and to save what was lost (Luke 19:10). Jesus mission was not the military overthrow
of Israels enemies, rather the kingdom He introduced was a spiritual kingdom. Through
that spiritual kingdom Jesus demonstrated the saving love of God for all sinners, not just
Israelites.
Such a humble Messiah was neither expected nor welcome in the Israel of Jesus day:
He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him (John 1:11,
NRSV). Jesus was amazed at their lack of faith (Mark 6:6). While He claimed to be
the very fulfillment of the Scriptures (John 5:39), their eyes were blinded and their hearts
became hardened to this reality (John 12:3743). But this blindness was not an accident,
there was an element of willfulness in their rejection of the present fulfillment of the
Scriptures: Yet you refuse to come to me to have life (John 5:40). Professed faith in

the Scriptures may become a self-deluded misreading when Christ is not made the true
Interpreter of Scripture. A long tradition of Scripture interpretation is no guarantee of a
true understanding, as long as Christ and His teaching are not the key to understanding
the Old Testament.
The Unique Authority of the New Testament

The New Testament is given by Israels God as the key to interpret the Hebrew
Scriptures. While there is definitely a two-way relationship between the testaments,
Christ is the decisive norm for all Scripture understanding and end-time applications (see
John 5:30; Luke 24:2527, 44; 2 Cor. 1:20). The New Testament reflects a fuller
revelation of the heart and plan of God (see John 1:1418; Heb. 1:13). The new
covenant is better than Gods older covenants (Heb. 7:22).
This escalation of salvation history is brought about by the new priestly ministry of
the risen Christ: But the ministry Jesus received is as superior to theirs [that of the
Levitical priesthood] as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one,
and is founded on better promises (Heb. 8:6). One consequence of the new priesthood
of Christ is a better understanding of the Old Testament: For when there is a change of
the priesthood, there must also be a change of the law (Heb. 7:12).
The coming of Christ had a major effect on the interpretation of the Torah, as is
evident in the Sermon on the Mount (Mat. 57). Jesus was appointed by God as the
promised King and High Priest, one in the order of Melchizedek (Heb. 7:11). His
ministry offers a level of access to God that was only foreshadowed in the earlier
priesthood. The Old Testament, therefore, must now be viewed from the greater light of
Christ and the New Testament.
This messianic fulfillment has implications for prophetic interpretation of the Old
Testament. Israels prophetic visions are not to be considered as photographic pictures of
the future, or as history in advance, as many wrongly assume. All the Old Testament
language and imagery must now be applied through the lens of the new covenant and be
transformed by the new ministry of Christ. The Messiah-centered promises and threats of
the Old Testament are in the New Testament transformed into Christ-centered promises
and judgments.
The New Testament, therefore, has the final word on the meaning of Old Testament
Israel and its faith (see Heb. 1:13; 2:14). To insist on the old rituals and literal
meanings is a dangerous compartmentalizing of divine revelation. It uses the Old
Testament as if Christ has not come yet, as if the New Testament has not been written.
On the other hand, the gospel of Christ is not disconnected from the old covenant but
transposes Israels promises into Christ-centered fulfillments. The apostle Paul summed
up this hermeneutical principle in the words: For no matter how many promises God
has made, they are Yes in Christ (2 Cor. 1:20). And even more specifically: If you
belong to Christ, then you are Abrahams seed, and heirs according to the promise
(Gal. 3:29).
Christ thus redefines the validity of Moses, the Psalms, and the Prophets by His own
life and teaching. In Him they become the Torah of the Messiah. The song of Moses is
not annulled or antiquated, but is today combined with the song of the Lamb, praising
the great and marvelous deeds of the Lord God Almighty (see Rev. 15:24).

The Son of Man in the Apocalypse

No book in the New Testament is as sharply focused on Daniels vision of the Son of
Man as the Book of Revelation. But just as Jesus blended Daniel 7 with Old Testament
texts like Psalm 110 and Isaiah 53 in the gospels, John opens his Apocalypse by blending
Daniel 7 with Zechariah 12: Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see
him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because
of him (Rev. 1:7, compare Dan 7:1314 and Zech 12:10). In this passage John identifies
the one who will come with the clouds as the pierced or crucified and risen Lord
Jesus (see John 19:34).
That He will come with the clouds is derived directly from Daniels vision of the
appearance of the One like a son of man who was escorted by the clouds of heaven
into the presence of the Most High. (Dan. 7:13). Since Daniels son of man receives
authority over all peoples and nations (Dan 7:14), Johns vision here assures the
persecuted church that Jesus return will have a global impact. Every eye will see him,
and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. (Rev 1:7) The latter
clause in particular is drawn from Zechariah 12, where the inhabitants of Jerusalem
mourn for the one they have pierced. But the Book of Revelation re-envisions
Zechariahs picture into the global impact of Christs second advent. So the literal and
local things of Jerusalem are expanded into a Christ-centered global outcome.
In Revelation 14, by way of contrast, John portrays the return of Christ in a creative
blending of images from Daniel and Joel. John writes: I looked, and there before me
was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one like a son of man with a crown
of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand (Rev. 14:14). The cloud combined
with one like a son of man copies Daniels vision of the heavenly Son of Man
approaching the Ancient of Days. But in Johns version this heavenly Son of Man doesnt
come to the Father but rather from the Father to the world. This event is after the event
described in Daniel 7:1314. That means John portrays a clear historical progression in
the plan of God. John has thus advanced Daniels vision to a new phase of the messianic
ministry of Christ.
John now stresses the coming of Christ as both King and Judge of all peoples. For
that purpose he unites the royal image of the Son of Man (Dan 7:114) with that of the
Judge of all nations in the valley of Jehoshaphat (Joel 3:116). John writes that the one
like a son of man who comes seated on the cloud carries a golden crown on his head,
and a sharp sickle in his hand (Rev. 14:14). Joel had portrayed the Day of Judgment in
similar pictorial language: Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Go in, tread, for the
wine press is full. The vats overflow, for their wickedness is great (Joel 3:13).
John applies Joels image of a grape harvest in the larger context of Revelation
14:1420. In Joel it is Yahweh who executes the divine judgment (Joel 3:8, 11, 14, 16),
but in Revelation 14 that judgment is exercised by Christ. In Joel the judgment takes
place in the Valley of Jehoshaphat (outside Jerusalem), in Revelation He carries a crown
and a sharp sickle to reap the harvest of the world (Rev 14:14 and following). Johns new
emphasis is on the global extension of the last Judgment (John uses the term earth six
times in Rev 14:1519). The Apocalypse again expands the limited geographical scope of
an Old Testament passage to universal proportions.
Why does John use such a profusion of Old Testament images to portray the second
advent of Christ? The reason is no mystery: John desires to emphasize that Jesus Christ

was sent to fulfill the plan of God that was revealed to Israels prophets. The Christcentered and universal application of the Old Testament emphasizes the unity and
continuity of Gods redemptive purpose between the two Testaments. This unity is
guaranteed in that both Israel and the Church have the same Shepherd (see John 10:11
16).
The Son of Man for Today

What may come as a surprise is that John applies Daniels apocalyptic Son of Man
not only to the glorious second advent of Christ, but also to His first advent and present
ministry as our High Priest in heaven. Consider the first vision of John on the isle of
Patmos: I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned
I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone like a son of
man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a white sash around his
chest (Rev. 1:1213).
This scene is not the end of the world. John is encountering Jesus in His ministry to
the first-century churches (Rev 1:20). In this scene the risen Lord functions as the
churches High Priest. He is dressed like Israels high priest (as in Zech. 3:4, Septuagint)
and is keeping the temple lamps burning the way Aaron did every morning in the
tabernacle (Exod. 30:78). This scene is of great hermeneutical significance for
Revelation. Christ has created a new covenant people, a messianic Israel, represented by
His twelve apostles (Rev. 21). The Book of Revelation portrays this universal church of
Christ by means of Israels temple imagery.
Our particular interest concerns Johns description of the risen Lord as someone like
a son of man (1:13). John borrows the expression directly from Daniels judgment
vision (Dan 7:1314). For Daniel this vision is associated with the final events of history
(Dan 7:27). But in Revelation 1 John places this vision in the new-covenant context: as
the heavenly Son of Man, Christ ministers as our High Priest today. This portrayal of
Jesus as the risen Lord and King announces that Gods throne is a throne of grace for
all who approach God with confidence through Christ Jesus today (see also Heb. 4:14
16).
The surprising revelation of John is the news that Daniels Son of Man has already
come, not to condemn the world but to save it (John 3:17). This news was the burden of
Christs ministry from the start, as Marks Gospel presents: The time has come. The
kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news! (Mark 1:15). This brings
us back to our starting point in this chapter: But that you may know that the Son of
Man has authority on earth to forgive sins (Mark 2:10). For those who know
Daniels Judgment vision, this gospel news brings an unexpected surprise and abundant
joy.
The Apocalyptic Stone

There is another apocalyptic symbol that Jesus applied in an unexpected way to His
first advent: the apocalyptic stone in Nebuchadnezzars vision (Dan 2:3435, 45). Daniel
was called to interpret a mysterious dream/vision (2:28) that King Nebuchadnezzar had in
the second year of his reign over Babylon. Daniel is enlightened by God and comes

before the king with the explanation. He first gives God the glory, stating: But there is a
God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will
happen in days to come (Dan. 2:28).
Daniel offers the king a convincing interpretation of his dream. The God of Israel
reveals the future not as a spectator, but as the One who determines the future. It is God
who guides the course of history to its ultimate destiny: the kingdom of God on earth.
Therefore Daniel stresses the outcome of the kings symbolic dream of a metallic statue:
A rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron
and clay and smashed them But the rock that struck the statue became a huge
mountain and filled the whole earth (Dan. 2:34, 35). Then the prophet interprets it to
the king: In the time of those kings [of the divided world], 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
(2:44).
The prophecy of Daniel 2 depicts human empires as different metals in a huge statue
that stands on feet of clay mixed with iron. The climax of the vision, however, is on the
sudden strike of a stone that is cut out not by human hands (Dan. 2:34) and crushes all
human kingdoms completely. In their place the great mountain of Gods kingdom
appears on earth.
The pertinent question to be raised is, Did Jesus ever refer to the crushing stone of
Daniel 2, and if so, how did He use this apocalyptic image? Christ indeed alluded to
Daniel 2:44 in Luke 20, but He did so in an unexpected way. Rather than applying the
stone to the end of time (as in Daniel 2:4445), He used it to show His pastoral concern
for Israel in His day. Jesus looked directly at them and asked, Then what is the
meaning of that which is written: The stone the builders rejected has become the
capstone? Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom
it falls will be crushed (Luke 20:1718).
Jesus reference to the crushing stone of Daniel 2 is evident in the last phrase, but he
on whom it falls will be crushed. At first glance this maintains Daniels future
perspective of the coming of the kingdom of God to earth. There are, however, two new
aspects in Jesus use of the prophetic stone imagery. First, Christ blended Daniels stone
prophecy with the remarkable stone picture of Psalm 118:22, The stone the builders
rejected has become the capstone [NIV; the chief cornerstone, NRSV]. The blending
of two different biblical stone pictures reveals a deeper purpose in the redemptive
mission of the Messiah.
Jesus saw His mission foreshadowed in the construction of Solomons temple. The
builders of Solomons temple at first rejected an immense stone, whose fit in the
construction was unclear to them. But they ended up using it as the cornerstone that could
withstand the enormous weight of the entire building. Psalm 118 added the comment:
The Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes (v. 23). Jesus interpreted this
historical event in the temple construction as a messianic type, a divine design that
prefigured His redemptive mission.
But there is a deeper aspect of this stone allusion in the context of Luke 20 (916).
The dramatic rejection of the Messiah by Israel was foretold in Isaiahs allegorical Song
of the Vineyard (Isa. 5:17). Isaiah concluded his poetic song with Gods indictment:
He looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries of

distress. But Jesus added a new feature to Isaiahs story: The owner of the vineyard has
a son who was therefore the legitimate heir. When the tenants saw this son coming,
they said, Lets kill him, and the inheritance will be ours (Luke 20:14). Matthews
Gospel adds the comment: When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus
parables, they knew he was talking about them (21:45). Jesus applied Isaiahs song to
His present situation (see Matt. 21:45). In blending Isaiah 5 with Psalm 118 Jesus
expressed that the apocalyptic stone of Daniel 2 had already come to earth in the person
of Christ.
After the resurrection of Christ, the apostle Peter testified before the Sanhedrin that he
had healed a crippled man in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth (Acts 3:110;
4:10). Peters appeal was: This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the
builders; it has become the cornerstone (Acts 4:11). Peter applied the builders of
Psalm 118 directly to the contemporary rulers in Jerusalem, expressing his conviction
that Psalm 118 was fulfilled in the life and work of Jesus.
Regarding the stone of Daniel 2, Jesus gave a pastoral admonition: Everyone who
falls on that stone will be broken to pieces (Luke 20:18; also Mat. 21:44). Christ seems
to allude to Isaiahs image of Israels God as a stone one strikes against, a rock one
stumbles over (Isa. 8:14, NRSV). Jesus was now addressing the scribes and chief
priests who took offense at His humble Messiahship and thus stumbled over Him.
They even wanted to arrest and kill Him (see Luke 20:1419). Jesus warned them that the
Owner of the vineyard of Israel would ultimately decide the destiny of the tenants (Luke
20:1516). Thus Jesus predicted the destruction of both the priestly system and of the
temple.
Jesus Principles of Scripture Interpretation

When we consider these examples of Jesus interpretation of the Old Testament, His
principles of interpretation begin to emerge. In the formation of Scripture God always
spoke to each of the prophets in the context of their time and place. Even Jesus came and
lived in a specific context. He was a Jew living in the First Century Roman province of
Palestine. But as Gods Messiah, His words and actions, though given in that original
context, exposed principles that should affect the way we read the Bible.
First of all, Jesus blended the various prophetic perspectives of Moses, the Psalms,
and the Prophets into a single, colorful, messianic portrayal. His view of the Old
Testament Scriptures was that they were a Messiah-centered promise for the covenant
people of God. He was a God-taught man, fully conscious of His immediate fellowship
with God and His special acquaintance with the divine plan of redemption. He spoke,
therefore, with messianic authority about the meaning of the Scriptures. His combination
of the Son of Man and of the crushing stone in Daniels visions with the prophetic
outlook of Psalms 110 and 118 demonstrate Jesus magisterial grasp of the inner unity of
Israels Scriptures.
Secondly, Jesus discerned the historical sequence of messianic events in the prophetic
perspective of the Scriptures. This chronological order lay hidden in the messianic
prophecies, to be disclosed by the very one who originated them. No rabbi or wisdom
teacher in Israel, no apocalyptic sect like the Qumran community, expected a suffering
and dying Messiah as the turning point in redemptive history. Jesus was fully aware of

this divine plan and began to enlighten His closest disciples about His imminent death
and subsequent resurrection from the dead (see Mark 8:31; 9:31). He explained that the
Son of Man had come to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mark
10:45). After His resurrection, Jesus gave this retrospective interpretation: Did not the
Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory? And beginning with Moses
and all the prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures
concerning himself (Luke 24:2627). This successive order of the twofold messianic
mission of Christ became the new guideline of Scripture interpretation.
Thirdly, Jesus established His first advent as the turning point in the history of
salvation. His atoning death was not an unforeseen accident, but took place by Gods set
purpose and foreknowledge (Acts 2:23). Jesus taught that His rejection and execution
in Jerusalem was an essential part of His messianic mission: the Son of Man must
suffer many things and be rejected and must be killed and after three days rise
again (Mark 8:31). Jesus emphasis on the divine must included both His death and
His resurrection. The death of Christ in itself, in isolation from His resurrection from the
dead, would not fulfill the divine plan of redemption. The plan of God contains an
unbreakable chain of redemptive acts that lead up to the glorious consummation of the
kingdom of God at the End.
The Unity of the Two Advents of the Messiah

