Ezekiel Chapters 37-47 Israel’s restoration, invasion, and new temple.
Daniel Chapters 7-12 Daniel’s visions of the future.
Matthew Chapter 24 Signs of the end of the age.
Mark Chapter 13 Signs of the end of the age.
Luke 17:20-37; 21:5-36 The coming of the kingdom of God.
1 Corinthians 15:12-58 The resurrection of the body.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 The coming of the Lord.
2 Thessalonians 2:1-10 The man of lawlessness before the Lord comes.
2 Peter 3:3-13 Destruction by fire on the day of the Lord.
1 John 2:18; 4:1-3 The antichrist and the spirit of antichrist.
Revelation Chapters 6-22 Visions of God’s wrath, man’s tribulation, the work of antichrist, and Christ’s victorious reign.
All Christians believe that Jesus Christ will “come again to judge the living and the dead” (see Matthew 25:31-46; Revelation 20:11-15; General Articles: Introduction). Jesus not only predicted His own death and resurrection (Matthew 16:21; Mark 8:31-32; 9:9-10; 10:33-34), but He also predicted His second coming (Matthew 16:27; 25:31; Mark 8:38; 13:26). After His resurrection from death, Jesus remained on earth for forty days, encouraging the disciples (Acts 1:3). While witnessing His ascension to heaven, the disciples were told that Jesus would return in the same way as He had left (see Luke 24:51; Acts 1:9-11). From the beginning, the apostles taught believers to wait and hope for Christ’s second coming (Acts 3:19-21; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 9:28).
Jesus promised to go and prepare a place for us in heaven, and to come back and take us to live with Him there (John 14:2-3). Jesus also promised His followers that He would raise them up at the last day (John 6:39-40,54). Paul said that in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come (1 Corinthians 15:22-24). Paul described this resurrection of our bodies as our final adoption as sons, when we will be glorified at the completion of our salvation (see Romans 8:18-25,30; Philippians 3:20-21; General Article: Way of Salvation).
This resurrection will be a sudden event. In 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17, Paul wrote that God will bring with Jesus the spirits of those believers who have already died. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. The dead will be given new bodies that cannot die, and those who are alive will have their old bodies changed to new ones; this will happen in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet (1 Corinthians 15:51-53). Jesus also mentioned a trumpet call from the clouds, when He will send His angels to gather the elect from all over the earth (Matthew 24:30-31; Mark 13:26-27). Jesus warned that of two people sleeping in one bed (or working in a field or grinding grain together) one will be taken and the other left (Matthew 24:40-41; Luke 17:34-35). Many refer to these events as the “rapture” of the church.
But the second coming is also important as a time when God will bring justice and peace to the earth. The Old Testament records many prophecies about Jesus Christ as the Messiah. Some prophecies predicted His death for the sins and sorrows of the people (Psalm 22:1-31; Isaiah 53:1-12; Daniel 9:25-26); these were fulfilled almost two thousand years ago when Jesus was crucified and rose again. Other prophecies predicted that the Messiah would establish a righteous kingdom for God’s chosen people, the Jews (Isaiah 2:1-4; 11:1-16; Jeremiah 23:3-8; Ezekiel 37:15-28); these were not fulfilled during Jesus’ life on earth.
Some passages of the Bible speak of the second coming as very near or soon (Hebrews 10:25; James 5:9; 1 John 2:18; Revelation 22:7,12,20), but that no one will know the exact day or hour (Matthew 24:36,44; Mark 13:32-35). Jesus said His coming in judgment will be like lightning in the sky, and that all nations will see His sign … appear in the sky and they will mourn (Matthew 24:27,30; Luke 17:24; Revelation 1:7). Jesus compared His return to a thief breaking into a house or to a master returning to his house and servants without warning (Matthew 24:42-51; Mark 13:34-37; Revelation 3:3; 16:15). Paul and Peter gave similar warnings (1 Thessalonians 5:1-4; 2 Peter 3:10).
However, the Bible also teaches that there will be certain signs beforehand, so that we may know when Jesus’ coming is near (Mark 13:28-29). Jesus said that “this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14; Mark 13:10). In the last days, evil men will go from bad to worse, many will reject the faith, and men will scoff at the second coming (Matthew 24:9-14; 2 Timothy 3:1-7,13; 2 Peter 3:3-10; Jude 17-19). Jesus also predicted that there will be wars, earthquakes, famines, and disease epidemics on earth, as well as signs in the sun, moon, and stars (Mark 13:24-28; Luke 21:10-11,25-26; Revelation Chapters 6,8,9,16). This period of trouble is called the great tribulation (Daniel 12:1; Mark 13:19-20; Revelation 7:14).
Jesus also warned of false Christs and false prophets who will perform signs and miracles to deceive men (Mark 13:6,21-23). John wrote not only that many antichrists had already come, but also that a particular antichrist is coming (1 John 2:18-22; 4:1-3). Paul reassured the Thessalonians that the day of the Lord had not come already by pointing out that the man of lawlessness had not yet been revealed; this man will do counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and set himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God (2 Thessalonians 2:1-10; Revelation 13:14-15). This idol in the temple may be the abomination that causes desolation, which Jesus predicted1 (Daniel 9:26-27; 12:11; Matthew 24:15; Mark 13:14).
Revelation Chapters 6-16 present many symbolic visions of great tribulations and calamities, ending with the return of Jesus to set up a righteous kingdom. Chapters 13-19 tell of a political ruler (pictured as a beast from the sea) and a false prophet who will do the evil works described for the antichrist (Daniel 7:24-25; 9:26-27; 11:36-45; 12:1-13; Mark 13:14,22; 2 Thessalonians 2:110; 1 John 2:18). This ruler will gather the armies of the earth to Armageddon, where he will be defeated by the returning Christ (Revelation 16:16; 17:14; 19:1121). Ezekiel Chapters 38-39 and 2 Thessalonians 2:8 also seem to describe this battle.
Revelation 20:1-7 describes a period of a thousand years in which Satan is bound in the Abyss, unable to deceive the nations. This period is called the “millennium,” from the Latin word for “one thousand.” The souls of those who had been killed for refusing to worship the image of the beast during his terrible rule are raised to life. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. Those who are raised will reign with Christ for a thousand years. After this thousand-year period, Satan is released and again deceives the nations, gathering them for war against God and His people. Fire falls from heaven and destroys them. Satan is thrown into hell, and a final judgment of the dead takes place. If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:7-15).
In spite of many passages in the Bible on the second coming of Christ, much remains unclear. No single passage of Scripture presents the complete order of events during the last days. Because of this, three main views about the second coming have been proposed. These three views have different beliefs about the timing of Jesus’ second coming in relation to the thousand-year period of Revelation Chapter 20.
The first view says that there will be “no actual thousand-year kingdom on earth”; rather, the vision is symbolic of the present reign of Christ in heaven with believers who have died. The Christians who hold this first view believe that the number “thousand” symbolizes completeness and represents the entire time between Jesus’ first coming and His second coming. They believe that the binding of the dragon … or Satan (Revelation 20:2) is symbolic of the spiritual overthrow of Satan at Christ’s first coming as well as the restraining power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 10:18; 2 Thessalonians 2:7; 1 John 3:8). These Christians emphasize that the souls (Revelation 20:4) of deceased believers are with Christ now (2 Corinthians 5:6-8; Philippians 1:23-24; 1 Thessalonians 4:14; 2 Peter 1:13-14), and that the kingdom of God has already begun (Matthew 11:12; 12:28; Colossians 1:13) but is not a visible kingdom of this world (Luke 17:20-21; John 18:36-37; Romans 14:17). These Christians believe that Daniel’s seventy ‘sevens’ prophecy (Daniel 9:24-27) was completely fulfilled in the events that followed Jesus’ death and resurrection—the establishment of the church, the attempt by the Roman emperor to place his statue in the Jewish temple, and the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple which ended the Jewish sacrifices. Those who hold this view believe that the first resurrection (Revelation 20:5) is a spiritual resurrection only, pointing out that, for us who believe, God has already made us alive with Christ … raised us up … and seated us with him in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 2:4-6; 5:14; Colossians 3:1).
