The Coming of the Son of Man (2 of 2)

The Great Shepherd of the Sheep Seated on His Throne

In the final section of this Olivet discourse in Mat. 25:31-46, Jesus describes the Son of Man again as coming into His glory and sitting upon His throne to judge all nations. If you recall, this is what Christ was referring to earlier in our discussion with regards to Mat. 16:27-28. There He spoke of “rewarding every man according to his deeds” when He came in the glory of His father with His angels before all of His apostles were to eventually die off. Here, in Mat. 25, this judgment is described again in terms of making a distinction or separation between the sheep and the goats, the very same thing that Joel prophesied about concerning Christ when the Lord said He would come and sit in the “Valley of Jehoshaphat”[1] or “the valley of decision” (or as the KJV margin reads, “the valley of threshing”), and thresh His wheat (His sheep) from the chaff (the goats); again, this is the very same thing that God portrays for us in Ezekiel 9. This is not to be confused with the “separation” on the last day, as depicted in Mat. 13:24-30 of the “tares” (weeds) and the “wheat” (which is a different analogy depicting a different truth), but the “separation,” distinction or denotation that is being made in the world right now between Christ's sheep verses the goats, or in other words, between His wheat “kernels” and the “chaff.” It is Christ's separation of the “wheat” from the “chaff” ministry, verses His latter-day “wheat” from the “tares” ministry. Jesus said it this way with regards to this current “separation”: “Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crops for eternal life” (Jhn. 4:36). The “gathering into the barn” comes later. Five times in John 4:35-38 Jesus mentions the “reaper” or “harvester,” using the Greek word formed from the stem “therizo,” which means: “to reap or harvest.” Once in verse 36 He uses the Greek phrase “sunagei karpown,” translated in the NIV as “he harvests the crop,” or literally, “he gathers fruit.” And, clearly, the “fruit” that is being “gathered” here are souls for Christ.

Paul similarly said, “I want you to know, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest (Grk., karpown, lit., “fruit”) among you, as well as among the rest of the Gentiles” (Rom. 1:13, ESV). In Php. 1:22, Paul again says, “But if to live in the flesh—if this shall bring fruit [Grk., karpown] from my work, then what I shall choose I know not” (ASV). In 1Cor. 9:9-10, Paul again writes: “For it is written in the Law of Moses, ‘YOU SHALL NOT MUZZLE THE OX WHILE HE IS THRESHING [Grk. alownta].’ God is not concerned about oxen, is He? Or is He speaking altogether for our sake? Yes, for our sake it was written, because the plowman [Grk., apotriown] ought to plow [Grk., apotrion] in hope, and the thresher [Grk., alown] to thresh in hope of sharing the crops" (NAS). Here Paul says of God’s workers in His field, that one “ploughs” in hope, while another who does the “threshing,” threshes in hope in order that they might be “sharing” (Grk., metechein, “partaking”) in bringing forth the crops (or “harvest,” NIV) of souls. Paul repeats this same concept of “threshing”—and “eating” while “threshing”—in 1Tim. 5:18. And although Paul has in mind in these last two examples “eating” from what is produced from this harvest, the “harvest” he is referring to is the people from which the apostles were to receive sustenance.

Like Jesus said, “even now [not later] he harvests the crops [lit., "gathers fruit"] for eternal life.” There is clearly a “gathering” or “harvesting” (and even a separation) going on of the crops right now. These are the "firstfruits" of all God's creation (cf. Jam. 1:18).Whatever is to be understood of a “gathering” later on the last Day, one thing is for certain here in these texts: there is truly a “gathering,” “harvesting,” or “threshing” going on right “now.”

In Mat. 25, the verb tense for this present ongoing “separation” in verse 32 is described as something to be done by Christ in the future, when Christ said He would be “seated on His throne” (v. 31). At the time Jesus spoke these words, He was not “seated.” But He is now (Mk. 16:19; Acts 2:29-36; Rev. 3:21). And Jesus says here in Matthew that when He would be seated, that He would start to make a distinction between His “other sheep” in the world (Jhn. 10:16) who were among the goats in the world. These other "sheep" were those whom Christ said He was to receive in fulfillment of the promise made to Abraham that he would become “a father of many nations.” That “all the nations would be gathered before Him [or Christ]” in Mat. 25:32 was also in direct fulfillment of the prophet Isaiah’s words: “At that time the root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the people [to gather around]. The nations will come to Him. His resting place will be glorious….He will raise a signal for the nations and will assemble the banished of Israel, and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth” (11:10, 12, GWT). This promise recorded for us by God in Isaiah was the very thing Paul affirmed as being fulfilled right now in Christ, not later (Rom. 15:12).[2]

John the Baptist had said it this way, “the ax is already laid to the root,” and that Christ was coming with “His winnowing fork in His hand, and He will clear His threshing floor, gathering His wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire” (Mat. 3:10-12). This “winnowing” is occurring now, whereas the “gathering…into the barn and burning up the chaff” is to occur later, at His Second Coming. Such imagery was used by the prophets to depict the current purging's and threshing's going on now in this life, not just at the Second Coming. And what begins to be burned here now one earth, will continue to be burned even more so later. For Isaiah even declares of the Lord right now: “He shakes the nations in the sieve of destruction” (30:28). Throughout life, “He [God] brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing. No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, than He blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff” (Isa. 40:23-24). Again, Isaiah says: “Although the peoples roar like the roar of surging waters, when He rebukes them they flee far away, driven before the wind like chaff on the hills, like tumbleweed before a gale” (17:13). And again, “But your many enemies will become like fine dust, the ruthless hordes like blown chaff. Suddenly, in an instant…” (29:5). Again, “Who has stirred up one from the east, calling him in righteousness to His service? He hands nations over to him and subdues kings before him. He turns them to dust with his sword, to windblown chaff with his bow” (41:2). God says through Ezekiel, “I will scatter to the winds all those around him [or, the prince of Israel]…I will pursue them with drawn sword” (12:14). Jeremiah writes: “I will scatter you like chaff driven by the desert wind. This is your lot, the portion I have decreed for you,” declares the Lord, “because you have forgotten Me and trusted in false gods” (13:23-25). Zephaniah also says: ‘Gather together, gather together, O shameful nation, before the appointed time arrives and that day sweeps on like chaff, before the fierce anger of the LORD comes upon you, before the day of the LORD’s wrath comes upon you. Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, you who do what He commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered [from the wind and His fierce anger] on the day of the LORD’s anger.” And then v. 9 in the LXX reads: “the children of Ammon [will be] as Gomorrha; and Damascus shall be left as a heap of the threshing floor, and desolate forever.” Job says, “Yet how often is the lamp of the wicked snuffed out? How often does calamity come upon them, the fate God allots in his anger? How often are they like straw before the wind, like chaff swept away by a gale? [It is said,] ‘God stores up a man’s punishment for his sons.’ Let Him repay the man himself, so that he will know it! Let his own eyes see his destruction; let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty” (21:17-20). And finally, Amos writes: “For I will give the command, and I will shake the house of Israel among all the nations as grain is shaken in a sieve, and not a pebble will reach the ground. All the sinners among My people will die by the sword, all those who say, ‘Disaster will not overtake or meet us’” (9:9-10). Many, if not all of these incidents described above have already occurred. No, today is the day of salvation. Today, is the day where God is distinguishing and setting His mark on His “pebbles,” His “little rocks” like Peter, who are “living stones” cut out of a Rock made without hands, formed and fitted to build a holy temple unto the Lord. Whereas, on the other hand, sinners are dying all around us daily, by God’s four sore judgments: the sword, famines, plagues and wild beasts (Ezk. 14:21). They “have no rain” from God who do not go up with us to worship in God's holy city, the new Jerusalem from above (Zech. 14:17-19). They are left as dry "chaff," only to be blown about by the wind. And their place will ultimately be “in the fiery lake of burning sulfur" which, "is the second death” (Rev. 21:8).[3]