The unity of the old and the new covenants is centered in the person of Jesus as the
God-appointed Messiah. As the God-taught Teacher of the Torah, Jesus brought out of
the Old Testament new treasures as well as old (Matt. 13:52). The unbreakable unity
of Gods redemptive works is captured by Jesus in an innovative phrase that arrests our
attention: The time is coming and has now come (John 4:23; 5:25; 16:32).
Jesus first used this dynamic expression in His appeal to the Samaritan woman, who
was confused about the true place of worshiping God. Was it Mount Gerizim in Samaria
or Mount Zion in Jerusalem? (John 4:20). Christ taught her that a new phase in the
progressive history of redemption was coming and had in fact already begun in His
Presence: A time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this
mountain nor in Jerusalem. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true
worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth (John 4:21, 23). The Samaritan
woman rightly began to think of the messianic promise: I know that Messiah (called
Christ) is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us (v. 25). Then Jesus
declared to her: I who speak to you am he (v. 26).
Christ defined both the present and the future redemptive acts of God in terms of His
Messiahship. In Him both the present and the future are one and united. From that time
on, Jesus Christ is the central reality of the plan of salvation. No greater assurance of
future salvation can be given to the believer than the present taste of Christs fellowship
and gracious acceptance.
The second time Jesus expressed this now and not yet tension was in the defense of
His Sabbath healings (John 5:1630): I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has
now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will
live (John 5:25). Christ here reveals that life and death are decided by our relationship
with the Son of God. Consequently, the creative voice of Christ brings immediate

assurance of life eternal to those who were spiritually dead but who have come to believe
in Him. This present moment of truth will determine the future outcome of the
resurrection of the dead, which is also accomplished by Jesus the Messiah (John 5:28
29).
Jesus asserted an indissoluble unity between His present messianic redemption and
His future messianic judgment. This fruitful tension between the gospel and the
apocalyptic hope characterized the expectation of the apostolic church from the start, as
the preaching of the apostles in the Book of Acts testifies (see Acts 2; 3; and 17). But the
gap of time between the two advents of Christ raises new questions, some of which were
raised by Jesus closest disciples, Tell us, when will this [judgment on Jerusalem]
happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? (Mat.
24:3). This question sets the table for a consideration of Jesus prophetic discourse in
Matthew 24.
CHAPTER NINE
THE SIGN OF THE SECOND ADVENT OF CHRIST

Jesus concentrated His redemptive ministry on saving the lost sheep of Israel by
forgiving sinners and healing the brokenhearted, the sick, and the afflicted. He claimed
for this work a messianic fulfillment of prophecy: Blessed are your eyes, for they see,
and your ears, for they hear. Truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people
longed to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not
hear it (Mat. 13:1617).
Nevertheless, Jesus messianic ministry was misunderstood by many in Israel. They
were taught to expect the coming of a political Messiah who would forcefully deliver
Israel from Roman oppression (John 6:15). Such a hope was stimulated by a one-sided
stress on the prophecies of a Messiah who would break them [the Gentile nations] with
a rod of iron and dash them to pieces like a potters vessel, as presented in Psalm 2:9
(see also Psalms of Solomon, 17:2125, dating from the first century B.C.).
Even John the Baptist expressed his doubts about Jesus messiahship when he was
suffering in a dungeon, Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for
another? (Mat. 11:2, NRSV). Jesus sent back an eye-witness report of His saving
ministry: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf
hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is
anyone who takes no offense at me (Mat. 11:46, NRSV). This testimony touched upon
the essence of His mission. He was fulfilling the messianic promise of restoration and
everlasting joy (see Isaiah 35 and 61:13). Jesus closed his message to John with a
blessing on all would take no offense at this surprising fulfillment of Isaiahs prophecies.
But there were pious people in Israel who did take offense at Jesus teachings and
healings, particularly in Jerusalem. There was nothing in Jesus ministry to encourage
national pride or a thirst for vengeance. To such opponents Jesus directed some of His

final speeches, which Matthew collected in his gospel, chapter 23. Here Christ spoke
bluntly against the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and scribes, and their unwillingness to be
gathered to Him as the God-sent Messiah. At the end of His indictment, Christ
pronounced a covenant curse on Jerusalem: How often have I desired to gather your
children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not
willing! See, your house is left to you, desolate (Mat. 23:37, 38, NRSV).
These solemn words of Jesus were reminders of Moses speech to the people before
Israel entered the promised land (see Deuteronomy 29 and Leviticus 26:1433). Moses
gave Israel a choice; they could be gathered to their Lord or scattered among the nations
(Deut. 30). Old Testament Israels choice was reflected in Israels scattering to Assyria
and Babylon (2 Kgs. 25; 2 Chron. 36:1119).
When the prophet Daniel acknowledged the guilt of Israels rebellion, God promised
to restore Jerusalem, to anoint a new temple, and to send His Anointed One (Messiah
Dan. 9:25, 26). But there was also a new perspective in Daniels prophecy, beyond that of
Leviticus and Deuteronomy. The Anointed One would meet a violent death in the holy
city (he would be cut off, v. 26). His death would be followed by the coming of a
foreign ruler who would destroy the city and the sanctuary (v. 27). It seems as if the
judgment that was inflicted on Jerusalem by the Babylonian king (Daniel 1) would be
repeated by the later ruler of Rome.
Christ was thoroughly acquainted with Daniels apocalyptic prophecies, as we have
already seen. He knew that He was going to be killed in Jerusalem. He expressed this
several times to His disciples (see Mark 8:31; 9:31; 10:45). But killing Him would
ultimately become the supreme act of Israels rebellion, as he stated: Fill up, then, the
measure of the sin of your forefathers! (Mat. 23:32). And that rebellion would bring
with it a covenant curse: Your house is left to you, desolate (Mat. 23:38). To be
desolate here means to have Gods presence withdrawn from the temple (Ezek. 10:18
19). Nevertheless, God would not terminate all covenant relationships with the people of
Israel: For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, Blessed is the one who
comes in the name of the Lord (Mat. 23:39, the messianic fulfillment of Psalm
118:26). Here Christ kept the door open for a new hope, which Paul later developed in his
revelation of Israels great final return in Romans 11.
The Double Question About an Apocalyptic Sign

The tension between Christs present and future work was clearly highlighted in
Matthew 24. The chapter begins with Jesus walking away from the temple. The disciples
call His attention to its massive building blocks. Jesus reacts by saying, Not one stone
will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down (24:2). This prophetic judgment
caused them to ask, Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign of your
coming [Greek: parousia] and of the end of the age? (24:3).
This twofold question set the stage for the prophetic discourse of Christ about the
imminent destruction of the temple and about His glorious Parousia. While the disciples
probably viewed both events as one and the same, they are, in fact, widely separated in
time. Jesus, therefore, gave a distinct sign for each event they had asked about: one
regarding the imminent fall of Jerusalem, and the other of His visible appearance in the
sky.

Jesus reply to these two questions gives the discourse of Christ its own structure and
interpretative key. Each of three GospelsMatthew, Mark, and Lukeoffer a unique
perspective on Jesus discourse, directed to their particular audiences. Luke follows a
chronological order in presenting the historical events being prophesied. He is the only
Gospel writer who mentions a significant gap of time between the destruction of
Jerusalem and the second coming of Christ: Jerusalem will be trampled on by the
Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled (Luke 21:24).
Matthew and Mark, on the other hand, place the two events in a typological
perspective. This means that the immediate local fulfillment is a foreshadowing of the
final judgment with its cosmic display of glory. Such a type-antitype view is not
concerned with the time gap between the two events, its stresses the universal impact of
the second coming on all the nations. This theological perspective makes it at times
difficult to distinguish the two events that are portrayed. Such a foreshortening or
compression of present and future events was already the custom of Israels prophets (see
the prophecy against Babylon in Isaiah 13).
We choose Matthew 24 as our primary guideline because Matthew offers the most
extensive account of Jesus discourse and presents more Old Testament terms and images
than Mark 13. Matthew wrote specifically for a Jewish audience that was acquainted with
the Hebrew Scriptures. Matthew alone mentions Jesus counsel to read the book of the
prophet Daniel for a better understanding of His messianic applications (Mat. 24:15).
Jesus adopted many key terms of Daniels prophecies, such as the kingdom of God, the
Son of Man, the clouds of heaven, the desolating sacrilege, the end, and a time
of distress. Without Daniels outline, the discourse of Christ would lose its anchor in
Israels history, and its path from the past to the future.
The Warning Sign

When the disciples asked Jesus for a sign of the imminent destruction of the temple,
Jesus responded: So when you see the desolating sacrilege standing in the holy place,
as was spoken by the prophet Daniel, then those in Judea must flee to the
mountains (Mat. 24:15, 16, NRSV). The term desolating sacrilege (lit.: abomination
of desolation) was used in Daniel to announce the political power that would destroy
the city and the sanctuary (Dan. 9:26, 27). Daniel had prophesied the destruction of the
second temple. Jesus announced the imminent fulfillment of this prophecy in His
generation (Mat. 23:36). The specific warning sign would be the visible (when you
see) arrival of a hostile army around the holy city and the temple. On this point in Luke
Jesus speaks plainly: When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that
its desolation has come near (Luke 21:20).
The purpose of Jesus prediction was not to satisfy the disciples curiosity about the
future. Jesus purpose was of a pastoral and practical nature: so that they could flee in
time to escape the terrible doom of Jerusalem (Mat. 24:16, Mark 13:14; Luke 21:21).
Christ warned His disciples: Truly I tell you, all this will come upon this generation
(Mat. 23:36). The fulfillment of Jesus forecast occurred indeed in His own generation,
when the Roman armies came twice during the years A.D. 6670. All this is clearly
outlined by the historian Josephus (an eyewitness) in his Wars of the Jews (Book II, ch.
19). According to the early church historian Eusebius, the prayers of the Jewish

Christians that their flight might not be in winter or on a Sabbath (Mat. 24:20) were
answered. Apparently, they recalled what Jesus said, remained alert to the sign, and all
fled to safety in time (Ecclesiastical History, III, 5, 3).
Unequaled Distress and Deliverance

Beside the question about the temple, the disciples had also asked about the sign of
Jesus Parousia (Mat. 24:3). Before giving that sign, however, He warned them about an
unprecedented time of distress (v. 21; Greek: thlipsisdistress, tribulation, trouble) that
would come to His people, to be followed by a divine intervention: For then there will
be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until nowand never to
be equaled again. If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for
the sake of the elect those days will be shortened (Mat. 24:21, 22; see also Mark 13:19
20).
Notice that Jesus unites the final distress with the divine deliverance as a message of
hope. To understand Jesus forecast of the unequaled distress and divine deliverance,
we must trace these back to their roots in Daniels prophetic outline. This is both the
appropriate and biblical method here, since Jesus pointed explicitly to Daniel (Mat.
24:15).
Daniels visions describe various times when the saints would be persecuted. He
[the little horn] will oppress his saints The saints will be handed over to him for a
time, times and half a time (Dan. 7:25). The host of the saints and the daily sacrifice
were given over to [the little horn] (Dan. 8:12). At that time Michael, the great prince
who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not
happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people
everyone whose name is found written in the bookwill be delivered (Dan. 12:1).
While the historical applications of these texts differ among Christian interpreters,
they all seem to agree on one conclusion: Daniel 12:1 points to the final distress of Gods
covenant people and to their dramatic deliverance by divine intervention. This common
understanding is drawn from the subsequent redemptive event, Multitudes who sleep in
the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and
everlasting contempt (Dan. 12:2). Was Christ alluding in Matthew 24 to the final
distress of the covenant people in Daniel 12:1? And if so, what was His christocentric
application of this apocalyptic distress to His new-covenant people?
The End-Time Focus on the Parousia

Lets go back to the disciples question about the sign of His Parousia and of the
end of the age? (Mat. 24:3). Beginning with Matthew 24:21 this end-time event is the
focus of Jesus reply. Jesus informs the disciples that His Parousia will be preceded by an
unprecedented great distress [Gr.: thlipsis megal] that endangers the lives of all
people and will never be equaled again (Mat. 24:21). Jesus therefore points to Gods
concern for His elect and promises that those days of distress shall be cut short
for their sake (v. 22).
This concern for the survival of Gods elect indicates the messianic care of Christ
for His followers, who are scattered among all nations. And he [the Son of Man] will

send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect (Mat. 24:31).
Christ came to reveal the redeeming love and faithfulness of the Creator to His eternal
covenant. He came to fulfill the promises according to the divine plan of redemption. His
messianic ministry first establishes the kingdom of God in the hearts and lives of
believers, and then extends it to all of society. This plan of God creates hope, not just for
Gods people, but for the future of the entire world.
It is instructive to consider the messianic promise of Daniel 12:1: At that time
Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of
distress [LXX: kairos thlipses] such as has not happened from the beginning of
nations until then. But at that time your peopleeveryone whose name is found in the
bookwill be delivered. Daniels prophecy of an unprecedented time of distress is
set in the framework of hope and assurance: Michael, the great prince in heaven, shall
rise as the protector of Gods people at that time and bring about His supernatural
deliverance. The cause of the final distress of the covenant people can be found in
Daniels view of the planned assault of the king of the north against the beautiful
holy mountain (Dan. 11:4045, at the time of the end). Jesus adopted this climactic
ending of Daniels book as the foundation of His own forecast of the end of the age.
Some Christ-centered outcomes of Jesus application of Daniel in Matthew 24:2122
must be summarized here. First, Jesus applies the things of Jerusalem (the beautiful
holy mountain of Daniel 11:45) to His own faithful followers, the messianic remnant.
Second, He also enlarged the inheritance of Israel to global proportions. Events that in
Daniel 11 and 12 concern Jerusalem concern the whole world (kosmos) in Matthew
24:22. In other words, Jesus brings about two fundamental modifications of the Old
Testament background: both the ethnic and the geographic restrictions of the old
covenant are removed in Christ. Third, Jesus interprets Michaels rise to rescue the elect
in Daniel 12 as the future Parousia of the Son of Man. This final deliverance by the
Messiah requires special attention, because Jesus portrayed His future coming with a
surprising blend of Hebrew messianic images.
The Timing of the Parousia in Matthew 24

This deliverance would be introduced by the kind of frightening astronomical
phenomena that Israels prophets had described in their visions of the great Day of the
LORD (see Isa. 13:10, 13; 24:2123; 34:4; Ezek. 32:78; Joel 2:10, 31; 3:15).
Immediately after the distress of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon
will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be
shaken (Mat. 24:29; compare Mark 13:24). The effect of these cosmic changes is total
darkness all over the earth. Against this sudden darkening of the sky, Matthew portrays
the rising light of the Parousia! Such a dramatic contrast makes the glorious Christappearance the visible sign in the heavens (Matt. 24:30) that will cause a universal impact
on all peoples.
The Sign of the Parousia

