This is the first of five articles examining the
Greek words as used in the Bible. I want to share with you
why the full Preterist position is consistent with the
Scripture, especially these passages that speak of things
about to come. We are going to look into the lexicons with
the Greek word "mello" (with its root words) which means "to
be about to be, to be the point of doing" (Analytical Greek
Lexicon, p. 262; Arndt, p. 500; Thayer, p. 396). I think
this word "mello" is one of the most neglected English
translations (NASB, KJV, NIV, etc.) of the eschatological
passages in the NT. I was shocked to find out about this.
The English translators may be guilty of removing or
distorting God's Holy Word (Deut. 4:2). I believe it is
because of the futurists' views that have affected or
influenced translations of the Bible. This is pure eisegesis.
I am going to show you some eschatological passages. I am
using NASB and you will see "[about]" which is in Greek
text. I would recommend you to check some books in Greek and
English with the interlinear translation, "The New
Englishman's Concordance and Lexicon" and "Young's Literal
Translation of the Holy Bible." These books may be very
helpful for you. You will see why.
1. Matt. 3:7 & Luke 3:7 - "But when
he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for
baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers, who warned
you to flee from the wrath [about] to come?" In this
context, John the Baptist was preaching to the Jewish
people. He warned the Jewish religious leaders about God's
wrath to come shortly and it happened in 66-70 AD (3 1/2
years). The Old Covenant temple and the city of Jerusalem
were destroyed by the Roman armies. Many Jewish people had
been completely scattered or killed and all these things
were fulfilled in 70 AD. See Daniel 12:7-13 and Luke
21:5-36.
2. Matt. 12:32 - "And whoever shall
speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven
him; but whoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it
shall not be forgiven him, either in this (Old Covenant)
age, or in the (New Covenant) age [about] to come."
Why did Jesus say it shall not be forgiven, either in this
age OR the age about to come? He is speaking of sins
committed in the time before the destruction of the Jewish
temple before 70 AD ("this age") and afterward ("the age to
come"). We will study the Greek word "age" which is "aion"
in Part Five.
3. Matt. 16:27, 28 - "For the Son
of Man is [about] to come in the glory of His Father with
His angels; and WILL THEN RECOMPENSE EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO
HIS DEEDS. Truly I say to you, there are some of those who
are standing here who shall not taste death until they see
the Son of Man coming in His kingdom." These passages
are the most clear and straightforward from the mouth of
Jesus Christ, otherwise He is a false prophet. This is why I
believe Jesus returned in the glory of His Father with the
angels to take the Kingdom away from God's enemies and give
it back to His Father who now is all in all.
4. Matt. 24:6 - "And you will
[about to] be hearing of wars and rumors of wars; see that
you are not frightened, for those things must take place,
but that is not yet the end." Jesus was speaking to
His disciples in their GENERATION (Matt. 24:34).
5. Luke 21:36 - "But keep on alert
at all times, praying in order that you may have strength to
escape all these things that are about to take place, and to
stand before the Son of Man." In this verse the NASB
translators did not delete the Greek word "mello." Notice
the word "you" several times in this chapter where Jesus was
speaking to His disciples, not to us or future third
parties.
6. Acts 17:31 - "Because He has
fixed a day in which He [is about to] judge the world in
righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having
furnished proof all men by raising Him from the dead."
Paul made it very clear that God was ABOUT to judge
the world in his generation. This is a strong case for the
Preterist view of Scripture.
7. Acts 24:14, 15 - "But this I
admit to you, that according to the Way which they call a
sect I do serve the God of our fathers, believing everything
that is in accordance with the Law, and that is written in
the Prophets; having a hope in God, which these men cherish
themselves, that there shall [about to be] a resurrection of
both the righteous and the wicked." Again, Paul made
it very clear. He was expecting everything that written to
be fulfilled very soon in his lifetime including the
resurrection. Throughout the NT, we have seen the
proclamation of the fulfillment of Israel's promises for the
gospel going "to the Jews first, then the Greek"; the
on-going Post-Pentecost transition from the Old Covenant to
the New which is a pervasive and emphatic testimony for
first century imminence of the time of the end.
