JESUS IN THE LIGHT OF HIS TEACHING CONCERNING THE LAST DAYS

We cannot possibly understand Jesus' life and teaching if we do not acknowledge what he said about the last days and about his Second Coming. Eschatology -- the study of the "end times" -- is not limited in the Bible to the discussion of the historical chaos in the last days. The Greek word eschaton implies everything related to "the end": humanity's ultimate historical crisis, the death of the individual, hell, the Second Coming of Christ, the possible Millenial Kingdom of which the Bible speaks, the Last Judgement and our place in heaven. This all-encompassing scope should not be narrowed down.

The whole of Jesus' preaching has an eschatological tenor to it. The appellation 'Son of Man' which he used of himself always implies his Second Coming "in the clouds of heaven". He spoke a great deal of the "kingdom of heaven" and the "kingdom of God" in his teaching and parables. We ought in this age to be providing for ourselves "purses which will never wear out", and rejoicing above all that our names are written in heaven. If anyone confesses Jesus in this world, Jesus will confess him one day before His Father. Jesus' "kingship" is not of this world.

Theologians have generally adopted a negative attitude to this eschatological insistence, even doubting if it comes from Jesus himself. Some, such as Albert Schweitzer, have, it is true, seen an eschatological tinge throughout Jesus' teaching. Schweitzer however felt that on the cross Jesus realised that he had been mistaken in his thinking. A Finnish theologian can also say that he can no longer believe, after the two thousand years which have ensued, in the "Christian props" associated with the return of Christ. On the other hand, eschatology itself is acknowledged as of central importance. Thus the aforementioned theologian states:

    "I would argue that theology has not yet taken nearly seriously enough the question of Jesus' eschatology, from the basis of which everything he said would be understandable. Finnish theology in particular has up till now completely ignored the problems caused by the fact that the kingdom of God did not come in the way presupposed by Jesus."66

The eschatological perspective and the Second Coming are in fact so firmly anchored in the whole of Jesus' preaching that it takes courage to claim that the kingdom of God did not come in the way presupposed by him. Schweitzer concludes that Jesus was "mistaken", but there is good reason to look into whether the issue might actually be other than this. Peter says in his letter that "in the last days scoffers will come scoffing . . . they will say, 'Where is this "coming" he promised?"' Jewish scholars too have adopted a negative attitude towards the "last days", because for them the phrase indicates the coming of the Messiah. Thus "it is forbidden to calculate the last days" and "they are already finished". Such computations "do not lead to the fear of God or to love," says RaMBaM.

We are in our day and age, however, before a new challenge. In the light of the knowledge afforded by the Dead Sea Scrolls in particular, it has been shown that the Messianic hope at the time of the Second Temple was powerfully eschatologically charged. According to them, "things which were hidden from Israel" should not be left concealed, "from fear of apostacy".67 And so, a few remarks on these sensitive issues.

The Bible distinguishes between two end times

The millenial thinking of salvation history is evident in the New testament and in Jewish literature. The most widely acknowledged stance found among the Rabbis relates to the tradition of Elijah, which states that salvation history mirrors the 6 days of creation in that there were first 2000 years of desolation, followed by 2000 years of the Torah and then "2000 years of the Messianic era, but on account of our sins, which were great, things turned out as they did".68 Following this Messianic era is a Sabbath of one thousand years -- altogether 7 millenia, corresponding to the 7 days of the Creation. Only then will the "future world" begin. Jesus spoke very clearly and at length about a far-ranging eschatological perspective in both his parables and in Matt. 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21. If his eschatological emphasis is considered genuine, then these chapters should be accepted as interpreters of his thinking.

The discourses of Jesus mentioned above which treat of the end times give certain signs of these last days. Jesus warns that we should not allow anyone to "deceive" us, and so he relates beforehand what will happen "prior to" his Second Coming: the Temple in Jerusalem will be destroyed, Israel will be dispersed, wars and upheavals of nature will vex mankind . . . and although we should not expect to find a "far-ranging perspective" in Mark, it is there we read that "first the gospel must be preached to all nations" (13:10). Matthew records the most graphic description of the cosmic crisis which will befall humanity when, "the stars will fall from the sky and the heavenly bodies will be shaken" (24:29). Luke adds that, "Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming upon the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken". He says that, "in these days" there will be "great distress in the land, and wrath against this people", the Jews . . . and "Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled" (21:23-26). Paul refers to this missionary era when he mentions the "full number of the Gentiles", the "completion", which are to be admitted before Israel is saved as a nation (Rom. 11:25).