Christ finally answers the question of His disciples directly, when He states: 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 (Mat.
24:30, 31).
Here Jesus speaks forthrightly about the visible and audible sign of His second
coming. This is the sign the disciples had asked Him about. This spectacular sign does
not need to be argued about; it will be simply overwhelming for all who see it, or rather
who see HIM approaching from above, surrounded by shining clouds of heavenly angels.
Matthews vivid portrayal of the second appearance of Christ is a composite of various
Hebrew images, all of which have their root in Israels covenant promises. The intention
of Christs redemption becomes clearer in the light of Gods original promises to Israel.
First, Jesus uses Daniels description of the heavenly Son of Man (Dan. 7:13)
when He declares that the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky (Mat. 24:30).
Jesus unites this messianic image with two more motifs of Daniels vision: the Son of
Man will be seen coming on the clouds of the sky and with power and great glory
(as in Dan. 7:13, 14). These distinct features indicate that Jesus identified himself with
the heavenly Son of Man in Daniels vision. Jesus again moves Daniels prophecy
forward to a messianic fulfillment in redemptive history: to His second coming to the
earth.
Secondly, the purpose of Jesus glorious appearance is to gather His elect by
means of His angels. This gathering motif was the central blessing of the Mosaic
covenant, and was repeated constantly in the Old Testament (see Deut. 30:13; Isa.
11:1016; Ezek. 36:24). Christ thus redefined the apocalyptic fulfillment of Gods
promise to Israel in a Christ-centered way. In the Old Testament context it was the
gathering of ethnic Israel to the land of Israel. In Matthew 24 it is the gathering of Jesus
worldwide elect to Himself.
Thirdly, we must take note of Jesus use of the loud trumpet call (Matt. 24:31).
Both Isaiah and Zechariah had mentioned such a final trumpet blast in relation to Gods
Old Testament people (Isa. 27:13; Zech. 9:14). Notice the wording of Isaiah: And in
that day a great trumpet will be blown, and those who were lost in the land of Assyria
and those who were driven out to the land of Egypt will come and worship the LORD
on the holy mountain at Jerusalem (Isa. 27:13). In Isaiah the trumpet calls the people
of Judah to return from Egypt and Assyria to the land of Israel. But in Matthew 24 Jesus
applies this loud trumpet call to the universal impact of His return. Once again he
expands the ethnic and geographical picture of Old Testament Israel to the spiritual and
worldwide context of those in relationship with Him.
Finally, we notice the impact of Christs coming on all who have rejected Him as the
Messiah. Jesus announced that all the nations of the earth will mourn (Matt. 24:31).
This motif of mourning occurs in the prophecy of Zechariah: When they look on the
one whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only
child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn (Zech. 12:10, NRSV).
This act of mourning represents a spirit of despair and despondency, as in the book of
Revelation: Look! He is coming with clouds; every eye will see him, even those who
pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail (Rev. 1:7, NRSV).
This kind of desperate mourning is portrayed even more vividly in Revelation 6, where
the despisers of Christ will cry out at His appearance: Fall on us and hide us from the

face of the one seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day
of their wrath has come, and who can stand? (Rev. 6:16, 17)
In Zechariah it is the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem (12:10)
that weep bitterly over the one they have pierced. But in Matthew all the nations of the
earth will mourn (24:31) and in Revelation all the tribes of the earth will wail (1:7).
Once again Jesus reads the literal and local things of the Old Testament in a spiritual and
worldwide way. And the reason for this shift is that with the coming of the Messiah,
Israel is counted not in ethnic and geographical terms, but in relation to the Messiah
Himself. In Christ the ethnic aspects of Israel fall away so that all people can come to
God through the Jewish Messiah. And the geographical aspects of Israel no longer have
meaning in the light of this Christ-centered expansion of who Israel is.
We conclude that Christ describes His spectacular return in the sky itself as the
visible and audible sign of His coming (meaning there will be no advanced warning of
the time). This sign of the Son of Man will make a dramatic, universal impact on all the
peoples of the earth. This impact will not be the same for all, because Christ knows who
belong to Him and who do not. This divine discrimination will be the central focus of our
next chapter, because it is the center of the New Testament gospel message and of the
Apocalypse.
Why did Christ answer His disciples with such a blend of Hebrew images and terms
in Matthew 24? Because the Old Testament was the only Bible they had. Jesus and His
disciples viewed His person and ministry through the lens of the Hebrew Bible. The
responsibility of Gentile believers in the Jewish Messiah, therefore, is to learn the history
of Gods covenants with Israel, so they can experience the fullness of being Gods
covenant people. As Paul wrote to Gentiles in the church at Ephesus: You are no longer
foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with Gods people and members of Gods
household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets (Eph. 2:1920). All
who accept the gospel of Jesus Christ can be taught by the God of Israel to understand the
plan of salvation, pray in the words of Israels inspired Psalms, and look forward to the
Jewish Messiah as their Redeemer and Lord.
The Particular Concern of Christ

Jesus found it necessary to warn against the claims of imitators and impersonators. He
warned against the appearance of false messiahs and false prophets, who would
produce great signs and omens, to lead astray, if possible, even the elect (Mat.
24:24). As the primary test to unmask such false messiahs or impostors Jesus pointed to
His unmistakable, spectacular coming in glory: For as the lightning comes from the
east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man (Mat.
24:27). Jesus even emphasized this point: Then if anyone says to you, Look! Here is
the Messiah! or There he is!do not believe it (Mat. 24:23). History is rife with
believers who have been caught in the vortex of such mass-delusions.
But there is a more subtle temptation possible, which is the special concern of the
Gospel writer Luke. In his day already he needed to counteract a premature immanency
expectation among some Christians. He reports the word of Jesus: Beware that you are
not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, I am he! and, The time is
near! Do not go after them. When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be

terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately
(Luke 21:8, 9). Here Jesus warned against being deceived regarding apocalyptic events.
Significant is the cry, The time is near! (Luke 21:8) This immanency expectation is
placed on the lips of false prophets, so it should cause alarm bells whenever such a cry is
repeated today.
Did Jesus point to wars and natural disasters as the signs of His imminent advent?
Such popular notions find no support in Jesus teachings. Christ mentioned such future
events as signs of the age but not as signs of His imminent coming. The signs of His
coming will be more dramatic and heavenly than that: There will be signs in the sun,
the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the
roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is
coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will
see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and glory. Now when these things
begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing
near (Luke 21:2528, NRSV). Luke points to the cosmic signs that will be visible in the
sky as the unmistakable sign of the nearness of the coming of Christ. He contrasts the cry
of the nearness by false prophets, based on earthly signs, with the truthful nearness of the
Lords appearance, based on heavenly signs (using for both the Greek verb engizein, to
draw near, to approach).
The sign of the approaching Lord Jesus will become visible in signs in the sun,
moon, and stars, all of which Luke sums up stating: the powers of the heavens will be
shaken. This supernatural shaking of the heavens will have its universal impact,
striking a dreadful fear in the hearts of those who rejected Jesus (Luke 21:26). On the
other hand, this very same sign in the heavenly sky will be the cause of exultation in the
coming of the Redeemer: Stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is
drawing near (Luke 21:28).
In this connection we may also understand the assurance of Christ: Truly I tell you,
this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. But
about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but
only the Father (Mat. 24:34, 36). Jesus point is not that we should speculate about
which generation will be the last. His point is rather the absolute certainty of His second
advent as the Christian hope: Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not
pass away (Mat. 24:35). The focus of Matthew 24 remains on the Lord Jesus as our
present and future Redeemer until the very end. This confident hope prompts our
response of: Come, Lord Jesus (Rev 22:20)!
CHAPTER TEN
UNDERSTANDING THE APOCALYPSE

To understand the symbols of the book of Revelation requires a knowledge of the Old
Testament. Without a knowledge of Moses, the Psalms, and the Prophets, it is easy to

read Revelation through the extremes of either literalism or allegorism. Such non-biblical
assumptions treat the last Bible book as though it were a fortune-teller or a Nostradamus.
The nature of Johns Apocalypse is fundamentally different, however, because it employs
Hebrew imagery to portray the completion of redemptive history. Revelation continues
Israels history of Gods mighty acts in the light of Gods greater acts in Christ Jesus. A
marvelous example of this twofold combination is Revelation 15:3: They sang the song
of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb: Just and true are your deeds,
Lord God the Almighty! For your judgments have been revealed.
The second prerequisite for understanding the Apocalypse is a knowledge of Jesus
Christ as He is revealed in the New Testament. There alone we learn that Jesus came as
the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29) Without this
revelation of the saving grace of God, Revelation becomes a frightening book of
judgments rather than one of hope and consolation. This means that one must have a solid
understanding of the other books of the Bible before attempting to digest the Apocalypse.
This implies a caution regarding the proper method of approach: one should not try to
jump from the Hebrew Bible directly into the book of Revelation. The Gospels stand like
a bridge between the Old Testament and the Revelation. This has great significance for
interpretation. The Gospels provide the key for the correct interpretation of the Hebrew
images and terms in the Christian Apocalypse. Johns first vision of Christ continues
where the four Gospels ended. In Revelation 1:1220 the crucified Messiah has begun
His messianic ministry as the appointed Priest/King on behalf of His church and the
world (Rev. 1:1220; also 5:114).
The Structure of the Apocalypse

At first glance, the last Bible book can appear confusing. It is a kaleidoscopic mixture
of symbols that seem to have little order or purpose. But such confusion begins to
disappear when the ingenious structure of its composition is discerned. There is a
symmetrical design in the book that divides its content into two main divisions, like the
arms on the left and right side of the Old Testament temple lampstand (alluded to in
Revelation 1:1213 and 4:5).
This twofold division points to a twofold theme of the book. The first half (Rev. 1
11) reveals Christs sustaining efforts in the present time (Rev. 111), and the second half
(Rev. 1522) His judgment at the second advent in the future. The series of visions at the
center (Rev. 1214) contain the climax and key section of the book. This arrangement
reveals an inverse parallelism; the first half of the book (chapters 111) leads up to the
center and the second half (chapters 1522) leads away from the center. The two halves
of the book correspond to each other as promises and their fulfillments.
Several of these parallels can be easily detected. The first correspondence can be
observed in comparing the Prologue (Rev. 1:18) and the Epilogue (22:621). Both
announce what must soon take place (1:1; 22:6); both clarify this book as the
testimony of Jesus Christ (1:2; 22:16); both pronounce a blessing on those who hear
and keep the words of the prophecy of this book (1:3; 22:7).
This apparent symmetry within the Apocalypse is repeated in subsequent series of
visions. The seven letters of the risen Lord Jesus to His churches (Rev. 23) contain
promises that are later fulfilled in Johns visions of paradise restored (Rev. 2122). For

example, Christ promises the tree of life in the paradise of God (2:7), and its
fulfillment is later shown to John in his vision of the tree of life in the future New
Jerusalem (22:2). Such parallels occur repeatedly in the letters and in their counterparts at
the end of the book. This connection of promises made (chapters 23) and promises
fulfilled (chapters 2122) implies that the understanding of one part of the Apocalypse
requires the integration of the other part. Revelation 2 and 3 deal with the struggling
church, while Revelation 2122 assure us of her safe arrival in the New Jerusalem. The
seven letters of Revelation should not, therefore, be divorced from the rest of the book, as
if only chapters 13 apply to the church. The entire book is directed to the church of
Christ as a cohesive unit. It is the revelation of Jesus Christ (Rev. 1:1).
Another thematic parallel can be noticed in the throne visions of Revelation 46 and
1920. Both visions portray a rider on a white horse, suggesting the beginning and the
completion of Christs mission (6:2 and 19:11). Thus the progression in salvation history
becomes visible. A similar movement in time begins with the souls under the altar,
who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had
maintained (Rev. 6:9). During the fifth seal John hears the martyrs cry out, How
long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and
avenge our blood? (6:10). Toward the other end of the book is their victorious song:
Hallelujah! for true and just are his [Gods] judgments He has condemned the
great prostitute and has avenged on her the blood of his servants (19:2). Here
again the progression of salvation history is portrayed.
John is also shown how God will vindicate the Christian martyrs, those who had
been beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God
(20:4, NASB). They will be given authority to sit on thrones and to judge. Justice
requested (in Revelation 6) becomes justice granted (in Revelation 1920). Once again
we can see a progression of redemptive history.
Finally, the series of the seven trumpets (Rev. 89) corresponds with that of the seven
last plagues (Rev. 1516). Both series portray judgments of God, use identical symbols,
and adopt the Exodus motif. Again an advancing history is in view. The trumpet
judgments occur in the time of the church militant, while the last plagues represent Gods
ultimate judgments on the last generation of a rebellious world. The setting of the seven
bowl plagues is after probationary time has ended (15:78: in other words, the final
gospel proclamation is complete). This architectural design of the Apocalypse shows that
church history is on its way to the glorious consummation in the Kingdom of God. The
Apocalypse moves forward repeatedly from history to consummation.
The Gospel of Christ as the Master Key

When John describes Jesus as the Lamb 28 times, it indicates that the gospel of
Christ is the controlling theme of Revelation. He praises the Lord Jesus as him who
loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom,
priests serving his God and Fatherto him be glory and dominion forever and ever
(Rev. 1:56). This doxology is a confession of the atoning death of Christ on the cross.
The use of the verb to free reminds us of Israels historic release from Egypt by means
of the blood of the Passover lamb (see Exodus 12:13).
John assures the believers that they have washed their robes and made them white

in the blood of the Lamb (Rev. 7:14). They will overcome the devil by the blood of
the Lamb and by the word of their testimony in the face of death (12:11). They are
written in the Lambs book of life (21:27). The title the Lamb, therefore, signifies
that the crucified and risen Christ has come as the antitypical Passover Lamb (see
Revelation 5:513). From the start (1:6) the Apocalypse applies the language of Israels
Exodus experience to Christ and the church.
As a consequence of its Christological interpretation of Israels exodus, the
Apocalypse redefines the Passover lamb as a messianic fulfillment in Jesus, the Lion
from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David (5:5). Thus Christ Himself becomes the
decisive key to applying the prophetic language of Israel for the church age. This gospel
principle of interpretation can also be observed in the vision of the seven golden
lampstandsbased on Israels temple: the seven lampstands are the seven churches
(Rev. 1:20). The risen Lord Jesus redefines Israels temple symbol: it now represents the
seven churches, that is, the church universal.
Churches are endowed by Christ with the responsibility and power to be the light of
the world (Mat. 5:14). This is an extension of Gods promise to Israel in Isaiah 49:6: I
will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the
earth. That promise was initially fulfilled in Christ as a light for revelation to the
Gentiles (Luke 2:32). In Revelation 1 that messianic fulfillment is extended to the
church. In Christ and in the church all the ethnic and geographic restrictions of the old
covenant are removed. The church universal is now the spiritual offspring of Abraham
(Gal. 3:29; Mat. 5:5; Rom. 4:13; 2 Pet. 3:13). The gospel of Christ constitutes the
guideline and master key for prophetic interpretation. The gospel must, therefore,
enlighten our understanding of unfulfilled prophecies in the Old Testament as soon as
they reach into the church age.
The Theological Definition of Israel

We must now consider the apocalyptic scenario of the last Bible book theologically.
Why does the Apocalypse use the language and history of the Hebrew canon so
persistently to express its portrayals of the end time? One can misunderstand its constant
allusions to the Old Testament. This happens when interpreters of the last Bible book
literalize its ethnic and geographical characteristics to the Jewish people and their
national enemies in the Middle East today. Such absolute literalism in prophetic
interpretation is defended by modern Dispensationalism and is popularized in the New
Scofield Reference Bible (1967), The Late Great Planet Earth by Hal Lindsey, and the
Left Behind series by Tim LaHaye.
While the Hebrew Scriptures require proper grammatical and historical exegesis, they
also need an adequate theological interpretation. For Christian theologians the messianic
authority and power of Jesus Christ demands recognition in prophetic interpretation. This
means that the gospel will be the judge of all our apocalyptic interpretations and
speculations. The theological perspective of the New Testament expresses itself in the
Christian typology of Jesus and His apostles (see chapter 5).
Does the Apocalypse continue the typological thinking of Christ in the Gospels (see
Mat. 12:6, 4142)? Yes, the book of Revelation demonstrates repeatedly the typological
perspective of the risen Lord Jesus. The increasing emphasis on calling Christ the

Lamb and His portrayal as the Davidic Priest/King (Rev. 1:1213; 3:21; 5:58; 17:14;
19:1116) reveal the messianic typology of the Apocalypse.
Secondly, Christs interpretation of the temple lampstand as being realized in the
seven churches extends Christian typology to the new-covenant people of God. The
relationship of Israel and the Church can be viewed theologically as one of type and
antitype (compare Revelation 1:6; 5:10 and Exodus 19:6). Such a view should be
understood in the sense of continuity and advancement, not of replacement, in
redemption history. Here the remnant theology of the apostle Paul is helpful. He views
the apostolic church as the faithful remnant of Israel (see Romans 11:5). Gentile
Christians are then no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with Gods
people (Eph. 2:19). They are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in
the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel (Eph. 3:6, NRSV).
The Faithful Remnant of Israel in Revelation

