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SPELLING EDITED
PRETERISM, TRUE OR FALSE? - PART 2
SECTION THREE.
If you are a Preterist Christian who is TRULY seeking the TRUTH, then I IMPLORE you to keep reading the WHOLE matter and ALL your questions will be answered so that you can LOGICALLY understand the word of God being interpreted in the LIGHT of the WHOLE of God's word. I will never tell my readers, well you cannot understand the MYSTERIES of God so you will just have to ACCEPT what I say by FAITH. No! Many thousands of times no! God wants us to understand His word. But we need to take things in the order as God gives them to us.
And sometimes this means taking a closer look at what we have been taught by our church denomination. And that means that we must QUESTION what we have been taught and test it to the word of Almighty God.
So let us see how the PARTIAL preterist deals with the dilemma of TWO different resurrections seeing that according to them Jesus returns after the non-literal 1000 years that we are supposedly living in now where Jesus is ruling and reigning INVISIBLY, which would then remove, wipe out, or eliminate a yet FUTURE 1000 year reign of Jesus and thus place his second coming at the END of the 1000 year reign of Jesus that is no longer there because it was MOVED to this PRESENT age by PRETERISM.
Anyway, here is HOW some PARTIAL preterists INTERPRET the FIRST resurrection revealed to us in Revelation 20:4-6.
Revelation 20:4-6.
“And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
5. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
6. Blessed and holy is he that has a part in the first resurrection: on such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.”
First, let me say again that ALL preterists, FULL, PARTIAL, and whatever want to call themselves, they ALL claim that the 1000 years is NOT a LITERAL 1000 years. In other words, ALL Preterist Christians CLAIM that we are PRESENTLY living in that age of an “undetermined amount of time” right NOW. And then they attempt to prove their theory by doing a massive word search on the word “THOUSAND”. And then they point out the different words, “thousand”, and claim how it is impossible for this Greek word to LITERALLY mean ONE single thousand. And they show how the Jews do not count ONE as a number and so forth and so on. Smoke and mirrors I call it. Always remember that there will be NO WARS during the LITERAL 1000 year reign of Jesus.
The TRUTH is that the Greek word “CHILIOI” that translated as “THOUSAND” in Revelation chapter 20 and in 2 Peter 3:8 is the same Greek word. And in 2 Peter 3:8, a DAY is like a THOUSAND years and a THOUSAND years is as a DAY is Strong's number 5507 which literally means “THOUSAND”, as in, a SINGLE quantity of a THOUSAND no more no less. It is not PLURAL in the sense that this particular Greek word can be used to say TWO thousand or THREE thousand or to be translated as THOUSANDS as in MANY groups of thousands. In other words, the Greek word “CHILIOI” LITERALLY means ONE SINGLE LITERAL THOUSAND year period of time when the Greek word for YEAR is placed along with it.
Let us take a moment and look at how this Greek word “CHILIOI” is used in other places in the book of Revelation. Please read Revelation 11:3, which gives us a LITERAL EXACT NUMBER of days.
Revelation 11:3.
“And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a THOUSAND two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.”
Now, I do not know ANYONE who INTERPRETS this LITERAL EXACT NUMBER any other way than 1,260 LITERAL days. Now, some Christians do indeed interpret the days as YEARS, but they still none the less use the EXACT NUMBER 1,260. NO ONE ever tries to interpret the NUMBER 1,260 days as meaning an UNSPECIFIED number of days or years or period of time. NO, a thousand times NO, they always interpret a THOUSAND to mean EXACTLY ONE THOUSAND no more and no less. It is the SAME exact Greek word “CHILIOI” used in Revelation chapter 20 referring to the 1000 year reign of Jesus.
It just so happen that the SAME writer of the Book of Revelation uses a DIFFERENT Greek word further down in verse 13 where we see SEVEN THOUSAND men being killed in the great earthquake at the second coming of Jesus. and the Strong's number for that Greek word is 5505 which is “CHILIAS”, which means thousand or thousands.
Revelation 11:13.
“And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men SEVEN THOUSAND: (Or seven thousands of thousands. Or it can mean exactly seven thousand men will be slain. My point is that it is a DIFFERENT Greek word. So if John intended his words in Revelation 20 to mean an unspecified number of years then he would have used THIS Greek word “chilias” for thousand OR thousands) and the remnant was afraid, and gave glory to the God of heaven.”
Then in Revelation 12:6, we see the SAME LITERAL EXACT number 1,260 where Israel is feed for 3 1/2 years.
Revelation 12:6.
“And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a THOUSAND two hundred and threescore days.”
And one last verse in Revelation 14:20 before we move on to see HOW the PARTIAL preterist INTERPRET the FIRST resurrection seeing that they MOVE the literal 1000 year reign of Jesus to this present world and they have no place to PUT a LITERAL BODILY FIRST resurrection.
Revelation 14:20.
“And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a THOUSAND and six hundred furlongs.”
Again, this is a LITERAL measurement being EXACTLY 1,600 furlongs. Now I do realize that any number can be used in a figurative manner, but the CONTEXT should give the reader or hearer that it is a figurative number. However, the CONTEXT in Revelation chapter 20 gives us NO reason to interpret the 1000 year reign of Jesus figuratively to become an unspecified number of years. I mean if the writer wanted us to know that the reign of Jesus was MORE than just a SINGLE THOUSAND years he would have used the Greek word “CHILIAS” with another number along with it like everywhere else in the Book of Revelation.
