Martha, Jesus and Lazarus Part III - an exegesis...

Hello all,

I hope you're recovered from the last message – and really examining yourself to see if you are in the faith.

My last message I was posting as to when I believe Jesus was returning in His Kingdom. Now – back to the main point.

“Great blog but I'm afraid I disagree. Here is why? there are verses that don't match up with your beliefs.”

Here are a few of those verses and I'll do a break down for each:

i - 2 Peter 3:10 -But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.

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I love this verse – when people help support it for a future coming of Jesus. Yet in the next breath – they will talk about how we are to be refined like gold through a fire/furnace?

Zechariah 13:9 And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.

We know that the passage of Zechariah is a figurative explanation – as we won't go through physical fire but rather we will be refined by Fire(The Holy Spirit) through the Word of God. Why doesn't this same figurative explanation apply to 2 Peter 3:10?

The elements will be destroyed with intense heat – and the earth and its works will be burned up. All those works will be done away with – just not in the physical sense. Again – this is in a figurative sense. God is not a physical God – God is Spirit – and those who worship him shall worship him in truth and in spirit(see John 4).

ii - Thessalonians 4:16. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God.
Jeremiah 25:30 The Lord shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout.
Psalm 50:3 Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: ... and it shall be very tempestuous round about him.
note: "Tempestuous" means "turbulent and stormy." The second coming of Jesus will clearly be noisy beyond description. There will be nothing secret about it!

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Yes – the LORD himself did descend from heaven with a shout. This isn't a secret and I believe it wasn't a secret when the Temple was destroyed and Jerusalem essentially blown off the map by the Romans. Ask the internet when The Temple was destroyed and Jerusalem was left desolate.

iii - Matthew 24:30. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

Revelation 1:7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him.

Note: This is too clear to misunderstand. Every person alive, wicked or righteous, will see Jesus return to earth. A secret gathering, or "rapture," of God's people is not described in the Bible.

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Matthew 24:30 – such a lovely verse. Then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven; and then shall all the TRIBES of the earth mourn,

It's interesting that the Bible talks about the tribes. The tribes the Bibles makes reference too are the 12 tribes of Israel. Jesus himself says that all the tribes would see him return.

One thing missing from Revelation 1:7 – is who would see His return. If we leave that part out – we're missing out on WHO would see His return

Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen

They who pierced him would see him. Those who pierced him have been dead for nearly 2 millenia. How can they see him if they are already dead?

Now – to better understand what Jesus is saying in Matthew 24:30 in regards to “they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” - let's examine this a little bit more.

Matthew 26:64-65

 Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.   65 Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy. 

Now – I always wondered and asked myself – why did the high priest(Caiaphas) tear his clothes? Something was said here that a Pharisee would know. Something was said to be in such rage.

For this – I recommend reading Psalm 18. Read Psalm 18 in it's fullness. This is a Psalm about David pleading for his life – begging for God to save him from his Enemies. How can God do such a thing without judgement? Essentially God does come in Judgement – but look closely at verse 9:

He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his feet.

Now – did God actually come down? Again – this is a metaphor, figurative language – just like many Bible verses are. This is how Jesus said he would return. No wonder Caiaphas was angry that he tore his clothes. Caiaphas knew that Jesus was making a reference to coming in Judgement and delivering the innocent from his enemies. Jesus was pointing out at who was guilty here – and the High Priest didn't like it.

Now – perhaps my views are different from yours – does it make them not Biblical? Absolutely not. As said before – I just see the verses from a different perspective than you.

There will be more to come on this – God bless.