The visions of John concentrate increasingly on the final crisis of faith. It seems as if
the climax of redemptive history comes with the last generation of the church age, when
the second advent of Christ is truly imminent. That end-time orientation is intensified in
the visions of chapter 7, and enlarged more fully in chapters 1214.
This leads us to the central core of the Apocalypse and its message for the last
generation in the church age. Our method of interpreting the book of Revelation parallels
the guidelines established earlier: 1) trace the origin of Johns symbolic images and
names to their Hebrew roots in redemptive history; 2) recognize their messianic
fulfillment in the first advent of Jesus as the Christ; 3) honor the defining meaning of the
immediate context of the Apocalypse. This threefold procedure of exegesis recognizes
the movement from the old to the new covenant as revealed in the New Testament gospel
message. We want to focus now on Revelation 7, which contains two hopeful and
reassuring pictures of the time of the end.
After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back
the four winds of the earth, so that no wind should blow on the earth or on the sea or
on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the
seal of the living God; and he cried out with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it
was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, Do not harm the earth or the sea or
the trees, until we have sealed the bond-servants of our God on their foreheads. And I
heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousand
sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel: from the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand
were sealed (Rev. 7:15).
After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no one could
count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the
throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their
hands; and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God who sits on the
throne, and to the Lamb (Rev. 7:910).
One potential issue must be cleared up before we explore this chapter in more detail.
Johns visions are not intended to be like movies of the future. Instead they present
symbolic portrayals of what must soon take place in redemptive history (see
Revelation 1:1). This means that the Revelation of Jesus Christ (1:1) intends to

continue the history of Israel through Jesus and His chosen people. This forward
movement is visible in the sequence of the two scenes in Revelation 7. Though the
visions use the language of twelve tribes, palm branches, and the Feast of Tabernacles,
their purpose is to encourage the followers of Christ to persevere in following the Lamb.
As noted earlier, Johns unique literary style means that symbolic portrayals are often
clarified only in subsequent visions. For example, the new Jerusalem vision (Rev 2122)
clarifies and fulfills the promises in the seven churches (Rev 23). Another instance is the
introduction of Babylon in chapter 14:8, which is clarified only in chs. 1718. In short,
we should not take a new portrayal by itself, in isolation from subsequent visions.
This applies also to the 144,000 Israelites who are protected with the seal of God
(7:48). The same remnant of Israel is shown again in Revelation 14:14, where John
views the Lamb standing on Mount Zion together with 144,000, who had His name
and the name of His Father written on their foreheads (14:1). Firstly, the faithful
remnant of Israel is identified as the messianic Israel that follows the Lamb wherever
He goes (14:4). Clearly Israel, as expressed in the 144,000 of chapter 7 is redefined in
relation to Christ in chapter 14. The covenant people of God are now defined in Christ.
Secondly, the seal of the living God on the foreheads (7:2) is now clarified as the
name of the Lamb and of His Father written on their foreheads (14:1). This pictorial
language clarifies that the Lamb and His Father are Israels God and the 144,000 are
spiritual Israelites. This connection of Revelation 7 and 14 contains more enlightening
revelations that require full attention later. But we must now trace these symbolic
portrayals back to their Hebrew roots to establish their original setting in Gods covenant
with Israel.
The Sealing of the Remnant in Type and Antitype

Johns view of the sealing of Israels tribes has a clear prototype in a vision of Ezekiel
who began his prophetic ministry in Babylon just before the destruction of Solomons
temple. Ezekiel was given a view of the appalling idolatry that was being practiced in the
temple by the priesthood of that time (chapter 8). On account of this systematic apostasy,
Ezekiel is shown Gods verdict and judgment on the unholy city (chapter 9).
God revealed to Ezekiel the two sides of His covenant faithfulness: on the one hand,
mercy for the faithful and, on the other, destruction for the idolaters. Ezekiel viewed in
vision how God departed from the Most Holy Place: The glory of the God of Israel
went up from the cherub on which it had been, to the threshold of the temple (Ezek.
9:3). Then he saw a priest-like figure, clothed in linen, with a writing case at his side,
whose commission it was to go through Jerusalem to put a mark on the foreheads of
those who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it (Ezek.
9:2, 4). After the sealing work was completed the judgment on the temple and its
idolatrous worshipers began.
Ezekiels vision of divine mercy and judgment forms the historical and theological
background of Johns sealing vision in chapter 7. There 144,000 faithful Israelites are
sealed before the seven last plagues fall on the earth (Rev. 16). Essential in these parallel
visions is the spiritual standard for the approval and protection of Gods covenant people.
Ezekiel points beyond the forms of worship to the attitude of the heart. Israel would
receive a new heart that is transformed by the Spirit of God. I will give you a new

heart and put a new spirit in you I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow
my decrees and be careful to keep my laws (Ezek. 36:2627). Such a repentant,
obedient heart reflects a true and living covenant relationship with God, like the one
expressed in the Psalms of Israel (see Psalms 32; 51; and 143). This larger Hebrew
context should inform our Christian understanding of Johns prophetic vision of the
sealing.
This apocalyptic sealing of the faithful stands in intimate connection with the work of
the Holy Spirit, but should not be completely identified with it. Believers throughout the
Christian era are sealed with Gods approval, God knows those who are His (2 Tim.
2:19, ESV). In addition, the preaching of the gospel brings the present assurance of
salvation through the Spirit (Eph. 1:13; 4:30). But the apocalyptic sealing of Revelation is
given in the context of a final test contrasting true and false worship (Rev. 13:1517).
The Apocalypse is not simply another version of the four Gospels. It carries the
progression of the apostolic gospel into the final crisis with the antichrist. Sealing in
Revelation 7, therefore, is the antitype of Ezekiels warning vision in 9:17. The end-time
sealing prepares Gods people for their final hour of trial that is going to come upon
the world to test those who live on the earth (Rev. 3:10). Ezekiels root context reveals
an important truth: there will be a final test of loyalty during the end-time apostasy of the
world. This final testing time is further elaborated in Revelation 1214, and is the focus
of the following chapters of this book.
The Hebrew Roots of Johns Remnant Theology

The apocalyptic sealing of Revelation 7 has a counterpart in the structure of
Revelation, 14:15. Like the rest of the book of Revelation, this passage has important
Hebrew roots; first in Joel 2:32, then in Zephaniah 3:913, and finally in Daniel 12.
These Old Testament prophetic descriptions were warning announcements of divine
judgment on Judah and Jerusalem. At the same time, these prophets revealed Gods
provision to protect a faithful remnant on Mount Zion.
Perhaps the most striking Hebrew root of this passage is Joels picture of the great
and dreadful day of the LORD: And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD
will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance; as the
LORD has said, among the survivors whom the LORD calls (Joel 2:3132). In Joels
description we receive an essential feature of the faithful remnant: they call on the
name of the LORD. This phrase occurs numerous times in the Old Testament to
indicate the worship of God with a pure and obedient heart (see Gen. 4:26; 12:8; 1 Kings
18:24; Pss. 14:4; 116:2, 13, 17; 145:18).
This aspect of true worship is enlarged by the prophet Zephaniah: Then will I purify
the lips of the peoples, that all of them may call on the name of the LORD and serve
him shoulder to shoulder. But I will leave within you the meek and humble, who
trust in the name of the LORD. The remnant of Israel will do no wrong; they will
speak no lies, nor will deceit be found in their mouths (Zeph. 3:9, 1213). This passage
is strongly echoed in Revelation 14:45. John is building on Israels traditional language
of worshiping God with a sincere and sanctified heart. The new element that
distinguishes Johns faithful remnant from earlier versions is its messianic faith. They
follow the Lamb wherever He goes (Rev. 14:4).

The prophet Daniel also alludes to Gods searching judgment to find those who are
faithful: But at that time your peopleeveryone whose name is found written in the
bookwill be delivered (Dan. 12:1). Daniel is the only one of these prophets who
mentions the heavenly Deliverer by name: At that time Michael, the great prince who
stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise and at that time your people,
everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued (Dan. 12:1, NASB). When
we compare this end-time Deliverer with Daniels earlier visions, we must identify the
One like a son of man (in Dan. 7:1314) with this heavenly Prince Michael. The
climax of this rescue is the high point of all redemptive history: the resurrection of the
dead (see Daniel 12:2).
This identification of Michael with the Messiah is shared also by John who identifies
Michael as the heavenly conqueror who triumphs over Satan and his angels (Rev. 12:7
9). As a result of Michaels victory all heaven sings praises to Christ (12:10). The Gospel
of John advances this hope of Israel to its ultimate christological fulfillment, when Jesus
declares to the mourning Martha: I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in
Me shall never die (John 11:26).
In summary, we have found three Hebrew prophets who focused their apocalyptic
outlooks on the final generation of those who worship God. Their united prophetic
witness offers the covenant background of the messianic remnant in the Apocalypse of
John. But John advances these Hebrew visions as Christ-centered assurances for the
Christian believers and followers of the Lamb.
Light from the Immediate Apocalyptic Context

Our study of Revelation 7 in its wider context must also include the more immediate
context. This double vision is preceded by the vision of a prophetic scroll being opened
by the Lamb (5:7; 6:117). The sixth seal closes with the terrifying cries of the mighty
ones on earth at the sight of the coming King of the universe and His Messiah: For the
great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand? (6:17).
The answer to that question is given in chapter 7. After angels mark the servants of
our God with a seal on their foreheads (7:3) John writes: And I heard the number of
those who were sealed, one hundred forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of
the people of Israel (7:4). Each tribe will have twelve thousand sealed, but the tribe
of Judah is listed before that of the first-born Reuben (7:58). This suggests that the
remnant of Israel in view here is a Christ-centered remnant (see Revelation 5:5).
John immediately received a vision about a countless multitude of victorious saints
from all nations (Rev 7:912). The change from hearing the number (7:4) to seeing a
multitude (7:9) may seem more of a contrast than a clarification. But the style of using
contrast in order to clarify is characteristic of John. For example, when John heard from
one of the elders that the Lion from the tribe of Judah was worthy to open the
heavenly book, John then saw, in contrast, a Lamb standing as if slain (Rev. 5:5, 6).
What John hears is clarified further by what he sees in his vision. Thus the hearing
and the seeing of John belong together.
So John at first only hears the number of the sealed ones among the twelve tribes of
Israel. But when he looks, he sees something quite different from a literal number of
Jewish people: After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could

count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before
the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands
(7:9). The phrase that no one could count reminds the reader of Gods promise to
Abraham that his offspring would be as countless as the stars of the heavens (Gen.
15:5; 22:17). But in Revelation 7 the multitude is characterized by their faith in both God
and the Lamb. Through the Lamb Abraham becomes the father of us all (Rom. 4:16).
The interpreting angel explains this to John: These are they who have come out of
the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood
of the Lamb (7:14). The emphasis is specifically on the transforming relationship of the
believer with the Messiah, Jesus. In this redemptive experience all Jews and Gentiles can
unite as one worshiping people: For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their
shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe
away every tear from their eyes (7:17).
The 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel, therefore, represent all who follow Jesus
Christ during the end-time trials and who receive the seal of divine approval. The
messianic title, the Lamb, connects the two advents of Christ closely together. His first
advent as the true Passover Lamb determines who belongs to the true Israel or the
offspring of Abraham today. His second advent reveals the one who gathers all Gods
covenant peoples together and leads them into the everlasting presence of God in the
New Jerusalem.
In his final vision of a new heaven and a new earth, John depicts a further
climactic contrast. An angel of God interprets the New Jerusalem, full of the redeemed,
as the bride, the wife of the Lamb (21:9). This messianic characterization of the holy
city, Jerusalem, holds some further surprises. On its twelve gates are written the names
of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel (21:12), and on its twelve foundation stones are
written the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb (21:14). One would
expect the opposite. After all, Old Testament Israel is the root and the New Israel is the
tree (see Romans 11). But the surprising interchangeability of images expresses the unity
of all covenant peoples in Christ Jesus, who will one day gather all His covenant people
into a New Jerusalem.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
THE GOOD NEWS OF ARMAGEDDON

The term Armageddon (literally: Harmagedon) occurs only once in the entire Bible,
in the context of the seven last plagues of Revelation 16: And they [the demonic
spirits] assembled them [the kings of the whole world] at the place that in Hebrew is
called Harmagedon (16:16, NRSV). John describes the final gathering place of the
kings of the whole world with a Hebrew name: Harmagedon. This points us to the
Hebrew Scriptures, just as John had done earlier by mentioning Babylon the great,
the great river Euphrates, and Mount Zion (in Rev. 14:8, 16:12 and 14:1).

Common to all these Hebrew names and places is their part in Israels redemptive
history. They must therefore be understood in the setting of Gods covenant with Israel.
These names are not mentioned as geographical curiosities, but as part of Gods
redemptive plan for His covenant people as revealed in the Old Testament. The first rule
for the interpretation of the Apocalypse is, therefore, that we must recognize the
historical context of Gods covenant in the Old Testament. This means we need to respect
the theological significance of Israels redemptive history.
The Old Testament presents a theology of history that is concentrated on Gods
covenant people. It does not predict any future event that is disconnected from that
history. Understanding the biblical meaning of a Hebrew name or place calls for a
reconstruction of the original situation in the life of Israel, as the Old Testament presents
it. This is a hermeneutical principle of primary importance, because the Apocalypse is
rooted deeply in the Hebrew Bible. It alludes more than 600 times to the Hebrew
Scriptures in just 404 verses.
Before we trace the historical roots of Harmagedon and of other Hebrew names in
the Apocalypse, we must remind ourselves of a second principle of Bible interpretation.
Each text must be understood within its immediate context. This means that the book of
Revelation, as the Apocalypse of Jesus Christ (Rev. 1:1), will determine how the root
images from Old Testament must be understood in the final conflict of the Christian age.
Sound interpretation of Armageddon, then, will blend the covenant images of the Old
Testament with the messianic perspective of the New. This twofold connection will
enable us to discover the meaning of Harmagedon.
The Context of Harmagedon in the Apocalypse

The interpretation of Harmagedon in Revelation 16:16, therefore, must begin with the
immediate context. The opening of Revelation 16 informs us that the seven bowls of
Gods wrath are intended as divine judgments on the persecutors of the saints of God.
These end-time enemies of God and of His people are identified as those on the earth
who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image (16:2). Gods wrath is
not executed on all the inhabitants of the earth, but specifically on those who persecuted
the saints.
These plagues are the last judgment in redemptive history: because in them the
wrath of God is finished (Rev. 15:1, NASB). The purpose of this divine judgment is not
primarily to punish evildoers, but to deliver the saints, those that had been victorious
over the beast and his image and over the number of his name (15:2). This points us
back to the close-knit unit of chapters 1214, which ends with the second coming of
Christ (14:1420). These chapters introduced the faithful woman who brings forth the
Messiah, the dragon, the beast, the image of the beast, and the wrath of God
(12:15; 13:1, 15; 14:910).
John interlocks the successive visions in chapters 1214, gradually advancing the
central focus to the saints (14:12). This interlocking style implies that each new term
John uses is explained in a subsequent vision. To give a telling example: In the second
angels message of Rev. 14, John mentions for the first time Babylon the great (14:8).
The meaning of Babylon for the final conflict of the Christian age is elaborated in
chapters 17 and 18.