According to this first view, the “second resurrection” will be the resurrection of the body, and will take place when Christ returns to earth. These Christians believe that there is only one bodily resurrection—for both believers and unbelievers at the same time—and only one final judgment (Daniel 12:2; Matthew 25:31-46; John 5:28-29; Revelation 20:11-15). Believers will meet Christ coming in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:17), but immediately return with Him to earth for the final overthrow of Satan and his followers at one final battle (Revelation 19:11-21; 20:7-10). They believe that the prophecies in the Old Testament of a future earthly kingdom for the Jews have been transferred fully to the Christian church. (Compare Joel 2:28-32 with Acts 2:14-21, Zechariah 9:9-13 with Matthew 21:1-9, and Malachi 4:1-6 with Matthew 11:1114; 17:10-13; Romans 4:16; Galatians 4:22-31.) Therefore, they believe these prophecies are either symbolically fulfilled in the present church age, or will be fulfilled only in the final new heaven and new earth of Revelation Chapters 21-22.
The second view concerning Christ’s second coming is that Jesus’ return will occur “after an actual long period of peace and prosperity on the earth,” in which most of the world will turn to God and Christ in faith. This long period may not be exactly one thousand years long. Those who hold this second view agree with the first view that the kingdom of God has already begun at Christ’s first coming, but these Christians believe that the earth will gradually see more and more of Christ’s kingdom rule through the church (Matthew 28:18; Ephesians 1:19-23). The gospel of the kingdom (Matthew 24:14) will eventually win most people to faith in Christ, bringing a thousand years (or a very long period) of peace and spiritual blessings through the church (Joel 2:28-32; Acts 2:17-21). They point to many prophecies which indicate that in the last days the nations of the earth will cease warring against each other and seek knowledge about God (Isaiah 2:1-4; Micah 4:1-5; Zechariah 8:20-23). These Christians believe that many other prophecies are symbolic of this long period, when Jesus will rule His kingdom through the church before His actual return from heaven (Psalms 2; 72; Isaiah 11:6-10; Ezekiel 37:15-28; Zechariah 9:9-10). This second view agrees with the first view that the return of Christ, the bodily resurrection, and the final judgment will all take place in a single event just before the beginning of the new heaven and new earth described in Revelation Chapters 21-22.
The third main view of Christ’s second coming is that Jesus will return to earth “before the thousand-year earthly kingdom begins,” and that all believers will be resurrected to reign with Him during this period. Christians holding this third view agree that the prophets spoke in symbols, but they emphasize that all the events symbolically described will actually occur. Therefore, most of them believe that the Old Testament promises to the Jews will actually be fulfilled in the future thousand-year kingdom (Isaiah 11:1-16; 65:18-25; Jeremiah 23:5-8; Ezekiel 37:15-28; Zechariah 14:9-21). In Romans 11:25-29, Paul pointed to Old Testament promises to show that eventually the Jews would turn to the Gospel. Furthermore, these Christians believe that all time periods given in prophecy are actual times, not symbolic only. They believe that Revelation Chapters 6-19 describe an actual future tribulation, which will take place right before the return of Christ for His thousand-year reign (Daniel 12:1; Mark 13:24-27; Luke 21:1011,25-27). They believe that Daniel’s seventy “sevens” (Daniel 9:24-27) stand for 490 years of actual history. The first sixty-nine “sevens” (or 483 years) were to begin from the date of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, which was in 445 B.C. (Nehemiah 2:1-9), and continue until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, meaning Jesus, the Messiah.2 This Anointed One was to be cut off (fulfilled by Jesus’ death on the cross), and Jerusalem and its temple were to be destroyed (fulfilled in 70 A.D. by the Roman army). These Christians believe that the events of Daniel’s seventieth “seven,” or final seven years, were not fulfilled during the first century after Christ, but will only be fulfilled in a final seven-year period of tribulation immediately before Christ returns to set up His kingdom.
This third view identifies Daniel’s king or ruler who will come (Daniel 7:2425; 9:26-27; 11:36) with Paul’s man of lawlessness (2 Thessalonians 2:1-10) and with either the beast or the false prophet of Revelation Chapters 13-19. This ruler will break his covenant with Israel in the middle of the seven-year tribulation, setting up his image for worship (Daniel 9:27; 12:11; Mark 13:14; 2 Thessalonians 2:4; Revelation 13:14-15) in the new Jewish temple (Ezekiel Chapters 40-47). During this tribulation many of the Jews, as well as many from all the nations of the earth, will turn to Jesus in faith (Romans 11:25-31; Revelation 7:4,9,14), but will suffer persecution and death for their refusal to worship the image of the beast (Revelation 6:9-11; 14:3; 15:2-4; 20:4). At the end of the great tribulation, the armies of the beast will be destroyed at Armageddon by the triumphant return of Jesus Christ (Zechariah 14:1-9; Revelation 19:11-21). These Christians believe that Matthew 25:31-46 describes the judgment of the living nations before the thousand-year earthly kingdom begins, and that both resurrections in Revelation 20:1-12 are actual resurrections of the body—the first, a resurrection of deceased believers before the thousand-year period; and the second, a resurrection afterward of the unbelieving dead for final judgment. Then the old heaven and earth will be destroyed by fire, and a new heaven and new earth created (2 Peter 3:10-13; Revelation 21:1).
Those who hold this third main view do not agree among themselves as to when believers will be resurrected (or their bodies changed) to meet the Lord in the air. Most believe that Jesus’ second coming involves two visits to earth. The first is a brief, sudden return in the clouds before the tribulation period begins in order to raise all those who have believed in Jesus prior to that time (1 Thessalonians 4:17), followed by an immediate return to heaven for the wedding supper of the Lamb (Matthew 25:1-13; Revelation 19:9). This first visit will come unexpectedly, as a thief in the night (Matthew 24:42-51; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-4; Revelation 3:3). The second visit is Jesus’ actual return to earth with His resurrected believers to defeat the beast and begin His earthly kingdom. Jesus promised in John 14:2-3 to return from heaven to take us with Him. These Christians note the sudden separation between those taken and those left (Matthew 24:40-41). Paul said that God did not appoint us to suffer wrath (1 Thessalonians 5:9). Jesus told us to pray for escape from all that is about to happen (Luke 21:36). These Christians point out that Revelation 20:4-6 only describes the resurrection of those who were beheaded for refusing to worship the beast. These Christians believe that all true believers will be resurrected and taken to heaven before the tribulation begins, and that the resurrection of Revelation 20:4-6 only involves those who had become believers and died during the seven-year tribulation. The unbelieving dead will be raised just before the final judgment.
However, others who hold the third main view (that Jesus will return before the thousand-year period) believe that the church will suffer on earth during the seven-year tribulation. They agree that believers who are alive at the second coming will be caught up to meet Christ coming with deceased believers; but since they believe this takes place at the end of the seven-year tribulation period, they say that Jesus will immediately continue on to earth to defeat the beast at Armageddon and set up His kingdom. They point out that the sudden trumpet call and gathering of resurrected believers is connected in Matthew 24:15-31 with the visible return of Christ in power and glory after a time of terrible persecution, and that the prophecy in Luke 17:26-37 that one person will suddenly be taken and one will be left is connected with sudden destruction. Jesus never actually taught that He would come twice. Therefore, they believe that the return of Christ will be a single event, as in the first and second main views; but unlike those views, they say the second coming will occur before an actual thousand-year reign of Christ on earth. These Christians believe that there are only two resurrections: first, a resurrection of all believers at the return of Christ, after the tribulation and before the thousand-year kingdom begins; and second, a resurrection of the unbelieving dead just before the final judgment.3
Whatever view we hold, we should not argue and fight about this issue. We all believe in the return of Jesus Christ to raise us up for eternal life with Him. The exact details are not important for our salvation. The second coming should encourage us in our personal lives and in our public service. We are warned to be ready to meet Him by not letting the lamps of our faith and witness go out (Matthew 25:1-13). We are warned to be alert as regards our behavior, to be self-controlled, living holy and godly lives, not allowing our hearts to be weighed down with … the anxieties of life (Luke 21:34-36; 1 Thessalonians 5:4-11; 2 Peter 3:11-14). We are to stand firm and to watch, so as not to be caught sleeping or lording it over others, but to be found faithfully doing the work of the Lord that He has given us to do (Matthew 24:45-51; 25:14-30; Mark 13:35-37; 1 Corinthians 3:11-15; 15:58; 2 Corinthians 5:10). That work may be evangelism (Matthew 24:14; Mark 13:10), or service ministries (Matthew 25:31-46). Our personal repentance, personal behavior, and personal witness may actually speed His return (Mark 13:10; Acts 3:19-21; 2 Peter 3:11-12). For the grace of God … teaches us … to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ (Titus 2:11-13). Amen. Come, Lord Jesus (Revelation 22:20).