A kind of duality is also evident in the Dead Sea Scrolls, in which it is almost as if there were two end times which can be distinguished. In the seventh column of the commentary on Habakkuk we read

    "God told Habakkuk to write down the things that were to come upon the last generation, but He did not inform him the close of the end times. As to the phrase, 'that he who runs may read', this refers to the teacher of Righteousness, for God has revealed to him all the secrets of the words of his servants the prophets. 'For the vision is yet for the appointed time; though it linger, wait for it'...this refers to the fact that the final end time may be protracted beyond anything which the prophets have foretold, for the secrets of God are marvellous."

The "teacher of Righteousness" refers to the phrase moreh li-Tsdaqah in Joel 2:23, which means both 'autumn rains for righteousness' and "teacher of Righteousness". The most celebrated exegete of Judaism, RaSHI, considers this one of the Messiah's names, and says that we cannot give a "true interpretation to the prophets until the teacher of Righteousness comes". Thus the Messiah is to be the true interpreter of the mysteries of God.

When the Jews speak of the "last days" they usually mean the whole Messianic era. At the beginning of the letter to the Hebrews we read that "in these last days" God "has spoken to us by his Son". The last generation is understood as the time of the great tribulation. This being so, the "close of the end times" and the "final end time" will refer to the closing events of the Messianic age, of which the Rabbis use the phrase qets ha-Geulah, the "close of deliverance".

It is also significant that even the Mediaeval Jewish scholar RaMBaM differentiated between the "days of the Messiah" and the "end times". In his words, the Messianic era will be a normal time in which the world will go on as normal (ke-minhagô noheg).69 It is quite impossible to understand the eschatology of the New testament without knowing its Jewish frame of reference.

I remember how an advanced theology student, who sincerely loved the Bible and whom I deeply respected, answered a question of mine about the parable of the fig tree which appears in three of the gospels. They all contain the refrain:

    "This generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away."70
"Well," said my friend rather offhandedly, "maybe Jesus made a mistake." A year later I asked him what word the Greek uses in these parables. "Genos" ('race' or 'species'), came the unhesitating reply, "and it means that the Jews will be preserved as a nation until the end." However, I checked when I got home and found that these passages employ the more rare word genea, which really does mean in the first place a 'generation'. The choice of word here might well indicate some Jewish term. In Israel many years later, my attention was drawn to Psalm 102, which is acknowledged as Messianic and in which there is a description of how the Lord will appear in his glory to Zion after the great tribulation through which Israel will go. Verse 18 contains the Hebrew expression dôr aharon, and translates literally "Let this be written for the last generation". The term here employed appears in the Jewish literature and in the Dead Sea Scrolls71. The 25th and 26th verses of the psalm also contain the gospel allusion to the heavens and the earth perishing.

Western theology often lacks the necessary reverence toward the word of God, which makes us reluctant to take the effort to look for the roots of the gospels. Obviously the kingdom of God came in the way presupposed by Jesus.

What do the Jewish sources say about the end times?

Speaking of the tribulation of the last days, Jesus specifies certain aspects as being but the "beginning of birth pains". Professor Joseph Klausner suggests that there is a specific inner link between the "Messiah's sufferings" and the "Messianic birth pangs" which will affect the whole nation. In Hebrew we find the phrase "the birth pangs of the kingdom" of God, in which will take part everyone who carries the yoke of faith.

