For quite some time, now, I’ve been involved in the study of the Challenge of Christ. Basically, this is Jesus saying to those who challenge him as being the Messiah, the Christ (John 10:24-25), telling them not to believe his words, unless his works prove his words. That is, Jesus told his enemies, if he (Jesus) didn’t do the works his Father had sent him to do, they would be correct in believing he was not the Christ. Nevertheless, if he did do those works in the Father’s name, they should believe the works, and in doing so, they would come to see that he is the Messiah / the Christ, who is in the Father and the Father in him (John 10:37-38). Jesus claimed the Father had given him the work of judgment to do (John 5:22), which in the context of Matthew 26:62-64 was to judge the Jews of the generation that rejected and crucified him. Did he do it? Did Jesus prove he was the Christ (the Messiah) by coming in judgment against the Jews in that very generation that rejected him (Matthew 16:27-28; 24:30-34)?
In the context of judging the House of Jacob (Isaiah 2:6; i.e. the Jews) in the last days (Isaiah 2:2) and in the Day of the Lord (Isaiah 2:12), they would flee to the mountains for safety (Isaiah 2:19, 21), and Jesus interpreted this as being in that very generation that crucified him (Luke 23:27-30). According to Isaiah, therefore, we have a witness that Jesus would come in judgment (cp. Matthew 26:64 and Isaiah 19:1) against the Jewish nation (Isaiah 2:6) and they would flee to the mountains for safety (Isaiah 2:19, 21; cp. Luke 23:27-30) in the last days (Isaiah 2:2; cp. Hebrews 1:2), in the Day of the Lord (Isaiah 2:12).
With this in mind, we have Peter in chapter 3 of his second epistle claiming that his understanding of the last days (2Peter 3:3) comes from the prophets of old (2Peter 3:2). There Peter foretold the destruction of creation, i.e. the heavens and the earth (2Peter 3:7, 10, 12) and the appearance of a new creation, i.e. a new heaven and a new earth (2Peter 3:13). In previous studies, I showed that Peter’s words could not be taken literally but, rather, referred to the passing of the Old Covenant (old creation) and the establishment of the New Covenant (new creation). Nevertheless, regardless of how one perceives the destruction of the creation (heavens and earth) in chapter three of Peter’s second epistle, Isaiah also foretold the destruction of creation (Isaiah 2:19), where the earth will shake mightily and even be thrust out of its place (Isaiah 13:13). But, remember, Jesus interpreted this as occurring in his generation, the generation that crucified him (Luke 23:27-30). So, whatever the destruction of creation means, it had to have occurred in the first century AD, if we are to believe Jesus is the Messiah (John 10:24-25; 37-38).
Thus we have two witnesses for Jesus, Isaiah and Peter. They both testify that in the last days the Lord would come as Judge, and in the process of judging (John 5:22), the old creation would be dissolved. Nevertheless, however we may understand the destruction of creation, it would be a time when folks would be able to flee to the rocks and mountains for safety. It wouldn’t be a instantaneous, twinkling of an eye type of judgment.
The third witness for Jesus, in the context of this present study, is Paul. In his second letter to the Thessalonians, Paul mentioned that the believers in Thessalonica were being persecuted (2Thessalonians 1:4). Notice what Paul tells them:
“Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day” (2Thessalonians 1:6-10).
He told them that they would not only be relieved of their suffering, but those who were persecuting them would be judged and punished at the coming of the Lord (2Thessalonians 1:6). In other words, Jesus’ coming would occur in their lifetime, i.e. that generation of both believers and Christ-rejecters, not some future generation, that wicked and perverse generation that rejected Christ and crucified him.
Moreover, Paul alludes to Isaiah 2:19, 21 where those who are judged flee to the rocks and mountains. In 2Thessalonians 1:9 Paul says those who were persecuting the believers in Thessalonica during the first century AD would be punished with and everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord. The phrases the presence of the Lord is quoted exactly from the Greek Old Testament, the Septuagint. Thus, we have Paul as well as Peter alluding to Isaiah, and Paul would testify later before King Agrippa that he had spoken nothing except that which was in the Law and the Prophets (Acts 26:22).
Thus, we have three witnesses for Christ who claimed in the Sermon on the Mount:
Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle will in no wise pass from the law, till all are fulfilled (Matthew 5:17-18).
Notice, that Jesus claimed heaven and earth would pass away, but until it did the Law and the Prophets would remain in authority. In other words the Old Covenant remains in authority until everything is fulfilled or brought into reality. If the Old Covenant hasn’t yet been destroyed and taken out of the way (Hebrews 8:13), the New Covenant has never been established, for the Lord shakes the earth or, in other words he destroys creation so that that which can be shaken (destroyed) would be removed and that which cannot be shaken (destroyed) would remain (Hebrews 12:26-27). He is speaking of the new creation (New Covenant – new heavens and new earth) replacing the old creation (Old Covenant – the heavens and the earth; cp. Hebrews 9:11). So the heaven and earth that would pass away would be the Old Covenant. The question for today is: did Jesus destroy the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD, did he cause the heavens and earth to pass away (Old Covenant)? If not, he is not the Messiah, our Savior, according to John 10:24-25; 37-38).
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