1 Jesus also prophesied that the temple would be demolished and the city surrounded by armies (Luke 21:6,20-24); in 70 A.D. Jerusalem and its temple were destroyed by the Roman army. Some scholars believe that the abomination that Jesus prophesied was the unsuccessful attempt by the Roman emperor Caligula (37-41 A.D.) to set up his statue in the Jewish temple for worship. Others believe that this part of Jesus’ prophecy will be fulfilled only in the last days.
2 Many scholars believe that each of these 483 years was only 360 days long (each month thirty days), since the comparable three-and-a-half-year (or forty-two-month) period in Daniel and in Revelation is said to be 1260 days long (Daniel 7:25; 12:7-11; Revelation 11:2-3; 12:6,14). Thus the 483 years of Daniel’s sixty-nine “sevens” actually do end at the historical time of Jesus’ ministry and death in about 30 A.D.
3 For further discussion of the resurrection and final judgment, see General Article: What Happens After Death? in The Applied Old Testament Commentary.
Just before He ascended into heaven, Jesus spoke these final words to His disciples: “… you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). We Christians are to be witnesses of Jesus Christ. The purpose of the CHURCH is to be a witness to Jesus Christ in the world. This is the church’s primary purpose; all other functions of the church are secondary to it.
What does it mean to be a witness to Jesus Christ? It means to reach out to the world by word and deed to draw men and women to Him. It means to be a light in the world. Jesus said: “… let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). Let your light shine. That means we are to be Christ’s ambassadors in the world. Paul wrote: We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20). And our work as ambassadors is to reconcile men and women to God.
Finally, to be a witness of Jesus Christ means to go into all the world and make disciples. Jesus said to His disciples: “… go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20).
What is the motive for our being witnesses? It is love. The second greatest commandment says: Love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:31). We believers have found the bread of life; if we love our neighbor, we will want to show him where he can find it too.
The reason Jesus calls us to Himself and makes us into His church is so that we might go and bear fruit. Jesus said: “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last” (John 15:16). In this context, fruit primarily means new disciples. Jesus said, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you” (John 20:21). Why was Jesus sent? He was sent into the world so that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). Think of it! We are being sent into the world in the same way and for the same purpose that the Father sent Jesus! Today we, the church, have been appointed to continue the work of Jesus upon this earth, to be a light showing men and women the way to heaven and to eternal life.
Thus we see that the overriding purpose of the church is to reach out—just as light “reaches out” into the darkness. Sadly, many churches, once they have been established, become preoccupied with their own internal affairs. They become like clubs or private societies. The members think only about the blessings they hope to receive from the church, and they stop thinking about the blessings they should be giving to others through the church. The church was never meant to be merely a safe haven for Christians. The church was meant primarily to prepare and send out witnesses—that is, ambassadors, fruit bearers, disciple makers, missionaries.
The church of Jesus Christ is a witnessing church, a missionary church. How did the church start in Europe? It started because someone named Paul went to Philippi in Macedonia (Greece) and planted a church there (Acts 16:9-15,40). How did the church start in India? It started because Christians traveled to India to preach the GOSPEL. Many say that the first missionary to India was the Apostle Thomas himself. How did the church start in China? In Korea? In Africa? Same reason: witnesses went to those places and preached the Gospel.
Of course, not every member of the church is called to go to a distant place and preach; in fact, only a few are called to do this. But every Christian is called to be a witness wherever he or she lives and works (Acts 1:8). And every church member needs to keep in mind that the main purpose of the church is to be a witness, not only in the local area but also to the ends of the earth.
The church is like a body (1 Corinthians 12:27). The heart’s main job is to pump blood; the lungs’ main job is to breathe; the ears’ main job is to hear; the legs’ main job is to walk. But the overall purpose of each organ is to help the body live and work. And so it is with each member of the church.
If any church is not witnessing, not reaching out, it is a dying church. Indeed, the spiritual health of any church is best measured not by the number of Christians it attracts, but rather by the number of missionaries (witnesses) it sends out.
Some people say that missions outreach is only one of several equally important functions of the church. They describe the church as a four-legged stool, with the four legs being worship, fellowship, teaching, and missions outreach. But that is an inadequate representation of the church of Christ. The missions outreach is the light that should be sitting on top of the stool! A stool only needs three legs—worship, fellowship, and teaching. Worship, fellowship, and teaching are not ends in themselves; they are means to an end. They are the means of supporting the stool—of supporting the missions outreach of the church.
So, again, we must state that missions (witness, evangelism) is the primary purpose of the church of Christ. In other words, missions isn’t just one of several programs of the church; it is the one all-embracing program of the church.
When we keep this truth in mind, the ministry of the church and of each believer will remain in proper balance. Often as Christians we get caught up in secondary causes, and we lose sight of our overall direction and purpose. These secondary causes (social justice, protection of the environment, better health, better education, economic development, etc.) are all very good and important concerns, and Christians must be involved in them. But these concerns are secondary to the primary concern of leading men and women to Jesus Christ and to SALVATION. Giving a person a few years of improved life on this earth is a very small gift compared with leading that person into eternal life in heaven. We always need to keep our eye on the ultimate goal of all ministry: to reconcile people to God and to bring them into His kingdom (see 2 Corinthians 5:18-20 and comment).
Jesus kept His eye on the goal. He preached, taught, healed, and performed miracles, but the goal of all these activities was one: to reconcile men to God. His healings and other miraculous works were not ends in themselves; they were signs demonstrating that He was God’s Son, and that therefore people should listen to His words. He didn’t want to become known as a miracle worker; He instructed almost everyone He healed not to tell anyone about it. He didn’t want to take people’s eyes off their spiritual need. When the people tried to persuade Him to stay in their village and keep on healing them, Jesus refused to stay, saying, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent” (Luke 4:43). Jesus’ main work was to bring men and women into the kingdom of God; and if that was His main work, it is also ours—both as individuals and as a church.
There is a final thing to say about the purpose or mission of the church: when that mission has been fulfilled, Jesus will come again and the world will end. Jesus said: “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14).
Jesus is waiting for us to proclaim the Gospel to every tribe and cultural group. There are many thousands of these distinct cultural groups in the world. In Matthew 24:14 and 28:19, these groups are called nations.1 It is estimated that there are approximately 10,0002 of these groups which still have no permanent indigenous witness among them. The supreme task of every Christian is to help spread the Gospel of Christ to these remaining unreached cultural groups, and to help establish a witnessing, self-reproducing church within each group. Until this is accomplished, the purpose of the church will not be fulfilled, and Christ will not return.
How big is the task? Because of the growth of world population, there are today more non-Christians in the world than ever before in history. On the other hand, there are also many more Christians available to accomplish the task than ever before. The task can be done. In 100 A.D., there was one witnessing Christian for every 360 non-Christians. In 1950, there was one witnessing Christian for every twenty non-Christians. In 1996 there was one witnessing Christian for every seven non-Christians. By the year 2000, the ratio of non-Christians to Christians was estimated to be only four to one. The task can indeed be done!