One more illustration is all that is needed to prove this point. In Dan. 2:35 it says that the iron, clay, bronze, silver,and gold image of Nebuchadnezzar was “broken into pieces” by the Rock cut out without human hands, and the image “became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the Rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.” Question: Where are all these kingdoms today? The “wind swept them away without leaving a trace.” When did all this occur? Clearly, none of this was reserved for a later time at the Second Coming of Christ, but has always been an ongoing process throughout history, and even being implemented by Christ when He came into power as the Son of Man seated in heaven. He was the "Rock" that smote that image then, and He continues to be a "Rock" that still smites all the kingdoms in the world today. And it was this very same thing that Christ did to the nation of Israel in 70 AD after having become “seated” upon His throne. Christ sits as Judge now, not just later, and metes out His judgments here on earth, through His messengers of judgment, whether they be through His angels or the people of the nations which He uses as His “ax,” “saw,” and “club” (see Isa. 10:5-25). He uses many other things as well, such as: storms, hurricanes, tornadoes, wild beasts and many other calamities which befall people in the world. Christ is "seen" all around us judging the world, albeit many don't really "see" it or "perceive" it. But He is there nonetheless! "God is a righteous Judge, a God who expresses His wrath everyday" (Psm. 7:11). "He brings the clouds to punish men, or to water His earth and show His love" (Job 37:13). "He summons the heavens above, and the earth, that He may Judge His people" (Psm. 50:4).

And, lastly, for all those who can receive it, Isaiah uses terms and expressions that are commonly understood by the older commentators as the days of Christ’s current administration and Messianic rule and reign: “In that day the Lord will thresh from the flowing Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt, and you, O Israelites, will be gathered up one by one. And in that day a great trumpet will sound. Those who were perishing in Assyria and those who were exiled in Egypt will come and worship the Lord on the holy mountain in Jerusalem” (27:12-13; see also Isa. 11:9-16 and 12:1, 4, et al). Additionally, this "holy mountain" is the spiritual Mt. Zion (or the "huge mountain") that Daniel says was "to fill the whole earth" (Dan. 2:35). Literal mountains do not encompass the whole earth, but people sure do. And John the Baptist, in quoting Isaiah, said in Lke. 3:5 that every mountain and hill (all who are proud and lofty) will be brought low, while the valleys (all who are lowly of heart) will be raised up (or become a mountain). And Heb. 12:18 says that we (the Church) have not come to a literal mountain that can be touched, but have come to a mountain (or Mt. Zion) which cannot be physically touched, and to a kingdom which cannot be physically shaken (v. 28) like all the other natural kingdoms of this world.

Clearly, the Lord is now "threshing" from the flowing Euphrates to the Wadi's of Egypt. Those who were perishing in Assyria and exiled in Egypt come and worship the Lord. As the Lord through Ezekiel declares, "I will take note of you as you pass under My rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant. I will purge you of those who revolt and rebel against Me" (20:37). Christ as the Great Shepherd of His sheep is now marking those who belong to Him, setting His seal (or mark) of the Holy Spirit upon them. They are now being brought into "the bond of the covenant," while all the rest are "purged" and separated from us and being marked for destruction; not only in this life, but also in the life to come.

Some More Food For Thought

What all these phrases surrounding “the coming of the Son of Man” mean in all of these verses that we have considered in Mat. 10:23; 16:27-28; 24-25, and eventually in 26:64, seems to clearly be portrayed as something that would occur in those people's lives in the not too far distant future. This has perplexed many commentators to no end for centuries. Adam Clarke in his commentary seems to grasp it a little better than most though, as does Milton S. Terry (1898) in his Biblical Apocalyptics, Bishop Thomas Newton (1754) in his work entitled The Prophecy of Matthew 24, and N. Nisbett M.A. (1787) in his The Prophecy of the Destruction of Jerusalem. Of late, we can read about such things in the works of: John Bray, Matthew 24 Fulfilled, David Chilton’s The Great Tribulation, and Gary DeMar’s Last Days Madness. Foy Wallace's commentary on Revelation called The Book of Revelation is also good, if you can find a copy.

Hyper-preterists, on the other hand, claim to have a solution that solves all of the difficulties surrounding these verses. They argue that Jesus was referring to His Second Coming which, according to them, occurred in the first century. They argue that this is the only interpretation that maintains the integrity of Jesus’ words, so as to not make Him out to be a liar. In order to evaluate this claim, it will first be helpful to examine some of the other solutions that have been offered.

Many have concluded that Jesus was simply wrong. This is the position taken by many skeptics or liberals. According to the proponents of this view, Jesus predicted that His return (which they interpret as His second visible coming) and the end of time (again, as they understand it) would occur within the first century. This didn’t occur, according to them; therefore, Jesus was in error and not a true prophet after all. Obviously, those who accept the authority of Jesus and the inspiration of Scripture do not consider this view to be a viable one. I mention it here simply because many hyper-preterists seem to believe that the liberal view is the only alternative in support of their interpretation, which is a sad commentary in and of itself that they would view the liberals and skeptics to be correct in their assessment of these prophecies, and then try to fit their interpretation accordingly to their model. Strange indeed.

Among those who do not believe that Jesus could have been in error, several other interpretations have been formulated. Many have suggested that the words “this generation” in Mat. 24:34 may not refer to the generation to whom Jesus was speaking. William Hendriksen, in his commentary on Matthew, understands “this generation” to mean “the Jewish people” as a race would not pass away until all of these things are fulfilled, including Christ's Second Coming (pp. 867-869). Some dispensationalists on the other hand, such as J. Dwight Pentecost, understand “this generation” to mean the generation that sees the beginning of these signs; in other words, whatever future generation sees these signs beginning to be fulfilled will not pass away until the Son of Man physically comes. But the demonstrative pronoun “this” will not allow for either of these position to be maintained. See my article: The Grammar Behind “This” in “This Generation.” The words “this generation” were Jesus’ contemporaries, just as He had pointed out earlier in Mat. 23:36 (and even in Lke. 7:31, et al), and not a generation or race living off in our future.

Most commentators, however, do believe that “this generation” refers in some sense to the generation that heard Jesus’ words. Among those who hold this view, several possibilities for interpretation have been put forward. One suggestion that has been made is that the aorist verb genetai (“take place”), in verse 34, is an ingressive aorist. If this is the case, then Jesus’ words may be translated, “This generation will by no means pass away till all these things begin to come to pass.” But this argument still misses the point of the meaning of the demonstrative pronoun, “this,” plus some other time texts that we will get to in just a little bit.

On the other hand, D. A. Carson believes that “this generation” does actually refer to the generation to whom Jesus was speaking to, but then argues that the phrase “all these things” in verse 34 does not include the coming of the Son of Man, which he, like most, thinks is the Second Coming. If that be the case, then Jesus, according to Carson, merely predicted that the destruction of Jerusalem would occur in the first century, but not Christ’s coming. Some even argue for a double fulfillment theory. These events were fulfilled in the first century to a certain degree, but their ultimate fulfillment still lies ahead. All this does though is just “double” the confusion, making it nothing more than just a bunch of "double-talk." Others still, argue that the term “generation” refers to something that has to do more so with an “age” or “era” of some indeterminate length. But this only leaves one really “undetermined” as to anything at all of what this prophecy is really all about.