The Sages speak of the signs of the last days as the "footsteps of the Messiah", which will be heard before his coming. This relates to the Messianically understood Psalm 89, in which we read:

    "I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David my servant, 'I will establish your line for ever . . .' He will call out to me, 'You are my Father . . ."' "Remember . . . the taunts with which your enemies have mocked, O LORD, with which they have mocked every step of your anointed one".72
These verses are applied both to the nation of Israel and to the Messiah. The commentary known as the Metsudat David, composed in the 18th century by the celebrated Rabbi David Altschuler and his son, says:
    "'I have made a covenant with my chosen one,' 'I will establish your line', means that we should be ready to be governed; 'I will make your throne firm through all generations', because even if it is withdrawn during the dispersal, it will return in the days of the Messiah, and will never cease."73
When comparing Talmudic passages and the teachings of Jesus it is essential to remember that many parallel sayings originated centuries after Jesus' time, and that furthermore, they betray the obvious influence of the early church. With regard to the treatment of the Last Days, however, the descriptions in the books of Joel, Amos and the other prophets are often in the background. The old Midrash too is relevant here when, for example, it warns that, "if you see kingdoms preparing for war one with another, you can expect the Messianic footsteps".74

The most extensive discussion of the Messianic footsteps is to be found in the Mishna Sanhedrin in the Talmud. Firstly, Rabbi Nahman asks Rabbi Yitshaq: "Have you heard when Bar Naphli (the 'Son of the clouds') will come?" "Who is Bar Naphli?" he asks. "Messiah," he answered. "Do you call Messiah 'the son of Nephilim' (the 'son of the one who has descended' from heaven)?" asks Yitshaq astounded. "Even so," rejoined Nahman, "as it is written, 'In that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David' [ha-Nopheleth, that is, 'fallen' -- the root means 'fall' or 'descend'] and so the Messiah is called 'Bar Naphle'." (see Amos 9:11)

    "Rabbi Johanan said," he replied: "'In the generation when the son of David will come, scholars will be few in number, and as for the rest, their eyes will fail through sorrow and grief. Multitudes of trouble and evil decrees will be promulgated anew, each new evil coming with haste before the other has ended."'

After this, the last generation is compared to a seven year cycle, in which it will rain in turn upon one city and then upon another, when there will at one time be abundance and at another want. In the seventh year there will be a war like that involving Gog and Magog, "and at the conclusion of the septennate the son of David will come". Regarding the "taunting of the footsteps of the Anointed", we read in what follows that:

    "The son of David will come when the house of the chosen scholars is filled with prostitution, Galilee is in ruins, Golan lies desolate, the border inhabitants flee from before the Gentiles; they will wander about from city to city, receiving no hospitality. The wisdom of the scribes will be in disfavour, God-fearing men will be despised, the people of that generation will be dog-faced, and truth will be entirely lacking."75

In what follows the "footsteps of the Messiah" are also discussed:

    "The son of David will come at a time when young men insult the old, and old men stand before the young to give them honour; when daughters rise up against their mothers, and daughters-in-law against their mothers-in-law. The people of that generation will be dog-faced, and a son will not be abashed in his father's presence . . . when impudence increases . . . and the Kingdom will be converted to heresy, to the extent that Christianity will spread throughout the world and there will be none to rebuke them, so that people will not accept rebuke . . . the son of David will not come until the whole Kingdom is converted to the belief of the heretics" [ie. Christianity].
This Rabbinic explanation added to the translation reflects their attitude towards Jewish Christians in particular, because the word used for 'heretics' is minuth. The discussion closes with words which are also brought out in the Midrash, that the world will not be "repaired" and the Messiah will not come until Israel is at its "lowest ebb".

These signs greatly resemble the long description given by Paul in 2 Timothy chapter 3, although the Jewish sources actually represent the thought of a later age. Paul says that:

    "There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents . . . brutal, conceited . . . having a form of godliness but denying its power . . . never able to acknowledge the truth" (vv1-7).
Violence in particular, which will even be visible on people's faces, will be characteristic of that day and age.

The Talmud adds that, "the son of David will not come until the last penny has gone from the purse". The Israel of today is experiencing the truth of these words, since the yearly rate of inflation has been once around the 460% mark. Nevertheless: "Three things come unawares: the Messiah, a found article and a scorpion", says the Talmud. Thus, "it is better not to occupy one's mind with thoughts of the Messiah so as not to get confused in one's thinking".