There are 2 billion people on earth who have not yet had the chance to hear the Gospel in a relevant way. The purpose of the church of Christ is to reach these people. Some Christians are called to be senders of missionaries—that is, to pray for them and to support and encourage them. Others are called to go themselves. God needs both senders and goers. But regardless of whether one goes abroad or stays at home, every Christian must be a witness. Jesus demands the same degree of commitment and consecration from each one of us, wherever we are called to serve.
1 The Greek word nations in Matthew 28:19 does not mean countries in a political sense, but rather groups of people with a similar language and culture.
2 The Greek word nations in Matthew 28:19 does not mean countries in a political sense, but rather groups of people with a similar language and culture.
Most people, when they first come to Christ, are filled with great joy, freedom, and love. They feel close to Jesus. Their hearts burn with a desire to serve Him. But then, as time passes, their initial zeal grows less and less, and often fades almost completely away. Why? What has happened? How can we bring back that first experience of coming to Jesus?
There is no greater problem in our Christian lives than the loss of zeal, the loss of our love for Jesus. Jesus wrote these frightening words to the ancient church at Ephesus: Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place (Revelation 2:4-5).
Satan is furious whenever anyone leaves his kingdom of darkness and through faith in Christ enters the kingdom of God. Therefore, from the moment a person becomes a Christian, Satan attacks that new believer with every weapon he has. Satan’s main goal is to take away the believer’s love for Jesus. Satan knows that he cannot snatch a true believer out of Jesus’ hand (John 10:28). But he can make that believer ineffective; he can make him loveless and lifeless. And he all too frequently succeeds.
Thus in our Christian lives, we often need to be spiritually revived. Not only individuals need to be revived, but churches also need to be revived. We need to be constantly examining ourselves. Do we love Jesus more than anything else in the world? (Mark 12:30). Do we seek the kingdom of God first of all? (Matthew 6:33). Are we in complete love and fellowship with every Christian brother and sister? (1 John 1:7; 4:20). Are we experiencing the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives daily? (Galatians 5:22-23). Is there spiritual power in our lives? In our church? (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8). If the answer to any of these questions is no, then we need to be revived.
One of the main reasons we study the word of God is to experience renewal and revival. That is one of the main reasons this commentary has been written. As you study and use this commentary, let your prayer be that the words of God might spring to life in your heart with new meaning and new power. As you study and use this commentary, pray for revival in your own heart and in your own local church.
Let us look now at this matter of revival. First of all, what is revival? Revival is the restoring of our first love for Christ. Revival is walking in the light with Jesus and letting Him live His life in us. Revival is being restored to spiritual health after a period of decline. Revival is admitting our sins and calling out to Jesus for forgiveness and cleansing. Revival is giving Jesus control of every area of our lives.
Revival is a time of deep stirring in our lives. However, revival does not mean working oneself into an emotional frenzy. It is a time of prayer, of meditation, of sober self-evaluation; it is a time of drawing close to Jesus. Revival is a time when our hypocrisy and self-deception is exposed. Revival is a time when strife, criticism, and bitterness in the church is revealed and repented of. Revival is a time when our lives are changed so much that others are affected and drawn to Christ. Above all, revival is a time when the Holy Spirit comes to us in power, working in us both individually and as a church.
How does revival begin? Almost invariably revival begins with the awareness and confession of our sins. Sin is the reason that we need revival in the first place. The devil’s main method of attack is to tempt us to sin. When we sin, we become separated from God. We grieve God’s Holy Spirit within us. We lose our fellowship with Jesus; we lose our joy, our peace, our power. If there was no sin in us, there would be no need for revival. Thus revival begins with the acknowledgement and confession of our sins.
We don’t like to think of ourselves as sinners. We minimize our sins. Often we don’t even recognize them. We are like the rich young man who told Jesus he had kept all the commandments since he was a boy (Mark 10:17-21). He was sure he had no sin!
But even if we don’t see our sin, God does. Sin is not just breaking a commandment. Sin is anything in our lives which is not in agreement with God’s will as revealed in the Bible. This means that sin includes wrong attitudes: self-love, pride, envy, covetousness, resentment, anxiousness, faithlessness. Sin is not only doing what is wrong; it is failing to do what is right (James 4:17). It is failing to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30). It is failing to love our neighbor as ourself (Mark 12:31). It is failing to stand firm in faith to the end (Mark 13:13). It is failing to share the Gospel when we have opportunity (1 Peter 3:15). It is failing to help our brother in need (Matthew 25:41-45). Who among us can say we have no sin? (1 John 1:8).
The first step in revival, then, is to confess our sins. Let us remember the price Jesus paid to cleanse us from sin. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to us our hidden sins. Here follows a sample list of questions we should ask ourselves, in order to detect those areas of our lives which are not fully surrendered to the lordship of Jesus:
Do I love anything more than God: my family, my work, my pleasures, myself? (Matthew 6:33; Mark 12:30).
Have I been complaining or murmuring against God about any situation in my life? (1 Corinthians 10:10; Philippians 2:14; 1 Thessalonians 5:18).
Do I love praise from other men? Do I desire to be commended for the good I do? Do I love to be the center of attention? (Matthew 6:1-5; John 12:43).
Am I impatient with others? Am I critical of others? Am I touchy or sensitive when others criticize me? Do I have a spirit of resentment toward anyone? Is there any bitterness in me? (Hebrews 12:15).
Am I stubborn and unyielding? Am I headstrong and argumentative? Am I always sure I’m right? Am I harsh or sarcastic? (Philippians 2:3; Ephesians 5:21).
Do I fear what men will say? Do I shrink from duty? Do I hide the talents God has given to me? (Matthew 25:24-28).
Am I jealous of anyone? Am I secretly happy when someone else fails? Am I secretly unhappy when someone else succeeds? (1 Corinthians 13:4-6).
Is there anything about which I have not been completely honest? Is there some truth I am concealing? Do I try to cover up my faults? Do I try to give a better impression of myself than is really true? Do I exaggerate? (Matthew 23:27-28; James 5:16).
Am I discouraged or depressed? Have I stopped fully trusting God? Has my faith become weak? (Romans 1:17; 14:23; Hebrews 11:6).
Has my spiritual life become dry and formal? Have I lost my concern for those who do not know Christ? Have I become spiritually weak? Have I become lukewarm? Have I turned back from the life of a disciple? (Mark 8:34; Revelation 2:4-5; 3:15-16).
Have I become conformed to the world? Have I begun to think as unbelievers think? Have I begun to love the world and its pleasures? (Romans 12:2; 1 John 2:15-17).
If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then we need to acknowledge and confess that sin to God. If we do, we open up the way for God to revive us. If we do not, we shall become progressively weaker and farther removed from God.
The second step in revival is to repent of all the sins the Holy Spirit has revealed to us. REPENTANCE means to sorrow deeply for our sins, and then to turn from them completely. When we do this, God will forgive us and cleanse us (1 John 1:9). If we do not experience this forgiveness and cleansing, there is only one explanation: we have not fully turned from our sin.
The third step in revival is to make right any wrong we have done to others (Matthew 5:23-24; Luke 19:8). We may need to apologize to someone. We may need to restore someone’s possessions we have taken. We may need to restore someone’s reputation that we have slandered. Above all, we may need to forgive someone, for to harbor bitterness or resentment against anyone is a great sin (Matthew 6:12,14-15).
The fourth step in revival is to rededicate our lives to Christ. We must surrender every part of our lives to Him; we must hold nothing back. We must commit ourselves to obey everything He asks us to do (John 14:15). We are not our own; we belong to Him (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
The fifth step in revival is to claim what God has promised to those who turn to Him with a humble and repentant heart. We must open our hearts to the filling of God’s Holy Spirit. God has commanded us to be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). Therefore, we must desire this filling. We must present ourselves to God to be filled (Romans 12:1). We must ask to be filled (Matthew 7:7-8,11; Luke 11:13).