This same interlocking style helps to explain the name Harmagedon (16:16) which
unfolds more fully in Johns subsequent vision (chapters 1719). But as we approach
these chapters, we must remember that the central focus of Revelation is on the destiny
and fate of the faithful followers of Christ (1:7; 3:2122; 7:117; 12:1017; 14:15;
17:14; 19:110; 20:4; 22:17). The book of Revelation is the book of hope and
confidence for the church of all ages, particularly for that of the last generation. The
significance of the Apocalypse becomes clearer when we discern its unity and continuity
with the Old Testament.
The Exodus Typology of the Apocalypse

As already mentioned, the key to the images of the Apocalypse lies in their
connection with Gods redemptive acts on behalf of Old Testament Israel. The God who
delivered Israel from the enslaving powers of Egypt and Babylon in the past now assures
the followers of Jesus that He will do it againat the end of the world. But this time He
will deliver His faithful covenant people from worldwide oppression. The ancient acts of
divine rescue are a type of the final deliverance of Christs faithful ones. These local
types of redemption assure the certainty of the worldwide antitype.
To be more specific, the ten plagues poured out on ancient Egypt liberated Israel from
Pharaohs tyranny (Exod. 712). Likewise, the seven last plagues in Revelation 16
deliver the people of Christ, who is the messianic antitype of the Passover lamb. Type
will meet its antitype in the future redemptive ministry of Jesus Christ. As we saw in the
previous chapter, this historical typology is confirmed by the parallel songs of Moses.
The first is the Song of Moses by the Red Sea (Exodus 15) and the second is the Song
of Moses and the Song of the Lamb at the sea of glass mixed with fire in Revelation
15. The Apocalypse promises that all those on the earth who are victorious over the
beast and his image will sing: Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God
Almighty All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have
been revealed (15:34). The emphasis here is not on the punishing judgment of the
Creator but on the glorious act of redemption by the Redeemer.
There is one more aspect of the last plagues that needs to be discerned. While the first
five plagues in Revelation 16 correspond to the plagues on Egypt, the final two plagues
the drying up of the great river Euphrates and the fall of end-time Babylon (Rev. 16:12,
19)are borrowed from the fall of ancient Babylon. In short, the seven last plagues unite
Gods Old Testament judgments on Egypt and on Babylon in order to assure the faithful
that the end-time judgment of God is certain. The future exodus of Gods people from
end-time oppressors is guaranteed by the same covenant-keeping God who delivered
Israel from ancient Egypt and Babylon. The message of the plagues is that the God of
Israel will once more act in judgment and deliverance, but now on behalf of the
oppressed followers of Christ.
Babylon in Type and Antitype

The sixth and seventh plagues of Revelation 16 announce the fall of end-time
Babylon by means of a divine intervention in history (16:1221). But this prophecy of
judgment is not detached from redemptive history. The military language of Armageddon

(Rev. 16:14, 16) is interpreted by verse 15: Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed is he
who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be
shamefully exposed. (16:15). This verse contains several reminders of New Testament
exhortations to be ready for the Second Coming, including the message to Laodicea (1
Thess. 5:13; Matt. 24:42; Rev. 3:1718Buy from me white garments so that you
may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen). The saving
power of the blood of Christ remains of crucial importance during the final judgment of
the world (see Revelation 7:14). The fall of Babylon is not a political prophecy of some
isolated event in the future, it is a spiritual fulfillment of the promises of God.
Revelations attention on resurgent Babylon indicates a typological relationship
between the Old Testament and the New here. The Babylonian captivity (605539 B.C.)
forms one of the central events in Israels history of judgment and deliverance. Our task
is to identify the theological essentials of ancient Babylon in relation to Israel. This
identification is of hermeneutical importance, because the essentials of a typeand not
secondary specificationsremain the same in the antitype.
Theologically speaking, we can identify two basic characteristics of Babylon in the
Old Testament. 1) Babylon was in a hostile relation to the God of Israel and His way of
salvation, especially as manifested in the destruction of the temple (Jer. 50:2829). 2)
Babylon was also in a hostile relation to Israel as Gods covenant people (Jer. 50:3339;
51:35, 49).
The Hebrew Bible narrates extensively how Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon,
captured Jerusalem and then destroyed the temple (Jer. 25; 27; 34; 39). The religious
nature of this destruction and the capture of the temple articles is expressed by Daniel,
These he carried off to the temple of his god in Babylonia and put in the treasure
house of his god (Dan. 1:2; 5:3, 23). In addition to these religious articles the king of
Babylon also took Israel into exile and oppressed them, as Lamentations and Psalm 137
testify. For example, Daniel recounts how three prominent Jews were severely tested by
the royal command to worship a golden image in the plain of Dura (Dan. 3).
Ancient Babylons religious hostility against Israels God and His covenant people is
characteristic also of end-time Babylon in the book of Revelation (see Revelation 14:8
and 17:16 and 18:18). Babylon was, and will be again, at war on a double front:
against the God of Israel, and against the Israel of God. With this ancient metaphor, the
Apocalypse advances redemptive history to the end of the messianic age. End-time
Babylon acts more and more like ancient Babylon.
In this respect, we must take note of a corresponding theological advancement in the
Christian Apocalypse. There is an increasing emphasis on the unity between God the
Father and the glorified Christ, who is described 28 times as the Lamb. By the
conclusion of the book, the center of command in heaven is emphatically the throne of
God and the Lamb (Rev. 22:1). Together the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are
its temple in the New Jerusalem (21:22). Christ is honored with all the titles that had
earlier been reserved for the Father (22:13, cf. 1:8, 17; 21:6).
End-time Babylon also exhibits parallels to ancient Israel. Babylon is portrayed in
Revelation 17 as the unfaithful woman, who has committed adultery with the kings of
the earth (17:12). On her forehead is written this title: MysteryBabylon the
GreatThe Mother of Prostitutes and of the Abominations of the earth (17:5). This
divine charge repeats an earlier one against apostate Israel and Jerusalem, as found in

Ezekiel 16 and 23. This Old Testament root connection will prove to be the key to the
biblical understanding of the fall of Babylon in the Christian era. John himself was
astonished about this symbolic woman: And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of
the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus (17:6, NASB).
Evidently, Babylon is a fallen church that prosecutes and executes the witnesses of
Jesus through the powers of the state. Employing two allied powers, the beast and the
false prophet, the dragon attacks and enslaves the church and distorts her apostolic
teaching (13:58; 14:8; 18:23, 24; 19:20). It is clear that the name Babylon is used as
the archenemy of Israel. God and the new covenant of Christ remain the norm for
distinguishing truth and apostasy in the Christian age.
The risen Messiah transforms all Hebrew imagery and terminology into Christcentered realities. The history of the church of Christ is portrayed as repeating on a
worldwide scale the history of Israel. This continuity forbids any effort to apply the
Hebrew names and places of the Apocalypse with their old-covenant ethnic and local
restrictions. The Day of the Lord will be fulfilled as the day of Christ (Rev. 1:7; 6:15
17). The ancient Yahweh war is transformed into the war of Christ as Lord of lords
and the King of kings (Rev. 17:14 and 19:16). This portrays the future messianic
ministry of Jesus Christ in the Apocalypse. The consummation of this redemptive
ministry is presented in the heavenly announcement at the seventh trumpet: The
kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he
will reign for ever and ever (Rev. 11:15).
The Fall of Babylon in Type and Antitype

The thrust of the message of hope in the last Bible book is that Christ will judge
Babylon once and for all. He will vindicate His own people, rescuing them by divine
intervention. The future fall of Babylon is based on the fall of ancient Babylon as its
ordained type. The theological essentials remain the same, while the ethnic and
geographic restrictions are removed by giving them a universal extension. The final fall
of Babylon will be much more devastating and spectacular than its historical type.
The sudden fall of ancient Babylon was caused by the secret diversion of the water
flow of the Euphrates River by the Persian general Cyrus. This sudden drying up of the
Euphrates, by which Babylon fell into the hands of Persia, was of particular interest to
Isaiah (41; 4447) and Jeremiah (50; 51). It deserves our attention because of its
typological application in the Apocalypse. John describes the sixth and seventh plagues
as follows: The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its
water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East. The seventh angel
poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the
throne, saying, It is done! God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the
cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath (Rev. 16:12, 17, 19). The connection
between the drying up of the Euphrates and the fall of Babylon picture Gods judgment
on a world united in rebellion against God and His covenant people.
In the type it was Yahweh who spoke to the Euphrates: Be dry, and I will dry up
your streams (Isa. 44:27). Cyrus was only Gods agent in His judgment on Babylon. He
came indeed from the east (Isa. 41:2, 25), and took Babylon by surprise, without any
battle (as the ancient Cyrus Cylinder reports). Isaiah also mentions the redemptive

purpose of Babylons fall: for the sake of Jacob my servant, of Israel my chosen
(44:4). Jeremiah states likewise: Yet their Redeemer is strong; the LORD Almighty is
his name. He will vigorously defend their cause so that he may bring rest to their land,
but unrest to those who live in Babylon (Jer. 50:34); and: Before your eyes I will
repay Babylon and all who live in Babylonia for all the wrong they have done in Zion,
declares the LORD (51:24; also verse 49).
Thus the prophecies about Babylons fall serve the historical progress of Gods
redemptive plan in Israels history. Cyrus was called to rebuild Jerusalem, to set my
exiles free, and to restore the temple (Isa. 45:13; 44:28). For that divine purpose he
received the honorable titles of anointed one and my shepherd, who will
accomplish all that I please (Isa. 44:28; 45:1). These restoration promises were fulfilled
in Israels history (see Ezra 1:14). Johns Apocalypse elevates these past events,
however, to foreshadowings of even greater events to come at the end of the Christian
age. Just as Yahweh and His covenant people were involved in the fall of ancient
Babylon, so will Christ and His covenant people be involved in the fall of modern
Babylon.
From Historical Babylon to Future Babylon

In order to determine the meaning of the unfulfilled prophecy of Revelation 16, we
must understand each feature of the ancient fall of Babylon. We can distinguish five
aspects in the old drama: 1) Babylon acted as the enemy of Israel and her God; 2) the
Euphrates River was the source of Babylons strength and prosperity (Jer. 51:13, 36); 3)
the drying up of the Euphrates waters was Gods judgment on Babylon, causing its
sudden downfall; 4) Cyrus and his allied kings (Jer. 50:41; 51:11, 28) came from the east
to fulfill Gods redemptive purpose, and 5) the Israelites in Babylonian exile represented
the repentant, faithful covenant people of God.
In the Apocalypse these five features comprise the historical type which is applied
theologically to the antitype, end-time Babylon. But in the end-time context both
Babylon and Israel are universal, worldwide. The gospel of Christ is sent out to every
nation, tribe, language and people (Rev. 14:6). This fourfold emphasis signals its
universal scope. Likewise, end-time Babylon is universal in its outreach, and has made
all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries (Rev. 14:8; 17:2; 18:3). In
harmony with the worldwide range of both Christs people and Babylon, the Euphrates
River also receives a universal application: The waters you saw, where the prostitute
sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages (Rev. 17:15). Contemporary
efforts toward a literalistic, Middle East application of Babylon and the Euphrates are
here excluded. The narrative is guided by the christocentric character of Christian
typology. Prophetic interpretation in the messianic era follows Jesus Christ in avoiding
ethnic and geographic literalism.
Revelation 17 as the Context of Harmagedon

Johns vision of the seven last plagues in Revelation 16 is connected to the vision of
chapter 17 by a bowl angel who says: Come, I will show you the punishment of the
great prostitute who sits on many waters (Rev. 17:1). Chapters 17 and 18 follow on

from the seventh bowl that announced God remembered Babylon the Great (16:19).
God remembers Babylon because her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has
remembered her crimes (18:5). Revelation 17 begins an explanatory discourse about
Babylons fall that continues till 19:10, a unit aptly called by some the Babylon
Appendix. The divine retribution on end-time Babylon remains in focus in each chapter
(16:19; 17:1, 5; 18:16, 21; 19:13). The sixth and seventh plagues are enlarged in
chapters 1719.
A new feature of Babylon in Revelation 17 is the distinction between the scarlet
beast and the great prostitute who sits on it (17:3). This union of the harlot and the
kings of the earth is called an adulterous relationship (17:2). This suggests an unholy
alliance between church and state, which results in the persecution and death of the saints
(17:6; 18:24). Correspondingly, Gods judgment on Babylon/beast takes place in two
stages: first Babylon the prostitute receives her judgment (17:16), followed by that of
the beast powers (19:1721). Revelation 17 portrays how her judgment will be
realized: God employs the beast and its ten horns as His instruments to dissolve
Babylons unity and cause its collapse. The irony of this judgment is apparent when we
compare the first and the last descriptions of the prostitute in Revelation 17: With her
the kings of the earth committed adultery The beast and the ten horns you saw will
hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her
flesh and burn her with fire (Rev. 17:2, 16).
In order to understand this prophetic language, we need to go back to Gods judgment
on faithless Jerusalem, as described extensively in Ezekiel 16. Reading this entire
judgment chapter in Ezekiel, it becomes apparent that the prostitute imagery of
Revelation 17 is dependent on Ezekiel 16 (and also 23). Ezekiel portrayed Judah and
Jerusalem as the unfaithful covenant partners of Yahweh. Her crimes were sexual
immorality, idolatry, oppression and the murder of her own children. Ezekiel delivers the
divine verdict and punishment: Therefore I am going to gather all your lovers
against you from all around. Then I will hand you over to your lovers, and they will
tear down your mounds and destroy your lofty shrines. They will strip you of your
clothes and take your fine jewelry and leave you naked and bare. They will stone
you and hack you to pieces with their swords. They will burn down your houses (Ezek.
16:3740).
There is a typological correspondence between the two unfaithful women of Ezekiel
16 and Revelation 17, between Gods Old Testament people and the apostate church. The
covenant of God created the bride, and the breaking of the covenant makes each an
adulteress. Both receive the same judgment: their former political lovers are called by
God to carry out the punishment on each prostitute. This sudden and unsuspected
reversal of Babylons unity is ordained, however, by Gods providence (Rev. 17:17).
Revelation 17 thus explains the sixth and seventh plagues of Revelation 16. The
surprising prospect is that God will bring about the self-destruction of Babylon by way of
her own supporters. The universal Euphrates River, the persecuting multitudes (17:15),
will suddenly dry up (16:12). The drying up of the Euphrates River represents the
withdrawal of political support for religious Babylon during the two last judgment
plagues.
Final Deliverance from the Cosmic East

We will fail to understand the redemptive purpose of Harmageddon if we view the

fall of modern Babylon as an end in itself. We must once again consider its Hebrew root,
the fall of ancient Babylon. Isaiah had predicted that Israels God would stir up one
from the east, calling him to fulfill my purpose, to conquer Babylon and in this way
to grant salvation to Zion (Isa. 41:24, 25; 46:1113). Jeremiah added: the LORD
has stirred up the kings of the Medes, because his purpose is to destroy Babylon. The
LORD will take vengeance for His temple (Jer. 51:11); and: many kings are being
stirred up from the ends of the earth (50:41, 46). Thus a large-scale war effort by the
Medes and the Persians was in view, all under the command of Cyrus. But Gods
ultimate purpose was to bring salvation to His covenant people in Babylon: Leave
Babylon, flee from the Babylonians! Announce this with shouts of joy and proclaim it.
Send it out to the ends of the earth; say, The LORD has redeemed his servant Jacob
(Isa. 48:20, cf. Rev. 18:4; Jer. 50:8; 51:6, 45).
As ancient Babylon fell to attackers from the east, so the end-time Cyrus, Jesus
Christ, comes from the heavenly East to deliver His people from end-time Babylon (Rev.
16:12). Christ returns as the celestial King of Kings to consummate the Hebrew types and
prophecies on a universal and cosmic scale. He does not arrive from any geographic
location on earth, but from the throne of God! His coming to planet Earth is, therefore,
from the astronomical or cosmic east (literally sunrise [anatol] in the Greek).
Christ will then wage war against the united kings of the whole world who are
gathered, or united, for the battle on the great day of God Almighty (Rev. 16:14).
The kings from the East (16:12) are placed in stark opposition to the kings of the
whole world (16:14), displaying a cosmic contrast between heaven and earth. This
contraposition of two armies is re-stated in Revelation 17, They will make war against
the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of
kingsand with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers (17:14). This
victory, of course, is a foregone conclusion, because Christ and His angels exceed all
human power. An actual battle is, therefore, not described.
Instead the Apocalypse offers a dramatic display in the sky at the return of Christ,
who is portrayed as the King of kings and Lord of lords. Sitting on a royal white
horse, the Messiah leads His armies of heaven (Rev. 19:1116). He is called Faithful
and True, because He comes to fulfill His messianic promise to His covenant people in
the whole world. Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies
gathered together to make war against the rider on the horse and his army. But the
beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous
signs on his behalf The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning
sulfur. The rest of them were killed with the sword that came out of the mouth of the
rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh (Rev. 19:1921).
Jesus had promised earlier that He would return as the Son of Man coming on the
clouds of the sky with power and great glory. And He will send forth His angels with a
great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end
of the sky to the other (Mat. 24:30, 31). When the last trumpet sounds the ultimate
year of Jubilee (Lev. 25:810; Isa. 27:13), the King Messiah will take away the
dominion of Babylon and put a redeemed and transformed humanity in charge of the
world. The meek (or humble) shall inherit the earth (Mat. 5:5).
The question rises, How can we be assured of a place among the Lambs called,

chosen and faithful followers (Rev. 17:14)? How can we prepare ourselves to meet this
Messiah in joyful expectation? The risen Lord has provided a special preparation
message in the coming of Elijah (see next chapter).
CHAPTER TWELVE
THE VOICE OF ELIJAH TODAY

In the days of Jesus there was a long-standing tradition that the prophet Elijah would
return before the Messiah would come. This expectation was based on a promise of
Malachi, who lived more than 400 years before Jesus: See, I will send you the prophet
Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. He will turn the hearts
of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, or else I
will come and strike the land with a curse (Mal. 4:56).
The Jewish teachers of the Torah even argued that Jesus could not be the Messiah,
because Elijah must come first (Mat. 17:10). The disciples therefore came to Jesus
with this dilemma. Matthews Gospel recounts the surprising reaction of Christ: Jesus
replied, To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. But I tell you, Elijah has
already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they
wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands. Then the
disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist (Mat. 17:11
13).
Christ applied Malachis prophecy of the return of Elijah to the mission of John the
Baptist. I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before
you (Mat. 11:10; see Malachi 3:1, which adds: Then suddenly the Lord you are
seeking will come to his temple). For Jesus, John would pave the way for the Messiah,
not only by proclamation but also by suffering: In the same way the Son of Man is
going to suffer at their hands (Mat. 17:12). But the greatness of his mission
corresponded to the greatness of his suffering: I tell you the truth: Among those born
of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least
in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he (Mat. 11:11). Johns mission was to
introduce none other than the Messiah, so that He might be revealed to Israel (John
1:31).
The Elijah Message as Preparation

John the Baptist was a mystery to the Jewish leaders. The priests even asked him,
Are you Elijah? But John replied, I am not (John 1:21). When they persisted, Who
are you? John replied with the words of the prophet Isaiah, I am the voice of one
calling in the desert, Make straight the way of the Lord (John 1:23; see Isaiah 40:3).
John rejected the idea that he was the reincarnation of Elijah himself. He insisted rather
that he was the God-ordained voice to prepare the way of the Messiah.