Now that you know the TRUTH about the Greek word “CHILIOI” meaning a LITERAL single unit of a THOUSAND no more and no less let us move on to the preterist interpretation of the first resurrection seeing that they have no place for it to occur in a LITERAL BODILY way.
The PARTIAL preterist will INTERPRET the FIRST resurrection as being our SPIRITUAL resurrection when we are BORN AGAIN by the word of God. And they use all the verses that teach us that we were DEAD in our sins and how we are RAISED in Jesus Christ and how sin shall NOT have dominion over us and so forth and so on. Now I am not going to go over all these verses because they are TRUE. We as Christians were indeed raised from SPIRITUAL death. However, I will point out that Satan always uses the word of God that is TRUE to DECEIVE God's people to believe his LIES so it is not necessary for me to go over all these verses, but rather, to simply show you that the partial preterists are using WHATEVER verses in the Bible they can find to try and prove FALSE teaching.
All one needs to do is to read the CONTEXT of Revelation chapter 20 to see that ALL PRETERISM is a FALSE teaching. So then let us go back and CAREFULLY read Revelation 20:4-6 again to see WHY preterism cannot possibly be true.
Revelation 20:4-6.
“And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were BEHEADED for the WITNESS of Jesus, and for the WORD of God, and which had NOT worshiped the beast, NEITHER his image, NEITHER had received his mark upon their foreheads or in their hands; and THEY LIVED and REIGNED WITH with Christ a THOUSAND YEARS. (Now, there were no Christians who were BEHEADED, RESURRECTED from the dead and given eternal life to rule and reign with Jesus starting in 70 AD)
5. But the REST of the dead lived NOT again UNTIL the THOUSAND YEARS were FINISHED. This is the FIRST resurrection.
6. Blessed and holy is he that has a part in the FIRST resurrection: on such the SECOND DEATH has NO power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall REIGN with him a THOUSAND YEARS.”
I want you to please notice that the preterist INTERPRETATION of the FIRST resurrection being our SPIRITUAL new birth CONTRADICTS this very passage of Scripture because those who are resurrected in this FIRST resurrection are resurrected for the very REASON of being a FAITHFUL
BELIEVERS. In other words, the THEY in this passage of Scripture who have a part in the FIRST resurrection are ALREADY believers, who THEN were BEHEADED and KILLED for the reason of their FAITH and testimony of JESUS and the WORD of Almighty God.
It is absolutely ridiculous to INTERPRET these clear plain words in Revelation 20:4-6 as being BORN-AGAIN because the THEY who are blessed to take part in the FIRST resurrection are ALREADY born again when they are BEHEADED for their FAITH in Jesus and the word of God. So NO! Many thousands of times NO, dear children of God the FIRST resurrection is NOT our SPIRITUAL resurrection from our spiritual death being dead in our past sins.
Also, please notice that ONLY those who take part in the FIRST resurrection will be given LITERAL IMMORTAL BODIES or FLESH and BONE just like Jesus has now so that the SECOND DEATH will NOT have any power over them. Jesus clearly teaches us that while we receive blessings now in this present world we shall NOT actually receive ETERNAL LIFE until the LITERAL world TO COME has come, and the world yet to come will not come UNTIL the SECOND coming of Jesus bring his rewards WITH him when he comes. We are NOT living in the WORLD yet to come, therefore, we do NOT actually possess ETERNAL LIFE as yet.
Please read Mark 10:32.
“But he shall receive a hundredfold NOW IN THIS TIME, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; AND IN THE WORLD TO COME eternal life.”
Also, Jesus WARNS us to take heed lest any man STEAL our crown of ETERNAL LIFE. Please read the study “IS ONCE SAVED ALWAYS SAVED BIBLICAL?” But for now, please read Revelation 3:11 which clearly teaches us that any one of us can be DECEIVED by the teaching of man and LOSE our crown of eternal life. And thus, it is ONLY AT the SECOND COMING of Jesus that we will actually RECEIVE our crown of ETERNAL LIFE so that we do not have to KEEP ourselves from sin constantly on GUARD of the ENEMY so that we are NOT DECEIVED and our crown be stolen before we receive it. This is WHY the word of God says BLESSED are they who take part in the FIRST resurrection because once we ACTUALLY obtain our reward of eternal life AT the SECOND coming of Jesus, then and ONLY then the second death will have no power over us. No man will be able to pluck us out of the father's hand once we have ENDURED unto the END to be saved just as Jesus clearly teaches us.
You see dear children of God, those who repent AT the second coming of Jesus will NOT take part in the FIRST resurrection, but rather all who call upon the name of the Lord AT the second coming of Jesus will go into the LITERAL thousand-year reign of Jesus in their MORTAL bodies to be TAUGHT of the Lord. And once again those in their MORTAL bodies can still sin even though the devil has been bound for that yet coming literal 1000 year reign of Jesus. And then AFTER this literal 1000 year reign of Jesus ONLY those in their MORTAL bodies speaking more specifically of those who will be left of the NATIONS will be DECEIVED by Satan to make war one final time against God's people the Jews who are ALSO in their MORTAL bodies. Then God will send the FIRE of the final part of his WRATH to destroy all the rebellious wicked who were DECEIVED this one final time by Satan to rebel against Almighty God.
And I might add that those of us who take part in the yet future FIRST resurrection will rule and reign OVER those in their MORTAL bodies for a LITERAL 1000 years WITH Jesus. Those of us who will take part in this yet future coming of the FIRST resurrection will be dwelling IN the city of God, which I myself see as being in the SKY over Jerusalem and NO MORTAL will be allowed INTO that city of God UNTIL they PROVE themselves to be RIGHTEOUS unto the END just like we had to do in order to take part in the FIRST resurrection. THEIR resurrection will not be until the literal 1000 years reign of Jesus is finished.