The sixth and final step in revival is to live in submission to the Holy Spirit. No one can be filled with the Spirit who is not controlled by the Spirit. Paul wrote: So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature (Galatians 5:16). This is the key to living a Christlike life. This is the key to spiritual victory. To live a life of victory means that Christ Himself lives His life in us and through us (Galatians 2:20). This, then, is our goal: to be conformed to the likeness of Christ (Romans 8:29). There is no higher goal.
These, then, are the steps that we must take to prepare for revival. But remember, the reviving work itself is done totally by the Holy Spirit, in His way and in His time. Having done all that we can do, we must then look expectantly to Him.
If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land (2 Chronicles 7:14).
O God, revive us!
The New Testament writers expected their readers to have some knowledge of the Old Testament. They refer frequently to the Old Testament Scriptures and to the history of the Jewish people recorded there (see Acts Chapter 7; Hebrews Chapter 11). This article briefly presents a summary of the Old Testament, emphasizing the events and persons that are mentioned in the New Testament.1 It also notes the main New Testament references that relate to that event or person. The names of the books of the Old Testament are printed in bold type.
The book of Genesis starts at the beginning. God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1-25; John 1:1-3). God made the world in six days, and on the sixth day He created the first man and woman, Adam and Eve (Genesis 1:26-31). On the seventh day God rested from His work. This was the beginning of the Sabbath rest, which later God commanded mankind to observe (Genesis 2:1-3; Hebrews 4:1-11).
Adam and Eve were placed in the Garden of Eden and given only one command: they were not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But SATAN came in the form of a serpent and deceived Eve, and tempted her to eat the forbidden fruit. She ate, and then Adam ate also. Thus sin and death for mankind first entered the world (Genesis 3:1-19; Romans 5:12-19). This is called the “fall of man.” Then the oldest son of Adam and Eve, Cain, murdered his brother Abel because of jealousy, which was the first shedding of human blood (Genesis 4:112; Hebrews 11:4; 1 John 3:12). After that, Adam and Eve had another son named Seth (Genesis 5:3).
One of the descendants of Seth was Enoch, who never died but was taken directly to heaven (Genesis 5:21-24; Hebrews 11:5). After Enoch’s time, men became very corrupt before God, and so He decided to destroy the world in a flood. He instructed a righteous man named Noah to build a large boat to hold his family and at least one pair of every type of animal; all those on the boat were saved from the flood, whereas every other living creature perished (Genesis 6:122; 7:11-24; 1 Peter 3:18-20).
Abraham was a descendant of Noah’s son Shem, and was born in Ur, located in present-day Iraq. God called Abraham to move from Ur to the land of Canaan (modern Israel), a land which God promised to give to Abraham’s descendants. God also promised to make a great nation from Abraham’s descendants and to bless all the peoples of the world through him (Genesis 12:1-7). This blessing was fulfilled in the coming of Jesus Christ, a direct descendant of Abraham (Matthew 1:1; Romans 4:16-18; Galatians 3:6-9,14,29).
Abraham obeyed God and left his home country. One time after a battle, Abraham gave a tenth of his winnings to Melchizedek, a priest of God (Genesis 14:1720; Hebrews 5:6,10). This is the first mention of the tithe; that is, the giving of one tenth of one’s income and produce.
God had promised to give Abraham and Sarah a son; but when the answer was slow in coming, Sarah gave Abraham her servant Hagar, and she bore him a son, who was named Ishmael (Genesis 16:1-4,15). But God had promised Abraham a legitimate son by Sarah, his wife, so Abraham continued to place his hope in God. Finally, Sarah did bear a son when she was ninety and Abraham was one hundred years old! They named the child Isaac, and he founded the Jewish race. It is commonly believed that Ishmael founded the Arab race. The Arabs remain enemies of the Jews to this very day (Genesis 17:15-22; 21:1-5; Galatians 4:21-31).
God made a COVENANT with Abraham, the sign of which was CIRCUMCISION, the cutting away of the skin at the tip of the penis. From then on, all male descendants of Abraham (through Isaac) were circumcised at eight days of age, as a sign that they were part of the people of God (Genesis 17:1-14). Circumcision was a requirement for the Jews, but Paul insisted that other peoples did not need to follow this requirement (Romans 2:25-29; 4:9-12; Galatians 5:2-6; Colossians 2:11-12).
Abraham’s nephew Lot lived in the extremely sinful cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. God sent three angels to Abraham to warn him of the coming judgment and destruction of those cities (Genesis 18:1-2,20-21). Lot escaped with the help of the angels (Genesis 19:15-29; Matthew 10:15; Luke 17:28-30).
A few years later God tested Abraham by asking him to sacrifice his only son Isaac, and Abraham was obedient. At the moment he was about to kill Isaac, God stopped him and provided a ram for the sacrifice instead (Genesis 22:1-18; Hebrews 11:17-19). In the same way, God sent Jesus Christ to die as a sacrifice in our place (Hebrews 10:10).
Isaac married Rebecca, and she bore twins, Esau and Jacob. Esau was older, but Jacob stole Esau’s birthright and his blessing (Genesis 25:19-34; 27:1-40). Jacob escaped from Esau’s anger, and on his way to another place he met the Lord in a dream. God promised Jacob what He had promised Abraham: namely, that through his descendants all the people of the world would be blessed (Genesis 28:10-17). As we saw above, this promise was fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
Jacob married two sisters, Leah and Rachel. They and their servants bore Jacob twelve sons, who founded the twelve tribes of ISRAEL (Acts 7:8): Reuben, Simeon, Levi (whose tribe became the priestly tribe), Judah (from whom Jesus was descended), Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Joseph, and Benjamin (Genesis 35:23-26; Revelation 7:3-8). The family came back to Canaan, and on the way God gave Jacob a new name, Israel. Thus the Jewish people came to be called Israelites (Genesis 32:22-32).
Joseph was Jacob’s favorite son. Because of their jealousy, Joseph’s brothers sold him as a slave to some traders who then took him to Egypt (Genesis 37:1236). However, God was with Joseph and worked things out for good by making him a high government official (Genesis 39:1-5; 41:41-57). At the time of a famine, Joseph’s family came to him to buy food, but they didn’t recognize him until he revealed himself to them (Genesis 42:1-8; 45:1-11). The family then moved to Egypt and settled there. Jacob (Israel) adopted Joseph’s two sons, Ephraim and Mansseh, as his own (Genesis 48:1,5; Acts 7:9-16).
The book of Job was probably written about the time of Abraham. It deals with the sufferings of a man named Job, and his steadfast faith in spite of all his troubles.
The Israelites stayed in Egypt for about four hundred years, and their population grew. The Egyptians became afraid of them and made them their slaves. The oppression of the Israelites in Egypt was very great, and finally God raised up MOSES to be their deliverer. The book of Exodus records the story of the Israelites’ deliverance and their journey to Mount Sinai. This took place in approximately 1400 B.C. Moses and his older brother Aaron repeatedly asked Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt, to let the Israelites go. Each time Pharaoh refused, God sent a plague upon the Egyptians. To protect the Israelites from the final plague, the killing of all the firstborn of Egypt, the “PASSOVER” was instituted. An unblemished lamb was sacrificed and eaten by each Israelite family, and the blood was sprinkled on the doorposts as a sign to the destroying angel to “pass over” that house (Exodus 12:1-23). Jesus is said to be our “Passover lamb,” since it is by Jesus’ blood that we are saved from death (1 Corinthians 5:7; 1 Peter 1:19; Revelation 5:6-10). Unleavened bread was eaten because there was not time to let the dough rise. When Pharaoh discovered his firstborn son was dead, he ordered the Israelites to leave that same day (Exodus 12:29-39). But as soon as the Israelites had gone, Pharaoh changed his mind and sent the Egyptian army after them (Exodus 14:5-14). The cloud of the Lord moved between the Egyptian army and the Israelites. God parted the water of the Red Sea, and the Israelites passed through on dry land (Exodus 14:15-22; 1 Corinthians 10:1-2). But when the Egyptians tried to follow, the water came together again and they were drowned (Exodus 14:23-31).