The commentators who flat-out reject the idea of a "double fulfillment," maintain that Jesus distinguished between the events that were to occur within the lifetime of many of His disciples, and the events that were to occur many centuries later in our future at His Second Coming. This is the position of J. Marcellus Kik in his book, An Eschatology of Victory, who argues that Mat. 24:34-35 should be seen as transitional verses. According to Kik, “the first thirty-four verses of Matthew 24, along with verse 35 in which Jesus confirms the certainty of his prophecies, deal with the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple” (p. 67). On the other hand, the things mentioned after verse 35 he says are yet to be fulfilled: “Now with verse 36 Christ commences a new subject, namely, His second coming and the events preceding it” (ibid). But this doesn’t square with Lke. 17:20-37, an important set of verses often left out of this study of the Olivet discourse, but yet say the very same things nonetheless. This is one of the reasons for the problem with Kik’s view: All the verses from Mat. 24:36, and thereon, that are said to be referring to Christ’s Second Coming are, in Luke 17, sandwiched right in between the same verses that Kik says have to do with Christ’s coming into His kingdom and power, as witnessed in the destruction of Jerusalem. Luke 17:24, is akin to the first section of Mat. 24, and Jesus refers to it as “the Son of Man in His days”; whereas in verse 26, found in the second section of Mat. 24 which is said to be about the Second Coming of Christ, it is again said here in verse 26 to be “in the days of the Son of Man,” and clearly the same days that are said of the Son of Man in verse 24. Also, Jesus says in Luke 17:24 that His days will be “like lightening that flashes” (as seen in the first section of Matthew), and in verses 26-28 are also to be like the days of Noah and Lot (as seen in the second section of Matthew). Then, in verses 31-35, Jesus says the very same things He says in His Olivet discourse which are again in the first section that talks about the destruction of Jerusalem, even mentioning fleeing the city when the disciples saw the siege beginning to occur. Then finally, Luke 17:34-37 speaks of what will befall all those who still remain in the city when the Romans swoop down upon it, like vultures and eagles upon carrion, which is also akin to Luke 21:24, which reads: “They shall fall by the sword [those left behind] and will be taken as prisoners [those taken] to all the nations.” These “vultures” of the Roman armies were coming upon all, leaving no survivors whatsover to do as they pleased. So in conclusion: Matthew, Mark, and Luke are either speaking about all things future, or about all things which have now been fulfilled. One cannot have it both ways here, as Marcellus Kik supposes. “The kingdom of God” that is said by Christ to “come” in Lke 17:20, and without physical "observation," is the same “kingdom of God” in Lke. 21:31 that He said was "drawing near" and about to see its manifestation with power. What was preached by John the Baptist and Christ as "at hand" before the cross, was set in motion after the cross, after having "spoiled" all principalities and powers.

Years ago when I was trying to decide if Christ was referring to all these things as happening in the future in our days, or as things that were all past in His apostle’s days, or as Kik believes: understanding Mat. 24:34-35 as transitional verses that begin a “new subject” matter and referring to both the apostle’s days and our days, I then began to read Luke 17 and I realized that Christ was either talking about all things that were to occur in our future, or all things to have already occurred in the past. Like I said before, it cannot be both ways here as Marcellus Kik understands it. Like most who study this subject, Kik had never considered Luke 17.

I, like most, at one time believed that all these things were to be fulfilled in our future. After all, that’s what most of us are taught in most churches today. And being a young naïve Christian, why wouldn’t we believe those things being taught by our Pastors and Teachers? But I was starting to think and believe that what they had told me to believe was truth, wasn’t really the truth at all. When I started thinking about Lke 17 in the context of Kik's position, I realized that either all of this had to be in the future, or it had to be all in the past—but not both. Like most who are at this decisive point in trying to determine whether it is all future or all past, I too struggled over the interpretation of the verses in Mat. 24:26-35. Without the mind of Christ on all of this, it is easy for the best of us to think in terms of that which is literal or physical, rather than on that which is highly figurative and apocalyptic in nature.

One thing is for certain though: Kik’s book helped me tremendously to understand and pave the way for me into beginning to grasp such language as the sun and the moon being darkened, and the stars falling to the earth, as language that was similarly used by God in the Old Testament to denote the waning of the glory, splendor and light of kings and kingdoms, along with their governments, entities and people. The “candles” or “lights” of these “luminaries,” so-to-speak, were to be snuffed out (see Job 18:5-6, 18; also said of Pharaoh in Ezk. 32:7-8) and their exalted status cast down. The same goes for “vultures” or “eagles” eating “dead” bodies, another graphic portrayal that depicts the Son of Man using other nations to swoop down upon those who have filled-up their sins to the fullest, and who are so completely dead in their sins (likened unto "dead carcasses") and trespasses that God judges them by the hands of foreign peoples and nations (see Isaiah 10:5-25, NIV). Some might be puzzled, as I was at first, why the term “eagle” is sometimes used for “vulture,” but in the land of Israel this was common usage. Gene Stratton-Porter in the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia explains how this came to be:

The Hebrew nesher, meaning “to tear with the beak,” is almost invariably translated “eagle” throughout the Bible; yet many of the most important references compel the admission that the bird to which they applied was the vulture. There were many large birds and carrion eaters flocking over Palestine, attracted by the offal from animals. The eagle family could not be separated from the vultures by their habit of feeding, for they ate the offal from slaughter as well as the vultures.”

Moses is the first to use the term in Deut. 28:49: “The LORD will bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of the earth, like an eagle swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand.” Some translations say “vulture.” The term appears in Hos. 8:1: “Put the trumpet to your lips! Like an eagle the enemy comes against the house of the LORD, because they have transgressed My covenant and rebelled against My law” (NAS). And again, in Hab. 1:8, the sense becomes ever more obvious: “Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle that hastens to eat” (AKJV).

The picture that Christ paints for us of eagles (or vultures) gathering around the carcasses is not difficult to understand. It is only made “difficult” by those who do not read their Bibles and who do not let Scripture be its own arbiter and guide as to what the Lord is saying to us. Clearly, Christ is expressing a thought process that God has always used elsewhere throughout the Scriptures, and says what He means when He had already said what He meant through Moses and the prophets.

After I had begun to ascertain the meaning of these figures of speech used by the Lord, now it came time to understand how one is to interpret, “the coming of the Son of Man,” which is clearly in the same context as all of these other things previously mentioned in Luke 17, in Matthew 24, in Mark 13 and in Luke 21. And what about His “angels” (possibly just a “messenger” of the gospel) that were “to gather His elect”?

At that time I didn’t really understand the doctrine of “election” as the Bible clearly teaches it. All one has to do is study the conversion of Paul to know that God chooses us, and not the other way around, and that even “from birth He has set me apart” (Gal. 1:15; Psm. 139:16). And when I began to read similar passages, like Ezekiel 9, where God by His "messengers," "marks" on the foreheads all His believers who were to be spared judgment at that time, and that the gospel had indeed, as Paul affirmed, gone out into all the world for a testimony before the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD (Rom. 1:8; Col. 1:23), then this verse began to make sense to me as something that had also already occurred in the apostle’s time (and still occurs); but in this particular instance, it would be one of those “signs” that would give witness to “the coming of the Son of Man,” when Christ would be seated in His glory at the right hand of the Father with power.