Now just briefly a little more about the Greek word that is translated as a THOUSAND years in Revelation 20 referring to the LITERAL 1000 year reign of Jesus. Please read the following verses.
Psalm 90:4.
“For a THOUSAND YEARS in YOUR sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.”
2 Peter 3:8.
“But, beloved, be NOT ignorant of this ONE thing, that ONE DAY is with the Lord AS a THOUSAND YEARS and A THOUSAND YEARS AS ONE DAY.”
And the CONTEXT of 2 Peter 3:8 is speaking of the yet coming DAY of the Lord to let us know that the WRATH of God comes BOTH before this LITERAL DAY of the Lord and AFTER this LITERAL DAY of the Lord that is spoken of as being a THOUSAND YEARS long.
So I ask you dear child of God is the WRATH of Almighty God going to be a LITERAL WRATH of God? Then the DAY of the Lord is also a LITERAL DAY that will without fail take place yet in the future. So why then do you not believe that the 1000 year reign of Jesus is a LITERAL 1000 years that will START AT the LITERAL VISIBLE SECOND COMING of Jesus that is yet in the future.
Now, I personally do not care if you spiritually interpret this LITERAL thousand years as being a hundred BILLION years. My point is this no matter how long this LITERAL DAY of the Lord is, it will NOT START UNTIL the LITERAL VISIBLE SECOND COMING of Jesus when he comes to GATHER TOGETHER his ELECT to take part in the FIRST resurrection where we will all be CHANGE and given LITERAL IMMORTAL FLESH and BONE BODIES to rule and reign WITH him for HOW ever long you personally INTERPRET what that Bible plainly states as being a THOUSAND YEARS.
Think this through for YOURSELF dear child of God. IF SO BE that we are ruling and reigning NOW in this PRESENT world do YOU have an IMMORTAL body right NOW? I think not, I know that I do not.
THINK this through for YOURSELF clearly knowing that SATAN shall be BOUND DURING this LITERAL DAY no matter how long you conclude this LITERAL period of time to be can you HONESTLY say that Satan is BOUND right NOW in this PRESENT world where the Bible itself teaches us that he is the god of this present world?
Think this THROUGH for yourself. Are there still yet WARS in this PRESENT world that ALL preterist CLAIM is some kind of NON LITERAL period of an unspecified number of years that they CLAIM we are living in RIGHT NOW?
Now read the TRUTH, the very word of Almighty God HIMSELF that clearly and plainly teaches us that when Jesus comes again that the nations of the world will be TAUGHT to NOT LEARN WAR any more and all the weapons of war will be burned and or be beaten into plowshares or farm implements. Has this ALREADY happened at any time in history? Do you truly believe seeing how the world has grown worse and worse from the day of Jesus to this present day that the world is IMPROVING and is getting better with each passing day as some CLAIM that it will? I mean it has already been nearly 2000 years since 70 AD and it has NOT gotten any better yet. But rather, it has gotten worse like the days of SODOM and GOMORRAH just like Jesus said it would right before his LITERAL VISIBLE SECOND coming.
Not only are there still yet WARS, but also, the Bible teaches us that the people in their MORTAL bodies DURING this so-called unspecified number of years that preterist CLAIM that we are living in NOW, will live to be a FULL 100 years of age where not one single person will die before they live out their entire 100 years of age. So then, IS EVERY single person living to be 100 years of age NOW in this PRESENT world.
NO, they are not! So then. the ONLY LOGICAL CONCLUSION that any RATIONAL person can draw is that PRETERISM both FULL, PARTIAL, and any other form, are ALL FALSE teachings plain and simple.
So then, once you, my readers and seekers of the TRUTH, come to that realization that ALL preterism is FALSE, then you will UNDERSTAND that there MUST be ANOTHER WAY to interpret all the verses USED by those who teach preterism use to TRY and support what they teach.
In the remainder of part two of this study in God's word, we will take a CLOSER look at all the verses that I myself have been made aware to clearly show those who are TRULY seeking the TRUTH that here are indeed OTHER WAYS to interpret those seemingly hard verses that some of you right now are STRUGGLING with having trouble to see any other way than what the preterist teaching has dogmatically demanded them to mean CLAIMING that there is NO other meaning to these verses.
I have found during my research that even preterists themselves do NOT WANT to believe in preterism just like many Calvinists do NOT WANT to believe in Calvinism. But because they have been DECEIVED by the enemy as to what some verses truly teach they struggle not wanting to believe what they are understanding these verse to say, but they must accept it as being the truth, because they KNOW that the word of God does NOT CONTRADICT itself not realizing that it is their own INCORRECT interpretation of some of these verses of Scripture that is causing that contradiction in the first place. You will understand what I am trying to say as you continue to read this study in God's word exposing the ERRORS of INTERPRETATION made by those who teach PRETERISM.
FULL preterists, who believe that the SECOND COMING of Jesus was FULFILLED in 70 AD, also use Matthew 10:23 as one of their proof text to try and prove that Jesus would return BEFORE his disciples could even finish preaching the gospel in all the cities in Israel. We will first read Matthew 10:23 taken OUT of context with the Preterist's FORCED meaning on this ISOLATED verse and then we will take a closer look at what this verse is truly saying in the LIGHT of the WHOLE word of Almighty God.
Matthew 10:23.
