Joel uses 1, 2, 3, and 4 with reference to the judgment of the nations in the vale of Jehoshaphat,' and with reference to the day of Yahweh, which he represents as near.' Another prophet' declares that the day of Yahweh is near, with special mention of the judgment of Babylon, and uses signs 1, 2, 3, 4, and 7, and adds, 10: “The earth will be shaken out of her place." A prophet of the exile refers to the judgment of the earth, and uses 1, 2, and 10. Another prophecy uses similar language with reference to the judgment of the nations: And all the host of heaven will consume away, And the heavens will be rolled together as a scroll: And all their host will fade away, As the leaf fadeth from off the vine, And as a fading leaf from the fig-tree." Thus these are the familiar theophanic signs that accompany the Day of Yahweh and the Advent of Yahweh, which the prophets ever represent as near. Matthew differs from the other evangelists in giving the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and the mourning of all the tribes of the earth. There is here a reference to the prediction in Zechariah' which represents Israel as bitterly wailing because of their rejected Messiah. Herein Jesus shows that he himself is that rejected Shepherd. The Evangelist Matthew probably refers to some special sign of the second Advent in the clouds that would bring the nations to mourning over the great sin of the rejection of the Messiah. The original passage has in view only the house of David and inhabitants of Jerusalem. It is possible that the "tribes of the earth" also refers to Israel alone, but it is probable that 1 iii. 15, 16. • Isa. xxxiv. 7 xii. 10-14. 2 ii. 1, 10. Isa. xiii. 6 seq. 4 Isa. xxiv. 18 seq. • Briggs' Messianic Prophecy, pp. 311, 312. Russell, in 7. c., p. 77. with the broader conception of the gospel the tribes are those of the earth who have become equally guilty with Israel in the rejection of their common Messiah. The context has to do with the nations, and not with Israel alone. Having considered the signs of the Advent and found them to be the usual theophanic signs, we are now prepared to look at the Advent itself. It is here given in the style of Daniel: "The Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with great power and glory." The three evangelists agree essentially in these words. Jesus here distinctly makes himself the "Son of Man" of Daniel, and proclaims that he will come in the same manner, enthroned upon the clouds. This advent is here conceived, as in Daniel, as an advent not for Israel alone, but also for the nations. The angels are sent forth to gather the elect from all parts of the earth (Mark and Matthew). The redemption of the elect is in the mind of Jesus here. He passes over the condemnation of the nations, which is the prominent feature in Daniel. Many scholars regard these signs and the advent in the clouds as purely symbolical, and of the nature of drapery or scenery to set forth more distinctly and graphically an advent which is essentially not visible and physical, but spiritual. Russell says: "The moral grandeur of the events which such symbols represent may be most fitly set forth by convulsions and cataclysms in the natural world." Warren says: "It was in terms thus hallowed by association with the founding of their own divine monarchy, and familiarized to the Jews as the technical phraseology denoting the accession 1 In . c., p. 81. of kings to their thrones-the court language of inaugu ration, so to speak, that Christ described his coming to men in his kingdom." Beyschlag recognizes that Jesus had in mind the renovation of heaven and earth, but he also insists that Jesus thought also of the spiritual renovation of humanity, and that the cosmical features are the dress of the spiritual substance, and that both the spiritual and the cosmical find their fulfilment in their order, although they were not discriminated in the mind of Jesus. This combination of the cosmical and the spiritual in the representation of Beyschlag is tempting in some respects, but not satisfying. These cosmical disturbances belong not only to the theophanies and the Christophanies of prophecy, but also to the theophanies and Christophanies of history in both the Old Testament and the New. They represent the response of the creature to the presence of the Creator. They cannot be symbolical in the prophecy without destroying their force in the history. These signs are theophanic signs, and they show that a Christophany or Advent of the Messiah is impending. We are now prepared to consider the question of time. Luke gives us nothing on this subject. Mark says: "In those days, after that tribulation." Matthew is more definite: "But immediately after the tribulation of those days." The statement is that immediately after that shortened time of tribulation the signs heralding the advent appear. What meaning are we to ascribe to εὐθέως ? It is certainly no stronger than the of Old Testament prophecy used in connection with similar advents to judgIt represents that to the mind of the prophet ment. 1 Parousia, p. 127. 2 Leben Jesu, ii. s. 312 seq. Jesus, as to the prophets that preceded him, the Advent was near. It was near in the prophetic sense-that is, the event was certain, but the time uncertain. It is noteworthy that Mark and Matthew have now given us in their order the birth throes, the tribulation and the Parousia with its signs, which is Déw to the tribulation. These are the three sections of the original Jewish-Christian Apocalypse, according to Weiffenbach. It is also manifest that the period of the preaching of the gospel to the nations of the three Synoptists, and the times of the Gentiles, of Luke, are not in the same order of events as these. If they are to be brought into chronological relation with the other series, it would seem that while the preaching of the gospel may be to some extent parallel with the tribulation, it cannot be limited by that shortened time, but must extend beyond it and be parallel with the times of the Gentiles, which were certainly subsequent to the destruction of the holy city, and therefore intervene between the tribulation and the Parousia, and must be covered by the expression έw of Matthew. To take the Déw strictly, or in any other way than the apocalyptic sense of the Old Testament advent scenes, is to introduce a glaring inconsistency between the two representations.' (7) The Relation of the Signs to the Advent. Now from the fig Now from the fig tree learn her para- tree learn her parable: when her ble: when her branch branch is now be- is now become tencome tender, and der, and putteth putteth forth its forth its leaves, ye leaves, ye know that know that the sum 1 Briggs' Messianic Prophecy, pp. 52 sq. LUKE XXI. 28-33. But when these things begin to come to pass, look up, and lift up your heads; because your redemption draweth nigh. And he spake so ye also, when ye the summer is nigh; mer is nigh; even be away, but my words para to them a Having given the signs of the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, and then of the Advent, in their order, Jesus now answers the question in the form of showing the inter-relation of the two questions as to the time and the signs, or of the relation of the signs to the End in the matter of time. He uses the symbol of the fig tree (Matthew, Mark) and trees in general (Luke). The putting forth of leaves shows that summer is nigh. As the leaves of the tree are to the summer, so are the signs to the Advent of the Messiah. "When ye see these things coming to pass, know ye that he is nigh, even at the doors" (Mark). 2. "When ye see all these things, know ye that he is nigh, even at the doors" (Matthew). 3. "But when these things begin to come to pass, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption 1 The parts of this section enclosed in brackets are regarded by Weiffenbach as the close of the original Jewish-Christian Apocalypse. |