When I began to understand many of the “time texts” in this Olivet discourse placing all of these prophecy’s in the past (we’ll come to some of these in a little bit), and even Jesus’ usage of other “time texts” concerning “the coming of the Son of Man” in Mat. 10:23, Mat. 16:27-28 and Mat. 26:64, then I started to realize (as I came to know later that others had too), that Christ was not referring to His future Second Coming at all (which I still believe is yet to come), but His “coming” into His kingdom, power, rule, reign and glory seated at the right hand of the Father, on the promised throne of David, as all the prophets foretold. This is the Messiah whom the Jews were expecting to come, and has come, but not with a physical throne or kingdom to be “observed” as many still envision to this day in a future earthly rule and reign. But Christ's kingdom is a kingdom, unlike all physical and earthly kingdoms of this world, that cannot be “shaken” or “removed.” Those kingdoms are made out of things which are seen; whereas Christ’s kingdom is not, nor ever will be. And as such, Christ’s kingdom will be “forever” and “eternally” set up in this way for us in the locale of a “heavenly” land, in a “heavenly” city, and with a “heavenly” throne, rule and reign. It isn’t that we are “so heavenly minded, that we are no earthly good,” but on the contrary we are like the angels of heaven which both ascend and descend from a throne of influence and power that is in heaven with God, seated together with Christ, and where we will always remain. Ezekiel said it this way, “Above the expanse over their heads was what looked like a throne of sapphire, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man” (1:26). This is where Christ, with us, will always live, rule and reign; never on earthly thrones and and in earthly kingdoms which can be “removed.”

Even all the parables that immediately follow the Olivet discourse in Mat. 24, and even the sheep being separated from the goats in Mat. 25, were just as pertinent to those early Christians as they are also for us today. If we too begin to carouse and eat and drink with the drunkards, there also remains for us a certain fearful and fiery expectation of judgment in this life, and maybe even giving evidence to the fact that some of those among us are not really Christ's sheep after all, but in fact “goats.” And just as the early Church was to remain faithful and “watchful” so that the day of judgment wouldn’t overtake them unawares, so we must also remain vigilant at all times. Jesus is “sitting” now on His throne “as a refiner’s fire” (Mal. 3:3) with the iron scepter of righteousness in His hand (Rev. 2:26-27; cp. with Isa. 30:31-32), “setting” His “mark” upon all of His sheep who pass under His shepherd’s staff or rod (Ezk. 20:36-38) and taking one out of every ten unto Himself as His tithe, portion and inheritance in this life (Isa. 6:13; Psm. 28:9; 33:12; 78:62, 71; 94:5, 14; 106:5, 40). He is now “separating” His wheat from the chaff, with the chaff being judged and blown away with the winds; not only in this life, but also on that final Judgment Day to come.

Now let’s assume for the sake of argument that all of the previous suggestions and arguments posited against Christ having already come are to be ruled out. And let us assume that “this generation” is really the generation of Jews who were Jesus’ contemporaries. Let’s also assume that the phrase “all these things” includes even the coming of the Son of Man. And let us also assume that there is no possibility of a "double fulfillment," or, that the verb translated “come to pass” is not to be understood as an ingressive aorist. In other words, let’s assume that Jesus said that "the coming of the Son of Man" would actually occur during the first century. Hyper-preterists begin with all of these assumptions and conclude that the Second Coming of Christ must have occurred in the first century, concurring with the liberals and skeptics. All these arguments have failed though to consider another highly significant possibility with overwhelming implications on many fronts—namely, that when Jesus used the phrase “the coming of the Son of Man,” that maybe, just maybe, He was not referring to His Second Coming at all.

All the interpretations that we have examined thus far assume that “the coming of the Son of Man” to be Christ’s Second Advent. According to the unbelieving liberals and skeptics, Jesus was saying that His Second Coming was to occur in the first century, and since it didn't, Jesus must have been wrong and therefore a false prophet. According to hyper-preterists, they likewise believe that Jesus said His Second Coming was to occur during the first century. And since it didn’t occur visibly, and since Jesus can’t be wrong, they conclude that His Second Coming must have been in some sense invisible. According to dispensationalists, Jesus was saying that His Second Coming will occur before that generation which would witness it would passed away, and that since Jesus’ Second Coming did not occur visibly in the fist century, and since Jesus cannot be wrong, they conclude that “this generation” must not refer to Jesus’ contemporaries but to a generation in our day. Do you see how their presuppositions as to what they “think” Christ was saying has caused all of them to press upon the phrase “this generation” a meaning that this phrase in and of itself just will not allow? They have blindly ignored, and some even reinterpreting, the rules of grammar regarding this Greek demonstrative pronoun autn, or “this” in Mat. 24:34. The word “this” in “this generation” cannot be construed of as “that” generation, or “those” of another generation, but “these” who were Christ’s contemporaries. Again, see my article The Grammar Behind “This” in “This Generation” for a more in-depth look into all of this. All of these interpretations above share the same assumptions that have led them all down the same slippery slope and the wrong path. They have all shared the assumption that “the coming of the Son of Man” must mean “the Second Coming of Christ.” But there is another possibility to be considered.

Some Final Thoughts

When Jesus used the words “the coming of the Son of Man,” which are clearly the same events being described in Mat. 10:23; 16:27-28; 24:30; 25:31, and 26:64, He seems to be alluding to Dan. 7:13-14, a text in which the “coming” in question here is a coming to the Ancient of Days in heaven with power and not a physical, literal coming from heaven to earth. Daniel 7 begins with a vision of four beasts (Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome, vv. 1-8). In verse 9-10, what follows is the Son of Man being seated on His throne with the Ancient of Days as tens of thousands minister before Him. At this point, Daniel says, “the court [or judgment] was seated, and the books were opened” (v. 10). This judgment seems to be contemporaneous with the time of the fourth kingdom, or beast, the very thing that Dan. 2:35, 44 affirms as occurring sometime "in the days of those kings." In verses 11-12, the little horn that arises from the ten horns of the fourth beast is eventually judged and destroyed by fire, but this wasn’t to occur until sometime later after ten more kingdoms that were to arise after John’s day (Rev. 17:12). Daniel says this “little horn” was to arise from out of those ten kingdoms and take over three of them (vv. 7-8), which, as history attests for us, was the Roman Papacy who also set himself up in God’s temple, the Church, and of whom was said earlier that the Lord shall consume with the breath of His mouth and the splendor of His coming in 2Ths. 2:8. As I had also said earlier, the Roman Papacy “changed the set times and laws” of the Church, and “wore out the saints of the Most High” as mentioned Dan. 7:25, killing over 50 million Christians over the course of several hundred years during the middle or dark ages (just type in your internet search engine: “Over 50 million Christians killed by the Papacy,” and you’ll see). He is said to be a "little" horn in Daniel 7 unlike these other horns, and even unlike the "little" horn of Antiochus Epiphanes that "grew" big in Daniel 8. So we can readily see here how the Roman Papacy was indeed "little" in comparison to these other leaders; and remains little in comparison even to this day. Yet still not without great influence over others.

In the days of Christ ascending to the right hand of the Ancient of Days, Daniel clearly says Christ is given dominion, glory and a kingdom that shall not be destroyed (Dan. 7:14). In the remainder of Daniel 7, the vision is interpreted for Daniel. The four beasts are said to be four kings, or kingdoms (v. 17), and the kingdom that is given to “One like the Son of Man” is said to also be given to, or shared with, His saints (vv. 18, 22, 27) which eventually prevail over the ten kings who were to arise out of the crumbling ruins of the Roman empire, along with the “little horn” that would arise out of them as well.