“But when they persecute you in this city, flee you into another: for verily I say unto you, You shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, TILL the Son of man HAS COME.”
Now the preterists dogmatically demand that this verse is speaking of the SECOND coming of Jesus that was FULFILLED in 70 AD.
The very notion or conclusion that this text even alludes to the SECOND COMING of Jesus is shown to be a FALSE conclusion by the mere FACT that such a CONCLUSION would then clearly imply that Jesus KNEW when his coming again would be.
I mean THINK this through for yourself dear child of God. IF SO BE that one INTERPRETS Matthew 10:23 to mean without fail that Jesus is speaking of his SECOND COMING, then this would consequently mean as well that Jesus KNEW the day and the hour of his COMING. But the word of TRUTH clearly teaches us that Jesus did NOT KNOW the day and hour of his COMING so it is NOT possible for this verse in Matthew 10:23 to be speaking of the SECOND COMING of Jesus.
So then, seeing that the PRETERIST INTERPRETATION CONTRADICTS other parts of God's word, then we must conclude that their INTERPRETATION is FALSE and therefore we must look for a better interpretation that does NOT CONTRADICT any other part of God's word.
Now that you can see that the preterists interpretation CONTRADICTS other parts of God's word let us now take a look at some OTHER interpretations to see if they will AGREE with the WHOLE word of Almighty God without any contradictions.
One such interpretation says that Matthew 10:23 is NOT speaking of the SECOND COMING of Jesus but rather is referring to the KINGDOM of HEAVEN that Jesus was preaching was AT HAND. Please read Colossians 1:13, which teaches us that BELIEVERS in Jesus Christ are TRANSLATED into the KINGDOM of the Son of Almighty God the Father the very MOMENT that we BELIEVE. So then, the KINGDOM of Jesus actually came on the day of PENTECOST when the church BEGAN and NOT in 70 AD as the preterist CLAIM.
Colossians 1:13.
“Who has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has TRANSLATED US us into the KINGDOM of his dear Son:”
Now please understand that no one would be translated into the KINGDOM of the Son of Man UNTIL Jesus SUFFERED and DIED on the cross, which had NOT happened as yet in Matthew 10:23. In other words, the KINGDOM of the Son of Man had NOT yet COME and would ONLY come AFTER Jesus had suffered and died on the cross and was raised from the dead. In Matthew 10:23 the KINGDOM of God was AT HAND about ready to come.
So then, Matthew 10:23 was indeed FULFILLED in that GENERATION that was alive in the day of Jesus, but NOT in the WAY that preterists dogmatically demand, in that, this verse is speaking of the SECOND COMING of Jesus. People are still yet ENTERING INTO the KINGDOM of God to this present day. In other words, Matthew 10:23 was INITIALLY fulfilled on the day of PENTECOST and continues to be fulfilled each and every time some is TRANSLATED into the KINGDOM of God by BELIEVING on Jesus.
Can you not see the folly of the logic or PRETERISM and how flawed it is my dear brothers and sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ? Did not Jesus say in Matthew 24:14 that the END would NOT come UNTIL the GOSPEL be preach unto ALL the WORLD?
Matthew 24:14.
“And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto ALL NATIONS; (And NOT to just the CITIES that were in the ONE NATION of Israel as Matthew 10:23 clearly states. So then, the gospel MUST, without fail, be preached to ALL the NATIONS of the ENTIRE world) and THEN shall the END come.”
And even this verse is NOT speaking SOLELY of JUST the SECOND COMING of Jesus, but also refers to those being TAUGHT of the Lord DURING the LITERAL 1000 year reign of Jesus where the END comes ONLY after the LAST enemy DEATH is destroyed in the lake of fire.
Well, I believe that I have given those who are TRULY seeking the TRUTH enough evidence on this particular verse in Matthew 10:23 for you to see that the “PRETERIST” interpretation is a FALSE teaching that should be rejected so let us move on to the next verse that preterists use to try and prove their theology.
The next verse that the Preterists use is Matthew 16:28, which again they take OUT of CONTEXT to try and prove that Jesus has ALREADY returned in 70 AD.
Matthew 16:28.
“Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.”
As I have said many times that any verse when taken OUT of CONTEXT and viewed ALONE and APART from the REST of God's word may SEEM to be saying something that it is NOT TRULY saying. Also, I might add that some verses used by those who teach FALSE teachings of any kind are at times deliberately twisted and FORCED to say what they are not truly saying in order to support that particular false teaching for the gain of filthy lucre or profit fleecing the flock. This is sad to say but it is true. But I do not believe this is the case with the false teaching of preterism. The preterist I have talked to seemed very sincere wanting ONLY to know the TRUTH.
So then, let us now read this verse 28 in Matthew 16 that is in question by reading Matthew 16:13-28 with verse 28 being KEPT IN its CONTEXT this time to learn the TRUE meaning of this verse in the LIGHT of the WHOLE word of Almighty God.
Please read Matthew 16:13-28, where Jesus asked his disciples what the people were saying as to who he was. And then he asked his disciple who THEY themselves believed Jesus to be?
Matthew 16:13-28.
“When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his DISCIPLES, saying, Who do men say that I the Son of man am?
14. And they said, Some say that thou are John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias (Jeremiah), or one of the prophets.