How did John arrive at this conviction? Earlier the angel Gabriel had appeared in the
temple to assure Johns father Zechariah that his prayer for a son had been heard. This
angel also announced the mission of this son: Many of the people of Israel will he bring
back to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and the
power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient
to the wisdom of the righteousto make ready a people prepared for the Lord (Luke
1:1617).
Gabriel made a surprising application of Malachis prophecy to the mission of John
the Baptist. More than reciting the words of Scripture, he explained their fulfillment.
Particularly revealing was the angels addition to Malachis prediction of Elijah: To
make ready a people prepared for the Lord (Luke 1:17). Gabriel thus gave the Elijah
mission the character of a preparation message for the advent of the Lord Jesus Christ. Its
timing in redemptive history indicates that the voice of Elijah would serve as a
specific sign that the Messiahs coming was near. It was a christological interpretation of
the Elijah promise, because John presented Jesus as Israels Messiah, as the Lamb of
God, who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29). It was a Christ-centered
interpretation of the literal Jewish understanding of Malachi.
How did John the Baptist attempt to prepare Israel to meet her Messiah? By calling
the Jewish people back to the religious experience of their fathers. John tried to
restore Israels redemptive relationship with God. He was, therefore, not an innovator
but a reformer and restorer. The result was that many confessed their sins and were
baptized by him in the Jordan (Mat. 3:56). In this way John created a faithful remnant
of Israel that was ready for the Messiah.
Malachi had pointed to such a covenant renewal in the following: Remember the
law of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb for all Israel (Mal.
4:4). This call to return to the law of Moses did not aim at an external, legalistic
conformity, but to a sanctifying relationship with the God of Israels covenant. Such a
blessed walk with God was the purpose of Moses speech to Israel in Deuteronomy 30).
Such heart obedience was also the experience of those who wrote the Psalms (see Psalms
19; 32; and 119). John the Baptist called for a heartfelt repentance and a commitment to
walk in Gods ways. As a result, many confessed their sins before being baptized (Mat.
3:112).
Elijahs Mandate and Message

But why did Jesus call John the Elijah of his time? To understand this interpretation
of Malachis promise, we turn to the story of the first Elijah and his divine mission (see 1
Kings 16:3033; and chapters 1719). The essentials of Elijahs ministry can be
considered from three viewpoints in Israels history: 1) Elijah was sent at a time when
Israel was in religious and moral apostasy; 2) Elijah was commissioned to call Israel back
to her covenant relationship with God; and 3) Elijahs appeal for reformation on Mount
Carmel brought about a renewal of Israels covenant with the Creator Redeemer.
Elijah was sent from Tishbe in Gilead to the kingdom of Northern Israel, which had
Samaria as its capital. King Ahab (874852 B.C.) had married Jezebel, the daughter of
Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, a marriage that was forbidden by the Torah because of her
commitment to Baal worship. This pagan religion demanded cultic worship of Baal and

Ashera, together with that of all the starry hosts, and even the sacrifice of children in
the fire (2 Kings 17:1617). Ahab and Jezebel blended the religions of Yahweh-worship
and Baal-worship, which resulted in a state-enforced cultus in the temple of Baal. Israels
worship was thus changed. Israel no longer saw divine grace as expressed in its sanctuary
rituals (see Leviticus 17:11) as the source of prosperity, but the Canaanite rituals instead
(Deut. 18:913; Hos. 2:813, 17).
Even worse, those who remained faithful to Israels covenant were now outlawed,
Queen Jezebel was killing the prophets of the LORD (1 Kings 18:13). In response to
these deviations, God withheld both the dew and the rain for three years to demonstrate
the inability of Baal to send rain. But in spite of this, there was no repentance on the part
of Israel. Finally, God sent Elijah back to Israels king with an ultimatum.
Elijahs Message of Reformation

Elijahs mission was to call Israel from apostasy back to a covenant walk with
Yahweh. When King Ahab saw Elijah, however, he said: Is that you, you troubler of
Israel? Elijah replied, I have not made trouble for Israel, but you and your fathers
family have. You have abandoned the LORDs commands and have followed the
Baals (1 Kings 18:16, 17). Here the prophet identified the nature of Israels apostasy:
the abandoning of Gods commandments and true worship. Elijah was sent to restore
Israels knowledge of the Creator/Redeemer and to promote a saving walk with God.
Elijah summoned all Israel, including the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets
of Asherah to meet him on Mount Carmel. The prophet asked the Israelites, How long
will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD [YAHWEH] is God, follow him;
but if Baal is God, follow him (1 Kings 18:21). They said nothing in reply. Elijah then
challenged each party to prepare an altar with a bull as a sacrifice on it. Each party would
call on the name of its god: The god who answers by firehe is God (v. 24). But all
the shouting to Baal proved fruitless. When Elijahs turn came, he first repaired the
altar of the LORD, which was in ruins (vv. 3032). He used twelve stones to represent
the unity of the twelve tribes of Israel. Three times he poured water on the altar. Then he
stepped forward and prayed to the Lord, asking for Gods answer, so that all will know,
O LORD, that you are turning their hearts back again (v. 37).
In reply, the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the
stones and the soil. When all the people saw this pillar of fire from heaven, they fell
prostrate and cried, The LORD, he is God! The LORDhe is God! (v. 39) Israel
thus was brought back to her covenant God by Elijahs call for a whole-hearted
commitment. Soon after, Elijah received a unique reward from God: he was taken up to
heaven in a whirlwind by a chariot of fire and horses of fire (2 Kings 2:11). Elijahs
mission may be seen not only as a type of John the Baptist, but also as the prototype of
the last Elijah at the end of time. Christ at His second coming will gather to Himself all
who have followed Him on earth (1 Thess. 4:1617).
The Elijah of the End-Time Events

Israels redemptive history sets the pattern for the future consummation. The New
Testament continues Israels history of salvation with the new covenant people of the

Messiah. To reveal the conclusion of redemptive history, God gave His people the
Apocalypse of John, the revelation of Jesus Christ (Rev. 1:1). In this last book of the
Bible all previous books of Holy Scripture blend together to find their dramatic
consummation in the second advent of Christ. This consummation is preceded by the
end-time Elijahs message of restoration.
The four gospels tell us how John the Baptist introduced the preparation message for
the first advent of the Messiah. The Apocalypse, on the other hand, portrays three angels
(in 14:612) who deliver the last appeal from heaven to ready people for Christs return
in glory. The mission of the three angels is not to announce a new end-time super-gospel,
but rather restore the eternal gospel in its unadulterated purity and redemptive power:
Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim
to those who live on the earthto every nation, tribe, language and people. He said in
a loud voice, Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has
come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of
water (Rev. 14:67).
This appeal to worship the Creator is Gods response to the antichrists demand for
false worship described in Revelation 13:1517. The messages of the three angels of
14:612 function as the end-time Elijah who calls for a return to the faith of Israel. The
purpose of the appeal is to create a remnant that waits eagerly for the blessed hopethe
glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ (Titus 2:13). This
second advent of the Messiah is depicted in a surprising blend of Hebrew images in
Revelation 14: I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the
cloud was one like a son of man with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle
in his hand. Then another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud voice to
him who was sitting on the cloud, Take your sickle and reap, because the time
[literally the hour] to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe. So he that
was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested
(Rev. 14:1416).
The good news of the Apocalypse is that God will again preserve a faithful remnant,
just as He preserved 7,000 faithful Israelites in the days of the first Elijah (see 1 Kings
19:18; Rom. 11:4). This final remnant is pictured in Revelation as 144,000 true Israelites
who have overcome the antichrist (in Rev. 13), and will stand with the Lamb of God on
Mount Zion: Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount
Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Fathers name written on their
foreheads (14:1).
As we have seen in an earlier chapter, this portrayal of the faithful remnant of Israel
advances the prophecy of Joel to a glorious consummation: And everyone who calls on
the name of the LORD will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be
deliverance, as the LORD has said, among the survivors whom the LORD calls (Joel
2:32). Johns use of Joel once again confirms that Gods promises to ancient Israel will
be fulfilled, but only through the God-sent Messiah. Christ will also bring on the
judgment of the world, which is a specific theme and burden of Israels prophets. Joel
portrays that judgment as the final harvest: Let the nations be roused; let them
advance into the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for I will sit to judge all the nations on every
side. Swing in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, trample the grapes, for the
winepress is full and the vats overflowso great is their wickedness! (Joel 3:1213).

Joels metaphor of the judgment is a harvest of grapes: for the harvest is ripe,
ready to be trampled in the winepress. Similar images were used also by Isaiah in his
judgment oracle against Edom (Isa. 63:16). Joel applied this figure of speech, however,
to all the nations that will gather against Israel in the Valley of Jehoshaphat around
Jerusalem (Joel 3:23, 12).
In Revelation this Old Testament judgment turns into a Christ-centered judgment.
Joels judgment vision is applied to the second advent of Christ (Rev. 14:1420). There is
a sharp sickle in the hands of Christ when He returns as the King/Judge to the earth.
Christ will swing His sickle to reap, because the hour to reap has come, for the harvest
of the earth is ripe, and the earth was harvested (Rev. 14:1516).
Johns extension of Joels vision, however, includes an emphasis on two harvests;
first a grain harvest (14:1516) and then another of clusters of grapes from the earths
vine (14:1719). But only the grape harvest is thrown into the great winepress of
Gods wrath (14:19). This twofold harvest may be understood best in the light of Jesus
parable of the weeds in the field (Mat. 13:3643). Jesus explained: The harvest is the
end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. The Son of Man will send out his
angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do
evil (vv. 39, 41).
Comparing Revelation 14 with Joel offers three theological insights. 1) The Old
Testament God of judgment turns out to be Christ (see also John 5:22, 27). 2) The Israel
of God will be determined by Christ, and are therefore called followers of the Lamb
(14:15). 3) The place of judgment is no longer a local valley of Jehoshaphat
[meaning: valley of Gods Judgment], it is enlarged to the whole earth. The word
earth is emphasized six times in this passage (14:1419, NASB). Christological
interpretation of Revelation entails a universal application of all end-time prophecies and
Old Testament images. The last Elijah, now pictured as three angels, will come as a
loud voice in midair that will resound to every nation, tribe, language and people
(14:69).
The Voice of Elijah Today

The three angels of Revelation 14:612, like the rest of the book, should be
understood in relation to its Hebrew roots. Johns language and symbolic images here are
nearly all borrowed from the Old Testament. This method requires knowledge of Israels
redemptive history, so that we will not isolate Johns images from their covenant setting.
Doing so can cause us to stumble into the pitfalls of either literalism or allegorism.
The first angel of Revelation 14:67 proclaims the everlasting gospel in the context
of the final conflict (introduced in 12:17). This proclamation is a renewal of Jesus
gospel of the kingdom (Mat. 24:14). The last Elijah is not an innovator but a restorer
of the gospel of the New Testament.
To understand the angels gospel message requires an understanding of Pauls
message in his letters to the Romans and to the Galatians. These two Pauline letters
motivated the great reformers (Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin) to preach Gods saving grace
to all who suffered from a burdened conscience. They also rebuked the long-standing
falsification of the gospel in the medieval state church, calling it the new Babylon.
Nevertheless, the Protestant Reformation was largely a European phenomenon and soon

became distracted by internal disputes and creedalism. Growth in the understanding and
practice of gospel truth was halted. Apparently, the Protestant Reformation was not the
last Elijah of Bible prophecy. A worldwide reformation and a restoration of the gospel in
its fullness is still needed. Such a fresh apostolic preaching will complete Luthers
reformation, and be true to the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints
(Jude 3).
Johns visions emphasize faithfulness to the word of God and to the testimony of
Jesus (Rev. 1:2; 6:9; 12:17; 20:4). This dual phrase, constantly repeated in the
Apocalypse, suggests the unity of the old and new revelations of God. The Christian
Bible contains two witnesses or testaments in one continuous history of salvation. The
restoration of the gospel will usher in a final crisis of faith: The hour of trial that is
going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth (Rev. 3:10).
This universal hour of trial and testing, announced in chapter 3, is developed in the
interlocking visions of chapters 1214.
The Central Theme of the Apocalypse

The central portion of Revelation (chapters 1214) opens with an important
perspective on redemptive history. Israel and the church of the Messiah are portrayed as
one and the same symbolic woman. She gives birth to the Messiah, who will rule all
the nations with an iron scepter after His ascension to the throne of God (Rev. 12:12,
5; alluding to the royal Psalm 2:79). But the dragon initiates a war against this Messiah
and against the woman who then must flee to a place prepared for her in the
desert (12:3, 1316). Finally, the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to
make war against the rest of her offspringthose who obey Gods commandments and
hold to the testimony of Jesus (12:17).
In this story Israel and the Church are visually presented as one. All the covenant
peoples of God are united in one image. The cliff hanger in this drama of the ages points
to a final crisis and test of faith (12:17). To clarify this final conflict, Johns visions in
Revelation 13 first introduce the allies of the dragon and then shift their focus to the
climax of redemptive history (see 13:1517). Revelation 14 concludes with the response
of God to this worldwide threat from Satan by presenting images of hope and
deliverance.
This encouraging chapter (Rev. 14) presents a sharp contrast to the previous chapter
that describes the religious demands of the antichrist on all the inhabitants of the earth
(13:1217). Revelation 13 and 14 must therefore be read as two complementary
viewpoints of the final events regarding true and false worship. Particularly the third
angels message (Rev. 14:911) presents Christs response to the threat of the antichrist
(in 13:1517).
This contrast between two kinds of worship is similar to that in Israel during the reign
of Ahab and Jezebel. Elijahs reformation message led him to a dramatic appeal on
Mount Carmel: How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God,
follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him (1 Kings 18:21). A similar appeal comes to
all inhabitants of the earth in the loud voice of the third angel: If anyone worships the
beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, he, too, will
drink of the wine of Gods fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his

wrath. (Rev. 14:910).
The Seven Last Plagues

The apocalyptic images of drinking the wine of Gods fury from His cup of
wrath (Rev. 14:911) are familiar Hebrew expressions used by Israels prophets (see
Jer. 25:15; Isa. 51:17; Ps. 75:8). Its language serves to warn the enemies of Gods people
against the retributive judgments of God. The third angel of Revelation 14 warns all who
drink the wine of Babylon (see 14:8) that they also have to drink the wine of Gods
fury (14:10). This ironic word play sharpens the eternal consequences of rejecting the
voice of Elijah.
The Apocalypse explains the seriousness of its word pictures: The unmixed wine
[NRSV] of Gods wrath consists of the seven last plagues that will come from the
heavenly temple upon Babylon (15:6). Seven angels will be commissioned by God to
carry seven golden bowls filled with the wrath of God, because with them Gods
wrath is completed (Rev. 15:1, 5). The seven last plagues provide the climactic endtime setting of the three angels messages (Rev. 14:612). The redemptive purpose of the
last plagues is similar to that of the ten plagues on Egypt: To deliver the Israel of God
from the house of bondage (see the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb, in
Revelation 15:24).
We may recognize in the third angels voice Gods final appeal to choose whom we
will serve, to whom our personal loyalty belongs. The voice of Elijah intends to restore
true worship in Spirit and in truth (John 4:2324), and in this way to prepare a people to
meet their God and Savior with an informed conscience.
Restored Worship in the Fear of the Lord

The Elijah message that prepares a people for the second advent of Christ is
proclaimed in a loud voice: Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his
judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the
springs of water (Rev. 14:7). To understand this fear of God we must trace the roots
of the concept back to its setting in Gods covenant with our spiritual forefathers, Israel
(see 1 Corinthians 10:1).
After God had tested Abrahams faith and seen his obedience on Mount Moriah, He
said: Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your
son, your only son (Gen. 22:12). The fear of God is expressed in obedience to Gods
will. After God had spoken the Ten Commandments to Israel at Mount Sinai, Moses said:
Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to
keep you from sinning (Exod. 20:20).
In his farewell speech, Moses summed up the religion of Israel in this way: And
now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your
God, to walk in his ways, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all
your soul, and to observe the LORDS commands. (Deut. 10:12). The book of
Ecclesiastes gives a similar summary: Here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God
and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring
every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil

(Eccl. 12:13, 14).