The Israelites traveled on to Mount Sinai, where God gave Moses directions for making the tabernacle, the tent of worship (Hebrews 9:1-10). God also gave Moses the LAW on Mount Sinai. The first five books of the Old Testament are called the books of the law. In these books, all the rules and regulations for the Jewish nation are found, especially in the book of Leviticus. All these laws had to be obeyed in order for the Jewish people to remain in a right relationship with God and to be blessed by God. These laws can be divided into different categories: 1) offerings and animal sacrifices, 2) regulations for priests and the temple, 3) purity and cleanliness, 4) festivals, and 5) social relationships.
We are no longer required to follow the Jewish law,2 because it has been fulfilled in Jesus Christ (Matthew 5:17). God asked for animal sacrifices because without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin (Hebrews 9:22). However, the Old Testament sacrifices did not truly cleanse the people and did not change their hearts (Hebrews 9:9-10). Christ has become the final, perfect sacrifice, the One who can truly cleanse us and make us holy before God (Hebrews 9:14; 10:10). Therefore, Christ has fulfilled the laws relating to sacrifice and purity. The earthly temple has been destroyed. Jesus is our great high priest, serving in the true heavenly temple (Hebrews 8:1-2).
The Old Testament festivals (Leviticus Chapter 23) also have been fulfilled by Christ at His first coming, or they will be fulfilled at His second coming. The festival of Passover and Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23:4-8) was fulfilled when Jesus became our Passover lamb by dying at Passover time to truly save us from death. (Jesus’ last meal with His disciples, the first LORD’S SUPPER, was a Passover meal.) The festival of Firstfruits (Leviticus 23:9-14) was fulfilled when on that festival day Christ became the first to rise from the dead; He was the “firstfruits.” Believers in Him will be resurrected later (1 Corinthians 15:2223). The festival of PENTECOST, also called the Feast of Weeks (Leviticus 23:15-21), was fulfilled when the HOLY SPIRIT came on the day of Pentecost to empower the church (Acts 2:1-4). The Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:134; 23:26-32) was fulfilled by Christ through His death on the CROSS and completed when He ascended to heaven and offered His shed blood in the heavenly temple for our cleansing (Hebrews 9:11-14,24-28). The two remaining festivals, Trumpets and Tabernacles (Leviticus 23:23-25,33-36), will be fulfilled at Jesus’ second coming.
The laws of social relationships, such as the ten commandments (Exodus 20:117), were also required by God; but we know that no one can be considered righteous by observing the law, because no one can obey all of the law all the time (Galatians 2:15-16; James 2:10). The law was put in charge of us to lead us to faith in Christ (Galatians 3:24). As believers in Jesus Christ, we are no longer “under” the law (Romans 7:6; Galatians 3:13,25), but we are not to misuse our freedom by leading a life of sin (Galatians 5:13). A major teaching of the New Testament is that love for one another is the fulfillment of the law (Matthew 22:36-40; Romans 13:8-10; Galatians 5:14), and that those who truly love Jesus will do what He commands (John 14:15; 1 John 2:4-5).
In the book of Numbers, we read about the further travels of the Israelites in the Sinai desert. Many times they complained and rebelled against God and Moses. A man named Korah led one of these rebellions, and God destroyed him and his men (Numbers 16:1-40). At the end of the journey in the desert, twelve spies were sent out to look at the “promised land,” the land of Canaan (Israel), which God had promised to give to Abraham’s descendants, the Israelites. Ten of the spies reported that there were giants and strong cities, and that it would be impossible to conquer the land (Numbers 13:17-33; 1 Corinthians 10:1-11). The people were afraid because of the report of the spies. So God punished the people for their lack of faith by causing them to wander for forty years in the desert wilderness (Numbers 14:1-38). During the forty years they were fed daily with “manna” from heaven (Exodus 16:14-31; John 6:30-35). Twice they complained of thirst, and God provided water from a rock (Exodus 17:1-7; Numbers 20:1-11; 1 Corinthians 10:3-5). Once, when the people were being punished for grumbling by being bitten by poisonous snakes, God in His mercy told Moses how to help the people. Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. If those who were bitten by snakes looked at the bronze snake on the pole, they lived (Numbers 21:4-9). In the same way we too can obtain deliverance from sin and death by looking in faith at Jesus lifted up on the cross (John 3:14-15).
Toward the end of the forty years in the wilderness, the Israelites traveled to the land of Moab. When Balak, the king of Moab, heard about it, he was angry and afraid. So he tried to hire a local prophet named Balaam to curse the Israelites. Balaam begged God for permission to go, and finally obtained it; but God was very angry with Balaam. On the way, Balaam’s donkey saw a fearsome angel of God and the donkey spoke to warn Balaam. So Balaam did not curse the Israelites, but blessed them instead. However, Balaam still tried to earn the money from Balak by telling him how to weaken the Israelites by seducing them to worship an idol named Baal (Numbers 22:21-35; 25:1-3; 2 Peter 2:15-16; Revelation 2:14).
Before the Israelites entered Canaan, the promised land, Moses spoke one last time to the people. This speech is recorded in the book of Deuteronomy. Moses reviewed the Israelites’ history and the law, noting the blessings that would come if they followed the law, and the curses that would come if they did not (Deuteronomy 11:26-28). Then Moses died, and God buried him.
In the book of Joshua, we read how Joshua succeeded Moses as the leader of Israel. The Israelites conquered the city of Jericho, their first conquest, by means of God’s plan and God’s power. After they had marched around the city as the Lord had commanded, they blew their trumpets and shouted. The city walls fell down, and they marched in (Joshua 6:1-21). A harlot named Rahab had hidden two Israelite spies in the city earlier, and after the city fell she was rewarded by being spared (Joshua 2:1-21; 6:22-25; Hebrews 11:30-31). She became an ancestor of Jesus Christ (Matthew 1:5). Joshua conquered the rest of the land of Canaan, and divided it among the twelve tribes of Israel.
The book of Judges tells about the judges who governed the nation of Israel after Joshua died. God remained their king. However, the people did not live in obedience to God. Many times they turned away to the gods and idols of their neighbors and thus sinned against God. So God sold them into the hands of their oppressors. Each time, when they cried out to God to save them from their enemies, God in His mercy raised up a deliverer to free them (Judges 2:10-19). The most famous deliverers, or judges, were Gideon, Barak, and Samson (Hebrews 11:32).
The book of Ruth tells the story of DAVID’S great-grandmother, who was not an Israelite, but a Moabite woman who believed in the true God. She married an Israelite and became an ancestor of Jesus (Matthew 1:5).
1 Samuel tells the story of the last judge. Samuel’s mother had dedicated her son to God and sent him to work in the temple as a child. There God spoke to Samuel and he became a prophet as well as a judge. When he became old, the people demanded to have a king, as the other nations around them had. Samuel warned them of the problems with earthly kings, but the people persisted, and so God finally agreed to give them a king (1 Samuel 8:6-22). A man named Saul was chosen by God, and at first he ruled well. However, he did not repent after sinning on several occasions, and so God in the end rejected him.
God told Samuel to anoint a young shepherd boy, David, to be the next king of Israel, and the Spirit of the Lord came upon him from that day onward. One time, an enemy giant named Goliath challenged the Israelites, but no one dared to fight him. Finally David volunteered, and knocked the giant down with a stone from a slingshot (1 Samuel 17:32-51). David afterward became a great soldier, and Saul became jealous. Saul attempted to kill David several times, but David always escaped. Although David had the opportunity to kill Saul on two occasions, he refused to harm the man whom God had anointed to be king—even if God had later rejected him.