15. He said unto them, But who say YOU (Asking ALL of his disciples) that I am?
16. And Simon Peter answered and said, You are the CHRIST, (The ANOINTED ONE of God, the MESSIAH) the SON OF the living God. (This is important to UNDERSTAND the TRUE meaning of verse 28. Almighty God the Father has REVEALED to Peter that Jesus IS the anointed one that the SCRIPTURES have PROPHESIED to COME. The UNDERSTAND that Jesus is that ONE that they have been LOOKING for to COME)
17. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed are you, Simon Barjona: (WHY? Why does Jesus tell Peter that he is BLESSED?) FOR (or BECAUSE) flesh and blood has NOT revealed it unto you, (Meaning that the doctrines of MEN have NOT revealed this TRUTH to you) BUT (Or but RATHER) my Father which is in heaven. (Or but rather it was Almighty God HIMSELF who has REVEALED this TRUTH to you that Jesus IS the CHRIST, the ANOINTED ONE, the MESSIAH who was foretold to COME who is the SON OF the living God)
18. And I say ALSO unto you, That you are Peter, and upon THIS ROCK (WHAT ROCK? What ROCK is Jesus speaking of here? We have THREE choices. The rock is Peter. The rock is Jesus being the CHRIST, the SON OF the living God, which is the TRUTH. The rock is the REVEALED TRUTH that is given to us BY Almighty God HIMSELF) I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (To me, I myself see the ROCK and being the REVEALED TRUTH, which INCLUDES the REVELATION KNOWLEDGE that Jesus IS the CHRIST, the ANOINTED ONE prophesied to come, the SON OF the living God)
19. And I will give unto YOU (Jesus is speaking to ALL his disciples INCLUDING US his church who have believed on the WORDS of the disciples of Jesus. In other words, Jesus is saying, I will give YOU my disciples, my CHURCH) the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever you shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. (Now some other false teachers will TWIST this verse to CLAIM that they ALONE are the ONE TRUE church and the ONLY church that can trace their roots all the way back to PETER who they CLAIM is the first POPE who ALONE was given the KEYS of the kingdom of heaven that was handed down from pope to pope all through the history of the Roman Catholic church, so therefore according to THEM there can be NO salvation OUTSIDE the Roman Catholic church. You see HOW verses can be taken OUT of context and FORCED to say what they are NOT TRULY saying)
20. Then charged he his DISCIPLES that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ. (Jesus was speaking to ALL his disciples and NOT to just Peter alone. And WE who BELIEVE in Jesus through the word of these early disciples in the day of Jesus are the disciples of Jesus as well. So the KEYS of the kingdom belong to ALL believers in Jesus. Enough said on that false teaching. Let us get back to the subject of this study which is to show the errors of interpretation made by preterists. I want you to FOCUS on these early disciples of Jesus BEFORE Jesus went to the cross. You see dear child of God these early disciples AT that moment in time did NOT UNDERSTAND all the prophecies of the Old Testament. These early disciples did NOT know that it was prophesied for their MESSIAH to SUFFER and DIE on the cross for their sins and for the sins of eth WHOLE world. All these early disciples of Jesus understood at that moment in time that it was just REVEALED to them by Almighty God himself that Jesus was the CHRIST, the ANOINTED one whom they have been LOOKING FOR to COME. And then Jesus drops a BOMBSHELL on them in the following verses that they were NOT willing to accept right off so Jesus had to REBUKE Satan who was LYING to them)
21. From that TIME forth (This is a TIME defining moment specifically stating that from that moment forward) BEGAN Jesus to show unto his disciples, HOW that he must go unto Jerusalem, and SUFFER many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be KILLED, and be RAISED AGAIN the third day.
22. Then Peter took him, and began to REBUKE him (Jesus), saying, Be it far from you, Lord: THIS SHALL NOT BE unto YOU.(me paraphrasing in my OWN words what might have been going on the mind of Peter, 'NO Lord this cannot be, you cannot DIE, you are the MESSIAH how can it be that you are going to die? We have waited so long for your coming and now you are telling us that you must suffer and die. This shall NOT be done unto you for you are our MESSIAH')
23. But he (Jesus) turned, and said unto Peter, Get you behind me, Satan: you are an OFFENSE unto me: for you savor NOT the things that be of God, but those that be of men. (FALSE teaching is an OFFENSE to Jesus. You see dear children of God when those who LISTEN to SATAN the DECEIVER to NOT embrace the TRUTH of God's word and heap to themselves teachers who will teach them goodly and pleasant things that will TICKLE their ear they are an OFFENSE to Jesus. Please understand that it is not that the PERSON who is the offense, but rather the LYING doctrine of devils that is the OFFENSE to Jesus. Peter was being DECEIVED by Satan by NOT accepting the TEACHING of Jesus telling his disciple what their Messiah MUST do, but BEFORE Jesus could explain the WHOLE matter Peter went ballistic on Jesus refusing to before his MESSIAH. This is WHY it is SO important that Christians hear the WHOLE matter before they take off running with any teaching that they have heard that TICKLES their ear. It is also vitally important that Christians hear the WHOLE matter BEFORE the judge prematurely that any teaching is FALSE lest they jump to the WRONG conclusion and continue to believe FALSE teaching that they sincerely believe in the truth. So PLEASE dear child of God hear me out to hear the WHOLE matter)
24. Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
25. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. (Basically, these two verses are saying in simplicity that it is NOT about what YOU want, but rather it is about what Almighty God the Father was ordained to BE so if you want to receive eternal life in the world to come you must obey the will of Almighty God the Father and NOT follow the LIES of Satan, who desire to DECEIVE you with what pleases YOU)
26. For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
27. For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father WITH his angels, and THEN he shall reward every man according to his works. (This is speaking of the SECOND coming of Jesus at the END of this present age or world at which TIME Jesus will reward the FAITHFUL believers in HIM with eternal life in the world to come and grant them to sit on his Father's throne WITH him to rule and reign for a LITERAL 1000 years in his Father's kingdom ON the EARTH)
28. Verily (Or TRULY or of a TRUTH) I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his KINGDOM.”
Now, this verse 28, the verse in question has several meanings or interpretations where SOME points of the interpretation seem valid, but all the questions surrounding this verse are not truly answered to my satisfaction based upon the WHOLE word of God.