Clearly, Moses expressed the fear of the LORD as the motivation for keeping
Gods commandments. This Old Testament phrase is the most essential characteristic of
Israels religion. A striking example is the description God Himself gave of Job: He is
blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil (Job 1:8; see 28:28). To
fear God is to take Him seriously, to have reverence for the Creator, to trust in His
faithfulness, and to rejoice in obedience to His Word (see Job 19:2527; Pss. 1; 19; 40;
119).
The Elijah message restores this fear of God in the hearts and lives of His faithful
ones. Johns summary of the angels proclamation is remarkable: He had the eternal
gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth (Rev. 14:6). The purpose of Gods
last appeal is, therefore, not to frighten with judgment but to save every believer through
the eternal gospel. The last generation will not be saved by a different gospel than that
which was given to Abraham, Moses, Christ, and His apostles.
Here the warning of Paul to the Galatians remains relevant: But even if we or an
angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let
him be eternally condemned! (Gal. 1:8, also verses 67). Perversion of the gospel is
just as serious as apostasy from the law of God. This truth should awaken our interest in
the writings of Paul and in his gospel of righteousness by faith (see Romans 34 and
Galatians 23). Renewed emphasis on the apostolic gospel was the burden of the 16th
century Reformation at a time of prevailing works-righteousness (see above, chapter 6).
The last Elijah will incorporate the best of all previous reformations in order to prepare a
people for the final test of faith and worship (Rev. 13:15).
Faithfulness to God and His Messiah

The third angel leaves no doubt as to his purpose: Here is a call for the endurance
of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and hold fast to the faith of
Jesus (Rev. 14:12, NRSV; compare NKJV). His call for endurance presupposes the
final time of testing, which encourages the believers to be faithful to the revelation of
Gods will and the faith of Jesus.
The larger context of this verse (Revelation 1214) is enlightening. Chapter 12
presents a brief overview of the history of the Christian age and concludes with the
summary statement: Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make
war against the rest of her offspringthose who obey Gods commandments and hold
to the testimony of Jesus (12:17, NIV; compare NKJV). Johns visions in Chapter 13
reveal the two political allies of the dragon in the war against the woman or church
of Christ.
John proceeds in chapter 14 to explain the religious characteristics of the rest of her
offspring (Rev 12:17) in the setting of the final test of faith. In Revelation 14, John
focuses specifically on the faithful remnant people. He clarifies with the faith of Jesus
(14:12) what he had said earlier about the remnant (12:17the testimony of Jesus).
The two phrases are synonyms. This becomes apparent when the literary structure of the
interlocking visions in chapters 1214 is perceived.
The Apocalypse clearly regards the testimony of Jesus as an issue of central
importance for the entire Christian era (from the start in Revelation 1:2, 9 till the end in

20:4). An important aspect of the testimony of Jesus is its inspired and normative
character for the Christian faith. John explains in his Gospel that the testimony of Jesus is
the testimony of the Holy Spirit (see John 3:34) and also the testimony of the Father
Himself (see John 12:4850). Here John demonstrates his belief in the Trinitarian
revelation of God. But in the Apocalypse John discloses how the testimony of Jesus
(Rev. 12:17; 14:12) is identical with the message of the spirit of prophecy (19:10). To
each of the seven churches Jesus says: He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit
says to the churches (Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22).
Throughout the church age true worshipers demonstrated their faithfulness in
suffering and their endurance in the hour of testing. John describes his own patient
endurance on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of
Jesus (Rev. 1:9). In a similar way, John proceeds to describe the Christian martyrs
down through the ages in his vision of the fifth seal: Those who had been slain because
of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained (Rev.
6:9, NASB; also NIV). Further, John describes the end-time remnant with a similar
twofold faithfulness in Revelation 12:17 and 14:12 (see above). John sees that last
generation once more in his concluding visions, only now the order of elements is
reversed: And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the
testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God (Rev. 20:4, NASB).
In conclusion, we learn that the book of Revelation wants to encourage the believers
in each epoch of the Christian age to remain faithful to Christ Jesus. In each age some
will be vigilant for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints (Jude 3). The
Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ together provide the everlasting gospel
(Rev. 14:6) that saves, sanctifies, and prepares the last generation for the second coming
of the Lord.
The Sign of Worshiping the Creator

According to the first angels appeal, the last Elijah will restore true worship:
Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water
(14:7). This fourfold description of the Creators work is grounded in Old Testament
roots, as usual for Revelation. The first angel refers to the fourth commandment:
Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy For in six days the LORD made the
heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but He rested on the seventh
day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy (Exod. 20:8, 11).
But Moses extended the significance of the Sabbath beyond that of the Creators work in
the beginning. He included also the Creators act of redeeming Israel from slavery (see
Deuteronomy 5:15). Thus the Sabbath celebration became a delightful remembrance of
Gods creative and redemptive works (see Isaiah 58:13 and Psalm 136).
This twofold motivation for keeping the Sabbath holy was deliberately revived by
Jesus. He chose to perform His miracles of messianic healing particularly on a Sabbath
day (Mat. 12:113; Luke 13:1017; John 5:916; 9:14). When Jesus disciples picked
some grain to eat on the Sabbath, the Pharisees took offense and judged this act as
unlawful on the Sabbath (Mark 2:2324). Jesus defended their act, however, not on
the basis of a humanitarian need for food, but on the authority of His Messiahship: So
the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath (Mark 2:28). What is lawful to do on a

Sabbath is determined not by the traditions of the Pharisees but by the Messiah of Israel,
because He is the Lord of the Sabbath (see also Mark 7:113). As Messiah, Jesus had
the authority to reject human traditions and to restore the blessing intended for humanity
in the Sabbath rest.
Such a Christian restoration of the Sabbath, in the spirit of Elijah, creates a corporate
worship under the lordship of Christ Jesus. It confronts the Baals or lords of our
modern age: the worship at the altar of self-made gods that did not create the heavens and
the earth, and that cannot redeem. One such self-made god is the predominant philosophy
of humanitys accidental origin (atheistic evolution). Scientism has become a modern
master or Baal, distracting from the true origin of the human race. The Sabbath also
confronts the god of western comsumerism; the focus on production and consumption.
The Sabbath means it is OK once a week not to produce, to step out of the rat race and
seek higher goals. We are saved by Christ, not by human effort in production and
consumption.
The Creator seeks to restore His honor by our reverent worship of Him as the faithful
Creator and Redeemer. His plan of redeeming the world aims ultimately at vindicating
His work of creating the earth, everything in it, and all who live in it (Ps. 24:1).
True faith is expressed in worshiping the Creator and Redeemer, and in faithful
custodianship of all He has made. Let everything that has breath praise the LORD
(Psalm 150:6).
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
THE DEVOTIONAL USE OF HOLY SCRIPTURE

In this final chapter we will review what we have learned about the Bible and glean
some principles that will assist in our personal growth. But before doing so, we should be
aware of two obstacles that might prevent us from enjoying a closer walk with God. First,
we must recognize that the Scriptures come to us in an ancient Oriental garment, foreign
to our western way of thinking. Secondly, our individual mindset must become attuned to
the worldview and perspective of the biblical writer. While much help is offered today in
the realms of biblical history and exegesis, personal knowledge of God through reading
and prayer remains an individual responsibility, and will be the focus of this chapter.
The Divine-Human Nature of the Bible

Both sides of the human experience with God are constantly joined together in the
biblical narratives. In the Scriptures, God is never considered in isolation from humanity.
The human person is likewise never defined psychologically in isolation from God. From
the start the Bible regards humans as spiritual beings who exist in relation to God as their
Creator and Redeemer. The Bible is never mere history. It is a story of creation,
redemption, and restoration.

Earlier we noticed some improper uses of the Holy Scriptures, such as allegorism and
literalism (see above, Chapters 2 and 4). The problem with these approaches to the Bible
is found in their uncritical acceptance of a seemingly pious tradition of inspiration. That
tradition assumes that the Bible can be understood without diligent effort through a
miraculous insight from the Holy Spirit. But the Bible is a blend of divine revelation and
human language. Even in its original setting, the Bible involves Gods adaptation to the
human condition.
This means, first of all, Gods living voice was heard and transmitted primarily in the
Hebrew language. Thus the Word of God is filled with Semitic idioms and Hebrew
structures such as parallelism, chiasm, and figures of speech. The Bible uses
anthropomorphic language for God, describing Him as if He had hands and feet and a
physical heart. There are also puzzling Hebrew expressions such as the fear of Yahweh
and the wrath of Yahweh. Because of these unique language features, the full clarity of
Gods Word becomes transparent only when its Hebrew style of communication is
recognized and honored.
The Bible conveys divine revelation, therefore, in the garment of an ancient language
and world view. Its truths must be understood in the Hebrew context, but without being
limited by it. The Hebrew context was Gods chosen way to communicate with real
human beings in a particular time and place. It was not and is not Gods own mode of
thought or expression. This means that biblical passages may transmit a truth that exceeds
that of mythical expressions, such as the sea monster Leviathan (Isa. 27:1; 51:9; Ps.
74:1315; Ezek. 29:35).
Devotional readers, therefore, will best understand Gods revelation to them through
a combination of two things. One, the better the reader understands the Hebrew context,
the better Gods intention can be perceived. And two, through the Holy Spirit we can
become sensitive to the deeper divine revelation that is grounded in its Hebrew
perspective. This second element of sound devotional reading is expressed when Psalm
writers pray: Open my eyes, that I may perceive the wonders of Your teaching (Ps.
119:18, New JPS), and Let me know Your paths, O LORD; teach me Your ways; guide
me in Your true way and teach me, for You are God, my deliverer; it is You I look to at
all times (Ps. 25:45, JPS).
The Challenges of Interpretation

A pious attitude toward the Bible recognizes its inspiration and authority, but it is not
necessarily an informed approach. Many come to the Bible with certain assumptions that
seem obvious to them, because no other way of viewing things has ever occurred to them.
Usually some tradition determines for them what the Bible says and what is orthodox
doctrine. The renowned church historian Jaroslav Pelikan observes: The rule of the sole
authority of Scripture meant in practice the unquestioned authority of this or that
particular interpretation of Scripture as it was characteristic of this or that church body.
This was the case in Jesus day as well. A formal orthodoxy had replaced the living
Word. As we have already seen, Jesus initiated a fresh way of reading that gave the
Hebrew Bible a new relevance. His constant appeal to Moses, the Psalms, and the
Prophets supported His claim to be sent from heaven to fulfill the redemptive will of
Israels covenant God. To the testimony of the Scriptures were added Jesus own

messianic testimony and redemptive power.

In His Sermon on the Mount (Mat. 57), Jesus presented His profound understanding
of the Torah. He indicated where the rabbinic tradition had deviated from the intention of
the Scriptures. He contrasted the tradition, You have heard, with But I tell you
(Mat. 5:1748). His interpretations of the Torah did not replace or correct the Law, but
revealed its spiritual depth. Israels righteousness must surpass that of the Pharisees
and the teachers of the law through a heart knowledge of God (Mat. 5:17, 20).
The goal of Jesus was for His disciples to experience a delightful restoration of soul
fellowship with Israels God: Come to me, all you who are weary and overburdened,
and I will give you rest! Put on my yoke and learn from me. For I am gentle and
humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my
burden is light (Mat. 11:2830, J. B. Phillips).
As noted already in chapter 3, the term yoke was a rabbinic expression for the
yoke of obedience to the Law (P. Aboth 3, 5). But with time, this symbolic yoke
became a heavy yoke of slavery through the increasing demands of the traditions of
the elders (see Acts 15:10; Galatians 1:14; 5:1). Jesus reversed this burdensome yoke
by focusing all Scripture on His redemptive ministry (see John 7:3739; 8:12):
Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the
Prophets and the Psalms. Then he opened their minds so they could understand the
Scriptures (Luke 24:44, 45). Jesus exalted the messianic interpretation of the Scriptures
as the most essential focal point of the Hebrew Bible. His sharp focus on the Redeemer
Messiah not only opened the minds of His disciples but also raised a burning passion in
their hearts (Luke 24:32, 45).
So in reading the Bible devotionally it is not enough to be pious. One can be pious yet
uninformed. Ones devotional insights can lead one contrary to the truths that emerge
from informed exegesis. So the ideal devotional approach is one that is both pious and
informed. It will focus on discovering Christ through the pages of the Old and New
Testaments. With a pious and informed approach Jesus Christ will burn in our hearts, as
He did in the lives of His disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:1335).
The Messianic Interpretation of the Bible

We can see the blending of these two approaches to the Bible in Jesus attitude
toward the Sabbath. One Sabbath day Jesus healed a paralytic man who had been an
invalid for thirty-eight years. According to the Gospel of John, Jesus was called to
account for this spectacular act of healing and for His command that the healed man
should pick up his mat and walk (John 5:8). The Jewish leaders charged Jesus with
transgression of the Sabbath law (5:16).
In His defense, Jesus shifted the issue from the Sabbath law or tradition to the nature
of His Messiahship. He declared: My Father is always at his work to this very day, and
I, too, am working (5:17). According to Jesus, the ultimate testing truth was not any law
or tradition but His authority as the Son of God and His interpretation of the Holy
Scriptures. Christ called God His own Father, and thereby focused the issue on His
unique Sonship or Messiahship. Christ challenged the rabbinic assumption that whoever
studies the Torah has gained for himself life in the world to come (P. Aboth 2, 7). He
declared: You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you

possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to
come to me to have life (5:3940).
Jesus taught an inconvenient truth: we can piously accept the Bible as the inspired
Word of God, yet think of its purpose in a wrong way. Christ challenged the
conventional assumptions, and invited everyone into a redemptive relationship with God
through Himself. A living connection with God through Him would bring the true rest for
the soul and the assurance of life eternal already here and now. This leads us to the
questions, How did Christ use the Hebrew Bible? How can we participate in His
fellowship and intimacy with God?
Christs New Perspective on the Scriptures

We have learned how Jesus introduced a new hermeneutical principle for
understanding the Hebrew Scriptures. They find their focus and fulfillment in the
Messiah (see chapter 3). Jesus explained that His new perspective on the Messiahs
mission was not a foreign idea but was inherent in the Scriptures themselves: How
foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did
not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory? And beginning with
Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures
concerning himself (Luke 24:2627). As we will see, this messianic principle can help
us apply the Scriptures in an informed way to our own personal lives.
Jesus taught a new perspective on the progress of redemptive history. He announced
with messianic authority that the history of salvation was proceeding in two successive
phases of fulfillment. This perspective created an unexpected intermediate time between
the two advents of the Messiah. This can be called the time of the Holy Spirit, in light of
the gospel commission in Acts 1:8 and Matthew 28:1820.
Our present concern is with how Jesus used the Scriptures for His own edification and
for His instruction to His disciples. Such knowledge may also provide the true bridge
between the testaments. We refer to the fresh perspective that Jesus brought to His view
of Gods anointed ones; Israels kings, priests, and prophets. Jesus constantly recognized
in them common ground with His own mission, yet He exceeded His predecessors in His
ultimate fulfillment of Gods purpose and promise. Jesus called attention to something
greater than the temple, Jonah, or Solomon in His own messianic ministry (Mat. 12:6,
41, 42; see above, chapter 5, Christian Typology). In this messianic typology of Christ
we recognize a major bridge between the Old and the New Testaments, one that is
enlarged in the New Testament letter to the Hebrews.
The book of Hebrews was intended to be a pastoral word of exhortation (Heb.
13:22). This early sermon demonstrates a Christian devotional use of the Hebrew Bible.
This inspired author follows the progress of redemptive history from Abel to his day. He
dwells on historical heroes of faith like Enoch, Abraham and Moses (Heb. 1112). These
were to serve as an abiding encouragement for the community of believers he was writing
to.
In Hebrews Christ is viewed in His divine Sonship through a variety of Old
Testament images. He offered Himself by the eternal Spirit (Heb. 9:14) as an
unblemished sacrifice. He introduced a better priesthood (7:18:6) and established a
better covenant (Heb. 7:22; 8:613). This centrality of Christ in all redemptive history

is a fresh perspective that enlarges the theological views of the four Gospel writers. The
writer of Hebrews uses particular Psalms (2; 8; 40; 95; 110, etc.) as foreshadowing the
messianic ministries of Jesus. This Christ-centered use of the Psalms has both a doctrinal
and a pastoral purpose to build up a maturing faith in Christ Jesus. The author of
Hebrews reading of the Psalms was both pious and informed. And his reading of the
Psalms mirrors that of Jesus, as seen in the four gospels.
Jesus Use of the Psalms

