What I find utterly amazing is the surprise a person feels, when his or her sin is discovered, and not only discovered but also seen and understood by the sinner him/herself. For example, when Nathan came to David to show him his sin, David thought Nathan was revealing the sin of another man, but Nathan said: “You are the man!” (2Samuel 12:7). Peter also thought he would never deny the Lord; he really believed he was ready to die with him (Mark 14:31). Nevertheless, before the night was over he would deny knowing Jesus three times, and when he realized what he had done, he was utterly amazed and sorrowful (Luke 22:61-62). Paul thought he was serving the Lord, as he persecuted the saints, but when the Lord finally struck him down and revealed Paul’s sin to him, Paul was utterly distraught and astonished (Acts 9:4-6).
Peter declared in 2Peter 2:1-2 that just as there were false prophets of old among the Lord’s people, so there would be false teachers in the church of God, who would introduce false doctrines that denied the Lord, and **many** (the majority?) would follow them. Yet, there isn’t one believer that I know today who is willing to confess he or she had ever been deceived. I have been utterly and totally deceived, and I’ve confessed that in my blog a number of times. I believed lies, spoke lies and taught lies – all in the name of the Lord, but the Lord never told me those lies nor did he want me to speak or teach such things.
Back in Jesus’ day, when he traveled the countryside preaching and teaching folks about the Kingdom, he ran across folks, teachers to be exact, authorities in the Jewish faith, and they came to him to rebuke him for not observing the traditions of the elders (Mark 7:5). However, Jesus rebuked them, saying they taught men’s doctrines (Mark 7:7) and not only so, but in order to teach men’s doctrines, they rejected the word of God (Mark 7:9). It’s the same today, as it was back in the first century AD. There are more than 200 denominations of Christianity in the United States today, cir. 45,000 globally! Why? How does such a thing serve God? Certainly lies are being taught, but who would admit to such a thing? If these organizations differ enough to be separate, they couldn’t all be teaching the truth. If 45,000 denominations don’t honor God, whom do they honor? Isn’t it men, just as in the first century AD? If one isn’t honoring the Lord by what one does, the only other being he could be honoring is man—self or another human being prone to err.
Folks had trouble believing Jesus in the first century AD (John 10:24-25), too. Nevertheless, Jesus challenged them to not believe him, unless he did the work of God.[1] If he did do the work of God, then believe the works he did, and eventually they would come to believe he was in the Father and the Father was in him, and whether or not he was the Christ would be a foregone conclusion (John 10:37-38). Yes, if the works were done, no if they weren’t.
When we turn to Isaiah chapter three, we find that all of the living supplies would be removed from Jerusalem (Isaiah 3:1). The people would be oppressed (Isaiah 3:5), Jerusalem would be ruined, Judah would fall (Isaiah 3:8), and, according to the Septuagint, it would be their governors and teachers who would pervert their path (Isaiah 3:12 LXX).
When would this occur? According to Isaiah 2:2, it would occur in the last days, in the Day of the Lord (Isaiah 2:12), when folks would flee to the caves and rocks in the mountains (Isaiah 2:19, 21), a time Jesus claimed would be in the first century AD (Luke 22:28-31), a time Paul claimed was only a few years away, when the persecutors of the believers in Thessalonica would be punished with age lasting destruction from the presence of the Lord (2Thessalonians 1:9; cp. Isaiah 2:21 in the Septuagint). It would be a time when creation would be destroyed (2Peter 3:10, 12; cp. Isaiah 2:19, 21; 13:13). Yet, the literal (Genesis) creation couldn’t be in view, otherwise how could folks flee to the mountains? The creation that was destroyed is the creation referred to in 2Peter 3:4, the Old Covenant creation that was about to pass away (Hebrews 8:13; 9:11).
If the Day of the Lord, the Last Days and the Coming of Christ all pertained to the first century AD, as seems to be indicated above, these things weren’t pointing to a future coming of Christ or a future Day of the Lord. Moreover, folks who preach about a future coming of Christ and Day of the Lord are denying the word of the Lord, because Christ has already come in 70 AD, as he said he would, and fulfilled the work the Father had given him to do (John 10:37-38; cp. Mark 7:7, 9). Think about it; doesn’t such a denial of the word of God add fuel to the fire of the enemy, who claims Jesus couldn’t be the Christ, because he is a false prophet, as are all of the writers of the New Covenant text, who claim Jesus would return in that first century AD but didn’t? Is there anyone who is willing to admit error, that he or she has been deceived, either by honest but ignorant teachers or actual false teachers in the church?
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[1] While I may add to this study series later, this study will be my final study in the Challenge of Christ series. I hope it was both informative and helpful in one’s walk with Christ. Lord bless all who receive it in that context – WWJD!
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