One such interpretation is that Jesus is saying that there will be some in the FUTURE STANDING right there where his disciples were standing who will NOT taste of death when Jesus comes again.
Now while this interpretation has some truth in it, to ME it does not answer all the questions that I myself have concerning this verse being left in its CONTEXT.
So then for ME, I myself am leaning more toward three other different interpretations of verse 28 that do not contradict any other part of God's word and where together they answer ALL the questions surrounding this verse.
In other words, there are THREE other meanings or interpretations of verse 28, where ALL THREE meanings are TRUE and where ALL THREE meanings do NOT CONTRADICT any other part of God's word. And where all three meanings better answer all the questions surrounding this verse.
The first of these other three meanings of verse 28 is that Jesus is speaking of his KINGDOM, referring to this PRESENT church age where the gospel is yet being preached in all the world, but more SPECIFICALLY Jesus is directing his words to the early disciples who were living in the day of Jesus who would NOT die until AFTER Jesus went to Jerusalem to SUFFER and DIE on the cross first to ESTABLISHED the coming of the KINGDOM of heaven, which was AT HAND ready to be revealed or come on the day of Pentecost. In other words, Jesus is NOT speaking of his SECOND COMING where the disciples of his day would NOT DIE PHYSICALLY and therefore be alive at the SECOND COMING of Jesus.
But rather Jesus is speaking of his and ALL disciples of NOT TASTING the STING of death and how this could NOT happen TILL they were PERCEIVING of UNDERSTANDING the coming kingdom, the CHURCH AGE that would come ONLY if Jesus himself SUFFERING and DIED on the cross FIRST.
AND also that these early disciples would not die PHYSICALLY until they saw Jesus coming in his KINGDOM speaking of the CHURCH AGE after the cross. This will all become clearer as you read the next two other meanings of verse 28, where all these meanings tie together.
The second meaning of this verse 28 is that Jesus is indeed speaking of his SECOND COMING, but NOT that some who were alive in his day would NOT DIE PHYSICALLY before they saw the Son of Man coming AGAIN at the END of the age.
You see dear child of God, there are verbs used in every language that are verbs that grammar teachers call SUBJECTIVE verbs. A subjective verb has a CONDITION within the passage being spoken that must be met BEFORE the action of that verb will take place.
For example, if I were to say that “I will COME and take the trash out WHEN the trash can is FULL”, then you should understand that I am NOT going to COME and take the trash out TILL the trash can is FULL.
With this subjective verb in mind let us now take a close look at the LITERAL translation of verse 28, for you see my dear brothers and sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ, there are times that the TRANSLATORS do not always translate the original text as accurately as they should have been translated.
The LITERAL translation of Matthew 16:28 says.
“Amen (Or truly) I am saying to you, are ANY of the ones here having stood WHO ANY not no should be tasting death till ever they may be perceiving the Son of the human coming in the kingdom of him?”
You can verify this LITERAL translation by clicking on the word LITERAL and then clinking on then LINK. This is a free online Interlinear literal translation of the Bible both Old and New Testament that I myself use.
The short and SIMPLE true understanding of this verse 28 is that Jesus is TEACHING his disciples that UNTIL they PERCEIVE or truly UNDERSTAND the coming KINGDOM of the Son of God that they will INDEED TASTE the STING of DEATH.
Keep in mind the words, of Jesus to Nicodemus where Jesus is teaching him that he cannot SEE or UNDERSTAND the KINGDOM of heaven TILL we are BORN AGAIN. Then with that in mind remember the CONTEXT of Matthew 16:28, where TWO things are specifically being spoken.
#1. Jesus is telling his disciples that their Messiah MUST DIE and they are NOT receiving this revelation very well. They are not SEEING the coming kingdom, the CHURCH AGE. They are NOT UNDERSTANDING that their Messiah MUST SUFFER and DIE first to bring about this coming kingdom that is at hand. So Jesus is telling them in Matthew 16:28 basically saying to them WHO of you standing here is NOT going to taste of death till WHOSOEVER of your or they may be PERCEIVING the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.
Now some may be wondering why I added the word “WHOSOEVER” to the LITERAL translation. The reason that I added the word whosoever is to add clarification like any good translator would do. You see, the translators use the word “EVER” rather than the word “WHOSOEVER”, but to me, the word “EVER” does not clarify the passage of scripture as well as the word “WHOSOEVER”.
In other words, the UNDERSTOOD SUBJECT of WHO of you or who of they, as in, till ever who of they shall perceive the kingdom of Jesus shall not taste death is NOT as clear to me as who is there of any man who will NOT TASTE of death TILL WHOSOEVER perceives the FIRST coming of Jesus in his kingdom.
The Greek word translated as “EVER” in the LITERAL translation and that is LEFT OUT all together in most other translation means ever as well as “WHOSOEVER”. The Greek word is “AN” and the Strong's number is 302. My Strong's concordance makes that statement that this word is DIFFICULT and NOT easy to translate and that this word indicates a CONDITION and goes on to give its FIRST meaning as the word “WHOSOEVER”. If you are not quite following what I am saying keep reading, because it will all tie together when all the evidence is considered. Remember always to consider the WHOLE matter before you jump ship and SINK.
