Tag Archives: Israel’s judgment

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF AD 70

AD 70, History, Israel, Revelation August 3, 2021 Comments: 12

Temple destroyedPMW 2021-060 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

Today we are so distant from the events of AD 70, so removed from the ancient culture, so little acquainted with the first-century Jewish outlook, and so accustomed to the Christian perspective, we tend to overlook the enormous redemptive-historical significance of AD 70. Those events are not merely another sad instance in the history of “man’s inhumanity to man which makes countless thousands mourn.” They serve not as demonstration of “nature, red in tooth and claw.” Neither do they merely remind us of “the carnage of war, the blood-swollen god.”

But such is mistaken. Rather the devastating events of the Jewish War are the historical manifestations of the furious wrath of the offended God of Israel. Transcendent realities stand back of these temporal events. With Nahum we see the smoke of destruction as the dust clouds from God’s feet (Na 1). We learn that truly “it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb 10:27) for “our God is a consuming fire” (Heb 10:31). Continue reading →

TONGUES AND ESCHATOLOGY (6)

AD 70, Israel, Preterism, Theology June 6, 2014 Comments: 6

PMT 2014-068 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.Tongues 6

Tongues have a peculiar relevance to Jewish unbelief in this regard.

Jewish judgment

In Acts 2 God attracts the attention of the Jews by tongues-speaking, after which Peter charges them with slaying the Lord of glory (vv. 22-24). The two-edged sword of curse falls upon these men, with the result that many are cut to the heart (Acts 2:37) and repent, thereby leaving apostate Judaism to become Christians (Acts 2:38-41). Peter cites and applies Joel’s prophecy as indicating the coming judgment:

But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: “And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy. I will show wonders in heaven above And signs in the earth beneath: Blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD.” (Acts 2:16-20)

Then he warns the Jews: “Be saved from this perverse generation” (Acts 2:40b). Continue reading →

TONGUES AND ESCHATOLOGY (5)

AD 70, Israel, Theology June 4, 2014 Leave a comment

Tongues 5PMT 2014-067 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

Tongues-speaking is an unusual phenomenon that has caused confusion among Christians. I am offering a series on tongues because they have eschatological significance. In this study I will be showing that God gave tongues as a sign of covenant curse on Israel.

Probably the least understood aspect of the function of tongues is its serving as a sign to Israel of God’s covenant curse due to her unbelief. Yet Paul explicitly suggests this in 1 Corinthians 14:21-22: “In the Law it is written: ‘By men of strange tongues and by the lips of strangers I will speak to this people, and even so they will not listen to Me,’ says the Lord. So then tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe, but to unbelievers.” To properly grasp Paul’s biblico-theological intent here, I will survey some of the Old Testament’s covenantal background, as well as some of the cultural and historical factors influencing the Corinthian church. Continue reading →