To properly understand "the end" we need to properly understand the beginning. The latest installment from Hank Hanegraaff makes much of the idea that Paradise has been lost and must be 'restored'. The idea that Paradise was "perfect" has some serious implications for how we understand the Bible!
How would you define "perfect"? l'm not sure that too many people have pondered how many things in life are perfect. Perhaps most Christians would regard only two things as "perfect": (i) God, and (ii) The original Creation.
Biblical literacy involves being able to discern what is indeed a Biblical statement, and what is meant by a Biblical statement. When it comes to pondering what "perfect" means, we may have a problem if we look to support our two examples with Scripture. Firstly, Matthew 5:48 asserts that God is perfect. Not only is God essentially perfect, but so are His ways (Deut. 32:4), and His will (Rom. 12:2).
In Hank Hanegraaff's book, The Apocalypse Code, he makes the assertion that the end will ultimately be a restoration of Paradise: "Paradise lost will be Paradise restored." The assumption behind this statement is that the original creation was both "Paradise" and that it was "perfect". This is just one way in which our understanding of the beginning affects our understanding of the end.
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Hi Pastor Andrew,
ReplyDeleteAbout Rapture:
I wonder where "Matt 24:21 For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now-and never to be equaled again."NIV, would fit in your exegetical analysis of Matthew 24 as pertaining only to the destruction of the temple in 70 AD. Wasn't the distress in 70 AD far exceeded by the distress brought by the Holocaust in the 2nd World war? Isn't it just a foreshadow of the great, un-equalled distress? And how about verse 29?
Matt 24:29
29 "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.'
NIV
bencabral@yahoo.com
No not all Ben. The Great Tribulation leading up to the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem proportionally saw more people, particularly Jews, killed. Secondly, it was during this time that the Apostle Peter was executed, the Apostle Paul was executed and multitudes of Christians were cruelly humiliated both in and outside the Roman arena.
ReplyDeleteMatthew 24:29 uses an Old Testament metaphor that speaks of Israel becoming disobedient. Please see my video clip on this- http://www.andrewcorbett.net/video/004Metaphors In The Bible.wmv or on YouTube- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPltHdQk6xE.
You'll remember in Genesis 37 that Joseph dreamt of Israel being the Sun, Moon and Stars. When Joel denounced Israel for its sin, he used the same expression as in Matthew 24:29.
I have written more about this in my eBook- The Most Embarrassing Verse in The Bible - http://www.andrewcorbett.net/e-books/
Blessya.