55
February 1931
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
The Jew and a Future Tribulation B y K e it h L. B rooks (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Some would take “this generation” to mean the Jewish race. But to do so seems not only to strain the evident meaning, but to be contrary to the thought of the context. It is not likely that our Lord would have ignored the larg er part of the disciples’ question, and talked entirely of events hundreds of y e a rs in th e future.
IBLE students have found it no easy matter to agree as to the best way of reconciling the two accounts of our Lord’s answer to the question of His disciples: “When shall these things be ? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the age” (cf. Matt.
Comparing the two chapters, it seems clear that a period known as the “times b of the Gentiles” is to come between __W, the destruction of Jerusalem and the second coming of Christ. During this time, the Jews are to be scattered throughout the world. The signs, spoken of before the mention of the scattering of the Jews, are plainly connected with the downfall of Jerusalem . They are all fulfilled. This should give us a key to the interpretation of Matthew '24. We should find, in this chapter, the answers to the . two main questions of verse 3. The preaching of the gospel in all the world for a witness (v. 14) corres ponds to the “times of the Gentiles” in Luke’s account.
24 with Lk. 21) ? There are several differ ent views taken even by those who call themselves premillenarians. While we need to guard against unlov ing criticisms, it is well that we earnestly seek light upon these problems of prophecy. Foretelling the terrible
events about to come to pass in connection with the destruction of Jerusalem, our Lord concludes with these words: “These be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled” (Lk. 21: 22). Here is our first prob lem. Is there still another “day of vengeance” in which the Jew will be in volved in the future? Paul says that wrath came upon them “to the uttermost” for killing J e s u s and their prophets (1 Thess. 2:16). Is there to be another out pouring of wrath in which they will share? The words of Luke 11: 50, 51 must be faced. They apply to the days of Jeru salem’s destruction. The blood of all the prophets from the foundation of the world was to be required of that generation of Jews. This teaching is also the background for the twenty- fourth chapter of Matthew, which some students seem entirely to overlook. (Read
I cannot see Why men should, turn from Thee, My Lord.
I f they could only guess Thy matchless loveliness, The beauty of Thy face, The richness of Thy grace, My Lord. •
T h e F uture T ribulation Will there, then, be a future tribulation involving the Jew? Or, is the “time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jer. 30) forever past, as some earnest students are now ? Matthew’s account that our Lord’s coming in glory will imme diately follow days of ter rible tribulation on earth (v. 29). Some say “im mediately” should be taken to mean “suddenly” or “unexpectedly.” Others say it may mean “next in or saying: tells us
I f they could only see Thee on the cruel tree! Nor pain nor death was stayed Till all our debt was paid, . My Lord.
I f they could only know That heart which loves them so, Their only thought would be How they might come to Thee, My Lord.
Matt; 23:33-36.) Jesus spoke to His hearers as the children of those who had slain the prophets and who were filling up the measure of their fathers in the rejec tion of Him and His envoys. He said: “Upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon .the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias . . . . All these things shall come upon this generation” (Matt. 23 :35, 36). It was then that the disciples came with their question: “Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world” (Matt. 24:3)?
der.” No less a student than Dr. A. J. Gordon believed that the great tribulation is the present age, ended by Christ’s return. What, then, shall we make of the words: “Except those days should be shortefted, no flesh should be saved” (Matt. 24:22)? How can it be said that the time of Jacob’s trouble is past when one carefully considers the context of Jere miah 30? God here promises to bring Israel back, in the last days, to the land of their fathers (v. 3). This surely is not a picture of the church. “Wherefore do I see every (Continued on page 64)
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