Tuesday, May 8, 2018

Introduction to The Olivet Discourse

 The Olivet Discourse: Matthew 24, 25; Mark 13; Luke 21















Matthew 24:1-3 (NIV)
 Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2  “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” 3  As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” 

3 Distinct questions. 
1. When will the Temple stones be thrown down?
2. What will be the sign of your coming?
3. When is the end of the age?

Eschatology:
 The study of what the Bible says is going to happen in the end times.




The Law of Double Reference is the principle of associating similar or related ideas which are usually separated from one another by long periods of time, and which are blended into a single picture.


















The Doctrine of Imminence is used to describe the coming of Jesus Christ for His Church, the Rapture experience, and to declare that it is next on the prophetic program of God.

The Parousia  (Greek: coming presence, arrival)  Jesus  return or Second Coming is after the Great Tribulation, the Battle of Armageddon and before the Millennium. 

Biblical hermeneutics is the science that teaches the principles and methods of interpreting the Word of God. Proper hermeneutics provide us tools to help ensure that we are basing our interpretations on the truth as God has revealed it, while avoiding error to the greatest degree possible.

Using sound hermeneutic principles is not optional for the true disciples of Christ.





Exegesis and eisegesis?

 Exegesis and eisegesis are two conflicting approaches in Bible study. Exegesis is the exposition or explanation of a text based on a careful, objective analysis. The word exegesis literally means “to lead out of.” That means that the interpreter is led to his conclusions by following the text.

 The opposite approach to Scripture is eisegesis, which is the interpretation of a passage based on a subjective, non-analytical reading. The word eisegesis literally means “to lead into,” which means the interpreter injects his own ideas into the text, making it mean whatever he wants.
Epistemology 
Epistemology is the analysis of the nature of knowledge, how we know, what we can and cannot know, and how we can know that there are things we know we cannot know. In other words it is the academic term associated with study of how we conclude that certain things are true.
How do we know anything?
Traditional View of Knowledge
Philosophical tradition going back as far as Plato characterizes a proposition as known where it is, at a minimum:
1) Believed
2) That belief is "justified" and

3) it is true. 






What would this ram represent?



The ram, later identified as representing the kings of Medo-Persia, has two horns. The first horn would be Media and the second Persia, coming later than the first and being more powerful. The directions in which these kings extend their dominion is revealed in verse 4 and confirmed by history.


What are some of the characteristics of the male goat? How well does this vision fit into history?
Alexander the Great came from Greece, which was to the “west” of both Babylon and Persia. without touching the ground. Alexander conquered the mighty Persian Empire with amazing speed, from 334–331 b.c. (He is also represented as a leopard with four wings in 7:6.) he was enraged. Alexander’s father was king of Macedonia (a land north of Greece) and brought all of Greece under his control by 336 b.c.
Alexander was only 20 when his father was murdered, but managed to consolidate his hold on Greece and to unify the Greeks with “rage” over the way the Persians had been attacking them and meddling in their affairs for the previous two centuries. the goat became exceedingly great. Alexander the Great’s kingdom extended all the way to India, exceeding any kingdom before it in size (approx. 1.5 million square miles) there came up four conspicuous horns. After the death of Alexander the Great in 323 b.c., ultimately, after serious internal struggles, four of his generals divided his kingdom into four parts. ESVN



Alexander dies and his empire is divided between his 4 generals.




The Seleucus Empire Family Tree:

 •Seleucus I Nicator 311-305

•King 305-281 Apama
•Antiochus I Soter  co-ruler from 291, ruled 281-261  Stratonice of Syria  Co-ruler with his father for 10 years
•Antiochus II Theos  261-246 
•Berenice  Berenice was a daughter of Ptolemy II of Egypt. Laodice had her and her son murdered.
•Seleucus II Callinicus  246-225 
•Seleucus III Ceraunus (or Soter)  225-223  Seleucus III was assassinated by members of his army.
•Antiochus III the Great  223-187 
•Euboea of Chalcis  Antiochus III was a brother of Seleucus III
•Seleucus IV Philopator  187-175  Laodice IV Wife: This was a brother-sister marriage.

•Antiochus IV Epiphanes  175-163



Antiochus IV Epiphanes: the small horn who brings Judaism to the brink of extinction
The crisis destined to confront God’s people in the time of the earlier little horn, Antiochus Epiphanes, will bear a strong similarity to the crisis that will befall them in the eschatological or final phase of the fourth kingdom in the last days (as Christ himself foresaw in the Olivet Discourse Matt 24:15.   “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— “
This little horn grew very great to the south, the east, and “the beautiful land” (Israel). The first problem with this description is what is the reference point for these directions?

Here the vision begins to focus on the future of Israel and the Jews. Antiochus was especially vengeful against the Jews whom he persecuted brutally.

“He is . . . one of the greatest persecutors Israel has ever known.”. “In one assault on Jerusalem, 40,000 Jews were killed in three days and 10,000 more were carried into captivity.”







Why isn't there any mention of this in the bible?


Did Antiochus IV and the whole Maccabean episode meet all the criteria of what Jesus was warning about in Matthew 24?

Matthew 24:15 (ESV)   “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 

Daniel 9:27   And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.” 
The "abomination of desolation" happened 200 years earlier, so Jesus must be warning of a future "abomination of desolation". 
But there is no "holy place" or any sacrifices being offered now. The Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.






2 Thessalonians 2:4 who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. 



Matthew 24:21-22 (NIV) 
21  For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again. 22  “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. 





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