What we find in Daniel 7 is a courtroom scene set in heaven. In this “court,” the kingdoms of the earth are now being judged, not later, under the current rule and reign of the Messiah (as was proven earlier with the image of Nebuchadnezzar in Dan. 2:35, 44). In connection with this ongoing heavenly judgment, the One like the Son of Man "comes up" to the Ancient of Days (as seen in Mk. 16:19; Acts 1:9), and not down to earth. The dominion that is removed from the earthly beast-kingdoms is handed over to the One like the Son of Man and “to the saints, the people of the Most High,” who co-reign with Christ to spoil the nations of their people for Christ (Dan. 7:27, et al). Daniel does not describe anyone coming “from” heaven to earth, either literally or figuratively. The “coming of the Son of Man,” in the context of Daniel 7, is the physical coming of the Son of Man UP TO HIS THRONE IN HEAVEN to receive His kingdom, power, rule and reign; and to be later witnessed (not physically) by the "signs" that Christ said would take place in Matthew 24 in the not-to-distant-future.

If the scene pictured in Daniel 7, is the scene to which Jesus alludes to when He makes reference to “the coming of the Son of Man,” then the possibility must be allowed that Jesus wasn’t referring to His Second Coming at all when He was saying this. He may have been referring, and indeed was referring to, His ascension to the throne of God, His receiving of His kingdom, and His Judgeship over the nations and upon Jerusalem in 70 A.D.; thus proving He had received the kingdom and that He was who He claimed to be—the Messiah, Son of Man/Son of David, seated on David’s throne; not only over the earth, but over the heavens and the earth. And the prophecies that Jesus foretold in Matthew 24 were to be the "sign" that the Son of Man had indeed "come" and was ruling and reigning in heaven. The proof was in the pudding; and the "pudding" was all the events that Christ said would take place (not only as a Prophet) but as the King of kings and Lord of lords who would make good on His own word.

Important "Time Texts"

Before concluding, it may be helpful to look briefly at some rather ambiguous “time texts” in the Gospels. I have already asserted that “this generation” refers to Jesus’ contemporaries in another article I wrote which proves beyond all doubt that Jesus was not referring to some future generation.

But another such “time text” is found in the Olivet discourse in Mk. 13:29 and Lke. 21:31, with regards to the verb “happening.”When Jesus said in these passages, “when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at the door,” the Greek verb for “happening” is “the present participle” (Vincent’s Word Studies in the NT, pp. 120, 212). And a “present participle” is “normally contemporaneous in time to the action of the main verb”[3], and is “used to express present action in relation to the time indicated”(Dictionary.com). Online Wiktionary also adds that it is to be understood as “an ongoing action in the present.” So when Jesus said, “when you see these things,” the present participle “happening” agrees to the fact that it was a contemporaneous event that the disciples would continually see being played out in their own lifetime. J. F. B. Commentary also adds on Mk. 13:29: “So ye, in like manner, when you see all these things come to pass—rather, “coming to pass.” The NIV, NAS, AMP, as well as many more translations, translate this word in similar manner. In English grammar participles come in “two varieties, past and present...each present participle ends in ing. This is the case 100 percent of the time.”[4] Another example of this would be to say: “He is coming,” and not "will be coming." So according to these present participles in Mark and in Luke, Christ’s disciples were to “see all these things” taking place in their lifetime, which includes “the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory; and with His angels to gather the elect from the four winds” (vv. 26-27). And this participle lends credence to the fact that the generation that wasn’t to pass away until “all these things have happened” was indeed their generation.

Another time text that has to do with this topic being discussed is in Mat. 26:64. Jesus is standing before Caiaphas, the high priest, and Caiaphas demands that Jesus tell him whether or not He is the Messiah, the Son of God. Jesus gives him this answer:

“You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven” (RSV).

The important words to be noted here are the Greek words translated “from now on” and “you will see.” “From now on” in the Greek is “ap arti,” and is a preposition with an adverb. The Greek word “arti” as an adverb that describes something that is to happen “now,” or “from this time forward,” and is better translated “from henceforth,” “from hereafter “ or “from this moment on,” as some translations reveal (see KJV, NKJV, ERS, ASV, WNT, and YLT). The words, “you will see,” is the Greek word opsesthe, and is a future middle indicative, which literally means, “in the future, you yourselves will absolutely see.” The same wording is used in verse 29, when Jesus also said: “I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on [ap arti] until that day when I drink it anew with you in My Father’s kingdom.” The time element in these passages denotes something that would have its beginning at the present moment and extend on into the future. What Jesus is then telling the high priest is that from the moment He spoke these words to him, that he would actually “see” Christ coming in power, although without probably ever fully realizing the ramifications of what Jesus was saying; nevertheless, the Messiah as the Son of Man would indeed be “seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven” in judgment upon Jerusalem.

If this text above in Mat. 26:64 is alluding to Dan. 7:13-14 and Psm. 110:1, which I believe it is, then it may very well be noted that it is referring to Christ’s ascension to His throne as also depicted by Peter in Acts 2:32-36, and with the ongoing present task of putting all of His enemies under His feet (1Cor. 15:25; Heb. 10:12-13). Also, the conjunction of the phrases “seated at the right hand of Power” and “coming on the clouds of heaven” implies that they are to be understood as virtually synonymous in this verse. If so, this would indicate that Jesus is speaking of “coming on the clouds” as analogous to being “seated at the right hand of Power,” rather than coming on literal clouds down to earth.

Coming On Clouds

With regards to coming on “clouds,” here we have another interesting type of language used by God via His prophets, as found in Isa. 19:1:

An oracle concerning Egypt: See, the LORD rides on a swift cloud and is coming to Egypt. The idols of Egypt tremble before him, and the hearts of the Egyptians melt within them.

Here God refers to His imminent judgment upon Egypt as Judge and King (“the Lord”), and describes it in terms of coming on a “cloud.” Clouds are often referred to in the Scriptures as that which bestows a blessing, or as that which bestows devastation and destruction—as storm clouds often bring. Here God is likening His judgment to a storm cloud that brings with it devastation. Again, Ezekiel writes concerning Egypt and her surrounding allies:

Wail and say, “Alas for that day!” For the day is near, the day of the Lord is near—a day of clouds, a time of doom for the nations. A sword will come against Egypt, and anguish will come upon Cush. When the slain fall in Egypt, her wealth will be carried away and her foundations torn down. Cush and Put, Lydia and all Arabia, Libya and the people of the covenant land will fall by the sword along with Egypt....Thebes will be taken by storm....Dark will be the day at Tahpanhes when I break the yoke of Eygypt....She will be covered with clouds (30:1-5).

Here we see such judgment depicted by stormy, gloomy “clouds…of doom,” and referred to also as “the day of the Lord’; which is common wording used throughout Scripture depicting God’s wrath being meted out upon ungodly people. And it was to be meted out by “the sword” of the invading army of the Babylonians (vv. 4, 10-12), one of God’s four sore judgments (Ezk. 15:21).