8. Acts 24:25 - "And as he was
discussing righteousness, self-control and the judgment
[about] to come, Felix became frightened and said, "Go away
for the present, and when I find time, I will summon you."
Notice Felix became frightened.
9. Acts 26:22, 23 - "And so, having
obtained help from God, I stand to this day testifying both
to small and great, stating nothing but what the Prophets
and Moses said was going [about] to take place; that Christ
was to suffer, and that by reason of His resurrection from
the dead He should be the first to proclaim light both to
Jewish people and to the Gentiles." Notice Paul said
the writings of the Prophets and Moses were about to be
fulfilled.
10. Rom. 8:18 - "For I consider
that sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be
compared with the glory that is [about] to be revealed to
us." Read the whole context in Rom. 8:18-25.
11. Rom. 8:38, 39 - "For I am
convinced that neither death, not life, nor angels, nor
principalities, nor things present, nor things [about] to
come, nor powers, nor height, not depth, nor any other
created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of
God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Notice
things present (Mosaic Age) and things about to come
(Messianic Age) are associated with death, life, angels,
etc. which shall not able to separate us from the love of
God.
12. 1 Cor. 3:21-23 - "So then let
no one boast in men. For all things belong to you, whether
Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or
things present or things [about] to come; all things belong
to you, and you belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to
God." This is the same thing as in Rom. 8:38.
13. Eph 1:21 - "Far above all rule
and authority and power and dominion and every name that is
named not only this age, but also in the one [about] to
come." It is very important to understand the meaning
of "this age" (Old Covenant) and "the age about to come"
(New Covenant) because it is the Jewish interpretation of
eschatology. You will see this in my article in Part Five.
14. Col. 2:16, 17 - "Therefore let
no one act as your judge in regard food or drink or in
respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day, things
which are a mere shadow of what is [about] to come; but the
substance belongs to Christ." These passages are the
most important to understand the Old Covenant (Jewish
festivals, ceremonial, promises, etc.) which was about to
completed in Christ. Some futurists believe all these things
were completed at the cross but it was not at the time of
Paul's writing. So, obviously we don't practice these things
for today because they were done away in 70 AD.
15. 2 Tim. 4:1 - "I solemnly charge
you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is
[about] to judge the living and the dead, and by His
appearing and His kingdom." This verse would close
the case against the Futurist's views. At Christ's return
the wicked were judged and cast into eternal torment, the
same place where all other wicked go at death. The righteous
inherited resurrection life back in the presence of God for
the first time since Adam, the representative of the human
race, lost it in the Garden. Resurrection life is Paradise
restored (Rev. 2:7). Jesus (the tree of life) gave us the
eternal life.
16. Heb. 1:13, 14 - "But to which
of the angels has He ever said, "Sit at My right hand, until
I make thine enemies a footstool for Thy feet?" Are they not
all ministering spirits, send out to render service for the
sake of those who will [about to] inherit salvation?"
The enemies of Christ were the Jewish people (Luke 19:27,
Rom. 11:28, Phil 3:2, 18, 19). Christ crushed the head of
all enemies even Death, and sat down at the right hand of
His Father to reign eternally, whose kingdom shall have no
end. Notice all the saints since the Fall are ABOUT to
inherit salvation (redemption) in heaven.
17. Heb. 2:5 - "For He did not
subject to angels the world [about] to come, concerning
which we are speaking." The Hebrew writer was
discussing the Mosaic age that was "put into effect through
angels" (Acts 7:53). The new covenant world would be in
subjection to Jesus, not angels. Note that the writer wrote
to the first century audience "concerning which we are
speaking." They did not see everything subject in Jesus
because the 70 AD judgment had not yet occurred.