After this it is suggested that the End Times have been bypassed: "Rab said: 'All the predestined dates for redemption have passed, and the matter now depends only on repentance and good deeds."' If Israel repents "he will be redeemed". However, the discussion finally concludes that the coming of the Messiah will take place "with no conditions, which means that Israel's redemption will be accomplished no matter what, even without repentance".76

The problem for the talmudic scholars lay in the fact that Daniel chapter 9's time of the Messiah's coming was over, "and because of our sins, which were great, things went as they did". And so their gaze focussed upon the signs of the far-off End Times, when corruption will be so great that the Talmud exclaims, "On whom will we lean then? Only on our Father who is in heaven!" Man will no longer be trustworthy.77 The later Midrashim too, collected by Adolf Jellinek, occupy themselves with issues which are familiar to readers of the New testament. The "signs of the Messiah" which they speak of include famine, plague, and the changing of the sun and moon to "blood" in the great cosmic crisis in the last days. When studying the date of origin and the contents of these documents, one is forced to concede their undeniable lateness compared with the New Testament.78

The renewal of Israel which will take place in the last days

Jesus' discourse presupposes that at the end of the time of the Gentiles, his own people will experience a renewal such as that of the fig tree on the coming of Spring. Paul expresses the hope that we would not be "ignorant of this mystery: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in and so ALL Israel will be saved" (Rom. 11:25-26). It would not be right for us to leave this problem untouched, a problem endemic to our own time, and regarding which there are some very unbalanced views.

Since God's chosen nation is more and more forced to be alone and to face its own "Jacob's trials" and "Messianic birth-pangs", it is wrong of us to offer false consolation. I remember how in the Spring of 1955 on my temporary return to Finland from my duties with the Seamen's mission, a certain Dr Mekori, a writer, asked me, "Since you have now seen the Israel of today, what do you think of its future?" An extraordinary seriousness filled my mind. "Do you have a Bible?" I asked him. When a German translation could not be found a Hebrew edition was put into my hand, which gave me a sudden flash of inspiration: "Read the end of Zechariah chapter 13, please!" I said, and he began to read:

    "In the whole land," declares the LORD, "two-thirds will be struck down and perish; yet one-third will be left in it. this third I will bring into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold; they will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, 'they are my people,' and they will say, 'the LORD is our God."'
My Jewish friend was horrified. "But that's what's already happened in Germany!" he exclaimed. I asked him to look again at the context. "Yes," he repeated quietly, "the word 'arets' is used here, and it means the land of Israel".

God will once more renew his original priestly covenant with his chosen people. Malachi 3:1-3 says:

    "Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire . . . He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites."
Rabbi David Qimhi says that this "'messenger of the covenant' and 'Lord' is the Messiah". Franz Delitzsch, the great authority on Judaism and defender of Jewish national rights, said once that, "Israel wird gerichtet, wird gesichtet aber nicht vernichtet" -- "Israel will be condemned, Israel will be sifted, but it will not be annihilated". The Bible says that "the remnant of Israel will be saved" but that even that remnant will be "gleaned". Zephaniah 3:12 says: "I will leave within you the meek and the humble, who trust in the name of the LORD."

It is often asked what is meant by the phrase all Israel will be saved: does it mean "every last one of them?" Jesus said that when the twigs of the fig tree become tender, when Israel is renewed, then all these things, the events he predicted regarding the End Times, will be fulfilled. These two viewpoints are combined in the twelfth chapter of Daniel. The first verse speaks of a time of great distress and says that, "at that time your people -- everyone whose name is found written in the book -- will be delivered". At the end of verse 7 we read: "When the power of the holy people has been finally broken, all these things will be fulfilled".

The Hebrew phrase here, ukechaloth nappêts yad-am-qôdesh, means literally "when the hand of the holy people has been finally broken . . ." The point here is that often our own strength and skills are a hindrance to the blessing of God. The classic example of this is the story of Gideon, who had to reduce the number of his soldiers from 22 000 to 300 "in order that Israel might not boast against me that her own hand has saved her" (Judges 7:2).