And also notice the wording “she will be covered with clouds.” Not too soon afterwards do we read also in Ezekiel, where God says He will bring Gog and his armies against Israel “advancing like a storm; you will be like a cloud covering the land….You will advance against My people Israel like a cloud that covers the land” (38:9, 16). The “clouds” referred to earlier that God said Egypt would be “covered” in, were the hordes of the armies of king Nebuchadnezzar that were to sweep over the land of Egypt, just like here in Ezekiel 38, where they are described as the armies of Gog. Literal, white, puffy clouds are not what the Lord is referring to here. He is using the imagery of “storm” clouds as figurative language to describe judgments that were about to come upon these nations via other nations. When Jesus spoke in the context of the Olivet discourse of Jerusalem’s downfall, He also refers to Himself, in the same context, as coming to destroy Jerusalem “with clouds” and with “power.” And similar to how the Lord's prophets used such language in the past, Jesus is also describing how He is going to send His armies, the Romans, “like a cloud that covers the land.” Jesus had alluded to this in His parable of The Wedding Banquet in Mat. 21:7, where due to the Jews mistreatment of His servants, He says: “The king was enraged, He sent His army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.” And when Nebuchadnezzar overtook Egypt, God says: “I have given him Egypt as a reward for his efforts because he and his army did it for Me…” (Ezk. 29:20). Like I said before, even Stephen understood such a concept about Christ. For it was for these accusations that Christ did indeed make, including Stephen’s defense, that he was stoned for: “For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us” (Acts 6:14). Not only did Jesus say that He, “the King,” would be “enraged,” sending “His army” to “destroy those murderers and burn their city” (which the Jews understood as speaking about themselves, v. 45), but He even noted on one occasion to the Samaritan women that people would no longer worship either in Jerusalem or Samaria, but in spirit and in truth—intimating also a “change” in the “customs Moses handed down” that Stephen had also claimed.

Again, the Word of the Lord reads: “Look! He advances like clouds, His chariots come like a whirlwind” (Jer. 4:13). Here God is referring to the Babylonians that He was going to use to judge Israel with. In Isaiah 19, mentioned above, it says it’s the Lord coming on a cloud, while here in Jeremiah, it is said to be the Babylonians “from the north” (v. 6). It makes no difference, for both are involved in the judgment. This is evidenced throughout the Scriptures, and is clearly seen in Isaiah 13:17-19:

See, I will stir up against them the Medes, who do not care for silver and have no delight in gold. Their bows will strike down the young men; they will have no mercy on infants nor will they look with compassion on children. Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms, the glory of the Babylonians’ pride, will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah (cp. 10:5-7; Jer. 25:9).

Other places where similar imagery is used is: Isa. 5:30; 14:31; 28:2; 29:6; 30:30; Jer. 25:32; Psm. 83:15. None of these verses are to give the impression that God, or others, are to literally come on clouds, winds, or stormy tempests. Clearly, the Lord is using such imagery to express certain ideas and concepts about Himself and others. In Gen. 11:5, God said “He came down to see the city,” or in Ex. 3:8, “I am come down to deliver thee.” In none of these places are we to suppose that the Lord “visibly” came down, but He “came down” nonetheless. And in the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Christ as King “came down” to destroy the city; and it was to be the “sign” of all signs that He was indeed King of kings and Lord of lords ruling and reigning over, not only the earth, but over the heavens and earth; far above all principalities and powers.

Jesus saw the kingdom of God as something that was being inaugurated in His ministry. It was a “new” covenant under a “new” administration, of which the Old Testament administration was but a type. Christ rule and reign is the “spiritual” antitype. He predicted that judgment was going to fall upon the temple and the city of Jerusalem because of the Jews rejection of Him. It was to be a token manifestation (or a “sign”) that He was truly seated at the right hand of Power, ruling and reigning as the proffered Messiah. They wanted a "sign"— well, they got it! The passages in the Gospels, as well as in Daniel, that refer to “the coming of the Son of Man” are attempted to be interpreted in a number of ways, but only one interpretation will suffice, the one where Jesus said His disciples, as well as the Sanhedrin, would from “henceforth” be witnesses to in their generation, and even witnessed in future generations to come! Do you "see"?

“Just as man is destined to die once,
and after that to face judgment,
so Christ was sacrificed once
to take away the sins of many people;
and He will appear a second time,
not to bear sin,
but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him”
(Heb. 9:27-28).

Footnotes:


[1] A literal valley named after “Jehoshaphat” never existed in ancient antiquity. It was a later emendation (noted by the church historian Eusebius around the fourth century) that was given to the valley that lies between Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives. The actual valley of Jehoshaphat was named by Jehoshaphat and the people of Israel as, the valley of Beracah (or the “valley of praise“), because the people had “praised” the Lord for God sparing them from being defeated by the Ammonites and the Moabites in 2Chronicles 20.

The reason, I believe, why God chose Jehoshaphat’s name is because his name means “Jehovah Judges.” The Lord often uses names like this to depict something other than who or what the name belongs to. We saw Him doing this with the name of Elijah in Mal. 4:5, as a referent to John the Baptist, the one who was to come before the terrible day of the Lord, or Jesus (cf. Mat. 11:14; 17:10-12). The Lord changes up the wording here with regards to the valley “of Jehoshaphat,” to the valley “of decision” (or the “valley of verdict“) in Joel 3:14. What is denoted in Joel 3:2 and 12 as a valley in which God is the Judge, in verse 14 it is denoted as a valley in which a verdict is made by God, for or against people. God is giving His “verdict” (or “decision”), distinguishing between His harvest of souls verses His grapes of wrath in Joel 3:13, which is the very same concept or idea being depicted for us in Rev. 14:15-19 by two different angels, as well as in Rev. 19:15 with regards to the grapes, and most notably in Mat. 25 of the separation between His sheep and the goats.

Joel (or the Lord) tells us that all the nations of the world will be gathered in this valley, which physically (or literally) is an impossibility; therefore, the Lord cannot be talking about a literal little valley over in Palestine, but a valley known by David as: “the valley of the shadow of death.” It is the world wherein we all like David now “walk in” and live. It is the place where David said he would fear no evil, for God’s “rod” and “staff” comfort him, unlike for those who do not trust in the Lord. It is where David also says God prepares a table before us in the presence of our enemies. Clearly, this “valley” that David speaks of is not a literal, physical valley somewhere in the world; for this “shadow of death” is wherever one might live in the world.

There are many different kinds of valleys in Scripture. There is the “valley of Baca” (or of weeping wherein God’s people are said to make it into a place of springs, and they go from “strength to strength (see Psm. 84:5). There is the “valley of Ono” (or of the strong) in Neh. 6:2. The “valley of Jiphthah-el” (or the valley that God opens) in Josh. 19:14, 27. The “valley of Achor” (or of trouble) which becomes a “resting place” and “a door of hope” for God’s people in Isaiah 66:10 and Hosea 2:14. The figurative “valley of mountains” in Zech. 14:7 which God is said to create for His people to flee through. The figurative lowly “valley of the acacias” in Joel 3:18, which are God’s people who are said to be watered from the fountain that flows from the Lord’s house (for “acacias” are just one of the types of trees that are used by God as a figure of His people in Isaiah 41:19. And the Lord says here in Isaiah 41 that He “will make rivers flow on barren heights, and springs within the valleys” to water these trees that He is said to plant. Acacia wood was also used to make a lot of the furniture and framing for the Tabernacle of Moses in Exodus 25-27. And we all know who that tabernacle and crude forerunner of the temple represents—Christ and His Church!). There was also a valley of booths in Psm. 60:6; 108:7 which seems to be reminiscent of God as a shelter for His people. There is the valley of Hinnom or of Gehenna; the valley of vision; the valley of slaughter and so on and so forth. In some of these places things literally occurred and thus the reason for the name given to them. But there is still some type of typological significance to them for us today. Others though, have and do not literally occur, but are figures of speech used by Lord to convey spiritual truths or ideas.