2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles both tell about how David became king after Saul died in battle. David reigned from 1010 to 970 B.C. Soon after becoming king, David recaptured the ark of the Lord that had been previously seized by the enemy Philistines, and brought it to Jerusalem, the Jewish capital, with great rejoicing (2 Samuel 6:12-15). David wanted to build a permanent temple for the Lord, but God told him to let his son build it. David won great victories in war and was blessed by God. God promised David that his throne would be established forever, and this promise was fulfilled in Jesus Christ, whose kingdom will never end. Jesus was descended from David (Matthew 1:1), and was called the “Root of David” and the “Lion of Judah” (Revelation 5:5). David was considered the ideal king by later prophets, but he did sin at times. However, he was different from Saul, because he always repented and renewed his relationship with God. He was also a musician and poet, and wrote many of the Psalms. Some of the Psalms prophesied about Jesus Christ and His death (Psalms 22, 69).
1 and 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles tell about the kingdom of Israel, beginning with the reign of David’s son Solomon. God told Solomon to ask from Him whatever he wanted and He would give it. Many would have asked for riches or honor, but Solomon asked for an understanding heart, for wisdom (1 Kings 3:59). God gave him the wisdom he asked for, and also great riches and honor as well (Matthew 12:42; Luke 12:27). Solomon wrote three books of wisdom in the Bible: Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs. His great work was the building of the permanent temple, the house of the Lord, in Jerusalem.
After Solomon died, the kingdom of Israel was divided. The northern ten tribes split away and this new kingdom was called the kingdom of Israel. The remaining two tribes formed the kingdom of Judah in the south. The kingdom of Judah was ruled by descendants of David, beginning with Solomon’s son, Rehoboam. The period of the divided kingdoms continued for 344 years. Some of the kings of Judah obeyed God and brought the people back from worshiping idols to the true God, but others did evil in God’s sight and encouraged the worship of idols. None of the kings of the northern kingdom of Israel worshiped God. Their first king set up two golden calves, one at Bethel and the other at Dan, and the people (later called Samaritans) continued to worship those idols instead of worshiping the true God at the temple in Jerusalem. This was one of the reasons the Samaritans were despised by the Jews in Jesus’ day (John 4:9,19-24). One notorious king of Israel was Ahab, who was married to a foreigner named Jezebel. They both hated Elijah (1 Kings Chapters 17-18), a powerful prophet of God at the time. Elijah and his successor, Elisha (2 Kings Chapters 2-8), performed many miracles, by which they showed that God was the true Lord (Luke 4:24-27). Elijah did not die, but was taken directly up into heaven (2 Kings 2:11; Mark 9:4-5).
Many other prophets spoke to the people of Israel and Judah during those years. The prophets also warned the people of coming judgment if they continued in rebellion and sin. The prophets predicted that the Jews of the two kingdoms would be exiled in a foreign land if they did not repent. Sometimes the people listened to the warnings and repented, but usually they did not. Finally it came true as the prophets had said. God did exile them to other lands. The people of Israel were taken to Assyria (modern Syria) in 722 B.C., and the people of Judah were taken to Babylon (modern Iraq) in 586 B.C. The prophets who wrote during the period of the divided kingdom are as follows (in chronological order): Joel (Acts 2:16-21), Jonah (Matthew 12:38-41), Amos, Hosea, Isaiah (who is quoted more often in the New Testament than any other prophet), Micah, Nahum, Zephaniah, Habakkuk, and Jeremiah, who also wrote Lamentations. Many of the prophets also prophesied about Jesus Christ, His birth, His death, and His second coming.
There were no historical writings during the period of the exile, but the prophets Ezekiel and Daniel wrote during this time. Possibly Obadiah also prophesied during this period. Toward the end of the exile, the kingdom of Persia (modern Iran) conquered Babylon.
In 538 B.C. Cyrus, king of Persia, made a proclamation saying that anyone who wished to could return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. We read about this in the historical book of Ezra. The first group returned under the leadership of Zerubbabel and began to rebuild the temple. There was opposition and the work stopped for a time. The people were encouraged by the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, and the temple was finally finished (Ezra 6:14-16). In 458 B.C. Ezra led the second group to Jerusalem. Ezra, a priest, taught the Jewish law again, and led some reforms that dealt with the sin of intermarriage with foreign women who enticed their Jewish husbands into worshiping false gods. During this same period the story of Esther, the Jewish queen of Persia, took place. She was used by God to save the Jewish people from a plot to destroy them.
Years later Nehemiah, the Persian king’s cupbearer, returned with a third group of Israelites to organize the rebuilding of the walls around the city of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 6:15-16). The prophet Malachi spoke during this time also. After about 400 B.C., no more prophets spoke to Israel until John the Baptist came to announce the arrival of the Savior Jesus Christ.
1 For further discussion of several of the topics mentioned here, see many of the General Articles in The Applied Old Testament Commentary.
2 Christians are expected to obey the “moral” law of the Old Testament, in particular the ten commandments (Exodus 20:1-17). But Jesus summarized the moral law in the two great commandments to love God and to love one’s neighbor (Mark 12:30-31). If we follow these two great commandments, we shall also be fulfilling the ten commandments (Matthew 22:40; Romans 13:9). For further discussion, see General Article: The Purpose of the Mosaic Law, in The Applied Old Testament Commentary.
A CHRONOLOGICAL CHART OF THE OLD TESTAMENT
The Old Testament was written over a period of one thousand years, from approximately 1400 to 400 B.C. The first five books of the Old Testament, sometimes called the books of the law, or the Law of Moses, were written mainly by MOSES in about 1400 B.C. The last Old Testament book was written by the prophet Malachi in about 400 B.C.
The Old Testament Scriptures were carefully hand copied by Jewish scribes and thus passed on from generation to generation. Each time a scribe made a new copy of Scripture, he destroyed the old copy. For this reason the most ancient copies of the Old Testament are no longer in existence. Indeed, the earliest copy of the entire Old Testament that exists today was copied in the 10th century A.D.
However, in 1947 some very ancient leather scrolls were discovered in Israel by a shepherd boy. He found them in some caves eight miles south of the city of Jericho near the Dead Sea, and so they have become known as the Dead Sea scrolls. The scrolls contain sections from almost every book of the Old Testament. The Dead Sea scrolls were copied sometime during the first and second centuries B.C. Except for tiny differences in spelling and style, they are exactly the same as the existing Old Testament copies from the 10th century. This proves that the Jewish scribes carried out their copying with great care and accuracy. Thus we can have full confidence that the more recent copies of the Old Testament (from which our modern Bibles are taken) are completely accurate copies of the original writings of the Old Testament authors. This is very important, because, as we shall see below, the original writers were inspired directly by God in a special way to write what God wanted them to write. Thus we can be assured that the copies of what they wrote have been faithfully and accurately passed down to us through the centuries.
Most of the Old Testament manuscripts were written in the Hebrew language, the ancient language of the Jews. However, in the time of Christ, Hebrew was not spoken by the ordinary people; it was used mainly by the Jewish priests and religious scholars. The common language of the Middle East in Christ’s time was Aramaic, the language which Christ Himself spoke. Aramaic is related to Hebrew in much the same way that modern Indian languages are related to Sanskrit.
However, there was another major language in use during Christ’s time; that is, the Greek language. Greek was spoken throughout the entire Mediterranean region and was known by most of the educated people. Because so few people understood Hebrew, the Old Testament was translated into Greek in about 200 B.C. When the New Testament writers quoted from the Old Testament Scriptures, they usually used this Greek translation rather than the original Hebrew.
The Old Testament contains thirty-nine books written by many different authors. For a discussion of the contents of these books, see General Article: Summary of the Old Testament.