18. Heb. 9:11 - "But when Christ
appeared as a high priest of the good things [about] to
come, He entered through the greater and more perfect
tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this
creation." Read in Heb. 8:6-13, 9:8-12, 15. At the
time of writing, the earthly temple was still there and
Christ the High Priest had not yet been disclosed from the
holy place in heaven. In the OT, the high priest sacrificed
the animal and then brought the blood into the holy of
holies on the Day of Atonement. When the high priest came
out of the holy of holies, the actual atonement had been
made (Leviticus 16:16-18). But the blood of bulls and goats
did not take away sins (Heb. 10:4). Jesus already came out
of the holy place and brought all of His elect into the
glory of God in heaven. That is why all the elect, physical,
Israel were saved by the time the Parousia took place at the
destruction of the Temple as it is written in Rom. 11:5,
25-29 (c.f. Heb. 9:15, 28). Since then, all of God's elect
are no longer subject to Death (condemnation) and Hades
(separation from God's presence). I believe at death the
elect shed their physical bodies, and continue living in
their spiritual immortal bodies with God in heaven forever.
19. Heb. 10:1 - "For the Law, since
it has only a shadow of the good things [about] to come and
not the very form of things, can never by the same
sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make
perfect those who draw near." The writer of Hebrews
tried to remind the Jewish people about the promises of God
which were about to be fulfilled in Christ.
20. Heb 10:27 - "But a certain
terrifying exception of judgment, and the fury of a fire
which will [about to] consume the adversaries."
Again, the writer warned the Jewish people of their time to
turn to Jesus Christ, otherwise they would face the wrath of
God. Read Heb. 10:25-39. These verses are vivid.
21. Heb. 13:14 - "For here we do
not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which
is [about] to come." Clearly, this verse is speaking
of the New Jerusalem after the Old Jerusalem would be
destroyed and rendered obsolete. Read Heb. 11:16, Rev.
21:1-7, 9-10.
22. 1 Peter 5:1 - "Therefore, I
exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and
witness of the sufferings of Christ, and partaker also of
the glory that is [about] to be revealed." Peter
understood and he was expecting the glory that was about to
revealed. Remember, he was inspired by God. Read carefully
in 1 Peter 1:4-13, 20; 2:6-8; 4:7.
23. Rev. 1:19 - "Write therefore
the things which you have seen, and the things which are,
and the things which shall [about to] take place after these
things." In Rev. 1:9-20, these passages are
"The things which you have seen."
In Rev. 2:1-3:22 are "The things which
are," and then in Rev. 4:1-22:5 are
"the things which are ABOUT to take
place after these things." There are only three
sections and notice the last section was about to take place
in John's generation. Read Rev. 1:1, 3; 22:6, 7, 10, 12, 20.
We must NOT attempt to explain away the statements of
imminence. That is the rule of the interpretation. Some try
to use 2 Peter 3:8 to interpret the overwhelming abundance
of the statements of imminence. However, their hermeneutic
is unacceptable.
24. Rev 12:5 - "And she gave birth
to a son, a male child, who is [about] to rule all the
nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up to
God and His throne." It is clearly about Jesus who
was caught up to God and His throne in heaven, not on the
earth. In John's vision, Jesus was about to rule with a rod
of iron.
Here is a quote from Eusebius, the Christian
historian in the late third century. This is what he wrote
about James, the brother of the Lord, when James was in
trial with the Jewish leaders, "And he (James) answered with
a loud voice, 'Why do ye ask me respecting Jesus the Son of
Man? He is now sitting in the heavens, on the right hand of
great Power, and is about to come on the clouds of heavens.'
in Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History, p. 77 (emphasis mine).
So, the Preterist view is consistent with the
Scriptures. Let the Scriptures interpret the Scriptures.
Check the Greek words and some historians, and you will find
the preterist view has the strongest case against any other
eschatological views. I don't know how the Futurists would
defend themselves with these passages which I have shown. We
ought to "be diligent to present yourself approved to God as
a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling
accurately the word of truth" (2 Tim. 2:15).
The Reformed Futurists (Amillennialism,
Postmillennialism or Historic Premillennialism) cannot
defend their eschatological views with dispensationalism,
Charismatic and Pentecostal churches, Arminianism, Judaism,
Liberal Theologians and the cults because they have some
holes. Once the Reformed churches come into the full
Preterist view, they will be able to defend the truth
against the members of these false religions, and they will
be able expose them with their errors. Reformed Preterists
can make a big difference, no matter what others will think.
What do you think all of this so far, especially
after examining the Greek word "mello"? Hopefully this will
help a lot and cause you to rethink the reasons for your
eschatological view.
Soli Deo Gloria!