Clearly, one thing is certain, this phrase “valley of Jehoshaphat” (or even “decision”) is being used by the Lord as a figure for a place of judgment. And in Matthew 25, this judgment in this lowly valley of this world is occurring right now and not literally someday in the land of Palestine. The Lord is taking that experience in the days of Jehoshaphat and applying it in a figurative manner to God’s people in our day. Even Merrill F. Unger notes that “Joel’s prophetic employment of it is figurative,” and, “there is a typical use of the word, in a sense of divine judgments upon the enemies of God and his people” (Unger’s Bible Dictionary, p. 564).

An example of this kind of judgment where we see God (or Christ) sitting in judgment with people now in the earth, is in Ezk. 20:33-36 which says:

“As I live,” declares the Lord GOD, “surely with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out, I shall be King over you. I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands where you are scattered, with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out; and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face. As I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you,” declares the Lord GOD.

The Lord wasn’t literally (or physically) on the earth and entering into judgment with them face to face. But He was there nevertheless. The Lord no more literally sits in some little valley to judge all of the nations in Joel’s prophecy, than He literally entered into judgment face to face with Israel in Ezekiel’s prophecy.

Again, in Jer. 49:38, the Lord says, “I will set My throne in Elam and destroy her king and officials.” God didn’t literally set up His throne in Elam. This speaks of God coming as a King to Judge Elam back then on the earth. “I will scatter them [like chaff] to the four winds…I will bring disaster upon them, even My fierce anger, declares the Lord. I will pursue them with the sword until I have made an end of them” (v. 37). And He did this with the very enemies that Elam despised.

In a similar manner, the Lord says in Jer. 1:15:

I am about to summon all the peoples of the northern kingdoms, declares the Lord. Their kings will come and set up their thrones in the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem; they will come against all her surrounding walls and against all the towns of Judah.

Here God speaks of the kings of the north setting up their thrones at the entrances of the gates of Jerusalem. But, again, they didn’t literally do this. Their actual physical thrones were in the lands from which they came from. Again, all this denotes is that God would use them to sit in judgment as kings against the apostate Jews, and their kingdom would essentially become the kingdom of these kings of the north.

Again the Lord says:

In Tahpanhes the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: “While the Jews are watching, take some large stones with you and bury them in clay in the brick pavement at the entrance to Pharaoh’s palace in Tahpanhes.” Then say to them, “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I will set his throne over these stones I have buried here; he will spread his royal canopy above them. He will come and attack Egypt, bringing death to those destined for death, captivity to those destined for captivity, and the sword to those destined for the sword” (Jer. 43:8-11).

Of course, again, Nebuchadnezzar didn’t literally set up his throne over those rocks. God used him as a “king” to judge Egypt and take their kingdom for himself. And notice that the Lord says Nebuchadnezzar is “My servant.” Nebuchadnezzar did what he did for God, who as the King of kings used Nebuchadnezzar to mete out His judgments upon Egypt. Don’t believe me? Then read this next verse:

Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am going to give Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will carry off its wealth. He will loot and plunder the land as pay for his army. I have given him Egypt as a reward for his efforts because he and his army did it for Me, declares the Sovereign Lord (Ezk. 29:19-20).

In Matthew 22:7, Jesus says the same thing of God (or even of himself) who as a King would bring desolations upon Israel in 70 AD via the Roman armies:

The King was enraged, He sent His army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

And in Mat. 21:45, it says that “when the chief priest and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew He was talking about them.” And this next parable mentioned above in Mat. 22:7 is likewise said to be spoken “to them” (v. 1). In Acts 7:14, Stephen had likewise said that Jesus would destroy the temple, taking his cue mostly like from Jesus’ words here in Matthew’s gospel and elsewhere. False witnesses had accused Stephen of making false claims, since to them Jesus was dead. But He is alive and well ruling now over all the kingdoms of the earth, just as He has always done so in the past. King Jesus judged and destroyed the temple, the city and the people of Israel in 70 AD with the Roman king or emperor Titus and his armies. They did it for Him!

Have no doubt about, Christ now sits as King and Judge over all the earth ruling with a rod of iron, separating His sheep from the goats in this great and lowly valley called the world and “of death” that is said to be Christ's “footstool,” and not His throne. But He rules nevertheless from heaven over all of the heavens and the earth. For Christ has even said, “the one overcoming and keeping My works until the end, I will give to him authority over the nations, and he will shepherd them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken in pieces—just as I also have [now] received from My Father.” (Rev. 2:26-27, Berean Literal Bible). That’s right, Christ says He has already been vested with this authority right now. The Greek verb for “have received” is a perfect active indicative, which means it began at some point and time in the past with continuing results in the present. And to all who die and go home to be with the Lord in the future, they rule and reign with Him now as well “with a rod of iron.” No wonder John “saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed…the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image…” (Rev. 20:4, ESV). No doubt, these are the “overcomers” that Christ is speaking of. They are all those in heaven who “loved not their lives unto death.” They literally now rule and reign with Christ in heaven.

Every one knows that there was never a literal “valley” called “Jehoshaphat.” Even the people in Jehoshaphat’s day didn’t call it that. But when you study the life of Jehoshaphat and the people of God that he was over, they all had to make a decision (a judgment), or else be judged by the Lord at a gorge where a battle was to be fought. There decision was one of “faith” in the Lord; for the ungodly though, it was a place where they too had to make a “decision” whether to attack God’s people, or not to attack them. And God made the “decision” (or “verdict,” as the translation literally reads) in this valley to judge them right there for their unbelief. It was a place where deliverance was wrought for God’s people, but judgment and wrath upon all unbelievers who were threatening to destroy God’s people, similar to the Red Sea experience. It was a valley of “weeping” for some, while a valley of “blessing” (or of “praise”) for others.

A spiritual battle and war is going on right now here on earth between Satan and his people and God and His people; between the godly and the ungodly. It is a time also when ploughshares are beaten into swords, but for warfare of a different nature to be fought in Christ’s kingdom—but a battle that is real nonetheless. This is why the apostles use the language that they do in their epistles which depicts those of us who are fighting in a real “spiritual” battle. This is where they got all of their analogies from, no doubt—from the prophetical writings of God’s prophets. We need to shod ourselves with shields, boots, breastplates, helmets and swords of a spiritual kind; and above all, pray and seek the Lord “in faith” like Jehoshaphat and all the people. We are on both the defensive and the offensive; wise as serpents, but gentle as doves; keeping the peace, while at the same time plundering the enemy and taking God’s kingdom by force. For the spoils of our warfare are people, just like in Joel’s vision, and lots of them.

Have no doubt about it, we are in a real battle, in which like Jehoshaphat and the people of God we are to fight with the good fight of “faith.” Even as Jehoshaphat had said, “Have faith in the Lord your God and you will be upheld; have faith in His prophets and you will be successful” (2Chr. 20:20). No doubt, the battle is the Lord’s, as it was for them and even for us. And this is the picture that God is wonderfully portraying for us here in Joel’s vision. Such are the ways in which battles are to be won in Christ’s kingdom, by a people solely walking by faith. “Faith” is what Jehoshaphat and his people had in this “valley” experience, which we all now know was “the valley of Beracah” or “the valley of Praise.” Having done all, we, like them, stand firm in our faith and exult in the Lord in giving praise and thanksgiving unto Him, speaking to ourselves in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs as Jehoshaphat and all the people did back then (2Chr. 20:18-19, 21-22, 28-30).