Still God will work out to its conclusion his will regarding Israel. Isaiah 66, which speaks of the promised "comfort" to Jerusalem, exclaims, "Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment?" Then there follows an interesting Hebrew phrase:

    "Do I open the womb and not cause to bring forth?" says the LORD. "Do I, who cause to bring forth, close up the womb?".
For the opening of the womb the Hebrew says here ha-ani ashbîr, 'would I break?', and of the closing of the womb, im ani ha-Molid atsarti, 'would I stop' the birth. Doctors are able both to accelerate and to slow down birth. Once God has begun to "break the strength" of the holy nation, he takes the process right through to its conclusion and prepares a "consolation" for them. Breaking human pride is one of the methods our Master employs.

The Rabbis themselves understand the breaking of Israel's own strength as referring to the hymn of Moses in Deuteronomy 32. Verse 36 says that God will have compassion on his people "when he sees their strength is gone and no-one is left, slave or free". The Hebrew here uses the phrase ephes atsur we-azuv: when they are 'nullified, stopped and abandoned'. The Bible is very difficult to translate just right or just wrong. The next last verb here is also found in the Isaiah passage above about the "slowing down" of the birth.

The thought of Jacob's tribulation in the last days is deeply engraved in the Rabbinic mind. We cited already the passage from the Talmud which says that the Messiah will not come until Israel is at its "lowest ebb". The same phrase appears in the Midrash on the Song of Solomon where the "generation of the Messiah-King" is described. The question is posed:

    "'When will our redeemer come?' 'When you descend to your lowest ebb,' he said to them. 'In that moment I will redeem you . . . then will I give you the Deliverer."79
In other passages too the Rabbis link with the description in the Song of Songs Messianic hints regarding the relation between the bride and the bridegroom. When, for example, we read that love should be placed "like a seal" over the heart and that it is as strong as death, like the very flame of the LORD, "Rabbi Hunya says in the Holy Spirit that "This is the Messiah".

The humiliation of Israel before the advent of the Messiah is also alluded to by the Midrash for Psalm 45, in which we read:

    "When you are brought down to your lowest ebb, in that moment I will deliver you . . . and just as the rose blooms and opens its heart upwards, so you also, if you repent before me and if your hearts are directed upwards like the rose, in that moment I will bring the deliverer to you . . . The Lord gives death and life, he brings down to the grave and raises up again; and so they will be brought down until their feet are in the grave, and immediately I will raise them up."
Jesus himself said to his hearers:
    "Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord" (Luke 13:35).
Only when Israel itself desires Jesus as its Saviour will he come and renew his people. In 1921 Konstantin Brunner coined the phrase, "Give us back our Jesus!" Many of the foremost Jewish scholars have stated that the Saviour awaited by the Christians may well prove to be the Jews' Messiah.

Jeremiah 14:8 speaks of the "Hope of Israel, its Saviour in times of distress". The history of the Chosen People is a continuing saga of hopeless situations in which God manifests his glory. The Finnish professor of Oriental Languages, Jussi Aro, makes a valuable observation in his study of the Ugaritic texts from Ras Shamra. This semitic language which was spoken ca. BC 1500-1200 has no word at all for "hope". Hope is a concept created by the Bible, a new perspective on life. It may be no coincidence that the name of Israel's national anthem is Ha-Tiqva, 'hope'. The Christian hope, however, is anchored in eternity. Jesus gives a timeless hope to our hopeless time.
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66.    Professor Heikki Räisänen, Raamattunäkemystä etsimässä, p38.
67.    Megilath ha-Serachim VIII 11.
68.    Sanhedrin 97a.
69.    Hilchoth Melachim 12:1. See also The Messiah in the Old Testament, pp72.
70.    Matt. 24:34-36, Mark 13:30-32 and Luke 21:32-33.
71.    See the discussion of Psalm 102 in The Messiah in the Old Testament, pp140-145.
72.    Psalm 89:3-4, 26, 50-51.
73.    Mikraoth Gedoloth, Psalm 89.
74.    Bereshit Rabbah 42.
75.    Sanhedrin 97a.
76.    Sanhedrin 97b.
77.    Sutta 49b.
78.    Adolf Jellinek, Beth Ha-Midrash I-II, Jesrusalem 1967.
79.    Midrash Shir ha-shirim 45:3.

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