#2. Jesus is telling his disciples that they must LAY DOWN their own LIFE and follow him if so be that they are going to be able to perceive the KINGDOM of heaven coming. In other words, Jesus is basically saying that to be a disciple of Jesus one must DIE to self, and if they do not die to self, then shall ANY who does not die to self and follow Jesus NOT taste of DEATH? Basically, Jesus is telling his disciple to SHUT UP and LISTEN to the WHOLE matter saying get you behind me SATAN to Peter who was NOT BELIEVING the teaching of Jesus because it was NOT PLEASING to his ears.
Let me write this the way that we would say it now in our day rather than in Old English lie most all translation have it written. Today we would say something like, There is not any here that shall NOT TASTE of death UNLESS they come to UNDERSTAND that the Messiah must bring in his kingdom by first SUFFERING and DYING on the cross and UNTIL you SEE or UNDERSTAND the kingdom of the Son of man there is not one of you who shall NOT taste of death. Jesus used the words COMING in his KINGDOM because the kingdom of the Son of God had NOT YET COME and would NOT come UNTIL Jesus went to the CROSS.
Remember the words of Jesus saying if you do NOT believe that I am HE, then you shall DIE in your sins, meaning that ANY of WHOSOEVER is standing who does NOT believe that Jesus is the CHRIST, the SON OF the living God shall DIE in their sins. The disciples did indeed understand THAT ONE PART of the matter, but they had NOT heard the WHOLE matter as yet, which was that the Messiah MUST DUFFER and DIE in order for the KINGDOM that WAS at hand to be ushered IN on the day of PENTECOST.
And the third meaning of this verse 28 is speaking of believers IN Jesus not TASTING the STING of death when they DIE. Further, this verse can mean as well that believers will taste of death in the way of being placed back into their resurrected bodies right before their CHANGE to their new immortal bodies takes place. In other words, all believers in Jesus pass from death to life the very moment that they die physically and their soul and spirit go to be present with the Lord to WAIT for their BODILY resurrection AT the SECOND COMING of Jesus. It is AT the SECOND coming of Jesus that the DEAD in Jesus Christ actually TASTE of death being reunited with their resurrected old physical body that will be CHANGED in a moment and in a twinkling of an eye to becoming an IMMORTAL BODY of FLESH and BONES just like Jesus has NOW.
You see dear child of God, the WHOLE word of TRUTH teaches us that the graves will open and their dead bodies will come forth out of the graves and God will put bone together with bone and cause FLESH to come back on their bones and then their FLESH and BONE BODIES will be CHANGED in a moment and in a twinkling of an eye to becoming IMMORTAL FLESH and BONE BODIES just like Jesus has NOW up in heaven seated at the right hand of his God and Father.
First, we will read in Ezekiel that teaches us of a BODILY resurrection, and then we will come back to Luke chapter 24 where we are clearly taught that Jesus was raised from the dead and then GIVEN a FLESH and BONE immortal BODY never more to die.
Please read Ezekiel 37:1-14, which clearly teaches us that ALL things are POSSIBLE will Almighty God who created us by his SPOKEN WORD.
Ezekiel 37:1-14.
“The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones,
2. And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry. (In other words, there were VERY MANY very dry bones covering the land all around not being connected together as a complete skeleton, but rather all mixed up seeming impossible for MAN to arrange them together not knowing what bone belongs to what skeleton)
3. And he said unto me, Son of man, CAN these bones LIVE? (Some preterists say NO! And dogmatically demand that there is NOT going to be a BODILY resurrection of the dead in Jesus Christ. BUT what does the word of TRUTH teach us?) And I answered, O Lord GOD, YOU KNOW.
4. Again he (Almighty God) said unto me, PROPHESY upon these bones, and say unto them, O you dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.
5. Thus says the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I (Almighty God your creator) will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall LIVE:
6. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up FLESH upon you, and cover you with SKIN, and put BREATH in you, and you shall LIVE, and you shall know that I am the LORD.
7. So I PROPHESIED as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. (Ezekiel was seeing a VISION of the YET COMING BODILY RESURRECTION of the dead, but more specifically the RIGHTEOUS dead or God's people who were slain for their testimony of Jesus and the word of God)
8. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the FLESH came up upon them, and the SKIN covered them above: but there was NO breath in them.
9. Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus says the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these, SLAIN, that they may LIVE.
10. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the BREATH came into them, and they LIVED, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.
11. Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the WHOLE house of Israel: (Speaking of the Christians and the Jews being made ONE people) behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts. (Our HOPE is the SECOND COMING of Jesus and our reward of ETERNAL LIFE in the world to come, and the HOPE of the Jews is the COMING of their MESSIAH to RESCUE them from being completely destroyed by their ENEMY the Islamic Muslim armies who are seeking to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth)
12. Therefore, prophesy and say unto them, Thus says the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. (Again, our hope is our BODILY resurrection so we can have peace KNOWING that whether we remain alive until the COMING of Jesus or we DIE we KNOW that we shall LIVE and reign with Jesus and forever be with the Lord. And the HOPE of the Jews is the WORD of God assuring them that they will be resurrected and LIVE again. Now it is not clear to ME if the Jews will be resurrected before the literal 1000 year reign of Jesus to go into the 1000 year reign of Jesus in their MORTAL bodies to be taught of the Lord, or if the Jews will be resurrected AFTER the 1000 years have expired where the REST of the dead are resurrected in order to be judged according to their works. The NEW Testament seems pretty clear that ONLY the dead IN Jesus Christ will take part in the FIRST resurrection, but it also appears from this and other verses that the Jews will be resurrected as well to go into the 1000 year reign of Jesus in their MORTAL bodies having a life span of 100 years)
13. And you shall know that I am the LORD when I have OPENED your GRAVES, O my people, and brought you UP OUT of your GRAVES,
14. And shall put my SPIRIT in you, and you shall LIVE, AND I shall place you in your own land: then shall you know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, says the LORD.”