As said before, this “valley of Jehoshaphat” is the world in which we now live in. It is the great valley of decision and judgment for all peoples of the earth wherein they either humble themselves under the mighty hand of God, or be humbled. Albert Barnes writes with regards to all of this “valley of decision” making in Joel 3:14: “This valley is the same as that before called the valley of Jehoshaphat; but whereas that name only signifies God judgeth, this further name denotes the strictness of God’s judgment. The word signifies ‘cut,’ then ‘decided’; then is used of severe punishment, or destruction decided and decreed by God” (Barnes' Notes online). Jesus had said it this way, “By your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned” (Mat. 12:37). This valley “of decision” making is clearly, as the KJV margin renders it, God’s great valley or floor “of threshing” where His wheat is being separated from the chaff; where God’s grain harvest is being distinguished from His grapes of wrath. Keil and Delitzsch in commenting under Joel 3:13 agree: "With the preaching of the gospel among all nations, the judgment of separation and decision commenced; with the spread of the kingdom of Christ in the earth it passes over all nations; and it will be completed in the last judgment, on the return of Christ in glory at the end of this world." (biblehub.com).

The Bible expositor and commentator Matthew Poole has some insightful comments with regards to this valley called “the valley of Jehoshaphat” in Joel:

Though our dividing this chapter from the former seems to some a beginning of some new matter, yet indeed the prophet prosecutes his old subject, and proceeds to declare how that great thing mentioned in the last verse of the second chapter should be effected, and in this verse you have a transition to that thing…Judah after the flesh [is] as a type, but, according to the mystery of it, Judah signifieth the whole remnant or residue of those God will save.” [That it is] “the bringing back of the whole captivity of the [spiritual] Israel of God by Christ the Messiah, is here to be considered, and all along through this chapter….the valley of Jehoshaphat….we must look to it as a type of somewhat signified by it, and so apply it….Jerusalem His Church shall see this, as the [natural] inhabitants of Jerusalem might see what is done in the valley of Jehoshaphat….Who sees not this in it, that God will plead the cause of His oppressed Church, and avenge it as His own cause?….Though we should not have any particular history that relates to the transactions of these people in this kind [is evident]….Gather yourselves together round about; all around Judea, the nations near about this valley…toward Judea and Jerusalem, the Church and heritage of God….Let all Thy mighty ones, whether enemies of Thy Church gathered against it, or friends of Thy Church, and gathered for its defense, let them all here encamp…to punish the proud oppressors of Thy Church….For there, in the midst of My people and Church, will I sit to Judge, to plead with, condemn, and punish by the sword…not all the world, but [only] all the heathen round about Judea, which was oppressed by these heathens…the persecutors of His Church…. The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars will withdraw their shining…When God doth in the valley of decision punish any of the kingdoms which persecuted and oppressed His Church, the punishment shall be so great as to darken the glory of such kingdoms…the utter overthrow of those kingdoms and governments [see also Isa. 13:10, of Babylon; Isa. 34:4, of Edom; Ezk. 32:7, of Egypt; Joel 2:10, of Israel; and Amos 8:9, of the northern kingdom, which are all similar analogies making use of such figures of speech which depict the casting down and removal of the “glory” and “splendor” of kingdoms that occurred in the past]….The heavens and earth will shake….the heavens; metaphorically the states and kingdom, the great ones in those states. The earth; the common sort of people, the inferior ranks of men; the foundation of those kingdoms shall be shaken and overthrown….For to Him [the Messiah] and His days do these finally and ultimately refer, and the gospel is preached….A fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord….this no doubt is a shadow of the purifying blood of Christ…these spiritual waters shall flow down to the dry and thirsty, the barren and fruitless Gentiles, and make them fruitful….Egypt shall be a desolation….By Egypt understand we then all the enemies of the Church,…as [natural] Egypt towards Israel….so shall spiritual Egypt [be], Rev. 11:8.…Against the children of Judah; [refers to] the people of God, His churches. (Matthew Poole’s Commentary, available to view at: www.biblehub.com).

Charles Spurgeon said of Matthew Poole, “On the whole, if I must have only one commentary, and had read Matthew Henry as I have, I do not know but what I should choose Poole.” With regards to what Poole says above about Joel, and on many other points as well, I would have to concur with Spurgeon that I too would “choose Poole.”

Now is the day of salvation—the day of decision making—for or against Christ. It is a day to have “faith,” or to deny the only God and Savior as those who do so in 2Pet. 2:1 and Jude 4 whose, “condemnation was written about” (Jude 4) and “has long been hanging over them…their destruction has not been sleeping” (2Pet. 2:3). Now is the time for people to humble themselves, or be humbled. Today is the valley of decision making, both for us and for the Lord. Today is the day of either salvation or judgment. This is the “valley” that John the Baptist and all the prophets were referring to. And all those in the lowly “valley” who are of a humble and of a contrite spirit, John the Baptist and all the prophets say God will “fill up” or “raise up” by His Spirit. The mountains and hills, on the other hand, will be “raised” or “brought low.” Those who “have faith” have a part on that “great mountain” that is said in Daniel 2:35 to fill the whole earth, and even called by the Lord “My mountain valley” in Zechariah 14:3-5 (NIV) where it says God’s people flee for refuge; whereas, any Egyptian (or foreigner) assaying to do so will be drowned, or to use another figure used by God in Zechariah, “they will have no rain” (14:18); for they do not enter by faith and keep the feasts with us as prescribed by God under our New Covenantal relationship with Christ. They are what Jesus referred to as “the dogs” who are “outside” in Rev. 22:15; the “foreigners” in Joel 3:17; the “Canaanite” in Zech. 14:21b; and the “impure” or “anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful” in Rev. 21:27. And so for their disobedience they receive not the abundant rains of God’s blessings, but are like a “dry tree” (as opposed to a “green tree” referred to everywhere in the Scriptures) in a barren and arid desert.

[2] Matthew 25 gives the disciples exhortations about remaining faithful under all the duress that is about to befall their land, and the persecutions that would come from their own countrymen. But he that endures to the very end under all these hardships will be rewarded, not only in this life, but in the life to come will be given eternal life (this timeless truth is true for all Christians). Mat. 25:31-36 is all about “whoever receives you, receives me” (see also Mat. 10:11-15, 40-42; Mk. 6:11; 9:40-41; Gen. 12:3, the original promise made to Abraham and his posterity, namely, all the elect Jews and Gentiles). In essence, Christ was saying he who doesn’t receive you by not wanting to feed you, clothe you, visit you in prison, or even give you a cup of water in my name, gives evidence to the fact that they are really none of His, and will also not be received of God, but will ultimately go away to eternal punishment. These exhortations to faithfulness were specifically addressed to Christ’s disciples, but they also set the stage for how we are to conduct ourselves and to be aware of who the “goats” are—the ones that do not give us a welcome reception. Instead of water, they give us vinegar; instead of comforting us in prison, they want to throw us in prison; instead of clothing us, they want to take them away and cast lots for them; and instead of feeding us in their homes and showing hospitality, they will have nothing to do with us. We have become the scourge of the earth! In response, we are to shake the dust off our feet when we leave that home or town (Mat. 10:14). Jesus said their judgment will be severe (10:15).This ongoing process of Christ presently distinguishing between His sheep from the goats in this life is all a prelude to the final and ultimate separation to be revealed on the final Judgment Day (see a similar idea in Ezk. 8-9 of a separation that was taking place at that time, not later).

[3] http://www.crosscountrysoftware.com/
greekparticiples.html

[4] http://www.chompchomp.com/terms/participle.html