Bible Question: Can anyone explain Mat 24:15? |
Bible Answer: Dear eld, There are a whole lot of groups that claim to somehow merge all apocalyptic bible references into a cogent whole. Prophecy mongering is rampant in our society. In addition there are groups that, in the final analysis, simple defer to something as being of higher authority than Scripture. That leaves them open to a lot more error than just misinterpreting apocalyptic genres in the Word. That written, I do not believe that apocalyptic passages are capable of being fit into a cogent whole. Note, that this does not mean that no such interpretation exists, just that we are not in a position to do so. Nonetheless, that is often the nature of prophecy: It gives us hope today, and will bring glory to God when it has been accomplished. Matthew 24 is a particularly heavily studied passage for these many centuries of the Church Age. Along with all the rest of us here, I cannot claim to have read exhaustively everything written about it. However, nothing I have read has made me feel like the chapter was, in its entirety, dealt with successfully. Nonetheless, we can assert one thing with perfect confidence: Christ was answering the question of the Disciples as articulated in verse 3; a question that they asked after hearing our Lord's statement in verse 2. So always and ever keep that firmly in mind as you read the whole of His answer. Furthermore, our Lord was speaking prophetically of things to come from that specific time forward. I would deem that it would be unwise to make everything fit into the far future, just as it is unwise to fit it all into the past. Finally, Matthew is a gospel whose audience were Jews -- unlock the other synoptic gospels. Consequently, Matthew would necessarily lean heavily on Jewish thought and expression. Like the epistles, the gospels are always written by one person to other persons with whom he is familiar. With all that in mind, therefore, I would posit that verse 15 was an event that was future to the disciples, but historical to us. Certainly Christ was quoting Daniel, but Daniel's phraseology had been applied in various situations in Israel's history. Indeed, we even have the Jews describing just such an "abomination of desolation" in a Jewish deuterocanonical book: "Now the fifteenth day of the month Casleu, in the hundred forty and fifth year, they set up the abomination of desolation upon the altar, and builded idol altars throughout the cities of Juda on every side" (1 Maccabbees 1:54). Now, that may not be as exciting an answer as you might get from various folks who have a cherished eschatological presupposition to defend -- but I think it is nearer the mark, and does not violate a sound hermeneutic. As you move along in the chapter, a good answer is harder to find. Best thing to do with those, however, is to honestly listen to the various academic points of view, and be cautious owning any of their views. Too much is at stake in Biblical hermeneutics, and there are a lot more of Scripture that we can study and explain with confidence. In Him, Doc |