Now pre-tribulation prophecy teachers use this passage of Scripture to teach ONLY that it means the RESTORATION of the Jews to their land of Israel, but in TRUTH this passage of Scripture is speaking of our LITERAL BODILY RESURRECTION. I do however see how some can INTERPRET this last verse to mean that the Jews, the people of God who were scattered all over the world will be brought back to their homeland Israel, which was FULFILLED in 1948.
But just like the preterist who dogmatically demand a SINGLE one-time fulfillment of Matthew 24 to mean that ALL was fulfilled in 70 AD, there may be the danger that some FUTURISTS might also be DECEIVED and start dogmatically demanding that since they teach that this verse was FULFILLED in 1948 then this verse cannot possibly mean anything other than the RESTORATION of Israel as a nation in 1948.
The truth of the matter is that many verses in the Bible have MORE than just ONE meaning and MORE than just ONE fulfillment. We will cover some of the more simple easy to see passages where SOME of the prophecies are fulfilled in history, but yet, there still REMAINS the REST of that prophecy to BE fulfilled in the FUTURE.
For now, I want to go back to the New Testament in Luke chapter 24 to show you that Jesus HIMSELF was indeed raised from the dead with his BODY and then Jesus ASCENDED into heaven to his God and Father where Jesus was GIVEN a NEW GLORIFIED IMMORTAL BODY of FLESH and BONE never more to die. And then Jesus DESCENDED back down to the Earth and appeared to his disciples for forty days showing them that he was indeed resurrected from the dead never more to die by many INFALLIBLE PROOFS just as the Bible itself says.
We will cover Luke chapter 24 in “PRETERISM, TRUE OF FALSE? - Part 3” along with several other verses of Scripture that show us beyond any shadow of a doubt that we are NOT living in the LITERAL 1000 year reign of Jesus which has incorrectly been interpreted to be a so-called unspecified number of years by preterist Christians. So if you are a preterist Christian or any Christians who is truly seeking the truth of the whole word of God then I implore you to continue reading this study to the end. And if you have not read part 1 of this study then please click on this link, “PRETERISM, TRUE OF FALSE? - Part 1”
Thanks for reading, and may God bless you richly as you continue to seek the TRUTH of the WHOLE word of Almighty God.
And to me, the truth concerning who Jesus TRULY is, according to the Bible ITSELF, is the Biblical Unitarian view of Jesus.
Once Christians, Jews, Muslims, and even atheists understand the REASON that Yahweh CREATED the Son of MAN, Jesus, was to have DOMINION over the work of Yahweh’s hands.
And after you understand that the REASON that Yahweh did that is to STILL His ENEMIES, Satan and the fallen angels.
Then you can understand that God made His human Son to become “a” Lord, “a” King, and “a” God, under and subject to his God and Father in order to JUDGE Satan and the fallen angels.
For a deeper understanding of this WAR that Lucifer and one third of the angels waged against the throne of Almighty God, please read the studies under the subject category called ** Q-0 Why Are We Here? Is God at WAR? **.
More studies are coming in this SHORTER Biblical Unitarian view of who Jesus is according to the WHOLE word of God.
If you have a PARTICULAR verse of Scripture that you would like to know the sound Biblical Unitarian meaning, then please email me at MarkatAMatterOfTruth@Gmail.com and let me know.
For further and more in-depth studies on this subject of Jesus being created to STILL the enemies of Yahweh, please read the studies called D-25. A NEW LOOK at JOHN 1:1, In the BEGINNING!
And also read the study called D-28. The PRE-ADAMIC LUCIFERIAN FLOOD!
At the top of my homepage, there are subjects or categories which contain compiled lists of ** ALL Studies! ** I have written on that particular subject. So, if a link within a study is broken, then click on ** ALL Studies! ** to find the suggested study.
Or you can scroll down to the MORE dropdown menu list to find those studies as well.
Thanks again for reading, and may God bless you richly as you continue to seek the TRUTH of the WHOLE word of Almighty God.
And to me, the truth concerning who Jesus TRULY is, according to the Bible ITSELF, is the Biblical Unitarian view of Jesus.
And again, for ALL of the studies on the Biblical Unitarian view of Jesus, please click on the subject heading ** D-0 The BIBLICAL UNITARIAN VIEW of Jesus! **
And for the SUBJECT on the true foundation of the church, please click on the subject heading ** C-0 The TRUE FOUNDATION of the Church! **
This way you can just send ONE link to those who you want to share the TRUE sound Biblical FOUNDATIONAL teachings of the church that Jesus and his Apostles taught in the first century church.
Your brother in our Lord Jesus Christ,
Brother Mark.
My heartfelt prayer is that all Christians RETURN to the TRUE FOUNDATION of the church that is taught by the very Apostles of Jesus in the first century.
So let us all come into the UNITY of the faith and return to what Jesus and his Apostles taught us in SIMPLICITY in the New Testament.
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