The New Testament was written in the Greek language, beginning about twenty years after Christ’s death. Christ’s last command to His disciples was that they should be His witnesses to the whole world (Acts 1:8). Therefore, starting on the day of PENTECOST, the disciples began to tell others about Christ’s life and teachings. For the first twenty years after Christ’s death, the disciples, or APOSTLES, taught mainly by word of mouth. But as the apostles got older, it became apparent that a written record of their teaching would be needed in order to insure its accurate transmission down through the future generations. Therefore, some of the apostles and their close associates began to write down an account of Christ’s life. The Apostle Peter worked with Mark to write Mark’s Gospel (see Mark: Introduction). The Apostle Matthew wrote the Gospel of Matthew, and the Apostle John wrote the Gospel of John. Luke, a close associate of the Apostle Paul, wrote the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts, the story of the early church.
In addition to writing an account of Christ’s life, it also became necessary for the apostles to write down a fuller explanation of the reason for Christ’s coming to earth, and to correct some errors and false teaching that had begun to arise in the new churches. So they began to write letters to the new churches that they had established. The Apostle Paul wrote thirteen such letters, beginning with his letter to the Galatians written in about 50 A.D. (see Galatians: Introduction). Some scholars believe that the earliest New Testament book to be written was the letter of James, the brother of Jesus (see James: Introduction).
The last book of the New Testament to be written was Revelation, written by the Apostle John in about 90-95 A.D. Thus the entire New Testament was completed between 50 A.D. and 100 A.D.
Most of the original writings of the New Testament authors were written on a kind of paper made from a plant called papyrus.1 This papyrus was not durable like our modern paper, and it did not last. As a result, the papyrus scrolls on which the New Testament authors actually wrote have been lost, and as is the case with the Old Testament, all that remains today are copies of the original writings.
For the first three centuries after Christ, the New Testament was carefully and accurately copied by scribes onto papyrus scrolls. In the early 1900s, some of these ancient papyrus copies of the New Testament were discovered in Egypt buried in sand. Still others were found preserved in protective containers. The oldest of these copies was made in 135 A.D., and contains part of John’s Gospel. The next earliest scrolls were copied in about 200 A.D., and contain large parts of the New Testament. These ancient scrolls are now preserved in museums.
Another kind of “paper” that was used in Bible times was parchment, which was made from the specially treated skin of goats or sheep. Parchment was more expensive than papyrus. It is possible that a few of the New Testament books were first written on parchment, but if so, they have not been preserved. The oldest copy of the complete New Testament was made in the 4th century and was written on parchment. This oldest copy was found in the mid-1800s stored in a monastery near Mount Sinai in Egypt. In addition to this oldest copy, there are another 270 copies of the Greek New Testament still in existence that were written on parchment between the 4th and 9th centuries.
From the 9th century up to the 15th century, numerous additional copies of the Greek New Testament were made, over 2700 of which have been preserved to the present time. Then in 1456 A.D., the printing press was invented by a German named Johann Gutenburg, and the first book was printed—the Bible. After that, books didn’t need to be copied by hand; they could be published quickly and cheaply and in large numbers by means of printing presses. Translations of the Bible into different languages could now be widely distributed to the common people. Today the Bible or parts of it have been translated into over 1200 different languages of the world. There is no other book in world history that has been translated into so many languages or read by so many people.
These hundreds and thousands of ancient manuscripts which have been preserved to the present time prove that the Bible has been handed down to us from the original Greek manuscripts with great accuracy. Although we know that individual scribes made an occasional error in copying, when all the manuscripts are studied together it can be determined in almost every case what the original writers actually wrote. No other ancient book has so many early copies still in existence. This is why we can be confident that our modern Bibles are accurate translations of the words that God first gave to the original writers of the Bible.
There is another important reason why we can trust the accuracy of our Bibles today. That is because God has said that He will preserve His word to all generations (Psalm 119:89,152,160). We can have full confidence that God has not allowed His word to be lost or to be changed in any significant way.
From the beginning there was general agreement about what books should be included in the New Testament canon.2 By 200 A.D. the New Testament contained essentially the same books that we have in our present Bibles. However, there was disagreement over several books, and this disagreement persisted until the 4th century. In particular, some Christians questioned whether Hebrews, James, 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, Jude, and Revelation should be included in the New Testament. In addition to that, there were other non-biblical writings written by Christian leaders at the turn of the first century, which some people thought should be included in the canon but others thought should not be. By the end of the 4th century, however, all these disagreements had been resolved, and the worldwide church unanimously accepted the present New Testament canon and made it official. Since then, there has been no disagreement on any part of the New Testament canon.
The decision as to which books should be included in the New Testament was based on four factors. First, a book had to have been written either by an apostle or the close associate of an apostle. Second, the contents of the book had to be of high spirituality and to be in agreement with the teaching of the Old Testament and the apostles. Third, the book had to be accepted by the great majority of the churches. Fourth, the book had to be clearly inspired by God. In determining what books to include, the early church was guided by the Holy Spirit. It wasn’t a matter of men deciding on their own what books they wanted in their Bible. Rather, it was a matter of men being shown by the Holy Spirit what books were indeed God’s word.
The Bible is different from other books because the writers of the Bible were directly inspired in a special way by God Himself. God’s Holy Spirit guided the writers of the Bible to write what God wanted them to write (see 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21 and comments). The Bible is not only the words of men; it is the word of God Himself.
However, God used men to write His word. God didn’t dictate each word. The writers of the Bible, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, used their own minds to write. Their individual personalities and character can be seen through their writings. Just as Jesus Himself was both God and man together, so the Bible is both God’s word and man’s word together. It was written by men who knew God’s mind in a special way. God revealed His mind to them, and they wrote according to what God revealed to them. It is true that other Christian writers have been inspired by the Holy Spirit in a general way and have written books pleasing to God; but they have not had the same special knowledge of God’s mind that the Bible writers had. For this reason, then, the Bible is different from all other books: it is the only revealed and authoritative word of God.
Because the Bible is God’s word, it is totally true. It is without error. Some have at times thought they found an error in the Bible, but later have discovered it was they who were in error, not the Bible. Time and again, historical and archeological discoveries have confirmed the truth of the biblical writings. The Bible is historically and scientifically trustworthy in every regard.
When we say that the Bible is “without error,” we mean that the original manuscripts were without error. Those original manuscripts were later copied by scribes many times down through the centuries; and in the course of their copying, a few small scribal errors did occur. However, none of these scribal errors affects the essential meaning of the text.
Concerning the historical and scientific trustworthiness of the Bible, we need to keep two things in mind. First, in the Old Testament there is much poetic and figurative language, which is not meant to be taken literally. Second, by its very nature, man’s historical and scientific knowledge is always incomplete. We are always learning new things about God’s universe and about God’s unfolding purposes in history. What we can rely on, however, is that the biblical writers wrote according to the knowledge God gave them at the time and that what they wrote was without error.
However, it is not enough to read the Bible in the same way we would read a history or science book. It is not enough to read the Bible only with our minds. We must also read the Bible with our spirits, or else we will miss the deep spiritual truths of the Bible. When we read the Bible, we must humble ourselves and open our minds to receive God’s truth. We must pray for spiritual understanding. When we do this in faith, then the Bible will come alive for us and will change our lives.
It is the Holy Spirit who makes the Bible “alive” and powerful in the heart of the reader (2 Corinthians 3:6). Those who have the Holy Spirit living within them know in their own experience that the Bible is the true and living word of God. From the Bible they can know with certainty who God is and who Christ is. They also know from the Bible what God has done. The Old Testament is the record of God’s reaching out to men and of men’s disobedience and sin. The Old Testament shows clearly that men are sinners in need of a Savior. The New Testament reveals a God who loved men so much that He Himself came to earth in the likeness of a man, Jesus Christ, to suffer and die in order to save men from their sins and give them eternal life.
It is hoped that as the reader studies this commentary, he will let God speak to him through the Scriptures. It is not enough only to understand the Bible; we must also live by it.
1 Papyrus is a tall water plant native to Egypt. Thin slices of the stalk of this plant were laid together, and then another layer was crossed on top of the first layer. Papyrus was the main kind of “paper” in use up until the 3rd century A.D.
2 The New Testament canon is the list of officially authorized Scriptures that has been accepted by all Christian churches.