Jesus not only knew the Psalms of Israel, He relived them. He recognized that both
His humiliation and His exaltation were foreshadowed in the experiences of the
psalmists, King David in particular. This double perspective of messianic typology is not
significantly found in the Jewish tradition. The Jews saw with clarity the royal side of the
Messiah, but not so much the humble side. Jesus teaching, therefore, was a surprise to
the Jewish leaders. Nevertheless, after His resurrection the fulfillment of messianic
prophecy was proclaimed with such compelling power that a large number of priests
became obedient to the faith (Acts 6:7).
In the New Testament the overwhelming weight of messianic fulfillment was
grounded in the Psalms. As we have seen, this approach had been introduced by Jesus
Himself. He had discerned in the painful experiences of King David a hidden forecast of
His own mission as the greater David. Jesus read the Psalms of David with a new eye,
discerning a mysterious surplus value in them for His own experience as the Messiah.
This is particularly true of the so-called Royal Psalms. They describe the heavenly
anointing of the Davidic kings, which equipped them to rule in righteousness and peace
over Israel and the nations (see Psalms 2; 22; 41; 45; 72; 110 and others).
Among the things Jesus learned from these poetic songs was the destructive nature of
sin in Davids rulership. Jesus noted how David was betrayed by his closest friend and
trusted counselor: Even my close friend, whom I trusted, he who shared my bread, has
lifted up his heel against me (41:9; see 2 Samuel 15:12, 31). This was a reference to
Ahithophel, Davids counselor, who secretly supported Absaloms insurgency.
This painful incident informed Jesus that He would likewise be betrayed by a close
friend but, unlike David, through no fault of His own. We learn this from His
announcement during His last supper that the scripture must be fulfilled: He who
shares my bread has lifted up his heel against me (John 13:18). Jesus read Psalm 41 in
a completely different way than was customary. He became troubled in spirit and
testified, I tell you the truth, one of you is going to betray me (John 13:21). He then
indicated who it was by handing Judas a piece of bread (v. 21). Such an understanding of
Scripture cannot be received from the sacred text alone, but from a special enlightenment
of the Spirit of God.
Another example of how Jesus read the Psalms can be seen in the senseless hatred
against Him and His miracles: But now they have seen these miracles, and yet they
have hated both me and my Father. But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law:
They hated me without reason (John 15:2425; quoting from Psalms 35:19; 69:4).
Jesus interpreted the groundless hate against David as foreshadowing the senseless hate
that He and His followers experienced.
Another crucial Psalm for Jesus ministry (Psalm 118) was part of the Feast of

Passover liturgy in Jerusalems temple: Open for me the gates of righteousness; I will
enter and give thanks to the LORD. I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you
have become my salvation (118:19, 21). Various testimonies of answered prayer are
mentioned by the righteous ones with shouts of joy and victory (vv. 5, 10, 15, 20).
One specific testimony described a reversal of fortune: The stone the builders
rejected has become the capstone [or: cornerstone]; the Lord has done this, and it is
marvelous in our eyes (Ps. 118:22, 23). In the Psalm an historical event becomes a
metaphor for one who was near death but has suddenly been brought to life and honor
(vv. 1718)! When Jesus came to Jerusalem during Passover week, He used a parable to
confront the religious leaders with their secret plan to kill Him (Mat. 21:38). Then He
asked them: Have you never read in the Scriptures: The stone the builders rejected
has become the capstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes?
(Mat. 21:42; quoting Ps. 118:22, 23).
This figure of speech gains new meaning when the building is viewed as the
corporate body of Gods covenant people. Then this stone metaphor points to the
Messiah, who was first rejected by Israels builders but was later recognized and
exalted as the very foundation of Israel. At the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the people
themselves quoted Psalm 118 with reference to Jesus: Hosanna to the Son of David!
and Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! (Mat. 21:111; quoting Psalm
118:26). After the resurrection of Christ, the apostle Peter repeated the messianic
application of the rejected stone to Jesus Christ (see Acts 4:812 and 1 Peter 2:48).
Nowhere in the Book of Psalms did Jesus identify Himself as intensely with David as
in His use of Psalm 22. When Christ experienced the horrors of an agonizing death on the
cruel cross, He repeated the very words of David: My God, my God, why have you
forsaken me? (Mat. 27:46; Mark 15:34; see Psalm 22:1). David uttered this lamentation
because of the relentless persecution by king Saul (see 1 Samuel 23:2526).
Nevertheless, David still trusted in his God (my God!), in whom also his fathers had
trusted and were delivered in their time of need (Ps. 22:45). Faith in the
trustworthiness of Israels God kept David clinging to the LORD, even when his enemies
had surrounded him and there was no one to rescue him from a sure death (vv. 1118).
A specific turning point in Davids sufferings was his final submission to the
inscrutable will of God, when he accepted the curse of shame and death: You lay me in
the dust of death (Ps. 22:15; You commit me to the dust of death [JPS]). Here David
accepts Gods will even in his sufferings. The deep mystery of Davids humiliation
would not be resolved until the Greater David came. He would experience the anguish of
rejection and abandonment in an even fuller sense. The letter to the Hebrews reveals the
redemptive purpose in Christ sufferings: He suffered death, so that by the grace of
God he might taste death for everyone (Heb. 2:9). Jesus Christ was sent by God to
represent the entire human race in His life and death, but also in His resurrection (Heb.
13:2021; see also 1 Corinthians 15:22).
Psalm 22 already introduced the divine rescue of this royal sufferer. It announced his
mission to proclaim this redemptive act of the Lord to all his brothers in the
congregation (v. 22): For he has not despised or disdained the suffering of the
afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help
(v. 24). This divine act of redemption motivates David to praise God in the great
assembly; it must even be proclaimed to all the ends of the earth They will

proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unbornfor he has done it (vv. 27, 31).
Psalm 22 contains two testimonies from the life of David, one that describes the reversal
from a humiliating suffering and the other a glorious redemption. Psalm 22 thus contains
both a lament (vv. 121) and a song of thanksgiving (vv. 2231).
It becomes apparent that Davids moving testimonies in Psalm 22 reveal the basic
pattern of the story of redemption. Both David and the Messiah moved through suffering
and humiliation to resurrection and exaltation. The style of this revelation is that of an
inspired typological perspective. Davids experience is seen as a foreshadowing, or
historical type, of what the Greater David would have to go through more fully. Psalm 22
receives its deeper reality in the life of Christ.
The Heavenly Mission of Christ in the Psalms

Christ perceived His messianic mission in the larger framework of Gods eternal
purpose for Israel and the world. He called attention to Davids prophecy in Psalm 110,
The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your
feet (Mat. 22:44; citing Psalm 110:1). Christ identified Himself with the Lord who was
to sit at the right hand of God to rule over Gods covenant people. Jesus testified
under oath that He would return in divine glory as the Son of Man sitting at the right
hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven (Mat. 26:64). In this
solemn testimony Jesus expected that He would return as the predicted Lord Messiah, as
the One like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven with glory and
sovereign power, as the prophet Daniel had described it (Dan. 7:13).
Jesus thus understood that His future messianic mission would include both a judging
and a saving ministry. He taught explicitly that His return as the heavenly Son of Man
would cause all the nations of the earth great mourning (Mat. 24:30), but that His
angels will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the
other (v. 31). In His discourse on the final Judgment, Christ described His role as the
King/Judge to separate forever the sheep from the goats (Mat. 25:3146).
Regarding Jesus ministry after the resurrection we find apostolic proclamations in
Acts (chapters 23), Hebrews (chapters 510), and the Book of Revelation (chapters 17;
14 and 19). Hebrews presents the early Christian understanding of Jesus as our heavenly
King/Priest. There is a repeated appeal to Psalm 110:4: The LORD has sworn and will
not change his mind: You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek (Ps.
110:4). The Letter to the Hebrews proclaims that the risen Christ has received a twofold
ministry in heaven: He is both King and Priest.
The pastoral significance of this present truth is that we may approach God at the
throne of grace and receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need
(Heb. 4:16; also 1:13; 5:46; 7:2028). More than being installed as the King Messiah
(Ps. 110:1), He was also inaugurated as Priest Messiah. This heavenly priesthood of
Christ is all-sufficient for believers, because He is able to save completely those who
come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them (Heb. 7:25).
This gospel truth is strengthened by the apocalyptic visions of John in the Book of
Revelation. Here John views the living Christ, dressed like the High Priest, who keeps the
light of faith and hope constantly burning in all His churches (Rev. 1:1218). On the
other hand, the Apocalypse announces the second coming of Christ as the King/Judge for

all peoples (Rev. 14:1420; 19:1121).

The entire plan of redemption is revealed with increasing clarity through the
advancing fulfillments in redemptive history. What was at first understood only dimly
became clear with the appearance of the Messiah. Christ sent out His disciples with a new
testing truth: And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a
testimony to all nations, and then the end will come (Mat. 24:14).
How then shall we respond to such a great salvation that comes to us in Jesus Christ?
Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of
Christ (Rom. 10:17). The response that God expects and seeks is faith in Christ. Faith
means entering into a trusting relationship with God through Christ so that we may
experience continual fellowship with God. This kind of fellowship was experienced by
the two disciples on the way to Emmaus. Jesus explained to them the types and
prophecies about the Messiah in the Scriptures. Afterwards, they testified: Were not our
hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures
to us? (Luke 24:32). Such an appreciation of the surpassing greatness of knowing
Christ Jesus (Phil. 3:8) testifies to a true understanding of Scripture.
Conclusion
Applying the method of Jesus to our own devotional reading of the Bible is both
pious and appropriate for an individuals life and behavior. But by their very nature, such
devotional readings are not verifiable by the church. When one assumes that their
devotional readings are of universal value and imposes them on others, they put
themselves in the place of Jesus or the inspired writers of the Bible. Such individuals
expect their reading to be accepted based on their word, instead of being based on an
informed approach. Such use of Scripture inevitably causes division and conflict within
the church. Whenever the church is divided on the meaning of the Bible, devotional
readings must be tested by the exegetical meaning of the biblical text. The foundation of
the Bibles clarity is in the intention of the original writers as guided by God. Extended
meanings can be beneficial, especially to individuals, but can do harm unless they are
informed by the rigorous study of the whole community.
What should you do, then, if the Holy Spirit uses a word, a phrase or a sentence of the
Bible out of context to speak powerfully to your heart? Should you keep that insight to
yourself? If you share it with others, how can it be safely shared? I suggest a simple
answer. Sharing those unique extra-biblical insights the Holy Spirit has given you is
called a testimony. A testimony shares what God is doing in your life, but it leaves others
free to apply the testimony to their lives or not. A testimony is not doctrine and it is not
biblical theology. But it creates space for sharing those unique devotional insights that are
so right for some and not helpful to others. And such devotional readings must always be
subordinate to more informed readings of Scripture.
In this book we have the last testimony of my beloved mentor, colleague and
friend, Hans LaRondelle. He blessed me through many decades of oral teaching and
counsel and he has blessed me again in allowing me to work so carefully through the
pages you have just read. It is my prayer that Jesus Christ will be more precious to you
than ever on account of our joint testimony in the pages of this book.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
FOR FURTHER READING
Barth, Karl.
Evangelical Theology: An Introduction.

Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1979 (German:
Einfhrung in die evangelische Theologie.
Zrich: EVZ-Verlag, 1963).
Cullmann, Oscar.
Salvation in History. New York and

Evanston: Harper & Row, 1967 (German:
Heil als Geschichte: Heilsgeschichtliche
Existenz im Neuen Testament. Tbingen: J. C.
B. Mohr, 1965).
Dodd, C. H.
The Old Testament in the New. Philadelphia:

Fortress Press, 1963.
Doukhan, Jacques B.
Israel and the Church: Two Voices for the

Same God. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson
Publishers, 2002.
Flusser, David (with R. S. Notley).
The Sage from Galilee. Rediscovering Jesus

Genius. Grand Rapids, MI/Cambridge, UK:
W. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 2007 (German:
Jesus
in
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und
Bilddokumenten. Hamburg: Rowolt, 1968).
Goppelt, Leonhard.
TYPOS: Die Typologische Deutung des Alten

Testaments
im
Neuen.
Darmstadt:
Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1969.
Heinz, Hans.
Radikale Vernderungen Stehen

Krattigen: Advent-Verlag, 1991.
Hengel, Martin.
The Atonement: The Origins of the Doctrine

in the New Testament. Philadelphia: Fortress
Press, 1981 (German: Derstellvertretende
Bevor.
Shnetod Jesu. Ein Beitrag zur Entstehung

des urchristlichen Kerygmas, in Intern. Kath.
Zeitschrift 9, 1980, 110, 13547).
Heschel, Abraham J.
The Sabbath. New York: Farrar, Straus and

Giroux, 1951.
Kaiser, Walter C., Jr.
Recovering the Unity of the Bible. Grand

Rapids. MI: Zondervan, 2009.
Knig, Adrio.
The Eclipse of Christ in Eschatology. Toward


a Christ-Centered Approach. Blackwood,
South Australia, 5051: New Creation
Publications, 1999.
LaRondelle, Hans K.
Christ Our Salvation: What God Does for Us

and in Us. Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press
Pub. Assn., 1980.
Deliverance in the Psalms: Messages of Hope
for Today. Berrien Springs, MI: First
Impressions, 1983.
The Israel of God in Prophecy: Principles of
Prophetic Interpretation. Berrien Springs, MI:
Andrews University Press, 1983.
Chariots of Salvation: The Biblical Drama of
Armageddon. Hagerstown, MD: Review and
Herald Pub. Assn., 1987.
Light for the last Days: Jesus End-time
Prophecies Made Plain in the Book of
Revelation. Nampa, ID: Pacific Press Pub.
Assn., 1999.
Our Creator Redeemer: An Introduction to
Biblical Covenant Theology. Berrien Springs,
MI: Andrews Univ. Press, 2005.
Luther, Martin.
Selections from His Writings. J. Dillenberger,

ed. New York: Doubleday, Anchor Books,
1951.
Moltmann, Jrgen.
God in Creation: A New Theology of Creation

and the Spirit of God. Minneapolis: Fortress
Press, 1993 (German: Gott in der Schpfung:
kologische Schpfungslehre. Munich: Chr.
Kaiser Verlag, 1985).
Ridderbos, Herman N.
Redemptive History and the New Testament

Scriptures. Phillipsburg, N.J.: Presbyterian
and Reformed Publ. Co., 1988 (2d Rev. ed.).
Rossing, Barbara R.
The Rapture Exposed: The Message of Hope

in the Book of Revelation. New York: Basic
Books, 2004.
Rothen, Bernhard.
Die Klarheit der Schrift. Martin Luther:

Diewiederentdeckten Grundlagen. Gttingen:
Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1990.

Tonstad, Sigve K.
The Lost Meaning of the Seventh Day. Berrien

Springs, MI: Andrews University Press, 2009.
Von Hofmann, J. C. K.
Interpreting the Bible. Minneapolis, MN:

Augsburg Publ. House, 1972 (German:
Biblische Hermeneutik. Noerdlingen: C. H.
Beck, 1880).
White, Ellen G.
The Desire of Ages. Mountain View, CA:

Pacific Press Pub. Assn. 1898.
Wright, N. T.
Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes

Sense. San Francisco: Harper, 2006.2

2 Hans K. LaRondelle y Jon Paulien, The Bible Jesus Interpreted (Loma Linda, CA: Jon
Paulien, 2014), 80174.

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